A list of things which refer to other things on the list of things

1.  The Mr. & I were photographed by Kelly for our Christmas cards...fingers crossed that she made us look unnaturally attractive :)  No pressure.
2.  Aforementioned Mr. is sick sick sick.  Head congested, cough, sore throat. 
3. Number 2 is exceptionally inconvenient as he was supposed to grocery shop today and now I have to...wahhhhh!
4. Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Thursday!
5. We have our daybed in about 100 pieces on the living room floor.  Mac is on assembly duty.
6. I have officially requested the bird chair posted earlier in the week for Christmas.
7. Speaking of number 2 again, every weekend I make a pot of homemade soup which the Mr. never eats.  I believe that's why he's sick.
8. Does anyone know where my dark green fleece jacket with the shawl collar is?
9. Back to number one, I wore darker make-up on the advice of the Google.  Now I'm pretty sure I looked like a chubby transvestite.
10. Speaking of number 7 which refers to number 2, I am making a chunky chicken stew today.  Which the Mr. won't eat. 

What?  You didn't realize the Mr. was a sexy cool black man and I was a leggy super model?

Married on the promises of God

In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul writes these words;
² I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.

As I wrote earlier in the week, the Mr. and I have been on a journey over the last year, learning to love each other better and more deeply.  In praying about how to be a better helpmate to Dean, the Lord often turns my heart back to consideration of the church as the bride of Christ.  I have always believed that the example of marriage in the flesh is given to us as a picture of how God loves us.  I've always wondered if our dismal ability to stay married indicates how little we understand His love.  With that in mind, the Holy Spirit prompted me earlier today to study scripture about God's promises and to consider how I could act out those promises for my husband...

Matthew 11:28-29
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Do I make our home and myself a place of rest for my husband?  Or am I a source of his weariness?  Am I a burden to his soul, or are my demands upon him light?  When our lives are stressful, do I present myself with calmness and peace (...take my yoke upon you and learn from me...) or do I escalate his worries with my own anxiety? 

As his wife, I must make our home a sanctuary; the place he yearns to be when life is stormy.  I learned when Dean was caring for his dad how important it was for me to speak truth over him and to model faith and calmness in his presence when he felt that things were spiraling out of control.  When I got caught up in the fear and worry that he was experiencing, I could see the lines of strain deepen in his face.  But when I spoke in quiet tones that everything would be fine, that God was faithful and he was not alone because I promised to stay at his side; those lines would disappear and I could see his muscles relax.  As Jesus promised that we could bring our cares and weary hearts to him for rest, I promise to create a haven of rest for my husband.  When he cannot find the calmness of the Holy Spirit, I will bring it to him as I pray over him and speak life over his heartache.  I will allow him to be tired and even to feel weak in my presence, I will not mock or belittle his burdens.  I will be gentle and we will learn together to rest in Jesus.  I will build a home where chaos cannot take hold.  I will rub his tired shoulders and soothe his mind. 
When he feels the weight of life pressing in, I will give him rest.

Rambling thoughts on a chilly morning...

Good morning Friends & Neighbors!
Do you love the cold Michigan mornings?  No?  I kind of do. Actually, my first thought this morning was "Wouldn't it be great to be waking up in Traverse City with Lake Michigan outside my window?"  LOL.
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is in one week?  What in the world happened to the first half of November?  I suspect this means Christmas is coming soon. 
Mac is off work until further notice, injured his ankle and we're praying it heals with rest so he won't need surgery.  In the meantime, he's chipping in a bit around here keeping the house straight.  I'm not glad he's hurt but it's nice to have someone to clean the kitchen after dinner. 
I've stumbled across a mystery series of books that I'm enjoying, Agatha Raisin series.  Kind of a Miss Marple sort of thing.  Good cold weather reading. 
I got a cute blue sweater and tomorrow Kelly is taking a few shots of us for our Christmas cards.  I need to lose fifty pounds in the next twenty four hours.  You can take a break from praying for Mac and pray for that. 
That's all I got.  Have a good day!

Obsess much?

On the lookout for this coffee table.  There's a similiar one on QVC for $131, never ordered from QVC so I'm hesitant...



Sample room: Sherwin Williams Tidewater Blue paint.  P.S. I need those paintings.





C.S.Lewis Room last Christmas





This chair is my boyfriend.  He's too expensive but I lurv him.



This chair is my 99% choice for the living/C.S. Lewis Room.




 

Reminder, this is the daybed I'm using in place of a traditional sofa.  I ordered a chocolate brown quilted cover set.



I think I'll put everything in place and paint after the holidays so I'm not losing my mind.  In the meantime, I am going to lose my mind minus the painting.  Thoughts?

And I thank God for the lighthouse...

