Saved By Grace

Life Changes

2010-12-21T19:11:00.002-05:00

At some point in your life, something will happen that will change your life forever. Now I'm not talking about the day to day "crisises" that happen. Those, most times, come and go, you deal with them, adjust, make the necessary changes (or sacrifices) and move on. I'm talking about something so huge that it actually takes your breath away, literally hurts, mentally to physically, day after day, over and over and you feel like you can't deal with it, adjust to it or make the necessary changes to move on. So huge that you can't wait to go to sleep at night so you don't have to think about it, yet you dread the thought of waking up the next morning to the same agonizing pain that you just know will NEVER go away, NEVER be able to be changed. On March 16, 2010, something that huge happened and it changed my life forever. As a passenger in a truck driven by his friend, my son, Robby, along with his friend, was killed. He was dead. Killed, dead....words that I never associated with any of my children or grandchildren. Disbelief was temporary as it became reality all too quickly. My first reaction when the police stood in my home and told me, "No mam, he's not alright, he's dead" was..." how could this be?" I looked up and reminded God that He was supposed to keep my children safe, I prayed about it every single day, and I BELIEVED God would, no doubts in my mind, I trusted my prayers. Well, aren't we supposed to? Countless times, to many people, I would say that if you don't trust God when you ask Him to do something, then you are wasting your time praying about it. I'd say, "Trust is the key. You have to TRUST." Well......I trusted, I believed.....what happened???? These past several months have been agonizing for me, trying to tell myself that I'm not angry with God, I trust that He had good reason, I don't have to understand it. But deep down in my gut, I wonder why God allowed this to happen. I was faithful, I was persistent in my prayers, (Pray without ceasing, isn't that what God says?) I tried to live according to His Word.

I know one thing's for sure, my prayer life, which was essential to my existence, was in shambles. I had doubts everytime I prayed. I'd tell God, "You already know what the outcome will be so why am I praying about it, You aren't going to change Your mind", I have episodes of intense sorrow....yea, sure, I'm told there are steps to go through during the grieving process, but I don't believe that. If that's true, then I'm stuck in the step of sorrow, never able to get out of it. I try to console others in my family also grieving, but I always think in my mind, "Do I really believe what I am saying??". Then, today, I was listening to someone I've never seen before or even heard of, talk about how big God is, how what miracles our lives consist of just in our being. Then he said, "God has a purpose for every circumstance and no matter what that circumstance is, He promises to renew your strength." I always knew that, I always lived by the fact that God is always in control and sometimes His reasons aren't meant to be understood, how we have to trust Him. But, somehow, hearing this one sentence today made things seem different. I keep hearing those words in my mind and it's changing me. It's as if God is reminding me He IS with me, He IS helping me, He DOES know what I am feeling, even when I don't know myself. It is like I am feeling Him embrace me, like a loving father puts his arms around a hurting child. Sure, nothing can be changed about Robby's death, that's permanent, for now. But, unlike I had been feeling before, I feel I CAN move on. Yes, I will miss Robby for the rest of my life. I will cry for him, I will long to see him, hug him, tell him how much I love him. BUT....I CAN change the direction I need to go in order to move on. It will be difficult, but not impossible.

In my mind, it will never get easier. How can it? I will never be able to laugh with Robby, talk with him, cry with him, ever again, for the rest of my life. But I CAN move on by letting God soothe my hurt, renew my strength. After all, He knew before He took Robby how I was going to feel so now I need to let Him do His work with me and help me learn to live with the grief..........until Robby and I meet again. And we will.....maybe that, in itself, will bring me joy for the future instead of sorrow in the present. Like the words of one of Robby's favorite hymns....

"I love to tell the story of unseen things above.

of Jesus and His glory, Of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story, because I know it's true

It satisfies my longings, as nothing else would do."

Instead of focusing on my sorrow, I will strive to focus on telling "the old, old story of Jesus and His love."

MY CHILD AND I

2010-08-04T19:56:00.003-04:00

WE ARE CONNECTED
MY ROBBY AND I, BY
AN INVISIBLE CORD
NOT SEEN BY THE EYE.

IT'S NOT LIKE THE CORD
THAT CONNECTS US 'TIL BIRTH
THIS CORD CAN'T BE SEEN
BY ANY ON EARTH.

THIS CORD DOES ITS WORK
RIGHT FROM THE START
IT BINDS US TOGETHER
ATTACHED TO MY HEART.

I KNOW THAT IT'S THERE
THOUGH NO ONE CAN SEE
THE INVISIBLE CORD
FROM MY ROBBY TO ME.

THE STRENGTH OF THIS CORD
IS HARD TO DESCRIBE
IT CAN'T BE DESTROYED
IT CAN'T BE DENIED.

IT'S STRONGER THAN ANY CORD
THAT MAN COULD CREATE
IT WITHSTANDS THE TEST AND
CAN HOLD ANY WEIGHT.

AND THOUGH YOU ARE GONE,
THOUGH YOU'RE NOT HERE WITH ME,
THE CORD IS STILL THERE
BUT NO ONE CAN SEE

IT PULLS AT MY HEART
I AM BRUISED, I AM SORE,
BUT THIS CORD IS MY LIFELINE
AS NEVER BEFORE.

I AM THANKFUL THAT GOD
CONNECTS US THIS WAY
A MOTHER AND CHILD
CAN'T BE TAKEN AWAY.

I MISS YOU ROBBY.

The Two Leaves

2010-04-13T04:30:00.002-04:00

The two leaves that were in the Memorial Video for Robby had a special meaning to me. I would like to explain what they meant.

Two years ago, at Thanksgiving, I chopped down a big branch from my tree in the back yard. It was perfect.....had several smaller branches shooting from it. Robby helped me plant it into a pot and he carried into the living room. I cut out several leaves from construction paper, green, yellow, orange, brown. On Thanksgiving Day, when my family was at my house for dinner, I asked everyone to write on a leaf what they are most thankful for. These two leaves, written in Robby's own handwriting, were found in an envelope, inside his jewelry box. He must have taken them from the tree at some point and time to keep them. They meant something to him, as they mean something to me. He loved me and he believed.

Thank you, God for this reminder.

The Broken Chain

2010-04-04T04:54:00.000-04:00

We little knew that morning that God was going to call your name.

In life we loved you dearly. In death we do the same.

It broke our hearts to lose you, you did not go alone;

for part of us went with you, the day God called you home.

You left us peaceful memories, your love is still our guide;

and though we cannot see you, you are always at our side.

Our family chain is broken and nothing seems the same,

but as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

2010-01-09T18:56:00.004-05:00

Everything was well planned. Christmas eve, all the gifts were wrapped, under the tree, gifts for family members who would be at my house Christmas day were sitting in a row, my ham was prepared to be put in the oven early Christmas morning, the rest of my family all had their treasures ready to bring over and they all had their assigned food dishes ready. HOWEVER.......at 12:30 am Christmas morning, I start feeling queezy. By 1:30, I was hovering over the commode, sick as sick could be, fever of 100, chills. By 11:00 am, I was worse. So I called my mom, told her the bad news so she could pass it on. Yep.....no one came over, ham stayed in the fridge, Crazy Christmas gifts sat for days on the mantle and I moaned and groaned in bed for three days. I already wasn't feeling good, since I had just had sinus surgery a week before Christmas, and this, whatever it was, just consumed me. I laid in bed feeling bad about the whole thing and thinking about the story "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". That's exactly how everyone looked at it. The Grinch definitely stole our Christmas. After about three days, I started feeling a bit better. I started thinking about how I focused so much on "how the grinch stole Christmas",

realizing how blessed I really am. I should have been thanking God for taking care of me during the sinus surgery. It was more serious than anyone realized, even the doctor. I should have been thanking God for my family and how wonderful they all are. I should have been thinking of all the help I had taking care of daily chores and thanking God for the help, along with my wonderful husband who made sure I had what I needed. I sat and thought about all the wonderful things in my life. So what? I got sick for three days, right through Christmas. I lived through it. I should have been thinking more about how wonderfully healthy I had been for so many years. After mentally scolding myself, I thanked God for loving me and always being there for me. I have a good life and I need to remember that. It's not always going to be a "perfect" life, but rest assured, thank God I came to my senses and realized.......

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

It's That Time Again

2009-11-22T12:36:00.006-05:00

UPDATE

December 7....Check out the comments for what some are bringing to eat.

Yep, it's that time again......already. The family Christmas party this year will be on Saturday, December 19, around 2:00. I'm thinking I may get a nice honey glazed ham. I will have buns on the side if anyone would prefer a sandwich. Please click on "comment" and let me know if you are coming and what kind of dish you would like to bring. Most anything goes with ham. We could have mac and cheese, baked beans, tossed salad, scallopped corn, green beans, veggie trays are a big hit next to the pickles and cheese, or anything else you may think about. These are just some suggestions. Of course, any dessert is welcome, especially pumpkin rolls (hint hint) Just click on "comment" and let me know if you are coming and what you'd like to bring. Chances of getting me on the phone are very slim, however, if you'd prefer to call, leave a message. Don't forget we will have our Crazy Christmas exchange with a $20 limit and anyone is welcome to get into it. We always have a lot of fun with it. I so look forward to the holidays and getting together with family. See you all December 19.

Homecoming '09

2009-10-25T01:17:00.002-04:00

Friday, October 16...Homecoming.....Reinna's first high school dance....WHAH!!!

Ok, now that I have my eyes dried and my nose blown, I can continue. It's hard enough for me to believe my grasshopper is in high school, but her first dance was a reality check for me. The first picture is with her date, a friend she's known for several years. Not a boyfriend, mind you, just a friend. She was asked by several, but Christian was the one who got to take her.

She tried to pin the "boot" on, but I ended up doing it. It was hard pinning it on a shirt. None of the guys wore jackets.
This fine looking gent is her cousin, Ian. Notice the McPherson resemblance? The nose, to be exact....HA HA.
This is her best friend, Makaila. The dress she has on is the one Reinna will be wearing to another homecoming she has been asked to go to at Grove City Christian High School.
This is another friend, Alexis. I had to show this one because they had a good laugh about how close their dresses looked almost alike.
Here's all the debutantes together. I've known these girls since the fifth grade. WHAH!!!! Excuse me while I blow my nose again.
This last one is one of my favorites. The beauties and their dates. Not all of them had a date, but that didn't seem to matter. They all went together, had dinner before the dance and had a great time. It was an awesome evening for me. Try to imagine two parents for each of these kids, here, taking pictures. My neighbors were standing in their yards watching it all. It was pretty neat.
I thought to myself how short the time is with these precious treasures. They grow up so fast. Sort of made me sad to think they will be on their own soon enough and how much I'll miss this confusion. That was short lived, for the moment, anyway. All the girls came back to my house after the dance and hung out all night and all day Saturday, and I thought at that time....Will they ever go home?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Florida Trip

2009-08-18T21:24:00.005-04:00

Our trip to Florida was wonderful. We got so many pictures that I couldn't possibly post them all. So, what I have here are pictures from the highlight of the whole trip....Parasailing in the Gulf. It was an experience for everyone, except me because I chickened out. Scroll down and enjoy.

This is Bryan and Michelle

up a bit higher

Shows how far they are up in the air. That is the boat, in case you couldn't tell.

Reinna and Chase, aren't they cute holding hands?
The captain would bring the sail down just enough for them to touch the water with their toes, but the girls thought they were smart and raised their feet up....however.........
the captain fooled them and made another attempt, only he brought the sail down far enough that they were waist deep in the water. That'll teach 'em.

Robby and Braydon dancing on the waters

Specks in the sky
Giving each other a high five as they descent. They were pretty proud of themselves that they did this in the first place. They were pretty squirmish getting started.
This is to show you all that they all made it back on board safely.
(one, two, three, four, five, six....yep, they're all there)

Thank you, God, for this piece of happiness.

Camp at Crossings

2009-06-22T09:45:00.001-04:00

Below are the pictures from church camp that Reinna and her cousins went to last week. It was a great opportunity for Christian fellowship and Bible study. Reinna and her cousins are in quite a few of them. Enjoy.

Crossings 2009

2009-06-22T09:33:00.001-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Family Picnic Pictures

2009-06-01T12:45:00.006-04:00

Here are "some" of the pictures from our annual family picnic. I had so many that I couldn't possibly put them all on here. I missed the kids on the slip and slide and the seal sprinkler. They were so excited to get wet that they were too quick for me and I didn't get the picture. Everyone had a great time and as usual, there was plenty of food. I did it smart this time by putting the before dinner snacks out first, moved them out or should I say everyone else "ate" them out. Then we ate, then I put all the desserts out. My "Betty Crocker" of our family couldn't make it, but I still got my strawberry dessert. Pam made a scrumptious strawberry pie. The weather was perfect. Thank You, God, for that. We missed those who couldn't get here, but we'll have another picnic soon. Enjoy the pictures.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Annual Family Picnic-May 30

2009-05-07T10:39:00.004-04:00

It's that time again. Time for me to get out all the boats and yard toys. Saturday, May 30th is the big day, anytime after noon, eating around 3:00. The main menu will be brats, hot dogs and hamburgers. I'll have fixings for sundaes, since the kids enjoyed that so much last year. Think about what you'd like to bring, click on comments and put it down so anyone who sees the blog will know what's coming. I might add one comment for the fantastic chef in the family, not mentioning any names but you know who you are.......I still love strawberries.

If you'd rather, you can e-mail or call me with your choice of what to bring.

Bring your fishing poles, have the kids bring their bathing suits because, weather permitting, I'm going to have water games for them. You big kids might want to bring a change of clothes as well. I'm going to get squirt guns for everyone. I'm also going to have a spinning wheel with balloons on it. Some of the balloons will have prizes, that is, if anyone is good enough to pop them. We always have such a great time and I look forward to seeing everyone.

Family Athletes

2009-04-18T17:42:00.005-04:00

Now that cheer competitions are over for the season, we're ready for track. I have tried several times to upload the competition videos, but for some reason, they won't upload. I really would have liked to have shared them. These are videos of two of the track meets Reinna was in the past two weeks. She loves it and she's good. She runs the 100 and 200 meter hurdles and the relay. So far, she's maintaining first place on the hurdles. The first video you can see her popping up first over the hurdles all the way to the finish. She's 2nd lane on the right. The second video she is first all the way to the finish.

