2015 New Years Resolutions.....God Style

A very Happy New Year to all my friends and fellow bloggers. I can't believe it, but it seems that another year is coming to a close and that we are faced with the turning of the yearly clock, one more time--- into a brand New Year! Doesn't it seem impossible that it's already 2015? For me, it seems like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating the new millennium, but here we are already....15 years later.

As I look back on this past year and forward to the next, I, like most of you, are looking to improve some things in my life. New Years Resolutions always have meaning and the best intentions, but honestly,don't most of them fall by the wayside after a few weeks? We always seem to get in the way of ourselves and our best efforts.

A vow to get in shape with regular work outs, via walking, running or bike riding, setting new goals to save more money, eat better, quit smoking (if you do smoke) quit drinking ,or drinking excessively, quit gossiping, quit being jealous of others and their possessions, .... the list can go on and on if we are trying to improve our human condition, because frankly, let's face it.....we're a mess. All of us are sinners and fall very short of the Glory of God.

But, if we look to set our New Years Resolutions with God in mind, things begin to look up considerably and in my mind, at least, they seem much more attainable. If we are trying to do anything on our own, it can look insurmountable to say the least. Anything we try to accomplish on our own is so much harder than if we have the resources of the Creator of the Universe behind us. Why do we resist Him so?

So, this year, I want to really try to do things God's way. I want to turn to Him for everything. I want to rely on Him for every thought, action, and even every bite of food I put in my mouth. I want to eat good, healthy food, and only eat I'm hungry. May sound silly or unimportant to some of you, but for those of us who have always struggled with our weight, this is a valid and lofty goal. I want 2015 to be a year about Jesus, not about me or my food or anything else. Just Jesus and Jesus alone.

So, here we go into a brand New Year, As I approach my 60th birthday in October, I've thought a lot about why I'm still here. What exactly is my purpose? Why has God kept me here on this earth? He could have easily taken me back in 1997 when I had my health crisis. But evidently there was still more work for me to do.

The doctors thought for sure back in 1997 that I was a gone-er. All the great medical minds kept saying I had brain cancer and they needed to confirm that with a brain biopsy. The tests looked grim. Well, after a very tumultuous month, it was determined that I didn't have brain cancer, I actually had MS. Seems that God had other plans for me, and wasn't done with me yet. He proved the doctors wrong. Seems like they were just "practicing medicine" after all. The longer I've lived with this debilitating disease, the more I'm convinced that He still wants to use me for His glory, even in my broken down condition. I continue to try and comply with Him even when I'm hurting.

So, one thing I know for sure, as long as their is breath in my body......I will try hard to have my life, my words,and my actions be about my Lord Jesus Christ and not about me. I want my focus to be honoring Him in everything I do. I want to reach out to others that don't know Him. I want to strive to share His love with those who may be hurting. I want to strive to be the Hands of Feet of Jesus each day.There are so many people that may never step foot into a church, they may never know the love of Jesus unless than can see Him through me and through you.

This year also provided us with our first beautiful new granddaughter, Grace Natalie Watts. She also brings new purpose to my life because I so want her to know Jesus like I do, like a best friend that she can't live without. I want to set a good example for her to live her life by. I want to share His love with her as much as I can. I truly believe that her birth is a gift from God, and my responsibility as her grandmother is something I don't take lightly. I love you darling Grace, and I will always pray for and protect you.

So, will you join me in sharing God's love as we move forward into another New Year?  Can you make your New Years Resolutions with God in mind? Can you help others... your family, your extended family, your friends, and your co-workers to see Jesus through your actions, words, thoughts,and through your very life?

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all the nations. Matthew 28:18-20 gives us the Great Commission... "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Happy New Year to every single one of you. May God bless you with abundant health, blessings, joy and His peace that surpasses all human understanding in this New Year! 

My bible verse for today is above in red.

My prayer for today:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for another year. Thank you for being with me during this past year in everything I went through health wise and all the challenges I faced. Thank you for my wonderful, caring and thoughtful husband. He is such a gift Lord, and I ask that you gird him up and give him the strength he needs everyday. Thank you for our sons and our daughter in law Jessi. Be with them in this New Year and give them your peace as they go about their lives. Thank you for the birth of our beautiful granddaughter. Please keep her safe in your arms for all the days of her life. 

Jesus, please help me to set an example for all those of love, Help me to be a good Christian wife, mother and friend. Help me to be a good and faithful servant in everything I do. Help me to reach out to everyone in your name, in every situation, at all times. Help me to bring Glory to you always Lord.

Amen and Amen

Great Expectations......

Merry Christmas everyone! I can't believe I haven't written in my blog for almost two months, but it's been a crazy time for me health wise, so it really doesn't surprise me. I had a great vacations in August with wonderful memories to last me for a lifetime and paid for it with an MS flareup to follow in September and October. My first one since February 2009, so that's not bad.

Just part of the reality of living with a chronic, debilitating disease like MS.. The good news is that I survived the new high dose oral steroid treatment the doctors up at USF put me on, have been in physical therapy for the past 6 weeks and am feeling stronger as we head into this glorious season. Thank you Lord!

