The Gift

Hello Friends!

I have been gone such a long time from blogging world but I haven't completely dropped off the face of blogging world.  December is here which means I am starting Random Acts of Giving/Kindess again.  This simple act at Christmas time has changed my Christmas's forever.  I received one of the best gifts I have ever received this year and would love to share the story.  It starts back in August on my birthday.

 

I received a very unexpected package in the mail from an Uncle of mine.  

 

When I opened up the package there were two small packages.  The first gift was to be used for me in any way I wanted, and the second gift was to be use to bless someone else in anyway I felt led. 

 

If you could have seen me you would have seen that I was beside myself with excitment and joy.  I might have even did a little birthday dance around the room.  I am telling you this was my absolute favorite gift ever!  I loved all the possibilities of what God could do with this money.  I immediately started praying asking Him to send me people and ideas to use this money to glorify Him the most.  After I had been praying a while He impressed on my mind to use this money specifically for Random Acts of Kindness and so I have been waiting patiently since August to use this for now. 

So today it starts!   Random Act of Giving December 2012.

 

My first purchase was at Bath and Body Works.  One of my favorite Random Acts last year was cashier gifts.  So I purchased 30 antibacterial hand sanitizers to add to small gift bags for all of my cashiers.  I will add other things as well and post later on this week what will make up these gifts.  These are normally $1.50 a piece but with coupons and sales they cost only $.66 a piece.  Can you guess my all time favorite scent?  It is in this picture...

 

I would love to hear of your Random Acts this year.  So many of you were also doing random acts and would love to hear all your stories and post them here on the blog!  Much love to you this Christmas Season!!  May Christ be the center of all our giving and celebrations.

 

Valerie

August Calendar 2012

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.  I can't believe that the kids will be going back to school this month.  There is definitely a sense of excitement and sadness at the thought, but I am ready!  If I have to say stop fighting one more time I think my head will bust.  I am sure some of you can relate.  All kidding aside...we have had a very eventful summer.  This is the summer of broken things for us.  It seems like everything in life is breaking it started with my cell phone at the beginning of July to my computer blowing up last week with a few things in between (including our car). 

I took my computer in last week to be fixed and the Best Buy associates said there was no chance of saving it.  So today I get to use my new computer.  Having a new computer is a lot of fun, but losing all of my design work, pictures, fonts, graphics, etc. is not fun at all.  So I am starting everything from scratch! 

Because of my limited inventory at the moment I am sharing only one calendar design this month.  Over the next few weeks I will start designing again so check back often for new fun designs and pictures of our family! 

Enjoy the last few weeks of summer,
Valerie

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Design info:
I create and design the layouts and content of my projects, but I do get digital paper packs and fonts from outside sources.  This project features a Mally Mac Digital Design paper from a free paper pack, and The Blue Cabin font downloaded from www.kevinandamanda.com.  Amanda creates amazing fonts that are completely free.  I always want to make sure I give proper credit to these amazing designers who have spent a lot of time creating for others. 

Printable July 2012 Calendar

I was hoping to get these to everyone before today but yesterday brought tons of adventure for our state.  A huge storm went through last night leaving many without power today.  During the storm we were at a friends house and on the way home after the storm had died down I begged Mark to drive around town so we could see the results of the storm.  The sad thing about me is that I wanted to be out in the storm while it was storming...well in the safety of the car.  I know there is something really wrong with me.  While driving around we saw tons of damage to homes, property, and roads.  We were without power for just a short while, but many are still without power.  I am reminded over and over in these days that it just takes a moment for life to be turned upside down. 

Let's not take any time we have here on earth for granted!  This month let's live in the freedom that we have.  Not just the freedom that we have being American citizens, but the freedom that Christ has given us through the salvation that only He can bring to life.  We don't have to live in bondage anymore!  We can be FREE!

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Printable June 2012 Calendar

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I hope you enjoy these calendars! 

This month I am aiming to be a good blogger and blog more often.  Now that I am home and in the swing of summer I have no excuses. 



To Be Honest

I am having the most wonderful time leading the senior class from our Christian School on a missions trip.  This trip has been life changing and eye opening for us.  We just finished up our 3rd night of VBS with the Indian children from the Lower Brule Indian Tribe in South Dakota. 

Honestly Thursday and Friday night were very tough for us.  Tough because the children need so much love and attention yet only few of them show their need for love.  They have put walls up to protect themselves and they are not yet in third grade.  We felt a little inadequate and in our own strength were not able to do anything. 

We were very prepared for some aspects of this trip, but we were not prepared for the way these children acted.  There is no respect for adults among many of the children and so they do not listen well at all.  Many of the children told us over and over “you are not my boss!”  There is not much that will hold their attention and we were very discouraged after our VBS last night. 

After sitting down and evaluating a few things I determined that we were allowing God to take control like He needed to be.  There wasn’t one of us that could change the situation but GOD could.  We decided to hand everything over to Him and follow His direction instead of our own. 

