Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Poppy and I are loving our weekends! As promised - I've added pictures!
I LOVE John's new job! And - he loves it too!
He is now off on both Saturday and Sunday EVERY week!
Know what that means???
We get to actually have a social life and travel and do things together - it is wonderful!
So far we have spent 2 weekends at the lake with family and friends, 1 weekend at home cuz I was sick, 1 weekend doing projects at home (well that wasn't fun but needed to be done) and now this weekend, we are treating John's mom to a weekend in Branson. It's wonderful!
Another GREAT happening in my world - Lila's playschool is only 5 minutes from my work! I get to stop and see her 2-3-4 times a week now that she is right down the street! It's WONDERFUL! I have gotten to feed her bottles and hold her and watch her smile and coo..... She is gonna LOVE her Nene - I can tell already!
I have a few pictures to go with this post - I will add them this evening.
Have a GREAT day!
I'm back with pictures as promised.
I visited Lila at playschool today. I got to spend about an hour with her. She had just eaten so she was happy. We talked and laughed and cooed for awhile. I changed her wet diaper - dabbed a little spit-up and gave her hundreds of Nene smooches! She got cranky just before I left so I also got to rock her to sleep. This picture is Lila sound asleep after an hour of fun with Nene.
The other pictures are from the lake! Such fun we had with Ryan, Laura, Taylor, Emma Grace, Mary, Jonathan, Lucy and others that stopped by. There seems to be one picture of Ryan inviting his Mamma to kiss his behind!
Enjoy!!!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Grace!
There is a wonderful fragrance by Philosophy called Grace. I tried it on in Sephora because I loved the name. I bought some because it smells SO SO SO SO good!
It has been sitting in the bathroom by my sink since before Christmas. The bottle has been empty for over a month now, but I have kept the bottle so that I wouldn't forget the name and to remind me to buy more.
This morning as I was getting ready for work - I noticed that there was writing on the back of the bottle. Hmmmm.......
It says: "How you climb DOWN the mountain is just as important as how you climb UP the mountain. It all comes down to Grace."
I found that very interesting. The biblical meaning of Grace as I have always understood it is God's undeserved favor; you didn't earn it, you didn't deserve it, you will never be able to earn it and you will never deserve it. It's a free gift - just accept it.
I guess the philosphy of the fragrance, Grace, could be the same as the Grace that Jesus provides, but I decided to look up Webster's definition of Grace to compare. I found that the definitions are the same, but different.
Webster says that Grace is: elegance, refinement, lovliness, beauty, poise, charm - the opposite of Grace is awkwardness. It also means: kindness, decency, favor, mercy, charity -- the opposite of Grace is unkindness. It also means: blessing, prayer and thanksgiving. The meanings mentioned so far are for Grace when it is a noun (person, place or thing) When Grace is a verb - it's meaning according to Webster is: adorn, enhance, beautify - the opposite he says, is to deface. And the last meaning of Grace when used as a verb (our actions) is dignify, honor, favor and distinguish - the opposite is demean.
WOW! What a powerful word - GRACE!
When I look back over my 56 years, I have to say that I can recall several mountains that I have climbed up and come back down when my method was awkward and unkind, and I defaced and demeaned the mountain in the process - the opposite of Grace was my method. None of those accomplishments/events made me or make me feel good about myself. I have had to do a LOT of apologizing and repenting and begging for mercy and forgiveness. It is never fun to admit being wrong - it is never easy to admit when our motives are less than pure and right. I have found that the mountains I climbed and/or came down without Grace, have always ended up hurting me or people that I love, or both, over the long haul.
Sometimes the mountains we choose to climb do not bring us what we believed we would receive when we got to the top. When we climb mountains for the wrong reasons, we hurt ourselves as well as others - usually innocent other people; good people, folks that were just living their life (often times with GRACE and dignity) When we choose to climb mountains for the wrong reasons - it is always with purely selfish motives -we aren't thinking about anyone but ourself and what we want. I don't think we ever intentionally start out to hurt another - we are just trying to get whatever it is that we want and think will make us happy. Climbing up or down a mountain without GRACE is always - "all about me!"
Sometimes when we climb down a mountain without Grace, a mountain that we should have never climbed, we are actually trying to protect ourselves by defacing and demeaning the mountain! We are too ashamed to admit that it is our fault - that we were wrong - that our motives were less than pure - we are trying to save ourself and not have to admit that we messed up.