Every once in a while, I'll scroll back through my archives to see what photographs I might have taken a year ago.  Today, I ran across the photo above, taken on 11/11/11, during our anniversary trip.  It's a lighthouse on Lake Michigan in St. Joseph.  Dean was still dealing with the death of his dad and the painful memories of his last days with him, watching him fade away with dementia. 
Our anniversary trip is usually the best week of the year.  But last year, like a boat on the Lake Michigan waters, we felt tossed and troubled.  A stormy sky seemed to hover above us and the comfort we have always found in one another felt strained.  That week's vacation didn't renew us as we had hoped. 
When I ran across this photograph, an old song came to mind..The Lighthouse.

This old song, like so many from my childhood, brings back memories of Sunday nights in church as a little girl.  It soothes my soul like it did then, when my little girl's heart could feel the anointing flowing across that sanctuary with its vaulted ceilings and green padded pews.
More than that, there is a specific memory when I see a lighthouse or hear this old song.  
Dean was a bass player in a Southern Gospel group during our courtship.  On weekends when other teenagers were doing, well I don't know what they were doing, we were at churches where he was playing.  If I was going to date a musician, this was what our dates were going to be.  I'd sit near the front since I usually didn't know anyone while the guys played.  I'd wait patiently while they tore down and then he'd drive me home after church. 
I wasn't a night owl even in those days.  It was true love that inspired me to venture out on those Saturday and Sunday nights.  By the time we'd be driving home, I'd be fighting to keep my eyes open.  This was in the olden days when cars had bench seats so I could scoot right up next to him (what seat belt law?)  He'd put his right arm around me and I'd lean in to him, pretty soon the street lights and the sleepiness would lull me into almost sleep.  Being the sweet guy that he was, Dean didn't try to wake me up.  He let me be quiet and still, maybe it's then I recognized that this was where my peace would always be.  One one night we were driving home from Ohio.  If you've ever driven through Ohio into Michigan, you know that's the ideal place for being a sleeping passenger in a car :)
As I snuggled into my boyfriend's side with my eyes closed, I listened to him singing...

And I thank God for the lighthouse; I owe my life to him...Jesus is the Lightouse and from the rocks of sin, he has shown his light around me that I might plainly see.  If it wasn't for the Lighthouse, where would this ship be...

We were both kids, still in high school.  This was the soundtrack of our courtship.  This was the love song, and it was sung from God to us.  From the lips of my seventeen year old boyfriend, it was the most beautiful sound of my life so far.  And still is.
We've been tossed on stormy seas and spent days underneath gray and threatening skies.  But Jesus has always been there in the storm to guide us safely to harbor.  Last night, I sat in an auditorium watching my forty seven year old husband playing bass and I watched him lift his hands in worship.  Afterward, I snuggled into his side right side and fell asleep remembering those days and overwhelmed at the goodness of God. 
Those stormy skies of a year ago have passed over and we are once again in peaceful waters.  To many people, date nights in old churches and long drives singing southern gospel to pass the time would seem a laughable courtship.  Not much cool about it, I suppose.
But how grateful and humbled I am that my boyfriend sang Jesus to me while I slept. 

For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

Psalm 18:39

Stuff

1. Dean's playing at the River Raisin Theatre in Monroe tonight.
2. I'm going shopping at Ulta, I lurv Ulta!
3. Getting excited that the holidays are coming.
4. I'm so happy about my new day bed, got me decorator dreamin'.
5. In the mood to do some baking.
6. Sometimes the people on HGTV who are suffering with a too small master suite make me nuts.
7. Designing our Christmas cards on the Hallmark site can keep me entertained for hours.
8. Loving a few last mild Michigan days & some time with coffee around the fire pit.
9. I can't think of ten things so...bye!

Can you find the Mr. in this poster? (right side, middle with white bass)

C.S. Lewis room updates, 'cause you know you wanna know!

My cousin posted this pic of a daybed she needs to sell on Facebook, so there ya go!  I was trying to figure out if a day bed would be a good choice for my living room since we don't have a guest room.  A cute cottage style bed for a great price and lots cheaper than a new sofa...the best of all worlds!  I can live with it and if it doesn't suit me, nothing lost.  I'll bless someone else with it and get a sofa. 

I don't know about you, but I always think of these kind of moments as Jesus reminding me how much he loves me...right down to the little stuff.  So why in the world should I worry about Obamacare?  LOL!

Election Day thoughts...

