A TIME TO BE BORN AND A TIME TO DIE

Ecc 3:1,2  To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die...

On Friday morning Jeff and I headed out to attend the funeral of my SIL's grandfather, Ralph te Velde.  I didn't know the man well, but what I did know of him I liked.  He was just one of those people who was always happy and always had a smile on his face.   My SIL was quite close to his grandfather, and has told us all many times of numerous things he learned directly from this man, not only about the dairy business that he loved, but about how to live and conduct his life.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard Mike say, "My Grandpa always says..." or "My Grandpa believes..", or "My Grandpa does it this way."  What an amazing influence that man had on my young SIL.  After sitting for a while at this service, I quickly saw that this man had a LARGE influence on MANY people, and there were many who would miss him terribly, whose lives were altered because he lived.  Now Ralph knew the Lord well, so there is no doubt that he is dancing in the streets of Heaven today, no longer troubled by the things of this world, and this particular service was really a celebration of his life, and a glorious graduation to the next.  But as I sat there listening to the various different stories from the people who knew him best, some from when he was just a young boy, to those who knew him in high school, to the men he worked with over the years, and finally to those who had come to know him like I had just over the last few years as a retired dairy man, husband, father and grandfather, I was truly amazed.  I found the verse in Ecclesiastes coming to my mind over and over again, and was struck by the truth in it.  "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven."  We all go through the various seasons in our life, each unique in their own ways, living our lives out influencing those around us for either good or bad rather we realize it or not.  I began thinking of how I have influenced not only the people who are so close to me in my life, but ALL the people I have come in contact with, and rather or not it was for the good or for the bad.  When it comes time for me to die, I want my life to have counted for Him.  I want to feel the purpose that He had in mind for me was indeed lived out.  I want to be remembered as a woman who loved the Lord, and lived my life in a way that reflected that.  "There is a time to be born, and a time to die."  None of us know the time or place our souls will be required of us.  We need to live our lives NOW in a way that will count for all eternity.  This is our season to live, and our chance to do what the Lord has called us to do, is now.  Because we will all, with total certainty, reach our time to die, and when we do, we will stand before Him and give an account of our life.  I want to hear, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Mat 25:23 ...Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.

To read the other blogs that have participated in Spiritual Sunday, click HERE, and you will be soo blessed. 
To read the other blogs that have participated in Then Sings My Soul Saturday, click HERE.

BLESSINGS THAT MAKE MY HEART HAPPY

Well tomorrow is Thankful Thursday and I decided to get a jump on this post while I sit and wait for my son to arrive with Cody.  I am looking forward to seeing his sweet little face.  He was SUCH a good baby for me last week, and I am hoping for a repeat performance as my knees are especially bad this morning.  Not quite sure why, but it does make chasing Cody somewhat difficult.  I have been anxious to sit and type this out as I have found that looking for my blessings is not only something I enjoy doing, but it also REALLY does make my heart happy and my spirit joyful.

Psalm 5:11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.

I am thankful this week as I am to get a brief and unexpected visit from my Melly and her husband Mike.  Though circumstances surrounding this are sad, (see the previous post) and the time spent will probably be quite short, I am looking forward to seeing that face and hugging my girl.  As it turns out she will not be flying here in a SMALL private plane, but on a regular commercial flight.   She is soo grateful that her husband knew it was stressing her and so decided not to take that other flight after-all.  He also made arrangements with a friend of his to take care of her little dog so they will not have to bring Baxter along with them, which was presenting another whole list of concerns and problems.  I am quite grateful that my Mel has a husband who loves her, and doesn't want her to be stressed, and so even in the face of his own dilemmas works things out for her. 

I am also grateful that things seem to be picking up for my oldest son Joe at his karate studio.  He has recently picked up a few new students, which has resulted in his wife being able to cut her working days back to just 3.   I am also grateful that Leah, his wife, is able to cut back her hours without jeopardizing her job in any way.   Joe and Leah have 5 children, and therefore a very full plate indeed.  I am also grateful that the Lord has given me the strength to help out with the babysitting while they are both at work, as this helps them out even more of course.  I am also grateful that most of the time they are both working does not happen at the same time so that for the most part they can care for their own children.   I do ENJOY my time for sure, but the 3 little ones are a definite hand full for this Grandma.  haha

I am also grateful that my little granddaughter Capri decided the other day that she just "needed to talk to Grandma Debbie" and so her mother let her call me up for a little chat.  Her little voice on the phone was soo sweet and just made my day for some reason.  She didn't seem to have anything particular to say, just wanted to say hi I guess.  But I love that she thought about me and that her mama was willing to take the time and help her make that call.

I am thankful and happy for my niece who got engaged this last week, and for the happiness that just kind of oozes out of her, haha,

And finally as always I am grateful for my Lord who has been my rock this week as I have struggled with my knees and some other issues.  I am grateful that He never tires of my weaknesses or needs and is always willing to be that one I come running to for strength, forgiveness, and unconditional acceptance and love.  He really does make my heart sing with joy.

To join other happy, grateful hearts click HERE.

Psalm 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

Just had to share a couple more collages of Grandma's sweeties.  Cody enjoying himself this morning with his musical riding Winnie the Pooh train, and my sweet little telephone caller Capri.  ENJOY

A TOTALLY RANDOM POST

This is going to be a post about alot of random things, haha

First I just had to share another one of my collages (so fun) that is of all the beautiful snow covered mountains that you can see pretty much everywhere around our house.  We live very near the base of the mountains which is always very pretty, but when they are covered in snow, as they are recently do to all the storms we had,  it is truly a spectacular sight which again is not really shown here as pretty as it really is.  It is very unique of California I imagine, as if you look closely in some of the photos you can clearly see the Palm trees with the mountains in the background.  Melody, I know you have really missed these mountains so this collage is especially for you, though you will be seeing them soon for yourself.  Also, I have had a few people ask both in comments and in e-mails what sight it is that my friend has pointed me towards where I am creating these collages.  I decided rather than to try and answer you all individually, I would just post it here.  It is a sight called picnik, and you can find it HERE.. I did purchase the primium package, as I knew I would want access to all the extra goodies.  However, it will do quite a bit of the options for free.  It is VERY easy to use which is important to me, as I can be such a glue when it comes to using these things.  Anyway, hope you all enjoy it and I can see some of the collages and special touches you can all come up with.

