It's Treatment Time

Grab a cup of coffee and head on over to my other blog for a peek into my day of treatment. My bloggy friends have asked for more information on what a typical day is like and I'll be sharing a "play-by-play" of sorts today. Come on over!

Living The Life

We had another awesome team meeting tonight for the upcoming Living The Life Conference. I'm absolutely humbled at how God has opened doors and He just never ceases to amaze me. If you haven't already, click here for more info. It's something you don't want to miss! I can't believe I get to be the dramatist for the weekend. What an honor! Visit my website for more drama details coming soon.

Make sure you check out my other blog for more on my life with CIDP.

Off to bed!

Money Saving Tips

I just wanted to pass along the link to an amazing website for saving money. If you're a mom interested in stretching your grocery dollars, check out www.moneysavingmom.com. I've been following her blog since January and have saved a ton of money on groceries because of her information.

Just thought you might be interested!

Coming to Corpus Christi

Check out this amazing conference coming to Corpus Christi! What an awesome experience this will be and I'm humbled to be a part of it. www.livingthelifeconference.blogspot.com

A Gentle Reminder

Well, I must say I'm a world of better today. Thanks for your prayers. Things don't seem as troubling today as they did yesterday. Tonight, I'm looking at things differently.

I'm actually feeling quite humbled tonight. I wonder if, in judging others the way I did yesterday, I was looking at things from a self righteous point of view? People are human. We all make mistakes. Take a good look at your day...were there mistakes made? If you're honest, there were plenty. If I'm honest with myself, there were more than plenty.

I'm reminded once again of the fact that if I put my faith in man, I will be let down. If my faith is in Christ, only then will I not be disappointed or let down. My faith should never be in other people, only in Him. God has placed this passion within me for a reason. Not to become frustrated with those around me because they don't see things the way I do. He gave me this passion to make a difference. Do I know how to do that? Not quite yet. Am I on my way to understanding how to do that? You bet.

Thank you, Lord for gently reminding me to put my faith and trust only in you.

Questions

Where do I go from here? Why do I feel this way? Questions, questions.

I've come to somewhat of a fork in the road in my life. Without boring you with the details, I've realized that I'm different. Now before you start cracking up...hear me out. I guess somehow I've always thought that everyone who claims to be a "Christian" is just as passionate about those who don't know Him as I am. Click here to read all about what drives me. It was a shock when I realized not everyone shares this passion!

Truthfully, my heart is breaking. I'm saddened by the selfishness I've seen in the past couple of days. I certainly don't claim to have it all together. Those of you who know me, know it would kill me if I appeared self-righteous. That is certainly NOT my intent as I write now. My intent is just to share with you the concern I have for complacency and lack of concern for reaching out to those who don't know Jesus. My heart breaks over the apathy I've witnessed.

Please pray for me. Pray that I would be filled with love and patience, that God would make His direction clear, that I will be strong in my conviction and not give in to a selfish faith which I know He has not called me to. Pray for my understanding of why on earth I'm so passionate about this!

Many blessings!

Bed Time

As a mom of three, bed time can be a challenge. Luka needs a shower. DiMarco forgot to give me a note from his teacher. Ellen wants to chat. (For those of us with teenagers, we know we have to take full advantage of a moment with a chatty teenager!) As challenging as bed time can be, there's nothing sweeter than having everyone in their beds, all snuggled in for the night. As a mom, this is the moment I begin to unwind. It's "me" time.

I'm not sure what makes this such a warm, fuzzy moment for moms. Whatever it is, I love it. I love knowing all of my children are safe and sound, dreaming sweet dreams of a beautiful life ahead of them. There's nothing sweeter than the sound of their breathing softly in and out. When they were babies, I'd place my hand on their back or their chest to make sure they were breathing. Anyone else willing to admit to doing the same? Now, I can stand near the bed of one and hear my child breathing. I can stand in the doorway and hear the other breathing. The other one I can hear breathing through my closed bedroom door on the other end of the house...with the radio on!

One day they'll be grown and on their own and I won't have the comfort of knowing they're all safe and sound in their beds. Until then, I'll cherish the moment. Night night sweet little ones...sweet dreams.

