Showers to Flowers

New series our preacher is preaching on this month. Just thought I would share the notes I took away from it this week.

Showers to Flowers...Lesson 1: 'When Life is in the Pits'

When life is in the pits, how to find showers to flowers.

Our text was Genesis chapters 39-50. The story of Joseph.

Joseph was a youthful dreamer and sharing the truth got him in lots of trouble. When life gets us down, we are to continue to share the truth and not quit chuch or give up on God.

When life is in the pits we must:

1. Keep our integrity.

Joseph shared the truth and never faltered. God was with him.

Genesis 39:2,3,21,23 all say that God was with him.

~2 Timothy 3:12. We will be persecuted but we must continue to share the truth to this lost and dying world.

~Genesis 39:8-9

~Romans 8:18

~When we are in the pits, God is with us. We must remain faithful.

2. We must have TOTAL trust in God

~If God will bring us to it, He WILL bring us thru it.

~Matthew 7:20

~Genesis 45:8. Joseph credits God

~Our faith is going to be tested, tried and purified!!

~Be faithful with the little before God gives us much!!

~Jeremiah 29:11-13. We must seek God with ALL of our heart.

3. We must have a forgiving spirit.

~Don't be a grudge holder

~John 7:5

~Genesis 50:20 God meant it for good

~There are a lot of similarities between Joseph and Jesus. Look for them and you will see.

Our showers can be turned into flowers if we follow the above 3 things faithfully.

I will post more notes each Sunday until this series is over. ENJOY!!!

March 18th, 2012

March 18th was a very rough day for me. Bill and I woke up for worship and when we walked in the door, Chad, our preacher, handed me the phone and walked me to the front of the building and told me to call my mom. I knew instantly that something was wrong because of how Melvin, one of the elders, treated me. I went into the office and called my mother. She was crying as soon as she answered the phone so I knew something was very wrong. She preceeded to tell me that my pap passed away earlier that morning. He died in his sleep. Probably from another heart attack. The doctors told the family that he had less than a year to live so we knew our time was short, but we didn't realize it was going to be that short. I cried a little during worship, but not much at all. I tried to be so very strong. Mom and dad were in the Norfolk, VA area and could not get home until Monday night. Got home from worship and decided to call and talk to my mom a little to see how she was doing. I also called my Aunt Amy and my Uncle Jim and talked to them a bit. It was the least I could do. Mom and dad came home Monday night around 9pm. Tom and Drew came up and the family was there together. Bill grilled hamburgers and I chopped up potatoes for french fries. It was a great supper.

Tuesday, Bill went to work and I went with my mom and dad to Somerset. Mom needed to go pick up her glasses and we were meeting the family for breakfast. It was a good morning. We then went home and made supper. Bill came home and we spent the evening as a family. Bill's kids called and talked to my mom.....that made her happy. I just wish they would call and talk to their dad at times. Seems they are drifting SOOO far apart from him....from us.

Bill took off Wednesday to be there for me and the family. I sure was proud of him. I told him he didn't need to take off, especially since we can't afford it and I didn't want him to burn a personal day....but he took it off anyway. That showed me just how much he loves me. We decided to ride with mom and dad to the memorial service. We arrived at Laurel Highlands Church of Christ before anyone else got there. We were only 20 minutes early. The funeral directors arrived right after us. None of us could get into the building...we had to wait for a church member. Pretty soon some members of the church showed up and started carrying food in. I watched the funeral directors carry the flowers in and I watched them carry something else in that was covered up.....that must be my paps ashes I thought. Sure enough....that is what it was. I helped the family set up the Memorial table. I got to see a lot of family and friends that I haven't seen in a really long time....years!!! The service wasn't that bad....I thought I would be a mess, but I wasn't. We all did good!! I thank Bob and Chad for doing the service. I sure am blessed with a great hubby, family and church family!!! Not sure what I would do without them. I also want to thank LHCC and WMCC for supplying all the food. What an amazing church family!!! I love you all!!!

Something I won't ever forget is that my gram and pap both died on the 18th of the month (pap in march and gram in december) and their services were both on the 21st of the month.

I pray I can be half the person my pappy was. He was all about family!! He loved his family more than anything. He also loved the Lord. I hope I can read and study my Bible like he did. I love you pappy and your memory will always live on in my heart!!!

Need a good laugh

The kids are coming again this weekend so I will be making this short so I can get supper and other things ready for their arrival.

