What a blessing it was today to be able to attend the Focus on Marriage Simulcast today at our church. We were blessed to be a part of it, and I pray that all those involved were touched as we were.

I want to share a few things that I took away from the conference. First of all, Jeremy Camp shared some great worship songs, and it was great to start the day imagining how we were worshipping with 500 other simulcast locations across the nation and Canada, along with the host site at the FOF location. Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage, was probably my favorite for the day. He had numerous points which helped me see marriage in yet a different light. He spent some time on looking at the theme that marriage provides a context in which to improve ourselves...each and every day. What lesson is God teaching you day in and day out as you seek to become a God-centered spouse? We are called to love at all times. Maybe something your spouse does causes you irritation. Is God calling you to be patient? Maybe you have a temper that is easily triggered - Is God calling you to purify yourself and become slow to anger? No other situation on earth provides us the opportunities to improve ourselves, yet there is no way, not with the best of intentions, or the best heart, can we do it OURSELVES. To draw closer to your spouse, you must draw closer to God. One cannot be done without the other. Because, to draw closer to God will convict you to love your mate unconditionally, despite his/her faults. It is not so much that you have the "how to" but that you have the "heart to".

He used Matthew 6:33 as a key verse, stating, in the marriage covenant, if you seek righteousness and the kingdom of God, happiness will come. Will this happiness be in the form of a great marriage, or a spouse who suddenly is attentive to your every need, or improved intimacy? Not necessarily. But happiness will come in the form of our soul being right with God and us leaning on him for our needs to be met.

Gary also posed an interesting thought. He had sat down with a newly engaged woman and asked her about her future husband. She gushed for 15 minutes saying, "He is this, he is this, and he does this, and he is that, and he...." and on and on. Later, he asked the same question of a woman that had been married for 6 years or so. Her reply was, "He isn't kind, he doesn't do this, he doesn't do that..." Gary asked, "When does a man start being known by what he isn't, rather than by what he is? Marriage?" May I, God willing, be a woman who says, "My spouse is," rather than, "My spouse isn't."

I look at my marriage and see a daily challenge to become more than I am today, with God's help. I see daily choices available to me to choose love. I see God crafting my soul when I need to take the view that my spouse will stumble, and I married him knowing that full well. But God created his son(my husband) to be loved, and my love for him is a form of worship and praise to the Lord for creating the man I married. I see God at work in me, purifying and sanctifying me with every decision I make. The challenge is to make the right choice in my decisions. Choose your spouse. Each and every day, hour, and minute. By choosing your spouse, you choose God. Don't turn your back on the second best gift you have been given, second only to Jesus Christ.

Yes, that was only speaker number one.

Enough to ponder for one night...

Well, I figured I'd do a part one because after tomorrow I am sure there will be a part 2. We're excited to be a part of the Focus on Marriage simulcast tomorrow which is being held at our church. The simulcast is put on by Focus on the Family, and will feature Beth Moore, Del Tackett (The Truth Project), Gary Thomas, Gary Smalley, Jeremy Camp doing music, and a few more. I am so excited because I think it will be a great way to spend the day with my hubby!

So, I'm sure you will wait with bated breath (is that how you spell that???) to hear my report - coming live from CATC. (That's coffee at the cabin for those of you who couldn't figure it out...no offense)

Until then...

I've just gotten back to the "home page" after going out and visiting many of you. I am SOOOO happy about how many have picked up Fireproof and The Love Dare. It's fun to see others excited about what you are excited about, know what I mean? And, if I use excited one more time in this paragraph, someone reach into the computer and pull off my pinky finger.

Also, thanks to all of you who have actually found me in my newly updated, correctly spelled, fully caffeinated, coffee zone. I feel so much more at home in this location now that I am wrapped in the assurance that someone who types in my blog addy as it was intended, would actually not be hit with a "page not found" error. Some would lie awake at night wondering what the full ramifications of such an error would be, but, certainly I would never do something such as that, overthinking any given situation. Okay, I tend to over analyze just a weeeeeee bit which you will grow to love (or hate) about me as you continue to see my true colors on this blog.

