Well, I got a ticket last week.  It was supposed to be a speeding ticket, but the officer "gave me a break" by just issuing a $119 ticket for not having my address changed on my license.  I guess I should be thankful since it won't affect my insurance, but I sure could have thought of alot more things to do with that money!
Wouldn't it be awful if we were given a ticket for every little thing we did wrong?  I can't imagine the fees!  Yes, even those things that we do when we think that noone is watching.  Talk bad about someone...boom!  Ticket! (Phil. 2:3)  Get a little greedy...boom!  Ticket! (I Timothy 6:10)  Eat too much...boom!  Ticket!  Drink too much...boom!  Ticket!  (Proverbs 23:20-21)  Love anything (family, friends, job, ideas, dreams, money, car, home) more than God...boom!  Ticket!  (Rom. 1 :25)  Not obeying the laws of the land...boom!  Ticket! (Titus 3:1-2)  Obviously I could go on and on, but I think you catch my drift!
Thankfully, we have a loving Saviour that died on a cross for our sins so that our debts have all been paid.  All those fees for my daily, fleshly wrongs have been covered with the blood of Christ so there is no need for ticketing my every weakness...except when it has to do with breaking the law of course!  :)  My having to pay a fine is the consequence of my sin.  Although my sin is forgiven by Christ, sin always has a consequence.  That's why it is God's ultimate desire that we fashion our lives after Him.  To live a holy and blameless life so that we get to enjoy a life of abundance and joy instead of living a life of consequences.
God says in His word, "I am the Lord your God.  Keep yourselves holy for Me because I am holy."  I think this is something that Christ-followers have continually drifted away from.  I am speaking to myself as well believe me!  The uglier the world gets, it's almost as though Christians feel that they can live on the edge because it doesn't look quite as bad as what the world is doing.  God has called us to be different. Light in a dark world. 
It's time we stop the excuses for all our bad habits and know that we can overcome anything because "I can do all things through Jesus Christ who gives me strength!" 
Phil. 4:13  It's time we stop doing as the world does...the way we dress, the music we listen to, the places we go, the things we watch on tv, the impurities we just overlook...it's time to reflect the life of Jesus!  If you are wearing His name as a CHRISTian, let's strive to live a life of holiness!  Yes, that even means driving the speed limit!  :)

Today Ciera began laying her head on Eli and Carmen's shoulder as they were carrying her around.  They were ecstatic.  They felt so loved and like such big brothers and sisters!
As I looked on in these very precious moments the thought came to me of how Jesus must feel when we finally come to Him and just lay our heads on His shoulder.
For some you may think, "How can you lay your head on someone's shoulder that you can't even see?"  Well, let me tell you my friend so that you may be comforted today.
When you lay your head on someone's shoulder you:

Trust them with your joys your pains.  There may be tears of joy or tears of pain that have trickled down one's arm as you've rested your head upon their shoulder. 
Psalm 30 :11 says, "You changed my sorrow into dancing.  You took away my clothes of sadness, and clothed me in happiness." (NCV)  why not rest your head on the One who will exchange your sorrow for joy and dancing?

Depend on them for support.    Maybe you are exhausted...ready to give up.  Maybe you feel as though this race called life will never end and when it does...to what avail?
Hebrews 12:1-3 "...So let us run the race that is before us and never give up.  We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back.  Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect.  He suffered death on the cross.  But He accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before Him.  And now He is sitting at the right side of God's throne. Think about Jesus' example.  He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to him.  so do not get tired and stop trying!"  (NCV)
I can assure you that I have had many a day wondering if I could even lift my head from my pillow and yet I have never even remotely endured what my Savior did for me on the cross.  Jesus promises that when we are weak, He is strong, so rest your weary head my friend!

Rely on them to handle you with care.  Ciera knows that her big brother and sister are going to hold her with tender loving care.  She snuggles up in their arms and casts her every care on them.  She is comfortable and very peaceful.  This blesses not only her, but if you could see the smiles on Eli and Carmen's faces as they are holding her, you would see that they are blessed even more!

This is just how our precious Lord is with us.  When we love Him enough to place all of our trust, dependence and reliance on Him, He feels us resting our heads on His shoulder and I can assure you that His big ol' cheese grin is just as big as Eli and Carmen's!  Let your Saviour love on you today...."cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you!!!"

I tried to start a new trend the other day.  Derrick and I and the two little ones left the house to go run some errands and after getting about 10 minutes away from home I looked down at my feet.  I immediately shouted, "Derrick we have to go home!"  He of course thought something was terribly wrong. (You would think after being together almost 20 years he would know that I over-react sometimes!)  In my  distress I threw my feet up in the air so he could see the major problem without having a wreck.  He laughed and said, "Absolutely not!"  Fortunately our first stop was to the large Goodwill store off of US1.  I made a bee-line for the shoes and would you believe they had two great, almost brand new, pairs of shoes for me that day!  God is so good!

Looking at the picture, you can tell I probably needed some new shoes anyway.  These were my oldies but goodies.  So comfy...I didn't want to give them up!  God works in mysterious ways!  Even to get us out of our comfort zone! 
I don't think a trend will transpire from my mishap, but I was reassured that when God is prodding you to give up the safe and familiar, He will always have something better in store!  Notice I said they had TWO almost brand new pairs of shoes.  He could have just provided one pair for me to have for that day so that I would not make a fool of myself, but He provided a replacement pair for each of my oldy but goodies! 
Don't be afraid to let go and move on!  God wants to bless your socks off!!!

Have you ever wanted something so bad, but it probably wasn't the best thing for you?  Carmen and Jesse were begging me for a piece of gum tonight and it was very close to bedtime.  I was very tired and didn't want to fight it so I let them have one.  Of course about thirty minutes later I look and Jesse is sacked out.  Carmen and I tried to wake him up to spit out his gum but he was OUT!  So I try to pry open his mouth to get it out and his teeth seem as though they are wired shut.  Carmen tried for me and she couldn't get it either.  So I carried him to his bed, try again and then just sigh and visualize cutting off all his beautiful curls in the morning because I could just see the bright blue gum intertwined with his ringlets.  As soon as I get him down, I walk in my room and Carmen is asleep...here we go again!  (so much for not fighting!)  Now I'm "fighting" with her jaw to get it open and trying to wake her up.  Both attempts were unsuccessful.  I was determined, with her, to get that gum because I am not about to cut her hair off yet!  I have never seen anyone sacked out asleep and able to keep their jaw shut no matter what the resistance!  Very weird!  Anyway, I finally shove my finger in through her teeth and snatch the gum.  Feeling the victory, I went back into Jesse and eventually got his mouth open to discover he had already swallowed his. 
They wanted that gum so bad, and even though it was not the best thing for them, they got it.  They held on to it and did not want to let it go.  How many times do we do that?  Enjoy something even knowing the end result will only end up messy. We hold on to it know matter how hard God or loved ones try to pry it out of our lives.  Let it go!  Messes are hard to clean up and affect more than just your life!
Just for the record, Derrick and I do have good bedtime habits with the kidos!  8 p.m. and it's night, night...Mommy & Daddy time, but Derrick was at band practice and I was a little slack!