My iPod froze at the gym!!!

At least the workout had me sweating!
Good thing that when I did a sync, it was back to working normal.
I have had such a full week, and my weekend is stacked, so I will blog about my weight on Monday, like I used to go to WW.

Congratulations to my friend who had a new baby boy! Love you alatsatmse!

Working...

I have a great post planned for soon, but I have been working some extra half shifts to help out financially. I am exhausted. Soon you will read about my morning coffee.

Confession...

I just had a friend make a confession to me. It really humbled me. Why choose me, me?

My turn, I have a confession to make. I don't like to wait. God tells me to trust His timing, and rely on him to make good decisions, but I don't want to wait. Time and time again, God has spoken to me "wait."

First I have to explain how God speaks to me. People get confused when I say stuff like that, so I have to explain. If you ask a person a question, they usually open their mouth and say things so your ear hears it and its processed by your brain. For me, I ask God a question, or I am thinking about something, or typing you a response on Facebook when suddenly my heart speaks out. I say my heart because this is wear I feel it from. It is nothing audible, but suddenly I have an understanding. My brain processes it, and then I say to myself "is this from you God?" The message stands firm in my head, and I check it against what I know in the Bible. The Bible is absolute truth, and God would NEVER tell me anything against the Bible. Then sometimes I get a picture, or a story in my heart.

I have been wondering, questioning the WHY as to why Dave and I have to wait for three months for something. Yesterday, I went to service at CCC and the sermon was about marriage, tumbling rocks and grit, and UFC. Basically the sermon spoke out to me, affirming what I already know. God has a purpose for you. By the you, I mean us, Dave and I, you as a couple.

God is gonna make things work out and will make us stronger, more shiny like those rocks in a tumbler. See, Tim said that we are the rocks and the grit, and I think we got one analogy wrong. Us as people are the rocks, and God is the grit. We could bang up against each other all day, but its not until the grit comes in do we really start to shine. Sorry, I had to.

So today, I am writing about how the service spoke to me to a friend (yes, on Facebook) and I suddenly got this other story out about how we helped someone and it took 3 months exactly. God was assuring me that this three months has a wonderful purpose, and we may not see it yet, but it has a purpose.

So I hold on to that. I sing the refrain "...so I wait, for you. So I wait, for you. I'm falling on my knees, offering all of me. Jesus you're all this heart is living for." Then Lincoln Brewster comes on, "Strength will rise as you wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord."

And I read my Bible every day. Every day He speaks to me. Like here:

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Why I haven't blogged about WW

I have had someone ask me how things are going with Weight Watchers. Here is the update: I was not really on it while on vacation. Since I have been back, I am back to my weight before I left. Eating french fries with every meal is not very conducive to weight loss. Also, did not have time to exercise in my busy trip out west.

After evaluating my finances, and with the ever growing price of gas, I can no longer afford to pay 40 bucks a month to get weighed. I am considering purchasing a scale for 20 bucks instead. I would rather spend that 40 bucks on iTunes and have more music to go to the gym with!

I had a good three months solid where I learned the system, and it is going to be up to me to keep the weight loss going. It was always up to me anyways, but paying the bucks made me accountable.

So now I will be accountable to you folks... I am going to get a scale, work out, watch what I eat, and track my weekly weight loss here on the blog.

Woo hoo, are you as excited as me? (Probably not.) Here is the brave part... I am going to list my actual weight and clothes size! Hey, if I can do it on WW to a bunch of strangers, why not here? I am trying to love myself for who I am, no matter what.

Props to my cuz, Tammy, who has lost a whole jeans size! I would love to fit into her old jeans! I hear that my sis Megan is down to about the same jean size, so I should have plenty of jeans when I get down to one above them! I still have 4 sizes to lose to catch up to them. Its okay, because I was always the biggest and the oldest, so it will just be a longer period of time. I had more time to gain... Also, my Aunt recently got back into an old pair of jeans, she is looking really good! I am so proud of us! Our family is getting smaller! In a good way! Even Dave needs some new pants...

