Thankful Thursday

Here it is the last day of March! I hope you have had a good week. I'm thankful to be feeling better. Last week I woke in the night feeling dizzy. It went away and I felt good for a couple of days. Then I woke up Sunday morning in the middle of the night dizzy again. My sweet husband and boy took me to the clinic so we would get there when it opened. The lady who saw me said I had fluid in my ear. She gave me a shot and some ear drops. Thankfully, I am feeling better and haven't been feeling dizzy. What are you thankful for this week? Here is my thankful list I'd like to share with you... ~ how my husband is really into books and reading. I like that we can recommend books to each other and share about the books we are reading too. He listens to audio books now in his driving for his job, I got him started on those too! ~ the routines and traditions I have with my boy. I love that he will tell me on Wednesday mornings "It's snack day!" (because I always let him pick a place to go get a snack after school and go to the library on Wednesdays). Also getting to go with him for a special pizza party for having perfect attendance the 4th six weeks. ~ the cool rainy day we had on Tuesday. It did mean my boy's first tball game of the season had to be postponed, but the rain was nice. My husband came and told me before he left for work that he opened the door to go water the garden and saw that God was already watering it for us. ~ getting our garden planted. On Saturday we went to a little roadside nursery and bought some vegetables. We are waiting on the tomatoes because some say we may still get a frost. We hope the soil here will produce a good harvest for us this year! The soil at our old house was very rocky and stuff didn't grow well there. Caleb chose corn, pumpkins, and carrots to plant. ~seeing some bluebonnets popping up here and there along the roadways. Join us this week at Grace Alone for Thankful Thursday. Have a day of blessings!

Book reivew: The Bridge of Peace

I have finished my first book by author Cindy Woodsmall The Bridge of Peace. This is the second book in the Ada's House series.

Lena Kauffman is a young school teacher who faces many challenges from a troubled, rebellious student. She gets into trouble with the school board when she makes some decisions that aren't in accord with the Old Ways. Lena feels she will never marry because she doesn't think men can see past the birthmark on her face.

School board member Grey Graber and his wife Elsie have a troubled marriage. They begin making steps of progress when tragedy strikes.

This is a very enjoyable book that I would recommend to you. I look forward to reading #3 in this series. This book was provided to me for my honest review by the "Blogging for Books" reviewer program with WaterBrook Multonomah.

Have a day of blessings!

ABCs about me

I saw this over at CiCi's Corner recently and thought I'd play along. A. Age: 32 B. Bed size: queen C. Chore you dislike: cleaning toilets D. Dogs: don't have one right now E. Essential start to your day: on school days praying with my husband before he leaves for work and my son before I take him to school F. Favorite color: pretty much all shades of purple G. Gold or silver: mostly gold but I do have some silver stuff I wear too H. Height: 5 ft 3 inches (I think) I. Instruments you play(ed): took piano lessons for a while as a kid J. Job title: Homemaker K. Kids: a 6.5 year old son L. Live: with husband and son in our house we bought in December M. Mom's name: Bonnie N. Nicknames: Beme, Pes O. Overnight hospital stays: Caleb's birth P. Pet peeves: hearing parents say "if I tell you one more time then...." to their kids and then the parents not doing what they say they are going to do Q. Quote from a movie: From the movie "Bambi" Thumper said..."If you can't say something nice....don't say nothing at all." R. Righty or lefty: Righty S. Siblings: none, I'm an only child T. Time you wake up: Usually wake up between 4 and 5 and go back to sleep. My alarm goes off at 6:50. U. Underwear: Is this supposed to be yes or no? LOL V. Vegetables you don’t like: turnips W.What makes you run late: forgetting where I put my keys or leaving something behind I was supposed to take with me. X. X-rays you’ve had: teeth Y. Yummy food you make: chocolate chip cake, taco tater tot casserole Z. Zoo animal favorites: giraffes and zebras Have a day of blessings!

Audio book: "Slave" by John MacArthur

I have listened to a book called Slave by John MacArthur. In this book MacArthur's point is that as Christians we are slaves to Christ. This is something that has been lost in translations through the years, and many Bible translations rarely use the word "slave" as it is used in the Greek "doulos." Instead the word "servant" is used, which has an entirely different meaning than slave. MacArthur shares a history of slavery and compares human slavery to our role as slaves of Christ. It is rather interesting to note all the similarities. One part I found interesting was the history of John Newton, who wrote the song "Amazing Grace."