Things have been a little rough for me lately but I am doing my best to not let them bring me down. Wednesday, my preacher's wife asked me to go to Bedford with her. She came to pick me up at my house and we went and spent the day together. I SOOOOO NEEDED that!!! Being stuck in the house day after day gets very old. Plus I knew that if I spent the day with her that I would have some great laughs. You know.....laughing is good medicine for the soul. That's what the doctors say anyway!! I spent the day with her and then we went to her house where I spent the afternoon with her and Chad (her husband and my preacher). Their son Drew came home from school and geesh.....all I did was laugh all afternoon. It was great!!! We went to Bible Study that evening. Got a call from my mom while I was there. She told me that Bill's work wasn't going good and that he wouldn't be there and I would have to find a ride home from church. Oh no.....now to rely on the Fatula's again. They never seem to mind....allthough I am sure its a burden at times. I feel like a major burden ALL the time. Chad drove me home and as we pulled in, Bill pulled in. Great timing!! Of course we stood out in the driveway and talked some more and laughed. What a great day of laughter!!! I so needed that!!!

I'm sure I'm not the only one that needs a good laugh so I thought I would add this picture!! I actually laughed out loud and I can totally see Chad and Bill and probably Drew doing this!!! LOL.

Have a great weekend. Hope you get some good laughs!!!

Missing my BEST friends!!

It's been kind of a rough day, but its still a great day!! It's 70 degrees outside, I'm alive, I have shelter and food, so I really can't complain!!!
Bill's work is changing a bit this week so today he is working a 12pm-8pm schedule. YUCK!!! Makes for a very long day for me. I miss him already. I've kept myself occupied most of the day, but now is when it will get lonely. I am really missing my best friend. On a normal day, he would be home by now. My mom and dad are so far away and are having trouble with their phones and things and my best friend Susan lives thousands of miles away and is busy with her own family right now. To top it all off....been without internet all day (until about an hour ago) and no phone. So it has been a very lonely day.
Oh well....now that the temperature is getting better and spring is coming, I guess I should find a new hobby. I need something to do or I am going to go crazy....seriously. Oh I pray that disability goes thru soon or I will be forced to just get a job so I can get myself (health) taken care of. I hate to do that though because I will lose all that money for the past two years that I have been fighting for. I just don't know what to do......just babble I guess. Thanks for reading!! More babbling later!!!

Amazing Weekend

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You SOOO much for blessing me with an amazing husband, amazing stepkids, amazing family and friends, and an amazing church family. I truly am blessed beyond comprehension.

