Day 5 of our Random Act of Kindness Challenge

I love Fridays! Love our weekends! Love Fall and all the beautiful colors....and the wonderful pictures I took today. Love that Cami and Demi had a great time at their school fall festival tonight (even though Demi was grounded and not supposed to go, mom had to take pics for the PTA/yearbook and work a booth that had been abandoned). So much for my parenting skills or learning how to say I am sorry I can't. :-) It was a great fall day and so nice to end the day with friends and grandma.

Hopefully Nadja is having a great time at the football game. I am so proud of her and her efforts to join in the life she has created here by coming to the US. She is really a beautiful girl with so much to offer those who befriend. Demi loves her as if she has lived here her entire life of nine years. Now if I can just teach both girls to pick up and do a little around here. Any advice welcome!!

So how did your challenge go today? I am happy to report I had several opportunities to RAK but not the ones I had planned yesterday. It is funny how life happens when you have life planned. There is always tomorrow or next week. I hope you will take the time to share with me your RAKs and or how you were touched today by a friend, family member, stranger or anyone that made an impact on your day.

Love you for joining in the challenge and for wanting to make the world a better place to live!!

Love to love,
BiT

Joy~N~Jesus Blog....I hope you will read this post

Are you ever just drawn to people or places and are so glad you decided to listen to your heart...I have been reading this blog of someone who happened upon my blog. She is such an inspiration and this blog entry really does portray the true meaning of the 30 Day Random Act of Kindness.

I know it's a tough time financially right now for many in our nation, including us. But God is faithful and when we choose to place HIM first He provides all we need!


WOW! I can't begin to tell you how faithful the LORD is! I will give you a quick peek into our last couple of months and you will see how God has provided in so many ways! He is good! Even in tough times!
Well, it has been tough on us financially lately. With little room to spare in our budget for extras, a recent flat tire ($200.00) and a light tap/ fingernail scratch (accident) to another car (me :() ) this last weekend ($600) has put us in a tough spot. Not to mention we had about 10 dollars in our account until next pay period and just enough food to scrap by on some canned foods and bread. I am not exaggerating. I don't like talking about how we struggle financially when there are people all over the world without half of what we have, so I know I am blessed to have so much. However, this is a time I want to share to show the faithfulness of God and how He cares about all the details of our lives! Anyway, we I made some decisions not to go placed to save on gas, so we would make it to the next pay period, and on Saturday, while at home, I went to check the mail (which is right outside our house) and I found a envelope that said, "Thank you Price family for all you do" I opened it, thinking it was a thank you note from one of the players on Tu's team. Well, I still don't know who's hands dropped it in our box, but I know it was a direct answer to prayer and a true gift from GOD!
Thank you JESUS! Inside the envelope was a $40.00 gift card to Trader Joe's(groceries) , and a $50.00 (gas) gift card to Shell. As I held it in my hands all I could do was cry, and say...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THANK YOU JESUS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the two things that we desperately needed to get us to through. Man, I stand in awe of the Lord's faithfulness! God is soooooooo good! I went to Trader Joe's Yesterday and got some food for the week as I was walking out the Lord spoke to my heart and gently reminded me of three things:
**********1. Prayer of Wisdom: The importance of praying for our needs and asking Him for wisdom and balance to know how to manage the funds He provides
2. Prayer of blessing: Praying blessing upon those who have blessed us!
3. Prayer of being a blessing: Praying the Lord would show us who and when to bless someone else with what He has given us!
4. Prayer of Thanks: Just praising Jesus for all we have and all HE is!!!
*****************************************************************
I am overjoyed and thankful to the Lord for providing, I pray the Lord blesses those who gave ten fold, and I pray that I continue to pray and rejoice in His faithfulness to Provide! God is sooooooo good! Luke 11:9-13!!! THANK YOU JESUS!
Thanks for praising our Provider Our KING; JESUS!
Posted by Joy-N-Jesus



Isnt this so beautiful and the fact that someone just dropped it off, not wanting any recognition but wanting to help a family in a time of need. That is what I call COMPASSION and an ACT OF KINDNESS.



I HOPE YOU WILL VISIT HER WEBSITE SOON. I HOPE I GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET TO KNOW HER BETTER. I SO APPRECIATE HER BLOGGING ABOUT HER FAITHFULNESS AND LOVE FOR JESUS SO THAT WE COULD ALL SEE GOD'S LOVE AND ANSWERED PRAYERS.



Again I hope you enjoyed your day, our day was wonderful and filled with laughter from my 2 very energetic girls boxing each other on the Wii. The best sound in the world and like my friend here we are so blessed and thankful for another day to experience God's love!!



