God Is Able...

This Kind of Day

2012-01-25T15:30:00.001-05:00

We are having a Spring like day in the middle of January and I am loving it! Thanking God for a day like this.

61 degrees and I was able to wear a short sleeved shirt. In Janauary. :))

This kind of day makes me want to grill out this evening. I was in a store today that had patio furniture out and all kinds of garden things. I get excited to see it all because it won't be long and I will get my swing back out and I will be able to sit on the front porch in the mornings and drink my coffee.

For now, I am thankful to God for giving us such a beautiful day. He is a Good God!!

Looking Forward

2012-01-17T17:46:00.001-05:00

When winter has been long or dreery or raining a lot, I like to think about Spring and sometimes I even add a little spring decorating to the home to lift the spirits. Even though we have had a mild winter, I still love to think of the warmer weather coming and all the beautiful flowers that come with it. I also like to think about vacation. Our family is in the process of planning a summer vacation. I am not sure where we will go but we are tossing around a few ideas. Hawaii keeps coming up. ;)

Just give me the beach and a beach home with a private pool and that is all I need. Vacation should be all about relaxing. A few things I am looking forward to soon:

Grilling Out

Vacation

Vacation. :))

Spring Flowers

Greek Salad with fresh produce from the Farmers Market

Feta and Olive oil to go with the Greek Salad

Kentucky Derby

Big Ole Hats for the Derby

At times we can all get so tired of long seasons of waiting or trials that seem like they will do us in but that is the exact time we need to find our quiet place and sit at Jesus' feet and allow Him to be our place of quiet retreat. Vacations are wonderful but they come to an end and then we come back to reality and back to our daily routines. With God we are promised if we keep focused on Him, he will keep our minds in perfect peace.

In Ps. 119:113 it says this: You're my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me.

If you need renewal, revived, make Jesus your place of quiet retreat and ask Him to renew you in His Word.

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

Passion 2012

2012-01-03T16:19:00.001-05:00

This week Passion 2012 started in Atlanta in the Georgia Dome. In case you aren't familiar with Passion this is for ages 18-25.

Through someone's generous spirit they are able to livestream the sessions and anyone can watch the sessions for free this week. You can also purchase the digital downloads for 25.00.

The theme or central idea this year is Slavery. 27 million people are enslaved in this world who need someone to stand up for them and be their voice. This is the highest number of people in slavery ever!! We are following the stories of three people who were enslaved and their story will break your heart. We all have a chance to give to Freedom to help those in slavery.

Also, the college age young adults are asked to give to the homeless. The hearts and generous spirits of this age group amazes me. They give and I don't mean small, they give BIG. We can learn from this generation!!!

Now thru tomorrow you can watch sessions 1-3. The messages were powerful!!! You would be so blessed to watch them.

For example: Beth Moore spoke this morning out of Luke 8:40-55. One of many truths she spoke, "You are incapable of going unnoticed by God."

That obviously struck a chord with a lot of people there because that is one thing that was tweeted over and over and over.

You are not hidden from God. Whatever need you have, He comes to you! No matter how big or how small.

You are not messed up so much or in a big mess that Jesus can't or won't touch you. He is touchable.

His heart reaches out to you!! Reach for Him. Have the faith to reach out to Him.

God will come to you and interrupt your day to reach you, to help you. Have faith. Believe.

If you would like to follow along with these sessions here is the link. Click HERE

Have a blessed day!.

2011

2011-12-30T09:46:00.000-05:00

It seems God keeps drawing back to my original blog even though I enjoy writing on my other blog. This blog has special meaning to me and it has an anniversary coming up in two months.

It will be five years old. It's fun looking back at all the pictures I have shared with you all over that period of time.

There have been many changes in my life since the beginning of this blog and this blog itself has seen so many changes in the title and header picture because I love to decorate and apparently that spilled over on here. *smile*

Even with all the changes the one thing that hasn't changed is God. He remains faithful and He is Truth and He can do ALL things, nothing is impossbile with God.

In fact, the original name for this blog was Girlfriends in God.

Years later I felt that God wanted me to change the title to God is Able.

I don't know about you but when I see the words, God is Able, it gives me hope, makes me smile and it encourages me.

No matter what year it is or what new year we usher in, God is Able.

I don't know where you are at in your life or what challenges you are facing but I do know this, God is Able!!

He works in ways we don't even think about and even though at times, the waiting is long, He is faithful and God will meet you whereever you are!!

With 2012 fast approaching, I sense God leading me back here to continue writing whatever HE lays on my heart to write.

I have always wanted this blog to be an encouragement to any who would stop by for a visit.

So, in ending this final blog post of 2011, I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! A year filled with blessings and breakthroughs and also a healthy new year!!!

I am going to close by sharing a few pictures I have posted over the last 4 years. :) See you next year!

Daisy

Number 1 son, David

Great Smoky Mtns.

Fall decorations

Great nephew

Suzi, one of the sweetest women on this earth!

Miranda and Lichelle!!

Siesta Mama!!

Brittney!! Love her!

Siestas in Houston!!

Amanda in Houston. Love her heart!

Lunch with some girlfriends! Love them!

San Antonio with a hilarious group of friends!!

Great nephew on Easter Sunday

Spring

Me in Phoenix, AZ

A lake near our home

The End. See you in 2012!!

In Remembrance and Honor Of

2011-11-11T16:34:00.001-05:00

I didn't want this day to get away from me without posting my deepest gratitude and thanks to our Veterans and to those still serving our country!

Thank you to all our service men and women who made or make the daily sacrifice for all of us so we can enjoy the freedoms in our nation.

It does not go unnoticed the time they spend away from their own families for all of us!

I especially include my brother who fought in Desert Storm. One thing I have learned from him, he was honored to do it but he only talks about a small part of it. I don't think the news can cover that part of war. What our soldiers really go through and what they truly see.

God Bless You and your families and God Bless the United States of America!

Simple Things

2011-11-03T20:59:00.000-04:00

This week's Simple Pleasure is new Fall Bible Studies.

I have been waiting on this particular Bible study for a year. I knew this study would get in my business but that is a good thing.

From the first video to the first 3 weeks of homework, God has been opening my eyes to some things and some of it was exciting and some of it was convicting but all of it was needed.

I am doing Beth Moore's latest Bible study, James.

Over my time in this study I will share certain things God has been teaching me or what really stood out to me.

If you are looking for a new study, I recommend this study.

I have done all of Beth's studies, I have them all together and my family is under strict direction that when I die, they will have to burn my studies. No joke. These studies are journeys that God took me on and I cherish each one but they are personal.

I told you that to tell you that this study of James will be left to my sons. I want this one to stay in their hands. I honestly felt God put that on my heart as soon as I began this study.

I have learned that James does not mince words and is very blunt and gets to the point. I like that. Even when it hits to the very core.

So, that is my Simple Pleasure of this week.

What Bible study are you doing?

Giveaway

2011-11-03T15:11:00.000-04:00

There is a giveaway going on over at my other blog.

This is the first of many giveaways I will host over the holidays!

Click HERE.

I hope you are having a great week!

Why I Love Mornings

2011-10-28T22:44:00.000-04:00

After my walk the other day the sun was beginning to rise and everything looked beautiful. I decided to snap a few pictures. Fall is quickly coming to an end but it has been a beautiful one!

Isn't God amazing?!

Have a wonderful weekend. :-)

Great is our Lord

2011-10-19T05:41:00.000-04:00

Psalm 147:4-11

4 He determines the number of the stars

and calls them each by name.

5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;

his understanding has no limit.

6 The LORD sustains the humble

but casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;

make music to our God on the harp.

8 He covers the sky with clouds;

he supplies the earth with rain

and makes grass grow on the hills

9 He provides food for the cattle

and for the young ravens when they call.

10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,

nor his delight in the legs of a man;

11 the LORD delights in those who fear him,

who put their hope in his unfailing love.

O Glorious Day

2011-10-14T17:06:00.000-04:00

This time last week I was in Alabama. It is good to be home for this weekend.

Tonight it's just me and my youngest son eating dinner. I am craving and making spaghetti. Along with a fresh baked loaf of french bread and a glass of sweet tea makes a pretty good dinner.

Today I was shopping at our Lifeway bookstore and they all their boxed Christmas cards on sale. Buy 1/Get 1 for free. I decided to go ahead and buy my cards and I only paid ten dollars for all the cards.

I then went to Kohls to see what they had on sale and I bought my sons some new shirts and I saved a whopping 101.00!! This is the best time to start Christmas shopping.

I won't even tell you how many Christmas decorations that I have bought this week but suffice it to say, I bought the cutest wreath hanger that I have ever seen. I cannot wait to hang my Christmas wreath on it. :) I'll post a picture as soon as I get it on the door.

The trees in our area are full of color and so pretty. I am trying to plan a day next week to go to the mountains and take photos to share with you. After the strong winds today, I hope their are leaves left on the trees. Seriously. Strong. Winds.

Whatever your plans tonight and this weekend, I hope you have a wonderful time with your families and friends.

I think I will be watching football tomorrow. I am not sure I can watch another game where the Vols get beat at home by another SEC team but that's how it rolls when you lose your QB.

I have to ask, have any of you started your Christmas shopping yet? I try not to because when I buy a gift I get excited to show them the gift right away. I am terrible for it. ;-)

Just to get you in the spirit. lol

Simple Things

2011-10-12T17:58:00.001-04:00

It's the simple things in life that really matter.

I usually try and list a simple thing with each week but sometimes I just don't have time.

Today, my simple thing is: Car picnics.

My youngest son and friend Georgia and my mom all love to have car picnics with me.

If I am going out to run errands my son Jason will ask me if I am going to have time for lunch and if I say yes, J will go with me most of the time.

It doesn't matter where we go but we will do the drive thru thing and then head to a parking lot (with shade in the summer) and eat and talk. I love those times with my sons.

Georgia and I took my mom out today to get her hair done and for a little shopping and then mom wanted Chick-Fil-A . We pulled into a parking lot and had our car picnic. :) We all must have been hungry because it was so quiet in the car, no time for conversation. lol

My son will always remember that time with me and I with him. Special moments, special memories.

That is my Simple Pleasure for the week.

Y'all have a great week! Take time for the simple pleasures in life. :-)

More Appreciative

2011-10-11T20:59:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I went to visit my brother in Alabama. It was nice to get away for a few days and enjoy a weekend of just having fun.

We shopped and ate and watched football and then did it all over the following day. The weather was just perfect.

We also had some discussion with some family decisions and prayer time about some family decisions we need to make. I can tell you that God answered but in an unusual way. I will write more on that in a few weeks.

I was thankful for the chance to get away but I was glad to come home. I think when we go away for a few days or weeks it is a good thing to get recharged or refreshed and it also makes us more appreciative of our homes. It was also nice to be missed by my sons and even the family dog. :)

I have always loved staying home and I also love to decorate for each season and holiday. It was nice to be back home and sleep in my own bed. My family and I are looking forward to Thanksgiving. I am already beginning to buy things ahead of time for our meal. I am feeding 3 extra people and that makes me happy because I have discovered that cooking for two is not my thing. ha!

The old saying, there is no place like home is so true. Home is the people you get to come home to and all the other stuff is just bonus.

There is another home that I am looking forward to going to, Heaven. My sister used to sing a song, Some Call it Heaven but I Call it Home.

A place where we who are in Christ Jesus will live in eternity. A place where Jesus is, our family and friends who have gone ahead of us are, a place where Jesus has prepared a place for us.

I often think about Heaven and just walking with Jesus and having the best conversations. :-)

There is a book called Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It is my favorite book and study about Heaven. If you haven't read it, please do. I know you will enjoy it.

I know that no matter how many books are written concerning Heaven, or how we try to perceive it in our own minds, it will be more beautiful than we can imagine.

Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Christmas Giveaway

2011-10-05T12:19:00.000-04:00

I have a giveaway to share with you all.

The winner will be announced on October 10, 11. Click on the picture below to enter for a 500.00 Visa gift card.

I do believe that would be a great start to your Christmas season or for whatever you choose to spend it on.

I plan on giving away Christmas goodies next month. It will be a fun giveaway. :D

I hope you all are having a great day!

When You Don't Know

2011-10-03T21:40:00.003-04:00

There are times in our lives that God requires us to walk through a season where we don't know where God is taking us but He wants us to trust Him. I have found in those times that God will give us enough light for each step we take.

I have been there many times and the fact that I am here and typing this post proves that God's grace is sufficient :

For the time that I walked through a cancer diagnosis, praying with each step for what doctors to go to, who I needed to see for a second opinion, seeing a plastic surgeon, fighting with the insurance companies, more and more prayer with church family, family, and then taking my children and moving in with my brother in another city for the time of my surgery and recovery. God was with me with each step.

For the time my marriage crumbled. Dealing with an unfaithful spouse but still fighting for our marriage while my heart was broken into, during this time my father-in-law died of a heart attack, moving my boys and myself back to my hometown, starting life over with my boys as a single mom. Many years of seeking God, growing closer to Him through studying His Word, God was with me through every part of mourning the loss of my marriage and loneliness and helping me parent my two boys.

There are many other moments and there are many moments for you. I also know that there are many, many more who have gone through worse things than I have ever or will ever go through.

Here's the thing, when we don't know, God knows. Nothing ever takes Him by surprise. When we recognize a need, He knew that need before we did and He already had our deliverance planned.

We we don't know the future, God knows. We can rest in that. He tells us not to be discouraged or fear. Why? Because He is right there beside us, He is already in our tomorrows. He already has our needs met.

