Tired

I am so exhausted. I need to be in bed sleeping, but I haven't been able to sleep very well lately. Not sure what that is about. I think it has to do with all the excitement in my life lately. For the first time in forever, I am completely happy at where I am in life. I actually take the time to enjoy the moment.
I am kicking myself now for going to St Louis last night, I missed a good service!!! Missy called me as soon as she got out of Church and told me all about it. She was so pumped up about Ray's message when she left. Not only did we miss Church, but we also missed Issac's birthday party. We got there in time to give Issac his present and for Scott and Danny to play a half game of Madden. We also missed our lunch date with Dave and Trish. We did however make it to our last small group training. We are sad that its our last but def excited to get it started! It looks like we are going to have a decent size group as of right now.
Here are the last few pictures of our road trip. Though we missed a lot over the last 24 hours. It was a trip very much overdue for Scott and I. We talked, laughed, enjoyed the view and each others company ALONE (for the first time in forever)

Sarah and Issac at our last small group training
The drive home Enjoying God's beautiful Earth!

This was my office for the night
and this was Scott's : )
Driving home.... I was still so tired
Scott (he looked happy)

We're here!!

We arrived at the hotel and immediately jumped on that big comfortable bed..... Wow am I exhausted. I am waiting for my tech to get off site and then my head is hitting that nice big pillow!!! We probably wont be making it back to Ohio for Church tomorrow : ( but we will be there tomorrow night for our last home group training. Ray, here is a question for you. Do you tape the sermons? If so I would like one.


Here's a few more pictures!!

Road Trip!

I am on call this weekend and of course I had an emergency come up for today. I needed someone to take some parts to St Louis this evening and had no luck. So long story short Scott and I are on our way to St Louis, MO. We actually jumped at the chance not only because of its many advantages but also because we just celebrated our two year anniversary and the highlight of that was cooking dinner together : ) SO... Scott and I jumped at the chance, a hotel paid by CNS and a road trip with just the two of us plus I am getting payed pretty well to do it! Here's some pictures of the beginning of our journey!!!

Ray- We are attempting to make it back for Church tomorrow. If we are a little late do you think you could hold off till we get there..... Just kidding!

Forgiveness

Me and Jenn!

My mom and I! My cousin Katy and I!

My sister Nichole and my son Austin!

If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.Matthew 6:14-15

This is the verse I came accost today. It sticks out to me because forgiveness is often hard to do. I am a huge believer in forgiveness. But the one person I have never been able to fully forgive is my mom. I love my mom to death and would give anything to have the mother/daughter relationship most have. The pain has been so strong over the past fifteen years. There are times when it seems like we are finally on the right track and then something happens and it puts those bad memories right back at the front of my mind. I have been praying for so long that I would be able to forgive my mom and to be able to have a relationship with her. When I found this verse I felt like this was a sign. The good news is both me and my mom have been on the right path. I was going to wait to say anything about it until she did it, but a week or so ago my mom called me and told me she was ready to accept Jesus into her heart. She told me she wanted to learn to forgive and to heal from her past. She is ready to be saved and ready to talk to Pastor Ray about being baptised. I was blown away. I want my mom to be happy and accepting Jesus is her start! Please pray for my mom. I am overjoyed at her decision and can not wait to see what God will do with her!

Scott and I was talking about my mom and it dawned on us. 2 of my sisters (I have one more sister that hasn't yet given her life to Jesus), my son, my mom and my cousin have accepted Jesus into their hearts and made the decision to live their life for Him in just the past 4 months! How cool is that!!!! It's so neat to sit back and watch all the awesome things God is doing in my families lives. I put pictures of all the ones that have accepted Jesus this year! I added one more of my friend Jenn, she came to me over a year ago telling me she wanted to be baptised and to start living for Jesus. Jenn was never baptised and has yet to pronounce her faith in Jesus.

2 years 2 day!!!

Today is mine and Scott's anniversary. We have been married two years today! I fall more and more in love with him every day.. I still wake up in the mornings wondering how we got through all that was thrown our way. But we did and we came out stronger. The first year of our marriage was difficult. We were put in bad situations, financial problems, and learning to adjust to the true meaning of marriage. The beginning of our second year started out rough, it wasn't until CP that we began to build the connection we once had. We grow closer and closer each and every day. The faith in each other we once thought we lost is back stronger than ever. I can not picture my life with out my best friend!





Here are a few pictures from our special day!









Two hands now joined as one!!

This was one of the most amazing days of my life! It felt like a fairy tale, even looking back at it now

He took my breath away in this picture! I think he was just as nervous here as he was the day he proposed!

I love this picture!

Mine and Scott's first dance as husband and wife! I felt like a princess : )

Scott and I walking into the reception. This is the first time we were announced as husband and wife!!!

Scott and I with our second family! Dave and Robin did our pre-marriage counseling, I got to learn some really cool things about them and even Scott got to learn a thing or two, We are so blessed to have them in our lives!