1. Do not consider your ballot more than it is.   God, being merciful, will not allow the people of the United States nor the president to do that which is outside of his will.  It is our daily prayers for our nation, our humble prayer about our vote and most of all, our lives before God that will impact this country in the long term.  Pray, humble yourself and vote.  And tomorrow, regardless of the outcome, pray more.
2. Christians celebrating the principles of Romney because they are most like our own.  Any possibility that we might be grieving the Lord?  Mr. Romney's faith instructs that he will someday have his own planet.  Oh, but he's pro life!  Yes, there are lots of folks who have "right thinking."  And thank God for them.  But have we elevated thoughts above submission to God's word?  Because they are certainly two different things.  I don't support President Obama with my vote, but I support him in office with my respect and prayer.  As surely as Mr. Romney can have right thinking with wrong (deadly) theology, so can Mr. Obama be so influenced.  Please don't misunderstand,  I am not chastising Christians who vote for Mr. Romney.  But my heart aches when I hear him celebrated.  Be cautious not to minimize the significance of his faith.
3. If we have prayed for our nation and this election, we can be peaceful.  In fact, we must be peaceful.  Once we have laid our country at the feet of Jesus,  we must not pick it back up and speak as though any man can exert his will above God's.


Praise the Lord, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 146

Shaturday Shtuffy Head

1.  Have a spectacular head cold going.
2.  Putting away the Halloweeny decorations.
3. Venturing out to pick up a few Thanksgiving decorations.
4. Making a pot of chicken soup, see number one.
5. The C.S. Lewis room is empty...decisions, decisions, decisions.
6. I got a particularly fabulous hair cut this week.
7. We need to get our Christmas card pics done with Kellerbell.
8. Using leftover red wine to make a pot roast...yuuuuuummmy gravy alert!
9. I really just want to lay in bed and read.
10. I reserve the right to not do any of the aforementioned in lieu of number 9.

To thine own self, let grace be sufficient...

Are there things that you will go 100 miles out of your way to avoid?
Not things like rattle snakes or zombies.  Things like conflict, confrontation, difficult conversations or even apologising.  I do.  I am a gold medal avoidist.  I'm sure that's part and parcel of being an introvert.  Being around others for happy stuff is draining, negative stuff makes me want to crawl up my chimney to hide.
The Mr. is a conflict avoider.  Shew, is he ever!  He's so anti-conflict that after the dust settles and you ask him if he's glad that he finally dealt with something, he'll say no.  He still wishes he could've avoided the unpleasantness.  Lots of people say that's a wonderful trait.  But you wanna know a secret?  It isn't.
Nor is my avoidism. 
If you are nonconfrontational because you have a peace-keeper's heart and that is what God has called you to do, to still troubled waters around you, that's different. In fact, that isn't really avoid, it's taking control by restoring order.  But when we avoid because we are afraid, that's not good.  No action (or lack thereof) motivated by fear comes from God. 
So how do we manage ourselves or people in our lives who are stuck in the deep muck of avoiding difficult stuff?  One classic coping tool is to ask one's self, "what's the worst thing that could happen?"  Maybe that will work for you.  I think more often, what we are truly afraid of is whether we will be able to manage the emotions of the moment.  Perhaps we're unsure of our own capabilities to take control of something important.  Sometimes we fear that once drawn into a situation, we'll have to make choices that will disappoint or anger others.
Are you afraid that the worst thing that could happen is that your advice will fail?  Your confrontation will spark a war?  You'll lose your temper, cry or become tongue-tied?  The other person will become angry and stop loving you?
I've done a lot of self examination over the past few years as I've stopped warring against the me that God created and embraced the me that is introverted.  I've realized that some of the experiences that are hard on introverts cause a feeling much like offendedness or anger when others don't catch my more subtle requests for space.  Yet, how to be true to myself and not fall into the trap of avoiding because of fear?
In the words of Shakespeare, "to thine own self be true."
You see, my friend,  God created you very specifically.  Weakness and strength in balance.  I'm not talking about self-centeredness.  That's not being true to one's self at all.  It's that you know the truth of who you are, the truth that God spoke into your soul. 
If you are at all like me, you'll have to ask Christ to introduce you to that soul that he created because from the first breath we take, the world tries to grab us and mold us into something that is universally understandable and comfortable to the majority.  Which really flies in the face of the way our Creator does things!  So I had to spend lots of time talking to the Lord and letting him show me the parts of me that I kept tucking away.  Basically, I spent a lot of years trying to avoid being weird.  Turns out, God gave me an exceptional amount of weird. 
Back to the avoiding issue.  Now that I know myself better, it's my responsibility to submit my self before my God.  When the traits of my personality trigger unGodly responses, I need to seek the Holy Spirit to remake me in the image of Jesus. 
But, do you want to know the most powerful thing I've learned?  That more of me is ok than I had previously thought!  I just need to know and understand myself well enough to explain my needs and weaknesses and how I work my way through life.  An example?  When the Mr.'s parents lived here, their home felt like chaos to me.  I thrive on a different kind of environment.  So I explained myself to Dean.  I can go spend hours with you and your mom and dad but it will wear me out. I won't feel like going out to dinner later, and fair warning...I'll be grouchy. I will be able to maintain control but I'll need to come home and be by myself with a book for the rest of the night.  OR I can stay behind and let my spirit and mind rest and fill up on the things God made me needful of.  And when Dean got home, I'd be calm and relaxed and ready for an evening out...and grateful for being understood and accepted.
He always chose the second option.  Not just out of kindness for me, but because he really likes going out to dinner and a movie on the weekend so we both got what we wanted. 
Does any of this make sense?
Figure out what you avoid.  Ask God to introduce you to yourself.  Submit all of the parts of yourself to the Holy Spirit.  Acknowledge that God loves you and it gives him pleasure when you learn the truth about yourself.  Be able to explain yourself to others and hold yourself accountable not to excuse bad behavior with the Popeye Protocol (I yam what I yam!)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9,10

