Today Linda has asked us about our childhood memories about church.
My family and I attended church from the time I was a born. We went to a smaller church (less that 100 people) and so I was close to many of the families and grew up with many of the kids. It has been fun to get back in touch with some of those through Facebook now. I remember many of the older people and how they were like grandparents to me.
My Mom taught children's church for a long time, and my Dad was one of my Sunday School teachers.
Activities I remember at church include fall festivals, bake sales in front of a local store to raise money for camps, and regular lunches after services. I don't remember many Vacation Bible Schools. I don't guess we had one ever summer. One I do remember had a space theme. Also, many years we had a Christmas play. We saw some of those videos recently, and it was funny how young we all looked.
I am thankful that I was taught the importance of faithful church attendance and the value of having a supportive, loving church family. That is something that sticks out in my mind when thinking about my childhood church experiences.
We started staying at the duplex on Sunday night, and we closed on our house We are getting situated here. We do miss our house and all agree that we really miss the big open windows. But we are thankful at the same time to be here now and look forward to what God has for us in the future. And I've found things I do like here, like the stove....I think I want one like it in our house!
This week I am thankful for.... ~ my husband being my hero! He has been so helpful during this move. Friday he found us a fridge and had it delivered. Also he called Sprint to get my phone part of his plan so it doesn't use my minutes while I'm talking to him on his cell....didn't know we could do this and glad we can because I went over on my minutes last month, probably talking to him!! And he dealt with AT&T for several days because they really messed up our change orders for this move. And he fixed my dryer cord so it could be connected here. And he has made countless trips to storage and moving stuff here!
~ my sweet boy and the things he's said during this move that make me smile. He told us to tell the people buying our house to try to use nail holes that are already there (he heard me say that the landlady at the duplex said this). Also, he told me the new people must believe in God to live in our old house. I thought that was cute. We knew it would be hard for him to leave his house since that is the only house he's ever known. He asks to drive by so we do.
~ having a washer/dryer connection here and that they are connected and working. I even got a drying rack so I can hang some stuff to dry since I won't have my clothesline for this time.
~ answers to prayers.
~ our upcoming Bible study with the ladies at church.
We are over at Lynn's today if you would like to join in for Thankful Thursday.
This week Linda has asked us about meals from our childhood. What a great topic!
My Flashback:
We ate together as a family for supper for as long as I can remember. Mom would typically cook the meals. And she was a great cook. She always made wonderful meals for us as well as for church fellowships.
My favorite meal was goulash. I still ask for it when we go to visit. My Mom made some wonderful dishes also with squash from our garden---fried, boiled, mashed, and a casserole. I remember when she made a certain kind of Hamburger Helper and I'd eat it on bread with creamed corn mixed with it. I'm not sure why that was so good to me but I liked it! My least favorite was hamburger gravy. I make a face when she tells me in an email that she made that for supper.
We ate at our kitchen table and I remember when I was older we sat in the living room with tray tables.
We went out to eat some. At different times I remember going out for Sunday lunch after church or in the evenings on Sunday nights we'd often go with a group from church to Dairy Queen or Taco Bell. When my Dad worked shift work, Mom and I often ordered a pizza when he was working evenings. Or we would pick something up and take it to him.
I don't feel I am anywhere near as good a cook as my Mom. She is so good at "just knowing" recipes or making them up. I always call her to ask how to prepare certain dishes. I was proud the first time I fixed a roast in the crock pot without getting directions from her. haha She taught me a lot of things in the kitchen when I was making sweets for 4-H our county fair or the food show. In the summers we also did some canning with things from the garden. She always told me it was so easy, just cut it up and add water. This makes me laugh because it was never that easy to me!
Welcome to this week's edition of Thankful Thursday! We are meeting at Lynn's for the month of July if you want to join in.
This week I am thankful for.... ~ my great husband and the wonderful friendship and love we share. I am so glad we are best friends!