Diana aka BiT

Love working outside the home....

I was just sitting here thinking how blessed I am to get out and work with some awesome and funny women 3 days a week after working in the home and from home for the past 14 years.

It is nice feeling appreciated for something that comes so easy. I am sure the kids appreciate what I do but you would never know it. I sometimes feel like a glorified maid, chaffuer, ATM, cook and their cheerleader....it does get tiring but I love being a home to 2 wonderful girls. My only wish is that they would pitch in a little more and pick up after themselves a little more and without me asking...you know what I mean?

So today is Day 4 on our random act of kindness challenge. Have you done your good deed for today? I haven't really so I am going to be on the lookout for something fun and cool to do...maybe with the girls. Demi so loves RAKking someone too. Any ideas? I need some new and fresh ideas..got any?? I will be back later to post what we do and hopefully someone soon will be here to let me know what they have done for today. Anyone, someone..any one joining me in the fun this month? I know what I am doing tomorrow, we are baking cookies for our friends at Jack in the Box, they are always giving us free drinks and we just love them dearly! While we are there we will get our 4th grade teachers a soda...caffeine will be just what they need since tomorrow is dress up day and the PTA Fall Festival which always gets the kids going more than normal :-).

Talk with you soon and I am hoping to scrap a page or 2 tonight...going to do some challenges over at www.thescrapbookget-away.net foreum. If I can ever figure out how to add a blinkie you will get to see my new one for being on the DT there as well. I am really looking forward to all the fun in the months to come.

Muah,,
BiT

Day 3 of 30.....Ordinary People doing Extraordinary things

I hope you had a great day! I am happy to say that I am H1N1 protected as of today...woohoo! Now I just have to get my 2 dds vaccinated soon. Have you got your shot and or plan on it? I don't worry so much about me but want to make sure the girls get theirs. It seems that most of their friends in school have already had it and got over it but you just never know. I would rather be safe than sorry with this virus this go around.

So were you able to find time to give the gift of kindness on Day 3? I know if we think about our days we can think of something we did. Most of us live a life where we are helping others and our kids, spouses, co-workers. My challenge tomorrow is to plan something...cook a meal for someone who is sick or has been struggling just because, make an extra effort to do something special. Bring snacks for work or maybe volunteer at your child's school for an hour or 2...have fun and remember to come back here to tell me about it. I am going to use these specials updates in the future. (My day 3 consisted of collecting donations after work for our church function this weekend. I wish I would have done more honestly....I love the feeling of randomly surprising people....I love taking my dd's teachers drinks from Sonic...it is a huge treat and they love it. I will try to do that on Friday on my home from work when the drinks are .99 and after a week with the kids I think it will be a refreshment they will enjoy even more than the morning drink?)

I truly believe that it is the ordinary people doing extraordinary things everyday to make this world a better place to live and enjoy!!!

Now I am off to leave some love on a few blogs that I haven't been to in a while. Are you like me and could spend an entire day jumping from one to the next? There are so many great ones and I especially appreciate women and men taking the time to blog for our enjoyment. Please let me know if you have a few blogs that you enjoy daily/weekly/periodically so we can enjoy them with you.

I will end with how grateful I am for the gift of life and His protection. We are so blessed and even though life keeps throwing me lemons I am determined to make lemonade and smile while doing so.

Today was an interesting day...how was your day?

Do you ever start your day with all the things you are grateful for like I did today to have the day filled with challenges you never expected or saw coming? Well that was me today....lost a crown and then no heater for our cold evenings...but as I was driving I was thinking about what good could come from all of this and thinking about how I could I RAK someone today..where and when? Much to my surprise again I get my work done at the dentist done quickly and by my BIL's sister who just opened her practice. Talk about being RAKked with kindness today, she did not charge me knowing I had no insurance. Something I totally did not expect but am so grateful for to say the least. Then I contact my AC friend who installed my AC a few years ago to find out he can do my repairs tomorrow for little to nothing and that I can pay him when I can. I am always amazed at the goodness that comes my way when my heart and mind are in the right place and how God continues to show me his love and grace.

