An Update....

Today I don't have much time - so just gonna touch base with you all for a minute.

Today my husband and I went to the Messiah's Mansion that is visiting the area for the last week. Although it was kind of chilly, especially with the breeze, to me - I would rather be too cold than too hot. So I enjoyed it.

If you would like to find out more about the Messiah's Mansion - be sure to click on the link above!

 

It's been a while since I have posted a photo of myself for an up date on how my hair is growing so I thought I would post one for today, although the photo was taken earlier this week. The bonus is that I am wearing one of my new tops and my new cami that I got last week. Sorry for the poor quality on the photo.

And I just had to include our cat Dewie trying to photo bomb me....lol. He succeeded!   

Our weather here has really turned Fallish. And I am loving it!!

 

I hope you all are doing well.
I am hoping to get the next chapter of our Love book series up for tomorrow. See you then! :O)

Beginning of a Series

"No one was really too surprised  the wedding didn't begin on time. There's something about weddings that make it easy to start late. Perhaps it's because there are so many people who have to get ready. But the bridesmaids had gathered at the appointed place of meeting. There was the usual flurry of last -minute preparations, interspersed with quick glances at the clock.

"Is the bridegroom here yet?"
"No, not yet. But He'll come."
"I wonder what's keeping him?"
"I can't imagine. Surely he'll be here soon."

But he didn't come. And didn't come. And still didn't come.

The bridesmaids' gowns were spotless. Every hair was in place. Each girl carried a brightly burning lamp and was ready to join the marriage procession. Each was looking eagerly for the bridegroom to arrive so that the ceremony could begin. But still he did not come.

As minutes passed by, and then hours, the girls grew restless. Then tired. One by one they carefully set their lamps aside and found a comfortable place to sit while they waited. The evening was quiet. The day had been a busy one. At last all ten of the bridesmaids had fallen asleep. And no wonder - it was nearly midnight, and still the bridegroom hadn't come.

At midnight a cry was made. "Here he comes now!"

They were on their feet at once. The flurry of last-minute preparations began anew. To their dismay, they discovered their lamps had burned low. The oil was almost gone, and the flames were ready to go out. Five hurried to refill their lamps, but five had no extra oil. They had not prepared for such a long wait. And even as they watched, their lights flickered and went out.

"Doesn't anyone have extra oil?" The question was repeated, but no one had any extra. The bridegroom appeared. It was time for the procession to begin. The five who had oil in their lamps joined the procession. But the five whose lamps had gone out had to hurried away to find a place where they could buy or borrow more oil.

An Oil Shortage 

It was past midnight now, and although the five bridesmaids hunted all over town, there was no oil to be found. Finally they returned to the wedding. "We've missed the procession and the ceremony." they said. "But maybe we can at least get in on the reception."

 

But when they arrived at the recption hall, they found that the door was shut. Sounds of music nad laughter were hear. They knocked, and knocked again. At last the door was opened by the bridegroom himself.

"let us in," they cried. "We're supposed to be in the wedding."

 

The bridegroom examined the girls before him. They looked more like street urchins than bridesmaids. Their gowns were rumpled and spotted. He didn't recognize them. Slowly he shook his head. "I don't even know you," he said And he shut the door. They had missed the wedding.

"I don't even Know You"

 

Jesus is the one who first told this story about the wedding. You can read it in your Bible, in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. He was trying to impress His hearers with the importance of knowing God for themselves."

 

"Knowing God is what Christianity, and religion, and life is all about. The Bible says, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3) " 

 

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I shared a while back that I was reading a great book called:

"To Know God... a 5-day plan" by Morris Vendon.

 

 

Well this book was too good not to share some bits and piece of it with you. So I decided to do a series- on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please know that there is SO much to this book that there is no way that I can cover it all - and even if you read this entire series - if you get a chance to read this book - I would highly recommend it.

This book might be small in size and how many pages it has-only 125 pages.

It has a wonderful way of making some difficult things easier to understand.

I hope you are as blessed by this series as I have been by the book.  



It Seems Fall IS Really On The Way

Ok - so the good news is that the temperatures seem to be coming down. I am still trying to keep the house open as much as possible. Hoping that with the temps not getting too high that I will be able to keep the house opened up and not have to shut it down and turn on the air conditioning. I am so looking forward to the temps in just the mid 70's. And the lows in the 50's will mean that the house will be able to get cooler over night. Fall is finally starting to arrive. 


I am also looking forward to when I change our sheets on Friday - to put our extra white blanket in between the sheets and the quilt. It is my favorite blanket - but trust me- it has been way too warm to need a blanket - only a sheet has been required for me. My husband loves to have the weight of blankets/quilts on him- even during the summer. Not me...

Did you also notice in the photo above that this Sunday will be the time to turn your clocks back one hour? I think it is funny - someone made up a "Turn you clocks back this Sunday" without a date of when it was to be -  photo and started posting it - and it was funny how many people just shared the photo without looking it up for themselves. We really need to be careful about not believing everything we read and hear. Anyway - it really will be THIS Sunday.

Well I will be calling to set up an appointment with a physical therapist today. I need to learn some things to help my back not bother me so much. I am a little nervous about doing it but it needs to be done so I have to step out of my comfort zone and do it.

