Song: My Beloved

This song came on as I was listening to Pandora this morning.  I hope it encourages you today.  You are beautiful and so very loved by our Heavenly Father.



Have a day of blessings!

Review: The Mercy

I was happy to be able to review The Mercy by Beverly Lewis.  I've been reading books by this author for many years!  This is the third book in The Rose Trilogy.  I have read all three books, I don't believe I posted reviews here though. 

In this book we have several story lines.  The main character, Rose, who is starting to feel she will be single all her life until she meets a boy from another district. 

Rose's sister, Hen, is living back at home along with her Englisher husband and their daughter.  They were separated because of differences they had encountered in their lives when Hen missed her Amish lifestyle, and then he came to live with Hen after he was in a car accident and lost his vision.

Another storyline of the book is Mamm and her impending surgery for her pain she's lived with for many years. 

I enjoyed this book as I did the others in this series.  However, I did feel it had an abrupt ending.  Some of the story seemed to be so drawn out and then it just seemed to end too quickly. 

I received this book from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review. 

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday + 5 love languages!

Brrrr!  We woke up to a chilly morning outside.  It is nice to feel fall in the air after our hot, hot summer.

I had a story to share with you today as part of my thankfulness.  Are you familiar with the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman?  The five languages include:  Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.  The idea is that we each have a way that we feel most loved.  There are quizzes you can do to determine which area is your main love language.  It's very helpful in marriage and any relationship to know that you are showing love in a way that speaks with the other person.  Otherwise they may be left feeling unloved just because you aren't showing them love in the way that means the most to them. 

I tell you that to share this story of how my husband just filled up my love tank yesterday.  He always does sweet little things for me, but I told him last night that he specifically showed me love in all five love languages.  First thing in the morning when I was getting dressed I found a note on my nightstand thanking me for what I do and a twenty dollar bill (Receiving Gifts).  He said he wanted me to spend it on a surprise on myself.  It was a total surprise for me that he would do this, which I told him.  Later he told me he knew I didn't like to spend money on myself, and he just wanted to give me a little and make me go buy something for myself.  We had lunch together (Quality Time).  As we were leaving I could just see his love for me as he shared from his heart about how beautiful I am to him (Words of Affirmation).  He brushed my hair (Physical Touch)-- I had gotten a trim and love to have my hair brushed, it felt nice for him to do that.  In the evening he helped fold some clothes (Acts of Service) and laid by me on the floor and talked a while about nothing in particular (more Quality Time).  It just felt like such a wonderful day, and I am so thankful for all the ways my husband showered me with love. I told him he could have done one of those things and I would have felt loved!  But for him to do all of them on the same day...just because (no special occasion or making up from a disagreement I mean)...made me feel so loved and special! I share this in hopes that you will find ways to show love in tangible, understandable ways to your spouse, children, and friends.    

Also on my thankful list this week....

~ my husband (see above!).

~ my sweet boy and his wake-up snuggles he's been giving me each morning.

~ beauty of fall I've noticed....pumpkins, leaves, sunrises.

~ a new pair of house shoes to keep my toes warm!

~ answers to prayer this week. 

Join us at Spiritually Unequal Marriage to link up for Thankful Thursday this week! 

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday!

Join with us for Thankful Thursday this month at Spiritually Unequal Marriage. 

It's been another week, another week full of blessings.  I've been reminded this week how quickly life can change.  Our neighbor was involved in a serious car accident last Friday.   She's had surgeries and is facing more in the coming days.  She is making progress which is good and still has a long road of recovery.  Pray for her and her family as they deal with all of this. This reminded me how life is a precious gift and to appreciate the ones in your life.  The simple routine of seeing her in the mornings as she walks with her kids to school has changed, something that I didn't think much about until she's not out there walking each morning. 

This week I am thankful for...
~ my husband getting home a few minutes early.  Sometimes he can't leave right at "quitting time," so it feels like a special treat when he's home a few minutes earlier than I expect him.