Today, one of my Facebook friends posted this question on her page.

Is it wrong to have expectations?

Boy, that's a loaded question, right? She got a myriad of answers, along with mine, the gist of it went something like this: Hope and expectations are what keep us going! Definitely hope! Jesus wants us to have hope for each day and hope for the future so He can use us in the world. We have to look forward so we can shine for Him in the world.

I really thought about that question a lot today and went back to read some of the answers her friends gave her. Most of them were positive but there was also another friend of mine who said" we live in a fallen world. Expectations for a Currier and Ives or Martha Stewart Christmas just aren't realistic. We aren't perfect and striving for perfection and having too high of expectations can set you up for a fall and a tremendous amount of disappointment."

She's right in a lot of ways, BUT, and this is a big BUT..... we have the Greatest Expectation in the History of Mankind coming up in a little over a week.

Jesus Christ, the long awaited Messiah, born of a simple virgin and the Holy Spirit, changed the expectations of the entire universe on that one silent night. Hope sprung eternal when Jesus entered the world and changed the expectations of humanity for all time.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

He and His glorious birth are the Great Expectation the people had hoped for,celebrated and we continue to celebrate over 2,000 years after his entrance onto the world scene. He alone is our Hope. He alone is our Great Expectation.

As we look forward to celebrating Jesus birth next week, I encourage you to stop and think about what your hope and dreams are for the future. What do your Great Expectations look like? Health and happiness for yourself and your family members? Peace in our increasingly violent and decadent world? A new job? A new house? A new church? There are a thousand dreams that can be ours because of that sweet baby born in Bethlehem all those years ago. He has brought Great Expectations to the world.

For me, one of my biggest is the promise of a bright future for our beautiful new granddaughter,Grace Natalie, I may feel broken down and worn out many days from this disease that has ravaged my body, but God can still use me to reach out to this precious child and teach her about Him and His Kingdom. I plan to take a considerable amount of my energies toward that end.

Steve and I with our little Gracie. She's such a doll!

Isn't that what we're here for anyway? To reach out and help and love those in our little universe and those we love dearest? Isn't that what Jesus brought into the world when He came?

Hope and Great Expectations for the future of mankind! Rejoice and Celebrate in that amazing truth. Merry Christmas everyone. May the Peace of our Lord be with you now and in the every day in the New Year!

                    "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." 
                                                                                   Isaiah 26:3

My verses for today are above in red.

My prayer for today:

Dearest Heavenly Father:

Thank you for sending your son to save us! Thank you for having come into the world, fully God and fully man, born of a simple virgin teenager who had not known a man. Your miraculous birth gives us hope for the future of all mankind! All of our greatest expectations and hope lie in your hands. We commit ourselves to you and we love you Lord.

Amen and Amen. 

Through it all... God's Grace Abounds....

My head is full of thoughts to release, but my cognitive function has been greatly challenged of late. How can I relay my absolute delight in this last month's events? I'll try, and if I'm not making much sense you'll know why.

My Jordy and I went on a wonderful 12 day vacation in August. Back to my roots, back to my birthplace and where I grew up for the first 18 years of my life. Back for my 40th High School Reunion for TC Williams High School (Remember the Titans fame). Back to see some of my old friends from those band and drill corp days, remembering those fun times we spent at band camp. riding around on those buses to the games, those hours of long practices to get everything just right before the Friday Night performance. I haven't attended any of those reunions, so this one for extra special for me. Extra special because of my health, I'm not sure I'll be able to make another one. Extra special because I could spend those precious days with my son. To have that long drive time was hard, but so much fun. Lots of laughter, arguing, talking, giggling, I messed up the route, we went the wrong way, and laughed and laughed. Only a disabled Mom, like me, could get away with that and not have my kid go ballistic. I had the paperwork to prove the way, but it was still all wrong the GPS sent us the wrong way too, but instead of going nuts, my sweet son rolled with the punches. Here are just a few shots from the reunion.

Me, my friend Craig Caldwell and Jordy

Me, friend Lori Burnett Bassford (I went to slumber parties at her house when I was a kid), 

and Carolyn Weeder, another friend from 1974. 

Me and friends Christine Kennedy and Lucelle OFlaherty

both were in the drill corp with me.

Me with buds Andy Seligman and Roxanne Romani Brooks (another drill corp friend)

It was so great to see everybody. I'll never forget it!

I know he must have been frustrated with me, more times than not, but Jordy never showed it. He kept laughing and encouraging me to enjoy myself. We had a great time in Alexandria and Washington, sightseeing and enjoying seeing our nations capitol. Jordy loved seeing our Washington, and I held up pretty well, tootling along in my scooter along the National Mall and seeing many of the highlights of Washington: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, WWI and WWII Memorial, Korean Memorial, (probably my favorite) and of course Arlington National Cemetery, which is always a highlight of a visit to Washington.The weather, which could have been stifling in Augusts, was perfect...definitely a God-Thing - thank you Lord!

