Tulips and Birthday Wishes

I couldn't think of a clever title for this post so that will have to do. Walking in the house from work, my eyes were automatically drawn to these....

Aren't they beautiful! What a perfect thing to see when coming home from work. Since there was no card I had to guess who they were from. (Wes was not home) My guesses were Wes or my Mother-in-law, Beverly. Beverly was correct. My mother-in-law knows how much I love tulips. I thought it was so sweet of her to think of me. I told you a while back I love surprises! She knows that too. Thanks Beverly!



And onto birthday wishes. Today a very special boy turns 4. My precious nephew gets a special shout out today! Kaden, I hope your mommy is reading this to you. I want you to know that even tho Aunt Tonya doesn't get to see you often, I think about you, your sister, mom and dad EVERY day. You are an angel sent from God. I will never forget that.



We may be miles apart, but I still love you with all my heart!

The day God brought him to all of us! His sister Shayli holding him. (Love you too Shay!)

A few months ago with me and his daddy. (Love you too Anthony!)

Amanda, if you are reading this....I just wanted you to know how thankful I am for you. You and Anthony created a precious baby, with God's help. God knew just what we would need when he formed Kaden in your womb. You are a great mommy to Kaden and Shayli. I hope you read this to Kaden and tell him that I hope he enjoys a special, fun-filled day! Eat some pizza for me!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADEN!!!

Walking on the wild side

If you know me very well, you KNOW I love shoes. I have recently just stepped out into the wild and have become fascinated with animal prints. Ha! Just thought I'd share. What do you think?

**Update** To answer Jill's question..."What are you going to wear with them?" I have been wearing them with neutral colors....brown today. I'm not sure. I think they could go with something bright like orange, yellow, turquoise. Not sure. Give me suggestions, people, if you want. :)

One more prayer crossed off my list!

Woooohoooo!!! PTL!!! (Just in case you don't know, PTL = Praise the Lord)

I have just been informed that another prayer on my list has been answered! I just wanted to let you all know. I have been praying for a friend of mine and I just found out that the prayer has been answered.

God is SO good!!! All the time!!!

Pray people!! Prayers work!

Feel Good Wednesday #5

I have done something the last couple of weeks that I want to continue. I pray for God to give me the song to post on here for all who reads. I want God to use me and my blog to reach someone who knows me but may not know Him the way they should. I want God to use me to reach someone that may be a complete stranger who just happens to stumble onto my blog and just needs something. I want God to use me to reach someone that I know very well and who has a good relationship with God but just needs something special today. Each of these songs have a message. There's not a doubt in my mind that each of these songs hit a special place in the hearts of different people in different ways. Not every song may be for everyone that day. But I'm sure it can be applied to atleast one life that day. I know they have been doing something special for me.

I'm going to do something different today. I'm actually going to post 2 songs from the same artist. This group is so good. Do I say that every Wednesday? Ha! But really. This group that I'm featuring today is Casting Crowns. And once again this group is nominated for numerous Dove Awards. That's it. There are too many wonderful groups, I'm not voting!

I'm hoping you can hang with this post. It is a long one but I really felt that God wanted me to share both of these.

Song 1: Remember the post the other day about my prayer journal? About answered prayers. God has really been showing me lately that He is always there and He is always listening. And this first song is just how I feel about Him. I would do anything to talk to Him, to let other's see who He is and what He can do for their life.

The very first few lines reminded me of my late Grandma Davis. While visiting her in her last days, in her hospital bed, she wasn't very aware of her surroundings but one thing was certain.....she loved God and she wanted to praise Him with her one last breath. I will never forget visiting her and she would say "Hallelujah" over and over and "Thank you Jesus." What an example. I want to have that kind of love for Christ. I want to pass it down to my children. And maybe when I'm on my death bed my children and my children's children will witness me praising Him with my one last breath. I know God is always there, listening to me. I want to do more and more to help others to realize that too.