~ my sweet boy who was so brave this week at the dentist. He had to get a couple little fillings but also he had to have two teeth pulled. The two baby teeth on the front bottom were still in but the permanent ones were growing in behind it! One of them was starting to get loose in the last week. He was nervous about it (as was I!) but did great. They came out and told us twice he was doing fine and they'd get us if we needed to go back for him to hold one of our hands. He told us after it that it didn't even hurt. I am so thankful for that!
~ having help when we are moving! We have appreciated the help from our family as we have gotten things out of the house. Our stuff seems to be growing it feels like some days, but I can see progress!
~ being able to live in this house for the past almost 7 years. We have so many wonderful memories here and I'm so thankful for our time here.
Change is part of life. We all know that fact, but how many of us actually like or enjoy change? Some changes are easier to handle while others require some pain, either physical or emotional. If you are like me, you like your little routine and like to keep things the same day after day. We sometimes refer to this as our “comfort zone.” We usually prefer not to allow too much stretching of our comfort zones.
You can find me today over at Laced with Grace to read the rest of this devotional entitled Changes!
We are on the countdown of the last week here in our home. It is getting rather empty around here already. We have moved a bunch of stuff over to the duplex already and will move the bigger stuff later this week.
I've known all along that when the last day gets here (or the days leading up to it) I'll have feelings of sadness. This home is special for so many reasons. We had rented before and this was the first home for us to buy. We found a subdivision with lots for sale and saw this house being built from the ground up. We got to pick the colors for the brick and carpet, the light fixtures, and counter top. Once it was under construction we would drive over in the evenings after work to see the progress that had been made each day. I remember when the walls were up and then how excited I was when they started adding the brick and then the cabinets. This is the home we've lived in for nearly 7 years (October would be 7 years). This is where we brought home our baby boy from the hospital and where he has had all his firsts up to this point. We are the only people who have lived here so I know it has only been our pictures hanging on the walls and our clothes filling the closets.
As I'm thinking of this week, I am thinking of the memories we have made...Caleb's birthday parties, having a little toddler stand at the window ledge hollering , "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" while watching Daddy mow the front yard, planting trees and flowers, having a fence put up in the backyard so Caleb could go out to play, going on walks, visiting with neighbors. The list goes on and on.
I'm also thinking of the "lasts" we will have here and the things I will miss.... like the last time we'll eat supper together or the last time we'll put Caleb to bed in the only bedroom he's ever known or the last time I'll hang clothes out on the line (but my Dad made them so they can come out of the ground and go with us so I'll have them at the next house).
We are thankful for this home and the memories we have here. As I look at the lasts here, my husband reminded me that with the "lasts" here will come "firsts" at a new place. I'm thankful for God providing us a place nearby that can be our temporary stopping point until we know where we are going next.
I had the privilege of listening to the audio version of David Platt's Radical. It was provided through the reviewer's program at christianaudio. I had read other reviews of this book and was excited to be able to get the audio version.
In this book readers are challenged by David Platt to examine their Christian walks. Are we living what the Bible says, or do we change the true message of the Word to fit to be something that will be more convenient for our lives? The author gives a radical challenge....radical in the view that it is much different from the way our culture says we should live or what the culture says it means to follow Jesus.
We have the mindset that we must achieve what is known as "the American dream" and we usually fully believe that that dream is exactly what God wants us to have. But is that what He has called us to when we follow Him? Does he want us to have bigger houses, bank accounts, and fancy church buildings when people all around us and all over the world have never heard the Gospel?
I found this book to be very challenging personally. I let my husband listen to it as well, and he agreed with me that the author really has a good point. This author isn't just saying we need to be doing things differently; he is actually doing them with his own life and family.
I would encourage you to read this book and be challenged yourself in your thinking and hopefully even change how you live.
Today I have a verse to share with you from Romans 1:20-- "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
It is interesting to read this passage in context. When I think of this verse, I think of seeing the beauty of creation and realizing Who made it all. The wicked and godless don't glorify God though as the Creator, they make their own things to worship (vs. 21).
