The beauty within

What is beauty? Is growing old beautiful? Well, I guess that depends on who you ask. If you ask the world, the answer is no. According to the world gray hair, wrinkles and saggy bodies are not beautiful. If you ask the world, beauty is only skin deep. The world says that beautiful people are young, with smooth skin and no bags under their eyes. The world says their hair is youthful, their bodies are thin and every part of the body has an certain ideal size. There are no stretch marks or cellulite in worldly beauty. The world says beautiful people wear certain clothes, walk a certain way and talk a certain way. But what does the world know anyway? Look at the condition of our world. Is that really where you want to get your advice? This is what I think.
Growing old comes to all of us that are blessed to experience it. Gray hair saggy bodies and wrinkles are a gift. It means that we are living and experiencing life. They remind us of both the happiness and the trials that have formed us and continue to mold us into the person God intended for us to be. Many times they are the outward sign of growth, wisdom and character. They are humbling and teach us to focus on the truly important aspects of ourself; our personality, our heart and our eternal soul. There are many who have never experienced the blessing of growing old because their lives were cut short. Those who want to experience the treasures in life- growing old with your spouse, watching children grow, watching them marry, having grandchildren and great grandchildren; all will have to age. It's inevitable. We can be vain and try to fight it with expensive face creams, injections and plastic surgery, but eventually it will all be to no avail. That's why it's more important to focus on preserving and improving our inner being. The part of us that will last forever. The part of us that even after our beauty fades, our hair turns white and our skin is saggy and etched with lines,  people will still see the same beautiful being they always have and they will desire your company, friendship and love. No amount of makeup, hair dye and plastic surgery can cover an ugly soul. So be content with the person God made you.
Be content with the skin, hair, body and personality he gave you. Strive to be more beautiful on the inside than the outside. Let your laugh lines outnumber your frown lines and wear them with pride. For there is always someone who if given the chance, would have gladly worn them for you. I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to fighting the aging process. I just pray that I never become so haughty that I am unable to see beauty in someone simply because their outer appearance doesn't meet the worlds "standard" of what beauty is.  I pray for the ability to look at myself and others through the eyes of Jesus. To see them and myself as He does. I pray I'm the kind of person who builds others up. Just imagine the blessing we could be to others if we spent the money and time that we spend on our vanity and beauty and invested it in another person. I'm not implying that we shouldn't take care of ourselves but when you become a person who judges others based upon whether or not they have a flawless appearance, it's time to evaluate your heart.  I  will remind myself often. Those that are unable to see beauty in a wrinkled face, a gray head or a saggy body are those who are looking at others through their ugly heart. Don't be that person.  Today, go tell someone how amazingly beautiful they are.

Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. (1 Peter 3:3, 4 NLT)

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. (Proverbs 31:30 NLT)

Sanctity of life Sunday

Diary of an unborn child

Dear Diary,

October 5: Today my life began. My parents don’t know it yet, but I am here. I’m a girl; I’ll have blond hair and blue eyes. All my genetic imprints are present, also that I will have a weakness for flowers.

October 19: Some say I am not even a real person yet, and only my mother exists. But I am a real person, just like a crumb of bread is bread. My mother exists, and I do, too.

October 23: Now my mouth opens. In about a year I will be able to laugh and speak. I know what my first word will be: Mommy.

October 25: Today my heart began to beat. From now on it will beat for the rest of my life without ever stopping to take a break. Only after many years will it stop beating and I will die.

November 2: Every day I grow more. My arms and legs are forming, but it will be a long time until I can stand on those tiny legs and run into the arms of my mother, until I can pick flowers with those tiny arms and hug my father.

November 12: Tiny fingers are starting to grow on my hands. How small they still are! One day I will be able to stroke my mother’s hair.

November 20: Just today the doctor told my mother that I live beneath her heart. Oh, how happy she must be. Are you happy, Mommy?

November 25: Mommy and Daddy are probably trying to come up with a name for me. But they don’t know that I am a little girl. I would love to be called Susie. My, I have already grown so much!

December 10: My hair is starting to grow. It is soft and with a beautiful shine. Wonder what kind of hair Mommy has.

December 13: Soon I will be able to see. It is dark around me. When Mommy gives birth to me I will see sunshine and flowers. But the best will be to see my Mommy. I wonder what you look like.

December 24: I wonder if Mommy hears the whispers of my heart. Some children are born ill. But my heart is strong and healthy. It beats evenly: bum-bum, bum-bum. Mommy, you will have a healthy little daughter!

December 28: Today my mother killed me. ...

Author Unknown


You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! (Psalms 139:13-18 NLT)

What is love?

I recently had a conversation with a person who I've had a lot of conflict with throughout the years. This person made the statement to me "We don't have to be friends. I know you and I both have lots of friends, so it's not like we have to be friends.....I mean if that's what God does then great, but if He doesn't, then that's fine". Ouch.. I felt it was said to let me know where I stand and that my friendship, or lack thereof, was insignificant. That "I" was insignificant. It would be easy to let something like that hurt. But instead, oddly, it made me feel good! It made me realize that I don't feel that way about others and wow, that's a great feeling! It's an awesome feeling to know that I don't feel the need to put limits on my love or ration out my friendship to just those that I have common interests with, people who are easy to love, people who I've never had conflict with, etc. Personally, I have current friendships with lots of people. Some I've never had conflicts with, some I have. Some have similar personalities to mine, some are completely the opposite. Some are easy to love, some, not so much. But I have the same desire to love and have a friendship with each and every one of them. And I have the desire to make many, many, MANY more friendship throughout my lifetime. So, I'm not sure if it has a name, but whatever gift this is, thank you God for blessing me with it. I love the freeing feeling of having more than enough love in my heart to go around. I love the feeling of forgiving. My final conclusion. You will never be able to make everyone like you or love you, but that doesn't have to limit the love in your own heart for others. Just pray and love.

