Father's Day!

When I think of a Father, I obviously think of my dad! He isn't perfect because none of us are, but in my opinion, he's pretty close! I'm so thankful that God allowed me to be born to him! My dad loves God, loves my mom & loves my brother & me! He also now loves my hubby & my kids.

Here are some of the things I love about my dad:

1. He loves the Lord!! And that Love shines throughout his life.  My dad loves to read the Bible, sing about God & tell others about what God has done for him and can do for them. Without my dad, I wouldn't have learned about Jesus & trusted HIM as my Savior!

2. He loves my mom! I remember when I was growing up, seeing my parents holding hands or kissing. They love being together. I used to think it strange when a lot of other adult couples I knew, didn't seem to want to be together. My dad always made sure that we respected my mom.

3. He loves others! My dad loves to help others. A fond memory of mine is when I went with my dad to deliver food to a co-worker of dad's who was going through a rough time. We took sacks of food & milk and placed it on their front porch. Then we knocked on the door & ran. From down the block, we watched them open the door to find the food. It was such a cool memory! Dad has a large garden that he grows lots of veggies in. Then he just gives them away. He keeps much of his friends & family in zucchini, tomatoes, corn & potatoes as well as other veggies.

4. He loves missionaries! My dad was mission Treasure at our church when I was growing up & we had lots of different missionaries stay with us over the years. I got to firsthand hear about some of the miracles God has worked on the mission field! Now my dad (& Mom) support lots of missionaries. And my dad has gotten to serve as a missionary. He has went to Africa, Brazil & other countries as well as serving here in America. He uses his telephone splicing & repair skills to put phones in mission hospitals, schools, churches & camps!

So these are just a few things I love about my dad!

I love you Dad! I'm so thankful that God made you my dad! Thank you for being my dad!!
Love, your daughter!

What if I really had the Joy of the Lord?

This past Sunday, we had the Mwangaza Children's Choir (http://www.mwangazachoir.org/) at our church. Watching these children dance & sing for the Lord really made me stop & think!  "What if I really had the Joy of the Lord in my life?" What if I woke up eager to tell others about my Savior? What if I was always ready to sing & dance to the Lord?

Sadly, most of the time I don't. Many days I spend my time selfishly thinking of me & my own problems. Many days I just plod through my day with no joy, no worship, just sadness & apathy. I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't live out my faith. I don't put my Savior first. Why? Partly because I get caught up in the world & all that living here in America offers. Partly because I'm selfish & I think of myself & what I can do or what I have or don't have. Partly because I don't truly trust my Savior for life! I don't ask Him to fill me with His Joy. I don't let Him! I let the worthless concerns of everyday life drag me down. I let the pain overwhelm me. I let the frustration get to me. I DON'T filter life through God's Grace! I don't see this world & my life through God's Eyes!

What would my life look like if everyday I woke up & said "My Savior died for me! Oh what Grace!", "My Savior takes care of me. He guides me & shepherds me" & "Do you know my Savior?" What if I woke up everyday & really praised God for my life, my family, my salvation? What if I strived every day to put God first & truly Worship Him? What if I spent more time with God? What if I memorized more of His Word?  What if I really loved Him the way He loves me?

I can't comprehend how my life would change... But will I do these things? or will I let the apathy & cares of this world pull me down?


Lord, Change me! Fill me with Your Joy! Let me be a Shining Light for You! Shine in me! Change me, because I can't change myself!

Memorial Day Rant

Yesterday day was Memorial Day. It's a day to remember those who died in War. It's a tradition started after the Civil War and continued to this day. I'm so thankful for all the soldiers who have fought to keep our country free for everyone!

War is not nice, it's not pretty, it's not something we want to see happen. BUT it does happen in this fallen world because people are sinful & full of pride! When someone wants to take power & use it for their own elevation & domination, then wars happen. I'm thankful for the men & women who have heard the call for people to stop injustice and to preserve freedom! When they make that choice, they give their all! Their heart, their souls & many times their lives. For that, we remember & honor them.

I'm proud to have a long heritage of brave patriots in my family. Many of my relatives fought in the civil war to help bring freedom to ALL in America! I know some fought in WWI & WWII & Korea. I'm so proud of my dad who went to Vietnam as a newlywed. I'm so thankful for the chaplain who led him to the Lord & set him on the right path. I'm so thankful to God for protecting my dad and bringing him home as many didn't come home!

No matter the reason for the war, when our country called, brave men & women have stood up & said yes! I'm thankful for them all! I'm also thankful for those soldiers who have served during peacetime. Thanks to our strong military, many wars have been avoided in the past! Our soldiers have given their time, their strength, their lives to protect those of us who appreciate them & even for those who "hate" them. Without our soldiers, those in our country & many of those in our world would not be free & would not be able to say & do the things they want. Many of our soldiers died so people could have the right to say they hate our soldiers, they hate our freedom, they hate our American way of life! I just can't comprehend how people in this world can not see that if it wasn't for the American Soldier fighting bad guys, much of the world would be imprisoned or slaves! And even in war, Americans are compassionate. Every city we've ever fought in or bombed, we have rebuilt!! No other country in the world does that!!! And many times, the rebuilding process has cost more soldiers their lives!!!!

