New Life

This is a picture of the tree by our bedroom window. At the first of the month this same tree looked hopelessly dead, but one day not long ago I looked out and there was life! It seemed to happen overnight. Now everywhere I look things are sprouting and blooming and bursting forth with the triumph of life.
On her blog, Lysa TerKeurst wrote about this miracle. Instead of trying to rephrase what she wrote I will just quote her because she said it way better than I could.

"The branch looks dead and without possibility. But I know there is unseen
activity within this branch. Though we can't see the possibilities on the
outside, doesn't mean they don't exist.
For right beside the dead looking branch is another branch that also looked
dead just days ago... but look at it now. Look at the slightest hint is gives to
the world. It is alive! Things are being worked out behind the scenes...
Before too long, the once dead looking branch will burst forth with a most
glorious statement of life!
No matter what we face in life, we should never focus on just the
circumstances we can see. For there is always more to the story than meets the
eye. Jesus is behind the scenes of every circumstance.
He is whispering,
"This circumstance you are facing is temporary. But what I am doing in you
behind the scene of this trial will produce good for eternity... if only you'll
choose to see me. See my hand of promise and protection even in this... and you
will find peace."

More Bag For My Buck

A thrift store in Monroe had a wonderful sale a few days ago that of course I had to attend. The sale was “all you can shove in a bag for a buck”. That’s my kind of sale!
You have 15 minutes to go through piles of clothes and stuff whatever you want in a garbage bag. There are lots of women digging at the same time so it’s kinda crazy but worth it.
I got 20 things. Out of those items all but 3 fit! As you can imagine, these weren’t your highest quality clothes and some of them will only be good for kickin round the house or such but that’s fine with me and there were a few really good pieces that I was very happy with.
Here are some pics of my finds!

After The Storm

Here are some pictures of a storm we had recently. It didn’t last long and wasn’t very intense but the clouds were really pretty afterward. For best viewing, click to enlarge.

Happy Birthday

Today is my dear grandmother's birthday. She has always been such a wonderful example of what a Christian woman should be and I am so thankful for all her love and the way she has always supported me. She is a real treasure to my heart.
By watching her I have learned so many things about life and God's love. She has sacrificed so much of herself for those she loves. She is also a great prayer warrior and the assurance of her prayers for me are a great blessing and comfort.
I couldn't begin to say how precious she is so in honor of her, here is something I found online about grandmas.

What Is A Grandmother

A grandmother is a remarkable woman.

She’s a wonderful combination of

warmth and kindness, laughter and love.

She overlooks our faults,

encourages our dreams,

and praises our every success.

A grandmother has the wisdom of a teacher,

the sincerity of a true friend,

and the tenderness of a mother.

She’s someone we admire, respect

and love very much.

A grandmother will always have

a cherished place in our memories

and in our hearts.

She’s someone for whom we want every happiness

in return for the joy she always brings.

A grandmother is all the dear and precious

things in life...

When she’s a grandmother like you.

Game Night @ GBC

Last night we had our first ever Game Night at church. Everyone brought snacks and their favorite game(s).
Only about 16 people showed up but with all the noise we made, it sure sounded like more. Apparently all it takes is a few board games to bring out the wild side of GBC.
The most popular games were Balderdash and Cranium. Those just happen to be my two favorites as well.
We all got a little nuts at Cranium. Oh how I wish I would have had my camera!
I am hoping that this will become a regular event. Everyone had a great time so maybe we can entice more people to show up next time.

Just Because

The other day Vince surprised me with this beautiful bunch of roses. Just so you don’t think that it’s such a rare occasion that I have to write a post to memorialize the event, he has been so good about little romantic surprises. (He’s the best hubby ever!)
But I took some pics of them because I thought they were so pretty.
Ah, flowers, aren’t they lovely? I love the brilliant color that can only come from God’s paintbrush. I love the smell and delicate feel of the petals. I love that God created such small, intricate masterpieces for us to enjoy.
And I love that husbands go out of their way to get us these little bits of beauty just because they make us happy, even when they think it’s a waste of money because “they just die in a few days”.
Does anyone know a better way to dry them so I can preserve them? Not just roses but all types.

Time To Do The Happy Dance

The reason for my happy dance?



Oh yeah! Now those temps I can live with. I may even work up a sweat!