This book is read by the author. He has a pleasant voice and is easy to hear. It always gives a more personal touch to have the author read his own work.

Thank you to the christianaudio Reviewers Program for providing this audio book to me for my honest review.

Have a day of blessings!

Flashback Friday: News

For today's flashback we are talking about news (television, radio, and newspapers).

My flashback:
We watched a local channel for the 6 o'clock news. It's fun now to be in the area and see some of the same anchors on that were on when I was a kid!

Every morning I ate my breakfast sitting on the couch with a tray table. The Today show was always on. I don't ever watch that now after Katie Couric left.

We subscribed to the local newspaper. Back then it came Sunday--Friday.

As far as specific news stories I remember from childhood, I can't say that I remember many. I looked up some online but none really stand out that I remember watching as a child.

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

Thank you for visiting today for Thankful Thursday. This week we are gathering at Grace Alone, join us there!

This week I am thankful for...

~ my husband cleaning up the kitchen tonight when I was feeling sick. Oh and our late night laughs together. Some night right before we are drifting off to sleep he'll say something that will make me laugh and then we seem to stay up too late laughing!

~ my boy having fun on his new tball team this year.

~ getting to volunteer at my son's school for picture day on Tuesday. I was familiar with all the teachers and recognized many students at his school before we moved. It made me smile that the kids in his class here knew I was "Caleb's Mom" when they saw me. And I got to know some of the other teachers as well.

~ the fun of free books in the mail. It's always a nice surprise to have one by the front door or stuffed in the mailbox.

~ our electric bill here not being high for winter. It was actually less than what we paid in our old house. I thought the February one would be higher with the cold temperatures we had in our "February freeze." I looked back at the same time last year in our old house and that one was more than we paid here. I wonder what it will be this summer! We haven't had to turn on the a/c yet either.

Have a day of blessings!

Song: "Blessings"

I saw a link for this song on a friend's blog. The lyrics are wonderful, and the story behind it is very touching as well. I hope you'll take some time to listen to it today.

May it encourage you.

Click here to listen to the song "Blessings" by Laura Story.

Have a day of blessings!

Book review: One Thousand Gifts

How can I even begin to share about this wonderful book with you? A while back I posted a link to a video about this book. You can click here to see that if you'd like. I received this book from a giveaway from Grace Cafe (a wonderful program I enjoy listening to through blogtalk radio on Mondays). I knew this was a book I wanted to read. I was so excited to win after I heard an interview with author Ann Voskamp on the show. When the book arrived I quickly started reading. It is very different from other books I've read in the writing style. It held my attention and I just had to keep reading. Over the past couple of weeks though I didn't want to pick the book up quite so often...I knew I was nearing the end, and I really didn't want it to end! I finished it Friday morning though and wanted to share it with you.

One Thousand Gifts is a "dare to live fully right where you are." How many of us do that? How many of us are living fully? How many days do we let pass when we just go through the motions without being fully aware of life happening around us? This book is the story of one lady's journey to live fully.

I highly recommend this wonderful book to you. Let me know if you have read it or if you think it sounds like a book you'd want to read.


Have a day of blessings!

Book review: Eat Your Peas for Mom

I would like to share a nice gift book with you Eat Your Peas for Mom by Cheryl Karpen with art by Sandy Fougner.

This short little book is a way to tell Mom "thank you" for all the things she has done for you through your life and let her know you noticed and appreciate her today. I really enjoyed the added art in this book. It feels very fresh with the bright, cheerful colors. If you want to encourage your Mom, this would make a nice Mother's Day gift.

There are other books in the "Eat Your Peas" series as well if you would like to check those out.

Have a day of blessings!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Flashback Friday:

Welcome to Flashback Friday! I am happy to host today for Mocha with Linda.

This week we are remembering our childhood pets. Here are some questions you may want to consider:

Did you have any pets when you were a child? What were they? Did you have a
favorite pet? What was the pet's name? Where did you get it? Did it live inside
or outside? Whose responsibility was it to care for the pet? What special things
did you do with your pet? Did the pet go on trips with you? How long did you
have the pet? Did you ever have a pet that died? What was your reaction to
losing the pet? Did your family ever have any unusual pets? Did you ever have
class pets at school?

My flashback:
I had many pets when I was a child. I wish I had the old pictures to scan to go along with this!

One was a cat. I don't really remember much about this cat, just things from pictures and what I've been told. I would put the cat on a leash and walk it.

