Taa Daaa!!!

Long time, no write...I know....but I MUST take this opportunity to introduce to you our new little Grandbaby!!! I will blog again, very soon I am sure, with more information and pictures, but had to get these up before I headed back over to start spoiling her...a Grammie's gotta do what a Grammie's gotta do!

Granmmie and LeaGrandpa and Lea

Grandma Renee and LeaAnd introducing Lea...not sure of middle name yet....Jackson!! WOOHOOO

The simple Woman's Daybook June 16

FOR TODAY (June 16)...(was supposed to be yesterday, but oh well)


Outside my window...a little foggy/rainy this morning...loving the neighbors beautiful flowers around their yard.



I am thinking...I should have eaten before drinking this really strong cup of coffee...shake shake



I am thankful for...who God made me to be, knowing that I am gifted with what HE wants me to do, not what I think I need to figure out so I can do.


From the kitchen...back to the Buffalo meat loaf today...forgot to pull meat out of freezer last week, so today is the day.


I am wearing...PJ's and a sweater...lets face it people, if I could live in my Jammie's, I would!



I am creating...hmmm, I think I need to find the definition for "creating" cause I don't feel very creative.



I am going...taking the kids to summer rec, then off to town to find a new handbag, the one I got for my birthday fell apart, got my money back and looking for a new one.



I am reading...have not started yet...but I am going to start the Little House On The Prairie series with my little ones....will be our reading for over the summer.



I am hoping...that my husband has a wonderful stress-free week at work...he is starting a new job(he is a painting contractor, so he is always starting a new job) and he usually gets himself worked up about time with a new job...so I am hoping he just relaxes, God blesses him and he just enjoys what he loves doing...painting.



I am hearing...silence....cannot express how much I love silence...well there is still this pesky ringing in my ear, but I choose to ignore it.



Around the house...little clean up here and there, try to get a couple of things organized.


One of my favorite things...chocolate.....I LOVE chocolate!



A few plans for the rest of the week: hopefully not much...regular schedule of bible studies, other than that, the biggest thing will be company coming this weekend and bringing my son home with them. Hopefully it will be great weather and we can go to the creek.



Here is picture thought I am sharing.....
Maggie's very fun kindergarten graduation...I cannot get over how fast the kids are growing!

Time Keeps on Slippin

Sometimes I am in awe at how fast time goes by. For instance....I could swear I just gave birth to Maggie and entered the strongest prayer mode ever because she was not breathing when she was born, and took three days to start breathing on her own....but now, here I am, getting ready for her kindergarten graduation tomorrow. It really does feel like I just walked her into her class for the first day of school....but that was several months ago.

Then there is Noah...he is already 8 years old, becoming more independent in the last month than he has ever been...trying out tricks on his bike...building elaborate Lego projects...about to enter the third grade.

And Tom...I don't even know where to begin with Tom. He is about to enter his senior year of high school...he works every day, very hard....but above it all....he has joined the Army. My little baby, my firstborn...my anchor to this earth when it was just me and him, and now he is a son to my husband, a brother to my little ones....and a soldier. I have a year to stew that over in my mind....he is a young man, who is such a joy to me...to all of us.

Erik and I have been married nearly 9 years....where did it all go? I think we take time for granted. We think we have so much of it. We think we can't wait for certain times to be done and over with. Sometimes, we want other times to last forever. But none of the above are the cold hard fact of life...time just keeps going and going and going.

I am thinking I need to start taking better care of my time. I certainly take time for granted. I get so busy waiting for time to hurry up and get to what I want, that sometimes I miss the time I have now. Again, with me and my music...there is a chorus by a group called "Downhere", the song is called "Don't Miss Now", here is the chorus:

You get bumped and bruised and worse
For choosing the road less traveled
You know the reward is rich
If you persist through the darkest battles
Open your eyes,Your prize is right before you, somehow
Whatever you do, just don't miss now

I need to resolve that "whatever I do, just don't miss now"
Have a wonderfully blessed day!

The Simple Woman's Daybook June 8

FOR TODAY (June 8)...

Outside my window...beautiful sunshine burning the mist off of the wonderful mountains outside my window

I am thinking...I hope this week FLIES by so we can go to Medford...can't wait to see good friends again.

I am thankful for...good friends, a hard working husband who loves me and children who still adore their mommy! IN SHORT: I am thankful for LOVE!

