Welcome to my eclectic journey of my life and delights. This year my theme is surrendering my writing pen to the true author, Jesus Christ, while looking forward to the future, reflecting on the past and dancing through my journey.




Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Good Bye 2013! Hello 2014

You shall not go out with haste....for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isaiah 52:12




Security from Yesterday. At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays.  Our present enjoyment of God's grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday's sins and blunders.  But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.
Oswald Chambers



Security for Tomorrow. This is a gracious revelation - that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our "rear guard."
Oswald Chambers


Security for Today.  As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be with the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtfulness.  But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future.
Oswald Chambers

I leave 2013 with the words from Utmost for His Highest.  They seemed to wrap up my year in the words I couldn't find.  My blogging year has been up and down.  Who knows what 2014 will hold.  I want to say...Thanks! your words, your prayers, your cheers and rejoicing with me, they have been priceless.  Blessings to you and yours in 2014!!!

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Shoes, More Importantly, Walking in Them




Last January, I posted that my accessory for the year was shoes.  I was in need of shoes.  Shoes had been an area of my wardrobe I had sorely neglected.  Did you know that the shoes you wear to an interview can make or break the deal for your hiring?  I had no clue that shoes could say that much to other people and, to be honest, I didn't care.

This past year, shoes were added to my closet.  My dear friend (aka. Ethel!) bought me my first pair of new shoes for the year.  I posted them on the header of my blog, and (below) those shoes are a train track leading to who-knows-where... prophetically, that train track became my year.

In March, I bought some shoes for our daughter's wedding at a huge savings.  In the summer, I bought tennis shoes for my cleaning business.  In August, I bought wedding shoes for our son's wedding in Italy.  I also bought shoes to walk the cobblestone streets of Florence and Rome.

My first pair of shoes became my designer shoes. I would step into them before a meeting with a client.  Of course, my friend "the buyer" (aka.Ethel!) is also a designer, so I felt she was going with me when I stepped back into this business.



As I thought about my shoes from this past year and where they have taken me, I had to stop.  It wasn't the shoes that God wanted me to focus on, it was the lesson. I now have "walked in other peoples' shoes," understanding things I could have never understood before this year.

I have now walked in shoes of poverty.  I now know what it is like to find a charity in order to keep the electricity on for your family.  I now know what it is like to have food from a food pantry or government-provided assistance for food.  I now know what it is like to be at the receiving end from the wonderful Body of Christ...people who put their hands and feet to their faith. I now know what it is like to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" and literally know that verse. I now know what it is like to be in such need that you couldn't imagine life ever getting better.  I now know what it feels like to want to walk away from your marriage, because it is all too much to handle.  I now know how to empathize, not just sympathize... because I have walked in other peoples' shoes.

More than the look of my shoes....interview or not, I have stood in my shoes before my Savior.  I have felt what others have felt. I know what it is like to go through a long period of financial hardship.  I know what it is like to see some light at the end of the tunnel, yet still wonder if the next thing coming will crush you.

I thought my shoes were to adorn my feet, but that isn't the lesson God had for me at the end of the year. My real accessory was for my heart.  God wanted my feet to learn how to walk in areas I had never been, so that I can minister to others in ways I never could have before.  He wanted me to meet Him in a new way... Jehovah Jireh.

I will never look at shoes in the same way.  I pray my interviewer (God) feels I am ready for the job.

Ephesians 6:15 ESV / 

And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Did I Pick Those Words?

I glanced back at my post for January of 2013. (  http://janettessage.blogspot.com/2013/01/reflections-in-rear-view-mirror.html )  I was stunned.  Did I really pick those words for the new year and that accessory?  I sure did! God must have been smiling when He saw me type out the words - Transition and Joy, with shoes for my accessory.  My mind went off with how those words were literally walked out in 2013.  I will be back to ponder the manifestations of those words, while looking forward to the word God has already given me for 2014.  After last year, I know I will not be able to comprehend how my new word will play out in 2014.  So this week I put away all my business supplies, stop and grab my cooking supplies, to go enjoy making cookies with Benjamin. This Christmas season, with all my jobs, has been very short and I am determined to not short change my last born child.

Merry Christmas to you all from our family and our unreal year 2013!!!
I bow in awe at the manger, but lift all my hope in the cross and His resurrection.



