A little peek...

Well, me and Jackson just got home from church. The girls had a sleep over at my step-daughter's house for her birthday. So me and my little man had a fun little date last night. We went to Sonic for slushies. That is one of our favorite things to do. He loves to go, especially when the girls are not with us. When we got home, he was so excited that he got to sleep with Mommy in "Daddy's spot". That is what they all call that empty spot in my bed. Some of you who just started reading my blog and do not know me personally may be wondering where is that daddy of theirs? Why is she a single-married Mommy? Well, actually I wish I had more time today to really get into it, but I don't because me and Jackson are on the way to visit his Daddy. He lives about 30 minutes away from us right now and the only way to see him is to go to him. Any guesses yet?

My husband, who I prayed for for years and years to become a Christian man is finally that. He is a saved by grace Christian, thank you Lord. But unfortunately God had to deal with him in a manner that none of us would like to be dealt with. He is in prison serving a 4 1/2 year sentence. We only have about 19 months left. So that is why I am a single-married Mommy at this time. I love my husband and made the decision to stick by his side through this season in our lives because that is what the Lord calls us to do. I wish that things could have been different to this point in getting him to his saving grace but the Lord chose another path for our family. But I know that in time when he is released it will be all worth it. We will get to raise our family together according to God's will, not his (which is what he thought in the past). We pray together now. He prays with our children. He prays with other inmates. He has led many other inmates to Christ while he has been gone.

I promise that I will oneday make a "testimony post" so you can see the path that got us to where we are today. It is truly amazing! The Lord has and continues to bless us everyday. Although this is not where I thought I would be at this point in my life, I am thankful that I am. Because now my husband and I are true partners in the Lord. I am excited for the future and the great and mighty things that He will do through my husband! He has already started.

I also know that I could not have gone through this without my Lord. He has gotten me through some very tough times, financially and emotionally. He has blessed me in a way that I can still be a stay-at-home-mom and start a business from here. I have grown more spiritually in these past 3 years than I ever had before. I have had to totally rely on the Lord for everything in my life and the lives of my kids. I have true faith and He has definitely taken care of a certain pride issue! I can say that I had not once missed a house payment or a car payment and all the other bills get paid too. The numbers do not add up on paper but by golly it happens. My family (oh, what a great family they are) has always been there for us and my church family, I can't say enough about them, they are awesome.

So, this is just a little peek into our life! Now we are off to see Daddy. We really love our visits with him and can't wait until he is finally back home with us again. In God's time, of course!

Friday's Feast #1

Friday, April 28, 2006

Friday's Feast--- First one for me!

Appetizer: On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how polite are you?
A 9~ I am a very polite person. Momma taught me to mind my manners. Besides, I truly believe that we should treat others the way that we want to be treated.

Soup: What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud? Last night as I was surfing the Thursday Thirteens, I came across one by Lauren that truly made me laugh out loud. The kids even walked in and wondered if Mommy had gone off the deep end. I especially liked #2. "To me, it’s a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, ‘Hey, can you give me a hand?’ You can say, ‘Sorry, got these sacks.’" (Maybe that doesn't go with the polite thing, but that is why I left a margin of error.)

Salad: Who is your favorite cartoon character? I would have to say Tom and Jerry. Is that silly cat ever gonna catch that mouse, he has been at it since I was a kid!

Main Course: Tell about the funniest teacher you ever had. I am really bad about remembering things like this, maybe because I really didn't have one. Although, I do have a pretty funny, down to earth Sunday School teacher that always makes me laugh even when I really don't feel like it. Thanks Steph!

Dessert: Complete this sentence: I strongly believe that ---miracles still happen and that God answers prayer, that prayer is powerful (even if we don't like the answers) and that He is always in control!

Thursday Thirteen vol.1

Ok, I am a first timer to the Thursday Thirteen. I love reading them, so I decided to join in on the fun. So be patient with me!

