♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.♪♫•*¨*•♫♪

Happy 6th Birthday O, 

I love you more than all the stars in the sky!

Nana

♥

I honestly can't find words adequately enough to describe how I treasure being a Nana to three precious grandkids.

remember this...

♥

oh sweet Callie...

pause 'n ponder

quick quotes

Dwight L Moody (1837-1899)

Joy is love exalted; peace is love in repose; long-suffering is love enduring;
gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on
the battlefield; meekness is love in school; and temperance is love in
training.

I prayed for faith and thought that some day faith would come down and strike
me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth
chapter of Romans, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
I had up to this time closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my
Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since.

A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat
enough today to last him for the next 6 months, nor can he inhale sufficient
air into his lungs with one breath to sustain life for a week to come. We are
permitted to draw upon God's store of grace from day to day as we need it.

☆

Some people cross our path to teach us a lesson,

others to learn from us, some to stay, while others just get us through a chapter in our life,then vanish and sadly are never heard from again.

What matters is not how many people or how much of this or that,the thing that matters most, is how we act in those encounters and relationships, that each one makes us a better person.

~unknown

♥

Yesterday was a very good day.  Our kids and three grandkids were here!  

Their Mom had been asked to speak at two ladies meetings, one at 10:30 am and the other at 7:00 pm.  She talked about how her journey began.  She told of her life experiences overseas: about her average day, adjusting to a new culture, different customs, learning the language, the numerous obstacles she faced, and so much more.  She made us aware of several specific areas we need to remember.  Some of them were unexpected.  There were many questions asked and answered.  She did a wonderful job! 

As I sat listening, my mind wandered (I’m sorry about that).  I remembered the first time I met her, the college years, the engagement ring, the wedding, the birth of my grandkids (one girl, two boys, & little girl out there that will join the family soon).  I listened to her speak with ease and wisdom and confidence.   

There were many ladies there, from young to advanced in age.  Over the years, I feel sure a large number have sat and listened to others talk about their experiences.  But this one was different.  This was my daughter-in-law.  The wife of my son.  The mother of my grandkids.  The one they can relate to.    The one they’ve heard so much about.  The one sitting before them in person.  The one I’m blessed to have in my life.

Yes, yesterday was a very good day.

(For the evening meeting, I had my sweet granddaughter in my lap.  I will cherish the smell of freshly shampooed hair, feeling her body relaxing, and her breathing changing to sleep.  So precious!)

i love what's outside my door...wonderful gifts from God

European Starling

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal - female

Goldfinch

Carolina Chickadee

Northern Mockingbird

Long-billed Thrasher

Carolina Wren

House Finch - Male

Downy Woodpecker - Male

Tufted Titmouse

White-throated Sparrow

Northern Cardinal - Male

it’s my life

Ever sat down and thought about your life?  About where you are in life’s journey?  About places you’ve gone and people you’ve met?  About precious memories or awful thoughts?  About what you’ve done right and what you’ve done wrong?  About words you shouldn’t have spoken and those you left unsaid?  About how much or how little money you have?  About what you cherish and what you despise?  About what you look forward to and what you dread?  About what you want and what you need?  About what gives you comfort and what you fear?

About what is important and what really doesn’t matter?

This is a partial list of what really shouldn’t matter to me:

not a big house

not a new car

not my 1200 count sheets

not a flat screen or hdtv

not my smart phone

not a laptop nor notepad nor notebook

not a kindle nor nook

not my watches nor rings nor necklaces nor bracelets nor earrings

not my warm fluffy throw

not my digital camera

not my morning coffee

not my cds nor dvds

not my wireless internet

not my photos nor photoshop nor games nor anything else on my desktop pc (Yikes! Yes, I said a desktop!)

not my blog nor facebook nor email.......

Not one of these things, not a single one, never not ever should matter to me!

both are empty!

I didn’t realize I’ve been away since March 18^th!  This is my Easter post:

"The Resurrection is the ground of our assurance, it is the basis for all our future hopes, and it is the source of power in our daily lives here and now. It gives us courage in the midst of persecution, comfort in the midst of trials, and hope in the midst of this world's darkness." (Preface, in Gerard Chrispin, The Resurrection: The Unopened Gift (Epsom, UK: Day One, 2002), 6.) 

