Ten Smile Tuesday

Did another week just go by? Whew, it is crazy how fast they seem to go. I like doing these 10 smiles so I get a moment to just savor the last week and have a record of the good things. So, without further adieu, here they are!

1. Worship at the barn. Some friends at church decided to have worship at their barn last Friday. They just invited the whole church over (it's not a big church), a bunch came and we just had a great time of fellowship and singing. Love it!

2. Tomatoes. One of my tomato plants now has 10 tomatoes on it. Woo hoo! Not only do I love to eat them but I'm going to try my hand at canning them for sauce this summer. I am so excited!

3. Giraffe feeding. Lilla loved feeding the giraffes so much that when we got home she had to call Daddy and Grandma and tell them all about it. She's also been saying, "I pet elephant" all week long. Too cute!

4. Blackberries. My neighbor has a huge blackberry tree and she is allergic to them so she said I could come and take as many as I want. I plan to go over later in the week so I can make blackberry pie for the church picnic this weekend. Yummo!

5. Bananas foster. Our local Culver's has this ice cream creation, their own version of Bananas foster that is soooo yummy. We had it last night and enjoyed it immensely!

6. Friday. See my last post for details. It was just a good day. :)

7. Rain. We have had a lot of rain in the midwest this year. It has destroyed much of the crops, and much of my garden to boot. But, I want to be like Corrie ten Boom's sister that she wrote about in The Hiding place. They were in a concentration camp and she was thanking God for the fleas because it kept the guards out of their quarters so they could do bible studies. So, in light of that, I'm going to be thankful for how green the grass around us is, how full our well is and the very little need to water anything. You just got to look for the good.

8. Job. I've been reading the book of Job this week and it is teaching me some things. First of all, there is one of the best verses in the Bible in chapter 19. I'm going to let you go there to read it for yourself! :) Also, it is reminding me that God is all powerful, He sees us, He knows us and He is able to do whatever His will is for our lives. Who am I to question that?

9. Time with Daddy. Lilla and Michael have just been so cute together lately. They have been spending a lot of time just being together. Here is one of the pics of them eating sandwhiches together. It just touches my heart to see that Lilla has a Daddy that loves her so!

10. In the kitchen with Lilla. The peanut has loved so much lately cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. She particularly loves to wash the dishes. Go figure. It's just fun to watch her grow up and have fun doing what we think is the ordinary. You gotta love it!

What are you smiling about this week?

The other day...

Friday was one of those perfect days.

The weather was lovely. The sky was blue, no rain that day. I turned on the sprinkler for the first time. Lilla loved it.

I laid in the hammock and enjoyed the trees around me, the smell of the fresh country air and the sounds of my little girl's laugh stretching out over our yard. I looked at the back of my house with the little window in the middle which is to be the nursery for our new little someone come December.

All I could think was, God is so good. And I, am thankful.

10 Smile Tuesday

So here's it's Tuesday again so I thought I'd look back on the last week and relish the good of the last week.

1. My grandma (Bossy) going to be with the Lord. While it has been sad at the loss of life, the promise of eternal life is so much bigger that I find myself a bit jealous. Ah, the joy of seeing Jesus. What a day, what a place, what a Saviour!

2. An impromptu, and hot, day at the zoo last Thursday. It was like 90 but we had such fun! They have this new water area for the kids that is a total blast! Lilla just ran around splashing and loving the water spilling and spraying all about. I'm sorry I don't have pictures but I couldn't find my small camera and didn't want to haul around the big one. It was such good times though and I'll have to take pictures next time.

3. Garage saleing. So several of you asked if I found anything good on my new adventure on Saturday, and I did! We have a swing set for the peanut but we wanted a Step 2 thing for her to climb on too. We searched and searched and this is what we found for $20!

Not too shabby! We also got a Step 2 wagon that was in almost new condition for $20. I didn't get a picture of that yet. Our old one broke so we were excited to find such a good deal! I also got some books and clothes for the peanut for next summer. Her younger cousin is quickly catching up to her (Lilla is really small for her age) so the clothes train of her older cousin will probably be ending pretty abruptly. So, I'm stocking up for cheap, gotta love it!

4. A pool for the peanut. We were going to just buy one of the little blow up deals but this was on sale at Target and the peanut loves to swim so much we thought, heck, why not. Plus, she kept hugging the ad and saying, "My pool." I'm really not kidding. :) She is really something! So it's like 2 feet deep and 10 feet long, she loves it!

5. The peanut and Papaw on Father's Day. Is this not adorable? They were feeding the ducks together. Love it!

6. Storytime at the library. The peanut loves to sing and dance and that's what she got to do! I don't know if you can see the frog on the carpet in this picture but she really liked him. She kept saying, "Frog, ribbit, ribbit!" What a comedian!

7. Pea salad. I know that many might not like it, but I do. Really, just about anything with peas you can pass my way. My nephew had a graduation this weekend and my sister-in-law made it, oh just yummo!

