Who are you really?

My new found obsession with Oprah's show the Next Chapter has me thinking all sorts of things.  (haha)  Mainly she asks questions that make you say....what would my answer be? 

So when watching Next Chapter with Carrie Underwood, Oprah asked "Who are you really?"  Something she says that Deepak Chopra asked her on an interview with him, and something Oprah says wasn't as easy to answer as she thought it might be.

So think about it.  Who are you really?  I think we would all say "Well, I'm me."  haha  But when you sit down and really think about it.  Who am I?  Really.  I know who I want to be.  I know what I have done.  I know my goals and dreams for my life.  I know what I want, but who am I?  

Can you answer this question?  

Here was my attempt at that answer...

I am a 30 year old girl who feels like she is 23.  I don't feel old enough to be married but I am.  I am addicted to my family.  I own a home.  Home means more to me than just a word.  I long to have purpose in my life.  I am ready for God to show me my "greater purpose".  I am deeply in love.  I am living my "once upon a time" and my "happily ever after"  I want to do great things.  I am lazy.  I am content in life at this hour and on this day.  I am crazy.  I am happy.  I am easily amused.  I am a French.  I love God.  I love all things spiritual.  I am Jeanne's granddaughter, Carolyn's daughter, and Courtney's sister.  I love being those things....

After thinking about this question all day I think I figured out my answer.  I am just me.  None of what I just wrote matters because at the end of the day it's about following Christ.  Being what He wants me to be.  So ... in googling "Who Am I?" I found this song and it brought me back to reality...

I am His.  I am so much more than what's above, but at the end of the day none of it matters.  What matters is that we are His and we will be His for eternity.   

Birthday Eves are better...

If you know me you know I like to celebrate birthdays in grand proportions.  That doesn't necessarily mean $$$.  For example, any birthday ending in "0" or "5" should be celebrated with a "Birthday Month".  Any other birthday is celebrated with a "Birthday Week" unless I am feeling especially festive.  Then it could last 2 weeks.  (haha) 

My mom is really lucky because she has mother's day and her birthday in the same month.  Last night we started mom's birthday week with a Birthday EVE celebration at Cheesecake Factory.  

Happy Birthday Mom!

We actually had a crazy afternoon before birthday celebration.  My cousin, Amy, called around 3:30 pm to say that their power was off, she had just come back from Galveston, and needed a shower..."Could we come over until it comes back on?"  I said OF COURSE!  Come on over!  :)  So Aunt Teri, Uncle Eddie, and Amy came over around 4:30 pm, Courtney then called to say that she was a little stinkier than she thought (haha) and so she needed a shower too.

Side Note:  My family and 2 of my Uncle's families live on family property.  If there is no power, there is no water!  :( 


So we had a full house.  We headed to the Cheesecake Factory for a grand meal and a good time!  Here are a few random moments...

My sweet CAL who is not a "baby" anymore.... :(

I stole all these pictures from Courtney, and I did it because now that she is a blogger she is trying to hoard pictures.  Her new name is BLOGGER HOGGER!  :)

Baehr hates being in pictures so he might just turn into the photog!  :) 

Last night reminded me how much I love my family.  There is nothing better than being with them, laughing, hugs, telling stories, making faces, eating good food, and just being US...together.  I am so blessed.  We are so blessed.

So happy birthday week mommy!  I love you to the sun and the moon and the stars.  You are my happiness and my tears and all that's in between!  
 

Ephesians 1:3 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 

Wednesday Weekend Recap....

I try to post about our weekends but this week we have been busy and tired so I haven't gotten around to it...and by now I have completely forgotten what we have done.  So here is a brief recap....

Saturday

Relaxing in our backyard...freshly mowed on a beautiful 80 degree day...

Sunday

Xtreme's End of the Year Banquet. 55o people and 11 hours later the regular season is officially OVER! :) YAHOOO! 

Overall we had a VERY busy weekend between family time, yard work, laundry, and the banquet.  I am ready for a 4 day weekend.  :)  Bring on Memorial Day! 

Guess who....

I am so excited to announce that my sister is now blogging!  YAHOOO!  Check her out here, and definitely listen to the music video she posted!  Cannot go wrong with a good old school hymn.

Hope you are having a great week!

Mother's Day ... 2012 ...

Mother's Day is kind of like Valentine's Day.  A day where you should say all the things that you should say everyday on THIS day.  I hope that my mom and sister feel special every day, and that they know just how loved they are. 

