ReJoyce in Living

The Net

2010-06-21T09:26:00.010-05:00

We are back at our cabin in Colorado where time slows down and I process things differently than in our fast-paced Kansas world. So here are thoughts and musings from yesterday.

One small creature. One big lesson.

Tidbit alerted us to a small chipmunk who had trapped himself in our fishing net. While we were gone to town, he had apparently managed to tangle himself in the net under our deck. He had dragged it quite a distance for such a little guy. He had been so frantic that the cords were tightly would around his neck. It's a wonder he hadn't already lost the battle. But he is a little fighter. He had chewed several holes in the net, trying to free himself.

I untwisted the net...but the cords were still tight around his neck. He struggled and tried to run away, dragging the net with him. I wish I had gotten a picture of him, but I was more interested in setting him free. I went and got the scissors and carefully snipped the cords from around his neck.

Now....I thought he would stop and look up at me adoringly...thanking me for saving his life. Nope. He was off like a flash, zipping back under the deck without a backward glance.

As I pondered over this later, I thought about just how much like that little chipmunk I am. In my world a lot of things entice me. Sometimes I get caught up, ensnared, just like that little guy. The cords of sin get wrapped around my neck. I struggle against them. I valiantly try to free myself. I even chew at the cords. I drag it around, and the cords wrap more tightly around my neck. I can scarcely breathe.

It is Jesus who carefully, lovingly snips the cord around my neck. And off I go, usually without a backward glance. But today....today I'm saying "Thank you. Thank you, Jesus, for saving my life, my soul."

And while it didn't cost me a thing to set that little guy free, it cost Jesus His very life. His life for mine. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Photo Collage

2009-08-13T18:17:00.003-05:00

This is a photo collage that I put together in the last two days. I copied the photo from a friend in Colorado. The little boy pictured is her dad. I was captivated by the photo and knew immediately that I wanted to do something with it. A year later, I finally figured it out. I first printed a copy of the photo which was very light. Then I printed a transparency of the same photo.

Using watercolor pencils, I colored in the copy and used a blender pen to smooth the color. I layered the transparency over the colored in copy and was really pleased with the depth this process brought to the photo.

I framed the layered photo with paper and then pieces of wood that I had inked with green ink. My friends dad was a weatherman, so I printed the weathervane on a piece of river birch bark. I added pine needles and feathers tied with the "Remember" ribbon. A glasine envelope was added at the bottom with various ephemera on which my friend can write memories of her dad.

In the lower left corner is a transparency with "time" on it, an old clock, and the definition of time. Old trading stamps and the 1931 (date of the picture) were added. I used beads strung on a pine needle for her dad's name. A strip of wood was added top and bottom for stability. The branch at the top was collected on the road near our place (and also my friend's place) in Colorado. A small piece of quartz, a key charm and a clock charm finish out the piece on the bottom.

Life Unscripted

2009-08-13T17:31:00.003-05:00

Here is a little journal that I made a few months ago.

I started with simple chipboard pages that already had the scalloped edge. I painted them with Lumiere paints and then stamped and embellished them.

I also used a white pen to add doodles and lines for journaling.

Most of the stamps are Tim Holtz stamps. "Little Ledger Girl" is by Queen's Dresser Drawers.

Iced....and Forgiven

2009-03-29T16:47:00.005-05:00

You never know what Kansas weather will do....70 degrees one day and the next day....wham!!

This is a picture of our River Birch tree taken from our basement window after the blizzard departed. It left behind ice and snow and lots of difficulties for many people in Kansas.

This morning at church I was asked to be the computer coordinator--in the absence of the assigned person who apparently was still snowed in. Now this is a job I do on a regular basis. I enjoy it...and I'm USUALLY pretty good at it. In fact, I get rather irritated with other people who don't do a good job of advancing the songs quickly enough so you don't know what the next line is. However....

This morning...the whole program seemed sluggish....but I did just fine until after the sermon....but then, no matter what I tried--double clicking, hitting the space bar (overandover), double clicking on every conceiveable place--it just sat there....and the crowd turned around....and the song leader waited...and finally the preacher rushed down the aisle to assist. Well, about that time...it came unstuck....and whipped through about the next 100 slides....ok....the next 5. So then I had to back it up. And by then....I, who am so proud at how well I generally do this job, am so flustered and mad at myself for not getting it right--that I promptly mess up the next TWO songs as well. ARGHHHHH!

And then a small still voice said....forgiven.....and I managed to calm down and do it right again.

And I thought about the ice on that River Birch tree. How the weight of it bowed the branches down to the ground. And how the wind whipped it and some of the branches broke. And I thought...you know....when we beat ourselves up for something (big or little) we are frozen. And then we can't even do what we well know how to do. And not only that, beating ourselves up can affect others (like not knowing what line comes next). But if we listen...."forgiven"...and then continue on....we are like the tree set free from its icy prison--free to do what it best knows how to do...stand tall and erect and sway gently in the wind.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. --Phil. 3:12-14

Same tree, taken from the same window...this afternoon after the ice melted off of it.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play

2009-03-26T00:12:00.002-05:00

We definitely live in Kansas.....where it has been in the 70's for the last week...but we're expecting blizzard conditions by day after tomorrow.

....where they burn the pastures.....and often at night...because the wind finally dies down.

I was thinking about that tonight as I was driving to Bible class. Why do we burn? To get rid of all the dead grass...and more importantly the weeds. Sometimes the fires get out of control...and they burn up more than they were intended to. But I drove past one of those areas where a fire had gotten out of hand...and you know....that is the greenest area of any around. And isn't that how God works in our lives...He sometimes uses "fire" to burn out the bad and make way for the good green pastures in our lives.

He is God...He is good....all the time.

Blessings.

The (Thankful) View from Here

2008-07-15T21:05:00.006-05:00

I am thankful God delights in expectancy and not in fulfilled expectations.

I am grateful that truth of His love is so much greater than the lies of the Deceiver.

I am overwhelmed, awed, and amazed that His Spirit is willing to dwell in me.

I am thankful that he never, ever, ever gives up on me.

I am thankful that I have experienced His love through other people...like my mother.

I'm thankful that there is still beauty to be found in this ole' world (I took all the flower pictures in my gardens this morning).

I'm grateful for things that make me smile...like 7 year old girls who asked their grandmother, "Am I a 'young adult'?"

I'm grateful for little girlies who like cold icy-pops on a hot summer afternoo (she really was eating one!).

I'm grateful for one last summer with the pool.

I'm thankful that I'm not a military wife who has to move many, many times....and thankful to those who are and are willing to do that.

So....There you go!

2008-07-13T21:39:00.002-05:00

In just 2 short weeks and 3 showings this is the sign that now sits in front of our house!! All that remains is the inspection. I'm praying that it goes well--I've never really had to deal with that part of selling a house before. So, as I said, I'm praying the inspector doesn't find anything major that would be a deal-breaker.

The people that are buying our house made us a good offer and we countered and met them in the middle. We were delighted with how that turned out. In addition--and this is the really great and amazing part--they agreed to close on July 30, but not take possession until August 31. That is nearly unheard of in the real estate world. I'm sure when they looked at our house, they said to themselves, "Wow, these people have A LOT of STUFF!" A small airport is wanting to buy their property and apparently they have given them adequate time to get out of their house. God is truly amazing in how He works things out!!

Meanwhile....I am enjoying the POOL!! :)

A friend from my hometown is coming tomorrow with 3 of her grandchildren. My daughter and her 2 wonderful girlies will join us, and we'll all have a great time in the pool until the "inspector" comes. Hopefully, then, we will be off to see Kung Fu Panda, or as Ellie says, "Whoo Haa Panda". What a great fun movie!!! Since it is supposed to be really hot here tomorrow, that will be a great thing to do while we're out of the house for "Mr. Inspector", "Clueso" I presume!! Ha!

So...the great PACKING has begun in earnest. I hauled 7 boxes of books to the local Used Book Store, 4 boxes of books to our church library, hauled 4 huge boxes of magazines to the recycling center and have already managed to fill our dumpster--and it won't be emptied until Wednesday. I have 2 rooms (albeit small rooms) almost totally packed. Not too bad considering we just signed the contracts last Wednesday. But believe me...there's still PLENTY to do. So if any of you are bored with your summer activities....feel free to come lend a hand!!

Pool Lessons

2008-06-24T23:21:00.005-05:00

First, some background information.

*We weren't going to open the pool this year.

*Therefore we didn't cover it as well through winter.

*We didn't open it as early as usual.

*We are selling the house.

*The realtor said "Open the Pool!!"

*Because of first 3 points, the pool was dark brown in color and full of yucky, slimy leaves and algae.

*I should have taken a "Before" picture.

*Use your imagination--think coffee with floaties!

*Yesterday at 2 pm--the pool guy arrives.

*Dumps in about 20 LARGE containers of liquid chemicals.

Now for the lessons:

Now I have a better understanding about "walk by faith and not by sight". I had to vacuum that dark brown pool. The first step was to use the leaf sucker-upper. This device attaches to the hose and you then guide it over the biggest piles (which you can't see) in the bottom of the pool. The bottom was not in sight at all. I could see darker areas. I hauled out a lot of leaves. Then I vacuumed. I still could not see the bottom--in fact I had stirred up enough stuff that it was now even more murky! I just followed my usual pattern of vacuuming. It took longer than usual, but it was beginning to clear.

Lesson # 1 Work on the biggest areas of sin in your life first. They are what make your life so dark and ugly. Getting rid of them may seem to make life even more murky for a while. Once they are out of the way, you can begin to work on other areas. Even though it takes longer, as long as you are following the pattern God has given us for living--life does begin to take on a clearer look.
Lesson # 2 My life, without Jesus, is like that dark ugly pool with floaties. Jesus' blood is the "chlorine" that works to take out all the darkness and leaves us crystal clear.
Lesson # 3 Even with all the "chlorine", if I hadn't vacuumed, the pool would still be dark and ugly. God tells us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". We must be willing to vacuum all the darkness out of our lives so that the "chlorine" of his blood can make us crystal clear. Without His blood, all the vacuuming in the world would still leave us dark and ugly.
Lesson # 4 We don't have to wonder if the chlorine (His blood) is working. Less that 15 hours later, I took the "AFTER" picture posted here. His blood transforms us and makes us into a new creature--and anyone who looks at us can see the difference.
Lesson # 5 It takes constant care to keep our souls clean. The pool guy comes once a week--we take the Lord's supper once a week--and are reminded of what His blood does for our lives. But should we quit remembering, quit vacuuming out the bad, our lives will once again turn brown with floaties. It is a constant process.
Lesson # 6 We leave the pool pump on 24 hours a day to filter the pool. Everything we think and do should be filtered through Him. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable...think about [and do] such things.

Pretty good lessons from a dirtly 'ole pool.

Blessings!

The Sermon BEFORE the Sermon

2008-06-22T22:33:00.003-05:00

This morning, I was blessed by a father and his young daughter. They were sitting in front of us during church. We were asked to stand to sing a song. This father scooped up his young daughter (she must be about 4) in his arms and she wrapper her little arms around his neck. He sang in her ear. She hugged him close and with her little hands turned his face so she could whisper in his ear. He listened and then turned and whispered something back. And she snuggled close, and hugged him and kissed his neck. He, while singing, kissed the top of her head. He sang some more and the whole scenario repeated itself. And again.

And I thought to myself, "That's how God loves me!" I know my own Dad loved me the best he knew how, but I always felt I couldn't please him. And he was very strict and not very demonstrative of his love. But this daddy knew how to show his little girl how much he loves her! And isn't that how God is--always hugging us close and whispering how much He loves us. I could barely keep singing!

(Picture at right is artwork by David Bowman)

And then, the sermon started out in Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing."

Wow. That was exactly what I had just witnessed. The sermon was awesome. And the sermon BEFORE the sermon was even more awesome!!

And then this evening--while I was cleaning and sorting, I was listening to a GLAD cd. I've listened to it hundreds of times before. But tonight, the song called "Arise my Soul, Arise" really caught my attention. The original lyrics were by Charles Wesley, and then adapted by GLAD. And they seemed so fitting for everything the day brought today. So here they are:

Arise my soul, arise
Shake off your guilty fears.
The bleeding sacrifice
in my behalf appears
Before the throne He stands,
Before the throne He stands,
My name is written on His hands.

He ever lives above
for me to intercede
His all redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead
Before the throne of Grace
Before the throne of Grace.
He gladly takes my sinful place.

Five bleeding wounds He bears
Received on Calvary
They pour effectual prayers
They strongly plead for me
Forgive , forgive they cry
Forgive, forgive they cry
This ransomed sinner must not die.

The Father hears Him pray
His dear anointed One,
He cannot turn away
the presence of His Son,
He sees the priceless blood
He sees the priceless blood
And tells me I am born of God.

My God is reconciled
His pardoning voice I hear
He owns me for His child
I can no longer fear
With boldness I draw nigh
With boldness I draw nigh
And “Abba Father, Abba Father,
Abba Father”, I cry.

Arise my soul, arise
I can no longer fear.

Lost My Head!

2008-06-21T21:52:00.002-05:00

Well...I think I've lost my head--or at least I'm too tired to find it!! This is a pretty good depiction of how I'm feeling right now!

We've been half-heartedly house hunting since last November or so. But since it is time for our pool to be open (and DH HATES HATES HATES the pool), we have been whole-heartedly hunting! We were nearly ready to make an offer on one that we had looked in several times. But then our realtor told us about one that had just come on the market. We looked at it once and were ready to make an offer. We really like it. So our own house will be listed Monday. So here are the top ten reasons why I'm going CRAZY and feel like my head has fallen off:

1. I am an artist.
2. Artists (especially mixed-media artists) have LOTS of stuff.
3. The realtor said, "Put it all away"! **OH MY!!!**
4. Artists (especially mixed-media artists) have LOTS of stuff.
5. The house is being listed on Monday.
6. Artists (especially mixed-media artists) have LOTS of stuff.
7. The realtor said we might have lookers as soon as Monday evening.
8. Artists (especially mixed-media artists) have LOTS of stuff.
9. Our new house will be quite a bit smaller.
10. Artists (especially mixed-media artists) have LOTS of stuff.

Going from well-lived in house to a show ready house is exhausting. I am exhauted. I can hardly stay awak at the computer. So that's all for now. More later.

Birthday Beauty!

2008-06-09T10:14:00.004-05:00

Saturday was Addy's birthday. She turned 6. Unbelievable. It seems just yesterday we were visiting her when she was 2 months old and she and Grandpa were reading together.

She is one of the greatest joys of my life!! I love doing things for her and with her. She is very smart (even if I do say so myself) and very pretty (likewise).

She invited several friends to go see Kung Fu Panda and so, of course, Nana made her a Panda cake. I used to make these for her mom when she was little (also seems like yesterday....ok....maybe the day before yesterday).

Addy wanted to dress up like movie stars to go to the movie, so I made little sparkly belts for her and her friends--forgot to take a picture of that. I'll try to do that later. Her mom got her a pink boa, and sprayed her hair pink. She was *stunning*. *grin*

**********************************************************************************

I made her "A Year In The Life Of" book that chronicled her last year. I will get it back and scan some of it and post it later. For only starting it a couple days before her birthday, I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Please keep this little one in your prayers. As I said, she is VERY smart and has put it together in her mind that the tornado killed her uncle and aunt. So now when the storms come, she is hysterical. My heart breaks for her. She is too young to be able to rationalize through this. Some of the rest of us have trouble as well! But in her own words, "I am TOO YOUNG to go through this!!"

I have not posted about the loss of Jayme's brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Although I knew Gary and he had been in our home a couple of times, I didn't know him well. I had never met Kim. But I know that they were very very very precious people to people that I love and care deeply for. It hurts to not be able to ease their grief. Especially my sweet sweet Jayme. It breaks my heart to see her hurt so. I wish I knew how to share in it with her. For now, I will hug her when I can....and hold her in my heart and my prayers always.

Table That Discussion!!