Casting Crowns

I Know You're There

If all I had was one last breath

I'd spend it just to sing Your praise

Just to say Your name

If all I had was one last prayer

I'd pray it 'cause I know You're always listening

If I could live a thousand lives, bind the hands of time
I would spend every moment by Your side 'cause I

Chorus: I know You're there, I know You see me

You're the air I breathe

You are the ground beneath me

I know You're there, I know You hear me

I can find You anywhere

If all I had was one more song to sing

I would raise my voice to make the heavens ring

If all I had was one last chance, I'd take it

I would stake it all on You

If I could raise up high and catch a glimpse of every eye

I would make them believe

What I feel inside

Chorus

If I could live a thousand lives and bind the hands of time

If I could rise up high and catch a glimpse of every eye

Chorus

I know You're there

I know You're there

I know You're there, You're there

Song 2: There are 2 sides to this next song. The first side: Are you the person that goes into your church building and feel like everyone around you is living in a fairytale? That nothing is going wrong in their life. Do you feel like you're the only one there that is going through a hard time but you feel like you have to hide it because everyone else is so happy go lucky? Are you putting on a show, afraid to let someone get close to you? Are you afraid they'll look at you differently? Are you afraid to let your guard down, afraid that you actually may find someone who cares? The second side: You as the church body. Are you able to welcome strangers in with open arms? Are you able to see passed their differences? Are you able to see that they are a child of God too? Do you make visitors feel welcome? And one last question....are you putting on a show that your life is all wonderful and nothing is wrong? Look around you. Everyone has struggles. Everyone faces challenges. And NOBODY is perfect. But God loves us through it all. God is able to see passed our differences, our faults, our sin. I am not perfect. I want to be able to lift a visitor or fellow church member up but I also want to be treated the same way.

Casting Crowns
Stained Glass Masquerade

Is there anyone that fails

Is there anyone that falls

Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Cause when I take a look around

Everybody seems so strong

I know they'll soon discover

That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay

If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too

So with a painted grin, I play the part again

So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Chorus:

Are we happy plastic people

Under shiny plastic steeples

With walls around our weakness

And smiles to hide our pain

But if the invitation's open

To every heart that has been broken

Maybe then we close the curtain

On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there

Are there any hands to raise

Am I the only one who's traded

In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing

And we know every line by heart

Only when no one is watching

Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free

If I dared to let you see

The truth behind the person

That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open

Or would you walk away

Would the love of Jesus

Be enough to make you stay

Chorus (2 x's)

But if the invitation's open

To every heart that has been broken

Maybe then we close the curtain

On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone that fails

Is there anyone that falls

Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Thanks for hanging in there with me, if you did. :) Happy Feel Good Wednesday!

Spring Sprucing

What can you get on clearance for only $5 that smells SO good and reminds you that Spring is finally here? These lovely flowers! Sunday night I made a trip to Walmart with my good friend Tosca. Tosca was getting groceries and I decided to get these clearance priced flowers. What a great deal for $5.

Over the last few weeks I have really wanted to do a little sprucing up in my house. I still don't have my backsplash done (yes, I know it has been a year people!). But I wanted to do a little decorating. So my friend Jody came over yesterday to help with a little of my decorating dilemma's. I can pick things out pretty well but putting them up on the walls, shelves, or mantle is difficult for me. So I call Jody my personal decorator because she is so good at putting things together. I have told her she should quit her day job and do decorating full time. Ha! Well, I have gotten several crosses as gifts in the past several months and hadn't even hung them yet. I love my cross wall! I have no more room for anymore. I love how when you first walk in my front door this is what you see. I want people to know that God lives in our hearts and home. So below is a before and after. Hasn't my collection of crosses grown?!

BEFORE

AFTER

sorry the angle is off - there were too many to get in the picture - OH and I just have to add that Logan picked out the cross that is in the left corner of this picture after I lost the baby and Jody gave me the baby cross on the very bottom left in memory of Baby Bohannon - so sweet

Next we worked on my coffee table. I wanted something pretty on here, not just remotes and my Bible and books.

BEFORE

AFTER

I know it doesn't seem like I've done much but just these little additions have really brought some extra color to my home. I'm hoping to do some more sprucing up this week. Maybe I'll be back with more in the next few weeks.

