Utterances outside my walls

A friend recently asked if my blogging had ended because I am no longer "trapped" inside my walls. And unfortunately the answer is probably yes.

I constantly accuse Glen of not being able to multi-task...(breaking every "man" rule), and while I was pointing my finger at him, the ones pointing back... found me. Going back to work has been a... well... uh... an experience. A whole new field, a whole new group of people, and a whole new set of likes and dislikes.

Health care is a challenge all it's own. And if ANYONE knows me, I lay down when one of the kids feel sick, because I just am not as good as I used to be about providing the TLC a mom should show. I used to be the BEST at it. When the kids were little, now they get the suck it up speech, and the I used to go to school with a fever of 108. So for these people that I deal with, they can be glad that my job has NOTHING to do with patient care. They would be so far up the creek... it wouldn't even be amusing.

Been toying with Facebook a little. LOVE seeing everyone's pictures and feeling a part of lives that I don't get to partake of on a regular basis. Need to be better about checking that too. Being back to working on a computer all day, makes it so I don't want to touch the laptop unless it is necessary.

Going on with us? Not a whole lot, Glen is still at Fidelity, Kelsey is making her way through 6th grade...first year in middle school. Caleb...well, he is enjoying the Abeka program. Not exactly my plan for "homeschooling" him, (I mean me going back to work), but it is working for us. When he tries to get by without doing his work, I threaten to send him back to public school and he straightens up pretty fast. He loves the flexibility, but also likes that he can focus on subjects that he enjoys. We are always busy. Seems like the only time we truly slow down is when it is a planned attempt to. Wish we had those more often, but for the time being... Things are good.

God is still on his throne, and I am grateful for the days that I allow Him to stay there in my life. When I lose track of my role in this life, and try to take over being the boss. I make myself pretty crazy. When I remind myself that I am just a vessel, emptied, filled and emptied again. Life is sweeter, joy is more fulfilling, things are just better.

Don't let today pass without thinking about where God resides in your life. Is He leading and guiding or are you dragging Him along on YOUR ride? I never forget that I am not above going through the trials of life, I just remember that I have a way that is higher and better than any that I can create. Choose today to walk that road. To know who holds our tomorrows and our today's, and rest in knowing that where ever or whatever we are in the middle of, it will be for our best. Making me the best I can be in Him.

^j^

Ever wonder how you got here?

So I thought that I was a good blogger. NOT too often that it was an obsession, but not so few that people could care less. Yeah, not so much, huh?

So for those who don't know, I have returned to the work force. Glen is still going through some changes with his job, and with the way the economy has changed recently, we didn't think it wise to be WITHOUT employment!!! :)

So for now, Caleb is home with my mom's supervision until all of the Abeka stuff comes in for him. Tried to talk KJ into leaving public school, but that little social butterfly isn't even entertaining the thought.

Things for us...have been busy. Fall always brings TONS of things to do, whether it be for us or for church, we move from one thing to the next trying our best to juggle life.

Just back from our Disney trip. LOVE IT, HAD a GREAT time!! Wish I could go more often...need to upload some photos. There were a few that I was proud to say I took.

Tomorrow night, Glen is teaching at church. 1st Weds all of the teachers get a rest, and we meet for family night. Ah....at least it is one thing I don't have to get all nervous about. One would think that the nerves would have calmed by now...YEAH...not so much. LOLOL

Getting crazy late, and I have to go to work in the morning!!!! BLAST this bad economy!!!!

Blessed!

Can you all tell that I have been in a FUNK for awhile? Even my sporadic blogging shows that I have just not been "myself" lately. I hate it! I can't tell you that I was doing anything different, but yet, I was not feeling as "victorious" as I was.

Ok, so let me break it down. I hate the "rat race" of summer. We spend our lives on the GO. And sometimes I THRIVE on it, others...it is just hard. Makes me feel uncomfortable in my own life. (And that is never a good feeling) So... today I take a stand. I am done feeling this way, and I am done allowing my mood to be one that reflects it.

How am I going to do that? First, I am making the decision to do it. Everything starts with a decision. So today, I choose to not let this yucky feeling keep me burdened anymore. The next part of this change is to remind myself of ALL that I have to be thankful for. And there is a TON of things. Family, friends, church, people who appreciate us, and aren't afraid to show us. Grateful for the opportunity to help others who may be hurting or going through a rough time even when you have a case of the "blues". (That was earlier this week) For an email of encouragement when you need one!

I guess in feeling this way for a while now, it hits me that if I choose to be different, I can make that happen. Let this post encourage you, if you want some situation to be different, you have to make a decision to do it. And then do it without waiting on someone else or something else to start the process of change for you. What is it that NIKE says..."JUST DO IT" Don't make it hard or overthink it. I guess that is where I get tangled up sometimes. Great intentions, POOR follow through. Today is the day of change for me. Time to refocus and keep the MAIN thing ...the MAIN thing! (PLEASE don't tell Glen I said that...that comes straight from one of his messages...) :)

Off to finish some of the 100's of projects that have been neglected!
Our love to all!!
^j^

Thursday...Love em!

Today the rest of the Keefer clan is in King's Dominion hanging upside down on a rollercoaster. Wish that I was there! But I doubt that spinning and looping and inverting this all ready dizzy head would benefit me...or them!