And that reminds me - I just wanted to clarify something - Please...PLEASE feel free to share with me how you are doing - even if you are having a tough time or what ever may be going on in your life. I realize we all deal with tough issues and I want you all to feel free to share those things with me. I know I have been through quite a bit lately...the last few years.... but God has been gracious and has been there every step of the way and so over all I am doing very well. And I don't want any of you to feel as though since I have had a lot of things going on that I don't need to hear about how you are doing. Part of what helps me the most is when I am able to pray for others and their struggles. We are all on this journey together and it makes life so much easier when we uplift each other in prayer. Anyway all that to say - don't hesitate to let me know what is going on with you - good.. bad...it does not matter - I care.

Ok - I better close this up and get on with my day. I have a lot planned for today. Hope you all have a great day! :o)

You Got ALL That For How Much?

Ok - So yesterday I explained how I was driving home at midnight.

It is very unusual that I am out after dark - and certainly VERY rare that I am even awake at midnight, so the question is why was I driving home at midnight?

Well the Goodwill stores(at least in the DFW) area were having a Midnight Madness sale.
They close the store at 7pm - to get ready for the sale that starts at 8pm.

So my sister, my nephew and myself decided to go to a couple of the area stores. We were waiting at the first one at 8pm when they opened. We totally lucked out- to find a basket at the back of the store. Since ALL the baskets were gone when we went into the store.

At the first store I found 2 items - the peach cami and the plaid top(color in photo does not truly show accurate color- but you get the idea). The plaid top is very flattering - I love the style of it!

(And by the way- my sister saw a photo of these clothes and she agrees with me this photo does not do the clothes justice - on color or how cute they really are)

Then it was time to hit the next store. At this store I only got one thing- the sheer top that is 3rd item from the left- it has peach and brown flowers. I am planning on wearing the peach cami underneath this top - and I can also wear it under the plaid top- it matches both.

A Side Note: I am not normally that big into the color peach- but I find it kind of ironic that my cancer ribbon for endometrial cancer is peach and then on this shopping trip - I find 3 things in peach. Which is fine with me. Because it actually look good on me - at least the things I got look good.

So it was sad - the second store where I had only found 1 thing - and had a total bill of $2.27 - was the longest line - I bet we waited over 20 minutes to get through this line.

The third store we went to is where I found the jeans and the two turquoise tops at the right side of the photo. I love the turquoise and white top - it has such a pretty pattern on it and the details are great. I will need to wear a cami under it because it is a little see through but that is no big deal. Cami's are great to have just for this purpose. The plain turquoise top will be pretty just by itself or with a white undershirt with lace on it - to add an extra touch of femininity to the outfit!

Over all we had a great evening. Lots of fun and lots of laughs. Like that time when my sister hit a skunk that had recently been hit and killed. I don't know why - but I found it so funny! It was dark and it was like at the last second we could see something and then bam! My sister, who was driving, did not even have time to try to swerve. It stank - and in fact - she thought she was going to throw-up several times- all the while I am laughing. I do know why I was laughing - I was really tired.

On Friday we went camping with our group of Pathfinders. And we ended up staying up till about 12:30 on Friday night. Then I had to be up at 7 the next morning so not a lot of sleep. Not as much sleep as I usually need. I really try to go to bed by 10pm - sometimes a little sooner if needed. Anyway so I did not get much sleep the night before. And then we had to come back early from the camping trip so my husband could work a job Saturday night. And so my sister and I planned the shopping trip - since she had heard about the midnight madness sale. Oh I did not explain that- A midnight madness sale is a sale that is from 8pm- midnight - and it is where everything - except the new things are 50% off! That is why I was able to get each of these tops for $2.09 - because the normal price of them is $4.19! Which at $4.19 these shirts would have been a great deal - but for half that - an even better deal! The jeans were $7.99 originally - so I got them for $4.00. Bringing my total for what I bought to right at $16.00!!!

So for $16.00 I got 4 great tops, 1 cami, and 1 pair of jeans (oh and I also got a suduko book- it brought my total at that store up to $10.00, which got me a stamp) *And at Goodwill stores if you get the special card stamped 10 times- you get $10.00 of free stuff !! I think I did quite well!

I do have a confession to make though- It had been right at 14 months since I had drank a Coke- well Saturday night I was not very good- and as a pick me up to help me get through the entire evening - I drank a Coke from McDonalds. A Thank You to my Sister who bought it for me. Anyway so I think that by having the caffeine and then not getting much sleep is what caused me to find the whole skunk situation SO very funny. Anyway laughter is good for the soul.

    A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

We had a lot of laughs, my nephew is quite funny! It was a very good mental health outing for us all I think.

How Far Is It?

Have you ever heard a song many times and thought you understood the true meaning of the song and then come to find out it was much deeper than you ever even realized it was?

 

Well that happened to me last night. I was driving home at about midnight

(What in the world was I doing out at midnight? That will be tomorrows post)

and I had the radio going pretty loudly to help keep me awake and focused on the road.
The song "East to West" song by Casting Crown came on the radio and I began to sing with it.  

 

And as I sang I discovered something amazing!

 

I discovered the truth of God's love for us in this song!

 

Here is the part that just finally hit me as to the true meaning of this song: 

 

"In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'Cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other"
Casting Crowns

As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.   

