Queenies Little Kingdom

I love prayer! I always have. It does so many things to my heart. I feel connected to God when I open up to him in prayer. I feel peace when I repent and ask God for forgiveness for a wrong in my life. I feel compassion when I pray for someone in need. I feel excited when a request is met. I grow in my faith through prayer. Prayer is crazy awesome! If you haven’t figured it out yet. I’m a prayer “addict”. Somebody help me! No, don’t! I think it’s a good addiction!

I’ve been reading tonight in Genesis 24. The story opens up with Abraham giving some very important instructions to his chief servant. Find a wife for my son Isaac. Not just any old wife…..a wife from his own country (Israel). This was to be a covenant marriage, so this servant was to follow just what Abraham asked of him. I’m wondering, did he feel pressured here? Would you?

I love this story for a couple reasons. One of which is that very important issue of marrying someone of your own faith and beliefs. I see it all the time. People marrying with completely different faiths. Or even one with no faith while the other considers themself a Christian (this baffles me….because, well….it’s just odd). Whooby, whatty!? This just doesn’t make sense! Someone who doesn’t love God and obey Him…..isn’t going to naturally pick up on that idea just by marrying a nice Christian! The Holy Spirit can do amazing things…..but God’s word is pretty clear about covenant marriage.

The second thing I love about this story has to do with the servant. After following Abraham’s instructions and hauling some really good loot with him on his wife hunting journey. He stops at the well and starts to PRAY! He gets right down to it. He specifically asks God to give him success (for Abraham he loves) and for the girl God has for Isaac to be right there at the right time. He actually goes into some….”when I say to A girl, please let down your jar (he’s at the well, remember) that I may have a drink”…blah, blah, blah! Before he even finishes the prayer…..Rebekah shows up! Oh Lord, how we put you in a box! This story is one worth reading again and again! It ends so very sweet!

If you never felt so obliged before…..I want you to now! When you are praying, BE SPECIFIC! God really does care about what you’re asking of Him. Matthew 7:7 says “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Or this one, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” ~ Psalm 37:4,5 He’s on it! God is in the answering business. Sometimes it may not be the exact answer you are seeking (as in the servants situation)…but it will always be the right one for you. Trust Him friend…..and pray!

Yes, you read that right.  Don’t Env me!  It’s the thorn in my side lately.  The Env.  Last night we picked up the 4th replacement phone for Ally.  Yes, the fourth one!  It’s really not living up to its name, Env…..more like Cursed!  These phones have a bad design in the charging plugin.  It likes to break.  Which means, no charging can take place.  Very sad.  Texting is to the teenager as food is to the human.  Very important, ya’ll!  Teens + cell = TEXTING!  My kids communicate with the world this way.  Shoot, even their dad and I do too.  We need our phones!  We must connect!  So as you can see…this little problem had to be resolved.

Ally went one direction (she went to her boyfriend’s ballgame with his parents) and we went to our favorite hangout, the Verizon store.  I had to hand over my phone (The Voyager…and so far, it’s been a nice voyage!) to her and take her broken down junker to the fixit place.  I knew she would mess around with my phone.  You see, it’s a teenager thing.  They take pictures, they rearrange your address book, they add friends to your contacts, they change ringtones and screen savers.  It just bugs me.  I have a hard enough time even using the crazy thing….then one of my kids changes the stuff on it.  Totally goofs me up.  🙂  I say that with all the love in my heart of course.  Oh and the big one for me….she took off my rubbery case!  I have that on there for a reason.  I don’t want my phone broken!  Dern kids!

She’s back in texting business today. On her own phone, not mine (which worked out fun….cause I was able to read all her messages between her and boyfriend). Sweet nothings! I’ll have to tell you soon about this new fellow. No, he’s not Oh Mister from the beginning of the school year. He’s so last year! Even though, hubby said….you can’t just go changing your mind like that. We put our loyalties to Oh Mister and now we have to change gears. He was only kidding. We totally love both these boys and she’s not really boyfriend/girlfriend with either of them, yet! It’s just a sweet crush for right now. But…..it’s a dad’s job to tease, right?