Psalms 76:4 You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains...

On a sad note, I wanted to ask you all to pray as Melody's husband's grandfather passed away early yesterday morning. He was SUCH a nice man and I don't know if I ever saw him without a smile on his face.  He has been battling lung cancer for the last several months.  The good thing is he knew the Lord, so today he is walking the streets of heaven no longer suffering the pain and physical limitations we all know in this world.  He was married for 55 years to a wonderful woman, Carol, who I'm sure will have much to adjust to in the next several months.  My heart goes out to her today and also to my SIL Mike as he was especially close to his grandfather.  Mike & Melody will be coming to California on Thursday to attend the funeral, so I am excited to see them if only for a little while.  They can't stay long as Mike is in the process of training a new feeder and just isn't comfortable leaving him alone for more than a couple of days.  Mike is totally responsible for the dairy now and it is somewhat of a heavy load for such a young man, but he does such a good job.  They do feed over 3000 cows, so there is much involved.  He is dealing with not only being saddened by the loss of his dear grandpa, but is also feeling the pressure of leaving all of this behind with someone who is really not quite ready for this much responsibility on their own.  Melody as well has her hands full as she is not only dealing with Mike concerns and feelings, but is battling a fairly decent cold as well, and will have to miss a few days of work.  They are also going to be flying here in a SMALL private plane, and she is QUITE stressed, as flying is not one of her favorite things already, and she is going to have to bring her small dog Baxter too.  Sometimes life is just plain hard.  As her mother I want to make everything right for her, but of course there is no way that I can.   I can only pray that all goes well, and ask all of you to please cover them, and everyone else involved, in prayer as well. 

And finally, I just must vent a little bit about my SLOW weight loss....I am feeling very frustrated as between the last couple of weeks I have only lost 1 and half pounds!!!  It is very difficult for me right now as I feel like I eat nothing (I really don't of course) but lose very little accordingly.  I must lose the weight, so I can do the surgery on my knees, so I can not only not suffer with the pain, but begin to be more productive.  I am sure one of the reasons for the slow loss is my lack of physical exercise.  I do push myself as much as I can, but I can't push too much as then I really hurt.  But at this rate, it might take me forever....I've no one to blame but myself for being in the position that I am so I try and keep my lips shut.  I also feel the Lord has really been able to deal with me in many areas as I have been forced to SIT STILL and be so much more dependent on Him.  But every once in a while, (like this morning at weigh in) I become annoyed with the whole thing, and feel the need to vent just a little bit.  I have lost 54 pounds I guess, but I feel like I have worked SOOOOO hard to do it, I am feeling a little tired of the whole thing.  OK, enough about this..

I am sorry this is long as usual...I do try, haha.  Thank you for your prayers for Mike & Melody, and may the Lord bless you all.

Debbie

On Thursday January 14, 2010 my niece Jessica got engaged to the love of her life Phil Patterson in Centrl Park in New York City, New York, as their horse drawn carriage ride came to a designated stop and the young couple got out and went for a brief stroll.  Phil had arranged for a saxohone player to be there playing one of their favorite songs, and the carriage driver to be in the back ground discreetly taking pictures.  Jessie was TOTALLY surprised, and it took her a minute or two to clue into not only what was happening, but the fact that her life was about to change forever.  It was a VERY romantic proposal, and we all just couldn't be happier for Jess & Phil. 

I have watched this young woman grow up in a very close up and personal way as she is not only my niece, and now my hairdresser, haha, but is my daughter Melody's best friend as well.  They are a mere 11 weeks apart.  It seems like as far back as I can remember those two girls were together, and she spent countless days and nights at our house.   Jessie is one of those people that to know her is to love her.  She is giving, and sweet, hard working, FUNNY, and full of life.  And is quite the talented hairdresser as well!  I am soo happy for her!!  Phil is a great match for Jess and we welcome him into our, somewhat overwhelming at times, family with open arms.

CONGRATULATIONS  Jess & Phil and may the Lord bless your coming marriage with all of His richest blessings, and may you love each other more and more every day.  Keep your eyes first and foremost on Him, and make Him the center of your relationship.   Here is a good verse to remember...

1Cor 13:4- 7 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

And this is a favorite of mine as well...

Sgs 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his...

I am soo looking forward to all the fun and exciting times that lay ahead for you Jess, and I pray these next few months of planning all the details for your special day, will be filled with memories and moments you will treasure forever.  Love you,  Aunt Debbie

