As I was listening to Todd's ipod last night while walking this song came on. It just is such a great reminder and really gave me encouragement. It kinda goes along with my previous post. Makes sure your volume is up so you can hear the words.
You may remember me speaking of my friend whose husband was involved in the ATV accident last fall. Well, her husband (after a long road of recovery) is doing great. Anyway, she had to have an emergency appendectomy two weeks ago. Then, this weekend with all the rains, their creek (that is quite a ways from their house) flooded into their basement. They had 4 feet of creek water, and all creek water has in it, in their house. Not only did it destroy what they had in their basement, it also went up through their pipes and out their toilet and bathtub upstairs. So, their carpet in their hallway and two bedrooms is destroyed as well. She shared with me how easy it would be just to "give up" with all their circumstances the past 7 months. But, she perseveres. I was over there the other day just watching her work (two weeks after having surgery) with such determination. I know she has her questions for God, but she is testament that she takes those questions on her knees. My desire for myself and my family is that we are on our knees, not only in good times, but in the hard times.
If you would, could you just spend a moment with the Lord for my friend. Please pray that He protects them from anymore toils and snares that Satan wants to give them. Thank you!
1Peter 5:6-11;14 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But, resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen...Peace be to you all who are in Christ."
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Answered Prayers
I think there are many instances where God has answered my quick prayers and I hardly pay attention and actually take it for granted. Well, recently I have become aware of how grateful I am for those answered "little" prayers. I thought I would list a few of those moments that may seem insignificant to others but meant a lot to me.
1. We were on our way to the cottage one Saturday afternoon a couple weeks ago with the kids, the dog and my nephew. We had two errands to run and everyone was just anxious to get to the cottage. One of the errands was to a fabric shop to find a color for a sash for Abby's flower-girl dress (she's going to be in Todd's cousin Kara's wedding in August). I wanted it to match the bridesmaid dresses and actually had one of the dresses with me. I approached the door to the store, said a "quick" prayer for the Lord to help me find the right color and quickly. I walked into the store and the first place that I looked was the exact fabric color that I needed! I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. Thanks, Lord!
2. Todd discovered one Friday evening at about 7pm that the keys to the truck were missing. We only have one set. So, for the next 3 hours we tore our house, vehicles, garage apart looking for these keys. I even cleaned up the kids rooms hoping to find them somewhere in there. But, I hadn't prayed about it. They were absolutely no where and we stopped looking and put the kids to bed. I had worked up quite the sweat and decided to take a shower. This is where many of my prayers occur for some reason and so I decided to pray the God would help us find those keys. After getting all comfortable in my pjs Josh approaches me from his room to tell me that he found this bug crawling on him and he showed it to me. It was a tick. I'm not fond at all of those stinkers, so I told him to get in the shower and I'd wash his bedding. I brought the bedding into the laundry room and looked down to notice Josh's backpack. Well, we hadn't looked there for the keys so I decided a look wouldn't hurt. There they were! No one knows how they got there and we don't particularly even care anymore because they were found! I strongly believe that the Lord put that tick on Josh because he knew that I'd go to the extremes of washing bedding and would then come across those keys.
3. My niece had her annual dance recital on Saturday night and the kids and I were planning on attending. I thought that the recital started at 6:30pm and had planned our day accordingly. We spent the afternoon at the cottage and were going to make it home just in time to drop Todd off and go. It was 5:50pm and we were about 10 minutes from home when I decided to take a look at those tickets and confirm the location of the recital. We were looking good for a 6:30pm arrival. Unfortunately I had just discovered that the recital was at 6pm! I quickly called my sister and she said that Mikayla was about the 5th or 6th performance. So, we dropped Todd and the dog off at the end of our road and continued on. Again, a quick prayer that we would make it in time to see her. We walked into the building at 6:25pm and she was just walking on stage!!!
Thank you Lord for the big AND little prayers you answer!
1. We were on our way to the cottage one Saturday afternoon a couple weeks ago with the kids, the dog and my nephew. We had two errands to run and everyone was just anxious to get to the cottage. One of the errands was to a fabric shop to find a color for a sash for Abby's flower-girl dress (she's going to be in Todd's cousin Kara's wedding in August). I wanted it to match the bridesmaid dresses and actually had one of the dresses with me. I approached the door to the store, said a "quick" prayer for the Lord to help me find the right color and quickly. I walked into the store and the first place that I looked was the exact fabric color that I needed! I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. Thanks, Lord!
2. Todd discovered one Friday evening at about 7pm that the keys to the truck were missing. We only have one set. So, for the next 3 hours we tore our house, vehicles, garage apart looking for these keys. I even cleaned up the kids rooms hoping to find them somewhere in there. But, I hadn't prayed about it. They were absolutely no where and we stopped looking and put the kids to bed. I had worked up quite the sweat and decided to take a shower. This is where many of my prayers occur for some reason and so I decided to pray the God would help us find those keys. After getting all comfortable in my pjs Josh approaches me from his room to tell me that he found this bug crawling on him and he showed it to me. It was a tick. I'm not fond at all of those stinkers, so I told him to get in the shower and I'd wash his bedding. I brought the bedding into the laundry room and looked down to notice Josh's backpack. Well, we hadn't looked there for the keys so I decided a look wouldn't hurt. There they were! No one knows how they got there and we don't particularly even care anymore because they were found! I strongly believe that the Lord put that tick on Josh because he knew that I'd go to the extremes of washing bedding and would then come across those keys.