Thirteen Things about Angie 1. I am a single-married Mommy at the moment! (sounds weird, I know, more on that another time!) 2. I have 4 beautiful children. 3. I am a saved by grace Christian. 4. I am a Stay At Home Mom. 5. I have a thing for purses and handbags. 6. Therefore, I started making them to support my family. 7. And my habit! 8. I am the oldest of 5 children. 9. I have ALL nephews, no nieces. 10. I am considering running for PTO President at my kids school for next year. (Any advice on that would be great!) 11. I have an aversion to making phone calls, totally freaks me out! 12. I love to bake, 13. And hate to cook! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. "d" 2. Carmen 3. Lisa 4. Karen 5. Chaotic Mom 6. Lazy Daisy 7. Faith 8. Lauren 9. Friday's Child 10. Eph2810 11. Ames 12. Present Storm(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Talk about "devotion"!

I just had to share this really quick! I went in to check on the kids before I went to bed. I tucked them in around 8:30 or so. Jackson (5) went right to sleep. Jessica (10) got caught playing her hand-held Tetris game...shame-shame! And Jordan (7) was reading her Bible and doing her daily devotion. I told her to finish it up and go to sleep. She said OK, then I went in my studio to finish up a purse, I could see her as I have a clear shot of her bed from my sewing machine. Then I went to the computer and got totally invloved in the "blog world". So, check out what I just captured with my camera.

Have you ever seen such a sight?

My sweet, sweet Jordie got caught with her Bible open! She got her "60-day Wonder Devotional" Friday at the Good News Club After School program and she has been doing it everyday, she even went ahead and is on day 8 now. Ms. Debi and Ms. Melissa would be so proud, I will have to send this to them. Mommy is very proud of you too, Jordan!

Stick to it

"Be like a postage stamp- stick to one thing till you get there." -Josh Billings

I wish that I could say that this quotation is me, but oh my, it totally is not. I would like to be like that, but haven't got there yet. It really does not take me much to get off track. I'm sure too that it has alot to do with the fact that I work in my home. I can be right in the middle of a project and remember that I forgot to wash Jess' uniform for her softball game tonight. Or I better load the dishwasher before "so and so" stops by to pick up her purse, oh and I better run the vacuum too, oh and light a candle just in case, oh and the kitchen floor needs a good sweep, so I better mop too while its clean, then I won't have to do it again later. Oh yeah, I better scoop the kitty litter and oh, the kids left their bath towels on the floor again, let me pick those up, toothpaste in the sink and water on the counter, better wipe that up. Ooowee, I better scrub the toilet just in case she (so and so) may need to go potty, and a candle would be good in here too, just in case. Oh, I really need to take the garbage out and spray Lysol. Then as I take the trash bag to the laundry room I realize that I never even started Jess' uniform in the wash. Ugh, 2 hours to game time! Whew! Can you relate? One thing always turns into another and another and another. This is my day everyday. I love working from home because I know that God has called me to be "a worker at home". And my desire is to be here, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed with it all that I literally don't know which is which! I wish that I could just stay on task. Like right now, it is after 11 o'clock at night, I still have several orders to complete and here I am on the computer. I started cutting the fabric and then had to go to the bathroom and on the way back I passed by the computer and realized that I hadn't done my entry today so I stopped and here I am! Crazy, huh? At least I am aware of it, right? Isn't that half the battle?

I think that what I am gonna start doing is set goals for myself, like I can't check my email until I complete A, B and C. Then I can't go blogging until I do D, E and F. And so on...

I would love to hear any other ideas that you guys may have, What is your secret?

Look at what I played with today while I should have been getting other orders done. These are the cutest hair barrettes that are designed right in the embroidery hoop, start to finish, after it is embroidered you tear away the stabilizer and slip in a barrette and DONE! So cute!