The kids are quite athletic. Chasey is the basketball athlete of the family. Right now she's doing softball for the second year. Hannah is the star softball player. She has played for years and has pitched for several years. This year she is playing on the prestigious Grove City Vipers traveling tournament league. Few qualify for that and she was sought out for the team. I'll have videos of those two later. Then by the time they are done with that, Braydon will be into the football, which, of course, I'll have to share some videos as well. They do keep me busy, but that's what it's all about, isn't it?

Happy Birthday Alexis

2009-04-11T09:43:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear Alexis

Happy Birthday to you

Kisses and Hugs to you on your birthday today. Great Grandpa and I are thinking about you. We hope your wishes came true. We love you!

Remembering

2009-04-10T08:29:00.005-04:00

"It was now the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,(from noon to three in the afternoon) for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.(symbolizing Christ's opening the way directly to God) Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." When He had said this, He breathed His last."
Luke 23:44-46

Remembering what Jesus did for us honors Him.

At 3 pm, stop for a moment and remember. God bless you all.

Remembering

2009-04-09T19:03:00.003-04:00

I went to church today, for a special reason. I went to receive Holy Communion, in remembrance of what Jesus did for me and to honor Him in gratitude.

Today is Maundy Thursday, sometimes referred to as "Holy Thursday". It is the day Jesus had the Last Supper with His disciples. It is considered His last supper because it was the day before He was crucified (Good Friday). Jesus also did something else. He washed the disciples' feet, setting an example that we should love and serve one another in humility. The word Maundy comes from the Latin word meaning "command", which Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper; to humbly serve and love one another. Observing Maundy Thursday is not commanded in the Bible, but is a good thing to remember the Last Supper and Jesus' example of humility. It also helps us to focus on what is to come, the betrayal from Judas, the denial from Peter, and the events leading up to the crucifixion of our Lord.

I pray God blesses you as you remember the ultimate sacrifice made for all of us and the hope it gives us for eternal life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Happy Birthday

2009-03-15T20:40:00.001-04:00

My dad's 86th birthday was March 14 and my family wanted to get together for dinner at his favorite place, York Steak House. He didn't want to do that. He didn't want a big hoopla made over his birthday. So, Saturday night, my mother called and suggested we just have ice cream and cake for him at my house. He didn't want to do that either. I told my mom to tell him we are having ice cream and cake at my house on Sunday for Reinna,(14th birthday on March 17) Chasey, (13th birthday on March 18th), my great nephew, Tony (15th birthday on March 18th) and my niece, Carrie (25th birthday on March 20th). He was all for that. I ordered the cake, with all the names on it and of course, included his, Grandpa. He knew no different. My entire family met here at my house, with the exception of Carrie and her family (she already had other plans) and we had cake and ice cream and oodles of snacks and drinks. We had a great time, and so did my dad. Everyone was here at three and gone by 6. Just like my dad likes it. Here are some of the pictures.

The cake with everyone's name. My niece, Carrie, couldn't be here.

My Dad, Chasey, Reinna and my great nephew, Tony

Kimmy and Reinna

Braydon and Chasey

Tony

Robby and my nephew, Johnny
Braydon

My great niece's friend, my sister, Sheryl and behind her, Mike, her husband

Kimmy and Daddy

Reinna, Braydon and Chasey

Reinna, Daddy and Mother

My sister, Gayle, Mother, Jim, my great nieces, Hailey and Ashley

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Proud Grandma

2009-02-07T12:27:00.007-05:00

I received a letter several weeks ago saying that Chasey had been nominated for being listed in the Who's Who Registry of Academic Excellence (Middle School Edition) This is an organization who honors students throughout the United States who have excelled academically. Their name and biography is placed in a book that is distributed nationally to schools within the U.S.. I was so surprised and so was she. We don't know who nominated her, that apparently is anonymous. After mailing the information form, this organization then confirms the information by whatever means and makes a decision for approval. We received another letter saying that she has been approved for listing in the 2008-2009 edition of the Who's Who Registry of Academic Excellence along side thousands of other top students throughout the United States. This also makes her eligible to compete for scholarships awarded at the end of the school year through the Student Scholarship Foundation. I am so proud of her and secretly I am proud of myself. Here is a child who, five years ago, couldn't care less about school and her grades showed it. I worked hard with her to the point of being driven. I kept close contact with her teachers and every night I sat down with her and "made" her work hard. After being on the honor roll (and me making the biggest deal ever for it) she liked the feeling and each year it got easier to get her to cooperate and realize that doing well in school IS important and can be rewarding. This year, I've left her on her own to see to it that she does well, with little help from me. I wanted her to be a little more independent. So here we are, being recognized for excellence. I am bursting with pride and I'm making the biggest deal about this recognition. She gets a little embarrassed when I tell others about it. But, it is doing wonders for her self-esteem. I promised her five years ago that I would see to it that someday she would be so proud of her accomplishments. Believe me, it hasn't been easy. We would lock horns just about every night that first year. She just didn't want to do it. Then it got a little easier each year. God has definitely shown me the fruits of my labor on this one and she feels so good about herself. That means a lot to me. Below is the picture and the proof that will be in the registry.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Deer Crossing

2009-02-03T20:01:00.006-05:00

My desk sits in front of the window looking out at the pond behind my house. One morning, as I was sitting there, a deer walked across the yard. Then another one appeared. I jumped up, got my camera to take a picture. The camera was in video mode, so, not to lose the moment, I went ahead and videoed the beautiful site. I slowly moved to change the camera to picture mode and they spotted me, stopped dead in their tracks, as you will see, then took off running. I snapped the last one running. There were four of them altogether as you will hear me say so with excitement in the video. Now mind you, I'm shooting between mini blinds and the deck railing is in the way, but you can still see what they are.

Isn't this just the most awesome sight? I scared the bejibbers out of my beloved when I ran out into the kitchen to get the camera. He thought something fatally was wrong. I had a hard time uploading the video, so I hope it works okay for everyone.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Laura's 50th

2009-01-31T23:58:00.001-05:00

Laura turned 50. Some would say, "half way to old age", others would say, "an old broad", many would say, "ripened old age". I say, "seasoned with wisdom". That she is. She has been the strength of her family of four boys and one girl, standing beside her, the love of her life, Bobby. She has gracefully reached this milestone, with the respect due her, by all who know her. God has blessed this woman richly, and she has, in turn, been a blessing to everyone fortunate enough to know her. I have posted some pictures from her party. I had 39 of them, put them in a slide show, but for some reason, they won't post here. So, I chose, with difficulty, a few of them for everyone to enjoy. Happy Birthday, Laura. We love you.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

The Beatitudes

2009-01-07T03:45:00.008-05:00

This morning, I was awakened about 2:30 with an annoying pain in my leg. I couldn't go back to sleep so I got up, fixed myself a pot of coffee and sat in the living room, sipping on a cup of coffee. I was thinking about a gift I had received for Christmas. I was given two marble plaques that rest on wooden stands. One has the Ten Commandments on it and the other has The Beatitudes listed. I proudly display them both on the table in my foyer so anyone who comes through my front door will see them. It was amazing to me that so few people knew what The Beatitudes were, and I was blessed with the pleasure of explaining them. I would like to share that explanation here on my blog following the list as written in God's word, Matthew 5:3-10.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

The Beatitudes are the eight openly made statements of blessedness spoken by Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. They describe the ideal disciple and his rewards, both now and in the future. If you look up the word "blessed" in the dictionary, the meaning is to "make holy". The Greek word translated "blessed" means "spiritual well-being and prosperity", referring to the deep joy of the soul. The word "beatitude" is defined in the dictionary as "complete happiness". Those who experience the first aspect of a beatitude (poor, mourn, meek, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure, peacemakers, and persecuted) will also experience the second aspect of the beatitude (kingdom of Heaven, comfort, inherit the earth, filled, mercy, see God, called sons of God, inherit the kingdom of Heaven). The blessed have a share in salvation and have entered the kingdom of God. The person Jesus describes in this passage has a different quality of character and lifestyle than those still "outside the kingdom".

Well, the pain in my leg has gone away, so I think I will try to go back to sleep for awhile. I don't want to be a grump all day. I wonder if Jesus would be upset if I mentally added another "beatitude" for one day. "Blessed are the weary, for they will find energy".

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T00:10:00.000-05:00

May God bless you this new year with His peace and understanding. May the Holy Spirit comfort you with the confidence of God's Holy Word. May Jesus Christ dwell in your body and soul forever and the touch of the Master's hand continually guide you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T04:15:00.000-05:00

As We Celebrate His Birth

May The Love He Brought To The World

Draw Us Closer To Him And To One Another

Who are you little baby? Who are you little Christchild, lying so quietly in manger straw? Who are you that angels should herald your presence and stars announce your birth? That wisemen and shepherds -- the high and the low -- should bow before you? Who are you, child of Bethlehem, son of David? What is your future? What is your promise?
Seven centuries before your birth the ancient Scriptures speak of you….
For to us a child is born, To us a son is given, And the government will be on his shoulders, And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace There will be no end.
What is this government? What is this peace, O Christmas baby? Are you a warrior-to-be? Are you a king? What promise do you hold?
How can you be the Mighty God while flecks of straw, blown from the stable floor, dot your fine hair? How is this?
How can you be the Everlasting Father while not yet an hour old? How is it?
How can you be a Wonderful Counselor before you've learned? A teacher before you've been taught? What is the wellspring of your wisdom?
What is this mystery set before us, enigmatic newborn lying in a stable manger, born of parents poor, yet destined for this greatness? You must be the One we've hoped for, longed for all our lives. The One who will set us free from our depressions and oppressions, within and without.
Little wonder angels cannot contain their Good News of Great Joy. Little wonder heavenly host sing in chorus,
Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to men....**
Be my peace, O Prince of Peace. Let its gentle, joyful blanket comfort my nervous soul, and still the warring of your earth.
Be my government, O Christ. Govern not my own heart only, but also this desperate world in which I live.
Be my Everlasting Father and my Counselor. By your counsel guide me out of confusion and turmoil into the sunlight that always shines above my low-lying clouds.
Welcome, Christchild. All my life I have needed you. O Child of Promise, this Christmas morning I give to you my heart.

http://www.angelrays.com/Flash/story.html

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Is It Time Already?

2008-11-10T00:15:00.001-05:00

Putting their hats on was easy. It was posing them that was hard!

Don't think I'm crazy, but I am one who has to think quite far ahead. Christmas, yes, I said, Christmas, will be here before we know it and I need your help. I need to know what to get everyone that is on my list. Your family, Tam-e, is my biggest challenge since I have no idea what your children are interested in at this time. And you, Ashlyn, may be a bit easier, since I have an idea what young teen girls might be interested in, but I would rather have your own ideas. The new babies in the family would be easy, except that I would like to get something the parents really would like to have for them, so that's your job, Laura. While you're at it, see what you can find out about Missy's other two. Now, if clothes happen to be in any of your minds, please, please, give me sizes and favorite colors. Donna, this all goes for you, too. And I hope you can get up here this year. I really missed you guys last year. Jennifer, in the hopes that you have finally set up a blog, let me know when you guys are coming up. (I'll probably call her). One last thing, please give me several ideas to chose from.

Okay, now....I have a full schedule on Saturdays in the month of December. I have cheer competitions, school and church functions and the girls are having their Christmas parties. I also have a very special wedding to attend on Saturday, December 20. So......our family party will have to be on a Sunday this year. I am planning it for December 21, starting at 3 p.m. I can't help it, guys. I've pondered and wondered and this is the best I can do. I'm hoping that letting everyone know about the date this soon will help you plan your events.

To make this easy, just click comments and leave your information. As for what to bring to eat... you decide and I'll work around your offerings. This will also let everyone else see what you plan to bring. We will have our Crazy Christmas exchange as usual.

I think that covers everything. Gosh, this may be the first post with lots of comments. I'm excited about seeing everyone and my hero always looks forward to all of his family being together.

One other thing....as Jesus tells us that when we do for others, we do also for Him, I'd like to put together a nice basket of food to give to a man in my church who has no family and is on a very limited income. He's in his 80's so something that would be simple for him to fix for himself would be great. His name is Bruce. Any donation from any of you would be so appreciated. And he likes just about anything.

God bless you all. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone together again.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Things Gone Wrong

2008-10-13T04:11:00.002-04:00

Since I haven't posted in awhile, I'd thought I'd just put everything together and let all of you know just what's been going wrong here lately.

1. My van has been in and out of the shop for various repairs. This "thing gone wrong" has been a real headache, especially since I have to "borrow" other means of transportation. In my house, if the transportation system comes to a halt, so does a lot of activities in the lives of my family. Not good.

2. My aching back and bursitis has been giving me fits the past few weeks. I try to ignore the pain, but some days, it is impossible. In my house, if the main source of functioning goes kaflooey, virtually every means of life turns into chaos, and no one is happy.

3. My hero has a fractured vertebrae and had surgery Friday. So I found myself searching for a substitute multi tasker crazy enough to be willing to fill my shoes for a few days. Without pay, of course. As it is right now, it doesn't seem like the surgery worked, but it's really too soon to tell.

4. I had to file the first claim in 28 years on my homeowner's policy to repair the roof damage that the wind cause on September 14. Along with that is trying to get estimates from companies already bombarded with customers having the same problem.

5. The stock market is daily stealing what little bit of money we have left to get us through the rest of our lives. I keep telling myself the losses are only on paper for now. Can't do anything about it anyway. I'm sure not going to jump from a 20 story building because of it.

6. The father of my three chickadees got laid off, so any financial aid I get from him comes to a halt.

But, you know what? I'm blessed every day with another day of life to do whatever it is that God has planned for me. And, I'm able to do it. I'm not blind, deaf or invalid. I'm not battling any diseases. My mind is sharp, my senses are in full capacity and I have the strength and the will to use them. I'm loved by many and jealous of none. I'm grateful for all of that, and it's still a great life.

