Merry Christmas

Is it Christmas time already?

It seems that Thanksgiving flew by! I spent 3 days preparing for our visitors and making sure everything was just so. I baked pies and cheesecakes. I made the dough myself, and also prepared a turkey, enchiladas, and brisket. I hadn't spent that much time in the kitchen in a while. I enjoyed having Nicole and Suzanne with us. We really enjoyed all the games we played. I know that the shopping trip was a success. I didn't even spend as much as I thought I would but probably did spend enough. Now it's time to get ready for Christmas, I mean decorating, baking and making memories with my kids. As my blog name states I have only 3 more to make great memories with. Fun times!!!

Crochet needles

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years.
> They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They
> had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old
> woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had
> cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about......
>
> For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but
> one day the
> little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would
> not recover. In trying to
> sort out their affairs, the little old
> man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She
> agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box.
>
> When he opened it, he found two crochete d dolls and a stack of money
> totaling $95,000. H e asked her about the contents. "When we
> were to be married," she said, "my grandmother told me the secret
> of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever
> got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."
>
The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears.
Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only
been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost
> burst with happiness. "Honey," he said, "that explains the doll,
> but what about all of
> this money? Where did it come from?" Oh," she said, "that's the
> money I made from selling the dolls."
>
> A Prayer.......
>
> Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
> Love to forgive him;
> And p atience for his moods;
> Because Lord, if I pray for Strength,
> I'll beat him to death.
> And I don't know how to crochet. Amen.
>

A new place to hang..

I just joined cafemom's place. I don't know how I will like it but it looks like I'll be hearing from more people there. I didn't know what groups to join, if there were any on blog spot. I'll see how it goes. I'm starting back to school tomorrow. Be thinking of me.

Aging, Death, New Body?

This week it seems I've been dealing with or hearing a lot about death. Yesterday, 7/26, was the day that a very dear friend died 6 years ago. The beginning of the week I got an email that a 7 year old girl that was part of the Children's ministry at our church was in an auto accident and died instantly. So as I'm pondering this my dear husband is working with a hospice program as part of a seminary class this summer. I've dealt with death on so many different levels. When I was a young child I attended funerals for relatives and always felt I could see them breathing in their caskets. I wanted to tell someone so the person wouldn't be burried alive! My grandparents on my dad's side died when I hit my 20's. I had a better understanding of God's plan for our lives but still didn't view death any different, I wasn't as scared but it still wasn't pleasant to deal with. My mother's mother, my grandmother, passed away when my kids were quite young. They had to attend a funeral and so they were now introduced to what I felt. I tried to reassure them that it was part of God's plan but they were so young and so I didn't feel I was convincing or a comfort. Like I said earlier the dear friend that passed away 6 years ago-that was the first time that I felt a great loss. I know that I should have felt somewhat of a loss with grandparents but the relationship wasn't the same. Her death was very unexpected so I truly had to rely on God to help me through the grief process. It seemed there were so many days that I questioned Him about her death. One day I was driving and listening to praise music, that was the only thing that I could listen to that would comfort me, and I heard someone on the radio talking about another person that had died and that they had fulfilled their purpose so they could go home. I had never thought of death being the meaning that a person had fulfilled their purpose. I knew that Christ's death was His purpose but He also was resurrected. A whole lot of people saw Him in His resurrected body. I wouldn't see this person again until my purpose had been fulfilled.

Today, my mom sent me a short article written by Max Lucado. Read on:

HEADED HOMEWARD
by Max Lucado

Aging is God's idea. It's one of the ways he keeps us headed homeward.
We can't change the process, but we can change our attitude. Here is a
thought. What if we looked at the aging body as we look at the growth of a
tulip?

Do you ever see anyone mourning over the passing of the tulip bulb? Do
gardeners weep as the bulb begins to weaken? Of course not. We don't
purchase tulip girdles or petal wrinkle cream or consult plastic-leaf
surgeons. We don't mourn the passing of the bulb; we celebrate it. Tulip
lovers rejoice the minute the bulb weakens. "Watch that one," they say.
"It's about to blossom."

Could it be heaven does the same? The angels point to our bodies. The more
frail we become, the more excited they become. "Watch that lady in the
hospital," they say. "She's about to blossom." "Keep an eye on
the fellow with the bad heart. He'll be coming home soon."

"We are waiting for God to finish making us his own children, which
means our bodies will be made free" (Rom. 8:23).

A re our bodies now free? No. Paul describes them as our "earthy
bodies" (Phil. 3:21 MSG). Or as other translations state:

"our lowly body" (NKJV)
"the body of our humble state" (N A SB)
"these weak mortal bodies" (NLT)
"our vile body" (KJV)
"our simple bodies" (NCV)

You could add your own adjective, couldn't you? Which word describes
your body? My cancerous body? My arthritic body? My deformed body? My
crippled body? My addicted body? My ever-expanding body? The word may be
different, but the message is the same: These bodies are weak. They began
decaying the minute we began breathing.

A nd, according to God, that's a part of the plan. Every wrinkle and
every needle take us one step closer to the last step when Jesus will
change our simple bodies into forever bodies. No pain. No depression. No
sickness. No end.