We had some unusual pets through my childhood. When I was very small we had ducks. They roamed around the yard and often left messes on the porch. My Mom told me one time at supper we had spinach. I said "ewwww, what did the duck do?" pointing to the spinach on my plate.

Another pet was a cow named Joey. I remember many calves we would bottle-feed and raise them for the meat when they were older. Joey was a big baby. He would always come up to the fence and slobber on us, even after he was grown. My Mom wasn't sure how I would handle it when it was time to take Joey to the butcher. She was always honest with me though and told me what was going to happen. One night we were eating supper and I had a thoughtful look on my face. My Mom said they were holding their breath, thinking I would be upset if I thought we were "eating Joey." She said I was eating and said "I wonder which part of Joey they cut this off of." We laugh about this today.

Oh and one more pet that was a big baby was a Nubian goat named George. One of my classmate's family raised raised goats. One of their goats had triplets. The momma goat wasn't taking care of George so we took him home with us. He was named George because he was born on George Washington's birthday. He lived in a box in our kitchen for a long time. As he got stronger he would stand up in his box and start making a loud baaaaing sound anytime he heard the microwave because that was the sound he associated with his warm milk. He was always very friendly to us. He'd always try to jump up on us when we were in the pen with him.

We lived out in the country and always had a bunch of cats (always outside). One was a calico named Daisy. She was always tame and would rub on our legs and let us pet her.

We had many dogs through the years. It seemed several of them died from parvo. We had a dalmatian one time. He was a stray. I think he'd been abused because he was always fearful around men. Another was a black cocker spaniel named Buffy Lynn. We had her for many years. She got old and deaf and her teeth were falling out. One day my Dad came in with a sad look on his face. He had moved his truck and accidentally run over her. She was so old she hadn't heard him and didn't get out of the way. He felt so bad. I didn't get too sad about it, I guess because she was old and I kind of expected her to die. That sounds bad to say but that is just how I felt.

My favorite, best pet ever was my dog named Bambi Taylor. She was an Eskimo Spitz. I never loved a dog like I loved Bambi and have never loved another one like I loved her. She had a round red bed she slept in beside my bed. One time she had puppies in that little bed, which was so exciting! I had a box of Lincoln Logs and one day Bambi chewed the corner of the box. I still have those and think of her when I see the chewed corner. She would sit in my little rocking chair and eat my snowcone off a spoon.

One evening we were at Peepaw's house. When we got home there was a note taped to our door from our neighbors. They had been outside and Bambi was bitten by a rattlesnake. They took her to our local vet where they kept her overnight. She died from that bite. I was heartbroken over this loss. I have never become attached to any other pet since then.

Whew, that may be my longest flashback ever! I kept thinking of more memories!

Link up below with your memories of your pets. I hope I did this linky correctly! I look forward to visiting and reading the memories you share.



Have a day of blessings!

Flashback Friday prompt

I'm excited to be hosting Flashback Friday this week while Linda is gone, I am posting the prompt today, and you can come back here tomorrow to link up with your answers. This week our topic is childhood pets. Here are some questions you may want to consider:

Did you have any pets when you were a child? What were they? Did you have a favorite pet? What was the pet's name? Where did you get it? Did it live inside or outside? Whose responsibility was it to care for the pet? What special things did you do with your pet? Did the pet go on trips with you? How long did you have the pet? Did you ever have a pet that died? What was your reaction to losing the pet? Did your family ever have any unusual pets? Did you ever have class pets at school?

Have a day of blessings! (If you are here for Thankful Thursday, that is the previous post!)

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday! I hope you have had a happy week. We are at Grace Alone this week for Thankful Thursday. What are you thankful for this week?

Today I am thankful for...

~ my sweet husband. We got to celebrate him over the weekend for his birthday. I love him so much! He left me a sweet thank you note too Tuesday morning that made me smile.

~ having my boy home for spring break! I love having him around when I'm on errands and doing things around the house. So far we've had fun taking treats to Daddy's work for his birthday, playing with Gramma, reading, going to the library, and going to tball practice. A fun story from the library....Caleb saw/heard a man downstairs using the typewriter. We were looking for books and he asked if he could try the typewriter. I asked the lady at the desk if I could show him how it works. He had such fun with that and started writing a story about deer.

~ my Mom coming for a visit. We had a fun time with her here while she was on her spring break too.

~ the new people we've gotten to know at our new church. We went to eat Sunday night with another sweet couple.

