The Weekend

It's going to be a long weekend. But a good weekend! Both of my roomates have been gone since Thursday afternoon (they'll be home tomorrow night), but in the mean time, we've got our motorcycle ministry rally going on this weekend at my church. It's going to be fun! I've hardly been home and won't be home most of the weekend, so I'm glad Monday is a holiday!!! I'll need it to recover from the weekend!!

Yikes!

I found this tidbit over at Irene's blog.

Woman Hurt as Cellphone Bursts Into Flames

How scary is that??? What's worse is, I just bought a replacement battery for my phone at Interstate Batteries!

I guess I'll have to be extra careful!

My Hero(ine)!

I have finally found someone I want to be like when I grow up. (It's about time since I'm 30!!!)

Ann Coulter is the coolest woman! She has brains, she has beauty and she has strong beliefs and convictions. What a gal! And, she doesn't mind saying it "like it is."

I've only recently begun to pay attention to what she has to say, mainly because she's been on Fox News and Sean Hannity's radio program several times. Recently, she was interviewed by Rush Limbaugh for his newsletter. I've just begun to read some of her columns and I love her panache. I plan on getting every one of her books. Here is an excerpt from a column she wrote on September 13, 2001:

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

That's something you won't hear from the liberal media, but she's absolutely right.

Will I ever learn...

I am so frustrated with myself!!!!! I am in a situation right now that I could have avoided. But no - I was undisciplined and did what I wanted to do - and now I'm paying for it. Literally. My finances stink right now.

I could offer a lot of excuses - moving into a new place being top on the list - but it simply comes down to not being disciplined with my checkbook. *sigh*

Ok, Lord, I'm learning....I'm learning!!!

Does anyone else have struggles like this?

Back to normal...

Well, now that I've got our "house" website up, I'll try to keep my comments here to what's happening in my life.

As you may have gathered from some of my posts - I'm single (I don't have an "About Me" page yet). I've gotten to a place in my walk with Christ that should I never get married, I will be ok. Really... I will. I want to get married, but I want to know Christ more. One thing I know is this: before I ever get married, there are some things God wants me to deal with and work out. I'm in the process of doing that. Or at least trying to.

The other day, I was pondering this place that I am in and realized that I have a serious weakness when it comes to self-discipline and self-denial (which tend to go hand in hand.) I don't know about you, but I have a hard time denying myself the things I want. I'm just talking about the small stuff - a book, cd, dinner at a specific restaurant, a program on tv, a movie that's playing - stuff like that.

I was driving home from somewhere, and it was as if God spoke to me..."if you don't have control over simple desires (like giving in to buying a book or outfit when I don't really have the money), what kind of control will you have when you get into a relationship?" Yikes! As we all know, in relationships of any kind, there are times you have to deny yourself to keep peace or sacrifice something to please the other person. If we're going to live our lives as the Bible teaches, we are to "be devoted to one another in brotherly love, honoring one another above ourselves." (Romans 12:10) In order to "honor" someone above myself, I have to give up my own selfish wants and desires.

It dawned on me that I have not even been doing a good job of that in my relationship with Christ. Christ is perfect....He is understanding....He is infinetly patient....and loves unconditionally. Even though I know it sorrows Him when I don't give up something I should to spend time with Him, He can handle it. How in the world am I going to have a good relationship - with someone who is imperfect, not always understanding or patient and who may not love unconditionally all the time - if I don't deny myself or have self-control or exercise some self-discipline? My selfishness can and would be a stumbling block to our relationship. (And vice versa!)

Needless to say, that's been some food for thought for several days. I'm not even dating anyone, but this relationship business is hard work!

Live, from Fondren...

We are live with our new website!!!!!

Go here to see the inaugural post of the Fondren Sisterhood.

Woohoo!

Blah.

I'm in a funk.

I'm not depressed or upset about anything. In fact, besides being a little strapped for cash, life is good. I love my house, my roommates, my job, my family, my church.....you name it, it's good.

It's just me, I think.