Happy Birthday To Me

2008-09-04T20:02:00.003-04:00

Yep, today is my birthday. I really wouldn't have realized it if it weren't for everyone else, but I turned 58 at 11:32 am. Actually, I should give my mother a rose for having me. LOL. Today was just like any other day, tho', I was coming and going all day long, running errands, running to the schools, grocery store, bagging papers that had to be delivered by Chasey, it really was a tremendously busy day. Everyone remembered, called me, however, they had to leave messages because I was so so so busy. I DID get to talk to my mother because I call her every morning after the kids get off to school, but after that, I wasn't able to answer any of my phone calls. I wanted to spend the day just sitting and thinking about my birthday, but that wasn't in my schedule, to say the least. Now that it is 8:00 pm, finally landed, the day is about over, come and gone. Sigh. The highlight of my birthday was when I raced over to the middle school at football half time, which I almost missed, to see Reinna and her cheer group do their performance and when they were finished, all 15 girls run over to me and sang Happy Birthday in front of the entire stadium of people. Of course, I cried, and I gave them all a thumbs up and told them how great they are. I thought that was the greatest thing. And they all called me Grandma. WHAH!!! Now I'm all teary eyed again.

Well, I'm off to shower, wait for Braydon to get home from football practice, the girls to get home from the school win celebration at Roosters, and then to bed. HEY, wait a minute. I just realized I didn't have to go pick any of them up. They are all being dropped off!!!! WOW.

It's a great life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Just To Let You Know

2008-09-01T06:30:00.000-04:00

Taken from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia...

"Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working citizens".

Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894. All fifty states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer."

For me, personally, it means that my birthday is near. LOL.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

The Day After

2008-08-28T05:32:00.001-04:00

Ok, you don't have to feel sorry for me anymore. I got through the first day of school. I didn't do a darn thing all day but mope around. I did manage to pay bills. That was the extent of my day. Then 4:00 arrived and I was back in the groove. Supper once again in shifts and if you don't think that isn"t a task in itself, you need to think again. Especially for someone who absolutely hates to cook. In between the shifts of supper, I was taxi driver for my charges, coming and going, picking up and dropping off. In the midst of all this, my house was like grand central station, people in and out. My hero always joked he was going to put a "front desk" in the foyer with a sign in and out sheet, just so he knows who's here and who isn't. I don't need to look at a list, I always know. But, since he lives here, too, I guess he just wants to know for himself. I don't know why it matters, it's not like we do "fire drills" or anything like that. LOL. Anyway, there was homework and chats about the teachers that are liked and those that aren't. They all went downstairs to the shelves (notice that's plural) of supplies and got what they needed or wanted for each class. Braydon couldn't get over the fact that he doesn't have a recess. So already I'm hearing the familiar words, "It's not fair." I suppose going from elementary to intermediate WOULD be a traumatic transition.

Everyone had a good day, though. So day one was successful. Showers were done, clothes of choice laid out, book bags packed, prayers said and all were in bed by 10:30. I picked up, put away and made the coffee for this morning. Then I was in bed by 11:00. Routine back in the swing. I laid in bed and thought to myself, I must like the hype because I felt more in my normal element when they all got home at 4:00. I closed my eyes and thanked God for my blessings before falling off to sleep.

It's a good life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Sad Day For Grandma

2008-08-26T23:59:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow will be a sad day for me. My lil' chickadees will be going back to school. I'm not looking forward to three different schedules, juggling one to another, nor am I looking forward to homework. Not only does homework reveal what I don't know, but I most likely always have to "study" to learn it all.

The biggest reason it will be a sad day for me is that I really enjoy having them home all day with me, hectic as it gets sometimes. I'm really going to miss them. Of course, the first day is usually filling out all the forms, cards and everything else that has to be acknowledged times three. Out of three of them, only one is excited about going back. That's because she is such a social butterfly and she enjoys all the activities she can get into. One of the two that isn't too excited isn't looking forward to having to get up early in the morning, while the other just plain doesn't like school. I will say one thing about all three of them. They make the best of it anyway. Maybe because they know they have no choice. Ha. Ha.

Mom took them shopping today to get a few new things to wear, along with new shoes. She was taken back by the amount of money spent and little to show for it. But she enjoyed most just being able to do it. I was just happy that I didn't have to do it this year.

I made all three of them decide tonight what they would wear tomorrow. That way we were able to argue about it tonight and not in the morning. So, bookbags, gym bags and purses are all sitting in the foyer, waiting to go and their choices of clothes are in their chairs in their rooms. It all "looks" like we are organized. We'll see how it goes in the morning. In the meantime, I'll brood about their leaving me everyday to go off into their world of adventure.

It's a great life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Taking Risks

2008-08-19T05:07:00.004-04:00

Risk means there is a potential for loss. The loss could be the loss of something material like our home, our finances maybe, or it could be the loss of a friendship, maybe even a marriage. But when God leads us to take a risk, then He is there whether we succeed or fail. If He leads us to take a risk it may not always succeed in the way we think. In fact, it could even fail.

I've taken risks before, and the outcome sometimes was what I expected, but also, other times, not. Few of the risks I've taken ended in a loss, maybe regret, but not really with any significant loss that I can remember, and I never took a risk without discussing it with my beloved hero. But, four years ago, I took a huge risk, not discussing it with anyone, not even God. I just did it. Actually, when I did it, I really didn't have any time to even think about it, much less discuss it with anyone. I just felt in my heart in an instant that I had to bring three little souls to live with me and nurture them. I didn't even ask the parents. I guess you could say I kidnapped them, only the parents knew I had them. Many years before the day I did that, I pleaded with God to expand my territory, show me my purpose, give me a chance to extend my faith, and I couldn't really understand why He hadn't shown me any opportunities to step out of my comfort zone...........until that day. I didn't think about the consequences of what I did, nor did I think about the repercussions I would face. I had plenty of those, but I didn't give in to them because I felt so strongly that I was doing what God wanted me to do and nothing was going to change my mind about it. I dealt with them, one by one, with definite guidance from God, and overcame them, one by one. Today, it's a way of life now, that, not only I, but all who are close to me, have accepted. Repercussions, consequences........they have all disappeared, and not only that, but God rewards me for not giving in by showing me the fruits of my labor.

Risks?......sigh, well.....I guess you'd have to decide for yourself what the risk "could" be, and if that risk is worth the outcome, good or bad. I will say, though, in my experience, you wouldn't want to think about failure or success. You won't really know that from the beginning. But, I will say one thing about it.....the only true failure is when we fail to take the risk when God is leading us to do so. Sometimes the fear of failure is the greater obstacle than the risk itself.

Just ask yourself if God has called you to step out in an area that requires risk? This could be the place He wants you to move. Ask Jesus to give you the courage to step out and most of all.....don't be afraid. Just do it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

It's That Time Again

2008-08-11T01:50:00.000-04:00

Yep, it's that time again. Getting ready for the first day of school. What that means to me is getting all my hats out of the closet. Football hat, Cheer hat, P.T.A. hat, teacher hat, and the most important one...the taxi hat. A new hat will be worn this year, Chasey will be playing basketball for her school. This is her first year in middle school. Sigh.....I'm really hating that it's "that time again". I really like having them home during the day, crazy as it might sound, but it's true.

I'm all ready with school supplies. Stalked all the stores today and got some real good bargains.

School clothes will be bought AFTER school starts. Hey, I'm not stupid. Especially with the girls....they will get a sneak peak at what the trendy duds will be and THEN we'll go shopping.
I'm already ahead of the game with appointments. They all have had complete physicals,(forms filled out for the schools' athletic programs) with all booster shots; they've had their regular check ups with the dentist although all three have ongoing appointments with the orthodontist; and their hair meets all the standards of the fashion of the year trends.

On the 20th, we pick up schedules, pay all the fees, and then scout the schools to see where all the rooms are. Chasey and Braydon are in new schools, Chasey moving from Intermediate to Middle with Braydon going from Elementary to Intermediate. Reinna is in her last year in Middle school and she will help Chasey become familiar with it.

The 27th is the big day....for them....it's a day of mourning....for me. But, I'll get over it.

I'll be too busy to think about it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Eighty Years Young

2008-07-29T12:33:00.002-04:00

Sunday, July 27, my Mother turned 80. I've always wondered if she was mistaken about her birth year because, honestly, she doesn't look 80. Do you think she looks 80?

She doesn't act her age, neither does my dad, who is 85. A few weeks ago, the two of them picked apples in an apple orchard. I don't even want to do that! Saturday, I stopped by their house and my dad is laying brick. Believe it, I saw it with my own eyes. He was laying brick for a beautiful sidewalk. Shame on them, just can't get them to behave themselves. HA. HA. Well, anyway, we had a big birthday party for my mother Sunday. Everyone was here and I was really happy everyone got to come. We had great fun, lots of food and desserts and plenty of chatter. Here are a "few" pictures..................

The brick layer

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Catches of the Day

2008-07-26T03:57:00.004-04:00

When word got out that Robby caught a 12 lb catfish in the pond behind my house, the other fishermen in my family swarmed the pond. They had to beat Robby. So, for about two weeks, I had fishermen vieing for the title of the best fisherman in the family. Here are the catches of the days......

Robby....12 lb catfish

Robby and Chasey....12 1/2 lb catfishSteve....13 1/2 lb catfish

Robby....3 1/2 lb bass

Braydon....13 lb catfish Robby.....14 lb catfish

And the winner is.......Johnny, 16 lb catfish

His winner is really the same catfish that started out at 12 lbs. He just ate the 3 lb bass Robby caught and a few bluegill and put on the weight. Ha. Ha. Just kidding, Johnny. All in all, they enjoyed the competition.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF BLOG

Memories

2008-07-16T14:08:00.009-04:00

I was cleaning out one of my desk drawers and came across a manila envelope with these pictures in it. I have no idea why these particular pictures were inside the envelope, but it seems there's quite a mixture of different pictures. See if you can remember when........you can click on the picture for a bigger view. Enjoy.

Thanks for the memories.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

Principles vs Relationship

2008-06-22T12:03:00.003-04:00

During a recent bible study, the subject of Christian principles was brought up. As I read through this study, the statement "God never called us to live by Christian principles" was made, and further into the study, I came to realize that truth. I have always felt that there were a lot of man made laws in the church that were expected to be kept and because of those laws, we tend to lose focus on the real meaning of being a Christian. That's one of the reasons I get so into the Bible, because it IS God's word and I trust that.

It is true that God never called us to live by Christian principles, rather He calls us to live in a relationship with Jesus. All too often, in the church, principles are taught without the relationship. To live by principles, I believe, is like living by the law of the Old Testament and when Jesus came, that old law was done away with. (But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law" Gal 5:18) Principle based living is powerless living which makes our Christian experience a religion instead of a relationship.

Having a relationship with Jesus helps us to live the way we are expected to live as true Christians and that becomes our desire, as well as God's desire for every believer.
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

It is my prayer that we continue in strengthening our relationship with Christ so we can know Him and live by His Word, rather than by principle.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF POST

Who Wants To Go Boating?

2008-06-20T03:57:00.003-04:00

Ok, even I do dumb things. It's 11:30 p.m. and I am sitting in my swing outside looking across the pond. I'm thinking to myself how nice it would be to be on the pond in one of the boats, all by myself, in the dark, where no one can watch me. The more I'm thinking about it, the more I want to try it. Everyone is asleep, no one would know and how wonderful it would feel to be out there on the water, all by myself. I go into the garage and the only boat that is blown up and ready to go is the 4 man boat. I figured I could handle it, so I got two oars, took my shoes off, and off I went, down to the pond. Boy, was it nice. I laid in the boat, gazing up at the sky, and with a sigh I said to myself, "It's a good life."

After about half an hour, I decide I better go in, it was getting a bit chilly. As I'm rowing, I am realizing that many of the people who had their back lights on had turned them off. And mine weren't even on. I began to have a hard time getting close to the bank. I kept rowing, but for some reason, I kept going in circles and couldn't maneuver that big boat to where I wanted it.

I'm thinking all the time that I needed to be sure that I didn't get too close to the rocks or I would puncture the boat and I certainly didn't want to do that. I rowed back a little so I could see better and I dropped one of the oars in the water. I quickly tried to grab it but in doing so, the other slipped out of the holder (I must have put them in wrong) so now both oars are somewhere in the water and I can't see a thing. Now I am in a panic. How in the world was I going to get back to the bank, in this big boat, by myself?? I looked at my watch and by this time it's 1:30 a.m. and there was no way I was going to holler for help. NO WAY!!!! The boat is too wide to stretch my arms into the water, trying to lean on one side and paddle with my hands just spun my in circles. So I am sitting there trying to figure out what I am going to do. (I know, by now, you are laughing, but believe me, at the time, it was no laughing matter) There was no way I was going to get out and swim. I know what's in that pond and I didn't want any critters nibbling at my toes. I tried scooting the boat (picture that, if you can, me rocking back and forth in that boat like some idiot. I'm glad no one could see me) By now, I'm getting scared so, like I always do when I'm in trouble, I asked God to PLEASE rescue me. I sat there for awhile, looking around, not that I could see anything, when suddenly I felt something tap the boat. I was scared to reach over and see what it was, then I felt it again. I prayed that if I reached out, that whatever it was wouldn't bite me. AN OAR!!! I grabbed it and thanked God, then I felt another tap on the boat. THE OTHER OAR!!!! OMG, thank you, thank you, thank you. I rowed with no trouble. I reached one of the oars out to tap the bank to see how close I was, then I stepped out. The boat started to move behind me with my other leg still in it. I tried to pull my leg in, but it was an awkward position, and as I struggled to pull in the boat with the one leg, I stumbled on the rocks and lost my footing. I made it across the rocks (ouch) but the boat got away from me. I crawled to the grass, laid on my back and looked up in the sky. I was so grateful to be on land. I walked up to the house, wet, cold and mad at myself for trying such a stupid thing.

I'm glad to be out of that boat and when light comes, I will go out and get it before anyone finds out what I did. We aren't going to tell now, are we???? No, we aren't!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF POST

Little Known Facts

2008-06-16T00:11:00.000-04:00

Barbie's full name is Barbara Milicent Roberts.
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
A crocodile can't stick its tongue out.
A shrimp's heart is in their head.
People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, you're heart stops for a mili-second.
In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand (or attempted to do so).
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
Between 1937 and 1945 Heinz produced a version of Alphabetti Spaghetti especially for the German market that consisted solely of little pasta swastikas.
By law, every child in Belgium must take harmonica lessons at Primary school.
On average, a human being will have sex more than 3,000 times and spend two weeks kissing in their lifetime.
More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
Rats and horses can't vomit.
The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
A duck's quack doesn't echo anywhere, and no one knows why.
23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their buttocks.
In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders.
Most lipstick contains fish scales.
Cat's urine glows under a black light.
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
If you keep your eyes open by force, they will pop out.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF POST

Comments Made In 1955

2008-06-14T04:42:00.000-04:00

'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00.'