~ noticing the little things in my day to day life for which to be thankful....the colors of spring, the way I think of my husband when I pick up his work shirts out of the laundry basket to put them in the wash and they smell like him, the laughter of a child, a new outfit in a smaller size, squirrels playing in the yard.

Have a day of blessings!

SSMT #6

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13, NIV


Have a day of blessings

Another birthday weekend and new car

We had another birthday weekend! Sunday was my husband's birthday. He took off work on Friday. It was the 2nd anniversary of his Mammaw passing away, and he didn't really want to be at work that day so he took off. So on Friday we went car shopping.

We have been looking for a new car. We have had the Buick for nearly 7 years now. It's been a great car, very reliable with few problems for us. It was getting on up there in mileage so my husband was looking to replace it.

We had paid it off a couple years ago when we went through Dave Ramsey's FPU. Once we paid off the truck as well as the student loans we started a car savings fund. My husband found a couple Nissan's online that would be in our price range, but when we got to the dealership they had already been sold. We went over to another dealership in town. They showed us some used models and then we drove a new Toyota Camry. We both really liked it and talked about it over lunch and then went to talk to our bank to find out about financing because our car savings fund wouldn't cover it. We went back to the dealership after we picked up Caleb from school so they could tell us how much they'd give us for the Buick. They let us take the Camry home for the night too because we weren't going to just sign the papers right then. I needed to process all the numbers in my head first.

I don't like making decisions, especially big ones! I went back and forth in my head about it....I'd really wanted to use cash for our next car purchase. The money we have saved plus some from our income taxes would not pay for a new car. But I also knew if we used the cash on one that cost less it would already have a bunch of miles and we'd be back to needing another one in a shorter time period. If we saved for another few months or year, the car prices will just go up and we still wouldn't haven't enough. I shared all my feelings with my husband. Saturday morning we prayed together before leaving. I needed some peace that it was the right thing to do because I felt like it was okay...but I wanted to be sure. The phone rang before we were leaving. It was another dealership returning a call for an inquiry I'd done online. They couldn't match the deal we were getting locally. Then my husband talked to our dealership here and asked if they'd go up a little on our trade. They agreed to that. After both these things I felt ready to go!

Here is a picture of the car. I'm very thankful!! We've never had a new car before. We will have it paid off shortly, and I'm already working on the plan to begin saving again for a truck replacement for my husband.

Sunday was my husband's 32nd birthday. Caleb woke me up and blew up balloons and we hung a birthday banner. I made a breakfast casserole. It was so easy to make and very yummy! I'd never made one before. I'll have to share the recipe here sometime. We let him open his presents before church. We went out for lunch and had an afternoon at home. In the evening we went out for supper with a couple from our new church.

This week is spring break. Hooray!!

Have a day of blessings!

Flashback Friday

It's time for Flashback Friday again. Linda always come up with fun prompts that get me to thinking about my childhood. This week our flashback is about physical fitness. Here are some of the questions she asked us to consider:

Was physical fitness a focus in school when you were growing up? Did you have P.E. in elementary school or just recess? Was recess organized games or just free playtime? What are your memories of P.E. in junior high/middle school and high school? What did your "gym suits" or "dress out" clothes look like? Was P.E. a favorite or dreaded subject? Did your school do the Presidential Physical Fitness Program? How did you do with that? Did you take the minimum amount of P.E. required or did you take more?

My flashback:
We had both recess and PE in elementary school. For recess we just played around on the playground. I was always scared to try to hang upside down on the monkey bars. We also had a single bar that the girls would put one leg over and flip around and around. Some of them could do it so fast! I could never do that either. I remember sitting under a tree, playing "house" with some friends, during recess. The tree had these things it shed, and we would dig holes and pretend we were cooking the things that fell off the tree.

The first thing I think of when I think of elementary PE is square dancing. For several years, a couple would come to our school for a week (or maybe two) during PE class. The man was a square dancing caller and we learned how to square dance. Then we would have a program at night to square dance and the parents would come watch. I always thought it was fun! Another elementary PE activity I remember is going outside to play kick ball. Also, we had a big cement slab outside of our building. We each had a colored dot where we stood to do our stretching. I never did like running!

In middle school we could choose PE or athletics in 7th and 8th grade. I never wanted to play sports so I would want to be in PE. However, the time period slot for PE conflicted with another class I was in, my language arts class. So one year I was forced to be in athletics. I did some of the workouts with them, and I remember going to the nurse with a girl one time because her blood sugar got too low.