This weight loss is getting expensive! New clothes cost money... good thing I have some hand me ups from my sis.

That is why it is called grace

He's my brother

On Sundays, Dave and I usually get up and go to the 10:10 service at the high school. We woke up at 10 am this Sunday, and Dave suggested we hit the box. See, Dave had set the alarm for pm, not am. I just think God really wanted us to be at the box.

We made it there in time, Leroy was leading worship, and he rocks. We ended up sitting next to his wife, who also rocks. Worship rocked. D Ferg was teaching pastor, and he shared about growing up with his brother, J Ferg (who we saw in the parking lot.) It really got me thinking about my sister, Megan.

Megan and I had a bad relationship once upon a time, and now I think it rocks. Just today we talked on the phone and she prayed for me. Somedays, I pray for her. Always, we pray for each other. I try very hard not to be her rival, but her friend, her ally. I love my sister probably more than anyone else in the world (Dave excluded of course.) Bringing Megan home from the hospital was the very first memory I ever had. I get a lot of pride in how awesome my sister is doing and how beautiful she is. I am proud that she is not only my sister, but now she is also my friend.

So then Dave (Ferguson that is) starts to talk about how Jesus says that he is not ashamed to call us brothers. That we are one big family. Which made me think how I would feel if my sister went up on the cross for me. Jesus is the brother that I love dearly, and he went up on the cross and died for me. And it made me cry.

He was not just some dude, he was, and he is my brother. That rocks.

Bright Orange Road signs

As soon as the snow melts, it is construction season here in Illinois. This weekend we visited Dave's family out by Rockford. Of course, I90 is under construction. Bright orange signs dot the roads like they are going out of style. They are meant to get my attention, of course I tend to blow them off because there are so many of them.

Well, I missed my exit.

I think sometimes God is like road signs. We are so used to them, and when we should be paying attention to them, we don't. We are so busy speeding along at our own pace, or following traffic, that it is too late when we see the exit. Now we have to go another 12 miles down the road just in order to turn around and come back another 12 just to get where we originally intended to go.

I felt so dumb, the signs are bright orange and they read "SLOW DOWN" yet I kept up with the traffic. Have you ever done that? Have you ever been so busy keeping up with the traffic that you don't slow down? Have you ever missed your exit because you were just following everyone else around and you missed out on what God had in store for you? Have you ever had to go 12 miles down the road just to turn around and go 12 miles back to get where you were supposed to be?

What bright orange signs have you been ignoring? Will you take the next exit and turn around?

God grant me...

The serenity prayer is not just for drunks. I wish so much that I could never ever forget to ask God these things every day. I have decided to call myself a "Shelley-holic" meaning that I am addicted to myself. I am selfish, and I am constantly desiring to serve my own needs over others. I have made bad decisions because I was being selfish and wanted something now!

God has good things ready for me, if I choose to follow his wishes. It is when I decide to not even ask God what I should do, and just do what I want right now that I get into trouble.

I don't want to hit bottom by having a heart attack before age 40. I want to be healthy not just for myself, but for my husband and any children we might have. I want to be able to run, and to enjoy life. No longer do I want to feel like I am older than I am.

Somewhere I heard someone say that 30 is the new 20. I think it is true. I feel better at 32 than I ever did at 22, and I would not go back for the world! I am working towards becoming the me I was meant to be, but in the meantime, God grant me the patience to endure the changes that I make!!!

Sabbath???

I think we lost what Sabbath is supposed to mean. I grew up where Sabbath meant you went to church on Sunday then went home and sat around watching TV or played in the yard. More than likely we cleaned the house. Sabbath meant that stores were closed, so we were forced to not do much. Sometimes we would visit Grama and Grampa.

I did not like this idea that we were "forced" to spend time off of work. Granted, I was a kid, and did not understand what working was. It was a lazy day, and we were lazy. I just didn't like that.