I know what part of it is. There are some things God is trying to work out of me :) (of course that's loads of fun!) It's been interesting the things God has been speaking to me through the pastor at my church. The good news is - I'm not the only one being affected!

It all comes down to the fact that dying daily - dying to my wants and desires - is a difficult thing. I did not realize how much I was still holding on to. My pastor made this statement a couple of weeks ago - "Your commitment to Christ is not measured by what you give up, but by what you keep."

Think about it!

Sometimes, it's easy to give up those things the Christian community would label "obvious" sins - drinking, promiscuity, drugs, stealing, cheating...you know what I mean. But when it comes time to go a bit deeper in your walk and God asks you to give up other stuff (attitudes, personal ambitions, pride - just to name some) it's a bit more difficult. We feel justified in our attitudes and opinions. We get comfortable with life the way it is. Then, the Holy Spirit comes along and pricks our conscience about an attitude we may have or nudges us while we're watching a movie or tv show and whispers "How much time have you spent with me today."

*sigh*

It's crazy - I know what I need to do. I just need to get motivated to do it. I know God will bless me. I know He has my best interests at heart. I know, too, that one day, I'll look back on this moment and time and say, "If I had only known then what I know now! That was nothing!"

Coming soon!

Well, I'm working on the blog for our house. It is called the Fondren Sisterhood and will feature stories about me, my two roommates and the things going on at our house. Did I mention before that we live in Grand Central Station?

It will be loads of fun - real lighthearted and with a lot of pictures.

As soon as I get it ready and make a post, I'll let you know!

Over the river and through the woods...

To Deedee's grandma's house we go!

My roommate, Deedee, and I will be leaving on Friday to go visit her grandma and grandpa in Louisiana. I'm looking forward to meeting her grandparents - especially since all of mine have been gone for many years. I'll get a good grandparent hug from anywhere I can! :)

i just love grandparents!!!! They are so awesome.

There's nothing I like better than sitting around listening to older folks telling stories about their childhood and the "way things used to be." We can learn a lot from our elders, if we just take the time to listen to what they have to say. Some of my best memories I have of time spent with my grandparents was sitting around with all the family there (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) listening to stories they had about each other and what they went through growing up. We always had a good time.

So, I'll be gone for a couple of days, but in the famous words of a soon-to-be governor - "I'll be back!"

TTFN!!

They grow up so fast

My niece, Hannah, started kindergarten today. She handled it better than the rest of us, I think. :)

My other niece and nephew were at home with their mom, so I went and picked up a couple of Happy Meals and had lunch with them. My niece, Mackenzie, was taking this whole school thing a little hard. "My miss Hannah," she says as I walk in the door. She was feeling a bit left out, so I wanted to do something special just for her (and Nathaniel too!)

Anyway, we're eating lunch and we start talking about why I came and brought lunch.

"Kiki wanted to do something special for you because Hannah went to school today." My sister-in-law reminds Mackenzie.

"Right, I brought you lunch because I knew you would be missing Hannah."

"My still miss Hannah!" says Mackenzie in her cute 3 year old voice, letting me know that the food was great, but her sister was still not there!

I about fell out of my chair! That was the sweetest thing I've heard in a long time.

As for Nathaniel, as soon as he finished his Happy Meal and got his toy, he was good to go. Boys just deal with this kind of stuff differently, I guess.

Anyway, they enjoyed their meal and I enjoyed spending time with them. I will admit, though, it was strange not having Hannah around, too. The three of them are almost a package deal. At the very least, Hannah and Mackenzie are usually together.

I just don't know what I would do if I had kids!

Can I take another vacation?

Good grief! I go back to work tomorrow after a week's vacation, and I think I'm more tired now than when I started this vacation! What a week!

Yesterday, my brother got a phone call from my roommate (who's boyfriend drives a Harley and is a member of the motorcycle minstry at our church). They were out riding and had two bikes break down about an hour and a half outside of town. The national president (who lives here in town and was with them) had a trailer that could haul both bikes, but they needed someone to come get them - which meant they also needed another car to haul passengers. So my brother and I head out about 2:45 to get the trailer (he's in his truck and I'm in my car) and actually get on the road to get our friends about 3:15. It was a really pretty ride up to get them. I was wishing I had my own motorcycle! We got there around 4:45 and then got back on the road home around 5:45. It was fun, but it also made for a very long day!

