Hearts in Service

Look who came to welcome us into our new home last night. I knew it would only be a matter of time since there are deer everywhere on this ridge. The only down side to them is that they may wreak havoc to my soon-to-be planted garden and the deer ticks. Two of my children have had Lyme's disease because of tick bites so every time they come in from exploring, we have been ruthlessly checking them for ticks. However, I love deer and this young one stayed around for quite a while last night. She wasn't so sure of me though. Now, I'm just waiting for the bear that's been wandering around here to show up to check us out too!

It's been a tiring, rough week but I've seen God's hand in our move to a new home in so many ways. It has been amazing to me to see how everything worked out beautifully. We are truly blessed by a wonderful church family! This week, I'm thankful for Blessings #286-303 ♥ Being able to donate a few pieces of furniture to people who had need of it. ♥ A gift of an early dismissal because of snow which gave me an unplanned afternoon to pack. ♥ A dinner delivered by a friend the night before the move. ♥ 17 friends who showed up with trucks and manpower on Saturday. ♥ Two friends who helped me with last minute packing. ♥ Lunch provided for the movers by two different people at church. ♥ Soaring birds. ♥ A friend who stayed after everyone left to help me arrange some furniture. ♥ A man who came back later in the afternoon to pray for our family. ♥ An older couple from church who showed up with dinner and prayed for our family as well. ♥ Someone who showed up with a can of cof...

It's HERE!!!! Talk to you soon!

I don't always do this, but wanted to post a link to a friend's blog. Elaine Miller has a wonderful gift of encouragement and has spoken soothing words to me through many difficulties I have faced. She also happens to be the wife of my husband's boss! Her husband is the district superintendent for our denomination's Northeastern District. Elaine has a great sense of humor! She has written a couple of wonderful books so feel free to go check them out, as well as her latest blog post on marriage: Hold on to Your Marriage! Don't Let Go!

We sang a new song in church yesterday called, A Greater Song . The chorus talks about singing a greater song to God on earth. It reminded me that our lives are a song to God. How we live our life is the melody. We can either live a song of praise and thanksgiving to Him or a song of complaint. We can reach out to others with our song or sing a lonely tune that only we can hear. I want my life to be a song that brings Him glory and a song that turns others to Him. I don't just want to hum a tuneless bit of nothing; I want my life to be a beautiful melody that points others to Him. However, I fail quite often. I sound more like a discordant, clanging noise. More often than not, my song may cause others to cover their ears and look at ME and not the Lord. I find it's when I take time to focus on His word and walk in fellowship with my God that the song changes and a melodious tune begins to take shape again. Looking for the blessings each week and taking time to sing th...

Nathan has been taking a Food Service Basics class in the occupational program he goes to for part of each day. He was able to get permission to take their Culinary I program next year. He loves to cook and would like to do it more often at home. The problem is his control freak mother! I'm learning to let go of my domain and let him try. So the other night I decided that I was going to let him cook dinner and stay out of it! He was home all day on Thursday while I had to go to a teacher's conference. I figured it would be a good time to do it since I wouldn't be home to get in the way. ;-) He came through with flying colors, cleaned up after himself, and set the table! The dinner was delicious! I think I'm going to have to let him do this more often.

It always amazes me at how resilient children are. I have been especially blessed with kids that spring back quickly and look forward to new things. They are viewing this latest chapter in our lives as a new adventure. We heard back from the superintendent of schools and the school board is allowing all three to finish out the school year. However, next year they will have to go to school in the new district. I was concerned about Stephen as it's his senior year. However, he has been pretty upbeat about the whole thing. Someone told him this past week that the new school has a food court. Food seemed to be a good motivator! lol Emily is excited because she heard they have a swim team and she loves swimming. She actually likes any kind of sport and the new district has a good sports program. Nathan has decided to continue one more year in high school. He was given the opportunity to try out the more advanced cooking class at the vocational program he goes to. He is currentl...

In the midst of a very busy week, I want to take time and thank God for all the many blessings in my life. I've been so bogged down with packing and concern over the changes in our life that it's easy to miss the little ways that He blesses us. This week, I'm thankful for Blessings #254-270 ♥ The sun bringing beauty to simple weeds. ♥ The laughter of girls swinging. ♥ Working with children who make me laugh all day long. ♥ An opening through the clouds. ♥ Offers of moving help. ♥ Enjoying a time of fellowship with ladies from our church. ♥ Catching up with my husband each afternoon over espresso. ♥ Unexpected visitors on Sunday who lifted our spirits. ♥ A gift of maple syrup. ♥ Emily who gave me a huge hug because she wanted to cheer me up. ♥ Blue skies showing through the clouds after days of rain. ♥ A daughter who works hard at a difficult subject. ♥ The opportunity to take a peek inside the new house to measure windows. ♥ A word of encouragement exactly when I needed it...

