Introduction to my blog

Good Morning all!

I thought that a simple introduction might be a good way to start off my blog, so that those of you who decide to follow it from time to time, may get to know me a little better.

So, let's see....where do we begin? It all started many, many moons ago in a little town far, far away......I'm not going to say "how many moons ago!" haha....you can just take my word for it. :) I've been here a while! (ok, 23 years, with 20 years experience if you must know). I grew up in a little farm town in the North Central part of Texas, a town of about 13,000 people. I had only one little brother to torment, and no sisters. My mom and dad worked, so my brother and I were "latch key kids", as some might relate. We grew up in what I would have called a "good home", with loving parents and decent morals. I went to church every Sunday (twice) and every Wednesday night, and participated in all the typical youth activities. I had straight A's in school, was a homebody, and for the most part, considered a real nerd in school. Since mom and dad worked, by the time I was around 12 years old, I took care of most of the chores at home, along with watching after my little brother. The "watching after my little brother" part was the worst! LOL  (Just kidding Bub! I love ya anyways!) Actually, I had some wonderful Christian granparents who lived right around the corner from us, that would check on us regularly since they were retired, and many times, I would call grandma or grandpa and ask for help on how to cook a specific dish for dinner or how to fix something that we had broken ---before mom and dad got home. All these responsibilities helped me prepare for the job of wife and mother----so I thought. I became pretty good at cooking, washing clothes, cleaning, etc....but later found out in life, that I was measuring my "good standards" on the standards of man(or woman) in this case, and NOT on the standards of God. What a mistake.
     It took me quite a while of living and learning, going through hardships of various kinds, raising my children and going through many struggles with school, kids, other parents, family & social differences; and so on, before I realized, that I was fighting a losing battle as long as I, myself, or others around me, were setting my standards for life.
      After high school and a couple of years in college, I met a wonderful man who later became my husband of 20 years and the father of my 5 children.  Life seemed happy, because we tried to make it that way. Finances were always tight, work and kids dominated most of our time, and family get-togethers were a weekly occurance. I kept track of who my kids kept company with, tried to encourage the right values, and thought I was doing a pretty good job of raising my family. Then, one night, out of the blue, my world as I knew it, came crashing down around me and my children. My husband then, worked the night shift as a nurse, and was on his way to work, when tragedy stuck. His life as a father and husband came to a screeching halt, all in the matter of a few minutes. His workplace was only a few miles from our home, but between our driveway and his workplace, was a major detour for him that would lead to his destination for eternity. Thankfully, he was saved and his detour would lead him home to his Savior, Christ Jesus. Only moments after we said our goodbyes for the evening, not knowing those would be our last, Robert died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Without prior warning, he was just gone from us. Paramedics called to the scene of his truck could not revive him. The knock on my door at midnight that night would put an end to that chapter in my life, and the life of my children, but not on a sad note, as some would expect. Now, please dont get me wrong, we will always cherish him, his guidance, all of efforts, and the beloved friendships we all had with him. Not only was he "dad" and "husband", but he was also "best friend". I truly believe his example, would be what paved the way for us to move on into the next "growth phase" of our life in the Lord. As you continue to read on, you'll understand more about what I mean. Most "Christians" today, never get passed this first stage, and remain in the infant stages of Christianity, if they even make it that far. Many people never get re-born and just try to "do good", thinking this will be good enough. Jesus said in John 3:3 "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." He goes on to say in John 3:16-17(KJV) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (vs.17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. My husband and I made sure, the morning after we were married, that we went to church and re-dedicated our lives back to the Lord, because we had not really and truly been "living" for the Lord as we should have, only professing to do so. We wanted the center of our marriage and family to be Christ; and it was, by our own standards, but I'm not sure that it ever actually met "the Lord's standards". Christ was there, when we wanted him, but usually as an "after-thought", not as the Lord of our lives.  We knew that we were saved, and had confidence in eternity with him someday, but that was about as far as it went, outside of a regular exhibit of religious activities associated with church. I am thankful I suppose, for at least that little bit of desire to want to live out the life of what I "thought" was the life of a Christian. I am ashamed however, to realize now, that there was so much more, had we only had a much greater desire to seek Him in everything we did. I Cor. 10:31 says "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." This verse is what will bring us to the "next growth phase" and to the next chapter of my family's life. I hope you will continue to follow along over the next few days, weeks, and months, to see where the Lord has brought us, and how He continues to prune and shape us physically through improved health and nutrition, but more importantly, spiritually, through the nutrition of His Word.
Have a great day!

***Shellie