2008-06-05T16:59:00.005-05:00

Just thought I'd let you in on the project I've been working on for the last couple of days. My DH and I, and this time, my daughter and SIL, purchase the contents of storage units that the owners have been deliquent on paying fees. A couple of months ago we bid on and purchased 5 units. Then we sort, clean, wash, price all the items and have a huge garage sale (which is next weekend). The fun part is keeping what you want--my daughter may say I've kept far more than my fair share!! I purchased a stamping magazine sometime back in '06 because I loved the altered table on the front cover. I bought some paper that I really liked to make a similar one....and in the storage unit was the PERFECT table!!!! So I snuck it in the house (DH says if somethings comes in--something else has to go out!). Of course I had to take it back out to the shop and take it apart and sand it--and so I got caught.

DH: What are you doing with THAT???

me: Ummmmm.....a project.

DH: What KIND of project??

me: Uhhhh...I'm painting/papering/and stamping this table (this was said very fast all in one breath)

DH: And then what are you going to do with it?

me: Ahhhhmmmmm....I'll find a home for it?

This morning, after I had finished it, I left it out for him to see--he usually is pretty complimentary of my work....and I LOVE that.

me: See my table?

DH: Hey! Wow! That's really neat!

me: Yeah, I really like the way it turned out!

DH: So.......how much are you going to SELL it for??

me: *sigh*

But all the same--I'm NOT going to sell it. At least not right now. I like it too much!! In fact, I have another little table......

So any way....I hope you enjoy the pictures of said table!

The View From Here

2008-06-04T12:56:00.003-05:00

So, here is the view from the swing in my frog garden. It's a lovely place to just sit and relax, feel the breeze ruffle my hair and listen to the fountain in the little pond.

These two pictures aren't in my frog garden, but I thought you might like to see some other pretty sites from our place. The honeysuckle is on a fence off of our back deck. I think it is 2 years old now, and it is really beautiful this year.

The clematis is climbing up a wheel on an old buckboard wagon. My DH loves old farm implements--he grew up on a farm. So we have several in our yard. They look really neat, but I especially love the old wagon. I need to plant some more clematis around some of the others. It really gives them a sort of "vintage" feel.

Blessings to you this day.

FROG

2008-05-31T23:16:00.004-05:00

True confessions.

I am a frog lover. I have a lovely peaceful garden in front of our house. It has a small garden pond in it. Lots of shade plants--because it is totally in the shade. A swing, where I love to sit and read, eat, doze, and dream. And, oh, maybe 35 frogs of various shapes and sizes, colors, and materials. Each one a treasure. Some are life-like--others very whimsical.

But today I was looking out the BACK door--at our swimming pool--still covered, because *sigh* I guess we're not opening it this year. And there on the edge of the cover sat a frog. Quite peaceful. Usually, they startle easily. This one didn't. I went and got my camera. Went our the door. And still he stayed there--not moving. I took a picture. Crept closer. He stayed. I clicked. Crept closer. He stayed. I clicked. And once more!! I couldn't believe it! Even the cat walked between me and the frog.

That little frog brought a message. Fully Relying On God. I'd heard it before. But it was a message I needed to hear again. He never did move. I finally took my camera and these wonderful pictures and came back inside. And now, tonight, as I write this, I can hear him out in the water on top of the pool cover. Singing his sweet message to me again.

God is good. All the time. And all the time, God is good.

Fully Rely On God.

13 things--even if it's not Thursday

2008-05-30T23:54:00.003-05:00

Here are just 13 things I've done since I last posted (it could be 1013!!).

1. Displayed my art at two Final Friday Gallery Crawls. Didn't sell a thing--but at least heard some very positive comments (and a few others....) and got some good exposure. After the first "no-seller" I considered burning all my pieces...but then my daughter reminded me that they were inspired by the Holy Spirit and that I might be inviting lightning!!

2. Attended a funeral for my son-in-law's brother and his wife. *sigh*

3. Attended a track meet where my oldest grandson qualified for State in the 4X800.

4. Attended high school graduation out-of-town for same grandson.

5. Made a quilt in two weeks--if you knew my history of how long it takes me to make a quilt, you would be incredibly impressed--for same grandson.

6. Spent an afternoon in a waiting room while my almost 6-year old granddaughter had work done on her teeth under anethesia.

7. Had a graduation party for my long-time friend (since we were in 8th grade) who graduated with her master's degree. There were 22 people in attendace.

8. Made same friend a piece of "spoon" art for a graduation present.

9. Spent a week with friends at Lake Texoma fishing.

10. Made 11 personalized coasters for my sister to give her orchestra booster parents.

11. Completed 50 greeting cards that a lady ordered to sell in her shop.

12. Nearly completed getting ready for a garage sale (sorting, washing, marking the contents of six storage units that we purchased for this purpose)

13. Made a "Believe" mini-scrapbook for a friend to give to her pastor who was leaving.

Ummmm and 13 1/2...made a "So Very" mini-scrapbook for a new baby of an "almost" relative.

Ummmm and 13 3/4....made a "So Very" mini-scrapbook for a young mother at church.

Peanut Butter or a Stone

2008-03-11T23:24:00.002-05:00

I've had my two sweet grand babies this week. They make me smile soooo much!! For example:

Ellie (the 3-year old): Nanny, Nanny, Nanny!
(I'm really "Nana", but in her little sweetness way, when she is excited, it becomes "Nanny!"

Me: What Ellie?

Ellie: (with her hands around her eyes like binoculars--her cute little peculiar way of asking for something) I need sumpin to EAT!

Me: You DO? What do you want?

Ellie: Keenut Butter!

Me: Oh, really? On crackers?

Ellie: Noooo, just Keenut Butter.

Me: You mean on a spoon?

Ellie: Yes. Keenut Butter on a spoon!

Now how is a Nana supposed to resist such sweetness as that??

But it made me think about the scripture that says, "Would a father give his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread?" How much more will your Heavenly Father give what is good to those who ask Him?

Me: Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!! ....

If only we would remember to ask for "Keenut Butter" when we're "hungry"...

Ezekiel's Window

2008-03-11T16:10:00.003-05:00

This piece of art is my (broad) interpretation of Ezekiel chapter 1. The text talks about Ezekiels vision of 4 winged creatures that rode in wheeled objects. The wheeled objects had eyes all around the rims. It says that!! I promise!! Check it out for yourself!

At any rate this is what I imagined it might have looked like had Ezekiel seen this through a window. My interpretation is a much tamer vision than the actual vision. Had I seen the same thing Ezekiel saw, I wouldn't have been able to describe it in such detail--'cause I would have fainted dead away in awe!!

Road Revival

2008-03-11T07:44:00.004-05:00

Artist Statement: Bring me your rusted, your throw aways, your "what the heck is this thing," your "oh this is trash now," your "I have to dump this stuff," your broken, your older than dirt and I will make it into a piece of art that you will be amazed with. I will work my magic on your junk and turn it into art that you could never find anywhere else. And isn't this just what our Heavenly Father does for us...He takes us where He finds us--cast off, worn out, dirty, and broken, and He cleans us up and molds and shapes us into something beautiful and useful. He takes the ordinary and turns us into the extraordinary. He brings new life to us. So as a reflection of His love for us, I bring to you my "Road Revival Art".

The first set of pictures added here are of a piece called Elijah and the Raven. The raven is made out of tire tread and the insides of the wraps for hot coffee cups. Elijah is made from an old piece of rope, a twisted piece of metal, and "something" with a grid on it for his face. I stamped an image of a man's face on this "something", but it doesn't show well in the picture. The raven is bringing "food" to Elijah--these are "beads" that I made out of scraps of paper. The word definitions in the bottom left corner are adhered to skeleton leaves--which also don't show well in the photo. Hopefully, you get idea, even though the photo does not do the piece justice.

I seem to be having difficulty uploading pictures right now so will try more later.

On the Road AGAIN!

2008-02-26T21:41:00.005-06:00

Finally the second piece is finished. Other than showing it to my DH, no one else has seen it--so I'm sharing it with all of you next!! This piece is also done on a 16x20 canvas covered by fabric. It is called "Precious in His Sight". The figures on each of the playing cards represents a child of a different race and class. I had a blast "styling" each child's hair! Jayleigh, there's even a copper curly head, just like you!! In fact, Jayleigh, I thought of you often while I was putting this one together.

The King, of course, represents our Heavenly Father, who with his huge "heart" loves all his children equally.

Perhaps it is unnecessary to point out the following (but I shall anyway!):

The four quadrants are red, yellow, black, and white.

The four rows are red, yellow, black, and white.

In each row, the "triangle" of paper on the cards is a variant of the color of the first card in the row.

I reserved the last row (higher ranking cards) for the "white" row because many whites "think" they are superior. But at the foot of the cross, in the shadow of His love, we are all truly equal. Each child is precious and worth more than all the treasure on earth.

You, dear friend, are precious in His sight!

Here are a few more pictures to show some of the details.

On the Road

2008-02-24T09:06:00.003-06:00

No, it's not quite what you think. We really are at home. At least for a while.

I told you about the art explosion thing goin' on with me. Well...for several months I've been picking up road trash. You know, old metal bottle caps, wire, pieces of tire tread, etc.

And it has been in bags. or boxes. or piles.

Last week some of it got together in my brain. And I really like the way it turned out. It is done on a 16x20 canvas covered in fabric. So here it is:

I took it to church Wednesday night. It was interesting to see who "got it" and who didn't. Most men laughed. Although a few "got it".

Some women didn't get it either. At least they didn't laugh--they just said "Oh. That's nice."

But the ones who "got it" really liked it. So mostly I am encouraged. Because the picture is small compared to its actual size, it loses some of the detail. Those are wheel weights on the edges of the picture of the earth. The scripture on the card that goes in the pocket is John 3:16.

To those of you who "get it" I hope it brings a blessing to you.

Piece number 2 is already in the works.

Which "sun" do you hold?

2008-02-21T15:08:00.003-06:00

Just a note about the picture at the top of my "new" blog. This past summer, E and I spent 3 weeks on a mission trip to Africa. Not all of me came back. I left part of my heart there. The country is beautiful. When we were there in late June early July, it was their winter. I would love to see their spring--I know it would be incredible.

We were in Zimbabwe at Nhowe mission. It is a mission our church supports. It has a hospital/medical facility and a school. The school also provides "home" to many orphans. Through our church, over 1700 orphans have been given food, clothing, and an opportunity to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The political situation and the resulting economic situation in Zimbabwe are grim to say the least. Even the school was running out of food in November. At this point, I'm not sure how the school is faring. I heard recently that over 1/4 of the population of the country has vacated. I weep when I think about the orphans who have no where to go...and no one to take them.

Back to the picture. We hiked up a large hill before sunrise one morning. The sunrise was incredible. A doctor friend of mine took this picture of me "holding" the rising sun in my hands. It is one of my favorites. The sun that rises and sets over Zimbabwe is the same sun that rises and sets here. It keeps me close. But, even more, when we hold the Son, we are so close than nothing can ever separate us.

God's richest blessings to all of you.

For I am convinced that my Savior loves me. -me

Horizon card collection

2008-02-21T10:12:00.005-06:00

As promised, here are the pictures of the cards I created after watching the wonder of God's new day. The first is the original which shows the sunrise as I watched it. The rest are from other pictures in my mind of the view out my kitchen window. I created these with inks (direct to paper) and then stamped the tree images over the ink. This is a new process to me and I find it fascinating and wonderful to use. I am pleased with the results. And with such wonderful inspiration from what God has created...well, it just comes together well.

Surely you've heard about the little boy riding in a car with his dad, admiring the sunset:

Dad: Son, isn't that a beautiful sunset?

Son: Uh-huh, it is.

(Pause)

Son: And to think God did that left-handed!

Dad: What?

Son: God painted that left-handed.

(Dad considers this for awhile)

Dad: Why do you say He painted it left-handed?

Son: Well, the Bible tells us that Jesus is sitting on His right hand!

Re-entering Blogdom

2008-02-20T08:06:00.002-06:00

Well.
Wow.
Almost two years. I'd even forgotten my password.
And still I have dial-up. *SIGH*
These past two years have been busy. Much has happened. Too much to catch up on all at once. But maybe gradually over a few posts I can give you some highlights.

But mostly I've just continued on. And as I re-enter this blogdom world, I must be careful not to let it take over. When you have dial-up, it can take up a LOT of time. So if any of you still happen to check to see if I'm here--and should you happen to comment--please know that I am delighted you have stopped by!! But know, also, that I may not reciprocate often--just because I am trying to limit my computer time.

One big thing that has happened for me in the last couple of years is an explosion of art in my soul. It screams to get out!! Last night it woke me at 3 a.m.--with the second in a series of mixed media art pictures (and the first is not yet complete!). I'll be posting some pictures of what I've been creating. They are a part of me. They are a gift from God. I hope they will bring some small bit of something to any who happen to view them here.

For those who have read my blog before...I think you will find my art reflects that same themes that my blog has always had--just now in a more visual form.

For instance....
Monday morning I stood at the kitchen window watching the sunrise. It was awesome. I stood there, drinking it in--like an excellent cup of coffee. But like the coffee....it doesn't last long. It changes...and fades...and turns into day. And then....I couldn't wait to get downstairs to put what I had witnessed onto paper. The result is a collection of 4 cards. I'll post the pictures later today.

For now, I'm off to the gym with my DH to play raquet-ball. If these ole' knees will let me....!

If you happen to find yourself visiting here as an old friend--thanks for coming back. If you're here as a new friend. Welcome.

As for me....

For I am convinced that my Savior loves me. -me

Communication & the Avacado Seed

2006-02-25T21:02:00.000-06:00

I went to visit my sister today. We don't get to see each other very often, so it was a special treat. She took me to eat at Le Madeline for lunch--yummmmmmmm! I had a wonderful fresh spinach salad with salmon, bacon, pecans, and strawberries and then Creme brulee for dessert.

But even better than the food was the time spent with my sister. Of course we talked about our children. She was telling me about her 2 sons--both in college. A couple of her tales are worth repeating here.

Shirley had called her oldest son, Anthony, last weekend and talked to him at length. They discussed how classes were going, what he had been doing, the fact that he had called the dentist on his own, made an appointment and then went (quite an accomplishment for him). I'm sure they discussed finances and the weather. And who knows what else. Then they said their goodbye's.

Then she called her youngest son, Alden. She asked him what he was doing. I'm at Anthony's doing my laundry!! Had Anthony mentioned that Alden was there?? Nooooo! Shirley said this was an example of how well they all communicate!!!

I think this is about how well we communicate with and about God, too. We see our friends. We talk about a lot of things. Our jobs, our kids, our triumphs and defeats, our finances, the weather. But do we mention that God is at our house??? Or that He lives within us??? I know I'm not very good at communicating that. I do the best at it here in this blog. But I need to be better at communicating that in my day to day life!! God help me!

Now for the second tale. Sometime before Alden left for the fall semester, he took an avacado seed, stuck toothpicks in it and put it in a cup, and lovingly watered and cared for it. Then he left for college. Shirley became the caretaker of said avacado seed. She said she watered and cared for it fairly well, and it grew a root about an inch long. And then her life became hectic (she is a middle school orchestra teacher--need I say more?). She neglected the poor avacado seed. Alden asks about it when he calls. Further neglect results in the poor thing withering. In desperation, she takes it out into the backyard, plants it under a pine tree, and then totally forgets it.

Today, she is perusing the backyard and--WHAT IS THAT?????? A six inch stem has sprouted from the seed. She had been certain that it was hopeless.

How many times have we considered things to be hopeless. And how many times has God brought about a ressurrection. He brings new life to things that we consider dead. He breathes His breath upon them, and warmth and light and life return. I can see that so many times in my own life. Remembering those times are a great comfort to me. A source of confidence when life becomes troubled. Proof that He is Faithful. God is good. And He is able.

May God continue to grant you His richest blessings, and may you have all kinds of peace in believing.

In the world, but not of the world

2006-02-20T20:54:00.000-06:00

Assemble the following simple items:

2 cups of water
black pepper
liquid soap

Sprinkle the pepper into both cups of water so that it covers the surface of the water.

Stick your finger into the first cup of water and pull it back out. What happened?

Now put just a drop of liquid soap into the second cup of water. Then put your finger into that cup and pull it back out. What happened this time?

After doing this, check the comments section of this post for the application of this little activity.

For the Lofve of a Child

2006-02-17T15:28:00.000-06:00

Emerson and I went to see "Firewall" last night. About half way through the movie we had the following conversation:

Me: (Whispering in E's ear) I don't need to go to the Y tomorrow.
E: Huh?
Me: I don't need to go to the Y tomorrow.
E: Why not?
Me: My heart rate has been up for the last hour!!

