*Special Day*

Today is my dad's birthday :)  I had 3 pieces of cake today... yummmie.  But on a more important note, I am so very thankful to call him dad. 

Happy Birthday Dad!

a challenge for the week.

This is the week leading up to Easter. I know it will be a busy week for myself. So much to do. However, one thing that I want to do every day this week is read Isaiah 53. I know there are many other BIble reading plans for the week leading up to Easter Sunday, but I think this chapter in Isaiah pretty much sums it up. Each day this week I will set aside time to read it and I hope that you will too.  . I've included some different versions- maybe stick with one version for the whole week or read through different versions. It's all up to you. . May you draw closer to the cross and to the open arms of Jesus this week.  ////////////// < Isaiah 53 >> New American Standard Bible

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The Suffering Servant

1Who has believed our message?
         And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
         And like a root out of parched ground;
         He has no stately form or majesty
         That we should look upon Him,
         Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

3He was despised and forsaken of men,
         A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
         And like one from whom men hide their face
         He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
         And our sorrows He carried;
         Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
         Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
         He was crushed for our iniquities;
         The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
         And by His scourging we are healed.

6All of us like sheep have gone astray,
         Each of us has turned to his own way;
         But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
         To fall on Him.

7He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
         Yet He did not open His mouth;
         Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
         And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
         So He did not open His mouth.

8By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
         And as for His generation, who considered
         That He was cut off out of the land of the living
         For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

9His grave was assigned with wicked men,
         Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
         Because He had done no violence,
         Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

10But the LORD was pleased
         To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
         If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
         He will see His offspring,
         He will prolong His days,
         And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

11As a result of the anguish of His soul,
         He will see it and be satisfied;
         By His knowledge the Righteous One,
         My Servant, will justify the many,
         As He will bear their iniquities.

12Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
         And He will divide the booty with the strong;
         Because He poured out Himself to death,
         And was numbered with the transgressors;
         Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
         And interceded for the transgressors.

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<< Isaiah 53 >> New Living Translation   1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the L ORD  revealed his powerful arm? 2 My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 4Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrowsa that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. 7He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8Unjustly condemned, he was led away.b No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.c But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 9He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave. 10But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. ////////////////// << Isaiah 53 >> GOD'S WORD ® Translation   1Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD's power been revealed? 2He grew up in his presence like a young tree, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that would make us look at him. He had nothing in his appearance that would make us desire him. 3He was despised and rejected by people. He was a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. He was despised like one from whom people turn their faces, and we didn't consider him to be worth anything. 4He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded him, beat him, and punished him. 5He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds. 6We have all strayed like sheep. Each one of us has turned to go his own way, and the LORD has laid all our sins on him. 7He was abused and punished, but he didn't open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was like a sheep that is silent when its wool is cut off. He didn't open his mouth. 8He was arrested, taken away, and judged. Who would have thought that he would be removed from the world? He was killed because of my people's rebellion. 9He was placed in a tomb with the wicked. He was put there with the rich when he died, although he had done nothing violent and had never spoken a lie. 10Yet, it was the LORD's will to crush him with suffering. When the LORD has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings, he will see his descendants for many days. The will of the LORD will succeed through him. 11He will see and be satisfied because of his suffering. My righteous servant will acquit many people because of what he has learned [through suffering]. He will carry their sins as a burden. 12So I will give him a share among the mighty, and he will divide the prize with the strong, because he poured out his life in death and he was counted with sinners. He carried the sins of many. He intercedes for those who are rebellious.

a little bit of this, a little bit of that...( picture updates for @LaBar89)

So, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some good picture stories that happened recently.

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The story behind the post-it notes: It was my little brother's birthday last SUnday so I pranked him.  I originally wanted to cover his Jeep with post it notes, but decided that he would be very angry with me if I did that.  He would of been late to church, and if a post-it note peeled a little bit of paint from his Jeep, I would never hear the end of it. So I was nice and only did the windshield, and  the driver and passenger windows.  I also spent time and wrote happy birthday and smiley faces on some of the notes. 

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THe picture of the 2 boys and Dayzee: We had the Children of the World come and sing at our church.. and a host family got sick.  So we were able to have 2 boys in our home for 2 nights.  Dayzee loved the extra company but I'm not sure if the boys enjoyed her energy...especially since she would help dad wake them up - and would end up jumping on them sleeping in bed.

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And the picture of Mom and Dad dressed up.  They were headed to Jason and Donna's wedding and needed a picture. We insisted that Dayzee be in the photo shoot since she is part of the family.  IF only Dayzee would sit still sometimes....

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Ok.. now back to being productive. :) 

See the full gallery on Posterous

weekend...

Ahhh yes...

Friday is here..finally... and now that the workweek is over its the weekend.

Oh weekend... why must you go by so fast?

