Monday, June 28, 2010

Understanding?

Many times, when things do not go as I thought they would, or certain prayer requests do not happen the way I wanted them to, I often wonder if I am suppose to have understanding of why?

When I pray, I do ask for God's Will and I try my best at all times to wait patiently while praying. I try not to get my hopes up too high, because I do not want to be let down, but that's crazy because I know God wants the best for us and I know it is okay to get excited. But I will say that I am let down when something doesn't go the way I wanted it to. Especially when it is something that all I can see is the good in it. BUT, I know God has the best in store for me and my family and He can see the future so I must trust in Him.

Subject change:

Friday night was Guys Night Out at church. We gathered together and played Texas Hold'em. I am not a poker player at all and have only played a few time. I must say though that I did really good. We had two tables, 5 players at one table and 6 at another. Once there was a total of 6 players remaining we combined the tables and played until a winner. I didn't win but I made it to the victory table and then quickly went out. Lots of fun though!

We packed up most of Jennifer's Grandmothers house on Saturday. (she was the one that passed away a couple months back). They found a cash buyer for the house without even listing it, which is awesome, so moving stuff out had to be done. After starting at 8:30am and ending by 6:00pm we finished out the night with BBQ at Jim 'N Nicks!

After church on Sunday some friends and I moved our couch into storage just to put another one in the house that we purchased. (hoping that our new house has a living room and den area ;) I didn't want to get rid of our other one because we really like it but we couldn't pass up the price on the one we got. I will try and remember to take a pic and post it. Corban approves of the new couch. It is a sectional and he l-o-v-e-s running from one corner to the next and laughing the whole way! It is too cute so it is hard to tell him no.

After all the moving we headed over to church for Family Fun Night. Lots of fun there. Grilling, three-legged race, egg race and egg toss, and spending time with church family.

All in all it was a great weekend! I could have used more sleep but why waste a weekend on sleep. That's what Monday afternoons at work are for or at least to play on Blogger and FB! ;) jk!

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Days Of Our Lives...

I don't think my life is boring; not by far. Though I do not live the "Suite Life" of Zack and Cody or "Get The Best of Both Worlds" like Hannah Montana, I have a great life.

I would say that my life centers more around "The Middle", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Growing Pains", "Facts of Life," and maybe the ocassional "Golden Girls." These shows are or where more "real life" shows. You can actually see yourself going through and experencing the same things. The thing I like most about the shows is the love that the family/friends share with each other; even when they got mad at each other the love was still there. They showed more of what really happens when the digital camera was not ready to take a pic or when the video camera was not running.

Think about this for a moment: When you go over to someone elses house, the pictures on the wall are of the family members smiling ear to ear or laughing, playing, etc. Always something sweet and positive! I can't say that I have ever seen pictures showing where the husband and wife, children, or whomever is having a disagreement and someone is left crying or upset or depicting anything making you think that their life is nothing less than perfect.

When I was a teenager I remember our family meeting at a photo studio to take a family pic. It had not been the best couple of days but when the picture flashed we all stood there smiling as though we were the Brady Bunch and as if we always had this freakish smile on our faces. After we left the studio I went home, packed my bags, and ran-away.

I did end up going back home of course. The point I am trying to make is that "these are the days of our lives." No family is as perfect as the "brady bunch." For every "Golden" moment, there are times when you find yourself in "the middle" and wanting "the best of both worlds" but you soon realize that these are the "facts of life" and though there will be "growing pains" "everybody loves" you and you really are living the "suite life."

It is the moments in between the pictures that make us who we are. Enjoy this life that you live. Smile often and laugh much and focus more on the good things of life than the bad.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Summer Time

I remember when Summer arriving meant something to me. But then again, I still worked during the summer. Come to think of it, I have worked since I was 14 years old. Oh well, I guess somethings never change. lol.

This summer we don't really have too much planned. We have a few things taking place on different weekends and a florida trip to visit the grandparents. We might grab a weekend and head up to the Smokies. Our main focus is baby #2 arriving in September. Which I think we are going to change the name to Asher Jackson. Also, we are still trying to sell the house. If there is no activity on it by the end of this month we may consider renting it out. Lord, please show us your way!

There are a lot of houses out there and a few that we are interested in. We need to go ahead and get pre-approved so we are ready to jump when we need to. Like they say, "It is a buyers market"...but it's not a sellers!

Corban is growing like ever. He is my Buddy and I love him so much! I really can't wait for Asher to get here; but time does not have to rush for that to happen. Time is already going by too fast as it is.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Selling A House

Our house has been For Sale since about October 2009. The only reason we are selling is because of our "growing family!"

We have had lots of interest on the house and a couple of verbal Contracts that never worked out. We have considered adding on but the cost of doing that just does not make since.

Four years ago we purchased the house for $110,000.00. The seller had it listed for $114,900.00. Four years ago the housing market was at its peak! Now, four years later, well, you know where the housing market is.

Before today we had the house listed for $117,900.00. With everything that it has, with all that has been done to it, and the advice of a realtor, we really felt that it was priced correctly.

Selling a house IS NOT fun. Especially when you have to make a decision, such as the one we made today. A decision to lower the price of the home to the price we paid for it when we bought it. I have officially listed the house for $110,000.00.

I have been holding off doing this because I refused to do it. There is a principle at stake here and a pride issue. A house was suppose to be an investment. I was suppose to make some sort of a profit off of the sell of a house. Now I am hoping and praying that when offers come in they are not for LESS than what we owe.

We sang a new song Sunday at church. It's called, "I give myself away!" The words are powerful and God moved during service. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/user/TestedandTried#p/f/0/J4v5IXbEauM

Copy and paste the link to the search engine and listen to it. While singing the song, the word God gave was: "Why is it so hard for you to give me control! Give me control! Can't you see that I can do SO MUCH better than you can!"

P-O-W-E-R-F-U-L!!!

It was like God saying, "Eric, don't you think that I can still take care of you even if you have to sell your current home for what you paid for it four years ago or even if you sell it for less; as long as you are not upside down in it!" Obviously, I had to let my Pride fall and let the Principle of the matter fall. God is going to provide. All Jennifer and I can do is seek His will for our lives and Give ourselves away to Him. Because yes, He can do SO MUCH better than we can!

The words of the song applies to ALL areas of our lives. If you are a control freak like me then you know how hard it is to let go. But remember, you are not letting it go and letting another human being handle it. You are letting God have control over it!

Lord, ALL my HOPES and ALL my PLANS, I place them in YOUR hands...I give myself away!