Moving AGAIN!

We have been preparing to move AGAIN! Hopefully, this will be the last time for a while. It is only two doors down, but is still such a pain to do! The new apartment, belonged to our Brother in law that passed away last year.

As I have been cleaning out his apartment, I have been having some very serious life changing thoughts. We all have so much "STUFF" we think we can't do without. But in the last 10 years I have had to help clean out Ray's parent's house, my parent's house, my grandmother's house and my great uncle that lived with her, his "stuff" too.

As I look around all my "STUFF" I can't help but think of all of them. All the things they held on to for so many years that they considered special or keepsakes, for the most part were gotten rid of. Their whole lives after a few memories were salvaged were whittled down to a few garbage cans.

That got me to thinking, I don't want my kids and grandkids to start going through all my things and saying "what is this and why do you think she kept it all these years" just for them to throw it out one day. So I have decided to downsize yet again!

Someone very special said to me just yesterday, if you have not seen or used it in a year, take a picture of it, mark on it why it was special, then get rid of it. So that is what I am going to do. Thanks D, I appreciate the words of wisdom.

We all live our lives, we collect things, we get rid of some, we keep some, we give some away. The conclusion I have come to is this: We are only here for a short time. We are supposed to do the best we can with what God gives us. We are supposed to leave His Love and His compassion with those we encounter. Everything else is just FLUFF (or STUFF). So nothing matters but how we live our lives, whose lives we touch with our own and that when our time does come, we can meet God with open arms and no regrets or apologies.

It has been that simple all along, and it took me almost 57 years to figure it out. But I am there. So wish me luck with this move because it is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. So hopefully we will be able to move the furniture in between the Louisiana Showers that us "G.R.I.T.S." are so used to! Love, hugs and kisses to all of you.

I am so very proud to announce the birth of my great nephew, Darius Wayne Gascon. God blessed us with Darius, a very healthy baby boy on August 21, 2009 at 6:36 pm. Darius weight 6lbs 4 0z and was 20-1/2 inches long.

Mom, Dad and Darius are doing well. Daddy is still flying high and I don't think his feet have touched the floor yet

God is GOOD!

Six Hours One Friday

I am reading a book by Max Lucado right now. Six Hours One Friday. It is a wonderful book. I am learning so much as I go through it. I just wanted to share what I have been given so far from this book.

Our lives are not an accident. We are all here for a reason. Sometimes only God knows the reason why, but we need to trust that He does and will use us to do His work when He needs us. We need to be open to His voice and His will.

No matter who we are and what we do, He loves us. None of us are insignificant. Max Lucado talks about "Anchor Points".

The first is "My life is not futile". He says someone (God) is in control and you do have a purpose.

The second is "My failures are not fatal". No matter what mistakes you make, He still loves you. You know hate the sin, love the sinner. It does not matter what anyone else says, know that God loves you no matter what you do.

The third is "My death is not final". No matter what happens here, we can know where we're am headed. Death is not final, the stone was rolled away and now it is an anchor. It is anchored to Christ. We keep our eyes on Him and doing His will and our anchor holds fast. The seas of life and mistakes can not drown us.

I hope you find time to read this book. God is speaking to me with every word in it. I hope it impacts you as it has me.

Perception Is Everything

I read somewhere "Everything we encounter is neutral. How we perceive it, positive or negative, determines our disposition for the rest of the day." That got me to thinking, no matter what "it" is that we are perceiving, it may not be right or wrong in the eyes of the world, but in our eyes PERCEPTION IS EVERYTHING. Make sure we weigh the circumstances of "it" by God's standard and we can be sure our perception is the right one.

Remember when someone else perceives "it" and "it" differs from your perception of "it", that their "perception" is everything to them as well. The hardest thing to do, is to sway the mind of a person that believes in their heart they are right.

It is like reading the Bible. Ten people can read the same passage, and come away with ten different interpretations of what God is saying to them at that point in their lives. The same ten people can read the same passage a year later and get, still ten different interpretations of what God wants them to hear. Our lives change and our message from God changes.

Be open to what God has to say. While we may not always like what He is telling us, our "perception" must be positive. Your days will be happier and you will learn that even "no" is an anwer from God. The positive of no, is that it is for your own good and sometimes we just have to trust God and not our own understanding. He sees the big picture, we only see what is right in front of us.

Lean not on your own understanding, but keep your head up and your eyes on Him and He will surely guide your paths in the way He would have you go.