Life is hard, and scary. It is also hard to not fear or be discouraged. Trust me, I have struggled with those emotions even though I knew God was with me. God understands.

God has a plan for your life and a plan and a day for your deliverance. Hold on, because God will bring you out and bring healing and restoration to your life! I know this by experience.

I will also tell you that I had no plan of writing this. I was sitting here watching t.v. and before I knew it, God was leading me to write this. He cares. He hears your cries. He listens to your prayers. He answers. He loves you.

Our times are in God's hands. Ps. 31:15 (NASB)

In a single moment, God can change your life! He can instantly turn things around.

God's strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth. Ps. 124:8

In the Quiet

2011-09-29T21:35:00.000-04:00

In the quiet of the morning seems to be my favorite time of the day. I am one who enjoys waking early and settling in for my quiet time and watching the sunrise. Truly, one of my favorite ways to start the day.

We take for granted that when we lay head to pillow each night and fall asleep that our God neither slumbers or sleeps and watches over each of us through the night and we get to wake up to a new day with Him and with that comes His new mercies. Our God is Good.

I have learned over all these years that quiet time with God doesn't have to be the same routine every single day. At times I work on an in-depth Bible study, other times I will read a book from a Christian author, right now I am reading Joyce Meyer's newest book, Living Beyond Your Feelings.

Other books I read are from Stormie O Martian. The Hidden Power of Praise. This book is full of great advice from Stormie and Bible verses and study questions and prayers.

I love the many ways God speaks to us and through many different teachers and authors. My in-depth study for Fall is by Beth Moore, Living Beyond Yourself. It's about walking in the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Hard lessons in each of these books but they are needed in order for us to walk in victory and grow in Jesus Christ.

I also have my favorite places to have my quiet time. I think we all have a favorite spot or chair we gravitate to for our quiet times. :-)

The seasons may change along with my decorations but this is my favorite corner to retreat. *grin*

In the quiet of the morning when everyone else is asleep, is my time. In the quiet of the morning I can hear the birds singing, my coffee pot making my much needed coffee, the clock ticking away. More importantly, I can listen and hear God speak to my heart. There is no sweeter sound.

God just wants to spend time with each of His children. He initiates relationship. He loves each of us with a love we can't fully comprehend but I am so thankful He loves us and wants to spend time with us.

September Giveaway

2011-09-01T11:24:00.000-04:00

I am having a giveaway over HERE.

Have a wonderful day!

Working and Inspecting

2011-08-04T11:41:00.002-04:00

My last post was about listening and being silent before God. After writing that post that is all I seem to run into as far as verses in the Bible, messages on church signs, friends blogging about the same message.

I know that is God keeping that in front of me and teaching me to listen to Him, or listen for His voice.

For the last 5 1/2 weeks, I have been working through a new Bible study called 'Duty or Delight' by Tammie Head. When I say work, I mean work. God has been working on my heart and bringing things or sins to my attention that I had glossed over. He is also teaching me to listen to Him and to stop sowing to my flesh and walk in the Spirit.

Honestly, I have struggled with forgiving a family member. I won't go into details but God told me that the battle belonged to Him BUT I developed unforgiveness, bitterness, toward this person and I brought it before the Lord every day but I still held on to the unforgiveness even though I thought I had let it go.

Yesterday, through the study Tammie was teaching us the 3 elements to success in repentance. Afterwards we were to inspect our "crops". Reaping what we sow. Are we sowing to please the Spirit or the flesh? She then went on to list several things that we get when we sow to our sinful nature. Unforgiving, Envy, Easily Angered, Laziness, Gossip etc... just to name a few.

I went through each one that I had been sowing to my sinful nature and asked God to forgive me. I want to sow to please the Spirit but I can't do that on my own and I have to ask the Holy Spirit to come and do this in me because He is able.

A quote from Tammie:

Sin resists, but repentance yields
Sin numbs, but repentance wakes
Sin separates, but repentance restores
Sin turns, but repentance faces
Sin is duty, but repentance is delight.

This morning I poured a cup of coffee and went out on my front porch. I was spending a brief moment outside before the heat decided to come back with a vengeance. I wasn't out there long when I knew the Holy Spirit was drawing me back inside to study Titus.

This short book in the Bible is filled with tons of nuggets. In the first four verses alone, we read that God does not lie, God does not break His promises and through Jesus we have life without end.

Three times being self-controlled was mentioned. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Again, walking to please the Spirit not our flesh or sinful nature.

Instruction for older women and younger women and the reason we must be self-controlled and walking in obedience is so that no one will malign the Word of God.

We are instructed to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. That is hard but possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.

There are many things in this world to distract us from spending time with God, from prayer time. God instructs us to devote ourselves to doing good. Respect the government, be law abiding citizens, always lend a helping hand, don't slander anyone, be peaceful and considerate, show true humility toward everyone.

Lastly, this stood out to me: Jesus purified us to be eager to do what is good. The world tells us it's all about us, God's Word tells us it's not about us, it's about Him. It's about putting others before ourselves.

God says that we are to devote ourselves to doing good so that we live productive lives and all our necessities will be met.

Hurts and disappointments come into our lives but we aren't supposed to stay there. We have a God who will bind up our wounds and mend our broken hearts. We have a God who is always willing to help us in any area we struggle with sin. We can ask for His help to be eager to do good. We are not left alone to figure this out by ourselves and whatever God asks us to do, He will equip us to be able to do it.

I am not sure how to end this other than to say, this is where I am at, this is the work God is doing in my heart and life. It's hard, it's work but it is good. God is Good.

Being Still

2011-07-31T08:06:00.003-04:00

Interesting fact: Silent and Listen are spelled with the same letters.

That brings new meaning to this verse:

"Be still and know that I am God." Ps. 46:10

In the Message that verse reads this way:

"Step out of traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything."

Verse 11: Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of the Angel Armies protects us.

When going through a difficult time whether it be relationally or financially or health issues, it is easy to keep our minds busy with all the problems and facts of our situation. It can become so noisy that it drowns out God's voice.

God knows everything and we do not. God is control, not us and certainly not our circumstances.

I also think that verse read in the Message is ironic today as it said, take a look at God, above politics...considering what this nation is facing with the debt crisis this is a great verse to meditate on. Just something to consider.

We need a gentle reminder at times to step away from life and sit before God and be silent and listen. I heard a pastor last week say that God is always speaking but we are not always quiet enough to hear His voice.

"You're my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me." Ps. 119:14 (the Message)

Be encouraged today that God is in control and His Word will renew you and He wants us to be silent and still before Him and in Him we find our rest.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Good News & Continued Prayers

2011-01-27T06:43:00.001-05:00

There is more good news concerning Joanne. God is Amazing, ALL Powerful, Healer, Restorer.

This time, I want to give you a link from her sister Kristin: She is as sweet as Joanne. She is an awesome photographer.

You can follow her updates HERE.

I will write another post later but for now, have a great day!

Update on Joanne..Good News

2011-01-24T08:16:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning eagerly waiting to read an update on Joanne.

I am going to provide the link and you can follow and read for yourself. God is amazing and nothing is too hard for our God!

You can go HERE to read the update and a few prayer requests that we all need to pray for Joanne today.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Thank you for praying for Joanne!

Lessons

2011-01-21T20:00:00.001-05:00

Since Joanne had her stroke over a week ago, God is teaching those of us praying for her many lessons.

Of course, I can only speak for myself but one thing God has spoken a few times to me is about how short life is. Life is but a breath. As I have been thinking on life, prayer, how quick things can change, I am learning that I waste to much time doing other things than I do about the things God wants me accomplish for his Kingdom.

These things aren't bad but when they take the place of God's call on my life then I need to get my priorities in order.

We only have a brief time to complete the things God has asked us to do. I want to walk in obedience and I want to lay or store up treasures in heaven. Those are the only things that will last.

I have been in a place for a few years where I am seeking God's direction or next direction for my life. One thing we are all called to do is seek Him, praise Him, exalt Him.

I go through times where I struggle with my prayer time and Bible reading and study.

This may sound strange but for a month God has led me clean or straighten the house, closets, drawers etc.. I have changed the furniture around and I am throwing more things away. After going through our season of losing our home, salary cut in half, loss of friends, living in some hard places, loss of a lot of possessions, I am still going through things and throwing them away or giving them away. I am appreciative of our smaller home but the truth is, 5 of us are living in a 2 bedroom home. Have been for over a year now. We are waiting for God to show us the next house he has for us. Until, then, happy to have a roof over our heads.

I think the lesson is to continue to simplify our lives.

With all this snow that we rarely see in the south I believe God is teaching us to slow down. Enjoy family and friends. Concentrate more fully on Him. We all work and go and do but how much do we truly enjoy our homes and family? When it snows here we basically shut down. lol I look at it as God giving us a chance to stay home and enjoy our time with our families.

I was reading a blog today and then heard on our local news that food prices are going up more than ever before. There is going to be a food shortage like never before. People are not as well off as they used to be. We are going to continue to go through hard times but here is the other lesson God has taught us this month: He is our Provider, Our Resource. In our family, one of us works as a server and when the snow shuts the restaurant down, we aren't making money.

To be honest, we have taken a hit with all this snow, but God has always come through. Our bills have been paid and there has been food to eat. Praise God!

For a few days we were in panic mode when we lost money due to the weather. Being honest, we were worrying to the point of forgetting who really provides for us.

I heard so many people panicking over the snow and how they would get to work, losing money etc... two years ago that was the lesson God taught my family. To remember who our security is supposed to be in, God. We had drifted away from that.

To sum this all up: Since Joanne's stroke, I have been pondering.....a lot. Even as that sweet, beautiful woman lays in a coma, she is teaching us all. God is using her mightily.

Returning

2011-01-18T08:40:00.000-05:00

After a friend of ours suffered a stroke a week ago today, the one thing that everyone keeps saying, including myself, is that God is Able.

As we are believing for a miracle in Joanne's life, I am going to re-open this blog and write some here as I also continue on my other blog. There is so much going on in this world, with friends, family, that if for no other person but myself. I want to come here and write whatever God lays on my heart to share.

Whatever you may be facing right now, no matter how hard or difficult, God is Able!! Trust Him. He hasn't forgotten you nor has He left you.

I just watched a gorgeous sunrise this morning. The sky was a bright orange and pink. It is hard to describe but I did take a picture.

Enjoy.

Have a great day!

New Blog

2010-05-14T16:54:00.000-04:00

I have posted my new blog HERE if you would like to keep up with me and my crazy life. :) I went ahead and made it public and will be writing about different places right here in East Tennessee and of course a few things that are going on with me and my family.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The End..

2010-05-06T12:25:00.002-04:00

I cannot believe I have had this blog for 3 1/2 years.

It started as a blog for my Sunday School class that evolved into my personal blog.

I have felt for a few months that is was time to bring this blog to an end.

I have another blog that I have been working on pertaining to the area in which we live. I am not sure that I will launch that blog or not but to everything there is a season and all seasons change.

I am looking forward to the new thing or the new season that God will bring into my life.

It has been a joy to me for all the people that visited this blog. I appreciate your prayers for me and my family when we needed it AND getting to "visit" with y'all.

Y'all have a wonderful and fun Summer and I will be by your blogs to keep up with you!

Remember..... GOD is ABLE....
Love,
Patty

Monday Mania

2010-05-03T20:21:00.001-04:00

I am so relieved that our CH&A unit is fixed!! The man didn't show up until the middle of the day and it was plain miserable for us and our dog. Praise God it is fixed! Air never felt so good. ;)

These are the things we can take for granted.

While I was waiting on the repairman to show up, I started on my group's Summer Bible study, Breaking Free by Beth Moore. This is my second time to do this study but I am excited to be doing the study with our small group. Are you all going through a Bible study this Summer?

We are meeting in each others homes and I love that so much more than meeting at church in a classroom. It's always a fun time when you get together with girlfriends and study God's Word. :-)

Tonight has been relaxing after the mania of the heat etc.... and we grilled out hamburgers. Let me pass this yummy product along to you just in case you haven't tried it.

This makes the best hamburgers! I love all of his spices. The chicken and steak rub are also very, very good.

Now I am ready for dance mania...Dancing with the Stars! Do you watch it? Who is your fav couple? I like Max and Erin.

Time to get off here and watch the dancing but before I go let me share a verse I discovered during my quiet time:

In my devotional book Life Walk from Lifeway..we are reading Ezra and today was chapter six.

Zerubbabel and his countrymen were restoring or rebuilding the Temple of God. Resistance came from their enemies and they tried to stop the rebuilding of the Temple.

Moving forward, God gave them favor by changing the heart of the king of Assyria and they were able to continue the restoration with the king's help.

They were so excited that they celebrated for 7 days.

It was verse 22 of this chapter that made me smile. "God had plunged them into the sea of joy : he had changed the mind of the king of Assyria to back them in rebuilding the Temple of God, the God of Israel.

I don't know who needed to hear that but remember this, no matter what you are going through or facing, God can change other people's minds if he needs to in order to lavish you with His favor. God has the final say!

With that I pray each of you will be plunged into a sea of joy this week!

Same Ole...Same Ole

2010-05-02T21:40:00.000-04:00

Just checking in after I realized that I had not written in a week. Nothing major going on but just babysitting my great nephew and we seem to be busy non-stop and we needed a day like today to relax after church. That is what me and my fam have been doing all day.

