Last Friday was homecoming at the school where my children attend. My oldest daughter was selected to represent her class-3rd grade here are a few photos from the evening. ENJOY!
Her updo idea came from this blog {princesshairstyles: belle hairstyle}. They have lots of cute ideas. I took this one and made it work for her hair… and added GLITTER! 🙂
source
{The actual ringing in found me sound asleep, but safe, and in my home with loved ones!}
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The New Year here marks the official dropping of my old blog and writing exclusively for this new address.
{{wooo-hoooo!!}
I must admit, I still wish I had the time and mental acuity to type a post every day. I truly admire those who do it. But, that will not be happening any time soon!
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As the old year came to a close, I began pondering just what DID I want to accomplish this next year {now THIS year!}.
And I came to the conclusion that I was not going to make any “year resolutions.”
I have read much in the past 2-3 days of why to or why not to make “New Year’s Resolutions.”
But my own adventure towards what I desire from this year came when I realized… that truly,
Of course, a new year is a BIG new beginning; but if I confine myself to only beginning anew at the beginning of the year, I will continue to fail-by today–the second day of the new year!
Because I’m human. I have many excuses in my repertoire… and I am a firm believer in: life is what happens after you make plans!
So, my “New Year’s Resolution” is to not have a YEAR’s resolution!
To approach the morning as a time of goal setting.
To approach the evening as a time of pondering.
Instead of only making lists of what I want to accomplish [in vague general terms] on December 31 that would supposedly encompass an entire year, I will make lists multiple times a week-or however often I can remember!
in being a wife, mom, friend, sister and daughter.
A quote that struck me a couple of month ago {and I do not know the true origin as I found it on Pinterest} was:
I have had many thoughts race through my mind about the horrors of last Friday. The tragedy has basically been all some people have talked about.
In my heart, the Lord has simply re-informed several truths that I wish to share:
* Safety truly is of the Lord. Even if mommas and daddies had been at that school, no one can stand in front of a bullet unscathed.  The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. Proverbs 21:31 {But I am fully amenable to civilians having weapons at their disposal. Gun control, as my Granny says, is using two hands.}
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*There is sin on every hand. We must be spreading the Gospel, and we must do it with an intensity of purpose. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? Romans 10:14
*Life is precious. ALL life. And if this were truly such a tragedy {which it IS} , then what would you call the millions of babies aborted in the past 50 years? And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Luke 18:15,16
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*Children are a gift from the Lord. {All children.} And we must love on them and teach and train them and pray and weep over them before the Almighty God. They are His. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. -Psalms 127:3
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 *This very moment of my life is not guaranteed to finish ticking before I breathe my last breath and meet my Savior face to face. What am I doing to be ready for that? Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. -James 4:14
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*There is a time for weeping. Now is that time. There is a grieving process that must be finished. And no two people live this process the same. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance… Ecclesiastes 3:4
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 *But when the grief has subsided {and that may be a longer process than someone outside of the situation thinks necessary…}, the choice must be made between living a broken life or resolving to press on. There are no other options. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect:…but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth … I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 [portions]
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Souls touched by this tragedy must be allowed to grieve. They need to be extended grace for a time of healing.
The rest of us need to be resolved to make each day matter for the Lord’s kingdom and create precious memories with our loved ones!
The name Sarai, given as Abram’s wife in Genesis, is often referred to as meaning
“my princess.”
But upon further study and digging into the full meaning and its root -outside of the Hebrew, as it is not a Hebrew name-
it seems that Sarai meant “ruler, an official, a commander, etc.”
I can see why some might declare Sarai to simply be another name meaning “princess.” They look and sound similar. A princess is a ruler, of sorts.
But I heard of at least one commentary that identified this name as meaning “a domineering woman.” I found a study online as well as a commentary in my online Bible that indicate the same.
I tend to go with God changing her name for a reason…
and Sarah means “princess or noblewoman.”
How true is the first description of so many women!
To be brutally honest, any woman not completely controlled by God’s Holy Spirit becomes a domineering woman, whether she will admit to it or not.
There are plenty of times I thought I was doing OK “on my own” and have looked back… to realize just how “not OK”  I really was. {and I am sure there are more than I can actually remember!}
These times of trying to be Godly in my own strength are futile.
And this, my friends, is the crux of the matter… the heart of my problem every day.
This woman was the same physical person after her name change as before. She had the same flesh and blood, the same needs.
God made a covenant, the promise of a son.
She was a controlling wife who became a princess!
being crowned
She could do nothing to merit God’s favor.
Yet He gave it.
He made the covenant.
I am a living Sarai… often trying to be Sarah on my own.
{You can read of Sarai/Sarah in Genesis chapters 12-49.}