                                         If you are ever in the DC area, you have to go to Arlington
                                         National Cemetery. The enormity of the sacrifice that our
                                         soldier made and continue to make is overwhelming.

We made the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and Jordy made the capitol tour on Saturday while I slept and recuperated so I could make the reunion. Of course, I wish we'd had more time, cause there is so much to see up there. We also took the Metro which was an adventure, cause none of that was built when I lived there.

Jordy in front of the Museum of Natural History

I was able to have dinner with my cousin Leslie and her husband David. That was a special highlight of the trip. Leslie and I pretty much grew up as sisters more than cousins, she was either at my house or I was at her house. That was pretty much the deal for many years. Also, my dearest and closest friend through high school was Mollie McCauley, who couldn't make the reunion, but did come in and have lunch with me. Mollie stood up with me at my wedding. It was so great to see her too!

                                               My cousin Leslie and her husband David

                                    Me and Mollie - she hasn't changed a bit! Loved seeing her.

I had Jordy driving all over Alexandria, while I remembered places from my childhood; the house where I grew up, my elementary, middle and high schools, where my grandparents lived, even the Baskin Robbins Ice Cream store that was in my neighborhood. I couldn't believe it was still there in the same exact place, 40 years later! Of course I had to take pictures of everything, which drove him crazy, but again we had alot of fun.

I couldn't believe the things that did not change in my old neighborhood, 

it was really uncanny because down here in Florida everything changes constantly!

I was running on energy I hadn't had in years. I knew I would most likely pay for it in the end, but it was so worth it so me,

 

The house I grew up in on Crestwood Drive in Alexandria, pink shutters?Really?

After Washington, we ventured to our home in Waynesville, NC for a visit with our first son, Biff and his wife Jessi. Our first grandchild was overdue to be born, and we were praying, that maybe, just maybe Jordy and I could meet the little one before we headed home. Turns out that my sweet grandchild had a mind of her own and was born 3 days after we left. We did have a wonderful visit with the kids though and I got to see Jessi pregnant, which was fun. Boy, I really wanted to be there for the birth of that little girl, but it wasn't part of God's plan. 

                                           Me with Jessi, waiting the birth, and me with my two boys!

This is me, two months later and after a massive oral steroid treatment to counteract an MS attack, probably brought on by our trip. But so worth it. I'm clearer in my thinking, able to walk a little again and with physical therapy I know I'll get better and better. So here we go, I will continue on with my story.

So, the last night we are on the mountain, we go out to dinner with Biff, Jessi, Jordy and I. Let me back up just a little. Jessi had told me that she liked the name Grace for their daughter, but she said "we have to convince Biff. " I said Grace is the perfect name for the little angel. Jessi had lost a baby before she got pregnant with this child and had an ectopic pregnant, losing one of her ovaries. They weren't 100 percent sure trying again was going to be successful and then they had a scare with this child too, so I said "Jessi, Grace is the perfect name for her, because she is surely here because of God's amazing Grace."

About two weeks before we went on our trip, God put it on my heart that they were going to name the baby Grace Natalie (Natalie is my given name). I told God - No way, they aren't going to use my name in that child's name, it will never happen. The Lord kept whispering to my heart, that is gonna be the name, I don't care what you say. Of course, I kept not believing, no way God I told Him.

When we were out to dinner that last night, in the parking lot, the kids said they wanted to tell me the babies name. I said ok, it better not be Devin (that was one of the names that Biff liked - I told him no way, sounds too much like devil!!!), Anyway, Biff said now Mom don't cry, we've decided to name her Grace Natalie Watts.

Of course I started crying and told them the story about what God had put on my heart. Their mouths dropped open. So you see sweet children, God named your child and you just listened to the whispers in your heart and obeyed Him. Talk about a God-Thing. This sweet child will have a high calling upon her, I have no doubt in my mind about that. She is highly favored of God! Of all the meanings of Grace in the dictionary, my favorite is;  

The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God."

And my favorite Grace scripture verse is from 2 Corinthians 12:9\

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Surely,my beautiful new granddaughter Grace will grow up with the arms of Jesus around her, holding her close to Him. I finally get to go up and see her, probably this week! I am so excited to finally hold that sweet child in my arms. Thank you Jesus for this gift from you!!!

My dear sweet Grace Natalie, I love her so!!

My verse for today is above in red.

My prayer for today:

Lord God,

Thank you so much for our beautiful first granddaughter Grace! Thank you for her life.

I pray blessings and your Favor over her as she grows up, may you always keep her close to you.

Thank you for a wonderful, fun and safe trip with Jordy. Thank you for giving me the strength to go, thank you for allowing him to get the time off to spend those 10 days with me. I know it was a big sacrifice for him and I am so thankful that he agreed to go with me. Thank you for Steve, thank you that we could afford this great trip, while he held the fort down here with the three dogs!

Thank you Lord, We are so blessed and we know it!

In Jesus name, 

Amen

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