I heard Jesus

Yesterday when I got off of work I had so many things to do that I was feeling very overwhelmed. I went and got Landen and we were off. While waiting in a looooong line at the red light at Hawkins and 259, I thought,

"I just need to go to that party store. I have seen people make a illegal u-turn many times...if I did it, I would save some time. I don't have time to be waiting in unnecessary lines!!"

Right when I said that to my self, I heard Jesus say,

"Miranda, just be patient."

That is all it took. I heard his words and my heart calmed down. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a PT Cruiser making that illegal u-turn that I was just thinking of doing. Following right behind him was a cop car with his lights on!!!

"Why would that person do it with a cop car right behind him?!?!? That is pure crazy!!

Then I thanked Jesus for speaking to me when I was flustered and overwhelmed. If I would not have heard Jesus, I would have been the one to get that ticket.

The rest of the afternoon was chaotic and everything but ordinary for Landen and myself BUT I had a great attitude about it. I felt Jesus close to my heart and we got through it together!!!

I wanted to blog about this right after it happened but I was so busy, that I couldn't! :) IT was a special moment for me, to be able to hear Jesus amongst the craziness in my head....that is truly special!

Reassurance

 Jesus Calling for September 28 says this:

Open your mind and heart—your entire being—to receive My Love in full measure. So many of My children limp through their lives starved for Love, because they haven’t learned the art of receiving. This is essentially an act of faith: believing that I love you with boundless, everlasting Love. The art of receiving is also a discipline: training your mind to trust Me, coming close to Me with confidence. Remember that the evil one is the father of lies. Learn to recognize his deceptive intrusions into your thoughts. One of his favorite deceptions is to undermine your confidence in My unconditional Love. Fight back against these lies! Do not let them go unchallenged. Resist the devil in My Name, and he will slink away from you. Draw near to Me, and My Presence will envelop you in Love.

 Reassurance is wonderful!

Self Control

Sometime last week, I read a verse in my quiet time that has been stuck in my head. It has spoken to me in many different ways.

 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. - 1 Peter 5:8

"Be self-controlled"; It stands out so much to me because God knows that I need this pressed on my heart. I am in control of my life; not satan. 

"Stay alert"; the devil is ALWAYS trying to get inside your mind and flip the switch. When I think that I 'cant do' something, that is the devil telling me that I am not able to do it. But I know that I can do ANYTHING thru Jesus Christ who gives me strength.

"The devil is always prowling around you looking for someone to devour". I don't want that to be me! I want to live a faithful life. Have a gracious heart and learn and live more like Jesus.

My perfect example:  I don't like getting up at 4:20 each morning to get a workout in before work....but that is the time that I have for me and the only time it will get done. So, when my alarm goes off... I remind my self that the devil will try to convince me that I need that extra 45 minutes of sleep and not to get out of bed. So, honestly most mornings, I have to roll my self off the bed! I will either hit the floor or catch myself; either way - I am up! I am human, so there are mornings when the devil wins and I sleep.... I HATE IT! Through out the day, I regret not working out and it weighs heavy on me. So more and more I have become aware of when I am not in control and I am trying to prevent it from happening. 

When I do not spend daily time with my Bible, the devil seeps in a little bit more. Your greatest defense against the devil is knowing the promises of Jesus. If you don't know His promises, how can you defeat the devil?!

Since my last blog; I have become more aware of what I need in my life. That blog opened doors in my heart. Since writing it, my heart has healed some wounds, and has a different feeling. It is amazing!! :) My focus is where it needs to be. When I wrote that, I had only hoped that my heart would change, I am glad to report that the things I have done to change it have helped me! :)

The other night, I woke up out of a great deep sleep (I am sure that it was Jesus talking to me because who does that? Who wakes up and automatically thinks something out of the blue? I have never done it). I said to myself "Jesus is my strength, I can do anything thru Him". I kept repeating it and fell back asleep (maybe that was all a dream, I am not sure but either way He spoke to me :)) and have never forgotten it. Jesus knows when His children are slipping away from him (I was unaware that I was one of them). He knew exactly how to touch my heart and heal me.

I am comfortably sitting in His embrace once again! Right where I should be! Right where EVERYONE should be!

Have a very blessed day friends!

Landen's Halloween Birthday Invitation!!

I just wanted to share the invites that I made. I think they turned out so cute!!! I cant wait for the "spooktacular party"....wait a minute; I think I can because that means my baby is 2!! :(



Clarification

I have a little desk date/quote/inspirational/funny thing that I just love. Every so often I get somthing off of it that really touches my heart. Just now, I turned to tomorrow (I look ahead on Fridays because I am not here the weekend - thank goodness) and I just had to blog because it fits PERFECTLY to my previous blog today!

Our lives seem to be controlled by whatever blow hits up next, sending us lurching from headache to heartahce to horror story. But we can choose how we respond emotionally. We can choose to hold on to the One who promises never to leave us.

That is what I am aiming for!! To hold on to Jesus; not earthly things. My attention needs to be refocused!