This is probably my favorite picture of us. It was just a random picture someone took, right after we walked down the isle together!


Thank you Scott for all the beautiful memories! I love you!!!

Nichole

I heard some good news this morning and I just wanted to share. My younger sister, Nichole decided 2 weeks ago that she wanted and was ready to start living her life for Jesus! I am proud that she is ready to accept Jesus into her heart. She will be getting baptised in just a few weeks. Please pray for my sister as she begins her new walk!

The weekend has sadly came to an end

Wow what a weekend! Friday night I got to spend a little bit of time with my dad for dinner!! Saturday I started off the day by being late to women's group, but the little bit of time I did get to spend with them was great! I came home long enough to change out the laundry, fix a sandwich and head off for Scott's football game. Ray and Melissa made it out and got to share the joy of hiding under the bleachers dodging the rain and still watching the game! Scott didn't get to play the whole time they were there, but played almost the whole second half! I somehow between yesterday and today misplaced or lost our camera.... We have searched just about everywhere. We have been needing a new camera for awhile, but have been procrastinating for awhile about getting one just to save some money... Looks like we are going to have to get another one now.. Today's serve was great! John preached today and he brought an amazing message! I am glad we went to CP today! I can not believe we only have 1 more small group training left. We have really been learning a lot and am excited and nervous to get it moving!

Sometimes people are just plain mean

This is an email I received this morning at work. Please keep in mind I work in an office that is suppose to be professional..... I changed the names in case the person this was intended to hurt ever sees it.


"Jimmy James is upset because whenever anyone walks buy him and Billy Bob everyone says hi to Billy Bob and not him, so whenever you walk buy just say hi to Billy Bob and if you could tell other people this in your area that would be great.

Thanks


I don't understand why people go WAY out of there way to hurt someone. So "Jimmy James" was upset and feeling like an outcast and complained.... why does that mean you have to spread the word to make the feelings worse. That has been a time at least once in our lives that we have all felt like we didn't belong. I know this is petty, but it bothers me to see stupid little things like this!

What a night

After work Scott, Robin, Julie and I were on our way to CP for the meeting/brainstorm on kids ministry. To start the evening off we ran out of gas, were stuck on the side 275 for over an hour, and were late for the meeting. Once we got to CP the night went much better! The meeting was interesting to see all the ideas Trish has come up with. She is such an amazing women of God. I am really enjoying getting to know every one at CP. I am excited to see what this summer holds for the kids. Robin made brownies today for the meeting... If you didn't get any you should have they were yummy!



I am really sad we wont be at CP this weekend to hear John preach... I am thinking that maybe we should postpone going to Dove. But I miss Dave and Robin so much.... Such tough choices.....

Scott will be playing his 2nd semi pro football game and its a home game. Danny, Sarah, Dave and Trish said they were going attempt to make it to the game... and if your reading this you should too.

Robin and my mom are going to Massachusetts this weekend. Which makes me think that I am really in need of a vacation from work. I still have almost 6 months before I take mine. I always take mine around Christmas because I get more days off and this year we are going to be spending it in Florida with Bonnie (Scott's mom)!! It's been almost a year since we seen her, we are all missing her like crazy.

Oh and congratulations to John on new job/new shift!!!!

BIG NEWS!!!

Someone came to me last night and told me they were ready to be saved and more than ready to live there life for Jesus! I am in awe. I don't want to say who this is yet, but she (hint) will be announcing it at Church. We wont be at Center Pointe this week, we are going to visit our old Church, Dove. I am really missing Dave and Robin and Dave will be preaching this week!!!! I can't wait to see them!

My husband!

Happy fathers day to my own husband! He has been a terrific father to our children. He as well as made many sacrifices for his children, some more even painful sacrifices. I love sitting back and watching Scott on the floor wrestling with the kids or playing board games with them or just doing dad things. One of my favorite things to see is Scott reading the word of God to our kids. Many of you know the history of Scott and I. One of the things I admire the most is the love between him and Julie. He has never once denied her as his own even when we almost went our separate ways. I honestly don't think he could love her anymore if she did share his DNA. I have always said that making a child doesn't make you a father, its the little things that matter. God put Scott in our lives at just the right time and he couldn't have given Julie a better father. He couldn't of given her a daddy that loves her as much as Scott loves her. Thank you for being an awesome father and amazing husband babe! I love you!!!!!!

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Today was another great day at Center Pointe!! I love that Church and I don't think I will ever get tired of saying that! It was really cool to see and hear the guys up there singing : ) But it did feel really weird not to be at CP with Scott. After Church the kids and I came home and baked a cake for daddy!! Well I ended up burning the cake, and didn't have time to make another one before I had to go pick up Scott. My mom came to the rescue and baked a new cake for him!

