Leap of Faith

Do you ever feel like God puts things in front of you just to see how you will respond to a situation? Now I do not mean trials just people or things in general. I remember many occasions where I truly believe God placed a stranger in my path to test my faith as well as my heart to see what my response to that person would be. It brings to mind a play where a family knows that Jesus is coming to dinner and they are so worried about him coming that they turn away and ignore people in need. In the end those people were representations of Jesus....basically that is what I am talking about.

You are probably wondering where I am going with this but this past week I came across something that has me reflecting on God's purpose for this person in my life. As many of you know I work full time but I also do bookkeeping for some small companies on the side to help them get started and on their feet. Long story short one of my side jobs I have been helping get this company out of near bankruptcy and I have met some very interesting people along the way. I am sad to say that my first impression of some of these people was based on my own fears of who I thought they were based on my own ignorance. I have seen some of the poorest families I have ever met and God just started pulling at my heart for these people. My pastor about three weeks ago gave us all a challenge to get three new people and share the gospel with them this year. My husband and I had already picked out our three each based on the obvious family and friends....but it seems God wanted to add a few more people to that list.

Last week this young man was hired to work at their company that we thought was going to be your typical guy who just needs a job...nothing special about him. I was called by the owner to come in and talk about him and come to find out this young man was homeless and living in his van. He had come to work that morning and told one of the ladies that his stomach hurt because he had not eaten in two days!! Okay now those who know me this is what I live for it to help those who have nothing so here come my tears. I went straight home to my husband who was in the car with me in minutes going to the grocery store and loading a cart full for this young man. We drove to the office and loaded up the fridge with food so when he came in each day he had breakfast, lunch and dinner. He was not there at the time but came shortly after we left and the owner called me telling me he was crying because he was so thankful for the food. Anyway I did not say any of that to get a pat on the back because I don't need one nor do I want one it is the right thing to do period.

Well it is amazing the way God uses something that seemed so natural for me and my husband to do to put alot of curiousity in their hearts. I finally told my husband I am going for it and I just picked up the phone and called the owner my first words were "Do you believe in God?" He was a little surprised but it started a very nice conversation about church and faith. He grew up in church along with his wife but some situations he saw pushed him away from it for many years. I invited them to go to church with us on Sunday and he thanked me for the invite but would let me know. I just figured that was his way of blowing me off so he would not hurt my feelings and I just kept praying for them. Yesterday I went into the office and he said we are coming to church with you on Sunday!!! His wife looked at me and said can we bring some of our friends too? So now they are coming, another couple they know are coming and the new kid said he needs to get back in church too. I was so excited I could have cried. It is a small step but it is better than nothing. It is amazing the chain reaction it creates when you take one leap of faith and just let God do the rest....two people have turned into five....that is awesome!

I would challenge all of us to reach out to those that take us out of our comfort zone and just see what happens. You will not "win" them all but they will never forget the times you tried. I saw this in my mother's life and to see the little things she did after she died that made a huge impact on friends and family will stick with me forever. God created all of us to do great things in this world and that one moment you pass up could be a moment he is testing you. Be ready and just GO FOR IT!!!

Remodeling & Marriage!!!

Okay whomever thought you could blend the two was obviously not married! LOL My wonderful husband and I had the brilliant idea that we would do some updating to our home and boy let me tell you that is a learning experience. I have realized that the simple task of picking out a wall color can turn into a major event in our lives.

Anyway...we started with the living room and hallway last week. The lovely lady who lived in our house before us thought she would add a special feature to our home in the form of textured paint. Not only is it ugly it is also a wonderful treat to rub your arm against it and feel like sandpaper has been scrapped all over your body. Well me being the oh so smart woman said "we can just sand it down" and then paint over it. So my very patient hubby agreed and started sanding the hallway and boy was that a mistake!! I was beginning to think a small fire had started in the hallway until I realized this mass of smoke was dust that was now covering everything in my home!!!!!! Of course there is no way I can complain because that might make him mad considering I wanted this in the first place so I just smile and let him continue. Four days later the hallway is sanded....seriously four days later. Now there are two reasons for that and one being we were not too smart in our choice of sanding methods so it took three attempts to get it right and two my husband is the ultimate PERFECTIONIST. I am very thankful he loves to do a good job but my time and his time are two different things. Needless to say we both agreed that the living room was not going to be a part of this wonderful sanding experience. Fortunately the hallway was the worst part so I was happy.

Sanding is done now what? Cleaning up the mess and that was a chore in and of itself. We finally had everything cleaned up by Saturday morning so now it was prep time. Let me make something very clear I HATE to paint! Anyway we spent 3 hours taping off the ceiling and floors and we were finally ready to prime the trim. (We had that poopy brown trim so we wanted to paint it white) We primed everything and painted the walls a beautiful dark green and then the white trim. I was so happy on Sunday when we finished that I could have nearly cried....anyone who knows me well will tell you that I hate when my house is not in order it stresses me out so I was anxious to get everything in place and clean. So we let it dry until Monday night and I slowly started to pull off the tape....and what a wonderful surprise....the tape was pulling the paint off!!! What!?!?!?! We paid a small fortune for this "painters tape" that is supposed to prevent this and it was doing the total opposite. I think we both could have taken a sledge hammer to the walls at that point, hahahaha. We have now spent the last two nights doing touch up and it is finally done!!!

I am happy to report we are still happily married! We are starting the guest room/future baby's room this weekend and that is only painting so we should be okay. We are waiting on the bathroom vanity we ordered to come in and that will be a whole new experience. I hope to get a digital camera soon so I can post some pics for you all to see.

What is a Frugal?

Have you ever heard someone say they live a frugal lifestyle and thought what in the world are they talking about? Well join the club because I was the same way until my best friend had me check out a few blogs of woman who are putting this into practice in their own lives and man it is really neat. We all want to save money and get the best for every dollar we spend and these woman amaze me at how far they can stretch a buck. I have listed some of the blogs I like to check out every day (I will add more as I have time). I have started clipping coupons and bargain hunting much to my husband's dismay, haha! He did not see the point until he went shopping with me one day and my bill went from $92 bucks to $39 dollars with sales and coupons!!! He was rather impressed and we both look for bargains now. There is obviously much more to living a frugal lifestyle than just clipping coupons but I have to start somewhere. I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas!!

First Timer

Well I have finally decided to create a blog!! I am always on here checking out friends and family blogs so I thought it would be nice to have my own. It is going to take me a while to figure all of this out so any advice would be helpful.