Spiritual Gifts

Finding my spiritual gifts...

This has always sounded so overwhelming to me...even a little scary. You see, several years ago, I took a lengthy test to find my spiritual gifts. Since then I've taken a number of tests, trying to make sure I had the "right" gifts. Ha!

I've even thought if I kept taking different tests, somehow I would get the "cool" gifts..whatever those are! I'm now finding true joy in being exactly who I am, but it has been a journey. My gifts have always been basically the same, although they've changed slightly depending on my current situation and experiences. Here are my spiritual gifts:

Administration
Creative Communication
Leadership
Encouragement
Evangelism

Check out www.chazown.com for more information on finding your spiritual gifts. Have you found your gifts? What are they?

I'm still trying to figure out exactly what this means in my pursuit of God's purpose and design for my life. The journey continues...

Core Values

After spending some time away from thinking about my core values, I've realized the importance of recognizing these values in order to find my true purpose in life. So, here I am again...sharing this crazy journey with you. I've already noted what brings me bliss and what stirs up a righteous anger within me here. After identifying these and after much prayer, here are my core values in random order:

Outreach
Integrity/Authenticity
Intentionality
Kindness
Excellence
Discipleship
Creativity
Family/Relationships

I'm not sure if this list is complete yet. There are a couple I'm not sure are really "core values". I need to spend more time in prayer about these. Those of you who know me, does this seem accurate to you? I'd love to hear what your core values are and how you identified them.

Tomorrow I'm moving on to my spiritual gifts, strengths, etc. See you tomorrow!

Amazing Conference

SHE Fellowship hosted an amazing conference this weekend and I was honored to participate. I met some new friends and renewed old friendships through our time together. I performed two original monologues (more info here) and was humbled by the response of the women there. Even though as women we're entirely different, we share the same struggles, insecurities, and self doubt. We get wrapped up in the world's opinion of us, even though only Christ's opinion matters.

Thanks to all the amazing women who shared their stories with me at the conference on Saturday. I was honored to get to sit and talk with some of you and I was blessed more than you'll ever know. It was a beautiful weekend and one that I'll hold close to my heart for years to come. Keep finding your beauty in Him!

Where has time gone?

I just realized today is FEBRUARY 21st! Where has all the time gone and do I have anything to show for it?

I've desperately tried to be purposeful this year and have only been mildly satisfied with my progress. I've slowed down in my effort to find my Chazown, which I regret. After our Women's Conference on Saturday, I plan to get back to business. My diet and exercise routine is ridiculously awful and you can read more about that issue at my other site www.cidpandme.blogspot.com. I'm in the process of changing that after finding out I have high cholesterol. Financially, I've done good but not as good as I'd planned.

As in everything, I can do better and I'm making efforts to do just that. I'm so thankful once again that I serve a God of grace. I screw up ALL the time in MANY different ways, not just missing my goals for the year. Despite me, He loves me through it all---good and bad. The best part is---He loves me just because that's who HE is, not because of my successes or failures. What an awesome God!

A Valentine's Day To Remember

I have to be honest here...sometimes when all the kids are home and we're all in one room together, I just want to scream! It's so loud and crazy and there are times when it's torture. (I said I was being honest!)

Last night was quite the opposite! For Valentine's Day, we all prepared dinner together (3 kids, 2 adults in our little kitchen) and ate by candlelight...kids and all! It was so much fun and the kids just loved it. It wasn't a romantic dinner, but it was beautiful just the same. It was our little family in our little corner of the world and it was just a glimpse of heaven on earth. Luka thought it was the most exciting thing we've ever done and DiMarco got the giggles halfway through the evening that just wouldn't stop. Ellen cracked us all up with her fear of flames, which makes absolutely no sense at all because she has three million candles in her room! Chris and I sat across from each other and just smiled at all the glorious chaos! I have the best husband and the best kids anyone could ever ask for. A Valentine's Day to remember!

Three things I love about my family...

Three, no four things I love about my husband:
1. He makes me laugh!
2. He believes in me more than I believe in myself.
3. He is so real. He is who he says he is...he's authentic.
4. He loves Jesus!

