Meet My Family

Finally, got the whole family together for a photo!

Jonathan (black sweater), oldest son, Worship Pastor. Ryan (red shirt) youngest,Medic in Army. Kara, daughter, full time mom, and wife, and Adrian, son-in-law, student preparing for full time ministry, with their two little ones, Nolan and Jordyn, who bring us all tons of joy.

My Alltime Favorite Prayer

Nolan (3) and I were having a snack one day and this was his prayer over our food:

"Oh, God! How did You make this food be so good?! How did You do it God? How did You?!
Amen."

Through the Eyes of a Child

While eating out at Fuzzy's with the family, Nolan, my 3 year old grandson, saw a lady walk in and sit down at a table near us. Nolan said in a very concerned little voice, "That lady is all alone!" He continued to talk about this, asking his mom if she (his mom) liked to be all alone. So, his mom asked if he would like to go talk to the lady. He replied "Yes", so whenever he finished eating, she let him down to go say hi. He wanted someone to go with him, so my husband went with him (I must admit I was hesitant to just go up and start talking to a stranger). He said "Hi", then the lady had to do most of the talking, because he didn't really know what else to say. He told her "Merry Christmas" as we were leaving and she said he had made her day.
While thinking back on this, I am reminded of the need, especially this time of year when we get so busy and wrapped up with our own agenda, to take time to look at the people around us as people, to look at those around us with eyes of compassion, truly caring about them and whether they have needs. And, not just seeing the needs, but caring enough to do something about it.
Let's slow down and look at the world through the eyes of a child!

side note: this picture is not from Fuzzy's, but from nostaligic hometown hamburger joint called,"Oma's".

Hurry Up and Wait

Ever heard the phrase "Hurry Up and Wait"? It's been known to be an unofficial motto for the army. We are in Kansas awaiting the arrival of our youngest son, Ryan to arrive from Iraq. My husband and I rushed to make it here by Friday and my oldest son, Jonathan, drove from NM and met us here on Monday. We were told originally that if we got here on Thursday (last Thursday) we would be safe to be here when he arrived, for they would be coming starting Thurs. evening through Monday. Well, it's Wed. morning and we are still waiting. We received a call this morning saying he would be arriving Thursday morning at 2 a.m. Every day they push it forward, but hopefully they won't extend it any further, because his brother has to leave Fri. morning to head back home. Lord, help me to remember that our days are in Your hands and everything will happen according to your perfect timing.

Feed Bag Turned Tote Bag (last nights project)

This was my first try at making a feed bag tote. Not perfect, but it's a fun way to use up all the feed bags we use up around here. I'm not good enough at explaining how I did it to do a tutorial, but there are lots out there if you google "how to make a tote bag from a feed bag". Curbly.com has a cute one from a bird seed bag, and there's a cute one from a chicken feed bag on instruct ables.com. The one tip I will give is: when cutting the bag, make sure you measure and cut so that the picture you want on the front is centered and cut out the way you want it, allowing for seams and room to box the bottom of the bag. My friend made a bag from a deer corn bag and used matching material to line the top of the bag and for the handles. It turned out really cute. Go ahead try it!

Tips for Memorizing Scripture

I'm not going to give up! Today I'm going to start (again) working on memorizing scripture. I've been reading the book (again) "Before You Hit the Wall" by Danny Lehmann. It's about establishing spiritual disciplines in your life. The chapter I read this morning was on the importance of the commitment to memorize God's Word. So, in my effort to begin a discipline of memorizing the Bible (again), I googled tips for memorizing scripture and this web page had some good tips: Grace Community Church of Glen Rose, TX - Tips for Memorizing Scripture so I thought I'd put it on my blog as a reminder to myself and maybe it will motivate someone else at the same time to start hiding God's word in your heart.
Does anyone else have any tips to share?

My Cleaning Apron

I finished my cleaning apron today! A few days ago a friend of mine invited me to a sewing class at her church and this was the project we did this week. Flylady says we can clean much faster if we have all of our supplies with us, so this has 6 pockets for supplies (works good for keeping track of my glasses also), and 2 loops for spray bottles. I think I'll go clean something now!