Yes, that is my attitude this week.  Wooh boy!  We've made it through the first entire week of school and 3 of us now have colds that showed their ugly heads today.  Or should I say, showed their ugly snot! 

We celebrated our oldest son's 14th birthday this Saturday.  Wow, do I feel old.  I had a slight panic attack Saturday evening as I realized just how fast 4 years will go and he will be a legal adult.  Next year, he will be begging for his driver's permit and starting high school.  I am not old enough for this!  

Then we had some stinky attitudes tonight, all the way round!  I HATE that!  I think it's spreading through the snot.  I really do.  Evil virus. 

My computer and I have been battling all day.  I say DO IT.  It says um, no.  Error script blah blah blah computer-eeze.  I do NOT speak computer-eeze.  No comprendo.  Dang it!  When we get a new computer, I am taking this one to the woods and...  It's not going to be pretty.  I wonder if I should have just typed that?!  If you never see me online again, well you know now who offed me.

So while I really do have some stories and things rumbling around in my jumbled mind, I can't bring myself to sit down and type them out.  Why can't I just think something into being?  It would save a lot of typing and carpal tunnel syndrome! 

Oh and the cat just puked on the floor.  Awesomeness. 

Today is Friday!  TGIF!  We've survived the first week back to school and it feels like a fresh start as fall weather moves in and cools us down.  I find myself thinking about pulling out the fall decor and changing the "look" of my living room and front patio. 

While I contemplate the newness of a new school year and season, I started thinking about all of the blessings I've been shown and the newness of God's love everyday.  Not only the recent blessings, but life long blessings. 

As  you enter this long weekend, enjoying time hopefully, with family and friends, I want you to think about your blessings.  What ways has the Lord blessed your socks off? 

Here are some of mine:

* Mom, Dad, and husband saved!  Years of prayers answered!

* Forgiveness for the man who sexually abused me as a child.  I have always believed God would use this for His glory.  I don't think He is done with this story!

* Restored relationship with my Dad before he died.

* 4 children.  I had wanted 4 kids from the time I was a little girl.  I always wished I had more siblings and a big family.

* Relationship with one of my sisters in the past 2 years. 

* Buying our house.

* A husband who works his tail off , sacrifices his wants so that we can provide a few fun things for our kids, and is incredibly involved with our kids.  There is no "babysitting" his own kids in our house

* Amazing friends.

* Discovering my passion in writing and getting paid to do it!

* A work-at-home job.

Of course the list goes on.  I want to bask in the glow of blessings.  When my mind is set on what is amazing and truly of God, I can stay positive and have a great day!  I hope you will do the same. 

Write your list and post the link to the blog post in the comments!  I want to see how the Lord has blessed you!

I am working on some blog posts so while my brain warms up and tries to create something, here is a little something to tide you all over.

Check out (In)Courage .  They are doing 30 days of Giveaways to celebrate their one year anniversary!  Today's give away is awesome, well if you like cards and being encouraging.  I love both of those things, so this is right up my alley! 

400 winners!  Can't go wrong there!  So get on over there and win a card pack from DaySpring!

We have  the winner of our contest!!  Drum roll please.......

First let me apologize for being 2 hours late in posting.  School starts Monday and I am SO not totally ready!

Okay, okay.  Get down to business already!  Randomly drawn by the computer!

Julie Ringler is the big winner of our $25 give away!  Julie, email me and let me know what you'd like girl!

Thanks to all who participated and spread the word!  We'll do this again very soon!

This past week or so, tons of eggs and milk have been recalled in the Oregon and Washington area due to salmonella.  Store shelves became completely emptied of the contaminated products; thrown into the garbage so they couldn't be purchased and cause more sickness. 

A couple things came to mind with this recall.  One, I am so thankful we buy farm fresh eggs from my friend's mom.  We have no worries about our eggs, knowing they are safe.

Second and most importantly, I am so thankful God didn't recall each and every one of us and throw us in the garbage.  As sinners, it's what we deserve.  God didn't give us what we deserve.  Instead, He gave each and every person the choice of renewal. 

It doesn't matter how far down the wrong path you have managed to move; the offer is the same for each and every person.  Always present.  Always waiting.  He's got more patience than you and I do.  He can and will wait forever for you but He wants all of you so much sooner! 

Aren't you glad you are not garbage?  Oh, I know we can do a lot of things that certainly make us feel like we are garbage and may even make some judge us as garbage but God does not see us as garbage.  He doesn't make garbage. 

He sees us as lost sheep; sometimes we need a little nudge to get moving in the right direction and other times we need a swift whack to the rear end to get back on track. 