Costume donations?

Shoe people!  We need left over Halloween costumes at Kingswood.  Every year we have a Halloween party for all of the patients at the hospital and trick or treating from office to office for the kids.  Everybody loves to dress up, including the adult patients. 
If you have gently used costumes that you'd like to donate for our patients to enjoy next year, please let me know or send them to:

Henry Ford Kingswood Hospital

Attn: Sara

10300 West Eight Mile Rd.

Ferndale, MI 48220

Thanks!

Flip that C. S. Lewis Room!

To everything there is a season, and a time to every home decor idea under heaven.

Do the changing seasons stir up your inner designer and make you want to paint, rearrange and freshen up your home?  Yes?  Good, me too.  Not to mention that my inner kindergarten teacher is compelled to bring out accents (currently lots of pumpkins and Autumn leaves) with every holiday or shift in the weather.  Seriously, if I didn't have to work for a living and had an endless supply of interior paint, I could stay busy until Jesus comes.

Shortly after we moved to this new old house, we painted the living room and nicknamed it the C.S. Lewis Room.  It was my space, quiet and small and ideal for reading or just thinking.  Over the last few years, it's become sort of a catch-all room as we inherited a piano and moved around furniture trying to make it all work.  Long story short, it no longer works.  Mac has a friend moving into their own apartment for the first time so I have decided this is an excellent time to start over in the C.S. Lewis Room.  We're going to give some old furniture away and empty out the accumulation of stuff to rethink the room.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the quickly approaching holidays will inspire the Mr. to work with me so that the house looks nice and fresh by Thanksgiving.  I know, high hopes.

I've got my eye out for the perfect new furniture.  I'd love a small sectional with a chaise.  Wouldn't that be perfect for reading and thinking?  It's also time to update the paint because the soothing golden orange is feeling dark and dreary to me now.  I'm considering sea glass blues and greens.  

The style is too modern, but how yummy is this?  YUMMY that's how yummy it is!  Since we live in a small post war bungalow with two bedrooms, I've also considered a daybed instead of a traditional sofa since it would be an excellent reading spot but also provide a place for an overnight guest in a pinch...

And how about copying all of our family and vacation photos in black & white?



I'm starting to wonder if this is a realistic project for the next few weeks.  Maybe after the holidays would be more doable and less stressful.  What do you guys think? 

26th Anniversary

There are two times every year dedicated to vacationing; in the summertime with Daboyz and in late October for our anniversary. Alas, the 2012 vacation schedule has come to a close.
We returned late Saturday from our trip to Traverse City, Michigan.  I'd say it was our best anniversary trip ever but we tend to say that every year ;)
The Mr. reserved our room at the Cherry Tree Inn & Resort with a balcony overlooking the Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan.  We spent an afternoon roaming around downtown, another day exploring the two penninsulas, Old Mission and Leelanau and plenty of time sitting in corner coffee shops and chatting or just staring at the amazing Lake Michigan shoreline.  We wrapped up Friday evening listening to jazz at a small restaurant downtown. 
When we arrived home on Saturday evening we built a fire in the backyard until it got too chilly and then relaxed in our sweet little house, sorry that vacation is over but as always, happy to be home.
God is good, everywhere and all the time.

From our balcony; fire pit in the lower right.

The Mr. at...

At the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, Leelanau Penninsula-Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan shoreline

