Relationship with God

Everything we do in life is in a partnership with God. Obviously he is the dominant one in the relationship. Keeping him at the center of your life provides much joy, happiness and peace. This inner peace allows you to understand that God has a plan for you. Give your best everyday in the areas that matter to you, the big rocks. Have fun when it is time to have fun and enjoy your relationships with other people through the day. With God on your side and in partnership with you your life will go well with lots of happiness.

How do you all pray? I know that you say your prayers at night and believe you pray when your feet hit the floor in the morning, but please pray and talk to God all day. He is your partner so talk with him about all your feeling. Talk and pray to God with blistering honesty. He expects you to ask the tough questions. Often times in life we suppress any negative or bad feelings because we feel like we are acting as bad people. “As good Christians would not question God or think like I am thinking.” Life Lesson…God wants you to come to him with complaints and problems. He knows your human hence he understands what you deal with in life. We are far from perfect. Do not pretend that things are perfect when they are not because God expects you to come to him. The Bible is full of stories of people coming to God with complaints and issues. The Bible is not a book full of perfect people by any means. You can enjoy such a healthy relationship with God when you realize he knows you are not perfect yet he still loves you dearly, talk to him about this.

I often talk to you about how life gets off track in certain areas and that is why we must focus daily on our plans, daily reminders, and dreams. Many times very good Christians get completely off track with God. A terrible accident, tragic event, or death of a loved one can be the cause. Talking with others or reading a book can get you distracted. When this happens discuss all your feelings with God. Remind yourself too about the terrible death Jesus experienced, dying on the cross to save us and provide us everlasting life. Many difficult questions go unanswered in life. Starving kids, tragic accidents, and human nature cause us to question things. We may not find the answers in this life time. If we get distracted in our love and commitment to God, remember the horrible death Jesus died for us. He could have prevented it if he so choose. This helps to keep things in perspective.

Enjoy!

Enjoy life to the fullest every single day as it is a gift from God. After a long week of work or school, it could involve a fun filled Saturday with friends simply hanging out soaking up the warm spring air. When it is time to play, play and have a ball doing it!

Listening

So wonderful seeing all of you at visitation last night, visiting once a month for a few hours does not give us enough time to discuss all the things to talk about in your lives. Each of you have so much to tell me but the small amount of time does not allow you to deliver all your thoughts. Thanks for your patience in allowing others to talk. Life Lesson: Be a good listener.
Most people are not good listeners. While the other person is talking they are preparing their next question or response, never truly hearing what the other person is saying. I cannot wait to listen to all that is going on in your life since I have missed. I hope I get moved soon so I can sit with each of you for a visit and catch up. Life Lesson: Listen to your friends; focus on exactly what they have to say when you are with them. This is a great habit to get into.

Mom

I love to read, always have. I get this from my Mother. I usually find an author I like and read everything by them; James Patterson, Elisabeth Elliot, Nicholas Sparks, Elizabeth Berg, Janet Evanovich, and lately Jodi Picoult. I like her books because they always have a controversial plot that makes you think twice about your reactions to certain situations. It’s always easy to say what you’d do or how you’d feel but until you are standing in that moment of time living that reality there is always more to it than you think. The latest one I read involved an Amish girl. I have been fascinated by these people ever since that story about the man that went on a rampage and killed the five little girls in the Amish school. I don’t know all the details but what stuck out in my mind was the way the Amish reacted, they got a quote from one man: "I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts," he told CNN. After reading this book I am amazed with their way of life again, they literally believe in and live by turning the other cheek. So many of us profess to be Christians but how often do we actually live by the rules that we believe in like they do? I know that I struggle with even the simplest of Christ’s teachings. (I swear there is a point to this blog stay with me here) I love and respect my mom. Yes she can drive me nutty but nobody understands me like she does. When I’m angry and ranting about something she’ll say “well what do you want me to do?” because she knows that I don’t want her to “do” anything I just want her to listen and agree with me about how awful this situation is. She takes care of everything with the house and I mean everything from weeding the bushes to fixing the toilet and always has while still finding time to take care of all of us. I never hesitated in school before volunteering my mom to bake cookies for teacher luncheons, or go on the field trips even the out of town ones. She could always take or pick up from the movies in middle school (she’s been driving carpool for over 20 years!) and somehow she always knew exactly what all of us were up to. I swear she knows when we’re up to trouble before we even plan anything. MY POINT: Over the last couple of years we knew this would be a hard time for my Dad and that he would try and make the best of the situation but I don’t think any of us could have imagined how hard this would be for my Mom. Constantly worrying about Dad and his well being, being Mother and Father at home, not only continuing to take care of the house and kids but now also working an outside job you could say she has a ton on her plate. Oh and did I mention as her lovely children instead of supporting her and thanking her for all she does we are much more likely to judge and point out all the things we think she is doing wrong; you gave one kid this not the other, Connor didn’t have to finish his dinner, my favorite you let Connor off too easy, Connor’s favorite you are too strict. For the sake of keeping things real she does get grouchy with us every once in awhile but while we love and treasure all the lessons that Dad writes down and sends to us I think that Mom is showing us some of the most important ones we’ll ever learn. Lessons like walking the walk instead of just talking the talk. Often we associate Christ with a father figure maybe more so in my family because Dad was the one we went to church with but as I think about it I’ve realized a few things. Here they are: how selfless Mom has to be putting all of our needs before hers, how she loves all of us in spite of our many faults, how she has kept her promise to love and honor for richer or poorer in good times and bad, how she is continuing to turn the other cheek. I’ve learned that we sometimes forget to give credit where credit is due so here’s to Mom thanks for the Christ like example for all of us. Amanda

