Thankful Thursday Thirteen

(i didn't get this up yesterday as i had a sick child at home)

i am thankful that this world is not my home and that someday i will live in a much better place with people i love and my Lord, my Savior.

i am thankful that my son enjoys school, his teacher, the other students and the aides.

i am thankful that we have been healthy this far into the fall.

i am thankful for good friends to have coffee with and chat about life.

i'm thankful for wonderful fall smells: pumkin, apple cidar, cranberries ... mmm!

i'm thankful for email, cell phones and old fashioned mail to keep in touch with family and friends who are scattered about.

i'm thankful for this new found hobby of blogging.

i'm thankful that i live in a full color world, instead of black and white. aren't you glad God made colors?

i'm thankful for lots of blankets at night to snuggle under.

i'm thankful that my sick child is now well again and ready for action.

i'm thankful for a husband who loves me very much, despite my idiosincrysies

i'm thankful that my mom's health is improving, that her strength is being renewed and that she is resting as she should be!

i'm thankful that i heard the good news as a young child and was savvy enough to realize that it was truth and to believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

Wordless Wednesday

this is my first time participating in wordless wed. what fun!

fabric flower tutorial

found this tutorial to make the cute flower broaches that i have been seeing everywhere on the net! cute, cute! i can't wait to try this tutorial.

the lawnmower

this is one of my favorite posts from my other blog: seedstories.


our son joe loves lawnmowers. when the family comes over to mow our lawn on mondays he bounces for joy at seeing them take out the lawnmower and start to get to work. if we're around and we feel like giving him a little fun, we let him go outside and he will chase the person mowing the lawn, up and down the yard, laughing boisterously at the fun of it all. when we go to the local hardware store he points to where the lawnmowers are sitting and if our attention wanders we can always find him there.

a couple weeks ago my husband and i started talking about looking for an old lawnmower at a garage sale to pick up for joe. something he could push around the lawn for fun and exercise. a few days later joe got out of the house, before we could blink we were looking all over for him. we found him coming down the sidewalk pushing a red lawnmower. we assumed it was our neighbors so we put in his back yard. the next day our n'bor told us it wasn't his. so joe and michael pushed the lawnmower to the next n'bors house. it wasn't theirs either so they left it on the front sidewalk hoping that the owner would see it and grab it. after 3 or 4 days no one had claimed it.

during those 3 days joe insistantly told us in his non-verbal way that he wanted to push that lawnmower. since no one had claimed it we decided it was a gift from God for Joe and let him play with it. we leave it on our front lawn in case the rightful owner should turn up to claim it, after 2 weeks no one has.

i am in awe of God's goodness and compassion in my son's life. if he could i'm sure joe would have prayed and asked God for a lawnmower, in his own way he was always asking us for one! and even tho joe couldn't pray the way we tend to think of prayer, God granted his fervent request and brought a lawnmower to him. tho i dont' know if joe understands that this is a gift from heaven, he is happy and shows his thankfulness every day by the joy he exhibits as he pushes that old lawnmower around the yard.

i am inspired by my son's example of thankfulness. i too, want to react with joy when the Lord brings a gift into my life, whether i have been praying for it or not. i want to acknowledge that He is the giver of all good things and that those good things that come into my life are not driven by luck or chance, but by a Heavenly Father who loves me. i want to enjoy those gifts that the Lord brings, but also remember that they are on loan. i am not the rightful owner. i must hold loosely what God has given me in case He takes it away.

"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights." James 1:17

sept 19th, postscript:

sunday afternoon after i wrote this, daisy ran away. after walking around the n'borhood looking for her and talking with a couple n'bors we had to conclude that she was gone. hoping that she would make her way home, by nighttime those hopes were dashed.

i woke up that night feeling sad and fretful about losing daisy. but i have to conclude that it was not a coincidence in timing. the Lord was testing me, to see if i was really living what i was sharing. so i had to give daisy over to the Lord. the verse from Job came to mind "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord" and so i gave her over to the Lord, thankful for the time we had had with her.

