Proud MaMa Moment

A little over a week ago the local dry cleaner here in town caught fire during the night... it was adjacent to a shopping center that housed other businesses including an empty storefront that was being used as a holding for the donated toys for Toys for Tots.  Over $15,000 in toys and about $6,000 in clothing were lost... as always you can count on the Gaylord community to spring into action and start restocking of those items so that every child can have a Christmas (there was no insurance).  Even I was/am holding a fundraiser and ALL proceeds earned from my Tupperware sales through December 14th will be donated to the Toys for Tots program in Gaylord.  So where does the proud Mama moment come into play?

The first thing out of my baby girl's mouth when she woke up this morning was, Mama we gotta put this money (lefting a handful of change she'd been saving for month) in a baggie so I can take it to school for Toys for Tots!  I wished I'd had a camera handy, her sad little face looking up at me as if to say "if we don't get this money to them there won't be any Christmas"... that's my baby girl.  She really does have my "giving" blood in her.  A moment in time when she wasn't thinking of herself and wouldn't stop until I had the baggie down and filled with change.  I even offered to get some more money for her to take but she didn't want it... this was HER money and SHE was giving it for something she believed to be special and purposeful.  that folks, is my proud mama moment!!

Are You Strong Enough?

Yesterday was a big day here in America... Election Day.  Not just any Election Day, but the one where we decide on who our president will be for the next four years... sometimes a tough decision, sometimes not so much.  There's always a few extra names listed on the ballot of people you've likely never heard of and two you most definitely have... this year, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were our Primary choices.  When it comes to the president and presidential elections things can get heated, arguments begin, friendships end, people laugh, people cry... for some it's a highly emotional time.

I'll make no bones about it, I didn't vote for Obama the first time and I sure as heck didn't vote for him this time.  He didn't win and honestly I'm ok with that... I'm not ok with some of his past choices, and probably won't be with some of his future choices.  It's ok... it's ok because everyone has made some poor choices throughout their lives and I'm sure Romney would have made some poor decisions throughout his presidency had he won.  We all (I'm guilty of it too) seem to hold the president responsible for everything that goes wrong, and for not making positive changes.  The economy is in a hard hard state right now, people are hurting and struggling, fighting to survive and one man can't fix that.  It is unrealistic to think Obama could have made such great changes in the past four years, and it would have been unrealistic to expect Romney to fix the mess that was created over the past eight plus years.  There is only one that can truly heal the hurt, feed the starving and lessen the struggles... He's our Almighty God.  You know the verse, "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me" - pull him near, feel his warmth and I promise he'll pull you through whatever your troubles may be.  No president can do that!

So here we are... Obama has another four years to finish what he started, another four years to get it right, to learn from his mistakes and go forward making GOOD decisions to help America turn itself around.  Just keep in mind that ONE man can't do it alone, we all have to be a part of the equation.  We all have to be a part of the solution, be the change you want to see in the world, be the role model the world needs you to be... shake your neighbors hand and let's put this country back together again!

Thankful Thursday...

**only one day late this week**

Yikes, it’s Thankful Thursday already and I wrote nothing in between… boo me.

I’ve been thinking about this Thankful Thursday thing, and I’m thinking I need to think about it sooner than on Thursday’s… I played through so many things that I’m thankful for that I literally got a headache.  Seriously, where do you start when you have so many things to be thankful for?  I’ll tell ya where…  with God.  I know, there was a time when such a statement coming from my mouth would have caused panic but don’t worry… Mercury isn’t in Retrograde or anything like that.  Well maybe it is, I haven’t checked lately so who knows.

Anywho… if ya know me, and I mean really know me and not just think you know me… you know there was a period when me and God didn’t exactly see eye to eye.  I never stopped talking to him, well maybe it was more like yelling at him… but either way, I’ll tell ya flat out he never left my side.  I’ll save you the gory details of my past but there were many a time when, in looking back, He was there catching me every time I fell… except that one time that involved black ice and a concusion, and that other time that involved high heels and ½ dozen shots, but I digress…

It was rough… it still is.  But now I have more faith that everything will be ok.  It was 2010 and after seven years of “bad luck” I’d had enough, I heard his call and followed his lead… the decision was made, me and the kids would be going back to church.  Their father didn’t want any part of it at the time, which was ok cause I was going to need someone to take care of the kids after I burst into flames from stepping foot in a church.  Seriously.  I researched the area churches and decided on Oak Pointe Church in Novi.  The day came, the kids were excited, I was nervous and cautiously approached the building slowly walking in further and further… sigh, phew… no flames.  Would you believe I noticed changes happening right away… and for the better!   For the longest time, while at odds with God, I had that attitude of “just because I don’t go to church doesn’t mean I’m not a Christian, or a good person”… it’s not enough, it really isn’t.   There’s a BIG difference in saying I believe in God and actually believing in him… know what I mean?  You can go around and say, yeah yeah I believe… but do you really?  What do your actions say?  What does your heart say?  Do you feel the belief or is it just  a passive statement??  Do ya get it now?

Anywho… long story short, we only attended that church for about 8 months when God started making big moves in our lives and he took us to Port Huron for a new and wonderful career!  Then a year later we were called to head north… and back to my home church, Gaylord Evangelical Free Church.  The church has grown TREMENDOUSLY since I left the area in 1999 but it still has that small town warmth and love about it… even though the attendance has grown so much, I still see so many faces I recognize and I’m thankful for that.  A little sad when some of the faces are of those that were in elementary school the last time I saw them, or were just graduating high school and now have families of their own… sigh, I feel so old.  :o(

Back to my long story short… I’m thankful for God and his forgiveness.  If you’ve never heard of 2wordstory, I highly recommend you check out their site and program – it’s AWESOME!  I struggled with my own 2 word story and what it should be, there were sooo many words I could use but I settled on the one most fitting.  My story… Forgiven?  Forgiven.  Someday I’ll tell ya about it, but for now this song by Mercy Me describes it pretty well.