Hair, toes & kitties

Look how long/big she is now!



I love this picture of them looking out the front storm door.



My toes! I have never had them blue before.





My new hair do. I have highlights for the first time and a different cut as well. It is sort of hard to tell in pictures but it looks a good bit different to me. I'm thinking with this type cut I may need to try pierced ears again but not sure. They have never really done well pierced. Seem to stay infected most of the time which is no fun at all.

The Graduate

My cousin Stephanie's graduation was this weekend. She was an honor graduate and will be going off to college in the fall with a biology major. She has an interest in marine biology but would likely need to go out of state for that. She is a smart kid and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. I am sure she will do well and the family is proud of her.



This is my little cousin Aiden. (Stephanie's nephew) He is so adorable and such a happy baby. He knows no stranger which is amazing to me. Danielle could not have gotten a better baby.

one day old kitten

This is the little kitten I helped take care of today. It was born yesterday and wasn't moving around very much so the mama cat pushed it aside. Tomkat found it and thought it was dead but then it moved. He tried to get the mama to take it but it would not. So, he took it in the house and tried to feed it himself but it would not eat anything. It would not eat at all yesterday but has been eating today. I'm amazed the little thing is still alive! I think it may be dehydrated though. If it is still alive in the morning maybe I can convince the tomkat to at least go get it some fluids under the skin so it has a better chance at survival. I had to do that with Chance when I first got him and wasn't even charged so surely it wouldn't be too much money???

When Godly People do Ungodly Things

I enjoyed this bible study more than I thought I would and decided to post the five points that were made by Beth Moore in our last video session.

1. The sin that is different from ours always seems worse.
2. The Word of God never teaches us to break fellowship with the repentant.
3. We cannot go on in our sin. The Holy Spirit will convict us.
4. How do we go on from here? We go on blessed.
5. A true, healed Had is so scared of herself that she will never live anywhere but before the face of God.

I've had some conversations recently with various people about whether or not we can lose our salvation. My position is that we cannot. Romans 8:38 says "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I do not believe that God would ever turn His back on us. Yes, we can turn our backs on Him and go off in our sin for awhile but I believe point #3. We cannot go on in our sin. We WILL be convicted by the Holy Spirit and we will turn back. The prodigal son did. The father was waiting and watching for him to return and he was greeted with open arms. The father didn't send him away. He didn't say you've gone too far this time. He greeted the son with open arms.

What would be the point of the cross if He ever intended to turn His back on those whom He has saved??? I'm afraid in our flesh and the sins we commit and continue to commit He would have turned His back on every last one of us by now if that was the case.

God Speaks your Love Language

I bought this book by Gary Chapman not super long ago and really enjoyed it.

Basically, there are five different love languages. They are:
#1 - Words of affirmation
#2 - Quality Time
#3 - Gifts
#4 - Acts of Service
#5 - Physical touch

One thing that I got out of this book was that if I am not feeling loved by someone it is because they are not speaking my primary love language. It isn't that there is something wrong with me for not "getting" it, it is simply that they are speaking another language and it is one that doesn't communicate love to me in the same way that my primary love language does.
I took this whole concept a little further to realize that if I have someone in my life that does love me but I'm just not getting it then I probably am not very effective in communicating my love for them either since we are obviously speaking different languages based on my own "I'm not feeling the love type feelings".
Because God speaks my love language and your love language, He speaks all five love languages. If we are created in His image and we're to become more and more like Him and we are to love one another then it makes sense that we need to learn to speak all five love languages as well.
From the book "Scripture is clear that making the God connection is not a culmination, but rather a beginning. It also becomes clear that this love relationship with God involves an ongoing association with other members of the family. So as we learn to receive the love of God in all five love languages, we also begin to speak those languages to other believers as well as those not yet in God's family. Expressing love using your primary love language will come naturally for you. Learning to speak the other four love languages may require more time and effort. However, we must remember that we don't generate the love, but simply channel the love that God provides. We do not love others in order to be accepted by God; we love them in response to God's first loving us and graciously accepting us into His family. Learning to communicate love in all five love languages enhances our usefulness in the community of God. When love prevails in the Christian community, the non-Christian world will beat a path to our doors, for they desperately long for such love. Again, hear the words of Jesus: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another". Love is the distinguishing mark of the Christian. When God's love flows through us in all five love languages, we become surprisingly effective instruments in helping others make the God connection and enter His family. Despite any other challenges or obstacles we may face, love prevails!"
I think this is where we miss the boat so often as Christians. We don't love one another. We judge. We condemn. We shoot our wounded. We turn our backs on those we once claimed to care about because we don't understand or we don't agree or we get scared or just whatever. We as Christians are the church and the church should be a safe place where we can be real. But, so often it isn't and that is sad. And we wonder why the non-Christian world isn't beating a path to our door.

Morning after the sleep study

It looks like I had a rough night! Look at how red the side of my nose is from the mask. Talk about sore. The red marks on my forehead are where they wrote on me with a washable marker. They wrote all in my head too.

Frankenstein

I looked pitiful all hooked up for my 2nd sleep study with the cpap machine. I had to wear those two "belts" around me all night and I had four probes connected to each leg as well with the wires going up each pant leg and up my shirt to be gathered with the rest of the wires behind me. I just wore the box with all the wires connected to it around my neck so I could go to the bathroom once more before being hooked up to the machine and going to bed. It took FOREVER to fall asleep (even though I had taken an ambien as well as the "good" cough medicine) and morning came way too soon but I was more than ready to potty and get unhooked.
They want you to wait to take the sleep aid until you are all hooked up but for me I do better to take it an hour or so before I want to go to sleep but I minded and did what they said. They say they have literally had people fall asleep while hooking them up when they have taken the sleep aid too early for them I guess. I can't see me doing that but one never knows.

burnt bananas

I'm not exactly sure what happened here but I think I burnt them with a hot pan when I was pouring my Ramen into a bowl. Ruined the whole banana. :(