'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2,000.00 will only buy a used one.'

'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.

'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?'

'If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.'

'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.'

'Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls.'

'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL or DAMN in it.'

'I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas .'

'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.'

'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.'

'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.'

'It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.'

'Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat.'

'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.'

'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.'

'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.'

'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's too rich for my blood.'

'If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.'
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT BOTTOM OF POST

Who's Knocking?

2008-06-13T18:46:00.004-04:00

Be careful of unknown sales companies. I have a funny story to tell you about what happened to me today.

It all started out with a flyer advertising carpet cleaning. My hero wanted me to call and set up an appointment to get an estimate on cleaning all our carpet, which I did. I told the girl what I wanted, we set up the appointment for Wednesday, at 11 am. About 2 pm, I called to find out where the guy was. It was getting late and I had things to do. I told her AGAIN that I want an estimate, but the way she talked, they were going to do something else. When I asked her what they were doing, she told me they were going to do a cleaning of a room. In questioning her about this, it was made clear that it was a free cleaning, all they wanted me to do was pass the word about their company. I was a little confused, but I shrugged it off. She called me back and said they'd be at my house at 4. Unacceptable. I had supper to do, drop the girls off at Silent Witness, pick Braydon up from the pool, and had to be somewhere by 7. We made another appointment for Thursday at 11:30.

Again, I'm stuck waiting, and by 3:00, they still aren't here. I called Laura back, (by now we are on a first name basis) "Oh, we are short handed, they will be there about 5", she said. UNACCEPTABLE!! Wondering to myself what being shorthanded had to do with anything, (how many guys does it take to give me an estimate?)I told her I don't care about a free cleaning, I just want an estimate. She slopped all over herself apologizing about the "guys" being late, insisted that the free cleaning will be done and we set up another appointment for Friday at 11:00. Actually, I was curious to see how their "dry foam" cleaning system (which was mentioned in the flyer) worked because I don't like steam cleaning, so I agreed, but I told her three strikes, and the company is out.

Friday, 11:00 sharp, a car pulls in my driveway, two guys, (one not looking more than 19 years old) get out, carting boxes of "something". I'm thinking, what the heck is this? I open my door, the older guy started talking right away, I'm more confused by the minute, he's talking about this product, I'm asking him to give me an estimate on the rest of my house, then he drops the bomb. "Oh, we aren't a carpet cleaning service. We are here to demonstrate our Kirby sweeper and shampooer. BOINK!!!! What the heck is he talking about? He further explains, while I'm getting upset, that this "kid" is new and about all the credits he was working for, and I'm standing there wondering what am I doing? After telling me his intentions, I told him I am only looking to get my carpet cleaned, that I want an estimate and I'm not interested in buying anything. (In my mind, I'm beating myself up for letting a "SALESMAN" in my house and those of you who remember what happened to me the last time I did that in 1980, will understand) This character smooth talked his way in, and before I knew it, he was out the door and this poor kid was left there to do this "demonstration".

I sat watching and listening, feeling sorry for this poor kid as he stumbles through his presentation, not remembering what some of the attachments were, as well as not being sure how to operate this "sweeper". I kept looking at my watch because I was on a tight schedule today with tons of things to do. I'm thinking to myself that I can't believe I have to sit here when I should be getting things done. Finally, after two hours, he's wanting to start the "free" cleaning of the room. I told him I can't do this any longer, I'm sorry, and I politely told him I am out of time, I needed to pick up my girls, drop off my boy , etc etc etc.......

He packed up, called his boss to come and get him and went out the door before I could even say good bye. He put his boxes at the driveway, and sat out by the curb. I felt sorry for him, he looked so sad so I walked out and told him he could stay inside where it was cool, asked if he wanted something to drink. He said he was fine. I then told him not to be disillusioned, he did a fine job and he's representing a fine product, but this wasn't what I was looking for. I told him the girl in the office is misrepresenting him and she needs re-trained.

When his ride came, I wanted to tell this guy how unhappy I was about being so misled, (the girl in the office knew that I wanted an estimate on carpet cleaning) wasting my time AND theirs, when I just about fainted at who I saw get out of the car. It wasn't the older guy who smooth talked his way into my house, but a young man I instantly recognized. He goes to my church, I see him every Sunday, I taught him and his twin sisters in Sunday School and I simply adore him. I adore his grandma, and I couldn't believe my eyes. We started laughing about this and after telling him the story, he apologized for the misrepresentation. I will say one thing, I feel better that he works for this company, because he is the sweetest, nicest young man and I've known him all his life. But, it still doesn't alter the fact that there was major misrepresentation here.

Anyway, I've laughed about this (lucky for my hero, I was ready to shoot him for getting me into this) and it was an experience I won't forget.

One piece of advice..........stick with a "name brand" company so you'll know who's knocking at your door.
P.S. By the way, the Kirby cost $1899 plus tax. For that, I'll buy this:

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF POST

Two Seasons

2008-06-13T05:21:00.000-04:00

You know, there used to be four seasons...spring, summer, fall and winter. Now, we don't have spring or fall anymore, and that's just my luck. Spring and fall were always my favorite seasons. It seems we just have winter and summer. Extreme cold and extreme hot. Call it global warming if you wish, but whatever it is, I just make the best of the two seasons I like least. I'll share two pictures of the view from the back of my house. We have a pond and this view reflects the extreme differences.

Making the best of these two seasons, we can either have a good time ice skating or just relax in one of our boats as it floats on the pond. (There is a boat floating somewhere in this picture) Either way, I'll thank God for the blessings that we get from these new extreme seasons. I don't have to like them, just be satisfied with them.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF POST

Newest Addition

2008-06-12T12:33:00.005-04:00

Meet Marleigh Hughes, she is our newest great granddaughter, born June 8, Sunday weighing in at 7 lbs, 20 in long. She has enough hair to put a few small curlers in (if they make them anymore). Isn't she just the cutest thing? She had a difficult time coming into this world, I'm told. Her head appeared, but then one of her shoulders got stuck by Mom's pelvic bone. They couldn't proceed with a C-section because her head was already out and they had little time to try to maneuver her past the bone, but, with God's hand helping, they did it. It was hard for me to believe that Mom was released so soon from the hospital, and she was up and about so soon, considering how uncomfortable she was feeling. Marleigh will take front and center on my table in the foyer, but the honor will be short lived, as another great granddaughter will very soon be arriving. Her name will be London. I will have to let the two girls share the front and center. I'm sure they won't mind.

<<>

Jenna (mom) and Marleigh >>

We now have 5 great grandkids with

still one yet to come.

Marleigh is a combination of

Mom's (Jenna) and Dad's (Jamison)

middle names. Jenna's middle name

is Marie and Jamison's is Lee. Cool,

wouldn't you say?

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF POST

Cleaning Day

2008-06-10T01:33:00.000-04:00

Mondays are usually just laundry day, but today I put my three chickadees to work. Last Wednesday was the last day of school (and am I ever glad) so Thursday and Friday I allowed them to be lazy and sleep as late as they wanted. I told them, however, that the summer wasn't going to be sleeping half the day and staying up half the night. So, today, when they were still asleep at 10:00, I rattled their chains a bit so they'd wake up. After getting themselves awake and breakfast, I reminded them of the chores they chose for the summer. I gave them all a list a few days ago, and they chose what they wanted to do, in addition to their regular chores which include making their beds first thing, picking up and putting away anything left in their rooms from the night before, and making sure the bathroom is presentable. They have always been in charge of the entire upstairs because that's the floor they use. Reinna ran the sweeper and dusted, Chasey ran the dishwasher and emptied it when it was done and Braydon sorted laundry in piles. As the laundry got done, they folded and put away their own stuff. I also had them go through their bookbags and cubbies and pitch what they didn't want, put away what they wanted to keep. While they were doing their chores, I cleaned the kitchen floor, two of my four bathrooms and did some book work. It was a busy day for all of us, but when it was all done, we still had time to just hang out until supper. After supper, they all did their own thing......Reinna went to a ball game, Braydon went with her at her request (I knew she loved him) and Chasey hung out with Dad (she doesn't like the heat so she didn't want to go to the game) I hung out awhile with my hero and then played some scrabble with Annabelle. After the game, one of the player's mom invited Reinna and Braydon to swim at their house, while Chasey visited friends. By 11:30, everyone but me was in bed and asleep in no time. I sat outside in my swing for awhile, thanking God for another wonderful day of life.

Sigh, it's a great life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF POST

Grandma Rocks

2008-06-09T00:26:00.000-04:00

Friday night was sisters night. The three of us got together at Gayle's house. (She has the pool) First thing, of course, we ate subs and pizza. Then we went for a relaxing swim. Actually, the night started off pretty calm which is unusual for us because when the three of us get together, we get kind of crazy. Especially when no one else is around. Gayle brings up the idea of playing guitar hero on her new WII. That's when it all started. I couldn't believe how exciting it was. Sheryl played first, not too well, I might add, but who am I to talk. I didn't even know how to even begin and went through the whole song, which was Slow Ride, without strumming a note. The hardest part for me was pushing the right color buttons. It took real concentration. I quit (for awhile) and watched the other two make fools of themselves. When they insisted I give it another try, I gave in. I thought Slow Ride was a bit fast, so I went to Cliffs of Dover. Ha.....Slow Ride was slow motion compared to Cliffs of Dover, but I went through it. I didn't much like getting booed off before I got to the middle of the song, but I kept trying. I finally made it through and got the flash "You Rock". Even got to put my name on their score board. But by then, I really didn't want to give it up. It was too much fun. So I went back to Slow Ride until I mastered that one. Of course, I'm not going to tell you I didn't try the "hard", actually, I did the "easy", but, give me a break. I'm new to this. I had the time of my life and we laughed at our motions, our expressions and our determination. It was a hoot to watch Sheryl, especially, because she tried Pride and Joy the whole evening and kept getting booed off. It was her movements and expressions that cracked me up. Reinna called me to see what I was doing and when she heard all the commotion, she couldn't believe it when I told her I was doing guitar hero. I told her that Grandma Rocks, baby. And I'm going to work on getting my own guitar hero so I don't have to share.

GRANDMA ROCKS

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF POST

Update to Family Cookout

2008-05-31T22:57:00.000-04:00

What a wonderful, fun day!! Everyone had such a great time. I really enjoyed myself and watching the little ones make their own sundaes was delightful. It was quite windy, which kept us cool most of the day. The wind hindered the boating on the pond a little, but those who braved the "high seas" enjoyed it anyway. Tam-e brought the most scrumptous angel food cake with strawberries. She made it herself from scratch and bless her heart, she made sure I got a hefty piece of it, which, I might add, I ate just about all of it. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of this glorious day because Reinna left her camera at a friend's house. Tam-e posted some great pictures so if you want to see some more about the day, you can visit her blog by clicking on her name to the left of this post. If anyone else has any pictures, please send them to me so I can post them. Especially any of the little ones doing their sundaes.

Party Time

2008-05-31T12:07:00.001-04:00

It's party time!! Boats are in the water, volleyball net is up, corn toss game in waiting, kickball, basketball, four square, fishing poles out (early birds already fishing) softball, we'll have a grand ole time. I have a system; cheese and pickles trays, veggie trays, nacho cheese and chips, taco dip, pretzels and chips are out first. Then we eat hamburgers and hot dogs along with baked beans, corn casserole, potato casserole, deviled eggs, macaroni salad and whatever else comes in. Later, we have cakes, pies and cookies galore. While the adults are feasting on desserts, the kids will all get an opportunity to make their own ice cream sundae. I have butterscotch, chocolate, caramel, strawberry syrup with toppings like fairy dust, butterfinger chips, choco chips, colored sprinkles, skittles, m&ms, and whipped cream. We will all be so stuffed. After all that, we all get to sing Happy Birthday to my hero, their dad, grandpa, great grandpa, uncle, brother-in-law, brother, friend. He is 72. God blessed us with a wonderful day. It's sunny and warm with a breeze to keep us cool. Everyone had a part in making this a splendid day and that's what it is all about. Family!!! I love my family. Thank you, God, for such a great family.

Family Cook Out

2008-05-21T04:40:00.005-04:00

We've been so busy around here. We're having our annual family cook out May 31 and my hero and I have been working hard to get everything ready for it. My hero has planted beautiful flowers all over, worked hard at grooming our grass and fixing what needs to be fixed so everything looks good. He usually isn't one for a lot of company, but he really looks forward to this cook out because most all of our family comes and he likes that. He put up new outside lights that look really pretty, touched up places around the outside that needed painted and moved out junk that has accumulated in our garage. I helped some, but most of my work is inside. I washed my windows, cleaned all my curtains, got all the outside furniture ready and decided what kind of food I'm going to have. We make a great team working on all the preparations. He will get all our boats out of the attic, making sure all the oars are okay, along with getting all the life jackets workable. The one thing he really doesn't like getting into is making sure the boats are all unsinkable by patching any leaks. I bought a new 4 man boat the other day. I couldn't pass it up, it was half price, but that isn't going to make him any happier about it. In fact, I haven't taken it out of the van yet because I know he is not going to be happy with me, but he will get over it. He says I buy a new boat every year. That's not entirely accurate. I want to make sure we have plenty of boats for everyone to enjoy and if one is unfixable, I will buy another one. Last year I bought two. I think he looks at it as a way for me to frustrate him when he has to find any leaks they might have. (LOL) Anyway, everything is going good getting ready for the 31st. Left to do is checking out all the yard games and toys. It will be a fun day. I'm excited.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE END OF POST

The Great Commission

2008-05-18T14:04:00.009-04:00

Today, my church celebrated Trinity Sunday to honor the Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is always the first Sunday after Pentecost, where the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit first occurred. The Holy Trinity is very important to me, as it should be to all Christians. It's one of the mysteries of God that cannot be rationalized, but can only be accepted by faith. We remember God our Father as our Creator, Jesus, His Son as our Saviour and the Holy Spirit as our Comforter. Along with recognizing the Holy Trinity, comes the Great Commission. Jesus gave this Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, when He said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." In my Bible studies, I have learned there are 4 parts to this Great Commission:

1. GO - don't just think about it, do it.

2. MAKE DISCIPLES - tell others about the Grace and Mercy of God, Jesus' love and sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit's comfort and guidance.

