Have I Worn You Out Yet?

After a busy (fun and rewarding) weekend, I'm catching up on one last day of Esther study before tomorrow's session.

I just read a sentence I needed to hear.

"God is never afraid of us or worn out by us!"

As in, when we go through emotional struggles (sometimes long, unbearable, ongoing, seemingly never ending), our friends and family can grow weary of going through those struggles with us.

But He never grows weary. He's not afraid to take that journey with us and He's not worn out by us.

Thank You, Jesus for sticking with me through it all!

And thank you to my good friends that also stand by my side, even though I can wear you out!

November Blessings

Is it really November already??
I mean I know we've already had Halloween but it is Sunny and 70 (almost) today! So it's hard to believe that it is already November! Basketball hasn't started (yet) and I have barely finished any of my November projects (okay I've only finished one) so it cant really be November already, can it?!?

If you know me well, you know I have a lot of project ideas that never get carried out... one of those is the "Blessings Jar" I was on a mission to make at the start of last year (I'm still looking for one). And while I think it is important to count and record our blessings EACH day of the year, it's definitely a must do in November.

I saw a blessings calendar somewhere (Pottery Barn Kids, maybe?) made of cloth and super intricate. I had big ideas of embroidering one just like it. Well since we are already (almost) a full week into November that plan fell through and a quick(er) project emerged.

Meet the Hicks family Blessings Calendar:
(Okay, I realize the sun makes it hard to see, but it says "A Month of Blessings" at the top (with some scripture following) and "Happy Thanksgiving" at the bottom. If you click on the picture to see it larger, it's easier to see.)
The idea is for each of us to write something specific we are thankful for on the slips of paper in each pocket. At the end of the month, we'll go back and read them all.

And now I gotta go... Rusty REALLY wants to take advantage of the beautiful weather and get to the game early today for tailgating. Go Cyclones (although yes, Amy, I think your Cowboys will win today!)!!!!

Oh- and today, I'm thanking God for warm & sunny weather, Cyclone football, and time with R!
What are you thankful for?

His Unfailing Love

And You never change
God You remain
The Holy One
My Unfailing love
Unfailing love


You never change, God. You remain.

Early in the Esther study, Beth talks about feeling like

God

is

so

far

away.



When God feels far away,

it's easy to feel

alone.
discouraged.
exhausted.
overwhelmed.

Sometimes life just stinks. There's struggles at work, at home, with family, with friends, and everywhere in between. Sometimes I feel like I'm a terrible wife, horrible sister, bad aunt, awful friend, lazy teacher, and not to mention a lacking Christian. When life gets hectic, when things get crazy, it's easy to question God. It's easy to ask Him where He's at in all of this.
But His answer is always the same,

"Right here."

We are told time and time again in His Book that He will never leave us.

"No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you." -Joshua 1:5

He is always here. Always by my side.

When I'm stressed to the max and don't take time to read my Bible, He's here.
When I'm running late in the morning and don't read my daily devotion, He's here.
When I'm too sick to get out of bed to go to church, He's here.
When I'm angry with Him and lacking in prayers of thanksgiving, He's. still. here.

He doesn't change. When I feel far away from Him, it's not Him that's moved, it's me. He's always the same. He always remains. He's always good.


He will never leave me nor forsake me.

And He wont you, either.


He will never change
He will remain
He's the Holy One
He's my Unfailing love
Unfailing love


"'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the LORD, who has compassion on you." -Isaiah 54:10


Lord, there are times I feel so far away from you. Times I feel like I'm failing in everything. Times I feel like I'm just grasping to whatever I can to keep from falling farther and farther away. During those times, even when I cannot feel You, I know You are there. You are there to hold me, there to carry me. You love me. You love me with an unfailing love that I cant fully comprehend. Thank You for remaining steadfast. For never changing. For always loving me. Thank You for Your unfailing love. Please help my heart to always feel the warmth of Your unfailing love, Lord. Amen.



("Unfailing Love" by Chris Tomlin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_MyC6kJzPg )

Flowers in Her Hair

Happy Halloween!

Yes, we are heathens and did some Halloween activities. Secretly (okay, not so much a secret anymore) I love Halloween. I love the costumes (even though I don't dress up), the candy (even though I eat too much), the fall activities (even though that means it's getting COLD here).
I don't care if you call it a Fall Festival or Halloween or whatever. I love it. Do you?

Mummy treats for the kiddos:

Friday was beggars night in the P family's town. R & G had a basketball clinic to go to so I headed over and A made me some awesome dinner and we took the boys out on a cold, wet, windy trick-or-treat night.

Morgan met us for awhile in her Supergirl costume (I didn't get a picture) but headed home early. I don't blame her! (We weren't sure if she would show up as Supergirl, Raggedy Ann, or Tigger. She had lots of outfits to choose from this year!)

You can guess which of the boys' costumes was my favorite, but they both made good football players:


Saturday, the men still had basketball so A & the boys came over for the afternoon. They painted their shelves, painted pumpkins, & made nutter butter ghosts. We had a few more activities that we didn't even get to. R was disappointed we didn't even carve a pumpkin because he wanted the pumpkin seeds. Is it okay to carve a pumpkin now that it's November? (Maybe with the letter H or something?)




Our town's trick-or-treating was that night. The boys had the cutest outfits. I LOVE the book "Where the Wild Things Are" and cant wait to see the movie (maybe when we can rent it!). They helped pass out candy to all the trick-or-treaters. They did a great job!

Did you "celebrate" Halloween?

Slumber Party: Maddox Style

Maddox, his mommy, and 'Doo doo' came up last weekend.
Holly & I met Hillary Saturday morning for the Race for the Cure then went dress shopping.
Since Rusty & I had forgotten to take Maddox's Birthday football to him on his actual birthday, he got to open it when he was here. I've never seen a little boy so excited about a football.
We also were watching reruns of Oprah and Maddox was doing the flash mob dance with them. He was so cute. He'd do every move then at the end say, "Again, again!" Thanks for the fun times buddy!


(The dance he was doing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yBFbAm8sQE )
(The quality on this one isn't the greatest. The original video I had posted was taken down due to copyright issues. If you haven't seen it and this link doesn't work, go to Youtube and search Oprah I Got A Feeling. It's so cool!)

Just Wait

Just Wait

I love the song, "While I'm Waiting." And it always seems to come on the radio just when I need to hear it. Waiting in a long line at the drive-thru, waiting in traffic, waiting on a friend. Waiting.

The Lord tells us to wait and He will renew our strength.

But what is it we're waiting for?
Are you waiting for a new job to work out? Waiting on your paycheck to come in? Waiting on a family member to do what they said they would do? Waiting on the Dr's report? Waiting on a child? Waiting for a wedding? Waiting.

Waiting on things, on people, on events, can be so draining. We can grow so weary while we are waiting.

But God tells us to wait on Him.

We're familiar with:
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." --Isaiah 40:31

So why do we continue to wait on things and not on Him?

"Wait upon the Lord."

He will renew our strength.

Lord, Help me to be patient. Give me the strength to wait on You. Take my focus off of the things, the events, the times that I'm waiting for. Give me a God ward focus. Turn my eyes towards You. Amen.