Admitting mistakes is a humbling experience! However, once we have admitted our mistake, apologized and asked and received forgiveness, it is absolutely an exhilarating experience! It feels so good to be forgiven and to be free of guilt and shame! We can then walk with our head held high - above reproach - forgiven and free!!!!
The opposite is to walk forward carrying guilt and shame - always trying to hide it, but never able to forget it. Internalized guilt and shame will lead to anger, depression & deceitfulness, causing us to weave tangled webs of lies and shame. We will continue to always blame others - and never accept responsibility for our own actions. We might even think that if we ignore it, it will go away. I can promise you that guilt and shame will NEVER go away - it will haunt you forever and lead to more and more and more guilt and shame.
You cannot escape yourself! You will never be able to approach God's throne of mercy and grace while you are carrying guilt and shame! God will allow you to approach, He will never turn us away - that is what HIS MERCY and GRACE is all about! However, we will not allow ourself to approach HIS throne - we will feel unworthy and dirty and therefore not participate in God's FREE GIFT OF GRACE AND MERCY AND FORGIVENESS!
YOU SEE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO FORGIVE OURSELF (without God's help) - Even though we are forgiven (if we asked), we will not feel forgiven and will continue to wallow in guilt and shame and self-hate and never walk in the abundant life that God has provided for us!
Oh my my....... it is such a vicious circle!
I love the following scripture and have TESTED it - it is true! God said it!
Deuteronomy 30:1-20
"I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your decendants may have life, loving The Lord your God, obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which The Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Issac, and to Jacob, to give them."
God sets it before us: LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSING AND CURSE - then He tells us to CHOOSE LIFE!!!!! By choosing GRACE, you choose to live and experience God's abundant life! OUR CHOICE not only affects OUR life but that of our children and grandchildren, our decendents. What POWER WE HOLD! The GREATEST gift we can give to our children and our grandchildren is to choose GRACE - choose LIFE!
Here is the GOOD NEWS: IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU ARE ON THE MOUNTAIN, CLIMBING UP OR CLIMBING DOWN, YOU CAN CHOOSE TO CHANGE AND ACCEPT GRACE! We can CHOOSE to accept God's Grace! Did you hear me??? It is a CHOICE and we are the CHOOSER!
SO - Choose Life! Choose to live and walk by GRACE = elegance, refinement, lovliness, beauty, poise, charm, kindness, decency, favor, mercy, charity, blessing, prayer, thanksgiving, adorn, enhance, beautify, dignify, honor, favor and distinguished!
Hmmm... I didn't know that I was going to preach to myself today! It all started because I was curious about what my fragrance bottle had to say about Grace.
God can use anything to make His Word alive and to teach us!
Father, please forgive me for the mountains that I have climbed up and/or down without Grace and please heal and restore anyone that I may have hurt, defaced or demeaned in the process. Father, help me to walk and climb in your LOVE and MERCY and GRACE everyday!
It has been sitting in the bathroom by my sink since before Christmas. The bottle has been empty for over a month now, but I have kept the bottle so that I wouldn't forget the name and to remind me to buy more.
This morning as I was getting ready for work - I noticed that there was writing on the back of the bottle. Hmmmm.......
It says: "How you climb DOWN the mountain is just as important as how you climb UP the mountain. It all comes down to Grace."
I found that very interesting. The biblical meaning of Grace as I have always understood it is God's undeserved favor; you didn't earn it, you didn't deserve it, you will never be able to earn it and you will never deserve it. It's a free gift - just accept it.
I guess the philosphy of the fragrance, Grace, could be the same as the Grace that Jesus provides, but I decided to look up Webster's definition of Grace to compare. I found that the definitions are the same, but different.
Webster says that Grace is: elegance, refinement, lovliness, beauty, poise, charm - the opposite of Grace is awkwardness. It also means: kindness, decency, favor, mercy, charity -- the opposite of Grace is unkindness. It also means: blessing, prayer and thanksgiving. The meanings mentioned so far are for Grace when it is a noun (person, place or thing) When Grace is a verb - it's meaning according to Webster is: adorn, enhance, beautify - the opposite he says, is to deface. And the last meaning of Grace when used as a verb (our actions) is dignify, honor, favor and distinguish - the opposite is demean.
WOW! What a powerful word - GRACE!