My heart goes out to my friends who live in West Tennessee and Middle Tennessee. I cannot believe the flooding and I can't believe that a year ago we lived in that area. I am thankful for living in East Tennessee but my thoughts have been filled with my friends who still live there.

We did have a few hours on Saturday where my friend Georgia and I went to a few yard sales, just messing around on a pretty day. One local church was having a yard sale and breakfast and we bought homemade sausage and biscuits that were really good. The older people of their church were cooking and let me tell you they threw out a breakfast spread like no other and it smelled so good.

We had lunch(Zaxby's) with my parents and then I came home and crashed on the couch the rest of the evening.

This is where I will insert that our air conditioning quit working last night. This is also where I will tell you that it was 90 today and will be over the next few days. UGH!   It is pretty bad when it's cooler outside than inside.

Someone is supposed to come tomorrow and look at it. I am praying that it will be fixed quickly. This reminds me of when I was little and all we had back then was window air conditioners. Back then we just had to deal with the heat.   I must say that is was nice sitting outside on the front porch and the wind was pretty strong and it was very relaxing. :)

I am working on a new blog look..big surprise... I hope it turns out pretty..Something for the Summer.

BTW...I cannot believe it is May!   May is a big month in our family. Mother's Day, Parents anniversary, Mother's birthday, Memorial Day. Two friends have a birthday this month. All the above within days of each other.

One last trivial thing...I look forward to the first day in May....to the Kentucky Derby. I never bet but I like to look at the horses and pick the horse I think will win. I am pretty good at it, except this year, my horse came in 8th place. I would love to go to the Derby ..that would be on my bucket list. I love the BIG hats and dressing up etc... It was such a great race and the horses are just gorgeous. I lived in KY for 5 years and we never got to go but one day I may be there sporting my BIG hat. lol

I promise I will be back with something better to read than this post. ;) Just wanted to check in...how are you??

Weekend Thus Far

2010-04-24T15:47:00.000-04:00

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and a bunch of my friends are in Woodstock, GA for Beth Moore's Simulcast, I know they are having a blast and I can't wait to hear the reports. :)

I had lunch with a few friends on Friday and we are starting Beth Moore's Breaking Free study. We are excited to be doing this study together and it's always fun when women get together for food and Bible study.

Afterwards I went to babysit my great nephew. We had such a great time. We played and played way into the evening. I took a few pictures and thought I would share them with you.

He wanted to wear sunglasses while he had dinner

What a cutie

This was after his bath and he was ready to play! Superman to the rescue!

Today we planted flowers. I am praying we don't get the bad storms that are predicted so they can thrive and grow.

Speaking of the storms, I am so sad for those who lost their lives and homes in Mississippi and it is going to get worse as the night comes. Praying for safety for all in the pathway of this storm!!

Well, after digging in the dirt all day I need to give myself a manicure. I can't have that considering tomorrow is Sunday . ;)

Have a great evening!

Simple Pleasures

2010-04-22T10:23:00.002-04:00

This weeks Simple Pleasures are found below in pictures.

Yesterday we went to the Farmer's Market after I left my hair wizard and my favorite lady was there selling her produce. I love this lady. She is so sweet and an added bonus, she has a nephew who plays basketball for U.T. VOLS and I happened to have on one of my U.T. Vol shirts and she asked me if I watched most of the games. I said, " unfortunately yes". She looked at me weird and then asked me what my favorite game was and I wanted to say the few we won. Well, I thought she was talking about football. LOL

I redeemed myself quickly and all was good between her and I and I was able to brag about our basketball team. *smile*

I love this time of year. The tomatoes are coming in and I bought a lot of em'. In fact, I had a few with my breakfast this morning. I am going to say again that if you don't live in this area you are missing out. The best tomatoes around. I also bought cucumbers and 4 tomato plants. I am going to plant them in that Topsy Turvy contraption and I pray that it will work.

SO, the Farmer's Market is one of my Simple Pleasures this week.

Farmer's Market Fare

Amazon is a Simple Pleasure. My oldest son wanted this book and I bought it on Amazon for 2.00!

My youngest son bought me this book this week. Karen Kingsbury books are another Simple Pleasure this week.

I didn't realize the mess on my counter until after I took this picture. I decided to post this picture anyway. Just keeing it real. lol

There you have it, my simple pleasures of the week.

Do you have any you would like to share?

Celebrating

2010-04-16T17:19:00.000-04:00

I wish I could write the adequate words to describe the beauty of this Friday. The bluest of skies and hot with a nice breeze. It was a day meant to celebrate. A day to celebrate God. A day to celebrate His creation! Every day is a day to celebrate God!

After having coffee on my front porch this morning, my friend Georgia and I decided to go to a few yard sales or garage sales etc.. I wonder if they call them that up North? Anyway, we had the best time. The very first yard sale was so much fun.

We bought a few things there and then we made our way around to the other ones we had marked and bought a few more things. :)

One of my favorite finds today was a croquet set. We have been meaning to buy one but there it was for 8.00 and I couldn't resist the deal.   We have the perfect backyard for croquet and this family is competitive and I can't wait to beat them Sunday. *wink*

We also went to the Farmer's Market and my favorite lady to buy from was set up today and I bought green beans (which are cooking right now) and they smell so good, new potatoes and tomatoes. The best tomatoes ever!

We made our way back home and put our stuff up and it was too nice to be inside and I decided we needed to go on a picnic.

We live near a State Park and it is so pretty. You can see a lot of deer in the park if you pay attention. They have many trails to try and picnic shelters, tables, and a campground.

I packed a picnic, a book, my camera and we headed off for our first picnic of the season.

You can see the lake from where we picnicked and I had to take pictures.    :)

Nothing but blue skies.

Plenty of dogwood trees throughout the park.

I would love to be on the lake right now.

A view from the picnic shelter.

Switching subjects, a picture of one of my tulips.

How pretty is that?!

Thank you God for your beautiful Creation!

Relaxing and Running

2010-04-15T17:32:00.000-04:00

Hi friends!

I hope you are having beautiful days like we are in East Tn.! The allergies are kicking my behind but other than that, I am good.

Just stopping by to say hi for a second.

I have been limiting my time on the internet, more importantly Facebook because it has been a distraction for me and through my quiet time I felt God leading me to limit my time. It is so addiciting but I enjoy it. Through this time of stepping away for a bit God has redirected me and I am waiting on Him to reveal the next step for me and ministry.

I will blog a little more about the last statement later and share a few things that have been going on for the last 8 weeks.

Well, I got off on a rabbit trail huh?

I haven't been up to much this week. Monday was a irritating day but it got better by days end. The rest of the week I have run and run and run. Errands here and errands there BUT I have taken the time to relax.

In the evenings the temps get a tad cool and it is so nice to relax on the front porch. Seriously, I could sit out there for hours. Well, I have and I will have my prayer time out there in the mornings, my dog Daisy and I sit out there and watch the sunrise, I like to drink my coffee out there in the mornings. The simple things in life.

One day this week I decided not to do a thing. No housework, nada! It was hard but I made myself relax. lol Do y'all find it hard to relax?

This made for a good Tuesday:

Taco Salad for lunch

AND

A good book. I really like this book. So very good!

AND

Daisy joined me on Lazy Tuesday. ;)

This is her chair.

Time to make dinner. I am going the easy route tonight and because it's so hot I am not cooking much, BLT sandwiches tonight.

It's almost the weekend! Have a good one.

Forgotten Photos

2010-04-13T15:06:00.000-04:00

I love photography. I am by no means an expert nor do I have the best camera but I do love my camera.

I think this is my new hobby. I will take a picture of just about anything.

Anyway, I was going through my photos and decided to post the ones that I didn't pick for my posts....until now. ;)

A few random pictures from my camera

I took this from my hotel window in Nashville

Blooms on my crabapple tree

Neighbors tulips

Dogwood trees in the neighborhood

Santa Rosa Beach Florida

Took this from my car. In Middle Tn. in an older neighborhood

Courthouse in Murfreesboro

My Daisy dog

Precious girl at this year's Easter egg hunt at church

Sister walking down the beach in Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa Beach

It had rained for so long that when the sun decided to finally come out I thought it was beautiful coming through our windows and front door. :)

I hope you have enjoyed my forgotten pictures. I may post more on another day.

Catch Up

2010-04-12T13:57:00.012-04:00

I was outside much of the weekend and that made me happy.

I think we grilled out Friday through Sunday. ;)

kabobs(chicken, steak, zucchinni, squash, green peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes)

leftovers.

I thought I would throw in a picture of lazy Daisy on Sunday.

Beautiful scenery in our background

I am in search of new things to grill. I am getting tired of the same ole same ole

We are still having beautiful and warm, sunny days! A great start to the new week.

Even though I am dreaming of going on a retreat to a place like this for some peace and quiet,

I came across this today in my quiet time:

" You're my place of quiet retreat, I wait for your Word to renew me." Psalm 119: 114 (Message)

Have a blessed Monday. :-)

2010-04-08T09:41:00.000-04:00

I have written a post on my other blog today. You can go HERE if you would like to read it. It is something God laid on my heart this morning. I hope it ministers to you and encourages you today.

Belated Easter Post ...Lots of Pictures :)

2010-04-07T19:41:00.000-04:00

My cord came today and I am happy to be back on my laptop. I have been absent from Facebook and the blog unless I was babysitting at my sister's house at which I used her computer. Anyway, I will post some pictures of Easter week and I have to praise God for blessing us with a beautiful Easter weekend.

I woke up early Easter morning and watched the sunrise. It was kind of cool that morning and the birds were singing their hearts out. It is such a simple pleasure to drink coffee on my front porch and watch the sunrise each morning.

It was so hot that I decided to forego the traditional Easter meal of ham etc.. and we grilled out hamburgers and hotdogs. I made baked beans and cheesy potatoes and a banana pudding and a strawberry shortcake dessert. Both were equally delicious and we all had a little of each. My parents came over and ate with us.

Georgia and I spent the rest of the day (until the sunset) sitting outside after my parents left and we enjoyed the gorgeous weather. It was a perfect day.

Church was awesome! Our church was packed full. My sister and her hubby came with their son and grandson.

Okay, on to the pictures

We colored eggs

I decided to wear a skirt but the rest was part of my pantsuit. :)

This is our sanctuary. We have one of the prettiest sanctuaries. When we sing and worship God my eyes are always drawn to that cross and stained glass behind the baptistry.

I got a picture of my brother playing bass through the crowd.

Our pastor. He preached a powerful sermon!

Some of my church peeps.

Nicholae("Spud") and my brother-in-law and sister. :) He was getting ready to hunt eggs after church. We had a lot of children and they were divided up by their ages.

Look at 'Spud' listening to the instructions. I thought this was so sweet.

Dad helping son to get an egg.

He was proud that he found a prize egg.

Abigail (one of the pastor's daughters and all 3 of them are like my own and thier mom and I have been friends for a long time. In fact, Cecelia was pregnant with Abbers when we first started going to this church. It makes me feel old.

This is our neighborhood. Isn't this beautiful?

This is across the street. It bloomed overnight. I couldn't believe it but just in time for Easter morning.

Color and blooms everywhere. I really love this neighborhood.

I took this the other morning. I can't believe how beautiful the moon was as the sun was just coming up..

One more time with this tree. lol Praise our Creator!

I think I have posted enough pictures. ;)

Passing Along a Healthy Website

2010-04-07T07:54:00.000-04:00

My power cord tore up on my laptop but my new cord should be here this week. As soon as I get it I am going to post my Easter pictures. :) I have missed my laptop and posting my pictures.

For now, I found a GREAT website that wanted to pass along to you.

Gina's WW Recipes.

She has great Weight Watcher recipes and in her sidebar she has a WW calculator to keep up w/ your points. Also, she has a whole list of 1 point snacks. etc....

I am going to try a few of her recipes soon. I will share with you how they turned out.

I really think you will enjoy visiting this website and you will find a ton of new recipes!

Enjoy your Wednesday! It's almost the weekend!

A Great Start to April!

2010-04-01T19:14:00.000-04:00

I cannot thank God enough for this beautiful day!!! I love this time of year! The Bradford pear trees are in full bloom. The grass is more green this year than in previous seasons. The daffodils are bloomed out along with various other flowers.   God is so good to bless us with so many pretty colors in Spring!!

Today, it was 81 degrees! No cloud in the sky...the bluest of blue skies! The mountains in the backdrop of the rolling hills of Tennessee are breathtaking! I praise you our Creator!!

I was babysitting today and I took my great nephew to the mall. He is 21 months old and I kid you not, the boy loves to shop. His grandparents buy him the cutest clothes and shoes. I had a blast from the past, it took 30 extra minutes before we could leave for the mall. Getting the diaper bag ready, bottles in hand, and the stroller and the carseat. :)

He was so sweet and loved looking at the clothes and himself in the mirrors. lol

By the time we got home the sweet boy was alseep.   He is a joy!   We played with his easter eggs that his Nana bought him. He loves his eggs. I can't wait to see him hunt eggs Sunday. :)

I plan on taking plenty of pictures to share with y'all from this weekend. :)

Have a fun and blessed Friday.

Thank you Jesus for dying on the Cross for all of us!!

This and A lot of That

2010-03-30T20:35:00.000-04:00

Oh, I am so thankful the sun came out today. We are having a gorgeous evening. Pink and orange sky and the beautiful mountains for the backdrop. God is Good!

