Just Blogging

I have had a pretty rough month and I am so glad to see this month come to an end. I am praying hard for a better March, and for anyone that reads this that prays, I would greatly appreciate your prayers.

On Saturday,  February 23rd, my daughter wrecked my car and totaled it. Thank God she is ok - sore and very bruised but OK! On Monday, her son, my grandson had a fever of 104.2. My daughter called the pediatrics but they could not see him. So on Tuesday she showed up for Walk-In - they were already full! - but they worked her in and well.....he has the Flu. Poor baby is 2 and thanks to Facebook memories, I realized he also had the flu a year ago 😢.

Then, on Wednesday, February 27th, my daughter in law got into a wreck and her son was with her. Again, I thank God they are ok! But her car is also totaled.

I found out I don't have collision on my car, so I won't get anything for it. And I feel pretty sure the same goes for my DIL's car.  I called the company this morning to find out how much I owed them for towing and storing my car - $425!! Seriously?!?!? Needless to say, I am going to get all of my belongings out of my car and give them the title cause there is no way I will or can pay that for a car that I can't do anything with.

The devil is trying to break me and get me down, but the devil is a liar! God is with me and is going to be with me and He will help me get through all this.

Psalm 91 1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The LORD is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Art Journal Review

Do you enjoy reading and studying the Bible? Do you enjoy doodling and art? If you answered yes to these questions then I have a great review for you. I received Illuminate Your Story, The Illustrated Word, and Faith & Lettering.

I have had some fun with these journals. You see, I work in an assisted living facility and I recently acquired a white dry erase board that hangs in my office. I use this dry erase board to communicate with some of our residents that are not able to hear well. But I have also found another use for my board.... I write quotes and Bible scriptures on it. The residents have told me that they enjoy coming into my office and reading my board. With these journals, I have been working on my verses and quotes. 

As you can see, I still need a lot of practice BUT that is the great thing about these journals. Each one has different things in them to help you with stencils, coloring and just simple or complex doodling. What does that have to do with studying the Bible? Well, as you practice the writings, you begin to memorize the Bible! How great is that!?!? If you have space in your Bible for notes, you may find that you want to try some of the techniques in one of these books for writing in your Bible. Or, you can do like I do and share a Bible verse or quote for others. Either way, you can learn Bible verses while practicing art.  

I am not much of an artist - as you can see on my white board, but I have always enjoyed writing in a journal. And the older I get the more I enjoy reading and studying God's word. So, even if I can't make "pretty" letters, I can make notes, color, and enjoy studying in a way that I would have never thought about before.

With Christmas coming, do you have an artist that would like a copy of one of these journals? Do you have someone that likes to journal? Color? If so, just click the names of the journals at the beginning and order your copy today.

Is it possible to Rejoice and Grieve at the same time?

Have you ever thought about the title of this post? IS it possible to rejoice and grieve at the same time?

How about times when a new baby is born? Of course you rejoice because there is this perfect new life, but if you are living in this world then you grieve thinking about what this perfect baby will have to endure.

But we also can rejoice when someone passes - If they are Christians! This morning everyone around the world found out that Billy Graham passed. I read a quote this morning that is perfect.

"One day you will hear that Billy Graham has died. Do not believe it. On that day I will be more alive than I ever will be" - Billy Graham

He did not die, he simply passed from this life to the next. Over the next several days, weeks and months we need to keep the Graham family in our thoughts and prayers.

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So, there is a way to rejoice and grieve at the same time. Today is a sad day for those left behind, but it is a wonderful day for Reverend Billy Graham!

ESV Family Devotional Bible - Review & Giveaway

I am super excited to be able to review and offer a giveaway of this awesome new Devotional Bible.

About the Bible: The ESV Family Devotional Bible is designed to help families read and apply God's Word together. This full-color edition features the complete ESV (English Standard Version) text interspersed with engaging illustrations and gospel-centered devotions related to key Bible stories - guiding families through the entirety of God's Word over the course of a year. Each devotion also includes discussion questions and suggestions for additional reading, helping families develop a habit of reading the Bible together and applying its truth to all of life.