GOD'S RAINBOW

This last week all of us who live here in Southern California were hit with a series of winter storms which resulted in LOTS and LOTS of rain, hail, lightening, thunder and cold and wet conditions which we just don’t usually have much of in this sunny state. Unfortunately, for many it also resulted in flooding, mud slides, and collapsed roofs just to name a few calamities. We, thank God, survived just fine and I personally enjoyed the “feel” of a winter storm. I caught up on all my laundry, straightened out a couple of messy closets, and spent the rest of the time either curled up with a book I promised to read for my granddaughter Annabel (to see if it was appropriate for her age.. which alas I did not) in my comfy chair and afghan. I also played around a lot with pictures on my computer on a new (for me) site that my friend Genn pointed me towards. It takes me a while to figure things out, but I am getting the hang of it, and had a really good time in the process. I did of course babysit my grandkids as usual as well, and I am happy to report that the baby Cody, who is rapidly approaching his first birthday, has finally begun to understand the word “NO” haha. Oh how much easier it makes it for me to just say this little word (quite firmly which Grandma does have a hard time with) and have him actually stop and change his direction and purpose. We still have lots of room for improvement, but in the meantime, lots less chasing went on this week. He is such a sweet, sweet baby. Grandma enjoyed him for sure this week. On Thursday morning I headed out to Newport Beach to have my hair done. (Oh how fast those gray roots grow!) I was especially looking forward to the time with my niece who does my hair as she got engaged last week and I was anxious to see her ring and hear the stories of the romantic proposal. I will tell more of that story later as I want to devote an entire post to this exciting news. But on my way home, in the late afternoon, I came upon one of the MOST beautiful rainbows I think the good Lord may have ever created. It was just GORGEOUS!! I have never seen one soo bright and spectacular. I did pull over a couple of times and tried to capture it on my camera, but it just didn’t do it justice it all. Maybe if I had a better camera, haha, or maybe some things are just never the way they are in person. But I did put together one of my “new” collages for you to see. I was struck, after seeing it, once again by the majesty of God and His creation. His promise to us in Genesis 9: 11-16 says:


Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

How I love this. His promise to all of us colors the sky in its unmatched beauty for all to see. Later that afternoon when my grandkids arrived, I told them about what Grandma had seen. I asked Jeffie to color me a picture of one while Lindsey was busy with her homework and Cody sat in his high chair making slow work of his teething biscuit. Jeffie said to me, “Grandma, why do we have rainbows?” And I suppose I could have given him all the scientific reasons of how they work, but I was happy to say with a thankful heart, “Because God promised them to us to enjoy.”

I know all of our hearts have been soo heavy with all that has happened in Haiti.  My prayers have been with them all constantly.  So much destruction is hard to understand.  But God's love and promises are as constant and plentiful as always.  I pray He watches over all the innocent little children especially, and fills the hearts and spirits of these people with hope for their futures.  We serve a mighty and awesome God who can bring healing from the ashes.

Blessings to you all,

Debbie

I am going to link this post to both Then Sings My Soul Saturday HERE, and Spiritual Sunday HERE. Be sure and read the other posts from these wonderful sights, you will be soo blessed, and may you all have a wonderful week-end.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE

Well, tomorrow is both Thankful Thursday and my SIL Mike te Velde's 24th birthday, so it seemed only appropriate to start this week's thankfulness with my gratefulness for this young man.

Mike & Melody's love story is really a pretty interesting one (or I think so anyway, haha) so this seems as good a time as any to share it.  This story was shared by her daddy during the toast at her wedding (much to her COMPLETE horror, haha) but every word of it is true...Melody was starting at a brand new Christian high school as a freshman and did not know a single soul.  Now she has never had a problem making friends, but this was a hard age to find herself not familiar with anything or anyone.  She decided to try out for the volleyball team so this gave her a head start at meeting a lot of girls since tryouts started a full month before school did.  She not only made the team, but very quickly became involved with a group of girls that she is friends with to this day.  But I am getting off track... (imagine that? lol) Anyway, one day about a week before school started I was picking her up from practice and she gets into the car seeming kind of flustered and weird.  Now Mel is not your typical girl in almost any way.  She is NOT a drama girl, is NOT overly emotional, and usually has her feet firmly on the ground.  So this mood was definitely an out of character one for her.  And she says to me, "Oh mom, I just had the WEIRDEST thing happen...."  and I said of course, "WHAT?? and she says, "I just met this boy."  Now again, Mel was not what I would have considered normal for a girl her age in that area either.  She had boys coming around wanting her attention ever since she had been a very little girl.  Now granted in the beginning all they really wanted was for her to play some sport game or another with them as she was always soo athletic, but again I regress.  But she had never really been too interested in boys as "boys" at all.  Now she was of course only 14, but it still had seemed a little weird to me.  So when she said she had just met this boy, I thought to myself, "Oh no, here we go..."  And so I said to her, "And?  Was he especially cute or something?"  and she said, "I don't know, I guess he was kind of cute, but that wasn't what it was."  I of course ask her, "Well, what HAPPENED?"  And she says, " I got introduced to him and I looked at him and when our eyes met I just got the STRANGEST feeling.  It was really weird mom.  Like I just KNEW in my heart I had just met someone who is going to be a VERY significant person in my life.  I just KNOW I am going to know him for the rest of my life."  And of course kind of freaked out now I said, "Well, what do you mean?  Like you might marry him someday or something?"  And she said, "I don't know, but I really think I could, but I know I am going to KNOW him forever."  Needless to say at the time I quickly dismissed this as just a weird thing and not to pay it much attention etc. etc.  However, considering this DID turn out to be the man she married, it was indeed a pretty significant occurence.  Now they didn't get together at that point, in fact it wasn't until late in their junior year of high school that they finally began to actually date, and Melody has never described this event as one where she fell in love at first sight or anything like that.  It was just almost as if somehow her spirit sensed that Mike was to be part of her life forever.  Pretty strange for a 14 year old girl.  I have thought that maybe it was because both her dad and I had begun to pray about the man she would one day marry practically from the time she was just a tiny baby, not knowing of course who on earth that might be.  And maybe when she met him the Lord just stirred her spirit a bit and she experienced that feeling.  But I think it is a very unique story, and telling it still gives me goose bumps sometimes. 

