Long Time, No Type

Whew...it has been a loooong time since I have been able to really sit down and take a few minutes to write something. We have been a busy busy family, and now our church is gearing up for our ladies retreat, which I am organizing for the most part, and making sure our ducks are in a row has been a little time consuming. On top of all of that, my son the Army Recruit/Future Soldier just got promoted to E3, which is a big deal to all of us, we just planned a trip to Stockton for Thanksgiving and decided to take the kids to Disneyland for the few days before Thanksgiving, so we are in full hyper-active mode! I am so thankful for all the many blessing God has given us. Just sitting here, typing this blog and listening to the new David Crowder Band cd....I am overwhelmed by His presence...he does a remake of "I Can Feel You" and I love the line...I can feel you all around me, thickening the air I'm breathing....I just have to say Thank God for always being there, always being around me, always thickening the air I breath with YOU!!! Still not a lot of time to type today...hopefully I will get to my Simple Woman Daybook on Monday....sorry if this post seems a little erratic...just overwhelmed by the Lord and everything He is doing in my life...and I do mean overwhelmed!!
Many blessings to all!!

Simple Woman's Daybook Sept. 8

For Today...September 8

Outside my window... cool morning, quiet, calm a good mix of fog and sun...only the Lord knows what the day will turn out to be.

I am thinking... How blessed I am with a great family, wonderful friends, and wonderful adventures (not matter how small they may seem to others)

From the learning rooms... I learned that if you put your pointer finger up and blow out a candle with it between you and the candle...the wax won't splash! Maybe I should have known this all along, but it's true, you learn something new every day!! Thanks Mike and Julene for my lesson. ;0)

I am thankful for... fellowship with good friends, old and new...had a great weekend.

From the kitchen...well, we are close to out of food...we ARE out of coffee and that is as close to sin and I care to get...so I have to go to the market today...then I will know what is "from the kitchen" today.

I am wearing... Jeans, long sleeve shirt with a guitar pic on it that says "Pick Jesus" and slippers.

I am reading... mmmmm, one of these days I am going to be able to actually put the title of a book that I am reading on this line.

I am hoping... for heaven, or a place and time when all my friends and I can all be in the same zip code at the same time and be able to fellowship whenever we want....something tells me that is gonna have to wait for heaven.

I am creating... a new attitude about life and love and who God is in my life and love.

I am praying... that the Saunders family does not catch this nasty head cold Erik and I acquired while there...and that we quickly get over it.

Around the house... some clean up here and there...maybe try to find some time for this reading thing you speak of.

One of my favorite things...is knowing that God's mercies are new every morning and there is NOTHING I go through, that He is not fully aware of, and all He wants from me is to trust Him, and let Him hide me under the shadow of His wings, so He can tend to me and my heart.

A few plans for the rest of the week... catching up of housework, and laundry...I am watching grand baby this Friday evening, high schooler's back-to-school night on Wednesday.....hmmm, that may sum it up for me.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Could not decide if I should post a picture of the beautiful Union Creek Gorge, the wonderful pictures of of my friends, or the wonderful pictures of (most) of my family, or a picture of the beautiful Crater lake, then I had to pick which one of the Crater Lake pictures I wanted to add....decisions decisions. We had a great time!!

Simple Woman's Daybook Aug. 31

For Today...August 31

Outside my window... Foggy morning, we have been having a lot of those lately...I love it, the end of summer is upon us and the start of fall will soon be here.

I am thinking... It's getting close to the time to get my kids up and ready for school, and await my little granddaughter to come spend the morning with her Grammie.

From the learning rooms... Getting ready to start a new bible study called "Outflow"

I am thankful for... A God who is with me always!!

From the kitchen...for today...we have finger food on Monday's for our bible study, so I am making some pigs-in-a-blanket and some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

I am wearing... Jeans, "tee"shirt, black sweater and slippers.

I am reading... I am finding it SO hard to find time to read...but I gotta get to it!

I am hoping... TODAY, I am hoping my husband and I can get past being snooty to each other.

I am creating... a mess with my attitude.

I am praying... that I snap out of it and stop acting like a baby!

Around the house... lots of cooking to do today, but the best part of my day will be holding Lea...one of the best parts of being a Grammie is that you can hold onto your little one for as long as you want and never put them down...well, until Mommy comes to get her.

One of my favorite things... WINTER!!! I CANNOT WAIT FOR WINTER TO GET HERE!

A few plans for the rest of the week... typical everyday busy-ness for us around here this week, with the one exception that we get to go to Medford again this weekend....I am so excited!!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

A couple of my Medford friends!!

Whew!

Well, it seems like a terribly long summer...but at the same time I cannot believe that my kids are already back in school. I love love love my kids, but I am sure enjoying the wonderful peace of silence. Does that make me a bad mom? I don't think so....I think it makes me a REAL mom!