Psalms 103:12

 

Listen for yourselves, I hope you are as blessed by it as I was! :O)

God Orchestrated

Yesterday afternoon, during some quiet moments I was thinking on the happenings of the week and it dawned on me that God had orchestrated the happenings this week - so that I would see the video and then that I would remember it just when I did. So that I would realize He was there. And not only that then - for Him to help me realize it so that I would share it with you all. I love how God works like that. He knows what is going to happen in the future and He is working things out - even if we don't realize He is!
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So my husband is doing better. He got tired of the jello, pudding, soups and wanted some soft taco's- he says they should be fine sine they are "soft" tacos... lol. He seemed to do ok with them. So that is good. He has not had to take the meds as often.

Today it seems like the later in the day, that is seems to hurt him more. But he is on the mend.

We do already have the next scope scheduled for December 16th. We are praying that this treatment was all that will be needed. And that when they do the scope - they will find everything fine -so that will be all of the procedures for a while. I am praying about it. And trusting God to take care of the details and work it out to what ever His will is.
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Well I hope you all are doing well. We are happy to see gas prices have come down. It is only because of elections coming up the first of November- but we won't complain. I just don't understand if they can bring all the prices down- around elections - why they can't bring them down at least halfway - all the time.

Our temps continue to be in the 80's during the day. In the long term forecast - it does look like we might have some cooler weather coming in- like in the 70's.

Well that is all for now. :O)

Always

This is a song that I shared on Facebook on Monday. It is a great song. It actually really touched my heart because it made it so real that Jesus is with us ALWAYS. But I am a slow learner. I just wanted to share a little story that will help you understand why I think so.

So yesterday I was at the hospital. My husband had just been taken back for his procedure. Shortly after I had gotten to the small waiting room, I received a text asking me if anyone was with me. All of a sudden I felt alone. I began to feel a little emotional and worried. I decided to get my spiral out and write down some of the Bible verses that I could remember from memory. That helped me tremendously.

I had responded with "No" meaning no one was with me, but I was wrong. Later in the day, after we got home and things calmed down- I remembered the video above and realized that Jesus had been with me all along. I realized that I need to remember that I am never alone. Jesus is ALWAYS there.

That is really an important thing for us all to remember. Jesus loves us and is always with us. He will never leave us or forsake us.

 

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."  

  Deuteronomy 31:6

 

For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

 Hebrews 13:5b

Thankful to be Home

It is just after 2pm and I am one tired girl, 4am is too early for this girl. My husband is sleeping on the couch.

We got to the hospital at 5:45am - just like we were suppose to - according to the paperwork. And of course, then it was a waiting game. He finally went back for his procedure at about 8:10am. In a little less than 30 minutes - the nurse was coming to get me. And I was able to go back and be with him in recovery. I could tell by the way he was acting, while still asleep - moving around as he was - that he was in pain. It took quite some time for him to come out of it. He did quite a bit of coughing up stuff. His eyes were really blood shot too. At one point he felt nauseous, but thankfully did not throw up - don't know if that would be good for him with the procedure that was done.

We were released at probably around 10am. I brought him home. I then went to pick up his meds. One of his meds is Magic Mouthwash - it is a combo that is actually made up for chemo patients. Luckily I did not need any during my chemo. It is Maalox, benedryl, and litacain. He has another med - that he is suppose to take before every meal for the next week. And this Magic Mouthwash is for when ever the pain gets bad. Anyway once I got home from getting the meds - he was hurting so he took both - cause he was hungry too. That is one reason he is sleeping- that and his early alarm this morning.

I was kind of frustrated - it seems that insurances are getting where they cover less and less things. Not the Magic Mouthwash - but the other med - cost $60.00 for maybe 6-8 oz of stuff. That is sad. I miss the days when it was a set price- one price for generic and one price for name brands.

Well I just wanted to check in and say hi and let you all know that things went ok. And that we are home. Thanks so much for the prayers. May God bless each of you! :O)

Prayers needed

It's time to ask for another prayer request. Tomorrow morning we have to be at the hospital at 5:45am. This means we will need to leave here at about 5:00am. My husband will be having the halo procedure. It's basically a scope put down his throat and will go down to the esophagus- they will radiate his Barrett's esophagus and we are hoping that when it heals up the Barrett's esophagus will be gone. As I have explained before with Barrett's if you do not stay on top,of it it can go into cancer. In August he had his last scope done and it showed that the skin on his esophagus had changes, which means if left untreated it could go into cancer. So what they are doing is trying tore vent that from happening.

My husband has had several surgeries over the years and this procedure has him the most worried I've seen him, usually it's no big deal. So please be praying for peace for him and for me. Also that only one procedure will be needed.  Thank you so much. I will get on and update when I can. :0)

Today Is Beautiful

Here are the lyrics to this beautiful song. I especially like the chorus -:

If you see more than what's in front of you
You might see more of heaven's view. 
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Sometimes the day won't ever end
Sometimes you just throw up your hands
It's the little things sometimes

Sometimes the world has just gone dark
Sometimes your praying for a spark
It's the little things sometimes

But if you lift your eyes
See it in a different light
Just a cloud up in the open sky
Let the rain, fall away
Cause today is beautiful

Lift your eyes
See it in a different light
Just a cloud up in the open sky
Let the rain, fall away
Cause today is beautiful

Right now it feels so hard to breath
Right now you're asking God why me
It's what you can see right now

Cause right now there's a greater truth
Right now there's a bigger view
Than what you can see right now

But if you lift your eyes
See it in a different light
Just a cloud up in the open sky
Let the rain, fall away
Cause today is beautiful

Lift your eyes
See it in a different light
Just a cloud up in the open sky
Let the rain, fall away
Cause today is beautiful

If you see more than what's in front of you
You might see more of heavens view
If you see more than what's in front of you
You might see more of heavens view

So lift your eyes
See it in a different light
Just a cloud up in the open sky
Let the rain, fall away
Cause today is beautiful

Lift your eyes
See it in a different light
Just a cloud up in the open sky
Let the rain, fall away
Cause today is beautiful

Prayer Request

Ok - I have a prayer request. Remember that I said that I had started letting my cats, that have been inside cats for a long while, outside. Well we have a bit of a problem.