~ my boy always making us laugh and smile with the funny things he says.  After school yesterday he got in the car and said I wonder why all those teachers are wearing Texas Rangers tshirts today.  I told him it was because the Rangers were in the World Series.  Then later he asked me are the Rangers a football or baseball team? It made me laugh, we aren't big sports fans here!

~ being able to volunteer at the school.  This week I got to help in the library and with picture day. 

~ savings I've had in my shopping this week.  I'm not one of those extreme couponers but I do like to save when I can.  I had a couple of BOGO free coupons for shampoo. And I noticed bananas were a few cents cheaper this week.  Not that it amounted to much savings but I still noticed because  most prices are going up!  Also, I love that our little local store has half-price meat first thing in the mornings.  I like to go about once a week after I take my boy to school and buy a large pack, cook it, and freeze it so it's ready when I need it for meals. 

~ the memories I have of Peepaw.  I always miss him, but I've thought of him more this week.  It seems lately everywhere there is a reminder of him.  I did not think about how hard it would be to go back to the hospital where I saw him last.  As I walked up to the big building, my heart was thinking of the memories of that day when I saw him for the last time.  When I took my boy to Dairy Queen for an after-school ice cream, a teenage boy came in with his grandparents and it made me miss those ice cream treats with Peepaw. 

 Have a day of blessings!

Book review: Spot the Puppy

I received a copy of the children's book Spot the Puppy by Emily G. Simmons in the mail for my review.  This is book one in a series about Spot.

In book 1 Spot faces a test to stand up for what is right in a hard situation.  He's trying to make a new friend, but the new friend is doing things Spot knows are wrong.  He learns a lesson about choices and friendship.

This is a good story with a good lesson, and I feel this will make a nice series to teach lessons on values to children.  Since it is a children's book, I felt it could be more appealing to younger children with more illustrations and fewer words per page.  Also I found several grammatical and typographical errors in this book which was distracting to me as a reader. 

Have a day of blessings!

Marriage Monday

I haven't participated with Marriage Monday lately but I thought I would this week.  The topic is Infertility and the writing prompt I've chosen is:  Did you suffer any miscarriages or have difficulty conceiving?

Those of you who know us or have read my blog know that we suffered a miscarriage in January 2003.  This was our first pregnancy, and we were so excited to find out we were expecting, sharing the news with family members during the Christmas holidays.  We were devastated when we lost our baby.  We were surprised to be pregnant and then have that taken away so suddenly.  Since I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), we wondered if we would be able to conceive again or have other miscarriages. 

I remember several things about that time. Looking back I believe I was depressed during that time. When I went back to the classroom I did not feel I was as good of a teacher as I was prior to the miscarriage because something in me had changed.  It is one of the most painful times of my life, yet I can honestly say now that God has used that pain to teach me and bring me closer to Him.  Before the miscarriage I never knew the pain someone could feel over such a loss.  One thing I learned is that everyone grieves differently with this kind of loss and that is okay.  Another thing I learned is to be careful with my words when people are facing times of grief.  Many people don't know what to say and often say hurtful things, I think often without realizing it probably.  While I learned that words can hurt deeply, a third thing I learned in this time was the value of an encouraging word.  I had many people who were supportive and praying for us, and it really meant a lot.  Several people remembered me on my first Mother's Day and one friend sent me a special Mother's Day Precious Moments figurine.      

When I hear of someone who has had a miscarriage now, my heart hurts for them as I remember my own pain.  If you have a friend or family member who has faced a loss, remember their baby with them.  Don't act like they were never pregnant.  Ask how they are doing and show you care.  Let them talk or cry if that is what they need.  Remember special days like Mother's Day, Father's Day, and the baby's due date. 

Thank you for visiting today for Marriage Monday.  Visit Chrysalis and find others writing on a variety of themes related to infertility today. 

Have a day of blessings!

SSMT #20

I realized I was off on my numbers so this one is really verse #20! 

The verse I chose is I John 2:28:
"And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before hm at his coming."

Have a day of blessings!