Cute, huh? My daughter loved them!Oh, and BWS I did finished your bags today and will put them in the mail tomorrow, so classy! Hope that you like, no, I know that you will love them! Alright, now that it is almost 11:30, I better get some sleep so that I can start my new system tomorrow bright and early!Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord! 1 Corinthians 15:58

Purple?

Happy Sunday! The kids are outside on the trampoline with the water hose cooling off while I am in the house with the A/C keeping cool! It has been another busy weekend and all I wanted to do is take a long "Sunday after church nap". Oh well! I love it that my kids love to play outside. They are about the only kids in our neighborhood who do. I really think that that is so sad. Kids need to be outside playing and learning and exploring and getting their own form of exercise. (Don't tell them that they are getting exercise, then they might not like it anymore!)

I hope that you all have a very blessed Sunday and a very prosperious new week!

Your Hair Should Be Purple

Intense, thoughtful, and unconventional. You're always philosophizing and inspiring others with your insights.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Don't worry, be faithful!

I heard a story recently, I can't remember where I heard it, could have been online but it got me to thinking about how worry overcomes us. It was something like this... It was about a patient in a mental ward of a hospital and the nurse came in to check on him and saw that he had a cup holding it up to his ear and pressed to the wall. She asked him what he was doing and he told her to come listen, so she did. A few seconds later the nurse said "I don't hear anything." And the patient said, "Yeah I know it has been like that all day!"

So true, huh? I am a worrier! I have really been concentrating very hard lately not to worry. With so many things in my life crazy, I was beginning to wonder if maybe this is "normal life". Worry is apart of our world and our everyday lives. But as I have studied "worry" lately, I realized that worry is of this world. We tend to worry, just as we are all sinners and are not perfect. We worry about what is said. We worry about what isn't said. We worry about what hasn't happened or about what is going to happen. We worry about our futures and even linger with the worries of our pasts.

I haven't had the life that I hoped that I would have by now. My husband is in prison. I had to quit homeschooling because I had to take on several new roles in my home, therfore my children are away from me all day long. (Which somedays is fine!) My brother is overtaken by an awful addiction that I feel helpless over. I just want to take it away! Oh and boy I could go on and on. But why? You get it!

As soon as my husband left almost 3 years ago I started to have awful stomach pains, almost immediately. Here I was a lowly Mother of 4 children all alone. Of course I knew that I was not alone, none of us are. God our Father is always here with us! But all of a sudden I had to do everything around here. Ugh! (I've become quite handy with the power tools! grin!) The day in and day out sort of things, but geez it was a load! I won't go into all the details, you get it! Just this year I decided to go to the doctor to see if my stomach pains were something really bad because they sure felt really bad! Thankfully, everything turned out fine. All the tests came back perfect. I am a perfectly healthy 35 year old woman. Yay! But why in the world was my tummy aching so badly? The doc said stress! You think?!

This is when I realized that I really hadn't given it all totally over to Him! And yes this is a work in progress. I started reading alot about different things regarding stress management. Whatever! Then I really started digging deeper into my daily Bible time. And almost like the words were popping out at me, everything I read in the Bible related to me! Me! I could put myself in every verse I read. Ever have one of those "a-ha" moments? I finally got it and am still getting it! I pray everyday and give my worries over to Him. Not to say things are perfect and fixed but now I just give it to my Lord! He bears my burden! So why should I? My tummy still has it's moments but not near as bad as before. So, I still have some work to do!

When I googled "worry" the other day I found this statement. "Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn't get you anywhere." Hhhmmm! So true! I had to print that one out and put it on my desk right on top of that stack of bills waiting to be paid! grin!

So, I am faithfully trying to do what the good book says to do with all of my life ....Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 or another version says "Casting the whole of your care (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully."

Smoke Signals

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions.
One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, and soon there was nothing left. The worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. "God, how could you do this to me?" he cried.
Early the next day he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied. It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain, and suffering. Remember this the next time your "hut" seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

Oh, what a day!