Speaking of being hit, do you know that the minute I started creating my new blog the other day, I had an immediate follower! Wow, I was sooooo excited! (UGH, that word again) Anyway, I thought to myself that it would be important to welcome the first newcomer to this address, so I clicked on it and BOOM! I immediately had spanish pentecostal music blaring through my computer and no amount of hitting an X, ctrl-alt-delete or anything else would shut 'er down. YIKES! Trouble hit me hard. Immediately, my computer flashed up that I had 19 viruses and I must attend to them because they were critical errors.

Of course, my first thought was how much of my blog transfer had saved prior to this happening - I didn't want to have to cut and paste again....

Then, my second thought was why the much acclaimed McAfee software hadn't kicked in and blocked all this crap...I paid good money for this security software that constantly updates and slows my laptop down to a crawl - it had better beat the living daylights out of these viruses!!! Well, once I sat back and realized that I had been hit with VirusDoctor and it was a spoof virus warning getting me to download software to "repair" it. Whew! So, I calmly instructed McAfee to run a full virus scan on my entire computer (which took hours I may add) and simply felt the need to switch over to our other computer to continue to fix my much over thought blog so I could actually sleep that night.

Needless to say, incoming newcomer was completely blocked and is now out of the way. But, sorry to say, I did enable some comment moderation initially just to make sure I didn't get a repeat visit. Sorry about that inconvenience.

Anyway, guess I shared a bunch about my "ordeal" which was really nothing, but fun to write about anyway.

Off to make shepherd's pie and clean the basement.

What fun.

Okay, so I am particularly particular about a few things, so when I discovered, after trying to type in my blogger address on a different computer, that my blog name was spelled wrong, I had to correct it. Immediately. Drop everything, this has to be done now.

Well, I actually thought I could let it go, but I couldn't.

So, I've moved what I could, and I hope you have moved on over with me. Thanks for your patience.

I'm working with the format and color yet to make sure it is to my liking. In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.

More later...

FOR TODAY...

Outside my window...Cool, crisp morning - only 9 degrees. Going to warm up this week to (hopefully) 48 degrees! Spring is just around the corner!

I am thinking...of how Mondays always seem to be the craziest day of the week, filled with promise for productive days

I am thankful for...a husband who is a chiropractor as my neck is really stuck this morning on one side! Too bad I have to wait until he comes home to have it taken care of!

From the learning rooms...spelling test that we didn't get to on Friday is first on the agenda. Science and history are on the list today along with the rest of our core subjects. Need to get TJ's story completed that she is writing as well

From the kitchen...pulled pork sandwiches and french onion soup for supper - that's as far ahead as I am at this point!

I am wearing...typical Monday uniform: slippers, socks, exercise pants, long sleeve top, black pullover

I am creating...PILES. Piles and piles of stuff that needs to be put away - I am trying to reorganize my desk with work vs school stuff. Also, starting the process of organizing VBS for the summer with a whole new idea, so that needs to be created as well

I am going...nowhere today! I think my Monday will be completely spent within these fine walls I call home

I am reading...Well, I finished book two in the Mark of the Lion series - AWESOME!!! Now, I have book three available, but have some other ones that are due before it. Might start The Prophet by Francine Rivers first.

I am hoping...that we can get through our science lesson today without litmus paper b/c I don't have any! Also hoping for clear, God-led direction in regards to our VBS program

I am hearing...JT reading things to me. To be honest, I am hearing "blah, blah, blah" even though he is reading joke after joke. Is that bad? :)

Around the house... Operation organization needs to be revamped and revived! Actually, it's not too out of hand, but it needs a little attention. The basement has two tents and an air mattress up still from our weekend "camp IN".

One of my favorite things...how come coffee always comes to mind first? :) A nice roaring fire and a good book

A few plans for the rest of the week: Ash Wednesday, Marriage conference on Saturday, VBS meeting, work meeting Thursday - wow, the week is filling up

Here is picture thought I am sharing...