We did a study over the summer with our women's group called "Me, Myself, and Lies", by Jennifer Rothschild. I have to admit, I did not get all the homework done, but I intend to. I really loved this one though.. it's all about what we say to ourselves and how that effects us. It does bring to mind the scripture that says "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" and I have been working very hard to do that this summer. I am very very good at bad self/soul talk. You know....I am a terrible wife, mom, friend, christian....just an all in all failure....HOWEVER, I know that is NOT how God sees me, and if He knows me better than I know me, and I have made him ruler, king and controller of my life, then, why do I sometimes not believe what He believes about me? Why do I allow myself or the enemy to tell me lies about who I am, or what I have done? I think it's time to take back my life, take back my mind, away from me and the devil and give them back to God whole heartily, so my mind can be covered with HIS love, HIS word, HIS Son. I know that is where my peace, joy, and strength will come from.

Other than that...I am hoping to get back into the swing of things around here, get our routine in order...if we even have a routine. I DO get to watch my granddaughter, Lea, on Monday's so that is new for us. It will be such a joy watching her grow. Well, I hope everyone has a very very blessed day!

The Simple Woman's Daybook August 25

For Today...August 25

Outside my window... kids on their way to school....sun shining on the trees...a bit of a chill in the air...it is a BEAUTIFUL morning.

I am thinking... what a full summer we had, despite me wanting a nice calm summer...but loving every minute (well ALMOST every minute) of it all.

From the learning rooms... knowledge is information, wisdom is knowing what to do with that information.

I am thankful for... the fact that I have been REDEEMED!! WOOHOO!!!

From the kitchen...waiting for my elusive cup of coffee...looking at a pile of dishes that need to be put in the dishwasher.

I am wearing... Jeans, thermal long sleeve shirt, and tennies.

I am reading... getting ready to read (and hopefully apply) Curt and Marybeth Whalen's book "Learning to Live Financially Free".

I am hoping... my kids have a great year with school and I get the things accomplished that I need to.

I am creating... getting ready to start "creating" some things for our Ladies Retreat.

I am praying... that I snap out of it and don't spend a whole school year in mourning that Thomas is now a senior and will shortly after graduation be leaving for boot camp.

Around the house... as previously stated...need to get those dishes done.

One of my favorite things... waking up in the morning and being cold and having to curl up in a nice soft comfy sweater.

A few plans for the rest of the week... possible lunch with daughter-in-law, some church stuff...other than that, hoping for a nice quiet week....pppfff ya right!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

I love watching the sun come up over the creek at our family property!

She Inspired Me

Just a quick one this morning...have to run out and get some things ready and done before I get the kids and head on up to Redwood Creek....but as my title explains...she (Maggie) inspired me. Here is me before:

And here is me after:

Just cut off all my hair...well, not ALL, but you get the drift. So much easier for me to take care of...I just have to retrain myself how to style it...not too much effort today...got a creek to go float in, so why spend too much time on it.

Well, I hope you all have a blessed weekend...keep us in prayer as we lead a devotional (together) this weekend at Family Camp.

Blessings blessings blessings!

I'm On What We Will Call...Blackout

AHHH KIDS....

This weekend, we moved our Monday night home bible study to Friday night Redwood Creek bible study. Almost everyone made it...and we also were blessed to have a few extras to come and enjoy an evening of fun, fellowship, study and even a little creek playing for some of them.

SO, what do I mean by blackout? Well, this wonderful little guy:

on Saturday, while it was just Erik, Me, Maggie and him (Noah), were all relaxing in the creek, decided to run up the hill and find some goggles. While up at the trailer, he heard my phone beep that I had a message...so, without even thinking about the repercussions of what COULD happen, I told him to just bring the phone down to me. Well, what COULD happen....DID happen. He got right on the dock, about 20 feet away from me and my cell phone jumped right out of his hands and into the creek. It is completely dead. Thank the Lord for phone insurance, with a $50 deductible...my new phone will be here in 2-3 business days. So, if you are not hearing from me, like say...Mom...in particular....it's because I have no cell phone. I am hoping and praying that somehow someway they are able to get my phonebook off my phone and onto my new phone....we shall see.

Other than that, we had a GREAT time...I love to just relax and spend time with my family...and when we are down at the creek, that is exactly what we get to do. I float on a floaty chair that keeps me half in the water and half out of the water, and I watch my kids collect rocks or skip rocks, or have contests to see who can hold their breath the longest....all along, my husband is walking either up creek, or down creek, or just floating in the water as well. I love those moments.

Here are a couple of pictures of what it is looking like down there now.

Have a wonderfully blessed day.