Easter 2006

Easter morning on Bay Street..perfect photo op while waiting on the bridge to open...aren't they some good looking kids?

Mason (my nephew) patiently waiting on Mamaw to hide the Easter eggs.

Jessica and Mommy

John and Ryan

Needless to say our family had a great Easter. He all met at St. Helena Baptist Church for their Easter Cantata-Come To The Cross. It was great! The kids sang, and both my Mom and Dad sang in the choir. They baptised an entire family. What an amazing thing to be baptised on Easter morning. After church we all went to Mom and Dad's house for an awesome dinner and dessert. We had an Easter egg hunt for all of the cousins. Then we rested and ate again. What is better than spending time with your family? I love you guys and am so thankful that we could all be together! One more Easter and Buddy will be with us too!

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him a praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Easter 2006

Perfect Peace with It Is Well With My Soul

I’ll never understand it,
But somehow it guards my heart.
Through the storms of life I face,
When I’m walking in the dark.
Something flows deep within me,
Like a long refreshing drink.
The soothing calm assurance,
A sweet abiding strength.

There’s perfect peace when I keep my mind on Him.
He gives me perfect peace when I put my trust in Him.
He’s my fortress and my refuge.
He is my rock eternal.
He is and will always be…
Perfect peace.

When peace like a river attendth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my Lord thou has taught me to say
It is well, It is well with my soul

It is well, It is well
With my soul, with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul.

It is well, It is well
With my soul, with my soul.
It is well, it is well with my soul

There’s perfect peace when I keep my mind on Him.
He gives me perfect peace when I put my trust in Him.
He’s my fortress and my refuge
He is my rock eternal.
He is and will always be….perfect peace...
Perfect peace…perfect peace…perfect peace.

Come to the Cross -An Easter Invitation
Created by: Dennis and Nan Allen



This poem was written by my Daddy....Robert N. Graves Sr. ...Easter 2006

I came to the Cross,

Because there was no place else left to go.

I had messed things up sorta bad don't cha know.

Little did I know when I did,

My life would never be the same.

I came to the cross because of Jesus.

Knowing in my heart that only He could please us.

I came to the cross with a life full of doom.

But my Savior went to the cross and took my sin in the tomb.

Jesus is my master, my shepherd and guide.

Since I came to Him, He hasn't left my side.

When I came to the cross I was dirty, like mud.

But now, thank Jesus I've been washed in His blood.

This message is to you, your children and wife.

Come to the cross , let Jesus change your life.

Got Peace?

Have you ever wondered how to really get your children's attention? You know the times when you want their attention and they just won't pay you any mind? Well, I've got it!

Take a bath, lock the door and light some candles and use that expensive bath oil you have been saving for when you might have time to actually take a bath...alone!
Or there is the one where you just need to go in your room and shut the door and crawl in the bed for a few minutes of peace.
Or pull out a good book that you have been meaning to read and never get the chance to.
Or sit at the dining room table to do your daily Bible study.
Or sit down at your sewing machine to make some purses that have been ordered (because that is what you do for a living).
Or try to make a phone call, quietly.
And then this has got to be the best one yet, just sit down and look comfortable. I'm sure that this is the quickest way to get their attention!

Can you guess? We have been on a 2 week Spring Break and this Mommy is pooped out. Birthday parties, spring cleaning, working, cooking, baking, Tball and softball games, laundry, playing outside (in the gnats...ugh!), yard work, Easter egg dyeing, and this isn't the half of it! I really do not know how you "work outside of the home Moms" do it. I look at everything that I do all day long and can never get completely done, (it always rolls over into the next day) and to think that I would still have to do all of these things after work if I worked outside of my home. When would I have the time? When do you have the time? I am so thankful and feel very blessed that I get to be a stay at home mom but I am worn slap out! I think that the first thing I am gonna do on Tuesday when the kids go back to school is take that uninterrupted bath and then go back to work. Luckily, it is just in the next room and I can work in my jammies if I wish!