Think you are too far gone for God to use you?  Oh my dear friend, you could not be more wrong.  You are in a place that can reach people some can never get to.  Your story alone will win folks to the Lord because you have experienced their life.  They will relate to you.  The Lord will use you, if you allow Him. 

Will it be easy?  No, sorry.  Afraid not.  Some of those friends will turn their back on you when they see you make changes.  It's going to hurt.  Guaranteed.  However, they will still see the changes that come over you.  It will plant that small little seed in their minds and hearts.  Let God work on the rest of that.  He's pretty good at it  

You get down to work on you.  Pray, pray, and pray some more.  Find someone to mentor you and disciple you.  You will need to have other believers around you, interceding with prayer on your behalf.  You will be under attack.  Satan doesn't like to give up but God's already won that battle, so you don't give up!

Be prepared; you will stumble.  I think if you are mentally prepared for it, your stumble won't be you completely falling off a cliff.  You won't be caught unaware and it will be easier to turn back around.  Again, this is where the prayer and accountability of other believers will help tremendously.  With God, all things are possible.

How do I know any of this to be true?  I know some of you who know me (but don't know me that well) will wonder how on earth a goody-two shoes like me could have any knowledge of struggle with substances, immorality etc.  While I have never had a substance problem, I grew up with it in my family, both immediate and extended.  Sadly, for some of my extended family, this is still an on-going problem. 

It was in our home for as long as I can remember.  I saw the destruction of alcohol and drug abuse.  Even as a small child, I vowed it would never effect me and I would never go down that road myself.  As I got older, I realized that I am an addict myself.  I knew my personality would easily lead me down the path of substance abuse if I allowed myself that indulgence.   I have done my very best to avoid it and it has not come easy.  We had friends who were heavily into drinking and drugging.  I love those people but I chose to stay sober, even with them. 

That doesn't mean I have never had a drink, or that I don't have a glass of wine once in a while.  The few times in life that I did drink in excess, I was violently ill.  That's enough for me to stay away from it.  I don't like to puke.  I avoid it at all costs.  Plus, I had a baby at 19 and that saved me from going down a dangerous path because I didn't want my son to deal with the things I've had to growing up. 

*  I am an addict, even if it is not in the general sense of substance abuse.  I will write more on that later.  *

You are not garbage.  You are not going to be recalled.  Instead, you get to be incubated by the Creator.  Designed to become righteous and perfect for the One and Only. 

Like a freshly hatched chic, you will be like new.  With brand new little down feathers that mature and grow into magnificent and perfect wings.  Because He chose you to become who and what you are.  He chose you to tell your story, as only you can tell it.  Even if that means you had to go down a dirty, bumpy road first.  Dust yourself off.  You two have work to do!

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

I think the end of summer brings some apprehension at our house.  We try to cram as much fun into it as we can because we know all too soon we are going to back to rain and dreary skies.  I want to soak up the sun's rays as long as they are here and be outside as much as humanly possible!  But sometimes, being too busy gets in the way of the fun and wears us out.

I needed a fresh start.  A new change and as I scanned my living room, I thought, it's time to paint.  I think my husband would have left if he'd had a chance, when he saw that look in my eye. 

Off I went to the paint store only to find their paint prices were way too high for the color I wanted so I grabbed the paint swatch and went to the home improvement store and had them color match. 

I got to work as soon as I got home.  After getting into it, I realized the paint was not the exact color I had expected and I was not really thrilled but I kept going.  I figured maybe the color would work with my decor and it was a little too late to turn back.  As it turns out, the color does go with my decor and the clean, crispness of a fresh coat of paint is just what I needed to feel like I had a clean slate and fresh start for the week ahead. 

Sometimes all we need is to feel like we have wiped the slate clean.  Is there something you are holding onto that you need to let go of?  Wipe your slate clean starting today.  Sometimes it really is just as simple as a new coat of paint.

Matthew 11:30
"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

If someone comments on your blog, be courteous and respond to them.  They took the time to read your article and then post a comment (which with some blogs, can be time consuming in itself).  I find it extremely rude that I will visit a blogger, read their content, and be nice enough to comment and never hear a response.  Of course, I don't expect a response on every comment but I do think it is the nice thing to do.  I do realize if you have thousands of readers, you will not have time to comment back.  Most of us are not that famous yet

I especially believe this is true on your Facebook fan page.  If one of your fans posts a message, especially when you ask a question and they post a response, you need to respond.  If you alienate your readers, they will stop reading your site.  Plain and simple.

