A Good Swift Kick in the Rear from God!

This past few days I've been hearing a word from God about Priorities... I want to let you in on how I process a word from God...When I am conversing about a certain topic and I find myself talking about that topic a lot... Like it comes up in several conversations in a short period of time, and then I read about it in a book or in the scriptures, I always find that my spirit is pricked and it's something that I need to stop and listen to real hard...Hence the word "Priority" this past week...
I find that I am a very well balanced person... I have a pretty good handle on Home, Work, Church, and family... I recognize when I need to stop and take a break and I also recognize when it's time to take action and get things done...

Well, this Christmas I didn't go home to Mom's house... I honestly didn't think it was a big deal, because I had to work the day before and the day after, so all I had was Christmas Day off and I could just stay home and have dinner in Lake Charles, right? Dana bought all the food and we cooked and had a few friends over and had a nice day... At the expense of hurting my mothers feelings... Now I'll tell you how God shared with me his heart...

Here's my Priorities in a nutshell...
God
Dana
Kids
NEXT FEW CHANGE ACCORDING TO SITUATIONS
CHURCH
EXTENDED FAMILY
WORK

These priorities have become a "LAW" in my life so that I can keep balance and do what I thought was what God wanted me to do to keep sane and live in abundant joy... However, after reading the book "The Shack" I was hit right over the head with another perspective of God's "LAW"... First let me say that we are not under any LAW since Christ came to set us free from rules and regulations... We are now under GRACE... which I seemed to have forgotten...
Well in the book, the main character asks the question..."Does this mean we shouldn't have priorities in life?"... WOW, I was in the tub reading this and I sat straight up in the tub and reread the sentence... "Does this mean that we shouldn't have priorities in life?" This word, Priorities... the word that I have been muttering for days now, Priorities... the word that has lent balance to my life for all these years... Priorities... Priorities... we can't mess with my priorities... Was just thrown under the bus... God took it and said...
NO!!! The problem with having priorities is that we miss an opportunity to show grace... We miss an opportunity to LOVE OTHERS... I MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE WITH EXTENDED FAMILY... Do I still love them, absolutely, I just missed the opportunity to SHOW THEM I LOVED THEM!!

Does this make sense? The book went on to say that God doesn't want our priorities to be like a pyramid with him on top and then everything else listed in order of importance... That way of thinking can not be beneficial because we never know how much time to devote to the top one before the next one gets our attention... INSTEAD, he wants to be like a MOBILE... He in the center and everything else circling around him so that he is in everything in our lives and he shares in every part of our relationships within the different areas of our lives... He is equal, but the center....

I hope I am stating this clearly because when I get a fresh word from God, it's all I meditate on for a few days and I'm a little jumbled as I process it and then speak it, so this is the first time I've tried to write down what I'm feeling, so I may not have it all together yet.. Sorry if it's sounds like mumbo-jumbo... I just feel so relieved that I don't have to live under the "LAW" my own self-imposed law of priorities... I know that Grace is alive and well in my life and I want to share that more than anything else...

So forgive me, MOM, especially, for not coming on Christmas day and know that I've learned a dear lesson from our time apart... I love you all and wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Lea Anne

My Favorite Things!

I was looking on line at some other people's blogs and some of them were listing their favorite things... I never really stop to think about what my favorite things are so I thought I would spend a few minutes sharing with you what I like!

My Favorite luxury?
An afternoon Nap! Or a Massage!!!(I prefer the professional type but will take anything anyone is willing to give me..;-)

My Favorite book?
My tastes in books have changed over the years, and although I like a good romance novel... (I used to be addicted to Harlequin Romance novels and had thousounds of them) I now find that I like to read inspirational books from preachers or good bible teachers... I know that sounds like a "Religious" answer, but it is what I choose to fill my mind with now... Things that promote a better mindset and an overcomer mentality... Right now I'm reading "The Shack" and "Becoming a Better You"... I usually have two or three books going at once.. call me ADD...

My favorite Movie?
Light hearted comedies for sure...Overboard... The Family Man... The Family Stone... Back to the Future... that sort of thing... I DON'T like sappy, tear jerking type movies... I can somewhat abide Action films but not when they have too many curse words. So that leaves a lot of movies out...

My favorite scripture?
"Be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold." Nehemiah 8:10...

My favorite topic to discuss?
My current walk with the Lord...What God has been doing in my life and how God is in control of everything... This puts a whole lot of people on edge and so I can tell that some people don't want to talk to me... It's still my favorite thing to talk about.

My favorite food?
Spaghetti or anything Italian... Olive Garden is my favorite.... Then Mexican... I love a good chicken enchilada.. Then Steak... Medium...and baked patato... YUMMY!!

My favorite snack food?
UMMMM.... all kinds.... chips/dip, oreos,

My favorite Coffee?
Eight O'Clock brand... creamer and three equals... Comfort food for me... I even like a cup at night before I go to bed...

My favorite person?
Why you, of course....

My favorite activity?
Blogging... teaching Sunday School... and I guess I could put my job here... I do love what I do...

My Favorite Magazine?
I love any kind of Home interior decorating magazine... I also love Woman's world, or For Women First...

My Favorite Boardgame?
Without a doubt it's Scrabble.... but I love Payday... I don't much like Monopoly...I have to think too hard... I like "Scene It"...

If I can think of any other "Favorites" I'll sign back on... what are some of your favorite things to do? If you don't have a blogger ID, then sign up and get one... It's free and easy I'd like some comments here!!