monday michael suggested i call the pound just in case. i wasn't enthused about doing so as i had truly thot she was gone for good, but i called. they didn't have her, but they took my name just in case. 3 hours later the pound called and said they thot they might have her. we went to check it out. the walls reverbrated with the sounds of barking dogs. i went down the aisle scanning to see if there was a black and white terrier. i saw one that was similiar and my heart sank, it wasn't her, but i kept walking. at the end of the room in the last kennel was daisy, trembling with fear. once she saw me she stood up and a huge smile replaced her earlier woeful look. i couldn't believe it was our daisy. the Lord had restored her to us. after taking care of the paperwork we took her home and she and i snuggled on the couch.

i am in awe of how the Lord works in our lives and how He is faithful to teach us what we need to know. its easy to share things that the Lord brings to mind but harder to actually live them out. yet the Lord knows that if its just words, it has no power. it must be in my heart and my life to make a difference. i pray that this lesson will stay in my heart forever. may all of us be able to say "The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, Blessed be the name of the Lord"

Fun Friday

i found this meme over at under the clutter and thot why not? it looks like fun and its friday.

A- Attatched or Single: attatched….happily married

B- Best Friend: my hubby & my sissy

C-Cake or Pie: lemon meringue or blackberry--mmm!

D- Day of choice: Sunday; our veg out do nothing day

E- Essential Item: my computer, of course!

F- Favorite Color: light pink, cherry cobbler red, dark bold purple, hunter green... ya, that sums it up!

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: bears

H- Hometown: bothell, WA (near seattle)

I- Indulgence(s): prime rib, cheesecake, mango body butter--mmm!

J- January or July: january

K-Kids: one boy, 5 waiting in heaven for me

L-Life is Incomplete Without: the Lord, my hubby, friends

M- Marriage Date: June 30th

N- Number of Siblings: 1 brother, 2 sisters

O- Oranges or Apples: apples

P- Phobias or Fears: spiders, heights

Q- Quotes: "given enough coffee, i could rule the world!" "rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer" Rom 12:12 "our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield." Ps 33:20 "dull women have immaculate homes"

R- Reason To Smile: sunshine, blue skies, my son's laughter,

S- Season: fall i love the colors, and i love the cooler days. no jacket required

T- Tag: Anyone who wants to play.

U- Unknown Fact About Me: i decided to take up smoking as an adult, bought a pack of cigs and promptly got sick. that cured me!

V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: meat! definitely meat!

W- Worst Habit: eating when i'm anxious

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: neither bother me

Y- Your Favorite Food: hmmm? do i have to have a fav? milk chocolate, with pastries a close 2nd.

Z- Zodiac: who cares? my birthday is Dec 19

If you play along, leave a comment so I can read your answers!

Thankful Thursday Thirteen

i really enjoyed doing this last week so i'm going to try again. it was harder than i thot to come up with 13 things, but a great exercise to be thankful. so here goes ...

1) i'm thankful for all of my friends and family who prayed for my mom this last month as she discovered she had breast cancer. the prayers and emails and phone calls were so supportive and encouraging. God is good.

2) i'm thankful that my mom came thru the cancer surgery and is healing now.


3) i'm thankful that she doesn't have to have chemo or more surgery.


4) i'm thankful for the great b-day weekend hubby and i had, the movie we got to see, the friends we got to fellowship with, the great food, the shopping ....


5) i'm thankful i have a husband who humors me and puts up with my girly ways. that he loves me, and LIKES me, and is my best friend.


6) i'm thankful that the summer heat is over--whew! it was a doozy this summer.


7) i'm thankful that hubby has settled on a new career direction and its looking promising.


8). i'm thankful that after a hard weekend for our son, he seems to be back to normal.


9) i'm thankful for my hubby who moves furniture around (without grumbling) every time i want to change things up.


10) i'm thankful for food in the fridge and cupboards, even when i don't feel like cooking.


11) i'm thankful for ears to hear, eyes to see, a mouth to speak and a sound mind to think. all gifts from God.


12) i'm thankful that the redsox won the first game of the world series last nite! (ok, i'm stretching it a bit here.) GO SOX!!!