We started the day at church.  It was a great sermon minus the part where I had to scold the kids in the row in front of us.  "STOP TALKING!"  Then we headed to Hartz chicken for lunch.  My mom loves Hartz chicken so we had to go there.  I think I still owe Courtney a Mother's Day meal because she wanted Mongolian.  Ooooppps!  :)

Anyways, after lunch and we headed to my parents to just hang out.  Dorothy had it right when she said "There's no place like home."  There isn't.  I love being "home".  Just being able to sit on the couch or in my mom's bed and talk.  I love it!  :) 

Courtney and I headed out to shop for a little bit, and then came home with enough time to meet up with Baehr for his hockey game.  CAL has decided this might be his next sport.  We'll see...

This is the best picture I could get.  The boys were acting up...

Overall I think it was a great Mother's Day.  I hope the "Mothers" in my life thought so as well!  :) 

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits -" Psalm 103:2

A Pre - Mother's Day ... Day ...

We had a GREAT weekend this weekend, but we were so busy I think I need another two days just to recover.  :) 

Baehr went to a friend's house to play poker on Friday night.  He does this about once a month, but had to skip last month because he was fighting off a cold/flu/sinus infection so he was ready to get back at it!  He came home with a WHOPPING $40!  Winner, winner....we had a BBQ dinner.  :)

Since Baehr was out and about CAL got to spend the night again.  He loves having movie nights at GiGi's but this time he had a movie night at school so I picked him up after that.  HOP was the movie of the night.  We rented that movie last weekend so he was pretty excited to get to watch it again.

I love having CAL spend the night, but I was so worried we would have a replay of last weekend.  I was going to have to be a mean Aunt and tell him to go back to bed for a little bit if we had another 6:15 am wake up call (especially because I don't sleep well when Baehr stays out late), but this is what I saw at 10:00 am when I went to check on him...

Snug as a bug in a rug...

Even Baehr went to check on him at 10:30 because he hadn't budged and he was still passed out.  He must have been one tired boy! 


We met Mom and Courtney for lunch at Jason's Deli, and then Courtney, Mom, and I decided to go for a MUCH needed pedicure.  We have so much fun being together and laughing...I am sure we entertain people where ever we go... this picture says it all ...

hahaha....I love mom's face and I am sure Courtney is telling me to stop taking pictures.

After pedicures we headed to Target for shop random shopping.  As a note to all people, don't go to Target with Courtney and Mom.  You don't get to go to the sections you want to go to, and they don't like the shoes you try on.  :)  Well, you probably shouldn't go to Target with the three of us.  We laughed the entired time and didn't get any shopping done.  Although now I know that rain boots are not one size fits all!  hahaha 


Hope you had a wonderful Pre - Mother's Day - Day!


From the patio on The Baehr Block,
Carrie

Ready for the Weekend...

We were so ready for the weekend this week.  After our big shindig and then what seemed like the LONGEST WEEK EVER, we were ready to just do nothing.  We had CAL's program Friday night so we started out our weekend with mexican food! You know we love some chips and salsa!  :)

Mom and Dad were at the State Track Meet so it was just Courtney, Cal, Baehr, and me.  We ate and then headed up to CAL's school.  CAL's Program was about Jonah and The Whale.  LOVE IT. "Go Jonah GO!"

K - 3 in Jonah and the Whale

After we were done with that, Baehr, Cal, and I headed home for a movie night.  We popped some popcorn and rented the movie...Puss and Boots was the selection of the night.  It ended up being just CAL watching the movie because Baehr was playing with his new IPhone 4 and Courtney and I were outside talking until 10 pm.  (Ooooppppss!) 

CAL watching Puss and Boots

Saturday morning came WAY too early!  For whatever reason, CAL decided 6:18 am would be the magical time he would wake up.  So we started Puss and Boots again.  This held us over until around 7:45 am when he decided he was hungry.  I headed to "Up McDonald's" to pick up breakfast and when I got back we rented HOP. 

He LOVED the movie HOP

This boy laughed and laughed and laughed at HOP.  I was trying to keep him quiet because Baehr was still asleep, and apparently I did a very good job because Baehr had no clue what we were doing all morning.  :) 

He LOVES Duke :)

We met Courtney at Schlotsky's for lunch, and then headed home to do NOTHING, and that is EXACTLY what we did all weekend - watched TV, lounged around, ate, slept in, and ate some more.  A great way to start May!  :)

Ecclesiastes 8:15

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.

ALL about Shelby, Presley...and Presley's Dad....

