Something witty to say........uh........I've got nothing. I'm tired. It really has been a great week. God is good. Here's my Abby:

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." John 16:13-15

This is Jesus telling his disciples that the Holy Spirit would come after He had left them, to guide them and teach them the ways of God. This is also a piece of scripture that Penny used in Sunday School this morning. And it is also what God has been laying on my heart again and again in recent months. I keep hearing from Him that I need to know God more and in order to do so I have to become in tune with His Spirit. I need to learn how to listen when the Spirit speaks and discern when it is the Holy Spirit speaking to me, as opposed to all other forces in this world. The Holy Spirit is a part of God that I have neglected in the past for a couple of reasons. One, I have misjudged the Spirit's leading in the past and because of that have been afraid to step out in faith and follow His leading again, for fear that I might read it the wrong way. And two, something as mysterious and wonderful as God's Holy Spirit is a little scary, in all honesty, to a natural human being like myself. But, I'm willing to put those two EXCUSES aside now and get serious about knowing my God. I feel it is a NECESSITY for all Christians, in order for us to move forward in God's will and to be unified in our outreach to the lost. The Spirit is definitely stirring. I have felt His movement for several months now. Things are about to change, for sure in my life and in my church, and I think within my Sunday School class we are getting the sense that something is about to happen in the world. I mean, it's obvious that things ARE happening in the world........the tsunami, hurricane, the recent deaths occurring in 2 different coal mines, wars, disease.......all things described prophetically in Revelations. I think we all need to be on alert and ready to listen to what God has to say during these times. To quote Penny..."Something's up."

Now that my sermon is over =) , this week things at work got a little bit more back to normal. I am no longer working overtime, for now anyway. The 5th season of American Idol has begun!!! I'm so excited. Umm.....I have now tried fish tacos from Taco Tierra. Not bad. Really. They're pretty good. I rented "The Village" friday night. Interesting movie. Chet used it in his sermon today. I think it is a good depiction of how the church often is. Saturday, I went to my cousin Susan's baby shower. I had not seen her since her wedding, 10 years ago, so it was good to see her again. This afternoon I went with the youth group to Evansville. They had a scavenger hunt at the mall and us "adults" had to find them. It was pretty fun.

I hope everyone has a good week! Amy out.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't the greatest week. But, for me, it ended better than it began. I mean, I did have a hot date last night. Had a great time. Hopefully he did also. ;)

The Big Layoff

There has been a rumor going around the past couple of weeks that Airtex was going to lay off 30-50 "company" people. And, since I know how rumors are around Airtex, I didn't believe a word of it. It appears, however, that there really is a bit of truth to every rumor. Although they had their numbers wrong, 19 company employees were permanently laid off yesterday and today. We lost four in my department. I am very thankful to still have my job, but those who lost their jobs this week really need to be kept in everyone's prayers. I know it isn't easy to find jobs in this area, especially ones that pay as well and have benefits like Airtex. And, one of the hardest things is that many of us lost people that we have worked with everyday and have become friends with. The ones of us who still have our jobs are also having to take on the work of those who have left. Rough week.

2006 has begun...

The holidays are over....now back to real life. It will be a long time before I have that much time off work again, but I think I'm rested up and I can handle it. So, this past week I worked some overtime to get caught up on all the work that piled up while I was on vacation. I think I'll be working some extra next week, too.

Stacy and Luke moved back to Michigan Thursday. I'm going to miss my friend, but I know God has plans for her there.

I have this notebook, that I write things in whenever I'm upset or need to just get some thoughts out. Sometimes I'll write out prayers or poems in it. Anyway, I try not to read through what I've written too often, because really, it's kind of depressing to sift through that old stuff. But, I pulled it out of my nightstand this week and read it. And, this time when I looked at it, it wasn't depressing. It actually had the opposite effect. Looking back on things that have happened, dreams that I once had, I realize how far I have come from 6 years ago, even just one year ago. There have been times when I thought that I would not make it from one day to the next, but I did...I have. I have grown through the things that I have overcome. And I thought that I was overcoming horrible things being done to me, but in reality I had to overcome MYSELF. Selfishness. Wanting to live my life the way I want and not according to God's perfect plan. God has forced me to give up my desires and I have come to a point, finally, where I am willing to listen to Him and what He wants for me. It's such a relief to let go of the things I have tried to control and let God take control. I thank God for not giving up on me and putting up with my stubborn pride.

Last night was Geoff's ordination ceremony. It was an awesome service. God is going to do great things through Geoff and Michelle. His anointing was definitely over the service and is on their lives and the church in Chandler. Pastor Kevin (who I miss very much) said that it was a historic moment and I believe he is right. I can't wait to see what God has in store for the future.

(My Beautiful Sister)

New Year

Ok, so, the quest for the perfect New Year's Eve continues. No matter how many good intentions go into plans for the best New Year's Eve, it never turns out as good as it is in our minds. Suffice it to say, at 7:00 last night all of the plans that were made were completely thrown out and the evening turned into.....well, it was actually not that bad. Jedidiah is home from college for the holidays, so him and I met up with Bonnie and Skyler to eat at Olive Garden (which does happen to be my favorite restaurant). Then, Jed and I went to see King Kong. Awesome movie! I could see it again, definitely. We said our "Happy New Year!" at midnight in the middle of Ann trying to be saved from the large primate (from whom she actually didn't need to be saved). We continued watching the remaining hour and 27 minutes of the movie in 2006. It was a good night. (Stace - sorry you missed it. It wasn't the same without ya.) I'm looking forward to the new year. And, I think next year, I'm not going to plan so much for New Year's Eve. I'm going to keep it simple. Here are some pics from when we went to eat last night...








































P.S. I really miss playing mini golf with Rob Giles!!! =) Hope you're doing well, Rob.