Veterans Day

In all my antics in growing up, and with all the titles that I ever thought I would hold, Navy Verteran never would have been one of them. However, that is one of the titles that I hold in my life. I shouldn't say proudly, because the Lord does hate pride, but I can say that I honorably served in the USN for 5 years (I have the DD214 form to prove it).

This picture was taken in 2000 and I was 20. Oh how much I had yet to learn, even though I thought I knew it all back then. Who would know that within a years time I would be stationed in Sicily (a country I had always hoped to go to), standing watch on front gate (on the look out for terrorists) and that I'd come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour.


However, this leads me to a thought. While those of us who have given up chunks of our lives, yay even some lives entirely, in order to protect both hearth and home; serving in the armed forces for our Nation is nothing like serving in the Lords armed forces. Once we enlist in those there is no DD214 separation paperwork, and our honorable service is only recognized upon our promotion to glory. We can only hope to hear "Well done, thou good and faithful servant", Matthew 25:21.

The word Veteran is a noun & means - One who has been long exercised in any service or art, particularly in war; one who has grown old in service and has had much experience.

Sadly I believe that there are all to many Christians that fall out of the spiritual battle before becoming seasoned enough to hold the title of Veteran. I believe primarily because alot of people don't ever learn to use their sword, Hebrews 4:12, and because of that they don't know how to use their weapon against the attacks of the enemy. Just like a military service person, the Christian has been given a weapon in order defend themselves, which is the Bible. One way to hear the afforementioned scripture is to know your Bible. And while I admit I have a lot to learn from it and that I'm still learning how to use it better. It is has by far been the best means of defense that I've had in the past 9.5 years.

11 years ago I joined the Navy to serve my country and get money for school. A year and a half later I was actually saved to serve in a much greater capacity than I could have ever imagined. The serving has not stopped and I hope one day that I can count myself worthy of that Veteran status.

Until then however, let me just say that I am happy to be called a Veteran of my country and want to thank all of those that have served and are still serving in our nations Armed Forces. Let yourselves always be counted Semper Fi.

New Budget Friendly Christmas Ideas

Can you believe how fast this year has gone! I surely can't, and with just a little over 4 months away from Christmas it's time to start planning, at least it it for me. Back when I lived in Maryland I found much joy in spreading the purchases of my Christmas presents out over a period of time and have since tried to continue implementing that practice into my life. Why? Because I hate feeling rushed and burdened with having to go to the mall when it's a mad house during November and December. Having worked in a mall during the Christmas season I've since tried to avoid it at all costs. Sometimes this practice hasn't worked, but mostly that's due to my lack of foresight with the impending holiday, but when it has it's made the month of December much more enjoyable for me. Plus, as an added bonus, when those last minute parties and gifts come up, because you know that they always do, buying that unexpected gift, or food to prepare, doesn't end up breaking the budget that you've so dutifully established for yourself.

Last year, unfortunately it was a bit late, I posted a blog with some ideas that I had come across online, click here to take a look. The reason I'm posting it again this early is because I was inspired when I started looking up other budget friendly ideas today. This one is probably the best, especially if you have children, or are a Sunday School teacher, or have some fun friends that you want to share memories with, or. . .well this present idea is just perfect for all people, small and big kids alike.

How about making your own coloring book from the photos that are stored on your computer and that are taking up more hard drive space than necessary (I'm guilty as charged). Seriously, it may take an afternoon or two, but what a great idea to share memories with others. So here's the how to . . .

Go to this website About.com and let the computer guru work you through the Photoshop magic.

Don't have Photoshop? No worries. Go to Paint.net and get their program for free. The titling of the categories is slightly different, but with just a few extra steps and a little perusal of the categories you can work the same magic from Photoshop, but without the hefty price tag.

It's also easy to make a story out of it, by simply adding some text to the page. This can turn out a bit light depending on how dark you've had your layer turn out, but it could still work if that's what you want.

You can bet that I'll be using this more when I have something to color for my Sunday school class. I hate having to sift through mediocre coloring pages that only halfway capture the concept of the story that I'm trying to teach.

I'm really such a big kid at heart and love to color. It's very relaxing and creative w/o being expensive. I'll be posting more as I find them and as we get closer to the date, I just had to share this one now, but hope that you all have a budget friendly, blessed, and Happy Christmas holiday set before you.

It is a good think to give thanks unto the Lord

Last weekend in my SS class our lesson was about King Hezzikiah, and his the gratitude that he had towards God after saving the Jews from the Assyrians. My question to the girls was, Are we only allowed this one day to say thank you to God for his blessings? Their answer surprised me, for they answered "Yes", that we were only allowed this one day to say thank you. Now my girls are young, 6-9, but we have a special time on Sunday mornings allotted to praise the Lord for his provisions and blessings. However, when these answers do arise it's also a great time for teaching and reinforcing what they already know to be true, sometimes they just need a little help. So my next question was, "Well, if that's the case do you think that you could remember an entire years worth of thank yous?" Of course, as children often are they decided to be contrary and said "Yes they could." But as they started to think about it some more they started to change their answer.

Anyway, Thank you for me comes rather naturally off my tongue. You see it was my first word. According to my baby book it came out more like "tank too", but obviously my mom new what I meant. I don't know what I was saying thank you for, however that's really not the point. The point is that we should be grateful for the blessings that God has given us and not hold onto them for a year (or a really long time). We should thank him often for his provision and thank those who are in our lives for the things they do for us. Why it takes one specific day to drag it out of most people is beyond me, but it is nice to have a day that we can take time out, slow down, and appreciate the gifts that we do have. So without further ado (and in no real kind of order) here is what I'm thankful for.

Thank you for:
~ My eternal salvation. Why God did what he did is beyond me and there are not enough thank yous that could be said for that. (If you're wondering what I'm talking about click on the e-Life studies link on my sidebar or take The Good Person Test to find out).
~ My family
~ My church
~ My friends (Kali, Nicki, Meleah, Laura, Shannon & Pastor J., Steve & Sheri, Maggie, Sharon, Katie & Tim, Vicki & Pastor S., The rest of the SPG's, Abbey, Chris & Selena) If I missed anyone I apologize because there are a lot of you. All of you bring something special to my life.
~ The King James Bible AV1611
~ My health ~ My working car
~ My apartment
~ Mrs. Reid, who is going the extra mile to make sure I have a GF Thanksgiving
~ My SS class. Those girls are so great. Each one of them brings something unique to the class each Sunday. There are very few dull moments:)
~ The opportunity that the Lord gave me to share my recent testimony at our Ladies Bible Fellowship. It's wonderful how the Lord works things out for us whenever we let go of our hangups.
~ The dress I just got from Abbey
~ The quiet days with nothing to do
~ The busy days with to much to do
~ My job
~ My new phone (pic soon to be posted)

There is so much more that I'm missing that it doesn't seem right to end the list now. So I'll porbably end up psoting things as I think of them. I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble

The story of Thanksgiving

I just felt like sharing this story of Thanksgiving that was printed out for us last night at church. I hope you (my readers) have the time to read it and enjoy it before you sit down to stuff your face tomorrow:) Yummy!!!