 

Well LouLou girl would not come in. And has stayed outside for the last week - week and a half. Anyway she has gotten more and more needing love and affection. Well tonight she was at the back door meowing loudly. So I went to open the door- she ran to our picnic table. So I went and pet her and picked her up to see if she wanted to come inside. She let me carry her to the house. Once I got her inside- I feed our fish and got all the cats some treats.

 

Then I thought that everything would go back to normal, but it did not. Stewie, the black cat, decided that since he is alpha cat - he needed to remind her he was alpha cat. So he went out to the sunroom where she was at and was bowing up to her. I nudged him away - and this happened a few times. She tried to go back to my bedroom- and the other two cats followed her.

Then I heard some cats fighting and went back to my sewing room. Stewie had LouLou cornered in one of the cabinets. I got him to back down a bit - and then he lunged back towards her and they started squabbling again. So I really made him get out of the room.

 

At that point I was very frustrated. I don't want her to have to stay outside all the time since it is obvious that she wants to come inside, but I don't want her to be bullied either. So I don't know what to do. I got on facebook and asked friends and family to be praying about a solution for us. Then I prayed. When I got done praying I went to the sunroom to work on getting food and water in there for LouLou and she was already in there. So my plan at least for tonight is to close her in the sunroom so no one can bully her. And then continue to pray and ask you all to pray that God will give me wisdom to know what to do. If they are all to stay inside I just pray that they can go back to at least tolerating each other like they did before. I don't want her to be forced to stay outside and I think that will happen if I let them go in and out. Since I had to physically carry her in. Anyway I want her to be happy too. I don't want to have to lock her away from the other two all the time. I want peace.

Even if that means I might have to find her a good home. I just don't know where that would be. So I need wisdom to know what to do. And if a new home for her is what needs to happy - please pray that God will supply a good home. Anyway God cares about all of our concerns. A friend shared a quote about that with me this week and if I was not so tired - I would look it up and share it now. But right now I am super tired and need to just get off of here and get to bed.

Thanks so much for the prayers. I appreciate them.

A Treasure Found

This week I went to my favorite little thrift store. I found something that I just could not pass up:

 

Now I know it dos not look good on the blue and pink runner that I have there- I am going to either make a cream colored one or be looking to buy a cream colored runner for up there. This was just too cute not to get. It's about a foot or so wide and about 6-7 inches deep. I love the feet on this how they curl around. Sorry I did not get photos of them.

I did get photos of the photo on it- close up - at least two places so you can see the birds and butterflies easier.

Sorry that there seems to be a glare in the photos. But you still get the idea of the details that I love. Anyway I thought it was funny - they don't price their stuff - so I went to ask the lady how much this would be- and I had already guess how much I thought it would be and sure enough I was right- $5.00! I thought that was a great deal!

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I wanted to share one more thing with you all today. Here is another way that we have been keeping busy lately. I worked hard and got all the outer edges out - and got it mostly put together. Then I worked on separating the pieces. I got to work on it a little here and there - but truthfully my husband did the majority of this puzzle. We have started another puzzle. And since he has to work a double shift tomorrow- I will have a chance to work on it!

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Today I went to the park and got another 2+ mile walk in. I also did quite a bit of organizing around our house done. Moved my cookbooks from a bookcase in the hallway to my dining room shelf. Then organized the rest of my books. I have been finding quite a bit of good books lately so it was the perfect time to organize them.

Anyway now I need to get off of here and get my front yard mowed. It is mostly just a few tall weeds here and there - but it is just in too much of the yard to take the weed eater too- like I did last time. So I am going to mow it. I enjoy a freshly mowed yard so it will be nice to get it done.

I hope you all are doing well. :O)

Yesterday was full of Adventure...

Well hello there! I did not mean to take a couple of days off. I had every intention of getting on here and writing up a post yesterday but God had other intentions. I had a big list of things I wanted to do yesterday. The day started out over cast, windy and chilly. And as the day progressed the wind picked up - luckily the sun shine came out too.

My plans for yesterday included making up a couple of batches of gluten and making a batch of bread. So I decided to get the bread at least to the rising stage and then I would start making the gluten. Well halfway way done with putting the bread dough together-  heard a LOUD BOOM- and all of a sudden the power went out.

 I had also started cooking a batch of pinto beans in my slow cooker. And that had to be put on pause for a bit.

Anyway so I posted on Facebook about my dilemma and thankfully a friend popped in with a comment - for me to come use her oven. So once my bread was done with the first rising I carried it over to her house. We had a very nice visit. Plus we went on an adventure. She lives less than 2 miles from a house that I lived in when I was about 5-8 years old(maybe longer I really don't know). Well she said that it was empty and that we needed to go check it out. So we went over there- the weeds in the front yard were so high it was really hard to even see the house. But we found a good pathway that led up to the front door. We could look into the window there to the side of the front door- and I was so disappointed in what I saw....