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy...Job 8:21

Motto Monday... 4-10-06

"It is good to remember that the tea kettle, although up to its neck in hot water, continues to sing!" -author unknown

We tend to see all accidents and illness that come our way as misfortune caused by the devil. That is not always the case. Rather than spending our time and energy railing against the bad times, perhaps we should direct our effort toward praising God who promises to work all things out for the good of those who are called for His purposes. Romans 8:28 God has many methods and means for accomplishing His plan! It can't get much more simple than that! That sure makes me feel better knowing that! How about you?

Just do it!

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus....

1Thessalonians 5:18

In all circumstances? For real? You have got to be kidding, right? Are you sure? ALL?

Of course...ALL! It is pretty tough to wrap my thoughts around that verse, but looking at it from the outside looking in, it totally makes sense. But do we really obey this verse? Of course not! Should we? Totally!

Things don't always go as planned for everyone, if anyone. I know for sure that I didn't plan on being a single parent for almost 5 years while my husband spends time in prison for being stupid. I went through years and years of saying "Buddy, one of these days....". And sure enough one of those days came for us! And I say us, because we are a family! We have 20 more months left to go and we will all be together again. I won't be a single parent any longer. My husband, who is now a born again Christian, will take his rightful place at my side to parent together. God only knows how many times I prayed for that. And now I give thanks for that. And it was tough at first to think about giving thanks for my husband going away for that long. Very tough! But I know that He has a plan and this is all part of that plan.

I also know that as my little brother struggles with different temptations in his life that God has a BIG plan for him too. I know that he has a lot of people praying for him. And he will overcome this in God's own time! But until then, it is really hard to be thankful for that! Really hard! But I know that God has gotten me through tough times with prayer, whether I liked what He did or not, I was still steadfast in praying for His will! God's will, not ours, not Buddy's, not mine, not Lori's, not Mom's or Dad's, not Bernie's! I know that He is faithful and He will see us through anything and everything that we ask Him to see us through. All we have to do is ask.

Read Luke 11:1-13 where Jesus teaches us how to pray. He tells us exactly what to do. So, "just do it"! We may not like what He tells us but be fervent in it! He will never let us down! Obey what you know! (Sound familiar anyone?)

It is funny, because when I sat down here at my computer tonight, I had planned on writing about my extremely busy week with the kids out on spring break. But I guess that the Lord had other plans for this. I needed to be reminded of this too.

Maybe another time on my exhausting week....to be continued....

Jordie and Me

I have been inspired by another dear blogger,
That brought to my attention that my kid's a poetry hogger.
As she sits with me now, my Jordie Pie Poo,
I listen to her giggle and then she says cachoo.

I've listened to her poems as she's read them to me,
And now she waits for Mommy's, patiently.
I don't know how to do it,
She tells me to just stick to it.

Mommy's not a poet, like we all know it,
But I can bake a cake down by the lake.
And I can make a bag out of a rag.
And I can make her a snack to eat out back.

But my Jordie is so smart,
Lots smarter than me.
She has a sweet sweet heart,
Alot like the honey bees.

My Jordie is so happy,
Cause the others are all gone.
Her brothers are not here.
And her sister is in the pond.

So here we sit together,
Like we never get to do.
Cause soon they will come back,
And bug us like they do.

Written by Jordan and her Mommy
04/04/06
April is National Poetry Month


Read this selection made by Jordan herself,
She loves Jack Prelutsky's Bleezer's Ice Cream.

She says that her favorite flavor has to be
ALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI.

"Hat tip to Blest With Sons"...Thanks!

Confidence

In life we face an unknown future. We do not know what the days that lie ahead for us contain, but we can prepare for whatever lies ahead.

