Do I look like Ace Ventura???

So ever since Sean and I have been living here in Gulfport we have kind of become the unofficial animal haven. First of all we have never had less than two dogs, at times there have been as many as 6 dogs and two cats in the house. Yes, crazy, I know...but its a gift or a curse depending on the day. Anyway, not only do we bring animals into our home by our own choosing, they seem to flock here on their own. There was one time when we came home from being out for the day and let the dogs out of the back yard, well after a few minutes we realized something didn't seem right. There was an extra creature running around. It was a small chocolate lab that had dug under our fence to come hang out. Yeah, its sad that it took us a little while to realize we had an extra, but oh well. Well, this past friday we had just arrived home from our trek to Tn (mind you, it was about 9:30 pm) and Sean saves a little Boston Terrier from being run over in front of our house. Of course the dog has no tags and no owner in sight. So we canvas the neighborhood for about an hour and finally give up. We had the dog for the majority of the next day until his owner finally saw our sign. The next incident took place today during the hours of 9:00 am to 3:30 pm. All morning long I kept hearing this weird noise down stairs and I thought it was the dogs getting into something. Well, I eventually go downstairs and I am doing something when all of a sudden I hear something clawing around frantically in the flu of the chimney. So I am kinda creeped out by it...just a little. But I can't just let it stay in there and die, I don't want it to suffer, so I finally work up the nerve to open the flew. So I get a basket to place under the hole and a towel to throw on top of my catch. When I get the flew open soot comes out, and then shoots out this little bird, who jets to the window. Well, at this point my dogs are spastic and I am screaming cause a freaky bird thing just flew in front of my face. So I grabbed the towel and caught the bird. I cleaned it up some with a wet paper towel and put him in the basket to rest. At dusk I set him in the basket outside in front of the chimney. His parents knew he was there and they kept circling. But what intrigues me the most is that God guides animals in need to people who will help them. Isn't He a cool God? Very.

To be or not to be...busy

As I sit and process the last few weeks there is a theme that keeps popping up. Busyness. Since my husband returned from the war we have been going 90 to nothing. We have been apart of major productions at the church, lead the youth group, attended our own small group, played in softball games, learned some killer moves in dance class, made a whirlwind trip to Tn, loaded and unloaded tons of furniture, and re-arranged the house, among a myriad of other things. We are tired...very tired. But we are happy. But here's the thing. As I was sitting in church this past sunday God was pressing upon my heart (through the songs we sang and verses we read) that busyness is not the answer. I know most of you already know that, but how many of us actually practice it. How many of us are still and know that He is God. How many of us practice stillness? Women, how many of us strive to the the proverbs 31 woman? She seems pretty stressed out to me. Although I am far from it, I have a desire to learn how to be still before the Creator, my Father and sustainer. In one of my classes in college, my professor gave us the assignment of going someplace quiet and just sitting before the Lord. No talking, no singing, no reading, just being with God. Its amazing what you will hear if you just listen. I desire to be known as a peaceful person. Not someone who is constantly scurrying around like an ant without purpose. I want to be able to sit back and enjoy some Rocky Road with Jesus (if you haven't done Tommy Nelson's "A life well lived" I highly recommend it). Not that working for the Lord isn't awesome, I mean, I work for the church and I love it. But what I am saying is that so often I find myself going this way and that and really God is just saying "STOP, I want to spend time with you. I want to hang out and hear about your day." So this is what I am going to resolve to do this week. I want to do only what God wants me to do. Not what I think I should be doing for him, but only that in which He leads. I believe that not only will I get to slow down and enjoy life more, but I will be more productive because I won't have so many irons in the fire. It's gonna be great!