hubby, chores and mid-year thoughts

It's been a great day....actually a great quite a few days!  I started doing a bunch of cleaning around the house....and so far have gotten a lot done!!  For Saturday and Sunday I had a 'wish' list of things that I really wanted US to get done....meaning Dave and I (and Gracie too).  Now, as good as he is, often Dave wants to do his list, not want I want and how I want it.  But I was so blessed that he just pitched in with and got on board with my list and my vision!  We got so much done....and checked off that much more from the list! Yay! Made me so happy.

Between the heat outside and the things we were doing inside he didn't get any outside stuff done.  So he took today off and he worked and worked and worked.....getting at least the yard mowed before a very few raindrops fell and it got too hot.  Since then he's been hard at work trying to knock out the rest of his indoor list. Mine will def resume tomorrow.  SO close to be 'finished'.....well, that is if you are ever really finished!

The nice thing is that the house, inside, is looking better than it's looked for so so long! It makes me so happy and makes me feel so good.  Now to keep it up, of course.  I'm WAY behind on crocheting and the things I absolutely need to get done because of all the work in the house....but honestly it was time for me to make those things priority.  And no complaints from hubby....awesome!!

As I said, I've had a really good day, although the tummy is a bit upset and the head is hurting....but still a really really good day! Yay, I love that!!

I have tons on my mind.....thinking about it being mid-way through 2012.....can you believe it??  I had a lot of hopes, a lot of wishes, wants, goals for this year......and then life happened.  The first several months of 2012 were just horrible with so much going on, so much to deal with.  I didn't deal with all of it very well.....ok, I probably didn't deal with any of it very well.  But I hope and pray that I've really learned A LOT this year.....and honestly if I've at least learned something then maybe, just maybe all the pain and hurt and bad times have been worth it.  I would hate that nothing came out of all of that.

So as I think about it being mid-way through the year, what am I thinking about it?
*LOVE....love one another, love each other deeply, totally, unconditionally and OUT LOUD.
*FORGIVE...ask, give...do what you  need to, but forgive.  It's for you, not the other person.
*BE YOU...Figure out who you are, who God wants you to be (remember He made you just as you are) and be the very best you can be.
*DON'T GIVE UP....no matter what, don't give up.  Whether on a situation or on a person or anything....if it means something and it is important to you and it's God's will....do not give up.  You never know when God will answer you, will move you forward in the situation.  Be vigilant, be ready.  Do, behavior, act, speak....as God would want you to.....and hang on to hope always.
*PUT OTHERS FIRST....this is a biggie....but put other people first, regardless.  Your feelings are not what is important....the other person's is.  If you hurt someone, it doesn't matter whether you meant to or not, apologize and ask what you can do to fix things....then do whatever you can.  If they say you can't, then it's up to you to continue to love them anyway, to continue to pray for them and for your relationship.....because once again you just do not know when God is going to move and work in this situation and you need to be accountable for your own actions and be ready.
*IGNORE....all of that other 'stuff'.....all of that nonsense from people that don't matter (really now....who really matters other than GOD?)....learn to ignore it~!  Yes, this is a very hard one, but with God's help you can do it.  Take steps, if you need to, to minimize your exposure to these things, or simply just ignore it.  It really  doesn't matter.  Those that know you, know the truth.  Those that are spouting all of this, don't.....period.  Ask God to shut your mouth, use the delete key and move on.
*LEARN WHAT IS IMPORTANT....and if you don't know, ask God!
*THANK GOD....if He returns something to you that you had lost, if He restores a relationship that was broken...Thank Him....and do what you can do do more than your part to make things right and keep things going in the right direction.  You owe Him that.
*TAKE THINGS SLOW....sometimes we want to speed things up into our timing....but it is God's timing that is perfect in all ways.  Find it within you to take it slow and let Him take the lead and wait until He says yes....or changes the plans (and ask Him for help if you need to).
*FILL THE EMPTY SPOTS....if you find yourself with empty holes in your life for whatever reason, learn to fill them.  There are so many ways that you can do this that will honor God, will grow you as a person.  Don't miss out on this, it can be so important in your life.
*CHANGE....oooh, this is a hard one that steps on lots of toes, including mine (ugh).  I hate change, I'll be the first to admit it.  But it is absolutely necessary in our lives for many reasons.  If you are in a situation that you are not happy about, chances are that you need to find the change that you need to make.  Again, ask if you don't know what it is.  I think a lot of times we really know what it is, we just don't want to do it.  But we can, whether we want to or not.  It might not be easy, but I promise it will be worth it.
*ASK, CLARIFY...if you are not sure about anything with another person...ask them.  It may be uncomfortable but if you will only ask it will often time save you much heartache.
*GIVE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT.....really learn deep in your heart that people are not perfect and they are going to doing things that are 'wrong'....love them anyway, unless you just really want to let them go....and then be honest and do so, hopefully on a good note.
*LOVE YOURSELF....throughout it all, learn to love yourself.  You are not ever going to do everything perfectly (only Jesus was perfect and we aren't Him).....we can do our best, we can try hard....most importantly we can ask for forgiveness when we mess up (more often for some of us than others) but always we should love ourselves.....because only then can others love us.
*BE PATIENT....wait on God and His timing.  His timing is not ours.  And sometimes He says yes, sometimes He says not now and sometimes He says I have something better for you.  We have to wait, then we have to accept what He says.  Be happy and rejoice no matter He answer.
*LEARN TO BE CONTENT....I'm not sure we can always be 'happy'.....but I think that even during those times we aren't really happy, we can still be content in our circumstances....because we know that they are where we are supposed to be and that they can change at any moment.

I'm sure that I've learned much more than this....but wow....what a list of things that just now come to mind that I've learned.  Thank You God for teaching me so many great lessons, for bringing me to where I am today, for loving me enough.  I hope I learn more than this in the last half of the year....although without so much pain and sorrow would be nice (grin).

Today despite wondering about some things and having some things on my mind and wanting things to be just how I want them NOW.....I am extremely content and so thankful for what God has done and is doing in my life always.  I know He has my best interests at heart.  Today.....I am happy.....