CHOICES!!!!!

Can you believe it? These wonderful people who we travel with to these conferences ruthlessly make fun of me!!! They just don't understand me!!! Every woman needs choices, right? I only brought 10 pairs!!!! Every outfit has a pair of shoes that matches it you know!!!! I only brought 7 outfits. Of course, they have interchanging pieces so each one can be worn differently!!! Someone said to me today......."you make the choice before you leave home!" Well..........I did.........I chose to bring the ones with me that I did!!! After all......we're going to be here for 3 days!!!! You know it all depends on how you feel on any given day what you wear. And being of the female gender, your body makes that decision for you on a regular basis!!! Right, ladies!!!??? I knew you would agree!!! :-) Birds of a feather flock together!!! Of course everyone who knows me knows that I have a thing for shoes. I guess it's more than just a thing. I'm sure there is some kind of illness to describe it. I'm just not sure what it is and I probably don't want to know what it is!!! If I see a pair of shoes that I like I buy them. Then I look for clothes to match!!!! Mind you..........I am the "thrift store" Queen so I don't EVER pay full price for anything. So........I do not misuse the money God has blessed us with!!! I am frugal. Some call it cheap, but that's ok.



I call it blessed!!!! I think at last count I had about 85 pairs!!! Oh stop freaking out!!! That's counting summer, winter AND houseshoes!!!!

"On the road again........."

"Riding down the road trying to loosen my load........" Oooooooo.....two songs for the price of one!!!! Yep.......we're in the car on the road again. Heading down I-65 on our way to the State Convention of Southern Baptist!! Laptop in my lap typing away. Yeah!!! I love this!!!!! We're going to get to see friends that we don't see often and traveling with some that we see a lot!! I'm looking forward to some sweet fellowship in the Lord this weekend!!! I actually have time to blog when I'm in the car. Otherwise something would go undone if I were at home. Of course, things go undone in our house all the time!!!!! There's always something screaming my name.......kids, church work, laundry, a toliet bowl, Grandma.....the phone. Not the dishes to often anymore.......Grandma does those for me most of the time anymore. She's pretty good at it too!!! Frees me up to do other things!!! I found out the other day she's a pretty good "prayer warrior." Malena, age two.....we call her "Sweetie Pea"...........decided she was going to paint her "Play 'n' Go"........that little portable bed you know. Yep........she covered it from one end to the other. She also decided to cover her body from head to toe. I know you're saying "awwwwwwww............how cute." Uh.....NO!!! It was AWFUL!!!! DISGUSTING!!!! She decided to use what was in her diaper to do it with!!! YUCK!!!! I heard her calling me, which usually means she is awake from her nap and wants to get up. Usually she climbs out on her own and comes to knock on the door!!!! Thankfully she stayed in the bed that day!!!! I walked in the room..........and walked right back out! I went straight out the door and just stood there for a minute. All I could say was: "Ok Lord. You're gonna have to help me with this one!!! I walked back into the room, grabbed the bed, drug it out the front door onto the deck, took the remainder of her clothes off, threw them in the bed, lifted her out of the bed under her arms and proceeded to head towards the bathroom holding her as far away from as I could!!!! That's where Grandma comes in. She was sitting in her chair reading her paper, as usual. I stopped right in front of her and said: "you know that "prayer warrior" job that I was telling you that you could do? You might want to start that now. You would probably need to pray for this baby right now!!!!" She looked at me and then at her, dropped her paper in her lap, immediately bowed her head and began to pray as I made my way on into the bathroom. I put "Sweetie Pea" in the tub, turned the water on and began to spray her off never speaking a word. She probably thought I had lost my voice because she was just jabbering 100 words a minute. Most likely she was giving me the details of her decorating job!!!! I'm sure she wondered why I wasn't talking to her. At that point, the other kids would have been so scared they wouldn't have said a word. They know when they've pushed Grannie to the point of silence it's not a good thing and saying something only makes it worse!!!! However, as I stood there and washed her off a calmness came over me. I knew it was a direct result of the prayers Grandma was saying. It was as if God were pouring His love over me just like the water was pouring over her little body!!! That's how He is. He hears our cries for peace. He listens and He answers!! That would be the reason you are reading this and I am "on the road again!!!"

Where's Your Remote????

And she did it again!!!!! Amy is the greatest. She obviously has a hotline straight to God Himself. It NEVER fails that she nails me every time!!! I'm so sure that God speaks right into the very depths of her heart knowing just what I need when I need it!!!! For those of you who know me know that I could live without a TV. It would not bother me at all if we did not have one in our home!!! And what would she come up with this year? She used a remote control for her topic!!!! She asked her husband for the remote and got a lot of questions in return and he did not want to relinquish "control" of the remote control. That's how we are usually. I have been told by my family many, many times that's it's "my way or no way!!!" I can't see that........but boy they sure can. Actually I know I have control issues and I'm trying s-l-o-w-l-y to get "control" :-) of them!!!!! Ugh!!! There it is again!!!!! You know object lessons make a vast impression on people and I'm sure all those ladies, including me, will never forget that lesson, but it won't be about our husbands and their remote controls!!!!