Enjoy your weekend!

 
This is not all I do ya’ll! I promise! But I can’t help but share the love when I come across good prizes. Who knows…..maybe one of us will win something fabulous! It could happen! At the end of this month, I will be participating in the Bloggy Giveaway contest. I just haven’t decided what I’m giving away this time. I’ll be thinking…
I have a new book to read from Thomas Nelson Publishers. It arrived today. I hope it’s as good as the one I just finished (read my review under this post). I loved Robin McGraw’s first book. She is so darn cute!

Have I mentioned how much I would love to go to Blissdom 09? Yes, it is a blogger’s dream conference! I keep fantasizing that I will be sitting there on the front row….lapping up tons of 411 from some of the bloggy masters! I missed the cheaper discounted ticket rates of $100. Now, it’s a whopping $150 + hotel room costs. I am searching this blognation for a contest offering a ticket to this event. If you or someone you know is blessing some lucky person with one of these tickets….LET ME KNOW!!!! Please?!?!!! I wanna GO!
Now, on to some bloggy awesomeness!

Prizes, Giveaways….and good blogs to visit again and again.
 

This awesome blog has a super giveaway going on.  Hurry over, it ends Friday night (1/10/09).

This great blog has an awesome giveaway going on this week. Go see! Your pet will thank you! Oh and this contest too!

Oh this lady rocks! Her giveaway is a must see! She has a wonderful devotion to boot! Go and enter ladies!

This little contest is surely one to be a pig over! Oink oink!

Happy Birthday! Go enter this one! It’s a hit!

This contest is my very favorite one every year. My kids even get excited at the thought of winning this prize! Check it out, ya’ll! Remember, you can enter this once a day until February 19th. It’s a real dream alright!

I’m not sure how I found her, but I’m so glad I did. One day as I was browsing around in blogworld I happened upon the sweetest blog. As I read through the posts, I found a mother….just like me only different. This mother was a warrior! She had experienced the death of not one but three of her precious children. Something I could never imagine surviving as a mom. Lynnette Kraft is an amazing person and a gifted writer. I love her sweet motherly insight on her blog…I have it linked in my blogroll so that I can sneak over anytime I want to see what she’s saying that day. She doesn’t always post everyday, but that’s ok..this lady has SIX kids! She’s busy, ya’ll!

Just before Christmas break, Lynnette blessed her readers with the opportunity to buy her book at the discounted price of $9 for a limited time. I was so excited and jumped at the offer. When I returned from Florida my book was in the mail. I started right on it. This lady has a precious story. This book made me cry, think, reflect on my own walk with God, giggle, hope, smile and fall in love with being a mom all over again. A role that I’ve always loved….but Lynnette reminded me how much I really love being a mother to my children. What a blessed calling my Lord has entrusted to me. Thank you God.

If you ever wondered about your life and your purpose, you should definitely read this book. You may find just what you’re looking for in your role as wife, mother and friend. Lynnette is open about her life in so many ways (ways that many of us would never want to share). She lets you in on details that are personal regarding her grief. I love her insight from God during her suffering…..what she learns through the study of God’s word and prayer. It’s all part of the journey. I plan to share my copy with a very dear friend….but not just yet. Hearts are still quite raw.

Lynnette,
Thank you for writing your story. As a mother, I know that you did it in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shows up on every single page of your book. Your love for God and your strength to hang onto Him inspire me. So many tragedies in one mom’s life seem unreal. Yet you found a way to live victoriously and to shine for Christ in the midst of it all. What a testimony, girl! I am so glad I found you (and your blog). You are a lady that God has big plans for. He has proven that in many ways. God bless you for being the one….the one that He chose to walk the path of this heartache. You, dear sister have done so with grace and beauty that can only be from our precious Savior. My heart is so touched!

I want to say one last thing….in Ch. 11 when you’re sharing about Anna’s big vocabulary, I just cracked up. I could almost her sweet little voice, “I can’t get dis cuntwapchun to work!”. What a precious memory of a superstar little girl. Such a blessing!

