Day 7 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

The first week of the year will be over after today.  The weather is absolutely beautiful!  It is to be 65, the sun is shining and the sky is beautiful!

I told you yesterday that I was taking on a new 365 project this year of Decluttering.  Here is the blog you can visit if you are interested:  365 Less Things.  I have a designing friend, who has since retired from designing so that she can work in a ministry with her son's family.  I read her blog and she is the one that I got the 365 Less Things blog link from.  Take a look at her blog sometime.  It is Living Real.

So, for my first day of decluttering, I was in the kitchen fixing dinner to put in the oven when I "discovered" my first project.  Here is the layout I did.  I'll post the pictures below that and give you a run-down of the items in the piles.

Credits:  Bits and pieces from "A Fresh Start" kit, sampler and add-on

1st picture:  glass snowman cake plate and serving knife and a biscuit basket underneath
middle picture:  3 metal picnic "tents" to keep the flies off your food, 1 pizza "stone" and various metal serving trays
3rd picture:  punch bowl, cake plate, cookie plate, big Christmas serving tray.....all of these items are glass as you can see

So, if you have any interest in any of these (I'll save them for family til I see you next.......otherwise you will have to pay for the shipping) let me know and I'll save them from Goodwill for you!

One last picture to share with you.  This is how Tim likes to eat his pumpkin pie.....a little bit of pie with a WHOLE LOT of whipped cream!  :D

Today is laundry day, so I'm thinking my clutter will come from that room for today's decluttering!  Until tomorrow.......

Day 6 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Today I begin a new adventure through 2012.......decluttering one item a day from my "stuff."  I'm taking the challenge from Colleen's blog.  I will share the declutter item here.  If you want it, speak up before it goes in the trash or to Good Will!

My heart is heavy for my daughter today.  I have a special quote from Helen S Rice for her as she is troubled about having to leave her babies and go back to work because she wants to be a stay-at-home mom so very badly.  Her husband is out of work and has been for almost a year, so she has to go back two weeks earlier than she had planned.  Please say a prayer for her when you think of her.  Pray the Lord will see fit to give her husband a good job so she can live her dream.....all of this, if the Lord wills.

Trouble is only a challenge
To spur you on to achieve
The best that God has to offer
If you have the faith to believe!

A verse:  "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."  Mark 9:24

The man in this verse had a son that had been demon possessed since he was a child.  Can you imagine how hard that would be to watch your child go through?  He would foam at the mouth and go into convulsions.  He would fall into the fire and into the water as the demon tried to destroy him and claim his soul.  No wonder this father cried out in tears.  He wanted to believe the Lord could heal his son but think of all the doctors this man probably had taken his son to and they couldn't do anything.....the disciples couldn't do anything even though Jesus had given them power to cast out demons.  All of this would cause doubt that your child would ever be healed, no matter what you had heard about how good your next prospective doctor (or Healer, in this case) was.  As long as your child is alive, you never give up hope that something might be done some day to cure whatever ills they have, be it troubles of their own making or some dreaded sickness they had no control over. But the longer you go without answers to your specific prayer, the more doubt there is that creeps in.  The good news to this story, the Lord came "just in time" to heal the child!

The Lord understands our concerns and our human limitations, that's why he didn't rebuke the man for his unbelief!  I told my daughter to "cry out" to the Lord and then wait on Him to work things out in His time.  He is never too late!  Obviously it is not His will for her to be at home just yet.  I'm praying that the Lord gives her peace and contentment in her circumstances of the moment.  Will you pray with me, asking the Lord's will be done?


It is to be 60* here today!  I thought I would share some "warm" pictures with you as I know some of you who will be reading this have much colder temps than that.......even snow!  Until tomorrow.......

My "pinks" are blooming again!  Look how green the plants are!

 I haven't taken any picture of "us" in awhile, so here ya go!  (I'm kind of hoping the only snowflakes we see this year are the ones on my sweater!  However, I would not be upset with ONE good snow!  That means 2-3 inches collected on the ground AT MOST!  :D  )

 Our garden is still growing!  These are onions!  Even the frosty nights have not hurt them!