Everyone was so appreciative of us coming to get them, but I can't imagine not doing what we did. I guess I've just always been that way - if someone needs help, I'll do what I can to help them. From time to time, this helpfulness gets me in trouble. Sometimes, God is trying to work something out in a person's life and I'll step in and interfere by "helping" them out of a sticky situation. I'm learning to be a bit more cautious with my desire to help someone. But this one thing I know (and those close to me have heard this thousands of times!) "Freely you have received, freely give." Jesus was telling that to the disciples right before he sent them out to preach the gospel. (Matthew 10)

Everything I have and everything I am is because of Him! Every material thing I have, every talent or ability I have was given to me by my Father in Heaven. How could I not share what I have? Mind you, this lesson has not been easily learned. In fact, I'm still learning it. But if Jesus can give up Heaven and being in the presence of His Father to come to earth and die for me, I have no right to hold on to anything I have here on earth.

That's just what was on my mind, so I thought I'd share. Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

The Last Day

Alas, tis my last day of vacation. :(

It's been fun....just wish it could last a few more days. As a matter of fact, I still have about 5 days vacation due to me but I have to use them before September 1. There's no chance that I could take another week off! I'm just going to have to get better at planning vacation throughout the year instead of waiting until the summer to get it in.

There is some good news though - I'll be going to Kansas City for about 5 days in November - and it doesn't count against my vacation! Every year I go to our home office for new staff training (as a trainer) so I have the opportunity to be away from the office. What fun!

So, I'm sure you're just dying to know what I've been doing this week....right? Well - not much! I went swimming a couple of days with my sister-in-law and the kids - taught my niece Hannah how to swim. She is amazing! I couldn't get her to swim on top of the water or to float, but when I suggested she try swimming under the water - she took off like a fish!!! Hannah is only 5 and has never really had a chance to swim, so this week was a lot of fun. She got so brave, that she was jumping off the side of the pool and then would swim under water to the other side of the pool. It was cool! She got to show her daddy, mamaw and papaw that she could swim. Needless to say, they were all proud of her.

My other niece, Mackenzie, 3, was a little more cautious - she wouldn't swim - but she was all over the pool in her little Cookie Monster float! She eventually would jump off the side of the pool wearing her float. We were all proud of her too!

Last, but not least, we have Nathaniel, 2. He stayed to the edge of the pool in his Big Bird float most of the time, but would venture out with his mom or with me every so often. A couple of times, he tried to get in without his float, but his mom caught him. By the end of the day (yesterday), he wanted to jump into the pool (without his float). So I would stand there and catch him. He also tried it with his float. I think he decided to go for it because Mamaw and Papaw were watching. Anyway - we all had a great time!

As for what else I did this week - not a whole lot. It's been kind of nice. There were times this week I wished I was at the beach, but over all - it was a good week.

It's just over way too soon.

On Vacation

I can't believe I'm actually on vacation! It's not a really fantastic vacation - I'm not on the beach - but I am off of work and out of the office!!!! Yippee! I am enjoying myself, nonetheless.

We've had a bunch going on since I last wrote. Last Friday, we hosted our first really big gathering here at the house. The motorcycle ministry we are involved with has weekly meetings (hosted at different homes each week) and we were glad to offer our home as a meeting place. It went really well. We were concerned about parking, but it worked out perfectly! Of course the bikes all parked in the front yard. I wish I had thought about it - I would have taken a picture to post! Anyway, we had about 20 people over and it was a ton of fun!!

I'm still considering doing another blog specifically about the life and times of me and my roommates in our house. I think it would be fun. I've got a couple of other stories I could post that would make for interesting reading. I guess this week would be a good time to get it running.

Well, I'm going to sign off. My two nieces are spending the night with me tonight. One has already gone to sleep and now I need to get the other one to sleep.

Until later!