Saturday, December 14, 2013

"Tis the Season for Good Movies




I am not a big movie goer, but I do love a good movie.  This time of year I always watch for something that is worth the price of the ticket.  We started a tradition when the children were little.  After our huge Christmas morning and Christmas lunch, we would all pile in the car and go see a movie.  This one movie was the only movie we usually all saw together each year.  We have seen all three Toy Story Movies, as our Christmas movie and again this year I looked for one that ages 59 to 7 would enjoy.  We will be seeing Walt Disney's  Saving Mr Banks.

Yet there is always a seasonal movie that I pick out for myself.  If I don't see it during the holidays, I see it for my birthday the first part of January. This year we had a date and saw a wonderful movie during Thanksgiving break.  A movie that keeps me thinking for weeks is worth the $8.00 ticket price.  This by far was worth the price and I will buy a copy.  I will not spoil the movie or book for you. I will just say, it is a must see.

The Book Thief


Have you seen a movie lately that has impacted and inspired you?  I will be reading the book this movie is based on.  I was so moved, once again, by the power of the written word. Truly inspiring.


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The WAX Hit the Wall



Combine cold weather, no school, lots of energy, cabin fever, all building up in a seven-year-old Texas boy, and you just might get a combination that becomes explosive.  Such was the combination on our first round of winter weather.

Bouncing through the game room with excessive energy, my son heard my voice repeatedly say, "calm down, don't throw that, find something to do."  His energized ears became deaf to my commands.  Nothing he was doing was very harmful...just tossing a bean bag type pillow up and down in the air.  I was repeating what all mothers say, "don't throw things in the house, you might break something."

Strolling downstairs to fix dinner I heard the voice. "Mom I am soooooooooo sorry.  I didn't mean to do it!"

What was "IT"?

The small, "Cars" bean bag pillow went sailing through the air.  It should have harmlessly made it across the stairs opening to land softly on the ground, had it not first clipped the edge of my Scentsy, melted wax-filled dish.  Who knew such little wax could hit so many surfaces?

I came up the stairs. To my horror, there were four walls dotted with red wax, carpet dotted with wax, the trim of a picture covered with wax, the frame around a mirror turned red and both stair handrails coated with red wax!

It was one of those times where you breathe in very slowly, as not to implode or explode.

My "can-make-lemonade-out-of-lemons" son said, "I think I like the mirror better that way!  I will help clean it up."

Then started the lesson for both of us.  He began to say over and over and over again, "Mom, it was just an accident."  I began saying over and over again, "this was disobedience."



As we started attacking the cleanup, I continued to teach my son and myself.  There are reasons for obedience that we can't see.  An accident isn't an accident when you were told NOT to do something.  He asked when things would be "back to normal"?  To be truthful, the reality is that things don't go back to "normal" after our sin... there are always consequences for our sins.  We might remove the evidence of the sin and be forgiven for it, but the scars of the sin remain.

As my older son and I literally ironed the wax from the wall, I went back in time.   The Lord reminded me that this lesson is one that my youngest son and I will continue to have to learn.  It began in the Garden of Eden.

Gen. 3


Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
12 The man said, The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

How many times do I excuse my own sin?  How often do I  justify my own sin?  How many times do I call something by another name, instead of admitting it is sin?

We cleaned most of the wax off the walls... and carpet... and mirror... and picture frame... and hand railings. There is still some in a corner, the hard to reach place that shows evidence of disobedience. I think I will leave it for awhile...it is right beside my mirror that says "Courage.  Jesus died for my sins".  His blood did it all.  It takes courage to repent and allow His blood to cleanse me of my sins.  I did nothing.  It is His gift.

Pretty good lesson for this time of the year.  This past year has shown me my heart.  Not all of it has been good....and I too, have made excuses for my sin.

(cleaning hint - you iron the wax off the wall with an iron and paper bag over the wax...you freeze the wax on the carpet and then iron it off the carpet as well - the paper bag lifts the wax right off!... first time for this Mom... and hopefully the ONLY time!)


Sunday, December 1, 2013

What Can Happen in a Year?




I couldn't have ever imagined our year would have been so fully packed.  How could I have ever imagined what all would be in store for 2013?  Thank you, God, for not allowing me to see the road ahead.

Look at my header.  Somehow I picked pictures that would walk me through a year in which I had no idea of the fullness that awaited me.