13) i'm thankful for star trek voyager reruns in the afternoon when i'm folding clothes or ironing or playing on the computer ,,, (i told you its a hard exercise!)


so anyone want to join me? what are you thankful for?

Another Day, Another Year

Happy Birthday Honey! You made it---yipeeeeee!!!!




"...forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize ..." ph 3:13-14

Thankful Thursday 13

i have noticed out in bloggville, that certain bloggers do a thankful thursday. i looked (not very hard) to find who started it and how to download the cute graphic but didn't find it. but iwant to do it anyway. so here is my thankful 13 today.

1. God's grace and mercy i am so in awe that God doesn't give up on me and send a lightning bolt to snuff me out. i am so weak and yet, He is merciful, loving, longsuffering and compassionate.

2. my husband his b-day is tomorrow and i'm so glad we can celebrate his life. he was in a severe accident 3 1/2 years ago and he flatlined on the way to the hospital. the ER docs at the trauma center where he was taken didn't expect him to survive. but God had other plans.

3. my son my son has a disability. my son is a delight. do those things go together? before i had him i would have said no. but i have learned. tho he doesn't talk he still communicates in a rudimentary way. i love to see his humor, his mischieveousness, his love. he has shown me parts of myself that no one else could or has. he is a wonderful gift to me.

4. my sister cindi she is my BFF, my prayer partner, my encourager, my sounding board. we have always been close as sisters, but the Lord built a wonderful friendship between us as adults. she is a blessing to me!

5. my brother and his wife who are putting us up this weekend for our little getaway to celebrate hubby's b-day. they are so generous and welcoming. thanks bro!

6. our son's respite family who will be taking our son for the weekend while hubby and i escape. k & d are a wonderful couple who love our son like he was their own. they have a little daughter with downs who is as cute as a bug. our son and their daughter, tho years apart in age, play together like best buds. he loves her and gives her hugs. what a blessing they are to our family.

7. for being a stay at home mom i have worked off and on during our marriage, some jobs were good, some not so good. right now i'm at home and it is a good thing. i'm so thankful that i can spend time helping my husband, my son and making a cozy home for them to come home to. i have been decluttering, baking bread, making homemade meals, knitting and sewing. i love that i can be home and be available for them and others.

8. my laptop i love my computer. i love blogging, and emailing far off friends and family. i love surfing the net and discovering all kinds of new things. its like a huge library right at my finger tips.

9. for the Word of God as i have been more diligent in reading my Bible, i have a growing gratitude of the Word. that the Lord had it written by men so many years ago and it has endured! and it is new every time i open its pages. it speaks to me and renews me.

10. christian radio i really enjoy listening to the radio and while i may listen to a bit of country, talk or something else every now and again, the main thing i listen to is christian radio. it calms me and lifts my spirit. i hear God's heart and the body's heart towards our Savior thru it. and if you listen closely, you may even hear me humming along ....

11. my digital camera a gift from my mom, the true photographer in our family. i love being able to take pics and uploading them so family and friends and even strangers can view them. i love being creative and trying to design a pleasing photo.

12. chocolate do i need to expound? didn't think so!

13. yarn and needles my latest passion is knitting and i'm havign so much fun. stay tune for pics.

Tackle It Tuesday

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i've decided to add something to my blog. i found this at another blog (of course) where lots of bloggers get together and decide on a project to tackle on tuesdays. i figure this will give me the kick in the pants i need to work on some of my to-do projects i've been mulling over for awhile now.

i've decided to ease into my first tackle it tuesday. i will tackle my dining room table which has become a catchall for everything that doesn't seem to have any other home. plus, my husband uses the dining room as his desk so i will have to be creative and figure out a solution for that.

i will try to post before and after pics so you can see my progress!

edit: blogger is not allowing me to upload my pics right now. hopefully i'll be able to show off my progress soon.

test, test ...

just checking to see if my new signature appears.

