Focus

Good Friday.....nothing I could go through could possibly compare to what Jesus did for me when he went to Calvary. I can't imagine someone who had never sinned, taking the beatings, the abuse and the torture so that I could go to Heaven. Lately, I have been feeling the true brunt of the fact I don't deserve what He did for me. Then, to top it off, he has handed me an incredible life with an incredible family.

Hallelujah, What a Savior. Thank you Lord, for that wonderful, priceless gift.

This week has turned into a blur. I have so many projects going on at work it isn't even funny. I have 4 very distinct directions. LIHEAP stuff, a PIPP user manual (that I am working on with 3 other ladies throughout the state), IT stuff, and ERL classes. I sat down Monday and made a list (yeah, I do that, don't make fun of me--my mom says I have to make lists of my lists--but it works for me). I taped the list to my cabinet at work, it is full, and color coded for the 4 major areas. As of today, I am halfway done and right on track. That makes for a sense of accomplishment, see what lists can do?

The UC won out this week too, I was off the prednisone but not for long. I started myself back on it over the weekend and when I called the doctor Monday morning, he agreed, it was the right thing to do. I don't know what else to do, I think long-term prednisone is the only way I am going to be able to do this....without the bag and I am not ready for that yet. What's odd is I know a woman who has the bag. Her doctors are wanting to reverse it and she is just as scared as I am to get one, to have it reversed.  I know the drawbacks of the prednisone is something to consider, I hate how round my face gets, I know that's not a big one, but it is one I see every morning, that and how red I get, but I feel normal otherwise, which compared to running to the bathroom 25-30 times a day, is a great feeling.

I have a very special prayer request before I go much farther. My friend Patty's plans changed drastically this week, check out her blog over on my blog list. She is heading to Houston today for a consultation, then coming home for a week and then moving down there for 5 1/2 weeks to have radiation. Please pray for her. I know the hardest part for her is going to be the fact that her oldest daughter is graduating from college while she is gone. Patty lives for those girls, and this is definitely not an "oh well" deal for her. I am sure she has shed more tears over missing Jenn's graduation than over the cancer. So please put her on your list.

Andrew was supposed to start back to work yesterday morning, I love him dearly, don't get me wrong but I have gotten NOTHING done the last 6 weeks compared to my normal home life. He normally leaves at 6:45 a.m and returns home at 8:30 p.m. When he is not here and I get home from work, I go into "home working mode." I have craft projects, sewing projects, crocheting projects, cleaning projects, all that get that 4 hours of an evening when I am pretty much here by myself. I haven't touched ANY of them for 6 weeks. I come home and he is sitting on the couch and I plop myself right there next to him. So, yesterday's false start leads to one more week of plopping of an evening. When I am home that is. 

AWANA is winding down too, we are taking our boys geocaching next Wednesday evening and then to the DQ. The next week is Awards night, the next fun night and then we are through for the year. This one went faster than ever.

I believe my father-in-law and his new girlfriend will be visiting in May. I have one conference to go to the first of the month and other than that, things should be pretty quiet. June, is a totally different story. It is going to be downright crazy and exciting and fun and exhausting. More on that when it gets closer.

So, this weekend, Nila, my sister and her husband are coming for a visit. Saturday morning, I go to practice with a friend of mine for a song we are doing Sunday morning, "I've Just Seen Jesus".  We have done this song many times, however, a few years ago, a good friend and encourager of both of ours, died on Easter Sunday morning. Cherilea and I were starting to sing this song and I blurted out how wonderful it was that Betty truly had just seen Jesus. We were asked to sing the song at her funeral. Since then, it is hard to get the emotions under control but it has to be done. We were really looking at singing "O Glorious Day" and that would have worked fine for me. Can you imagine though, what is would really, really be like to have JUST SEEN JESUS?? 

A friend of my son's who was also a son of friends of ours, was killed in a car wreck two years ago yesterday. I know he got to see Jesus too, what a thing to be able to say about a 19 year old. He was one of our AWANA kids. When Andrew and I started doing the Grand Prix, Phil was one of the most excited clubbers. When we went to the visitation, his granddad (who, along with Phil's grandma had adopted him) saw us and the Grand Prix was the first thing he mentioned.

A friend of mine was talking about the book, "The five people you meet in Heaven". I haven't read it but it is now on my list. I guess it is supposed to make you think about the people who made a difference in your life. It made me wonder if I would be on anyone's list. I am beginning to think, maybe that should be the center of my focus. It seems when I spend he most time focusing on what God wants for my life, it all falls into place.

I had been praying for quite some time for Robert to spend more time with the Lord. About a month ago, he asked me to start just having a few minutes devotional and prayer time of a morning. This is something we did when he was little before he went to school. We have just been reading the scripture in My Daily Bread, reading the little devotional and then having prayer, but I think he is seeing already how spending time with God first thing of a morning changes your day.

So, after all the business mentioned above, the bottom line is every morning, I give my life to the only ONE who was, and is, and yet to come......and in return, he is blessing me so much more than I can ever imagine.

Take a few minutes today to really focus on that sacrifice, He was sinless, He never did a thing wrong......I can't make it through the day without messing up someplace, yet he died so I could live...........PRICELESS.