Monday, July 13, 2009
Does Trouble Follow You?
As I was doing my devotion this morning a verse in Proverbs showed me why that was so:
Proverbs 13:19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
According to God’s Word – it is an abomination for these types of people to leave their ways of evil. How sad is that?!?!?!?
Life does not have to be made up of drama, hardship, and evil. Those are the kinds of things you find when you are not on the path that God would have for you. Sure, there will be trials for the faithful Christian, but the trials aren’t made up of trouble and evil! And the trials are there to strengthen us ~ not to chasten us.
Don’t live the life of a fool. Depart from evil and read the benefits of doing so:
Psalms 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
Psalms 37:27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Proverbs 16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Monday, June 08, 2009
The sheetrock has all been hung (upstairs and down) and this week the plumbers are supposed to finish up their part and the taping a mudding should begin. That could take a week all by itself – and longer if our weather doesn’t dry up ~~ AND WARM UP!!
Back in February Jeff told them the church HAD to be ready by June 30th. He has a wedding to perform on that day. They still keep telling us, “No problem.” I keep thinking its going to take a big miracle to have it done by then. I am also thankful that I serve a God that is very able to perform that kind of miracle.
Please, if you think about it, pray for the completion of our church building. Right now we are actually starting to outgrow the place we have been worshipping in since the fire (which is a GREAT problem.) Yesterday morning before services I was worried we were going to run out of chairs. An even bigger problem is that we have no nursery right now. Many of the new people we are having come in have little children that have never sat through church before and when you have all of us in one room that can be quite the distraction. Usually I end up taking them all out to an indoor play area in the mall where we are meeting.
Anyway ~~ here are a few pictures of our walls:
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
MOVING FORWARD
I don’t know what the Lord has in store for me tomorrow...I don’t even know what He has in store for me this afternoon. All I know is that I need to live my life in such a way that my actions bring Him honor and Glory. If I do that then I can look forward to the day when He will say to me, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
Do I always live up to these expectations? NO. But I keep trying. When I fail, I get up and keep moving forward. How about you? Are you moving forward today or are you stuck looking back, or worse yet, moving in reverse?
Take time today to put your life in forward motion. Don’t worry about tomorrow; it’s not ours to worry about. Just make today the best you possibly can!!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Trying to get back to normal.....
Now that I am back I hope to get things back on track again. This includes my blogging, my exercise routine, my sleeping schedule, etc!!!!! One good thing.....I did lose 8 pounds while I was gone. That thrilled me!!!
Here is a picture of my beautiful granddaughter, Maddie, in the dress I got for her in India.
Have a great day everyone!!!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
TRAVELLING ABROAD
I have been in India for almost a week now and things are going very well. I miss everyone back home though, and am praying that we will be able to cut this trip short. I would love to be home before Memorial Day.
One thing I promised Brett and Elisabeth was that I would bring TennisHead (yes that is a name) and Hope on this trip with me. They are two very special stuffed animals…currently sitting on the bed with me. While on this trip I am taking pictures of them throughout the trip. This is why I am very disappointed that I haven’t figured out the whole camera thing yet.
So far they have been photographed at several locations in Germany and India – but more locations will follow.
I must say that I am very thankful for technology, especially while travelling. Because of technology I get to talk to (and sometime see) my family twice a day. I also get to “attend” church (although, due to the fire, it is not my church.) While I’m here I get the privilege of hearing live services from Hope Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio. This is a church where a dear friend attends. What a blessing to know that even be halfway around the world I can still sit in on wonderful preaching. It truly makes me feel closer to home.
Tomorrow I will try to get someone to help me with my computer and camera and get those pictures downloaded for my kids to see the WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF TENNISHEAD AND HOPE!!
TO MY FAMILY ~~ I love you and miss you very much. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!!
TO MY FRIENDS ~~Thanks for your prayers. They are very much needed and appreciated.
Friday, April 24, 2009
My Mooser
She told me to go home and get my stuff together and meet her at the hospital in an hour. We got there around 11am and got all signed in. There was a lot of excitement and also a lot of emotion. The last eight months had been really rough for our family. This baby was our bright spot, our joy, and a feeling of hope.
At just after noon my doctor broke my water and then said she was going to grab some lunch and head back to the office for her afternoon appointments. Little did she know, she wouldn’t get to do either one.
About 25 minutes after my water was broke Jeff was finding the nurse and telling her, “It was time!!” Of course, they didn’t believe him ~ it hadn’t even been a half hour. The nurse finally came in and discovered we knew exactly what we were talking about. Our baby was ready to enter this world.
We hadn’t found out what we were having, so we were waiting for the moment of surprise, the moment we would not just meet our baby, but find out if we were having a boy or a girl. Jeff was absolutely convinced it was a girl. I had gone back and forth throughout the whole pregnancy.
