Hearts in Service

We are off to visit grandma & grandpa for a few days! Talk to you soon. :-)

Psalm 104:33-34 ~ I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. I have so many things to praise the Lord for this week! ♫ An unexpected family outing. ♫ Beauty everywhere I look. ♫ A little girl's wish coming true and getting to make a basket during a game. ♫ Beautiful days to enjoy outdoor activities, like washing the car. ♫ God opening a door to minister to a young woman that has been struggling with a horrible tragedy. Can you sing His praises this week?

I thought it was time to devote a post to Emily. Besides, Grandma & Grandpa need to see some updated pictures. I can't believe how fast she is growing. She is strong, athletic, and extremely energetic. I can't keep up with her half the time. She played basketball for the first time this year and loved it. It was so neat to see how much better she got as the season progressed. She also scored her first basket of the season at the last game which was AWESOME!! She has a great sense of humor and is always cracking jokes. Of course, I think her jokes are funnier to her than to anyone else! ;-) She is very sensitive too. She goes out of her way to make new friends and is very thoughtful. She is always looking for little gifts for her friends or ways to include them. She is affectionate and tells her father and me that she loves us fifteen times a day. She loves to give hugs and kisses and so far, is not embarrassed to do that in front of her friends. I'm so glad tha...

Psalm 103:20-22 ~ 20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. 22 Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I love looking back over my week and taking time each Thursday to acknowledge all that the Lord has done for me. We are all commanded to give God glory and praise and I know that when I take the time to do that, it creates and attitude of gratitude in my heart. Here are some things I'm thankful for this week. ♫ Teen boys who are willing to help me with whatever I ask of them. This week it was yard work. ♫ Beautiful days to hang out laundry and enjoy the sunshine. ♫ Gorgeous flowers showing their beautiful faces. ♫ A young man who we've prayed for is home for a short time from Marine bootcamp with a renewed purpose for his life. ♫ God continually revealing areas that ...

I used to love those illusion books where you would look at these abstract shapes and gradually your eyes would see a picture of a particular thing. Do you know what I mean? If you looked at it another way, something else would emerge. I was taking pictures of the boys yesterday and moved them next to our maple tree in the backyard. I had them lean up against either side of a knothole and started snapping shots. When I came in to edit them, I realized that the large knots and lines in the tree looked exactly like an owl. Can you see it? See it's two large eyes and beak? There is a wing running down the left side and a little tail feather at the bottom. The little hump at the bottom right, almost to the center looks like it's talons clinging to a branch. I thought it was neat. Of course, now that I'm trying to edit the picture of the boys all I can see is the owl! :-)

Psalm 103:13-18 ~ As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. Thanking God for the following things today: ♫ Absolutely gorgeous weather since Saturday that is a welcome relief from the gray, dreary winter. ♫ Nathan was able to go and look at the Career & Technical Institute yesterday. There are only two programs available to Nathan because of his disabilities: auto mechanics and food service basics. He has no interest in auto at all and does like to cook. Th...

I've had all kinds of thoughts mulling around in my brain lately and thought I'd share some of them here. I don't think this will be a weekly event, but who knows! Disclaimer: Before I start I should say that I am not in any way, shape or form judging those who do work outside the home. I don't think God calls everyone the same way. We are all in different seasons of our lives and have different circumstances. I'm talking about what He has been speaking to *me* about the past few months. I love staying at home and taking care of my family. I truly believe that my children feel secure knowing that when they come home I'm there. There is a snack waiting for them and dinner is planned out and cooking. I'm there to talk about their day and work out any issues. I'm available to volunteer in their schools and see their programs and whatnot. I'm home if one of them are sick from school or needs to go to an appointment. In fact, the school calle...

Today the sky was blue, the air was warm (well warmish) and everywhere I looked were signs of spring. Snowdrops in my flower bed. Sap flowing, waiting to be made into maple syrup. Clothes drying in the wind. Outdoor chairs set up for some quiet time in the backyard. It was 52 degrees today, but the wind was cold and picked up as the afternoon wore on. However, spring is coming and I'm enjoying the bright sunshine and little signs of the changing season.

Winter weather never used to bother me, but as I'm getting older I notice that the months of January and February are very hard for me. It's not so much the weather, but it's the dreary, gray days that make me feel down. By the time we hit March, I'm longing for warmth and sunshine and flowers. I know in my head that spring is around the corner, but it's hard to be patient. Yesterday morning, I walked Emily to the bus stop. As I came back to the house, I happened to glance to the left of my front door which had been brown and bare a few days before and this is what I saw. That alone made my heart sing. Green! What a beautiful site. Later in the day I ran to the store and as I was walking back into the house, I wanted to soak in the green again and this is the wonderful, beautiful, gorgeous sight that I saw. My crocuses are up! A sure sign that spring is here. A wonderful sign that the earth is preparing for warmth. So while it's still in the 20s at ni...

I'm having a difficult time leaving comments on some of your blogs. I notice that the blogs that have the option of comments being embedded below the post are the ones that won't let me leave a comment. I'm not sure why that is but if you are on my sidebar and my followers list and I haven't left a comment in awhile, it's because it isn't taking them. I've tried leaving messages on several blogs and then see that the comments never show up. Just wanted to give you a heads up!

Psalm 13:5-6 ~ "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me." Today is the day to look back over the week and thank the Lord for all His many blessings. It's interesting how you can have all these things floating around in your brain, but then a worry or unexpected situation can arise and drive them all out. In our ladies Bible study last Sunday we were talking about having a quiet and gentle spirit and talked about some things that can prevent that. One of the those things are anxieties. As I sat here this morning feeling anxious and worried, the Lord reminded me of what we had studied. So.... ♫ I'm thankful that the Lord gives me the opportunity to put into practice those things He is teaching me, even though it's a painful process. ♫ Praise Him for a wonderfully sensitive husband who is willing to rearrange his schedule from time to time so that we can connect...

Every now and then I'll be going along my merry way through life and then I begin to feel..... Restless Irritable Uneasy Disconnected..... It's usually because Dan and I have not spent any quality time together. It's easy to get moving along doing our own thing or even doing it together without really interacting. We'll talk about the church, the children, and everyday things but without really connecting on a deeper level. So after a rough start this morning which was just an indication that we needed to deal with things, Dan and I spent the morning talking together. We talked about all sorts of things and just spent time enjoying each other. It's amazing just a few hours of reconnecting helped change my whole mindset about so many things. Now I feel... Settled Happy Peaceful Connected.