It was such an AWESOME day just as I knew it would be. It was uplifting, invigorating, inspiring and just what I needed. I'm still reeling from the different classes, the wonderful speakers and all the topics we had to pick from. We even saw how God can make a morning glory flower look like it had a light bulb in the center of it!!! How great is our God??? Yea......that's what I thought. I could write a book about all the things.......but I won't..........it's bed time!!!



I'm sure there will be more to come on this subject when my brain can function more properly!!

Ladies Retreat

Tomorrow is the day!!!! The day I've been anxiously awaiting for an entire year!!!!!!! Once again there is going to be a Ladies Retreat at Black Oak Baptist. What an uplifting, exciting, invigorating time this is. I get so excited about it every time I think about it!!! I wish I could wrap every lady I know up and take them with me. I have encouraged as many ladies as I can to go.........in our church and outside our church. The ladies at Black Oak do such a wonderful job and I'm so thankful that Roberta had the idea to start it. I'm more glad that she has continued it and hope for many, many more! I know there is a "GREAT DEAL" of work, time and effort put into it. I'm so blessed and honored that they asked me to sing again!!!! I love singing!!!!! Anywhere I get a chance!!! I just can't even believe the song God took me "straight" to when I was praying for a song to fit the theme of the retreat. I already had one that basically went with it, but this one just says it so plainly!!! It is sooooo awesome!!! I can't wait to hear the speakers. I just know my sweet Amy has something so special that God has given her. I can't wait to see Deanna and laugh!!! She cracks me up!!!! And I'm anxious to see what Marie has planned......and the other speakers..........I know they're all going to be good!!! I just wish I could go to every single class that is offered!!! I am soooooooooooooooo excited!!!! I will update after the fact!!! :-)

Did I mention that I'm sooooooooooooooo excited!!!!??????

Beam us up Jesus!!!!!!!!

Well, once again this last week we had to say "see ya later" to one of our dear friends. God called yet another of His wonderful saints home to be with Him. One of the sweetest ladies you could have known. She was one of the greatest witnesses for Christ who ever walked the face of the earth. You know how you can just tell some people are Christians just by looking at them even though they don't dress any different or talk any different.......well.......they dress and talk differently than some of the world today, but you know what I mean. She was one of those types. She just had the love of Jesus written all over her face. Although our hearts were saddened we rejoiced in the fact that we know we will see her again one day and get to spend eternity with her!!!! It just hurts to give someone back when God decides it's time for them to come home!!! I'm looking so forward to Heaven!!!! Lately I tell everyone I know, and I'm sure they're tired of hearing it, that I pray nearly every single day for Jesus just to come back and get us all!!! Mind you....I said...."ALL"!!!!! This one at a time business is just getting to be to much for me. I have read enough of my Bible and have been a Christian long enough to know that the "signs of the time are everywhere." Of course, then again, my Grannie always got in a frantic panic when I was a little girl and the moon would turn red. She would always tell me that surely Jesus was coming back because the Bible said that the moon would turn to blood in the last days. Gee.............I know God's timing is not ours, but that was almost 40 years ago!!! One day though, it's gonna happen!!! Gabriel will blow his horn, the Eastern sky will split and in a flash..........we'll be gone!!!!! The world won't know what happened. I can imagine since all the hoop-la about aliens has peaked everyone's interest in the last several years they will try to explain it away that we have all be abducted by the aliens!!!! They can explain it however they want!!! I'll be gone!! I'll get to see all the ones that I love so dearly once again and never have to be separated from them again!!!!!

Can you imagine E-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y????? It never ends!!!

I'm just sittin' and waitin', anticipatin' the day!!!! Come on.................."beam us up Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!:

Frogs...............

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I send out a newsletter on Tuesdays to the ladies of our church and a few others who are not from our church and I have entitled it "Tuesday Tidbits"and I just wanted to share with you the one for this past Tuesday.......(which by the way did not get sent until yesterday!!!)

Thank you "Queenie" for your inspiration for this one!!! Love ya!!!
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Hello Ladies,

Sorry it's late............all I can say is......"migraine yesterday..............still today"...............but here you go!!