My Past, Present and Future

{I have not blogged in a long time. I have had so many things on my mind that it is starting to feel like chaos in my mind. I had a break through last night (thanks to Jenn) and realized that I need to blog. Blogging lets me get rid of the thoughts that jumble up my mind. It allows me to sort through them and understand them better. Most importantly it allows me to make room for the most important, Jesus. Which in turn makes more room for the people in my life that matter most!

The last week has been full of ups and downs at work, with friends and all around. We have all been under the weather and we have changed a few things in our parenting repertoire. Many changes are taking place and my brain feels every bit of it. I need to "clean out" so I can focus upwards more. So lets get this started:}

The Past: Obviously the past made me who I am today and I cant change that now; but I can change how/who I am today and tomorrow. The past has taught me many things but the most important is that I should have known God a long time ago. God has his way of coming to each of us. He came to me when I was in deep emotional pain. The situation was painful for my heart; it still has residuale affects. He came to my rescue when I was broken down. I didnt know who I was or what I was doing; I was "running around like a chicken with my head cut off". He saved my heart and hasnt let go.  In 27 years, I never thought that I could have such deep connection with Him.  Growing up not knowing him, I didnt know what I was missing out on. I most certainly am saved by grace!!

The Present: It is where I try to stay and for the most part, I do. I try to be in the moment with everything, but there is one area that is weighing me down. The present may not look like what we think we want it to look like. We may not be were we think we want to be. But what we can be sure of is: that our present is not by accident. That everything we in the present is placed there by a mighty hand. Stay focued on what He wants you to get out of the situation and PRAY!! Praying is how we comminuate with God!

The Future: I know that I cannot change people, but GOD can. People may not act the way that I want them to; they may not feel the way I want them too; they most certainly may not say what I want them to say. But I cannot do anything about that. I can however do what God and Jesus have called us all to do and that is love them where they are. I will just let them be what they want to be. I can pray and love them from a far. I am in control of my life. I know that I am blessed and even though the world gives me many things to be distracted by, I will be focused on my blessings.

God knows what is going to happen. Even though I think that I want something to happen so badly, I need to be true to Him. The heart will trick you into the wrong things!!  God is in control and that alone gives me conmfort....I just need to stay focused on that!!

Have a blessed weekend friends!! :)

Weekend Madness

Sunday morning, we woke up at 5:00 (thank you Landen) and so I worked out, L and I went for a jog (as soon as it was daylight out) and cooked breakfast, cleaned house (again) and got dressed. By the time church came, I was exhausted.

Here is my "very not so proud moment": I knew that I was going to stay in the nursery for about 15 minutes while the other teachers went around and asked for volunteer help from the Sunday school class. If you don't know by now, I love my Sunday school class. It gets so personal with God word. I need that class every week and this week I was looking forward to it because I could feel my attitude sinking. So, my mother and I get to the nursery and the teachers left.  Time passes and time passes. The more time passes the more I can feel my mind getting worse. I hated that feeling that I had in my heart. It was definitely satan making me feel bad about missing out on what I wanted to do. I thought that I would have only been in there for 15 minutes and I would get to be in my Sunday school class.....boy was I sinking. I tried telling my self that I needed to stop being selfish, but it didn't work. I played with the kids and tried to look happy.... What was I doing? I was wallowing in my self pity. So what if I missed one day of Sunday school. I needed to be where I was. So after about 40 minutes I came to terms with the fact that I was not going to go to Sunday School class.

I am a planner, always have been. If I make plans, I want to stick with them. I want to know what is happening. I get my self worked up for something and when it doesn't work out, I get upset, even if it is the simplest thing, like not going to the grocery store when we planned to. I want to be prepared for the situation ahead of me. I know yesterday was one of His test for me.

In the nursery I asked Jesus to please give me sign that I was meant to be here and that the service will be enough for my heart. Please take this dwelling feeling away from me and show me the righteous path. Right after I prayed, Landen went to the bath room door and said "pee pee". We put him on the potty and he pee peed. YAY!!! A very proud moment that I am so glad I was there to see. :)

I was reading a book last night and something jumped out at me.

"Our lives are not random. Everything in our lives is put there by God."

I think that sometimes we see His blessings as inconveniences; like I did yesterday. I was caught up in my self and the fact that I wanted to be in Sunday school class that I over looked what He was trying to teach me. I feel bad for theway I felt but I am more proud that I overcame the negative feeling and beat satan, I just wish it didn't take me as long as it did.....next time He has a test for me, I will be quicker on my feet!

Thanks for listening to my confession.  Have a greatly blessed day.

Random thoughts!

I have been slacking on my blogs lately. It certainly is not for lack of words and thoughts! It is mostly for lack of time.

Stevens Love is moving into our new building next week (if all the renovations are done) and we have to get packing. It is going to be an awesome change!! I cant wait!

Landen started a new daycare this week and that has been taking my time up, thinking of how he is growing and molding into something wonderful! He only cries for about seriously 30 seconds when we first separate in the mornings, and then he is a social butterfly. My baby boy is so smart! I saw him yesterday lining up from outside and his teacher told his class to "put a bubble in your mouth and hands behind your back". HE DID IT PERFECTLY!!!  He looked SO cute walking in line being a big boy! When I mentioned how cute he was to the teacher, she said that he always does what he is told and she hardly ever has a problem out of him! That makes my heart so happy and I am one very proud momma!! Landen Kyne, "You Go Boy!!"