Stay

Twenty six years married on the twenty fifth of this month and thirty years going steady on the 19th of November.  If there is any advice I'd share with couples, it would be simply, just stay. 
I've been tempted to end our marriage with divorce and I've acted foolishly by allowing distance where there should be none.  Nothing dramatic has come between us in twenty years but still, we sometimes need reminders to stay.  Stay interested and emotionally close, stay physically affectionate and sweet. 
I mentioned on Saturday that the Mr. had some sweet surprises for me on Friday evening; flowers & a card, dinner and over night to a hotel.  There's a local hotel we started "running away" to when Dean was caring for his dad, close enough to easily respond in case of an emergency but still feels like a get-away.  As we were having dinner, I told my husband that I must be changing because I was never a flowers and romantic evening kind of girl.  I've always preferred a quiet evening at home in my pajamas.  Then he said something profound,
"I want to learn how to love you better every day."
There are different kinds of staying.  Staying for the kids, the financial security.  Staying because divorce is against one's faith or because it's just plain old familiar where you are and starting over is too much work.  Staying out of habit or fear or because it's the right thing to do.
Then there is intentional staying.  Staying because you believe there is something in marriage that represents the love of God for His bride and it's the description of His love for us.  Staying the way God stays means sometimes resting quietly together and sometimes running after the one who wanders.  It means wrapping yourself around the one you love to protect him from the arrows of the enemy.  It means covering their faults with your strength.  Staying means being humble enough to be weak and even to be carried in the arms of the one who loves you at your worst.
It means learning every day, how to love better.  And then doing it.
Today, look at your spouse and make a decision.
Stay.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

Psalm 42:7

My exciting life ;)

1. Spent last weekend up north with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf.
2. Lots of long days, early morning meetings and evening tiredness this week.
3. My sweet wonderful Mr. surprised me last night by having flowers and a beautiful card waiting when I got home, taking me out to dinner and then an unexpected night at a local hotel.
4. The best part about number 3?  He had no idea it was Sweetest Day, he's just that awesome :)
5. Speaking of awesomeness, we're leaving on Tuesday evening for four days in Traverse City.
6. I love Autumn, gonna spend the weekend putting out my Fall decorations.
7. Tomorrow my sister is hosting a celebration for her grand baby Mason's dedication, yay for babies!
8. I may make lasagna this weekend.  Or I may not.
9. I may make cookies this weekend.  Or I may not.
10. As you can see, I lead a very exciting life!

Cherry Tree Inn Resort, Traverse City

Early morning lessons

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.

Early morning lessons, albeit not sought, this morning at my house.  I will admit that over the last several months, I feel that I am forever posting this or that malady...head hurts, ulcer, blah blah blah.  I'm tired of my own organ recital, as we say in health care!  I'm not used to this state of semi-unwellness.  Certainly there's nothing alarming happening in my body, it's just that I seem to be a bit on the fragile side more than usual.  I've no doubt that I am dealing with stress in physical ways because I've not yet mastered the spiritual aspect.  Life is a classroom with graduation happening in heaven, I suppose.  Which brings me to the early morning lessons of today. 

I had what I thought was a hormonal headache at the end of last week which proceeded to stomach upset on Saturday which evolved into a stunning case of stomach flu by late Saturday night.  Yesterday was spent on the couch cat napping to make up for the sleep lost over night (when not dealing with yet more gastric issues, 'nuff said.)  Today at 3 a.m., I gave up on miraculous recovery and called in to work.  How I hate that.  And this is an especially not good time for stomach flu.

I am interviewing nurses on Tuesday and Thursday.  I am downtown at a meeting from 8-noon on Wednesday, back at work for a few hours and then leaving at 2 for an appointment at 3.  Did I mention that I have a girlfriend's retreat aka Sister's Reunion happening this week?  Yeah.  That isn't working out the way I had hoped either.  I had hoped for vacation days on Thursday and Friday to start the long weekend.  But there have been management changes at work and I am taking a long weekend for my anniversary at the end of the month.  Ultimately, I needed to choose which vacation days I was willing to give up, and understandably so.  So I will be heading Up North on Friday after work and shortening my girlfriend time by two days.  I had considered trying to sneak away at noonish on Friday to hit the road but with the day off last Friday and today, both unplanned, that is out of the question.  I'll be doing well not to work late on Friday. 

This morning my biggest source of stress is that I dread facing my boss with yet another sick day, especially with the abbreviated days already scheduled this week.  I won't pretend that I was seeking the Holy Spirit this morning, nope, I was just stressing.  The Lord had to sort of derail my obsessive frustration and sort me out.  Firstly, Margie is unable to leave town with the girls on Thursday either, so we'll travel together on Friday evening.  Shew!  I'm not glad we're missing a few days of the party but I'm more glad that neither of us will be doing the four hour evening drive alone.  If God had asked me to delay and travel with her, I would've done it in a heartbeat.  So, I guess he did, and I will.  And she, me.  Does that make sense?  Secondly, I have just now realized that the favor of my boss is a matter of the favor of God.  Yes, she's likely frustrated with me.  I'm frustrated with me.  But God can smooth that out between us, especially if I am willing to get up out of the pitiful me pit and take accountability for making it right.  Can I go in to work early a few days and stay late a few others?  Yes, I can.  And will.  And just that plan makes me feel lighter of heart. 