I saw the beginnings of a hoarders home. There was a trail from the front door to the kitchen area. And other than the trail there was stuff just piled in there probably about 2-3 feet deep. We could also see into the windows of the two front bedrooms- and they were pretty bad.

The first bedroom (the one that had been mine) had a bed, dresser, desk and maybe another dresser. It had so much fast food trash and trash that I could not even really see a pathway into the room. Its like it just got to much and the person left all there stuff - at least the stuff they did not want- which was ALOT.

The second bedroom (my sister's old room) had boxed just thrown into the room- probably about the same height as the other rooms stuff. Not neatly put in - but thrown in.

The rest of the house had shades so we couldn't hardly see any more than that.

I thought I would share something really cool that we found. In a carport - we found a cool little car- called a King Midget. Isn't it cute?!

Well if that adventure was not enough - I had another adventure...lol
I tried to get to bed early - at 9:30pm. As I lay there, I thought I heard something. I asked my husband who was still awake to check. I had thought it was LouLou - our girl cat who thinks she needs to stay outside all the time. Anyway come to find out -when my husband had shut the chicken's up earlier - he had forgot to lower the hook - so a opossum had gotten into the chicken coop. Sharing a photo(I found on internet) for those of you who do not live in the US - that may not know what a opossum looks like - Oh and the o is silent.


Anyway we have had one kill a chicken before- normally they like to get the eggs, but we did not have any eggs in the coop - so he was up to no good. Anyway we had some chickens still in the coop - on the roost- but we had some of them out running around making all sorts of squawking. Well thankful my husband was able to get him out of the chicken house/small pin(that we close them up in at night), but in the midst of that - the opossum had banged on something and scared a couple of the chickens still on the roost out of the chicken pin.

Then we worked on getting the chickens back in the chicken pin. We counted and we had all but one. So much husband with the flashlight started to look around. Well one of the chickens that had been scared out of the chicken pin by the opossum was about 25-50 feet out from the pin laying down, scared to death. Normally this kind of chicken- a buff- will squat down and let you pet her or even pick her up pretty easily. Well when my husband went to pick it up - it jumped up and ran. Well he got it coming towards me - which I was standing on the other side of the door - hoping that when she came towards me - she would turn and go into the coop. But that chicken made beeline towards me and scared me to death! I mean I had not thought that she would continue to run at me. Anyway we did finally get her into the pin without much more fuss. So we were able to lock up the coop. We had been reminded the importance of looking them up at night.
By this time it is almost 10pm - And my adrenaline was pumping. We laughed at how that chicken, who is normally pretty tame- scared both of us. It took a while for me to get to sleep.

I am thankful that the house had been opened up and that I was able to hear the chickens squawking - cause he could have ended up killing some of the chickens. They have really sharp teeth and are pretty tough critters.

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I am happy to report that our temps have come down and we have been able to enjoy the house being opened up since Friday night. We got 1/2 inch of rain Friday night and 1 inch of rain on Monday Morning(like from midnight- maybe 6-7am) Anyway as you all know we really need the rain so we were very happy for it. And I am thrilled with the cooler weather. I so much more enjoy when I can control the temp in the house by opening or closing window. I much prefer to have the windows open!

Well that is about it for today. Hope you all are doing well. :O)

Love With All Your Heart....series chapter 9

Love With All Your Heart

by: Linda Driver

 

9

Love is Positive;

Love takes no account of the evil done to it. Love pays no attention a suffered wrong, does not defend its reputation.

Bob was suspicious of everyone. He felt that he had continually to defend himself. It was very important to Bob to be highly esteemed. He desperately wanted everyone to like him. But, oh, what a continual struggle he had in trying to defend his reputation! It seemed as if people wee constantly trying t put him in a bad light. Every time he turned around people were saying bad thins about him, offending him, hurting him. Often he would confront the one who had offended him and try to get them to retract what they said. If that didn't work, he would hold a grudge against that person or plan some way to take revenge. In his efforts to make himself look good, sometimes it meant that he had to put other in a bad light. But if that is what it took, Bob was willing. He just couldn't let his name be trampled in the dust because if he didn't defend himself, who would? Often he'd exaggerate reports about others' failures so as to make his own failures less glaring. The real problem was that Bob had a fragile ego, and he thought the only way he could be of value is if everyone admired and praised him. He worked so hard to get approval.

 

Then one day Bob came face to face with the claims of God's love as found in the Bible:

"Love...things no evil" 1 Corinthians 13:5

 

 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."

1 Peter 4:8

 

 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.   

1 Thessalonians 5:15

 

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.   

1 Peter 3:8,9

 

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,

1 Peter 2:1

 

to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

Titus 3:2

 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:21

 

Love is not suspicious or evil surmising, but places the most favorable construction on the motives and acts of others. Love takes no account of the evil done to it; love harbors no malice.

 

Love pays no attention to a suffered wrong; love is not resentful, bitter, or vengeful.

 

Love does not get upset, complain or fret, but is content, joyful, peaceful, and calm even under abuse and mistreatment.

 

Love is not paranoid; love does not have a "persecution complex," feeling that others are always out to "do him in," but instead, love seeks to encourage and dwell on the positive. 

 

Love counters offensive, cruel acts by doing good, praying for its enemies, and forgiving them even before they ask. 

 



Good News

Have you ever wondered about the grace of God? Have you ever made the same mistakes over and over again? And then wonder how can God possibly be willing to continue to forgive me, especially when I end up failing over and over again? Well I have some Good News for you.

Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me,

 and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him,

"I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.   

Matthew 18:21-22

 

"It was the custom among the Jews in the days of Christ to forgive three times. peter in an attempt to be generous suggested forgiving twice that, and one more for good measure, bringing the number to seven, the "perfect" number. But Jesus' reply was that seven times isn't nearly enough. Keep forgiving until seventy time seven. And what do we understand that to mean? Are we to keep a ledger and forgive exactly 490 times? No, He was saying our forgiveness should be unlimited. 

Would God ask us to be more forgiving than He is? The answer is obviously No. So this reply of Jesus teaches us that God's forgiveness is unlimited."

Morris Vendon's "To Know God- A 5-Day Plan" pg. 91

 

Isn't that Good News?

 

"The disciples sinned and failed and fell again and again, yes. But there is more to the story than that? Through the continuing relationship with Christ they were changed into His image and became more than conquerors through Him who loved them." pg. 96

 

I love these two perspectives - I love the idea that since Jesus would not ask us to do something that He is not willing to do- tells us clearly that He offers an unlimited amount of forgiveness. And I love the fact that the disciples continued to sin while He was with them and He did not give up on them. No, He continued to love them. And because they continued on in relationship with Jesus Christ- that He changed them into His image. And He will do the same for us. Praise the Lord for that!

 

I hope that this Good News blessed you like it blessed me! :O)

Before/ After

This first photo was taken on Sunday - Oct 5th. It is about 5 months since Chemo now.

I decided last week that I wanted to get a hair cut- I know weird right? Well when my hair first came in - it was very light - white/clear - who knows?.. Anyway plus my hair has been growing for 5 months. So I figured that the split ends needed to be cut off anyway. I really did not want to lose any of the length of my hair - but you do what you gotta do.

 

 

 So yesterday was the haircut day! And here is the new do:

When I went to blow dry and curl my hair this morning- I was very surprised at what a big difference 1/8-1/4 of an inch can make. That little amount of hair more had my hair laying down a little smoother and helped get a better curl in my hair. But I am going to look at the positive side- I have hair. I have enough hair I can style it. And I am thankful for that!

I really think getting the ends of my hair trimmed off made big difference I the color of my hair - or at least what color it looks like. Before it looked a bit lighter because of those light ends, now it looks darker. And hopefully healthier as well.

It will be quite some time before I get another hair cut. But that is alright. Helps save me money.

 

 



The Theme for this week

 

It just happens that I have noticed a theme for this week.

And that it to be kind.

Be kind to those you come in contact with.
You have no idea what they may be dealing with.

Many people have painful things going on in their lives that they are not able to talk about.

And the best thing we can do - is to be kind.

 To show Jesus' love.

Jesus will give us the love to give to those around us.
Or nudge us to do acts of kindness.
Be listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit 

so you don't miss a special chance. :O)  

 

 

Life is not made up of great sacrifices and wonderful achievements, but of little things. Kindness and love and courtesy are the marks of the Christian. You need to cherish the precious qualities that existed in the character of Jesus.... In our association with each other, let it be ever remembered that there are chapters in the experience of others that are sealed from mortal eyes. There are sad histories that are written in the books of heaven, which are sacredly guarded from prying eyes. There stand registered long, hard battles with trying circumstances, arising in the very homes, that day by day sap the courage, the faith, the confidence, until the very manhood seems to fall to ruins. But Jesus knows it all, and He never forgets. To such, words of kindness and of affection are welcome as the smile of angels. A strong, helpful grasp of the hand of a true friend is worth more than gold and silver. It helps him to regain the manhood of the man.—Letter 16, May 15, 1886

Update - and A Funny Story..

I have a great little story to share today - but first I will up date you on how my MIL is doing.

She had the heart cath- they found an artery 99% blocked - so they put a stint in. And the artery below that - was 30% blocked so they went ahead and fixed it too while they were in there. She spent the night in the ICU. At first the nurse was saying that she might get to go home today, but the Dr came in and did not agree with that. The Dr would like her to stay one more night - so that they can see how she does on the meds they put her on. Plus they wanted to do a Heart - Echocardiogram. Anyway so she should get to go home tomorrow.

Ok - now to my cute story. During the last week - I have begun to allow our 3 cats - that have been inside cats out in our back yard. They have really enjoyed it. My boys- Dewie(gray) and Stewie(black) have been very good- they go outside and come back and check in ever so often.

Here is a photo of them when they were in the first year of life. They are still relatively small kitties.

 Now - our girl cat LouLou - is not as good as her brothers. She goes outside and does not come in hardly at all. In fact- she is the reason why I am going to be able to tell this funny story.

Anyway since LouLou has not been coming in - we have had to leave the back door open. Well last night my husband spent the night at the hospital with his Mom- and because of everything going on and the extra things that I had to do - I was up late. Well when it was time to go to bed - I decided to try one more time to get LouLou to come in. So I went to the back door- I turned on the light. And I opened the screen door. I began to hear some rustling in the leaves to the left of the porch. Then as I am standing there calling for LouLou - a Skunk walked just a foot or two from our porch. As my heart begins to race - I notice two babies following behind her. As I am thinking, "Oh how cute!" Stewie - our black cat comes out the door and he is very interested in checking out the skunks. I call him and say Stewart don't go any further. Thankfully he listened to me and stayed close to the porch. I continued to watch the little skunks walk through our yard. I have no idea where they ended up, but I am so very thankful that they continued to walk on - and did not choose to spray. What a cool experience this was- a special "I love you" from God.