Mike is a strong, fun loving and caring man and the perfect match for Melody in many little ways.  I am so grateful that God brought them together and that he makes my daughter so happy.  He takes good care of her, and I feel she is safe and protected and cherished, and there is not much more a mother can ask for.  He encourages her to visit often and I am VERY grateful for that as well.  For those of you who do not know Mike is a dairy farmer and he and Melody moved 1000 miles away from us right after they married.  In fact, Mike had already moved there a year prior to their wedding so they spent their entire year of engagement 1000 miles a part.  And even though he moved my daughter away from me, I have never felt like I lossed a duaghter, but instead gained yet another wonderful son.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mike, and may the Lord bless you and keep you and make His fact to shine upon you now and always...

I had a lot of fun playing with my pictures on the computer the last couple of days.  I am grateful to Genn @ Life in the Hass House for informing me about this site, and also to Kristi @ Rush Hour for helping me tweak my blog more to my liking again.  I am also grateful for the time I spent with my sweet granddaughter Annabel on Sat. and for all the women who took the time to encourage me when I was feeling a little down a couple of days ago.  It blessed me more than you can ever know.  I am now going to share a few more fun pics of Melody and Mike.

These of course are pictures of their wedding day and the rehearsal...

The night they got engaged, New Years eve kiss, and sporting their favorite football teams jerseys, haha

Ok, I really am done playing with this now...Can ya tell I have LOTS of pics of Mike & Melody?

To check out the other grateful bloggers, please click HERE, I promise you, you will bless yourself so much.

This is just a test...haha...I found the sight Genn and made my collage, but I am not sure how to work much of anything...I did get the package you suggested, so guess I will just have to play with it.  OK, now to see if it fits in my skinny 2 column template...NOPE, had to go down to large and still didn't quite fit.  Help?? gotta make my template wider without getting soo big I can't do backgrounds...Is is possible??

SAVED BY GRACE

Tomorrow is Spiritual Sunday and as always my mind began to wonder a couple of days ago on what I should post this week. As I have mentioned before, I have a little collection of devotionals I wrote last year that I often draw from. But this week as I was browsing through them, I couldn’t seem to find one that suited where my heart has really been at this week. FINALLY (DUH) it occurred to me that I didn’t have to use one from my collection, but could focus in on where I have been these last couple of days or so with the Lord. This of course presented me with a whole new set of problems. This has not been an easy week for me. And no one wants to hear a downer, do they Lord? No one wants to hear about how I struggle, or complain, or worry, or fall soo short of having it altogether that it’s a wonder that I manage to get along at all sometimes. But the problem is that THIS is my life, sometimes anyway. All my days aren’t sunny and warm, and sometimes the storm clouds come and worse yet it thunders and pours down rain.

Whenever I am struggling with something, pretty much no matter what it is, my attitude it seems is never quite what I want it to be. Until I reach that point where I have finally let the Holy Spirit do His work anyway, I can be what I describe as just downright “grumpy”. I complain and whine, most times only in my own mind, but sometimes, left unchecked, I have even gathered speed and my unhappiness spills out around those who are unfortunate enough to be around me. Usually this means just my poor husband, but occasionally my “grumpiness” has been known to spill out on others as well. ALL of my children at one point or another have been standing in those shoes and felt the unpleasantness of mom being out of sorts, and so has the occasional phone solicitor, or even a rude store clerk from time to time. Now if I am being honest, I think as I have grown and matured and no longer suffer from “that time of the month”, I don’t have nearly as many of these kinds of times as I did when I was younger. I also like to think that as I have brought my mind, heart and spirit, and most of all my tongue, under the control of the Holy Spirit, I do so much better as well. But every once in a while, it rears its ugly head again, and I KNOW, this side of eternity, I will NEVER be that Christian I long to be. I have just found myself so frustrated this week as I have not only been fighting a nasty cough, (which is doing much better PRAISE GOD) but I have had to constantly deal with the fact that my knees just keep me from doing soo many of the things I want to do. Everything I go to do is difficult. And I am tired of it. I have to plan my day around how much time it might take me get something done, how far I might have to walk, how much they hurt before the day had even started, and on and on and on. They have hurt me every day for almost a year now to one degree or another, and I am tired of dealing with it. I need to finish my diet (or at least come a lot closer to my goal) before I consider doing the replacement surgery. And I am tired of my diet menu, and tired of the SLOW way the weight is crawling off, and tired of watching others eat what I would LOVE to eat as well. And I am having a MAJOR attitude problem this week with it all. For me, whenever I feel this ugly way, I want to hide my “real” self away from others so as to not first of all be annoying, but also to prevent being a bad witness of our wonderful Lord from others. I even have found myself (at times) hiding these real feelings from the Lord and praying that no one, most of all Him, would notice. But as I was feeling this way last night, and was searching the scriptures for some answer to my dilemmas, I came across this verse.

Psalm 139:2 -4 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, Oh Lord, You know it altogether.

How in the world could it NOT occur to me that the Lord knows me and my heart and my thoughts inside out and backwards? He knows, if no one else does, what I am capable of thinking, feeling, or worse yet saying, LONG before any of it forms in my head. But as I continued to read and pour out my heart to the Lord, He was finally able to work with me, and reminded me of so many of His wonderful truths. How grateful I am that He loves me just as I am. A sinner saved by grace. He truly has blessed me more abundantly than I can ever really thank Him for, or comprehend. His love makes me want to live my life to please Him more. He reminded me once again that while I may suffer with physical afflictions here on this earth, it is after-all only temporary. He does give me the strength to do the things I need to do every day, and provides me with His Holy Spirit to bring comfort and peace when I am hurting. How I love the Lord. He always is there for me even when I KNOW I am not pleasant to be around, loving me with that same unconditional love that drew me to Him in the first place. So I guess that is where my heart is this week; full of love and gratitude to a mighty God who loves me just as I am. A sinner saved by grace.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.


Romans 8:35, 36 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s richest blessings to you all,

Debbie


You can read the other Spiritual Sunday posts HERE

MY THANKFUL HEART

1Chronicles 29:13 "Now therefore, our God, We thank You And praise Your glorious name.

