Memory Monday on Tuesday

My Bible memory verse this week
Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that
we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.



I thought this was a fun photo. I hope you like it. I chose the verse because I need to work on being joyful in all circumstances. God gives me many blessings like the little boy in this photo. This is my grandson. Sometimes I forget how blessed I am

I pray that as I work on this verse this week that I enjoy my time with the Lord as much as he is enjoying this popsicle.

Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may
sing for joy and be glad all our days

Thankful Thursday

This morning when I wrote and passed the Joy on to Kelli I was thinking about the things that I am Thankful for. And in the back of my mind I thought I had read about Thankful Thursday. Well I had and I found it. Above is the button for Iris' Thankful Thursday. I went over and checked her out again and I found that she was sharing a wonderful verse today. This verse means a lot to me and so I decided I definitely wanted to share it and share what I am thankful for.

Proverbs 3:5&6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. But in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.
(paraphrased)
I searched my archives because I had thought that I had used this verse one week as my verse for the week. To my surprise I had not. But I will use it next week and each day I'll share a different story about why this verse is so meaningful to me.
So you have to check back to find out.

The things that I am thankful for today are:

I am totally thankful that God provides. I am amazed over and over at how he answers our prayers. Sometimes not in our timing and maybe not in the way that we wanted or asked but there is always an answer. Some people says God answers three ways Yes, No or Not now or later.
I believe this to be true; many times I have seen him in action especially with the Not now/later answer.
And, many times when I have been disappointed thinking he answered no to something that I thought I really wanted/needed he was really saying not now.
Many times that I have sensed him saying no it turned into a yes because it was/is his timing not ours.

I am thankful that God is patient with me. This is I big one. Because, just imagine how patient he is. When we just keep doing the same dumb things he just keeps on just doing the same thing. Loving us. No matter what. He speaks to us through his word or through encouragemnt from someone he shows us that he loves us.
And that he is patiently waiting for us to just trust. To trust and turn everything over to him.

I am thankful that God gave us Jesus and that by trusting him and beliving him that we can be his children, that we are all daughters of the King. That makes us all princesses. That is cool.

I am thankful for Jesus' sacrifice for us.

And I am thankful for all the wonderful people that I have met through this whole thing called blogging. Some I have already mentioned this week. Some I have not,but to all those of you out there that I have read and commented on your blogs please know that God uses you everyday to bring Joy to someone.

Thank you Iris for letting us all share the Joy on Thursdays. Here is a little bit of joy for you.

Please visit Iris at http://www.eph2810.com

Tackle it Tuesday

I have too many things on my list but here it is. Sorry no photo's still have that camera problem so please just visualize for me and cheer me on to get it all done.

. . . Finish my aprons for the swap

. . . Give my blog a makeover (did you notice it still says Spring!)

. . . Finish organizing my kitchen

I have a million other things to do but I know it will be a major quest to complete these tasks along with all the other regular daily things to do.

But these are the things I have already done this moring.

. . . Fed the horses

. . . Cleaned the pasture

. . . Re-painted one coat on two of the porch rockers

. . . Read my favorite blogs Kelli at theresnoplacelikehome.blogspot and my absolutely newest favorite Home Sanctuary. (sorry I haven't added her to my side bar but that is part of the makeover

Oh one more thing on my list of things to do today!

. . . Work on my Bible verse. Here it is

Psalm 36:5-7

Your love O Lord reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skys.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justicelike the great deep.
Oh Lord, you preserve both man and best.

Psalm 36:5-7

A Simple Woman's Day Book Monday

Good Monday morning. It is a beautiful day today. I went over to visit Kelli this morning and found she was doing the Simple Woman's Day Book. And, I thought it was so cool I decided to do it too.

Outside My Window...the grass is growing and the horses are grazing only a few feet from my window. Yea God!

I am thinking... I am enjoying this task and I hope that someone is blessed by my thoughts.

I am thankful for... I am so very thankful that the horses are a few feet from me and grazing, for my new house and for my kids and my Cowboy husband.

From the kitchen...No cooking today. I am still trying to get it organized so maybe I can take photo's and do Show and Tell Friday.

I am wearing...Barn jeans and boots just finished up outside but about to get a dressed up for an outing.

I am creating...I will be creating the aprons that I am behind on.

