All new books or do you reread old ones

Some thoughts from John Piper and how he decides what to read. Very interesting.

your eyes, dog bones and humility

Here are some thoughts from Sunday School and Bible Study from the past few weeks. They are not mine but from the teachers that God has blest me with. May they be embryonic thoughts that take root and grow our understanding of who God is and who He wants us to be.

+ Ps 3:3 But you , O Lord, are a shield about me. What does a shield do? It takes the blows that the soldier holding it should have taken. It receives the punishment that I or the soldier should be receiving. This verse is picture of Christ on the cross. He received the punishment for my sins that I should have received.

+ When we under go a season of suffering, we have a tendency to retreat and there is a time for that but in Ps 3, David shows us that we do need to get our mind back 'outward looking'. In the first part of the Psalm David is looking at himself and his problems and by the end he is looking to God and what God is going to do. This should be a pattern for us too.

+ Most folks want to find the sin that is behind the reason for their suffering, but some suffering is just so we will be obedient and for God's glory, ie Job's suffering. This also makes me this of the Andrew Peterson song The Queen of Iowa. She has Aids as a result of a rape 20 years ago. She was engaged to be married at the time. Her fiance married her and she is now bed ridden on a sofa in Iowa. She loves Andrew Peterson's music and her husband asked if he would do a home show for her. She, for the most part, cannot speak because of the brain cancer that she has. Andrew came with one other band member. They had to put on hospital clothes to protect her. She sang or mouthed his songs with him. She some how communicated that she had something to say to Andrew, he bent low to her and she said "We serve an awesome God." Andrew was greatly humbled by her faith. If you need a wonderful CD, order an Andrew Peterson one.

+Matthew 5 3-5 Getting the log and the speck out of all the eyes. If you have a splinter in your hand, you can get it out for the most part by yourself, but if you have something in your eye, you approach it very carefully, often times calling the doctor who specializes in eyes. When we are given the exhortation to approach our brothers as we would our eyes we are to remember this. Be very careful with your eyes and your brothers.

+ when we are right with God we are hard on ourselves and easy on others, when we are not right with God we are easy on ourselves and hard on others.

+ Matt 8. An old Jewish prayer was Thank you God for not making me a Gentile, a slave or a woman. In Matt 8 that is exactly who Jesus heals, mmmmm I wonder if He was trying to get a point across.

+ Also from Matt 8, would my faith cause Jesus to marvel?

+ God is always working on my humility. I should see situations from this view point and embrace it and know that God is working in my life and not get my feelings hurt so often.

+ Spiritual Gifts are given for the community. We are just stewards of them, they are God's Gifts.

+ we need to be mentally tough as we pray, we should be as a dog on a bone

+Matt 6 The Lord's Prayer. Should it be changed to The Children's Prayer? Only the children of God can pray this.

I hope you are blest by some of these as I have been.

Eye Candy

Colour Lovers is a web site that Kaitlin uses all the time and loves. She uses it for finding colors for web sites, craft ideas, suggesting colors for those starting private schools, and just a refreshing site with beautiful eye candy. Go there and click away. If you are overwhelmed at first go to the bottom of the page and click on blog.

Enjoy

Fire!

The more we believe in the presence and power of the Holy Ghost, the more likely shall we be to see the gospel triumphant in our ministry. Wow. I read this this morning.Here is the rest

Wedding

In this box are the shoes. You know The Shoes. Well, maybe you don't know. Here is the scoop. Marisa bought her wedding shoes from Zappos in January. They are in this box and they will be revealed 10 months from today. That is right....10 months from today is the wedding!!!!!

Do you know grief?

So I was reading some papers that Kaitlin had and I found what you will read below. I asked Kaitlin where she found this writing because it really hit home to me about the grief. She stopped and smiled and said "Mama, I wrote it." Wow!

The picture is my sweet mama holding my sweet Kaitlin. They are in my cousin, Vicki's den.

Enjoy.

