Are you prepared to listen?

I thought I was prepared to listen until everything I heard was hurt and sadness. God wants us to bare each others burden but there are times I don't want to listen anymore because the pain is awful.

There is a family that I know going through a lot right now. The father is deeply depressed, the mother is haveing back surgery soon for a fracture and she is also having problems with her kidneys. There family is hurting.

My nephew, 8 years old, has gotten an appliance in his mouth that will spread his upper jaw outward. The Orthodontist needs to make room for his permanat teeth. He is going to be in pain for a while.

My best friend is struggling with her marriage and they are still greiving the loss of their little girl.

There is another family that I know: they lost their grand-daughter before she could even take her first breath. Their son is hurting, the grand parents are hurting and the mother is hurting.

There are families that have left our church because one of the "good" christians in our church choose to saysomthing to someone else who said something to another person who said something to someone else.... Do you get the picture.

This is the time of year to love one another not to stirup trouble. At the same time we are all suppose to love each other. If we are Children of God that is what he calls us to do.

Luke 10: 27 - He said, " That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence- and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.

I guess if you don't love yourself then you don't say kind words to people. You don't show them compassion.

Lets remember this sesson to LOVE the way GOD wants us to LOVE.

Thanks Jennifer

Ryan's B-Day

Tonight I spent the evening with my husband, Chris and Christi, Ryan and Devin. Today was Ryan's 9th birthday. We meet at the Subway in Monroe, near the mall. We ordered our food and sat down for some nice conversation and the Fart Machine. Yes, Barrett and I bought Ryan and Devin a Fart Machine for their birthday. They have had so much fun with them. Tonight we sat in Subway and let it rip. Laughter filled the air from 4 little boys. Yes, Chris and Barrett were having just as much fun as the real boys did. I can't wait to take a trip to WalMart or Target and let the power flow. I love you guys. I hope that you had a great birthday Ryan.

Update

Well, Things are going good on the home front. Barrett and I are doing well and I am going back and forth with my stomach. Oneday I will be okay and other days not so good. Well, just want to share a little English lesson for you today:

What's Up?

There is a little word in the English language that has more meanings than any other two letter word, and that is "UP". It's easy to understand UP. It means "in the direction of the sky, or towards the top". But, not to be mixed UP about UP, and to be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary.

When we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do speak UP and why are the officers UP for election while it is UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We hurry UP, trying not to goof UP.

We call UP or friends. we brighten UP a room by polishing UP the silver and clean UP the house. Then we warm UP the left-overs. We put things UP and lock UP. Some fix UP old cars that others tore UP. When it rains, water can mess things UP, but when it stops, things dry UP.

At other times, the little word has special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. I had to bring that UP.

This is confusing: A drain must be opened UP, becasue it is clogged UP. After we speed UP, we slow UP. We open a store UP in the morning, but we close UP at night. Getting fed UP? Maybe you're not Up to this! Build UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP some time, but don't give UP and you'll wind UP with hundred or more.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, as my time is about UP. It is time for me to shut UP!

8-15-09 update

Well, thinks are great on the homefront. I am just sitting here on the computer trying to figure out what I am going to do. I need to go to bed and take the dog with me. Barrett will probably stay up playing game or something. Maybe tomorrow I will have more to say. Have a good night. Love to all.

Update

Well, I have not been on in a while. So, let me update everyone. I have completed all the test that my doctor had me take and I am some what normal. They can't find anything wrong with my stomach. So, the next strp is for me to try and remove my stomach myself. I figure that would be the easiest. I know, that is wrong so don't worry I want take matter into my own hands.

Other then that, everything else is okay. I am just working and going to church. I hope that everything is going good with everyone else in the world. Have a great week everyone.

How do you listen?

God has taught me over the years how to listen. I use to think that if someone started talking to me I had to give them advise or try to fix their problem. God has shown me that keeping my mouth shut is more helpful then to open it. I have had friends that just need someone to listen and I feel I am becoming a better listener. I hope that you will stop and listen to your friends. Don't say anything just be. Hope that you have a great week and until next time, may God bless you in abundance.

Catch Up

I have not bloged in a while. I have been sick. I have had many test done and nothing to tell. So far they can't find anything. I am having a test on Thursday at 8am for my gall bladder. I am hopeing that they find something.

Other then that I am doing good. I have a wonderful husband that worries about me and a wonderful family that pray for me. I also have wonderful friends that pray and worry. I thank you all. I will never be able to repay you for what you have done.