8. Fresh strawberries. While most of my garden was a washout because of the flooding, a few of my strawberries, that were not eaten by critters, were able to be salvaged. Such fun to pick and eat them!

9. Time with my hubby. Michael took a couple of bereavement days last week to spend time with us and it was just so nice to have him here. I don't think I really knew how much I missed him until I saw him again. He suprised me by meeting me at the airport (he said he had to work and would send someone) with flowers. Such a sweet surprise!

10. Home. There is nothing truely like it, and I'm so glad to be back!

Oh, and one more for good measure. 12 weeks. I love 12 weeks. I feel like myself again. Very little to no nausea. Energy. It's like someone plugged me in. Love, love, love 12 weeks!!

What are you all smiling about today?

Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake

Friday night Michael and I decided to head out on Saturday morning and go garage saleing. We have never been in the years we've been married so we thought, heck, let's go for the hunt. So, that night we set the alarm for 7 the next morning and crashed out. Michael slept in the loft as we have my sister's dog and 3 dogs and 2 adults in one queen sized bed does not a happy couple make!

Anyway, the next morning I was awoke by a song we've song in church many times, and I love. The name is Lord have your way in me, just a simple, but beautiful chorus. In case you are not familiar with it, it goes:

This is my desire, to Honor You

Lord with all my heart I worship You

All I have within me I give You praise

All that I adore is in You

Lord I give You my heart, I give You my soul

I live for You alone

Every breath that I take, Every moment I'm awake

Lord have Your way in me

I lay there flat on my face (I sleep on my stomach) just prone before God, and there was worship. I was overwhelmed at the love I have for a God that has been so good to me throughout my life, and yet who I've failed miserably so many times. This song could have been my heart's song at that moment.

This season of my life has been very hard, yet full of joy. I'm so thankful to be having another child, but these last six weeks have just been a constant struggle to just make it through the day. Unfortunately, I have not been leaning on God to get me through, just on my own strength. I have made excuses not to read my Bible as I've just been soooooo tired, and sooooo sick, I just wanted to veg out. I've also skipped church (which I just never do) several times saying I just didn't want to move. What ridiculous and sad excuses as I have dove back into the scriptures the last few days and they have filled and energized me in a way nothing else can.

So, I am making this song my prayer, even as I type. Lord, have your way in me. I am so thankful for a God, that even though I so often botch it up, still will allow me to come before him in worship. What joy!

It is well with my soul

Erika (my sister) and I with Bossy and the girls, Nov. 2006

Yesterday we returned from our 7 day trip to Florida to see my grandma (affectionately called Bossy) one last time. Today we got a call that she had passed this morning. I am, of course, sorrowful at the passing of my Bossy that I really loved, but it is a joyful sorrow, bittersweet in so many ways. You see, I know in my heart that Bossy is with Jesus right now. I am not sitting here questioning it or trying to make myself feel better by saying it, it is a truth I am sure of.

While my sister and I were visiting, Bossy was transferred to hospice so we had the opportunity to go back to the nursing facility to go through her things. We found an old autograph book there that will be a treasured possesion for the rest of our lives. Bossy was a member of the Salvation Army, even attending their training college, when she was a young woman. At that time their whole focusing was winning souls for Christ. These young men and women were sold out for Jesus and what they wrote in this book just took our breath away. It gave us a glance of who Bossy was as a young woman and her heart for Jesus.

Here are a couple of quotes some friends put in the book:

Just one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ, will last.

An archer is known, not by his arrows, but by his aim. May your aim always be souls and heaven. God will make your try a try-umph!

We only found out today that she did not communicate besides with grunts to anyone else but when my sister and I, who are the only Christians in our family, began to talk to her about Jesus, she spoke words to us. She told us she loved us. She sang the words to old hymns to us. She told us she wanted to be with Jesus. She told us that our girls were just precious. Over and over again, "Precious, precious, precious."

Thank you Bossy, for such precious memories.

Outta here

So I got a call earlier today concerning my grandma in FL is not doing so well. So, I've been doing laundry and packing all day so the peanut and I can head on down. We have a butt crack of dawn kind of flight tomorrow and I live an hour from the airport so I'm staying with my sister tonight who lives within 2 minutes of it. My husband won't be able to go as he has to work so please pray for patience and strength for me this next week. It is ridiculously hot in Tampa right now and I am so tired and hot anyway, it is probably going to be a bit draining for me. We want to spend as much time as we can with my grandma (whom we affectionately call Bossy) so we'll just make it work. My sister and her two kids are going too and we are able to stay with my other grandma while we are there, which is a total blessing. She also is letting us have her car for the week so we are thankful not to have to pay for hotel or ground transportation, besides gas. The tickets about killed us, since it was such short notice, but what do you do?

Anyway, I'll see you all next week and hope you have a good one!

Amy