45 minutes into my labor the doctor was finally there, the nurses ready, and my baby made his entrance into the world. God blessed us with a precious baby boy!!! He was the biggest baby I had ever had – weighing in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. Like his brothers and sister, he was born with a head full of thick hair too.
Jeff was so shocked to see that we had a son, but the joy was written all over his face. Actually the joy that filled the room that day was indescribable!! I think I saw tears from just about everyone in the room. Everyone there knew that we had lost Steven just 8 months earlier. Needless to say, there were a lot of emotions. But the most overwhelming emotion was the love we had for this little boy in our arms.
Brett Samuel was named by his brother, Steven. And the name was perfect. It just fits him to a tee ~~ although I must admit, I usually just call him Mooser!
So ~~~~~~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY MOOSER. MAMA LOVES YOU VERY MUCH!!!!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Two Steps Forward ~~ Four Steps Back (Church Update)
Day-to-Day life, A Fire, Grandchildren, & A Trip to India
Thursday, April 02, 2009
PROGRESS ON THE CHURCH
Monday, March 30, 2009
GGGGRRRRRRR
Sunday, March 29, 2009
WOW - What a week
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Madison is 2 weeks old today!!
I can't believe how much she looks like Nick....(and like Elisabeth!!) She is such a sweetheart.
Does she look so peaceful?
You have no idea how hard it was to get a picture of the two of them together!!! By this point I was getting desperate!!
Elisabeth finally helped me get this one - and as you can tell, Braden was not cooperating.
OK - I admit it.....I just love this picture!!!!
Braden had just gotten up from a nap and came into the livingroom where I was holding Maddie. Elisabeth got behind me to take the picture. I had to laugh, but he wasn't really happy about the fact that Grandma's lap was occupied by "baby."
Sunday, March 15, 2009
LITTLE IS MUCH....
Proverbs 15:16 Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith.
This verse really spoke to me today. When you look at how our economy is going right now ~ businesses going under, foreclosure rates at an all time high, and on and on and on ~~ it makes you realize that having what the Lord provides for you (which may seem like little in the eyes of the world) is far better than having all the toys, gadgets, and extravagent things of the world and all the debt that goes along with those things.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
PROVERB FOR THE DAY ~~ THE 14TH
But now we are at the rebuilding stage....and let me tell you....it is slow going.
Those trained in specific areas have to come in to do the electrical, the flooring, the plumbing, etc.
Think about it....it doesn't take much to destroy our homes ~~ mean words, bad attitudes, an unfaithful testimony, setting a bad example instead of a good one.
But there must be effort put forth to BUILD our homes. We need to show love, be a Godly example, be consistent and compassionate.
Make sure that each day you're BUILDING a stronger home, not doing damage to PLUCK it down.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
MADISON HAS ARRIVED!!
Sunday, March 01, 2009
A FEW PICTURES OF HOW THE CHURCH LOOKS TODAY
The only thing that has changed from this angle is the doors on the right now open and close. Before they were unuseable. We will be putting the sound and recording room back there now and that will be the entrance to the room.
Friday, February 27, 2009
ARE YOU WELL READ?
The BBC has reportedly named these the top 100 books a well-read person will have read, but estimated most people have only read about 6 of them. I've colored the ones I read in BLUE....and it is way more than 6!!
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
How many have you read?
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
WE HAVE LUMBER!!!!
I will try to take the camera over there one day this week to get some pictures taken and posted for everyone. I’m still praying for our first service to be April 12th. Sometimes I think that can’t happen when I see how much needs to be done , but then I remind myself that all things are possible with Our God.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Simple Woman's Daybook ~ February 24th
Outside my window... It’s a bit foggy and 17 degrees.....snow is on the way again.
I am thinking... that I have a lot to be thankful for.
I am thankful for... wonderful doctors that are watching Aundrea and Madison very closely.
From the kitchen... Is the smell of my morning coffee ~~~ and a perfectly clean counter and sink (which always makes me smile first thing in the morning.
I am wearing... my pajamas.....will get dressed here in just a bit.
I am creating... a cross-stitch quilt for my hubby ~~~ over 15 years in the making.
I am going... to a basketball game this evening! It should be a lot of fun.
I am reading... My Bible ( in Joshua right now) and a book by Jeffery Deaver ( I love reading in the bathtub.)
I am hoping... That my granddaughter will be born this week. We are all very excited to finally see her face!!!!!
I am hearing... the sound of the furnace and nothing else. Mornings are very quiet at my house.Around the house... There isn’t a lot going on. Just the normal school and work stuff right now.
One of my favorite things... my hours of quiet first thing in the morning. I am the only early riser in my house and I think God did that just for me. He knows how much I love this uninterrupted time.
A few plans for the rest of the week... It’s hard to make too many plans when you’re waiting on a baby. I do have some taxes I need to finish up for people today and tomorrow and it is close week at work so Thursday and Friday could be pretty busy.