Next week I will be going to the beach with my in-laws. I am very excited. This is a yearly thing that Barrett and I can't wait to do. He has been looking at pictures of Holden Beach everyday for the last week or so. We are both ready for a relaxing vacation. I will try and send pictures and bloggs while I am there. I know that you all will be jealous of me. (Ha Ha) Well, I hope that everyone has a great July 4th weekend and be safe. God Bless you all.

I am home.

I finally made it home. I had such a blessed weekend. I was able to bond with ladies from the church that I did not know very well. Our moto this weekend was, "What happend at Caswell, stays at Caswell." I have to say that it is very true because I did things that would frighten my husband. You ladies know what I'm talking about. The one thing that can be shared from this weekend is the words of wisdom that we received.

God brought to us a wonderful message through a wonderful lady, Miss Sherrie. She brought God's Grace to life for us. I learned that God's displayed his grace to us, through his son Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he covered us with his grace. Now that we have God's grace, we are commanded to extend that grace to others. We must show grace to all we meet. It does not matter who they are, what they have done to you or what they have not done for you. God does not ask us to judge others, he wants us to extend GRACE.

I hope those of you that could not come with us will look up the word grace and let God show you how you need to us the grace that God gave you. I love you all. I pray that you have a great week.

Grace

This weekend I am down on the NC Coast. I am at Fort Caswell. I am with 49 other ladies at a wonderful ladies retreat. I am truly blessed. I do miss my husband and the little ones (Murrey, Pekoe, Marley, and Skittles). I am having a great time with my mom. We really need this time to spend together. Some of you know that my mom and I have not always been close but God had worked on us this weekend. I know that she is my mom and I would not be who I am if it were not for her, including the crazy things. We have been talking about Grace this weekend. One thing that I have learned this weekend is that the most perfect and precious gift that God has given me is Grace. The extended his grace to us when he choose to die on the cross. I am blessed to be a child of God. I am going to end with that. I love everyone. I hope to chat again soon.

TGIF!!

I am glad that today has ended. I do have to work this weekend so I have a lot ahead of me. I am feeling a little blue but I will be fine later. I have pondered this question today, Why do we do what God ask us to do, knowing that it is not going to turn out right. I had to do something this week that I know God wanted me to do and it turned out bad. I know that He does not promise us that everything will be okay but some times it feels like a slap in the face. I know that God will take care of every thing but I still feel lost. I know you are wondering what has been going on but it is not something that I can discuss. All I ask is that you pray for me. I thank you.

Hello, everyone. I hope that you all had a great day. My day was not bad. I am just sitting here enjoying the company of my husband and typing a few words. My work was just great today. Not too stressful but tomorrow it will be. We are resetting our Junior department and I will be at work from 2pm to Midnight. Looking forward to it. Not a lot has happened. I am feeling better. I just have to be careful what I eat and sometimes it doesn't matter. I still have pain in my stomach. I know that I will get better and that God will let me know what I have. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Have a great week and I will check back in later.

A day with friends. 5-30-09

Today I got up at 5am and got ready for work. I went in and worked a stress-less 5 hours. I came home to my wonderful husband and we proceeded to get ready for our trip to Rockingham, SC. Why, you ask? Because my dear friends the Parkers were celebrating their daughter's, Emma, b-day. She turned 6 years old on the 23rd of this month(?). There they went swimming and grilled out. We had a great time fellow-shipping with our friends.

Barrett, Chris, Christi, and I went out tonight also. Because Chris and Christi are from that neck of the woods, they took us to a restaurant named, Little Bo's. The salad bar was GREAT, the atmosphere was divine and the company was superb. Christi and I had a great time laughing at our husbands. I think they love each other more then they love us (HAHAHA). Christi and I are very blessed that our husbands get along. They are good for each other.

Well, it's time to say goodnight. It is 10minutes till 12:00midnight. I hope and pray that you all have a great weekend and I will see some of you at church.

I missed mentioning a very important person in my last blog. My husband, Barrett, came to the hospital after working an 11 hour day. He arrived while I was filling out my insurance paperwork. He sat with me for a couple of hours and then I sent him home for a shower and to feed the pets. I want everyone to know that he was very concerned about me. I have a great man. I am very blessed.

I LOVE YOU BARRETT!!!!