This afternoon before going over to the church we sat and prayed through Psalm 34:8-10.  Psalm 34 is my favorite chapter in all of Scripture.  We came to Him asking that He do a mighty work and tonight things turned around 100%.  There weren’t as many kids but that’s okay!  The children were quite and respectful.  They all listened every time we spoke.  God was ever present answering our prayer in such a powerful way.

WHY????  Why do we ever try to do things in our own strength?  I was humbled.  God brought me to my knees yet again and showed me that I need to put Him first in everything! 

The most awesome part of situations like these is that they are impossible for man…BUT everything is possible for God. 

Last night after VBS I wrote in my journal this entry:

I am seeking you God to do the absolute impossible tomorrow night that only You can do.  We need you so desperately and there is no way we can do this alone again.  Lord,  You hear the prayers of Your children life Psalm 34 says and You answer them! 

He did answer.  Praise God!

An Adventure

This morning I woke up to the sound of thunder.  I love thunder storms so I was pretty thrilled when I saw a nice thunder storm out my window.  I quickly checked my phone to see what the weather channel had to say about the storm and stayed in bed to watch. 

It wasn’t long before I heard the sound of pings on the roof and realized that it was hailing.  My first thought was rental car!!  It was out getting pelted with hail and of course I didn’t buy the extra coverage for the car.  I hurried out and moved a couple of things in the garage so I could pull it in to safety. 

This is our first small pelting with hail this morning.  They weren’t very big at all.  Some got as big as a small gumball. 

After the storm let up I decided to run down to a local gas station to buy a cup of coffee and check the tire pressure in the rental car because last night a pressure gauge light went off warning that the pressure was getting low.  I was hoping that a little air in the tire would do the trick.  Nope!  When I got out at the gas station I could hear the tire hissing.  I knew that was not a good sign so I went in the store hoping to find fix a flat.  They did have it but something inside told me that I needed to call the rental place so I did.  After a pleasant phone call I took the car to the only place that fixed tires in the small town of 169 people to find that a HUGE bolt was stuck in the tire. 

Everything was fixed and back to normal in no time.  I was really enjoying myself and the adventure of the morning until I headed home.

On the way home I hit yet another hail storm that released hail bigger than quarter size drops onto my car.  Silly me thought I should drive as quick as possible to get back to the lodge where it will be safe.  I had no idea until later that it could have caused more damage, but I prayed all the way back to the lodge that the Lord would save the car from damage.  I honestly thought ice was going to come through the windshield it was hitting so hard.  It sounded like someone was hammering the top of the car. 

When I got back to the lodge I couldn’t get out of the car to open the garage doors so I honked and honked until Morgan came to the door.  The garage door must have been worn out from opening for me earlier because it decided not to work!  But it ended very quickly after that and there wasn’t any major damage done to the car.  Hallelujah!!  (We heard this evening that surrounding towns got up to tennis ball and egg size hail.) 

I didn’t get any pictures of the bigger hail but I did find out that the rental car can indeed go 60 miles an hour on a dirt road which hadn’t yet gone over 30. 

Adventure.  That’s the life for me! 

South Dakota Missions Trip – Reliance

We made it to our first destination (Reliance, SD) last night around 9:00pm.  We had a long but very enjoyable day.  We had a fun evening unpacking the groceries for the VBS we will be doing, recapping the day, and telling fun stories.  These Senior girls are so much fun and I am so thrilled I get to spend the next week with them. 

Here is just a small recap of our day…

• We visited 3 states:  Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota.  *Interesting fact – I have lived in two of those states.*
• We saw how flat Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota are compared to Virginia.  We actually got to see a complete sunset as we drove down the interstate right into it.  (Our mountains at home hinder us from seeing a complete sunset on the horizon.)
• The Missouri river at the Interstate 90 junction in South Dakota was beautiful. So far it has been our favorite place on this trip.  I think we will picnic there sometime this week. 
• South Dakota has some beautiful rolling hills and nooks in between lots of flat land.
• We learned that gas stations in the middle of no where close really early.  Praise the Lord we still had plenty of gas to get where we needed.
• We ate at a new restaurant on our way here called Jimmy Johns.  It is a sub and sandwich shop.  Very tasty!  We all loved it.
• We haven’t seen any buffalo yet, but we have seen huge buffalo statues in the weirdest places. 
• I found out that neon was in style…where have I been???  I am not ready to jump on that bandwagon yet, but the girls still have 7 days to convince me.  
• I almost forgot my phone in my own car before leaving for SD.
• AND…we got trapped on a parking garage entrance ramp at the airport.  The lot was full and wouldn’t let us in, and when we backed up we found out it had blocked us in as well.  We pulled forward again (still to a full lot sign), but God intervened and opened the bar for us so we could get out. 

We are learning that life is all about missions and service.  We are keeping our ears open and asking God to show us small and big things that He would have for us to do. 

This is the hunting lodge that we are staying at while in Reliance.  There are Pheasants everywhere.  The lodge has many pheasants throughout the house and I get the idea that this is what the hunting lodge is for.

