Psalm 27

I read this today and it was just what I needed.

Today we went walking on some trails. We were on our way back, taking a creekside trail. We were getting concerned about the time. We did not want to be in the woods, on unfamiliar trails, in the dark. It was going to be close, but we were sure we should make it back before it became dark.

Before we started this trail, we had looked at our map. According to it, if we walked alongside the creek for some distance, we should come to a bridge which would cross over the creek. Once over the creek, another trail would take us up a hill and link us back to the main trail. From there it would be a short distance to where we parked.
We kept walking. It kept getting darker. It wasn't dark, but a little concern began to creep in; mainly, where is this bridge?
We kept looking at the map, all of us. According to the map, there was a bridge that would allow us to cross over the creek.
One of us went ahead looking for the bridge. The others of us began to talk. One spotted a pipe that went across the creek. He suggested we cross the creek using the pipe. The pipe was big enough to walk on; it was only inches above the creek, so even if we fell off trying to walk across the creek, no harm (foreseen) would be done. The creek was shallow, so even if we fell in, the worst would probably only be us getting wet.
We also saw a tree which had fell across the creek; between the tree and the pipe, the pipe seemed safer.
One kept saying, "but the map says there is a bridge." "Let's keep going."
With no bridge yet in sight, the pipe was suggested again. It was still kept open as an option. If it got to the point, where if not taking the pipe, we would be in the woods after dark - we would have used the pipe; but, we were not at that point.
So, the same thing was said. "The map says there's a bridge; we've got to trust the map." This led into a conversation of how we must trust God's Word. Sometimes in life, you don't see the bridge, but you have the map (God's Word); it is then, fear and doubt can show up. Crossing the creek on a pipe or by a tree could have been a bold decision. Bold is fine, but, if not necessary, it could be a dangerous risk.
We trusted the map. It was not to much longer, and we saw the bridge. We crossed over the creek, and made it back to the car as night began to fall.
The map proved trustworthy; and, much the more, is God and His Word worthy of our trust.
When you can't see the bridge, take courage; trust in His Word and keep His way, and He shall strengthen your heart.

Psalm 27: ([A Psalm] of David.) The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident.
4 One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, [when] I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 [When thou saidst], Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
9 Hide not thy face [far] from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 [I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Are you brusied and battered...

God is so good! I read a post the other day about how when you feel like you can't hold on anymore, or when things just seem too hard to understand, is when God is about to show up and show out! BUT only when we seek Him and seek His guidance and only then. We can't keep trying to figure things out on our own and expect things to go well. Never will happen! Our minds, our flesh and the devil will just mess that all up! God is always the answer! Our life lessons are what make us special and unique. If we always had a perfect life, and we were always the center of the universe then what good would we be to Him?! It's the people that work hard, pray hard, crash big, and never give up that make a difference for Him. Where are you in this?
1Peter 5 1-11
1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all [of you] be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle [you].
11 To him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Experiencing temporary difficulties...

Sometimes I think my life would make a great TV movie!  It even has the part where they say, "Stand by. We are experiencing temporary difficulties." 

Prayer for our athletes...

Their is a prayer chain that is put out via email by Former Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker's mom. I just now read this weeks letter and find so much peace in the words and prayers that have been said for these athletes and their families. It has so many mothers of athletes that are talking about the journey that God is taking their athlete on! WOW!!! It's amazing how God is using them through simple sports that they already love to do! God is working in our youth to make a difference in our lost and dieing world. From the youngest to the oldest, He wants to use them all. I know the devil would want nothing more than to see these witnesses fail and to give up when the going gets tough, to place their tails between their legs and quit! That's why I am so humbled to be able to pray for our youth and our striving athletes who WANT to be the light for Him. They fight even harder than other athletes, they have to train harder mentally to be prepared to stand the battle that Satan always has in store for them. Tim Tebow is such a blessing, such a light for our world but if we could only see the battles and fights that he has to partake in to continue to be the light that he needs to be for our world and other youth. I praise him for his diligent work, his willing to sacrifice some of his goals for Gods! Sure he wants to always play that perfect game, be on target every day, but his battles makes his testimony. As so do our youths! My daughter is a striving young gymnast who trains 17+ hours a week, she's only 10 and she will tell you first hand that doing Gods will and being the light that He wants you to be through the talent that He has given you is the hardest thing she has ever done. Does she get scared, Yes! Does she continually mess up, Yes! Does she hit road blocks, mental blocks, and days that she just wants to quit and give up, yes! BUT...she doesn't because she knows that God is her refuge and that she is doing His will for her life right now. The light that she is going to be for Him is far greater than any medal that is placed around her neck. The joy that she gets in her soul and the lesson that she learns from falling flat on her face time and time again, going through tribulations for the glory of God, working harder than anyone else in the gym, and having to give 300% when others just give 75% and still look to the world like she failed is worth it! If it plants seeds for Him, helps lead another lost soul to Him, she will do it time and time again. She might not get what she deserves here on earth, but she will sure get it in Glory! They all will! Proverbs Chapter 4.


Shannon Donald mother of Eve Donald level 6 struggling gymnast from Six Mile SC trying to be a light for Him! Looking up for guidance, and praying for wisdom.

Comical relief...