November 2012 - Announcements of two of our children's engagements
                             Announcement of the process of adoption to begin for my first Grandbaby

November 2013 - Both adult children were married - March 3, 2013
                                                                                  September 1, 2013
                             Joshua was brought into the family - March 2013
                             Pregnancies were announced for daughter-in-law and daughter - March 2013
                             Both grandsons were born 2 days apart - November 16th and 18th, 2013!


We added five family members in one year.  We supernaturally survived seven months of unemployment.  We attended the weddings of both of our children, one in Italy.  I saw my grandsons at birth or minutes later.  I had my heart won over by a little guy who will always be my first grandchild...Joshua.


My blog header shows shoes and a road where you can't see the ending.  I am walking in many new shoes and still not clear where I am headed.  If 2013 has taught me anything, it has taught me that sometimes life just holds more than we could ever imagine.  My God is a faithful God who knows when holding back information is one the greatest love gifts He can give His daughter.  I end the Thanksgiving season with an overflowing heart.  I enter the Christmas season with a humble heart, gratefully kneeling before the King of Kings.
                     

Monday, November 18, 2013

You Know What They Say About a Full MOON?

We were headed home from making the apartment ready for our daughter and new grandson.  I looked up into the sky and saw the most beautiful autumn moon.  Then I started to giggle to myself and I cried out loud, "Okay Sarah it is time!"  I quickly stopped the car to text to my daughter-in-law, 'Go outside and look up into the sky."

Every excited bone was ignited as I choose to go to bed at the early time of 9:00.  I was woken by  the sound of my phone ringing.  I yelled for Bill to grab the phone as I shot out of bed, jumping in excitement...I knew.  This Grand Mommy has done two happy dances over this pregnancy.  The announcement while I was at church and now the announcement that labor had started.   We grabbed the keys to meet them and take Joshua.

My midwives always said there were more babies under full moons.  Well this Grand Mommy has had two grandsons in two days.


My son's first hold with new son!

 Maverick (haven't decided) Wright
(independent, non-conformist)
update - November 19th
Liam Maverick Wright
(strong-willed warrior, a form of William) (independent, non-conformist)
7 pounds 8 ozs.
21 inches

First born son and his wife - Kenny and Sarah Jane

After years of infertility and surgeries my daughter-in-law's prayers were answered.  I think almost all her heart's desires were answered.  She had a water birth.  He is extremely healthy.  They are both doing fine.
Joshua now has a baby brother.

Back to my Grand Mommy Break!!!!!!
Can you believe this?  God is just soooooooooooo good and has a sense of humor.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Grand Mommy Break

David Malachi Wilson
(Beloved, My Messenger)
Born November 16, 2013

5 pounds and 10 ozs

18 inches long

Grand mommy was there for the birth!
Daughter and Son-in-law did an awesome job.
God showed His faithfulness mightily.

Baby is doing wonderful and expected to come home on Monday.

Son and daughter-in-law are due any day
with another grandson.

Happy Thanksgiving, while our family recounts all the wonders of this last year, and rejoices over  new life....I will be on Grand Mommy BREAK.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Nip It In the Bud!



If you know this saying..."Nip It in the Bud", then you are showing your age.  Must of us can hear the voice of Barney Fife echo through the annals of television history.
Others say, "Just Do It!"... "Yank it!"...  "Put One Foot in Front of the Other".....all reminding us to "Take the Bull by the Horns!" and "GIT 'ER DONE!"



This worn out chair was the pride of all who have sat in it and may I say...there was a lot of sitting.  All seven of us house-bound people competed for the right to sit in the BIG CHAIR.  I taught more than one school lesson while in the comfort of it's cushions and many hours of devotionals and children's stories were enjoyed in this seat-and-a-half chair.  But all things deserve to be given new life after they have served you well.

It was time... I had P-R-O-C-R-A-S-T-I-N-A-T-E-D far too long.  What started out with "all guns a'blazin'" came to a rapid intimidation-factor stop.  The longer I looked at the unfinished project, the BIGGER it GOT!  Time passed... and passed... and passed... and passed....................you get the picture.


I couldn't do it...I had "bitten off more than I could chew."  

So I did what any wise woman would do............I hid it!  Yes, I pushed it into the teen room.  Wrong place to hide the unfinished project.  Now every teen boy on our side of the planet used it to prop his feet...ate his chips...do what teen boys do...used and abused my unfinished project.  It was time to give in... "Nip It in the Bud."

I pulled that large mammoth out of the teen room and put it in full view... Right in the middle of the game room, half blocking the television.



