a Psalm for you this morning...

Psalm 103: 8-14

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him'

for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

being bold

so this morning i spent countless hours on the phone with my new friend saul. he is an employee at walt disney world, from puerto rico and has three daughters, a few granddaughters and a grandson on the way. how do i know this? i asked him. while he was hard at work trying to help me make reservations for our trip to disney world coming up at the end of september, i heard the Holy Spirit prompt me to talk to saul. so i did.

i am not the bold type, per say, but since starting a bible study on the fruit of the spirit and especially the Holy Spirit... i think God is giving me a new freshness to "try" boldness.

so, anyway, saul told me his name. never really hear that name so i say:

"that is an unusual name, do you know of anyone else with that name or do you hear it often?"

saul: "just the one from the bible"

me: "really? you know saul?"

saul: "not really"

a short while later....


me: "so...you know saul's name was changed to paul, in the bible, right?"

saul: "yeah, that is a good thing"


another few minutes go by and more prompting from God....


me: "saul, are you a christian?"

saul: "um...i can't really talk about it...it's complicated"

me: "oh, because you are at work?"

saul: "no, i think it's good to talk about...but it's just complicated for me"

me: "well, i'm a christian...in case you were wondering"

saul: "i can tell by your demeanor...."


probably 20 minutes later and as we close the conversation...

me: "thanks so much saul for helping me. you're the best"

saul: "you're welcome. hey... pause... could you pray to your Dad for me. you know who and what i'm talking about..."

me: "um...YES saul... of course i will. in fact as soon as i get off the phone i will pray for you. no problem."

saul: "oh thank you. i really need it. God bless you."

me: "God bless you Saul!"

i promptly got off the phone and prayed for this precious man. he in fact is still on my mind and i will continue to pray for him as long as the Holy Spirit prompts me to.

i'm not anything special. it was an ordinary day with a really ordinary phone call. for some reason God prompted me to talk to this man and i actually listened. has this happened to you and you listened to Him? or did you ignore Him? what would have happened if i ignored God and didn't talk to saul. i am so glad i did. now i can pray for him and love him through Christ. i may never see why this occurred but i know God knows and i'm cool with that.

saul, buddy, i'm praying for you!

i'm a TRIATHLETE!

so my first triathlon is scheduled for sunday, august 2nd...
in order to prepare myself for it, my girlfriend, noelle and i decided it would be a good thing if we signed up for the local triathlon that happened on july 4th!
we wanted to see how well we'd do when it comes time for the "real" one... we wanted to test ourselves and see how well trained we are up to this point, get some nerves out and ....

well, my friends...there is nothing unreal about this tri we did on saturday... it was a 1/2 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 5K...same as the one we signed up for this coming august.

...AND WE FINISHED IT!

it was no easy task and in fact i stumbled and panicked in the beginning while in the water. i am used to training in a light and warm pool...so going into a dark lake is a little different. my nerves got the best of me but my friend noelle calmed me and waited for me (aaahhh!) and we did the bike and run portion just fine. we are champs and we completed it!

God is Good!!! :)

here are some pics from the race...



my beautiful transition area all set up! yikes!


first real glimpse of me getting out of the lake... disappointed with my performance but moving on.


out of the water (finally) and with my biggest fan who was encouraging me to continue - my dad!


finished the swim, noelle patiently waiting for me, and getting ready for the bike portion


Noelle and me mounting our bike to get ready to roll...


about 1.5 miles left of the bike portion..


jer's parents and my boys - part of the cheering section


my sweet joy and erik cheering me on. love them!


on bike, coming up to transitional area...getting ready to start running!


dad and logan - part of the cheering section


running our little hearts out as we near the finish line


crossing the finish line with my partner in crime! we made it! what a victory!


mission completion! all smiles here and tired!


noelle and her hubby brian and one of her 3 children - the eldest, lauren


sweet reward at end of the race

nothin' like family

so...this week was just crazy. it was fun and i am tired! with monique and jason having little sophie...all sorts of family came into town. aunt courtney stopped in with her bestie, jamel, for a visit and to meet her newest niece AND my sister and her family all came in, coincidentally, to have a vaca here with our family and of course got the chance to meet sophie. topped off with a little triathalon for myself at the end of the week...but i'll post about that later...
here are some pics from the fabulous week we had!



With the ever spunky courtney. we went out for mexican with the whole fam...


getting to hold little sophie after a week of not seeing her...i missed her!


zach seeing sophie for the first time. he LOVED her...smiled really big and gave her several kisses!


My sister and her family came for the week and we just had a really great time. We just got the chance to hang out alot together and the children all had fun playing and being together... a luxury we don't get often. precious time, precious family!



logan and papa just chillin' and watching what is going on around him...


me and lee - shannon's husband.


logan on daddy's shoulder...


shannon and georgia after she came down the slide...isn't she adorable. a mini version of my sister!


my hubby with shannon's eldest daughter, madison. she is growing up so quickly!


lee and my dear nephew braden just chillin' in our backyard while the young ones play


stealing a moment by the pool with my sweet ones


the young ones loved playing ring around the rosy...priceless to watch z interact with everybody


shannon stealing zach for a hug. love this picture


jerry, me and all the cousins. love them!!!


reagan, shannon's 4 year old and my boy z... sneaking off for a private moment together


me and my girls...reagan and madison


all kids together...


logan and georgia taking a drink break...aren't they adorable?


me and my most beautiful sister shannon. i love you!


shannon's kids on tree playin'...

it was fun and fast and fabulous!

ta da!!!!

here are the pics of our sweet sophie girl.
she was born june 25th, 2009 and was 7 lbs and 9 oz. 19 1/2 inches long.
she is adorable and actually seems to be a cross between both my boys... we'll see!
love her so much!


the proud daddy and his little sophia lynne!


our sweet sophie. isn't she adorable?!


uncle jerry and his 4th little niece!


we love our little niece!


i just couldn't be prouder! love her!

SOPHIA is here!

my new little tiny niece is here! Praise God!!!
she is 7lb 9oz

pics to come...

for all the dads out there...

For the Dads in my life...

i love my dad. he is the best dad in the whole wide world. he makes me laugh, is great to both me and my sister, loves my mom and i just enjoy being with him.
love you dad. happy fathers day!







i love my dad in law. he is really great and i love how he is interacting with my boys. thanks for that! he's also a hard worker!
happy fathers day!





i love my husband. he is the best dad to our boys. he is exactly how a man after God's own heart should be and loves my boys, plays with them, kisses them and hugs them and all the while loving me! i love you babe. happy fathers day!