Three things I love about Ellen:
1. She loves Jesus!
2. She's spontaneous.
3. Her smile. It's beautiful.

Three things I love about DiMarco:
1. He loves organization!
2. He loves Jesus!
3. His thoughtfulness. He has to be the most thoughtful person I know.

Three things I love about Luka:
1. She loves Jesus!
2. Her hugs.
3. Her loud, unashamed, "I'm me, take me or leave me" laugh!

New Blog

For those of you who haven't already checked it out, please visit my other blog at www.cidpandme.blogspot.com. Visit to find out more about my life with CIDP. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Forever Changed

January 8, 1993 was one of the greatest days of my life. Ellen was born into this world and changed my life forever. I thought I'd take a moment to share just a bit of what makes her so special...

LN, you are forever God's girl. You unabashedly share your faith with those around you in such a unique way. Being passionate about outreach at the age of 15 is uncommon and a special calling on your life. You have a presence about you that says, "I'm me! I'm confident and content!" You are incredibly musically gifted and are using these gifts for the glory of God. You are incredibly intelligent and well on your way to an amazing career in whatever you choose. You will be thankful one day for your love of books and your love of writing. It's only a blink of an eye and you'll be all grown up, but one thing I know for sure...My life has been forever changed because God blessed me with you on this day 15 years ago. Happy Birthday, Baby! I love you.

Who Am I? Pt. 2

Yesterday I promised you that my next post would be more positive and I'm delivering on that promise today. Diving into my core values required examining what stirs up a righteous anger within me and what brings me bliss. To be honest with you, examining what brings me bliss was a bit more difficult to put down on paper than what angers me. Hmm...Wonder what that says about me? This list sparks something within me that I can't explain. Anyway, here's what brings me bliss:

1. Just being with Chris and the kids. There's no greater feeling in the world than being Chris' wife and the mom of the three craziest kids in the world!
2. Singing. Actually music, in general, brings me bliss and fills a place deep within me. Sounds cliche, but I actually "long" for music.
3. Writing and performing monologues. It's almost like preaching, only I get to pretend to be someone else! I can spend hours writing. I just get lost in it.
4. Creatively planning an event or a service to draw others nearer to Christ. What a humbling, yet exciting opportunity.
5. Seeing someone connect with God for the first time. Seeing the look in their eyes when they realize that Christ loves them and wants a relationship with them.
6. Helping someone make a connection (an introduction, a ministry opportunity, a small group, a volunteer opportunity, etc.) at church.
7. Seeing someone take the next step on their spiritual journey.

What brings you bliss?

Who Am I?

One of my goals for 2008 is to be purposeful and in the middle of God's will for my life. I want to be intentional in everything I do and part of that is knowing who God has designed me to be. If I want to know His purpose for my life, I need to know how He has designed me. By the way, if you haven't read Chazown, by Craig Groeschel, run out NOWWWWWWW and get it! It's on my Greatest Books I've Ever Read List and I think you'll enjoy it too. Craig says that to find your core values, start by making a list of what angers you. What stirs up a righteous anger within you, not just a pet peeve or an irritation. Here's some of what I've found (after much soul searching) stirs up a righteous anger within me:

1. When the "church" focuses on itself and not the lost. When worship services are designed to make Christians comfortable and fed...this is a huge one for me!
2. Hypocrisy, on any level. Dishonesty goes with this one.
3. Plastic people.
4. Aimlessness/unintentionality...is that a word?
5. Rambling discussions...okay, that's just a pet peeve, so it doesn't count!
5. When Christians are more interested in being self-righteous and "holier than thou" than in really reaching the world around them. For example, it gets me when we draw attention to movies that we think are "atheistic" in nature. Do we not realize that, as a group, we're calling more attention to these movies through our public protest? Or when we say we can't go to a certain establishment because "Christians" don't go there. Hello! Where are the lost?
6. When traditions (the way we did it last year, the way we've always done it) becomes more sacred than Scripture!
7. Doing things halfway. You know, not your best, not your first fruits, just your leftovers.

That's all I'll share for now because I sound like Spongebob Angry Pants! I promise my next post will be more positive! I'll even share what brings me bliss!

Happy New Year!