So how did you do yesterday with your challenge and were you able to find someone you could give to and or be kind too? I hope so. I was able to find time and a way to help a neighbor out yesterday. It took all of 2 minutes and I know they so appreciated this little thing I did and more than anything I loved being to help. On top of that this morning I was reading over a paper my dd wrote to find the subject of her story about her love of helping friends and neighbors. It warms my heart knowing her HEART is in the right place. Over the last few weeks she has wrote several stories that have totally blowm me away and I must admit I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. She is filled with such love and is so giving and kind along with sweet most of the time. :-)

Today I read the title of a blog starting with the "gift of listening". It got me thinking about how we can give each day with something like listening, I mean really listening while putting our phones away, turning our computers and ipods off. Isnt this something we can all do starting with our children when they come in from school and so excitedly want to tell us about their day. We can easily give the gift of time by emailing our friends back or returning their calls back by voice and not just text. I so love this and totally agree.

I hope you had fun finding a way to perform your random act of kindness and that if you were RAKked like I was yesterday and today that you so appreciate it the full circle moments. Learn to receive gifts is hard to do but so important if you enjoy giving as well. This was a hard thing for me to learn but it allows others an opportunity to do some good as well.

Have a wonderful Wednesday and again best wishes in finding time to give the gift of kindness. I know you can do it and make the most of your day that is such a gift from above.

Hugs and love,
BiT

30 Days of Random Acts of Kindness Challenge...(RAKs)

Since there is one month to Thanksgiving, I thought it would be fun to create a 30 day challenge of Random Acts of Kindness. The challenge is to find a way to be kind or create someway to give back to someone else either planned or unplanned. Whatever works for you. Keep a journal for yourself to see how your life changes during this time. For me, RAKs give me a purpose in life all while trying to make someone else's life better even if just for a moment. I love finding ways everyday to perform acts of kindness and giving back. So are you with me?? I can't wait to hear what you are able to do each day for the next 30 days. If all goes well we will turn this into a 365 days of RAKs.....and trust me you can find the time each and everyday.

So here are some ideas....
1. Trim your elderly neighbors bushes
2. Treat your trash friends to a snack and drink each week....
3. Smile at someone
4. compliment someone
5. Send an email to someone you love
6. Pray for someone you don't know or know
7. Send a note in your childrens lunch box
8. Write a love message on your bathroom wall for your loved ones
9. Help a mom out with her cart or groceries when her hands are full
10.buy someone in line their lunch or coffee
11.Volunteer your time today at your child's school opening milks for the young kids
12.babysit for a friend so they can have a date night, you know they can't afford a babysitter
13.Do your sister's laundry just because you have the extra time
14.make a scrapbook album for a loved one or neighbor
15.Work for FREE...
16.Mail a letter to a soldier for the holidays, make a care package if you can afford too
17. invite someone over for dinner so they don't have to cook
18. buys some flowers and hand out to someone you don't know
19. Stop by a retirement home and visit with someone who doesnt have visitors
20. Bake treats to give away.....

If you have any ideas please let me know. Just do what your heart tells you and remember it doesnt have to take a lot of money or time. RAK. The key to making this challenge work and to create a better community is to give back with one random act of kindness for the next 30 days. I bet your life will be so full of JOY, love and happiness by making the world a better place one person at a time. For those of you know who know me, you know that I love this way of life and have included my children doing RAKs and being better girls. I can't wait to hear from you each and everday how you have spent your day giving back and how your own life has changed because of your RAKS. (This is the time to quit thinking about your challenges and create the life you were meant to live!!)

Are you ready to live an exciting life for the next 30 days? Get ready to change the way you look at life and learn about how much you have to offer during this lifetime. Wouldn't you love to know that if you only had 30 days to live that you lived the BEST life you could and that you left the world a better place then when you entered it? We all think about doing these kinds of things so let's put those thoughts into action and make it a great 30 days performing Random Acts of Kindess!!!!!

PS - Leave me a quick note to let me know you were here, I would love to venture over to your blogs as well and also if you don't feel comfortable letting us know what you are doing each day just let us know that you are joining in the challenge.

Hugs and love,
Diana aka BiT

Announcing The Scrapbook Get-Away Girls DT Team

Congrats ladies!! Should be awesome and lots of fun with these ladies, one of which I know (Kimmy) and some I can't wait to work with over the next several months!

http://www.thescrapbookget-awaygirls.net

Have a happy and fun Saturday!
BiT

Compassion......

So thankful to have been given another day to live out God's will!

When you give of yourself to someone who can't repay you, then you cut through all the boundaries and connect more fully - this is COMPASSION as said in One Month To Live by Kerry Shook

Have a great Thursday, I am going to find a way to get back into the swing of life and blogging.

Hugs,
BiT

It was a great weekend featuring Dine by Design with Iris Blue

I love weekends and I really love family time on Sundays, dont you? Games and just hanging out enjoying each other.

On Saturday evening I was invited to our church's Dine By Design with Iris Blue. Check out some of these tables and then Tabbie and I. I had a great time and Iris' testimony was very interesting to say the least.