"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love". (1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NLT)

Blessings Unlimited

Today we celebrated my dads 65th birthday with a dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. The whole family gathered as we always do which was so much fun. Here is my mom and dad:)

Shannon and her precious family was in attendance as well. Oh and if you haven't heard, Shannon is expecting a girl! Yay!!!

Here are my precious grandparents. They just celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary. This picture will be placed in the Gadsden Times:)

Here is my bunch. TOTALLY not paying attention to the camera. I suppose they were hungry? LOL.

Here is myself and my nephew Drakey poo. He's so cute.

Then there is my SUPER COOL uncle Ted and aunt Kathy LOL. He took us on MANY beach trips as teenagers:) The two Alabama fans in the midst of a herd of Auburn fans bless thier hearts! HAHA!

This is what I LOVE about my family. We are always laughing and having a great time together. I'm surprised we haven't been kicked out of a restaurant yet LOLOL!

Then Jeff and I finished off the day with a fun 10 mile bike ride on the Chief Ladiga trail.

I'm so thankful for a wonderful family, wonderful weekend and the opportunity to gather together and enjoy each others company. My blessings are unlimited :)

Round and round we go!

Although both Jeff and I had to work yesterday, we thankfully got off in enough time to enjoy a great ride on the Chief Ladiga Trail from Piedmont to Georgia. The scenery is just absolutely beautiful, so I thought I would share a few pictures of our little 12 mile ride. Enjoy!

This is an amazing view from one of the bridges of the trail in Piedmont.

Could you ask for a more beautiful day?

Mine and Jeff's shadows on the trail LOL

Look at this!

Jeff and I on the trail. I think he is coming to get me or something haha.

We so enjoy this. What a stress reliever.

Taking a quick break.

GO JEFF! LOL

WOO HOO!

Couldn't end the ride with a more beautiful sight than this sunset.

And so yeah this has nothing to do with our bike ride, but I didn't get a chance to throw in a Valentines Day picture earlier, so here it is LOL. So okay, I'm a bit tired after our 7 mile ride through Ft. Payne today, so I will blog more later. But for now my bed is calling my name:) BYE!

February isn't finished yet!

Well. I had planned on posting a blog around my 38th birthday on February 8th. BUT, being the busy, busy girl I am, I didn't find time until now. But thats okay. Busy is better than bored any day. Especially when it involves being busy with my favorite person!
So, lets go back in time a bit shall we. February 8th I turned the big 38! And, I did it at work of course haha. What a wonderful group of people to share it with. I can say, it really didn't feel like work at all that day. First, I was able to open that day thanks to my nurse friend Patrice who volunteered to swap with me so I could leave early. The rest of the work day consisted of "playing" with my friends....yes I said playing. Complete with home made birthday hat and personalized PPE. We are a unique group to say with least and the patients got a kick out of this LOL.

Let me introduce you to LeLa (Leah), RoHerny (Robyn) and Deborah Lou Hou (Deborah). Birthday artwork  and pictures compliments of LaLa (Laura) of course none of us go by our real names LOL.

Later I got home and was surprised with a new Schwinn bike that Jeff, my parents and my brother went in together to buy me! I was SO EXCITED!!  Since then, we have bought Jeff one just like mine, so we now have matching bikes! Then my Jeff took me to the Chief Ladiga trail for a 14 mile ride which was so much fun.

Then comes Valentine Day which Jeff made reservations at The Wildflower Cafe in Mentone. If you haven't been there, YOU MUST GO! My high school buddy Ben Keener is the Chef/Co-Owner and the food is awesome. Not to mention the Mentone/Lookout Mountain area is absolutely beautiful. I was so excited and we had so much fun. So needless to say, its been a very fun and meaningful February for me so far. I just can't find enough words and don't have enough time to give every example as to why I'm so blessed. I can never thank God enough for all the blessings in my life, the biggest of which is my awesome husband, kids and family. I thank God everyday for them. So, until next time!!!!

Chief Ladiga Sunday!

What a wonderful day today was. Great weather, husband by my side and a 14 mile bike ride on The Chief Ladiga Trail. We rode from Piedmont Alabama to Cleburne County Alabama on our bikes. Such BEAUTIFUL scenery! Everything from narrow trails cut through the hills to breathtaking views of farm land and mountains in the distance. I just cannot describe it. I will surely bring my camera next ride! After we returned to Piedmont and loaded the bikes, Jeff and I decided to ride to the Georgia line where Chief Ladiga meets with the Silver Comet trail. We were actually not too far at all from the line! I have to say, the idea to pave the old rails for use as a bike trail was a brilliant use of tax dollars. I can't express how much we enjoy the ride and scenery. Of course, after our drive, we had to get lost in Georgia for 2 hrs haha! But its okay. I was with Jeff and we had fun and made it to Drakey's party on time. Yep! My "little" nephew is now 12 yrs old! I cannot believe it! Such a handsome young man he has become! We are so very proud of our Drakey:) And of course it was so nice to gather with my family as we do so often. There is always such great conversation and no shortage of laughter. I LOVE my family. So thankful for my many blessings and a wonderful weekend with the ones I love. Until next time my friends!