Since today is fathers day, I wanted to talk about my dad. I don't think there is anyone on this earth that could come close to being as awesome as he is! My parents divorced when I was three years old. My sisters and I came to live with my dad when I was 5. My mom lived in Kentucky and wasn't around a lot. Mostly because she didn't have a car or a licence. My dad never remarried or even attempted to date. He was content on just having "his girls". For most of our childhood he worked 2 at one time 3 jobs to support us, never once complaining. He loved us unconditionally. My dad sacrificed many things for us, but I think the one thing that did bother him was the lack of time he got to spend with us. My dad finally went back to school still working the two jobs and earned a degree in which lead him to get a better job. One that he didn't have two work to jobs to keep. I still see in him the sacrifices he made for us daily when we were kids and sometimes even today. One of the hardest things I had to forgive myself for was the way I treated my dad when I was a teenager. I was running with the wrong crowd and treated him so badly. He never stopped loving me, never once gave up home on me, and most importantly to me he never turned his back. The worse I got the more he attempted to prove to me how much he loved me and my sisters. My dad had a minor heart attack when I was 17. I think that was the starting point of changing the way I treated my dad. I felt like it was my fault that my dad had the heart attack, mostly because my aunt (my dad's sister) made sure to tell me it would be my fault if he died after smacking me in the face. That was my wake up call. I call my dad every day just to tell him I love him. I'm not afraid or embarrassed to tell him how proud I am of him or how much the sacrifices he made for me, Lorna and Nichole mean to me. Here is a letter I wrote to my dad the day I got married.

Dad

There are no words to express how grateful and lucky I have been to have you by my side. No matter what life has thrown my way you have always been there to love me and support me. You have helped me grow into the person I am today, with out you I would not have been able to accomplish the success that I have. You have been more than a father to me, even more than words can express. Dad a father is someone who makes a baby, but a daddy is someone truly special. A dad is nurturing, supportive, understanding, loving and encouraging. You have not only been all these, but YOU have been a true guiding light. You always kept my tunnel lit and made sure I made it to the end. You taught me to lead a of life of love and family. You taught me to always be understanding , graceful and kindhearted. I could only ask God that our children admire Scott and I as I do you. You have truly been my hero growing up and still today.

I love you Dad and I thank God every day for you.

Diana

New Puppy!!

Last night Scott and I went house hunting. Not only did we find the perfect house, but we also found a puppy!!! I don't know what is going to happen with this house but we fell in love with Patches when we seen him. He is so cute. He is red with white patches hints as to why his name is Patches. He is the most lovable dog and so good with the kids. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Good news!

Scott and I will be running a small group with Sarah and Danny. It has been something the four of us briefly talked about and something Scott and I have been praying for. Sarah confirmed today that her and Danny thought it would be a great idea! That is awesome news!

I'm selfish I know but my favorite part of it will be getting to see Isaac and Elijah more!! Sundays just aren't enough lol.

Some good information

I just finished reading 1ST and 2ND Timothy. Paul writes a lot of good information for me to live by. Reading the Books of Timothy points out a lot of good information for Scott and I to use in our Small Group. Scott and I get more pumped up about small groups each and every second of the day! Like Scott and Ray said John is doing a phenomenal job teaching! Its amazing to see the change in my own life in just the past year. I never would of thought a year ago that Scott and I would be teaching a small group!! A year ago we weren't even attending Church regularly let alone reading our Bibles daily.

Back to my reading on the books of Timothy. Paul really stresses the importance of praying for anything and everything (we also talked a lot about this in small group training) and spreading the word to every one. When our small group kicks off it will be amazing to see how many people it will bring to God's word. It also talks about how we need to be gentle listeners and no to quick to judge. That will fit in a lot when we have a member of our group come to us with a problem they are facing, which John also talked about last night. There is so much more that Paul teaches in this chapter. I just wanted to share some of the many things that I got out of this that will help me in not only small groups, but also my daily life.

The weekend!

Me and my football player!!!!

They were so proud of their dad!

Austin's new hair cut Julie's new hair cut
The kids pretending to be sleeping in the bath tub during our tornado scare
Princess had to jump in

What a busy weekend! Saturday as we were headed out the door to take the kids to the Air force museum, Scott got a call from a friend asking him to play semi pro football. They had a game that night and several players weren't able to make it. So we drove the three hours to the game for Scott to play. On the way there we made a stop pit at Cici's for dinner. After we ate some Pizza Julie wanted to play some games. Now unlike Pastor Ray I usually let the kids win. However during our air hockey game I remembered his sermon last Sunday and decided I wanted to win! Julie took it well though : )

The kids had a blast watching their daddy out their warming up and playing football. Julie cheered her little heart out for the "Fires". Scott didn't get to play that much but it was a great time. I did get to see a side of my husband I never seen before! He has been wanting to play for awhile but the timing was never right. I think he is going to start playing with them from now on.

Today's Sermon was interesting! Ray preached on TEMPTATION. He did an awesome job once again getting the message across. The Church was packed today! It was awesome!

Tonight we had our second small groups training. John answered alot of questions I had. Scott and I are so pumped about small groups! The thought of bringing someone to Jesus is enough!!!!!!!!