Day 5 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Guess what today is?  Time to put the Christmas decorations and tree back in storage.  My snowmen will stay out for quite awhile, however!  I love snowmen.  They will never have as much character as the crafted ones, which are the ones I love, anyway!  You can keep the real ones!  I prefer to look at mine and enjoy them in the warmth of my home where they can't melt all over the place!  They have been my inspiration for some of the snowmen I have created for my digital kits, too!  I'll have to share those with you someday.

Since Tim and I will be traveling to FL next week, we are going to eat lunch here today before we head out to our thrift stores.  There are some things you just can't give up!  Thrifting is one of them!  :D

Those of you who are interested in knowing, the man who almost lost his leg earlier in the week is going home from the hospital today!  Praise the LORD!  Thanks to all who prayed!  God is gracious to sinners and He is gracious to His children!  I know I am sure thankful that He shows His grace to me every day!  And He doesn't hold grudges!  He completely forgives and throws our sins into the depths of the sea!

Helen Steiner Rice puts it this way:

We are all God's children, ***
And He loves us - every one,
And completely forgives
All that we have done.

***If you are saved, you are God's child, spiritually speaking.  Those who are not saved do not belong to God's family, so they are not His children.  They belong to their father, the devil.  But, He does love each and everyone of His creatures, just not the sin of His creatures.  Aren't you glad He forgives us when we ask?

Until tomorrow.....


What do you see in the reflection?

Ready to be boxed up and stored for yet another year, which will pass quicker than the last!

Day 4 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Woke up with a headache today (so what else is new?!)  It hung around most of the day.....just a dull ache.....just enough to be aggravating!  But, since I took my tylenol PMs (generic brand) it has finally gone away!  Just in time for me to go to bed!  At least I should be able to go to sleep with no problem!

Today I worked on a digital kit, the elements portion, of a collaboration I'm doing with a fellow designer from Digitals.  She is a super sweet lady!  Lives in Louisiana.  She lost her husband not too long before Christmas last year.  Very sad to lose a spouse anytime, but right before the holidays must really be tough!  But, there is a purpose in it, even though we cannot see one!  Today's quote from Helen Steiner Rice is:

We love the sound of laughter
And the merriment of cheer,
But our hearts would lose their tenderness
If we never shed a tear.

I never thought of a good reason for the need of tears before!  I could still do without them on numerous occasions!  I hate when the emotions are running on high gear and I can cry at the drop of a hat!  Oh, well!  Some day we will not shed anymore tears!  What a glorious day that will be!

Today appreciate the importance of both laughter and tears.

Until tomorrow.....

Day 3 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

I have one of those perpetual calendars that just has the days listed and no year.  The one I have happens to have quotes from Helen Steiner Rice and a scripture for each day, along with an inspirational "action" to be taken.  I love it.  I believe a Secret Sister when we were at Buffalo Baptist Church got it for me.  Anyway, I think after this year I will get a new one of the same type as the quotes and verses are very inspirational to me. 

Today's quote is:

Games can't be won
Unless they are played,
And prayers can't be answered
Unless they are prayed.

The verse is:
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight."  Proverbs 15:8
(The verse is not always KJV but I usually look up the KJV as I think it is beautiful and that's what I grew up and continue to grow up with.)

The inspirational "action" to take:
Today pray with a sincere heart.  Pray earnestly and constantly.


Yesterday we spent all afternoon in the hospital with a family from church.  Long story short, the father was possibly going to lose his leg.  The doctors had many options they wanted to try with amputation being the last resort, of course.  We had started the church prayer chain earlier in the day.  After 2 hours in surgery, a stint was inserted and blood-flow began again to the lower part of the leg, PRAISE the LORD!  Normal color and warmth began to return to the lower part of the leg.  Tears of joy and a prayer of rejoicing was offered to the Lord!  Praises to the Lord were offered as I notified those who had been praying throughout the day.  Today the only difference between the man's 2 legs are the X marks the doctor made on the "bad" leg for whatever purposes.  Praise the LORD!  The LORD's will was done as He delighted in our prayers.  Did our prayers change His will?  No.  It was His good pleasure to save the leg.  It was our good pleasure to depend on Him alone to save the leg.  In that total dependence, we were His delight!  When the doctor talked to the mom to tell her the surgery was a success, she said aloud to the doctor, "Thank God!"  The doctor replied, "Yes, thank God!" 