Talk about a thriller. Whooo. Good movie.

I'll try not to tell you to much, but have to share a little bit.

Harrison Ford plays the good guy (of course!) and his wife and family have been taken hostage by this really evil guy. Harrison battles this guy continually in order to protect his children. In one particular poignant scene, it occurred to me that Harrison (I'm so bad with stage names) had a lot more to fight for. He was fighting for his children. The other guy was simply fighting for money. The love for one's children gives far more strength than the love of money.

And then I thought, that's how it is with God and Satan. God is fighting for His children, Satan is just fighting for power and wealth. No wonder God is victorious!! From before the creation, He knew there would be a battle for His children--and He put in place a plan that could not be defeated. He loved us so very much that He gave up His only Son that we might be saved.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26

A Child's Perspective

2006-02-13T20:18:00.000-06:00

Our son was praying with his 6 year old daughter. They prayed that everybody would be well, and that everybody would be saved so that no one would go to hell. After they finished praying the following conversation took place:

Kate: What's hell?
Daddy: Well, right now Jesus is up in heaven with God. But one day, He will come back to earth. All the people asleep in graves in the ground, and everybody alive and walking around on earth will see Him. And God will tell Jesus which people will get to go to heaven with Him and all the rest will go to a very bad place called hell.
Kate: WOW! Will it be badder than jail? My teacher went to jail once.

Oh, my. The things we learn in conversations with children!

And speaking of Jesus coming back. I sometimes teach our ladies Bible class on Wednesday evenings. We have been studying angels. Last Wednesday we were talking about how one single angel appeared to the shepherds, and how afraid they were. And then after the angel delivered his proclamation, the heavens opened and were filled with the heavenly host singing and praising God. WOW! Don't you know those shepherds were in awe then!

And how amazing it will be when Jesus comes again, with the sounding of the trumpet and the heavenly host coming with him. WOW!

"Will I stand in His presence, or to my knees will I fall,
Will I sing Hallelujah or will I be able to speak at all....."

Come, Lord Jesus!

Which Road Are You Taking?

2006-02-10T20:53:00.000-06:00

Have you ever opened a box of nightcrawlers? The worms are all twisted together--wiggling every which way. And you can't really tell the difference between the beginning of one and the end of another.

Have you ever driven under one of those huge clover leaf highway interchanges? With roads going every direction and you can't really figure out which one goes where?

Have you ever thought about how alike the two things are? That occured to me today as we drove under a massive cloverleaf. Wow. You really have to be paying attention to make sure you get on the right road--and that you're going the right direction!! Sometimes it can be really confusing. Especially in Texas--they are the WORST about marking their roads!

And then I thought about how many choices we have in our lives. Shall I take this road, or this one? Where does this road lead? Will this one get me there any faster? And each life road has a different destination.

In all the roads of life that we have to choose from, there is one particular road. We are told that it is a wide road, and easy to travel on. And that lots of people travel on it. But the destination is destruction.

And then there is another road. One less traveled on. And we are told it is narrow. And oft times it has many potholes and "s" curves--sometimes gravel, sometimes dirt; and sometimes we find ourselves going the wrong way. But God always allows U-turns. And if we persevere to the end, the view will be incredible.

And by the way--there is a Road Map!

2006-02-06T23:59:00.001-06:00

Antique Cabinet--top section

2006-02-06T23:59:00.000-06:00

Antique Cabinet--bottom section

2006-02-06T23:58:00.000-06:00

Antique Cabinet--doors and drawers

2006-02-06T23:57:00.000-06:00

Antique Cabinet--Restored!

FINISHED!

2006-02-06T23:03:00.000-06:00

It is finally finished!! And in my basement! I almost drove my husband over the edge, insisting that he get it moved inside. It came in at 10:00 night before last. The pictures don't quite do it justice--and how I wish I had taken a picture before I ever started!!! It was really just a heap of dark, dark brown broken pieces when I started. After Emerson got it moved in, he stepped back and said, "Well, I never would have believed it!" I'm not quite sure if he meant that the heap of pieces could ever be restored, or that I could actually do it. I did most of it by myself, but he helped with a few things.

I really am please with the way it turned out--oh, it still has flaws. Lots of old nail holes, burn marks on the top of the bottom part--they look like sorch marks from hot pans, the doors have some pieces that were broken and missing--some I replaced, some I just left. But as Emerson says, "You don't want it to look NEW." And so it doesn't.

It has the marks of service. It was well used. And sometimes abused. And it bears the marks of all of that. But now it has been restored. And believe me, it has a place of honor in my house--even though it's in the basement. I'll be keeping quilt fabrics, pieces of old quilts, thread, quilting tools, etc. in it. It seems fitting to store things in it that I hope will become heirlooms--and hope that it will itself become an heirloom.

Chirst is like that, you know. He came to earth to show the Father's love. And he was used. And abused (beyond what words can even describe). And He still bears the marks in His hands and his feet. He paid the price for us. But now, He has been restored to His rightful place at the Father's right hand.

"Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his diving privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbledhimself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated im to the place of highest honer and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:5-11

I've learned a lot from this old cabinet. It's a treasure. Take a look back and see what else I've written about it:

More Things Than Time
Crime Scene Investigation
Dusting Off my Life

A Real Dad

2006-02-02T22:29:00.000-06:00

My daughter, Jayme, has had 2 "dads" who let her down--abandoned her, abused her. When Emerson and I got married she was 15 and was done calling anyone "Dad". She and Emerson have faced off on many occasions over various things, but he really is the only dad who is truly a "Dad" to her--who cares about her like a dad should.

Jayme and Neal have been going through many trials as of late. Last night, Emerson called Jayme just to encourage her. I happened to be sitting next to him, listening to his end of the conversation. He expressed his concern and his love for them--especially for her. He offered some good advice. And then,unsure of what to say and wanting to say the right things to her, he sort of stuttered and stammered a bit--but the emotion, the love, the care was obvious in his voice.

I talked to Jayme briefly after he ended his conversation with her. "Mom", she said, "Emerson was the SWEETEST ever!! He was trying to be a good Dad & he did it!!" The emotion and pleasure in her voice was as obvious as the love had been in his. That was a HUGE statement for her to make to me. I am very proud of Emerson, and I love him even more today than I did yesterday!!

Funny, it happens that way every day!

Blog Olympics

2006-01-30T21:52:00.000-06:00

As a competitor in the Blog Olympics, it is my sworn duty to honor the two overall winners. Kudos to both Running2Ks & Uisce .

But I think the TRUE honors should go to Barbara as the brains behind the Olympics and Lazy Daisy for her AMAZING coverage.

It was a fun week! Lots of laughter tears!!

Thanks ladies!

Oh, to grace how great a debtor!

2006-01-29T21:40:00.000-06:00

Do I see you, Lord, there in the faces of my family?
Do I hear you, Lord, as we lift our voices to you?
Do I really see your pain as you hang there on the cross?
Do I know who put those nails there?
Did I hear you say "Forgive them"?
Did you really mean it?
I'm not worthy of it.
You call it "grace".

Do you see me, Lord, as I kneel before your throne?
Do you hear me, Lord, as I praise your Holy name?
Did you feel me touch the hem of your garment, Lord?
Did you hear me whisper, "Thank you".
You are worthy.
You are worthy.
You are worthy!
Thank you for your grace!

Ways to Say I Love You

2006-01-28T20:14:00.000-06:00

No, I'm not going to tell you--I want you to tell me!!

What's the most romantic thing your spouse every did for you--or you did for your spouse to show them how much you love them? Please keep it clean--this is a "G" rated Blog!

I'm also hoping for inexpensive. We're going to gone over Valentine's Day, but we're taking our 5th wheel, so I hope to be able to surprise him.

I love to hear your ideas!!

Dusting off my Life

2006-01-25T22:04:00.000-06:00

More in the continuing saga of the cabinet I am refinishing.....

I haven't done anything on my old cabinet since before Christmas. That is, until a couple of days ago. I decided it was time to get back at it. When I got out to the shop, there were the various pieces, laying around the shop just as I'd left them. Well.....almost.

Some of the drawers were on the worktable. I had worked on another project for Christmas on the same table. With the router. Now the drawers were full of wood shavings. *sigh*

The main portion of the top of the cabinet was sitting on another work area. As were several other things--cluttered to the point of having to be cleaned before proceeding with any new work on the cabinet. Another *sigh*

Still other pieces were laying around on the floor--had I put a coat of stain on them yet or not? Still another *sigh*

And DUST! Talk about DUST! DUST on everything!! You know, that fine dust that is the by-product of anything you do in the shop. DUST! DUST! DUST! BIG **SIGH**

So....finally the drawers have been emptied of the router shavings, the work areas have been de-cluttered, the stained pieces have been separated from the unstained pieces, and everything has been DUSTED.

It took quite awhile to accomplish all of that work...so now the work of refinishing can begin again.

And then I started thinking....how much my life in Christ is like that. When I get busy doing other "projects" and I just leave my praying and my Bible reading and my fellowshiping "lay around", it all becomes cluttered and coated with DUST. When I'm not doing those spiritual growth giving things, and when I'm not allowing myself to be used for my intended purpose in Christ, I become covered with DUST. And that means I have to backtrack and clean things up before I'm moving forward again.

Father, help me to keep my life dust-free, that I might be more available for your purposes. I want to be used in your Kingdom, I want to glorify your Holy & Righteous Name, I want to love you more. In Jesus name, Amen

May God grant you His richest blessings,
And may you have all kinds of Peace in believing.

Lullaby

2006-01-24T14:54:00.000-06:00

One of my very favorite Blogers, Jayleigh on Jayleigh's Grand Adventure, posted a wonderful lullaby. Emerson and I have been playing a CD everynight since Christmas that my sister gave to me. It is the "Appalachian Journey" CD, with Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, and features James Taylor and Allison Krauss. We love the whole CD, but our favorite song--even Emerson's is "Slumber My Darling" (written by Stephen C. Foster).

Here are the words (the music is fantastic--Allison Krauss sings it):

Slumber my darling, thy mother is near
Guarding thy dreams from all terror and fear
Sunlight has past and the twilight has gone,
Slumber my darling, the night's coming on.
Sweet visions attend thy sleep
Fondest, dearest to me,
While others their revels keep,
I will watch over thee.
Slumber my darling, the birds are at rest,
Wandering dews by the flowers are caressed.
Slumber my darling, I'l warp thee up warm,
And pray that the angels will shield thee from harm.

Slumber my darling till morn's blushing ray
Brings to the world the glad tidings of day.
Fill the dark void with thy dreamy delight--
Slumber, thy mother will guard thee tonight.
Thy pillow shall sacred be
From all outward alarms,
Thou, thou art the world to me
In thine innocent charms.
Slumber my darling, the birds are at rest.
Wandering dews by the flowers are caressed,
Slumber my darling, I'll wrap thee up warm,
And pray that the angels will shield thee from harm.

Olympic Blogging

2006-01-23T22:30:00.000-06:00

Well, enough of the serious posts for right now, and on to a little humor. I have been drafted into the Olympic Blog competition! Lazy Daisy has chosen ME (can you believe it) for a one on one interview!! I'm SO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! (no that key ISN'T stuck)

Since I am of German/German heritage, I have been asked to compete for Germany. So I'll be giving my answers in German. Oh. Wait. I don't speak (or write) German. Ahem....I'll be answering in English since that's what language most people use to communicate.

Ok, so here's her questions and my answers:

Do you have a particular training schedule to get ready for the Blog Olympics?
My training is done late at night in secret while my husband is working under cover (sleeping....shhhhh). If he really knew what I was up to........

What is your blog speciality?
My specialty is women's ice blogging. It's a cold, cold world out there.

Do you have any particular ritual you do before competing? Well, first there is the checking of the status of the under cover worker. Is he asleep either in his chair or in bed?
Then the uncovering of the keyboard (this sometimes takes HOURS).
Oh, and my Lucky Dog, Tidbit, must also be asleep beside me.

Do you have any particular tricks with a high degree of difficulty that you are planning to preform.
For years I've been working on the Double Camel Back 3 Toed Loop! I'm hoping that I alone can successfully complete this difficult jump. It has never before been done in cyber competition. Lazy Daisy, I'd tell you how I do it, but then I'd have to kill you!! So for now, I'll just have to keep that information to myself.

Are you considered a long shot or a sure bet to win, place, or show?
Looking at the Day 1 standings, and the statistics I've seen reported for Day 2 competition, I'm looking at a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong shot to win, place, show, or even be recognized. So this interview really means a lot to me!!!!!!!

For these and more interesting topics please stay tuned to this blog, and Lazy Daisy's blog, and the ORIGINAL OFFICIAL OLYMPIC BLOG, Trying To Catch Up.

THANK YOU LAZY DAISY!!!

Top Ten Prayer Concerns

2006-01-22T22:56:00.000-06:00

These are the prayers that are currently burning in my heart:

1. Father God, Please, please hold Neal & Jayme in the palm of your hand. Help them to find your comfort and your peace. Raise them up out of the ash heap--heal their spirits. Prepare for Neal a job that will utilize his many talents and will provide for the physical needs of his family. Help me to be supportive in every way that I can. My heart breaks for them, Father. Help them to feel the reality of your presence in their lives. Let their spiritual integrity shine as a beacon in spite of those who would seek to destroy it. Put a hedge around them. Do not let the evil one triumph over them. Let them continually turn their face to you--and let them see there, the love that you have for them. Let Christian brothers and sisters come to them and be Jesus to them--to love them, feed their spirits, and bind up their wounds. Please, Father, please.
2. Lord, let me open my ears and my heart to your voice.
3. Holy Spirit, help me to recognize your nudgings and your stirrings deep with me.
4. Loving Father, help me to be more loving to those who know you, and those who don't.
5. God, help me to be a shining light for you in this dark world.
6. Help me to defeat Satan in every area of my life.
7. Help me to be a better wife--to be more loving in my actions, in my words, and in my attitude.
8. Help me to come to a clearer understanding of the work of the cross every day.
9. Father, equip my grandchildren with the tools they need to be faithfull to you all their lives.
10. Raise up faithful men and women to become the spouses of my grandchildren.

I love you God. I want to be totally yours. None of me--all of you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Top Ten Predictions for 2006

2006-01-22T22:49:00.000-06:00

Wish I could claim the following as my own--but I can't. But I thought it was so good, I had to share it. This was in our bulletin this morning--no authorship was given:

1. The Bible will still have the answers.
2. Prayer will still work
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
And Remember...God is still on the Throne!

Bobisms

2006-01-17T23:25:00.000-06:00

We have a friend named Bob, who went on the Mexico trip with us. He is a wonderful Christian man, who loves and serves God with all his heart. But he also has a wonderful, quick sense of humor. Here for you to enjoy are some of the things he said while we were in Mexico.

We often call him by fun names: Bob the Builder, Builder Bob, Basher Bob (he was breaking up cement with a pick), Brilliant Bob, etc. Some names that will NEVER fit him are: Bashful Bob, Boring Bob.

Bob: (using pick to break up hard ground) Are we all contemplating why we have a college education?

Bob: (to his wife) You missed a Kodak moment. I stepped backward and fell in the ditch.
Prissy: Are you all right???
Bob: Yes, but not Victor. I landed on him. He was sort of the butt of that.
(Later in the Van)
Bob: Medina (Victor's last name) is Spanish for "soft landing"!
(At lunch)
Bob: I'm very thankful for Victor....but I don't think he shares the feeling!

Emerson to Bob who is in the ditch with a level on the newly laid sewer line: Bob, you've got to be "plumb" crazy to do that!
Bob: Yeah, I know, I'm already half a bubble off!

Joyce: (teasing Bob about his yellow holey hooded sweat shirt) Nice Sweatshirt, Bob.
Bob: It's a family heirloom. Sort of an "off the shoulder look" (big hole in one shoulder).
(Next Day)
Bob: People are accusing me of being a warehouse (where we take donated items) reject.
(Later)
Bob: I lost my shirt!
Trish: The yellow hoody?!?!!?
Bob: Oh no, I keep that one in the vault.

Bob: (talking to Joyce, both shoveling dirt) We should take home some dirt with us.
(Joyce with quizical look)
Bob: That way whenever we want to worship on foreign soil, we can!

