Hearts in Service

Psalm 37:3-4 ~ "Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD,and he will give you the desires of your heart. I love these verses as they remind me time and again that as I follow the Lord and do His will and as my desires line up with His, I will truly be happy and blessed. Today I'm thankful for Blessings #476-490 ♫ Baby bunnies and baby birds to keep us fascinated. ♫ Children who made the honor roll. ♫ Seven children from our church will be going to Bible camp this summer. ♫ Taking Emily and her friends out to eat. ♫ Dan being able to participate in the 8th grade graduation of two girls from church. ♫ Celebrating 23 years together. ♫ Playing games. ♫ Walking with Dan. ♫ Listening to bullfrogs each evening. ♫ Tranquil water. ♫ School is out for the summer. ♫ Getting to spend time in my flower beds. ♫ An evening out with my husband. and finally... ♫ God's provision for me and my family.

Twenty three years ago I was young, idealistic and naive. I thought that getting married would solve all my problems. I thought that if I had someone to love me then my life would be perfect. However, as most of us realize, that is not the way life progresses. What I have learned is that in order for a marriage to truly work, both parties need to be committed to it. Both need to be willing to communicate and compromise. Both the husband and wife need to work through the many crises and problems you will face. It certainly helped us both to realize that God ordained marriage and for us to keep Him at the center. We have gone through so much in our twenty three years of marriage. Good times, bad times, lean times, leaner times. Times of rejoicing and times of incredible sorrow. It has not always been easy. Yet, the day we said, "I do." we realized that we were making a commitment to work through the tough times. Quitting was not an option, even when we may have felt

It's Foto Friday at Rebecca's blog and the theme this week was hands. We went on a four mile hike on the Appalachian Trail last Sunday and the kids enjoyed catching frogs we found along the way. I decided that this shot of Stephen and the frog would fit the challenge. For more photos, check out the other entries at Rebecca's blog .

I feel like I have been on fast forward for the past 3 months. There hasn't been a lot of time to blog, read, craft or any of the things I enjoy. However, I thought it was time to do a catch-up post. Here are some things happening around here: ► Internet is out at the house for the past 3 days which is why I haven't blogged at all. ► This is the last week of school. Stephen & Nathan & Emily are finished as of today and I finish tomorrow moring. I cannot wait to have a summer off! ► Our chickens are growing. The kids and Dan built a coop for them and though it's not beautiful it does the trick. The only problem is that I think I have 4 roosters! LOL ► I received a gift so I can go to a Christian Writer's Conference in July. ► Emily & Stephen are going to camp again this summer. ► My garden is starting to take off though for some reason I cannot get lettuce to grow this year. ► I started the washer the other morning and then happened to look in and tho

This week was one of ups and downs. I'm happy that I decided to start this exercise in counting my blessings. It helps me to focus on the positive and not the negative. Today I'm thankful for Blessings #466-475 ♥ A daily visitor to my garden. ♥ A forest full of these delicate blossoms. ♥ Having fun making centerpieces. ♥ A field of green. ♥ Enjoying one another's company. ♥ Return visitors at church. ♥ Brightly colored flowers. ♥ A beautiful day for our school's field day. ♥ Catching frogs. ♥ A family trek through the woods.

I had wanted to review my yearly goals each and every month to see how I'm doing on sticking with them. Of course, a major move and multiple rounds of sickness on top of working full-time really pushed it right out of my mind. I have a feeling if I'm not consistent with looking back over this that I'll never accomplish what I set out to do this year. Here are the goals I set and my review is in blue. Spiritual Goals ♥ Have consistent quiet time with the Lord ♥ Read through the Bible ♥ Write devotionals for my family for our Advent Jesse Tree next Christmas. I want to write something for older children/teens as the one I have is for younger children. While I haven't touched the last one, I have been doing well with the other two. Marriage Relationship Goals ♥ Spend one evening a week on a date with dh (right now it's been Thursday nights) ♥ Ask dh each day what I can do to help him out. ♥ Make a point of telling dh each day of something that I appreci

I'm reading a book entitled, Pathway to Purpose for Women: Connecting Your To-do List, Your Passions, and God's purposes for Your Life by Katie Brazelton. One of the things that struck me is that sometimes we can spend so much time looking for some great purpose in our life, and yet God wants us to be faithful in the simple, the mundane, and the day to day events. It's in our faithfulness through those things, that we begin to see our purpose in life. I can't tell you how many times I want something bigger in my life. I want to make a difference; to be noticed. I want something I do to count for a larger purpose. Some of the jobs I've worked over the years have made me feel like I'm doing that and others, not so much. In my lifetime, I've done the following jobs: ► Administrative Assistant ► Public Relations Director ► Assistant Director of a preschool ► Director of Adult Education Programs which included adult literacy, English as a second language, a

I was looking at pictures from last year's garden and I am waiting with great anticipation for this year's crop. I planted the following this year... 2 kinds of cucumbers 3 kinds of tomatoes 4 kinds of peppers Eggplant Cabbage Swiss chard Lettuce Onions Green beans Butternut squash Sugar pumpkins Cilantro Basil Parsley Oregano Thyme Rosemary Sunflowers I planted all the warm weather seeds on Memorial Day and within 5 days the plants were poking up through the ground. I'm so excited to see how it grows this year. I'm especially happy that we got the fence up a few days before I planted, as I've seen 5 or 6 bunnies hopping around, a pheasant and 3-4 large deer!

Philippians 4:6 ~ "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." It was not a good week in our household. There were so many things happening that just stirred up my anxieties. My middle son was diagnosed with Lyme's disease and pneumonia. My daughter was also tested for Lyme's after we found a tick in her and we are awaiting the results. We are really struggling financially. I'm in a quandry about a decision I need to make. Everything that could go wrong, did. It was enough to send me sobbing to my room one day and to keep me lying awake at night and stressing. Yet, this verse in Philippians says we are to present our requests to God - with thanksgiving. Wow! That is hard to do. Yet when we do, our attitude turns around. We pray with expectation that God will work. So even though this week was a struggle, I am striving to praise God in the midst of the trial. Today

It's Foto Friday again at Rebecca's and the theme this week was Wind . There wasn't a whole lot of that this week as it was mostly hazy, hot and humid. However a cold front came through and we had one afternoon with quite a bit of wind so I grabbed the camera and tried my best. Here is my entry for this week. For more photos, check out the other entries at Rebecca's blog .