AAA MPSA State Champs!

I can't believe it's been over a week and I haven't posted anything about the football championship.  Prep beat JA in overtime.  The night didn't start off as exciting as it ended, though.   We were behind and came back and scored in the last 4 seconds of the game.  I was in the endzone when the pass was thrown and bounced off of two JA players before Kaleb Barlow nabbed it to put the game into overtime.  We scored at TD and held JA to win the game 17-10.  JA was stunned over the outcome because they thought it was wrapped up.  Prep didn't play as well as they had played all season long, but pulled it out in the end.  It would have been terrible if they had lost after a perfect season.  

So, after days of preparing the decorations for the victory party... it did take place.  If we had lost, all of the stuff back at the Patriot Center would have to be taken down before the bus arrived back from MC.  I'm glad the 10th grade football moms are still talking to me after my bright ideas for the decorations.  I love stuff like that!  We did panels made with chicken wire then stuffed with tissue squares that were put at the entrance of the party.  You know, like the ones we made in college for homecoming.  Inside, there was a tunnel of red and blue lights for the players to come through.  We had the fog machine going, but had to turn it off due to the smoke detectors going off before the team arrived.  I enlarged tons of pics I had taken throughout the season and used them as decorations.  One mom, created a "Vic-tree" as the centerpiece.  It all turned out wonderful.  What a great night!  Special thanks goes out to my dear friend, Claudia.  She is always there to help me with whatever I have going on.  She worked for hours on the decorations and also helped me wrap and deliver cakes to the First Pres teachers on the Friday before Thanksgiving!   She doesn't have a child at FPDS and Michael didn't play football this year-still, there she was giving her time to help a friend who continually has too many irons in the fire!

After going to bed at 2:30 that night (well morning), I woke up at 4am with severe pain in my left leg.  I ended up in the emergency room with sciatica.  I have degenerative disc disease and have lots of back problems on and off.  I guess I just overdid it and it caused my sciatic nerve problem on top of the normal lower back pain.

Made a trip to Nashville this weekend to see Hannah Montana.  Had a great time!  I'll post pics later. 

Thankful

I know I'm slacking with keeping my blog up to date, but I feel like some one hit the "fast forward" button on me. I've just had a lot going on lately and I haven't stopped long enough to collect my thoughts enough to write anything worth reading! With a little quiet time on my hands tonight, I'll give it a shot.

It's funny how God prepares our heart for things and we don't even have a clue what's going on. Several weeks ago, I got an email about a child in 2nd grade who was in desperate need of some clothes. He wears the same thing to school every day. He needed underwear, socks, pants, shoes and shirts. When a teacher knows that a child needs underwear and socks... you know it's bad. The request by email reached me because of being a Life Member of the Junior Auxiliary of Rankin County. Amy Marler, the member who is in charge of responding to emergency needs of families in the community, forwarded the request to the inactive members after not getting a response from the actives. She was asking if anyone had boys clothing in this child's size. When I got this email, I responded to Amy and told her that I would go to Old Navy and get this child some winter clothes. I also got him a costume for Halloween and stuck it in the bag. I knew that his school has Halloween parties and I didn't want him to be without one. Instead of feeling good about what I did, I had such a sick feeling about myself. I realized that I've been living in my own little world for the past few years without thinking about children in my own community with basic needs. For seven years, it was right in front of me when I was active in JA. Especially, the last four years or so when I worked with the children's shelter and the welfare committee (needy families). I remember one day at the children's shelter when a child asked if they could go home with me to live and another time when a child asked if I could be his mommy. I think each time I left there, I cried the whole way home. I could hold it together while I was there, but as soon as the car door shut....I would break down. I would head straight home and hug my kids a little tighter.

When I served as President, I really became involved in the welfare committee. We always had a family we would adopt and worked closely with them and provided financial assistance when needed. This wasn't just during the holidays... it was year round. I think that's what is wrong with our society. We all become generous during the holidays, but fail to remember that there are needs throughout the year. We're talking underwear and socks that we take for granted, workbook & field trip money, school picture money, a pair of pants that the teacher doesn't have to use a string to keep them on the child, etc. It's so easy to take all these things for granted. I did.

When another need arose a couple of weeks later, I was able to help by cleaning out Leigh Ashley's closet. It happened to be 2 girls- kindergarten & first grade. We went through her closet and filled 3 bags with nice, gently worn things. In fact, some still with tags. I did go to Old Navy and got a couple of things on sale to make sure they had enough in both sizes. I do think bringing these needs to my attention was God's way of saying "Yes, I'm talking to you. Have I got your attention yet?"

Even though I've served my time volunteering in organizations, that doesn't mean that I shouldn't have a servants heart daily. It's not someone else's problem. I can't hit the delete button and assume that someone else will take care of it. 2 Corinthians 9:11 says "You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."

So, it's Thanksgiving Day in less than an hour. I have so much to be thankful for-family, health, friends... I could go on and on with things that you can't put a price on. I cherish these blessing and want find ways to use them to bless others. God started preparing my heart for this Thanksgiving weeks ago. He opened my eyes to see just how much I've been blessed and how I should pass them on to others.