Reflection & Eternity

Our life is a busy one. We may not be as busy as the next person, but we do seem to like going all.of.the.time...after all, it's just what we do. We plan for the next function, the next big thing, the next party, the next goal to be accomplished...

Sometimes it seems our planning is in vain. How plans over exciting things take up much of our thoughts and visions - and so much of our time. It's a joy to plan for fun things in life. But, what takes weeks and/or months of planning, always seems to be over just as soon as it began.

You know how I feel right? You've thought that before haven't you? Look at a wedding for example...months and months and months and money and money and money that has gone into preparation for it...flies by so quickly that you never even had time to soak it in.

Having a baby...planning on when to conceive, then dreaming of when you'll be pregnant, then being pregnant and planning on well everything that comes with it...what will you name her or him? What will the nursery decor be? What kind of delivery? Which doctor for you, hospital, pediatrician, etc.? Your new angel is finally in your arms and before you know it, you wake up and realize they are starting Pre-K, kindergarten, high school, bringing their first love home to meet you. The list goes on.

Oh how you wish you can slow the clock down and just soak up and remember all the details of this precious thing called life.

After all, God has given us this sweet life and He fully expects and wants us to enjoy it to the fullest.

But, as I'm reflecting today, I'm reminded of the planning - the eternal planning that I have so much opportunity to do - yet I continue to focus on the things that must seem or be more important to me. Not that planning on and raising my child is unimportant in the least! That is my job as a parent...and as the parent of the next child I am believing the Lord for right now. :)

I realize though what I am teaching E. What freedom and opportunity I have to teach her the process of that eternal planning. What we are here for...as children of God.

~ To know Him and make Him known. ~

Am I growing in Him DAILY? Am I soaking up every WORD He speaks to my heart? Am I operating in every GIFT He has placed within me? Am I using my FAITH to move mountains in my life? Am I "letting His little LIGHT shine" in me constantly so that others will see the Christ that I serve and want Him for themselves as well?

How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?

Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

James 4:14 NLT

You see, our lives are but a vapor. Tomorrow, they will be gone...whenever our tomorrow is. Not saying that the planning we do in raising our children or planning for events in our lives are not important. But, my job on this earth is to know Him and make Him known. My relationship with Christ should be what keeps me awake, too excited to sleep at night. The thoughts that constantly fill my mind and abide my time should be of my Father. Where will He lead me next? What gifts will He show me tomorrow? Who will He place in my path next to tell of His love and salvation?

Our time here is temporary and the things I plan so hard for and lay awake with visions of at night will fly by so quickly. But, as long as I am in the process of eternal planning, my time with Him has just begun. (and will never EVER end.)

WHAT ARE YOUR ETERNAL PLANS?

Are you planning for eternity?

Wordless Wednesday

How old is this child? Oh my...

Are you singing?

The Bible says, "He inhabits the praises of His people." Let's praise Him for all the good things in our lives. "Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights..." "In everything, give THANKS!"

Are you singing?

I am waiting on answer to prayer ... but I am singing.

I have been betrayed here and there...we all have ... but I am singing.

I am ready to go home to my Father ... and I am SINGING!

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I would be overjoyed for you to leave a comment of your reasons for singing today.

K-4 ~ Where does time go?

Here is my punkin' heading out the door for her first day of K-4!

She was so excited and gave me a big thumbs up!

We were about to walk into her class and this was a look like, "Alright, mommy! Just one more!"

She did so good! It was familiar to her this year since she went there last year for K-3. She walked in, gave me a hug and a kiss and walked to her friends to play. I felt bad for feeling like she should have cried. :(

Growing up is hard on mommies.

Surveyhead Surveys

So I read a while back on someone else's blog about Surveyhead and looked into it. I know that there are a lot of survey sites out there that are a complete and total waste of time. They usually make you fill out endless forms signing up for offers and/or you take a survey only to find out they enter you into a drawing for something...I wouldn't waste my time!

This lady in particular posted proof of all of her payments from Surveyhead, as well as some other "legit" sites.

I decided to try and thought I had nothing to lose...right? This has been the only one that I've continually received money for and while you certainly won't make enough to break the bank...it does add up for a little spending money.

So today, I received my first payment from them in the amount of $28.70. When you go on the site and create a profile, you will fill out several forms that tells them about you and you will receive surveys daily to fill out. While you won't qualify for all of them, beside the survey it will have a percentage next to it that will give you an idea of how close you come to qualifying to take that particular survey. It will also tell you how long the survey should take and how much you earn for said survey.

Most surveys are for $1.00 each and take about 5-10 minutes on average...depends on how fast you are really. I know you are thinking you don't want to spend 10 minutes just to earn a dollar right? But it does add up!