Most of you know that I was born and raised in the South on a farm for the greater part of my life. There wasn't much to do on a farm with the exception of slopping the hogs, milking the cows (squirting the cats and kittens with the milk was great!!!), feeding the chickens and gathering their eggs. Being an on ly child only compunded that problem. It was kind of lonely. So.......being the non-creative person that I am........I continually looked for something to do. The closest people lived miles away, therefore, I had no friends who could just run over and play and my grandmother just wasn't into that "let's make a play day for our kids" kind of thing like today's moms do. For the most part I would sing out of those old hymnals that I told you about before. I loved to sing.......still do!!! I was kind of with singing like a man who is called to preach. I sang to everything that would listen and to things that didn't listen!!! Anyway......back to the point at hand......my boredom as a child!!! For as long as I can remember..........I have loved frogs. I was not the kind of girl who screamed at a frog. I was not scared of them in the least bit. I knew they didn't bite although Grannie always told me I'd get warts if they peed on me!!! I can promise you beyond a shadow of a doubt that is an old wives tale. You don't have to look on "snopes.com" to find out if that ones true. I would be one big wart if it were!!! I picked them up and played with them. I actually held them in my hands......put them in my lap...petted them.......named them......even made cardboard houses for them!!!! I even kissed a few of them to see if they would actually turn into a prince!!! Ugh!!! (That's turning some stomachs as they read!!!!) I loved to watch them hop and I would follow them all over the yard. I would get two of them, put them side by side, and then try to make them race. Somehow that didn't work very well. They always seemed to go opposite directions and I could never keep up with both of them at the same time. And yes.............I sang to them!!!

As I grew older I can remember going "frog gigging." For you "city-slickers" that's code for "hunting for bull frogs!" We'd go at night on the river banks with these really bright spot lights and poles with spears on the ends of them. When we spotted a big bullfrog, we'd shine the light in its eyes and it would usually stun it just long enough for you to try and spear it. Most of them were very quick and it was hard to get them. My dad was very skilled at it though. We'd usually take home a good "mess" of them. If you've ever cleaned a frog to get the legs you know why it's called "a mess" of them!! You'd think I would not have wanted to do something like that...............loving frogs and all!!!!!!!!

As a young mother one day I walked outside my back door and there it was...............a huge toad. I picked it up, brought it inside the house to the kitchen and just assuming my love of frogs would have automatically transferred to my children, I sat my middle daughter, Shelley(9 or 10 months at the time), in the floor and put it between her legs in her lap so she could play with it. Much to my surprise she screamed like someone was killing her!!! I was in shock. I couldn't believe she was so scared of a harmless frog!!! I never even dreamed she would have that kind of reaction to it. After all, it was just a frog!! I just assumed she would want to play with it like I did when I was little. She didn't see it that way!!!!!

Obviously frogs have been a part of my life since I was very little and still are today. I think there is some kind of frog in 8 out of the 9 rooms in my home and some in my office at church. If you visit my blog, (darlenespencer.blogspot.com) you will see they are there too!!! I think that shows God's infinite wisdom. He knew long before I was ever saved that there would come a day when I would serve Him. He knew the very thing I played with as a child out of boredom would take on a whole new meaning to me as a child of God! When I was a child and had no one I relied on frogs to play with. Now when I feel I have no one I simply:

Fully Rely On God

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding

Proverbs 3:5

Relying on Him to get me through!!!
Love lots!!!
Always,
Darlene

Living in the car!!!!!!

Well..............here I am again..........finally.........I have a spare minute!!! I'm in the car again. It seems like that's the only place I ever sit down at really and have nothing better to do than play on the computer!!! Well, actually I "do" have something better to do.........I did bring the "prospective" Christmas Cantata's with me to listen to!! I know the choir is looking forward to that practice beginning!!! Yeah!!!

I just finished reading one of my GGF's (great girlfriend's) blogs and I was duly inspired to make an entry on mine. After what............an eternity of not making any updates!!!!!??? Actually I was on last week and was trying my hardest to put an updated picture of my garden on here to show you that it is truly growing...........I somehow couldn't upload the picture though and my honey wasn't home......therefore I got disgusted and just shut it down!!! I do have some awesome pix as soon as I figure out what the problem was!!! I won't talk about that now though!! You'll just have to wait to see the pix!!

If I thought my life was crazy up until now..........it's about to be crazier than it's ever been before. School/College is about to begin. I'm just curious to see how everyone's schedule will mesh together. Sami having tennis practice daily and classes on Mondays & Wednesdays, her work schedule(we're praying God just leaves a car in the driveway for her!!!!!).....Jason's bus schedule........getting Adam to the school we are trying to transfer him to and picking all of them up at different times!!!! I think I might get a taste of what if feels like to live out of your car. I figure I will just put a change of clothes in the van for everyone who I will be transporting.........some snacks......maybe real food depending on the times.........baby wipes.........diapers...pull-ups.....Depends..........a cooler with ice and bottled water....always remembering to have the flavor packets for the water............I may even put a hot plate in there since we have a "Mobile AC Outlet" adapter for the car that connects in the cigarette lighter!!! I could even cook!!! I might get a small microwave and put in there!!!!!!!! Wow........that sounds like it could be exciting!!! Oh my..........back to reality here!!! Anyways, it will be very interesting to see how things fall into place within the next few weeks!!! I won't know what to do with myself between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. It will be just me and my "weetie-pea!!!!" That would be Malena for those of you who don't know!!! I think we'll just have some "girl" time!!! Yeah!!!!!!!

Ok........we're almost to our destination........so........till next time!!!!

Jesus loves you!!!!!!!!