Anyway, We are busy lately. I am ready for a rest! Some of you know that we are heading to FL with our family in September. I need the rest, but I need time with people who I love. To just surround myself...(and my camera) with faces and people that I wish I could spend more time with. I think that is what I am looking forward to. Don't get me wrong...I'll be saying Hi to Mickey from all of you as well, but I am hoping for pictures that will commemorate a vacation that we will all remember as one of our best!

I don't see things slowing down... So much going on around here. Church seems to have kicked it up a notch. We are just really busy! Things around my house...just seem a little chaotic. And I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like we always have somewhere to go. Or housework that needs to be completed... or SOMETHING. Maybe it is just Summer and once we get back to homeschool and KICK Kelsey back out, things will slow down.

Been working on some craft stuff, but alas, I have pictures of everyone else's projects, just not my own!!!

Sending each one our love in the HEAT of the NC summer!

HUGS
^j^

I've been studying...

So many of you know that I teach the Ladies' meeting on Wednesday nights. I figure that I better blog about our lesson from last week because it has been rolling around in my mind...and weighing on my heart.

Maybe because I feel that time is short...maybe because I feel that we have to choose to be ready. CHOICE...what a HUGE word. I don't know that as Christians we grasp the meaning of the word in our lives. Eveything is a choice. While we may not be able to choose our circumstances, how we react is a choice. I can't say that my reactions have always been the right ones, but I am glad that I can say that I have learned from those mistakes, and they are forgiven.

So last week my lesson talked about me CHOOSING to be a ballerina. A prima ballerina. I told our ladies that I was going to show up on Sunday with a tutu, toe shoes... the whole nine yards. (Ok that visual should scare LOTS of you) But choosing to SAY that I am a ballerina, doesn't make me one. How many people do you know SAY that they are a CHRISTIAN, but then their lives or actions don't support that?

I choose daily to stay connected to the source of all that I believe. If I neglect to make that choice, I begin to wander in places that I don't belong.

...Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,

... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

- Joshua 24:15

So while we may not be able to choose all of our circumstances, and we may not be happy to be in the midst of them, we CAN choose our reaction to ALL of them.

Scrappin on Friday with some of the girls! I can't wait. I think that I have found a project that will keep my little hands busy.

I keep saying that I will post more...

And still I fail to do so.



We managed to go away for a few days. And Glen was able to go with us. We needed a break. And we had a good time. Sometimes just laying at the pool...with 4 little chairs all in a row. Sometimes laying in bed watching a movie. Just being together.



Do I sound like a broken record? Seems like I live for spending time with my family all under one roof? Maybe because I realize that it won't always be that way. There will come a time when the kids are off doing their own thing. And it will be just Glen and I. Can't tell you that I am looking forward to that, but I am really glad that I love Glen enough to want to grow old with him. Just the two of us.



Anyway...I have to get ready for my teaching tomorrow night. I think that I am going to spend the day on Thursday scrapbooking. I have a couple of things that I need to get finished. A couple of special projects that I need to complete and give as gifts.



Also coming up is the first Ladies Night Out that we have been waiting to start. I have been looking for something that we all could do, and I have a suggestion to make. Let's see what the ladies think about it.



Now on to a picture to share. This is from our day at the park. I was BEHIND the camera...where I belong. :)


If I get my project done, I'll post pictures of it later this week. I have been making the ribbons to finish it. I hope it comes out nice!!

Anyway...sorry to all of you who read daily...I have been neglecting you. Will try to do better!

I have already confessed...

to reading a LOT of blogs. I actually read them all through the day. When I am not on the run for church or family...or if I am not feeling well, I have been known to lay in bed with my laptop...reading. Sometimes reading and laughing, sometimes reading and crying.

I just wrote about being grateful for what God is doing in today and the need to stop looking backward with the "what-if's" of life weighing heavy on our minds.

I came across this blog a little while ago. I went back and started reading from the first post all the way to the most recent one. It just kind of put things in perspective for me. If I ever feel like a pity party about not feeling good, I can read what this family is dealing with and I can be grateful for the "sickness" that I am faced with today.

http://forleslie.blogspot.com/

All I am going to say is that if you read this...please do so with tissues close by. I don't know these folks, but my heart goes out to them. They are asking for prayer. And that is something that we all can do. To whisper a prayer daily for someone else. I don't know that there is anything more easy...it doesn't cost money. It isn't signing up for hours and hours of grovelling on bended knees. God knows their future or what they will endure. I pray for strength. I pray that whatever their tomorrow's hold, that they will be ready and will not lose hold of the hand that sustains them.


Today, I am grateful. Grateful for a STRONG tower. One that I can run into and be sheltered from the wind and rain of life. Some without faith would call it a "crutch". I would beg to differ. Hiding myself under the shelter of the Almighty, isn't pretending that the storm doesn't exist. It is understanding that I will be ok through it. NO MATTER what the outcome. Even when a heart of flesh is breaking, a heart of faith rises us and plants a foot in the next step God has ordained for us. Moving forward into whatever God has for us. Realizing daily that HE knows my name, He knows where I am, He knows what I need.


Wanted to share a picture for ya'll today. It is of my hubby. I love the efforts that he is making to spend some quality time with us. Have I told you recently how much I love this silly man?

Love you Glen Keefer! I am so glad that we have each other to navigate through life. God honors us for keeping this family on course. The course pointing toward what He has for us. That is all that I need. Keep doing what you are doing. It doesn't go unnoticed. NOT EVER!

HUGS! ^j^