The Wisdom to know the DIfference

Many people spend their whole lives pursuing what other people have concluded happiness is, or what the media has told them that happiness is, or what companies that sell things have advertised happiness to be. Our mission should be to break those lies and to find our true happiness. Then, we won't end up working hard all our lives to accomplish things that never bring true happiness...
-Sharon Janis


 How do you define happiness, and how has that changed since your 20's, since your expectations in life didn't meet up with your circumstances?  Today I am grateful, happy, blessed, amazed and humbled to be living the life I've been granted.  God hand-picked me for this life I'm living.  Through prayer, knowing  I'm exactly where I'm meant to be for now is very calming.  True happiness comes for me when I LIVE the Serenity Prayer and apply it to my life and surrender to it.  


God Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

April 25

Having been a targeted victim of parental alienation, as well as my poor kids as "targets" along with my husband, it's wonderful that there is now National recognition of this type of abuse.  Educating ourselves on this issue has really brought to light so much, and given way to much understanding for the children and how they cope.  Praying for all victims out there, as well as the perpetrators.  Hope everyone will join me on April 25th!  Thank you in advance--hugs!


http://www.familyalienation.org/

Yummy stuff this week

I made a smoothie from the above ingredients today, and while it may seem hodge-podgely thrown together (and it was), it was mighty tasty and healthy!  David and I kept seeing these catchy, artistically done commercials for this yogurt that was talking about "plainly plain" and "samely same"...you may have seen them?  The commercial just made me want to try it. Ah, the genius of marketing...

Well, this Greek yogurt is pronounced [Fah-hey] Fage, and it's the best yogurt I've ever tasted.  I even made Mr. Coleman (who loathes yogurt), try it, and he agreed, creamy goodness.  So I blended all the stuff together, green stems and all on the strawberries, because I heard they were chock-fulla nutrients and it was DELICIOUS!  The Acai juice I can barely choke down by itself (just not a fan of the taste, but love the anti-oxidants), but the light version blended with all these yummy ingredients was super great.  Just thought I'd share.  I never really cared about healthy ingredients a day in my life, but in my old age, am learning it's time to take care of  'ol Sarah...and 'ol David too. ;)

Track list and album art is here...Cannot wait!

Tracklist:

1. Home Is A Fire
2. Codes And Keys
3. Some Boys
4. Doors Unlocked And Open
5. You Are A Tourist
6. Unobstructed Views
7. Monday Morning
8. Portable Television
9. Underneath The Sycamore
10. St Peter’s Cathedral
11. Stay Young, Go Dancing

oops

Dear friends,

I quickly threw together a playlist that I liked for my blog yesterday, and I didn't actually listen to all the songs I added.  To my dismay today, I came to my blog and there was a REALLY explicit version of a song on my playlist...oops.  Very sorry.  My bad, all is fixed now. ;)

Back to the Future~Great Scott!

Sometimes you stumble on things worth sharing...this is so great, love it!
~Beware, there is a very small amount of adult content on this link...
Click here to go BACK TO THE FUTURE!

My New Favorite Product

Since kicking soda over a month ago, it's been a shock to the system to just drink water, tea, and coffee. The biggest part of kicking soda was getting rid of the diet products, we loved diet pop! I refuse to use artificial sweeteners anymore, not even Splenda. I've read too much and decided that there's too many bad risks for our family with buying these products. What's interesting after doing my homework on the web, is that Truvia, made from Stevia leaf and it's extracts is tasty and all natural. The sweetener companies pumping out aspartame and sucralose aren't jazzed about us all getting on the Stevia bandwagon because it costs them too much to produce en masse. Truvia, Sun Crystals and Stevia, are now my low-cal sweeteners of choice. I started buying bottled water and adding these Crystal Light Pure Fitness drink mixes to my water. It contains a mixture of Truvia and cane sugar. It's 30 calories per packet (a packet is enough for a 16.9 oz water) and aids hydration through electrolytes. Tasty, not too sweet, and a nice way to sweeten up my water! To throw out a timely quote from Charlie, "Winning!!"

For the SMoms...Couldn't have said it better myself

~~~What every step-mom should know!!~~~~Click Me!

Commonality by way of grace

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, 
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he
harbor his anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve 
or repay us according to our
iniquities. For as high as
the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west, 
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for He knows how we are formed, He
remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103:8-14

There is nothing that any of these people have in common, except for one thing.  Did you figure it out?  That one and only thing that bonds us all eternally.  Jesus loves all of us, every single last one.  The good, the bad, old, young, rich, poor, disabled, famous, infamous, even the evil.  Not one of us, regardless of our sin, is loved more than the other.  Sometimes it's easy to think that our God loves us more than our enemies, but the truth is, He adores my enemy just as much as He adores me.  --Hard to swallow at times.  All of our sin is the same in His eyes.  So while we judge with law, and righteously so, He continues to love us ALL as His own.  That is hard for me to wrap my brain around.  He loves the unloveable, the murderers, and adulterers.  He loves the unwanted, the weak, the hurting, the addicted, the disabled.  ALL of us, gay, straight, happy, sad, Republican, Democrat, Jewish, Muslim, or Christian.  He created every last single one of us, and has NEVER left our sides.  He hates our sin, but loves us, and His grace paid that price.  The next time you are at a crowded place, look around.  Jesus loves each and all those people, just as He loves you.  Can you believe that?  So knowing that he Loves us all more than we can fathom, don't we want to tell others about His love for them?  So many people just don't know, or believe.  What can I do, what can you do, to make a difference and win people to His love for them?  I'm still pondering the answer to that question.  I'm prayerful, and hopeful for a clear answer and a place to find it.
I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Psalm 89:1-2