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!

My Rant for Today:

Why do they have to take perfectly good movies and put cuss words in them? I thought surely it would be safe to watch "Julie & Julia", but I couldn't even finish that! I very, very seldom ever sit down to watch a movie anyway, and then just when I start getting really interested in it, I have to shut it off. It's just not worth letting things slide for my own enjoyment, at the risk of offending the Holy Spirit who lives inside of me. I value His presence way too much, way above my own pleasure.

Oh well, who has time to watch a movie anyway?

Watching A Movie in the Nude

A couple of nights ago, Nolan(my 20 mo. old grandbaby) was standing in front of the TV watching the "JESUS" movie. Suddenly, he strips all of his clothes off. He had realized that Adam was walking around naked in the bushes (you couldn't see his whole body). He then wanted his mom and me to do the same, but we just couldn't sit around watching a movie in the nude, not even for Nolan.
Whoever said kids are not affected by TV?!

I'm On Vacation

My husband and I were given an opportunity to go on a trip out west with some friends and we jumped at the chance. We've been to Albuquerque, NM, Phoenix, AZ, Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Nevada, Las Angeles, CA, San Jose, San Francisco so far. The scenery has been beautiful (for the most part). I love all of the foliage in California. Makes me want to go home and work on my yard, although Texas weather is a little less plant friendly(at least my yard seems to be). Once I get home I'll be able to post some pictures and tell more about the trip. We've met some wonderful people who have been very hospitable and ate lots of great food. I'm glad I didn't cancel our fitness center membership like I started to. We'll definitely have some pounds to get off when we get home. Vacation is great, but there's no place like home. By the time we get home I'll definitely be ready for a simple diet, daily routine, and all the mundane things of life that I often take for granted. But, right now I am thankful for lots of new and interesting experiences and the beauty of this side of the country that God has created. His creativity is amazing!

Reflections

I know! I keep saying that I'm going to get back to blogging consistently, but I've still been having computer issues. Last night my husband spent a really long time on the phone with the Internet tech and hopefully we have things fixed for sure now.

Since my blogging has been so sporadic this summer, I thought I'd post some pictures of a few of the things that have kept us busy.

pic 1 - Hubby and I on cruise (anniversary gift from kids).

pic 2 - We went to Ft. Riley, KS to welcome son, Ryan home from a year in Iraq.

pic 3 - Nolan, our grandson, turned 1 yr old already! Here he is with his mom and day, Kara & Adrian.

pic 4 - My house has been getting baby proofed.

pic 5 - My husband with our son, Jonathan, in the mountains around Albuquerque, on our trip out to see him.

We're Back!

Actually, we returned home from our cruise on Saturday, but I've been busy playing catch up on chores and rest. The cruise was great! Just having 5 days away with no responsibilities, no cooking, and having someone pick up after you, made it worth the trip(it was actually very hard to get used to at first). The ocean is beautiful and very relaxing. My husband and I both fell asleep one evening on the deck of the ship, laying in lounge chairs, just enjoying the breeze and ocean movement and sounds. We enjoyed sitting around talking to complete strangers, especially the staff on the ship, who are almost all from other countries. It was interesting to find out that the staff on the ship work 7 days a week for 6-8 months at a time, get to go home to visit for a couple of months, then return back to the ship for 6-8 more months. It is sad that these people have to be away from their families so much just to make a decent life for them. Our waiter, who was from the Philippines said that because he was a christian, God gave him the strength to do this. What a mission field, people from every country and religion are represented aboard (anyone feeling called to the cruise mission field?:) .

Now it's back to real life, but there's no place like home. My daughter and her husband and baby have moved in with us while he goes to Bible college, so it's been a little busy around here, but we're enjoying it. This has been a very busy summer. Most of what has happened has not been things that I planned myself, or even thought were going to happen. As I looked over some pictures this morning, I thought, only God really does hold tomorrow, I just live from day to day, trying to be faithful in the little things He has for me to do.

Submit or Obey Our Husbands?

What's the difference? I heard a preacher say on the radio that the Bible never says for wives to obey their husbands. It says children obey your parents, slaves obey your masters, but it says wives submit to your husbands. Just thought I would throw this out there in case anyone wanted to join my son-in-law and my conversation on what the difference is. I know this is a very loaded question requiring a detailed answer, but thought it would be interesting to hear some others thoughts.