Don’t Be Afraid
Isaiah 43 / Mac Lynch

When deep water curls around you and fear replaces faith,
When the floods would seem to overwhelm God’s promises of grace,
When the fires seem overtaking, and all seems torn and tossed,
Trust His Word. Oh, truly listen; hear Him say: All is not lost.

I am with you through the water; I’m with you through the flood.
They will never overwhelm you; I have bought with My blood.
Even though you walk through fire, I’ll protect you all the way.
I’m your Savior. Truly listen. Hear Me say, these words I say:

When the trials overwhelm you, so you think you’ve lost your way,
Just remember He has promised: He is never far away.

Chorus:
Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.
I have redeemed you; You are Mine. Don’t be afraid.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.
You are a precious child to Me. Don’t be afraid.

I haven’t shared a song on Sunday for a little while. I found this one recently. It’s not the best recording, but it’s Mac Lynch and he’s one of my favorites. The words are beautiful.

Unfortunately, this seems to sum up our story! It’s funny though!

Turn modern jars  into “old” blue jars.

This one you probably don’t want to look at! It made my stomach turn. The National Debt Clock in real time.

Free printable recipe cards

When I have time I’m going to organize my ribbons like this.

Look at all these free graphics at the Graphics Fairy. (It’s like Christmas!)

Free fonts–very cute!

Have you found anything cool this week?

This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by Exergen for this review.

I was excited when I saw the opportunity for this review. The thermometer I had for James died years ago and I’ve been using my trusty hand to check his temperature.

We tried it out immediately and discovered that it’s EASY to use.

The thermometer comes with a 9 v battery which made me excited. (I know I’m weird!)

It comes with a user’s guide and it’s easy to follow. It is lightweight and easy to hold.

You simply remove the cap and place the tip on the forehead. Press down the button and move the thermometer across the forehead to the hairline–while holding down the button. Release the button when you reach the hairline and it tells you the temperature.

It claims to be more accurate than ear thermometers. I can believe that. I remember my old daycare teacher days trying to use the ear thermometers. They can be too large to place into the ear of very small children and you have to purchase the disposable tips.

I like this type of thermometer better than the underarm thermometers as well. Holding feverish children and trying to keep them still for an underarm reading wasn’t very fun either!

Another great point about this thermometer is NO MERCURY!

I see a lot of value in this type of thermometer. I imagine James will find dozens of reasons to check his temperature in the coming weeks.

I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase this for a baby gift in the future. I’d have loved to have something so easy to use when James was little.

If you’d like to find out about the Exergen Temporal Scanner you can check out their FAQ’s on their home page.

Exergen also has a Facebook fan page where you can find more information.

Here is a $5 rebate on your purchase of the Exergen Temporal Scanner Infrared Thermometer

Guess what?

Exergen has offered to give a thermometer (valued at $30-$50) to one of my readers.

Here’s how you can enter:

1. Subscribe to my blog’s feed and let me know that you did (in a comment). You have to do this one before doing any other entries.

2. Leave a comment letting me know what type of thermometer you have and it’s pros and cons.

3. One daily entry for each tweet (leave a link to your tweet in the comments). You can tweet and enter once per day–not 100 tweets in 1 day.

4. Blog about this giveaway and leave your link in a comment.

5. Visit Exergen’s site and check out their FAQ’s. Let me know what you learned.

**This giveaway will end Monday 3/15 at Noon Pacific.**

1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet?

I think my shoes I wore to my wedding (and never again) have to be the oldest.

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety?

No–the whole Weight Watchers thing….

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to?

No not at all. Lee and I have talked about taking lessons sometime just for fun. I don’t know if we could afford private lessons. I don’t want to be dancing with all sorts of people!

4. Were you a responsible child/teenager?

Definitely.

5. How many of this year’s Oscar-nominated movies did you see?

None…

6. If you’re going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself?

Watching someone else. I can’t look when they’re drawing my own blood or I get queasy.

7. What is your favorite day of the week and why?

When I had the store, Mondays were my favorite because we were closed! Now, I guess I like Fridays the best.

8. Do you miss anyone right now?

My husband

9. Do hospitals make you queasy?

Not really

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you.

I imagine yarn or scrapbook supplies would be involved.

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items?

Not particularly. With a budget like mine that wouldn’t be very wise.

12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels?

I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about this.

Find other “Random Dozens” here

Two weeks ago, Lee lost his job due to lack of work. They said, “We’ll call you back in a few weeks if we have more work.”

We haven’t heard a word yet.

Lee doesn’t qualify for unemployment, because he hadn’t earned enough in previous quarters.

So many times, over the past days, I’ve prayed, “Oh, Lord, what are we going to do?”

I told the Lord that I don’t understand. This job was so difficult for Lee to get. It was such a huge blessing and we were grateful. God’s plan is apparently different than our own.

Every time I’ve prayed the “What are we going to do” prayer, this verse comes to mind.

Isaiah 26:3

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

To have perfect peace, I have to keep my mind on him. Focusing on the dwindling money, worrying about what we’re going to do, and falling apart won’t bring peace.

Lee and I are both pursuing business ventures. To say the least it’s a scary feeling. If you’d like something to pray for, please pray that if we’ll know what and when we’re supposed to do things.

I’m praying that the right path will be clear to us and that we’ll know what God wants us to do.

Also, that in the meanwhile, God would provide all our needs. I have to admit that I’m praying just a little that his job will call him back, but I want to follow the plan God has for us.

Eating right at the retreat was much easier than I thought it was. I took a bag of healthy snacks and treats just in case.

There was a salad bar and plenty of fruits and water.

I DID eat cheescake (and carrot cake!). I allowed myself one treat and passed up a lot of other treats. However, once I allowed myself the cheese cake, it was easier to eat the carrot cake. That’s my only thing I could have done better–skip the carrot cake.

I did make good choices, but I still ate too much. For example, for breakfast, I had oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, and a Weight Watchers muffin. All good choices, but I’d usually never eat that much for breakfast.

Ok–so I did alright at the retreat but not perfect!

I only got in 2 times of exercise last week too.

This morning, when I weighed, I gained .4 lbs (up to 6 lbs depending where the scale was sitting! I did NOT gain 6 lbs. so I’m counting the .4)

This week my goals are

1. Make sure I’m back on track and not giving myself permission to eat too many treats.

2. Get in exercise 3 times.

3. Up the water.

4. Go to bed earlier–this may be my life long struggle!

What about you? Do you have any health goals for the week?

When James got to his “J” page in Cursive Success, one of the words on the page was jail.

I told him to just cross it out. He got a huge smile and did just that.

In small ways, we are reclaiming the power jail  held over our lives.

The story’s not over yet. It’s hard to know exactly what will happen in the future. But for now, we’re crossing it out and smiling.

Is anyone out there blessed?

We are! God is so good.

I’m thankful that I got to spend a couple days away catching up on my scrapbooks. I got 35 pages done and visited with my pastor’s wife and a friend from church the whole time.

I’m thankful that I got to see my little nephew again!

I’m thankful for my friend from church who kept my son so I could go away.

I’m thankful that my husband drove me to the retreat. He and I got to visit and he carried all my heavy things in and out!

I’m thankful that God will provide for us. I don’t know how but he will.

What about you?