Pray for Me/Pray for Others

Hello everyone,
We participate in "Pray for Me... Pray for Others" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to add your prayer request. Join a community of friends who care about you, and hope you will care about them.

It's time to do Pray for Me/Pray for Others. I ask you to check out the blog that started pray for me/others. Pray for their 4 year old daughter Abby who is battling Leukemia right now.

Pray for me:
Please pray for me. I was put on 5 weeks of medical leave today. I am terribly sick right now. My doc thinks this might be a flare-up of my sjogren's, but is running a panel of tests to see if there is anything else. I pray that whatever is found can be treated so I can get back to feeling better and get back to work.

Pray for Others:
Please pray for a young man's family. His name is Nathan Rosenquist. He is 24 years old and passed away after a 5 year battle with cancer and leaves behind a wife of only 6 months. The funeral is tomorrow morning. Please keep this family in your prayers, and especially his young, brand new bride.

God Bless you all on this very Holy Week.
Amanda

Holy Week/Palm Sunday

Is 50:4-7 And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me, let us appear together. Who disputes my right? Let him confront me. See, the Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong? Lo, they will all wear out like cloth, the moth will eat them up. Who among you fears the LORD, heeds his servant's voice, And walks in darkness without any light, Trusting in the name of the LORD and relying on his God? All of you kindle flames and carry about you fiery darts; Walk by the light of your own fire and by the flares you have burnt! This is your fate from my hand: you shall lie down in a place of pain.

Phil 2:6-11Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Mk 14:1-15
It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth, and kill him; for they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult of the people." And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. But there were some who said to themselves indignantly, "Why was the ointment thus wasted? For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and given to the poor." And they reproached her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her." Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. And when they heard it they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him. And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?" And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, `The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?' And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us."

Greetings All!
A very blessed Holy Week to all of you. I can't believe it is already Palm Sunday and in 7 days we will be celebrating in glory our RISEN CHRIST!

This Lenten journey has been an eye opener for me this year. With the economy, my current job situation, health, and so on, I am reminded during this Lent what life is really to be about. It is about preparation of the 2nd coming of our LORD. Remebering...A job is just a J-O-B. As tough as it is to get through each day, I had time to reflect over Lent this year that I am just thankful that I have a paycheck unlike so many who do not have one right now. I am also reminded during this Lenten season that our LORD is a MIGHTY GOD and SAVIOR! These times of dificulty have made me yearn for heaven and eternal life with Jesus. My bouts of bad health have been comforted by knowing that this is not an eternal thing. Further, as I reflect on N. Korea and the threats they have been making, I am reminded that this life on earth is not eternal. Heaven IS eternal, and we must suffer on earth, obey God's commands, work hard and repent our sins so that we can live in eternal life in Heaven. This life on earth...it's just temporary. We must keep praying. Praying for others, strangers, family and friends and seeking forgiveness for our sins.


Someday, all because GOD LOVES US, suffering/pain/hardship will cease to exist. It's hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that someday, there will be a time where I will have no idea what it's like to be in pain (physical, emotional, etc) and that in and of itself is worth working towards.

I am also reminded that Jesus suffered so greatly, too as he was crucified for US...YOU and ME. HE suffered for the love of all of us sinners on earth so that when HE comes again in Glory, we might all be saved as well and spend eternity in Heaven with HIM. And in this eternity and Heaven-filled life, there will be no pain, no suffering, no wars, no fear. It will be an eternal life filled with Joy and the ever presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

May you all have a wonderful, purpose-filled Holy Week as you prepare for Good Friday, but most of all for Easter Sunday where you will be reminded of God's promise for you! Blessings to you all!










Happy Easter,
Amanda

Pray for Me, Pray for Others

We participate in "Pray for Me... Pray for Others" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to add your prayer request. Join a community of friends who care about you, and hope you will care about them.

It's been a crazy busy life...but I want to remind all about Pray for Me/Pray for others with the Riggs Family! Remember to keep the entire Riggs Family (and especially their 4 year old daughter, Abby) in your prayers!!! God Bless!

Amanda

God Reigns and Liz "Winks"

It has been quite a while since I have updated. Honestly...not much to update on and I've just been in a "funk" lately. Many of you know from my earlier posts that I had applied for a job (a job I so desperately wanted) and while the person who interviewed me told me that I was "stellar, the best person they interviewed, and I was the top candidate" (and I literally quote that from her), they said I was completely over qualified and were worried I would quit in 6 weeks. Little do they know that I am not a quitter. But none-the-less, I did not get that job. Needless to say, I was/am completely heartbroken. I wanted to get out of my current job SO badly and was looking forward to this brand new opportunity. So, there's that, and a few other "life things" that have just had me in a funk.