In high school I believe we had to have a 1.5 PE credits. I took PE class for part of that. Then I ended up doing tennis to get the other half of my credit. It makes us laugh today because I didn't have any skill or knowledge of the game (and still don't). But I got my credit for it!

One fond memory I have from college is PE for Elementary Teachers class. We learned to juggle and taught some school children how to juggle with scarves. And now Caleb came home this week telling me he is learning to juggle in PE. We have some scarves and bean bags for him to practice with at home.

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

This has been a great week for us and we are looking forward to spring break next week! Yippee!

What are you thankful for this week?

I'm thankful for...

~ my husband explaining things so well to our son. I've heard Caleb ask some interesting, thought- provoking questions lately, and I love to hear my husband give him a gentle, thoughtful answer.

~ my sweet boy and his excitement for life! I love how he is so enthusiastic about certain things. For example, he wanted a book from the library about police officers. We found one and then when we got home he dressed up in his police uniform (from Halloween) and was a police officer for most of the evening.

~ being able to attend the ladies Bible study with a group of ladies from church. It was a great group. The lesson was about "Tending our Soils."

~ making my list of One Thousand Gifts. I'm nearly done with this book by the same name and look forward to sharing my review with you. It has been a life-changing blessing. And I'm thankful I won it in a giveaway!

~ all the beautiful trees I've seen blooming here this past week. We have a tree at the house next door to us full of purple blooms. There is another down the road that I noticed too. There is a piece of land that is full of old dead brush and trees. Then in the middle is growing a tree full of pink blossoms. It is really pretty amidst the dead stuff.

Have a day of blessings!

Join me at Laced with Grace

Join me today for a devotional called "Grace" over at Laced with Grace.

Have a day of blessings!

Book Review: The Fast-Food Kitchen

I would like to share with you a book called The Fast-Food Kitchen: Great Meals at Home in 15 Minutes by Sheri Torelli.


Do you ever feel like you eat out more than prepare meals at home? Or that you are too busy to prepare a meal for your family? This would be a good read for you.

The book has two main parts. First are 11 chapters where the author shares tips and advice on how to have your own "fast-food kitchen." One chapter I particularly enjoyed was called "Your Most Important Piece of Furniture," where she talks about the importance of the table in your home and all the activities you can do as a family around the table. Other topics in the book include saving money at the grocery store, hosting get-togethers in your home, and how to save time in your cooking. The second part of the book is a section of recipes. The recipes include pointers on how to make them part of your "fast-food kitchen" to help you be efficient in preparing meals. I found several I want to try soon!


Have a day of blessings!


Thank you to Harvest House Publishers for providing this book to me for my honest review.

Flashback Friday

Today's flashback is about fads from our childhood. Let me think back to the 80s and 90s....

My flashback:
~ stirrup pants--I had some of these. I remember the strap making the bottom of my foot hurt after I wore them!

~ tight-rolled pants--I don't think I ever had the right brand of jeans to do this with. I remember one girl who would roll her jeans and then have on a couple pairs of socks sticking out too.

~ slap bracelets--I had some of these, all colors. I guess these are like the "silly band" fad now.


~ charm necklaces--These were plastic chain necklaces that you could attach clip-on charms. There were a bunch for sale on eBay, if you want to see a picture of some! I had a TON of little charms and I think a couple necklaces. I don't remember where we bought the charms or who gave them to me though. I wonder if my Mom still has these!

~ Beanie Babies--This was a huge craze in the late 90s and everyone was buying them. I don't think I had any of the regular ones but we bought several for my cousin. Also, McDonald's would give them away in Happy Meals. People would fight over them, throw away the food and just keep the miniature Beanies. My cousin and I got a lot of these.

~ big bangs--I never had bangs so I never had poofy hair! I remember being in the restroom (in middle school I guess or late elementary) and I'd see the girls add more hairspray to their bangs and then lift them up from the front. They'd always stay in place perfectly.

~ hair bows--I always seemed to wear bows. My Mom made a lot of them.

~ legwarmers--I remember a picture of myself posing in my little rocking chair. I had on a red sweater (probably over another shirt with the collor sticking out) with jeans and red leg warmers.

~ friendship bracelets-- I never learned how to make these myself. Some of my friends could make some really pretty ones. Some people wore them until they fell off. I probably had some but don't remember wearing them all the time.

This was a fun flashback this week! I had fun looking at a list of ideas on a site called Crazy Fads.