Have you had any Spring fever about anything in your home? Cleaning closets? Organization?

Prayer Journal

If you can remember, there was a previous post where I mentioned a good friend of mine, Stephanie, giving me this journal. I have used this journal within the past month to write down my prayers....prayers for myself, friends, family and strangers.

Wednesday morning I woke up SUPER early, 4:30 a.m. to be exact, and could not sleep. I have done this a few times in the past several months. When I wake up like this, I just get up and pray and read my Bible. Well Wednesday I got up and I immediately started praying for myself. I was feeling really down about not being pregnant still. But I also felt that God was right there listening to my prayers and my cries. As I was praying I began to pray for Wes and Logan. I want more for us. More for our family. Not financially but like my pastor has said recently, I want a revival of our hearts.

I then began to pray for my prayer list in my journal. I went to get it out of my purse and I went back to the first day I had written some prayers. I was amazed at what I saw. Within a month 3 of my prayers had been answered! THREE!! I wrote in my journal that morning "Praise the Lord" and wrote which prayers had been answered. It was so amazing to visibly see the work God is doing in my life and the ones around me.

Wednesday morning God had given me the scripture that I posted on Wednesday's post. Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." So I'm going to keep asking, seeking and knocking.....because IT WILL be opened!

A worship song came to my mind this morning before I started writing this....

All I want to do is love you

All I want to do is worship

All I want to do is lay here right at your feet

As I lift my hands to heaven

Let your fire fall down on me

Rekindle the fire within me Lord, once again

And surround me, Oh Lord

Surround me, Oh Lord

Surround me, Oh Lord

Let your presence fill this place

That's what I want for me. A fire within me. I love what God is doing in my life. I want more and more of it.

Feel Good Wednesday #4

So did anyone happen to watch Biggest Loser last night??? Well if you were watching and listening, you would have heard one of my Feel Good Wednesday artists, Francesca Battistelli. Biggest Loser played her song, It's Your Life, while the contestants were running a half marathon. I was SO excited to hear a christian song played on one of my favorite reality shows. Made me so happy. Oh and I was SO proud of the contestants. Last nights show was the first time in a long time that I teared up watching. Very special moments between three different sets of parents and children. If you're not watching Biggest Loser, you're missing out. You can even go here and watch full shows online. I think this is new, because last year I tried to catch a show I missed and they didn't have this feature. I LOVE it when they have full episodes online of my favorite shows. *smile*


Ok, so on to the song and artist for Feel Good Wednesday #4. Jeremy Camp, There Will Be A Day reminds me, every time I hear it, that we are only here on Earth for a short time. We have pain and sorrow, joy and peace, love and laughter while we are here but there is going to be a day when we go Home where this will be all behind us and we will experience a joy that is so indescribable. We will be greeted by our loved ones that have passed on before us and we won't feel any sadness at this time, only extreme happiness. As I go about my days, I see and hear people that are filled with sorrow but if we will just think about that day that is coming it could give us the hope that we need to hold on just a little longer. Listen to this song and think about the words.....this day will come for you, if only you believe. I pray you do!

Jeremy Camp Lyrics - There Will Be A Day Song

Album : Speaking Louder Than

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have

But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that tries to grab

The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth

That we will enter in this rest with wonders a new

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings

That there will be a place with no more suffering

Chorus

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears

There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we’ll see Jesus face to face

But until that day, we’ll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long

You feel you’re walking on your own

But there has never been a step

Where you’ve walked out all alone
Troubled soul don’t lose your heart

Cause joy and peace he brings

And the beauty that’s in store

Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

Chorus

I cant wait until that day where the very one

I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced

To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing

Chorus

Early this morning God spoke to my troubled heart. He gave me this scripture...Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

I hope you all have a blessed Feel Good Wednesday. I'm SO excited. I'm taking off half a day to go spend time with my sweet, sweet friend Courtney. No, I didn't persuade her to leave Mississippi just so I could have my workout partner back. HA! She's just visiting. I'll work on twisting her arm to stay. *smile*