From the kitchen...thinking of making buffalo meatloaf tomorrow...tonight is home fellowship, and someone else is bringing dinner.

I am wearing...P.J. bottoms that look like a bag of popcorn, a p.j. shirt and a sweater and slippers.

I am creating...I am hoping to buy and plant some flowers...so I guess I am gonna try creating an arrangement of plants outside this week...maybe...if time and money allows.

I am going...taking the kids to this last Monday of school for the year..and counting the days till Medford.

I am reading...still have not found a book to read yet...I need to look through the ones I have and have not read yet...hmmm

I am hoping...this week (well part of it anyway) goes by fast!

I am hearing...kids getting ready for school and Erik fixing Maggie's bike outside....bike rodeo today at school.

Around the house...there is a mountain of laundry calling my name!

One of my favorite things...that first thing in the morning when the sun is out and all is quiet except for the birds chirping away outside, and being thankful that you live in small town, in a quiet part of town and don't have to listen to traffic...just the birds and the family!

A few plans for the rest of the week: birthday lunch with a friend...kindergarten graduation...and a trip to Medford.

Here is picture thought I am sharing.....

One of my many beautiful views out my window...I love the mountains!!

Rambling?

I am feeling a new sort of freedom. I am still dealing with some of the fingers of sickness...however not NEARLY what I have had for the past couple of weeks. My freedom comes in the letting go. There is a peace to be had in the letting go...I am thankful I have that peace. It is a process I am going through...this letting go. My heart still aches to be close (physically) to EVERYONE I love...seeings how part of the people I love live here, others in Medford, others in Stockton and still others in Waltham and Texas and North Carolina....it would be impossible for me to be with them all at the same time. So, I am retraining my heart. When those moments come that I ache for one or all of them...I tell my heart that it's OK to ache for them and to want to be close to them, but you are where you are supposed to be, and while you can't visit all of them....say from Texas east....I can call or write, and I can visit the ones close by. I just need to remind my heart to be content here....and it's working. God is so good to me, I no where near deserve His grace and His mercy and His comfort, and yet.....here it is. It's here in the knowing to be content where HE has me, and in the contentedness of knowing HE has EVERYTHING under control. I guess you can say I am in a season of realizing (again like my last post) there are things about me that I never really realized were there...like control. I always thought God had control of my life...and HE did...just not TOTAL control of my life. I thought I had given HIM total control, but have recently realized, I had not. I think that is what I needed to be shown in order to be content. My "hurricane" of feelings was fueled by my lack of COMPLETE surrender of EVERYTHING in my life...including my future, my past and my present..my kids, my husband, my ministry, my church, my friends, my home. Had I been delusional all this time, thinking I had surrendered all? I don't think so. God knows my heart, and he knows my desire is complete surrender...He is just showing me where I surrendered, then somewhere along the way, picked it back up again and tried to take control. When you can let go of control in your life....it is like a weight lifted off of you, that you didn't know you had, and you can actually breathe again....you can take deep breaths of freedom and enjoy every moment God has planned out for you, even the ugly moments, because you KNOW that there is a lesson in the "ugly" that will make you stronger in Him.

I probably sound like I am rambling...maybe I am....I just know that I am in the middle of a wonderful lesson with my Jesus....and I am SSSOOO excited about the future......and the present.

Have a wonderfully blessed day.

A Far Stretch To Simple

I love the Lord SSSOOO MUCH!!!

If I were honest with myself, I would have to admit that I have had a hurricane brewing within me for quite some time now. It's funny how we don't always recognize that hurricane in us...we just think it's a normal everyday feeling. I have been sick since a week ago Sunday. I AM feeling better...but not completely yet. I only mention I have been sick because that sickness has taken me out of "life" for a week and a half. I am usually much more on the go, much more busy around here, and have MUCH more on my mind. I hate being sick, but I love that when we are sick, it gives us the opportunity to shut ourselves up long enough to hear from God. I think HE has allowed my sickness to linger, so I can learn a couple of things about myself that I either didn't know, or wasn't willing to admit.