I also recently read that comments, like, "Great post" are spam and should be avoided.  I DO NOT believe this to be the case.  At least for me.  I want to know my readers are enjoying what they read and often, busy folks don't have time to write more.  If you like something I write and take the time to tell me, that is AWESOME!  And I will be grateful for that.  After all, I don't write just so I can see my own words in print.  I write for my audience.

Don't spam a blogger's page.  Not much else to add to that.  It's wrong.  End of subject.

Rude comments will be deleted.  Yep, I think that is fairly universal.  Sorry you're having a bad day.  I'll pray for you if you want.  That will accomplish much more.

We ♥LOVE♥ comments!  Really, we do!  I love to hear from my readers.  YOU are the reason I am even here doing this thing that I love.  If I am not reaching my audience, I might as well be lecturing my kids.  It would have about the same affect. 

Please comment!  I love to read them.  If your comment is sensitive (as many of them are due to my content) I will NOT publish it.  Your life will not become a reality show on my blog. 

I do monitor comments.  I do not like spam.  I will not allow spammers to hijack my site so I do not allow comments to auto publish.  Most of all, as I said above, most comments tend to be of a sensitive nature so I do not want to violate my reader's privacy. 

Now get on out there and COMMENT!  You know you want to

I get being in a foul mood.  Boy howdy, do I.  I will also admit that at one point in my life, I sent my own nasti-grams.  Not pretty.

I have seen attacks because someone posts, "First poster!" on a new thread started on a page.  Or someone heads over to The Bible page or Praying People page, in order to say something rude, crude, and mean. 

Are people so bored and lonely that this is how they fill their time?  I think so.  I also think it stems from jealousy because they don't have something they feel others have.

Then the nastiness is perpetuated with responders who are irritated by it and also have nothing nice to say.  Responding to these folks just fuels their fire.  It's exactly what they are looking for.  So, please for the love of all that is good, ignore them!  Or respond with kindness. 

There is also this handy dandy thing called, FLAG.  Click it, and hopefully a lovely mod will take care of it. 

If someone is constantly harassing a page and the mods have not blocked them, you can do it for yourself.  Click on the person's name.  When you get to their profile page, scroll down on the left hand side, and select Report/Block this person.  You can report them if they are truly being abusive etc.  Selecting block, makes it so you never see this person again, no matter what they post.  It also means, they can never see anything you post on Facebook either.  Win Win!

And if you are one of these nasti-gram deliverers, please find something productive to do.  Start a farm or get out of the house and go for a walk. 

Better yet, do something KIND for someone and see how it makes you feel.  If you are in a funk, I guarantee that you will come out of it!  You will feel better.  You will make a positive impact on someone's life.  Everybody wins.  Need ideas?  Check out this cool website:  Acts Of Kindness

Mods, please get rid of the trouble makers ASAP.  Don't allow them to bring the page down.  You have the POWA!  Utilize it. 



Content copyright melindatoad.com 2010

My all time favorite Christian blog is doing 30 days of Giveaways to celebrate the site's first birthday!  Don't miss out on the fun!  Enter to win some fun prizes and stay a while to relax, laugh, learn, and grow.  I promise it won't waste your time!  * Don't forget to enter the contest here as well!

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Maybe it's just me but my brain likes to play the same sayings, songs, etc over and over again until it drives me crazy!  Sayings can be a great thing to play back if they are the right ones.  It's the negative ones that seem to haunt my mind.  This is a constant reminder that we are to guard our hearts and minds. 

It is just like my post about what music we listen to (>click here for that post <, it is important what we put into our hearts and minds because they will tend to replay like a CD on repeat. 

One saying in particular that has prowled around in my mind for years is something Dr Phil says (yes, I love Dr Phil, I am fascinated by people's life stories) is, "What you fear, you create".   While I get what he is saying, I find this to be a very negative thing to say to people. 

Where is the hope in a quote like that?  I don't want to live in fear.  In fact, we are specifically instructed not to live in fear (Isaiah 41:10). 

I also do not want to create my life from my fear but from hope.  Fear can be a great motivator.  Is it the right motivator?  I don't believe it is.  While we focus on fear and try to avoid what we fear, we have to live in a perpetual state of anxiety. 

Anxiety is not good for the body or the soul.  When we become anxious, we start relying on ourselves instead of the One and Only.  Anxiety is like telling God, I don't truly trust you to take care of me. 

Do you trust Him?  Has He always taken care of you?

When you find yourself trapped in your own mind, replaying something negative like a broken record, replace it with something that is pure.  Memorize at least one scripture that you can replace negative thoughts with.  Just like with a baby, you redirect them when they are getting into something they shouldn't by distracting them with something else.  Do the same thing for yourself.  It works!  And wouldn't you rather focus on the hope that you know you have?  I would!

Phil 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.