Books, Books, Books

I’ve been in book buying mode lately because I keep finding these good deals online. The problem is I’m not in much of a reading mood. But all the books I’ve been getting are on my book wish list so when the reading mood hits again, I’ll be well stocked.
My Amazon wish list has almost 500 books on it. Yeah, it’s definitely a wish list.
I have a feeling I will run out of space to keep all those books long before I make even a dent in the list. That’s okay.
We all need a hobby and I’m just nerdy enough that mine is collecting books.
We now have 3 book cases in our apartment and they are all full. I think it’s time to stop for awhile. Oh but I do so love books!
Here are some of the books I have gotten recently. I’d love to say I have read them all, but so far that’s not the case.

• Ten Thousand Charms- A. Pittman
• Anointed to Be God’s Servant- H. Blackaby
• If You Want Breakfast In Bed, Sleep In The Kitchen-D. Meurer
• The Common Life- M. Lucado
• Letter Perfect- C.M. Hake

Right now I am working my way though

It’s taking me a lot longer than normal since I’m not in total read mode but it is a good book.

The Promise of Spring

Not long ago we looked outside and saw this robin, which is supposed to be a sign of Spring. What do you do with the so called sign when it is walking around in a snow storm?
Lately the girls at church have been watching me very closely when it snows or when I walk in and hang up my coat at church (because I shouldn’t be wearing that coat in Spring!). They are waiting to see if I’ll complain. I have to say that we are all getting a little grumbly. But where I could be whiney about it I simply say, “Spring’s Coming!”
We need that reminder.
I have been struggling with a bit of depression the past few weeks for various reasons and I need to be telling myself “Spring is coming!”
Spring in all its beauty, bringing with it the hope of newness and life after the bleakness of winter.
We all find ourselves in an emotional winter at some point in life. It can be brought on by various things but through Christ we can be assured that Spring is most surely on it’s way.
About the robin in the snow.
Sometimes the snow so obstructs our view that we don’t see the “sign of Spring” that God is giving us.
May we never get so caught up in the storm that we can’t see what’s walking around in it for us.
It’s the hope and promise of better and brighter days.

Pt. 2

WARNING:
Today’s posts won’t make as much sense unless you read yesterday’s posts first, starting at “An Explanation Post”.

Happy Birthday To You

Today is my grandpa’s birthday.
He is such a treasure to my heart and is more to me than I could possibly say.
He is absolutely the most amazing man I know and I am so blessed to have him as my grandfather.
I found this poem online a while back about grandpa's so today I dedicate it to him.

When I was just a child
And you would hold my hand,
I trusted in your care for me,
You were such a strong yet gentle man.

As I grew and learned
to stand up on my own,
Sometimes I was scared
and I felt all alone.

But then there you were
standing by my side.
You held my hand again,
and taught me not to hide.

I am older and wiser,
now I understand.
The strength that lies within me
came from grandpa's hand.

A Bunch of Chicks

I just want to say to my GBC friends- Thank you!
I was just thinking about what it was like coming up here and starting all over in a new church and in a whole new area.
I look back on it now and I am amazed that God so quickly began to place a beautiful variety of some very special women into my life.
Each woman has brought their own unique contributions into my life and made my life more special because of it.
I don’t know what I would do without you girls!
Folks, these women are a bunch of crazy nuts but they are rock solid there for you to laugh with you (or at you :)) , cry with you or just someone to chat with when you need another “chick” to talk to or you’ll explode.
We have been getting quite a number of new people in our church and I am finding myself on the other end of the welcome mat.
I pray that I will be the kind of woman to the one’s coming in that they were to me. I feel that it is an essential part of church life and let me tell you, the women of GBC have that down. They come beside you and support you, encourage you, and make you feel loved and accepted. I hope I can be just like them, no matter where life takes me.
Now that I am just one of them and not really the newbie anymore I see them in a new light and they constantly make my heart rejoice that God has placed me in this group.
Girls, you rock!
Oh, and before I forget, there are a few little chicks that pretty much rock too. Some of the little chicklets running around our church have been a tremendous blessing. I don’t know how they do it but no matter how I am feeling when I walk in they can make me laugh.
They never fail to run up and hug me and they are genuinely excited about just seeing me. It’s so great to have those precious smiles aimed your way.
When Vince is working on Sundays, it is amazing how much those welcoming hugs and smiling faces do to lift you up.
Those chicklets are going to make great grown up “God’s Chick’s” some day.

In Loving Memory

We got the sad news not long ago that my grandparents dog, Cocoa, had died.
Cocoa was grandpas constant companion and it has been very hard on both of them.
She was an eight year old dachshund with a very sweet personality. She will truly be missed.
It will be sad to go to grandma and grandpa’s and not be welcomed by her bark and excitedly wagging tail.