Building Character: Creativity

Our recent family lesson was on the character quality of creativity.  I knew this would be another fun lesson for us, and I was right! 
We have a poster board where we are keeping a list of all the character qualities we study.  Caleb writes them with  marker, however he wants, on the poster.   He got down on the floor to start writing as I started spelling CREATIVITY.  He was writing it in a pattern with the letters going backwards and forwards.  I almost stopped him and then I thought "wait, what is the word he is writing?" and let him continue writing it in his own creative way! 

For the lesson we talked about our Creator God and His creativity in creating us and our world.  We talked about ways we could be creative at home and at work/school to do routine things in a new and fun way. 

For an activity I gave each of us 15 sticks.  We sat in different areas of the house, I set the timer, and we each had to create something.  My creation was totally different from the other two.  Daddy added stuff to his which was creative because we hadn't said you couldn't use anything else in your creation.  It was a fun quick activity to show how we all think differently and come up with different things. 

Daddy's little house with extra items for a roof.

Caleb's little building

I wrote a word with my sticks.  I was going to write LOVE but didn't have enough sticks!

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

This month we are joining over at Lynn's blog Spiritually Unequal Marriage.

This week I am thankful for...

~ the way my husband shows his love for me.  This week it made me smile when I thought he was leaving for work, but I saw him in the garage instead.  He was checking my tire and adding some air to it.  It made me smile that he stopped to do this for me.  I was able to go to the shop and have the leak fixed that same day. 

~ snuggles from my boy in the morning.  It makes me smile when he wakes me up with his sweet voice, smile, and snuggles.

~ finding some great deals for winter clothes for my boy at a consignment sale. 

~ the nice three day weekend we had last weekend with my "boys" home from work/school on Monday.  We enjoyed spending the day together.  Sleeping late was nice too.

~ rain!  We had a beautiful rainy weekend.  We have desperately needed the rain and everyone seemed to be so thankful to have that answer to prayer. 

Have a day of blessings!

A year ago...

We were excited to sign the papers to close on our new house on October 11, 2010.  We knew a couple of the rooms needed to be repainted....we did not want bright blue or purple bedrooms!  Plus there were some other things we wanted to do before officially  moving in.  We had it all planned out to sign the papers and then be ready to move in by the end of the month. 
Well if you followed my blog last year you know that nothing went as we had planned!  On October 7, 2010, we got the unexpected news from our Realtor that we were not going to be able to sign the papers on Monday.  The hold-up was caused because the TX Attorney General put a hold on the sale of foreclosures in the state.  I didn't understand all the legal jargon associated with this...it basically meant though that our plans were on hold because the house we were buying was a foreclosure property and the banks had to verify they were handling the paperwork correctly.  We did not have any idea when we'd be able to continue so we were in a waiting game.

My husband was starting his training for his new position.  We were renting a duplex and had assumed we'd be out by the end of October.  The days went on and on, and it was a very frustrating time.  I remember waiting to hear something, anything from our Realtor each day, hoping he'd have some sort of good news or date for us.  We even got a lawyer involved to try to help us through the process of figuring out our options.  We went to look at other houses as well because it just didn't seem this one was going to work.

It was quite the roller coaster for us all.  We didn't know what was going to happen from day to day really.  It was just waiting and praying, trying to see what God would have us do next.  Being the planner that I am I did not like not knowing what was coming. I did not like that all the plans I had made regarding the house and where we would live and not wanting to be separated from my husband and getting my son into a new school were not working out like I thought they should from my perspective. I wasn't angry during this time, I just didn't like not knowing.    

So today I remember how this time last year our plans changed suddenly and without warning.  I remember how God used this time to teach us some valuable lessons about Himself and His plan and timing during the period of unknowns and waiting.     

I heard this song on the radio this week, and I was immediately taken back to that time.  Because on October 7 and October 8 and 9 and 10 and on and on when I didn't know what was going to happen, I still held on to my faith that God had a plan for us.  He had things to teach us and used the time to bring us closer to Him and closer to each other.  We couldn't see the whole picture like He could.
 