I finished it.!
It has been brought back to life.  Benjamin crawled up in it to read.  It's destiny has been restored.
What a lesson to me..............things are rarely as hard as our minds have us believe.
"Just Do It!"

Monday, November 11, 2013

The Young Serve



The note came  from school.  Anyone that has a family member that has served our country, we want to honor them on Veteran's Day.  We were asked to send a letter, etc. telling about our family Veteran.

I dismissed the request.  I knew of our older family members that had served.  I rehearsed the stories of all of my husband's uncles that served in WWII.  My thoughts went on how to tell Benjamin about their service.  I thought about personally doing this at home.  To be honest...my "to-do" list was too long and I couldn't place one more thing on my list.

But as God would have it, out of the mouths of babes came a very startling request.  As we read about the service of honor that the school would hold on Veteran's Day and how Benjamin could wear his Boy Scout uniform, he looked up at me in horror.  "Mom you did turn my stuff in for Veteran's Day, didn't you?"  Who was he talking about, who did he remember served?  "Mom, you did turn in a letter on Michael?"

My heart sunk. I hadn't thought about all the young men of this time that had served.  My mind had gone back to WWII, not present day war.  Here was my youngest reminding me that his brother-in-law had served and I had forgotten him.


Today I want to honor all Veterans, but I also want to remember how many are still serving and how young so many of these men were when they enlisted.  My own son-in-law enlisted at a very young age and has served our country in tours of duty.  So have his grandfather, brothers and many other family members, who have served before and after him.


Thank you all and your families for keeping us safe.  Thanks to God for the reminder that came from the mouth of my seven-year-old....may we not forgot those who have and are serving our county all over the world.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Not Yet a Habit

I can say that fall has brought many changes in our household.  As I watch the leaves change, the autumn temperatures cool, and the days shorten, I know that I too am in the fall season of life.  My fall season is about adjusting to new habits.  To say that I haven't quite adjusted to the "new habits" would be an understatement.  Now there are parts of our routine that are starting to be familiar but other parts are just a "beating," as my son says.



My horror of all horrors is watching the clock!  On a visit to my mother's house years ago, I went from room to room, which all ticked away with "millions of clocks".  They made my skin crawl, probably because I was just coming out of the full-calendar phase of clock-watching schedules for four super-busy teenagers...and I was tired. I just hated the reminder of time.  As I tried to adjust to "watching the clock" 24/7, I went down and bought a watch.  Oh, I just hated buying that watch... but guess what?  Somehow, I lost that watch.  I still think that keeping track of every minute of my day is exhausting.

As I continue to try to make this new journey of life a "habit," I noticed that I am in phase two. Yes, there are phases to new adjustments and newly-formed habits.


  • "The Honeymoon Stage" - Now this one just blew me away, because a honeymoon is something you want to be on...I didn't pick this honeymoon, so that phase passed very fast.

  • "The Fight Through" - NOW THIS IS WHERE I AM 
"Inspiration fades and reality sets in. A person finds himself struggling with the positive habit completion and old habits seem to be right around the corner. The key to moving to the third phase of habit formation is to win 2 or 3 'fight thru’s.'"
-Forbes

Here is where I find myself.  I am trying to win 2 or 3 of the "fight thru's".  I am starting to adjust to my business with God, who is so graciously giving me some days off.  I had to really "fight thru" this morning when the weather started out cold...I am sooooooooooooooooo not a cold-weather person. I will be "fighting thru" to get out and going this winter.  

I have won on getting up, but lost on getting up early enough each morning to have quiet time by myself. I see that starting the day running with the "to do list" and rushing with the CLOCK makes for a very discouraged Janette.


I have fought through Benjamin being at school.  God has so graciously answered EVERY one of my prayers for this adjustment.  He loves it!  He is doing great!  My job allows me to be there at the end of his day, go on school field trips and even be the home room mom.  I still get to be involved with his schooling.

Adjusting to my body being tired after big cleans is still a "fight thru" battle that isn't won, nor having a good meal on the table by 6 or making bedtime each evening. I am hoping by December I will have won a couple of these battles.

All in all...I am on my way... winning more each day... watching God's faithfulness during some very big adjustments... delighting in the Lord bringing more "Rachel" jobs during the midst of my "Leah" jobs...  rejoicing over an assistant for some of my jobs...she is a joy, an encouragement and great teammate.