I absolutely am in love with this Bible! One, because it is the ESV. If you have ever tried to read the Bible and you read the KJV, you know that some of the language can be a little difficult to understand. The ESV puts it in terms that we can understand today. Now don't get me wrong, I love the KJV but I really like having a Bible that I can read and understand but my children can also read and understand as well. The second reason I love this Bible, is the devotions that are included. I can take this Bible to church with me and follow along with the passages, but when I am reading at home I can also follow up my reading with a devotion. The devotions are right there with the scripture that it goes along with so it makes it nice to be able to read the scripture and then read the devotion. At the end of each devotion there are "Questions for the family"  and also the key verse.

I am guilty of trying to read the Bible and not quite following along with what is going on. With this Bible, if there is a passage that I am not sure about, the devotions will help to understand the passage.

You can connect with Crossway and get your own Bible by checking them out on Facebook, Twitter and Amazon. There was a giveaway on Facebook but it has ended already.

SOCIAL – CORNER

 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CrosswayBooks/photos/a.129796233631.107576.71392238631/10154030140753632/?type=3&theater

Twitter - https://twitter.com/crossway/status/718552505941041152

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Family-Devotional-Bible-Bibles-Crossway/dp/1433551497/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461101430&sr=8-1&keywords=family+devotional+bible

 I have great news! You can enter to win your very own ESV Family Devotional Bible from North Carolina Momma! If you would like to win this Bible for your family, please leave me a comment below letting me know. Make sure to leave your email address so I know how to get in touch with you if you win.

If you would like additional chances to win do the following:

• Post a tweet and leave a comment below with the link - include #ESVFamilyDevotionalBible and #flyby when you post to twitter
• Share this post on Facebook - Again include #ESVFamilyDevotionalBible and #flyby. Then comment below telling me you shared
• Share this post anywhere else! Just leave me a comment letting me know where you shared.

You can share multiple times for more chances to win, just share on separate days and leave a separate comment for each share.


"Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

We have a winner....

It was a 50/50 chance for a winner this time and random.org picked comment #2 which was Nancy.

Congratulations Nancy, I will be emailing you for your information.

None Like Him - Review/Giveaway

How many people have been in a situation where you just felt completely overwhelmed? All of us at some point have had one of these moments. I have had a lot of them lately.  What do we do in these situations? Do we look to man to help us out or do we look at the problem / situation and say "There is no hope"?

Too many times we want to ask God for help, but we either think that our problem is too small to bother Him with or that it is too big. We tend to think of God like we think of one another. If we can't handle the situation then we think it is not possible.

This book, None Like Him, by Jen Wilkin, is a great reminder that there is NONE like God! We are not like Him, BUT better than that HE is not like us! Our flesh seems to get a little aggravated when someone comes to us with something that to us seems petty and small. Not all the time so don't get mad at that statement. Or sometimes we don't want to ask someone for help with something because we feel like they are going to get aggravated. I don't know how many times I have been in church and someone gave in a prayer request that sounds something like this - "This may seem small and irrelevant to some of you but please pray for ...." And it may be praying for a family pet that is sick. Some people won't even pray and ask God to touch a family pet because they don't feel like God cares enough for their pet. But God does care! He cares about us so He cares about the things that we care about.

And of course there are times that we are in a situation that we feel that it is even too hard for God to fix. I am not going to lie to you, I have felt that way several times myself. I have felt like God did not care about my situation or it was just too far out of control that even He was not able to "fix" it. I felt that way over my separation. I prayed and even begged God to restore my marriage, and when it didn't happen like I thought it should I thought "well, even God couldn't get him to come home."

Why do we let ourselves have these feelings of doubt??  James 1:6 says  "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind."

I am so glad that I was given the opportunity to read and review this book. I have not completely finished reading it yet, but I will not stop reading it until I have finished it. And then I may go back and read it again. None Like Him, 10 Ways God is Different From Us (and why that is a good thing).  What are 10 ways God is different from us?

1) He is infinite! He is the God of NO limits! Nothing is too great for God.

WE, as humans, have limits. We can't do everything no matter how hard we try. But there are no limits with God. He can do whatever He wants to do. Remember, He made this whole world by just speaking! Now that is powerful!

2) He is incomprehensible. He is the God of infinite mystery. We cannot and will not ever know ALL the ways of God. That is what makes Him God, and us - just us!

3) He is self-existent. The God of infinite creativity. We cannot exist without God, but God existed a long time before we were ever thought of.

4) He is self-sufficient. The God of infinite provision. The dictionary defines Self-sufficiency (also called self-containment) as the state of not requiring any aid, support, or interaction, for survival;

We depend on God. And even those people that think they do NOT depend on God, would not be able to breathe if He did not allow it.