3. BAPTIZE - in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

4. TEACH - teach others about God's Word, how it applies to their lives, and most importantly, the only way to eternal life with Him, in acceptance of Jesus, His Son.

To "GO" and "MAKE DISCIPLES" are the commands of the Great Commission. Commands given by Jesus Himself. "BAPTIZING" and "TEACHING" are the means by which we complete the "making of disciples" part of the Great Commission.

My prayer, my friends, is that we all take this Great Commission very seriously. It is one of the greatest purpose of our existence, next to honoring and praising our Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The reward to this obedience is beyond the reach of our human minds. As Jesus said, "And surely, I am with you always..."

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE END OF THIS POST

Blessings To All Mothers

2008-05-11T10:23:00.007-04:00

To all the wonderful mothers, I dedicate this link. May God richly bless all of you

His Grace will always be with you

http://www.dobhran.com/greetings/GRmother6.htm

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE END OF THIS POST

Taxi, Anyone?

2008-05-05T22:24:00.008-04:00

(listening to your angel rays while reading this post makes it funny)

Monday is usually my favorite day of the week, but if I have many more like today, I'm going to have to change that. I wear a lot of hats around here, but today, my taxi cab hat got the most use. I'll bet, out of this 17 hour day today, I have been in my van half of that, at least. I was on duty at 5:30, when I needed to take my first fare to work by 6. From then on, it all started. I had to run an errand downtown for someone, go to the bank, pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy and drop off a forgotten notebook at one of the schools. The weekday evenings are very busy for me anyway, but tonight, especially busy. There was the normal stuff, track meet, cheer clinic, math tutoring and choir, slipping homework in there somewhere, then I had a few extra fares....running dinner to my track runner before she boards her bus (tri meet tonight in Worthington), picking up a school project team, dropping them off to destination an hour later, picking up my track runner and a few members of the track team(they needed another van), dropping them off to destination, stopping by Walmart to pick up a pair of shoes for my beloved, then, just as I thought I was off duty.......I'm called because my track runner and her friends needed a ride home because their rides didn't show up. Sigh.....now, I'm not supposed to have to pick up the school project team because Dad is still working with them on the project. He's the carpenter and they needed to construct a game for their school carnival. (math project) But, I'm not holding my breath. Not to mention, it is getting late and I'm sure these kids should be in bed. School night, you know. (I think I hear them coming in now) Whew! I think I'm off duty now. Think I'll go to bed.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE END OF THIS POST

Nothing To Do

2008-05-02T21:26:00.005-04:00

It's Friday night and I'm bored. Never thought I'd hear myself say THAT. But, it's true. My three charges are all gone tonight, staying with Dad. It doesn't happen often. Usually, one, maybe two, will go with Mom or Dad, but all three of them are gone tonight. I did it to myself. When Dad called to tell me he was on his way from work, coming to get whoever was going with him, he made a comment that he'd hope they all would be with him tonight. Sigh, so big mouth me.....I passed that on to all three of them. Being the sympathetic creatures that they are, they all decided they would fulfill his wish. So, here I sit, nothing to do, nowhere to go and not liking it one bit. You'd think I'd be happy to have some relief, but I'm not. I'm bored, totally bored and missing my lil' chickadees. This happened once before, when they all went to Mohican State Park for the weekend. The first night they were gone, I was okay because I played Scrabble with my dearest friend until late. But then when Saturday came, I knew they weren't coming back until Sunday night and I started getting lonesome for them. But, right now, the love of my life is in bed, my lil' chickadees are gone and I'm not ready to go to bed. So, here I sit, feeling alone. Hmmm, think I'll go into Yahoo and beat the socks off someone I don't know playing backgammon. Don't feel sorry for me, I'll get over it. It's a rare moment...........believe me.

The Ascension

2008-05-01T05:10:00.006-04:00

It is rather appropriate that today is National Day of Prayer because it is also Ascension Day, the day Jesus ascended into heaven to sit on the right hand of God until He comes again, for us. After Jesus' resurrection, He remained here on earth for 40 days. That's 40 days after Easter. He showed others that He is indeed alive. He also taught His disciples about the kingdom of God and promised His followers that they would receive the Holy Spirit. The Ascension is one of the most important events in the church, in my opinion, because it set the pattern for His return. Jesus bodily rose from the ground, gradually and visibly, right in front of many people. You can read about it in the book of Luke, chapter 24, verse 50-51 as well as Acts, Chapter 1, verses 9-11.

It's very meaningful in the church because, not only did it set the pattern for His return, it also symbolized His exaltation by God, the Father, being received up in honor and given a name above all names. Jesus is in heaven right now, which means "being in the presence of God", and He sits on the right hand of God, which is an honor. When He comes for us, He will come exactly like He left on that first Ascension Day. Bodily and visibly in the clouds, and every eye will see. I have always said I didn't want to die and be buried. I want to SEE His coming. I want to see the heavens open, the trumpets sound by the angels and Jesus coming to get me. It's hard to even comprehend the magnificence of this glorious event.

I can hardly wait.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF POST

What Happened?

2008-04-29T04:39:00.003-04:00

Brrrrr! Where's the sun? Wasn't it just last week that I had my windows open, warm breezes blowing through or did I dream that? IT IS DARN COLD! I heard on the news there was ice build up on I70 in Licking County and it had to be shut down for awhile. Just goes to show you God has a sense of humor. I think it's His way of teaching us to appreciate what we had in the warm weather, and also gives us something to look forward to. Like it's part of His plan. This will pass, and it will be warm again. It's funny how the meteorologists study the weather to such an extent so as to "predict" what the weather will be and with a blink of an eye, God can change it. I think He does it just to remind us He is in control. Although, I think the meteorologists were right this time. Or were they? I don't know. I don't really care. In the midst of the rain and cold wind yesterday, I saw some beauty out of it all. I saw a dark, beautiful rainbow. We all know what the rainbow means. It's God's promise that He will never again send such a flood as He did in Noah's time to destroy mankind. ("...and the bow shall be seen in the cloud", Genesis 9:11-15) What a relief.

Don't forget to click on your Angels Rays

Sun Shiny Days

2008-04-23T21:46:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you guys, but I've enjoyed this week so much. The weather has been just so delightful, windows open, breezes in the evenings. Sigh, thank you God for such splendor. Nothing could spoil it for me. Not getting hit in the side of the head by a boinking basketball gone awry(that was Monday), nor a side spill in the pond from the bank(that was Tuesday), not even the full bag of powdered sugar being dumped from the cupboard above my stove at 6:00 in the morning that forced me to run the sweeper to get it all up(that was today) The funny thing to me is, starting Monday morning in my devotions, I have been concentrating on praying for patience. I was hesitant, because I know God just doesn't snap His fingers and "WHOOLA"....I have patience. I knew when I asked, He would put me in situations that would teach me patience. This morning, after I dumped the powdered sugar, my son, Robby, was beside me. I was looking for granulated sugar for his coffee. I didn't have any reaction, just started cleaning up, he was helping me and he kept saying, "What a mess this is going to be trying to get it all up." I laughed and told him about how I had been praying for patience and I really hoped I had passed God's test by now. He just looked at me with a grin and said, "Only you, Mom, only you could turn this into something spiritual." He hugged me and the only thing I could say was, "Spiritual is my life. I live in God's realm. Try it, you might like it."

It's times like this that I thank God for using me as the example to those around me. It's when it gets noticed that the mark is made. You see, I know how God works, SOMETIMES, and so I know what I am going to face. I pray for strength, He puts me in situations where I have to be strong. I pray for a forgiving spirit, He puts me in situations that I must forgive. I could go on and on. The key is trusting. You have to trust that you will be blessed with the gifts you ask for. You have to ask the Holy Spirit to bless you with that trust. It doesn't come natural. Oh, and be prepared........you will absolutely be put in situations where you have no choice, but to trust Him, the Creator of all. But, you know, it's all worth it. Believe me, it's all worth it.

You all have a blessed week, enjoy God's beauty and.............be careful what you ask for.....unless you are ready to humble yourself before you "soar with the angels".

DON'T FORGET TO CLICK FOR YOUR ANGEL RAYS

Bon Appetite

2008-04-18T06:15:00.006-04:00

Who says I can't cook? Oh......I did.....ha ha. Well, last night I could. I don't like to cook, probably because I don't think I can cook well, but I cook because I have to and as with everything else I do, I will put my best effort in it. The worst part of cooking for me is the selection process. What to have. Once that is done, I'm on the roll. Last night for dinner was no exception, and even I ate the food. It was really good. In searching for something different and something good, I found this recipe for Pork-Parmesan. Everyone was wild about it. I WILL share the recipe with you and you can judge for yourself, but don't get used to it. I'm not into the recipe scene,(I'll leave that honor to Tam-e) especially the ones that you have to be a graduate from a culinary institute in order to know what some of the ingredients are. I do read other recipes after I've determined I can pronounce all the ingredients and may even try a few, if there's not a lot of time involved. One note to this recipe......I improvised some, but I'll point out where I did. Enjoy!

Pork-Parmesan Sandwich (didn't make it a sandwich)
Makes 4 servings - Prep time 20 min - Bake time 10 min

Ingredients: 4 boneless pork chops(I used pork top loin)

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I used regular olive oil)

3 large cloves garlic (I sprinkled garlic salt)

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes in puree(I used Classico pasta sauce with sweet basil)

1 large egg, lightly beaten (no substitute, I had that, ha ha)

1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I crushed salad croutons)

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (don't know,just sprinkled)

4 crusty rolls, split (I used texas garlic toast)

Directions: (after looking at my improvisions, I may as well have made my own recipe. ha ha)

1. Heat oven to 425. Pound pork chops to 1/4 inch thickness (I didn't bother)

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Press garlic cloves through garlic press; cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook 5 minutes more. (I skipped this process altogether)

3. Meanwhile, combine egg and water in pie plate. (I used bowl) and dip both sides of pork chops in egg mixture, dripping off excess, then lightly coat in bread crumbs; transfer to a clean plate.(didn't want to dirty another dish so I put the chops right into a heated skillet with olive oil.)

4. Heat remaining oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add pork; brown 4 minutes per side. (didn't I already to that?)

5. Spread 1 cup of tomato sauce in a 9 inch baking dish. Arrange pork on top of sauce. Spoon 1 cup of sauce over pork; top with cheese. Cover and bake 10 minutes, until cheese melts.(I baked 30, the chops weren't done at 10) Divide and spoon remaining sauce on bottom of rolls (texas garlic toast);top each with pork and tops of rolls (no top). I served with salad.

I guess I did a lot of improvising, huh? I think I'll leave the "what's cookin' " to Tam-e.

First Born

2008-04-17T00:53:00.001-04:00

On April 17, 1974, at 1:23 p.m., my first born child, Michelle Renee, came into this world. I didn't think I would ever have children, I was six years in my marriage and I had been taking fertility drugs for almost four years with no luck........until now. When I was first told I was finally going to have a baby, I was in "heaven". After all these years, finally, a child. My own child. It was an easy birth...I delivered her in 18 minutes. Her eyes were wide open and she didn't cry once. She was a happy baby, everything she did was easy. She gave up her bottle at 9 months, she walked early, she talked early. She was an amazing child. And of course, as all first borns, she was lavished with everything and spoiled so terribly. She received a lot of attention from everyone in the family. I didn't like sharing her with anyone either. She was MINE. I was so grateful to God for blessing me finally with this child. There was never any doubt that she was wanted, as her brother was three years later. Children are such a blessing from God and should be regarded as precious treasures. The only thing about it is, they are only loaned to us by God for such a short time. Then the time comes for them to live their own lives......and we have to let go. That's the hard part.........letting go.....for me it was extremely difficult. As my child, it was my job to teach her all that she should know about God's greatness, in addition to applying that knowledge to her life. What she would do with it, would be entirely in her hands. Sometimes, I wonder if I did a good enough job of that as I'm sure most mothers do. But, then, is anything we do for our children good enough? We always want the "best" for them, don't we? I suppose the only thing I can hope for is that sometime in her life, she would realize that there is really one thing that matters, that God loves her no matter what, as I love her, no matter what.

My mother-in-law prayed many years for a grandchild. She asked if God would send her a rose as a sign of hope. The same day I found out I was going to have a child, she looked out into her yard and saw a single yellow rose bud, barely open, on a bush that was thought to have died. When I called to tell her of my news, she said she already knew. To this day, she calls Michelle her rose.

Michelle has yet to really have bloomed, but she will and when she does, she will have an inner beauty that will be recognized by every eye, awed under every breath, and with a fragrance of such pure incense.

There will be no mistake about Whose hand it came from, never to be cut from the branch where it grows, as a rose...... a beautiful yellow rose. That, my friends, will be Glory only to God, as this beautiful yellow rose will bloom for HIS pleasure.

Be sure to click at the top left for your angel rays

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST

True Miracle

2008-04-16T09:30:00.008-04:00

On April 16, 1977, 1:44 p.m., a child is born. My child, my son. Robert Michael Stange, Jr. is his name. The name was chosen after he was born because I was positive I would have another girl and the name would be Miranda Ranelle. To my surprise, I had a boy. I wasn't disappointed because from day one of conception, it wasn't certain the child would even make it and I was just thankful he was alive. Robby was a twin. I lost his twin 12 weeks into the pregnancy caused by internal hemorrhaging. He escaped from the uterus somehow and got stuck in the fallopian tube. As he grew, there wasn't any room for him to grow anymore so the tube ruptured. During surgery, the doctors saw Robby, still intact in the uterus, but they were certain he wouldn't survive. Well, he did and I carried him to seven months when it was discovered I had toxemia, a blood disorder. I was hospitalized a week before Robby was born and the doctor's weren't sure either one of us were going to make it. My blood pressure would go sky high and the fear was stroke. After a week, the doctor's thought it better to induce labor, for both my sake and my baby's sake, if there was any chance at all of survival. Every contraction would increase Robby's heart rate to a dangerous level, so it was decided to do C-section. I prayed hard that if this child was going to be deformed or mentally challenged because of all the trauma this little child had experienced from the beginning, that God would take him in His arms and take care of him in heaven. During the C-section, the doctors couldn't get Robby out of the uterus, something went wrong, all the concentration was on his survival from that point on. In the meantime, I was waking up, laying on the table, hearing everything that was being said. I was trying to let the doctors know I was waking up. My head felt like it was going to explode from the increase in my blood pressure. After I awoke in recovery, I told the doctor about this. He was sure I was dreaming, but when I told him every word that was said, he was in shock. He said I was moving erratically on the table, but they all thought it was reflex. What is was, really, was I was trying to move my arms and legs to let them know I was waking up. It was quite an experience. Robby weighed in at 3 lbs.13 oz, but he was 17 in. long. The doctor's said the familiar words I heard at 12 weeks, "he may not make it." I prayed, as I did then, that God would spare him, but........if, just IF...... I trusted God, as I did then, that He would do what was best. Well, Robby made it, I made it, even though the doctors all said there was a 1 in 20,000 chance that either of us would. That's right......1 in 20,000. To this day, I believe in the odds. One chance is A chance and I'll take it anytime. Robby was strong, receptive to feeding right away and as the days went on before I took him home, it was certain to the doctors he would make it.

