Wasted time...

I made a commitment a long time ago to start each day in God's Word and in prayer. I prefer the mornings, although I know the time of the day doesn't matter to Him as long as I set aside time for Him each day. Lately, I've allowed things to come before my quiet time. Today was no different. As I awoke this morning, I headed straight to the computer to finish up something for our Sunday School class. That should have taken only a minute, but then I decided to check out facebook and different blogs. Before long, it was time to get ready for work. Fortunately, Scott and I have our quiet time together after the kids leave for school so I was able to spend some time in His Word and in prayer with Scott before we left for work.
For me personally though, God had taken a backseat. I felt so discouraged and convicted all day. Until now, I've finished up my Bible study and spending some time in prayer with the Lord...out on the front porch. A beautiful day. As I opened up His Word and my Bible study, I began reading...reading about a woman who planned each day, marked off her list, remembered every detail of everything she needed to do...every detail except the most important: the Lord. "In my busyness, I had forgotten the most important part of my day...spending time with Him". To be single-minded in our search for God, our hearts cannot be caught up in details that steal attention from Him. Maybe we don't find Him and hear His voice clearly because our attention is divided.

Such conviction as I read through this particular day of my study. I asked the Lord to forgive me. I also thanked Him once again, for His gentle reminders.

Las Vegas....

We vacationed in Las Vegas last week. What a great time we had! I have never had a desire to visit there and years ago, my reasons would seem obvious! We've heard from many that Vegas is one of their favorite vacation spots. I didn't quite understand but now I do. It has become extremely family friendly and nothing like I expected. They have really cleaned up their act.
We were blessed with a time-share unit given to us for the week. We walked, we walked, and we walked. Went in just about every hotel, which was amazing in itself. The kids rode on a roller coaster that shot out of a resort...Scott and I chose to watch :-)
Our favorite sight was the "fountains of Bellagio"...that was amazing. It was choreographed to the music from Lee Greenwood "God Bless the USA". That was a beautiful sight.We are back to reality and looking forward to the summer break. Another school year will end in less than 5 weeks and we now prepare for child #2 to graduate.

Pumpkin facials...

Blend: 4 tsp. canned pumpkin, 1 tsp. milk, 1 tsp. honey and 1 tsp. brown sugar. Now pamper yourself...Step 1: Place a warm washcloth over a clean face. Relax for 5-10 minutes, then remove washcloth. Step 2: Apply pumpkin treatment and relax for 5-10 minutes. Step 3: Splash off with cool water and pat dry. The rich folks will spend $110.00 for this type of spa treatment.
Well, the girls and I decided to have a "spa" night at home tonight. We were laughing too hard to keep it on the entire 10 minutes, not to mention the fact that the smell was making Heather heave. We'll see if we are "glowing" in the morning...like the article says. Right now, our faces look like we ate an entire bag of carrots.
The price we women pay to look beautiful!

He is Risen....

Sin, where are your shackles?
Death, where is your sting?
Hell; has been defeated. The grave will not hold, the King.
Arise my love, Arise my love,
the grave no longer has a hold on You.
No more death sting, no more suffering,
Arise....Arise....

I'm so thankful that we serve a King who not only died for us, but also rose and LIVES!!!!

We celebrated Easter as we always do in the Vail household. Saturday evening we colored eggs...well, Heather colored eggs, while we watched - age 19 and she never likes to see a tradition end. Then we went to church today and then home for the traditional family picture and Easter baskets...yes, they still like to get their baskets.

I hope you and your family had a great Easter celebrating Christ's resurrection!

Now he waits....

Well, my baby will complete his driving tomorrow. Yes, he's behind the wheel of a car. So hard for me to believe! All that remains is the test and his 15th birthday this summer...
Proceed with caution!

Angels in disguise...

Our house is "officially" on the market. "Officially" because it is now listed with a realtor. We have tried long enough to sell it on our own. We have found that in this economy we must do all that we can to enhance the sale. We have been so blessed with sweet friends and family who have run to the rescue. A friend in our Sunday School class built us a brand new counter top with pantry doors to replace the pityful looking shelves we "called" a pantry. Scott "mentioned" that we were going to look into ripping out the carpet in the living room/dining room and replacing it with hardwood floors. Next thing we know someone gave us hardwood floors that they had in their storage building.
Two weeks ago a sweet friend came over and "staged" our house. She moved furniture around and had us move some furniture out to give it a model home feel. I almost hate the thought of leaving here now...don't tell Scott I said that :-)
Last Thursday Scott took a half-day off to study and walks out in our yard to see an entire crew aerating, planting seed, shaping pine straw, etc. I could not believe it.
Finally, my sweet in-laws came this past weekend to visit. While here, Scott's dad worked hard replacing our fence, he painted doors, and Scott's mom cleaned out my oven. Yes, they are precious!
The house is now done and we'll just wait and see. Heather called me in to her room the other day and said "Mom, what if God doesn't want our house to sell" (she sees how hard we have been working and she doesn't care if it sells or not). After I pulled the knife out of my chest, I said "Heather, He may not...you are right. But in this economy, we have to do all we can to make it look just right". She says if God wants to sell it, He doesn't need it to look a certain way. What faith! Another humbling lesson for me...
We definitely want God's will in this. Our desire is to be in another school district since Caleb is going to public school but He just may want us here for a reason. We wait on Him and we trust in His decision...whatever that may be!
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength...