Explanation of this site

 I feel like I need to explain myself a bit here. My husband started this site, and at first I wasn't too interested , but over time I got more interested and he got busier.

 I am the wife of the man whose profile you read on here. I do most of the posting.  I have been getting weird messages and the people think that my husband is posting. Not cool messages either.

Also, for those whose sites I go on, I am sorry if we gave a false impression and it looks like my husband is on the different women's sites, it is me :)

I tried to change the profile and couldn't .. so I am just writing a little disclaimer.. if nothing else I might just have to shut this down and start another one. I have blocked the messages as spam and blocked the senders, but for the rest of you , I wanted to explain.

There you have it.. any more questions feel free to ask. Have a great day!

Trust

Hello my friends,

 Once again it has been awhile. We are still here.. I have found  facebook to be more enjoyable than I thought, but for those who write and inspire me on xanga, I wish they would come back :)

My thoughts have been on trust lately. I have been pleading with God to show me , help me know what trust in Him really is. Trust is such a fragile thing, and when it has been broken especially at a young age, the beliefs I formed as a child, and the ones I long to have as an adult often contradict each other.

 So during the times, often at night,  when I wonder and pray and plead with God to help me know trust is: What is my part? What is God's part? I realized something, I have to be quiet enough to listen to the answers.

I came across this poem today. I do not have an author to give credit to, so I hope it's Ok, but here is part of the cry and answer I believe God is showing me.

Have a blessed day everyone!

Grace...

I have been reading the book What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey. I really like it.

Grace.. it is something my heart cries out for, yet really understand so little about. The grace of God,  free and undeserved. I try to put God, and how He works in my box of human thinking and experience  and it is so skewed, and I get the definition wrong every time, because as Mr. Yancey points out in his book, the church of God has wounded so many people by withholding grace and expecting performance to be acceptable. Plain and simple.

I was thinking of this yesterday and have a little example of it played out.

Yesterday, my library books were overdue. I had renewed them past the amount of times that were allowed, but I needed more time. See, we can't find them.  I hated to make the phone call, because I knew that the librarian would not be happy with me. She can be a bit curt and I sure didnt' want to open myself up to that, even though I knew that she was right. It was my problem, not hers.......  so, in fear and trembling I picked up the phone. I dialed and then thought.. Hey, I could call  one of the other libraries, tell them my story and see what they say! I really like the smaller library in our town so I called them. The librarian was so kind. Sure, she said , not a problem , we can renew them again so you have time to keep looking and not pay the fine and if you still can't find them, we will work with you on what we can do.. A huge load came off my shoulders and I got tears in my eyes.  Understanding, empathy and kindness. I needed it so badly, yet really didn't deserve it. . GRACE extended to me. I was prepared for what I knew I should get, a stern reprimand  to keep better track, a harsh fine. It is my fault after all, ( well, really some other people in my household) , but I was responsible.

Then of course, I thought of God, the book, I was reading and the prodigal's dad.. maybe written down here , it will be hard to follow the story line and train of thought. I hooked it all together and got tears in my eyes and felt such praise to God , for the grace He has extended to me.  How God is ready and willing to extend that grace and mercy to me, but I need to make a phone call and initiate the conversation. How, like the prodigal, I turn my heart toward home. How God comes running to me...He didn't say its about time ,and grudgingly welcome him home. He RAN to his son with open arms.. I am awed by an awesome God who loves us so much.

What do I go with the grace of God in my life? When He shows mercy and love, how do I respond?  Yes, I am grateful, overwhelmingly so, but do I grasp it to myself with clutched hands and hold on for dear life? Too often , that is my response. I need to let it work in my heart, change my life and open my heart, put down my arms that are held to my chest and open my hands and give to others.. Freely I have received, freely give...

Lord help me, as a Christian, to be the hands and feet that can show others the grace, love and mercy you extend. Maybe, just maybe, if I can't extend to others, I really do not have the understanding of the magnitude of the grace of God in my life.

Happy Birthday

Happy  Birthday!

Kandace Beth  Glenn

15 years ago today, we were so excited to welcome our second daughter to our family!

  You add so much to our lives, with your quick wit and dry sense of humor. Our desire for you is to grow in the grace of God and seek to serve Him with all your heart!  We love you so much!

The days of our lives...

 The reality of our lives: Life is full! We seems to flit from one day and one thing to the next, doing what we need to do. When my children were little I used to hear moms of older children say , how busy they were.. I thought, no way.. we make ourselves as busy as we want, and when my children are older and can help, life is going to be different. Ha! Well, guess what, I am in the reality of a different kind of busyness.

  School has started for the fall.. I have a 12th, 10th and 6th grader. So we started the year with juggling school schedules and fitting my senior daughters  work schedule into ours, and oh, we can't forget the appendectomy that kept our 6th grader out of the first week of school.  Our oldest son is going on a missions trip to Jamaica, leaving today( hope the hurricanes have past) and our oldest daughter leaves in a month for a week in Puerto Rico on a senior/missions trip.. Which leaves the two youngest at home thinking life is a little unfair that  the others get to have all the fun and they get left with the chores.( To be honest, mom had to work on that attitude too :))

 Todd also started back to school this fall, almost the same day that our children did. He has an intense 4 months of schooling and then training to work towards becoming an Investment Advisor. He is really enjoying it. Some big major juggling though for us. I am filling in at his old job until they find a replacement, which worked well because some of my babysitting jobs were being cut back.

 I feel as a family we are being so stretched. That is a good thing. But stretching is also painful, and I don't want to let the ball drop on the important things, like being there for my kids etc..  Which if I can give a shout out to some fabulous children of mine.. They have been so great in picking up the slack at home and going ahead with chores all the while keeping up with their school work. I admit it isn't easy, but they  are doing it.

 As a woman, wife, and mother I am constantly being reminded that I need to open my hands and give things to God and not let the frustration and anxieties of life give way to my own anxiety and fear.. God is constantly showing Himself outside of who I thought He was and wanted me to be.

 I have been put on for SS teacher for the year.. thankfully I can rotate with two other ladies and we are taking a month at a time.. Definitely a stretching  for my mind.. it was good to engage it ( my mind, that is) again on a bit higher plane than I have been used to doing.

 So, now I open it up to you.. This week's lesson is Sent to be a Witness... I had other titles with the scripture verses.. sent to be martyrs... if you do this you will die or hurt... I am not sure why it centered on the last part of the chapter of Matt. 10 instead of the first where we are told how to go out...

Input from you:

 What does being a witness for Christ look like to you?   How do you live it out in your everyday life? As women , wives and mothers, what are some practical ways we can  witness?

  I have heard so many times , the way we look and the way we dress is a witness.. we need to let our lives speak by how we look.. OK. I don't deny there is an aspect of that, but have always struggled with that thought.  Yesterday at work, it was kind of made real, as I was filling out some paperwork, the man said: "I think you are a Christian, right?" I said I was.. his wife looked at him and said, " Now , how did you know that?" He said well, there is a Bible right there and scripture on the wall. Not one word about the way I looked.

 With looking different a normal occurence in alot of our society today, our witness for Christ definitely needs to be more than that...  I know it comes from who we are... but more than that How can Christ be Strong in us, that our witness is totally about Him and who He is...nothing about me?  

Can you help me out here?

 Looking forward to answers. Blessings on each of you this week!