Friday, October 30, 2009

Icky Customers and what to do with them...

Just try to love them. I have had them coming out of the woodwork for the last few days. But you know what? Our job is just to love. I say just, like it is an easy thing. Believe you me, I know that it is no easy thing. But, why let it ruin your day? Why let it affect you negatively?

More later. Quick post today.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Learning so much

Okay, I am learning so much lately, I don't even know where to start. First off, did you know that "kindness" is a fruit of the spirit? :) So, I think that I had forgotten that. I prayed with my lovely on Sunday night that we would be more kind to people. Then realized that when I think of the Fruit of the Spirit, I think, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience...............and that is as far as I get. I forget: Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. Wow! There are 9. How many am I exhibiting. I am not trying to be hard on myself here. I know that I can indeed show these on any given day. But are they soaking up my existance? Are they overtaking all that I am so that people see Jesus more and more? I am not sure. But I am more and more glad to be aware of it so I can try.

Yesterday when I was praying with my sweetie, I just really realized that for years, I have been tricked into thinking that I am not praying correctly. "You know, we don't know God's will so we have to be careful how we pray." "We need to remind God of his promises and of his word." this non-sense goes on and on. this is a bunch of crap! We don't have to have any formula. Except for the following:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give me what I need for today. And forgive me of my sins as I forgive those who sin against me. Keep me from temptation. Deliver me from evil. Yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the Glory forever and ever. Amen.

Something else that we need to remember, is that God is our father. Now, I in recent years, have been getting to know my father. It has been hard until now, he was not around when I grew up. I think that is why it took me so long to understand God's fatherly love for me. Because I just really associated it with earthly father, who was far off from me. But things are better now and I am enjoying my relationship with my earthly dad. okay, back to my point, God is a great dad. It is okay for us to ask him for things. We are human. We want, we need, ext...but the truth is, If it is not in our best intrest, or the best intrest of the person we are interceeding for, God may not answer the way we wish him to. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't ask.
Hopefully this will make more sense with an example. Adam's uncle John has cancer. We want uncle John to live. So we pray that God will heal him. We love uncle John and don't want him to die. That is not selfish, that is normal human emotion. So we ask our father to help. He will do what he sees fit, but he is not annoyed with me for asking him to heal uncle John.
My friend Cindy's mom Linda is also sick with cancer. We want her to live and see her grandchildren. That is okay:) We will continue to ask for God to heal Linda. If he does, it is a brilliant testimony of God's gracious gift of life. If he doesn't, he has another plan. I know both John and Linda are in God's arms though, and so whatever the outcome, he will be glorified.

Bit of a rambling post. Hope you have a great rest of your week.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

People For Peace?

Lately Adam and I have been focusing on creating an environment of peace. We have found that since both of us don't like to pick up after ourselves, and both of us are very clutter-prone people, we have little peace. We are making efforts to not only get rid of 1/2 of our house, but also to not buy things. Just because it is on sale, does not necessitate my need for it. Yes, it is nice, yes it is a great bargain, but do we need it? Will we use it immediately? Wow, I could leave the Kleenex on the floor, or I could just take the time to bend over and pick it up now. Cleaning up after yourself saves a lot of time and emotional stress:) If you are so led, please pray for us about this.

Okay, more on being people of peace:

Saturday, Adam, Haylee and I were driving home from the coffee house. We were in a long line-up at the stop lights and a man behind us (who apparently thought we were blocking him on purpose from not getting into the left hand turn lane, even though we were simply at the back of the line making it so that he would have to patiently wait to turn) started honking his horn. We turned to look because we were not aware that we were doing anything wrong, and as we did, we saw a very grumpy face giving us the finger. He just sat there staring at us, waving his arm angrily with his middle finger up. We laughed nervously a little because we were in shock. Then, the shock turned into astonishment as he passed us on the left and we saw his bumper sticker. It said "People for Peace."
I started laughing so hard, I started to choke, and I almost threw up! The irony.

So, my moral of the day is, don't put bumper stickers on your car. You just never know about yourself:)

Make it a great Tuesday!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Soup

So, it is really funny to me how much a pot of homemade soup can make a difference in a business. Recently my chicken wild rice soup was picked as one of the top 4 in the city. The local newspaper took my picture and featured us in the article. People are crazy for soup. I can hardly believe it.

Growing up, my mom and grandmom were always cooking. Everything was made from scratch. I remember that it was a real treat to eat out:) Now-a-days, we are lazy people we eat out everyday. I guess that is why everyone is so nutzy for my scratch soup. It just feels good. It is a comfort. Comfort food is in:)

Anyway the fall has turned into winter here in Minnesnowda. We have had 3 inches so far, none of which has stayed. But none the less, snow.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Refreshed by the endorphins

So, all my life, I have HATED to sweat. For one whole week now, everyday for 2 hours I literally sweat like crazy, wiping my forhead trying to keep up with all the soup eaters here in Rochester. (thank you Post Bulletin)! Yesterday when we got home, we just put the dog on a leash and headed out the door for a walk, knowing full well that we all needed the excercise and that if we sat down in a chair, we would be gonners. The endorphins kicked in in 5 minutes. It was amazing. I just can't believe how good it feels to excercise like this. I am very tired but not. Hopefully that makes some sense to someone. Anyway, with the increase of business, we are starting to pull out of the hole. i don't think that it will be that much longer before Adam will be able to work here too.
"Casting all your cares upon him, for he cares for you."--1Peter 5:7 the first verse I ever memorized from the Bible.
Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Quick note

So all of the publicity from the local newspaper has done wonders. We are very busy and I am very tired. But, i am not complaining. Thanking the Good Lord for yet one more answer to prayer instead!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Sickness

So, for the last 4 days now, I have been sick. So sick that my lovely store has been closed for 3 of those days. I am very glad that i am getting better. It is hard work being sick. You have to drink lots of liquids, sleep a lot, pee a lot, and you are so sore. My whole body still hurts, but i think it hurts mostly from all the coughing now. I have been very dizzy. I have been having very strange dreams about my hometown. I have been feeling like I am literally going to crawl out of my skin. My head has been pounding and I have been spinning. But, eventually, I will get better and then, I will really appreciate my health. You never appreciate something more than when you have lost it.
More later, when the shaking subsides...............