Busy As A Bee

Today was one of those days that got away from me.  I went to the knitting class in the morning, and found out I had done my stitches wrong, so had to learn the correct way.  I was glad of that, though, as I was getting too tight on the rows and it was hard to get the needle in the loops.  So, now, it seems that the loops are indeed looser, and that makes it much easier to knit faster.

The group of ladies are very nice, and no pressure.  We even got to see the cutest little baby come in.  Five weeks old.  She was adorable and so tiny.  Two other ladies just started learning to knit, too, so it was a good group to be in.

Next I went to get gas, as I knew I might be on the road later, so I ended up waiting quite a while for the person in front of me to fill their tank.  I could have gone to the other side, but as busy as this gas station is, I didn't want to end up being in a worse mess, so I just waited.  The person in front of me was wondering why I didn't just go to the other side, but I knew this place, and obviously she was from out of town heading to the ski slopes, so I wasn't offended, just thought it was funny.

Then I headed into work, and Isolino and I talked a bit about his website, which is on the side of this blog, if you happen to want to visit it.  The name is "Inspirational Bible Verses".  It is all done with the pictures he's taken, with Bible verses put on them.  Your church can even use them if they wanted to.  Anyway, he is in the process of changing things, and deciding what he is going to do next with this site.  He is trying to make it easier for people to access the photos and download them.  He has put so much work into this site, and it is a blessing to read the verses he's chosen with the photos.  Talk about busy.   I don't know how he does it all.  Plus, he helps me quite a bit on this blog site.  All the additional things on this site, he's done to enhance this blog site.  What a worker.

Then I had to make a few phone calls, and get busy finishing the quarterly books, so they get turned in on time.  I was so happy that my first month was all adding up right, and that meant I got started on the second month, and entered that in.  Those of you who have done this, know what a process this is, and it can be very tedious and time consuming.  If you get interrupted a lot, that adds to the challenge.  Today wasn't too bad, as far as interruptions, and I was blessed, with how well it went.

Isolino waited patiently for me to finish up, and then we headed home to pick up Kaylee and head to Riverbank and finish up some business we had there.  Isolino treated us to a nice dinner, since we wouldn't have time to make anything when we got home, and it was already after 6 o'clock, so we definitely needed to eat.  We went to Red Robin, and had yummy hamburgers.  Well, Isolino and I did, Kaylee had original mac and cheese.  Must have been good, cause she ate it up.

Then we headed for home, and all the things waiting for us there.  I did dishes, emptied out the garbage, and then helped Kaylee finish her homework, which she had needed some help on.  I finally sat down to upload some photo's to Flickr and do this blog.  It is almost midnight.  The end of a busy day, and the start of a new one.  I share all this, because as busy as my day was, I am sure most of you, experience even busier days than this.  I want to encourage you to take a deep breath, and let it out, and then do it again, a few times, maybe, and then, look around you, and count your blessings.

Today I was blessed by a group of ladies sharing kindness together.  A husband who shared his interests with me.  A job that was going smoothly.  People who stopped by and blessed me.  A safe trip in very murky foggy weather.  A quick finish to a job needing to be done.  A fun meal with some of my family.  A safe trip home, and those who prayed for that safe trip home with prayer for angels to be with us and surrounding us in safety (thank you Jill and Pastor Dave, for the prayers).  A daughter who helped carry the garbage out to the outside can (thank you, Jolynn).  A daughter who went and did what she was supposed to do (thank you, Kaylee).  And a husband who is patient to the max (thank you, Isolino).  I am truly blessed.  I would love to hear how blessed you are today.  What wonderful things did you find to be thankful for?  I love to hear the stories that these blogs bring to your minds.  This is your site, too.  You are a part of the blessings that go on here.  Your comments and viewings make this more of what it is meant to be, a place of encouragement.

Turning A New Leaf

In January, we always talk of turning a new leaf, of getting a new start in our lives.  Many of us plan to lose weight, work out more, eat healthier, read more, talk to friends and family more, be more involved with our family and church or activities we love to do.

What kind of new leaf change do you want to make?  Is it personal, for business, for fun?  Are you planning to make a whole new lifestyle change or just small changes?  Do you plan to work on the inner you or the outer you?  Do you plan to laugh more, hug more, love more, stay in touch more, go to church more, be on time more?  Do you plan to weed out habits that hinder you from going forward?  How about the good things in your life, that still interfere with what you know you need to be doing?

All of these things are good to think about.  I believe the reason we look forward to the new year, is we want to get rid of old things that have been keeping us from all the things we want in our lives.  I had a friend (Cheryl, this is you), who made this statement to me once.  "Each time I go into a room, I try to do one thing to make it better."  She was trying to work on getting her house in order, and that was the solution she had come up with.  Do you know, that one statement has helped me tremendously over the years.  I may not be able to do everything that I had planned to do, but if I just accomplished one thing, to make it better, than I had done something to improve things.

You see, I took this for not just cleaning a house, but for anything in my life.  If I just took one positive step, I had done something good.  I may not have accomplished it all, but I had taken a step forward.  I wasn't taking a step back, and I wasn't standing still.  I have been dealing with a lot of physical limitations, and that can really bring you down in your mind and spirit, but following this one rule of thumb, has helped me not to dwell on the "not done's", but to applaud the "did do's".

Perhaps you have struggled with some of these things in your life.  Take just one step to make it better.  Don't try to go the whole complete journey in a month.  Take it one step at a time, one day at time, one minute at a time.  Soon you will be applauding those major steps you are making.  I had a real addiction to soda at one time.  I am not completely weaned off it yet, but I made a conscious decision that it was not good for me.  It was a comfort blanket in my life.  I began to wean myself from this soda bug, one day at a time.  There were days that I'd fall back and have a large gulp of the sweet stuff, but as I was getting away from it, I began to not crave it so much and soon, I realized I wanted water more than soda, and I felt more refreshed and saturated with the water, whereas if I chose the soda, I was still thirsty.  My thirst was only quenched with the refreshing taste of water.  Now, if I have a soda, it is within reason and it does not make me yearn for it, like it used to.

God's Word says, "Do not be weary in well doing, for in due season you shall reap your reward.".  In other words, we need to keep on keeping on.  Don't let one failure or many failures stop you from trying.  Just pick yourself up, and keep on going forward.  Some people do things more quickly than others.  Some plod along at a steady pace, and seem to get there just as well.  Find your pace.  Do one positive thing a day to go for the goals you've set yourself.  Turn that new leaf into a budding tree.  I'm rooting for you.  I know you can do it.  Once you have put your hand to the plow, don't look back.  Just keep moving forward.  I believe in you.  Hear me cheering?  You can ask my family, how loud I like to cheer for my team.  They usually move away from me because I am so exuberant about what is happening on the field.  That is how I am cheering for you.  Hallelujah!  We have a Father who loves us so much, He helps us along.  He is there too, cheering you on, and there is a host of witnesses in heaven who are cheering you on too.

God bless you all.