my only child, my son

my only child is growing up

i can kiss him on the forehead without bending over (much)

i can't lift him or carry him anymore

i often find his father's socks in his sock drawer by mistake they are so close in size

he can put away more pizza than hubby and i combined

my only child is growing up, i'm sad, i'm happy, i marvel at the changes each day brings. my only child is growing up

the birthday dance

we begin the birthday dance in our house in october. hubby comes first with his on the 19th, then in november favorite son (we only have one child/son so i can label him my favorite!) has his right before thanksgiving, and then come december its time for me to celebrate. woo hoo!! since mine is only days before Christmas i always make sure hubby makes a big deal of it. i was scarred for life when older sister would give me combined b-day/Christmas gifts either making my b-day a day with very little gifts or even worse, Christmas with less than my other non december b-day siblings. up until my dad passed away, i had him to keep me company as his b-day was on Christmas eve! my mom always made it a point to really celebrate his b-day and wait for the Christmas celebrations to begin the next day.

so i have been shopping. and I SCORED!!! over the last year i have been looking to see if any of our local stores have that hot, new item they came out with last season ... each store gets just a trickle. its like they are teasing us with their advertisements that its out there, but every time you ask at best buy or target, they don't have any in stock and don't know when they will get another shipment. shame on them!

but tues morning i decided to take my looking to a whole new level. i went from store to store to store. at my 2nd store, i was told the last one had just walked out the door 10 minutes earlier! aaaarrrgghhh!!! why couldn't i have gone there first? but not to lose heart, i trudged on. my bank is inside another box store so i thot, why not? i went to the electronics area and what did my eyes behold??? a box! excitedly, i asked the clerk, is this ... is this really a ....? and yes, it was!!! so i plunked down my plastic, grabbed the necessary accessories for the item and made my way home.

of course, since its such a big budget item, and both favorite son and i don't anticipate letting hubby have all the fun, now i can justify the expenditure by calling it a b-day gift for all of us! (yes, my lovely older sis, i learned well from you!)

of course, that doesn't let hubby off the hook in getting me something wonderful, sweet, thoughtful, and exciting for me for my b-day. and i'm sure we will be bringing home some more toys and stuff for #1 son right before Thanksgiving.

babylon and us

i have been browsing thru other christian womens blogs and having a fun time discovering like minds and thotprovoking conversations. one that i came upon recently is from Julie at the peapod four. The Peapod Four: Studying Daniel she shares what she has learned from a study on daniel by beth moore. here's what Julie has to say:

"I am, and there is none besides me" was essentially the motto of ancient Babylon. Our culture is very much like that. Everything in western culture is all about the individual. We can get things anyway we want them and usually anytime we want them. Babylon was about over-indulgence. They didn't stop till they had it all. Sounds a little like us. As Beth says, "We are overwhelmed in a sea of self-absorption." We don't always recognize it or call it that, but our culture says it's all about us.

wow! that sure sounds like the culture i live in. here's more:

So as I listened to this session I realized just how true this was in my own life. I wouldn't naturally characterize myself as self-absorbed or even over-indulgent, but God began to open my eyes to the truth. Here's the way I see it now. When I graduated from high school and went on to college, I stepped out from underneath of my parents' authority. With that freedom, I began to do whatever it was that I wanted to do. I did not rebel or experiment with things that I knew were wrong, but I did over-indulge in the little things. Basically whatever I wanted. So in college, if I wanted to buy a box of Little Debbie donuts and eat them for breakfast, I did. If I wanted to eat pizza for dinner all week, I did. Once I got married and started grocery shopping, I bought whatever looked good. I remember Michael saying once that the way I shopped was as if I'd never been in a grocery store before. He said I was awed by everything. I tried all sorts of new things. So all during my twenties I have eaten what I wanted, baked what I wanted, gone where I wanted, and so on. Up until this past year or two, I have also purchased what I wanted as well. Not the big items like cars, furniture, computers, etc., but the little things...like what they sell at Target. I know many of us fall into that category because I hear people talking all the time about how they spent more than they meant to at BJ's or Sam's or Walmart.

boy can i see myself in this scenerio.