I had a couple of people ask me for this recipe so I thought I'd share. It is a crockpot recipe and I tweaked it a bit and made it my own and it's easy and tasty! Ten Layer Casserole 6 medium potatoes, thinly sliced 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup frozen corn 1 cup frozen peas 1 lb. ground beef, browned 1 lb. ground pork sausage, browned 1 16 oz. can kidney beans or any kind of bean you'd like (I used garbanzos) 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, mixed with two tablespoons flour 1/4 cup water 16 oz. shredded colby jack cheese Salt to taste Pepper to taste 1. Layer 1 - 1/4 of potatoes, 1/2 of onion, salt and pepper 2. Layer 2 - 1/2 cup of corn, 1/2 can of the beans 3. Layer 3 - 1/4 of potatoes, 1/4 cup of cheese 4. Layer 4 - 1/2 cup of peas 5. Layer 5 - 1/4 of potatoes, 1/2 of onion, salt & pepper 6. Layer 6 - Remaining corn, 1/2 can of the beans 7. Layer 7 - Remaining potatoes, 1/4 cup of cheese 8. Layer 8 - Remaining peas and water 9. Layer 9 - G...

FINALLY............ It's about time!

For ten years, Dan & I worked in an inner city ministry with those less fortunate than we were. We ate, had fellowship, and worshiped with those who would be considered at the poverty level by today's standards. We also know that even the poorest of the poor here have things that some in other countries could only dream about. We have always tried to live a very simple lifestyle. Some of that was so we could identify with those we ministered to and some of it was so that our resources could be used to further God's kingdom. I'd rather have my money go to help others out than be spent on things we don't really need. We have one television that is 20 years old. We have two cars and both are clunkers. Yet they work and get us where we need to go. Most of our clothes have been given to us through the generosity of others. We have tried to follow the principle, "Use it up; wear it out; make it do or do without!" Yet, as I've been working the past...

I came home from work yesterday to hear the news that our moving date has been moved up to March 26th. YIKES!!! That seemed to be the spark the lit the fire under me. One of our cars are out of commission today, so I decided to take the day off and begin to make some headway on packing and cleaning. It's 10:15 and so far today I've gotten the following done: ► Scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for the kids ► Family devotions ► Dan off to work and the children off to school ► Breakfast cleaned up ► Packed 6 boxes ► 2 loads of laundry ► Deep cleaned the upstairs bathroom ► Started in Emily's room and threw out 4 garbage bags full of junk, which is a lot easier to do when she is not around. ;-) ► Took a break to write a blog post My plan is to finish her room today and get it totally clean. Then I want to go through a number of rooms and get rid of things I haven't used in a while. If I haven't used it in the last year or two, there i...

So often I look for God in the big events and the major miracles in my life. When these don't happen I begin to think that He is not working. Yet, more often than not, He is in the small things. In all the little blessings that add up. You have to be careful and look closely to see them. But they are there. They are there in a word of encouragement or a small gift or just a smile. God's blessings can be missed if you don't look for them. This week I saw God's hand in a multitude of little ways. I'm thankful for Blessings #231-253 ♥ A foggy, rainy night which means it's warming up. ♥ A co-worker who sets asides packing boxes for me each day. ♥ A bag of clothes for the boys. ♥ Listening to a friend pour her heart out and praying with her. ♥ A daughter who enjoys simple pleasures. ♥ A friend who dropped off a large bag of pears. ♥ Another friend who gave us two loads of boxes, as well as tape and newspapers. ♥ Sunshine streaming through the windows. ♥ Child...

I've been bringing boxes home from work every day and have quite a pile collected. I have plans to begin packing this weekend so I'm not trying to cram it all into a few days. However, I have someone in the house who has a different plan for the boxes. Emily has built herself a fort with them and seems to be setting up house in there. I have to keep reminding her not to get too comfortable because her fort is coming down. We have small group here tomorrow night so hopefully, the pile will be disappearing today!

The first signs of Spring have started to show up at my house, mostly in the form of birds I haven't seen all winter. The second sign is a friends bucket, collecting sap for maple syrup, strapped around our tree. It's amazing how those few little things can cheer me up! It's a good thing because it's 15 degrees out and the high is only going to be 28 today. Brrr!!!!