So I'll road trip with my girl Margie on Friday night and hopefully, we'll get our baseline inappropriate conversations and humor out of the way before we are amongst the more civilised sisters...LOL.  I'll work some longer days as a good faith gesture and will get the undone work done in that way.   I've not had some kind of miraculous deliverance from stress, just sort of started to see the details of it and perhaps, start the work of dismantling framework.

Surrender seems like the giving up of things we want.  This morning, I started to surrender the stuff that I don't want.

Not bad for an early morning lesson on a sick day.

Q & A

1. What happens the day after the hormone headache?
2. Cramps!!
3. What new recipe am I trying this week?
4. Crockpot curry beef stew.
5. What was the exciting news we got yesterday?
6. Mac starts the nursing program in January!
7. What kind of birthday cake does he want on Monday?
8. None, he wants banana pudding.
9. Have I bought new jeans yet?
10. No.

Friday musings...

OY yoy yoy! as my gramma would say.  What a headache I've got!  It's a hormonal thing, get it every month.  Anybody else out there experience this?  OY yoy yoy!  I am working from home thanks to a very generous boss. 
Despite this, it's a favorite time of year for me.  Mac's birthday a few days ago, sister's reunion next week and our twenty sixth anniversary on October 25.  I love the changing colors and the crisp cool air and the fires in the evenings.  I love the cinnamon spice Scentsy!
Mac has a friend visiting from out of town and they are going to Halloweekends at Cedar Point.  Friday is usually date night for us but that will depend upon my aching skull bones. 
The Mr. and I are on week two of a new meal plan.  We are both pooped at the end of the day resulting in more take-out and restaurant meals than we'd like.  So we are taking the week, dividing it and each taking and equal number of days to plan, prep and clean up dinner.  Last week was a rousing success, although every night was some version of crock pot cooking :)   I made lazy chicken pot pie which I invented just this week...

Boneless/skinless chicken breast
Frozen mixed veggies
Chicken Broth
Spices (I used celery salt, Zehnder's seasoning, pepper and a pinch of sage)
Pillsbury croissants (in a can)

Throw chicken breast, veggies, broth and seasonings into...a crock pot!
At the end of the day, scoop out veggies and chicken and put them in a oven proof pan (I used a cast iron dutch oven.)
Ladle some of the broth over the chicken mixture, thicken with cornstarch.
Bake at 300 for about 20 minutes (you could probably skip this step)

Unroll croissants and separate, place over top of chicken mixture to form crust. 
Increase oven to 350, bake for an additional 15-20 minutes checking after 15.

All done!

I've made chicken pot pie completely from scratch which is just a bit time consuming at the end of the work day.  This was easy peasy and the croissants made a fabulous crust.  The men folk were thoroughly impressed!  Served with a green salad.  Also, a great end of the week meal because I threw a few spoonfuls of left overs (like mashed potatoes and green beans) into the mix as well.

Time to get back to work and maybe have a cup of hot tea.  Have a blessed Friday!

Happy birthday Mac!

Updates about basically nothing

Haven't been around the blogosphere much lately.  After my week-long sabbatical I've found myself drawn to other things...pumpkin spice coffee around the fire pit, reading a biography of Louisa May Alcott and catnapping to name a few!
Or perhaps it's just that my life has been pleasantly boring lately.  Work is busy as ever but really, who wants to recount that after spending eight hours living it every day?  I'm doing my usual trying to remember where I put all of my Autumn decorations.  Menu planning for lots of crockpot meals and recipes to get two dinners from one.  I have apple Scentsies around the house making everything smell loverly. 
The Mr. and I have rediscovered the little gem that is downtown Dearborn.  Practically within walking distance there are so many cute little restaurants and half the time we drive for thirty minutes to find somewhere new to eat.  Silly!  We went to see Trouble With The Curve.  Great movie. 
We got a new little high top kitchen table and chairs.  I have a relatively small kitchen with limited counter space so it provides more work surface at counter height; much easier on my back.  Speaking of my back (girl alert, guys read at your own peril!,) I made an appointment for a surgical consultation to have a breast reduction.  Hoping that is something that can happen in the near future. 
I have a reunion with my Scarf Sisters coming up, then a long weekend in Traverse City with the Mr.  Busy busy busy!  All kinds of happy busy :)
I'm on the hunt for a low heel, square toe cowboy boot.   Love the look of a boot and a pair of jeans.  Speaking of which, I need a new pair of jeans.  Oh Law, that's not a fun adventure at all!
My hair is rather on the long side and I kind of like it.   
And I do believe that gets everyone up to date with the happenings of the Smiths! 

Margie's verse...

10

1. Baby shower today!  I love it when other people have babies!
2. Tried a local restaurant last night,  Bistro 222...fabulous!
3. Raise your hand if you love Autumn!
4. My house is a mess, would you please come over and clean it while I'm at the baby shower?  Thanks.
5. Suddenly I feel that next year, I absolutely must build an outdoor fireplace. 
6. My baby will be 23 on Tuesday.  Good grief, I'm only 30!
7. I need new jeans.  Blech.
8. Counting down for the Sisters Reunion and then Traverse City for our anniversary.
9. My life is so sweet.
10. I got a new kitchen table.

