Happy New Year

Looking For Emmanuel

Do you see Him?  Emmanuel...Born in a Stable, the Star shining brightly.
Do you see Him?  As a boy, teaching in the Temple...wise beyond His years.
Do you see Him?  Traveling dusty roads...raising Lazarus from the dead.
Do you see Him?  Come to set us free.
Do you see Him?  As one last time, He traveled those dusty roads.
Do you see Him?  Carrying a Cross, stripes on His back.
Do you see Him?  It is finished... He is risen.
Oh, I have found Emmanuel...I look for Him no more!

~Blessings

I belong to a wonderful group of Christian, women bloggers...we have started a prompt a month...our title for this month, of course, is "Looking For Emmanuel."   Do you know Him?  His name is Jesus.

We Never Know

I know much has been said about the tragedy of Robin Williams death.  It was shocking.  But, to me maybe not so much...You see, we lost a nephew, to suicide.  It made us all...ask, WHY!?  We will never know.  David, left us way too soon and our grief lingers still.  Always will.  We are praying for those who know this pain, so shocking that it leaves you numb in disbelief.  All we can do is cling to a loving God, who willingly gave His own Son...He understands.

I just read this...sad but true.

Whenever Richard Cory went down town.
We people on the pavement looked at him: 
He was a gentleman from sole to crown, 
Clean favored, and imperially slim. 

And he was always quietly arrayed, 
And he was always human when he talked; 
But still he fluttered pulses when he said, 
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked. 

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king - 
And admirably schooled in every grace: 
In fine, we thought that he was everything 
To make us wish that we were in his place. 

So on we worked, and waited for the light, 
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; 
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, 
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Edwin Arlington Robinson

~Blessings

You Matter

 Over 7 billion people on the planet. 119,439 births and 83,458 deaths so far today. Wow...

And there's only One who has every hair on every head numbered. Only One who welcomes each person to earth and watches over their last breath. Only One.

You see, we can never be big. Only God is big.

And we can never be small. Because God says we matter.

So when we feel the pressure to be "big" in some way, we can remind ourselves that God alone gets to claim that word. And when we face the temptation to feel small, we can remind ourselves that every hair on our heads are numbered by a wild and glorious God.

You can let go of "big" as well as "small" and instead simply be.
Be loved.
Be known.
Be certain that your worth is beyond measure.

~Blessings

The Back Porch And Camping Out

The weather here, is so perfect, that I am going to try to write this on my Kindle.  I do not want to spend time indoors, when I can sip iced coffee on the back porch.  It is cool(er) here, because my Tomer, had the gumption and common sense enough to put a roof on it... and plant a tree, in just the right spot to provide lots of shade.  He, is actually napping beside me as I write this.  :)
Our two oldest Grandboys are here, so Tomer's nap, will be short lived.  They have pitched our tent and along with a friend, are planning on spending the night out here.  If Scooter AKA Xavier, actually does...I will be flabbergasted!  I'm pretty sure that the first noise, rustle of a leaf, Dog barking or the sight of any bug life...Will have that boy screeching and heading to the houses.  LOL.
Papa, has wood ready for the fire pit and I have hot dogs and marshmallows for roasting over the fire...nothing tastes better on a summer's night.  Hopefully, they get along because that isn't always the case! Surprise!!!  With a 6 year age difference there can be some arguing and yes, even smacking going on..A 14 year old is quite different than an 8 year old... who is prone to whining and wanting his own way.  But such is life ...they are growing up so quickly that we will enjoy them while they are little.  One day they will be grown men, with families of their own.   I pray, they are men of character, who remember a Papa and Grammy who loved them and instilled in them,  a sense of commitment to both God and family.
Okay, now I am feeling melancholy...time to end this here, I want to be in my happy place...sigh.
~Blessings

Morning Blessings

I have the morning all to myself.   Didn't have to hop out of bed early and head out to get the grandbabies off to school.  Plus, my Tomer has meetings after his morning bus run, which means he won't be coming home.  Ahhh...What to do?  Not much, since I cleaned this place yesterday.  I am, enjoying my coffee and catching up on a few shows...Oh, and of course reading my Bible and some prayer time.  God is so amazingly good!  No, life isnt perfect...we all have trials and sadness but with His leading...Well, I will...Yes, we will...Have victory over them all!   My life is blessed...I love you all.

By His Wounds - Glory Revealed

A Time Of Praise

It has been a glorious few days here and I now proclaim..."I am so ready for Spring!"  Although, things are looking rather bare and ugly at the moment.  There will come a time, when God once again brings life to this place...when the Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths and Cherry Blossoms will brighten the dreary canvas of our yard and we will, as always marvel at God's handiwork.
Spring...a time of new birth.  A time to praise God for His blessings and marvel at His love for us...He gave His only Son, Jesus...so that I would have Eternal Life...A new Birth in Him.

