Resist discouragement

My mom sent me the following article in an email a week or two ago and I really appreciated the message shared in it. Hopefully those of you reading this will gain something from it as well. I love you and am praying for you! *hugs*


Resist discouragement by Rick Warren

For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. Habakkuk 2:3 (NIV)
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As a pastor, I’m sure many of you are discouraged.
Some of you are discouraged over your children that their lives are not going well. Some of you are discouraged about your marriage; it’s not at all what you thought it would be. You feel deflated and disappointed.
Some of you are discouraged about your finances, or your health, or the economy, or an unanswered prayer.
I want to say something to you, and it may sound mean, but it isn’t. It’s simply truth, so I say this in love: If you’re discouraged, that’s your choice. We make a choice to be discouraged. We make a choice to let discouraging thoughts move freely through our minds. But, we can also make a choice to change our thoughts at any time, taking them captive in the Lord.
You get to choose what to focus on – your purpose or your problems, God’s power or your weakness, or your circumstances.
We can fight discouragement. Here’s a tip to help: When you get discouraged, focus somewhere else. Say to yourself, “I don’t have time to be discouraged right now. I’m too busy fulfilling my life mission.”
This doesn’t mean you should be a Pollyanna and pretend everything is okay. You can be realistic, but you also need to be optimistic because you are a Christian: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13 NIV). God says, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20 KJV). He will help you and he will strengthen you. Faith starts with optimism.
Some of you have been praying for something specific and you haven’t yet gotten the answer. In Habbakuk 2:3 (NLT), God says, “These things I plan [for your life] won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.”
Just be patient. The answer you’re waiting for will not be overdue a single day. God’s timing is always perfect.
At Saddleback, we claimed this verse from Habbakuk for 13 years. We were growing bigger and bigger, but we still didn’t have the land we needed to build a worship center. We’d tell God, “Everybody else has a building. How come we don’t have a building?”
After 13 years, God answered our prayer – and we realized he had a much bigger plan than we did. The property we built on was not even available when we first started Saddleback. There weren’t even roads leading to the property. God had a plan and slowly, steadily, surely he began to fulfill his vision.
© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.

Crowns & Clothes

So, yesterday I was able to see my previous dentist and get my crown reset. Thankfully the tooth cement had been working well and kept my crown temporarily in place since last Thursday. They cleaned up the area, took an X-ray and found no sign of decay or any problems. So $115 later, my crown was reset and good for at least another 10 years. :)

On Sunday, my sister and I visited a new store in Moreno Valley called Dress Barn. Can I just say that we LOVE LOVE LOVE this store!!!! We spent about 2 hours gleefully trying on just about everything in that store. The saleslady was very nice and helpful (knew she'd make a great sale off of us no doubt:), the dressing room was large and nicely air-conditioned and best of all the clothes were not only cute but they fit so nicely and often were in smaller sizes than we might think we wear. ;) I needed a dress to wear to my boss's wedding this coming weekend and was able to find one that is not only very pretty and flattering, but also only $20!

We found that many dresses looked good on me, but bad on Kelly. Or great on Kelly, but terrible on me. But then we found what we now refer to as the "Travelling Dresses" - 2 sexy and flattering dresses that look equally good on both of us. How this can even work when she is tall, I am short, and my chest is much larger than hers....but magically both looked so good we had to just sit and stare at ourselves wondering how can this be??? So, we bought them both of course...one will live at my house and the other will live with Kelly. We plan to wear them on opposite days while in Vegas for my birthday weekend in August. In addition, I will bring the dress that I got for the wedding and Kelly has an adorable dress that suits her perfectly! Now we have gorgeous dressy/sexy outfits to wear to our fabulous dinners at Margaritaville, Delmonico Steakhouse and Rao's. :)

I love shopping with my sister and now we LOVE shopping at Dress Barn. But we must resist the impulse to visit too often otherwise our hubbies will get upset about all the money we spend! :) Good thing we know to keep most things in moderation.

Tooth update

I looked up online how to care for a lost crown and found some good information on Colgate.com They recommended keeping the area clean and getting some tooth "cement" to temporarily restore the crown to its place. I drove over to CVS and was able to locate some.