One nation under God

A week ago, I went off line to devote my FB & blog time to praying for our country.  I presumed it would be kind of like fasting...can't wait for it to end!  Instead, I find myself having a hard time re-engaging in the cyber world.  I have had such a wonderful time with the Holy Spirit this week and a deepness of peace about President Obama and the United States that is so complete it almost feels like sleepiness.  Isn't it always the case that when we spend time with God, even when we are interceding for others, we benefit greatly? 
I have never been a fan of Barack Obama, but goodness, how quickly I was brought to repentance for my hardness of heart toward him.  The first order of business during my week of intercession was that I could go no further until my I humbled myself and sought forgiveness for my stick-necked pride.  Once that hurdle was cleared, God swept through my soul with waves of clarity and love for the president that could only be from the Lord (especially if you knew my prior attitude!)
Almost daily I would feel the prompt of the Holy Spirit for specific prayer...

That the president would be restless and that all false sense of peace would leave him.  You can see why God had to prepare me to pray this in a way that was not mean and spiteful.  It brought to mind the days of Joseph and God hardening Pharaoh's heart.  Sleepless nights and the full burden of the unsubmitted heart was what I found myself imagining for Mr. Obama.  No false peace, no false peace, no false peace.  When the real-ness of this reached the depth of my spirit, God revealed the next prayer...

That the president would be hungry.  That the false peace and confidence, once removed, would leave a vacuum in his spirit.  I could almost feel the desperation, the great need for God.  I was reminded of times in my life when I cried out begging God to cover me, when I felt like I was made of raw nerve endings.  Have you ever felt that kind of hunger for the Holy Spirit?  That was my prayer.  Make him hungry, desperately and achingly hungry.  And then...

That the president's wife would experience a revelation, an insight of God borne from her love for her husband and her compassion for his aching soul.  That she would quietly know that Jesus loves him and wants to redeem and anoint him.  I prayed that Mrs. Obama would not experience a panic of hellfire and brimstone but turn her face toward God to receive his sweet caress and that she would love her husband with the love of Christ.  I felt that the president would humble himself if she reached out to him with Jesus to relieve his hunger.  I prayed also...

For someone to bring the Lord into their midst.  To come with wisdom and gentleness to speak life into the counterfeit existence that the enemy calls success.  Remember Saul, who, in his torment begged for David to soothe him with music.  Where is our David?  Equip and send him Lord. 

I continue to pray these things for our president.  My heart is lighter as I have confessed and repented of my anger and God has drawn so close to me that I'm not sure when I'll post again.  Something has changed, perhaps I'm like Pavlov's dog?  Now when I consider opening my laptop, I am distracted.  I just want to talk to Jesus for a while. 

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior...

1 Timothy 2:1-3

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

This will be my last post until next Sunday.  I've been inspired by a post I read on
To Love, Honor & Vacuum. 
The idea is to choose a prompt that will remind you to stop and pray for your husband, like a siren or a car horn.  With this in mind, I have committed to stopping to pray for America every time I reach to check in to FB or to blog.  Have a blessed week and please, in your own way, find time to take our country before throne every day. 

Loving the changing seasons

1. Hoodies.
2. Cowboy boots
3. Fires: back yard, fireplace
4. Apples
5. Soup on the stove
6. Windows open, cool nights
7. Sisters Reunion
8. Anniversary trip, Traverse City this year!
9. Crisp mornings
10. Changing leaves

My wickedness

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

If a person lives long enough on this earth, they will live through times like we are now experiencing.  Times when, if you are a Christian, you see clearly that the way has been cleared for The End.  The Rapture.  The Tribulation.  Times when it seems this must surely be the historic moment when it will all change.  Times that make us feel fragile and vulnerable, enraged and vengeful. 

These are times that drive us to FB posts, blogs and lunch room arguments about who is right and what America was, and is and what we fear or hope to become.

Today, I have a safe and lovely home.  The skies are bright, morning rains having cleared and breezes blow through the trees in my large back yard.  My dog lays on the back porch soaking in the warm sunlight, my husband will buy groceries from our well-stocked local Kroger and my boys have good jobs.  Today, then, is a day of prayer. I am not the one placed in the physical battle, oh how I thank God for the peace of my surroundings right now. 

As for those times like these, first you must understand that I am one of those Christians from paragraph one.  So I know that I know that I know that one day everything will indeed change as the world finally turns her face toward her final defiance of God.  This defiance ebbs and flows like the ocean's tide but is forever creeping closer and closer until it will become the tidal wave that destroys itself.  Or, for the Christian, it will be the spiritual flood that finally washes away all that is so corrupt in mankind.