We have a typical morning rush everyday for school. Routines of course, and it works-for the most part. I get up, get ready, then I fix breakfast, lay out medications ( Alergy, vitamins) and wake the girls. I usually only have to call Eve one time and she is up at the bar eating. Jasy I have to slowly wake and then carry her to the bar and continue to wake so she doesn't fall off the bar stool. I then fix lunches, grab jackets, re-check bookbags, folders, fix waterbottle, pack snack for Eve ( yeah they get a morning snack since they go to lunch so late in the day), and all while I am repeating "eat up, hurry and eat, you need to eat" over and over and over and over! Then it's a quick clean up, sitting the bookbags, lunch boxes, jackets by the door and getting the girls dressed, teeth brushed, hair fixed. I lay all of our clothes out the night before so it will speed up our morning rush a little. Sometimes, we still have melt downs about what I picked out bc Eve is such a picky child! It's either too itchy, too hot, or she just don't like what I picked out! Then it sets us back! I have to pretty much prompt both of them to do the daily grooming methods to get them to do it. You would think they know that they have to brush their teeth in the morning, use mouthwash, Eve wear deodorant, etc etc etc, but NO!!! Once we get them all presentable to leave the house then it's rush, rush out the door, and since they're both pretty grouchy in the morning I usually have to referee a few times. Eve has to be at school every morning at 7:25 to do flag patrol so I usually drop her off at the school office and Jasy and I wait until they open the doors for all students. This morning it was raining so Eve didn't have to do flag patrol. With the extra time we were able to talk a little more. She started telling me in the car about a conversation that she had with three older team mates on her gymnastics team. They're only a couple of years older but they are in Middle school so they have more information to share. :) She asks me about Health class that you have with boys and what they teach you. ( I know, what?!) So I do the quick switcharoo, you know where I answer her question with another question. "What did they tell you they teach"? "They didn't get to bc it was my turn on bars and the coach told them to stop talking about that" she says. "Oh, well it's probably about some of the things that we have discussed recently (menustration, basic birds and bees---note--basic birds and bees----note again--BASIC birds and bees, she doesn't need to know the whole honey and planting quite yet) that's all, and we will talk more about it in a few months okay"? ", I say. Then she says, "Oh...well that's just embarrassing then that you have to be around boys while learning all that mess"! I am thinking "whew...got through that one for now" and then Jasy yells out "FAG" Eve you didn't do the fag"!!!!! I think "What in the world did you just say and then I remember, Oh she is saying FLag, Eve didn't do the flag this morning! My point in all of this...our mornings are never dull and always full of excitement! You should join us sometime, it would be very comical! Holla!

CANCUN...

Cancun was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was paradise and we had such a good time! The temperature was perfect and it was nice to escape somewhere warmer. We soaked up the UV and it was very therapeutic!! I left with hives from the medicine that I took from my terrible sinus infection and came back hives free, with a complete mood change, feeling better, and with some color! It was just what I needed! We layed around the pool all day long drinking frozen smoothies and Pepsi and doing absolutely NOTHING! They waited on us left and right and we had food galore! We ate like kings and we ate often. All the food and snacks we wanted and at any time. The girls thought it was neat that they didn't have cash registers there, lol. Jasy and Eve stood by the ice cream machine one day and ate one after another until it ran out! I kid you not! Jasy is now addicted to Strawberry smoothies and she swam up to the bar everyday to get them. The resort we stayed at was full of little gymnasts and their families running around so it was nice to be surrounded by other families.They had an amazing Kiddie area with a waterslide, pirate ship, etc. They also had kid activities all day long with pingpong, ballon animals, volley ball, water games, etc. They loved that! We had different shows to watch every night and they were hilarious!!! Jasy can now do a Michael Jackson impersonation pretty good, lol.

Eves meet went really good!! The team got first and we just weren't expecting that! Eve got her first 9+ of the season and she was in hog heaven! She walked away with three medals!

We made it through customs and security pretty good too. No pat downs but I was the one that the radom alarm went off with on the way home! Yeah, they had to do an explosive test on my hands and all, lol. Probably bc of all the salsa that I had ate while there, lol.

It was so funny looking at the prices on items there bc of course they were all in pesos. Jason went to buy me a candy bar and it was $20! $1 something in US dollars but he about died until they told him that. I looked at a cover up for $529! ($30+ US). Jasy got her a handmade Mexican baby, it is so cute! (It was in U S $'s though)

Iguanas were everywhere there! You walked around the resort and they were just lying on the ground. BIG ones! It was weird. The water was BEAUTIFUL! One of the pools that we stayed at over flowed into a waterfall up under it and it looked like the pool just overflowed into the ocean bc they were the same color! It was neat! They had tiki huts everywhere and big canopy beds right by the pool so you could just lay in bed while soaking in rays. I was amazed by that! It was paradise I tell you! I'm ready to go back already! This darn weather here is too cold! Have you heard that Alaska got 15 feet of snow?!!! Maybe, just maybe, God wanted us to go to Mexico for a reason?! A girl can wish, right!?

Jasy's 6th Birthday celebration...

Jasy had her 6th bday. I can't believe that she is already two hands as she would call it. On her Birthday she wasn't excited to turn 6 and asked if she could stay 5 again lol. She said she didn't want to grow up and that she wanted to stay a baby forever. What she didn't know is she will be my baby forever no matter what age!!!!! Once a baby, always the baby!She wanted to have a gymnastics party and she picked out all the colors and made all the plans. Zebra and pink polka dots. She is such a Princess!! LOVES PINK! We brought the beam, bars, mini trampoline, and mat from home and layed it all out and the kids had a time acting like little monkeys. It was cute. Eve planned all the activities and she taught each little gymnast a routine for them to do for their parents and then we had an award ceremony at the end and they got their medals. All first place! I was really impressed with how Eve wanted to be involved and planned it all. She had an award table set up where she gave stamps and stickers for good work. She really enjoyed herself. 

Happy Birthday sweet girl! I love you sooooooo much and you will always be the baby here! :)