Bob: (standing behind Joyce just after the cement mixer was started--much smoke issuing forth) At least there aren't any mosquitos........or any other life forms.

Bob: (with mischeivious grin, looking through the window--with bars--from outside to Joyce on inside) Have you ever considered what you look like standing there behind bars eating a banana?
(Later after Emerson reads this comment)
Emerson: Bob, just what DID Joyce look like standing there eating a banana?
Bob: Well, I'll leave that to your imagination. But I DID hear that 2 or 3 people fed her peanuts through the window! She was "apeing" the crowd!

(Last morning before going to the worksite--waiting for the elevator to go down to the lobby)
Bob: I feel like I have carpal tunnel all over my body!

(Day of departure)
Bob: Bob the Builder is going back into seclusion until next year.

(At a pitstop on the way home)
Bob: I had a very hard time getting out of the bathroom. The sign said "Employees must wash hands before leaving" and I couldn't find one to do it!

Thank you, Bob, for bringing the comic relief we needed!! We love you!

Napping and Bed Bouncing

2006-01-17T23:00:00.000-06:00

I spent the day at Jayme's house today, helping her with Addy and Ellie. Both of the girls have ear infections. Although I went intending to bless them by helping (which I hope I did), I was the one truly blessed. I love snuggling with my grandbabies, and today was a great day for that. Even the 3 year old let me hold her for a little while before she continued with her usual perpetual motion. But the one year old. That was a different story. Jayme had put her down for a nap and then left for the dentist. She slept for about 45 minutes. Addy and I were watching "Beauty and the Beast", and she (Addy) fell asleep on the couch. Ellie woke up crying, so I went upstairs and picked her up and carried her downstairs. I whispered to her as we went down the stairs, that her sister was asleep on the couch and so we needed to be very quiet. Now I don't know if those words were the cause of what took place, but Ellie seemed very content to just sit on my lap with her bear.

Sidebar: I had brought both of the girls new very soft teddy bears. I told them they were "Feel Better Bears"--when they snuggle up with them, the bears will help them feel better. I had done this for Jayme when she was little, and she loved that bear for many years!!!

Back to my previous story: Ellie let me rock her and she sat quietly. I could tell she was still very sleepy, and eventually she laid her head down on my chest and went back to sleep. I snoozed as well. Every once in a while, she would wiggle, look at her bear, grin, look at me and lay her head back down and sleep some more. This went on for about an hour and a half. That's the best nap time I've had in weeks. Time wise for sure, but to have this little one sleep cradled in my arms with her downy head on my breast--now that's bliss.

Later after supper, Ellie felt really hot again, so we gave her a cool bath. When she was done, her mother wrapped her in a "duck" towel (oh, what a cutie!) and handed her to me. I diapered her, and then rubbed lotion over her little arms and legs, and put her jammies on her. Such a sweet, sweet smell, and such soft, soft skin. Mmmmmm, I just drink it in! Then it was play time. Her big sister, Addy, was on the bed with us. Now, their parents allow them to jump on the bed (which we don't allow at our house--but in watching these two joyously bouncing around one has to think about that rule). So Addy and little Ellie were jumping around and giggling and laughing and falling over, and being tickled by Nana and Momma, and just having the time of their lives. There's just something so very precious about such innocent play and laughter. And so I was blessed. And it was hard to leave them to come home!

When Multiplying feels like Dividing

2006-01-16T11:28:00.000-06:00

Our Sunday evening small group has been talking about “multiplying” for several weeks. Last night it became a reality. What it actually feels like is “dividing”. Our group has grown to 20+ members and our leader feels that it no longer has the benefits of a “small” group. I’m sure that is true. But the pain of dividing so we can multiply is great.

We started attending this small group back in August. This came about because we finally left a congregation (after almost 8 years) where we were merely pew warmers. It is also a place where although I had “friends”, I had not really connected with anyone to the degree that I had experience in the place where we moved from that same almost 8 years ago.

It takes time for me to develop a friendship relationship where I feel comfortable in getting really close, and I always try to be the kind of friend that I want to have—which means trying to listen as much as I talk, and being caring toward my friend. I fail miserably at that sometimes.

I finally began to find that wonderful bond of friendship within our small group. And now those women are being moved on into a new small group, but we are being asked to stay behind. My heart is breaking. Everyone says “Oh, we’ll stay close”, but I know how that goes. We all get busy with other people and other things and “stuff” interferes. We live farther out from where our group is than anyone else. My husband complains all the time about putting more miles on the vehicles and spending the extra money for gas.

When the lines were drawn and names read last night, I know I wasn’t the only one who was upset. But I was the only one who started crying and couldn’t quit. Even now, the next morning, I can’t write this without crying. And I feel like an idiot. I feel selfish and childish. I am embarrassed by my display of emotion. I really didn’t want to cry—didn’t really think I would. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. I want to be able to make this step with grace. But I’m doing a LOUSY job of it. Everyone else, though they also feel the pain, expressed willingness to move on. I want DESPERATELY to do what is best for our group, and what God wants me to do. The purpose of our group is to grow to include new members, and we must “divide to multiply”. I know in my heart that this is right.

Since we moved back to this area (where my husband grew up), we have mostly had friends that he knew from before and were closer to his age than mine (we are 20 years apart). Although I enjoy being with these people, so much of what they talk about are things that happened a long time ago and with his previous wife (she died of cancer), that I often feel left out. I really have no point of reference to enter their conversations, so I usually just end up listening. It has been such a blessing to be able to be in a group where Emerson and I are on more equal footing in this respect. But still, we sit on Sunday mornings with people that are his age. Again, let me say that I like these people a lot and enjoy being with them. But I also want to be with people more my own age with whom I have more in common. Our small group was where I found this outlet.

There are still people left in our group that I love. Mentally, I know God will help me to get through this and to grow to love these people more as well. Emotionally, I am feeling abandoned. Abandonment is something that has been all too prevalent in my life, and so the possibility of experiencing it again is all too real. My dad and I were very close when I was small. I was a tom-boy and I think I was the “son” he very much wanted. Then, I turned into a girl. This was also when I found the church and became a Christian. Dad pretty much didn’t have anything to do with me after that. I married at 18. I stayed in that marriage for 10 years, until one day my husband started packing MY stuff. I took the hint. I married my second husband, a preacher, which lasted 7 years—until he sexually abused my daughter. Through professional counseling I made it through that and finally figured out how to make a good choice for a mate. I married Emerson. And I love him with all my heart. But the fear of abandonment still rears its ugly head.

And then to have left 2 good friends behind 8 years ago, and not be able to find that kind of relationship since, this is difficult. Oh, I see those old friends occasionally and we are able to just take right up where we left off, but it is often a long dry desert in between. I love deeply, I hurt deeply. That’s the way God made me.

I’m sorry for the long post. If any of you persevered to the end, bless you. Journaling this has helped me come to a conclusion. For now, we will stay where John, our leader, suggested we go (he said we could change—that it wasn’t set in stone). I want to do what is right and good. John obviously feels like we need to be in his group. Emerson said that he would be most comfortable staying in that group. It isn’t as far (watch those miles and gas prices!!). I did talk to him about letting me go to Wichita to do things with my friends without complaining about the miles and the gas. He said that will be ok. So, I’m willing to try this. Please pray that God grants me peace in this decision and that I can be a positive part of the group that we will be in.

May God grant all of you His richest blessings,
And may you find all kinds of peace in believing.

Down Mexico Way

2006-01-14T21:02:00.000-06:00

I seem to have trouble posting things in the order I want them to appear. The pictures below should be in reverse order. The last picture shown below is how the building in Nuevo Laredo looked when we arrived on Monday morning. The middle picture shows how I spent most of my time--shoveling sand. The first picture shows our group, including several of our Mexican brothers and sisters, in front of the same building on the final day of work--just before our departure from the sight.

As you can see, the building is very plain. It is made of cement blocks. The walls were there when we arrived, as was the cement floor inside. There were no windows--just the holes where they would go. There was no electricity. The bathrooms in back (you can't see them in the picture), had no roof. There was a sidewalk on only one side of the building. When we left, the windows had been installed, the electricity had been wired in and was working, the bathroom roof had been poured (by lifting bucketfuls of cement up by hand), and the sidewalks had been completed (a full-length of the building on one side, plus two patio areas at the front, plus two oversized sidewalks in front of the building by the street). We accomplished all of this in 3 1/2 days.

I cannot even begin to explain the depths of my feelings for these people in Mexico. They work so hard, and they talk about our "sacrifices" in coming to help. And little do they realize the abundance of what we have, nor the joy with which we come, nor the blessings we have enjoyed for having been with them this week. Although the work is physically difficult and often challenging, we have a wonderful time doing it. And our time of fellowship with our Mexican brothers and sisters makes our "cup run over" with blessings!

As we worshipped on Sunday morning at the first church building built by this ministry, we were amazed at the outpouring of love to us, the enthusiasm shown during Bible class and the worship service, and the fervor with which they sang and prayed. It puts our American congregations to shame!

Following are some observations I made while I was there. As you read, compare all the number 1 entries, then all the number 2 entries, etc.

What we (Americans) see:
1. Concrete buildings with sparse furnishings and many flaws.
2. People with darker skin who dress differently from us.
3. Crumpled pesos in the collection plate.
4. People whose language is different from our own.
5. People who work at the job site along side of us with few tools, but with great enthusiasm.
6. Rough, calloused hand that are used to doing much hard work.
7. A loving church that greets one another & all of us with a handshake and sweet words.
8. Their poverty and our own abundant wealth.

What they (Mexican's) see:
1. A beautiful place to come together and worship God.
2. People with lighter skin in different clothing from their own.
3. Neatly folder dollar bills in the collection plate.
4. People whose language is different from their own.
5. People who work along side them with expensive tools, some expertise, and a great willingness to work.
6. Blistered, sore hands that are accustomed to an easier life-style.
7. Looks of astonishment or quiet amusement from us as they greet each and every one of us.
8. Their blessings & our "sacrifices".

What God sees:
1. The people who come together from both walks of life to worship Him. (Ps. 100)
2. Christians who are clothed with His Son. (Gal. 3:27)
3. Some people giving out of their poverty, some people giving out of their abundant wealth--but all giving in glory and honor to the Lord. (Lk. 21:4)
4. Christian voices raised in praise to Him. (Heb. 13:15-16)
5. His work being accomplished. (I Cor. 3:9)
6. Willing hearts, doing the work their hands have found to do. (Col. 3:23)
7. Love being offered and received. (John 13:34-35)
8. A sharing that goes far beyond monetary value. (Rom. 12:9-13, Heb. 11:26)

God sees two Christian communities coming together to work, most not speaking the other's language--but communication occuring even so. It is the language of the heart--gestures, laughing, singing, praying, praising, sharing--love in action. These are His people.

I love these brothers and sisters in Mexico. They will remain in my heart forever.

I pray God richest blessings upon them and upon you as well.
Peace in Believing.

2006-01-14T20:54:00.000-06:00

Our group in front of the building on the last day.

2006-01-14T20:53:00.000-06:00

How I spent the majority of my time--shoveling sand into the cement mixer.

2006-01-14T20:52:00.000-06:00

The building as it looked the day of our arrival.

Watch Dog

2006-01-10T19:29:00.000-06:00

Greetins from sunny warm Mexico!! We work hard, we play hard. Today it was pulling electric wire thru conduits and then shoveling sand all afternoon for making concrete. Oooooh, am I ever stiff and sore. But what fun it is!! I know that sounds crazy, but we have a lot of fun working down here. Yesterday, as I was cleaning rocks and old pieces of cement out of a corner, I unearthed a tiny, dirty, plastic, dalmation dog. He has become my watch dog. Yesterday, he watched my water bottle. Then we put him in a place where we hoped he wouldn´t be stolen overnight, took a scrap of paper and labeled him "Watch Dog". He watched over the work sight all night! HOORAY!!!! He was still there when we got back this morning. Today he watched over the scaffolding, and over us as we did the concrete work. Once again, we left him to watch over the worksite. I hope he is still there tomorrow.

We have an even better One who watches over us. For which I am very grateful. So far, no work casualties. And no wrecks! If you`ve ever driven in Mexico (or other foreign countries) you probably know the importance of that!

Stay tuned for more news later!

May God continue to grant you His greatest blessings, and may you find all kinds of peace in believing!

Missing

2006-01-05T19:10:00.000-06:00

We’re leaving in the morning for a mission trip to Mexico. For awhile this afternoon, I thought we might NOT be going. We couldn’t find our passports and birth certificates! We had just had them at Thanksgiving when we went on a cruise. We looked everywhere!! In a moment of panic, I called my good friend Trish, to pray that I could find them. They are also going on the trip. She said, “OH! I’m so glad you called—I would have forgotten all about taking ours!” It took another 45 minutes of searching, but I finally found them. In with the ticket packet from the cruise that I had taken downstairs to scrapbook. But now, I think that they were temporarily misplaced for a purpose. God knew Trish needed a reminder. Do you think this is a silly way to look at this?

The Cost

2006-01-03T22:46:00.000-06:00

I just returned from taking my 10-year old grandson to see Harry Potter. He had already seen it once but wanted to see it again. I had not seen it and wanted to—and it’s just not Emerson’s kind of movie (no cowboys or horses). So Aaron and I went together. We BOTH loved it.

On the way home, Aaron started talking about how cool the special effects were. He was particularly entranced with the part where the two wands were connected by the brilliant lights. He speculated about how they had done that. He kept talking about special projection. I told him I thought it was probably computer technology. Then he started talking about how much it would have cost to do that. He said, “I bet it cost about a thousand dollars.” Although I didn’t say anything, I smiled to myself—knowing the cost was much higher than that. He just couldn’t get his 10-year old, $2 a week-allowance mind around what the actual cost must have been.

As Aaron rambled on about the movie, a small voice was whispering to me: “That’s exactly how it is with you and understanding how much it cost me to sacrifice my Son for you.” Oh! Although I know I have a much better understanding of His sacrifice than I did 30 years ago, I know my 50-year old, $xxxx.xx a month income mind cannot even begin to grasp the enormity of the sacrifice God made for me. Or the sacrifice Christ made for me. I am truly humbled at the thought of just how little I comprehend the length, the depth, and the breadth of His love.

Help me Father, to know more of what you and your son have given to me. Help me to be a reflection of that sacrificial love to all those with whom I come in contact. I humbly bow before you, and thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I love you.

Love Notes

2006-01-02T13:06:00.000-06:00

Every Sunday morning for the last 9 ½ years, Emerson has written me a love note. I have them all—saved (mostly in chronological order) in a special box. He usually writes them during the sermon (sorry preacher!) on the back of a deposit slip. Sometimes we run out of deposit slips and then he writes them on paper he has cut to that size. If we’re out of town, it might be on a church membership form, or an envelope, or a napkin. But always there is a note. He always tells me how much he loves me. And usually finds creative ways to say it. Like last 4th of July he wrote “I should be setting off firecrackers to celebrate our marriage—I don’t have to though, because when I think of you my heart explodes anyway.” These little love notes have come to mean so much to me—when he occasionally forgets, he either remembers or I remind him and he writes it later. It is a wonderful constant reminder of his love to me. And that is so important since I have experienced 2 bad marriages previously. He is a jewel. I’ll be keeping him!

Just wanted to share this blessing in my life. Please feel free to use it for someone YOU love.

Peace to you in Believing in Him.

There's nothing better....

2005-12-30T22:33:00.000-06:00

There’s nothing better than hugs around the neck from family arriving for the holidays.

There’s nothing better than the smell of bayberry candles like my mother used to burn.

There’s nothing better than the smell of Christmas pies baking in the oven….or turkey….or dressing….or…..

Having to choose between 4 kinds of pie.

There’s nothing better than the laughter of small children ringing through the house.

There’s nothing better than putting in the last piece of a 1000 piece jig saw puzzle.

There’s nothing better than the chaos of 7 small children and their parents opening gifts all at once.

There’s nothing better than watching eyes light up and hearing squeals of delight.

There’s nothing better than seeing a 5 year old HUG his spiderman-copter.

There’s nothing better than wrapping paper, bows, and empty boxes in a heap in the middle of the floor.

There’s nothing better than eating leftovers and not having to cook a new meal.