HOWEVER...I wanted to share a precious Liz Wink that Aaron (yes, Aaron) received today. His first ever Liz Wink I might add! :)

We went to Mass this morning (as we do every Sunday). After that we went to lunch at a local drive-in called JB's. Well, after we got done eating, we walked out the door and Aaron stopped me dead in my tracks and told me to come look at something. I wasn't too enthused at first, but I thought...what's he up to anyway. He said that this morning he prayed for good things for me and asked for a sign that this would happen, and then he told me to look at the window where we were (now) standing. I looked straight ahead and right in front of my face was this poster (below).
Aaron said he asked for a sign that things would turn around for me and this was what he saw as we were walking out of the restaurant!! Ofcourse, we know who sent us this little "make your day better" sign...GOD AND LIZ!!! Honestly, it was RIGHT there as we were walking into the restaurant and neither of us saw it, and I didn't see it on the way out...but low-and-behold...Aaron saw it (as he walked behind me). It had to have been that God and Liz did not want me to see that poster so that Liz could (by the Grace of God) show Aaron that she is watching out for us and God is hearing our every prayer about our life situations going on right now and will answer it in HIS time. But rest assured, we are not being ignored by Heaven! :)
She has ALWAYS been the angel in heaven these last 2 years that shows me time and again that she and God have a plan!! Sure, I wish that plan was revealed to me a little sooner, but it's winks like this that boost my faith and keep me going in the darkest of times and saddest of days.

Hope you enjoy this ever unique Liz Wink as Aaron and I just smiled when it was revealed. May you all see the blessings God gives you in the darkest days you experience. Take care and God Bless!

Love,
Amanda

Pray for me/Pray for others

Prayer is very powerful. Please join me in submitting your own prayer requests as well as a prayer for anther person. Every Weds this is done on the Riggs Family Blog. They are a beautiful family who is watching their 4-year old battle cancer. PLEASE pray for them! God Bless!
Amanda


We participate in "Pray for Me... Pray for Others" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to add your prayer request. Join a community of friends who care about you, and hope you will care about them.

HI/LO Thursday

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check out their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts and for a chance to win $100.

Remember to check out this family's blog!! They need your prayers and they are witnesses to God's constant love and faithfulness! Little Abby will get to go home from the hospital! Keep praying for them and for Abby!

Hi/Lo Thursday!
WOW...my "hi" for this week was that I had a job interview last Friday. It went very well, and I know I would really like that position if I got it! I haven't heard any word on it, yet but I was thankful for the interview and even more greatful that it went so well! Just praying that I hear some good news regarding the job soon!!

The "Lo" for this week...my current job situation. It's terrible. It takes every ounce of me to make it through the day. My co-workers/boss...they are MAD if I do something right and they are MAD if I make even the smallest mistake (keeping in mind that this is a brand new position for me since my other position was eliminated due to company buy-out). They will spend all of about 20 mins training me (so, with that...how am I supposed to learn), they scough if I ask a question (so, how am I supposed to learn) and will turn around and train the person sitting next to me for over 2 hours and also answer their questions in perfect detail where if I ask them a question they tell me to "figure it out myself" (and I quote). They are just down right mean to me and I really need a break (hopefully the job interview from Friday is my break). It's not good for my health to be THIS stressed out everyday. I can't be on any meds right now (no chemo, no steroids, not even any aleve), so prayer is the only thing keeping me "healthy" enough to get into work everyday. I don't know why they act this way towards me (I'm a bubbly person, but not when I'm working lately just b/c it is very hard to be in a good mood when your treated like junk, when all you want is some training on your new position). I pray that I get that job that I interviewed for on Friday (and I pray that I hear about it soon). I pray that this "lo" turns into a "hi" when I post next week!!

Thank you all for your wonderful support! You know you mean the world to me and I love you all so much! May you have a VERY Blessed week! And remember...check out Abby's story and PRAY for her!!

Love,
Amanda

Laughter Lives Tuesday

First things, first...remember to PRAY for Abby and her family! This family is SO precious!
This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.


Today's topic is "picutres that are so funny, I was glad I had my camera! I had a hard time limiting pics because I have SO many funny pics! So...descriptions are below each pic...enjoy!

Aaron and his niece. Aaron is on the Wii Fit and his niece wanted so badly to "play", too, so her mom smashed down one of her barbie boxes and convinced her that this was infact a "wii fit". Taeya had the best time playing with Uncle Aaron on the Wii!

The next two photos...my maid of honor flew in from MN 3 days before the wedding. I tried on my dress that Weds to make sure everything still fit perfectly. I wasn't quite ready to take my dress off and ended up convincing Katie that she needed to put on her bridesmaid dress and we needed to each have a drink! GUTSY move on my part since I was wearing a white dress opening up 2 bottles of Cranberry Mikes Hard Lemonade just 3 days before my wedding!
There were no spills...and we had a BLAST!!!!!!!!!! :)
This is my mom and my uncle Mike. None of us knew that he was "musical" and my mom decided she was going to put on a "show"! If only we had a video for this b/c it was absolutely hilarious!

My friend Ashleigh. It was raining so hard that night and so she was bundling up so her hair wouldn't get messy! Ofcourse b/c it was a Friday night, I had my camera on me and viewed this as a photo opportunity!
My cute niece (she's 4 yrs old now)...she LOVES bathtime and I always did goofy things with her when we babysat (above...putting the washcloth on her head)
Giving her a beard with soap!
Here is my niece again...trying to sneak a gingerbread cookie...that little mischevious look on her face!!!

This pics is one of our annual gingerbread making nights. We do this every year the week before Christmas. My little niece (back to the camera) only wanted the frosting! How many adults does it take to make a "pre-made" gingerbread house??!?!?

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL week! Enjoy and remember to LAUGH no matter what (I have to tell myself that A LOT lately)...but it's not impossible! Take care, God Bless and I'll update soon!

Love,

Amanda