Well, today is Thankful Thursday and it just kind of snuck up on me.  When I realized this morning that it was, I felt a moment of panic that I had forgotten...TT is one of my favorite events to participate in.  But I thought to myself, I will just scoot over and read everyone's elses thankful hearts and join in again next week.  But as I read these wonderful posts, I was again stuck by ALL there really is to thank our wonderful Lord for, and couldn't resist to add my as well.  Soooo....

1.  I am thankful for my mother.  It seems the older and older I get, the more and more I appreciate her.  I love that no matter where she is or what she is doing she is happy to hear from me and will stop to chat even if it's only for a minute or two.  I love that we can so freely share our hearts with each other and KNOW that we each have someone forever and always and  NO MATTER WHAT in our corner. 

2.  I am thankful that this nasty cough I have had is definitely much better this morning, and is on it's way to being a distant memory.

3.  I am thankful for my husband who is ALWAYS there for me and whose presence in my life is steady and constant. That at the end of those REALLY ACTIVE AND BUSY days and week-ends that were busy and full with the blessing of our children and grandchildren, we can look at each other and smile and know, it's back to just me and you. 

4.  I am grateful that I found a winter coat for my grandson JD who needed one for winter camp for only $14.99!!  A REALLY nice one. 

5.  I am soo grateful that I can to spend a few hours this week-end ALONE with my precious granddaughter Annabel where we can talk and laugh and share with each other like we love to do. 

6.  I am thankful for the kindness of a complete stanger who not only provided me with a COMPLETED set of chipmunks for my grandkids (click HERE for that story, haha) but warmed my heart with the knowledge that sometimes you just come across the nicest people.

And as always, I am grateful for a Holy God who has blessed my life with more than I deserve for sure, and with so many wonderful people to share it with.  To bless yourself more than you can imagine, join the other thankful heart posts HERE.

Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving

A ONE TIME ONLY AWARD

Well I have given quite a bit of thought to this, and I have decided I am going to accept this "one" award from my friend Kristi over at RUSH HOUR. I don't usually accept awards for a number of reasons, the biggest one being, though it may not look like it (I gets LOTS of help from many different people) I am somewhat "computer challenged" and completing the various different linking back and forth requirements etc. etc. stresses me, and also because I don't like to single out which blogs I particularly enjoy by passing them on, when I sooo enjoy them ALL for many, very different reasons. But having said all this, I decided to accept Kristi's, though I am not completely sure how to even copy it and get over here to my blog. (like I said, somewhat slow on this stuff, lol) And the reason I am is because I feel like if it weren't for Kristi, I wouldn't be a blogger today, and for me, blogging has become a way of life I not only just flat out enjoy, but a way to meet new people and be challenged and inspired in ways I had no idea were even possible. I have ALWAYS loved to write, and I had heard of blogging and bloggers, but I really had NO IDEA what was involved. I began following hers (secretly) for a few months after I discovered it after ordering one of her delicious cakes that you can find HERE. I finally decided I would try one of my own. Somehow I managed to get one together and began posting. Now the writing part is easy. I just type from my heart. But the designing and decorating and the gadgets and pictures and links and all that is involved has taken me MONTHS AND MONTHS to figure out and somewhat handle, and I still struggle. In fact, I "somehow" changed the template I have got going now, and have no idea what to do to change it back. I may be walking in winter wonderland (even though I live in sunny California) for a LONG LONG time, haha. I finally began to follow some of Kristi's other blogs (when I figured out you could do that from her posted blog list) and met some truly wonderful people. For a few more months I followed their blogs till I finally began commenting etc., which has resulted in getting to know Kris, Maryrose, and Genn. I can't tell you how much I have come to care about these women and their lives. They are such a blessing to me. But today, let me tell you about Kristi. She is a beautiful young mother of two DARLING little girls, and is one of the hardest working, productive women I have come across in a long time. She works FULL TIME out of her home while taking care of her daughters, AND operates a very successful cake/cookie decorating business as well. Her cakes are truly works of art and unbelievable yummy too. I have ordered soo many I have lost track, and have received numerous compliments on her cakes (like I did anything other than order it) every single time I have bought one. You really do need to check out her blog YOUR SUGAR RUSH, and see for yourself. She is sweet, generous, funny, and her blog entertains me every time I visit. Her blog BTW is as creatively designed as she does everything else, and she designed it herself.  She helped me get mine together once when I went to "stretch", but I have messed it up and of course cannot find her carefully typed out instructions..(see # 6 below, haha) Oh, and I orginally discovered her cakes and cookies as she is the best friend of my niece Crystal. Sooo now, I will now attempt to follow along on the rules of this award which is to list 7 random facts about myself you probably don't know....even though as I was thinking about this all morning, and wondering IF I can even come up with 7, haha


1. I come from a large family where there are 6 kids whose names all begin with D....Diane, Debbie, David, Danae, Dean and Donna. My mom would get soo confused at times we were often called combinations of the various different names...haha Mine was frequently Di-ebra...How we knew this was me, instead of my sister Diane, I'm not sure, we just knew.

2. I am a fanatic when it comes to vacuuming. Why, I am really not sure. I just like that freshly vacuumed look. When my living room has been freshly done, I don't allow people to walk through it from the front door to the kitchen. That way you don't "see" footprints, the carpet stays really clean, and I always have a room that is company ready, even though I seldom have company. This drove all of my kids crazy, but it was my rule.

3. I play the piano fairly well. I have NEVER done anything with it though. I could have studied, practiced, and learned to "do" something with it (such as played at church or something) but I just chose not to for some reason. I play occasionally for my own enjoyment as it helps me to relax, and it does give me an outlet for stress. My kids STILL beg me occasionally to play.