This is not our forever house. It will serve for the time being. But there
is nothing like the moment we enter his door!

I know I'm probably gonna have a difficult time when more of my friends move from this temporary body to their forever body, but I know that when that time comes God will give me comfort and another small insight into His ways.

if Christ died for ALL sin, why is there still so much sin...

My husband is a seminary student and at various times he asks me what I think about certain topics that he is or will be discussing. Yesterday, he was pondering Jesus' giving his life to attone for our sins. I've been asking the Lord to reveal to me what it is He wants me to teach the 8th grade girls this year. I know He wants them to know He loves them. That's so clear. I keep going back to a song that spoke volumes to me when I first heard it. It's by Lifehouse and here are the lyrics:

Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
Closer where I started
Chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

Forgetting all I'm lacking
Completely incomplete
I'll take your invitation
You take all of me

Now.. I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

I'm livin for the only thing I know
I'm running here and not quite sure where to go
And I don't know that I'm to be here too
Just hanging by a moment here with you

There's nothing left to lose
Nothing left to find
There is nothing in the world that can change my mind
There is nothing else
There is nothing else..

Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
Closer where i Started
Chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all i've held onto
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

I'm livin for the only thing i know
I'm running here and not quite sure where to go
And I don't know that I'm to be here too
Just hanging by a moment here with you

Just hanging by a moment
Hanging by a moment..
Hanging by a moment...
Hanging by a moment here with you..

3 weeks since I had my surgery

It's been 3 weeks since my surgery. I've had my stitches removed, started physical therapy and have discovered how weak my quadracept muscle is! The physical therapist has given me a new device to measure the amount of strength that I'm exerting with the muscle. Man is it whimpy! I can't believe that in a matter of months, since April, that the muscle would have lost so much strength. I didn't stop exercising, I continued in my tap class and walked on a regular basis. Oh well, just more work to do.

2 down 3 to go

Slowly but slowly

It's been 9 days since I had my surgery. My progress is slow. I know that isn't that long but I find I get sore easily and have to elevate my leg more often. I'm sure it's age but also probably due to having my knee opened a 3rd time. My knee is still swollen and sore but I'm praying it will be much better this week.

Recital weekend!!!

Recital is over!!! It was wonderful. My girl's dance teacher celebrated 30 years in business. She's a wonderful teacher, very thoughtful and just very loving toward her students. I'm so happy that my girls have been a part of her studio. We had some minor mishaps but all in all it was another great recital. Now we get to have a small break just long enough for me to recover from surgery and get ready for the new school year.

Life and Death

Last night I attended the visitation of a lovely woman of God that battled cancer for 13 years. She always was involved in ministry and loved her family very much. She will be missed and her family can't wait to see her again. Bye Margie you were loving and kind and always serving. You will get needed rest where you are going.

My oldest child is very busy with her new life and adventure in MN. I don't get to see much of her and talk to her even less. I've really enjoyed the internet because I get glimpses of her life and her friends from what she puts on her blog. I know that she is well and following the Lord's leading in her life. I miss her. Can't wait to see her in August.

Almost there...

I've spent the last week visiting doctors. One of my girls had pain so off we went to the ER. After she underwent some testing, she was sent home to rest. I had to visit my orthopedist and he says I need an MRI of my knee. I know that means I'm just putting off the inevitable-surgery. My family hates hearing that word but I was born with bum knees. They tend to grind, that is my patella grinds on my femoral cartlidge. I'm thinking it's going to have to wait until after June 24th. What fun. That's when everything slows down for a whole month!!!

Heaven's blessing

I just read my email and received an advertisement from Dayspring. I love the company and their products are encouraging. The advertisement was about a book for new mothers. The jist of the book was that the little life the new mom had was a gift from God and even though the mom doesn't have all the skills to be a mom--she will because she has this precious gift.
I've been deeply touched and disturbed for the past 2 weeks with the story of a two month old whose father put her in a hotel microwave and burned her. I've prayed for her because the first report wasn't too hopeful. As last week progressed, she improved. She is now out of the burn hospital and in foster care. The tv station managed to talk to mom and she says she's standing by her husband and wants the baby back.
Here's what I have a hard time understanding: My mother never experienced abuse to that extent but was certainly abused. She is approaching her 70's and is STILL dealing with the lack of love and nurturing she felt. She wasn't taken away from her family, CPS wasn't established or didn't get involved at that time. Why would a system built to "protect" the children give that child back? The mother has already stated she would continue to stay with her husband. A 2 month old baby isn't a big threat, doesn't even sit, crawl or stand. They pretty much sleep, eat and need to be cleaned.

This is me and you are you, or are you?

I have tried xanga and now I'm interested in blog. Do I think I will keep up with this one as often? Can't say, but I do enjoy reading my son's, my husband's and daughter's in that order. I had a little trouble a couple of years ago with some of my opinions but I think that won't be an issue here. I hope to contact others since I've changed my blog address and seem to be able to get on now. That's it for now. Except to say, that I do understand what my kids aspire to and pray that where ever the Lord leads them they will follow, not where man directs them--we as humans are basically selfish.