  • Second Nature - Not there yet!!

In the midst of all the changes, I am so enjoying my grandson.  He was brought into our life almost a year ago.  They are waiting for the final papers before the law makes him their child legally, even though in our hearts he has been theirs for almost a year.  When they finalize the papers, I will re-post the beginning of this wonderful story.
Here is our pregnant daughter [due Dec. 8th] with my mother-in-law, who is 98 years old.  Along with my oldest son's pregnant wife [due late November], these two new grandsons will add two more great-grands for my mother-in-law's other four great-grands.  These two grandsons will also add to my grandmother's tally of great-great-grandchildren.

Both pregnant women are ready "to be done with this"... their words, not mine!  I so remember thinking it would never come to an end, nor would my body ever stretch that far.  Well, six times it came to an end and six times my belly did expand that big!  The same will be true for both of them as we enter the countdown this month.

As I continue to make things "second nature," I know that just about the time I think I have it down, there will be another curve ball.  That is life......................which means...............I am still alive, but not making my blog post very regular, nor reading blogs.  I am missing it...so I hope to be back to this "habit" very soon.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Movie Reveal

As I blogged in my first post announcing the wedding events of our son, I expressed how the whole event was movie like.  Here are just a few pictures of the wedding...set in a movie setting.  Even Benjamin was posed as a supporting actor looking out over the veranda where the ceremony took place.

What can I say....................this mom just cried when it was sent to her.  My daughter-in-law's parents just glow and yes, our son and hubby are dancing down the aisle.  I hope you enjoy a little of our movie.


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Just a Little Buble

Our adult children and their spouses, surprised us for our 33rd Anniversary, last June, with a evening of romance.  Two tickets to Michael Buble, to encourage two battle scared parents, to enjoy an evening of romance.



The concert was outstanding.  The audience a mixture of multiple generations.  Re-makes of songs older than  the young singer, were enjoyed by all generations.  The light shows astonishing and when the hearts fell from the ceiling, you just knew the whole point was to "fall in Love".  He even stops at one point in the concert to remind you to think on "why you fell in love" in the first place.  I think that is a very good word for most couples.  Life can wring you out at times.

Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread: remade all the time, made new.
                                                   Ursula K. LeUgin

Married life is a mosaic of little things,
Little touches,
Little words,
Little smiles of encouragement,
Little expressions of endearment


He moved to the second stage which was within feet of our wonderful seats.  Here he went back to the 70's era for this tunes.  (Sorry on pictures...phone pics.)

What's terrible is to pretend that second-rate is first-rate.  To pretend that you don't need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well your's capable of better.
Doris Lossing

There are just seasons of marriage that you dig deep.  You pull yourself from the pit that situations have put you in and you remind yourself that you want first-rate, not second-rate.  You allow an evening of music, provided for by your adult children, to rekindle what the enemy so strongly wants to extinguish.



You take the lead of the singer, as he sings through some of your favorite romantic songs, and you remember why you fell in Love.
One advantage of marriage is that, when you fall out of love with him or he falls out of love with you, it keeps you together until you fall in again.  ~Judith Viorst

Thanks kids...it was a wonderful evening and one of the best Anniversary gifts ever....love you,

 Dad and Mom

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Cleaning on Memory Lane and Destiny




Once again, a post about cleaning.  Now how can anyone have so much to say about such a dirty job?  Well as my first daughter-in-law has said, and she is a woman of few words, "you seem to have a story for everything."  I think age has a lot to do with that or the fact that all of life is truly a story if you write it on your heart.


Number One son not only owns rent homes, which took me down nostalgia lane in the recent cleaning of a retro-70's home, but he is also a custom home builder.  Excellence is his trademark. His newest spec-home is conveniently located two miles from my house, giving me plenty of chances to watch the construction.  I either walk the four mile round trip to see the latest update or drive my car to catch the newest advancements in this house.  From foundation to final paint, I have enjoyed the building of this recent property.  I know my son is in his element because when you ask him how he can do it, he replies, "any monkey can do it!"... which translates, "it is easy for me, because I have this talent."


(Sometimes he asks for my opinion and lets me do some of the shopping, which is always fun.)
As the finishing touches started going into place, he called his Mom again...to my delight...to clean it up for show.  This time, it took me on a stroll down memory lane in the decade of the 80's!  Stroll with me.........