4. I LOVED the movie Gone with the Wind for a number of reasons, but the biggest one being I just so enjoyed the love story between Scarlett and Rhett, and have collected MANY fun collectibles from it over the years.

5. I am somewhat "afraid" of my house cleaner. I have known and loved this wonderful woman for 20 years, but she is just kind of scary. Maybe it is because she is one of the rare women in my life who is not afraid to yell at me, haha See number 6 to know one of the reasons why.

6. I just can't keep an organized closet. I'm not sure what my problem is. My house "appears" to be neat, tidy, and organized at all times. Again, see number 2. But if you open ANY closet door, there is no telling what might be in there.

7. I am a VERY competitive woman at times, haha. I have always told everyone that my children get their competiveness from their dad, but I think they "may" have gotten some of it from me as well. I have recently beaten not only my husband, but all 3 of my highly athletic sons, at bowling on our Wii. Sooo fun.  And me with my arthritic knees guys...

OK, there you have it. 7 VERY random facts about me you might have been better off not knowing. I am not going to pass this award on to any other bloggers as WAY too many of you have BEAUTIFUL blogs as well and I could never chose just 7. HOWEVER, if anyone wants to post 7 random facts about themselves, this was really pretty fun, so please go right ahead. And we might get to know you a little better too.

A TOTAL RANDOM POST...

My son James and his family came up from San Diego about 1 o'clock Friday afternoon and spent the night, and then stayed until about 4 on Sat. afternoon.  How I enjoyed them as always.  On Friday Larissa and I hit a few stores for some after Christmas specials and found some really cute clothes for the girls including Little Sister/Big Sister shirts.  Sooo darling.  So of course we made plans to have their pictures taken together the next day.  Capri needed her 5 year old pics taken as well, so we did that too.  We had to wait soo long, but the girls were soo good.  We weren't sure how Donatella would be as she was starting to get tired of the whole plan by the time we were FINALLY called, but she perked right up and did really well.  Here are some of the best pics...

What a doll!

LOVE this picture

BIG blue eyes, and a sprinkle of freckles, soo cute!

Love her little pose here

Sisters (in their "sister" shirts)

Tella got her hair here, and yet Capri kept her pose, haha

I can't get the pictures any bigger as I am copying them from a sight that I PAID for and thought gave me total sharing rights, but apparently not, haha  You get the idea though.  They are soo much better bigger, but it is what it is.  That little purple (her favorite color) outfit Capri had on (while still a little big) was also part of our total bargain shopping.  Cost of the whole outfit?  7 dollars!!  I LOVE it, haha. 

Before my son's family arrived we had Bible Study which went very well.  A few of you sent me e-mails wondering what we are doing, so I decided to just post it here.  We are going through a book called Understanding Your Blessings in Christ by Elizabeth George, which is just wonderful.  I have done a few of her studies in the past and have always been soo blessed.  We go through our lesson and then spend quite a bit of time in prayer.  We finish it up with lunch and fellowship.  I do lead this study though there is not much to it.  We have been blessed a few times when my son comes and just gives a little overview study on the book in the Bible we are studying.  We have done Ruth, Esther, and one just looking into effective prayer.  How I wished ALL of you who are interested could come sometime.  If you are ever in our area on a Friday morning you would be most welcome.   And for those of you who do live close enough (Kristi, Genn, Maryrose, Kris just to name a few, haha) I would LOVE to have any of you join us as well.  I did take a pic of our newest "lady"....little Priscilla Jane.  We covered this little one in prayer all last year and have been soo blessed to have her sweet little presence here now.  In the meantime, if ever any of you have a prayer request, we would be soo privileged to lift it to the Lord. 

Soo sweet

She has these HUGE dimples when she smiles..

I also need to post a BIRTHDAY greeting for my sweet grand daughter Annabel Class who turned 13 years old yesterday!!  13!!  I can hardly believe it.  Such an incredibly sweet girl whom I love beyond reason. 

It seems like yesterday that she was born, and in other ways such a long time ago.  Annabel makes her home with her other grandparents (SUCH a long story) but my son (Joe) does have her on week-ends, and holidays, etc.  It makes it hard for me to get much one on one time with her, but I do get my opportunities and I am all over them.  We enjoy a connection I am soo grateful for and she shares her heart with me quite willingly.  She has even taken to calling me recently on the phone when she has a "story" that just can't wait, haha. 

She is a typical 13 year old "girly" girl and enjoys shopping, music, clothes, sports, and unfortuntely, boys, haha.  She has an outgoing, extroverted personality and has been a cheer leader so far during junior high.  She does VERY well in school and is blessed to be going to the same Christian schools I sent Melody too as well.  How funny it is to have the teachers and staff ask if she is in any way related, haha. 

If all goes as planned I am to spend the day enjoying her next Sat.  We will do lunch, shopping and possibly a movie, (we love to hit the "girly" ones together) and then come back to our house where the whole family will enjoy pizza and cake.  I soo look forward to seeing all the Lord has in mind with this precious little life.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet little Belle, and may the Lord bless you, and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you now and forever more....Love you forever and always, Grandma