This week I have some prayer requests to share as well. ~ Wills, a young man (in his early 20s) undergoing treatments for cancer.
~ families that have recently lost loved their loved ones Dennis and Michael.
~ our family in our move. We close July 26. One more week here!
You can join us at Spiritual Sundays today! Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Linda has some great prompts and I enjoy participating in Flashback Friday. It is a great way to remember fun memories of my childhood and they are usually memories I have not thought about lately. Here is today's prompt for Flashback Friday:
What sort of sayings, colloquialisms, or proverbs did your family say when you were growing up? When were they used? What do you find yourself saying that you vowed you would never say? What do you say that drives your kids nuts?Is there a regional aspect to your speech? Do you have an accent and were you ever teased about it?
My Flashback: I have been thinking about this one and have not had too many sayings come to mind. I remember Peepaw had a bunch of things he said that were German I believe. I'm not even going to try to type those! I would not have a clue how to spell them. I don't know what they meant either. He would just say them at random times, and I can just imagine his tone of voice as he'd say them. When something was hot, he would say "H-O-T warm."
I remember my Dad saying "You savy me?" whenever he'd tell me something that he wanted me to do or not do.
Another one I thought of is "Go or get off the pot." That is a funny thing to type! I'm not sure who started saying it, maybe my Mom or cousin. It was said if someone was just standing there in our way, like in a parking lot while we were trying to park.
On a serious note, something my Mom always told me was "Do your best and let your light shine." This has gone with throughout my life. When I was a teacher I always told my students to do their best.
Welcome to this week's edition of Thankful Thursday! I always look forward to doing my Thursday post. I have been busy lately with the move and this week VBS too, but I always want to stop and remember all the blessings we have. We are meeting at Lynn's for the month of July if you want to join in.
This week I am so thankful for...
~ my husband being such a comfort to me. It seems he is so sensitive to my feelings and says what I need to hear to comfort and encourage me.
~ my sweet boy being so excited about VBS! He has been so excited to go every morning. I didn't sign up to work this year because I didn't know where we'd be at in regards to our move. It makes me smile how he is comfortable being there and wants to go!
~ God's timing! You know I posted Tuesday we had found our "Temporary Home." Well that all changed Wednesday! We feel God's timing was perfect and we found something better than the apartment as far as price and location. It came at just the perfect time and we hadn't signed anything on the apartment yet. On Sunday we were told we could probably get the apartment on Tuesday. Then that changed to Thursday. I'm so glad it changed! We are SO excited!!
~ summer reading program at the library that Caleb got to do again. They give little prizes each week when you turn in your reading log. He was so excited to see a coupon for Olive Garden in his prizes this week! And he got to choose a free book and he quickly found one he had read at school and wanted.
~ delicious peaches from our tree. Our tree is loaded with peaches. We tried one and it wasn't quite ready. This week I tried another one and it was SO good! Juicy and tasted so good! Now we need to get them all picked. I hope we can use them (or find someone to use them) before they go bad.
When we found out we sold our house, we began looking for a new place to live. In the last month or so we have found several places that we thought would work. Then it felt like all the doors we thought were opened ended up closed.
First my husband remembered some new duplexes being built in our little town. We looked at those, but they were really pricey and wanted a year lease. So we kept it as an option but not very high on our list.
We talked to one of our elders at church who handles some real estate. He told us on a Wednesday he had a house that would be available about the time we'd need it. Then Sunday he said he found out it was going to take longer for him to get that he thought originally. So cross that one off the list.
Next we saw a "for rent" sign in the yard of a house right around our block. I called several times and couldn't get an answer. Then finally a couple days later I talked to the guy, and we went to look at the house. He gave us an application. We had some "red flags" go off on this one, so my husband emailed him about our questions. He didn't respond so I called him. No, he wouldn't give us a 3 month lease even if we paid him extra and paid him up front. Okay, next.....
