Thursday, May 14, 2009

3 week break

We have decided to take a three week break/fast from the computer. So.....see you in 3 weeks. Please do not hesitate to call me at home or my cell phone if you need to reach me!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

I feel very encouraged since my class at church tonight. I feel "sane". It is so nice to be able to talk to other women who understand what I am going through. I am hopeful.....even when there seems to be no hope. I will get through this!!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

EVEN in the storm......

A lot of you have asked me about the "mess" going on in my life right now. I am STILL here and STILL breathing so I have that to say. Yes, things have been insane the last few weeks....with no sign of sanity in the future. BUT..God is STILL good and He is STILL faithful and I will CHOOSE to trust HIM with my life! The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. I WILL praise Him in this storm (LOVE that song by Casting Crowns!...it has become my theme song!). Blessed be the name of the Lord! I will come through this storm victorious....NO matter HOW it turns out! God has taught me so much through it already and I know He will continue to use it for my benefit! What the devil meant for bad....GOD is using for my good! God IS faithful...and I WILL NOT give up!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Truth

New American Standard Bible (©1995)"But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die."
Note that the Bible calls him a "righteous man"

As Christians, we have to be very vigilant as to what preachers we choose to listen to and we should ALWAYS confirm what is being taught with the word of God. Satan KNOWS God's word....and he WILL use it to bring confusion and deceive people! Some preachers will twist a verse to mean whatever it is that they WANT it to mean. They will be held accountable. What is really sad to me is to see good, godly people being lead astray, while they are believing that they are receiving truth. Satan is the deceiver.....would his tactics work (in a Christian) if we knew upfront what his plan was? NO! I just caution each of you to be careful. Always, ALWAYS (even if you KNOW a person or have sat under a minister for years!) to search the scriptures for YOURSELF to be sure that you are not being deceived! When you are reading the Bible I encourage you to read it for yourself....and ask God to show you the meaning of a verse rather than read a person's commentary on the scriptures. I recent read several QUOTES out of the John MacArthur study Bible that were false! If you are reading these quotes and trusting in this man's interpretation (or twisting of the scripture)....you are being deceived. Please....be very careful who you listen to! Click HERE to read some of them for yourself.


International Standard Version (©2008)"Now the Spirit says clearly that in the last times some people will abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits, the teachings of demons,"

If someone teaches that you can not walk away from God, that you can not"lose your salvation" by your own choice...then they are being lead by deceiving spirits. God gives us a FREE WILL.....WE chose to accept Christ....and we can choose to walk away! I believe that God is all knowing but I KNOW that he did not "predestine" some people to be saved..."For God so loved the WORLD (the entire world!) that He gave his only son......(John 3:16).
The two Scriptures that I have quoted PROVE that the "once saved, always saved" theory and the "predestination" theory are both heresy!! There are hundreds more that will do the same. Some people will argue that if you turn your back on God then you were never really saved to begin with. The scriptures that I quoted above ALSO disprove this theory. Salvation is not something you can be unsure of.....the Bible makes it VERY clear what we must do to be saved. So, are the people who hold to this theory calling God a liar? If GOD says you must believe in the virgin birth of Christ, believe that He lived a sinless life, believe that he died on the cross for our sins, believe that he rose from the grave-conquered death and hell, and you ask Him to live with in you........AND you believe all of this and live to serve God....WHO can tell you that you are not saved?? The only answer to that question is "someone who calls GOD a liar". Now, if you decide that you want to live for yourself and you chose to walk away from God....does that mean that you never believed or that you were never saved? Of course not! We are humans...NOT robots. God gives us free will!

My goal here is to just warn you that just because some one quotes you a scripture (myself included!) does not mean that they are final authority on a matter....people twist scriptures all the time! Search the Bible for yourself.....and be lead by GOD....not man.

I firmly believe that God is a loving and gracious God. There is no reason to live in fear....everyone makes mistakes!! Ask God's forgiveness and move on. MOVE ON...and continue your relationship with God. It is only when you do not MOVE ON (repent) and you continue to live in sin that you're in danger.
(NKJ version)
Verses to look up:
Hebrews 2:1-3 ("lest we drift away")
Hebrews 10: 38 (" if anyone draws back")
John 15:6 ("abide")
Galatians 5: 4,7 ("estranged from Christ" , "fallen from grace")

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's day!

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Mother's Day!
For all the snotty noses you have wiped, tears you have wiped away, sleepless nights, prayers prayed, books read...over and over and over again, trips to the doctors, school field trips you have gone on, papers you have proudly posted on the fridge, laundry washed......never ending laundry, soccer games, meals cooked, homework and practice tests, swim lessons......soon to be driving lessons :( , car trips, friends running through the house, fights with friends who were once running through the house, the pain of growing up, for laughing until it hurts at the simplicity of a child's mind, for spending all day watching "kid's movies"....just to be together, for being "that Mom" who would love nothing more than to fight your child's battles for them.....and sometimes DOES!............and all the beauty that comes along with each of these things.......Happy Mother's day!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Brooke

Tonight ECS had their sports banquet...Brooke took home the"Christian Character" award! I am so proud of her!! Only one athlete per sport was given this award!