She LOVES Aunt Mel

One more little random story...On Thursday of last week I was talking to my sisters on the phone and heard that McDonald's is giving away Chipmunk toys as their Happy Meal giveaways.  And?  you might wonder...Well, I just knew that 3 of my little grandkiddies would just LOVE those little guys and gals.  Soo I began my search.  I left that afternoon with the plan of hitting up ALL the local McDonald's if I had to until I had collected 2 full sets of these to give to them.  Well, it started out easier than I thought as I very quickly had all but the 2 Simon's I needed to complete my their collections.  After exahusting 5 different McDonald's with NO Simon's I had only 1 more to go.  I figured worse case they would all have a few to play with, and what would it matter if they didn't have THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE!!  haha  I saw days of searching which just might include my husband and others searching for me as well as far as I could see.  I pulled into the drive thru and told the gal what I was looking for.  She told me they did INDEED have two Simon's.  I was giddy.  I paid my money and pulled ahead to the pick up window and got my little bag.  After driving away from the window I decided to check the bag and sure enough, there was only 1 Simon!!  and some other girl one.  I quickly pulled into a parking spot and hobbled in and told the gal behind the counter my problem.  She said, "Oh I KNOW we had 2 Simon's.  I SAW them."  Soo she begins digging through this box and there is NOT another one.  Feeling sad for whichever of my grandkids was not to get the sought after Simon I turned to go and this older gentlemen who was standing there (having heard the whole thing....I PROMISE I wasn't loud) and he said to me...."Who are you looking for?  I have got 3 boxes here.  Maybe I have one."  Now I am thinking, "OH yes, would you PLEASE dig through your boxes and see!!" but aloud I said, "Oh sir, that is OK...I don't expect you to dig through your boxes just to see."  But he says, "Oh it's no problem."  Box 1 and 2 held the same easily found girl one, BUT in box 3, the much wanted Simon!!  I said, "That's him!" wanting to grab it out of his hand, but completely controlling myself.  He hands him to me saying, "Here you go..."  I quickly gave him the other random girl and thanked him sincerely and left quickly.  Sometimes you just run into the NICEST people.  Thanks to this random stranger my grandkids enjoyed the FULL SET of chipmunks and had hours and hours of fun playing in their little imaginary world this week-end.  I believe JD slept with one of them, and I know they joined us for pizza... THANK YOU whoever you are!!

Just noticed how long this is, sorry!!  haha

ABIDE IN HIS LOVE

John 15:9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love...

As I read this simple, yet profound scripture this morning, my mind began to really dwell on how much is really packed sometimes into just a few simple words. I have such a tendency at times to just skim through the scriptures that I have become so familiar with over the years without letting my mind REALLY meditate on all it really has to say, that I often times miss the MANY blessings that are really there for me. So as I was pondering this scripture, I began to ask myself a few questions. What does it REALLY mean to "abide" in the Lord's love? I looked up the word in the dictionary, and here is what it said;

to wait for, to endure without yielding, withstand, to bear patiently, to accept without objection, to remain stable or fixed, to continue in a place..

So, as I began to let my head and heart get around what it really means to abide, I found that it gives me a very clear picture of the kind of love that first God the Father had for His Son Jesus, and then the kind of love that Jesus has for us, and finally the kind of love that we are to abide in. The Father's love for Jesus was of course perfect. And Jesus loves us with that same perfect, love. It endures no matter what. It accepts us without objection. That alone is enough sometimes to make me really wonder at the magnitude of His love. It really doesn't matter how much I've sinned, or what I may have done in my past, or what I might do in my future, He loves and accepts me period. He loves withstands and bears with me patiently as I wonder at times, and His love endures without yielding no matter I might say, do, or think. His love remains stable, fixed and continues always.

Jer 31:3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love...

When my youngest son James was born his personality was sweet, outgoing, and extroverted. His zest for life and his enthusiasm for fun and laughter were downright contagious. He was almost 4 years younger than his older two brothers and 6 full years older than his little sister. So for a few years he was my constant little companion and buddy and I enjoyed him more than I could explain. Loving him was so easy. As he grew into a VERY active and busy young boy I began to dream about all that the Lord could do with the man I knew he could grow into being. But during his oldest teenaged years he decided to make things difficult on us all. He began to rebel and question everything we had labored to teach him. He began to experiment with a life style that would lead him down a road that no mother ever wants to see her child on. My heart was soo heavy for him as I began to fear where his choices might lead him. I can honestly tell you that no matter what was going on, my love for him NEVER wavered or faltered, but he was no longer in a place where I could bless him as I wanted to. I couldn't "help" him with money or assist him in any way that would have required trust on my part.   I also knew of course that there was no way for him to experience true joy in his life that can only come from a real relationship with the Lord, and that his life would definitely bring about only hardships and trouble eventually. This particular story has a happy ending in that at age 19 James not only gave His life completely to the Lord, but decided to go to Bible College. This decision helped his dad and I to again begin blessing him with all that we could to make his life easier and productive. We provided him with a car (old, but reliable) to get back and forth to school and work, and money to attend the college. He eventually went on to become the High School Pastor for Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, serving the Lord full time and living his life for Him.

Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

As Christians, we all at times of course make choices and decisions where we are no longer "abiding" in that perfect love of God, and move ourselves outside of that place where the Lord can bless us as He wants to. How foolish we can be. How wonderful is it that this PERFECT love is where I am to abide? A place where the Lord can bless me every day with all He has for me. I can't think of a better place to be.

To bless yourself with the other Spiritual Sundays posts click HERE.

THE BLINK OF AN EYE

Jer 17:7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope IS the LORD.

Tomorrow is Thankful Thursday and my heart as always is full of the many little things going on in my life right now that I am thankful for.

