Quick Weekend Recap

Friday, my sister and I went grocery shopping. I was really wanting some new panties and we had to go to JC Penney for a watch battery. I was good and stayed far away from the lingerie section. We then went to a Womens Shelter Store. We had never been there before apparently people donate clothes, shoes, books, furniture etc. and they sell it to help support the shelter ministry. I found 2 pairs of Victoria's Secret panties brand new, with the tag, in my size, for only 50 cents apiece!! WOO HOO! (I typically call this a tithe blessing)

Saturday, Leah & I went to see Julie & Julia. I loved it! I was not thrilled with the language and would not let my daughter see it. However, the message of strong happy marriages and all of the cooking just made me fall in love with it. After the movie we walked through a Flea Market. That was fun. I found a cookbook that I have rented from the library and enjoy for only $2.50. I ask them to hold it at the desk. Then I left without it. Oh well.

Sunday, J preached for a church in MO. He brought a great message about who God is, using Psalm 23 as his scripture. It was really wonderful! We had a nice day with my sister and her husband. We had an old family favorite for lunch. Bologna gravy with eggs on biscuits. If you have never had this, you are missing out! My granny who is a wonderful Kentucky cook used to make this for us. She always made fried apples on the side. Mmm Mmm!

Today, I am catching up laundry, walked 2.5 miles, mailing some things at the P.O., and babysitting my neighbors little guy.

Here's to a great Monday!

Chiggers, My Knight, and a Booty Whooping

Here is nature's response to giving up a few blackberries

Chiggers!
Yes, that is J's leg, not mine. Your relieved, right?! That is my OPI nail polish, we both have several places with that lovely decoration. Did you know nail polish is the best way we Arkansas folks get rid of chiggers? I had never heard of Chigger's until I moved here. The first time I got them, I showed a co-worker my itchy legs and when he told me the name, I thought he was just making fun of me. Over the years, unfortunately, we have come to be well acquainted with the Chigger.

Now for the fun stuff. July 4th was kind've a bummer of a day for my kiddo's and I...UNTIL...J came home riding his Equinox and swept us off to a night at a Best Western with a pool. J has one of those jobs where he works holidays, long hours, Saturdays, and often comes home late. We were hoping that he could get off early in the afternoon Saturday, and of course the dealership was busy, and we were sitting here waiting all afternoon for him. When he was on his way home,
I was kind of down and told him that I needed my knight in shining armour to come rescue us from this house. We were discussing what we should do, when he had the brilliant idea to use one of our gift cards and take a mini vacation. Off we went to a nice Best Western and we had the most fun. We had the pool to ourselves most of the day Sunday. When we got home, we were all so exhausted, we just laid around and watched movies. It was a wonderful weekend!

This morning when the alarm went off, at 5:45, I was cranky! I did not want to go to the track. I was grumbling on the way up there. When we got there, there was the football team doing practice. This really made me mad. Now, I got out of bed just to walk around the neighborhood. J was trying to pull me out of my mood but I wanted nothing to do with it. We got about a mile from the house when I got a severe cramp in my hip. I could not walk any further. J had to walk back to the house for the car to come pick me up. That's when I got my whooping...God let me stand there for a minute and realize that it WAS a beautiful morning, I HAD the company of my husband, I WAS healthy and able to walk without pain. I apologized first to God, then to J.

Don't you just hate getting a Godly whooping?!

Here's to a good attitude today!

Blessings,
Heather Kay

Monday, Monday

I have had a wonderful two weeks with my dad. As I posted we spent a lot of time hiking. We went to Roaring River State Park in Missouri on Thursday and it was my favorite of all of the spots we had been. J and I plan to go as a family as soon as possible. The pictures above were taken there. As you can see the trail had lots of places for the kiddo's to climb, crawl, and just get dirty.

The kids and I finished school right before I left for Virginia so these last couple of weeks were a great kick off for the summer. I am a person who likes having a plan and trying to stick to it. Right now I have so much in limbo with my life that I feel a little discombobulated. (a favorite word of my dad)

Here are some updates for you.

My niece is doing wonderful! My FIL just got email and we will be able to keep in touch with him through that. The girl(she's 23 now) with the three children has been put in jail for abuse and allowing abuse. The grandmother of these children is trying to place them with relatives to get them out of state control. According to her the kids are able to be adopted after a certain amount of time as foster kids and she is wanting her daughter to eventually have them back. I can not even guess what would be best for them, so, I am just praying that God will have His perfect will for them. This cycle of abuse runs deep and I am praying that it will be stopped here.

We are still praying for God's will for us in a ministry situation. We are hoping to know more this week about that. I am meeting with a dear friend of mine this week. He is 90 and has had a specialty store here in town for many years. He wants me to liquidate it for him on Ebay. I feel excited and a little overwhelmed at the possibilty. The store is full of collectible glass and I think it will be quite a challenge! More on that later.

It is so fun to travel and have others come for a visit! Then it is great to settle back in to home. That is what I will be doing today. Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Blessings,
Heather Kay

It's Just Another Manic Monday

I wrote that title yesterday and that is as far as I got. I think that proves my point, right?! I am going to take a break from my blog until next week. When I come back I will have much to share.
Please pray for my family as the rest of this week involves some big decisions and travel for us.