Well, I have been trying to find an Easter outfit for a week now. I seriously found everyone in the house a new shirt etc... and for me nothing......until this afternoon. :))

My younger son went with me. He helped me pick it out. He is 19, I trust his opinion. My "daughter" and friend G is out of town and she would usually go with me but this time my sweet son went with me. Y'all, he was so patient and didn't rush me. I love my sons.

Okay, we went to Kohls and I found a shirt for my oldest son, he wanted dark purple with some gray in it...I went to the clearance rack and there was a Chaps shirt(his size) at 90% off!!! I got the shirt for $4.20!!
Praise God!!!

We went from there to JC Penny and I found a shirt for my brother on sale.

Normally I find nothing at JC Penny for me but I looked anyway.   I found the cutest pants suit and I debated and debated whether or not to wear pants on Easter but my son told me it looked good and I bought it. :)    I will post a picture later.

I am happy to have everyone outfitted and put together. Yes, all of my family are adults but I have become the family's personal shopper. I really love putting an outfit together for others.

I made chicken tacos for dinner. It was a hit. It is the first time I have ever made chicken tacos and they were delicious..

We are watching American Idol right now and I have to say that I am not liking this season. :(

I am enjoying watching Dancing with the Stars!!    Do you all watch it?

I am not sure who my fav is just yet but I really like Erin/Max and Evan .

Tomorrow we head back to the airport to pick up G.   She went up North and she told me she really missed sweet tea. lol    I have turned her into a Southerner. ;)    Guess what we will be getting after we pick her up? lol

I am excited about Easter.   I am believing God to do an amazing work in our church service.

I do have a prayer request, the boys asked their father to come to Easter services. He hasn't answered them yet but pray that he will come.. we have been praying for his salvation for a long time. The boys would love for him to come to church with them.

Also, this is a small request but we are supposed to have rain on Easter morning but it is supposed to clear up the second part of the day. Our church is having a big Easter Egg Hunt with great prizes. Please pray the rain will hold off so they can hunt their eggs outside. :)

I am taking my camera and I will share pictures with you all . :)

I better jump off here but I want to wish you a blessed Easter weekend and   aren't you glad....

HE LIVES!!!!

"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. (2) Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb( 3) and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

(4) But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.( 5) As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

(6 )"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. {Mark 16:1-6}

Blessings!

A Rainy Palm Sunday

2010-03-28T17:17:00.001-04:00

How is your Sunday going?

We have enjoyed a great Sunday even though it has been raining most of the day.

We had a wonderful church service. The sermon was very powerful.

Today is Palm Sunday.

Our pastor preached from Luke 19 this morning.

37When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

40"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

As our pastor pointed out the Pharisees were amongst the cheering crowd trying to stop the people from loudly praising God.

It applies to us today.   Satan tries to do anything and everything to stop our praise.

When going through hard times it is hard to praise God. Those are times to praise God even more. The enemy is hoping we won't praise God at all but especially during hard and trying times.

Praise honors God. God is worthy of ALL praise.   To borrow a line from Facing the Giants, "We will praise Him when we win and praise Him if we don't."

I love verse 40, Jesus tells the Pharisees that even if no one praised Him the rocks would cry out!

The enemy cannot silence the praises of God.

"Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God." Ps. 50:23

"Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb , forever and ever!

Speaking of praise, as I was typing this it was raining..a steady rain, tornado warnings in neighboring counties and yet as I finished the first sentence in this post, God brought the sun out, and I laid the laptop down and grabbed my camera and headed outside.

I praise God for the break in the storm clouds

I praise God for the Spring flowers :)

I praise God for the blooms on the trees.

I Praise God for the rain that is making the grass green. :)

I pray Jesus for loving us and for dying on the Cross for us.

I praise God that he can bring a little sunshine on a rainy day and for His beautiful creation!!

Topsy Turvy

2010-03-27T07:26:00.000-04:00

Good Morning!

I woke up at 3:30 on a Saturday morning and could not go back to sleep. I had to get up at 4:30 to get ready to babysit and I am quite sure I will take a nap at some point today.

My great nephew and I are watching Blues Clues right now. :) We also had a fun game of chase through the house at which he was full of energy and could go all day and his great aunt could go about 10 minutes. Thank you, Blues Clues for coming on and thus ending the chase game for now. lol

I am sure I am the only one who hasn't seen this movie but I am going to watch Blind Side today. I can't wait to see it.

Also, the whole point of this post. :)

I have seen this certain product for a year now. It has gotten a lot cheaper this Spring and we have decided to try it.

We are going to try cherry tomatoes as well as some other tomato. You can also grow green peppers, hot peppers etc.... I think I might try hot peppers. We live in an area that has the best home grown tomatoes hands down, but I want to try this to see if it works and how good they taste. I will still go to our local Farmer's Market to buy my Summer produce and to support our local farmers.

I will post pictures as soon as I get these set up and keep you posted on our progress. :)

Also, I am proud of my VOLS making it to the Elite 8 in this wild and crazy March Madness. I am truly surprised they made it this far but I am excited! I will be watching their game Sunday afternoon to see if they can reach the Final 4!!! GO VOLS!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Back to playing....

Yard Work is not for Sissies

2010-03-25T20:18:00.000-04:00

I guess by the title you can tell what I have been doing. :-)

The weather has been so nice(until today) my brother-in-law mowed my yard, thank you Steve, and we cleaned out the landscaping beds, trimmed bushes and trees and I by last night I thought my arms were going to fall off. Oh. They. Hurt.   I love doing yard work.

Afterwards we grilled out and I am pretty sure I went to bed at 8:30.   No joke.   I slept good.

After I trimmed one of the trees in the back I discovered a birdhouse. Someone in 2002 had painted it for VBS and written on the roof was...Jesus to the Rescue!!   I left it hanging on the branch.

I cannot believe how green everything is and how the trees have bloomed over night.

The birds are loving this weather. I have a red bird that perches itself on the very top of a tree in the back at the same time we are grilling out for dinner. He just sings his heart out. I took pictures of him in the last post. I recognize his singing voice. Very different from the rest of the birds.   I am going to buy birdseed this Saturday to put in the bird feeders.

I really didn't have much to say and have probably bored you to tears.   Just wanted to check in. How are you??

I am taking a friend to the airport in the morning and my sister and her grandson are riding with us and after we drop our friend off at the airport we are going shopping and out to eat. Still trying to find something for Easter. I really need some Spring and Summer clothes

I am also continuing my basketball watching. My VOLS play tomorrow night. They have never gone past the sweet 16 and I hope they win!!

I also plan on being outside. I love being outside on a sunny day.   I may just sit on my porch and drink coffee and read a book and admire our work. lol

What are your plans this weekend?

A Perfect Start to the Weekend

2010-03-19T21:57:00.000-04:00

I wish it would stay as pretty as it was today for like 7 straight days.   I cannot praise God enough for the sunny day . A perfect Friday.

I had the doors opened this morning and after coffee and breakfast, we eat oatmeal Monday through Friday and take a break on weekends. It is good for your heart. Anyway,(moving along after that rabbit trail) I cleaned the house this morning and it looks so pretty and smells so good right now. I usually try and clean the house on Friday so we can have a clean house on the weekends. ;)

Afterwards my friend G (who is more like a daughter) went to Sonic for lunch. It has been months since I have had a cherry limeaid. Refreshing.

Then I decided to go to Ross and try and find something to wear for Easter but to no avail and I am looking for summer capri jammies and still can't find any I like. :(

After that we headed to Hobby Lobby. I bought a few Easter decorations. I bought a wreath hanger that says He Is Risen on it and I am going to leave it up until Fall. I love it!

Then it was on to Wal Mart to try and get ink for our printer but of course they were out of the one we needed. We played in the Lawn and Garden area.   I found a swing I want.   I think that will be a Mother's Day present. :)

We came home and my son and G headed to work and my other son had a friend spend the night and we grilled out.   The evening was perfect for sitting on the front porch and feeling the cool breeze as the sun was going down.

I sat out back while my brother grilled and took a few pictures.   I hope you enjoy them. :)

While sitting out back this red bird was singing in the branches. I asked God to keep that bird still until I could get my camera. This is zoomed like 80x and red birds are my favorite bird.

My red bird switched trees but I got him. :)

A bunny. I scared it and it went hopping across the street and again I asked God to still the rabbit so I could snap a picture.

The sun setting. You can barely see the outline of the mountains.

The Beautiful Moon

Daisy relaxing outside and being our guard dog. :-)

My new wreath hanger.

Look at my Easter eggs I bought at Hobby Lobby. They are called Groovy Easter Eggs. I love the cute flowers on the eggs.

One of my rabbits.

I got this cute little rabbit at Hobby Lobby today for 50% off!

Cute. :)

My Easter basket I bought for the kitchen table. I keep Easter candy in it. :-)

A perfect Friday!! Tomorrow is supposed to be a repeat of today and I plan on enjoying being outdoors tomorrow. That and watching the Lady Vols and our Vols men's team play their games tomorrow.

My sons and their friend are thinking of going to the driving range tomorrow to hit golfballs and I may go with them OR they may play miniature golf.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mentoring

2010-03-17T07:36:00.000-04:00

I am going to be lame and type in green. Happy Saint Patty's Day to You! Will you wear green today?

Last night I met some friends at O'Charley's for dinner.

We had such a good time. We were there for 5 hours and we had the best waitress and we gave her a very good tip because we stayed so long.

You know how it is with women, we were talking and laughing and talking and we weren't paying much attention to the meal OR how much we were talking and eating. I never eat all of my food and I finished ALL of my filet mignon. It was soooo good.

One reason we were meeting is that our church has started a mentoring program and I am mentoring three women. I had questions to ask them and they had some papers to fill out and now I am praying for direction in what we need to study together.

Questions for you...

Do you mentor anyone? Do you have a mentor ? Do you have any suggestions for studies that we could do?

The premise behind our church's mentoring program is to mentor for a year and at the end of the year go somewhere for a weekend and celebrate together and those I mentored will mentor someone the following year.

I am praying about having them do Beth Moore's Breaking Free. I would love to hear your suggestions.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Getting My Bracket Ready

2010-03-14T14:46:00.000-04:00

All weekend I have been watching the SEC Basketball tourney.

My Vols were doing good until yesterday when the CATS put the smackdown on my team. I am watching the championship game right now and it is a good game. BooMama is hosting the March Madness Bracket Mania again and I have already signed up. Just go visit her blog if you want to play along. I can't wait to make my selections.

I was happy to get to go back to church after missing 2 weeks. We had a great service!

I made dinner today. First time we have had a decent meal in a long time. I made a roast & carrots in my new crockpot and mac -n- cheese and mashed potatoes, because you can never have enough starches and I made cornbread and sweet tea. Yum.

If it wasn't for this championship game I would be taking a nap. I am glad about the extra hour of daylight and all that but I miss my lost hour of sleep. lol

After all the rain we had this past week by this end of this week we will need to mow the yard. Can it be time for that already?

This week I will be babysitting and I am going to start looking for an Easter outfit. I just love this time of year!

The game is almost over and I think I will take that nap and await the announcement on what teams will be heading to March Madness and then I will fill out my bracket.

By the way, BooMama chose this as our groups motto: "We love bacon" lol I love it!

Come on, join her team and the motto can be yours too! ;) We love bacon yes we do, we love bacon how about you?

Enjoy your week friends!

Simple Pleasure

2010-03-09T17:22:00.000-05:00

I think I will give 2 simple pleasures this week.

1) Sitting on the deck in a comfy chair and enjoying the sunshine. I did this today while my little great nephew was napping. The sun felt so good on my face. It would have been so easy to fall asleep but then I wouldn't be a good babysitter. :)    I did take Nicholae outside on the deck for a few minutes and he loved it too and he had his own little chair.

2) Playing hide-n-seek with Nicholae. lol    Over the last few days we have had the best time playing. He can say my name now. I will go and hide and I can hear him say, where did Pateeee go? lol So sweet! Precious times to enjoy because we moms know how fast our children grow up!!

Those are my simple pleasures this week. :)

Oh, I thank God for the beautiful weather we have had over the last 5 days.   The clouds are rolling in and the rain is coming and even thunderstorms are expected but rainy days can be fun , especially when you can spend the day in jammies and veg on the couch watching movies or reading a good book.

Have you enjoyed a simple pleasure this week?

Suddenly Spring

2010-03-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

Hello all!!

How was your weekend?

I spent my Saturday still battling the crud like most people in our area but I wouldn't trade living here for anything. Love, love, love it where we live. :) Praise God!

Sunday, I stayed home from church because I didn't think my church fam would want to hear me cough up a lung etc...so I spared them.

It was a pretty day. We grilled out late in the afternoon and I basically took it easy and took a 2 hour nap. Refreshing.

I woke up and watched a few movies and then watched E, Red Carpet Show and then the Oscars.

Most of the dresses I thought were U G L Y but I thought Cameron Diaz and Sandra Bullock's dresses were gorgeous. I was also happy Sandra won an Oscar!

All in all a pretty good show. Did you watch? Who do you think was dressed the best? OR you may not care at all and that's okay. ;)

Today suddenly feels like Spring. It's in the 60's today and plenty of sunshine!! Praise God for days like this one!! Grilling out again before the rain settles in for the rest of the week.

I had the sunroof opened today while I was running errands.

This weather has put me in the mood to spring clean and decorate my home for Spring and Easter.... I will show you my decorating touches when I am finished. I am not a craft person but I do enjoy decorating the house for each season.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Sunday "Drive"

2010-03-07T09:38:00.000-05:00

Good Morning Friends!