As most of you know, I babysit my oldest son Joe's children a couple of days a week.  With the holidays and such I have been on a much needed break.  In fact I have not spent much time at all with the baby, Cody, who will be a year old next month since that WILD day a couple of weeks ago when I got their pictures taken.  If you missed that post you can read about it HERE.  Anyway, this morning my son brought the baby over and I was quite anxious to see him.  I can't believe how much I missed that sweet little face.  He was soo happy to see his Gamma too.  He is soo active and has perfected his walking now and gets around in that darling little toddle type walk typical to babies as they are first learning.  He laid his head down on my shoulder and was content to just lay there a while, as I sang to him.  On a side note, you'd have to be a baby who doesn't know any better to enjoy MY singing, haha.  But for some reason it has always calmed Cody, and he enjoys it.  At noon we headed over to the school to pick up Jeffie, the KG, and brought him back to fix both of the boys lunch.  He too was happy to see me, though I have spent a couple of days with him and his sister Lindsey during my "break".  They aren't nearly as much work for this Grandma and so we had done a couple of movies and play days together.  But back to today...Jeffie wanted me to fix all of his favorites for his lunch, which of course I was happy to oblige him with.  He talked almost non stop as he frantically tried to get all his stories told in between his baby brother Cody's interruptions.   At one point he said to me, "Grandma, I just have soo much to tell you.  Let's just put Cody to bed."  haha  Another hour or so later and their daddy arrived to pick them up.   After they left and I sat enjoying the quiet after I tidied up the kitchen, I thought to myself, how blessed you are to be able to spend this time with them.  Before you know it, in a blink of an eye, they will grow and mature, and won't need me to watch them as they toddle about, or be picked up from KG and have their lunches fixed.  They won't curl up in my lap and want me to sing.  It really is amazing to me how quickly they grow.  So let's see....

1.  I am thankful I got a MUCH needed break from my babysitting.

2.  I am thankful I got 2 whole hours to myself this morning with that sweet little toddling baby.

3.  I am thankful he is healthy, and active, and curious, and LOVES his Gamma.

4.  I am thankful for little Jeff and his obvious enjoyment of his time with me.

And a few others I can think of without much effort are..

5.  I am grateful that as I took a break from 6 months of Jenny Craig, that I only gained 2 pounds!  I went somewhat beserk, haha, but I got all it out of my system and feel ready for another 6 months at least.

6.  I am grateful that our women's Bible study group at my house is starting up again on Friday morning, as I have really missed it and the ladies.

7.  I am REALLY grateful (for the first time I think) that I am at this season in my life.  Where I don't have the daily responsibility of children, but yet have soo many little ones to enjoy whenever I would like.  I am free to spend my days as busy as I do sometimes, and yet free as well to not do much of anything at all.  My husband and I can enjoy each other's company and spend our week-ends doing whatever WE would like. (if we don't have any "chores" that is, haha)  I read a couple of blogs this week where the young girls talked about how hard it is to get babysitters and enjoy "date nights" with their men.  I remember those days well, and it has made me grateful that I no longer deal with any of that.   But as always I am grateful for my Lord and Savior Jesus.  I am grateful for this New Year He has blessed me with, that is laying before me waiting to be filled with times and memories such as these, and serving Him in any way He would chose to use me. 

I have a few random pictures I want to share with you as well.  ENJOY them, and may the Lord bless you all as you go about these new days of 2010..

Jeffie, the day I took him to see Alvin and the Chipmunks.  He LOVED the movie.  We had a really good day together just the two of us.  I justy noticed his teeth are somewhat blue cuz Grandma let him have a blueberry icee, haha

One day during Christmas break I took my two grandkids, Jeffie and Lindsey, down to my sister Donna's house to enjoy the day with her two children, Katie & Blake.  The kids had such a GOOD time playing together.  We all also went out to lunch and to see Princess and the Frog as well.  How cute are they?

And I just had to share this story about JD, haha  My daughter in law Larissa posted a blog the other day about what happens to Ginger bread houses after Christmas.  This year two of their kids, Capri and JD wanted to eat the candy off the house etc.  They were told that after Christmas, they could.  Soo I guess Capri carefully picked her chosen pieces of candy off the house and ate them, while JD chose to go somewhat beserk and just bit into the roof....haha  Such a Class that boy.   How grandma loves him!!

To enjoy other thankful posts click HERE.

Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

TO PLEASE HIM

2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.


There are some opportunities for pleasing God that we will only have while present in these bodies here on earth. When we get to heaven, there will no longer be the need for faith, no more need for endurance through trials, no more need for courage and boldness in telling others about Jesus. But now, while we are present in these bodies, it is our only opportunity in all eternity to please God in these areas.

I wonder sometimes if I am truly pleasing Him with my life in all I not only do, but what I think? If Jesus is truly my Savior and my Lord, then the deepest desires of my heart should be to serve and please Him, and that desire will be expressed in a longing for holiness and a pattern of righteous living. It won't be caught up in trying to please everyone else around me. I have certainly learned over the years that it never quite happens anyway. Pleasing God must be my goal. As this New Year begins I have prayerfully considered what my goals for this year might be. I haven't done too well in the past making resolutions and trying to stick to those, but have found that I do much better setting goals for myself and working towards them. I have many areas I need and could focus on, but I have decided for me that if I just stick with the one goal of pleasing God in any way that I can, pretty much all the other ones will be addressed anyway. I have chosen two verses that I am going to cling to this year...

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

The Lord knows the plans He has for my life. They are GOOD plans..to both bring about my ultimate good and give me hope and a future. I don't have to stress and worry and wonder what I might or should do, but just trust that Lord has all the pages of my life firmly in His capable hands, and I will trust Him to lead me day by day. I just need to strive EACH DAY to please Him.

Lamentations 3:22-24 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him."

It is not as a question of "if" I will fail, but "when" I will fail. But in spite of this fact, I love that the love the Lord has for me will NEVER stop. His mercies toward me NEVER come to an end. That every day is a new day with new opportunities to please Him. To serve Him. He is all I will ever need. And therefore, I WILL hope in Him.

PSALM 34: 1-4 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

I want this favorite portion of scripture to be my mindset for 2010. I want Him to be what I seek after in this next year and for my goal to be to please Him in any way that I can. I want praise for Him to be continually in my mouth. For if I seek the Lord, He WILL hear me, and deliver me from all my fears.

Many thanks go to Charlotte and Ginger for hosting this Spiritual Sundays.  For other posts click HERE.