I remember several years ago, my Grandma Ella May once said of me that I would never be content to stay in one place for very long...that I always need change, always need to move or be on the go...etc. etc...never "hunker down" in one place for good. I remember that it hurt me that she said that, because, in my mind, even way back then, my dream was always to have a place to call home...a place to stay forever (as forever as we can be here on this earth serving the Lord). A place that I would NEVER have to pack up and move away from again....and the thought that SHE thought I would never be that person, hurt my feelings. I KNOW she did not say it in a hurtful way, and she would have been crushed to think she hurt my feelings...but that statement has always stuck with me. Every time we have moved, I hear Grandma's voice.

I have been in a place where I desperately want to move again, and I don't even know why. I feel like Nebraska is on my mind...I don't know why....I have dear friends in Medford, and would love nothing more than to live near them all, to the point I was almost making myself sick from the fact that I don't live near them, and can't see them anytime I want.

So, what's my point in all of this? In this sickness over the last week and a half, I have been completely, overwhelmingly reminded that "Godliness with contentment is great gain" 1 Timothy 6:6 Contentment...this really has not been one of my strong suits. I mean...I AM content in many many things, but I am NOT content in a few things that I need to let go of. So, I am letting go of moving away (not that that was ever really an option). I AM content here...I have wonderful friends who I desperately love, we live in a beautiful little town, with a wonderful little church, Erik and I were just discussing what wonderful teachers our kids have had this year...we love our little school, we live in a beautiful home (we rent, but who knows what God will provide where that is concerned). I am letting go of having to know what's around the corner for us...God has that under control. I am letting go of feelings that have been feeding me lies: You need to move to Nebraska to be in Gods will....you need to move to Medford to be near new friends and in God's will.

"A Far Stretch To Simple"...I have learned that true contentment for me in going to come in the form of simplicity. I am a far stretch from simple now...but with God's help, for my role as wife and mom, I want to move us to the simple life....less gadgets....more campfires.....less t.v. ....more family walks.....less fast food (which we have been doing immensely better at)..... more fresh food (maybe a trip to farmers market?) I wish I knew how to sew, and make jams...etc....I know it all sounds so "Little House On The Prairie" but, what's wrong with that?

Lord, thank You for this time of sickness!
Have a wonderfully blessed day!

P.S. I should mention that we only live 3.5 hours away from Medford, and I CAN go there pretty much anytime I want. AND I only live 6 hours away from my wonderful sister and her family....can't get there as much as I want...but I sure make the effort to do so. A 6hr trip is a far cry from when they lived in Wyoming....thank the Lord they are soooo much closer now.

Breathing

WHEW!!! I HATE BEING SICK!!!
Over Memorial weekend we had a brilliant plan to go the property and spend the night on Sunday and the most of the day on Monday....however, Sunday I started sneezing like crazy...I mean crazy crazy. So we persevered through the night around the campfire (my favorite part of camping by the way) and then went to bed. Not sleep so much, just bed....I had a hard time sleeping with the ever increasing pressure building up in my sinus's and my throat killing, then came the wonderful body ache...needless to say....I was worthless by Monday. We came home, hoping I would get better, but I progressively got worse....so bad I finally caved and went to the Dr....turns our that I indeed have a sinus infection.....but I also acquired an ear infection. Ahhh, the joys of sickness. Well, today is a new day, with a few days of meds in me....and I CAN FINALLY BREATHE AGAIN!! WOOHOO. Still a little bit of sinus issue but not too bad...the ear on the other hand....still have about half my hearing and a whole lot of ringing.
When you are as sick as I have been this last week....it gets depressing. Well, it used to get a whole lot more depressing...watching my house get dirtier and dirtier, watching my kids eat cereal for dinner because I am too sick to get up and make anything and my husband is working late...you know, all the mommy things we do....well....don't get done. In the past, that would have really depressed me and fed into my "I am a failure" mentality....I did feel it creeping up on me, but I decided to take the opportunity to just rest in the Lord, and draw from His strength and peace, and remembered that, this too shall pass, and I may have a little more work than normal when I come out of this, but it will get done...this housework and cooking (spaghetti for kids tonight, not cereal). I hate this struggle I get into of having to remind myself all the time that it's not about me...even when I am sick, it's not about me.

Breathing: when I can finally let go of all that binds me like a girdle and hinders my ability to breathe....when I can give it to Jesus, and he loosens those bindings and I take my first deep breath....breathing is wonderful....freeing.....breathing is life. Help me Lord to not bind myself up anymore, but to live in the freedom that IS YOU!!

Have a wonderfully blessed day!