When I look back over my 56 years, I have to say that I can recall several mountains that I have climbed up and come back down when my method was awkward and unkind, and I defaced and demeaned the mountain in the process - the opposite of Grace was my method. None of those accomplishments/events made me or make me feel good about myself. I have had to do a LOT of apologizing and repenting and begging for mercy and forgiveness. It is never fun to admit being wrong - it is never easy to admit when our motives are less than pure and right. I have found that the mountains I climbed and/or came down without Grace, have always ended up hurting me or people that I love, or both, over the long haul.
Sometimes the mountains we choose to climb do not bring us what we believed we would receive when we got to the top. When we climb mountains for the wrong reasons, we hurt ourselves as well as others - usually innocent other people; good people, folks that were just living their life (often times with GRACE and dignity) When we choose to climb mountains for the wrong reasons - it is always with purely selfish motives -we aren't thinking about anyone but ourself and what we want. I don't think we ever intentionally start out to hurt another - we are just trying to get whatever it is that we want and think will make us happy. Climbing up or down a mountain without GRACE is always - "all about me!"
Sometimes when we climb down a mountain without Grace, a mountain that we should have never climbed, we are actually trying to protect ourselves by defacing and demeaning the mountain! We are too ashamed to admit that it is our fault - that we were wrong - that our motives were less than pure - we are trying to save ourself and not have to admit that we messed up.
Admitting mistakes is a humbling experience! However, once we have admitted our mistake, apologized and asked and received forgiveness, it is absolutely an exhilarating experience! It feels so good to be forgiven and to be free of guilt and shame! We can then walk with our head held high - above reproach - forgiven and free!!!!
The opposite is to walk forward carrying guilt and shame - always trying to hide it, but never able to forget it. Internalized guilt and shame will lead to anger, depression & deceitfulness, causing us to weave tangled webs of lies and shame. We will continue to always blame others - and never accept responsibility for our own actions. We might even think that if we ignore it, it will go away. I can promise you that guilt and shame will NEVER go away - it will haunt you forever and lead to more and more and more guilt and shame.
You cannot escape yourself! You will never be able to approach God's throne of mercy and grace while you are carrying guilt and shame! God will allow you to approach, He will never turn us away - that is what HIS MERCY and GRACE is all about! However, we will not allow ourself to approach HIS throne - we will feel unworthy and dirty and therefore not participate in God's FREE GIFT OF GRACE AND MERCY AND FORGIVENESS!
YOU SEE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO FORGIVE OURSELF (without God's help) - Even though we are forgiven (if we asked), we will not feel forgiven and will continue to wallow in guilt and shame and self-hate and never walk in the abundant life that God has provided for us!
Oh my my....... it is such a vicious circle!
I love the following scripture and have TESTED it - it is true! God said it!
Deuteronomy 30:1-20
"I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your decendants may have life, loving The Lord your God, obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which The Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Issac, and to Jacob, to give them."
God sets it before us: LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSING AND CURSE - then He tells us to CHOOSE LIFE!!!!! By choosing GRACE, you choose to live and experience God's abundant life! OUR CHOICE not only affects OUR life but that of our children and grandchildren, our decendents. What POWER WE HOLD! The GREATEST gift we can give to our children and our grandchildren is to choose GRACE - choose LIFE!
Here is the GOOD NEWS: IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE YOU ARE ON THE MOUNTAIN, CLIMBING UP OR CLIMBING DOWN, YOU CAN CHOOSE TO CHANGE AND ACCEPT GRACE! We can CHOOSE to accept God's Grace! Did you hear me??? It is a CHOICE and we are the CHOOSER!
SO - Choose Life! Choose to live and walk by GRACE = elegance, refinement, lovliness, beauty, poise, charm, kindness, decency, favor, mercy, charity, blessing, prayer, thanksgiving, adorn, enhance, beautify, dignify, honor, favor and distinguished!
Hmmm... I didn't know that I was going to preach to myself today! It all started because I was curious about what my fragrance bottle had to say about Grace.
God can use anything to make His Word alive and to teach us!
Father, please forgive me for the mountains that I have climbed up and/or down without Grace and please heal and restore anyone that I may have hurt, defaced or demeaned in the process. Father, help me to walk and climb in your LOVE and MERCY and GRACE everyday!
Monday, July 13, 2009
My heart was heavy today.
You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done.
~ Psalm 92:4
I found this scripture during lunch - because my heart was feeling heavy - I spent my lunch hour reading the Word and praying. God is faithful to hear us when we pray and tend to the need of our heart. I am so thankful for such a loving Father!