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anyway, this weekend I hope to discover a new way to work - just in case I need to go another way...like what I could of done on Thursday if I knew of another way. Thursday I was late to work because of an accident.  IT was a very trying day altogether.  But I think the Lord was trying to teach me patience. If i wasn't stuck behind a slow moving garbage truck, I could of been the one in the accident.  So arriving late to work but in one piece was completely worth the wait in my book.  And thankfully, I was able to make up my late time.  God worked it all out for me...after I was so stressed and worried about being late.  ... but I still think I need for find a 2nd way to work sometime this weekend. 

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I also want to go for a nice long run. I've been so busy its been crazy. I just want some me time to run.

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And I hope to accomplish lots of schoolwork and maybe enjoy some fresh air as well.

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I would like to get extra sleep this weekend... but somehow I don't see that possible. 

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I realize that this is a pretty boring post... but the weekend is my highlight right now. I think I'll try to make it a good weekend.. and hopefully another very productive one. 

Short Saturday Post.., Reflections on a Stepping Stone.

So glad its Saturday :) 

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 Feels good to have a day off.... well, that's another story in and of itself, but I took today off from work to get my schoolwork done. That's a priority before slave labor in retail is concerned with. 

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And I've got a lot done today..and I had a head start because I somehow managed to stay up late last night and still be productive after a long week of training.

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Speaking of work, it was definitely an interesting week of training.  I am so THANKFUL that God provided this new job.  I realize that its just a stepping stone in my life, but nonetheless, I am thankful for this new opportunity.  I am also thankful for the better pay, benefits, and that it is a full time job. Also, I know that the only reason I really got this job was because of Him.  This week in training, there were ten of us..and somehow when all the weeks of training are over, I think we are going to be really close.  Anyway, this one lady has been trying to get into this company for 3 years.  Another guy applied 2 previous times and was rejected but got the interview this time.  And for me, this was my first time applying and first time hearing about it.  I applied because my mother heard about it and thought I would be better off.  I only applied because she wanted me to.  I only had the phone interview because I figured that God was opening another door.  I had the in person interview because I know that God never fails and where He leads He provides.  It was all a matter of trust...however, after the in person interview I had my hopes up and really hoped that God would give me the job.  And He did.  Not only did He give me the job but He gave me strength each day to get up and go to work and then to come home and work on m studies. Surprisingly, I am almost done with all that I needed to get done today (but its still a good thing that I called off work).  

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Simply put it - I am thrilled at God's faithfulness and have been encouraged because He has believers at my job place that attend my church! I was shocked to go in to work on Monday and be greeted by a security guard who attends my church.  Then, later on when getting ID pictures taken, the lady said that i looked familiar and asked if i go to her church.  She then asked if I was Donnie's daughter.  I told her she has the right family but the wrong brother.  I did find it odd that she didn't know my dad because my dad is a talker, especially at church and I think he knows the majority of the people there. 

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Anyway, keep trusting in God. He works everything together for good.  Sometimes our dreams don't work out as we want them to because they aren't God's dreams for us.  His dreams for us are always better than our little dreams.  Rejoice in the Lord!  Have a great Saturday!  

things that make me smile on my run today.

Today was a perfect day for a run outside. I was going to get up early and run but I decided to turn off my phone alarm and sleep in some. I ran in the afternoon.. was a much better decision because not only did I get to sleep but I had some company for part of my run.  I invited mom with me to run the block. She agreed and we had an enjoyable run around the block. It took us a half hour.  Then I went out for part two of my run. I couldn't waste a beautiful day like today..so I did some of the block again and Lake Louise Road (a steep hill road). On the way back home from Lake Louise, I noticed a few things that made me smile.  First off, homemade "No trespassing signs".  These were very original. A white board with blue lettering.  I saw these signs on both sides of the street..so basically the only part that you can trespass on is the road.  Then, I saw an updated sign that read: "No trespassing. No Hunting."  I thought it was funny that whoever made the sign added the second part.  Obviously there shouldn't be any hunting if there is a "no trespassing sign".  Unless, someone hunts from the road... (can anyone say "Redneck"?)

The second thing that made me smile was the "Easter tree." Maybe you have seen one of these where you live.  Some people really get into the holidays and feel if we have a Christmas tree then we should have a tree for all the holidays.  The "Easter tree" that I passed on my run was a tree with colorful Easter eggs hanging from it.  Personally, I think the "easter tree" is ugly and highly unnatural.  Eggs never appear hanging off trees...until now. 

Shortly down the road from the "Easter tree" was another tree that made me smile.  I think I'll call this tree..."Bird Hotel Tree."  Once again, it was a single tree but full of birdhouses and two golden snowflake decorations from Christmastime.  When I mean full of birdhouses, I truly mean it.  These birdhouses were all different shapes, sizes, and colors.  On my way past this house, I didn't want to stop and stare at their "Bird Hotel Tree" but I quickly counted ten birdhouses in this rather tiny tree.  I wanted to stop and ask if they are planning on putting any bird feeders in the tree anytime soon... that way it is a "bed and breakfast" for the birds.   

And that's my running adventure for today.  188 days until race day... oh boy... this is just the beginning of many running stories i'm sure I'll have by race day.