The Shack

3^RD blog in and I’ve got to go deep y’all.  Over the weekend Tommy and I watched the movie The Shack…OMG, it was awesome!  It really had a profound impact on me.  The movie is centered around the main character McKenzie, a man who never had a solid relationship with his earthly father or his heavenly father.  Scared from his childhood abuse, as an adult he loses his daughter and blames God.  I don’t want to ruin the movie for you, but he ends up hearing from God and receiving some of the answers he needed to move forward.

                                          

As I watched the movie, I was reminded of the many times I blamed God for the events in my life.   I can remember times crying out to God asking, “Why did you let this happen to me?  Why are you such a mean God?  Why are you not hearing my cries? Are you even real?”.   I’m a preacher’s kid, I heard it every Sunday; pray about it, God is here, God is real, God is love, ask and you shall receive, blah…blah…blah!  When really awful things happen, what you have been told and may know to be true goes out the window…let’s be real!   It may cause you to lose faith, become so weary you don’t even care or worse, turn your back on God.  You just want relief.

I have been there.  I lost faith, turned my back on God and was determined to “show Him”.  It did not go as I had planned.  All I found was a world full of turmoil, pain and more things to add to my list of mistakes made.

                                                         

Life is hard and so many times we think we cannot take anymore.  Jesus said, “I will not give you more than you can handle.  I will never leave you or forsake you.” and He meant it.  My most favorite part of the movie is when the character playing Jesus said to McKenzie,  “There is not easy answer to take your pain away, there is no pain free life.  When all you can see is pain, you lose sight of Me.”  WOW!  This is so true.  We get hyper focused on how bad it is and why is God not helping me, when we should be saying, “God I trust you, though it hurts like heck and I don’t understand, I trust you”.

So many of my friends are going through situations that I know are so painful; loss of career, extra-marital affairs, financial hardship, marital struggles, loss of spouse, loss of children, divorce, health problems, the list goes on.  I too struggle on a daily basis with a certain situation within my own family.  I am so thankful a silly movie could bring such profound reminders to my soul…I WILL TRUST.  Though my burdens heavy and I don’t see a way out, I will trust.

                                                            

Will you trust with me?  Can we agree to give trust a chance?  I am sure I will trust today and fall tomorrow, I am human BUT, I’m going to get back up and trust.  I am making a commitment to myself and to my family, no matter how hard the journey, I will see my need through completion trusting God already has it taken care of.  I will also trust He will not give me more than I can handle and that whatever the reason I am walking through this storm, He has a plan.  Remember…need prayer, need to vent, you’ve got a friend in me!  Jesus loves you and so do I!  Thanks for reading, have a fabulous Wednesday!

WHY AM I NOT A MILLIONAIRE???

It’s Monday…I despise Mondays.

Alarm rang at 6:10am, I looked up and thought, “Why this early?  Where is my breakfast in bed?”, then I realized I woke up in real life!  I want to be a millionaire…lay on a beach, travel, not work, have someone else spray my hairspray, well just do whatever I want!!!

I Googled these words today, “Why am I not a millionaire?”  and this is what I found.(https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/247694)

 

1. You have no one guiding you in the right direction.

• My response:  NOT TRUE.  I guide myself to the convenient store every week for a lottery ticket.

2. You aren’t willing to make sacrifices.

• My response:  I am willing to sacrifice my empty bank account for the millions I want to put into it.  I will even sacrifice the time to drive to pick up my earnings and put them in my bank account.

3. You fear failure.

• My response:  I don’t fear failure, I believe every week when I get that ticket it’s a winner not a loser!  When it’s not, I go get another…that’s success after failure!

4. Your goals aren’t clear, so neither are your actions.

• My response:  UH NO!  My goal is clear… Win the lottery.  My action is clear…Go get the winning ticket.

5. You think other people can succeed but not you.

• My response:  OH NO!  No one believes I will actually win the lottery but ME!  Tommy thinks I’m crazy…I bet he won’t think so when I win!