After spending the last few minutes brushing, flossing and rinsing my teeth I have used the "cement" to reinstall my crown. It still feels a bit tender, but the feeling of emptiness is gone thankfully and the most tender spot is now recovered. Hopefully this will help until I see the dentist.

I just need to remember to not chew on my left side, or at least chew very carefully. Thanks for listening and continuing to pray. :)

Annoyed

At lunch today while eating a piece of cheese, one of my crowns fell out. :( I called my dentist (who I have never been to) to find out when I could come in. They told me that because they did not install my crown, they cannot fix it and that I needed to see the dentist who installed the crown. So I call Canyon Crest Dental (who I actually liked, but do not accept my current dental insurance). They told me that anyone can fix a crown, but that they will take care of it. But...they have no openings until next Tuesday at 8am.

Now I apparently must wait almost a week with a huge empty hole in my mouth...unless they have a cancellation and can fit me in sooner. I'm a bit stressed about whether or not it will cost anything. I think it shouldn't since a crown is supposed to last longer than 9 years (I got this one in 1999 apparently). But since they don't take my insurance if there is a cost it will be out-of-pocket...though they do accept CareCredit which we have due to all Josh's teeth issues. So if it does cost, hopefully we have enough left on our $2500 limit to cover it.

Pray for me...I get too emotional about anything remotely emotional and just sat at my desk crying because of this. I want to get it taken care of sooner, but feel unprepared to call my dentist and ask them to just take care of it...all they have to do is re-set the crown. I know that this is serving as a reminder that I need to finally go get a cleaning...it's been 6 years. Yes, I know that is too long...yes, I should have been going twice a year...but I haven't and nothing can change that fact. But I guess it's time....:(

Hopefully Gentle Dental really is gentle or I will be even more annoyed.

Memories

"No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."

On Saturday I spent a couple hours going through some boxes of things I have saved over the years. I keep pretty much everything, so the items in these boxes were quite varied and not in any kind of chronological order. I found birthday cards, graduation cards (high school and college), Christmas cards, report cards from college, class schedules, and so many other things. One of the neat things was some old letters from friends who I had totally forgotten ever wrote to me. I took the time to reread them all and sent a few notes or comments on MySpace to those friends. I think they enjoyed the reminders of their past as well.

I spent the evening that night with my best friend Angela and was able to go through a box of Angela memories with her. She had been having a hard day and I was glad that God used a little gift I had found for her to bless her and remind her that she was loved. We laughed over old passed notes, got a little sad over some pictures, and tried to remember who we meant by some old code words...who was Rice? We remembered Scurvy and Jordan though. :) It's so nice to be able to look back over years of friendship and see not only how much we've changed, but also the ways we can also be the same silly girls together.

Going through the boxes also reminded me of a lost friendship from college. I remember how close we all were back then and it seems impossible that the friendship ended. There are times when I'd like to get in touch with Kristi again and see if the friendship could be revived, but other times when I just feel like it was a season friendship. Truly important in its time, but not meant to be forever. It makes me a little sad, especially rereading the notes, poems, and cards...but I'm glad that I can look back with fond memories of that time, that friendship and that experience.

Yes, I'm a pack rat and perhaps I shouldn't save all the things that I save...but when I get the chance to look back through all those saved memories I am glad that I took the time to keep it. Some of these saved memories would have been lost forever if I hadn't been so sentimental and decided to keep it. I don't think I could ever be convinced to throw these memories away...they and the people they remind me of are too important to be forgotten.

Friendship

My best friend Angela Rose - though our friendship has had many ups and downs over the 15 years we have known each other I would have to consider her my best friend. I know that I can always talk to Angela about anything and everything that I wonder, that bothers me, stuff that makes me sad, mad, bad, happy, silly, etc. We are very different from each other, but I know that our friendship is deep enough and strong enough to not only handle our differences but also to embrace them and make us realize how much we complement each other and give balance to both of us. We can be silly, we can be serious and we are always there for each other loving, supporting, encouraging and caring for each other. She is a lifelong friend and I'm grateful to have Angela in my life - I love her! :)

Hill & CeeCee being silly

Kelly, me & Angela in Vegas last summer on our girl's weekend. :)

My beautiful sister Kelly - we have always been good sisters, though we fought on occasion and had some struggles we always loved and supported one another. But since college, our relationship has become closer and I consider Kelly one of my best friends. I love to spend time with her and since she is now a mommy of my beloved niece and nephew we get to spend time together quite frequently. I am so blessed that we are not just sisters, but friends and I love her.