Well, I have not been able to get on here in a couple of days. Let me tell you what has been going on. On Wednesday, my day started out great. I went to a meeting with my Assistant Manager Christine at the Marshall's in downtown Charlotte. After the meeting we ate lunch at Arby's with several co-workers. We then made our way back to our store in Matthews. Not to long after arriving back to work I started feeling very sick. Now you need to know that for the last couple of weeks I have not felt good. I took several pregnancy tests and they all came out negative. So anyway, Wed. when my stomach started hurting I called upon my good friends at Artistic Imprints for advice. Karen and Christi told me to go to the ER and have them test me for everything. I went to Presbyterian Hospital in Matthews and waited. I got there about 4pm and left about 10pm. During that time they took 4 tubes of blood, hooked me to an IV, gave me morphine for pain, and rolled me through the hospital for an ultrasound. The good news is, my gallbladder, liver and pancreas is fine. The bad news, they are treating me for an ulcer and Gastritis. So, this means that I have to change my diet to very bland and take a lot of medication. How am I feeling right now, okay. I have to eat a little bit at a time so that my stomach does not hurt. I take Maalox every couple of hours. I will be okay. I know that God has a reason for all of this. I have to be thankful that I'm alive and not having surgery or anything like that. I am blessed. I want to thank all those who have been praying for me, that means a lot. I hope that everyone has a great day and weekend. Love ya mean it.

Today was a great day. I have to say that this morning did not start out the best. When I arrived at work all of the phone lines were down. No one could call in or out and we did not have the intercom system either. I made the phone calls that needed to be made and it was going to be 4 hours before anyone would show up. I have to say it was nice not having the phones ring, very quite. Later in the afternoon I was helping at the registers and a man sat down near the door and the alarm went off. I went over to him and moved his cart, letting him know why the alarm was going off. He looked at me add with all seriousness he said, "I bet I know something about you that you don't know I know." Well, my curious cat inside responded, "really, what?" He looked me in the eyes and said, " You are a child of God, aren't you!?" I can say that in that moment I felt taller and replied, " Yes, I am." He then went on to tell me that I was radiating God's love through my face and actions. I thanked him and he said, "no, thank you."

My day became brighter and better in that moment. I have always heard that walking God's path will show more then the words we say but I don't always see it. I was proud of myself but then thanked God for what He did. You see, Christ is the only one that shine through us. I get up every morning and try my best to walk the walk. It is a hard road because my flesh likes to take over. I encourage those who know Christ, smile a little bit more, help those who need it and those who don't, be kind to the unkind, and Christ will use you to reach His people.

I hope that you have a greatday. Jenn

My crazy day

I want you to know that my blonde roots came out today. I was enjoying my time with Sherrie and Christi when I decided that I needed access to the internet. Sherrie first set up Christi's so she could get on. Then Sherrie took my laptop and tried to get it connected to her wireless router. Well, Sherrie could not get it to work, so, I called my husband. Like most men, he wanted me to tell him everything that the computer was doing and not doing. After about 15mins. I convinced him that it was okay and I did not need that internet. Well, after telling him that I loved him, I proceeded to try again. I succeeded but ! I ended up changing the internet server to my name and kicked everyone else off line. I can tell you, Sherrie was Not happy. I thought she might have to kill me. I asked her if she wanted me to call Barrett and that was a big NO! Christi was sitting beside of me just laughing. Leave it to the blonde to screw things up. Those who know me, know that this is not unusual. Anyway, we decided to go eat, hoping that when we get back everything will be okay. I went home and don't know how things went. I can only say that I AM VERY SORRY SHERRIE!!!! I love you very much and would never do anything like this on purpose.

Well, I hope that everyone has a great night and I will talk to you later.

The start of a new day.

Crazy Days From Night 2 Day. I have always wanted to write a book and maybe this is the better way to go. I am not famous or important in anyway, but I love to talk. Today I am meeting with two wonderful people. My preacher's wife Sherrie and her daughter Christi. I am excited to spend time with these ladies because they make me think. I know some of you are saying, " It's about time." They encourage me to dig deeper into God's word and I love it.

The rest of my day will go like this: clean the house, clean the house, clean the house. I hope that me and Barrett (my wonderful husband) will spend time together (gegaty gegaty!). At this time he is in bed and I have Peakoe (dog) and marley (kitten) sleeping beside of me. Life is good.

I want to let you know how BLESSED I am. I have a wonderful husband, great pets, great family (on both sides). God is so good to me. There are no words that can express the love that I have for him. I know that the more I walk the walk the less I will have to say. God help me everyday.