There’s nothing better than the one year old walking up to you and holding up her arms to be picked up.

There’s nothing more bitter-sweet than the quietness after most of the family has gone home.

There’s nothing better than (please feel free to add your own)….

Merry Christmas Eve!

2005-12-24T15:16:00.000-06:00

Posting today from Jayme's house! We are having such fun!! We are cooking, and baking, and singing Christmas carols, and dancing with the babies, and laughing, and playing games, and loving one another. I LOVE being with my family!!

I got up this morning before anyone else, so I ran to Wal-mart to do some last minute Santa shopping. There actually weren't too many people there--maybe because it was raining. I gathered up my few things while exchanging Christmas greetings with fellow shoppers. No one seemed rattled or angry--most were smiling, or whistling, or singing! Maybe it's just Kansas shoppers. I even asked the check out ladies how the customers were behaving. There were two of them, and both said they had not encountered any mean, angry, or nasty customers. Even when the lines were long last night!

Gift giving is my "Love Language" (see the book by Gary Chapman), so I really love this time of year. It is so much fun planning on what to give each person. I really enjoy making things to give to my family that will mean something to them.

For example, I found pictures of my mother (who has been gone for 3 years now) and made my sister a small 8 page memory book that included not only pictures, but different memorabelia. I can't wait for my sister to see it. I hope she likes it.

I made Jayme a plaque (that I already gave her because it was too big to wrap). I cut the board myself, sanded it, and routered the edges. Then I put primer on it, and then gave it two coats of paint on it. I had ordered "Wallwords" that said the following: "Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art." - Eleanor Roosevelt. I've had the quotes for over a year now, so Jayme was really pleased to finally get her plaque!! Now I just need to finish SEVERAL other projects for her!!

I made Emerson a tote to carry firewood in from the breezeway. I already gave that to him, too, because he was carrying the wood in by hand! He was really surprised and even more so when he found out I made it!

Well, just wanted to share a few things from my hap-hap-happiest day(s) of the year!!

Again, God's richest blessings to all of you, and peace in believing!

2005-12-23T13:23:00.000-06:00

May the wonderful Blessings of this Holiday Season come in abundance to you, to fill you and warm you, and wrap you in the Savior's Love. And may you find great Joy in sharing His gracious Love.

2005-12-22T01:39:00.000-06:00

The littlest poncho--for Ellie--my littlest granddaughter!

Mrs. Claus' Workshop

2005-12-22T00:59:00.000-06:00

OK, three days before Christmas, and I'm still working on projects for gifts! In fact, I just started one today. I'd tell you what it is, but Jayme might read my blog.

The one I will share though, is one I FINISHED today. I made my four granddaughters matching ponchos. One poncho is little bitty, and then they just stair step up from that! I can't wait to take their picture all together!!!

I'm working on posting a picture of one of the ponchos.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Keeping my Sunny-side Up!

2005-12-20T22:31:00.000-06:00

We had company for supper tonight. I was making one of their favorite desserts about 5:00. The recipe called for one egg. So I went to the fridge, and grabbed the carton of eggs. I must have bumped something, because the carton CRASHED to the floor. GASP! Of the 8 eggs in the carton, 3 were broken all over the floor, 2 were cracked but still in the carton, 1 was still in the carton, but cracked beyond saving, and 2 were not broken. I put the carton on the counter. I used about 6 paper towel to get the eggs off the flour and then wiped up the floor with a rag. I turned my attention to the carton on the counter. I dumped the 2 cracked eggs into a small bowl, thinking, OK scrambled eggs for breakfast. That left 1 cracked-beyond-saving egg, and two unbroken, but very slimy eggs. I reached for the 2 whole eggs--the carton shifted and knocked over the bowl with the 2 eggs. They poured over the edge of the counter and onto the floor. At this point, all I could do was stand there and giggle!!! More paper towels, more wiping, more washing. Two eggs out of 8 were salvaged. The Oatmeal Fudge Bar recipe only called for 1 egg. It took SIX!!!! Hee heeee haahaaaha!

It doesn't seem so funny writing it. But it sure was funny when it happened. Guess you had to be there!

We sure had fun with our company. Dinner went well and then we played pictionary with Christmas carols, like we did at Jayme's cookie exchange. Out of 24 lyrics, the 8 of us only got 9 right. The women 5, the men 4--but we sure had a lot of fun. Thanks for the idea Jayme!!

Must go--projects to finish before Christmas!!

Out of our Abundance

2005-12-18T21:52:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, I don't post for WEEKS, and then I post 3 times in one day! Sigh. But I just had to share this.

We meet with a small group on Sunday evening. Our group has taken on a couple of kids whose Mom doesn't care about anything except finding her next boyfriend on the internet. The kids have nothing. I guess there are 8 kids. Mom has taken care of none of them. Two are at a group home run by the church. There are still 3 at home. The two youngest have been coming to church and our small group with friends of ours. We know they don't have heat because Mom doesn't pay the gas bill. They don't bathe, because there is no hot water. Mom doesn't bother to wash their clothes. But the kids....the kids are sooooo sweet. Zenobie is an 8 year old, blonde hair, blue eyed, lost her two front teeth beauty. Robert is a shy 11 year old, who has learned to love taking a shower at our friends house, because there is HOT water! Older sister, Sara, is a senior in high school, has basically been raising the 4 younger siblings. She is a good student, but is growing weary of being the child care provider of the family. She's working toward getting a good scholarship so she can get out of the house.

Well, tonight, at our small group we had a little Christmas party for the 8, 11, and 18 year old. Unfortunately, Sara (18) was sick and could not come. Robert and Nobie had no idea what was about to happen. We had our usual songs and Bible study (although somewhat abbreviated) and then the magic. We had all brought gifts for the kids. So, one at a time, presents were given to Nobie and Robert. You should have seen their faces. Especially little Nobie's. The first present was a warm fuzzy pair of socks. She was delighted! Then Robert got a pair of jeans! He was a little more controlled, but you could tell all the same that he was pleased. Then the presents kept coming. More clothes--warm sweaters, long sleeved shirts, jeans, underwear, warm pajamas--It was such fun to watch Nobie. Her smile just got bigger and bigger and bigger--as did her eyes. When she opened the Barbie doll, she squealed! She said she had NEVER owned such a doll before, and hugged it tight to her breast. As we all lined up to get our supper, Nobie went and tried on all the clothes--her eyes were so bright, she was simply RADIANT!! She came and modeled them all for us. She was so HAPPY! Robert was pleased, but after all, he's a boy. An eleven year old boy. But I know he was happy, too. As we were eating, Nobie came and hugged each one of us.

Now THAT's what Christmas is all about.

A Christmas Carol Quiz

2005-12-18T08:36:00.000-06:00

Please carefully read all the instructions before you comment!!!

Jayme hosted a Christmas cookie exchange last Friday night. We had a blast!! She had us play Pictionary and used lyrics from Christmas carols. She and I (who have ALWAYS been huge fans of Christmas carols), were amazed at how many of her guests didn't know the carols associated with the lyrics. So here's a quiz--not exactly the same ones Jayme had--to see how many you know. If you'd like to participate, in your comment, just say what numbers you know, NOT WHAT THEY ARE, and then in a couple of days, I'll puplish the answers, and you can check to see how many you got right!

1. I've brought some corn for poppin'
2. Here we come a wassailing
3. The stars are brightly shining.
4. Said the shepherd boy to the mighty King
5. Oh tidings of comfort and joy
6. Joyful all ye nations rise
7. Angels bending near the earth
8. Let every heart prepare him room
9. The weary world rejoices
10. Certain poor shepherds
11. Star with royal beauty bright
12. The silent stars go by
13. The world in solemn stillness lay
14. Peace on earth and mercy mild
15. Hither, page, and stand by me
16. 'Tis the season to be jolly
17. Sister Susie sitting on a thistle
18. Tiny tots with their eyes all a glow
19. Gone away is the bluebird
20. Blink a bright red and green

Snowy Morning Musings

2005-12-18T07:57:00.000-06:00

Wow! It's been so long since I've posted, I've almost forgotten how!!! But this morning I have a few stolen moments because our church services were cancelled this morning due to treacherous roads (snow!!!). So I'm taking the opportunity to write a little and read a little, and then it's back to Christmas things!!!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
All of our kids and grandkids were gone to their spouses families for Thanksgiving, so Emerson and I decided to take a cruise! We chose this particular cruise because Jeff Walling (a well known Church of Christ speaker--one of our very favorites) was going to be speaking aboard the ship several times. He was great!! He enlightened a couple of scriptures in such a way that I will never forget!!

We also got to explore some Mayan ruins at one of the ports of call. In fact the ONLY port of call we made. The other port of call was cancelled because the water was so rough they wouldn't let us into port because they didn't think it could be safely navigated! So we spent a rough day at sea. Not fun.

One night when the sea was rough, Emerson and I were standing aft looking out into the darkness. The only light was what was being cast by the ship. And it didn't illuminate far. The wind was blowing. You could see the whitecaps. The sky was DARK. Even the ship, as big as it is, was convulsing. And I thought about the passage in John 6:16ff, where the disciples are out on the boat and a gale swept down on them, and the sea grew very rough. (Mark's account says they were rowing hard and struggling against the waves). As I stood on the ship watching out over the rough sea, I thought about being out there on a tiny fisherman's boat. I know I would have been TERRIFIED!! And then to see someone WALKING toward them ON THE WATER--out of that inky black darkness, with the wind and the waves crashing around them. SHEEEESH! I certainly have a greater appreciation for their terror. And for Christ's ability to calm the wind and the waves with just a word. Mmmmm. I've always loved the quote that says "Sometimes He calms the storm, sometimes He calms the child". Now it means even more.
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A friend of mine and I played at the Christmas meeting of our garden club. Ann plays the harp and I play the cello. We played six Christmas carols. It was great fun! We had a lot of fun practicing (I hadn't played in years) and it really got me into the Christmas spirit. The lady who was hosting the event, has an old pump organ with quite a history, and so the audience demanded that she play the organ with the two of us. So we played one impromtu carol. It was really neat. A nice combination.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
I have a 10 year old grandson, Aaron. He and his 5 year old brother, Daniel, stayed with us last night while their parents went to a company Christmas party. When they came in, I was cooking supper--a pork stew.
Aaron: Grandma, are you cooking eggs?
Me: No, I'm cooking stew.
Aaron: Are you sure? It smells like eggs (he loves eggs).
Me: Nope, just stew.
Aaron: Sure SMELLS like EGGS!
(Aaron goes over to my Christmas village (I have about 25 pieces). He's always loved to look at it and move the people and cars around on the streets. So I'm not paying much attention. He looks for quite a long time.)
Aaron: Grandma, I checked and no one in the village is cooking eggs either!
Me: Haahhaaheeeeehaaa hheeee haaaaa aahhh ahhhhhaaaa eheeheeee!!!
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We have a Christmas train, which has always been a fascination for the boys. But last night it was Daniel who was particularly enthralled with it. He called me downstairs several times to look at what he was doing--but the one I thought was the best was when he showed me how a tiny lego spiderman was now clinging to the side of the locomotive as it went around the track!

Ten Things

2005-11-09T23:46:00.000-06:00

I'm stealing this idea from David at Sugarloaf Mountain. Thanks David!

Ten things about me:

1. I love the sound and the smell of shuffling through leaves.
2. I want to go to Africa to visit a mission hospital site.
3. I love being creative--scrapbooks, quilts, etc.
4. I used to be afraid of the dark--God took that away from me at a really important time in my life.
5. I'm trying to get an interior decorating business off the ground.
6. I love cooking. Hate doing dishes.
7. I have Restless Legs Syndrome. AND ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!
8. I want to make a difference.
9. I want my prayer life to be better.
10. I love watching the glowing embers of a fire.

Crime Scene Investigation

2005-11-09T22:41:00.000-06:00

If CSI should pay a visit to our shop, they might think they were looking for several murder victims. There are red splatters and splashes everywhere, as well as a multitude of rags drenched blood-red. There are even blood red footprints. The makeshift table must have been where the deed was done, because blood-red stains are all over it.

But, acutally, this is the continuing saga of the antique cabinet. All of the old stain and varnish has been removed. And THEN. THEN I started on the red paint that covered the inside of the top of my antique cabinet. One coat of stripper. Red begins running everywhere!!! As I began to scrape away at it, globs fell on to the floor. I must be careful or it runs onto the newly stripped parts. And even though I am extrememly careful, it runs over edges, behind the shelves, down onto the other stripped surfaces. Another coat of stripper. The rags are now so red, I am wiping more red on than off!! A third coat of stripper. The paint is finally gone--but the wood is stained. I don't know how far I would have to sand it to completely get rid of the red.

The color is growing on me.
I think I'll leave it!
I rather like it.

As I was fighting the battle of the red paint, I thought how sin is like the red paint. James talks about the progressive nature of sin--and boy was this progressive!! Just a little stripper, and the paint ran everywhere. And like sin, the red paint affected everything near it. The other parts of the wood, the rags, the table, the floor, my clothes, my shoes, the tools--EVERYTHING. Sin is just like that. We think that sin only touches that one area of our lives--but in reality it not only touches every area of our lives--but the lives of everyone close to us!

And try as I might, I could not completely get rid of the red. I can't get rid of sin either. Oh, I can try. I can scrub it. I can try to cover it. I can try to get it out of my life. But all my feeble attempts only make it run further and spread faster. Only God can clean it. And even though I am STAINED with sin--it is HIS blood that makes me clean. And not just surface clean--it washes me WHITER THAN SNOW!! How can something so red, make me so white???

"Amazing Love, how can it be, that you, my King, would die for me?"

"There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.

Dear dying lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.

E'er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be still I die.
And shall be till I die."

The Green Tomato Relish Caper

2005-11-04T23:18:00.000-06:00

Emerson recently mentioned that he needed to pick all of the tomatoes before the first frost. So the evening that I heard it was supposed to frost, I said to Emerson: "If you want to get those tomatoes in before the frost you'd better pick them tonight." His grumpy reply was: "Well, why should I bother picking them if you're not going to do anything with them?!?"

He picked them.

Sigh. So now I felt compelled to "do something with them". I got on the internet and found a recipe for green tomato relish (actually it was called "Indian Relish"), that sounded like it might be pretty much like what his mother and sister used to make. So I gathered the rest of the ingredients, found some jars, bought some more jars, and set to work chopping all of the igredients.

Sigh. There were a LOT more tomatoes than I realized. Tuesday evening, I had just finished making the SECOND batch of 16 pints of relish. All the jars were filled. All the rounds and rings were in place and I was waiting to hear the jars "ping" indicating that they had sealed. While I was waiting, I began to clean up the mess from all the chopping, cooking, and jar filling. I happened to lick the spoon out of the pan.

Gasp!! Choke!! Sputter!!! I had left out one very important ingredient--the SUGAR!! Oh, it was so awful. Emerson suggested just putting sugar in as we opened each jat--but really, it was SIX CUPS of sugar that I had left out!!!

Big Sigh. I opened all the jars and dumped them back into the pan. I added the sugar. Turned the heat back up. I washed all the jars and lids. I put them back into the dishwasher so they would be hot again. Finally, all the jars were filled for the second time. And with great apprehension I waited for the "pings". This time, when I tasted the relish--it was sweet and quite tasty.

Now isn't that how Jesus is in our lives??? Without Him, our lives are all vinegar, salt, and onions. Very sour and completely awful. But when you add Jesus! How Sweet it is!! He doesn't take away the vinegar. He doesn't take away the salt. He doesn't tke out the onions. He just sweetens everything and makes life SO MUCH better. He makes it all come together into something good.

Hmmmm....I think the Bible says something like that....

"All things work together for good, for those who love God, and are called according to His purposes." Rom. 8:28

I'll be remembering to add sugar to my green tomato relish from now on. And healthy portions of Jesus to my daily life--to keep it sweet!!

Family Photos

2005-10-13T23:33:00.000-05:00

Just thought you might enjoy seeing the latest pictures. These were taken on the day of Emerson's 70th surprise birthday party. It was such fun!!