The Art of Losing Isn't Hard To Master death and grief. loss and gone. never to see again. never to be heard again. you can grieve people who aren't dead. you can grieve people you see every day. but you can grieve people who are gone. who you wont hear again. who you wont see. ever. again. i know loss is hard. i have held loss in my hands. i have tasted it with every bite. but i have also had the advantage of losing loved ones. which sounds bad. but it is not. it makes it better some how. better because you know that they love you. better because they didn't chose to leave. because they would have stayed because they love you. seeing death makes you stronger. makes you see things you wouldn't be able to see other wise. not at that moment. you don't think it is then. but then time goes by and you see. you see things you didn't. so in the end you understand. not why they are gone. but some of the whys. about life. i don't wish the taste of death on anyone. but open your eyes. look around. try to see the things you miss. be a friend. be a true friend. show life. live life. live.

Super Bowl Party 2010

Carl's sister Marian gave me this dish and I love getting it out for football parties.
Another fun chip and dip bowl.
Kaitlin and Marisa got us some yummy snacks.
We served this over cream cheese.
Kaitlin helped cut onions with the new glasses




Carl made pizza

Ross brought some yummy desserts

Here is the table after Marisa cleaned up after the party. We had fun!

Snow, Snow, Snow- February 2010

Our driveway on Monday

our backyard on Monday
driveway on Tuesday- Kaitlin going to check to see if we got a paper, we didn't.



Kaitlin's car on our road. Our wonderful friend's from church came to help. It is now back in the driveway.

Project Julie II

Here are the models for our second challenge. Their clothes had to be made out of recycled material. You are looking at clothes made out of : gum wrappers, used coffee filters, apple seeds, soda can tabs, trash bags, duck tape, egg carton, maps, newspaper dyed with coffee, plastic bags, tissue paper, napkins and aluminum foil.
I was very impressed. We had two new contestants this round- Desi and Clare- and the venue moved to my house. Also, this is the night after I had my injection so I don't have the camera but I do have a vacant look in my eyes. My body was here but not all of my mind.
Carl had a great visit with Xander and Charles.
Kaitlin, Marisa and Erin kept warm by the fire.
Xander enjoyed Carl having the camera. Sweet Desi is behind her two beautiful kids.
Xander had a good time and was a joy to have here as was Mara.
Girls on the sofa. Who even knows what I was saying and if it made sense. Notice the AUBURN snuggle. A co-worker gave it to Carl.
Who needs girl toys?
Xander, Charles and Carl reading a Can You See What I See? by Walter Wick. Those books are very cool. I highly recommend them. Children and adults have picked up those books as they have been waiting for me to find them a new home on a shelf.
The lead judge talking about the designs. Kimt helped and so did Xander
The winning model! The winning designer had worked all day and wasn't able to be with us.
the critic sheet that Carl and KimT used.I realized that I didn't post a picture of Kimt or Desi and I am sorry. I didn't have the camera for most of the evening and some pictures just didn't get taken.

Snow Day Cleaning

I have been going through my Mary Englebreit calendar pages from 2009. I like to reuse some of them for notes and scrapbook pages. Here is my beginning pile.
Here are a few of my favorites.

This one makes me think of Kaitlin



I love this one and what a good thought! Enjoy

Speaking of backs

I had my fourth set of injections this past Thursday. I have arthritis in my spine plus a bulging disc and maybe a few more fun things going on. The pain gets to me after awhile. I forget how exhausting pain can be. My pain creeps up on me slowly and I almost get used to it. But I do get to a point where it begins to control my life and that is when I know I need more injections.

I've learned lots since I got my first injection 1) to get ready for the IV, drink lots of water the day before and wear a sweater to keep your arms warm. 2) Don't be afraid to ask heath care professions for what you need- like to go to the bathroom or for a blanket. 3) ALWAYS write down what medicines you take to let the nurse know- I laugh every time I hear someone near me saying, Well, I take that little pink pill.

My nurse this time was Kristine. I told her what I do when I get versed, I become a comedian. I try to entertain the whole pre-op. I also told her I almost brought a roll of duck tape to help me be more in control. She, with the straightest face, said that she did have 2 inch tape. We both laughed at that.

Carl took me to the hospital for my procedure and we were home around 4, I think. The fuzziness from the versed stays with me for a few days.

I am thankful for the person who invented cortisone.

I am thankful that I am able to find some relief this way and my prayer is with those that are in constant pain with no relief.