I am still getting over this East Tennessee sinus/crud BUT I wanted to pop in on this beautiful Sunday filled with plenty of sunshine to share a pictures and tell you that I hope you have a blessed day. :)

I remember when we were little we used to go on Sunday drives. I am finding as I get older that I enjoy days where I just drive around and appreciate God's beauty that is all around us. Just this morning as I was washing a few dishes, I looked out my kitchen window to see a Bluejay gathering nuts from our yard and some other little birds sitting in our tree. I love to watch birds. The red bird or Cardinal is my favorite bird.

Just this past week God blessed us with a gorgeous day and a view of the Smokey Mountains that was breathtaking. It is weird to see snow on the mountains and yet here, trees are budding and daffodils are peeking through the dirt and yet the mountains are covered in snow. I tried to capture the snow covered mountains for you but I didn't do it justice.

So, just pretend it is a good picture and pretend you are here on a Sunday drive and this is what you would see:

The rolling hills of East Tennessee

Snow on the Smokey Mtns.

Breathtaking.

Have a blessed day!

Simple Pleasure

2010-03-03T13:49:00.001-05:00

I was thinking of Spring this morning.

I am seeing daffodils beginning to poke through the dirt. Buds on the trees. Birds singing. Next to Fall, Spring is a favorite season of mine.

When I see tulips in the stores they make me smile. They remind me of Spring. I enjoy buying tulips and putting them on my kitchen table. They are inexpensive and a Simple Pleasure to me. :)

Do you have a Simple Pleasure to share this week?

Family and Friends

2010-03-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

How did your weekend go?    I hope you had some fun this past weekend. :)

My weekend went by to fast but it was a good.

I mentioned that I have been sick for 4 weeks now. I am feeling some better. Thank you for your prayers. Cathy D., your prayer was powerful girlfriend, thank you! Love you.

I am dealing with what I believe is thyroid problems and blood pressure issues and anxiety.   It has been scary at times but God has given me so many great verses to pray during this time. One day I will share more of what I am going through.

I shared all of that to say I really needed a getaway day. I was worn out with the above issues and it was time for a getaway day.

My sister and her hubby asked me and Georgia to go to Pigeon Forge with them yesterday. They took us out to breakfast and then we went shopping. We had little man (their grandbaby) with us too. We had so much fun! We had breaskfast at Perkins and then drove to Pigeon Forge.

There were so many people there!!! We went to the Nike Outlet and my brother-in-law bought us to a pair of tennis shoes. I was floored and excited over this delight!   On the way out of town we stopped by a flea market that was also crowded but we got the best deals. It was a day of fun and laughter! Thank you Donna, Steve and God for a great day.   I couldn't believe how much snow was on the mountains. They were beautiful.

Friends:

Two weeks ago I met up with some friend for lunch. Don't you love meeting up with girlfriends for lunch?

We met up at a local restaurant called Justins. Georgia works there but it was her day off and she a table reserved for us.

We had the best time! We are planning on meeting up again this month at Lora's house for lunch. I am so thankful for these sweet friends and so glad that we all live in this area!

Here are a few pics I took from Lora on FB to share with you.

Me, Lora, Georgia and Kelly and Owen

Owen loved playing with Georgia

Owen praying over our meal. He is such a sweet boy. I looked up at him during his prayer and he looked up at the same time to see if I still had my head bowed. lol Isn't that adorable?

That is something I know makes God smile. :)

Happy Monday!

A Quiet Saturday

2010-02-27T21:02:00.000-05:00

It has been a quite Saturday for the most part.

Usually a Saturday consists of me cleaning the house and preparing for Sunday.

This morning we ate breakfast and laughed over past memories when my sons used to visit my brother when they were younger. Fun times. :)

I sent the brother and one of my sons out to the store to pick up a few things for dinner. It was so nice to sit in my jammies until 12:00 and not have to be in a grocery store on a Saturday. lol

I finally got ready and went to my hair wizard and got highlights and a new haircut!! Don't you love getting a new haircut or just getting your hair cut? It feels so good.

I came home and put a new pair of jammies on. :o)

We made dinner, I have been craving veggies. We had grilled fish and baked fish. (for me, with tartar sauce) ) I confess, I really loathe fish. I will eat Gorton's fish but that is it. They have lemon pepper fish that is so good. ;o) I think I offend my family. lol I made cornbread to go with it because after I talked with my sister today, she told me she was making homemade soup and cornbread and then I started craving cornbread. What is wrong with me today? Craving spinach and cornbread, whatever the reason they were both very good with my fish.

AND

Instead of dinner and a movie we had dinner and REBA. I love that show. I have seen all the episodes but they make me laugh. Van is hilarious!!! I miss this show. It should have been on a lot longer !

I don't see how they could run their lines without laughing their heads off!

Again, I can see Van and just laugh. :)

Laughter is a good medicine!

It has been a hard day with Chile's earthquake and the tsunami in Hawaii. Heavy heart for the Chileans and for Haiti!! May God bring comfort, and healing, provision and protection!!

Catching Up

2010-02-26T20:36:00.000-05:00

I haven't much to blog about but I did want to stop in and catch you up on our goings on around here. :)

First things first, I have debated on putting this on here but I am going to go ahead and share something I have been going through for 3 weeks now.

I have been sick. I have been sick for 3 weeks. I will just ask for prayer. I need it. I really feel this is spiritual warfare and I need intercessory prayer. God has reminded me he is my Shield, and Protector and I am standing on His Word.

Today I had a nice treat. My sister took me out to lunch. Actually there were 4 of us, Georgia (our family has adopted her..;) and Nicholae and my sis and me. We had the best time.

We went to O'Charleys. I had the best sandwich today!! It was their prime rib cheese steak sandwich. Oh. my. word. I can't tell you how good this was. I love mushrooms and onions and peppers and the prime rib was perfection.

By the way, can I just say how happy I am that the days are getting longer! It won't be long until the time change and Spring is around the corner. Amen!

If it doesn't snow we are supposed to go with my sister and her husband and their grandbaby to Pigeon Forge Sunday.

What are your plans this weekend?

I hope that ya'll have some fun included in your weekend. :)

Simple Pleasure Day

2010-02-23T00:53:00.002-05:00

In being intentional about paying attention to the simple pleasures around us, I would like to share another Simple Pleasure today.

Grilling out.

Our family loves to eat out.   As evidenced by a lot of my blog posts and I had a friend suggest I change my blog name to a Taste of the Town.. I guess that shows you how much we love eating out. lol

Anyway, we also love to grill.   My brother-in-law is a meat manager at a local grocery store and that has advantages. ;)    This past weekend we called him and asked him to cut us some ribeyes. He had them on sale.

One of the best parts is the smell.   It is funny when someone in the neighborhood is grilling out and the smell will drive you crazy. It will also drive you to the grocery store to buy something to grill out and then you can compete with your neighbor. lol   Just kidding. Sort of. :)

This past weekend as we were grilling out and enjoying the smell of hamburgers and steaks, it was also nice to see our neighbors out and about and watching the children ride their bikes. etc...

Simple Pleasures come to us in so many ways.   Being outside and feeling the warmth of the sun, grilling out, enjoying our neighborhood are my simple pleasures this week.

What about you?

Weekends Need to be Longer

2010-02-21T21:22:00.000-05:00

I wanted to write a quick post and praise God for a gorgeous weekend!! Oh my goodness, I had the screens up on the front and back doors.   The weather was just perfect. The birds were singing away and I think all of creation is ready for Spring!

We bought a new grill yesterday. This was a big deal to me because when we had to move we had to leave a lot behind. To be honest, still hurts a little. God has promised restoration/redemption from last year and this grill was one of those things. :)   It came about so quickly and before we knew it we were grilling out last night. :)   We grilled hamburgers last night. The smell was heavenly. Thank you to my sister for giving generously. :)

Today we went to church and had a great service. I love what God is doing within our church body.

After church we waited for my son to get home from work and we grilled out steaks. Yum!! We enjoyed another pretty day.   We watched the Olympics and then we all took a nap. Ahhhhh...nothing like a Sunday nap.

When our lazy selves woke up we went to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. We haven't done that in a long time. We visited our parents this evening. My mom makes us laugh so much, you would love my mother.

I babysit Tuesday. We are supposed to have lunch with friends on Wednesday but we are supposed to get snow. Snow. Snow. ugh!   I can't even fathom that after this weekend but it's all good.

I hope ya'll had a wonderful and fun weekend!

God is so good and so sweet to bless us with a spring like weekend in February. Thank you Jesus!

I almost forgot, here are a few pictures I took of our Saturday night sunset. Enjoy.

Sunshine, Sweet Beautiful Sunshine!

2010-02-19T20:08:00.000-05:00

What a gorgeous day! I stayed outside or running errands all day. By running errands I mean a little shopping and grocery shopping.

We had the car washed. There was so much salt on the car. It looked like we lived up North. It is all clean now!

I opened the sunroof and let the fresh air in. The sun felt so good on my face today. :) Good ol vitamin D.

We stopped by Zaxby's for lunch. I think half the town was eating out today. I am excited that the Chicken Salad Zalad is back. Yum!

We also had an order of fried pickles. Strange combo but it was really good.

I had to do a Wal Mart run and they were getting all their lawn and garden stuff out. It made me happy. Spring is on it's way. :)

I am ready to get my hands in the dirt and plant flowers.

I am settling in for the night.  The Olympics are on.   Have you been watching?    I have decided snowboarding is the coolest Olympic sport and I want to meet Shaun White. lol   He is amazing!

What are your plans this weekend?

Matchbox Cars and Trucks

2010-02-18T19:19:00.001-05:00

Today, I spent the day babysitting my great nephew. He is 19 months old. I know I have talked a lot about him but he is just the cutest baby boy and so much fun.

Our day started at 4:00 a.m. I took my shower before going over to watch him and by the time I got there(5:15) he was already up!   Wide awake!

We began our morning watching cartoons. Then we played hide- n- seek and danced and then we got him breakfast at McDonalds. He loves gravy and biscuits. I wish that you could see him eat his gravy and biscuits. So cute. I need to make him my homemade biscuits and gravy. I have made them once before and he scarfed them down. lol

After that he decided he would fight sleep. He played and played and finally went down for a nap.

After his nap he loved on me and drank a bottle of juice and then it was time to play cars and trucks at the kitchen table. His new thing, getting on the kitchen chairs. We sat at the table and crashed our cars and trucks and he thought it was so funny. I am going to have to make a video for you.

It brought back memories of playing cars with my oldest son. Matchbox cars was his thing. He had just about every one they made, and the tracks.   David could play for hours with his cars. Hard to believe he is 21 now.

I am telling you I was wore out after playing. LOL    Oh. my. word.   I saw myself in the mirror and cringed. hee hee

I came home and got my blanket and crashed on the couch.  I am so happy God let me have my children when I was in my 20's .

Needless to say we are having a simple dinner tonight.

Okay, share a favorite memory you have of your children when they were my great nephew's age. :)

I will share one about my first born.    I have shared this with a few people before but it still makes me laugh.

He is David III.

We thought it was a big deal being David the Third!

One day, we were at my in-laws sitting around the table eating breakfast. David's grandfather mentioned to David how proud he was to have his first grandson named after him.

My David is silent for a moment and then says this.... Why are there so many David's in this family? There are too many David's in this family. I am changing my name to Stuart. lol   Priceless.

I love my sons. What a blessing to be a mom, or a grandmother, and even a aunt. :)

Play Day

2010-02-17T16:53:00.000-05:00

I thought I would write a little post and little because nothing much has been going on around here. Well, other than snow and more snow and then more snow. Ugh!! Over. The. Snow.

I found a new pair of flops that I have to buy, I might even need them because I think they are so cute. :))

Yellow Box Sandles.. my favs.

What are your favorite flip flops?

I want to get a pedi so badly but I will wait until next month. I miss wearing my flip flops. :) Come on warmer weather!

My friend Georgia and I had a play day today. We were supposed to go to lunch with a few friends but we had to move it to next Wednesday.

We decided to go play at Target. For now, we don't have a Target in our town. Gasp! We went to Knoxville to the Target closest to us.

We bought a few cute things in the dollar ailse and my best deal today was my shower curtain! I still had my Christmas shower curtain up. Isn't that awful?? Anyway, I found a shower curtain for 3.74!! It's so cute. I really wanted the Snoopy shower curtain but they were sold out. I will go back to get it. :))

Our next stop was Lifeway. I was excited to see my friend Lisa's book on the shelf!! I can't wait to start reading it!! Y'all go buy her book. She is such a gifted writer. She is so funny and cute!! Please buy her book for your pastor's wife . It will minister to her in a BIG way!!

Gotta run. I think we are going to eat Taco Bell tonight. Have y'all tried their Fresco menu? It is so good. After that we are off to Bible study class!!

Enjoy your Wednesday evening!!

FYI

2010-02-13T08:33:00.004-05:00

I found 2 new food blogs that I know you will enjoy and I thought I would pass it along to you.

I love the name of her blog.   Macaroni and Cheesecake.(Savory Eats and Delicious Treats)   Stop by for a visit, you will enjoy it and there are so many recipes!!

AND: A Homebased Mom,(Finding the Pretty and Delicious) again, wonderful recipes. She has a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I am going to try soon. I have tried so many recipes for chocolate chip cookies and this one is a bit different than all the rest.

Have a wonderful Saturday.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T21:26:00.001-05:00

It has been a busy week but a good week.

I have babysat my great nephew this week. We have played and played this week. I have said it before and will say it again, he is the best baby. He always has a smile and he is a happy boy.

