Friday, October 31, 2008

A Slice of Inspiration ...

I was regretting the past and fearing the future. Suddenly God was speaking: "My name is I am." I waited and God continued: "When you live in the past, with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I was. When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard. I am not there. My name is not I will be. When you live in this moment, it is not hard. I am here.
My name is I AM."
~ Helen Mellincost

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Amazing Gifts ...

These are written by Elisabeth Eliot's father ... moment by moment "gifts" from our Heavenly Daddy taken for granted. I am compelled to share. May they bless you, like they did me ....

"'Blessings taken for granted are often forgotten. Yet our Heavenly Father 'daily loadeth us with benefits' (Ps. 68:19). Think of some of the common things which are nevertheless wonderful:

"'--the intricate, delicate mechanism of the lungs steadily and silently taking in fresh air 18 to 20 times a minute;

"'--the untiring heart, pumping great quantities of clean blood through the labyrinth of blood vessels;

"'--the constant body temperature, normally varying less than one degree;

"'--the atmospheric temperature, varying widely it is true, but never so much as to destroy human and animal life;

"'--the orderly succession of day and night, spring, summer, autumn, and winter, so that, with few exceptions, man can make his plans accordingly;

"'--the great variety of foods, from the farm, the field, the forest, and the sea, to suit our differing desires and physical needs;

"'--the beauties of each day--the morning star and growing light of sunrise, the white clouds of afternoon, the soft tints of a peaceful sunset, and the glory of the starry heavens;

"'--the symphony of early morning bird songs, ranging from the unmusical trill of the chipping sparrow to the lilting ecstasy of the goldfinch and the calm, rich, bell-like tones of the wood and hermit thrushes;

"'--the refreshment that sleep brings;

"'--the simple joys of home--the children's laughter and whimsical remarks, happy times around the table, the love and understanding of husband and wife, and the harmony of voices raised together in praise to God.'"

"'All these and many others come from the beautiful hand of Him "who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."' That's from Psalm 103 (vs. 4-5)."

And then from Lamentations (3:22-23), "'"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness."

"'"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High" (Ps. 92:1).'"

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

More Gifts ....

276. Free tickets to the circus!
277. Cotton candy.
278. Elephants and the amazing tricks they are taught to do!























279. Simplicity!
280. Pen pals. Mine is from high school and it is fun!
281. Businesses that unashamedly profess their belief in our Lord and Savior on the walls of their dining room and in the testimony they tell in their activities.
















282. Bees and the awesome fresh honey they produce.
















283. Old things repurposed beautifully #1 … flowers in old chair.























284. Mainstay Farm's
homegrown Christmas trees.















285. Old things repurposed beautifully #2 … there was something about this wheel. It was part of the back of an old truck, I think. The bed was filled with pumpkins. It was breath-taking! Maybe it would fall under the category of “ugly-beautiful” ... seeing cast-offs flourish with new purpose.

















286. A red seat.























287. Old tractors … can you tell I long to live in the country on a farm?
















288. Fun old license tags.

















289. Washing hands in a washtub outside.























290. Playing cards with Paw-Paw.
















291. Playing dollhouse with Grannie.

















292. Mazes and how they reflect our lives … don’t give up, keep your eyes on Him and He will lead you through them.

















293. Fall displays.


























294. A sound mind so I am able to choose to see life through different eyes … blessings and challenges, not curses and yucky. We are so privileged!
295. That, in spite of 24/7 dizziness, I can still function and God has a purpose and He will heal me in His good time. Thank you Lord! And, in the meantime, His grace is sufficient for me!
296. Doctors who are interested in a true diagnosis versus handing out meds.
297. That Daniel was so courageous and forthright in the Lord. Talk about walking out your purpose in life WITHOUT compromising in a society where that would be so easy today … sound familiar? Wow! Read Daniel 6. Trust in the Lord! He NEVER fails.
298. “It’s A Wonderful Life” ... the movie and mine!
299. My rock awesome husband who God gifted with creativity and craftiness blessing his adoring wife with a bookcase!
Yep, I'm special!























300. Boy Scouts.

Monday, October 27, 2008

More Gifts ....

219. (New one, because old was a duplicate ... thank you, editor!) "Dancing With the Stars."

241. Outdoor classroom.
















242. Shopping for Halloween costumes.
243. Ice cream cones from Chik-Fil-A.
244. My awesome "Arise & Shine" prayer group.
245. Not turning on the computer until after school, per God's instruction, which brings extreme peace to our day.
246. A pink "lacy" pumpkin.
