As I have said before, trusting God in all things is the most important part of faith. I truly believed God would do the best thing, and no matter what the outcome would be, I would, with the help of the Holy Spirit, accept it. Robby is absolutely a miracle child and God has a definite purpose for his life. The hardest part, right now, is for Robby to realize what that purpose is. He will, because I pray for that......and I trust God in all things.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST

Spring Cleaning?

2008-04-10T01:13:00.000-04:00

I'd like to know who started this business of spring cleaning.

Rubber gloves, wash buckets.............

Washing windows

Cleaning out drawers

Sure, the weather is gorgeous, nice and warm, pleasant.......so why would anybody want to be stuck inside doing "spring cleaning"? Why not call it winter cleaning and do it while we're stuck inside? I've thought of hiring cleaning ladies to do it for me, but I can't afford it. I am doing good to get my regular cleaning done. The worst job for me is toilets. I have four of them and I absolutely hate cleaning them. Cleaning the inside is easy, it's wiping down all around front and back of the outside that gets to me. Makes me wonder why I don't install a urinal for men only.

One chore I really don't mind doing is vacuuming.The carpet in my family room is more burdensome because it is more plush and the vacuum sweeper shows all the back and forth marks, which means you can see the places I didn't feel like sweeping, so I have to be more efficient so as not to show my laziness.

The waste baskets are another chore I dislike.I always rinse them out so they don't smell and I have one in every room. Let's see.....that's about 11 of them (some rooms have two) and that doesn't count the ones in the garage.

Laundry isn't so bad. Even though I do about 11 loads a week, I'm grateful I have an automatic washer and don't have to use wash tubs. Some days I just get tired of cleaning and threaten a strike, hoping to dissolve the ban that somehow got placed on men and kids, but who do I hurt with that attitude? The cleaning would all be waiting for me when I decided to "unstrike".

So when I hear someone talking about spring cleaning, I wonder what they do the rest of the year.

I'm kidding, and anyone who knows me, knows that. I love my house and I especially love when it's clean. Not a rewarding job, just a satisfying job. Satisfied that I know it's clean and nothing else matters. As for spring cleaning...........well, let's just say "WHO NEEDS IT". Right, girls?............I say........RIGHT GIRLS????

You MUST click on Laughing Babies at top left of this post.

Thought for the Day at the bottom of this post.

Friends

2008-04-06T06:47:00.002-04:00

Everybody has a "best friend". In the dictionary, the word "best" means "above all others in worth or ability". The word "friend" means "person whom one is on good, and unusually, familiar terms". When you put the two words together, you have an incredibly special relationship with one person. I have been blessed with two best friends. One lives far away and the other lives very close. We have lived together, played together, laughed together, cried together. I love my two best friends more than my life, and I cherish their friendship. They just don't hear what I may have to say, but they listen. They have seen me at my worst and still love me, as well as my best, forever complimenting me. They don't judge me, no matter what I've said or done and when I am down, they always manage to lift me up. They're the only ones who can tell me to "straighten up" and not make me mad for telling me. We think so much alike that so many times, we say the exact same thing that is on our minds. It's like one mind in two bodies. Yesterday, I had a visit from my best friend from far away, and last night I played scrabble with my best friend who is close, so what better day could I have had. Two blessings in one day. I thank God for these two wonderful women who share an important part of my life. Here's to you, Annabelle and Donna. God bless you both and thank you for loving me. I love you.

Click on the "Friends" link to the left of this post.

Mrs. Clean???

2008-04-04T14:34:00.002-04:00

Those of you who have one or two, maybe even three kids in your house will probably be able to relate. Those of you who have no kids in your house...........well, your day will come. I have three who live here, but actually, it's never just the three. It's always six, eight or maybe ten at one time in my house. Now the girls have had Christmas parties in years past, and there have been as many as 30 (I DO NOT TELL LIES) and if that isn't crazy, I don't know what is. Anyway, keeping my house clean is easy. It's keeping it tidy and picked up that is the hard part. The kids will laugh sometimes and call me Mrs. Clean. I AM a neat freak, always have been, even as a teenager. I believe there is a place for everything. Kids believe that, too. It's the "place" that we disagree on. I'm forever picking up and putting away, in the "places" I think they should be. Some days I'll get out of sorts and scold, but the reaction is always the same. "But, Grandma, we DID put it away." I'll just sigh and then continue with my ranting. What I NEED to do is make a list of where I want everything to be, but, then I'm afraid it would take more time to do that than it would to just put it where I want it. In all truths, the easiest thing to do is just ignore it and just be satisfied it's put "somewhere". At least they all know where I'm coming from and what it is I want. As far as the "place" where I want things to be put...........well, let's just say "in a perfect world..................."

Hannah Rae

2008-04-03T04:59:00.001-04:00

This is Hannah Rae, school picture taken last fall. She looks different now....she has a mouth full of braces.

Hannah calls me about once or twice a week. Sometimes, just to chat. Other times, to get something off her mind. I love having conversations with her. She is older than her years(11 yrs) and it's like having a conversation with an adult. Sometimes we'll talk for 20 or 30 minutes, sometimes, if something is on her mind, we'll talk an hour or so. She lives in Circleville and I don't see her on a daily basis like I do Reinna, Chasey and Braydon, but she comes and stays with me a lot of times. She enjoys being with the girls. Yesterday she called me about a problem she is having with her best friend. It seems her best friend really likes a certain boy and Hannah got the idea to pay him to be her best friend's boyfriend for a few days. Yea, well, OK.......we all know that was the first mistake, but to make matters worse, Hannah tells another friend what she did. Second mistake. Of course, her best friend found out about it, the boy broke up with her and she was broken hearted, plus she is really mad at Hannah right now. I had a hard time convincing Hannah what she did was insensitive to her friend's feelings because the boy had every intention to break up after a few days, not to mention that he was "paid" to be her boyfriend, not because he really liked her. Well, I finally convinced Hannah that what she did wasn't a good thing, and yes, her friend is mad at her, but if she's really her best friend, she'll get over it and forgive Hannah. But, Hannah needs to make amends. Sigh, well, anyway, I'm not sure yet how it will go today. To these young girls, it's a life's crisis. Oh, to be young again.................second thought............no thanks!

Thought For The Day at the bottom of this post

Who's That Guy?

2008-04-02T03:42:00.005-04:00

The movie, Grease 2, has always been a favorite of ours. These guys would watch it over and over and over again. They loved the guy on the motorcycle that was so mysterious. In the movie, the girls would stand googly eyed and say, "Who's that guy?" because you couldn't tell who it was with the helmet and shield on. Every time I'd see these guys in their gear, that movie always came to my mind. Reinna, Chasey and Braydon have been riders for about 6 years. I kept putting off going and watching them ride in the beginning. I wasn't sure I wanted to see it. But, they are pretty good about it. They jump the ramps, and race each other, all the dare devil stuff. I've witnessed a few spills, but they always jump right up and hold their thumbs up to indicate they were okay. They enjoy riding. They always try to get me to get on one of those bikes, but I'm not the daredevil type. Can't you see it now? Granny Go-Go rides again. Ha. Ha. Yea.....right!

We're Moving!

2008-04-01T03:53:00.005-04:00

Yep, we're moving. Someone knocked on our door last week and asked if we'd be interested in selling our house. This person said they like the location, being on the pond, the square footage, the floor plan. They wanted this house. Offered a nice sum of money for a quick sale, too, I might add. After careful discussion, Jim and I made the decision. Sell!!! We will be having a tag sale soon, everything goes, after, of course, family takes what they want and then we will be heading to Florida. That will be our new place of residence. We picked Bonita Springs because our friends have a house there and we would be close to them, and another friend has a furnished condo they will rent to us until we get ourselves settled. Some of you may be asking, "What about your kids, what will they do?" Well, there comes a time in life when one has to start taking care of one's self. Right? So....now is that time for them. Wish us luck! OH, and feel free to leave any comments by clicking on the word "comments". I'd be interested in your thoughts on this.

APRIL FOOLS

Four Generations

2008-03-24T01:00:00.000-04:00

Four generations of women who were born to serve God Chasey,Great-Grandma Writesel,Great-Grandma Stange,Reinna
Mom and Grandma

Chasey and Reinna receiving the

blessing after they vowed to serve

God.

Thought For The Day At The Bottom Of This Post

Christ Is Risen

2008-03-23T00:03:00.000-04:00

CHRIST IS RISEN.....HE IS RISEN INDEED.....ALLELUIA

March 22, 2008-Shirley Temple

2008-03-22T01:35:00.000-04:00

Meet Shirley Temple. Actually, this is the youngest of our great-grandchildren. But, doesn't she look just like Little Miss Marker? (I'm showing my age, but that was the name of an old Shirley Temple movie) Her name is really Taylor and she shares front row center on the picture table in our foyer with our newest grandson, Carson. She's held that position for a long time now, but not much longer. We have two more great-grandchildren soon to be born and she will lose her spot. Not to worry, though, Taylor. You're still one of the sweetest. We love you.

I wonder how she got all those bubbles to come out so perfectly.

March 21,2008-It Is Finished

2008-03-21T01:15:00.003-04:00

"It was now the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,(from noon to three in the afternoon) for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.(symbolizing Christ's opening the way directly to God) Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." When He had said this, He breathed His last."

Luke 23:44-46

Today is Good Friday

March 20,2008-Maundy Thursday

2008-03-20T05:41:00.000-04:00

Maundy Thursday, sometimes referred to as "Holy Thursday" is the day Jesus had the Last Supper with His disciples. It is considered His last supper because it was the day before He was crucified (Good Friday). Jesus also did something else. He washed the disciples' feet, setting an example that we should love and serve one another in humility.

The word Maundy comes from the Latin word meaning "command", which Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper; to humbly love and serve others. Observing Maundy Thursday is not commanded in the Bible, but is a good thing to remember the Last Supper and His example of humility. It also helps us to focus on what is to come, the betrayal from Judas, the denial from Peter, and the events leading up to the crucifixion of our Lord.

I pray God blesses you as you remember the ultimate sacrifice made for all of us and the hope it gives us for eternal life.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG

CONFIRMATION PICTURES

2008-03-16T22:28:00.004-04:00

Update-Confirmation

2008-03-16T22:13:00.003-04:00

HOW PROUD I AM OF ALL THESE GREAT KIDS
CONFIRMATION CLASS OF 2008
EMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH

March 16, 2008-Palm Sunday

2008-03-16T04:18:00.000-04:00

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"

Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."

Today is Palm Sunday, the day we celebrate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He humbly rode on a donkey, the lowliest of animals. The people threw palms on the ground so Jesus didn't have to walk in the dirt. They bowed down and honored him. Palm Sunday is also the beginning of Holy Week. A powerful week leading up to the crucifixion of our perfect Lord. Today is also the day my two little chickadees confirm their baptismal vows publicly and proudly, preparing for their first communion. Please pray that their faith remains strong in their hearts as they confess Jesus is Lord.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG

March 14,2008-Don't Look Back

2008-03-14T05:29:00.002-04:00

In the book of Genesis, two angels brought Lot and his family out of Sodom because God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. The angels warned them not to look back. (Genesis 19:17) Lot's wife wanted to go back to her old life in Sodom, so she disobeyed and looked back. Because she did that she was turned into a "pillar of salt". Actually, she was caught in the destruction.

Jesus warns us as His followers that when He returns to earth, He will come suddenly (at the blink of an eye) and we should be ready. Once we asked Jesus to be our Saviour, we aren't supposed to want our old sinful life, so we don't "look back". If we think about Lot's wife, we won't. If we keep our eyes focused on Him and follow Him, we have to be willing to lose that old way of life and find a better life in Christ. If we "look back", we can lose our way.

It's not easy being a Christian, and we face of lot of ridicule because we are, but God will always light our way.

Let your light shine so bright that others can't help but notice. The blessings of your faith far outweigh the struggles that will be faced.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

March 13, 2008-Thursday

2008-03-13T04:19:00.003-04:00

It's 3:30 a.m. and I had been sitting in the chair in the living room, listening to the stillness. This is the second morning I've been up so early, but for some reason, I just wake up and can't go back to sleep. I don't mind because I love the quiet. I love sitting in the comfort of silence. I talk to God best in this stillness because I can stay focused on Him. I spend a lot of time thanking Him for loving me and taking care of me, for helping me with the bigger problems of my life, like how to pay back "Peter" when I robbed him to pay "Paul" or how to guide a wayward child back to His realm of mercy, to the smaller ones, like helping me get a nail out of my washer that has somehow gotten jammed or showing me how to compassionately settle a dispute between two young children. Then, because I can pause and think about His greatness in the quiet of the room, I go through my journal of prayers, thanking and asking, praising and glorifying, moving on to the humblest part of my devotion....repenting and asking for His divine forgiveness for the sins I've committed in my thoughts, words and deeds. Sometimes, I'll quietly speak out to Him, sometimes I'll talk to Him in my thoughts, but either way, when I've finished, I always have a sense of acceptance and relief. God is so awesome and it is so nice to have the closeness that I have with Him, to know He is there to love and comfort me, and with the help of His Holy Spirit, through Christ, I will get through another day. I don't have to understand a lot of things that go on in my life and the things that happen in this world, but one thing is for sure, I trust Him completely to turn it all around for good. Thank you, Father, for loving me. Thank you, Jesus for dying for my sins and giving me eternal life, and thank You, Holy Spirit, for comforting me.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY AT THE BOTTOM OF BLOG

March 11, 2008

2008-03-11T20:00:00.005-04:00

Does anyone know where I can find a "clone clinic"? Today, I could have used three of me. 5:00 was the magic hour. I had to have Braydon to the orthodontist at 5, Chasey was to be picked up from math tutoring at school at 5, then Reinna called from school to tell me she had a track practice until 5:30. I thought I had it all figured out until Reinna called at 4. I hesitantly asked Jim to pick Chasey up at 5 (he tends to forget things out of the ordinary) and I would be on my way to the dentist. Bryan was in Logan for school this week, so I had to pray I would be able to reach him. Thank you, God. He was to be back in town at 5:30 and would go pick up Reinna. While I'm at the dentist, Jim kept calling me, he couldn't remember where Chasey was. He went to the wrong school, I told him. When he got to her school, he was in back, she was in front. (even though I told him the first set of doors "in the front") You can put the rest of it together. Finally, all worked out, after I had a nervous breakdown. So, if anyone reading this post knows of a cloning clinic, let me know. There's more times than none that I could use more than one of me.
footnote: Supper was late.

