  In two weeks I will be flying to Houston to spend time with my son Jeremy and other friends for four days. I am so ready to take 4 days off in a row. I have not had two days off in a row since the end of March when I started working part time for Goodwill. I was speaking to a friend of mine (ex employer) who told me via IM the other day that he is going to provide me with a hotel room for the 4 days that I am there so that is a HUGE Praise the Lord. That means that I will have my own bed to sleep in and some privacy when I need it. :) I was thinking the other day about how good God is to me and my family.
With regards to this "need" or "desire" I never petitioned God for it. I never prayed and asked God to provide this for me. Apparently someone in this group did and thanks be unto God he moved on the hearts of several people and now I am going to Houston. How wonderful is that? It just goes to show ME that God IS interested in every detail of my life. I thank God every day for his provision for our family.
He continues to provide us with our needs and some of our wants every single day. Summer break is almost upon us folks. YIPES!! That also means Camp Happy Days is almost upon us. Kristina and Justin are counting the minutes for this event. :) Isn't that amazing?
In this world when you lose a loved one after the funeral everyone goes away and life is supposed to go back to normal for everyone and you and your family are left to deal with the grief pretty much on your own. Thanks to the loving support of HDST we are never alone. We are all part of one big family. All we have to do is stand up and holler about whatever it is that we need to holler about and someone will respond in some way. I am so thankful that my children have Camp Happy Days to attend each year and that they are going to witness and be a part of such a wonderful organization and the annual event that takes place for kids with cancer and their siblings. On a different note personally I have been trying to watch how much I eat, what I eat and getting more exercise.
This week I walked 1.6 miles 4 times or 6.4 miles. I have a path that I walk in the mornings. I drove my car around and found it was approximately 1.6 miles and I usually walk it in about 30 minutes. The first couple of times were tough. Now that I have done it for several weeks in a row I have gotten to where I miss doing it. I have found that I have more energy during the day and it helps me to deal with the stress of life as well.
I spend this time walking down the country roads in my neighborhood and talking to God. I also try to shut up and listen to HIM and I don't spend the whole time asking God to meet this need or that. don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with asking God to meet our needs or asking for a particular want. However it is good practice to spend time quietly at HIS feet and try to listen for HIM to instruct us and to encourage us in our daily journey. Prayer is very powerful and I can say for a fact that if I did not have quiet time with my Lord through prayer , reading of His word and fellowship with other believers that I would be in dire trouble. These morning walks have enabled me to draw closer to him and to separate myself temporarily from the garbage of this world.
So, with that in mind pray that I will continue to walk as often as possible and to NOT stick so much junk into my face. I need to excercise more and eat less. A simple concept that is hard to do when you are so used to having the habit of doing just the opposite. Katy is studying for her exam that she will take in June. I will let her tell you all the gory details but basically she will be able to get her emergency teachers certificate in SC if she passes. The test has been paid for (thank you Jesus) and the study materials purchased.
Pray that Katy will be able to retain this information well enough to pass the exam. On next Thursday I am going by GSP off of Rivers Avenue. It stands for Good Source (P???). LOL, whatever. Anyway, this is a training facility implemented by Goodwill industries. They offer all sorts of technology training.
They have a 5 week PC repair course. They have all sorts of software application training, A+ certification and MCSE certification training. I spoke to the office manager about my needing to pursue my MCSE so that I can find a BETTER job in this current market and she told me that my cost as an employee of Goodwill would be around 1000.00. Currently the cost of an MCSE cetification IF you go to a classroom setting is around 4k. So, the fact that they offer it for 2k or 50% less than most training facilities is awesome. The fact that I can get 50% off of that is even more awesome.
Then again, having 1000.00 might as well be my having 1 million at this point in the game. Nevertheless I am going to go check out the facility and see about financial options and how I might be able to get some sort of funding to get this badly needed certification. I have 15 years of experience in this field and now I cant find a job partly because of no certification. Yes, this is a need and a prayer request so please pray for this. :) Well, enough babbling from James. I need to get away from this desk and go for my walk.
I did not walk yesterday so I need to go this morning before church. :) 
