Princesses For A Day

Brianna and Melanie celebrated their birthdays together before she moved. Brianna was so sad that her best friend would be moving away. It has been very rough on her since, but I wanted to share some pics from the day. Hope you enjoy! It started out with Japanese McDonalds :) Of course this is a hit with the girls...what could be better than eating a burger in a tiara? Eating Ice cream for dessert of course ;)
We treated our daughters, to a couple of hours of pampering at a popular Okinawa place called Cocaos..ahem..and ourselves :) We had a wonderful wonderful time :)The girls got a foot soak and toe art...and we got the full pedicure with nail art.

It looks as if the lady doing my toes thinks I have a foot odor problem though LOL...notice how the lady doing Pam's toes does not seem to need the surgical mask! Hmmm
Anyway, it was funny because on the way in to the appt, I must have brushed my big toe across the mud or something because when I went to put my feet up...lol...there was a *chunk* ,literally, of MUD on the end of my big TOE!! Oh, it was funny, I think my cheeks turned a deep shade of mauve...yes, that is about right...so, no wonder the poor lady felt she had to wear a mask. Who knows what other surprises my feet might hold that she'd rather not...uh smell ;) Ah yes...why am I surprised when these things happen to me? I truly just have to laugh sometimes and not take myself so seriously.
These Okinawan ladies sure can give a wonderful foot and leg massage....ahhhh just wonderful, and the toe art is just beautiful. They serve you tea that just tastes divine too..oh, I need to go back :)
Melanie and her mom gettin' their piggys painted :)

Brianna and Melanie..birthday princesses for a day :) *sigh* we sure miss them :(
Oh yes...this is just me looking my personal best ;) What a blessing friends are ...especially when they are like Pam. I miss you my friend...

Blogging From Israel

Ok, one of my dearest friends who was stationed here in Okinawa with me has moved to Israel..Jerusalem, to be precise. She started a blog...they have been there for just a few weeks. It is so interesting to see the sites through her eyes...I know she would love for you to stop by from time to time- visit and enjoy the pics!

Higher Places

I have been at the foothill of another clime of the great mountain. My walk has slipped as I cower at the base not sure how to tackle even the first foot of it. The battle of surrendering my every thought to God is one in which I have failed. I tell myself over and over that I am overwhelmed...without even being 100% conscious of those thoughts -I allow them to settle in my heart and defeat me before even stepping out of bed. Instead of reaching up in faith, I crumble up into a pathetic ball and whine and complain about how this life is too much to handle. I have allowed satan to pervert my view of what this trial really is. It is about relying on the Lord in every way...YES it IS too big for me, not for my omnipotent Father. If I would just "stand up" and "reach up" He will instruct me in every way as to how to get up this part of the mountain. God is so much bigger than anything I will ever face in life...why do I look to myself for the encouragement and strength? I am weak and inconsistant and easily distracted-not only that, my feelings and emotions throw everything out of its proper perspective.

Are you cowering at the foot of a towering trial? I think we all do it at one point or another. I allow how I "feel" to direct how I react more than a desire to be obedient regardless of circumstances. I tried to "smother" my overwhelmed feelings by distracting myself with other things -which only leads to guilt and discouragement. Today, I am standing up, shaking the dirt of defeat from the past week off my feet and reaching up toward the higher places that my Father is directing me.

HIP HIP

Horray for blogging in ENGLISH! Finally! Ok, maybe now it won't take me so long to post :) Thank you to all who helped!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

My husband was selected for promotion to GySgt E-7 today :) Congratulations honey..you have been so patient, and I am so proud of you. (he informed me that someone ELSE in Ca got selected as well :) congrats to you too!! ) This is a pic from the Staff Acadamy...it is such a Marine pic lol..:)

Having a hard time!

It is so difficult to post when all the directions are in Japanese...it is very frustrating. I wish I knew how to get everything in English. :( Grrrr. I only started having this problem when everything switched to google. Anyone have any ideas how to switch this?

Oops!