New site...coming soon.

I am in the process of creating a "personal" blog. As this one has been spread so far and has so many readers that I no longer feel comfortable sharing my deepest thoughts here. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have learned through out the years that not everyone has MY best interest at heart and they will use anything (and NOTHING!) against me. Anyhoo, I will open my newest personal blog up soon but I will not be sharing the web address publicly. I have been dealing with a TON of personal issues the last few weeks and I feel like I need a outlet to explore them, but I just do not feel "safe" doing it here :( . Of course I will still be posting family pics and money saving tips on this site...so don't think you are getting rid of me that easily! :)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Free chicken at KFC

Here is a link for a coupon good for a free grilled chicken 2 piece meal from KFC (my computer printed out 2 and it allowed me to print it out a second time....so I got 4 coupons!) KFC for lunch anyone?)! Thanks Victoria (Brett's "other mother...as he calls her :).
BTW...this coupon can only be printed out until 11:59 pm today (CDT).


Arby's is giving away free fruit tea today...so swing on in while you are "out and about" today!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Today's deals!

Today I did PART of my grocery shopping...the last 2 weeks we have had to divide it up and take a little out of each pay check to get us through. Anyhoo at Target this week they have Nabisco 100 calorie snack packs on sale for $1.93....use your printable TARGET coupons for $1.00 and they are just .93 cents each!! Remember...you can print the coupons right there in the store!! I bought 5 boxes...my kids take them in their lunches for school. Also at Target they have Quaker rice cake minis (the large family size bag) for $2.44...use the $1.00 TARGET coupon that says "$1.00 off Quaker snacks" (it has granola bars on the pic but they will work for the rice cakes too...since they are Quaker snacks) and use your $1.00 MQ and they are .44 cents for a huge bag! I bought the ranch flavor..I really like them! I also bought 4 boxes of Fiber One bars...for $2.39 each. When you buy 4 Fiber One products you get a $5.00 Target gift card....which I used on my second order. At the Target that I shop at they had packages of Right Guard deodorant on clearance for $4.18 (there was 4 in each pack!) and I used a $1.00 MQ to make them just $3.18 for 4!!!

Publix has Capri Suns on sale for $2.00 a box...use your $1.00 off SUNRISE Capri Sun to get them for just $1.00 a box!! It must be the "Sunrise" kind to use the MQ.

I also made a trip to Kmart this morning for the double coupon deal. I bought Adidas Men's deodorant..on clearance for $1.89..used a $1.00 MQ so they were free!
I got Quilted Northern tp (6 mega rolls), they were on sale for $4.99, I used a $1.00 MQ...when doubled it came out to $2.99!
One note..I bought 2 Suave shampoo/conditioners that were on sale for $1.25 each and I used the $1.00 MQ...the computer only took $1.25 off (instead of $2.00) but I brought it to the cashier's attention and she manually took off $2.00 making them just .25 cents each (for the LARGE bottles!). Those coupons that say "$X off of X amount of products" confuse the system and since Kmart will only take off what you paid..(no overage) it just takes off the remaining amount of ONE item when it "doubles". The computer doesn't realize that the coupon is off of multiple items...so watch those registers!!

Anyhoo...those are some of the deals that I got today.

Monday, May 4, 2009

kmart

This week's ad was a misprint....they are doubling up to $2.00 again! Yippee!
Click HERE for some great ideas on what to buy.....keep in mind that prices vary from region to region.

Blueberry pickin'

Yesterday we took the kids to pick blueberries! We had a great time together...here are some pics!







Kmart

Lisa just called me and told me that Kmart is actually doubling Procter and Gamble coupons up to $2.00!! And...if you spend $35.00 on PG products (usually this means $35.00 BEFORE coupons..I am guessing it is the same this time), you get a $10 Kmart gift card!!

Keep in mind that all other coupons will be doubled up to .75 cents.

Redbox

Here is the code for a free redbox rental....good only until midnight tonight!!
BT73H9
Enjoy!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Kmart doubles coupons again...

Sunday through Saturday Kmart will be doubling coupons again! The aggravating thing about it is this time they will only double up to .75 cents :( BUMMER! Anyhoo...just wanted to let you all know....just in case you haven't already heard. I doubt that I will be making a trip there this time...... it is just really hard to accept that they dropped it from $2.00 to .75! I usually do not use anything coupon than $1.00 there (making it $2.00 on double coupon weeks).


Just a note.......I wanted to remind everyone that every time that you "click" on one of my "google ads" I get paid! There are some great offers there so don't forget to check it out from time to time! Be cautious to not "over click" though...as that raises a "red flag" and will likely cause google to pull their ads. I am using all the money raised from the ads to put toward my upcoming surgery!