A Cup of Tea With Me

Matthew 6:30-34 (AMP):
³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹ Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?
³² For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

³³ But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
³⁴ So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

I used the same image as Amy Deanne. Maybe one day I will actually have time to make my own to share.

God Bless you all and have a wonderful Wordfilled Wednesday!

I was tagged by Angie from Proverbs 31 Woman Wannabe for this MeMe. I have done it before, but I thought it would be fun to do again. I did change the name from 5 Things I DIG About Jesus, to “5 Things I LOVE About Jesus”. You can repost it as what ever you want, however, I grew up in the 1970s and the word “dig” makes me think of John Travolta and greasy hair. :s :

5 Things “I Love” about Jesus:

1. A variation on what I posted last time. Jesus died for our sins, that we may have salvation and that we may be closer to the Father. How amazing is it, that He would come down, be tormented, abused, laughed at, and killed, for US? That my friends is unconditional love!
2. He was very wise. His teachings still speak to us. 
3. He gives us strength, when the world would have us defeated, Christ helps us accomplish His will.
4. He saved my life. His loving grace, kept me from committing suicide, when my heart was not right with Him.
5. He is faithful!

I am supposed to tag 5 more people, but I need to get ready for work, so… I tag all of my readers who have not done this MeMe, or who simply want to do it again.

God Bless,
Melly

Well, it seems I was also tagged by my dear beautiful friend, Becki at A Walk Through the Valley for this meme, also. Becki, I am not sure how I missed it, , but I did so I decided to give it another go. This time I am using the clause in rule # 2. This is what I wanted my middle name to be as a child.

You see, my brother and sister both had “Ray” in there middle names. I was jealous. They were both named after my dad, and I was named after his mom. I got over the jealousy, and never had my middle name changed, but I never lost my love for the name that I was trying to convince my mom to legally change my middle name too. *I am wondering if this was a smart idea, since my “dream” middle name is a lot longer than my real middle name. I do not know if I know that many people to tag. LOL!*

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My desired middle name is Raeanne:

R - Real - I am very real. I have nothing to hide from anyone. My mistakes make me part of what God made me. One of my life beliefs is that step I have taken, every mistake I have made, has made me who and what I am today. I would not change any of them. Ask me anything, and I will be open about my answers.

A - Antique - A little Hubby humor. On my 25th birthday, he sent me a dozen roses with a card saying “Happy Antique Day” because if I was a car, I would be an antique now. Yes, I am antique and proud of it! - I love my hubby!

E - Expressive - I have been told many times that I have one of the most expressive faces. My bible study teacher uses my face as a gauge as to whether she is getting her lesson across the the class.

A - Antiphospholipid Syndrome - I have Antiphospholipid Syndrome. It is a fact of life I must face every morning. I am still learning so much about it that at times, I am blown away. It affects a lot of my life.

N - Never - I am learning to never say “never.” As soon as I say it, God shows me that if it is His will, I will do it whether I want to or not.

N - Nervous - I have many nervous habits. One of which is rubbing my palms on my cheeks. I do not know what triggers it, but I do it, just the same. It drives some people crazy. It used to drive Hubby crazy. I am so glad he has learned to accept it.

E - Excitable - The smallest things make me happy. I get excited about almost anything. A new treat, seeing an old friend, an email from a family member I have not talked to in a while… You name it, it makes me excited.

Now I have to tag one person for each letter of my (dream) middle name:

1. Ang - I am sure she will post this at her life blog, but all my readers need to visit her faith blog, as well.
2. Liz - Looney Mom. Liz can always make me smile, when I visit her blog. Much like me, she has her pain, but who does not? Oh, and she is expecting a grandbaby, any day now. Stop by and give her encouragement for the wait.
3. Katie - Joy Overflowing. A sweet Christian friend of mine.
4. Laura - Opinion Mom. Great blog.
5. TK - Her Comfy Chair. Hope you are feeling better today, Teri.
6. Lynn and/or Dineen - Spiritually Unequal Marriage. I do not know how you all feel about MeMes, but I would love to hear from you (both).
7. Laura - Org Junkie. Another great friend with another great blog.

I cannot believe I actually was able to name 7 people. I know that not everyone likes MeMes, and so if you do not want to do this, I understand.

I was tagged by Angie from Proverbs 31 Woman Wannabe for this meme.

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Jo (I almost feel like I am cheating with such a short middle name.) :

J - Joy - I strive to be joyful all the time. I do not always make it, but I try.

O - Overwhelmed - I often feel this overwhelmed with all that is going on in my life, which is why I am trying to be more obedient to God’s word, and the feeling of being overwhelmed will become less. (I wanted to do obedient, as that is my goal, but it is not a fact, so… )

Now I have to tag one person for each letter of my middle name: Becki at Vote for Becki and Heather at Diary of a Hope Filled Mom.

I decided to go back to doing the original Thankful Thursday. There is nothing wrong with Becki’s version, Thankful Thursday 13, as it is a great idea, but I dunno. I just a thought… I am doing that A LOT lately. Getting nostalgic and lost in my thoughts.

I have so much to be thankful for. I really do.

• I am thankful to God for His wonderful creation. I just think about it and get goose bumps. It is amazing to think that the God who created all this, loves me. He really cares about each of us. That just blows my mind to think about that.
• I am thankful for friends, like Becki, Heather and Christina. Even though I was “gone” from the blogosphere, these gals cared about me and that is what true friendship is all about.
• I am thankful for family. We lean on each other and help one another out. When one of us gets exhausted, another one will lighten the load, knowing that when they need their load lightened, the first one will be there to help.
• I am thankful for Valorie (read above only multiply by 100) [Um, just in case you wanted to know, the brunette in the profile picture is your's truly. I know many of you have never seen a picture of me]
• I am thankful for Having answers
• I am thankful for Places with infomation, where I can connect with others who are going through the same things.
• I am thankful for my friends over at Blog Mommas and Moms Making a Difference.
• I am thankful for blogging. It helps me to see the bigger picture.
• I am thankful for the Bible. God’s word is wonderful.
• I am thankful for Bible studies that can help you understand things like how to discern God’s will and other wonderful topics.
• I am thankful for my church. It is big, but it has the heart of a small church. I just love it.