How in the world does the time fly by so fast? Oh, maybe it is the 4 little rug-rats that race around here getting into EVERYTHING *ahem* including mommy's coffee on the desk and spilling it everywhere so that most of the keys on my keyboard were stuck "down". Oh yes...had to go get a new wireless key-board. Did I mention that kids are expensive? ;) So, I am sorry for the delay my friends...once again. I think about once a week is what can handle as far as updating...like with pics and stuff. I want to do better though at posting again. I seem to get stuck looking at the news...blech...a bad habit that kind of worked its way in since I only needed my mouse to look at that lol.

Well, I turned the big 33 yesterday...it amazes me how on the inside I still think I'm like 18. You know when the twenty somethings are calling you ma'am..uh...that is a wake up call. Hello, I am a grown up now...better act like it ;) And, I better go take care of these little ones...they are wanting to get out and enjoy this beautiful day...I will post pics soon! :)

The Lamb's Book Of Life

now bears record as of June 4th at aprox 9:30pm that Anjolie, 4 years old has confessed and claimed Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Look for this face in perfection when we meet on that "beautiful shore". Anjolie has been seeking and learning...tonight a major door opened and though narrow, Anjolie could "see" it and walked through.

This past week Anjolie has been running a sink full of water and putting her face in while holding her breath at least 3 times a day. I thought she was just practicing for the pool. Many times she would ask Brian and I to come watch her "feat". Her little face would glow each time she would come up. I would smile and congratulate her on a job well done. I had no idea what she thought she was actually practicing for...

Tonight as I read the girls' devotion (Brian had a deacon's meeting) I covered the Romans Road along with Psalm 121. I encouraged them to memorize the Romans Road so they could share with others. Anjolie suddenly informed me that she was not saved yet. She had, on 2 other occasions, asked about salvation and also asked to pray, but she never showed a real broken heart over her sin or an understanding that I was comfortable resting in. Anjolie then informed me that she has been practicing and practicing putting her face in the water so she can get saved. I was confused, but she explained that she thought that in order to be saved, you have to be baptized-Brianna was baptized a few weeks ago. Immediately I thought I was going to just burst into tears. Day after day this little child was working to overcome her fear of water- thinking this is what she needed to be saved. I was thrilled to show her the Bible made no mention of baptism needed for salvation...this was an act of obedience that would take place after her decision in order to form a "picture" of her decision both for her and the congregation at church. I explained using Romans 3:10, 3:23 and 6:23, 5:8, and 10:9-11... Anjolie had no problem with "all have sinned", but when I explained "and come short" she started to squirm. I explained how a loving but fully perfect God cannot allow sin into heaven and this got her squirming even more. I asked her if she had sin...to which she asked with a pained look "what would YOU say? " lol...I assured her that I too was a sinner, but I was asking her. In light of the fact that there is a "wage" for sin and it is not allowed in glory...did Anjolie have sin? Anjolie started to cry at the understanding...yes, she nodded ...I gently probed further.."Anjolie, are you a sinner then?" more tears and a choked "yes". I could sense the turmoil going on and the fear as I explained in the best way I knew how that Christ became sin for her, that He, being God the Son, in the flesh, shed His innocent blood and died on the cross for her sin. He then rose up from the dead-defeating death- that she might believe and trust in His precious shed blood as a payment for her sin. I explained what it meant to repent or have a change of mind about her sinful life, to desire Christ to be Lord in her life...to call upon Him as her Savior and Lord... Anjolie prayed in her own words with very little prompting from me (ie asking what was she thankful for etc) for God to forgive her disobedience and sins, and to please save her and be Lord of her life. The brokenness and the release of guilt as her little body shook with relieved sobs just broke me. It is a moment I feel ever so blessed to share in. Anjolie was filled with joy..a true deep joy that comes only with experiencing the Saving Grace and Mercy from our Heavenly Father. As the song goes which Anjolie has sung so sweetly in the past "What can wash away my sin...nothing but the blood of Jesus-What can make me whole again-nothing but the blood of Jesus-Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow-no other fount I know-nothing but the blood of Jesus" God is so good.