While I was pregnant with "first born", I walked every night...per instructions from my doctor.  Our whole neighborhood was booming with new houses under construction, one of which was a close friend's.  I loved walking through the houses, watching all that was being done, inspecting each new development and designing the interior in my head.  My steps slowed down as my pregnancy progressed.  The very night I went into labor with our first born, I had just walked the neighborhood surveying houses...the smell of wood, freshly painted walls, sheet rock, carpeting and stone masonry remained when I fell asleep.  Within just a few hours, I was delivering our first born son... God transformed a mother's delight into her son's destiny.
( My newest delight...Stephen helping at the stairs and Benjamin playing in the mud...brothers and Mom!)

As I started to clean his newest home, my mind wandered back 30 years ago to my new baby boy.  Today, I stood sweeping the beautiful wooden floors in his latest construction project.  His wife is expecting their son... she is at the same time in her pregnancy I was thirty years ago.  Their son is due just days after my son's 30th birthday.

How many mothers get to share in their son's accomplishments in a field that they themselves enjoyed while that same son was in their womb?


Truly, building beautiful homes is his destiny.   This past weekend, I stood there thinking...how awesome this is, to enjoy my son's accomplishments with him, just like I enjoyed others' works when he was being carried in my womb.   To say the least...this cleaning was a complete fulfillment of the "great circle of life". 
Will one of his sons carry on?  We shall see... let's just say, Joshua already knows his screwdrivers. 

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Boy Joy!!!!!!!!!!!

God Knew I Would Need Boy Joy!
First Boy Joy, for this season of life, came in 2006 with Benjamin.
Second Boy Joy, for this season of life, came in March with Grand Son, who calls me Grand Mommy
Third and Fourth Boy Joys, will come in November and December of 2013.

Last November we were introduced to this precious gift from God!!
When he calls my name I just melt!


Daughter-in-law on the left is due the 25th of November...the same month as her's and son's birthday....so three in November.
Daughter - on the right - Due the 8th of December
Benjamin learning how to be a brother-in-law and Uncle.



This little one just turns my world upside down...Total Joy!!!

Life rolls up and down.  We can never predict what tomorrow holds, yet in His mercy He let's His light shine.  We just need to be able to stop and see!  Sometimes that light is sooooooooooooooooooooo Bright you need sunglasses to handle it.  I would say my little guys have given me reasons to wear sunglasses.

Watch for the Sun this week....grab your glasses...His glory is pure JOY!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

It Starts with A Pillow



She has six sons, which means, six future daughter-in-laws.  She invest her time and talents into a piece of art, which she cross stitches with her prayerful hands.  For years she has raised her boys by home schooling and teaching them the Word of God.  The time comes when she hands over her sons to the new woman in their life.  Each daughter-in-law unique.  Each personality adds a new dimension to her growing family.  Each daughter-in-law becomes the daughter she never had.  This is the point I get to share in her story.

She trust me to take her piece of art and surround it in a pillow.  Each time...I have now done three...I pray over the piece and how it is to look.  I pray for the daughter-in-law that will receive this precious gift from her mother-in-law.  Each time I want to get it right. 

This is the gift she presents to her future daughter-in-law at the Rehearsal Dinner.  The pillows caused her to ask, when she found out the rehearsal dinner would be in my city, instead of hers, if I would do the rehearsal dinner.  What a privilege to use my Rachel business.

Yes, my Leah is producing much needed income, but like the Leah of the Bible with all her producing there was hard work.  My Rachael business just brings much needed energy. So when asked to use my Rachael business...decorating- well you can just guess I jump to the occasion   In the summer I started to collect items to bring about the dinner that would my friend would give her son.
Carnations would be the popcorn!


The only guides I received was they like "popcorn" movies...still not sure what that meant...comics, superheros and were gamers. The creative juices and fun began. The parents came down to my state for a shopping and brain storming day.   Here is the results.  

 Red chargers to dress up the tables.  We would serve the dinner on nice clear plastic that could be tossed in the trash.  She had ironed and folded the black napkins I had suggested, that would stand on each plate, giving a comfortable, practical and yet elegant place setting.

Excuse the pictures...what can I say?  I was busy getting it ready and only had my phone, which died on me!
See how the carnations became popcorn?
The head table held the Bride and Groom, surrounded by their loving and supportive parents.
Prayers and words of blessings were given during the dinner.




The hit of the evening...the POPCORN BAR!!