If you are interested in reading what others are thankful for, you can see the participants over at Sting My Heart.

Breaking my blog silence with my first Menu Plan Monday.

I am “cleaning out the cabinets” this week. DH and I both need to loose weight, but we have a lot of bad food in the cabinets. I cannot bring myself to throw away good food, so I will be using it this week.

Monday: Mexican Lasagna (frozen entre bought at Sam’s)
Tuesday: Chicken and Dumplings in the crock pot
Wednesday: Fried Catfish (my neighbor is retired and he goes fishing all the time. My freezer is full of catfish) :).
Thursday: Chicken Spaghetti (a family favorite)
Friday: Steak and butter noodles
Saturday: Beef fajitas
Sunday: Family choice

Yes, a lot of “bad carbs” but by Saturday, I am hoping to have the pantry cleaned out, and starting on the good stuff (phase 1 of South Beach diet)

Menu Plan Monday is hosted over at Org.Junkie. I started it because Becki was doing it at Weights the Matter, and it looked like fun.

Trying this again. I did it once and forgot to save or publish. Oh well. It just lets me reflect on why I truly love Him even m0re.

I have been tagged again! I do love tags, especially ones like this that make you reflect on our Saviour. Heather over at Diary of a Hope Filled Mom has tagged me to list 5 things “I Dig” about Jesus, this is going to be fun! Then I need to tag 5 other bloggers to do the same!

Here are the Rules:

So Here Goes: 5 Things “I Dig” about Jesus:

1. He gave His life, so that we may know Him better.
2. He loves me unconditionally.
3. I know I have a mediator in Heaven.
4. I know with Him in my heart, I can do anything, and that with His grace, I can handle anything that life throws at me.
5. Knowing Him gives me reason for living.

Now to tag people. I hope I do not tag anyone that has already been tagged.

• Ang @ Ang4Him
• Christina @ Refuge for a Single Mom
• Liz @ Looney Bin 4 Sure
• Laura @ Opinion Mom
• Maygoi @ Mayogi @ Home

I cannot wait to read your lists! Be sure to comment here with a link when you have them up!

Heather tagged me (well, she tagged all her readers, but since I am a reader, I am going to play ) and now I get to tell you “8 Random Facts About Myself” that hopefully you don’t already know:

There are rules to follow in this meme so here we go:

1. You need to know the rules before the game begins.

2. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.

3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

So, let’s start with 8 random things:

1. My favorite color is red. A deep dark rich red.

2. One of my eyes is lighter than the other. One is almost green and the other is almost brown. I have freaked people out with this.

3. I drove a convertible VW bug for my first car. It was a lot of fun, however, I pushed it more than I drove it.

4. My sister is my best friend.

5. I love dogs. I never saw myself as a “dog” person, but the older I get the more attached I get to them.

6. Sometimes I miss “gaming” so much. There are times when I just want to reinstate one of my old accounts and play.

7. Some times I really struggle with my faith. Those are the times when I usually the most silent.

8. My best on-line friend is the one that got me into blogging. Thanks Becki!

Now to tag people. The thing is, I do not think I have 8 people to tag, who have not already done this…

There is:

Ang - She does not do many memes but I love to read her blogs.

Christina - Again, she does not do memes but her blog is awesome.

Teri: Her blog is always a great read.

Tiffany: Another great blog.

Shannon: A newer reader/friend of mine. I enjoy her blog, very much.

These are the friends of mine that come to mind, that have not done this meme yet. I know it is not 8…

Ok, lets see if I can actually get this typed out this time. LOL! I have sat down to do this 4 times so far.

1. I am thankful to God first and always. His creation. His perfect plan. His perfect will.

2. Boog. His uncanny way to always make me smile.

3. The owner of the “smoothie place” in our mall, for GIVING us a 6 month old male Miniature Schnauzer.

4. Buddy - our new puppy for making Boog smile.

5. Pepper for tolerating the puppy and being such an awesome dog. She is top dog in this house.

6. DH for changing his mind about “not being down with the name Buddy” once he heard that it was Boog that named him that.

7. Dr. Price for actually talking to me and sending me to a new Rhumatologist (sp?).

8. Dr. Pocurull for talking to me like I am sane. Explaining things to me. Actually caring.

9. The technician who took my blood work, 2 days in a row, and actually talked to me during the second visit. It was a long one and it was great to be treated like a person, not just a blood bag.

10. The love and support of my friends and family, while we go through all this testing.

11. My boss. She is wonderful. When she met Buddy, yesterday, she was as excited for us, as if we had just had a new baby.

12. I cannot comment on it, yet. I have a hard time reading it. After 10 years the pain is still great, but I just love TK’s new blog. Thanks, Teri for writing it. This will be amazing support for those who have lost a child.

13. Being able to read all the great blogs that my friends write. Being able to blog and share things like this meme, and my joy over Buddy and the Drs.

You should write your own list of 13 things you are thankful for on Thursdays, and head over to Becki’s Walk to sign her Mr. Linky.

WOW! I am going to faint! Teri thinks I rock too! Thank you, sweetie! I noticed it when I was going to check my blog friends for people to nominate.