The best of both worlds...online anyway!

Well, I came home the other day, turned my computer on and 'beep...beep...beep...beep'. Nothing. I could hear the fans running but nothing else. Nothing on the monitor to tell me what was happening or anything. I called Dell and was on the phone with a tech for about an hour or hour and a half...unplugging, replugging, turning on and off, moving memory to other slots, removing and and reconnecting the video card...anything to try to get a signal back. It turned out that the tech said he thought it was my motherboard, so instead of paying the money to get it replaced and dealing with the frustration of pulling the one in here now and putting a new one in, I toyed with the idea of getting a new computer. Talking about it at work the next day, my boss asked me if I'd ever considered a laptop. Of course, I hadn't, but the more I thought about it, the more fun the idea became so I decided to go for it. It is on order and is supposed to be shipped at the end of next week. As it turns out, it will be like a 'happy birthday to me' present and I'll have it just in time to play around with when I have that weekend off. (We get one Saturday off per month during tax season and when my birthday falls on a weekend, I am thrilled...otherwise they are 9.5 hour work days! YUCK!) I love having new 'toys' like this to learn about and play with!

Anyway, I was having dinner with Gina, Jon and Chris tonight and Jon, being the computer whiz that he is, said that he would be surprised if the problem was the motherboard since it acted like it did when I was trying to turn it on and what I described to him. Needless to say, the way I LOVE to figure things like this out, I brought my big ol' self home and decided I was going to open it up and mess around with it again...so once again I plugged and unplugged memory, the power supply, the hard drive, the CD drives, etc., everything I could see to move or check the plugs on, and guess what...my computer is back! For the time being anyway. Go figure. So now I've already spent the money to have a laptop on the way and I have my desktop back to boot. Sounds like the best of both worlds to me! I can't wait!

I love YouTube!

I have seen people post you tube videos on their blogs and always wondered how they did that, so I was playing around tonight to see if I could figure it out, and I did! This video is one that Kate had me watch this past week...I love that she shows me things that I would normally miss! It is very eye-opening and she thinks this is the most awesome video ever. It may be...it is definitely powerful and the words to the song are great as well. I love that Kate has so much of a heart for others and how they are treated. This is proof that one person can make a difference!

On my mind...

Praying God’s will
Is easy enough
When it involves simple goals
And everyday stuff

Like a good grade at school
Or a raise at work
Even sometimes for others
Who may act like a jerk!

But when it comes to a life,
The rubber meets the road.
We always want healing
As the end to a load.

But God’s ways aren’t ours,
So do we pray for what’s best
Or continue selfish prayers
That put God to the test?

I know the answer
But the older I get
The more real it becomes
And the more I fret.

It’s hard to let go
And accept God’s plan
But that’s why He’s God
And we’re only man!

His plan will prevail
We continue the race
Trusting God as our source
As we rest in His grace.

pbpginfwmy

The mind is a funny thing and I am often amazed at how quickly one thought moves to another within just a few seconds. I was driving home tonight thinking about the week...

--the beginning of a new year

--funeral coverage for Gerald Ford

how muchI learned about him and his life of integrity

how much he did for our country at a time when I was scarcely aware of what was happening

how grateful I am as I realize, so many years later, that he could see the 'big picture' of what our country needed
how much I learned about him not only as a President, but as a husband, father and friend

--my friend Connie whose mom is in the hospital with 4 broken ribs and slight pneumonia

--my dear friend Bev who is so bravely fighting the battle with cancer

--Jennifer wanting to rename her blog something new since her husband's back home. I'm still trying to think of some creative name, I promise! I haven't forgotten, I'm just picky and want a name that will reflect YOU! :-)

Then my mind floated to the CD that was playing in my car...one our choir made back in August. I sent one to Mrs Ball, the teacher I had that I posted a word about back in early December. I got a note from her this week telling me how much she was enjoying it.

THEN the words of the song that was playing started to hit me in a way that they hadn't before.

"I will not be moved, and I'll say of the Lord...You are my shield, my strength, my portion, deliverer, my shelter, strong tower, my very present help in time of need."

I started thinking about how many times HE has been each of these things to me when I've needed it and how many times I'm sure I haven't even realized His provision and protection. I started thinking about the blessings I have...the list is endless.

THEN I started thinking about how HE is all these things to me, but what do I do for Him? Do I thank Him enough? Do I pray enough? Do I give enough money to the church? Do I pour enough of myself into my church to be a responsible member? Do I do enough for friends or others that I see in need? Do live a life that reflects His? Again, the list is endless. Do I do enough? I know I don't. I think I scratch the surface at times, but I know there is so much more I can do. I need to make myself more aware of my surroundings and the needs of the people around me. I need to be more diligent in the things of God.

As I'm typing this, I'm thinking of something that has been taped to the inside of my Bible for at least 10 years....something I found that made an impact on me so long ago:

"We have to do something with Christ, there's no getting around it. It's time -- time to enjoy, time to be active, time to act like Jesus.

'Let your hands be His hands; He'll show you the work you should do.

Let your feet be His feet; He'll open the door and walk you through.

Let your eyes be His eyes; He'll show you what's good and what's true.

Let your heart be His heart, and the love of Jesus Christ will consume every part of you.'

WOW. Sounds like a good New Year's resolution to me!

After all this though, I will close on a funny note. I have a friend that I've known since we were born...literally. Our dads were friends before we were even born. We played together as children, then it seemed like we didn't see each other for a while, but when we were in Junior High they moved up the street and around the corner from my family. We went to Junior High and High School together, graduated together, I was the Maid of Honor in her wedding and we remain friends to this day. One of the true blessings of my life. Anyway, as a teenager, I used to have a button that had the following on it...'PBPGINFWMY.' Anyone who has been around a while knows that this is the acronym for "Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet." Connie and I were talking about that button YEARS later...and she said, "I remember that button...Please be patient, God is not NEARLY finished with me yet!' Those of you that know me know I was like, "Well, HELLO...speak for yourself! It did NOT say NEARLY!" :-) :-) :-) It makes me giggle even now to think about her saying that and my response. We still laugh about that button and her saying that. Perception is everything, isn't it?

Good thing God IS patient though because the older I get, the more I realize He's certainly not anywhere NEAR through with me. Connie was right whether I wanted to acknowledge it or not! :-)