3. My niece had her annual dance recital on Saturday night and the kids and I were planning on attending. I thought that the recital started at 6:30pm and had planned our day accordingly. We spent the afternoon at the cottage and were going to make it home just in time to drop Todd off and go. It was 5:50pm and we were about 10 minutes from home when I decided to take a look at those tickets and confirm the location of the recital. We were looking good for a 6:30pm arrival. Unfortunately I had just discovered that the recital was at 6pm! I quickly called my sister and she said that Mikayla was about the 5th or 6th performance. So, we dropped Todd and the dog off at the end of our road and continued on. Again, a quick prayer that we would make it in time to see her. We walked into the building at 6:25pm and she was just walking on stage!!!
Thank you Lord for the big AND little prayers you answer!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Memorial Day Parades
Josh and Abby were in two seperate parades at the same time this Memorial Day. So, Todd took Josh to his and I took Abby to hers. The kids had a great time.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Self Check-out
Okay, is this another money-savings strategy of grocery stores? Is it keeping my grocery bill down? I may call the manager of our local grocery store and ask these questions.
It was 10:45pm last night when I drove my grocery cart loaded full of $260.00 worth of groceries (Thanks to the grocery game I did not spend that amount of money!) when I notice there are no cashiers open, only the self-check out lanes. 20 minutes Later I am still swiping groceries. These are the phrases I'm hearing from the "machine": "Unexpected item, please remove from belt" (heard that about every other item), "Belt backed up, please bag groceries". I want to know, where is my paycheck? Where is the face-to-face service of years past? I was sweating and thirsty by the time I left, wondering if my groceries where any good yet. And, I still had to load them in our house and unbag them yet!
Sorry, just needed to vent!
Oh - I forgot to add that when I got to this store at 9:15pm I realized I forgot my grocery list (thankfully I had my coupons!) and this morning I discovered a box of frozen waffles in the trunk of my car!
It was 10:45pm last night when I drove my grocery cart loaded full of $260.00 worth of groceries (Thanks to the grocery game I did not spend that amount of money!) when I notice there are no cashiers open, only the self-check out lanes. 20 minutes Later I am still swiping groceries. These are the phrases I'm hearing from the "machine": "Unexpected item, please remove from belt" (heard that about every other item), "Belt backed up, please bag groceries". I want to know, where is my paycheck? Where is the face-to-face service of years past? I was sweating and thirsty by the time I left, wondering if my groceries where any good yet. And, I still had to load them in our house and unbag them yet!
Sorry, just needed to vent!
Oh - I forgot to add that when I got to this store at 9:15pm I realized I forgot my grocery list (thankfully I had my coupons!) and this morning I discovered a box of frozen waffles in the trunk of my car!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Abby the Princess
Abby is, well, she's just Abby. She can hang with the boys and play rough house and then there are times when she just wants to be a princess. These pictures were taken the other day when she INSISTED on wearing a dress. Then, when we were supposed to be heading out on an errand she had to pick some flowers first. I had to grab the camera because I knew it was a great picture to remember. Enjoy!
Josh our Tiger Cub
Since Todd began 1st shift he and Josh joined our local Cub Scouts. They have had quite a bit of fun. These are recent pictures of an "award" ceremony where Josh earned his bobcat and Tiger badges!
Family Time/Family Fun
I thought I would post some pictures and highlights of our most recent vacation to Virginia. This is a place that I have always wanted to visit and Todd is a MAJOR history buff, so it was an easy choice. Plus an awesome deal on a condo clinched the deal. I'll spare you all the details, but this is what we covered:
1. Lexington, Virginia (home of General Stonewall Jackson, home of the VMI or Virginia Military Institute and where folks like George Washington and Robert E. Lee lived for a time)
2. Jamestown (where the first settlers from Europe settled) - anyone heard the story of Pocahantas and Captain John Smith?
3. Yorktown (major Revolutionary battles)
4. Fredricksburg - where some major Civil War battles were located
5. Williamsburg - the capital of Virginia for awhile during the mid-1700's
6. Norfolk and the Naval Station - visited the USS Wisconsin
7. Virgnia Beach
These are the things we did not cover that Todd had on our itinerary:
Mount Vernon, Monticello, Apomatax, and a few other civil war sites
All in all I think we did well with two young children along for the ride. We did have a great time and it was a great learning opportunity for all of us!
Janna, just so you know, we still do prefer Arizona. We just haven't found anyplace like it. And, Terri, we do want to get out to Montana someday! Oh - and Aunt Ellie, we REALLY want to come out to California again. Can anyone tell that we like to travel??!!??
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
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