Today a New Day.

Praise God he gives me new grace, peace and joy each morning. I love that about HIM!!! I have a new day to start fresh and let the Holy Spirit transform me even more than the day before. I am blessed this day for Brian instead of getting laid off from work called and said they are in the works of giving him a promotion!!! Praise GOD!! He is always so good to us and provides our every need. I praise him for the manna he continues to pour from heaven on our family. I am so proud of my hubby!!! WTG Brian!!!

May God provide your needs today whatever they may be and may you know they came from HIM and not by your own doing.

Tree Time

Melissa and I took the day to go to Dennison to the tree farm and cut our own tree down today. We haven't done this since we lived in Seattle many...many moons ago. We had a blast walking around trying to find the perfect tree. Of course every time we found one we would say "now remember where this tree is" and off we would go in search of the next perfect tree. Yes, we forgot our string to tie on the trees to so we could find them again to compare....it has been too long since we did this. We thought it would be fun since Brian wasn't home to take a picture of Melissa cutting this huge tree and try to trick him by putting it on facebook and telling him that was our tree....but he didn't fall for it...darn it anyway. I guess you can't trick a trickster huh?

So, the guys were tying it on the roof and I said make sure it is tight we are driving back to Grand Prairie (which is an hour and half away) he was shocked we would come that far for a tree. But the drive was a great time to spend some time with Melissa and I had her attention for the most part and she couldn't run away...heee...heee....but after awhile she ended up putting her ipod in her ears...:-( On our way home we stopped at this very old cemetary to take pictures and see who was laid to rest there. The oldest headstone was from 1857....it was almost buried where you couldn't see it. It made me stop and think what that person might of died of....what must their life had been like before cars, computer, and ipods. I am sure they wouldn't have taken a 1.5 hour trek to spend time with their daughter because they didn't have all the distractions we have today. It was a reminder to me to spend time with the ones I love more than just the time at picking out a Christmas tree. Thank you God for a lesson learned in a graveyard.

Here are the pictures of the tree's.

Talking....Talking....Talking.

Well...I just spent the last couple of hours sitting and talking with my oldest daughter. Man that girl can talk your head off....sounds a lot like her mom huh? It is was just so good to be still enough just to listen to her go on about her new boyfriend, his cat that she loves...she has never been a cat person...her new job at the pregnancy center and her new car. Things seem to be going really well in her life right now. I am blessed.

We also talked about my transformation over the years as a mother and a person....it was the first time I really opened up to her about some things and she was really shocked how much I have sheltered her from. She has always wondered why I serve others so much and tonight she got a small glimpse into why and how that all came to be and I think she actually now understands my spirit of service a little better. So, it was a great night of bonding.

Melissa just sat and soaked it all in...she didn't say much....but I know she was listening as well....which says a lot for a 15 year old to spend that much time just listening and not texting on her phone. I think maybe she didn't see me as the crazy mom who wants to make her life miserable tonight....LOL.

It was a good night!!!

JFINS

Today our church has a homeless ministry and we went to Fort Worth to feed and cloth the homeless. What an incredible time I had. I have such a heart for the homeless, underdog, and down trodden. I love just trying to put a smile on their face just for a few minutes. I met a man named Barney that has been on the street 4 years now and I just sat and chatted with him and it was awesome!!! To see him eat some warm food for a change was a blessing to me. I hope he saw Jesus in me today.

After we packed up the president of the ministry told us the new name for the ministry it is JFINS, which stands for "Jesus Freaks In The Streets" can you believe that!!! It was like God was talking to me when he said that. I have always called myself a Jesus Freak, because it is not negative to me, but positive....I love Jesus and I am His freak. So, that was so cool to me. I am definately going to be involved with this ministry.

Now, I am home and so grateful for the warmth that I have and the comfy bed I get to sleep in....may I never forget how blessed I am by God.

Tammy