Thought For The Day at the bottom of blog

March 10, 2008

2008-03-10T16:26:00.003-04:00

Welcome to South-Western City Schools online. Our district offers wide-ranging opportunities to a diverse population of students throughout the southwestern quadrant of Franklin County, Ohio. Ohio’s sixth-largest district covers 127-square miles and provides services to nearly 21,000 K-12 students.

SCHOOLS CLOSED MONDAY, MARCH 10

That's what the web site said. Needless to say, I had kids all day. So, I put them all to work. The girls run the sweeper and dusted their room, Braydon did the same with his, the girls worked together on the bathroom and Reinna learned how to do their laundry. Wow, did they ever do a good job. Reinna and Chase asked if they could go to a 6 pm movie and I told them it depended on how well they did their work. Top notch cleaning ladies, they were. Braydon always keeps his room cleaned up, makes his bed every morning. That's amazing considering he is a boy, but Robby was always like that, too. Of the two girls, Reinna is an admitted slob. All in all, though, they all worked diligently and I was proud of them. I'm trying to get things ready for the big day Sunday, Confirmation, so their work helped me out alot. Off to finishing supper. Having roast beef, green beans, potatoes, noodles and pineapple for dessert.

March 8, 2008-Let It Snow

2008-03-08T19:23:00.002-05:00

Now that everyone is snowed in, raise your hand if you've heard, "I'm bored". One thing's for sure at my house. There is no room for being bored. Jim asked me where everyone was because it was so quiet. Yet, I had a house full of kids and adults. One was upstairs in Braydon's room playing guitar hero, one was in her room yakking on her cell phone and painting her nails while watching a cheer competition, one was downstairs in the family room on the computer, two were watching a movie, two were playing pool, I was off and on my computer in the computer room, Jim was watching tv in the living room and two were shoveling snow. My house is 3300 square feet of living space and when I have to clean four bathrooms, I mumble to myself that we need to get rid of this big place, yet, days like today change my mind quickly. Of course, I had to feed this group so I decided on baked spaghetti. Yum, it was good, if I should say so myself. Throughout the day, everyone ate in shifts, taking care of themselves, which was nice, so I outdid myself with supper. This was the extent of my day, so I guess I'll go join the others and see how much I can cheat playing Uno. Don't forget to forward your clocks up one hour. God bless.

March 3, 2008-Future Poet?

2008-03-03T22:20:00.004-05:00

I have what I call my "treasure chest" where I put some of the cuter things that grandkids have made for me or given to me. I don't have to say, I need to get a bigger one because I find myself wanting to keep everything. Anyway, I was going through it this afternoon and came across a poem that Braydon wrote last year for an assignment in Language Arts, (in my day, it was called English). He was 9. The students in his class were to write a poem all by themselves. I tried to scan it so I could put the paper, in his own handwriting, on my blog but it is written in pencil and it didn't scan very well. So, I am going to type it, spelling errors and all, because the spelling is as funny as the poem.

BOOGER
LOVE
By Braydon
McPherson
I love this little Booger
all shiny, green and black
You can hold it for a minet,
but I want my Booger back.
It stays right whar I put it,
It shur knows how to stick,
and if it gets too dry,
all it needs is a little lick.
I can hold it on my finger,
I can flick it in the air,
I can stick it underneathe a desk,
or put it on a chair.
I can make a ball and roll it,
just to see wich way it goes,
I love this Booger anywhar
except inside my nose.

What do you think? Future poet of this generation? I hope you got a chuckle out of it. I laughed all the while I typed it.

March 2, 2008-My Hero

2008-03-02T23:15:00.000-05:00

My hero. His name is Jim, yet by his oldest, closest friends, he is known as Jimmy. He is Dad to his children, Grandpa to his grandchildren, Uncle Jim to his nieces and nephews. To me, he is my hero. Our first date was November 1, 1980 and we went to the Aspen Inn for dinner. I remember it well. I didn't know what anything was on the menu, it was so fancy, so I played it cool and shyly told him to order for me. (I think I saw something like that in a movie) He sent me roses the morning of our first date. I was mesmerized by his charisma. I still am. He has given me a good life and always lets me be myself. If he doesn't like something I decide to do, he never demands that I don't do it. He politely informs me of his disagreement, but always lets me make the final decision. Even if I decide against his wishes(which most of the time I do, like a hard head), he would support my decision. If it went wrong, he would never say, "I told you so". He'd help me fix it. When he met me, I had a 3 and 6 year old. His children were grown and married, yet after 5 years of being together, he asked me to marry him and took on another family and all the problems that went with it. He is a quiet man, doesn't say much, but when he speaks, everyone listens. He has honor and integrity, and anyone who knows him, respects him. When someone needs help, he is always there to do what he can, and if he can't do anymore, he finds someone who can. He would never let anyone down. He can fix anything from worn out toys to a broken heart. I love this man and this man loves me. We are complete opposites from the weather to the favorite day of the week, yet we are a perfect match. We have been married for over 22 years, yet he still refers to me as his bride. God truly blessed me with this guy and I thank God everyday for him. God bless YOU, Jim.....I love you.....you will always be My Hero.

February 29, 2008-Sisters

2008-02-29T18:07:00.005-05:00

Being the oldest of three sisters has it's advantages. As the oldest sister, I "usually" got first dibs on anything that was being offered, mainly because it was anticipated that I would divide everything equally with my younger sisters. I have been appointed the "boss" of my parents' estate, I'm consulted first regarding any major decisions within the family, and sometimes I'm the first to know if anything is going on. As a kid, the biggest advantage was they were afraid of me because they thought I might beat them up if they messed with me or tattled on me. Now, saying all that, there are also a few disadvantages to being the oldest. One is I am expected to be an example to my younger sisters. Another is they do things when I'm not looking (I think they're still afraid of me)...............

SEE WHAT I MEAN

Kidding aside, my sisters are the best sisters anyone can ask for. They are among the treasures of my life. Gayle, the one in the purple, is 13 months younger than I am and we have always shared with each other our true feelings, happy times, sad times and most of all, our faith. Sheryl, the one behind me, is 13 YEARS younger than I am. She was my girl from baby to teen and still is as an adult and we share our faith with each other, too. Gayle and I always try to look out for her. The three of us laugh, cry, play, and work together which keeps us close. We would have what we called "Sisters Night" where it was just the three of us and no one was to bother us. I'm not EVEN going to get into the crazy things we did when we got together, just the three of us. It was like we were little kids in adult bodies and we were wild. I love my sisters and I know they love me. All three of us share a very important place in our parent's hearts and that bonds us together. We have never been jealous of each other, we wouldn't think of putting one against the other and if one of us needs help, the other two are right there to give that help. No questions asked. The most important part of our relationship is we all three are devoted to God and our parents and I think it is that devotion that makes us the way we are with each other. God bless you Gayle and Sheryl. I love you both......................

February 28, 2008-My Parents

2008-02-28T21:46:00.004-05:00

"Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with a promise: that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth." Ephesions 6:2,3

I love my mother and daddy. I can't say that I always have been obedient. As a child, I caused them grief and concern, like any other child. But, as I look back at my childhood, I think of the disciplines I received from them and why they imposed them on me and I wonder to myself, "How did they stand me?" They are the reason I am who I am now, and it is because of them I know and love God as much as I do. As a child, I certainly didn't realize it, maybe even as a young know-it-all adult, but now I see where it all fits in. Maybe that's what is meant by "seasoned in faith". As I got older, I realized more and more the importance of my upbringing and how it has affected my life. God tells us to honor our parents. He places them in high esteem at His side and demands that we honor and serve them with the highest respect, so He takes it pretty serious when we disobey, hurt, or provoke our parents. So serious, that He says in His Word, "The eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."(Proverbs 30:17) At the same time, He promises to bless us in our lives if we obey this commandment. "....that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long on the earth." (Ephesions 6:3) My mother and daddy are my best friends. It was through them that God gave me life and I will never forget what they have done for me. I just hope I make them as proud of me as I am proud to regard them as a precious gift from God. God bless you, Mother and Daddy. I love you both, and more than that, I will always honor and respect you both.
"Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." Colossians 3:20

February 27, 2008-I DID IT!! PICTURE

2008-02-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

An illusion? I looked out my front door window and this is what I saw. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. She opened the door and everything turned color. Ha. Ha. I'm not telling a fib. I just didn't say "when" I looked out my front door window. Considering what it looked like this morning, wouldn't YOU rather see something like this? Actually, this picture was taken from my front door last summer. Cheer up, my friend. It won't be long and this is what it will look like in a few months.

February 27, 2008

2008-02-27T11:41:00.002-05:00

Okay, I finally figured out how to scan pictures and put them on my computer. I tried to upload one for my blog today and I keep getting some sort of error code. I tried to get help through all the help places, which served no purpose. I'm giving up for the day. I've already wasted 2 hours with this. So.........no blog posting today. WHAH! (sigh) (at least I am more current on my blog postings.)

Thursday - February 21, 2008

2008-02-21T05:34:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been four days now and I am still dealing with the pain of bursitis in my neck and shoulder. That's an inflammation of the bursae sac. What the heck is THAT?? Looking it up in my medical book, I was sorry I bothered. It is not a serious condition, but of course, I hung on the serious words like possible surgery, needles in the neck to relieve the fluid, etc etc etc. NOT!!! Can't sit, can't stand, can't lay down, no matter what position I choose, IT HURTS, but I will "ride" it out. I try to lay on a heating pad, move around to find a "comfort" spot that will give me some relief, then I dare not move. It's hard to find that spot. I have tried, hot wraps, cold wraps, pads with medidcation on them. Don't waste your money. None worked. I have been taking 800 mgs of prescription ibuprofen three times a day, not working. Today, when I woke up, it didn't seem so bad, but the longer I was up, the worse it got. It stinks being in this much pain. I whine to myself, (it doesn't do any good to whine to anyone else).

Last night, I picked my hero up from the airport. He has been in sunny, warm temperatures in Florida for two weeks. I'm so glad he went. He needed the warmth. He was getting homesick tho, towards the end. Don't know why. Nothing but chaos and noise here. Ha. Ha. He was glad to be home, but not to cold temps and snow on the ground. From what I am seeing on my weather bug, it's going to get uglier later tonight through to morning with ice and more snow. Will there be school tomorrow? I rather doubt it, but that's okay. I can put them all to work.

Well, need to get off here. My neck and shoulder are killing me. Need to say my prayers while it's still quiet here, don't want to forget to pray for myself this time. I usually don't think about that, but considering the pain I am experiencing, I'm sure I'll be reminded.

Have a blessed day.

Three Incredible Women-February 16, 2008

2008-02-16T14:57:00.004-05:00

The Bible speaks of many good women. Naming a few of the Old Testament, there was Rahab, who was very courageous and was used and blessed by God. There was Deborah, who was considered the Joan of Arc of that time because she led Israel to a great victory and was of great faith. The Shunammite woman took care of Elisha and even built a room addition for him. Some of the New Testament brings to mind Mary, the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist and cousin to Mary. There was Anna, who, after the birth of Christ, shared the will of God and His teachings to others. Joanna managed Herod's finances and contributed some of his money to the maintenance of the church. We should all remember Mary Magdeline. She was the "born again" prostitute who turned her life completely over to God, and He blessed her with the honor of being the first one to see Jesus after His death on the cross. There was Dorcas who did a lot of charity work, and on and on and on. But, I want to speak of three good women here in MY time. These three women all have a special place in my heart because, like me, they have been very diligent in getting their children to catechism every Saturday morning for the past two years. They sat right along side of these children to support the importance of this catechism, which is a preparation for their first Holy Communion. There is Barb, who, like me, has been blessed with somewhat of a weeping spirit. She brought compassion and tenderheartedness into a lot of our study. There is Elaine, the little mite who has the caring spirit and uses it everyday in her daily routine as a nurse. She offered dedication because, if she was working on Saturday morning, she would come in just to take the quiz. Then there is Pam. Pam is richly blessed with a buoyant spirit. Everything that came out of her mouth would be cheerful and lively, no matter what. These three incredible women have made the last two years of catechism such a joy to my spirit that I cannot explain. I am the oldest confirmed member of this small group of women with almost 50 years in the church, yet I have learned a lot from them in the last two years. They each have unknowingly contributed a piece of themselves to MY life and I will love them forever for that.

February 14, 2008

2008-02-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

Just call me Nurse Grandma. That's what I am today. Braydon is home from school today with what I think, is a stomach virus. He was up this morning, dressed and ready to go to school when it hit him. My first clue that something was up, was he didn't want breakfast. His stomach was rolling and hurting and he wasn't a happy camper this morning. He was more upset that he couldn't go to school. I know that sounds odd for a 10 yr old, but you see, he has perfect attendance, until today, and he didn't want to mess that up. I felt sorry for the little guy. So, I'm pampering and nursing him back to health. I told him he may start feeling better later tonight, if this is a 12 hr bug, but if it's a 24 hr or more virus, it may be awhile longer. I told him to say a little prayer and ask God if He would just kick that bug out in 12 hours because it wasn't welcome. He said, "The bug has overstayed his welcome." Now, that may not be funny to you, but to me it was comical. When he goes over to his friend's house to play the video system of all times (the X-box Live), I tell him he can't stay the whole evening like he'd want to because he would be "overstaying his welcome". He's my guy....this little 10 year old munchkin. And he knows it, too.