I also wanted to say how much I love my neighbors. Thanks gramma and pappy for our bag of misc groceries. Thanks Bill for our pizza on Saturday. It is so nice to feel so much love. Also thanks Kim for your uplifing messages here and your prayers, they mean the world to me. Thanks Anna and FF ladies for being so understanding. Thanks Julie for the ticket last night and also for my bible study guide to the Esther session. Your friendship means the world to me. Thanks Shari for the fun summer at camp. Thanks Monica for the tickets to NRH2O for Demi. Thanks to my family for all your help and especially to you mom, you are such an angel. Thanks CPC for helping support Demi, Nadja and I over the last 4 months. Thanks Donna for you help as well not just financially but with your love and willingness to help always. Thanks Bernie and Dana for all the goodies and bread over the last several months. Thanks Sonia and Rodney for being here for us as well. Thanks Dave for helping me with our water leak. I wish everyone who was down and out could truly feel the love we have felt over the last several months. And there are many praying for us as well which means the world to me. I just hope that someday I can give back 10 fold what has been given to us. Again thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Have a blessed week friends,
Diana

The sound of laugher is such a delight!

Here is another layout I made about Devin, my Big Guy so brave while fighting cancer with chemo and radiation. Today he is cancer free thank God and with lingering eye issues is such a blessing. Love this Lil Big guy and the rest of my neices and nephews in NC as well as the ones here in TX. MUAHHHHHH!! (This was made for a contest at www.dixiepieces.com - these ladies are so wonderful, you should go and check them out to see what they are up to for the month of October!)

xoxoxo

BiT

A recent layout made for a round robin at SIStv!

Love when Angie puts these on at SiStv and the ladies who join in to make this a great time and a layout that I always love - this is titled Just Us in NY back in 2006.

Life as you dreamed it.....

Good Saturday morning friends and family,

I am sitting here this morning thinking about how crazy life has been over the last 8 months. With business being so slow due to the economy it has made me take a look at myself and family, my goals and my dreams. I have to admit that I did not picture being here at this moment and time of my life. It is so much better than I could have ever dreamed and yet there are golas and dream of mine unmet. But are they God's plans for me? Interesting question!

What about you? Are you living YOUR dream? If so what was your dream or goals you thought you would accomplish and where do you want to be in the next 25 years? At our Beth Moore's Esther bible study this week, Julie mentioned her and her husband are so excited about sharing God's kingdom and love in the next 25 years or whatever time they have left. Isn't that beautiful? It made me think about where I have been, where I am now and where I will 25 years from today. I know it can be more but for me lately it has been treating my family, kids and friends with the kind of love that Jesus would have shown in both the challenging times and the good times. Personally I think it is easy to be loving and kind in good times but it is during the challenging times that I/we struggle with dealing frustrations and expectations on how we deal with them, talk to our family members and those we love. Why is it that we always hurt the ones we love? It is because they are the nearest to us or that we know they will be there for us always. I always want my children to say that I lived a God Centered life at all times. Easier said then done but I hope and pray daily for my children to do so well. I want my daughter(s) to know that I am not perfect and that only through the grace of God that I am able to get up everyday and parent, work, learn, love, forgive and be all that I am. I want to learn how to get up everyday not only knowing how blessed I am but letting others see that through me as well. What better testimony could we give right? I want to have a positive and loving attitude EVERYDAY and as much as possible. To let go of the not so good and to truly feel blessed everyday starting at home when we wake up and then when we go to bed and every minute in between. . Not just say it but LIVE IT! To leave a legacy that will help my children be better women everyday showing God's love and treating others as they would want to be treated. So today I am embarking on a new me with letting go of the past, living for today and planning for tomorrow. I hope that when family and friends remember me some day that they too will have thought that I loved the Lord with all my heart and in everything I do. Truly a new season one of which I know I can do and be better with God at my side and as my partner. So what about you, if you were to leave this world today, tomorrow, a week from today or 20 years from today would this life be all that you wanted and hoped for??

I will be back with some pictures this week with mom and I going to work together, talk about a full circle moment. Pictures of Cala's birthday and of Sheri's birthday.

And for those who are following my blog, I wake up daily even with our financial struggles not feeling defeated but determined to make the most of each day I am here. I am so blessed and am grateful to have 3 part time jobs of which 2 have started and that I enjoy. I definitely have some decisions to make soon about my future and my employment status. More to come today and over the weekend making up for the last few weeks with posts and pictures.

Have a blessed day full of JOY!!!
BiT