5) He is eternal; The God of infinite days. Our days are numbered, His days are not.

6) He is immutable. The God of infinite sameness. God does not and will not change. Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. We change but He will never change.

7) He is omnipresent. The God of infinite place. We can only be in one place at a time, although at times we feel like we are being pulled into a million places at once. But God is everywhere all at once. We cannot comprehend that. We do not know how it is possible, but that goes back to #2 - He is a mystery and there are things we are not going to comprehend.

8) He is omniscient. The God of infinite knowledge. What would you do if you knew everything that was going to happen in your life before it ever happened? One thing we would do is worry and be upset over some things. If we knew that someone we loved was going to die tomorrow, we would be upset and not get things done that we need to get done. It is not possible for us to know everything, but God knows it all. He knows it before it happens. I love that song "When He Was on the Cross, I was on His Mind". Before we were ever conceived, He knew us.

9) He is omnipotent.  He is the God of infinite power. Sure, we all dream about having the strength of Superman, but we can't grasp the idea that God has that power AND MORE! Again, I remind you that He SPOKE and the earth was formed! That is power!

10) He is sovereign. The God of infinite rule. He is the One that is in charge! We may think we are in charge of our lives, but He can remind us real quick that He is the One with the power.

Even though we can comprehend all these things regarding God, we do need to be reminded that whether we understand or not, HE IS GOD and there is NONE LIKE HIM!!!

This is a good book to have as a reminder when we have a problem or situation that WE cannot handle, that there is a God that is far greater than we can imagine. He cares and He is able.

Do YOU need to be reminded of how big God is? And how He is different that we are? If so, you can enter to win this great book...all you have to do is leave a comment saying that you would like to win. It is that simple. I will draw a winner on the 15th. If you want extra entries, you can post a tweet about the giveaway, post a link to facebook, or share this post in any other way. Just leave a separate comment telling me where you shared.

Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”

It's been a long hard road

Well, I doubt that anyone even missed me but I have been gone for a while. Even if you didn't miss me you can look at the date of the last post and see it has been almost 2 years since I have posted on my blog. It has been a rough 2 years for me and I guess I should have been blogging through the whole thing, but I didn't. Let me try to catch you up on a few things....

My husband left me and our 2 children. He had been acting funny and I tried and tried to work things out with him, but on December 31, 2014 he left and did not come back. I found out in March or April that he had in fact been cheating on me. He was 44 at the time and she was 22....yes, you read that right! He had been showing all the signs of a mid-life crisis so it makes sense. I can see his "thrill" of a much younger woman. What I cannot seem to grasp is....WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES SHE WANT WITH AN OLD MAN?!?!? Anyway, I am trying to work past the bitterness so I will move on from that.

What hurts more than him cheating on me is the fact that he has not had much to do with our kids since he left. On a few occasions I tried calling him because our son needed him. I took our son to the hospital, to the doctor because he wanted to kill himself. All he really needed was his dad but his dad was not there. On April 22nd our son was in a bad wreck. I called his dad 3 times and he would not answer the phone. His son could have died and he would not have known because he did not want to talk to me. Sad, huh! Moving on....

Our daughter, who just turned 16 on April 9th, is pregnant. I am sad that she is going to miss out on being a "kid" but I can't say that I am not excited about being a grandma!

I've written about these things with my kids because I truly believe that these things happened because of the separation of their dad and me. They both went looking some way to fill the void that he left them with. I think I have been a good mom....at least I have tried my best to the best mom I can.  I think it is important for dads to be a part of their children's' lives. I LOVE the movie "Courageous". At the beginning of the movie the sheriff stands in front of his deputies and gives some statistics.......

As the deputy sheriffs finish their morning briefing in Sherwood Pictures’ new film Courageous, the sheriff announces one last item.
I received an email, he tells them, and I want you to know about it. The violent gang members, run-aways, high school dropouts, and teens in prison—the sorts of kids who get into trouble with the law—have something in common: “Most of them are from fatherless homes.”
“When a father is absent,” he goes on, “kids are five times more likely to commit suicide or use drugs. They’re twenty times more likely to wind up in prison. So tonight after you clock out,” he adds, “go home and love your families.”