We all need to view life as a learning opportunity. We need to ask God "what do you want me to learn from this situation?". We need to ask this and then listen to what He tells us. And as I see it the only way to do that is to set aside time for Him. Reading my Bible and praying daily helps me to receive those instructions and to know what direction God wants me to go. I know that He often encourages me through His presence in my alone time and His promises in His word, which can be interpretted to some degree through my circumstances through life. I have come to realize that I need to take advantage of the down time after hard times, the lull after the storm, when I am trying to pull everything together and trying to sort through the events and the lessons of my life.

The situations that we face today help to build a greater confidence of God in our lives and then gives us the assurance that we can tackle anything that lies ahead! Incident after incident and lesson after lesson when we experience God's faithfulness towards us and His grace and His power, we gain the confidence to say "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength".

I like to think of Paul when I am going through a tough time. Although I have never faced anything close to what Paul faced, he is there for us to learn through his experiences. Throughout Paul's ministry he was definitely faced with different circumstances that we could never handle as gracefully as he did. He never asked "Why me Lord?" but he always asked "What do you want me to understand from this situation?" He wholly and totally relied on God in EVERYTHING. We need to live by this great example. Everything that we face in our lives we need to rely on God and not on ourselves.

Philippians 4:13...I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Bernie, I love you and I pray this for you! I know that you are going through a really tough time right now and I can never totally understand your struggles, but I know that you can overcome this. I know that if you put the Lord first in your life, you can overcome anything and have an awesome testimony later. One day at a time! I love you little brother!

Is that too much to ask for?

Lately my kids have been very restless and have not been getting along with one another. They seem to have a lot of hate and discontent for each other. Things are really hard enough as it is with Buddy being gone that I really do not need my kids turning on one another. I realize that brothers and sisters will fight, I know this. I am the oldest of 5 and boy I couldn't stand my brothers and sisters. Just ask my brother Bobby, I tried to electrocute him when he was little. I made him touch a large electric ice cooler with barefeet on a wet floor. It's a moment in his life that neither one of us will forget. But now, we all love each other and get along great. I can't imagine my life without them. I realize now that I am older that that is just how siblings act. We fight, then we grow up.

They look like they love each other, don't they?

So, I know that there is hope for my kids. I really don't know how real single parents do it alone. Although I have been a single parent for almost 3 years, I do have a husband that does his best to help with the disciplining of our children. And I try to respect that, which is hard since he is not in the home and I could easily undermind him. But I respect his authority. And Lord knows I need to. But the day that he comes home will be the day that the gray goes away. Well, probably not, but...

Anyways, back to the original story, last night after a long evening of fighting and quarreling among the Bennett children, I put them all to bed and was trying to think of a way to really get their attention. I have tried everything. So I started to read A Mother's Heart and I came across a verse in it that really spoke to me, so I hoped it would speak to my kids. I crawled out of the bed and went to the computer and wrote letters to my kids from God. Very simple letters that they would all understand.

Jessica,
1 Peter 4:8..Above all love one another deeply, because loves covers over a multitude of sins.
Love, God

Then I printed each one out in large lettering and taped it to wall by their doorways to their rooms. When they got up they all saw the letters and Jess and Jordan read it to Jackson. Then he came running to me very excited and very out of breath saying "God was in my room last night! He wrote me a letter, come see!" So I ran back to his room with him and read it to him again. I explained to him what the letter meant and why God might have put it there. He was thoroughly enthralled in the whole story. He told me that he love me and he loved his sisters and he didn't want to sin like that anymore. I don't know what kind of affect this will have on him this evening or tomorrow or even the next 2 weeks of spring break (God love me!), but that one second of the peacefulness in his voice and on his face was well worth it! He went home with a friend after the ball game today, but I will say that the girls are helping each other right now clean their rooms and there has not been one fight among them today. And yes they have memorized this verse already!

It's a start. So, we'll see what happens. All I ask for is a little bit of harmony and solitude ever now and again, that's not too much to ask for, is it?