So, today, if you have a need, PRAY!

Day 2 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

Thirty two years ago today, Tim and I became parents.  Nothing has been the same since.  The object of our new, unconditional love, was Jessica Ann.  She came into our world in a BIG way!  Weighing in at 10 lbs. 7 1/2 oz. it was love at first sight!  I remember dad stopping by to see me and his first grandchild on his way home from work.  He cried at the joy and the miracle of it all.  I didn't know how he felt until Jessica gave us our first grandchild.  I cried, too!  And, I cry now just remembering.  The pictures have the journaling below, except the comparisons between Jessica and Thad.

 I remember Tim being surprised that Jessica had her eyes open "already" like she was a puppy and shouldn't!  She is 2 days old.

 3 days old and a little more alert for her first "professional" photo shoot.

 The night before bringing her home, we had a big snow then ice on top of it!  We could not get up the driveway, so I had to walk this mess when we got home!  Tim carried Jessica and Tim's dad walked me up the hill.

4 days old...what a great sleeper she was/is!  :D

 Look at this handsome, young man holding his baby daughter!

 Here is one proud grandpa!  She was 5 weeks old and dad stopped by after he got off of work at the airport.

  This picture looks like Thad to me.....what do you think?  Thad is below.  Jessica was 6 weeks old.

Here's another one of Jessica that reminds me of Thad somewhat.  Taken March 30, 1980

We didn't get many pictures of mom.  And when you got them, she usually was not looking directly at the camera!  This was taken March 23, 1980.

And, 32 years later, Jessica is busy with raising her boys and husband (I meant to say it that way, LOL!  Love ya, Terry!  :P )   Mom and dad would be proud as dad and I are and I/we love you very much, precious baby girl!  Wish they could've gotten to know all of their great grandchildren!  I know they loved all of their grandchildren very much!  This picture below was taken 12/28/2011.

Until tomorrow.....

Is it REALLY 2012???

The older I get, the FASTER the time flies by!  By nature I don't like change.  I like being stuck in my ruts for the most part.  I think it is just a comfort-zone thing!  The weird thing is that I LOVE new beginnings to some things, like beginning a new school year.  But, if I had to guess, it was only because I always loved getting that brand new box of crayons, new pencils and fresh notebooks of paper and new clothes!  But, I do love the beginning of a new year.  The new year gives me a good reason to "forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before," as Paul tells us in Philippians 3:13.

There are lots of things to forget from day to day, let alone from the previous year.  Sometimes it is just best to "forget it and move on" rather than dwell on the past and try to figure out the "woulda," "shoulda," "coulda" and "if only's."  But there are things that you need to spend some time on to figure out why the failure happened.  Like why you failed to reach the goals you set for yourself last year.  Did you set unobtainable goals?  Did unexpected circumstances get in the way?  Have those circumstances changed and maybe you can re-establish goals for this year? 

I don't set many goals for the year.  That might be part of my problem, that and the fact that I'm not a goal-oriented person.  Sometimes I don't feel like I have accomplished anything.  Yet, when I look back over the year, I have accomplished tons of stuff!  Most of the stuff just wasn't written down in black and white!  This year I am going to write some things down in black and white and see what happens.  Who knows, I just might become a goal-oriented person!  Whatever your "orientation" is about goals, I wish you a blessed and best New Year!  And by all means, don't leave the LORD out of your "plans" for James 4:14-15 says, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

A New Day (insert Year instead of Day)
by Helen Steiner Rice

The dawn of a new day
means the dawn of a new life ...
Whatever our yesterdays have been,
tomorrow may be different.
Tomorrow may hold your fate ...
Tomorrow may mean your victory.
The splendor of the future
lies in the eternal tomorrow,
the day for which
life is worth living.

(Copyright Today's Scrap, 2009-2012, MCN:  306D3-D1B8C-E25C5, "A Fresh Start" digital scrapbook kit)