Update

Quick update on Dad, he is back in Millington so we get to go visit Friday-Sunday and Mom makes sure that someone is there every hour available. He says it’s like Disney World after being where he was before! Millington has new chairs in the visiting room and the way he raves about them you would think that they had back massagers built in, I swear he asked me 18 times how much I loved the new chairs. He’s back working in education, his first assignment is leading a book club and then he will teach a new class this summer. Softball is starting and D unit and C unit are fighting over him. He was placed in D unit this time but C unit thinks that since he played with them last year he should again this year too. He has lost a little weight but he is already looking so much better. Everyone was home last weekend for Delanie’s birthday and Easter so Dad got plenty of time with each of us. Being able to all get a couple hours a week to visit is so much nicer than all going for the two and a half hours once a month to the Shelby farms facility. Connor would get so sick of listening to me and Sean talk about work, Delanie talk about her new job with the Cowboys, and Reaghan talk about the parties I mean classes at school. That is for the 15 minutes that we weren’t talking about King Tut (Connor’s) baseball. I guess Mom writing him every day with updates on King Tut wasn’t enough. Speaking of writing
Many of you have asked for his address so here it is:
FPC
James Foley 21320-076
PO BOX 2000
Millington, TN 38083-2000
I know he loves hearing from everybody but please don’t feel obligated.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: Just because we have been blessed with these lessons does NOT mean that we take full advantage of them! I want to make sure that everyone who reads these knows that we are all a work in progress. This is for those of you that can’t see how “human” we are on a daily basis. I started this blog to be a positive to counteract the negative that is going on in our lives but I did not in any way, shape, or form want this to be a look at us and how great we are…because to put it bluntly we’re not. With that being said, I’m the only one who can say it. Those of you with family understand that, right? In the world of big families we are much more like the Bakers than the Murtaughs (Cheaper by the Dozen 2 with Steve Martin you can Google it) Here’s some pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas 2008 to prove it…kids don’t kill me! Amanda

Dreams...Systems...A Kick in the Ass

Life Lesson: Working hard with a single mindedness of perfect will allow all your dreams to come true. Sometimes people stay away from dreams because it sounds a little fluffy or hard to achieve, it just seems out there. A company normally does not say our dream is to become this, instead they say our vision is to become this. I guess they believe it sounds a lot better, to use vision then dream. Sports teams at the pro and college level promote their vision for the next year and the following years. There is not a business or pro/college team that does not have a vision for their future. Most corporations publish their vision statement for everyone to see. People would not buy stock in the company if they did not know where this company is going demonstrated by their dream or vision statement.
Where are you going in life? Please update your dreams for me and give me your dreams/visions for 2009. I would love for you to do this for me. Hopefully, if you wondered about dreams being a little “goofy or hokey” the vision statement demonstrates the importance of completing it.
Now, you have your dream and you are willing to work hard, you must establish a systematic procedure for success. Life Lesson: you must develop a system and have the discipline to follow the system. Delanie and Reaghan need a system at Ole Miss and then a system for how they will study for their classes. Please recognize this challenge, most of the time you will not have someone telling you exactly what to do. People do what the boss or coach tells them. Sean and Amanda do not work for an employer so they must develop a self discipline to work their system. If they worked for Hatcher or Walt, they would know their job responsibilities. Nobody will tell Reaghan and Delanie what to do next semester. They must follow their own system and have complete trust in it. Here is a great example for Connor. Here is a System: M-F Lift 2:30-3:30, break, speed train/agility 3:45-4:15, break, Hit 4:30-5:30. This is the type of work ethic required to be a champion. This is hard as a freshman but can Connor find a way to implement a schedule as this for his own development? He will develop a system like this as he gets older, I would love to see him do it now.You may have times where you need a little motivation or a push to workout. You are in Maine where it is cold; it is cold in Memphis too. You are all healthy so there is no excuses for not exercising. I cannot feel sorry for you for even one minute. Please keep this in mind as you approach your exercise. Life Lesson: There is an 18 yr old boy coming home from Iraq without an arm or a leg who would give anything to run and lift, So what is your excuse? “Oh, you are not in the mood or do not feel like it.” Well pick it up, you know it is good for you, kick yourself in the ass, everyone needs a kick in the ass every once in a while, no big deal with that, now demonstrate the self discipline and go out and do what you are suppose to do!