Here is the song for you to hear.  It has such great lyrics. 


Looking back a year later, it is still crazy to me how it all worked out.  I think I am still processing it all that we are actually here!  The timing of everything fit together just beautifully.  He knew that all along, even though I could only see what was happening in the day to day moment.  Aren't you thankful that He has a bigger perspective than us? 

Have a day of blessings!

Thankful Thursday

Hope this has been a good week for you!  I am glad it's time for another Thankful Thursday.  Welcome!  This month we are joining over at Lynn's blog Spiritually Unequal Marriage.

This week I am thankful for...
~ my husband's safe travel this week.  I'm especially glad he's home too! 

~ my sweet boy and our relationship.  I don't want to take this for granted.  He is such a blessing and I love our talks when he tells me what he's thinking and feeling!

~ all that has happened for our family in the past year.  Tomorrow I will share a reflection about one year ago.

~ the cooler temperatures we've had lately.  After so many days with temperatures over 100 degrees, the cool mornings and evenings have been so nice.  I really enjoy the breeze as I sit in car line to pick up my boy after school.

~finding good deals on meat at my local grocery store. :) It makes me happy to feel like I can find good deals and save us a few dollars.
Have a day of blessings!

Building Character: Courtesy

Our recent Wednesday night family lesson was on the topic of courtesy.  I found so many great ideas for this lesson and it turned out being very fun. 

We talked about courtesy and what that looks like in our lives.  We looked up some verses related to using courteous words and this verse in I John 3:18--"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."   Another point we talked about was thinking before speaking to make sure what we say is appropriate and courteous.

For the activity we did an activity I found on the Kids of Integrity site. 

I mixed up chocolate pudding and put it into two bags. 

Then I cut a tiny hole in the bottom corner of each bag.  I gave my husband and son both a bag and a plate and told them to decorate the plate with the pudding. 

One of their creations

Once the pudding was out of the bag, I told them now they needed to put it back into their bag.  My husband turned his bag inside out and using it as a glove tried to pick up the pudding so it would be in the bag.  Then my son tried this too.  It made quite the mess!   

I made the point that it was easy and fun to squirt the pudding out of the bag and make designs and then quite difficult to get all the pudding back into the bag.  It is the same with our words. If we say things without thinking, those words are out and we can't take them back again or "unsay" them.  Once they are out they are out.  Sometimes people will remember the words we say forever, long after they are spoken and maybe even forgotten by the speaker.  We need to make sure our words are uplifting and courteous to others.   

This was a fun lesson and serves as a great reminder to all of us to be courteous in our words and actions. 

Have a day of blessings!

Book review: False Pretenses

I finished reading book #1 in the Secrets of Roux River Bayou series called False Pretenses by Kathy Herman.  I have had this book sitting in my pile to read for several months.  When I picked it up to read, I had a hard time putting it down!  And I am excited that book #2 (Dangerous Mercy) just came out last week.  I look forward to reading it as well. 

In False Pretenses we meet Zoe Broussard who owns a Cajun eatery with her husband, Pierce.  She loves her town and the people there including her neighbors Vanessa and Ethan (characters from the Sophie Trace Trilogy).  When she starts getting anonymous notes in random places, she is afraid for her life, her business, and her marriage.  She is scared that a secret she has hidden for years is going to end up causing danger for herself and those she loves.

Meanwhile, Vanessa and Ethan want to begin work restoring the Langley Manor. They have a disturbing mystery of their own though.

I enjoyed reading this book.  It was a real page turner for me!  I enjoyed the characters and the setting of Louisiana.  This is an area I do not know anything about so it was interesting for me to read as it had some Cajun dialect thrown in here and there.     

Have a day of blessings!

SSMT #20

Here is my new verse.  It is 2 Corinthians 8:7--

"But just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving."

I read this on a Facebook post one day and then the next week it was part of our Sunday morning sermon on stewardship.

Have a day of blessings!