her dream came true

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching the Royal Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Caimbridge (William and Kate) this morning with Trish, Helen and Kathy.  I was the first to arrive at Trish's house at 4:00am and she had been up since 3:00.  It was a fairy tale wedding for sure.  Every detail that was timed perfectly.  Trish lit a candle for William's mother, Diana and it was very touching to see it next to her photograph.  We all remember her wedding to Prince Charles back in 1981 and of course we were all up early watching her funeral in 1997 and remember exactly where we were when we heard the tragic news.  I will never forget hearing Trish and Hel singing the hymns that were so very familiar to them and we had to stand when they sang to the Queen.

We enjoyed our coffee, scones and mimosas. When my sister asked what my favorite part I couldn't decide. I loved how Catherine's father lead her down the aisle. My favorite dress was the maid of honor, her sister, Pippa Middleton's dress. I loved the trees in Westminster Abbey and of course the beautiful choir. I would be so proud if my son were singing! I loved how the bride and her father went down the aisle first and the wedding party followed behind. The dresses and hats were so elegant. I loved watching Kate kirtsey (no idea how to spell it and can't find it.) to the Queen mum right after the wedding and I also love how she followed her husband's lead by bowing her head when he saluted the flags in the carriage. Most of all it was great to see the couple "in love."

I listened closely when her brother read the reading during the ceremony. I hope they listened as well.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:1-2,9-18 ESV)"

My takeaway from the reading is this: "Outdo one another in showing honor."
Lord, give me the desire to "outdo" my huband in showing him honor. You know how competitive I tend to be, so let me respect him more than he loves me.

There is something about the absolutely beautiful church, seeing everyone dressed up, the guards, the horse and carriages riding through the streets of London and of course the red carpet. I love weddings because they always make me remember my own and in some strange way this morning it felt like I renewed my vows to my husband. Wouldn't you love to feel like you belonged in a royal family?  I think if we are honest, we all want it more than anything. I couldn't help imagine that I really am the Bride of the King of Kings and one day our wedding will look a lot like what I experienced this morning... but better!

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."
~Dr. Seuss

a standing ovation

I love having my own space where I can post whatever and whenever I want.  Tonight I want to post another song to complete this Easter weekend.

So. Now. What?

It's time to live out what He has done for me.

I'm going to recommit to loving God and His children, going to Him first in Prayer and staying in His Word, therefore trusting His promises. Won't you join me?

My ALL-TIME very favorite song!

Thank you, Jesus!

That's why I Believe!

Happy Easter!

Update: Our original plan was to go out to a buffet to celebrate, but I wanted to host it instead.  My kids weren't able to be with us, but it was so nice to be with the Baylis family! The reason I'm posting this right now is because I'm excited that I really felt more like Mary than Martha today!!!  And the house already looks like we didn't even have company.  Oh, and the fridge is full of leftovers.  I'm off to find some black jelly beans! :)

An Easter Lily

When I see an Easter Lily I think of my mom.  She loved it when my dad bought her one to wear to Mass on Easter Sunday. He was so romantic that way. Whenever I hosted a holiday he would bring me flowers.  I don't remember thanking him enough.  It wasn't quite the same buying my own yesterday at the grocery store. Oh well, this is a sweet memory!

If your parents are still living, give them an extra big hug this weekend!
xoxo

for the "Joy"

His Glory Appeared... and we felt His Presence at the Good Friday Service in Fenton.



"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)




When considering the Passion I want to get Isaiah 53 from my head to my heart.  I love that this side of the cross I don't have to "do" anything to get Him to love me.  Works won't get me into Heaven. Anything good I might "do" is only because He already loves me.

Sometimes I need to remind myself.

another royal wedding & some candles & prayers

Although I didn't know Princess Diana, I felt like I did.  Our lives paralleled.  My first husband's family (my kids' dad) was from Wales, so The Royal Family was very much a part of our lives.  We watched the Queen's Speech every Christmas Day and dinner always revolved around it.  At that time it was more important to watch the speech than it was to go to Church on Christmas. It's strange when I think about it today. Prince Charles was almost the same age as my ex-husband and I was close to the same age as Diana.  (We had a 13 year age difference.) We had both of our kids at almost the same time and their divorce happened close to the same time as mine for the same reason.   My mother-in-law talked about them often. Diana inspired me.  If John was a girl we considered naming him/her Diana.

When I got remarried I coincidently chose a dress similar to one I saw when we were at Kensington Palace in 2006. They had Diana's dresses on display. For me it was the highlight of our trip to London.

I'll be praying for her son, William  this week as he will surely miss his mother and wish she were there for the biggest day of his life.  If you watch the video at the end, it's quite interesting how his father
(Prince Charles) said when the interviewer suggested that they were in love:

"Whatever 'in love' means."

 I sure hope he is "in love" with his soon to be wife. I somehow know that's all Diana would want for her son.

He is omnipresent

God is omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time).  He isn't floating up in the clouds somewhere.  He came down so we can go up. He became small so we can grasp how BIG He is!

He calls us to swim from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end.
He calls us from crawling to walking to running.