2005-10-13T23:32:00.000-05:00

Our nine grandchildren

2005-10-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

Joyce & Emerson

Lessons From Addy & Ellie's Red House

2005-10-12T18:52:00.000-05:00

*You can NEVER stay ahead.
*You can NEVER get ahead.
*You can NEVER stay caught up.
*Sometimes you can ALMOST catch up.
*Laundry increases exponentially while you aren't looking.
*Three year-old girls are beautiful with French Braids.
*Walking in the rain with a giggling three year-old is precious.
*There is nothing sweeter in this world than a baby asleep in your arms.
*EVERYBODY is cranky when NOBODY gets enough sleep.
*Painting your daughter's toenails, or reading books, or playing with the baby is far more important than a neat & tidy house.
(Jayme has learned this better than Nana has. Good Jayme. Bad Nana.)
*Baby "words" are music to the ears.
*Dishwashers are a NECESSITY for young mothers.
*It's a good thing we don't remember teething....
*Biter Biscuits are made to be worn as well as eaten.
*Halloween songs that are passed down from previous generations still bring smiles to little faces. (Thanks Mom)
*Thirty minutes can either be brutally brief or agonizingly long.
*There is a lot to be said for ranch style houses.
*Baby Einstein movies are worth whatever it is you have to pay for them.

And there are a multitude of other things which I have learned or been reminded of. But I'm too worn out to remember what they are.

Hats off to Jayme and every other mother who does this everyday for many, many, many days.

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains (of laundry), from whence shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heave and earth (and washing machines)."

Stairways & Cell Phones

2005-10-11T00:10:00.000-05:00

Here I am, still at Jayme's house--she of course, is still doing her best impression of "Hop-a-long Cassidy". She has been up more in the wheelchair today, but the foot and ankle are also more black and blue--and still swollen.

I am busy, busy, busy--trying to do my best impression of Jayme taking care of two children. Wow! Are they time & attention intensive, or what!!!!! Addy is --very good at entertaining herself, but has not learned the art of putting one thing away before getting something else out. Now Ellie--sweet little Ellie, has not been feeling well. A cold, cutting multiple teeth. And she is just VERY high maintenance right now. She seems to have gotten attached to her Nana--even wanting me to hold her instead of her Mama! Repayment for all those times Jayme wanted her Grandma instead of me!

I've been trying to help Jayme catch up on all her laundry--I think she has been behind since they moved. I can't count the number of times I have gone up and down the stairs in the last couple of days. The bedrooms are all upstairs and the full bathroom. The kitchen, dining, family room, etc., are on the main level, but the washer and dryer are in the basement. Up and down, up and down, up and down!!! My knee is complaining quite loudly at this point!!

We were getting ready for bed tonight and Jayme asked Neal to find the portable phone for her before he went up to bed (she has been sleeping on the couch). He couldn't find it, so he hit the page button. We could hear it, but we couldn't find it. It sounded like it was coming from behind the couch, but when he pulled out the couch a little ways, he still couldn't find it--BEEp, BEEp, BEEp!!! He found numerous other items, cords, cds, quarters, and lots of cheerios, kicks, m&kms....heeeheeeheee. He finally had to lift the couch to find it. Earlier, I had been looking for a remote--and IN the couch found a pair of Neals socks, a pair of scissors, several cords to a stereo or vcr, pens, pencils, cheerios.....but NO money. RATS! Heeheheeehe. I hope nobody looks in my couch and then blogs about it! At least Jayme has an excuse--she has kids. I have NO excuse!

I get to take Addy to Preschool tomorrow. She has a cool preschool. They even have a sandbox INSIDE! There is a bird, a hampster, a guinea pig. They have neat centers--a writing center, playdough center, light table, sand & water table (currently full of popcorn), a reading center, puzzle center, a little toy kitchen, a computer center, and I can't remember what else. They also have a one way window where you can watch without the kids seeing you--that's really fun. Addy loves her preschool. I think I would love it, too! But I guess I'm probably too old!!!

Well, enough for tonight. I have to get up early to take her to school!

Blessings to all!

Eating Out

2005-10-09T23:07:00.000-05:00

Since Jayme is hobbling along on crutches, I'm here with her helping out with the kids. Wow! Two little children are MORE than DOUBLE the work of one!

But there are some definite bright moments! Take for example the following conversation after church tonight:

Addy to her Papa: Can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Papa to Addy: I don't know, you'll have to ask your mother (who is standing nearby listening).

Addy to her Mama: Can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Mama (giggling): Ask your Papa!

Addy to Papa: Papa, can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Papa to Addy: I don't know, ask your sister!

Addy to 9 month old Ellie: Can we go OUT and get something to eat?

Ellie: (Happy babbling)

Addy announces: Ellie says YES!

Papa to Addy: What do you want to eat?

Addy to Papa: I don't know.

Papa to Addy: Ask your sister?

Addy to Ellie: What do you want to eat?

Ellie: (happy babbling)

Papa to Addy: What did she say?
y
Addy to Papa: I don't know, I didn't hear her!

I love being here to hear these little conversations. Addy just came and gave me a goodnight *mah* (kiss) and says in her sweet little voice, "Goodnight, Nana!"

And so, I say goodnight and God bless to all of you!

More Things Than Time

2005-09-30T09:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, Michelle! Here it is as promised!

I cannot believe how much time is passing between posts for me. I just seem to stay so busy doing things, and my dear hubby gets upset if I stay up late at the computer!

One thing that has kept me occupied lately is an old antique cabinet that I am repairing and refinishing! I'm really excited about it. It was in such bad shape before I started. Emerson thought I was crazy when I bought it and brought it home. I started working on it last week. I've done almost all of the repairs by myself--I've only had to ask Emerson for his help a couple of times. After I got the repairs on the bottom part completed, I started stripping it. It is going to be BEAUTIFUL. When Emerson came in the shop and saw it, he was really shocked. He said, "When I looked at that before, all I saw was a piece of JUNK! Now it's beautiful!" I can't wait to get it finished. I still have a lot of work to do, stripping doors, drawers, repairing and stripping the top section. When I get it finished I'm going to put either scrapbook materials in it, or quilting fabric and accessories. It will be great!

You know, as I was typing this about my cabinet, it made me think just how much my life is like that antique cabinet--no, no, not that I'm OLD, but about how my life was in such a shambles before Jesus began to "refinish" me! He's had to make some major repairs. He's had to remove a lot of scratches. He's even taking off the old finish. And there's still a lot of work to be done--He says He's not finished with me yet (See Phillipians where it says "He began a good work in me...."). I know that there's still some major work to be done, but the structure is becoming more solid all the time. I know He considers me precious, because He paid so much for me. And I'm sure He is just as excited to see the finished product (in Heaven) as I am to see my cabinet finally sitting in its appointed place!

Tuesday, I got to go to Jayme's house. Michelle and Jayme and I scrapbooked--we had everything out all over everywhere!! But what fun we had. We sure got a lot of scrapbook pages made. It was fun to pool all our resources and get to make such neat pages! Of course, I got some "Nana" time in there, too! What beautiful babies they are! And sooo much fun! Addy "scrapbooked" with us. She had a picture her mom had given her. She put buttons on it. She laid it on different papers. She rounded a corner or two. She played with a lot of my embelishments. She especially liked the big cardboard letters I had just gotten. She laid out a few and then said, "Nana, what does this spell?" "Pladgnr", I replied. Then she added a few more letters. "Nana, what does THIS spell?" "Pladgnrmsuf." Addy, giggling, adds a few more letters. "Nana, what does THIS spell?" And the word got harder and harder for Nana to pronounce! With much giggling, the game continued, until finally she had ALL the letters lined up for me to pronounce. Whew! I was glad I hadn't gotten two sets of those letters!!!

We also took time to go to a couple of antique stores. I'm collecting antique rolling pins (among other things) so I love to go look. I didn't buy rolling pins, but I found a really neat old sewing machine drawer for $5--it will sit on my new cabinet! I also bought a little red bench. It will go perfectly with a little red stool that I've had since I was a little girl. My grandkids argue over who gets to sit on it, so now at least I'll have 2 red things for them to argue over!

I got 2 antique rolling pins on e-bay last week. One of them has already arrived and I am expecting the second one anytime. I am going to do a program for our antique club on rolling pins--I am having trouble finding any information about the history of antique rolling pins--so if any of you know anything--PLEASE share!!

Today, we'll be getting ready for our Garden Club to come to our place Monday evening. We're having a weinie roast with all the fixin's. I love this time of the year, when the air begins to have a little "nip" to it, and you can smell the leaves (we NEVER rake here, since we live in the country), and I love to *shuffle* through them. I'll be putting up our outdoor fall decorations today. Down at the entrance there will be a scarecrow, a bale of hay or two, some pumpkins and squash, and a BIG lighted (plastic) jackolantern!

By the fire ring, I'll be putting out the cowboy & cowgirl jackolanterns--last year we used real pumpkins, but this year I'm going to use craft pumpkins so we can keep them from year to year! It takes quite a while to make them!! I'll try to post pictures later.

Well, I don't know how many of you read clear to the end--I know it's a long post. But I'm glad you came, and if you read this far, I'm glad you stayed.

May God continue to hold each of you in the palm of His hand.

Second Summer Surprise!

2005-09-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

Well! And I thought I had the corner on giving surprise birthday parties!!

I don't know how long Jayme and Emerson had been planning this one, but I was totally clueless!

Jayme had told me that she wanted to celebrate my birthday at her house the weekend AFTER Emerson's big party. She was afraid that my birthday was going to be overshadowed. She said that Ladd & Donna and the boys could come up, we'd watch a movie and eat pizza. Sounded great to me!!!

So, when last weekend came up, I called Jayme to see when she wanted us to get together.

Me: How early do you want us to come?

Jayme: Neal & I have to go to meetings for Addy's preschool--ALL AFTERNOON--from 2-6!!

Me: Emerson and I can come up and keep the girls while you go to the meetings.

Jayme: No need. I already have plans for the girls. They're going to a friends house and they're all going to the zoo.

Me: Fine! We'll just be there about 6 then.

Saturday morning, Emerson and I go to Aaron's soccer game. Emerson asks me if Ladd and Donna and the boys are going to the party. I said I thought so, and then turned and asked Donna. She said, Ummmm, I think so--depends on how Daniel feels.

Later that afternoon, I ask Emerson if he doesn't want to call and see if Ladd and Donna want to ride up with us. He putters around and wastes time. And I'm thinking....Sure, you and Ladd yell at Donna and me for making a little trip to town and wasting gas, but you're not going to call and see if they want to ride with us to Jayme's house 50 miles away?????? Boy!!! Emerson finally calls, but gets no answer at their house.

We leave for Jayme's house. We don't leave on time. We will be 15 minutes late. I take a bag of popcorn along because I am already starving. I try to share it with E, but he says he is saving room for pizza. I tell him that if they are in meetings untill 6:00, chances are the pizza won't be there yet when we get there. He does not eat any popcorn. About 5:45 Jayme calls to see where we are. She says she will go ahead and order the pizza. I say, "See, she's just now ordering the pizza. Emerson starts to eat popcorn, but then changes his mind. Fifteen minutes later she calls again. Where are you? We had just pulled into town. She asks what kind of pizza we want--supreme or meat lover's. We discuss the options. She hangs up. I say to Emerson, "She STILL hasn't ordered the pizza." He reaches into the bag--"Hey, you ate it all!" I told him he'd had his chance!!

We pull up in front of Jayme's house. We go to the door. Jayme meets us there. She takes my purse and camera and tells me to close my eyes. She begins leading me through the house. I think she is taking me to see a present. She leads me all the way to the back door of the house and out onto the porch. "Open your eyes!"

When I do....what on earth???? There are about 10 of my friends, including my best friend ever since the 8th grade (she lives about five hours from Jayme's house), PLUS Ladd & Donna and the boys, and Jayme and Neal and the girls. Nineteen of us altogether. And the backyard! She had turned it into quite an impressive setting. Lights in the tree--which bloomed just that day!--lights on the fence, candles in jars on all the tables. A 3-D scrapbook table, with memories and pictures from my life, jazz music playing in the background. And a table set up LOADED with food from a caterer!! Barbequed beef brisket and pork, baked beans and coleslaw, potatoes, buns, the whole works!!! YUMMMMY! So after much laughing and hugging, we all dug in and had a wonderful meal.

While we were still eating, Jayme says, "Oh, here's another surprise!" And she introduced a lovely lady from their church who serenaded us with three very lovely pieces on the violin!! My mother was a violinist, and it was just like having her with me again. The music was SO BEAUTIFUL!! It brought tears to my eyes!!

THEN, the next surprise was that Jayme had baked me a home made angel food cake. My mother had always baked my sister and I angel food cakes on our birthdays for as long as I can remember, and Jayme knew how much I loved them. So, she had used my mom's recipe, and baked an angel food cake with boiled icing. It was PERFECT!!! Soooooo GOOOOD! I won't tell you how many pieces I ate!!!! :) And Jayme also made 3 kinds of cookies and tied them up in little stacks of 3 with ribbon. They were so pretty! And Yummy. Oh, and these oreo balls that were to die for!! WOW!!

Then we went through everything on the memory table. Jayme and my friend had written captions about all the pictures and objects on the table. It was really neat!! And then, my friends husband said his favorite memory of me was when we all sat around and I played the guitar and we sang together. So Jayme brought out a guitar that she had borrowed and I played a few songs that I could remember and we sang!! The presents were wonderful as well:

A new iced tea maker--Jayme knew that the handle had broken off my pitcher on the old one.

A new coffee mug--Jayme and I have a collection of the same cups--so that we can have coffee/hot chocolate together even if we're apart!

A homemade bread basket--that lays flat when not in use.

A heart shaped wire and bead basket.

A mosaic covered watering can.

And an Iris fountain that I had been admiring all summer.

The weather was wonderful. The food was excellent. The friends and family were perfect. The music and the angel food cake were heaven sent. We even played a couple of rounds of a computerized trivia game. What fun!!

We were the last ones to leave. My friend and her husband spent the night, but then came to our house the next day. We had another fun afternoon visiting and laughing and remembering.

This 50th birthday has been so wonderful!!!!! How could I ever say just how much it all meant to me??!!?? I am soooooo blessed!

Thank you Jayme and Emerson and all my friends for loving me so much.

2005-09-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

Quilt Blocks

Quilt Block

2005-09-06T22:53:00.000-05:00

While Jayme and I were cleaning the house in anticipation of the big surprise party, I was trying to find something decorative to put under my french bread board. After looking around for awhile and not finding anything, I happened to think about how Jayme had used some old quilt blocks I gave her to put under some pictures on her buffet. I had purchased a big box of old quilt block and pieces at an autction for $1. So, stealing her idea, I went down stairs and retrieved some of the old blocks. They were really wrinkled and had some water damage, but I decided to use them anyway. I couldn't do anything about the water damage, but I certainly could iron them.

I set up my ironing board and started carefully pressing the blocks. As I was ironing, I started thinking about who made these blocks to start with. I could imagine her with her old iron sitting on top of a wood-cook stove, and taking it off and ironing for a little while and them putting the iron back on the stove to heat again. Did she think about who might some day look at her quilt blocks and think about her? I can't imagine ironing with one of those old heavy irons. I'm sure she couldn't imagine an electric iron!! And now I wonder who will some day in the future look at these same quilt blocks and think about who owned them before.

I know the blocks are very old. The fabric is old. The blocks are hand pieced. There are some pieces to the blocks that had to be pieced themselves. Then I thought about how much my life is like a quilt block. Each day of my life is a new piece in a block. And God has carefully cut them out--just right. And sometimes he pieces them together with a piece from someone else's life. Sometimes, there are pieces that also have to be pieced because there wasn't enough fabric from that day of life to make a whole piece. He carefully stitches the various pieces together to make a beautiful block. And just like life is always changing, this quilt is a sampler quilt, with no two blocks the same. Instead of new fabric, He's using old fabric--because I'm getting older every day! :) I guess one day He will be using *vintage* fabric!! My life is the quilt top--but it is layered on top of the backing and the batting--the lives of those who have gone on before me--like my mother and grandmother. And our love and the Father's love is what binds the quilt all together.

I really like these quilt blocks that I've decorated with even more now!!

2005-09-05T13:29:00.000-05:00

John Deere!

2005-09-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

Grandpa's Tractor

2005-09-05T13:22:00.000-05:00

Gotcha!

2005-09-05T13:20:00.000-05:00

SURPRISE!

E's Pictures!