February 13, 2008

2008-02-13T05:22:00.000-05:00

It was on my calendar. Saturday night, birthday party for a friend of both my girls. They were looking forward to the party. About Thursday, I ws told it was an overnight. Oh boy, now how do I handle this? What about church Sunday morning. I try to teach them that God should come first, yet, I didn't want to tell them they couldn't go because of church. In my daily prayers, I ask God to help me teach my chickadees (that's what I call all my grandchildren) to love and honor Him in a way that they won't resent Him OR me to a point of rejection. So, I asked God to work it out and left it at that. It's now Saturday evening, the girls are packing their gear, sleeping bags, pillows. It looked like they were going on a weekend camping trip. I'm feeling a bit anxious because I really didn't think they would go for whatever reason, but without ME telling them they couldn't go. When it was obvious they were going, I said to their dad, "What are we going to do about church in the morning?" He replied, "I don't really know." As they walked out the door, I kissed them both goodbye and watched the van pull away. By this time, I'm very upset. I don't know if I was upset with myself for not saying something, upset with them because they left, or upset with God because He didn't take care of it for me. I stood in the middle of my kitchen, I three up my hands and said, in quite the angry tone of voice, "Ok, God, I try to do everything You ask me to do, you put these kids here in my care for me to raise in the faith, I make sure they get to catechism and church every week, what do You want from me??? Whey didn't You do something here??OK, if YOU want them in church in the morning, then YOU put them there!!!" I stomped to my bedroom, like a spoiled brat would do, and plopped myself across the bed and pouted. About 30 minutes later, the phone rang. It was Reinna. "Grandma, we're coming back home." "What do you mean, what happened to the party?", I asked. She started to laugh and I heard Chasey laughing. "Well, the party was LAST night, so we're coming back so we can go to church in the morning." I couldn't believe it. I sat up on the side of the bed, feeling very ashamed for the temper tantrum I displayed before God. I thanked Him over and over, but not before I asked Him to forgive me for not trusting Him. That situation is one many that I could go on and on about, but this was just another reminder that God is in control. HIS way of seeing to it they went to church was far better than my way would have been, because most likely, for me to tell the girls they couldn't stay over at this party would have maybe caused some resentment of their faith, not to mention not being very happy with me. God handled it in a way that no one was upset, in fact, it was quite humorous that they walk up to this house packed like they were, and I could only imagine what those people were wondering. We all laughed about it and everyone was happy. God does have a sense of humor, too and HIS method for accomplishing obedience was perfect....AS USUAL.

February 11, 2008

2008-02-11T05:35:00.000-05:00

One year ago today, I sat in the surgery waiting area, while my hero underwent a procedure call a bronchoscopy, to find out exactly why he had been so sick. As I waited, I thought about those two life changing crises Jim and I had been going through the past four years, and I told myself that this wasn't going to be serious compared to what we had been dealing with. I was wrong. When it was over, the doctor walked out to talk to me. The word no one ever wants to hear came out of his mouth. Cancer. I stood in shock. Jim wasn't surprised. It was as if he already knew. A smoker for over 50 years, he suspected it would be....cancer. That was the beginning of another journey for the two of us. Chemo treatments, radiation, medidcation, doctor visits. He wasn't sure he wanted to do the chemo. He didn't want to feel worse and thought he'd get by with radiation. I told him he had no choice. He had to fight back. He never got sick from the chemo treatments. The radiation didn't burn his skin like we heard it did others. It did, however, burn his esophagus and made it almost impossible for him to swallow. He was in a lot of pain from that. But, after the radiation treatments were done, he got better. Throughout the entire 8 months of treatment, I never lost hope and I made sure Jim didn't either. I didn't pray to ask God to heal him. I prayed to thank Him ahead of time for healing him. I BELIEVED God would heal him. In late November, it was confirmed. There was no sign of cancer. Not remission. Gone. The doctor said only 15% of people who get the kind of cancer he had survive a year. He beat it altogether. You know, life here on earth is not a certainty. Anything can, and most likely, will happen to get you off track. It's how you handle the uncertainties that make the difference. You can whine and complain, get mad, get sad, all those negative emotions that come naturally. Or you can look to the One who loves you and BELIEVE, "God will get me through this". It's the believing part that gets the most done. No matter what comes your way, and I mean, NO MATTER WHAT, God is in control. It may have nothing to do at all with YOU. It may have everything to do with someone else. God chose YOU ("Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass" 1 Thes.5:24) to be an example, because He knows your strength. He gave it to you. Once you are through your valley, you have something to tell others. You will witness to others of God's greatness. Another purpose of your life. If you are a believer, people will be watching your life. Frankly, your life may be the only Bible they will ever read.

February 9, 2008

2008-02-09T08:07:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday morning. Biggee Whoop! What that means to me is about 1 1/2 hrs of catechism. Which is why Jim, my hero, is in Florida and I am not. It's early enough that no one sleeps in, and don't think I don't get boo's on that note. But, I'm ok with me having to stay behind while my beloved enjoys the warm, sunny temperatures. It's too important to me to get my girls to catechism. It's a two year instruction to help them understand their faith and prepare them for confirmation. Some have asked just what that is. Confirmation. Well, it's coming up quickly. Palm Sunday, March 16, and it's a big event in their lives, more mine than theirs, for now. That is when my girls will publicly renew their Bapatismal vows, vows which were taken FOR them when they were baptized. They will confess with their own mouths that they believe in Jesus Christ as the only begotten son of God, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins and the life everlasting, and they will renounce the devil and all his works. The confirmation service is a preparation for them to take their first Holy Communion, instituted by Jesus in remembrance of what He did for them. It's not been easy getting through the past two years, every Saturday morning with a quiz first thing, no overnights on Friday, studying, memorizing. I've had some resistence from one, trying to buck my system (much like her mother) while the other, more laid back (much like her father), knows it wouldn't make any difference to argue with me about it. All in all, though, I'm very proud of both of them for the hard work they have put into this. They both have done very well, and someday, they will thank me for my hard-headed insistence. Not now..they're children who live in the world, but when they get older, they will need the foundation of their faith. THEN, it will be important to them. So, I'm off the class, ready to take the quiz right along side the two of them, and see how many answers we can "slide" by our kind hearted pastor with our choices of words.

That Driving Force-February 8, 2008

2008-02-08T04:44:00.000-05:00

About four years ago, during a Bible study, I was asked what drives me to do what I do. Thinking about it for a few days, I asked a few people who know me well what they thought. My mother told me it was always doing for others to please them, mainly my children and grandchildren. My beloved husband told me it was my faith. Thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that the driving force in my life was seeking approval. I just wanted everyone to think well of me. So, is that right? The only thing wrong with that way of thinking is, I found myself trying to be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect friend. No matter what, I strived to please everyone, all the time. Of course, we all know, that's impossible. Not only is that a quick trip to failure, but spiritually speaking, being controlled by what other people think made me miss the real purpose of my life. It took two life changing crises to make me realize what my purpose in life is. I was in a position where I had no control over what was happening and I had no idea how it was going to end up. I had no choice but to turn it all completely over to God and to trust Him. Of course, serving others also serves God, but that can't be the driving force. I have had my faith all my life, but never have I been in the position I am in right now in my relationship with God. Total surrender and trust. God's word tells us that we should thank Him for trials and tribulations, and to be truthful, I found that hard to accept. Until now. Because without those two crises, I probably never would have really understood total, complete trust in God, believing He is in control, not me, and that in His perfect wisdom, everything will turn out for the best, eventually. The driving force in my life now is for everyone to see my faith in God and how it affects my life. I want my example to be seen and thought about by anyone I come in contact with. I pray everyday that the Holy Spirit helps me to think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, walk like Jesus so that I may be an example of who He is and how He is the only way to salvation. We all have a purpose in this life, and first and foremost, it is to serve God. He will do the rest. "You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in You." (Isaiah 26:3)

February 7, 2008

2008-02-07T09:07:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt like no one notices what you do until you don't do it? This morning was one of those rush, rush, hurry up mornings. I overslept. Big mistake. I jumped out of bed, eyes hardly open, stumbling over shoes in the foyer, book bags on the steps, I finally found my way upstairs. First charge...the hardest one to awaken. "Rise and shine, another great day of life." No response. "It's time to get up, running late, not a lot of time." No response. I gently pull the covers off. With tone of voice a little stronger, "Wake up, you'll miss the bus. Get the sleepies out of yours eyes, it'll help you wake up". He opens his eyes in a squint. "Why'd you oversleep, Grandma?" In my mind, I'm thinking, no reason, just was up at 4:30 yesterday, in bed at midnight last night. Finally, he gets up, rushes around getting dressed, runs downstairs. He notices I don't have breakfast on the table. "Grandma, you didn't fix breakfast?" "Eat cereal, hurry up." I tell him. With a sigh, he goes to the pantry, trying to decide which kind. "Hurry up, you're going to miss the bus". I rush to get dressed, almost sure I'll have to take him to school. I look out the window, I see the bus across the pond on the next street. That means we have 5 minutes. "Hurry, he's coming!" I yell. In a panic, he runs upstairs, not finishing his cereal, brushes his teeth, runs downstairs. Can't find one shoe. "Grandma, where's my other shoe, you always have them right by the door." By this time, I'm in a panic. Finding the shoe, he grabs his book bag. "Grandma, where's the book I brought home. I'll get in trouble if I don't have it. "I saw it in the family room last night, go get it" I tell him. One minute left. "Grandma, why didn't you bring it up? You always make sure my stuff is in my book bag." He runs downstairs, grabs the book. As he is running upstairs, he says, "Gosh, Grandma!!" I kiss him, tell him to have a blessed day and push him out the door. The bus is pulling away. Thankfully, the driver sees him running down and waits for him. I'm thinking to myself, yea, why didn't I fix breakfast, why didn't I look for his shoe last night, why didn't I bring that book upstairs? Sigh, do you think he will notice tomorrow morning?

Ash Wednesday-February 6, 2008

2008-02-06T06:10:00.001-05:00

Today is Ash Wednesday, the day Lent begins, 40 days before Good Friday. The Bible doesn't mention Ash Wednesday, or even Lent, so there isn't any special blessing because I choose to observe Ash Wednesday. To me, it's a personal choice to identify myself as a Christian, to reflect on my sins. Lent is a time of preparation for Jesus' resurrection, traditionally known as Easter. It's just a special time to where focus is on Jesus' death and resurrection. During my devotion this morning, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me keep focused on God and remember that life isn't about ME, but Him. I talk to God frequently, very informally, actually. I pretend He is sitting right in front of me. Sometimes, I envision Him rolling His eyes and with a sigh say, "Okay, child, what now?" but He already knows what's in my heart, He just likes to hear me say it with my mouth. If I was Him, I think I would smack myself up the side of the head, but He has other ways of getting my attention. Not always comfortable ways either. But, I know God loves me more than He loves my comfort, so I shouldn't complain about the discomfort it may cause me at times. So, today, I will be going to church, receive the body and blood of Christ in communion and remember the One who gave His body and blood for me, the sinner that I am.

February 5, 2008

2008-02-05T05:30:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Lord for another day of life.
Aww, the stillness of my house early in the morning. Everyone is sleeping. Quiet. What an awesome sound. This is my time. I actually set my alarm to be sure I'm up a couple of hours before the sounds of a normal day begin. The phone doesn't ring, my name isn't being called. I don't need to jump in my van to pick someone up or drop someone off. My washer isn't running, my dishwasher is off. Stillness. This is the best part of my day. My time with God. I'm all His, totally, body, mind and soul. I love it. "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."

Monday, February 4, 2008

2008-02-04T06:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, back to work today. I don't get paid for my work, only when God shows me the fruits of my labor, but it's worth the wait. Remember, my job is HUMAN Services, so that should say it all and it is NON-PROFIT in monetary value. Anyway, my day started at 4:30, and guess what was on my mind when I woke up. Blogging. (Forgive me, Lord) It is now 6:50 am and I still can't figure out how to put pictures on, so now I have to call it quits for the day (unless I cheat and let my work wait) It's time to awaken my lil' chickadees, starting with Braydon, then down the line to Chasey, then Reinna. The girls pretty much get themselves up. I just "supervise" their awakening. I did notice a note from Chasey that she didn't get all her homework done. She indicated that she needs my help. WHAH! The worst part of my day is after school homework (mainly bacause it tends to show what I don't know) Now, I'm going to find out at the beginning of my day how little I know. Not ready for that. It just means God will have to work a little harder at boosting me up to continue the day without being depressed. I guess it will be His lesson for the day on humility. Sigh. I tend to get a lot of training on that one, but more on patience. Wow, yea, patience. I can tell you a few stories on that quality. But, I don't have time, it's now 7:00 am. Can't be late getting my chickadees up because I have noticed one important fact. If I am maniacal in the morning, so are they and three maniacal children don't fit too well in my agenda starting off. Have a blessed day. Visit me anytime. I'm sure my posts will give you a boost for the day. Will make you think how calm YOUR life is. God Bless.

Day Off

2008-02-03T17:20:00.000-05:00

Today is Sunday, February 3, 2008 and it is my day off. Define day off? Okay. First of all, God says it's my day off and I always try to obey Him. I make that a clear point to anyone who calls me on my day off and wants me to chauffeur them to a skating rink or movie theater, or throw a "special" shirt in the washer because out of 100 shirts hanging in the closet, the "special" shirt has a "wear" status of "right now". Day Off means......I only do what I want to do whether anyone likes it or not. One day a week allows me to do that, and everyone knows it. However, someone might try to sneak in a request and try to make me think that it's something I want to do. Sometimes, it works. Most times, it doesn't. An example of doing what I want to do is doing what I'm doing right now. Sitting at the computer for two hours (so far) and setting up this blog. I tried to do it late last night, but I fell asleep at the desk and decided I'd finish it today. Thanks to a computer literate granddaughter, whose initials start with Tam-e(lol), I'm probably going to be sitting here a lot longer playing around with this. So not only am I enjoying my day off, in obedience to God, I can tell anyone with requests for services today that it's Tam-e's fault that I'm busy. Sigh, I'm off to blogging everyone, so my last words for today are, "DON'T BOTHER ME". God bless.