You do have to have at least $25.00 in your Surveyhead account in order to cashout and after you take the survey, it will show "pending" for quite some time because they have to be reviewed.

The thing that helped me is that I got an email invitation to participate in an ongoing television survey, earning $10.00. I had to watch Entertainment Tonight for several shows and answer questions about those shows. Easy as pie...I like to watch the show anyway! Why not earn a bit for watching?!! :)

You will need a PayPal account to do this so they can deposit your money there. It is free to set up a PayPal account. I would also suggest that you create a separate (free) email for your survey account.

If you have any questions about this, just let me know. I don't receive any money for sharing this with you...BUMMER! :)...but I thought I'd spread the wealth...HAHA...

Now, what to spend my $28.70 on? Hmmm............

Happy Birthday Butterfly

From this... To this...

So quickly!

Wings

If I could, I would give you wings

to lift you way up in the air,

And you could find the rainbow's end,

because wings would get you there.

If I could, I would give you wings

to carry you out of the storm.

They would take you higher than the wind,

and you would be safe and warm.

Wings, little wings,

in the wink of an eye

Soon your little wings will be big enough to fly.

If I could, I would give you wings

to lighten your heart through the years.

They would flutter soft around you then

and dry up all your tears.

Wings, little wings

in the wink of an eye.

Soon your little wings will be big enough to fly.

I tucked you in last night with tears running down my cheeks. Some would think I'm silly, but you are turning 4 today. This is a big deal to me. You are now leaving "toddler-hood" and moving into the next stage of your sweet life. The 1's, 2's and 3's we will never get back. We only have those memories, but I embrace the joys, tears, frustration (smile) and everything else that comes with the future years. You will always be my baby, but you are now my little girl.

You, my sweet E, bring joy like none we've ever known! The responsibility to parent you is overwhelming so often...in that I know you don't truly belong to us. You are God's child and He loaned you to us while we are on this earth. He trusted me as your mother and daddy as your father. We are not and never will be the perfect parents, but we strive every day to please Him as we "raise you up in the way you should go."

I know that as we seek His direction, you will indeed fulfill the dreams that fill your little mind through the years. You will grow from the little precious caterpillar that curls up in my lap each night for prayer into the colorful butterfly that lives in the perfect will of God!

Lord, help us as the parents of this angel to never damage or hold her wings back. Equip us to do everything we can in this upcoming year and every one thereafter to prepare those wings to fly.

Happy Birthday E! Mommy and Daddy love you sweet baby girl.

Swimming and Sliding...

...into a new chapter of life.

It is summer and we are right smack in the middle of swim lessons again. It's so fun for me and neat watching how much she grows in this from year to year. This will probably be our last year taking them...but, then again who knows because she does so well with them. We didn't have to take them again this year, but I feel better now that she will be 4 this week (oh my!!) and can listen to the instructions of her teacher much more attentively. She's like a lil fishy!

She is in the class with another one of her church friends and you should have seen them on the first day! Screaming all over again! The second day, I had to chase her down as she was running for the gate and begging to go home and take a nap...anything to make us leave haha. But 5 minutes later, she realized this was not so bad after all. Third day into it, there wasn't even a whimper out of either of them. Not one tear since and today was day number 5. Infact, she loves the deep end...she has mastered the diving board and even went down the slide into the deep end. That is a little unnerving for me because she is so teeny tiny and gravity takes its' tole on her little body as she flies down the slide so fast. She almost appears to be taking flight and well...I don't encourage the slide myself, but it's all good! :)

Speaking of slides...We had her 4th birthday party LUAU this weekend and it was a BLAST! We set up this huge water slide in the backyard and the kids loved it. Honestly, I think the cake was no big deal in comparison. We asked E what her favorite thing was and it was most definitely the slide. Smart kid! The new toys/gifts went home with her, but the slide was only temporary.


Okay so daddy had some fun on it too! :)

The big 4th birthday is not actually until Wednesday so I am soaking up every single minute of what is left of the 3's. I cannot believe what a hard time we are having about her turning 4. At 4 years of age, they aren't considered "toddlers" anymore so we are closing one chapter yet again and moving on to another. I just can't get over how fast it does go by.

My baby... will always be... my baby!

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The picture above is the coffee that I got from Boca Java for ONLY $4.95 + FREE shipping! Can you believe this? That is a lot of coffee and good size bags too! Click on the link to read my post about it. I ordered the Boca Sunrise (2), Caramel Kiss Island & Vacation Villa Vanilla...and I cannot wait to try them. The bags smell amazing.