~Blessings

Missing Daddy

Ten years without Daddy...seems so long since I have seen his precious face and heard his sweet voice.  But in my heart, he is here...always. Singing, whistling, telling others just how much God loves them. Working...always busy, loving the outdoors...mowing grass, watering the garden at 4 a.m.  And LOVE, that word is my Daddy.  I will miss him my whole life long...But how blessed, I am to know, that I will spend eternity with my Daddy and Jesus.

HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY

The Hope Of Spring

We are expecting another Winter Storm tomorrow, it could bring us another 8" of snow.  With the hope of Spring in sight...I will not complain.  Today, was a lovely 56', but tomorrow will send us searching for our boots and heavy coats...again.  This is Michigan...it is not called the Mitten just for it's shape, we need to wear them too.  LOL.  Here, most of us take it in stride...life is good...God is great....I am blessed.  Oh, and our sweet Elek is spending the night.

Waiting, Waiting And Waiting Some More

This morning, I decided to head out to the Mart to pick up a gallon of paint, after finally choosing a color from the swatches that I brought home last week.  Tomer has all walls patched and primed ...Yippee!

What I expected to be a quick trip...had me gone for almost two hours!  I first, picked up a couple of items that I needed and made my way to the paint department...not a soul in sight.  Okay...so I strolled the aisles looking for someone.  Hallelujah, I finally find someone and she kindly called for help.  Soon, a nice man from another department comes to my rescue.
I hand him my chosen sample and he grabs the light base off the shelf and as he types in the formula... the machine says that it must be purged first.  Okay,  he cleans it and empties the valves...it is now purged. Onward we go, or so we thought...now the machine is telling him that some of the tints are low.  Sigh...As he starts checking out the tints, he discovers that every single one of the tints are about empty.  Poor guy is apologizing but it is surely not his fault.  He says that this is supposed to be done... every night.  Hmmm...someone hasn't done their job.
To make a long story short...I stood there, well over an hour... for one gallon of paint!  When I was finally handed my paint...He thanked me for my patience and apologized once again.  And in return, I thanked him for being such a conscientious worker and doing a great job.
We, he and I... could have murmured and complained but instead, we chatted and laughed and made the most of a bad situation.  Thank you Lord. ...I got my paint and Tomer has been informed that school is cancelled for tomorrow, that will give him the whole day to maybe finish up.
The bathroom re-do continues...

Winter Projects

Here it is Friday and I just realized, that I haven't left this house since Tuesday morning.  No, it is not because of the Arctic blast that covers us... But because, I have had no Grandbabies to shuttle back and forth to school, since my sweet son-in-law David, who works as a carpenter/builder is laid off.  It is, just too cold for them to do any outdoor projects.  So, that leaves me with more time to get some big jobs done around here.
Tuesday, I spent all morning in our bedroom purging and organizing closets, cleaning mirrors and polishing every inch of the furniture.  Oh, and everything that I had stored under our bed...has finally left the building!  I figure, if I haven't touched those bins of stuff, then they are of no use...except to collect dust and cause me stress when I have to dust mop under there.  Never again, I tell ya'!
Tomer, is happily working in our bathroom.  With all of these school cancellations he needed something to do!  So, on Saturday he started removing the wallpaper and border. Then, on Monday he started patching the drywall.  Let me just say, that there is nothing worse than dry wall dust! The first two days...I went in there and vacuumed every corner of that place...then scrubbed down the vanity and sinks, when he was finished for the day.  But, let me just say that got old, right quick and I just gave it a lick and a promise after that!
Today, the painting has commenced.  This, will take a while since he is priming the walls first, because we have decided...NO more wallpaper for us.  This place, will be in a bit disarray for about a week because as you all know with every re-do comes more work than originally planned.  Yep, we decided that while we are at it, we might as well get rid of the fluorescent lighting and get something I like. Yippee!
Well, we are blessed that Elek spent the night and he says he needs lunch...So, I am signing off to go feed our boy.  Updates on the re-do will continue...
~Blessings All

Belly Boy

This sweet man Elek, AKA Belly Boy, is spending the night with his Gram and Papa.  After announcing to his Mom this morning, that he needed to come for a visit...he stayed, when they headed home.  He, is a game freak and we limit his time on the computer or he would happily sit here all day.  So, I call time outs and haul out the rectangle bin, (as he calls it) full of his favorite toys.
He plays nicely by himself...when his older siblings aren't here to aggravate him.  So, it has been a good day...A day of snuggles, kisses, turning off lights and turning off lights!  I should start calling him Trace because he enjoys, "every light in the house on."   LOL.
Supper was our favorite pizza, which Tom picked up on his snowy, slippery drive home from work.  He (Tomer) just came in from clearing the walks and driveway.  So, I am going to get off here and give our Grandboy a bath and get him  ready  for bed...I am already in my PJ's...Yippee.
Have a blessed and peaceful evening...we are, our boy is here.  We are blessed.