Seeing the Light

Last night at bible study, our Pastor told a story about a Pastor that he had met who was from a small village in Africa.  

She told the story of how when she was small and growing up there was no electricity in the village and when they finally got it, her mother was amazed.  A friend brought over a light bulb, and when they hooked it up and cut it on, she just couldn't get over the difference a light made.  

After four days with light, she told her friend to take it out, she didn't want it anymore.

She said she didn't want it anymore because now she could see all the dust.

Someone said that they had always thought as they grew in their relationship with Christ, that sin would not have such a stronghold over them.   But in fact the closer they became, the more aware they were of what sins they needed to overcome.

To me the point is not necessarily that with the light on we see imperfections, to me the point is that we are in the light.  God is the light, he shows us those imperfections to help us see they way we should be.  

Don't you just love a good parable!

Guess What?

Guess what it's doing today?  

Just guess?

Raining and snowing!   

I know, I can't believe it either.

Ready for Spring

It has been a long, cold, snowy, wet winter.  I am so ready for spring.  

With that being said I wanted to share with you some of the images that popped up when I googled spring.

The first spring bloom on the trees.   Aaaaahhh.

 

Just your average spring. 

 

A cute little spring dress.

  

Spring flowers, in all their glory.

 

 

Spring cleaning, of course.

 

And my favorite Spring photo. . . . .  

 

In an effort to be at least a little bit healthier I decided to give these a try.

 

I have been eating them for breakfast, and I have to say, I really, really like them.  I have a friend who was buying the chocolate kind, but I didn't really think I would like that as good for breakfast.  So I opted for the Bluebran and the Cranbran and I LOVE them.  They are high in fiber so they fill you up more than you might think.

I think I am going to try the chocolate ones to eat for my afternoon snack.  Anything chocolate has to be yummy, right. 

Making List

I use to never make lists, I just didn't I guess I didn't think I really needed a list.  (You know the type, those people that never forget anything.)  I certainly was not that type of person, but I just didn't think I needed a list to tell me what to do.

Guess what?  I really do need a list.  It's not that I can't get things accomplished but I have figured out that when I have a list, I can actually get a lot more done. 

Weird, huh?  

So anyway I decided to make a project list.  I am not going to put a time frame on them becuase one of them is a really big project that I just don't know when it will be completed because it will probably cost more than I really want to think about.

But here goes.

1.   Coffee table re-do.  
      This was a freebie that a friend was getting rid of and I can't wait to make it over.

2.  Head board for Baby Girl.
     Now, I have to say, she doesn't know anything about this and she doesn't really think  
     she  needs a headboard, but that is just one of the many reasons I had kids, so that I
     could show them who the boss is.


3.  Basement Makeover.
     When we built our house (15 years ago)  we didn't finish the basement.  This has constantly 
     been on our list of things to do, and while we have made a few changes, we still have concrete
     floors and cinder block walls.  


4.  Kitchen Makeover.
     I have a dream of tearing out the wall between my kitchen and dining room and opening it up 
     into the  living room.  I know, it's just a dream but maybe one day.


What projects are you working on?

End of A Season

Last night was our BG's last basketball game of the season. While it has definitely been a busy, and also very challenging season, it was hard to watch it end.  Our school didnt' have enough kids to have a JV team so we only had a Varsity team.  


Our team consisted of 3 seniors, two juniors, and 9 freshmen.  That's right I said NINE.  So needless to say it was challenging to say the least.  But I have to say that our seniors were the best.  They welcomed those freshmen with open arms.  My daughter had only good things to say about how kind they were to her.  Their parents should be very proud of them.  From the beginning of the summer when all the girls went to camp, they always went out of their way to include my baby girl.  They gave her support when she was frustrated with the coaches, and they always made her feel like a valuable part of the team.  They were not afraid to let her know that when they were freshmen they had the same fears and challenges that she did.


They are just awesome girls!  They really are!  They are all 3 going to college, one with a basketball scholarship.  GO SARA!!!  I hope they know how much their kindness meant to a little freshman coming into high school from a different school, knowing NO ONE except her brother.


So for Maria, Crystal, and Sara.  Thanks for making my girls freshman year a good one!  I hope you all are blessed beyond measure.  You deserve it!

Lessons learned

The other day, I was listening to my daughter tell a story about something that had happened at school. It wasn't exactly a "good" story, if you know what I mean.

More along the lines of a scene from "Mean girls."

Anyway, while she was telling the story, I was thinking to myself what kind of life lesson she could take away from this story. I hate to admit it but sometimes in the midst of meanness, it's hard to find some kind of lesson in the middle of it. So with that being said I decided to look back into my own teen years and see if I could lump that experience into one that I may have experienced.