A Latte Fun

This past Friday was a very nice day in our area so of course we had to go out and enjoy it. (You are never assured of two nice days in a row here.)
We went to Monroe and walked all over downtown (that took about 15 minutes) and down by the river.
I really enjoyed the outdoor exercise since I have been confined to mostly indoor exercise far too long.
I felt like skipping in the sunshine but I was pretty sure Vince would have walked away and acted like he didn’t know me if I did that so the “big girl” in me won out. This time. (I try not to let her win too much.)
The best part was that we tried out this quaint little coffee shop on the edge of downtown. It was a cute little spot with that “small coffee shop” feel that makes it such a fun experience.
We shared a coffee and a turkey wrap but yeah for me, I resisted the homemade cannoli. This time.
I love finding new and fun places like this. It’s like finding a hidden treasure that you can enjoy over and over. I plan to do that.
They have live music (mostly Christian!) on Friday and Saturday nights so there you go, Vince now has a new date night idea.
His favorite thing is that right across the street from my new coffee shop is a restaurant that serves all you can eat cod on Friday night. I guess this is that compromise thing married people are supposed to do. :)

Ladies Retreat

The ladies at GBC went on a Ladies Retreat the first weekend of April.
We went to Birch Run, MI where they have a big outlet mall. We spent Friday afternoon shopping, swimming in the hotel pool and eating chocolate. Oh yeah, it was wonderful! The bad/good thing was that I didn't find one thing to spend my money on.
We had a devotional time Friday night and then of course, stayed up talking. We were so loud it’s a wonder we weren’t kicked out. Now wouldn’t that have been good? “Baptist Ladies Group Kicked Out of Hotel For Disturbing the Peace”.
Saturday we had a devotional/discussion time and then had lunch at Applebee’s.
After that we broke up into different groups and went to Frankenmuth.
That is a town not far from where we stayed. It is called “Michigan’s Little Bavaria”. It is a quaint little place that makes you feel as if you’ve stepped back in time. I can’t wait to take Vince up there. There’s a lot of romance potential!
I got home Saturday evening just as Vince got home. We were so excited to see each other again (he’d been on a long trip) that we curled up together and promptly fell into a sound sleep.

An Explanation Post

Since I have last posted, I have had lots of thoughts floating around in my head about things that are "blogworthy". However, none of it has made it all the way to the world wide web.
So here's the deal.
Since it is a dreary, wet and SNOWY Sunday afternoon and since Vince is gone, I am taking "the day of rest" part of the Sabbath very seriously today. That being the case I thought I would try to get down some of those elusive thoughts before they completely float away. Those of you who know me best know how quickly that can happen!
So, in explanation of what is to come, instead of writing one very long post I am going to break it up into several posts about different subjects and fun little snippets.
With that said.....here we go.

Honor To Serve

On Sundays we pick up a mentally handicapped man for church. He is such a sweet man and really has a heart for God and our church.
One Sunday he was talking about how excited he was that he was going to help with offering collection that week. He was smiling so big and said, “It’s always such an honor to serve Jesus”. Wow.
That really struck home with me. So often I grumble at the tasks or I just do them because they needs to be done, not really thinking about it.
But Danny has given me a new perspective. It really is an honor to serve our King. Even the small stuff. Even the stuff that seems to go unnoticed or just taken for granted or the things that we do because "someone has to do it”.
It all matters because it’s our act of service to God. It matters because without the small stuff, the big things can’t be done well. It’s about all of us doing our part to make sure the church runs smoothly so that God can be glorified.
It reminds me of the song, Little Is Much.
Thanks, Danny, for reminding me of that.
I would add the Bible verse it reminds me of as well but I’m drawing a complete blank about the real wording or reference. Can you think of the one I’m thinking of? Help me out here. I think I’ll paste it on the top of my calendar for the days when I look at it and groan.

Moon Challenge-

44%

I found this on a fellow blogger’s page and decided I’d give it a try. I got a 2% the first time I did it.
I guess that means I wouldn’t make a very good astronaut. Oh well, since I don’t plan on vacationing on the moon soon, I’m not too worried about it.
If you have a few seconds try it and see how good you'd be in space.

To Be Continued...

I have to go now, time to leave for choir practice. (It’s a honor to serve!)
I’ll get back to this later. Hopefully tonight.