Now...to start babbling about my amazing weekend.
I had a lot of plans or Friday evening but I happened to forget that Bill was going to have to work a little late due to some painting they were doing inside the Pepsi warehouse. Yes, my hubby works at Pepsi for those of you that didn't know that. Anyway....he didn't get off work until after 8 and then he had to go pick up his kids at their house. Their mom went to Atlantic City for the weekend so we were keeping the kids. Well, two of them. Bill got home a little after 9. I had supper ready for when they walked in the door. Just something simple and easy since Kailey just got her braces on Thursday. Her mouth was so very sore. I made hot dogs, hot sausages, and perogie casserole. I cut the hotdogs up real small for Kailey and even had some pudding for her so she had something to eat. We prayed, we ate, and then we watched SwampPeople and went to bed. Bill and I went upstairs and finished our devotions on the book of James. Can't wait to study James with Chad and the church.
Saturday we woke up around 8. We had no internet so we all decided to do something to occupy our time. I made everyone breakfast while Bill and Hunter went outside to work on the jeep. Kailey still didn't feel good so she layed around a lot. She watched Chronicles of Narnia. I chopped up potatoes and threw them in the skillet. I also put a roll of sausage in with it. I fried that up until it was done and then whisked in some eggs and mushrooms. YUMMMM!!! Those are the kinds of breakfasts we have when the kids are here. After breakfast, I did the cleaning up and Bill and Hunter went back outside. They worked on the jeep some more and didn't get anywhere with it so they decided to chop down the pine tree that mom wanted down. They had fun with that. Hunter decided to drag all of the limbs to his fort that me made in the woods. He sure does love it here. I finished cleaning the kitchen, did some laundry and then I watched a movie with Kailey. I then went outside myself. Did some cleaning up in the yard since it was nice out. Around one we all started to get ready for Kailey's basketball game. Right before we left we got a call from Bill's oldest daughter asking us to stop by the house because she was having an issue. She stayed home with her step-sister Cora. She was babysitting all weekend. Wish she would have been with us, but oh well. We have only seen Allison once since Christmas. Anyway....we drove over to the kids house and helped Allison and then we headed to Kailey's game. We had to drive to WestMar which is near Loneaconing, MD. It never dawned on me that we would have to pay to get in....so I looked like an idiot. We never have money so I looked pretty stupid digging in my wallet unprepared. Oh well....there went gas money for a couple days. It was worth it. We got to spend the day watching Kailey play basketball with her friends. Bill got to talk to his one friend from school. I'm glad we went. After the game we had to stop in Frostburg and get a few groceries. We were out of so much but could only get the necessities. We also had to get gas in Bill's truck. Boy did that make me cry. We just filled up on Thursday night and we were already filling up again.......UGH. BUT, once again I tried not to let it get to me because we did it for the kids. SOOOO....once we got home we had the most amazing supper. OOOPPPPPSSS....forgot to mention that before we left for the game Bill put chicken in the smoker so it would be done when we got home. When we got home, the chicken wasn't quite done. It had about a half hour to go. Kailey wanted to have mashed potatoes and gravy and Hunter wanted noodles so it was like a Thanksgiving feast. The kids even helped me make all of it. Kailey was a HUGE help. She kept stirring everything for me while I was getting everything else ready. I have to admit that it was a great meal. The kids ate everything on their plates. That made me happy!!! After supper we all sat down (still no Internet) and Kailey picked the movie.....it was 'Courageous'. I'm so happy that Bill's kids love to watch the Christian-inspirational movies. It was their first time watching it. They loved it. After the movie we went to bed. Bill and I did our prayer and devotion and finished up the book of James. Woooohoooo....what a day!!!
Sunday we got up for worship. I got a shower, woke the kids, and then realized Bill was still in bed. He was having trouble getting up and moving. Not because of being tired but because his back was absolutely killing him. I felt so bad for him, especially since there wasn't much I could do for him. We attended Sunday School first and then worship service. What a great sermon on 'Defeating the Enemy'. Chad preached on defeating 4 specific enemies. They were sin, unbelief, apathy and ignorance. What a powerful sermon!!! Kailey really paid attention and followed along in her Bible. I was so proud!!! Hunter went to Jr Church. Brian was the teacher. Hunter told me about his lesson. I was also proud of him for paying attention. After services we went to the fellowship hall and ate. I just love having dinners every week. It saves me from going home to cook. We ate and then drove home. We spent the afternoon outside since it was so nice outside. Kailey watched a movie and I started watching it with her but then Hunter came and got me and wanted me to go outside with him....so I did. We went to his fort. I then spent some more time outside and gathered the garbage for the garbage truck. Bill was washing his truck, took a ride on his motorcycle and worked on the pond and the jeep. We were busy!!! We had the kids gather up their things to take home to their moms and then jumped back in the truck for Sunday night youth and services. Kids had a blast at youth. We had play practice for a half hour and then practiced our song we are singing for the hymn sing next Sunday night. The kids had so much fun. Chad preached another great sermon. Hunter even took up the offering. WOW....Bill and his kids are becoming so involved in serving. I am so very proud!!! I am one VERY proud wife and stepmom. I hope someday the kids will see just how much I love them. I'm sure one day they will realize it. After services Bill and I had practice for our performance for the Hymn Sing. The kids got to watch all of us practice. Then we took the kids to meet their mom.
It was such a great weekend. I hated to see it end. After we dropped the kids off....Bill and I drove home. The whole way home I thought of just how blessed I truly am. Even though Bill was in so much pain, I could tell he enjoyed the weekend as well. We both went to bed knowing that the kids had a great time!!! We did our prayer time and studied Abraham. Then kissed and said our I Love You's and then went to bed.
Thank You, Dear Lord, for an amazing weekend!! Thank You, for Your constant blessings!! In Jesus' Name, Amen!!!

AHHHHHHHHHH

Have you ever just wanted to scream? For some reason we always think screaming is going to make everything better. Never happens though, does it?? It doesn't even make us feel better after we do it even though we think it will. Doing an AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH may make us feel better for a moment, but it doesn't take the problem away.

Why the random babbling about screaming??? Today is one of those days where I would just love to scream. I want to scream and it take the problems away, but I know it won't happen. I can think it though, right?? LOL.

I had such an amazing weekend with Bill and the kids and my church family, but then Monday comes along and...........BLAH!!! Why do Monday's feel so horrible?

So much more to say....but I will save it for my next babbling. I sure hope the day gets better!! I'm sure it will. With an awesome God, an amazing husband, and a wonderful church family.....I know things will get better!!! I sure am blessed!!!

Hope you all have a great day!!! No screaming, it doesn't work anyway!!! LOL. Pray instead!!!

Update on my parents

Well....mom and dad left the house, here in PA, on Wednesday afternoon. I always hate seeing them leave. I get so lonely when I am here alone all the time, but I am starting to get used to is. I should after a year and a half.

Anyway...mom and dad headed straight to Pittsburgh and then to Missouri. They left Missouri and went to Omaha for their layover. They were there all day yesterday to rest up.

Mom called and talked to me today and they still had no load. We no sooner hung up the phone and I got a message from her on my IPOD. She told me that they got a load to North Dakota. They were going to be hauling over 5,000 pounds of Girl Scout cookies. How awesome is that??? Wish they would drop a few while unloading and maybe ruin some boxes so they get to bring some home to me.....LOL. Just kidding!! Wish I had some girl scout cookies. I didn't get to order any this year....just don't have the funds for a non-necessity!!!

Mom and dad will be in North Dakota tomorrow and I will keep you updated if they get any other loads this weekend. Follow them on their journey at: http://www.nonipops.blogspot.com/