Once this became so clear to me, I was challenged by it.... I want to swim against the culture on this one. I've already started watching what all I put in my mouth. It's embarrassing, but I was eating a lot more than I was truly hungry for. I ate things because I was bored. I ate things because I thought I should. I ate things because I just wanted to! How silly. I bought things without having a good reason for it. I bought things because it was on sale. I bought things because it was cheap and I might need it someday. Again, how silly. I am determined to fight my way back from the influence of our culture. I don't want my motto to be "I am, and there is none besides me".

isn't that good? i am so encouraged and convicted by julies blog. i too want to swim against this culture i'm surrounded by. its so easy to go with the flow cuz its all around us. so much harder to swim against the stream. but i believe it is so worth it.

This Came From This???

last weekend hubby finally got thru to me that we HAD to do something with all the tomatoes we had cluttering up the limited counterspace we have. so we got busy chopping and made chunky tomato soup---mmmm!!!

tidbits

i decided to call this tidbits as what i'm going to chat with you about probably has no relation to each other, except that i'm thinking about it ....

so ... i've found a new fav show. "Chuck" on monday nites is about a geek who gets involved in the CIA and the NSA. fun spy stuff! and a great cast of characters. anyone else watching chuck?

i was able to do a bit of sewing yesterday. i bought some fluffy, fuzzy blue fabric to make a pillow for my son. i got 3 sides sewn up and then debated how i should close it. i decided i'll do something that lets me take the pillow out so i can wash the cover. that evening he found the pillow and promptly claimed it for his own. he wandered into our bedroom at 5am this morning, the pillow cover (without the pillow form) in hand rubbing his cheek with it and laughing as he climbed into our bed. i love being able to do simple things for him that make him happy.

i added a new sidebar to my blog as you can see. it will change each day with a different unreached people that we can pray for. i have wanted to be more intentional in praying for other countries and those people. i'm hoping that having this sidebar will help me do just that. will you join me in praying each day for the different cultures and nations that haven't been reached with the gospel?

i'm wearing pink today in honor of my mother who at 82 is fighting breast cancer. she just was diagnosed last month and has already had surgery. tomorrow she will be seeing the doc again and will be making some decisions as to what to do next. i'm praying for her as well as alot of others are. we know she rests in the Lord's hand, but we are selfish and want more time with her on this earth ...
so today i have a shortsleeve pink t-shirt on, pink socks with hearts on them, a pink heart necklace and my pink watchband and a pink beaded bracelet to honor her and to bring attention to this debilitating disease. october is breast cancer awareness month: will you be sporting pink?

today is name your car day. does your car have a name? we have had names for other cars we've owned, but i'm ashamed to admit we have had this car for several years and have never named her/him.

some things on the horizon: our church is going to be going thru a beth moore study. i'm getting excited about that. our local yarn shop is having some new fall classes. i'm checking them out and trying to decide which one to take. i want to learn more complicated knitting techniques! joe doesn't have school or his special program he goes to on thursday, so i'm trying to think of some fun things we can do together. got a haircut scheduled so far, maybe a matinee?? or visit a friend with 2 kids?? any ideas??

Happy October!

did you know that october is national apple month? that it is adopt-a-shelter animal month? or that it is computer-learning month? no? neither did i. but best of all, it is also national pizza month! so in honor of national pizza month i'm making homemade pizza tonite. i will definitely be scoring points with #1 son. mmm!

October: The Man's Birthday Month

ok, so i'm thinking i need to do something for the man for his b-day. for his 50th b-day! so the wheels are turning. his b-day is on a friday so that is good ... movie and dinner? a weekend away?? gotta find respite for the little one if i do that ... gotta call #1 respite family to see if they are available .... gotta do some b-day shopping. i've already got some ideas from the man as i quizzed him vigorously for the past couple weeks ....

did the suprise party for his 40th, not going to do that again. movie and dinner is what we always do. gotta shake it up a bit. a catered dinner at home? nah, i'd have to clean house. drive a ways to a fancier restaurant??? that might have possibilities. blind fold him??? i'm starting to like it ... how about invite some friends to join us at the restaurant?? have to make a few phone calls.

i would love to hear any ideas you might have, have heard of, or have done yourself.