Blessings!
Heather Kay

The Weekend Recap, Minister to Others

I didn't mention last week that I had company coming in for the weekend. I have always been drawn to people who could use a friend. In high school, in Florida, my best friend was a boy who wanted to be Iceman from Top Gun. To the others he was just a strange guy to make fun of. I discovered a really loyal, fun, and quirky friend in him.

My dad has always had a heart for the underdog whether human or animal and I have inherited his heart for them. Back to my story...years ago at FBC we were in need of a pianist, this man came and he was a genius on the piano. He looked like he was about 35 but really I think he was in his late 50's. I sat in the first 3 rows on the left side with my youth group and he naturally sat on the front row.(when not at the piano) He wore the exact same outfit to church each week. He was very clean and his clothes were very neat and pressed. There was just something so sad about him.

Up to this point I had not wanted to invite people into my home as a pastor's wife. I was afraid I would burn the food or not have everything clean enough or they would laugh at the way I decorate. (which is pathetic) I have never had new furniture or "nice things". I just didn't feel like I could be a good hostess. Well this man started something for me. I invited him to come for lunch one Sunday between church. He was so touched and shared his story with us. He had gone through a terrible divorce, that was not his choice or fault, and he was truly devasted at the loss of his family. He came over often after that. He then moved away and occasionally he comes to stay for the weekend.

I clean, clean, clean when he comes. He has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He would never make me feel embarrassed by my home, but I do it for him. Yes, I do it for me also. I love having a clean house and this is one of the only times I actually dig deep enough to clean behind the toliet, vacuum under the cushions, etc.

I have learned over and over that I need to look past the outside of a person and get to know their heart. Our friend is not one that would be popular. You may even avoid him if you saw him coming every week in the same white shirt, blue pants and white shoes. This man is a treasure from the Lord. He is one of the most generous people I have known, he has a heart that truly loves his Lord, and his friends. He has been faithful to pray for us and stand by our side through all that life has brought.

It takes guts to get out of our boxes and approach that person sitting by themselves in the pew week after week. However, I have learned that there are rich treasures to be found! I hope you will find a rich treasure of a friendship yourself.

I Peter 4:9-10
"Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Blessings,
Heather Kay

Busy Weekend

Like everyone this will be a busy weekend for us. Please pray for J if you think of it. Sunday he will be preaching the morning and evening service at a church in our area. We are excited about this. I LOVE to hear him preach. You know how you get that tingly feeling in your gut when your husband does that thing that you really like...Well for me, when he is preaching, it is at the top of the list. I also love to see him teaching our children, throwing a football outside with our son, talking tech stuff with my daughter, doing the dishes, these are all things he does that give me the warm fuzzies.

I think that should be our homework for the weekend. Let's try to give our spouse's as many warm fuzzies as we can by Monday.

Blessings,
Heather Kay

Weekend Recap

Friday- My sister(Leah) called and her son wanted mine to come over for the day. I took her up on that! So it was just my daughter and I for Easter shopping. Bubba is a very good boy, but he does despise the whole fitting room with mom and sis thing. He was thrilled to get out of the shopping experience.

Doodle and I went to lunch and then we started at Kohl's. She is 11 and the choices seem to be cocktail dresses or "little girl" dresses. Because we are on a limited budget, I told her to look for a nice dress that she could also wear all summer. We walked into the girls section and immediately her eyes landed on the dress of her dreams. It is mainly a variety of blue's with a white jacket attached. Attached!! I love that! I do not like to much skin hanging out and I hate fighting the keep your sweater on battle. So this looked like it was going to be the dress. How anti-climactic! Within 15 minutes of starting shopping she had the dress. (Thank you Lord for the extra 30% off coupon.)

We went over to JC Penney's and Target and they didn't have anything that compared to the dress-o-dreams. We stopped by Payless and wonderful miracle we got her shoes on sale and they are even age appropriate. This is no easy fete as she wears a ladies size 8. We had a great day and I was was worn out by the time it was over. (We also got groceries at Aldi and W-Mart)

Saturday- Leah and I took the boys garage saling. We are both in desperate need of new furniture. I found two very nice end tables for $10 a piece. I also hit the jackpot for Doodle's summer wardrobe. At our last stop a lady was putting away her sale. She had a only grandchild who apparantely loved brand name clothes and then didn't wear them. She had high for garage sale prices on everything. $2 a shirt, $5 a dress. They were well worth that but I am a bargain shopper and normally do not even bother to look at those sales, unless I am looking for something specific. Well she was in a dealing mood. I left there with 9 new t shirts, capris, shorts, and jeans for $5.00!!!

When I got home I cleaned house, cooked dinner and watched basketball. Go Michigan St.! I am not usually a fan of them, but J and I do not like North Carolina. (He is a Duke fan in BBall)

Sunday- I did not get a good night sleep Saturday night and when the alarm went off I did not want to get up and go to church. I really struggled making myself. It was so worth the effort!!
Sunday School was wonderful, as usual. Our worship service was out of this world good. The music was so touching as we sang of Christ death. Our pastor gave a wonderful message of the cross and many went forward at the invitation. The Holy Spirit was definitely working among us yesterday. Last night we observed the Lord's Supper. I love being beside J, praying together, making sure our sins are confessed up, being open before our Lord together. It is such an intimate time.

Overall a great weekend! Now, I have a lot of catching up to do. Laundry, dishes, etc. etc.

Have a wonderful Monday,
Heather Kay