Insecurities

This spring I participated in a women's bible study. We did a Beth Moore book called So Long Insecurities, and I highly recommend it!!  It is a long book, but Beth Moore is so witty that it was easy to get caught up in her stories and humor and not realize how many chapters I had read.  As we all started the book, we knew it would be hard to face our insecurities and even harder to make steps toward getting rid of them, but we all knew a life without insecurity sounded great, despite the hard work that God might ask from us. 

This book was a well rounded book that talked about women's insecurities that we grow up "learning" through culture or family life, insecurities that we allow ourselves to believe from ourselves, men and even from other women.  One point that she really hammered home is that our security is found in Christ and no one else has the power to take that from you.  She used Proverbs 31:25  "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." many times throughout the book and it consumed my thoughts throughout the months while I was reading the book.  I realized quickly that most of my anger, jealousy, and even sadness could be linked back to an insecurity.  Once I realized that, I was diligent to remind myself that I am clothed in strength and dignity and just that simple refocus of my thoughts usually put things back into perspective. 

One part of the book that saddened me the most was the insecurities that we feel from other women.  In some cases the women around us unintentionally make us feel insecure by their dress, career, status or body type.  In these cases, it's our own issue and that insecurity should be dealt with internally and with God.  In other cases, the women around us are intentional in making other women feel insecure, which breaks my heart that women aren't sticking together to build each other up!  In one of our weekly discussions, we were talking about this topic and someone shared this wise truth..."hurt people hurt people".    This statement stuck with me and I found myself thinking back to times when I have been hurt by other women and this seems to always be the case.  It changed my thoughts from anger to pity for them and what they have been through to make them act in such a way.  It also made me think of times that I have lashed out because I was feeling hurt. 

The majority of the book was very empowering and  had great scripture to commit to memory so that when the feeling of insecurity creeps back up, the Word of God is there to silence it.  For me, it's been a daily struggle of remembering who I am in Christ and not letting my own lies or the lies of others overpower the truth that I am His and my security is found only in Him.

Weekend fun!

We took the kids to a Rangers game on Sunday night. All kids under 13 got a Rangers ice cream bowl and it was also $1 ice cream night, which was fun! The game ended up being long due to a rain delay and then 4 extra innings, but the Rangers managed to win it!!
 

We also got tickets to the Kids' Zone at the Ballpark where they could play games and climb on the jungle gym before the game started.  This was the Rangers "T" that was a puzzle you could take apart and put back together. 

This was round 2 of $1 ice cream night!!

On Monday, we decided to meet Tanna and Brylee at the Hawaiian Falls near her house and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun!!  Troy is tall enough this year to do some of the bigger slides and he really enjoyed that!  Teague,Cerly and Brylee stuck with the wave pool, kiddie pool and the lazy river. I love summertime!!

Oh no the Big 6-0!

Mom has gotten to celebrate several times this month for her birthday and this weekend we celebrated again.  We all went to a great little mexican restaurant and then home for cake and ice cream and presents.  The boys are old enough now that they are the entertainment most of the time.  Between Troy taking pictures and wanting to play on everyone's Iphone and Teague making silly faces and talking a mile a minute we were kept laughing most of the meal. 






Amber and Taylor




Amber and I got mom some TOMS that we had custom painted by a friend with the Rangers theme.  They turned out so cute and she acted like she really liked them.

Birthdays in Puerto Rico

The Puerto Rico trip was so much fun!!  The idea to go was thought of awhile back because Mom was turning 60 and Blake was turning 30 this summer so we thought that would be a good excuse to go visit Blake and have a fun, family vacation. While we were on the catamaran ride Amber and I got some fruit and put these candles on it and surprised Blake.   With a quiet and quick rendition of Happy Birthday!



The next night we surprised mom by having the waitress bring her creme brulee with a candle on top!!  She had no clue what was going on!!






It was a great vacation and after a week with no cares or worries I feel rested and ready to re-enter the real world!! 

Catamaran Trip

Our last day was spent on a catamaran ride and snorkel trip. I highly recommend this excursion if you ever go to any island. It's a 6.5 hour trip with lunch, snacks and all you can drink provided. We went to shallow snorkel near a beach and then after lunch they moved locations and we deep snorkeled, where were got to see a sting ray. We had a fun first mate and a fun group of people on the boat, which makes the trip that much more enjoyable! 

Blake and Kenny

Here is where we went to snorkel!!

The first mate who helped us with our snorkel gear and also sailed the boat.

Kite Boarding

Today we took a taxi over to a different beach where Blake and Kenny said the wind is better for kite boarding.  There were these cute little cabana beds that offered shade that mom and dad loved and plenty of comfy chairs for me and Amber in the sun.  We were served food and drinks all day while watching the boys kite board.




Kite boarding looks very cool, but when you see how much goes into doing it, it's also a ton of work.  It was basically surfboarding while strapped to a huge kite. There were tricks that the guys did that they made look easy, but with the strength of the wind and being able to control the kite and your board and your position in the air and your landing position...it just amazed us to watch them!









Out for dinner again.  Besides dinner, Amber and I lived in our swim suits, so we had to make sure we got at least one picture every night just to show we did bring actual clothes.

Historic San Juan

Today, Blake and his friend Kenny, took us around Old San Juan. We got to see where the cruise ships dock and the nice tourist part of San Juan, but we also got to see the slums of San Juan. We toured an old fort built on the tip of Puerto Rico that was really interesting. The different structures around the city were really neat to see so that is what we took the most pictures of today!!

The fountain just below the Governor's Mansion.


The largest church in Puerto Rico



Blake and his friend Kenny! 


Kenny caught a baby iguana



Different pictures from the fort

A triangular staircase







Afterwards we went to lunch at Vaca Brava and literally got a rack of meat to feed all six of us!!  We were super hungry and tired after all the walking so we were all ready to dig in!!

Here is our empty rack.  We had one little piece of sirloin left that no one could seem to fit in their full bellies!


After lunch, we caught the ferry across to tour the Bacardi factory where San Juan is known as the island of fun, sun and rum.  It was very interesting to hear all the history behind Bacardi and how they manufacture their rum.  At the end of the tour you get two free drinks to try all their different rums.  What a great way to end a long, fun day of sight seeing!!