Thursday, August 30, 2012



Hi!

This week has been interesting so far.  (And it's only Thursday.)  I don't think a single. day. has gone the way I planned.  No, it's not the crazy-busy kind of week...just the kind where nothing goes quite the way you expect.

Flexibility.

...God knows how much growing I need to do there, and He gives me plenty of times to practice.  I like that.

No, really I do.  I mean, I might not like my plans being rearranged and or things being out of my control, but I'm grateful for the fact that God knows what I need and chooses to give me that over what I want.



He's so good.



He answers prayer in such unexpected ways sometimes.

I knew this week was going to be busy, and over the weekend, my prayers were largely along the lines of, "...and keep me from going insane..."

I wanted time for the important.  Time to be a blessing to others.  Time to be close to Him.

It's funny how He answered my prayers...by completely changing the week around.

Perhaps I should expect that by now, yes?

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I love His attention to details.

I love the beauty He pours into our lives.

I love how perfect everything He does is.

I love that He loves us so much more than we can imagine.





I was reading Proverbs 31 this morning, and can I just say I'm super thankful to know ladies like that.

"Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."

---



It was her birthday -



- good reason to celebrate.





Family celebrations wouldn't be the same without them



Smoothie moustache...

Me: Elijah, can I take your picture?

E: Yes.

[After taking the picture] Me: Are you going to wipe your moustache off now?

E: No.

LOL!



After he finished his piece of cake with rather surprising speed, we asked if he wanted another.

"No, I've had enough sugar," he replied.

Well, then!



Tephra was outside after dark and he said she was looking at the moon to make a wish.

"I don't think Tephra knows what 'making a wish' is," I laughed.

"She's making a wish for lots of bones," he answered confidently.

Maybe not such a long shot, after all.



Merry has this endearing way of sitting right next to - or more accurately against - you.  So sweet.





His new song is "People! people! Pizza! pizza!" ("Be bold! be bold!  Be strong! be strong! For the Lord your God is with you..." I don't know how "be strong" became "pizza".  Hee, hee!)



I am, I will admit, quite hopelessly in love with them...

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Just experimenting.  :)





I've decided I really do like the white cosmos so much better than the purple ones.  I'm not sure if it's just because we don't have as many, or perhaps it's because the white are pretty striking against the green.

Anyway, for what that's worth...

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Projects is my middle name.  No, wait; it's Neat Freak.  Or maybe it's Coffee.  I lose track.



A new project is in the works: a patchwork lap-sized quilt from all these wonderfully warm and quaint homespuns.  They have a charm all their own.

This is the first patchwork quilt I've started.  You know something?  I love random.

I also hate random.

I love the spontaneity of random.  I love how random doesn't have to be perfect.

I hate how random isn't perfect.  (If you're confused, don't worry.  I do a mighty fine job of confusing myself sometimes, too.)

And that spontaneous look?  Ugh.  It actually takes me a lot of time (thought?) to achieve that.  Which kind of makes things sound un-random.

Maybe I should have just thrown all the squares up in the air and let them land where they would...that would have been random and spontaneous, huh?

Anyway...



Life looks so interesting from the vantage point of the family room floor!



So does a cosmos with every other petal missing.

Or is it just me?



---

Snatches from a few songs that have been running through my head this week -

"All I know is I'm not home yet, this is not where I belong.  Take the world but give me Jesus, this is not where I belong..."

"Let the weak say 'I am strong', let the poor say 'I am rich', let the blind say 'I can see'; it's what the Lord has done in me..."

"This is my prayer in my hunger and need - my God is the God who provides..."

It's not.

It is.

He is.




"Let's watch Him work miracles for you," she wrote last week.

She has been a beautiful encourager and pray-er.  It's wonderful how God brings people into our lives.

Kind of goes back to He knows what I need -

And He is always ready to be just that.



So long ~

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

I love the slight chill of early mornings in summer, and the way the rising sun makes the hills look...

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Tuesday Trivia

Hello!  Thanks for joining me for this week's edition of Tuesday Trivia...



1. What state has only one syllable in its name?

2. This Old Testament prophet was frequently referred to as "the son of man".

3. The human body consists of approximately this percent water - 40%, 57%, or 70%.

* * *

Scroll down to see how you fared.  :)

















Answers:

1. Maine

2. Ezekiel

3. 57%

Monday, August 27, 2012

Dear _____,

Beck... Happy Birthday!  You're a pretty cool sister.

Tephra... you are so much cuter when you're lying in a sunbeam than when you're madly dashing through the garden, trampling my precious flowers.

Summer... are you really almost over?

Nephews and niece... why do you have to be so cute???  You make my heart melt...

Chocolate cake... I heart you.  I always have, even when I didn't care for chocolate.

Friend who became an auntie today... congrats!!!!!!!!!!  Enjoy the little darling!  :)

Worship music playing on my computer... you bring back happy memories of worshipping at First Baptist Church. <sniffle, sniffle>

Morning runs... I'm glad you don't make my shoulders sore anymore.  Apparently I didn't know how to run "the right way".  ;)

To-do list... you seem to grow longer every time I turn around.  Stop it!!

Sewing machine... I think you're going to get a fair amount of use over the next few weeks.  Don't stress, I'm sure you can handle it.

YOU... thanks for stopping by, and Happy Monday!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Overheard

Two little boys at dinner time...

J: I like vanilla yogurt.

D: I like vanilla chicken.

J: Vanilla chicken, that would be gross! <sticks tongue out slightly>


Vanilla chicken?  Hmm...