Please join other daybookers through the link on the right!

Have a wonderful week!

As far as I'm concerned, there is never enough time in a day for the reading I want to get done. Whether it be fiction or non-fiction, self help or romance, the Bible!, or whatever, I can't get 'er done. I LOVE to read, and my addiction is never satisfied.

Don't get me wrong...I can veg in front of the tv with the best of them. Brad and I have a standing 10pm date on Wednesday nights to watch "Top Chef". We're not sure what we're going to do after next week's season finale. Somehow replacing it with "America's Top Model" doesn't seem the same.

But, I digress. Back to the books. At any given time, I have a huge stack of books next to my bed. I have discovered that most of the "self-improvement" books are half read...I get into them with all my good intentions, then start to feel overwhelmed, so back onto the stack it goes. (I am NOT going to have that happen with The Love Dare though. I am committed to getting that one done. More on that a different day) I can't read more than one fiction book at a time - it's too confusing to try and keep it all straight in my simple mind. But, if I start one that I love, I typically read before I fall asleep at night, sometimes in a nice hot bubble bath if I feel the need to really reward myself! However, I have also noticed that reading before bed causes me to dream the characters, or the situation many a time. Talk about getting caught up in a book!

I have to thank my friend Suzanne for putting me onto the Mark of the Lion Series. Thank you, Suzanne, for causing me to neglect my family and forego thoughts of meal prep, laundry, and general household chores in order to sneak away to steal yet a few more moments with Marcus and Hadassah. Thank you for not telling me that I would need to have the 2nd in the series on hand as I would finish it over a weekend when I couldn't get it from the library. Thank you for the sleepless nights after I read until 2:30am and was haunted by my ineptness as a Christian witness. Thank you for the jump start to walking on the treadmill because it was something I could do with a book in hand. Thank you for tuning me into the realization that the Lord has placed me in a time where I am better situated, as I would have never survived in Rome, Ephesus, or any other area in that part of the world, or in that time. Thank you for living so far away that a book club would never be possible face to face, and all we could have together is a virtual cup of coffee. Yep, thanks for all that. You're a great friend. :) I laugh at the list I gave you to read...NONE of that compares to this type of historical fiction...

Like I said, I love books and I am thankful for eyesight to read, hearing to listen to books on tape, and the ability to type to tell you all about them. My kids are showing great desire to get lost in a book, and I couldn't be happier about that. Where else can you escape to another world, learn more about your favorite topic, become a thing-finder in your own backyard, laugh with Don Quixote and his misrepresentation of windmills, laugh at the misconceptions of all the mismatched love stories in "A Mid-summer's Night Dream", and deepen your faith in Christ Jesus? All of that in the past couple of weeks...the written word is amazing.

Off to curl up with book 2...

And, here's a quick picture of what's on my bedside table...minus Echo in the Darkness, which was next to my rocking chair at the time of the picture...what a variety of titles...

When you teach your kids at home, sometimes you just get so excited when your kids "get it"...you know, when something you have taught seems to really be integrated into their knowledge base. JT, your answer yesterday to one of your literature questions helped me to really see that you got it, and I'm so proud of you for taking the extra time on your assignments and striving to always do your best. It is evident in how you write. A year ago, you would cry and complain if asked to write a single paragraph. Today, you write paragraphs with a descriptive style that is fascinating. You take the time to do your work well. You are wise beyond your years and I love how you are thorough in so many areas of your life. Keep it up, dear one.

I want you to remember what you wrote, here and now, at the tender age of 8. So, I'm going to put it in this note, so you and others can see the talents God has given you. Never lose sight of where those talents come from!

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Your response:
You broke a vase while you're all alone. The door opens as your mom walks in. She saw the vase. You could lie or you take the hard way. Its like the kind of choice in the road less traveled. Lying is the road trampled and worn because most people took it and then you wouldn't get trusted. Take the one less traveled by - that would make you feel good and be trusted.

Love you JT...