I didn't heed my own advice to leave margin in my day and I paid the price.  I'm so tired!!  This morning was my team's day to feed the homeless and that is always a busy day.  Actually a busy two days because I shop for all the salad ingredients the day before and do a lot of the prep work.

We finish serving and cleaning up around 1:00 and then we all go out to lunch together...and then head home. But, today, for some reason I thought I should just add a bunch of extra errands into the mix before we went home.  By the time we got everything accomplished and returned home, it was almost 5:00!!

When I don't allow enough margin in my day, then I feel rushed and irritated because I'm trying to get a lot done in a little amount of time.  If there's not enough margin, then there is no room for mistakes....and no room for ministry.  I won't be able to talk with the bank clerk or cashier.  Margin is something that's very important to my sanity!!

If you haven't read Margin yet, I hope you'll pick up a copy. It will definitely help you to create "white space" around your time, finances, health and spiritual life.  Click here to find it on Amazon:  Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives.

(I'm an Amazon Associate and I earn a referral fee if you click through to the link and purchase the book.  No one has bought any yet so I don't know how much I earn.  )

This week has been very busy preparing for Julianne's graduation and party.  Tuesday I went grocery shopping and picked up most of the items I need for her party.  My fridge is now full of 192 hot dogs!!  Tomorrow my husband and I will be picking up charcoal, etc. for the grills and also water bottles for the party.  I decided to go with water instead of soda because it's healthier and it won't attract bees!  (But I guess the hot dogs aren't healthy.  Oh well!)

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Speaking of healthy, I have not drank a Dr. Pepper since May 9th.  Woo Hoo!!  I have to say that I look longingly at the bottles when I'm in the checkout lines at Target or the grocery store.  Actually, I haven't had any caffeine drink since then.  I'm trying to drink more water but truthfully it is hard!  Pray for me!

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This afternoon Julianne and I went up to the local community college to take their placement test and apply to attend in the fall.  She did very well on the reading/writing part and "ok" on the math part.  But we expected that so it was fine.  Tomorrow I have to call to make an appointment to see the dean and give him some paperwork since she is only 16.  After that we can pick out her course of study and then wait until July to sign up for classes.  It's amazing to me that this time has already come.  The years have literally flown by and we are entering a new phase in our lives.

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I still haven't put together Julianne's scrapbook.  I asked a friend to help me tomorrow night.  I hope she's available.  I haven't a clue how to go about putting it together.  Well, I can put it together but need help making it look nice!!

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That's about all from here.  Things should get back to normal around here next week and I hope to be able to post more.  Until then may you have a blessed day!!

Last night I was reading the chapter entitled "God's Power over Nature" in Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts.  It reminded me to  not forget that God is in control over nature and not to complain about it.  As a weather junkie, I am up for any kind of weather, especially snow.  We have had some snow this winter but we have also missed a lot of  storms by as little as 40 miles.  I didn't think I was complaining about the weather because I was wanting snow when most people were glad we didn't get it.  I don't usually gripe about snow or cold or things like that.  BUT---I realized after reading this chapter that I was complaining.  I was complaining because I wanted snow and didn't get it.  It's still complaining!!

 Here's two excerpts that hit hard for me:

 "But when we complain about the weather, we are actually complaining against God who sent us our weather.  We are, in fact, sinning against God (see Numbers 11:1)."

 "We as Christians need to stop complaining about the weather and instead learn to give thanks for it.  God, our heavenly Father, sends us each day what He deems best for all of His creation."

 I am thankful the Lord showed me my sin in this area.  In the future I will give thanks for the rain, sleet and snow....even when I don't receive it!

A friend of mine wanted to memorize Scripture this year and asked if I would memorize with her.  I was excited!  I have memorized lots of Scripture but not lately so I was up for the challenge.  At first we were going to memorize Philippians but then decided to each pick verses instead of a whole book.  It was fairly easy to pick which verses I wanted to memorize.  The hard part was deciding how I wanted to go about it.  Instead of just writing down the verses and getting down to the memorizing part, I had to make everything complicated.  Ha!  This is my life story!!  

First I was going to write them in a book, as suggested at this website.  Then I thought I would buy a new journal and put the verses in there.  So I went to Barnes and Noble and as I was looking at the journals, I realized I had many blank ones at home that I could use.  (I ended up by picture books in Spanish to send to our missionary in Honduras!).  When I got home, I got out all my journals and literally spent an hour trying to figure out which one I was going to use and how I was going to arrange the verses on the page.  Realizing that I didn't really want to put the verses into a book or journal, I decided on 3x5 cards.  But--should they be white?  colored?  lined?  graphed?  blank?  should I hand write it or print out the verses?  Would I use them separately or buy the spiral kind???  Then it hit me---what in the world was I doing?  Did it really matter?  Did I really need to spend all this time on such nonsense?  Wouldn't my time be better spent on memorizing and meditating on the verses instead of how I was going to display/carry them?