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Tuesday Trivia

How about a little trivia today, just for fun?

But first, an important announcement: my lights were out by 10:00 last night AND I went running this morning.

Now the trivia.

* * *

1. A group of dogs is called a "pack".  What is a group of geese called? ravens? ferrets? goldfish?

2. What book of the Bible mentions a man named "Agur"?

3. What country produces the most coffee?













Answers:

1. geese - gaggle, ravens - unkindness, ferrets - business, goldfish - troubling

2. Proverbs

3. Brazil

Monday, August 20, 2012

Hello, Monday!



She looks a bit strange, doesn't she?



And there she is again...in the corner of the picture.

---

Mondays are one my favorite days of the week.  I don't "get" Monday Blues.

There's just something about a fresh, new week starting.



Mondays are fresh and clean.  I do laundry and vacuum and we get groceries.



On sunny days like today, we open up all the windows and let the lovely breezes blow through.

Mondays are full of hope and good intentions.

I'll be honest enough to admit that Monday's goals do not always turn into reality through the week.

Last week one of my goals was to get to bed by 10:00 every night.  I think I might have done that three nights.  Pitiful, isn't it?

This week's goal (or one of them, anyway)?  To start running again.  I got out my running clothes and shoes last night so I'd be ready when I got up.  Good planning, right? ...Or good intentions that don't always turn into reality.  I did not go running this morning.  Not the most impressive start, huh?

Well, there's always tomorrow.  And four other mornings left in the week.

---



An itsy-bitsy lady bug



I absolutely love God's attention to detail.





---

Today is an especially awesome Monday.

It's that "Back-to-School" time...and while I'm having a mini-celebration that I'm not going back to school, I'm even more excited about this -

Classes at the Missionary Training Center started and the Bible Institutes are having Orientation (classes start Wednesday).

I have friends among both staff and students at each, and I'm really excited to see what God does this semester - and this year.

Hurray for new beginnings and God's totally amazing plans!

---

Little Taylor starts another round of chemo this week.  It can be an especially brutal round.  While the battle is far from over, God has already shown Himself strong on her behalf.  Last week, she underwent a stem-cell harvest (the stem-cells are for a transplant after a later round of chemo).  The normal "harvest" is one bag of stem-cells.  Taylor had six.

Also, this morning the doctor gave them the incredibly wonderful news that Taylor's tumor has shrunk 55%!

Joyful applause just seems fitting in the face of miracles like that.

---



Finally, a cosmos that isn't purple. I was getting a wee bit tired of only purple.





Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.
All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.

For it's only in Your will that I am free,
For it's only in Your will that I am free,
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.

...That just finished playing on the radio. Now it's "What the Lord Has Done in Me".

Both good songs for the start of a new week.



I think we'll close here.

Blogging somehow doesn't result in folded laundry, beds made, or dinner prepared.

All those things need to be done.



"...Jesus Christ has set me free..."

Indeed!

Happy Monday.  Happy new week.  Stay close to Jesus!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Grace and the Art of Receiving

"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

I've always liked that verse.  I used to think it meant, "Try to be the giver instead of the receiver whenever possible."

...Of course, if there's going to be giving, someone has to be receiving, too.  (Brilliant deduction, I know.)

That's where I used to start getting squirmy.  I was a whole lot more comfortable being on the giving end than the receiving end.  After all, I already had everything I needed (and more!!), and there were so many people in need.  I felt guilty accepting what I didn't need while others went without what they did need.  I also often felt that I didn't deserve others' generosity or kindness.

It wasn't until in past several months or so that God started convicting me in this area.  Yes, giving is good.  But my unwillingness to receive from others (and ultimately from Him) wasn't a mark of spirituality or humility.  It was actually coming from a heart of pride and a desire not to be "obligated" to someone else.  (Besides, giving is a blessing, and I don't own the exclusive right to that blessing!  The Lord wants all of His children to experience it.)

As I slowly began to learn how to receive God's grace - to open my hands and embrace each gift He chose to bless me with - I realized He wanted me to receive from others, too.  In fact, sometimes His grace came in the form of a gift or encouragement from another believer.  Do I deserve any of it?  No!  But that's just what makes it grace.  I no longer have to feel guilty or unworthy as I receive.  Each grace gift that comes my way is a reminder that our God is so very loving and good.

Receiving is still hard sometimes...thankfully God is patient while we learn, right?

---



Didn't God do an amazing job with His creation?!

Planning to plan

[This post originally appeared on my NTM blog.]

This week I’m hoping to finalize plans for a trip in October.  I’ll be attending a Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills workshop.  The workshop has come highly recommended and I’m really looking forward to it.

Would you please pray with me for…

– good prices on tickets

– details about which route I should fly and who to visit on the way

– a heart ready to learn what God wants to teach me through this workshop

Thank you!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Solved!



...My mystery flower is a zinnia.

Funny, I planted zinnia seeds but completely forgot what they were supposed to look like. whatevah

Well, at least we know now!  (Thanks, Michelle!)

Friday, August 17, 2012

Things I like...

~ Fridays

~ Chocolate-covered almonds

~ Dragonflies





~ Finished projects



Take a look inside...



~ Fabric on sale at Jo-Ann's for 50% off

~ Pretty scrapbooking paper (also on sale!)



~ Unusual plants - this one has tiny flowers growing out of the main flower.  How weird!  (No, I have no idea what this plant is called, nor have I ever seen anything like it.)

~ Scented candles

~ Iced coffee on summer afternoons

~ My ladies' study on Friday evenings