Invitations were custom printed movie tickets to the Rehearsal Dinner....custom stickers were bought for the popcorn holders...meal was catered by a local restaurant.   Fun was had by all.   My Rachel business was blessed by this precious family.  It was a blast for me!
          End results....SUCCESS AND JOY!!!


Thursday, October 3, 2013

Lazy i Farms - My Kind of Woman

As I entered the room I felt her energy bounce across the floor, as I strolled over to meet her.  

I was there to decorate for her grandson's wedding rehearsal dinner.  Her daughter and I have know each other since our early mothering days...we both had only four at that time and now we both have six children.  Although I haven't had the delight to know her mother also, I felt our hearts just joined immediately.  She wasn't sure how I could pull off the theme of the night without looking "cheesy" as she told her daughter, but in the end, I think I won her over.  She sure won me over.





She is retired and yet in her retirement, I wonder if God hasn't saved the best for this season of her life.  She is a doting grandmother and supportive mother to her daughters.  Instead of just curling up and enjoying the relaxing years of deserved retirement, she ventured out with her daughter to start a business.

She is an entrepreneur  More importantly she is a precious woman of God.  You put those two together and I just gravitate toward a woman of that stature.

She is the owner of Lazy i Farms, which produces soaps and lotions from goats milk.  She just bubbles over in excitement talking about her business.  Her desire to help other is expressed through her help to cancer patients.  She has personally developed her products...they are totally American made.  Her daughter worked beside her for years, as they both raised goats and developed the business. Her grandson now attends market days with her.

Since I won her over with my not so "cheesy" decorating and coordinating of her grandson's rehearsal dinner ( I will post later what I did) she blessed me with a bag full of goodies from her business.

You know most things are really caught more than taught. I caught a hand full just visiting and being with this woman. Her daughter and son-in-law blessed my socks off also...I caught from them also. The Body of Christ blessing each other is really a joy to experience.

  So many times words are needless...actions speak so much louder.

Please check our her site....she is a jewel and her products are wonderful.  Maybe even do some shopping, as you visit, but please let her know I sent you her way.

http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/lazyifarms/StoreFront

Monday, September 30, 2013

Blast from the Past

Do you remember these????

Well, as much as I would love to stay in the "pinch me-is-it-real" movie setting, I had to return to reality and work!  Now work can be fun, but much of what I am doing right now is exactly that... WORK!

God in His mercy knows how to extend grace in the midst of my labor.  My calendar was full upon arriving back home.  My hours would extend my physical and emotional body, but then there would be light at the end of the road, also.


By the second week of daily and night time work, I found myself starting to need a good vitamin B-12 shot, which I didn't get in the natural, but I got it when I walked into this house.


My oldest son is not only a custom home builder, he is also acquiring rental property. His voice just bounced on the phone awhile back, as he gleamed in excitement over his "killer deal" of a rental property.  So as the time came for the repairs and some updating to be finished, he called for me to "Simply Clean" his rental.  My body was dragging as I arrived at the house, which needed some TLC for the new occupants.  This clean had come at the end of an already long week.
Yes I can use Power Tools when cleaning!!


I walked in thinking my son had lost it when he expected me to make this place shine in one day, but then God just reached down with a giggle.


It was the most retro home I have been in in years.  Oh my!... the memories of my teen days just came flooding back as I walked from room to room.  The lights, the knobs, the colors....I felt I had been blasted back into the 70's.  I needed the "Oldies but Goodies" music station blaring through the intercom system.  Can't you just hear the Bee Gees?


Believe it or not, just laughing at all signs of the past while doing a deep cleaning, made my job much easier.


The laughter was the topping of the day when my son showed me a picture he had taken before they started to clean up.  It was a Burt Reynolds poster in the closet! This isn't it..the one he had was Burt baring his hairy chest, something that isn't desired with this generation of females...hair!   Girls...yes, girls had lived in this house.  The evidence was everywhere.  They had left behind their mark...and I am sure a few tears, as they had cleared out what had been their Dad's house.

I kept thinking how life moves on.  This house occupied by a family, the kids grew up and left, the Dad then left this earth, now it is owned by my son.......................life goes on,  as does my own.

After 11 hours of cleaning, the house was ready for the new family.  What tales will the walls tell as this young family comes to occupy it?  What will be left behind when they leave?  Will they enjoy the "blast from the past"?  To them it will be new, because "what was old is now new again."
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