Once again not one, but two lives cut short. Not taken by God, but by man. Children without their earthly Daddy. Mothers without their sons. Wives without their husbands. Friends without their friends. This life is too precious too short to be taken too soon. Prayers go out to two families and two sets of children that are hurting so deeply that their are no words that can ever be spoken that will truly ease their pain.

I've already walked this path with friends this year and in the years past. My heart aches, but I know GOD is in control. I will continue to pray and lift these dear families up to him... the only true comforter.

Aussies shared...

American packaging

Australia packaging

In 1993, I had the trip of a lifetime when Wade went to work for Air New Zealand for many weeks in the summer. Being a teacher and having free airline miles, I could jet set across the world with him. (Those were the days :-),but I love these days too) We stayed in New Zealand but took the opportunity to go to Sydney and surrounding areas as well. Fast forward to when Cara was 3 in 2001, Wade had the opportunity again to go to Australia for business. Cara and I went alongside him and had the time of our lives each day while Wade was working we went ALL over Sydney by foot, bus, train and taxi. The first time we were there we discovered something very unique about Australia.. TIM TAMS! They are an incredible chocolate cookie with chocolate filling covered in chocolate. When we went the second time, we brought as many boxes home as possible.

Over the years, every time a friend would go to Australia we would beg them to bring us back some Tim Tams.

One year, Santa Claus brought us some Tim Tams.

Last weekend, I was away at our Ladies Retreat. When I got home, Wade took me to the refrigerator and said you are not going to believe this... he opened the door and there in front of me were TIM TAMS. In a much different packaging than in Australia but they taste the SAME! Yum! However, they are 2 Weight Watcher points a piece!

Pepperidge Farm finally got the Aussies to share their infamous cookie! Even on the package it says.. Australia's favorite cookie! Well, it is the Kelley's favorite cookie too besides Thin Mints of course!

So next time you are at the store, look for some Tim Tams.. you will LOVE them!

Thankful..

This month is a month of thankfulness. In a few short days, we will celebrate Thanksgiving.
Here is the defintion of thanksgiving from dictionary.com

thanks⋅giv⋅ing  /ˌθæŋksˈgɪvɪŋ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [thangks-giv-ing] Show IPA
Use thanksgiving in a Sentence
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–noun 1. the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, esp. to God.
2. an expression of thanks, esp. to God.
3. a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine favor or kindness.
4. a day set apart for giving thanks to God.

I find it interesting that all four of the definitions all give reference to GOD. It is God that we owe all thanks to.

In the Kelley household, we have a thankful tree each November. Every night, we take time to write one thing we are thankful to GOD for and write it on a leaf and place it on the tree. On the 2nd day of our tree this year, my daughter wrote she was thankful for "school". I was surprised but blessed. You see there are so many things in life even the simplicity of being able to go to school that we should be grateful for.

You might not have your own tree to place leaves on at your home.. but I do pray that you will think of at least 30 things for which you can give thanks to God for He is so good!

In Gratitude...

God Hunt...

This past weekend, I was able to get away from the hustle and bustle and go only 30 minutes away from my home to our Ladies Fall Retreat. Our speaker was Nancy Sebstain-Meyer. It was a great time of refreshment and renewal and recommitment.

One of the things that really spoke volumes to me this weekend was that in God's vocabulary there is no such thing as coincidence. God orchestrates all things for His Good. He is not controlling but controls all things.

Nancy requested that we think over the last 7 days and think about how God had worked in our lives. For those of us who know Christ, God is with us every day. You really don't have to look far to see his hand at work. But you do have to LOOK!!!

On Saturday, we divided up and went into breakout sessions on different topics. My breakout session was "Keeping Christ in Christmas" led by Kelli . As any Mom knows, it is hard to get away on a Saturday at anytime of the year because we are all so involved in our kids sports. As our session began, Kelli received a text she apologized but read it to us all. It said that her youngest daughter, Kelsi who is 8, had struck out when she went to bat. Kelsi had played softball all year long and had not hit the ball once. Kelli also shared that the coach had not been very encouraging. Kelli not only wanted Kelsi to hit the ball for the game, but more so for her confidence. As Moms we understood and shared our hearts with her. My friend, Sheri spoke up and said, "Let's pray for Kelsi and that she would hit that ball". Sheri prayed. We went on with our session and toward the end. Kelli received a text again that Kelsi had hit the ball and got a RBI. We immediately gave God the praise and honor that only He deserves. You see this was no coincidence. This was God!

God cares about everything that is important to us. This is not a new concept for me, but one which I needed to be reminded of. Nothing is too small to bring to the feet of Jesus.

This story of Kelsi is only one of many examples I could tell. Nancy, our speaker, had asked us to make a list of our God Hunt. As I truly looked over my past week, I was able to think of over 30 different times I had seen God in my life. I am now on a hunt. Each day it is my goal to truly look for God and where he is working.

May I encourage you to do your own God hunt? Where do you see God? He is at work in the lives of his children and in our world.