I don't think Sabbath means "to be lazy for a day."

In The Message, Isaiah 58:13-14 reads "If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage , If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, God's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,' making money, running here and there— Then you'll be free to enjoy God! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob." Yes! God says so!" (italics mine)

I really don't see God telling us to be lazy! I see Him telling us to have a party with Him! We are to take the focus off of ourselves and anything to be gained personally and put it onto God. Sittin on our bums watching football does not qualify as celebrating with God! Sorry guys, but it is not true!

I also don't see anywhere where God says to make Sundays the "Holy day of Sabbath." In fact if you follow the calendar properly, the 7th day is for rest, and the seventh day is Saturday. It goes back to those pagans who worshiped the sun, making the first day of the week "sun" day. This is about the only part where I agree with Seventh Day Adventists.

In today's world, the Sabbath just might end up being Tuesday. Well, it is for me anyway! Tuesday is one of my busiest days ever, so what makes it a Sabbath? First off, it is the only day of the week I consistently have off from work. Secondly, I dedicate that day to God. Yes, I might sleep in... but I also spend the most time that day serving God, volunteering, enjoying His nature. (See Is 58:6-12)

Tuesday is the day I get to spend with Dave most of the time, and we spend it together serving in East Aurora during the school year with the kids. Tuesdays is Brady Book Club, and my week is not complete without reading with the kids. Then we go to Celebrate the Journey at the Yellow Box and I serve there as one of the leaders. I find myself becoming this person that I never thought I could be, free to enjoy God, serving others, and riding high above it all. I love what I do there, and throughout the week, I am thinking about my group, and ways I can be a better person and better leader for my group. I think about the people I know from C the J and pray for them throughout my week, but it is on Tuesdays where I invest myself in them.

While I am not doing things for myself, I am getting SO MUCH out of it. I think that is what God means when he says Sabbath. I put myself aside for a day, but by no means am I lazy. I celebrate God by showing others what he has done for me.

I wish that I could live the Sabbath life. I wish money were no obstacle and I could just spend my day serving those who are less fortunate, or investing myself in other people. Too bad I am not a Hilton. I take that back --thank God I am not a Hilton, I would not be who I am today!

What do you do to Sabbath?

Poor DuPage

Seems that DuPage now has a 4.9% poverty level, up from 3%.

We have so much, yet really its so little. Service jobs are 28% which is super high!

Read this article from the Wheaton Sun.

The Adventures of Jason and the Golden Briefs

What the heck is a grown man doing with a golden pair of underpants?

Well, he won an award. The award is silly, but the reason for it is not. Follow Jason as he takes thee BVDs on tour.

Who knows where he will go next?

Congrats to Jason.

BTW, Jason goes to Crossings in Knoxville, TN. One of our New Thing churches. I found him by clicking links and kept coming back. He is my age, is married and has a son named Eli. Jason will be joining my blogroll, and has given me honors by listing me on his!

Even the rocks would cry out

My favorite passage, okay one of my favorite passages, is in Luke. It occurs during what most people know to be "Palm Sunday." The religious leaders are asking Jesus why he doesn't stop the people from praising him. Jesus said that even if people did not praise him, the rocks would cry out. I love it!

I love watching spring arise, healing the ground and blooming out of the secret places from dead trees. I love watching leaves unfold to the glory of the sun, spreading their wings out for nourishment. I love as the grass becomes green and starts to grow in places once brown and desolate.

Yes, even the rocks cry out to His glory! Have you ever seen the sun set on a mountainside? Have you seen how some stones glitter when wet, changing their appearance? Have you seen a geode cracked open, the grey outer shell revealing a glorious display of crystaline growth?

I love watching the dog stand outside with her nose to the wind, just soaking it all in.

What am I doing inside on the computer? I am outta here!!!

We are home

Things went well and we are home safe. Tired. Lots of laundry and catching up to do. First, the sleep...