6. You think your background or location prevents your success.

• My response:  No I don’t.  Background….I have had champagne taste on a beer budget since I was 3…I am pretty sure my background suggests wealth!!!  AND, someone in Abernathy won the lotto….that’s like 15 minutes away…location’s proven successful!

7. You aren’t using the Internet.

• My response:  PFF! I am on the internet now and I get on the internet everyday and on Tuesday’s to check my numbers…geez how much more can one expect???

8. You rationalize money can’t buy happiness and forget that it can buy freedom.

• My response:  No I don’t.  I will be dang happy when I am a millionaire and at that time I will be free from work and cooking and cleaning and not having an ocean front view from my living room.  I will be free and happy!

9. You hang out with the wrong crowd.

• My response:  Sorry friends, just in case I am finding a new crowd!

10. You play long shots like the lotto instead of building your skill set.

• My response:  OH!  I thought lotto was my best option! 🙂

JUST KIDDING!  It’s all in fun!  God knows I can’t handle being a millionaire… YET!  I am content in life…I mean lottery would make me way more content BUT… I am thankful for my life and all that I have.  SO, I am getting back to work now and then I am going home to my not beach house!  Remember Jesus loves you and so do I!

P.S. I wasn’t kidding about the hating Mondays part…I still can’t stand Mondays!

 

The start of something GREAT!

For my first official blog post, I thought would just expand on my “About Me” section. Here we go! WOOHOO!

Hey Y’all!  My name is Amy S., born and raised Texas!   I love anything fabulous, frilly, crafty, pink, glitter, tasty, and pretty!  I’m a CrAzY ball mom and watching Kaleb do his thing on the field…nothing better!  I love to travel and thrive on adventure.  I am a straight shooter, bold and fearless.  I am wildly passionate and love to laugh.  I have big hair and use excessive amounts of hair spray.  I love Jesus but I might cuss a little.  *Don’t stop reading yet…it’s about to get good!*  I am HUMAN…I am a great mom but lose my “Mom of the Year” title every couple of days,  some weeks I am focused and driven on Monday and by Tuesday I struggle to get out of my PJ’s,  I am completely calm and then totally lose my head at sporting events,  I respond to text and FB messages in my head leaving my friends hanging for days, I try to eat right but cupcakes and ice cream always win and I want to do the dishes and all of the laundry as it happens but dreaming of the live in maid I don’t have seems like a better idea!    The point is Jesus loves me just the way I am…just the way we all are.  He knew the fireball, loud mouthed, preachers kid He created in me!

I am totally busy with wifey (Tommy) and mommy (Kaleb) duties while maintaining a full time career but, I want to take time to release MY thoughts and blogging sounded like a good way.  I have lots to say and I don’t always say it “right”.   I wrote for another blog years ago and after edits, it wasn’t always how I had written it or how I wanted it said…..SO, this is ME, all my crazy thoughts, grammar and punctuation the way I want it, maybe slightly offensive at times but all out of love…take it or leave it.

I want to talk about fun times, not so fun times, travel, good food, fashion, my teenagers attitude, time at the ball field, friendships, about my day and maybe yours too!  Tommy and Kaleb are my world….sorry not sorry for future over blogging about them!  I am new to this so feel free to kindly pass on pointers as you see fit.  My prayer is that you take my crazy life stories and are encouraged and remember that life can be challenging BUT with a little STRAIGHT TALK, laughter and a whole lotta JESUS, we are all in this together!  This approach seemed cheaper than therapy…let’s see if it works for me!

Feel free to message me for prayer, if you just need a friend to listen or if you need to SHOOT STRAIGHT with someone who can take it!   I am going for twice a week posts but let’s be real…life happens!  So here it goes, a passion filled journey I have wanted to take for 3 years now!  Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I!

P.S.  I hope that you find value in my blogs, if not, go ahead and click that un-follow button!

My favorite ball player, my son, #9 Kaleb, S.!