This is only the second time in my life that I have seen a Momma Skunk and baby skunks. When I was a girl - I am guessing 7 years old or so -  was riding with my parents. All of a sudden my Dad stops in the road as we were fixing to go around a curve. Straight in front of the car was a Momma skunk and 3 baby skunks following her. This was a very special experience that I still remember today.
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I thought I would share a couple of photos of our kitties enjoying the outdoors.

Anyway - so I am thinking from now - if I put cat food outside - I will put it out in the morning so the cats have a chance to eat it during the day.

Hope you are all enjoying the week end. I am awfully tired today- stayed up too late and woke up early. Hoping for a better nights sleep tonight. :o)

Lost and Found x4/ and prayer request

Sorry for no post today. Have the medical test done last week - plus a whole lot of other things got into the way. Oh and it seemed that this past week has been a week of losing things. Where should I start - Ok - first of all I had a bag of quilt block and some border fabric that I needed to work on - a donation quilt - I could remember taking it to my sewing room but could not find it for nothing. Then my husband was wearing some lose cotton shorts - to go work on his mothers bathroom remodel job- well he took off his wedding ring and put it in his pocket so it would not get the grout on it. Well he lost it. Then the last time that my husband was sick and we were at the hospital till 2am - well he had a Dr. note for him to be off the next day- well I had lost it and he needed it so it could be turned in and cover the day he missed. Then I needed to get into my Mother in laws house and could not find our copy of the key. Well this post will tell more of each of these incidents and all of the excitement that we have had around here.

So I had a bag of quilt blocks and the border for a special quilt - missing. I had looked and looked for it. A friend of mine had said - to pray about it and then clean and that it would probably show up. Well I had done that -(not the entire house but here and there) and it had not showed up. Well by Friday (after a week of missing it) my husband decided to help me and guess what? He found it- I had  hung it up on the back of the sewing room door. And the way the wall is and the door- it is easy to put something on that doorknob and not be able to tell that it is there. So Praise the Lord - I finally have it again- thanks to my husband!

After work and supper - my husband went to his Mom's to work on a bathroom remodel job. He was wearing some loose cotton shorts. He had taken his wedding ring off so he wouldn't get the ring dirty. When he got home- he realized the ring was missing. He had his Mom look at her house - no ring. He looked in the vehicle and around here- no ring. He even drove over to his Mom's with a better flash light to look for the ring. No ring to be found. The next day after work - he went out and started cleaning up his vehicle and guess what? He found the ring! Praising God for that!!

In order for my husbands day off to be excused and the $ for that day come from a special FMLA fund instead of him having to take a pto day- he would have to have this special paper - and have his Dr fax it in by Friday. Well I was stressing out. I was sure I had thrown one of the things that I Thought  he needed away and was afraid that I might have thrown this yellow piece of paper away also. I looked and looked and praise the Lord - I found it!!

Ok- so all of that to get us to today- I got a phone call from my Mother in law - she sounds bad - like something is going on. My son and I had take SweetPea to a local park to play. We decided we needed to get over there- especially after she rattled off a few complaints heart burn last night that seems to be getting worse, back hurt, and arms hurt. When we got there -and after she added that her jaw hurt- I was sure we needed to get her to the ER- sounded like a heart attack to me. Well my son took her to the ER and I took care of SweetPea. Later - when I realized that my MIL would be in the hospital over night - I needed to go to my Mother in law's house to take care of her dogs and put some food away that she had been working on fixing. Well I started looking for our copy of her house key. I looked and looked. I got a few of my close friends and family to please pray for me to find this key. SweetPea and I even prayed about finding the key. And later - I heard her asking Jesus to help us find the key. I talked on the phone to my Mother - and after I realized that the key to my MIL house was probably with the copy of my Mothers house key- it got me to thinking of one more place to look. And sure enough - praise the Lord - I found the key!!

So we get to my MIL house - and guess what? She had the locks changed after her husband had passed away - and my key - that I had looked and looked for - did NOT work. Luckily for us - my son had a copy(with my MIL keys) and met us at her house 10 minutes or so after we got there.

So good news- all that was lost this week has been found!!
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So my MIL- When she got to the ER- a heart attack was not showing up - but about 2 hours later - she had a heart attack. They loaded her up in a helicopter and took her to a Big hospital downtown. And took her directly into the cath lab - they did two stints. She is not out of the woods but it is looking more promising. We are very thankful and grateful that God gave us wisdom to know to get her to the ER. And that she had her Heart attack there- where they could help her.

Could you please keep my MIL in your prayers - her name is Charlene. Thanks so much.

It's been an awfully long day for our family. And I know I don't have an excuse for missing the posting for the "Love With All Your Heart" series - but I will resume that next week. Thanks for your understanding. :O)

Encouragement

My "Streams in the Desert" devotional was so good this morning- I had to share it with you all.

 

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And after the earthquake a fire; and after the fire a sound of gentle stillness"

 (1 Kings 19:12, RV margin.)

A soul, who made rapid progress in her understanding of the Lord, was once asked the secret of her easy advancement. She replied tersely, "Mind the checks."