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
~Matt 19:26

I'm trusting Him today!
By Faith...
xoxo

"Take it easy, Angie"

Since I try to be as authentic as possible on here I'm going to be honest. I haven't memorized any of my verses. I should call them something other than Scripture memory verses. They are simply verses that I need at the moment.

I have a brand new Key Word Study Bible that I've had for quite some time. It's barely been cracked opened. And I have never read a Bible with Red Letters. This is really neat. You've probably read them and can't believe I'm making such a big deal about it. Well, I can't tell you how it affected me when I was flipping through it. Those words affected me differently knowing they are the Words of Jesus Himself.

These words popped off the page when I read them:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." (John 14:1)

I could hear Jesus tell me straight. Do not LET your hearts be troubled. So I have a choice to either trust Him or not? It's up to me to let myself get all worked up about the concerns that are weighing so heavily on my heart. I guess I knew it, but I have a hard time letting go.

Sometimes I get so passionate about what I think God wants that I can't just sit back doing nothing. I don't want my life to change. I hold on to relationships for too long and I'm finally learning that my begging and pleading won't change the outcome. I don't know how to be passive and I'm not convinced God would want me to be anyway. I know He told me not to let my heart be troubled, but to trust in Him and in His plan.

The opposite of "troubled" is calm and easy. I think He wants me to calm down. Sounds easy, right? Yes, if I make the right choice.

I better settle down and let God be God.  (Especially this week!)

it's never too late

My friend and I had our own little Sisterhood thing going last night when we were discussing midlife, our kids, our marriages and the choices we have made. There are so many profound lines in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. We came to the conclusion that when it all comes down to it, we believe we will be asked the most important question at the end of our lives:

Did I love enough?

In the movie, Sandra B. asked her Dad, "Daddy, did you get loved enough?"

He responded, "What's enough?"

Then he asked his daughter, "My question is, did you? ... It's never too late."

Did I love enough?

We both know the goal in life isn't to be happy; It's to learn to love the unloveable. When we are tempted to run away from relationships, wherever we go we will be there. Wherever we go WE will be there. If I asked my husband and/or my kids if they were loved enough I wonder what they would say? I'm not so sure I'd want to hear the answer. At the end of the day, I can't control how well I've been loved (although I don't think we are supposed to be loved enough by anyone here on earth), but I can control how well I love people... especially the unloveable. The only One who will love us "enough" is Jesus. It's the enough that makes us desperate for the only One who is capable.

"The road back is humility."

I pray that if you do not feel like you are being loved enough, you will go to the Only One who can satisfy that need and fill that space in your heart that is meant for God alone. I also pray that we can with God's help... love the unloveable.

Please watch this:


All my love,
Angie

"NO"

I had a situation happen to me last night that I'm still trying to wrap my mind around. Occasionally I will do a random act of kindness when I'm at the grocery store (not trying to get any credit, just telling you the story). If someone in front or behind me has a small basket of groceries (just a few things) I'll buy their groceries. I just tell the cashier to add it to mine. Well, last night I had a very full basket and the guy behind me had one container of oil for his car. When I mentioned to the cashier that I'd like to buy it for him the guy said, "No!" I said, "Come on. Let me buy it for you. I haven't done anything nice for anyone in a long time." Again he said, "NO" (angrily) and marched off to another aisle.

The more I thought about it, could I have embarrassed him? I didn't mean to make him feel like charity and I wasn't judging him. I just had this urge to do something nice... maybe to make me feel good? Did he think I was flirting with him? I had to walk in front of him to leave the store and I saw him talking to someone he knew. It appeared to be a friendly conversation. I felt my heart beating fast and was scared he was going to find me in the parking lot and yell at me. He didn't and everything was fine, but I'm not quite sure what to do now. Was I wrong to do what I did?

I have to keep myself in check. When I give, do I give to make me feel good or them? Lord, I pray I give for the right reason...

It made me also realize it is a LOT harder to accept Love than it is to give Love.

"We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

you smell so good

"No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light." (Luke 11:33-36)

Just yesterday I was at the gym and saw a friend of mine. Well, I don't know her real well since we haven't had a lot of deep conversations (maybe we are just acquaintances?), but I could just see sadness when I looked in her eyes. I didn't want to be weird, but I really wanted to ask her where her Joy is and what's wrong? She is one of those girls in the community who are at all of the right parties. She does a lot of charity work, but for whatever reason I don't see a lot of light in her eyes.

I had never thought about how much a small candle can light up a room. I agree that you would never light one and put it under a basket or in the closet. I like mine out in the open so people can see it... especially me. I'm obsessed with candles and I really love the aromatic ones that are gentle and not too overpowering, but have a subtle different smell. One that people would want to smell, not one that people would have a bad reaction to if they are in a room with it for too long.

Lord, please help me to be healthy. Keep me motivated to want to do what is best for my body and soul. Help me to be like an aromatic candle that makes people want what makes me different. Let it start with my eyes. Make them full of Joy and just like Yours that see only the good in people. Please God, give me the courage to reach out to my friend and have a deep conversation about You.

a private concert

It doesn't get any better than this:

















I love having my own private concert. These songs were perfect tonight. I'm praying for some very special people tonight and I dedicate these songs to you.
Love,

2011 Scripture Memory Verse #7

Thinking about authenticity and motives as I'm a little late again.