2005-09-05T12:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I'll give a shot at putting pictures on. Here's Emerson soon after he was *SURPRISED*. Now please remember, he's been out mowing. He really cleans up GOOD!

The Great Birthday Surprise!!

2005-09-04T21:49:00.000-05:00

Whew!!! What a great weekend!! And it's not over yet. But I must write about the great surprise.....

I just have to believe God got in on the surprise! Emerson decided we needed to have one of the elders from our new church over Thursday evening for supper so that we could ask some questions. Sooooo....Emerson didn't ask any questions when Jayme came to help me clean house!! And then the secretary from the middle school called begging Emerson to substitute on Friday, soooo....I was able to go buy all the groceries and stash them away before he got home.

I was beginning to think, however, that it was all going to fall to pieces when Emerson decided he was going to go finish mowing the lawn. I tried my best to talk him into taking a shower and finishing the mowing the next day, but NNNOOOOOO, he wanted to get it done!!!! I told him that Ladd and Donna would be here soon and it would be time to eat--he says, "I'll just WATCH for them"! SMACK! (That's me hitting the palm of my hand against my forehead!!) Shane and family (from Houston) were due to drive up anytime!! I called Donna and she and the boys dashed over. We decided to take the boys outside and *pretend* we were taking their pictures. I had made letter signs that spelled out *S*U*R*P*R*I*S*E*. Emerson saw us headed out in the front and drove the mower over to see what we were up to. So we held up the signs just as the Houstonites started up the drive way--honking all the way. Emerson just kept looking back and forth between us (with the signs) and this van driving up the driveway, honking. Back and Forth, back and Forth, until finally he could see the Texas tags. He THREW his arms UP in the air and SHOUTED, "OH, MY!!" The look on his face was WORTH every bit of the preparation it took!! He didn't have a clue!! Did I get a picture, you ask? Well......no he stopped the mower in a place where I could NOT get a clear picture of him! But it was still perfect!!!

E finally came in and took a shower!!!! Much talking and laughing began. We let all the grandkids head out to the pool. Much swimming and splashing. Also swinging on the swingset we got earlier this spring (we've gotten our money's worth). We fixed oven toasted sandwiches and salads. The kids quit swimming long enough to eat! Seven of the grandkids spent the night. Lots of little bodies all over the place!!!

Saturday morning I fixed mini chocolate chip muffins. We devoured 4 dozen of those and 2 GIANT cantalopes (we had eaten 2 giant ones the night before, too). Then we got ready for the photo shoot. I asked everyone to wear khaki pants (or shorts, skirts, etc.) and white shirts. We were really a sharp looking bunch!! The photograhper came and picked out the perfect spot to take the pictures. We started out by doing individual families first, because one family hadn't arrived until the last minute. So we did that while they were changing clothes. After all the individual family pictures we took the giant family portrait--all 19 of us. The photographer said she thinks they turned out really good. She complimented us on how well behaved everyone was and that we all were dressed alike. She said inevitalbly one person always wears something totally different!!! But I think my favorite picture might be the last one she took. We had E bring his tractor around to the picture spot and all the grandkids and E stood on and around the tractor. E always give the grandkids rides on the tractor, so it's a big deal. I can't wait to see the pictures!!!

After the photo shoot, the cooking frenzy began. Two of E's sons bought a WHOLE prime rib and cooked it on the grill. Then we had potato salad, baked beans, devilled eggs, brocolli and califlower salad, rolls, and more! Then the feeding frenzy! Much talking and laughing. Much gnashing of silverware!! (If you can do that with plastic silverware!) Then the cleaning frenzy. All the dishes and pots and pans. The kitchen was spotless. Then it was time to make the ice cream. I'd already made 2 kinds of cake. I made 2 kinds of ice cream. While I was doing that the grandkids were swimming and splashing and playing and laughing. More company came. E's b-i-l and s-i-l and his Aunt and her kids. Much talking and laughing! The grandkids talked uncle Ladd into getting out the go-cart. All of the grandkids (and quite a few of the adults) took turns riding it. Much more laughing and squealing!

Then we had cake and ice cream. And gave E his birthday presents. He had figured out that I was making him a scrapbook, but was totally blown away by the 100+ pages and the content. In fact, it wouldn't all fit in one--I had to put it in two!! He looked at them and then everyone else looked at them. Much laughing, giggling and teasing!! More swimming and splashing and swinging and running around and chasing and....whew! Finally, most everyone left or went to bed. E took time to really look at the scrapbooks, and I could tell that he was really pleased. Finally all of us went to bed. Much snoring!!

Sadly, Jayme and Neal and family, had to go back home since he is the preacher-man. But the rest of us all went to church together this morning at our new church. Fifteen of us took up nearly 2 whole rows! It was really good to get to sit together as a family and worship the Lord and feel good about it!!

After church, we went to Johnny Carrinos and ate lunch. Much talking and laughing! The Garden City bunch parted company with us at this point. The rest of us came home. We took the five grandkids (ranging in age from 10 to 4) that were still here fishing. And boy were the fish hungry. All of the kids caught fish--and some had never ever fished before. Much laughing, squealing, and flailing about of fish, hooks and children!!

Then came the kite flying. It's a giant yellow and pink plane kite that I won several years ago in a school raffle. I had given it to one of the grandsons, but had never seen it fly. They brought it out today, and there was enough wind to fly it!! It was really neat. It's about 5 feet long and has a long curly, spinning tail. Then more swimming, splashing, laughing, swinging, running about, chasing, giggling and squealing!

Hunger once again drove the grandkids inside and so there was munching of many delicious leftovers. Much laughing talking, squaring of accounts (how much do I owe you for this, etc.)--I think the same $50 got passed around several times!!

And finally goodbyes. Jayme and Neal were already gone. As were the Garden City bunch. The Houstonites loaded up their van after the snacking frenzy and made their exit (amongst much hugging and kissing and laughing and giggling). Ladd and Donna stayed until about 9:15. Some of us worked on a jigsaw puzzle, some watched tv, some snoozed. And then finally all was quiet. But even though it is very quiet, this is a very content house. Full of the echoes and love and laughter and sharing and family.

ReJoyce in the Lord always, and again I will say, ReJoyce! God is good!

Moving Furniture

2005-08-29T15:58:00.000-05:00

So you thought you'd come to the wrong blog? No, I just decided it was time for a new look. Kind of like moving the furniture around in your house.

Rejoice!?

2005-08-29T15:44:00.000-05:00

This was the title on the screen for yesterday's sermon! Even though it misspelled (you know, ReJoyce!), I said to Emerson, "This is MY sermon!" And it was truly wonderful. The preacher talked about how we are to rejoice (do you know it's hard for me to spell it that way--it always looks wrong) in the Lord and that we should be letting that show in our worship services.

He even had us practice!!!! He would say, "Jesus is Lord!" and we would say "YES!".

Preacher: He died to save us from our sins!
Us: YES!

Preacher: He is risen from the dead!
Us: YES!

Preacher: He is coming again!
US: YES!

Preacher: Jesus loves me!
Us: YES!

And then he read one of the psalms (I forget now which one) and he would read the regular verses and when it came to "Prasie the Lord", we (with great gusto) would say that part. It was sooooo uplifting. Now mind you, none of this is "normal" Sunday worship in the Church of Christ. We usually just sit and listen (and *sigh* sometimes fall asleep--I hate it when I do that). But not this time!!! It was sooooo good!!

Then toward the end of his sermon, he had us all stand up and say the doxology--you know--Praise God from whom all blessings flow..." He had us say it, even shout it, as loud as we could.

Now this is the first time I can remember seeing the elder standing up front at the invitation, grinning. What a time of worship it was!! I hope this is something that we continue to do. So far, we have not been sorry at all that we started going to this congregation. We just miss friends. But many of them have called to talk to us, so hopefully we won't lose touch.

Just wanted to share this with you.

"ReJoyce" in the Lord always, and again I say "ReJoyce"!

Shhhhhh......it's a Secret

2005-08-29T15:32:00.000-05:00

Emerson's birthday is September 16th. He will be 70. He thinks I don't have anything special planned for that day. Heehheeehehheheeeehhhe! I don't. BUT....hehhhehhheeeeehehe....my birthday is September 5th and since that is labor day, I planned his party for that weekend!!! It has been so much fun to plan. And I can't wait to see his face!!!!!! I managed to get all of the kids and grandkids to come. The ones from Houston will arrive Saturday evening. Heeheeeeheeee--I just know he is going to be so surprised!! While he was in the hospital he said "Why don't you call Shane (the one who lives in Houston) to bring the kids and come visit me in the hospital--but if he won't bring the kids, tell him not to bother!!" I just laughed!!!!! Little does he know they'll be here in less than a week.

I even hired a photographer to come take family pictures on Saturday morning. I am just so excited I can harldy stand myself!

I have been working on a scrap book for him. It starts with pictures of his first wife (she died of cancer)--I found some old wedding proofs. They worked great. Then I put in pictures of his kids when they were little. Then I have some pictures of the family just before his first wife died. After that, will be our wedding pictures. Then pictures of all the grandkids. I think I have over 60 pages now, and it's not done. I guess it won't be entirely done (even with old pictures), but it can be a work in progress. I know he will like it. He's seen a few of the pages, but I think he thinks I'm making it for our daughter-in-law. But even if he's figured out it's for him, he doesn't have any idea how many pages I've made or what's on most of them!

I haven't quite figured out how to buy all the groceries for the weekend without him going--what's all this for???? So if you have any suggestions...let me know.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the BIG SURPRISE!!

God's blessings.

The Thorn

2005-08-29T14:42:00.000-05:00

Emerson came home from the hospital Saturday afternoon with strict instructions to do nothing but walk around the house, read, and watch tv until Tuesday. With all the rain we've been having (even flooding--not our house, but up the road a bit) the grass was a foot tall in places. I knew he would be itching to get out there and get it mowed, so to relieve that itch, I took on the mowing myself.

All went well until I decided to mow the opening in the fence between our place and the neighbor's place. It used to have a gate--but we've established an "open gate" policy! :) Anyway, I nudged the mower toward the opening, knowing I couldn't go all the way thru--the mower is too wide, but thinking I could get a lot of it cut--and drove into a thorned some-kind-of-berry vine. Even though I was going slowly, my ankle was impaled with one of the thorns. I reach down and grabbed the vine and pulled it away from my leg, and I could feel the thorn pulling back out. As I watched the blood run down my ankle and pool in my flip flop, my first thought was of Jesus and the crown of thorns.

Mine was only one thorn. His was a whole crown. I can't imagine how many there were. Mine was merely pushed in to my skin. His was jammed down on his head. Mine was done only out of clumsiness or maybe stupidity. His came with the burden of all the world's sin. Mine was through fault of my own. His was done by angry people--and He had no fault. Mine did nothing more than bleed for a little while. His saved the world.

I watched "The Passion". I think everyone should see it. But this small incident was surely a much needed reminder of the price He paid for me. How can I but adore Him! I stand in awe. I am amazed in His presence. He is Holy.

Thank you, Lord, for this practical application of your Word and your Sacrifice in my life. May I always remember it.

Dimmer Switch

2005-08-24T23:07:00.000-05:00

Recently, I have been blessed by a couple of things that have allowed me to let go of some long standing, unhealthy guilt. It's really quite an amazing feeling.

The guilt I carried around came about as a result of my daughter being sexually abused by my second husband. It happened not once, but twice. And therein lies the crux of my guilt. This happened over 10 years ago. My thoughts have gone something like this: "If I had been a good mother, I would have believed my daughter. If I had been a good mother, I would have thrown him out after the first time. If I had been a good mother, my daughter wouldn't have lost her childhood. If I had been a good mother, I wouldn't have to worry about how this would affect my daughter for the rest of her life." LOTS of guilt. I have said many times that I wish I had a dimmer switch for the guilt.

A little over a week ago, I had a lengthy conversation with a friend I've had since the 8th grade. Her husband has been convicted of molesting a young girl. So we have much common ground to visit about this subject. We talked until nearly 3 a.m. that morning. Through that conversation, I realized (for the first time) a very important detail. I have endlessly criticized myself for not believing my daughter. As I was recounting this to my friend, we began to talk about the time frame surrounding that disbelief. I was told of the abuse by a police detective about 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon. He asked me what my gut feeling was. I replied, "It isn't true." Other conversation ensued, but that is what has haunted me for all these years. That same evening, a social worker came to our house and among other things made my (then) husband promise that he would never do this again. Which he did. Sooo, I then realized the truth. He had indeed molested my daughter. So that means that I questioned the truth of the matter for no more than 6 or 7 hours. Just a few hours!!! And in that few hours our world was turned upside down. Surely I can forgive myself for that few hours of what was really just not wanting to believe such a horrible thing could be true.

The second event occured just a few days later. I went with my daughter and son-in-law to their small group. The topic for the evening was, "What horrible event have you ended up being grateful for?" And my daughter talked about the abuse, and how much she has grown and learned from it. It was so amazing to me to hear her tell other people how this has become a blessing to her and that she wouldn't go back and change anything. Wow!
Even though she has told me the same things many times, it really made an impact on me hearing her tell other people.

So, the load, as of late, has been much lighter. Although I know I will continue to struggle with all of this, I also know that from this day forward, The dimmer switch has been dimmed.

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Just an additional note, Emerson is in the hospital with a urinary tract infection. He is experience fever and quite a bit of pain. So if you would, please pray that his recovery will be speedy and without further incidence.

May God continue to Bless you, and may you have all kinds of Peace in believing!

Happenings!!

2005-08-23T22:36:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been so long since I posted, it's hard to even know what to write! So I guess I'll just jump in with both feet again.

I've missed reading all of your blogs, but still haven't had time to catch up.

We were in Colorado for nearly 2 weeks. We got back on a Friday night, and I left the following Sunday to go help Jayme unpack from her move. She has a really nice house now, and it was fun to help her get things arranged and decorated. She has such good taste!!!

I returned home from there on Thursday and Saturday was my Grandson, Daniel's birthday celebration. I made him a spiderman cake (one of the best I've ever done--even if I do say so myself!) on Friday night--stayed up until 2 am decorating it! Saturday we were supposed to go to his brother's soccer game--but it was rained out. We all got together (including Jayme and family) Saturday afternoon for homemade pizza and then cake and ice cream. Then that evening we all went to see Veggie Tales Live--what a blast that was. It was so much fun to watch 3 year old Addy jump up and down and clap and dance. And she kept saying, "Nana, Larry Boy is SOOO BIG! He's even bigger than me!!" She was so funny!

Sunday was church and life group--good, very good.

Monday was just catch up day.

Then today we went to a children's home and started painting and redecorating a bedroom. We're doing it in purple, green and white. One wall is white and purple striped, one wall green, and 2 walls purple. The striped wall will also have vines and leaves stencilled on it. We hope to finish tomorrow or Thursday. We worked from 10:15 this morning until 5:00 this afternoon. Whew!!

So....what's new with all of you???

Oh, and in the midst of all of that, I have been working on a scrapbook for my husband's 70th birthday. It's a surprise so, I mostly work on it late at night. I think I've made about 50 pages in the last month or so. I'm having a big surprise birthday party for him over labor day--which is actually MY birthday--so hopefully he will really be surprised since his birthday isn't until the 16th. I managed to get all the kids and grandkids to come!!! What fun we'll have!! I even hired a photographer to come take family pictues.

Well, better sign off for now. Tomorrow will come early!! When I have more time, I'll try to write something profound!! But for now, it's just news!

God's richest blessings!

Blogglessness

2005-07-30T00:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all of you who continue to look at my site hoping for new posts!! We've been out of town and then have been in the midst of grandkid-o-rama!!! We have had various grandkids now for over 2 1/2 weeks. We've had a blast, but we're ready for a break!! We're headed back to Colorado for some much needed peace and quiet and COOL weather!!! So you won't hear from me for another couple of weeks! In a few brief moments, I've looked at some of your blogs, and I know I'll really be behind when I get back! I care about all my blogger friends, and hope you're having a glorious summer as well!!

Grace to you and all kinds of peace in believing!