For the upcoming new year (2009) my family took part in a “dad-made” survey. Each of us had 27 questions to answer that revolved around our faith and the goals we would like to reach personally and as a member of our family. Some of the questions were pretty intense and convicting. I had to dig deep and make some serious decisions regarding my faith and how I’m planning on living it out this year.

Doing this is so important. It really helped us get on the same page. Oftentimes, we lead stressful and miserable lives….all because we are all on different journeys. This helped us set some common goals and openly discuss weaknesses. Families are dwindling fast in our society. Young adults are walking away from the faith that they’ve grown up with every day. One of the most important things we as parents ever do is to give our kids the foundation (a solid one) with Christ. We can’t choose Christ for them….but we surely must lead them to Him. I am so very thankful that my kids choose Christ. They desire Him for themselves. They realize the relationship they have with God belongs to them. He is their Savior!

Sample questions:
1) What is one thing I could do this year to increase my enjoyment of God?
2) What is the single most time waster in my life? What will I do about it?
3) What single thing that I plan to do this year….will matter most in 10 years?
4) What habit would I most like to establish?
5) Whose salvation will I pray most fervently for this year?
6) Top 3 spiritual changes we need to make as a family?
7) What is the most humanly impossible thing I will ask God to do this year?
8) If someone were to give me a piece of advice….what would they say? Would they be right?
9) What is the most important way I will, by God’s grace try to make this year different than last?

Just sharing a few. We had to not only think of what matters to each of us individually but regarding each other as well. It’s not easy facing some of your failures head on. I couldn’t help but get emotional when answering some of the questions. I didn’t mention some of the very personal ones. It hurt to answer them. But I did. Each of us did. It was actually empowering. It helped each of us close the door to a very rough 2008 and to excitedly open a new door to 2009. We are pumped about what God is going to do in us and through us this year. We have always had this goal…..we want to know Him better this year than we did last year. As Christians…..we should be stronger and deeper in our faith than we were the previous year. God has instructed us to study His word and to spend time alone with Him. Are you doing that? If not, get a gameplan! Maybe write out some questions for your family to ponder. Make this the year to grow. The investment is forever……just you wait and see.

Oh…shout out! Thanks hubby for the challenge! We appreciate your leadership. We love you very much! 🙂

I don’t want to do it, but I HAVE to. Tomorrow is our first day back to school after a glorious Christmas break. We love sleeping in and lounging in our pj’s all day. It’s just how we roll! We’re all about the R & R in life. We cherish downtime! Jesus has it right…..we need to take time to rest. It really is a healthier way to go. I just want to keep resting. I’m not ready to get up early. I like my morning sleep time. Besides….who likes all that hustle and bustle and rushing around in the wee morning hours when it’s so cold outside? I’ll tell ya, NOBODY!

My kids are all winding down and falling into bed now. We’re all trying to psyche ourselves out….surely we’ll fall fast asleep once in bed. I’m afraid of tossing and turning. Isn’t that how it goes when you KNOW YOU HAVE TO GET UP EARLY? Oh the anxiety of it all! I am pretty tired, so maybe it will all go as planned.

I took the girls to the mall today, they had money that needed to be blown. I didn’t want to go. I am trying to be as frugal as possible these days. I want to have money! Not blow it! While there, we found some really good deals (of course). Sweetboy really has no groovy duds. He pretty much wears the same few things over and over (and never complains). He only does that if we are out of Ramen noodles or ketchup! 🙂 So guess who lucked up and got a few goodies? Yep, sweetboy! He liked everything I bought him. Only one thing is too small (we are calling it “the puffy vest”)…..I will exchange that sucker. Cause he looked flippin sweet in it. I even scored a new pair of dresspants for the dude. He is going to look super cool! Allison will love him (more than usual). Speaking of Allison…..yesterday was their “3monthaversary”! They went out on a real date to celebrate the occasion. They are the sweetest, ya’ll!

I’d like to leave you with a thought. Matthew 5:13 says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men”. Think about it….are you being a positive influence as a Christian in our world? The verses that follow talk about being light. Our lives should shine so bright that they influence our world in a good way and God would get the glory. I want to do that. Don’t you? I am what He wants to use…..so are you! Let’s get shining!