A picture to share this morning... This is my sister and my best friend. Welcome Home, Margaret!!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
It's Almost Time
Last night they admitted Aundrea into the hospital trying to determine if they were going to induce her. She has been sick off and on for quite a while now. They were worried that she might have preeclampsia.
The good news is SHE DOES NOT. The not-so-good news is that because of the pregnancy she is having gallbladder attacks. They are thrilled that baby Madison is fine, but need to determine to best way to take care of Aundrea.....and one of those options is to go ahead and have her deliver the baby.
Right now Braden is staying with us while mommy and daddy are at the hospital....of course, there is no complaints from me about that!! Now we just wait and see what the doctor decides.
Please pray for Nick and Aundrea. They were both worried last night that Maddie would be born too early or that something was seriously wrong with Aundrea. (For those who don’t know, she is only 21 and has already gone through chemo for other health reasons.)
Because of the chemo she was on they really don’t have an exact due date for her. They are figuring she is about 36 weeks along ~ maybe a little further. One thing they did tell them last night was that even if Maddie were born today they did not expect any complications with her. I know that made them both feel a lot better.
I’ll post another update as soon as we all know more.
Monday, February 16, 2009
CHURCH UPDATE
We did go over to the building yesterday and I was excited at the fact that I did not smell the fire as I have every other time we have gone over. They have be using a sealant and primer throughout the building to kill the smoke smell and I think they may be winning the battle.
Some of the lumber has been delivered and chalk marks have been added for where walls need to be built, so now it is just a matter on getting the final approval to let the work begin. Our prayer is that everything will go smoothly and timely so that we could be back in the building by April 12th ~ Easter.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
ARE YOU SALTY??
In ancient cultures salt was extremely valuable. Not only did salt add flavor to food, it was also used as a preservative. By drying meat and salting it the food would not spoil. It would actually be preserved until its life-giving nutrients were consumed.
When Jesus told His disciples that they were the "salt of the earth," they would have immediately recognized the significance of that.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Today ~ February 10th
I am thinking... that I love the early morning hours when the house is perfectly quiet.
I am thankful for... Our temperatures staying above freezing the last two days. We have had rain and once the temperature drops everything will be ice.
From the kitchen... I can smell the morning coffee and hear my dishwasher running (I forgot to latch the door last night before bed.)
I am wearing... my PJ’s!!!
I am creating... a peaceful and content home. I am amazed at how much clutter and stress built up while I was finishing school. Now my home isn’t just tidy ~ it is CLEAN and we are all more content.
I am going... to work today...as long as the roads aren’t icy.
I am reading... my Bible (the whole family is ~ we are in numbers) and some novel.
I am hoping... that Brett’s cough is better today.
I am hearing... The dishwasher
Around the house... everything is done ~ even the laundry!!!
One of my favorite things... playing with my Grandson, Braden
A few plans for the rest of the week . . . not making too many plans. The doctor told Nick and Aundrea that the baby could come any time, so we are just taking each day as it comes.
Here is a picture thought I am sharing...
Saturday, February 07, 2009
MOMMY SURVEY
See what happens when Jeff goes to work at 5:30am and I get up before 6am.....I have all this quiet time and I can play with my blog!!! This was on Susan’s blog and I thought it was kind of neat. I love thinking back on my pregnancies!
1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Not really
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? We were thrilled to death!!
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? No way, no how, not even thought of for a second!!!
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 19
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Home pregnancy test and then confirmed by my doctor.
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? My husband
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? No, they never even made that an option for me...but I never even considered that he would be anything but a boy. WOW, would I have been shocked if it had been a girl.
9. DUE DATE? June 12, 1986
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not a bit
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Frozen yogurt – with no toppings, just the yogurt
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Nothing irritated me.
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Boy
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Absolutely not!!!
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? Can we just say way too many?!??!?!?!? I was young and believed my grandmother and her whole YOU ARE EATING FOR TWO THEORY!!!
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? I sure did – it was wonderful
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? No complications, but he was premature
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Simi Valley Adventist Hospital, California....in the same room my mom had me in.
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? About 4
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? My mom. Jeff was still in Tech school for the Air Force and no one had expected the baby that soon.
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Absolutely no one – not even a doctor or a nurse. Everyone was out of the room getting ready and I delivered the baby onto the bed. I told them I was done when they came back in.
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Nope
27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 5lb. 4oz.
28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? May 4, 1986
30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Jeffrey Alan
31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 22
Maybe
My mom would have to let us know if this is truly accurate....but from what I can remember, it is!!
You Were an Outgoing Kid |
There's a good chance you started talking early - and never stopped! You had a lot of friends, and unlike most kids, you weren't shy around adults. You were well adjusted and confident. You enjoyed speaking up and participating. |