A lady at church is a leasing agent so she knew of an apartment in our neighboring town (where my husband works and is a bigger place that where we live) that does three month leases. This was exciting because we had not even thought of being able to get something for 3 months, even though we knew we wanted something short because we don't know how long we'll be here. So we talked to the lady at that complex and it would possibly work but was farther away from Caleb's school than I wanted.
This got me to thinking maybe other apartments would give us a three month lease. I found one last week. It was closer, and when Caleb and I went to look at it, we liked it. I felt good about it and understood the guy to say they would have some available at the beginning of August. The next day I called to find out when one would be available and was told not till the end of August. Talking with the guy again I had one of those "funny feelings" that made me think this was a no too.
In between all this we had been watching ads in the paper and contacting realtors trying to find something. It seemed everything was either too far away or wanting a year lease.
Last week at the library I picked up one of the apartment advertisement magazines. Friday afternoon I thought I'd call a few more. I found one and we met to look at it Friday evening. It had so many positives..... it was already ready to move in, downstairs (the others were upstairs), location (closer to drive Caleb to school although he still will have to transfer), AND they would let us do a month-to-month lease! After weeks of hearing no after no after no when I'd ask for a 6 month lease, I was so excited to hear this wonderful news!
We filled out the application online (another plus was they waived the application fee for doing it online) on Friday night. Sunday afternoon we went to see if we could look at the particular apartment that was available. We went back to the office to get some more information. As I sat down I noticed a song coming on the radio. I looked up at my husband and smiled. It was this song....
If you have not heard Carrie Underwood's song "Temporary Home" I encourage you to listen to it. I had seen it posted on a few blogs recently, so I went to YouTube and listened to it. I loved it because it is how I feel about our home. I know I'll be sad to leave here, but at the same time I know that things on earth are only temporary anyway. When I sat down at the apartment office desk, it made me smile to hear this song. It felt like a little reminder that the apartment is just a temporary home too. While it isn't what we planned or expected to live in an apartment again, it has all worked out in God's timing. We go to sign the papers on Thursday. Continue to pray for us as we get the rest of our stuff moved.
I hope you have had a good week. We received rain most every day lately.
This week's verse is 2 Corinthians 4:7-- "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."
We need to be reminded that we are just clay jars. We are nothing without Him.
For prayer requests this week, please remember: ~ my little friend Anderson. He had been in ICU nearly 60 days and was able to come home last week. Friday was his 5th birthday. Pray for him and his family as they adjust to being at home again.
~ our family as we are preparing to move, especially for it all to be smooth for Caleb.
For today's flashback we are remembering accidents, injuries, and illnesses.
My flashback: I do not remember how old I was but one night I had a big accident while going on a walk with my Dad. He was walking and I was riding my bike. We were heading towards home and coming down a hill. I started down the hill and had the "bright" idea to take my feet off the pedals. Well, the bicycle got going so fast and I lost control and tumbled. We always teased my Dad for being slow but I remember that night that he got to my side quickly. I think he even had to carry me home. I have a scar on my knee today from that injury.
I remember when I was sick my Mom telling me "no Bethany, you can't go to school, you have a fever." I would beg her to let me go and tell her I'd be okay. I did not want to miss school!
When I was sick or ever said anything hurt, I remember my Dad always would say a prayer for it, whatever it was.
~ the love and friendship of my amazing husband. We both continue to be amazed at things God is doing in our lives!
~ special things I do with my boy that I have enjoyed so much this summer....donut shop, library, food pantry, and our book nooks to name a few!
~ singing new songs at church.
~ the wonderful book Radical. I'm listening to the audio version now and will be doing my review sometime soon.
~ beautiful rain showers. Last week we received several days of rain and it was so nice! We have had a couple more random showers this week too.
I hope you will join us in giving thanks. We can all find something in our days, no matter how terrible a day seems, that we can tell God thank you for.
I have recently asked for prayers for my family here on my blog. I thought I would tell you what was going on.
We sold our house! We put it on the market on June 1 and on June 10 we had an offer. We close on July 26.