Today I took him to McDonalds for breakfast. He loves gravy and biscuits. Loves them. He ate and ate and then played a bit and we headed off to Wal Mart. He fell asleep on the way there but as soon as I put him in the cart he woke up and he had the best time. He loved all the big lights. We raced through the aisles and we danced and I found out he loves looking at himself. lol Every mirror we had to stop so he could admire himself. lol

On the way home he fell asleep and he napped a little bit and then it was time to head off to the grocery store where his grandaddy and Aunt Meagan works, he is a granddaddy's boy. He just smiled when he saw him.

After that we headed to Kmart to buy more Valentine candy. He is too young for candy so I bought him a new toy.

By the time we headed home (for good this time) he fell asleep and slept for 3 hours. He woke up and sat on my lap and drank his juice and we watched t.v...a good day!

I bought my brother and sons and Georgia Valentine candy.

For many, many years I have bought my sons this:

The big Reese Heart. They love it! :)

Tomorrow I am making mini brownies for the family for V-Day. We were going to go out to eat but I decided to make dinner for my family.

Turkey breast cooked in the crock pot, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, yeast rolls, chocolate reese cake.

A week ago I entered a Valentine's Day contest on Jackie's blog, Fresh Oil Today , and I won!!!

I will be getting my basket full of goodies soon!! Thank you Jackie.

Lastly, I would like to share a small testimony about Valentine's Day.

My divorce became final on Valentine's Day 12 years ago this Sunday. For a long time I disliked this day. I had no desire to celebrate it in the least. One year I read a story in a magazine from a single mom. She was encouraging us single moms in particular to celebrate with our children instead of being down . I decided to do just that and that year I made a special candlelight dinner for my two sons and myself. It was so special and my youngest son mentioned it the other day and how much he loved that dinner. At first I didn't think they would much care but they did and do care. SO, if you are a single mom, I encourage you this year to plan something special for your child/children and yourself. God has truly given me a new heart for Valentine's Day. I love making this day special for my family!

For the married ones: please remember your single friends at this time and send them a card or a small gift. It really makes a difference.

To the single ladies. Embrace your life and where you are right now. If you are believing God for a husband, wait on God and his perfect timing. Enjoy the day. Buy yourself something frivilous. Have fun. Light a candle and make a special dinner for yourself and spend time with your Savior, Jesus Christ and tell him how much you love Him and thank Him for loving you!! Because He does love you and is enthralled by your beauty and He loves to delight you!! May this be your best Valentine's Day ever! May God bless you with a special delight this Sunday. In fact, I am praying God surprises you!!! Love you!!

Simple Pleasures

2010-02-10T02:44:00.004-05:00

I haven't done a Simple Pleasure in a long time but Kelly at Kelly's Korner inspired me to start this again.

This is something God laid on my heart awhile ago, to focus on the simple things in life. It is so easy to get our eyes on bigger things and I think God was getting my attention or focus back on what really matters in life. To appreciate what we have and to have a thankful heart.

I began thinking of the simple things in my life and there were or are so many.

Today's simple pleasure is: Women's Bible Study.

Starting a new Bible study with a group of women at church is so much fun.

Last week we started Esther by Beth Moore. I did this study last year and almost backed out of going through it again but I am glad I decided to do the study again with our women at church. When I did this a year ago we lived in Middle Tn.

Whether you are doing a Bible study alone or with a group it is still a good thing and a wonderful Simple Pleasure in life.

What is your Simple Pleasure this week?

Cajun Goodness

2010-02-09T14:37:00.001-05:00

As I was surfing the web I came across some cajun recipes that sound so yummy that I had to try at least a few of the recipes from Southern Living. Just in time for Mardi Gras! 2/16/2010.

Chicken Gumbo

1/2 cup peanut oil

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped sweet onion

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 to 3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

2 teaspoons minced garlic

3 (14-oz.) cans chicken broth

1/2 pound andouille sausage, cut in 1/4-inch-thick slices

Okra Pilau (Recipe Below)

4 cups chopped cooked chicken

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; gradually whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until flour is chocolate colored. (Do not burn mixture.)

2. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in onion and next 4 ingredients, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 minutes. Gradually stir in chicken broth and sausage. Increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, prepare Okra Pilau. Stir chicken into gumbo; cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Serve with Okra Pilau.(recipe follows)

3 bacon slices

1 large sweet onion, chopped (about 2 cups)

1 (16-oz.) package frozen sliced okra, thawed

2 (8.5-oz.) packages ready-to-serve Cajun-style rice

Preparation

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes or until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon.

2. Sauté onion and okra in hot drippings over medium-high heat 6 to 8 minutes or until tender.

3. Prepare rice according to package directions. Stir rice and crumbled bacon into okra mixture in skillet.

ANOTHER RECIPE: New Orleans Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

1 pound dried red beans

7 cups water

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 pound andouille sausage, sliced

3 tablespoons Creole seasoning

Hot cooked rice

Garnish: sliced green onions

Preparation

Place first 8 ingredients in a 4-quart slow cooker.

Cook, covered, at HIGH 7 hours or until beans are tender. Serve with hot cooked rice. Garnish, if desired.

I am making the Red Beans and Rice tomorrow. I will let you know how the recipe turned out. I am excited about it. :)

Monday Randomness

2010-02-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

It's early and I lack a great title for this post but I go forward. :)

First things first, congrats to the Saints!! What a game!! It was a great Super Bowl even though the Colts lost. We enjoyed our food and fellowship and all is good.

I wished that I had taken my camera with me last night when we went to Papa Johns to pick up our pizza.

ALL men except us getting their pizza. I should say I waited in the car while Georgia ran in to get the food. i was in my jammies. ;) Pizza seemed to be the food of choice for the Super Bowl.

Speaking of food, I made Pioneer Woman's hot wing sauce and it was sooooo good. Full of flavor and not to spicy. 2 thumbs up! I also made her Pico de Gallo/Guac dip and my word, good, very good!

Moving on, it's Monday and I think I am trying to get sick. Sore throat, achy feeling and just plain ole yukiness. I am trying to motivate myself. Laundry to do, floors to be swept, kitchen to be cleaned, pick up our Sunday mess. I just don't feel like it yet but I am working on it.

Lastly, I wanted to share a blog post I read today from one of my favorite blogs to visit. Joni, (at Old Centennial Farmhouse)lives in Michigan on the cutest farm and she shares wonderful recipes, beautiful pictures, etc....you come away feeling like you were there for a real life visit. She wrote a wonderful post on Home that I think you would enjoying visiting. You may click HERE to read it.

Time for me to get up and get busy. Y'all have a great Monday!!

Super Bowl Menu

2010-02-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

Oh yes, it is finally Super Bowl time!!

The discussion on FB is the food. Let's face it, it is an important part of the Super Bowl. ;)

Well, that and the commercials. I hope the commercials will be good.

This morning I was having a lazy Saturday and deciding on what to make for the Super Bowl.

Someone sent me to Pioneer Woman's website because bless her heart, PW gave us plenty of ideas for our parties.

I am making her Pico De Gallo and Guacamole. Serving with tortilla chips. Have you seen these? We love these dipping strips. So much easier.

Papa Johns is having a great Super Bowl deal tomorrow. Any large pizza, any topping for 10.00

We are going to order a few pizzas to go along with the guacamole dip

AND we are going to make hot wings and I am making the PW's homemade hot wing sauce.

We bought Super Bowl cupcakes at Wal Mart and we are making chocolate chip cookies. That rounds out our menu. Simple and easy and good.

I am sure it is no surprise that we are rooting for the COLTS!!!!

Everyone in East Tn. loves Peyton. I am hoping Peyton and his brother Eli have a new OREO commercial tomorrow night. They are so funny.

We are hoping for another win!!!

Have a wonderful Sunday and enjoy your Super Bowl parties!! If you aren't watching the Super Bowl, enjoy your day too!

Craving Color

2010-02-05T18:01:00.000-05:00

It has been a long winter. We never get as much snow as we have gotten in Tennessee. It has been beautiful but I am over it now. I am thanking God we are not getting the snow that Virginia and Washington DC are getting this weekend.

It has been gloomy and raining all day. This has me craving color. I appreciate each season but it isn't long until Spring and I am looking forward to some Spring color.

I thought I would post a few pictures with color .

Dogwood trees will be in bloom soon. :)

Gerber daisies make me smile

I love buying Tulips in the Spring

In our area we have the best tomatoes. Grainger county tomatoes. I am looking forward to going to the Farmer's Market soon and buying this deliciousness. For lunch I love to quarter the tomato and put homemade tuna salad in the middle. Yum.

My fav bird. ;) I heard the birds singing this afternoon. I think they are ready for Spring.

I enjoy seeing the many different colored homes at the beach.

ahhhhhhh..God is good!

Cades Cove. I can't tell you how blessed we are to live near the Smokies!

beauty. This reminds me of the Kentucky Derby and the women and all their hats in all colors and shapes.

I can't wait for these. :)

In Tn. they call this corn, peaches and cream.

For now we have a little while longer to go until Spring but it won't be long and the colors will be everywhere, blooms and flowers and an abundance. I thank God for color.

11 See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

12 Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

is heard in our land.

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

43 Days Until Spring. :)

Happy Blog-O-versary To Me!

2010-02-04T20:46:00.006-05:00

I can't believe this is my 4 year blog-O-versary!!

I will keep this short and sweet and perhaps random free.

I will simply say that I am enjoying writing and sharing our family's life and journeys God calls us to and I truly enjoy Y-O-U!!!

Thank you for your sweet and encouraging comments and friendship through this wonderful world of blogland!!! It has been so much fun meeting some of you in person. I would have never imagined the many different ways that God would bless me with this little ole blog.

I am not even going to mention how many posts I have written...not even!!! Clearly, I am a woman of few words! Ha!!

Have a cupcake before you leave. I slaved all day making them. :)

A Valentine Surprise

2010-02-04T16:06:00.002-05:00

I was so excited when I came home today to find a package sitting in my living room. I had no idea what was in it, a total surprise! My friend Lisa sent me a box full of goodies. It was like Christmas today. :)) I might have squealed. :)

The first thing I opened was my card. I loved seeing Snoopy on the card. Snoopy is my favorite Peanuts character.

Cute and soft Valentine socks

Isn't that funny?!

I love both pair.

Chocolate! Hello!

What a cute picture! I thank God every day for His new mercies.

More candy. ;) I forgot but I also got a devotional called, Quiet Moments Alone with God. A beautiful book.

Yes, Super Bowl plates and napkins!! We both love the Colts and this made me happy!!

Lisa, thank you!!! SO thoughtful and kind and you made my day!!

If you haven't visited Lisa's blog you need to! You will be blessed!

I will be back tomorrow or Saturday for a Super Bowl post.

So Long

2010-02-02T07:10:00.003-05:00

SO excited about Beth's new book coming out today!!! Don't forget to get your book!!

We will be going through this book together on Beth's blog, LPM.

Have a great day!

What are You Expecting?

2010-02-01T08:37:00.000-05:00

I have written a new blog post on my other blog. If you would like to read it you can go HERE.

I hope it encourages you on this Monday morning. :)

A Girly Girl Giveaway

2010-02-01T07:35:00.002-05:00

Because this is a Valentine, Girly Girl Giveaway I have decided to type this post in pink. :)

Jackie at Fresh Oil Today, is having a giveaway for Valentine's Day.

Here is a picture of the things she is giving away:

Jackie is generous in her giving, plus you will love her blog.

If you would like to enter you can do so by clicking HERE.

Seriously, what girl doesn't need to win a chocolate shoe? Along with a Starbucks giftcard, just to name a few of the things in this basket. :)

Happy Feburary and Monday!!

I've Got You On My Mind

2010-01-31T08:55:00.002-05:00

Instead of posting snow pictures and icy road pictures this is what I have on my mind today. I am hoping to go to this paradise this year.

Psalm 148

Hallelujah! Praise God from heaven,

praise him from the mountaintops;

Praise him, all you his angels,

praise him, all you his warriors,

Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, you morning stars;

Praise him, high heaven,

praise him, heavenly rain clouds;

Praise, oh let them praise the name of God—

he spoke the word, and there they were!

He set them in place

from all time to eternity;

He gave his orders,

and that's it!

Praise God from earth,

you sea dragons, you fathomless ocean deeps;

Fire and hail, snow and ice,

hurricanes obeying his orders;

Mountains and all hills,

apple orchards and cedar forests;

Wild beasts and herds of cattle,

snakes, and birds in flight;

Earth's kings and all races,

leaders and important people,

Robust men and women in their prime,

and yes, graybeards and little children.

Let them praise the name of God—

it's the only Name worth praising.

His radiance exceeds anything in earth and sky;

he's built a monument—his very own people!

Praise from all who love God!

Israel's children, intimate friends of God.

Hallelujah!

Have a blessed Sunday !

Saturday Morning Chat

2010-01-30T09:58:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!

We went to bed last night thinking we would awake to 8 inches or more of snow and it was more like 4 inches with ice. :(

I wanted one really good snow one last time but that is okay. It is always exciting to have the chance to get a foot of snow in East. Tennessee.

I am sitting here drinking my coffee and doing a whole lot of nothing until my eyes wake up . Which brings me to this question.

Are you a morning person or not?

When I was younger the safest thing to do was not talk to me until lunch. ha! As I have gotten older, I am up by 6:00 a.m.   No need for an alarm clock. Also, I am usually ready for bed before 9:00 p.m.