These are serious moments in history.  There is an election pending, there is the mystical 2012 theology, there is the Middle East tension, the 9/11 anniversary...again the stage is set.  Is this the moment?  I don't know.  It has never really mattered, we are still praying and standing on the same word that David took into battle. 

As I meditate on the scripture above, it feels both global and personal.  I am guilty of the flag waving rhetoric that is anything but humble.  It isn't about Regan or Bush or the red, white and blue.  Forgive me Lord for waging my own war on behalf of America.  My attitude has been that we are the U.S.A. and we are coming to kick someone's head in.  There is no humility in that.  Should we rise or fall, it is by God's grace and his will alone.

I have been political instead of prayerful.

My wickedness has been absolute refusal to consider forgiveness of the 9/11 attackers and of the Bengazi strikes and of everyone who has raised a hand against our troops.  Forgive me God, and help me to forgive. 

And now, may God hear from heaven and heal our land.



Disgusting and rreprehensible

In remarks Thursday, Clinton called the provocative video "disgusting and reprehensible." "It appears to have a deeply cynical purpose, to denigrate a great religion and to provoke rage," Clinton said in Washington, D.C.

This in response to the Bengazi attack this week.
I haven't seen the film in question but I'm quite sure it is potentially "disgusting and reprehensible." 
The implication I hear is that it's really bad to murder people but then again, we are, after all, disgusting and reprehensible.  Some of us at least. 
So, if someone murders a  gay man because they think he is disgusting and reprehensible?  Will Mrs. Clinton say,  "The man's lifestyle denigrated the great religion of Christianity (or Islam) and provoked rage. But still, they shouldn't have murdered him"?
Are we really going to say that the United States of America shouldn't rock anybody's boat?  When did we become such a bunch of wimps? 
The world is full of idiots.  Everyone one of them, according to the constitution, has the right to express their stupidity. 
Mrs. Clinton is proof of that. 

9/11

Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.

Psalm 144:15

Marshall, MI (home tour)

Whatsoever things...the back porch

This my my back porch, right outside my back door.  One of my favorite places in the world is right here, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.  Every Spring I wait day by day until that first morning when it is warm enough to sit outside first thing, before the sun is completely up.  Sometimes I take my laptop out but usually, it's just me, my cup and often; my Bible. 
Do you have a back porch?  Or a favorite spot to greet the day?

The week in review



The Mr. & his mom

 Home! Technically, home on Sunday evening.  Spent much of Monday being very tired and lazy although we were blessed to have dinner with my parents and Donna!  This morning the Mr. is back to work and I'm dragging myself around getting organized, grocery shopping, ironing and attempting to work up some enthusiasm to return to work tomorrow.  Oh, and I really should clean my floors, blah.
Currently, the only enthusiasm I'm exhibiting is to crawl back into bed!

We had a wonderful time away together, with so much to do and so many people to visit it seemed to fly by.  Maybe that's why we're so worn out after our "vacation!"  We drove halfway to Alabama and spent a night in Elizabethtown, Kentucky on Wednesday.  On Thursday we completed the trip and arrived in Alabama in the afternoon.  We spent Thursday evening with the Mr.'s mom On Friday morning Dean took his mom to a doctor's appointment and then we went to the cemetery to visit his dad's grave site.  His headstone had been placed since we were there last year.  He's buried in the churchyard where he grew up along with his parents and generations before.  Then in the evening we went out to dinner with our precious friends, Jerry & Heather.  Heather has been through breast cancer treatment since we were there in 2011 and is now cancer-free!  Needless to say, this was an extra-special time with them.  So special that between the laughing and crying and hugging, we didn't take a single picture!  Drat!  On Saturday we had breakfast with Dean's family and in the afternoon, we attended the Smith family reunion.  After the reunion, back on the road.  Saturday night back in Elizabethtown and home Sunday evening.  Shew! For a homebody like me, that's pretty impressive :)

We are actually quite the exciting couple as we are going to Marshall, MI with my mom and sister this weekend for the home tour, I have the Scarf Sister's Reunion coming up and then a little get-away to Traverse City with the Mr. for our anniversary.  I'm becoming skilled at packing.  The unpacking is not as much fun.

It seems the floors are not going to scrub themselves so I'd best take advantage of this last day off.  I'm not promising there won't be a catnap somewhere in the hours ahead. 

Hope all is well in your world!

Road trip!

1. McDonald's coffee.
2. Watching the sunrise.
3. Hotels!
4. Being off the grid.
5. Talking about everything and nothing.
6. Wearing a fabulous hat and leather gloves.
7. Scenery.
8. Breakfast at Cracker Barrel.
9. Driving down empty highways early in the morning.
10. Listening to the Mr. sing with the radio.