Shelby is a sophomore at the school where I coach and she was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) almost 2 weeks ago.  I cannot even begin to imagine what this family is going through or will go through over the next couple of years.  I know this is a several year battle because a few years ago one of our Xtreme Volleyball athletes received the same diagnosis at 12 years of age.  Presley.  Presley is 14 now and received her last treatment in February.  The road was long and hard, but she received her last treatment in February and is doing really well.  Praise the Lord!

I posted Sheby's CaringBridge page on my facebook a few days ago with a note to keep her in our prayers, and Presley's dad immediately messaged me.  The note was short but sweet... "How can I help?  We've been there." with his number attached.  I sent a note back saying I would pass along the message, and that was that until my mom just sent me a text today. 

"Did you see Mr. B's post on Shelby's guest book?  How sweet!"  So I had to go read it. 

First let me say that Presley's dad would hate that I am writing this.  He will also probably post a sarcastic but funny comment on my post or facebook wall.  (haha)  I am prepared, but here I go anyways...

I don't know if you have ever been in a situation where you were just overcome with emotion by the actions of a person you barely know.  And this person wasn't even helping you, but was helping someone they DON'T know ... without hesitation. 

There are things in life that really make you wake up and see what life is all about.  There are people in life that show you how you are supposed to live.  I truly believe that God puts these things and people in your life for a reason even if it isn't directly affecting you, and I am glad that one of those people just showed up in my life. 

So thank you Mr. Boydstun for being that person...  You have taught me a lesson that will not soon be forgotten.   

Galatians 6:2

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Are you a New You? Day 14...

This devotional ends on a perfect note, and something I think we all need....

Go to the Throne Before the Phone!

Don't run around seeking counsel from just anyone. Pray first, asking the Lord whether it is His will that you go to another human being for counsel or whether He desires to counsel you Himself. In my own life I have had many, many problems, yet I never went to anyone else for counsel with the exception of one time. On this occasion I visited a lady in ministry who had been abused herself. I do not mean to discredit her, but she really was not able to help me. It was not her fault; she simply was not anointed by the Lord to do so.

God is not obligated to anoint what He does not initiate. So often people run to others without following the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit, and it never bears good, lasting fruit. When you are in trouble, go to the throne before you go to the phone. I do not mean to suggest that it is wrong to seek counsel. I am just suggesting that you pray and allow the Lord to lead and guide you through the Holy Spirit. Let Him choose the right counselor for you. Just because a person has been through what you are going through, or is a close personal friend, does not mean that individual is the right counselor for you. So I repeat, pray!

LOVE THIS VERSE!!! 
Proverbs 2: 4 - 6 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Day 12 & 13....

Complain and Remain, Praise and Be Raised
Complaining is a sin! It is a corrupt form of conversation that causes many people a great deal of problems in their lives. It also opens many doors for the enemy. Words are containers of power. Complaining, grumbling words carry destructive power. They destroy the joy of the one doing the complaining and can also affect other people who have to listen to them.

In Ephesians 4:29, the apostle Paul instructs us not to use any foul or polluting language. At one time I would not have known that included complaining, but now I have learned that it does. Murmuring and complaining pollute our lives and probably sound like cursing to the Lord. To Him it is verbal pollution. To pollute is to poison. Did you ever stop to think that you and I can poison our future by complaining about what is going on right now?

When we complain about our current situation, we remain in it; when we praise God in the midst of difficulty, He raises us out of it. The best way to start every day is with gratitude and thanksgiving. Get a jump on the devil. If you don't fill your thoughts and conversation with good things, he will definitely fill them with evil things. Truly thankful people do not complain.

They are so busy being grateful for the good things they do have that they have no time to notice the things they could complain about. Praise and thanksgiving are good; complaining and grumbling are evil.

John 6:43  "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered.

Our Standard Is Jesus

Obey God in every little thing, and you will enjoy an excellent life. Be diligent in your obedience. Learn to live your life before God and not before man. Go the extra mile and do all the little things that God tells you to do, even though nobody else may ever know. Put your grocery cart back in the stall where it belongs instead of leaving it out in the middle of the parking lot. Why? Because the owner of the property has put up a sign saying, "Please return carts here," and God has said to submit to authority (SEE TITUS 3:1).

The flesh says, "Well, everybody else leaves their carts everywhere; why should I put mine up?" Because our standard is not others - our standard is Jesus. When I compare myself to everybody else, I don't look too bad. But if I compare myself to Jesus, I am humbled and ask God to help me! Until Jesus comes to get us, we need to compare ourselves to Him and the standard of holiness that He holds up for our lives.

Colossians 1:10   so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,