Melissa and I have known each other for many years. She is one of my best friends and though we don't live close to each other anymore I am blessed to have her continued friendship and support in my life. We were college roommates for three years and I couldn't have asked for a better roomie. She and her husband John have always been my favorite couple, for many reasons including how much they love each other, their kindness and friendliness, their love for God and desire to serve Him, but most important to me was that they always made me feel comfortable with them. I never felt like a third wheel and I always felt supported, encouraged and loved by them both. I am so grateful for both of them and glad that we continue to be a part of each other's lives. I'm so blessed to be the godmother of their oldest son Matthew and look forward to many more years of their friendship...they are very loved. :)

Bunco Beauties - Angela, me, Kelly, Mandy, Jodi & Donna.

Princesses for a day with yummy food made by Mandy. :)

Mandy's birthday - Kelly made her the dress, apron and hat.

Girl's Movie Night - a tradition began by Angela two years ago. We meet monthly at one another's houses and eat yummy food and watch classic movies. Some of the movies we've watched are It Happened One Night, Some Like It Hot, Steel Magnolias, Cinderfella, West Side Story, Funny Farm and many others. We often celebrate each other's birthdays, we've supported each other (specifically creating a Bunco fundraiser to raise support for Angela who is doing the Breast Cancer 3-Day), prayed for each other, baked Christmas cookies together, dressed up 80's style ,and basically have a LOT of fun together. :) I'm so glad that we've been able to continue this every month and look forward to many many more opportunities to continue. I love you girls!

Family ties

My hubby Josh & I at our favorite place - Disneyland

My family - awesome brother-in-law David, sister Kelly, nephew Jonathan, me, niece Katelyn, Dad and Mom (Josh took the picture)

Kind of an old picture, but a great one of me and two of my aunties Leslie & Diana (and our dog Belle)

Katelyn playing Candyland with Uncle Josh & her Daddy

Katelyn & TeeTee

Kelly, Katelyn, Jonathan & David

I am so blessed to have such a warm and loving family. I am surrounded by so many aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc and I have always felt very secure and loved. My sister is one of my best friends and we are blessed to be able to live close (to our parents too) and spend time with each other on a more than weekly basis. I adore being an auntie (TeeTee as Katelyn calls me) and love to spend as much time as possible with Katelyn and Jonathan. They always make me happy and bring a smile to my face.

Visiting Texas & good friends

John & Melissa at the NASCAR truck race

Josh & I at the NASCAR truck race

Playing with Matt & Drew

The Cordrey's

We recently were able to go to Texas for four days to visit some really good friends - John & Melissa Cordrey and their two boys Matt & Drew. Melissa and I have been friends since 10th grade and were roommates our last three years of college. Though we don't get to see them too often, our friendship continues to stand the test of time and distance and it was a blessing to be able to visit them and see that we really are like family. We had lots of time to play with the boys, watch movies, talk and laugh a lot and even got to attend a NASCAR truck race. Though it was sad to say goodbye, we will be able to see them next month when they come out to CA to visit. And no matter how many miles or how much time separates us, our friendship lasts and that makes me feel very blessed. I love you Cordreys! :)

Trying this again

This is my new attempt to create, and more importantly maintain, a blog. I enjoy reading other people's blogs quite a lot and hope that eventually others will enjoy reading mine. I definitely don't claim to be a great writer or creative thinker, but hopefully this will provide something interesting to read now and then. I also plan to post pictures of people, places and things that I want to remember and share. It will probably be a mishmash of unrelated things, except that of course they all relate to me. But I guess that is the whole point of blogs...they are very uniquely designed by each individual and we all have our quirks. So hopefully enjoy...and if not, give me suggestions. I promise to at least think about them though I do not guarantee to follow through on all...but I appreciate suggestions. :)