If you have not seen the movie, then you have GOT to watch it!! It is awesome. What is sad, is my ex watched the movie with us AND he agreed with the statistics! See, I didn't mention that HE is a deputy sheriff! So he deals with kids that have to grow up without a dad. The statistics are there and they are true! So if you are a man reading this, and you have kids, please be a dad to them.  It is not about any money that you spend on them, but it is all about time that you spend with them. They need it!

I will be posting more. In fact, I have a couple of books I will be reviewing and I will have some giveaways too. And did I mention I will be a grandma! So of course I will be posting some updates on that as well.

Allstate's Good Hands for the Good Life

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Allstate for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

You know how Allstate has the slogan "You're in good hands with Allstate"? Well, they also want to remind everyone about the Allstate Good Life.

I just turned 36 on the 24th of May. I know a lot of people will say that is very young, while other, like my children, will tell me that I am old. For me, I am glad that I have made it to see another year. Over the years I have seen many of my friends die at young very young ages. My best friend was killed in a car wreck at the age of 25, leaving behind 2 small children.

So eleven years later, as I turn 36, I think about how blessed I am to have been here for these 36 years. I have been married for 15 1/2 years, I have a step-daughter and son-in-law, a son that is 14 and a daughter that is 13.  My family does not always get along, but we are family and we love each other.

After my best friend died, I really learned how to appreciate the small things in life. I don't live in a nasty house, but I don't stress if it is not perfect. I enjoy the good times with my family. I work on making memories and not worries.  Now, that does not mean that we are always having fun; I do still have a full time job that I work, the kids go to school, my husband is a deputy sheriff, and I do still have the responsibilities of a household. But I try to not take my time with my family for granted.

Recently, my son went down to the river with a friend of his. They had been going down there for a while with no problems, but this time it had rained really hard for several days.  I told my son to be home no later than 8:00 - he has a habit of being "on the way home" at  the time I want him home. So at 8:30 I was really mad. Especially considering the fact that I called his phone, I texted him and he did not answer anything. The river is about a mile from my house, so I jumped in my van and took off. Thankfully, my husband installed the Life360 app on all of our phones - it is an app that will tell you where someone is. So when I get to the river I look on the Life360 map and go to the area that it shows he is at. I did not see him, but saw a truck with a man in it. Needless to say I wanted to ask the man if he had seen my son but I was afraid, so I turned and walked off. I went down towards the bridge and as I looked into the river a panic came over me. The current was so strong in the river that I was really afraid something had happened to my son. Now, my husband is a deputy sheriff but this particular week he was in class an hour and a half away...but thankfully I still have "friends" on the Sheriff's Department. I called a friend and she gave me her husband's number - he is on the Sheriff's Dept but I did not have his number. I was almost hyperventilating while I talked to both of them so they came down to help me find my son. I almost called 911 but I knew they would think I was crazy because he is a 14 year old boy that was only 30 minutes late getting home. During all this time all I could do was cry and pray & pray and cry. It was getting dark and the darker it got the more scared I got.

Let me go a little bit. It was a Wednesday night and we had been in revival all week. I was so extremely tired on Wednesday that I decided to stay home Wednesday night from church. The last time I was tired and "skipped" church on a Wednesday night, which was in January, my son (yes the same one) broke his foot and wound up in the hospital. I am pretty sure God is trying to tell me something.

Well, we looked and I was just about to call 911 when I look up and see this bicycle coming towards me. At first I thought it was the other boy but I saw that it was my son - the time was 9:15 p.m. After yelling at him that he was grounded for the rest of his life, I fell to the ground and cried and thanked God for bringing my son back to me. He told us that him and his friend went into the woods and could not find their way out. That is understandable but my question was "Where is your cell phone?" He had left it - right where we were looking for him - because he didn't want it to get wet. I wanted to kill him but I was so glad that he was alive that I couldn't even be mad any more.

I don't wish that feeling on anyone ever, but I tell you that something happening like that will cause more appreciation for your children. I know my son was upset after he saw that I was really afraid that he was dead somewhere in the river. He has told me more than ever that he loves me and I tell him.

I am thankful everyday that God gave me my children and I do not ever want to take for granted that I think I will always have them. I want to make the best of each and every day and enjoy my family as long as I can. I also found out just this weekend that I am going to be a grandma. I am so excited!! Ok, if you were paying attention you know that I just turned 36...I have a step-daughter and son in law that are making me a grandma! I plan to celebrate the Good Life that God has given me and I hope that you will do the same thing.

Do you have any good life stories to share? Please share in the comments section below.

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