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

It has been another week of blessings here and I'm so thankful to have Thankful Thursday each week to stop and write down those blessings as a way to both be thankful and remember.

This week I am thankful for...

~ the love I share with my husband. It amazes me how we have grown so much in the past nearly 10 years of marriage and how we know each other so well. The friendship and companionship we share just blesses me so much each day.

~ the gift of the laughs of my little boy. It just makes me smile to hear him laughing his big laugh when he's watching "Dick Van Dyke" with Daddy or when he wants to play and be tickled. I love seeing his bright happy face!

~ the beautiful promises of God. As I listened to the book The Shelter of God's Promises (which I posted a review on yesterday) I was encouraged and reminded of God's love and faithfulness.

~ the fun time we had last weekend on "birthday weekend" at my Mom's. It was good to see some family and enjoy the beautiful weather as well.

~ two sweet cards I got in the mail for my birthday from two very dear friends, Casey and Pamela. Those ladies are so special to me and I was blessed by their sweet cards.

What are you thankful for today?

Have a day of blessings!

Audio book: The Shelter of God's Promises

I have finished listening to The Shelter of God's Promises by Sheila Walsh. I had read some reviews by other bloggers of this book and was excited to find it available to me to review through christianaudio last month. When we went to a Women of Faith conference a couple years ago, I enjoyed listening to speaker Sheila Walsh and looked forward to listening to her book.

The best word I can think of to describe this book is encouraging. In a world of such bleakness and negativity, this is a wonderful book to encourage the reader of the promises we have from God. How the author presents the material is what makes it so encouraging I think. She chooses a different promise focus for each chapter. She chose stories as well as a familiar Biblical example to illustrate each promise. I really liked seeing the Biblical examples in a new light.

This book is read by the author, which provides a special touch in my opinion. It is read with such real emotion which gives the text more meaning and makes you feel like she wants you to grasp and truly understand what she is telling you.

Thank you to the christianaudio Reviewers Program for providing this audio book to me for my honest review.

Have a day of blessings!

My other birthday gift...

I mentioned in my post Monday that I had another present that I'd tell you about in a separate post.

After my gifts were wrapped, one of them looked like a frame to me (do you try to guess what your gifts may be too!?). We'd purchased new frames for our new house recently, and I figured it was a new frame that JMP heard me say I thought was pretty when we were looking.

On the Friday before my birthday, I emailed and asked my husband if he was getting off early so we could head to my Mom's house. He wrote back that he was trying to leave early. Then at his normal getting off time he wrote me that he was frustrated because he'd left work at 4 to go pick something up that he thought would be very quick. The lady at the store ended up being very slow doing what he wanted. I couldn't imagine what he could have been doing, but he told me it was something for my birthday.

Sunday when I opened the gifts the one was a frame. He told me, "It's for your diplomas, and I have another one for your teacher certificate." On Friday when he took off early, he went to the store to buy mats to go around them in the frame. He had been sneaky one night while I was in my bath and measured my diploma to know how big to get the mat.

When we were moving he came across my diploma and told me I needed to frame it. I never thought of doing really when I was teaching or now that I'm not teaching. I didn't want to buy a frame for it just to hang in the house. He has a frame in his office that I got for him when he graduated but never considered getting one for myself.

I don't know if I can exactly put into words why this is so special. He totally surprised me; I would never have thought of this.. It is such a thoughtful gift that just spoke to my heart. I have always known my husband supports me and wants me to be a stay at home Mom. He always tells me what I do is valuable and important. It was very validating that he wanted to frame my diploma and teaching certificate to hang in our office at home, even though I'm not teaching right now. This was a gift that said to me I love you, you matter, what you did 10 years ago in college was important and what you are doing today is important.

Some may think it a waste to have my degree and not be teaching right now. I'm glad he doesn't see it this way.

Have a day of blessings!

SSMT #5

For my next verse I have chosen one from Proverbs. I came across this verse recently and felt it was a good one to think about and memorize.

“Careless words stab like a sword, but wise words bring healing.” Proverbs 12:18, NLT

Have you ever said something and as soon as the words left your lips, you wished you could take it back? I imagine we all have at some point. It is important to think before we speak. Who wants to be labeled as careless? That is not an attractive label, and it’s certainly not the kind of words we should use. When we take a moment to pause and think though, our words will be much wiser. Those kind of words can bring peace, comfort, and healing to situations.

Have a day of blessings!