These two sentences from Gerard Chrispin’s book are a glimpse of the magnitude of the resurrection.

First, there was the empty cross, and then there was the empty grave.  Jesus had resurrected from the dead!  We should never forget what took place before Jesus died on the cross, and what took place when He rose from the grave, and what took place in between. 

Before, God required the sacrifice of animals because without their blood, there was no forgiveness. Sacrificing animals to God was no longer needed...  Jesus, the Son of God, was the ultimate sacrifice for our sins!  We are covered by His blood!

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

1 Corinthians 15:17-19 NAS

thankful for these three gifts from God...

quick quotes

The best is yet to be.

~John Wesley

There is no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit.

~Dwight L. Moody

A prayerless soul is a Christless soul.

~Charles H. Spurgeon

a thorn in the flesh

There’s so much about God’s word I just do not understand.  Like how can I be both weak and strong, and both at the same time?  What does that even mean? 

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NAS

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me to keep me from exalting myself!  

God allows thorns in my life to test me and to strengthen me and teach me to have complete faith in Him and for His plans and purposes in my life.  Job, Daniel, Moses, Abraham, Jonah, and many more were tested way beyond my understanding.  

8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.  

God is teaching me patience, and it’s difficult for me to learn.

9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

In spite of anything I may face, I really need to experience and know and feel and be grateful for God’s grace.  But, I can never truly understand how far and how wide the grace God is.

10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

(I had to do some researching on this verse.) It’s the difficult things and the terrible things and the painful things and the bad things and the hurtful things and the awful things that God has to use for me to rely on Him.  If my life only had perfect days in perfect places with perfect weather with perfect people in perfect beauty with perfect harmony in perfect freedom and perfect health and perfect joy with perfect wealth in perfect...

If that is my perfect life, would I feel I need more?  Fact is, that’s not my life and will never be my life.

God uses the thorns in my flesh to teach me: for when I am weak, then I am strong.    

reflective reads

by faith, thru faith, with faith, in faith

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 (NAS)

Hebrews has many instances of faith, the triumphs of faith, the great heros of faith... 

It’s overwhelming for me to ‘take in’ Hebrews 11.  To fully understand.  To totally grasp.  To identify with.

There are a few web sites I often use to compare explanations.  Breaking down the verses into sections helps to make it clearer for me:

 

What is True Faith?

Hebrews 11:1–3

Dying in Faith

Hebrews 11:13–16

Examples of Faith

Hebrews 11:24–12:2

Hebrews 11:8–23.

Faith and Evidence

Hebrews 11:3–7

Verse 7:  By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen,...

Verse 8:  By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed ...and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Verse 32:  Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets...

Like I said before, Hebrews shouts of faith!

Seriously, how is my faith?

happy humor

from a kid's perception...

*A Sunday school teacher asked her class, "What was Jesus' mother's name?"
One child answered, "Mary."  The teacher then asked, "Who knows what Jesus' father's name was?"
A little kid said, "Verge."  Confused, the teacher asked, "Where did you get that?"
The kid said, "Well, you know they are always talking about Verge n' Mary."

*A Sunday school teacher asked her children, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."

* Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother Joel were sitting together in church.
Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had had enough.
"You're not supposed to talk out loud in church."
"Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked.
Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door?

They're hushers."

quick quotes

CS Lewis:

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

I have learned now that while those who speak about one's miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.

God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way.

pause ‘n ponder

The Golden Box

The story goes that some time ago a mother punished her five year old daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and she became even more upset when the child used the gold paper to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her mother the next morning and then said, "This is for you, Momma."  The mother was embarrassed by her earlier over reaction, but her anger flared again when she opened the box and found it was empty. She spoke to her daughter in a harsh manner.

Don't you know, young lady, when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package?"  She had tears in her eyes and said, "Oh, Momma, it's not empty! I blew kisses into it until it was full."  The mother was crushed. She fell on her knees and put her arms around her little girl, and she begged her forgiveness for her thoughtless anger. 

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later, and it is told that the mother kept that gold box by her bed for all the years of her life.  Whenever she was discouraged or faced difficult problems she would open the box and take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us, as human beings, have been given a golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends, and GOD. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.  - unknown