As I traveled back in time (in my head, of course), it wasn't really all that difficult to compare then with now.

Did that make sense?

What I am trying to say is girls were mean in the 80's just like they are in 2010. As a matter of fact, they are pretty much the same. People will talk about you, especially the ones who know nothing about you. People will judge you by what you wear, again, usually the same group that doesn't know you but also the ones who do know you, and like you, or at least say they do. Those are probably the one's that hurt the most.

Those are also the ones that are the hardest to understand, even now as an adult, you may still come across people like that. I guess the trick is not to let them get to you.

There was a time in my young life that I really wanted everyone to like me. I don't really know why but I did, and if they didn't I would inevitably try to figure out why. As I got older that got better, in fact I may have went to the opposite end of the spectrum with not caring what anyone thought about me.

But wisdom does come with age I suppose, because I have learned that some people just will not like you, no matter how much we may want them too, and people will still talk about us, even the ones that want us to think they like us.

So what I hope Baby Girl will learn from this little experience is that she is not defined by what these girls see or don't see. She is a beautiful child of God. A God who loves her more than she knows now, but I hope will one day begin to understand just how much he wants for her. And that with his help she will continue to grow.

I also hope that she will see what it feels like to be on the receiving end of this situation just so that she won't be the one who is being the mean girl.

What life lessons did you learn as a teen?

Where do you see Beauty?

With Valentines day fast approaching, I was just thinking about some of the place that I truly love to go to get away from it all. I just love, love, love, the mountains!

But I also love, love, love the coastal area. The water just makes me feel peaceful.

Not only do we see beauty in places, but in people. In ordinary people who just are full of love and compassion. Some people can make you feel better by just saying a kind word, or just one ever so small act of kindness can make a really bad day turn around.

Have you ever had a day like that? You're late for work, the kids are fighting, there's nothing that seems to be going right and then someone does something nice, and turns it all around.

Maybe you found a box of chocolates on your desk.

I am so lucky to have people like that in my life, I hope that I can be that person to someone else who needs it.

Where do you find beauty?

Simon-Peter

Our latest Bible study has been on Luke.  I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying it.  One of my favorite parts recently was in Luke Chapter 4 and also in Chapter 5.  It begins with Jesus going with Simon to his house and they find his mother-in-law sick with a fever.  He asks him to heal her, and all Jesus does is speak to the fever and rebuke it.   Immediately she is healed.

OK, first of all, WOW!  All he did was say it, and she was healed.  I love that, but even more than that I love that when the villagers brought all their sick to Jesus to be healed, he healed every one of them.

Yet it's not until Chapter 5, when Simon has been out all night fishing and Jesus asks him to go back out and fish again, and the boat is filled to the point of sinking that Simon realizes how much authority Jesus has.  It says Simon Peter fell to his knees before Jesus and said "Oh sir, please leave us-I'm too much of a sinner for you to have around." 

Isn't God's grace amazing. 

I wonder about Simon's reaction to his mother-in-laws healing, and then how he was moved by the fact that Jesus filled his net.  Hmmmm.

Another little footnote that we learned was the way it was when Simon realized who Jesus was that he was given the name Peter.  

Isn't that wild?  When we decide to follow Jesus we get a new name?  Hmmm, what would my name be?   

I think my favorite healing was when the man affected with Leprosy saw Jesus and he fell to the ground and begged to be healed and then he said "Sir, if you only will, you can clear me of every trace of my disease."   

Can you imagine, this man had heard the stories of his healing miracles, and he knew that all he had to do was ask and if Jesus willed it, he would be healed.  And he was.

By his faith, he was healed.

Now, that's a good story!

Board and Batten Bathroom

Here are the before's. 

Mr. Wonderful and I took everything off the walls and started getting our boards cut for the walls.

After what felt like a very looonnng two weeks, a lot of snow, a whole lot of prayer, it is finished.

Well, almost, we still have to paint the doors and the floor molding, but for the most part we are finished,

The light was a bright shiny brass, and I happened to have some spray paint that could only make this light better, so I couldn't wait to get it painted.

My top color is Honeysuckle beige by Valspar and the bottom is just a classic white high gloss.

I followed to same measurements as Domestically Speaking and I am

so pleased with my results.

I have seen the top board not a thick as this, but I really like how it looks.

We had planned to take our large mirror and have it cut down,

 but while we were at the home improvement store we

 found these, and while you can't really tell it now, they match the

light. 

 I absolutely love, love, love it.

What do you think?

PS.  I linked up at A Soft Place to Land for DIY day, and It's so Very Cheri!