The fires in Texas are very fierce and out of control. The smoke in the air makes it hard to breathe. We have been lucky that when I get home with Landen, we can play outside because the smoke has cleared. Right now, sitting in my office, I can smell the smoke coming through the walls! :(

You never think about having fresh air to breath as a gift....until it is gone. I think that there are many things in our everyday lives that we take for granted. Looking for the blessings in each day and be thankful for them will help me to not grumble or complain so much!

Last weekend was amazing! The extra day with Landen and Brandon was just what I needed. I have started jogging with Landen again; something that we both love very much. The temperatures have been remarkable! When he sees the jogging stroller in the garage, he climbs in it and is ready to go. That is all good and cute except when we are headed to daycare, he gets disappointed pretty fast! 

My mother went to church with me last weekend and told me this morning that she will come with me this Sunday! Very excited! Then after church, we are going to see my Great Grandma, it is grandparents day and we have a whole slew of 5 generations! How awesome is that?!?

I cant wait for the weekend ahead and the weather!!!  So much fun is to be had!

Have a very blessed day friends.

 Live by faith, one day at a time. Are you able to see the blessings this day has to offer?

A Perfect Blind Date!

Last week my Sunday school class had a ladies night and I was unable to attend. I heard that they all shared the story of how each met their spouse. I am so sad that I missed out on that...I love good stories! So I want to share how Brandon and I crossed paths.

I graduated in 2002 from New Diana and only a few short months later I was to be sent off to the Air Force (by choice). I had not been dating anyone, I mean, why would I when I was about to leave! I had to keep my options were wide open!

I had a good friend, Caleb, who was dating Jamie. She had a good friend named Brandon. Jamie kept bugging me (and yes, she was truly bugging me) about me just needing to meet Brandon. That she thought we would be "perfect together....blah blah blah".... and I kept telling her no. One day I was sitting at home, bored out of my mind when she called and asked if I would come to Brandon's house tonight to just "hang out with her and her friends from Marshall and just see what I thought about Brandon". I sighed and said ok, Ill go. So I drove to Marshall, at TSTC where he was going to school, and walked into the rest of my life.

It was a first blind date for both of us. I walked into the apartment and my first thought that came through my mind was "he is really tall, what long legs". LOL (He is tall, 6'3, but with me being 5'4, he is really tall!). Later I would find out that his first thought about me was "What in the world is she wearing?!". Back in high school I had my "own style". I didn't care to much what people though, I would wear what I wanted to! So that night I wore my skirt, tank top and perfectly pair with my sneakers.

He couldnt believe that Jamie had set him up with me. lol - silly boy had no idea that I was his dream gal!!We hit it off perfectly.

He met my mother only once before I was left for the Air Force (We met in early September and I left late October). We wrote letters, talked to each other while I was in boot camp. He came to my bootcamp and tech school graduate. I finally met his mother once before I was stationed in Wyoming. Our parents both thought we were crazy for holding on to this "silly relationship" and moving in together across country with noone else - it was us....either it was going to go great or bomb. But my momma didnt raise no fool! I knew I was dating my husband!!

So, after he graduated from TSTC, in December he moved  across the country for me. He packed his little S10 truck to the brim and drove to Wyoming!! We were two kids in love! It was awesome!

After about 1.5 years of dating, I wanted to get married. He said "its just a peice of paper, whats wrong with dating". I stated my case and he stated his.

Ok, so since he is not my husband he cannot tell me what to do, his imput didnt really matter, right? AFter all he was just my boyfriend. You see, Brandon did not like the fact that I already had 2 tattoos when we met, and didnot want me to have anymore. So when he said marriage was not in the future, I went and got a tattoo in March of 04 (yes I am stubborn and strong willed, that has since changed only a little). In April of 04 he asked me to marry him! lol It may be a coincidence but I doubt it! :)

He called my work (as commanders secretary) and asked me over the phone on a Thursday to marry him. (Oh yeah, thats right ladies, over the phone!! :)) Actually he said "So, you wanna get married" I thought for sure he was kidding, but he wasnt....just wasnt good at speaking his emotions I guess!  Of course I said YES!!

That next day was my bestest friends wedding, (whom I walked down the aisle) and saturday we picked out rings, Sunday my mother flew up to Cheyenne, Wyoming and Monday we were at the court house with my mom and Aunt as witnesses and got married for $25. It was the shortest engagement ever but why wait when you know that it is a forever kinda thing! Sure I certainly wish we would have had a wedding, or that my best friend was there but it happened the way it happened.

So almost 10 years of knowing my husband, and happliy married for 7, we are so in love and I KNOW that he is my soul mate and we are together to grow, learn and teach each other so many things.

I love you Brandon Kyne and thank you for loving me, (even though I can get crazy) I cannot wait to grow old with you and Landen.