Happiness and joy must come from the INSIDE of a person to be real. Circumstances and other people can NOT make us truly happy. Each person is responsible for their own happiness - it's never fair to give the burden of our individual happiness to another because NO ONE in this world is equipped for that responsibility. I think when we try to depend on a person for our source of happiness - it is called co-dependency. Not a good thing. If we try to make a person our source of happiness, we end up disappointed because people are human - they will always let us down AND we make the person that we have burdened with the job of making us happy, feel very inadequate and constantly striving to do the job that we require of them. If that person loves you - they will try and try and try, yet never do enough to make us happy. If we are the person "responsible" for the other's happiness, we often feel smothered by the other, they seem to think that their life is actually "our" life! I learned this lesson over many years because my mother believed that I was her source of happiness. It is a huge burden to put on a child, a teenager or an adult. The result, my mother never found happiness and I ended up feeling tired, resentful and inadequate because I could never do enough to make her happy. That is because IT WASN'T MY JOB!!!
Please don't ever do that to another person.
As much as I love John, Ryan and Laura, Sean, Aaron and Audrey, Lawson, Taylor, Britain, Emma Grace and Lila - AND - as much as they cause my heart to feel happiness - they are not the source of my personal happiness. They add additional joy - but they are not the source.
Here is a "short" list of things that I once thought would make me happy - but didn't:
* If I could only lose weight, then I would be happy. (I obviously got over that one)
* If I could have a baby or another baby, then I would be happy
* If I didn't have to live in Jonesboro, AR, then I would be happy
* If I were rich, then I would be happy
* If I could have that specific ring, necklace, new make-up, outfit, etc., that would make me happy.
* If my kids had the very best of everything, then I would be happy and insure that they were happy
* If I had a bigger house in the sought after neighborhood, that would surely make me happy.
* If I could only be "free" - then I would be happy. I was so glad to learn that I am already FREE - Jesus freed me from the chains that had me bound.
* If I could stay home with my children, then I would be happy
* If I could work and put my children in day care, then I would be happy
* If I had a new job, then I would be happy
* If "that" person weren't in my life anymore, then I would be happy
* If my kids lived closer to home, that would make me happy
* If "whomever" would treat me differently - the way I think they should, then I would be happy
* If I could fall in love again - start over, that would make me happy
* If I could just have "My way" this one time, I would be happy
That is a short list of things that I can remember thinking would make me happy - but didn't. They gave me short-term pleasure - nothing real and lasting - there is always that next "thing" or person that pops up that will surely make us happy.
I am so thankful that God finally got through to me and helped me realize that He is my source of happiness and joy! He alone is the only one that can cause me to be fulfilled and complete.
That does NOT mean that I still don't want things. ;-)
So, today as my heart was feeling temporarily heavy and unhappy, I went to my Father and cried out to Him. He heard me and delivered me from my pain.
Yes - happiness must come from the inside of you! I am so glad that the JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH and that all of MY HOPE IS IN HIM!
Reach out to Jesus - He will never let you down.
~ Psalm 92:4
I found this scripture during lunch - because my heart was feeling heavy - I spent my lunch hour reading the Word and praying. God is faithful to hear us when we pray and tend to the need of our heart. I am so thankful for such a loving Father!
Happiness and joy must come from the INSIDE of a person to be real. Circumstances and other people can NOT make us truly happy. Each person is responsible for their own happiness - it's never fair to give the burden of our individual happiness to another because NO ONE in this world is equipped for that responsibility. I think when we try to depend on a person for our source of happiness - it is called co-dependency. Not a good thing. If we try to make a person our source of happiness, we end up disappointed because people are human - they will always let us down AND we make the person that we have burdened with the job of making us happy, feel very inadequate and constantly striving to do the job that we require of them. If that person loves you - they will try and try and try, yet never do enough to make us happy. If we are the person "responsible" for the other's happiness, we often feel smothered by the other, they seem to think that their life is actually "our" life! I learned this lesson over many years because my mother believed that I was her source of happiness. It is a huge burden to put on a child, a teenager or an adult. The result, my mother never found happiness and I ended up feeling tired, resentful and inadequate because I could never do enough to make her happy. That is because IT WASN'T MY JOB!!!
Please don't ever do that to another person.
As much as I love John, Ryan and Laura, Sean, Aaron and Audrey, Lawson, Taylor, Britain, Emma Grace and Lila - AND - as much as they cause my heart to feel happiness - they are not the source of my personal happiness. They add additional joy - but they are not the source.