This is our rental car.  We got an amazing deal on this car and I now know that God was working all things out.  This car was actually cheaper than the cheapest car available so I grabbed it up.   Now that we are here a smaller car would not have worked at all.  We had to stock up supplies before getting to the lodge because there are no stores near by.  Everything we needed plus our luggage would not have fit.  Poor Johanna had to sit in the back barricaded by groceries and luggage. 

Almost everywhere we look is flat lands.  There aren’t a lot of trees…or anything.  Right around the house are a few trees but other than that there aren’t many.  It is beautiful in its own way.  We have really enjoyed getting to see a different part of our beautiful country.

South Dakota Missions Trip– Airport

We made it to the airport and are sitting in the terminal waiting for our plane.  For those of you who do not know, I am leading the Senior Class at our Christian School on a missions trip to South Dakota.  We are so excited to start this adventure that we have been crash planning for a little over a month. 

I have nothing to do for the next few hours.  What a nice feeling!!  No kids.  No meal prep (at least for today).  No fighting, fussing, or complaining.  Just ministry!

Garrett and Lexi went to a friends house this morning just until school started. They were so excited about going to Mrs. Lisa’s that they weren’t too sad that I was leaving until next Thursday.  Garrett told me not to get eaten by bears and Lexi told me that I should.  What a great send off! 

Breanna rode with us to the Airport which was 2 1/2 hours away and was completely silent the whole way.  She didn’t know what to think of the girls (our Missions Trip team) in the car with us.  She was too shy to talk which was probably a blessing since she usually is fussy on long road trips. 

I will keep updates on the blog as often as I can so that my kids, family, friends, and everyone who is interested can see what we are up to.  Please pray for us!  These senior girls have never been on a Missions Trip before and I am hoping that God does some amazing and impossible things through our time in South Dakota. 

Printable Calendars For May 2012

I am sorry I have been absent the last few weeks.  I leave Wednesday for a Missions Trip to South Dakota.  I have been planning and preparing for travel while at the same time trying to spend as much time with my kids as possible.

I will keep everyone updated during our trip.  I hope to put together a daily post.  Our team will be putting together a VBS program for the Indian children on a South Dakota Indian Reservation.  We are really excited and can't wait for Wednesday to get here.  I have so much to do before Wednesday comes, but I know I will get everything done.  Please pray for us as we minister to these children. 

Here are the May calendars.  I only had time to make two different designs.  Next month I will try to get back into my routine.  I am guessing I will have a little more time. :) 

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I hope you enjoy these calendars!



Who Among You?–Malachi 1:10-14

10“Who is there even among you who would shut the doors,
So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain?
I have no pleasure in you,” Says the Lord of hosts,
“Nor will I accept an offering from your hands.

11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the Lord of hosts.

12  “But you profane it, In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled;  And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’

13 You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,”
Says the Lord of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering!  Should I accept this from your hand?”  Says the Lord.

14 “But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,”  Says the Lord of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the nations.

Malachi 1:10-14

Who is there even among you?

My mind immediately raced to the account in Genesis 18 where Abraham is pleading with God to save the city of Sodom.  Is there even 10 men who are obedient to God that He should save the city of Sodom?  But, there was not even 10.  

It is a sad day for a nation where none can be found that have a heart for the Lord and a desire to do His will.  Malachi had a tough task.  He had to preach to a people who’s hearts were cold toward God. 

Noah was also faced with this situation in Genesis 6.   He was the only righteous man of his day.  Can you imagine being the only one to stand up for truth in the midst of a horribly wicked people.  It can be very hard and lonely standing up for truth when no one else is.  I am saying that yet I have never even encountered what Noah did nor to the extent that he did.  What a powerful testimony! 

Sometimes we fall at the slightest adversity.  Imagine Noah’s resolve! 

John MacArthur states, “God, speaking in the first person, desired for someone to shut the temple doors, thereby preventing the useless, insincere presentation of sacrifices.  It would be better to stop all sacrifices than to offer insincere offerings.”

His statement almost sounds like a verse in Revelation that says,

 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth…”

Revelation 3:15-16

This is so applicable to our lives.  God doesn’t want us merely going through the motions of what we should be doing as Christians.  He wants us to be sincere!  We shouldn’t be Christians by mouth only, but through our obedience (full wholehearted obedience) to Christ.  We should have a resolve like Noah’s that says no matter what we encounter or who opposes us we will obey.

Let’s end with some great news.  No matter what we may face here on earth there is coming a day when God’s Name will be great among every nation, every tribe, and every people.  We might not understand everything fully right now, but there is a reason that God wants our full obedience (even when it doesn’t make sense).  I am sure to Noah building an ark didn’t make complete sense at first. 

Verse 11 points us to a future day when the Lord will reign victorious.  We don’t want to look back then and wish we could have been more obedient.  Let’s take Malachi’s words to heart (even though they are for the Israelites) and be obedient to what we know God has told us to do. 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1