In just this year I have noticed changes. I can't keep up with a toddler like I used to. I have learned that lesson by babysitting my great nephew. He loves to play and goes non-stop all day and I can make it for about 20 minutes and then I am done. lol

This time last week I was in Houston in 70 degree weather. What a difference a week makes. :)

I guess we will stay in today and relax and I think after my quiet time I may read a few books I got at Christmas and then again, I may take a nap by 9:00 a.m. ...lol

I am trying to decide what to cook for supper tonight. I think I am going to make pulled bbq sandwiches and fries, something simple.   It will smell good once I get it in the crockpot. :)

What are your plans today??

Need a Laugh?

2010-01-28T09:34:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine wrote a poem or a song while coming back to Houston last week. I wanted to let you know so you can go visit her post, HERE. This is so funny!! Thank you Lora!!!

Her post reminded me of our flight from Dallas to Houston. A man who boarded our flight walked by our seats and he looked just like Samuel L. Jackson, even had that one hat on that Samuel L. Jackson always wears and ALL I could think of was, Snakes on a Plane. In fact, I spoke that thought outloud before I had a chance to stop myself. lol

Have a wonderful Thursday!!!

Fun Times in Houston..Part 2

2010-01-26T09:30:00.002-05:00

After the event Friday we met out in the lobby and Beth was greeting the Siestas and taking pictures. They also served us her famous Texas sheet cake. Oh. my. Word. I told Amanda I agreed with her in the fact that the cake is even good for breakfast the following day. I have made Beth's recipe so many times and it is a family favorite.

A few of us went back to the Omni and we went to the Presidential Suite to talk and laugh! LPM blessed us with the suite the entire weekend. Thank you!

A few more pics from Friday night:

A couple of things: Bev and Lindsee, love these ladies! I didn't have enough time to talk to them like I wanted but they are so special to me! Number 2..I didn't relaize the enormity of my purse. Bless it's heart.

The four of us kept taking pictures all over the lobby. I was so glad to see Bev!

I call this photo: Coat Envy. Love Melanie(Big Mama) .

A Siesta relaxing in the Presidential Suite(I forgot to get her name :(

Lichelle kicked back in the suite :)

Melissa...stunning! The Moore girls are beautiful inside and outside.

Let's not even begin to talk about how beautiful their hair is..hair envy. ;)

Saturday morning. We got up early and headed back to the church. They had a huge breakfast buffet set up for us. I had a breakfast taco. Yum! Then we made our way back to the room we met in for the conference. All of us were taking a ton of pictures. So much fun! Beth, Amanda and Melissa gave out more door prizes and then Beth finished teaching on Psalm 119. Afterwards they had a Q &A and then we broke off in small groups to recite our memory verses. It was so sweet to see women everywhere reciting their memory verses. I am sure Heaven was smiling over us. I am sure Heaven was celebrating right along with us!

Georgia and Suzi getting a picture with Beth

Suzi and G playing around before we began on Sat. morning

G and Lynn, who moved back to the States from Germany. They were Siesta Ornament Exchange Partners 2 years ago and they finally got to meet in person!

Lora and I. Lora has such a beautiful heart!

This is one of my favorite pictures. Beautiful sisters!

Another favorite. We had some funny moments!

Another favorite picture. Karen getting ready before we started Saturday. :)

Karen and I playing around on the stage . :) The lights were so bright I couldn't see a thing. lol

This story behind this picture is funny. While giving out door prizes they got to the point where they were giviing out Beth's Wise Up series and Beth said, they aren't giving away the section, Wisdom for a Woman's Sexuality...and that was the one they gave away. lol Amanda told us she hasn't and won't listen to that part of this series. Too funny !!

This was Travis during that conversation. hee hee

I can't remember what Beth was talking about but you can see that it was funny!

This was the best celebration weekend!!! I can't thank LPM, and Beth and HFBC enough for hosting this event for us.

A special moment for me was getting the chance to talk with Nancy at LPM. She is so cute! She shared a special story with me and it went right along with something Beth taught us Friday night.

So many memories for all of us to take away from this weekend!

I think I may have to do a Part 3. I didn't realize how many pictures I had taken and too many stories to share. :)

We missed all the Siestas who were not able to come. I know how that feels. We were told there would be a special podcast for those who were not able to make it! You were missed and thought about all weekend!

Fun Times in Houston...Part 1

2010-01-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

I am still soaking in all that took place this past weekend in Houston! It went by way to fast!

Our flights were early, a God Stop!

We landed in Houston and God had the most delightful meeting set up with a group of Siestas from my area. I had not met a few of them and as it turned out they live real close to me! We had to go to Houston to meet each other. Only God. We all laughed so much and it was a joy to hang with them this past weekend.

Georgia, Brittany, me, Evie and Kelly

Nesha and Rachel (we ate at Cyclones, a Tex Mex kinda of place) Great food!

Princess Brittany(also our driver)

We loved our room. The Omni was beautiful!

When I saw the t.p. with the ribbon tied around it I had to take a picture.

Jan came in right after us. I was so excited to see her again! She is precious!! Don't you love the fact that she has water and Starbucks?!! Love her!

Me, Jan and Deborah (Twinkle) special women to me!

Such a joy to meet Karen!

On Friday we decided to go to the church early and see who we could meet. These precious women above and so many more came in right after us and it was so much fun to meet new Siestas as well as the Siestas I had already met!

It was a treat to see the LPM staff in the lobby when we got there. They are such humble servants of God and just a blast to be around!

We were waiting in line to get in the room we were having our celebration and all of the sudden all of us starting singing Amazing Grace. It was so special.

Beth taught on Ps. 119...which has 176 verses and Beth kidded with us that we were going to memorize all 176 verses. lol

I will never look at the Psalm the same way again and I will share my notes on Beth's teaching in another post.

Travis was there to lead us in worship! Jesus Saves, Victory in Jesus, In Christ Alone just to name a few songs we sang!

Right before we started Friday night we all to visit with one another and I know we all took like a bajillion pictures. A bajillion is like...A lot!!! lol

Here are a few more pics and I will have another post up tomorrow.

I got to meet a blog friend of mine in person! I was SO excited to meet Lisa!! What a godly woman, she encourages me so much! Her face is full of joy! Love you Lisa!

Suzi! I met her at the Siesta Fiesta and I was so excited to spend the weekend with her. Suzi, Georgia and myself had a lot of fun and at some points we were mischievious.

Me and Melana("Moose Mama") She is so special to me and when we are around her we laugh until we cry and that is what we did this weekend!

Oh my word...meeting cute Miranda! What a young, godly woman!! Full of the joy of the Lord! Also, Lichelle, so special to me and she is the one who bought my plane ticket so I would not miss the celebration. also got to hang out with her and Evie and Lichelle's family. What a fun night!

Special women, Sherry(met her for the 1st time ) and Valerie, I met her in San Antonio and she also blessed me to go on this trip! Love all of these women. Blessings in my life!!! God is so good to set up these friendships!

Meeting Cindi for the first time. We both couldn't wait to meet each other. I love all of these women!

Brittany and me! This young woman is amazing!! She is so much fun but I wish you could sit down with her and talk to her about her ministry. She has a HUGE heart to save those from human trafficking.

Mama Siesta starting the Celebration!!

Amanda and I have emailed back and forth for 7 years and I met her in person in 2008 at the Siesta Fiesta but we had never taken a picture together. I was excited to get a picture this weekend! She is gorgeous and I just look plain rough and my eyes are almost shut. lol

Okay, I will finish posting more pictures tomorrow.

This is longer than I had intended but spending a weekend with this special group of women is so much fun that you just want to talk and talk about it!! :)

Random Post

2010-01-19T17:08:00.000-05:00

First things first, I am loving this spring weather we are having!! Short sleeve shirts, no jackets and the sunroof open, yes!! It will come to an end soon as the rain is fast approaching but it was nice while it lasted!

I just realized this would have been a perfect day for a cherry limeaid at Sonic. I wish that I had remembered to stop while I was out running errands. Dang. Oh well, another day...

I haven't decided if I am taking my computer on our trip but this will probably be my last post until I get back.

I just thank God again for this opportunity to meet with friends and have this celebration in Houston!!

My friend Georgia and I are leaving Thursday and will be flying on Friday. Please pray as we travel through the rain and our flights to and from, connecting flights, please pray our flights will be on time. Also, things at the airport will go smoothly for us!

Y'all have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!!!

I will be back next week with pictures. :)

Wonderful Surprise

2010-01-16T19:18:00.003-05:00

I had a wonderful surprise this week and I wanted to share and give thanks to some friends and praise to God!!

For those who may not know, A lot of us memorized scripture last year on Beth Moore's blog, HERE.

Next Friday we are converging in Houston at Beth's church for a celebration!!

Considering the year that my family went through it wasn't possible for me to go. A few of us on FaceBook were discussing this trip in a private thread and they asked me if I was going and I asked for them to pray that I would be able to go. It had to be God. That is the way I have lived since becoming a single mom and I know other single moms can relate to me, a lot of people can relate to this considering our economy.

I had friends and family bless me in a HUGE way and that made it possible for me to go!! I am amazed at their generosity.   I pray God to bless them abundantly for their kindness.

I had prayed about for a year and I really didn't think I was going to be able to go but God kept asking me to believe Him.

One of my memory verses:

"Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said will be accomplished." Luke 1:45

My friend Georgia wanted to go to and she usually travels with me in case I need help because of my leg issue. It gets hard on me traveling by myself. Plus, she wanted to go! ;)   Her mom bought her plane ticket!

God has worked out every detail !!! I praise Him !!! I told God I would praise Him either way and I meant that even though I would have been sad if I couldn't go. (just being honest).

I have the opportunity to be with some wild women who love Jesus and who make me laugh. I met them first online and then in person at a Beth Moore conference a few years ago. I also get to meet some new friends next week and I am so excited about that !! We leave next Thursday. Yay!!!

Speaking of which, there is a new ministry I would like to direct you to in case you haven't heard about it.

Two women that I had the joy to meet in person have started a new ministry for women. Their cute button is in my sidebar. Please go on over and look what they are doing!! I am so excited for them and all of us!!! They are connecting the Body of Christ!!!    You can click HERE.

Other news:

I decided on a template that I love. It speaks Spring time to me. I will be leaving this template up for a long time. I enjoy experimenting with new looks and colors. I do this on my blog and in my home and even on my hair. lol   I apologize to those I drove crazy with my many templates. Those are my 2 sons in my header. This was 4 years ago in Destin. Our fav place to vacation!

I need to get off here and complete my Sunday school lesson before the Colts game comes on.

Y'all have a blessed evening and Sunday!!

A New Adventure

2010-01-13T09:16:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!

What a beautiful morning in Tennessee! The sun is shining and I am praising God for it!!! Yesterday we had more snow. It wasn't around for long but it started covering the streets and I was really over it at that point. :)

I love getting snow and it has been so pretty and I praise God for the snow but I am ready for some sunshine and possibly spring. lol

Since 2009 and especially the part of the year when we lived with my sister, God gave me this name for a ministry. I have pondered about that name for a long time. I thought of how God was going to use me with this ministry. Also, I really didn't know where to go from there and I have prayed about it and prayed about it and yesterday God led me to sit down and work on the blog. I looked into having a website and I believe I will eventually but for now I started with a second blog.

I tried a recipe blog but given the season we just came out of I didn't have the time for it. Plus, I think God was leading me to prioritze my time on here and to not have anything on my plate that He doesn't want me to do.

I remember taking my first spiritual gifts test and my highest score was on exhortation. Back then, I had no idea what exhortation was and I asked my pastor to explain this to me. lol

I am just praying and asking God to speak or write through me.

Anyway, saying all of that to say this: If you want to, you can go HERE and visit my other blog. Let me know what you think. It is a work in progress but then again, I am to!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

God is Good!

2010-01-08T09:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday to You!!!

Are you snowed in?? We are but more for the icy roads than anything.

The sunrise was beautiful this morning!

I took these from my front porch.

Our Daisy playing in the snow. Wonder why dogs love the snow and cold weather??

The whole family is home today. My brother is cooking breakfast even as I type this, pancakes and sausage on this cold day.

I would say we will probably play Phase 10 or Uno at one point and then relax the rest of the day.

God is Good. He is so good to give us a Snow Day! ;)

I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend !!

The Talk of the Day

2010-01-07T09:12:00.001-05:00

I love living in the South. Born and raised in the South.

On Face Book the talk of the day or the last two days has been snow. Snow and frigid temps but mostly snow.

We will get any? How much will we get? Will schools be closed? Do we have time to go to the store before it snows? Will there be any bread and milk left on the shelves??????

We are a funny bunch of people.

I have never understood why we focus on the bread and milk and nothing else? lol    I had a friend tell me on Face Book yesterday that she went to the store and 2 ladies got into a fight over the last gallon of milk on the shelf. One bystander pointed out that they had plenty of half gallons and the 2 women gave her a mean look. Crazy! If there is going to be snow then I have to have more than the bread and milk...we need junk food. Just sayin' ;)

I am praying it will snow again where we live. God has blessed us with 2 good snows over the last few weeks. It is so pretty and I love taking pictures, even if it looks the same as the pictures I took from the last snow. lol

Another thing, since we don't get much snow we all can recount where we were when the BIG snow hit in 93'.   I was living in KY, only we got ALL ice and Tennessee got ALL snow. I was jealous. lol To top that off, the precious weather people weren't calling for snow or ice, which is good because it kept the stampede away  from the Kroger. If you could get to the store you were sure to find milk and bread in plenty. ;) That last statement reminds me of milk and honey in the Promised Land. BTW..here in the South we do have milk called Promised Land Milk.You really can't make this stuff up.

