Lily's Birthday (and the longest post ever!)

Today was another great day with lots to report. Ha!
Of course, today was sweet Lily's 3rd Birthday.

We went to church and Lily made sure to wear her Spongebob wristbands to church today with her dress.......it's what all the 3 year olds are wearing these days! LOL!

Then, after church we went to Lily's favorite restaraunt, Red Lobster. She loves to look at the lobsters in the tank. Here's a picture of the girls......it was from my phone, so it's kind of blurry.

Today at church, Jason spoke. Jason moved here from Shreveport, LA, specifically to help with getting our church launched. Like I've mentioned before, our church is brand new. I would say that right now, we probably have about 10 families that attend regularly. I love that. Every week, it seems like I feel more and more at home with them. I love that we are a part of something that we all believe in, and that is to be a church that welcomes everyone.

Moving to Houston was such a huge change for Jason. He had to create a whole new life for himself and could've easily given up and went back home to his comfort zone. I remember the very first Sunday that I visited Lifepoint, Jason was the one who greeted me at the door. He was the friendliest person and made me feel so welcomed. I never knew until today that he moved here specifically for our church. I loved his message today.

We talked today about how we are always looking for things to make us happy. We are always thinking, I'll be happy when......(fill in the blank). In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon says, "As I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless." Don't we all feel that way? We finally get whatever it was we were trying so hard to get, and then once we have it, we find something else that we must have before we are happy. The things that we have are gifts from God, but they shouldn't be things that we worship. Those things are tools to glorify Him. We should be on a mission for God, called to love, serve, and bring others to Him. We can't make everything all about us. We all have a purpose and even though we "cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end" (Ecclesiastes 3:9-14), we can find happiness by submitting to God, feasting on his teaching, having fellowship with one another, and being in awe of God.

In Acts 2:42-47, it talks about the first church and how they shared everything and every day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. We don't have to have a big fancy church or be the most creative church in order for God to be able to do His work! It's really about each one of us doing His work every day, it's about getting out of our little bubble and asking God what we can do for Him every day.

So, you remember the other day in this post how I wanted so badly to help the man who asked me for money at Walmart? Well, today the Lord gave me another chance to help and to do what Jason challenged us to do. I was leaving Target and a man on a bike asked me for money to get some food. I looked in my wallet and I had a whole 15 cents! I laughed and I said that was all I had, but he could certainly have it. He was so nice and thanked me for that. Well, I went to my car and I saw a little over a dollar in change and I opened this little compartment and found $3.00. I don't remember putting that money there either. I seriously do not remember having it because I never have cash. Well, by this time I had loaded my groceries and I look around and the man is nowhere to be found. I drove around the parking lot and he was gone. I saw another man on a bike, but he wasn't the same one. (I even stopped, rolled down my window and asked him, and he looked at me like I was crazy.....LOL!!!!)

I thought I had missed another opportunity to help, so I told the Lord, "well, I tried Lord" and I went to Starbucks to get a coffee. Big surprise, huh? LOL! I thought, well maybe the Lord was blessing me by multiplying that 15 cents. I told you I'm still learning!

I still had $1 bill and the change left after getting my coffee. I was driving away and I felt I should drive through the Kroger parking lot, just to make sure he wasn't over there looking for money. I still didn't find him. Then I was leaving Kroger and I looked across to the Target parking lot. The street I had to cross is 4 lanes, plus a median, the busiest street in town and would you believe there was no traffic coming either way?!! That never happens! So, I thought, "Okay, I'm going to go back over to Target one more time and see if he came back." So, I'm crossing the street and I see him pedaling back into the parking lot! I drive into there, get his attention and I hand him the dollar bill. He thanked me so much and he said, "You didn't have to come looking for me." Then I handed him all the change and I told him that I tried to find him earlier and I found that money and wanted to give it to him. He told me that he had a job, but that he just started and he wouldn't get paid for two weeks, so he was having to "hustle" until then. I wished him luck at his new job and he was just so nice, thanking me.

I have no idea if he was telling the truth or not, and I don't care. My mission was to give him what I had. I knew if it was meant to be, the Lord would help me find him again. I know that what I gave him was barely anything, but I just wanted a chance to do what the Lord asked me to do. I feel like I was kind of selfish in doing it, because it just made me so happy. I wondered to myself if I should even tell y'all about it, but I consider it a chance to share with you what the Lord did for me today. He gave me a second chance after what happened at Walmart last weekend. That was not a coincidence. And after getting mugged in a parking lot, my first instinct is to run or scream when someone approaches me! But, as soon as the man spoke, I knew this was my chance. I just KNEW it! And immediately my mind was racing on how I was going to do it right this time. Then, when I saw all I had was 15 cents, I thought at least I had something this time! And then, when I saw that money in my car that I seriously had no idea was there, well I just got so excited! And even after I thought I lost the man, the Lord still gave me another chance to get it right. That's just like the Lord isn't it........his mercy never fails, his love is never ending, and no matter how many times we get it wrong He will still give us another chance to get it right. Oh, how I love Him!
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Okay, so in other news:
My very special friend, Christy Rose, gave me an award today. This award is for those who love blogging, love to encourage friendships through blogging, and who help others seek the reasons why we love blogging. Thank you so much, Christy! I feel honored to receive this award. I can see why Christy would be picked for this award too. She is so encouraging.....no matter what you may be going through, she has a genuine desire to support and encourage you through it, to pray for you or just to leave you a really sweet comment that will make your day. I am so glad to call her my friend. She has a precious family, loves the Lord, and has a great blog, so if you haven't met her yet, stop by and say "hello!"



You all know how much you mean to me! Your friendships mean so much to me! Blogging is just no fun at all without the friendships that come along with it, so I'm going to give this award to every single one of you. If you are still reading this longest post ever, then I definitely consider you my friend, and I hope you know that your friendship and your sweet comments truly make my day! Have fun giving this award away to your friends on your blog too!