Here is a "short" list of things that I once thought would make me happy - but didn't:
* If I could only lose weight, then I would be happy. (I obviously got over that one)
* If I could have a baby or another baby, then I would be happy
* If I didn't have to live in Jonesboro, AR, then I would be happy
* If I were rich, then I would be happy
* If I could have that specific ring, necklace, new make-up, outfit, etc., that would make me happy.
* If my kids had the very best of everything, then I would be happy and insure that they were happy
* If I had a bigger house in the sought after neighborhood, that would surely make me happy.
* If I could only be "free" - then I would be happy. I was so glad to learn that I am already FREE - Jesus freed me from the chains that had me bound.
* If I could stay home with my children, then I would be happy
* If I could work and put my children in day care, then I would be happy
* If I had a new job, then I would be happy
* If "that" person weren't in my life anymore, then I would be happy
* If my kids lived closer to home, that would make me happy
* If "whomever" would treat me differently - the way I think they should, then I would be happy
* If I could fall in love again - start over, that would make me happy
* If I could just have "My way" this one time, I would be happy
That is a short list of things that I can remember thinking would make me happy - but didn't. They gave me short-term pleasure - nothing real and lasting - there is always that next "thing" or person that pops up that will surely make us happy.
I am so thankful that God finally got through to me and helped me realize that He is my source of happiness and joy! He alone is the only one that can cause me to be fulfilled and complete.
That does NOT mean that I still don't want things. ;-)
So, today as my heart was feeling temporarily heavy and unhappy, I went to my Father and cried out to Him. He heard me and delivered me from my pain.
Yes - happiness must come from the inside of you! I am so glad that the JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH and that all of MY HOPE IS IN HIM!
Reach out to Jesus - He will never let you down.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fayetteville vs Bella Vista and Family!
Life is good!
The move to Bella Vista from Fayetteville for Poppy and me has been culture shock to say the least. It's been 1 1/2 years now and we are settling in and finding the good about BV and concentrating on it.
A few of the things we love about living in BV:
* No more HUGE yard to tend to. Although our Fayetteville yard was beautiful and great for entertaining - our rock yard is so so so so easy to take care of. The GRANDchildren remind us on a regular basis that they miss our yard and our house in Fayetteville and wish we would move back to it. They loved our yard and loved sleeping in the race car bedroom. In our new house, the race car bedroom is too far from Nene and Poppy's room - none of them want to sleep there anymore. So now we blow up the queen-size mattress and everyone sleeps in Nene and Poppy's room. That is pretty fun too.
* Right across the street at our BV house is the golf course. That is great! As a result, Poppy spends more time golfing because it is so convenient. I am still in charge of driving the golf cart and handing out drinks. We are looking for a golf cart to purchase - we know our GRANDbabies will love riding around in that!
* Right across the street and down one block is a fantastic park with a wonderful playground, miniature golf course, swimming pool with a really fun slide, covered pavilion for family gatherings, tennis courts and lots of shade and green grass for running and playing. The GRANDbabies LOVE the park and pool, etc. and entertaining at the pavilion is much less mess & work for Nene. The POA tends to this big yard.
* Poppy and I are among the YOUNGEST everywhere we go in BV. No further explanation needed. ;-0
* We don't eat out as much as we did when we lived in Fayetteville. There just aren't many choices here in BV. We have found a couple of places we really enjoy. The food at the BV country clubs is pretty tasty and very inexpensive. So BV helps us save money.
Last weekend we celebrated our March, April and May family birthdays. Our family has been in the middle of a chaotic mess and no one really felt like celebrating. However, things are looking up - so we got together last weekend at the park by Nene and Poppy's house for a big bar-b-que/swimming/playing and lots of fun. Good food and fun - does it get any better than that?
I love having the family together - I love all of the chatter and laughter and watching everyone interact and have fun. It does my heart good to see my family happy and well and adjusted and kind to one another - love and goodness toward one another abounds. Ryan we missed you at the party - sorry you missed your birthday celebration - remember -don't work so much that you miss your life!!!
Yes - LIFE IS GOOD!
Here are a couple of pictures.
The old Fayetteville yard vs. the new BV park across the street.
Enjoying the golf course across the street.
Our family gathering. I didn't take any pictures at the pool - we had lots of fun there but I didn't want to risk any pictures of Nene going down the big slide in her leopard print swim suit.
Enjoy!!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)