OH, I love living in the South. If you are reading this and you live up North, feel free to laugh at us. I lived up North for 5 years and learned to drive in the snow. lol    I can work a mean snow shovel. ha!

One thing you can count on, if it snows, I will post pictures. I know, you can't wait!! hee hee

All that is left to say is:

LET IT SNOW. LET SNOW. LET IT SNOW.

Baby It's Cold Outside

2010-01-05T17:05:00.000-05:00

My hands are fa-reezing as I type this post.

I was out running errands and grocery shopping in this frigid weather today. I have a new respect for my friends up north. In fact, I lived in New York for 5 years and I know snow and cold but that was a few years ago and I am used to warmer weather. It's one of the many things I love about living in the South. :) That, and a nice glass of sweet tea. :)

I have been thinking of Spring and Summer today. lol

I like some things about winter. Snow. I love snow. I like it when we are snowed in. That hasn't happened in this state since the 90's. I lived in KY. at that time and we had ice, and in Tn. they had so much snow it closed down the interstate for days. I would like to have one good snow storm like that this year BUT where it wouldn't be so bad that we would lose electricity. After that, I would be done with the snow.

Then I get to thinking about Spring. I like to landscape, get my hands in the dirt and plant flowers, trees and even a vegetable garden. I like it when it gets warm enough in the Spring to throw open the windows and let the fresh air in. This is also a great time to grill out after a long day of working in the flower beds. The buds slowly appearing and daffodils everywhere and dogwood trees at their finest in April. Also, Spring is the time for Easter. We are already praying at church for our Easter services!

Then I go to Summer

Enjoying home grown tomatoes (we have the best in East Tn.)

Remember doing this when you were a kid? Well, I did this last Summer with 2 of my nieces. lol

Going to the beach. Is there anything better? I don't think so...give me a good book and I can spend hours at the beach reading and relaxing and listening to the ocean. Can you smell the saltwater, feel the sea breeze? ;)

It's nice to visit here on a cold day. It won't be long and we will be enjoying Spring time.

We are blessed that God has given us different seasons! Fall is my favorite season but I enjoy each one in their own way. :)

BUT

For now, we will bundle up and try to stay warm and drink the new hot chocolate I got today...chocolate caramel. Yum! I hope we get the snow they are predicting this week. It has been so pretty to see the snow on the trees. God's Beauty is Amazing!!!

The Swing of Things

2010-01-04T17:38:00.000-05:00

Today, I hit a brick wall.   I don't know why but I am just so tired and don't have a lot of energy today.

I am thankful that I went ahead and took down all our Christmas decorations. I think the holidays and cleaning the home caught up with me.

You know what I have noticed lately?   I am getting older. lol!    Small changes but they are there, can't do some things the way I used to. It's harder to get back in the swing of things.

I babysat my great nephew today. We played and played today and we had fun but it is tiring chasing a 1 1/2 year old all day. ;)    It made me thankful that I had my children in my early twentys. lol

On the other hand, I like the age I am at and things that bothered me in my 20's don't bother me at all in my mid 40's.

Do you know that back in my 20's and 30's I would have never gone anywhere w/out my make-up on...now if I need to run out for whatever and if I don't feel like putting my "face" on, I am fine with it.

Back then I could have stayed up all night or at least until midnight but now I am lucky to make it to 10:00. lol

Here is the thing, when doing anything with my own strength or energy, I will eventually get tired, run down BUT when God calls me to do something, whatever that something is, HE will give me the energy and it doesn't matter what age I or you may be.

But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven't I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn't amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it. So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it's all the same: We spoke God's truth and you entrusted your lives.

God gives us the work to do and the energy to do it. Age, it doesn't matter. We have God's power and energy flowing through us and God accomplishes His work through us! We just have to say yes to God, be obedient and trust Him with the rest.

Saturday Randomness

2010-01-02T11:48:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning started out with me sleeping in (go me) and I woke up to snow.   I had to look twice to make sure I was seeing right.

It wasn't a lot but it was pretty and it goes perfectly with the frigid temps. It's cold! I made the family sausage balls for breakfast. They were happy. :)

I listened to Joyce Meyer this morning...a very powerful message: Don't Grieve the Holy Spirit

Some of my notes from her message:

1. Having an offended spirit will quench the Holy Spirit. Don't take offense. On this point, there is a person in our S.S. class who can be rude at times or who likes to tell each of us how wrong we are when we answer a question or make a point about the lesson and this has been offending a lot of us. In fact, it upsets me, especially when she picks on the others.    I am glad God taught me this again, BE SLOW to BE OFFENDED. I don't want to qrieve the Holy Spirit.

God tells us we are to guard our hearts. We can't let offenses get in our hearts. Satan works so hard to get us mad at each other. When we get offended the enemy is stealing our power.

We can think of it like a clogged drain....when we have grieved or quenced the Holy Spirit we don't have the power of God flowing through us like we should... I want God's power flowing through me...I need it! I certainly don't want the enemy to steal it from me.

Ephesians 4:29-30: Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.

vs. 30
Don't grieve God. Don't break His heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most imtimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.

vs. 31
Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and throughly as Christ forgave you.

Instead of us worrying who is offending us, we need to be more worried about us offending God.(ouch)

Joyce went on to talk about other things that grieve God and another point she made was our vain, useless, negative words grieve God.

Scripture references she touched on: Proverbs 18:20-21,   10:11, 19, 31, 32, 12:18,22.....13:3...15:2, 4 16:24

the mouths of the righteous (those harmonious w/God) bring forth skillful and godly wisdom.

The tongue of the wise brings healing.

Our words can bring life or death.

God's Word is the greatest weapon we have against the enemy!

Be. slow. to. be. offended.

Watch. what. we. say. outloud.

Speak life, pleasant words, healing words, kind words to each other.

Praying that God will help me speak the right words, His Words, stop speaking negative words.

Great message to begin 2010!!

Y'all have a wonderful and blessed weekend!

Happy 2010!!!

2010-01-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

I came to blog that I actually stayed up to see the ball drop and welcome in the 2010!!!

I was so pumped about 2009 being over and for a new year to begin.

New beginnings. Fresh starts.

Today, we undecorated the home and at first I was sad to pack away my Christmas decor but I am happy that we got it all down and we cleaned the house and it smells so good!

I was in the mood to put out my Spring decorations. lol The weather quickly reminded me it is winter and it is frigid where we live. Bitter. Cold.

We were so tired after we finished today but after the cleaning we all took late showers and I finished dinner.

I made Crock PoT French Dip Sandwiches for today... I was up at 5:30 this morning to put the roast in the crock pot and decided to stay up and have my prayer time and work on my Bible study. I am still doing Ruth by Kelly Minter. I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this study!

This morning we had a big breakfast and I believe God let me make the best biscuits I have ever made. :)

Anyway, I am going all over the place and I really wanted to pop in and say Happy New Year!

I believe after many years praying and seeking God, He spoke to me again what He wants me to do. I believe that is why I cleaned the house today. To get that out of the way so I can begin on Monday what God is leading me to do. I told God today, I can't do this, if He wanted me to do it, HE would have to do this through me! Apart from God, I can do nothing!! That will be a 2010 verse for me.

Have a wonderful weekend!!! Stay Warm. :) If you live near the beach, I don't think that stay warm applies to you. ;) ha!

Reflections of 2009

2009-12-30T09:04:00.000-05:00

Looking at 2009 on the human perspective would make 2009 look like a hard year. A year with job loss, a famine of finances, a loss of friends, uprooted from our home, loss of some possessions, living in the basement of a sister's home for 6 months. Hopeless. Long Waiting Period.

BUT

Looking at 2009 through the spiritual side looks like this: Changed hearts, changed attitudes, blessings in the dry season or dry year, a God who never left us nor forsook us, learning new things, growing closer to Christ, moving back but moving forward, a better job, God provides and meets ALL our needs, God's perfect plan, perfect timing, and perfect purpose for each of us. A home before the holidays, Christmas in our own place, God's people blessing us so we could get into a home. At times, friends come into our lives for seasons and then leave. God is in control. God is in control. God is in control. :)

Learning where our security was and learning it needed to be in God and God alone. Growing in God's Word and learning that in Christ we can do ALL things!

I will be honest and say that I would not have chosen this season for us but God chose it and God was faithful and trustworthy and well, Worthy of all our praise!! God gave us encouragement when we needed it, finances when we needed it, delights when we needed it. Taught us to trust Him even when we didn't see Him working .

He is a good God! He alone is worthy of all our praise!!

So, 2010 is coming. A brand new year! A brand new beginning! A fresh start! I don't know what God has planned but I know that 2010 will be filled with all kinds of adventures and that God will direct our paths and teach us new things about Him, call us to things beyond ourselves, provide for us in ways we would never imagine, meet all our needs,

2010....God's Plan, God's Timing, God's Purpose

" For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." Colossians 1:9-10

That is my prayer for my family and myself in 2010.

AND I will end with this verse:

" Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. " Isaiah 43:18-19

May God bless you in 2010 with new things, if you need Him to, I pray that God will make the rough places smooth, I pray God will make a road for you in your "wilderness" and rivers in your "desert". I pray that you will not miss His manifest presence in your lives. I pray that God will protect you and your families and that He will be your Shield and that all of the enemy's plans will be thwarted in your lives. I pray God will drench you with His favor!! To God be ALL the Glory!!!

Thank you to all who have journeyed with us this year! Thank you for your prayers and concern and encouragement!!

Happy New Year!!!

Love,
Patty

Reflections of 2009 in Pictures...part 2

2009-12-30T09:03:00.001-05:00

In March we had a snow storm blow through Middle Tn. and I think we ended up with 5 inches of snow.

That same day we also had a full moon. I love that I got a good picture with my new camera. ;)

On Good Friday 09' we started out with a pretty day but it quickly turned into a day our city will never forget. We were shopping when the skies turned ugly and I decided to come home, well, let me say God was speaking to my heart to GO home immediately. I was going to take a shortcut back to the house but the traffic was sooo bad that I had to go home another way...I was mad at the time but now I still praise God for directing me away from the short cut because that is the day an F-4 tornado ripped through our city.

I can't remember who captured this photo but this was the actual tornado. SO many homes destroyed that day and loss of life BUT it could have been so much worse.

Amazing you can go from the picture above to this AND THIS

Beautiful!

More pictures tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!!

Reflections of 2009 in Pictures

2009-12-28T16:53:00.000-05:00

Daisy opening up her stocking, she loved her toys.

Georgia with some of her stocking stuffers.

My oldest son David, collects Nutcrackers, I found one to fit in his stocking.

My brother Barry with one of his stocking stuffers. It is a 3 month gold membership for his XBox.

Jason and his stocking stuffer, I-tunes card.

My stocking. :)

This stocking was packed full.

This Nicholas Sparks book was tucked in the stocking.

G tearing into her present. LOL

A movie and toesocks she wanted.

David loves his new Bible

Jason is a HUGE UFC fan and he was surprised to get an official UFC shirt.

Brother got an XBox game he wanted.

I will spare y'all the million other photos that I took. :)

THEN a few Photos of 2009

Paddington and Steph..Steph was the perfect hostess when we visited in Jan. 09' Love her!

Fran! It was near her b'day and Steph and I surprised her with an early b'day party! We had so much fun. Love her!

Same weekend. "Siesta" gathering in Jan. 09' PLENTY of laughter! Love the Siestas!!

Awww sweet Nikki! Love me some Nikki. She is sooo sweet!!

Gayle and Georgia...G&G..Gayle, love you!!

I don't know but it was funny. lol Maybe Jenny hope can help us. hee hee

Beth Moore dropping by our luncheon that Tammy organized for us!!

I am going to continue to share photos of 2009 as we get closer to ushering in 2010!!

Surprise.....It finally happened

2009-12-24T22:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, let me explain something before I go any further......... It is hard to surprise me with gifts. I can look at a gift w/out picking it up and tell what it is and my family hates me for it. LOL

Well, I can tell you that they finally surprised me........... The pictures say it all

Something I have wanted for a loooong time. ;)

Here we go, my son and Georgia went in together to get this for me

Here I am laughing when I see what it is and now you must wait for it........

WAIT FOR IT.......

WAIT FOR IT......

Can you see it?? A Kitchen Aid Mixer BUT

the funny thing is this..on the outside of the box it was a white Mixer

BUT

I opened it and it was ORANGE!!!!! Hence the surprised look on my face. lol

What a fun surprise!!!!!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T20:41:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas from our family to Yours!!

Winter Wonderland

2009-12-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

I had to take a moment even though I am on a bloggy break to give God some glory and praise and a handclap for the snow we got last night!!!

One of my sons and I were shopping all day yesterday in the cooold rain and while we were at our last stop, the grocery store, I looked out and I saw the prettiest and biggest snowflakes!!

It was coming down fast and then it switched back over to rain and then finally all snow.

We decided to do a Wal Mart run late last night and I wished I had taken my camera. I can't describe how pretty the trees were with all that heavy snow on them.

As I type this I am looking out my window in the living room at the pretty snow and I believe we are supposed to get another 2 inches today or tonight.

I am still praying and believing for a white Christmas!!

If you would, please pray for my sons this coming Wednesday as they travel to their father's house and they will be traveling back on Christmas Eve...we are supposed to have more rain and snow that night. Thank you!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!