So, to those who have served or are serving in the greatest military in the world, I humbly thank you!! Without you, I would not be free to say what I want, do what I want & worship God in freedom! For those of you who knock the American soldier & the American way of life, PLEASE look at history & realize you wouldn't be free to knock us if it wasn't for us fighting so you could have the freedom to do so!! I love America! I'm proud to say I'm an American! We aren't perfect, but we believe in Freedom! Do you??

Blessings of Friends!

I decided this afternoon that I wanted to post a really positive blog post! So I decided to focus on the blessing of friends since I had been looking over my Facebook friend list.  I've always been a little sad at the thought that I don't have a "best friend" like you see in movies & tv shows. I never really have. I've had lots of really good friends, but never a best friend you share ever detail of your life with & have to do everything with (except my Hubby who truly is my soulmate!). But I realized today, I have something I feel is better! I am blessed with an over abundance of friends!! So let me tell you about some of my groups of friends!

1. My family - I have a big family! You've loved me since I was born & I'm so blessed to have you all in my life. And my family by marriage, you've always treated me as if I've always been a part of your family!!

2. My Church family - I'm so blessed to go to a church that is so loving & caring. We are all like one big family! You all are truly what a church should be!! You all care for me & my family! You pray for me & you guide us! Thank you all for being there for me!

3. My Friends from my youth - These are my elementary & high school friends, my church friends from Berean & Hope First Baptist & my 4-H friends! You made growing up so much fun! I'm blessed that so many are still a part of my life!!

4. My college friends - The Baptist Student Foundation (The Found) was such a vital part of my college life & it has left me with several lifelong friends! You all were there to see Jeff & I start our lives together! You were the first friends we both had!!

5. My GSPN community friends - These are friends I've met online at GSPN.TV/Forum . I've been fortunate to meet a lot of you in person. And even those I haven't have become such good friends.

6. My LoveBug friends - This is a group of awesome ladies that I met online when I was pregnant with Jessica. They are so special that over 5 years later, we are still friends! We shared our pregnancy & now our entire lives with each other.  I hope to meet you all in person someday!

7. Other Friends - I have lots of other friends that I've met over the years & kept.  Some are spouses of friends on the above lists. Some are former co-workers of Hubby's who have stayed friends with us over the years.

To all my friends, thank you for being a part of my life! I know my life has been blessed by knowing you!! I'm so thankful that God has put each one of you into my path at different times in my life & for different reasons. I pray that God blesses you as richly as He has me!

The Pit is no fun!

So if you follow me on Twitter (Joyfulmomlea) or Facebook, you know I fell in the pit this week. Not literally a pit, but a dark pit of self-pity & self-loathing. Not a fun place. Somehow this is a pit I keep falling into! I disliked myself at that moment. I think what makes it worse is I know I have no reason to be in the pit so I get mad at myself which makes the pit worse!

It's a dark place when you feel alone & feel like you're a bad mom, a bad wife, a bad Christian! I should have seen the pit coming as I've come off of several good weeks (homeschool conference with Hubby, Kids' birthdays, Women's Retreat w/my church). It seems like when I've been up, that's when Satan likes to take any vulnerable moment & turn it against me. The vulnerable moment was when I started really missing my Hubby! He'd been gone for 9 days (total of 12). Rather than taking a moment to miss him & then get on with my day, I wallowed. It's not pretty when we wallow. I sat on the couch feeling sorry for myself. "Poor me! Hubby's away all the time. Poor me! Hubby has all this time to himself & I have to work, work work! Poor me! I have to be single mom a lot of the time. Poor me! No one to give me a break. Poor me! I've let the kids play on the computer or watch tv too much & I'm a bad mom. Poor Me! the kids are being fussy & not obeying. Poor Me!

As you can see, I was focusing on me & all the negative. Fortunately, God prompted me to tweet a little about how I was feeling. That's when I saw a  positive side of Twitter & Facebook. Within minutes, I had friends encouraging me. One friend told me she feels the same way. Another friend said she'd be praying for me. Yet another friend told me I was doing a good job as a mom! That's when I cried & thanked God for showing me how blessed I was/am!! So this time, instead of being in the pit for days, even weeks, I was out of the pit within hours!

So I guess the point of this post is just to tell you that pits happen!! We all fall into one from time to time! When you do, focus on God instead of yourself & tell others! God gave us friends to support us & to encourage us! Stop pretending you're a perfect person who does everything right! or Stop telling yourself no one would like you if they knew what a horrible person you really are! I struggle with the 2nd one more than the first! We are all imperfect! The faster we realize that & reach out to all the other imperfect people God has placed around us, the faster we will climb out of the pit & possibly avoid it the next time!

If you find yourself in a pit, let me know! I'll encourage you, I'll pray for you & I'll even cry with you! We need to stick together, lift each other up & help each other along the road of this imperfect life!!