I love you all.
Lea Anne

Enjoy Whatever You are Doing this Christmas!

And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. Deuteronomy 12:7

Whatever you find yourself doing this Christmas season, remember the one for whom the season is about. With all the coming and going, the having to do and doing, all the responsibility that the season seems to bring with it, remember to enjoy it... Sometimes we get caught up in the "Having to do" that we miss the "we GET to do"...
No matter what you do remember that Peace is not dependent on circumstances. Our peace and joy are found in the Holy Spirit.

Signing on the House on Woodside...

We signed all the paperwork for the house today... It's official... We are house poor now... We have a great house, but a huge financial responsibility... I've been praying about this responsibility and although I've had this feeling the last few weeks about whether or not we were suppose to live in the house, I do have a peace that I don't have to know how I'm going to pay for it... Our family will have to do some serious budgeting and stay on track of managing our expenses, but I also don't believe that we will have to manage it on what we currently make. I feel this whole opportunity of how this house came to be, was an opportunity to step up to a new level of faith with God...

It has been my experience with God, that He won't give us more responsibility until we've proven to be faithful with the one he has already entrusted to us. If we aren't responsible with a little, then how can we be trusted with much... That is from Luke 16:10... This was a piece of scripture that the Lord spoke to my heart back in 2004 and I have been praying that I can be a little more faithful today than I was yesterday... The Lord is always faithful and one of the things that I know to be true is that our faith walk with God is strengthened when we put a little action behind our words...

Dana and I stepped out in faith last year in October when we put our house on the market... Then God led us here, now I will journal where God leads us next, and I am excited to share that journey with anyone who will listen...

Go trust God a little more today and see where that faithfulness leads you.

Love,

Lea Anne

College Christmas Party

We had a BLAST at the College and Professionals Christmas Party last night. We had a little music...
A LOT of food....

And a whole lot of FELLOWSHIP!!!

THEN IT GOT NASTY!!! With the dirty santa gift exchange... I thought to save money, we could just rewrap something from home... and bring it... As I was cleaning up in the study, I found my copy of Back to the Future triology... All three Back to the Future movies in one sleek case... That will be good, I thought, then I thought again, "I can't give away my prized possession of Back to the Future!" I love that movie and I just watched it like a week ago on television... But I sacrificed it and it was the gift of the night!!! Here's Keith stealing it from Jason, who was number 4 in the drawing... then

Jason got to draw again... And the battle of the Back to the Future was born....

It was stolen about 15 times throughout the rest of the game...

Not that the other gifts weren't just as fun... Who wouldn't want this black, wood carving, white haired, guitar playing, vodoo doll? (Obviously, the original owner and the new owner is now Allison...)

Other great gifts included, stuffed moose, candles, coffee mugs, towels, shelf liners, a box of tissue (Drew actually stole that one from Paul because he had a cold) who'd of thunk that? ...christmas wreaths, angel plaques, etc..

I hope no ones feelings were hurt with all the stealing.... Candy was the lucky winner of the movie...

So when the fun of the gift exchange was over, we decided to play, Scene it!! It was so much fun and we worked in teams...

We finished the night up around midnight and I have to say we had a BALL!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...Let it Snow!!

To say that It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas is an understatement here is SWLA... It never looks like Christmas... But this morning we were awaken by the sound of snow hitting our roof and it sounded so wierd.. not at all like rain... just a soft "thudding" sound... The security alarm started beeping around 6:15 am this morning because one of Keelea's friends called her to wake her up and tell her there was snow outside... She went out and scooped up enough snow to make this snowman...

I thought it was so cute that I took a couple of pictures of it in different areas of the house... This one is on the kitchen counter...

This is it's final resting place (inside the freezer) because the snow will have all melted away before 11am... I just wanted to share a little Wintery Bliss with you all today...

Have a great day... remember... "This is the day that the Lord has made.. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Lea Anne

The Little Faith Test

If you've been following my blog, you might remember when I talked about the "Prayer that Moves Mountains." I've been praying and seeking God's ear about the next step in my life and I think I know what it is I'm to do. This new branch of advertising at KPLC may be the way that brings about the income to pay for the new house.
In Sunday School yesterday, we were discussing how God shows up in our life and how our faith is tested, and I made a comment about never worrying about how I was going to pay for the house once it was built... I just knew we were suppose to build it... (Dana's comment was "That is the VERY THING he has been worried about since we started building).. The difference between Dana and Me is that I don't worry about something past the point of what I know to do... I just "Trust the Lord and do not worry!"
So as I'm praying about the next step with God, he just shows up with a peace that I can't understand and always delivers in His own time....

As we pray for increase in faith, we have to be walking in faith... God takes the tiniest bit of faith we have and makes it grow into something big when we act on it. The Bible says that "God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" Romans 12:3. We already have some faith to start with. When we step out in that faith, God increases our faith. In other words, acting in faith begats more faith...

So just get up in the morning and say... Lord, increase my faith today... but you have to do something that is outside of the realm of what YOU CAN DO ON YOUR OWN, or it isn't a God-sized faith... Trust... and then obey...
Let me know what you are trusting for in faith today...
I love you all,
Lea Anne

DJ's Last Home Game as a Senior

Here is a great picture of what DJ looked like after the game against Many Friday night... It rained the whole game and it was a sloppy mess but that didn't stop them from winning 51-0.... They are going to the semi-finals this Friday against St. James I believe in New Orleans... Way to go DJ!!!!