247. Awesome fall weather!
248. When handsome husband comes home from being out-of-town for way too long!
249. Cards in the mail.
250. The luxury of being a stay-at-home mom.
251. That the world is still full of cool things.
252. The ability to read and write.
253. The still small voice of God that I am able to hear.
254. That there are still those in this world who I have the privilege of showing Him to.
255. New friends at homeschool p.e. group.
256. The awesomeness of knowing people who when you are having a bad day or don’t feel good or are just heavy in spirit immediately pray for you … on the spot!
257. Birthday cake.
















258. Wisdom that is shared with me and changes my walk or my thought process.
259. A Heavenly Father who when I cry out to Him for help … He helps me!
260. Merry-go-rounds.
















261. The world and everything in it that belongs to Him … now how big is that?262. And, while I am talking about big … OUR DADDY WHO IS HUGE. Seriously, HE IS HUGE …
263. … and I am eternally grateful that there are those in my life who remind me of that when I, for even one second, forget.
264. Little surprises like my sweet girlfriend and her family are “accidentally” at the same pumpkin patch as we are on my birthday … what a nice surprise gift.
















265. Birthday cards and flowers from hubby.
















266. Sleeping daughters snuggled next to each other.
















267. Healthy, growing daughters.























268. My camera to record our life.
269. My journals … another record.
270. HUSBAND: Back didn’t go out considering all the standing I did while on the job out-of-town.
271. HUSBAND: Sleeping in my own bed next to wife after too long away.
272. OLDEST DAUGHTER: Reading my Bible everyday.
273: YOUNGEST DAUGHTER: “Chihuahua” movie.
274. YOUNGEST DAUGHTER: Singing for Jesus.
275. OLDEST DAUGHTER: Experiments with growing radishes.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

A Slice of Inspiration ...

"A godly man isn't someone who has arrived.
A godly man is one who is well engaged in the process."
Dr. Richard Averbeck, Professor of Old Testament & Semitic Languages at TEDS

Friday, October 24, 2008

Monday, October 20, 2008

Mainstay Farm

One of our FAVORITE fall traditions is to go to the Mainstay Farm. We love this place for several reasons. It is family friendly with lots to do for all ages. It is spread out and so you aren't on top of other people (unless you are in the lunch line). The fun includes hayrides, frisby, pumpkins, a free-for-all haybarn with bales to climb on and plenty hay to throw at each other, pedaled go-carts to race, a three story tree house, a large spider web to cross, a huge wooden maze, face painting, a place to feed goats and more. The weather was perfect this year and we had the Byrd's and half of the Robinson's join us in the fun. The coolest thing about the Mainstay Farm is when the Wilson family unabashedly shares their testimony for the Lord on the hayride ... Jesus is their Mainstay ... and ours!






The gang is all here and ready for a hay fight!










Beautiful daughters!











Sliding out of the 100 foot rippled slide on burlap sacks for extra speed ... wheeee!










Waiting for lunch in the way-cool converted barn ... oooh how I long to live in the country!








Simply lovely.














Get your engines, I mean pedals, started ... Go!













Can we go again?












Help, I can't find my way out!












We are soooo clever!















Balance act on the spider web.












I LOVE pumpkins.










Face painting ... halloween.










Face painting ... masquerade.










Waiting with Daddy for the hayride!












Happy family after a long, fun day!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Under the Big Top!

I LOVE the circus, especially when it's done like it was when I was little ... all innocence and good clean fun with enough entertainment to make you "oooo" and "awwww" and alot of patriotism thrown in to remind you that we live in American, the Land of the Free and the Brave. Thursday night we went for our third year in a row to the Moslaw Shrine Circus with the Herrold's. Look forward to this every year. This year was just as fun as the others. Thank goodness that there are still reminders of time gone past when life was simple and so was entertainment. Thank you Lord for simple reminders of Your goodness!


Can't have a circus without a picture with a big clown.










Anticipation .... and cotton candy!












Lions jumping through flames ...













Tightwire walkers with incredible balance ... phew!











How about that hoola-hooping?!










Serious balance.












A boy all squished into a box and not a small one either, the boy, I mean. Who knew men could be so limber?







Now that is serious balance ... wow!



















Elephant rides and pure joy!








Dancing ponies ...











Parading poodles ...












and the flying trapeze artists!











My personal favorite, the elephants!









Proud to be an American!













Blessed with great friends. God has given us a group of wonderful Godly relationships as a blessing to ourselves and to our children. I praise Him for that. These are some of our dearest!