And the reason that many of us do not know and better understand Him is, we do not give heed to His gentle checks, His delicate restraints and constraints. His is a still, small voice. A still voice can hardly be heard. It must be felt. A steady, gentle pressure upon the heart and mind like the touch of a morning zephyr to your face. A small voice, quietly, almost timidly spoken in your heart, but if heeded growing noiselessly clearer to your inner ear.

His voice is for the ear of love, and love is intent upon hearing even faintest whispers. There comes a time also when love ceases to speak if not responded to, or believed in. He is love, and if you would know Him and His voice, give constant ear to His gentle touches. In conversation, when about to utter some word, give heed to that gentle voice, mind the check and refrain from speech.

When about to pursue some course that seems all clear and right and there comes quietly to your spirit a suggestion that has in it the force almost of a conviction, give heed, even if changed plans seem highest folly from standpoint of human wisdom.

Learn also to wait on God for the unfolding of His will. Let God form your plans about everything in your mind and heart and then let Him execute them. Do not possess any wisdom of your own. For many times His execution will seem so contradictory to the plan He gave. He will seem to work against Himself. Simply listen, obey and trust God even when it seems highest folly so to do. He will in the end make "all things work together," but so many times in the first appearance of the outworking of His plans,

Stressed and Reassessed Goals

It's been a stressful couple of days. Just seemed like a lot of little hassles and stresses that mixed altogether - has caused me to feel much more stressed than usual. I have had medical test run the last two days- and have ended up with a bad headache by the afternoon. I am not sure if it is normal to have a head ache after an MRI or not. I know that my morning - and trying to get to the place that I was going to have my mammogram- was stressful- detours- a much too narrow road- and me hitting a curb at one point, running late, having to park in a parking garage - which has way too narrow of parking spots - and with a couple of people driving in front of my looking for spots- made the drive all the way up to the 6th floor(where I finally found a spot to park) a real slow go, and the phone call on my way home - that said that they had an emergency message for me - press one I was in my car and unable to do that - but when I noticed that the number was a local number from the town I am from - I called it back - it was the police department- that scared me I am thinking ok what emergency message do you have for me(ended up being just a warning about bad weather) plus all sorts of other stressors- have me dealing with yet another bad headache this afternoon.

When I posted something about having an MRI - my step mom asked if I was having an MRI for headaches- I said no - why? She said well if you don't have the right amount of estrogen- you can have headaches- well I can't take estrogen at all- because of the cancer. So now I am SO hoping that my headaches are due to the stress of the last couple of days and not estrogen related because there is no hope for me to have the right levels of estrogen.

I am hoping to maybe hear something about the results from my tests this week.

Oh  I am a little disappointed - last week - a new station posted about gas prices going under $3.00 a gallon- and then my cousin from Oklahoma - said it had been down for the last few days. Well we never saw it; in fact, gas prices here have gone up. Never saw it under 3.00...actually 3.06 is the lowest I saw it and it has gone up since then.

Oh and we are still having very warm weather here- like today - 93 degrees - that is what it was at my house. I saw on my thermometer in my car it at 95. It is October- it really is about time to cool off.

One more thing - I have decided to set a smaller goal - at least to start off - my original goal of how much weight I want to lose will still be in place - God willing I will get there one day. But I needed to set a smaller goal - so that I can accomplish goals along the way. So by this time next year (or before) I will have liked to have lost 30 pounds. So I have a plan. And I feel like it is very doable. I am praying that God will help me break through the barrier - the brick wall that has been in place for a long time. A brick wall that has prevented me from losing to where I will be if I lose the 67 pounds. And I know it will take His power and strength for me to reach any of my goals. I just need to be willing to allow Him to do the work in me that is needed.

Well I just wanted to check in and let you all know what was going on. I have just been busy. Glad to have that stuff behind me- now waiting on answers. I hope you all are doing well. :o)

Where are You on the Stair Steps to Christ?

Today I am sharing a little of what I have been reading in the book I am reading. "To Know God- A 5-day Plan." by Morris Vendon. This is such a great book. It is not a very long book- but it is very full of wonderful information about the gospel. I am not rushing through this book. This is the kind of book that you read a little and savor it for a bit, before you move on. I just finished day 2 yesterday. I am hoping to find some more copies of this book - and that way if any of you are interested in it - I can mail it to you. I hope you are blessed with what I am sharing today.
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"..in the process of being drawn to Christ there are certain steps that we take in coming to Him.

 First, there is a desire for something better.

Second, there comes a knowledge of what it is that's better.

Third, comes the conviction that we are sinners.

Fourth, we are brought to realize that we are helpless to do anything at all about our condition.

 And finally, we give up- it's called "surrender" in Christian circles.

 We give up on ever being able to save ourselves,

 and then we can come to Christ just as we are."

pg.30-31.

"Perhaps you have seen which of the steps to Christ you are on. Do you realize a desire for something better? Do you realize that God is love and that Jesus died for you? Do you realize that you are a sinner? Do you realize that you are helpless to do anything about it? And have you come to the point of giving up on ever being able to do anything about it? Then you can come to Jesus, just as you are, because those are the steps to Him. God is drawing you to Him, and you can respond, and continue to come to Him tomorrow morning and the next, until Jesus Himself comes again."

 pg 41(this is what is written on the page above- under the stairs.)

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By the way, I am going to have my MRI this morning. Please pray that if there is a problem that it will show up on the MRI. And I am praying that what ever the problem is - will be an easy fix. I need prayers for wisdom to know the best route at taking care of the problem.