Hazelhurst, GA.

This past weekend Peyton and I rode with my parents to visit my great grandma which would be Peyton’s great grandma. She lives in Hazelhurst, GA.

 That is a 4 hour drive and over 200 miles one way. We left after I got off work on Friday afternoon and came back Sunday around 2:30. We don’t make the trip very often but when we do it is always worth it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see all of the family members that I would have liked to, but there is always another time for another trip.

My great grandma’s name is Vater Woodell. She is about 93 years old and still alive. Up until the last couple years she has done very well for her old age. She still plants her garden, still fishes, and still has stories to tell. Oh the stories she can tell. She doesn’t drive anymore and it is getting very hard for her to be able to move around. She has to hold onto something when walking through the house and actually going outside is a bit of a struggle. A nurse does have to come in throughout the week to help take care of her.  It's not the greatest but here is a picture of this sweet lady.

 

Hazelhurst is a very, very small town. There is not much to do or see there. The biggest thing they have their would be a super Wal-Mart. And even that is small. It’s a small town with a lot of history. I’m talking so small that they just upgraded their cell phone towers last year and I can now get signal when I am there. I know small town right? My internet still didn’t work so I couldn’t post anything but hey! They are improving.

But what I wanted to share with you is this thought:
My grandma is 93 years old, no internet, no cable, hardly any air condition, she doesn’t have a car, she doesn’t have the biggest house or even a lot of money.

You know what she does have though?
Contentment.

If we could all learn to live on a little less, give a little more, we could be content. Instead, we always want the next best thing. The newest iPhone, computer, car, house, clothes, you name it, we want it. But do we really need those things? Do we have to have the newest iPhone? Car? Clothes? Not hardly. Think back in the times when they didn’t have any air conditioning or even internet! They still worked to survive and they were still as happy as could be.

 What is it that you want so badly that keeps you from being content? And why do you want it so badly?

 

Lost Earrings

A couple years ago, my brother in law went to China on a mission trip. Whenever he goes somewhere he always brings us something back. This time he brought me some beautiful dark blue colored pearl earrings. I absolutely love them! They can pretty much go with any outfit.

One day last year I was looking for them and I could not find them for the life of me. I looked up and down, all over the house, in my jewelry box and everywhere in between. I had lost them. Lost. Disappeared. Forever. I apparently didn’t put them back in the jewelry box where they belong and they were gone and I was devastated.

So I had thought.

Last night I decided to change purses for some odd reason. (I usually just keep one forever and buy a new one when I get tired of that one.) So I grabbed the one from the top shelf of my closet and sat on my bed. I looked inside and realized that I had not cleaned it out since I used it last. I’m talking everything but the bathtub was in there. Money, feminine supplies, lotion, tissues, book, makeup, name tag from my previous job. You name it, it was in there.

Oh and did I mention my earrings were in there too?

Yes! They were in there. Do you know how excited I was? To some people it would be like finding $100 bill. But they were my earrings! (Ahhh! I’m still excited and have them on today.)

Think about the last time you lost something and when you finally found it (even if it was a year later). How excited were you? What ran through your mind? What emotions did you feel?
Now think about how God feels when we have strayed away from Him for so long and finally return to Him. I can only imagine it would be like a child returning home to their parent after being away for so long. I am more than positive He would greet you with open arms, a great big smile, and tell you He loves you. If finding our lost items can bring us so much joy and happiness, I can’t even begin to fathom the emotions He feels when we turn to Him.

Have you strayed away? Has it been a while since you’ve talked to God? Today would be the perfect day. Turn to Him. His arms are open and filled with love.

Stick Around

I am pretty sure everyone in the entire world has seen something that has to do with the movie Frozen. And I am also pretty sure every child in the world is addicted to it. (Ours is to say the least.)  I found out last week that Queen Elsa was going to be at the Chick Fil A in Simpsonville on June 3^rd and of course we just had to take Peyton. I couldn’t let this opportunity pass up because that is her favorite character after all! I honestly didn’t think that many people would be there. So I figured it would be okay if we left as soon as I got off work at 5:30 yesterday and just head up there.

Elsa was supposed to be there from 5-7 and see all of the kids. We arrived at about 6:15 and the line waiting to get in was enormous. There were so many kids and adults there to see her. The line wrapped in a loop several times. I was thinking, my goodness. How long have people been standing in line and how long are we going to be standing in line? There was even some parents trying to talk the kids out of leaving so they wouldn't have to wait in the line. But we did stick around and made it the entire time. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We only had to wait in line for an hour. I must say, to only be 3, Peyton did extremely well being patient and waiting in line with us. She didn’t complain or whine or anything of that nature. It was a proud parent moment. Once we finally got in and she saw Elsa, her world was made. She was the happiest little girl in probably the entire world.

Afterwards, two things hit me.

1.       How often do we stand in line or wait for something that we want so badly? Pretty often right? How many times do we not complain about standing in a line waiting or waiting for something that we desperately want? A lot.

But yet when it comes to waiting on God, we are so impatient. We expect Him to jump when we say jump and move when we say move. But it doesn’t happen like that. Everything is on His time. It always has been and always will be on His time. There is nothing we can do to make Him hurry or make Him slow down.

2.       What about during worship at church? Our worship can be anywhere from 20-30 minutes. And I hear a lot that the songs are too long or that people get tired of standing. Why is it that we can wait patiently on something we want but yet when it comes to giving back to God we want to rush it or do it halfway?

 

I mean, He is the Creator of the WORLD. Of you, of me. The very least we could do is stand for however long it takes to worship Him. To give back to Him was He so desperately deserves.

Here’s my challenge to you today: when reading scripture, listening to music, being at church, take the time to stop, listen, and give back to Him.

Thought of the day.

I ran across this quote on pinterest last night and I wanted to share it with you and I also wanted to know your thoughts on it.

"There is still much to be done. Let's not lose sight."

What does it mean to you?

Burnt Toast

This is how our Saturday mornings usually go:

-Peyton gets up between 6:30-7 am.
- Watch TV
-Eat breakfast
-Watch more TV
-Eat lunch
-Nap

Then after nap we usually get dressed and find something to do the rest of the day. That's not how yesterday went for us.

My alarm went off at 8 am. I knew we had to leave in an hour or so for a birthday party, so I got up and started getting ready. I noticed that Peyton was still asleep which is very rare. Actually, it's very strange because she usually only sleeps in on Sundays. I finished getting ready about 8:30 and went downstairs to wake her up. She was in a rather good mood. (I guess that's how it is when you don't get up super early for no reason at all.) After getting her in the living room, I put some bread on a pan to go into the oven to make toast. While the oven was warming up, I started washing dishes. Then my sweet sweet husband put the bread in the oven. When I finished washing dishes, I got Peyton dressed and teeth and hair brushed. The smoke alarm went off. The toast was burnt. Brett was practicing some music to get ready for service today. We both forgot about the toast. Burnt. Ruined. Done for. No salvaging.

Luckily, we still had some more bread. He threw the burnt toast away and stuck some more in the oven. That's kind of how the grace of God works. Getting a second chance.

Yes, there are times that we mess up and He still loves us anyway. Still gives us the blessings that we do not deserve. And still shows us His unending love. He still gives us that second chance.

However, just because He shows grace doesn't mean we have the right to mess up. If we know something is sinful, we shouldn't do it. The old saying "It's easier to ask for forgiveness later" doesn't work for us. We cannot intentionally sin and expect His great blessings. We should always strive to do what's right and stray far far away from sin.

2 Peter 1:2

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.