Spirit moved

2005-07-13T22:08:00.000-05:00

Sunday night we attended a Life Group meeting at one of the member's home from the congregation where we attended Sunday morning. It was wonderful. We knew several of the people there, because we had gone on several church-building mission trips to Mexico with them. They were glad to see us. And the first thing the leader did was to ASK Emerson to lead a couple of songs. (He had quit leading singing at our old church because he received so much negative feed back about the way he did it, ie. if he changed the ususal 2 songs and a prayer routine.) Then we had a discussion about the blind man, Bartimaeus, from Mark 10. The discussion was excellent. I really felt like I came away with a better understanding of that passage. Emerson talked about how his oldest son and his wife had separated early in their marriage and how the elders met with him and prayed with him. He went on to say how they were still married and have 2 boys (the youngest one was just baptized at church camp about a week ago). I know you may not see how that fit in with the blind man passage--but you'll just have to trust me that it did, because that is not really the crux of this post.

At the end of our discussion, John (the leader) asked if anyone had any prayer requests. This lady began to share with us how her son, who has just been married about 11 months, and his wife have split up. As she explained the situation, tears rolled down her cheeks. She kept looking at Emerson--I'm sure she thought he must surely understand (and he did) how she felt. We all stood in a circle and prayed for this woman and her son and his wife. She quietly sobbed through the whole prayer time. We talked to her afterward and tried to encourage her. We also shared how I had been divorced 2 times--and now am HAPPILY married to my wonderful E.

Well, I just got off the phone with this lady. I called to get her son's address so I could send him a card. She was really glad that I called. Now get this!! She said, "I know that God had you come Sunday night just for me!" WOW! Once again, the Holy Spirit is alive and well. We may have found our new church home after having visited only one place!!

I just thought this was so neat, I had to share!!

BTW, the young man's name is Casey and his wife's name is Camber. Please keep them in your prayers.

Aging--Like Fine Whine!

2005-07-10T23:38:00.000-05:00

Sleeping until 10:00 a.m. used to be a luxury, a decadent pleasure that I tried to partake of as often as humanly possible. And I could not, for the life of me, figure out why my mother got up at 6:30 every morning--even after she retired!! I always thought it was because my Dad was a diabetic and had to eat on a regular schedule and had chosen that ungodly hour to eat his breakfast. But now that the big five-OH NO! is just around the corner (September to be almost exact).... I have a greater appreciation for her reasons for greeting the day at such an early hour (I used to call it "zero-dark-thirty"!). I am not one who normally goes to bed at an early hour. Late evening is when I find the time to get on the computer to check my e-mail, look up digital camera prices, and keep track of e-bay items. Usually, it's after midnight before I leave the blue glowing screen to take my night's repose. Then around six a.m. the strangest phenomenum occurs. The bed suddenly takes on a whole new personality! The mattress puts on it's boxing gloves and starts pummeling my body. First it socks the lower back, then it punches the left hip, then the right hip, and then the feet. And my pillow! No matter which way I turn it or fluff it, it still is a hot thing which tries it's best to cramp my neck and make me sweat. By this point, my husband has either pulled all the covers off of me and I am cold, or else he has pushed them all to my side and I am sweltering. Once my eyes pop open, I'm a goner. No amount of self-cajoling (i.e.--"You don't have to get up for another hour!") can put me back to sleep. The little voice in my head becomes increasingly louder--"You need to get up and ___________ (feel free to fill in the blank)". And besides that most places on my body are now too uncomfortable to go back to sleep. So I get up. And the day begins.

This is only one of the changes that is occuring. Just yesterday I used to be the one with the small children and it was my mother who hosted and cooked the famly meals--oh, we would bring side dishes, but she would cook enough even if we didn't bring anything. Now I find that I have assumed that role. And for the most part I really enjoy it--it's the cleaning up afterward that I seriously detest. For one thing, by that time, I'm usually beat--another "benefit" of getting "more mature". I just don't have the energy I used to. But I love cooking everybody's favorite dishes. My menu usually starts out rather modest--but then someone will say "You ARE going to make mashed potatoes, aren't you?" or "What KINDS of pie are you baking?". And so the menu grows. When we all sit down at one big table to eat, it's all worth it. Everybody talks and eats and laughs and tells stories.

Change comes hard for me, so I guess this gradual aging is a good thing. It lets me get used to it in little steps.

I do wish the ole body was more like it used to be. But cling, I will (no wait, that's Yoda) to the verse in II Corinthians 4:16, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, our inner man is being renewed day by day." And I refuse to act old--I still love to laugh and do silly things, play with the grandkids, jump up and down when I'm excited, and learn new things.

So just maybe, the big five-OH NO! won't be so bad after all. And when the big six-OH! comes, maybe I won't have to do the dishes anymore!!

Leaving

2005-07-10T16:53:00.000-05:00

Leaving is a hard thing to do.

Today is the first Sunday that we visited another church--meaning we have finally made the break from the congregation where we had been attending. I know I've only blogged about this recently, but it's something that has been happening over a period of several years.

E talked to the preacher this week and then we both went and talked to one of the Elder's and his wife. We wanted them to know why we were leaving. We thought that doing that was the right thing to do, rather than just leaving.

It really isn't easy. We leave behind family. We always sit in the same pew with our son and his family. I missed them today. We leave behind friends. One of them called last night and said "We'll see you in the morning!" Well......uh....no, we won't be there. Today was fellowship Sunday--all that good food and fun visisting with people. This has been a long time in coming. A hard decision to make.

But.....the truth is more important than all of that. And feeling like we belong. And that we're useful in the kingdom. And that we're not just warming the pew. And that there is more to worship than just hearing negative things from the pulpit.

So....today we went someplace else. And you know what??? We came away feeling like we had been EDIFIED!!! Now please don't mistake what I am saying....I KNOW it isn't all about me--it's all about GOD! But it can be BOTH! And today it was! I was actually humming today when we left the building!! WOW! That hasn't happened in a long time.

We went where we already know a lot of people. They were very glad to see us. They hope we will come back.

Bible class was good. The elder who taught it came in and listed MANY scriptures on the board. And then he began to speak. It was about "Why we sing". It was very positive. The scriptures were used in a positive way. We sing when we're happy. We sing to teach scriptures. We sing to be full of the SPIRIT!! The teacher didn't go over every scripture he had on the board, but he used several of them to show how important our singing is to our worship and to our relationship with God. People were interested in the class. Discussion ensued. Various points of view were brought out. We didn't feel threatened.

After services this morning, E and I were talking about how the same lesson would have been presented where we had been going. It would have been quite different. We would have heard that you should never use intstruments. (That was mentioned only in passing in the class this morning). We would have heard how there are songs we shouldn't sing because the words are "not scriptural". We would have heard how we shouldn't clap or raise our hands. (Which by the way, I can go with either way. But this teacher didn't even address the issue. It wasn't the time or place. It would have been an important part of the discussion at our old church.)

Then the worship service began. The songs were shown on the overhead. With words AND music. I like that. There was a mix of old and new songs. YEA!!!! And it wasn't just 2 songs and a prayer!!!!! The men who were in charge of the Lord's supper had good and uplifting comments about what we were doing. I was able to focus on taking the bread and the cup. A young man (John T) gave a stirring message before the giving--this was a special time of giving for missions. The sermon continued the subject matter of Bible class. Again in a very positive manner. We were given a loaf of bread after the service was over--with a note welcoming us to the church and stating that their purpose is to share the True Bread of Life!

We went to lunch with friends. We had a great visit.

Emerson commented on the way home that he felt like we were on vacation!!

Tonight we are attending a Life Group from the same congregation. We are looking forward to it!!

Just "Poolin" Around

2005-07-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

Just a couple of notes first:

1). For those of you who work full-time and still blog regularly....WoW! I am impressed--how do you find the time???? I've been doing some "fill-in" work for people on vacation, etc., at a couple of the local newspapers--usually just mornings--and I do well to read blogs, let alone write them!! So to my regular readers....sorry I've been so sporadic in blogging...and to my regular readees....thanks for all you entries. I love reading what you write!!

2.) The title of this entry is dedicated to my husband, Emerson--this is his kind of humor!!

Now, for the real post. Just a little humor! :)

Jayme and I were in the pool playing volleyball with a beach ball. No net. Just hitting it back and forth. Sometimes it went into the deep end. And one of us had to go get it.

Jayme: "We need somebody really tall to play the deep end. Hey, Goliath, over here!!!"

Jayme (reading a CAUTION on the beach ball): "ONLY to be used in water in which the user is withing its depth. WHAAATT? Oh, Made in China."

Neal joins us in the pool. The beach ball is a big yellow with a big smiley face on it.

Neal (missing the beach ball): "I lost the big yellow ball in another big yellow ball." Translation: "The sun was in my eyes."

And Ellie! Ellie is just too cute. She loved the Happy Ball! The first picture is such fun...the second picture is to prove SHE thinks its fun too!

2005-07-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

Canon Ball!!

2005-07-05T21:54:00.000-05:00

I'm Happy Today, Oh, Yes! I'm Happy Today!

2005-07-05T21:53:00.000-05:00

God Bless America!

Gunpowder to Home Made Ice Cream

2005-07-05T10:59:00.000-05:00

The previous pictures are of 3 of my grandchildren--whom I love dearly. These pictures are representative of the following post:

I have always loved the Fourth of July! I love the Red, White, and Blue; the patriotic music; the burgers on the grill; home made potato salad; the gatherings of family and friends; the heat of the summer day and coolness of the summer evening; the laughter and squeals of small children; and most of all, the smell of spent gunpowder and the smoke gathering in a low haze in the backyard.

In junior high ( oh, that DOES show my age--now I guess it would be middle school), I was a cadet girl scout. One of the ways we raised money for our yearly big camping trip was to sell fireworks. We had to sign up for 2 hour shifts. I always worker way more than my fair share of shifts. It was soooo much fun to see all the different kinds of fireworks, and of course, it helped that we had a girl scout leader who thought we should sample many of them to "see what they do". Oh, what fun we had!!! From then on, my Mom always said I had gunpowder running in my veins. At family gatherings, I was the one who picked out the fireworks, because I knew which ones gave you the most bang (or the most sparkle) for your bucks. And it was then that the privilege of lighting them for the family display passed from Dad's hands to my own. Ooooh, how I loved to hold that punk to the fuse and see those sparks begin to fly, and then dash back to the viewing area!

Now the punk has passed from my hands to my daughters hands (she is 24 now), and I find my place in the "viewing stands" holding whatever grandchild needs attention at the moment. This has been a gradual change. I still love the smell and the sights of the fireworks. And there is quite a bit of nostalgia on my part for the days when I was the "lighter" of the fireworks. But I am content with my new position.

Now, I find much joy in preparing for the evening's food feast. The summer salads, the fare for the grill, but most of all, the desserts! Yesterday I made cherry pie (picked from our own tree), and strawberry-rhubard pie (the rhubard came from a garden-club friend). And of course, the home made ice cream!! My mother's recipe. Everyone says it is the best!! We always had it for family events like birthdays, and the Fourth of July, Labor Day, etc.. This is a traditon that I follow today with my family. I mix it up, and Emerson freezes it--no, not with a hand crank--it's electric. And when the freezer has done it's work and shuts off, MMmmmMMM--it's time to pull out the dasher. We race with our spoons to get the fresh creamy just-frozen delight as it starts sliding off the dasher--in my opinion the very best of the ice cream!! However, I will still *force* myself to eat another bowl or two before the evening is over!

What precious, precious times these are to me. Even having gone from gunpowder to ice cream running through my veins! I still love it. I love being with my family. I love being blessed by living in this great nation! God Bless America!! He has, He is, and I pray that He will continue to bless us!

Fruit of the Spirit

2005-06-30T22:21:00.000-05:00

I am reading a book called "The Holy Spirit Makes No Earthly Sense" by Terry Rush. In it, he makes the point that the Holy Spirit dwells in the inner man--that part of us that dies at baptism and is reborn throught spiritual rebirth. That inner person consists of mind, emotion, affection, determination, motivation, conscience, etc. Then Terry points us to Gal. 5:22 and 23--the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Hmmmmm.....lets see. If THOSE are the fruits of the Spirit, how can anyone say that He (the Spirit is only active today thru the written word???? Seems to me, it is the Spirit acting UPON us in our knowledge of the written word that would result in those fruits!!

As I was mulling all of this over today, I began thinking about when Jesus was baptized, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and the Voice from heaven says: "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy!" Sure seems like there is a lot of affection and emotion in that statement!!

And from Jayme--Jesus promised that He would send the "Comforter"--it doesn't say He said He would send a book!!

I also find it quite interesting that the one sin Jesus himself names as the "unforgiveable" sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit! "Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven--except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come." Matt. 12:31-32

Romans 8:26 talks about how the Spirit helps us in our weakness. When we can't find the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes with "groanings that cannot be expressed in words". That seems to be beyond the scope of the written word to me!!

Let me just say that I am in NO WAY minimizing the importance of the written Word. Knowing what the Word says allows the Spirit to "bring to rememberance" the things we have learned. He can't help us remember what we haven't learned!

But I still believe He (the Holy Spirit) is so much MORE to us than just the written Word.

It is good for me to use this venue for working through all of this. It helps me to focus and organize my thoughts instead of just being angry.

Father, I pray that you will allow your Holy Spirit to dwell within me ABUNDANTLY! I ask this in the name of your precious son, Jesus. Amen

Grace to you and all kinds of Peace in believing!

The Gardener

2005-06-29T11:04:00.000-05:00

This morning I was enjoying the great out-of-doors before it got too hot (it's supposed to get to 101 or so today). I have many flower gardens and flowers pots that needed to be watered so they could withstand the heat. As I was watering this morning, I decided it was time to deadhead a lot of plants. I hate deadheading. Usually, most of the bloom is gone, but there are always a few pretty parts left. Now I KNOW that cutting those blooms off encourages the plant to put on even more blooms, but when you cut them off, for awhile there isn't any bloom!

Well.......as I was working at that unpleasant task, I began to realize that sometimes I need to be deadheaded! And perhaps that is what is happening to me right now. God is cutting off some old growth in order to encourage new growth! I pray that I might grow to bloom even more abundantly for Him.

I continue to seek your prayers.

Grace to you and all kinds of peace in believing!

Holy Spirit - Alive or Dead?

2005-06-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

I am discouraged beyond words. I went to "church" yesterday and sat and listened to our preacher proclaim that the Holy Spirit does NOT urge, nudge, guide by intuition, or in any other way actively work in our lives. The preacher claims that the Holy Spirit works ONLY through the written word.

So is there a Trinity or isn't there? Or is it just a Duo?

I think back to the many times the Spirit has been active in my life:

Who else whispered the verses in my ear, when I was so discouraged I despaired even of life when I found out my husband (now ex) was abusing my daughter. (i.e. "Joy cometh in the morning." "The Lord's lovingkindesses indeed never cease, His compassions never fail. They are new every morning." "I will restore the years that the locust has eaten." "I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not calamity, to give you a future and a hope." "I will bind up the wounds of the broken hearted." "He is faithful and He will bring it to pass." And a host of others. I am NOT downplaying the value of the Word. The knowlege base had to be there--but just because I knew those verses did not mean I could call them to mind in those horrendous circumstances! I could barely put one foot in front of the other!!

Who else danced with me on those dark nights when I could do nothing but praise Him? And who gave me the ability to do just that even though my heart was breaking?

Who held me up when all I wanted to do was lay down and die?

Who brought people into my life at just the right time who would say just the right thing to me?

Who filled up all the other cars so that I had to be the front seat passenger in a van with the man who would become my husband--who loves me and tenderly cares for me like none other before him?

So.... He only works through the written word????

How many of you can share Holy Spirit experiences from your own lives?

As for me, I believe I will claim I Thessalonians 5:19 "Do not stifle the Holy Spirit."

My heart is breaking!! Please pray for me and my husband as we struggle through this.

The Real Tooth and nothing but the Tooth

2005-06-23T00:35:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid I must confess to being just a tiny bit onery. I had to go to the dentist today to have a crown put on. I had already had the prep work done and was wearing a temporary crown. All they had to do today was remove the temporary and replace it with the permanent (and very expensive) crown.

As the dentist walked in, he asked (as he always does), "Well, how are you getting along? I replied (with straight face) "Well, I got along really well with this temporary. It only came off once and I just stuck it back on with Super Glue." I watched the dentist and his assistance exchange one horrified look!! "Just kidding" says I. Big collective sigh of relief. I grin.

Now was it just my imagination or did I hear him laughing while I was paying my bill?!?