When we signed the papers for the contract, I walked out of the realtor's office with such peace. In the months leading up to putting it on the market I had mixed feelings about the whole thing. I was excited but scared of the unknown too.
My husband said he felt we had chosen the right realtor and I agree. Having never done this before, we didn't know even how to choose one! I got some tips from my former high school senior English teacher who is now in real estate (and someone I trust and respect). She did give me some tips and said I would just know...she was right. I knew he was the right one too when I got this email back from him one day after I told him I guess we were ready to put the house on the market but was nervous about it:
Putting a house on the market can be a little scary, but I trust that it won't be overwhelming. As we follow where we see God leading, He will work it all out!
We are looking for something temporary until we get a definite answer on my husband's job. It is a good possibility he will be changing to a different office within the state. We are very excited about this!
I am excited to share the whole story with you, but it is a story that God is still writing. There are so many little details that have shown me this is totally in God's hands. I have thought so many times of how great a story it is going to be too and can't wait to see how it all ends up. We give all the glory to Him because we cannot do this on our own.
I do have my days when I feel like I can't wait one more possible day without knowing where we will be. But then I get a little word of encouragement from someone and am able to keep going and keep believing it is all going to work out.
If you've noticed the theme of trust, faith, and waiting on many of my verses and songs, this is why! Thank you for your prayers as we wait expectantly for how God will answer our prayers. Have a day of blessings!
I've been hearing a song on the radio called "Starry Night" by Chris August and wanted to share it today. Here are the lyrics. It's a new song I believe.
I hope you are enjoying this wonderful weekend. We enjoyed a parade Saturday morning and look forward to fireworks Sunday night. I think it is a wonderful thing to remember and celebrate our country. I love seeing my fellow Americans proudly wearing their red, white, and blue. We drove down one street in our town where all the houses had small flags in the ground along their front curb, which was great to see. I am proud to be an American and thankful for those who serve our country with such bravery and dedication.
For July I am using the theme of power for my verses each week. This week's verse is Ephesians 1:18, 19--
"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe."
As Paul is telling the people of Ephesus, we who believe have been given something great. Verse 19 goes on to say "That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms...." I think many times we take that power we've been given for granted. I know I forget. I hope these verses this month will remind us of God's power.
For the prayers today, please remember to pray for our soldiers and their families who are serving our country. We have a man at our church who will be heading to Afghanistan on Wednesday so say a prayer for him and his wife (who is pregnant with their first child) and his other family. Also, remember to pray for the leaders of our country.
This week for Flashback Friday we are talking about Independence Day.
My flashback: I do not remember too many 4th of July festivities from my growing up days. We have more traditions now I think than I remember doing as a kid.
We would sometimes buy some fireworks at a stand. We would get the ones that didn't fly into the air. I remember the growing snakes we would do on the porch, little tanks that went around in a circle, and colored smoke balls. My Dad didn't like them to leave marks on the cement! We would get a box of sparklers too, I was always scared I was going to get burned. I remember one year doing the sparklers in the yard with my cousin. I did not like the popping black cats either!
The city did usually have a fireworks display out at the lake. I remember one year we went and all I remember was the traffic being bad!
Now we go to a parade and watch fireworks. We like to wear patriotic tshirts too.
I've been married for 10 wonderful years to my college sweetheart who is my best friend. God knew exactly what I needed when He gave me my husband! Our beautiful son Caleb is a 7 year old and going into 2nd grade. I feel extremely blessed to be a stay at home Mom.
I love reading, singing, writing, and spending time with my boys. I also enjoy volunteering and am thankful I am able to volunteer.
Blogging has been such a blessing. I've "met" many wonderful, encouraging ladies.
One of my favorite verses is Matthew 5:16--"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven."
It is my purpose through blogging to encourage others in their daily lives, to develop and strengthen friendships, to share tidbits of my personal life, and to glorify God in all I write that I might shine His light to anyone who reads as I continue on this path through both "Raindrop & Rainbow" days towards Heaven.
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