I am going... with my darling daughter (the sunshine of my life) for her 6 weeks checkup and I get to play with baby Zane

I am reading...all I am reading right now is my Bible because I am so behind and I know if I start any books I'll be too absorb. I do read to many blogs everyday.

I am hoping...that anyone that reads my blog is Blessed and is drawn near to God our father.

I am hearing...my husbands cowboy music in the background. He loves to listen to it each morning.
Around the house...boxes,chaos,disorganization (hopefully almost over)

One of my favorite things...s.itting in the cool of the evening and watching the animals.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:unpack and relax

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is the Easter photo I took of my rabbit Rhett Butler. I wrote about him on Saturday and on Sunday. I was thinking and worrying about him and praying about his getting used to being outside. As I was reading my Bible the other day God lead me to these verses in Psalms. Please read my Saturday post and be Blessed by Third Days
music.

Psalms 36:5-7

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens
your faithfulness to the sky's
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O Lord you preserve man and beast.

Psalms 36:5-7

When friends inspire

This morning I was thinking about what I was going to write about and decided to make the rounds and visit a few friends. I got some really sweet feedback yesterday about my "being behind" post and when I happened to stop in at Amy's over at the160acrewood.wordpress.com I found the tackle it Tuesday project. I was intrigued and went to check it out.
The instructions mention tackling projects and photographing areas of your home that you don't want to show anyone but really need to address.
So today I addressed this.


This was the contents of the junk drawer in my kitchen. It is now empty. I have sorted the numerous objects and found real homes for them. Some like the Chinese Restaurant menu (it closed 3 years ago!) went into the trash can. Others were sorted and put away.
It was an easy project once I got started and now I can honestly say I feel good. I am going to set myself a goal of not having a junk drawer. I am very short of space in my kitchen and I just don't need junk taking up room.
So thanks Amy for inspiring me today!

Here's the verse I am working on this week. I chose this verse because it is one I am going to share with the teenagers I work with. I think it is really fitting for them. And will be easy for them to learn!

Philippians 4:8
Finally brothers and sisters whatever is true,
Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute,
if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise,
let your mind dwell on these things.

Today may I dwell on what is worthy of praise. May I dwell on God's word and praise his name.

Peace/Thanksgiving/Joy/Patience

These are my two best friends. My husband aka Cowboy and my dog Daisy. (I have written a little about Daisy in my Saturday editions go read my archives and check them out. There is quite a story about how she came to live with us.)
This morning as I was reading (I started with the 23 Psalm because I think today is the 23. I am not sure) And then I read Psalm 24 God made(claims) the earth and everything in it. Who can climb to the mountain of God? Who can scale the wholy north face? Only the clean handed, only the pure in heart. (the Message) Oh I pray to be clean handed and pure in heart. Because I know and I realize that all the stuff that goes on (the good and the bad) that I can only trust in God to see me through. He gives me strength. He gives me patience. And somedays I can only find Joy in Him. And that is when it is the hardest. Somedays the only thing that is tangible that I can touch and see and feel are my two best friends. It is through them that I see God's love. His patience. His peace.
I realized this morning while I was reading that God had indeed answered a pray. (I don't think I am totally ready to write about it but.)
This thing that was/is going on has totally broken my heart. It has been a burden to me. I didn't happen or start yesterda,or the day before. It was almost 2 years ago. And it still continues. It still lingers. It still hurts. A while back God lead me to Psalm 34:18 The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. I realized this morning that as I prayed he would fix this situation. That he would make everything right. The way I wanted everything to be. (And ultimately the way God intended) To give me back what I needed. I knew that making everything right would heal my heart. But that is not what he did. What he did was he filled me with Peace. And quite possibly a little patience. But the Peace is the part that I needed. It wasn't what I wanted. In my hurt and my pain I did ask for Peace. But it really wasn't what I wanted. But that is what I have. Peace to make it through this situation. Peace to rest and not grow weary. To trust in him even though I don't understand. I wait. I long. But I am not longing.
Yesterday I read my Bible. On Sunday I read. Sunday is usually the day that I choose the verse I intend to work on for the week. I wasn't able to find one. Doesn't that sound silly? I mean look at it the Bible is a big book. Lots of verses to choose. But I couldn't find the right one. Then this morning while I was thinking about the Peace that God has given me. I heard a song on the Chrisitian music channel it was by a new group (at least new to me) Cadia. The song is Trust in me now. (I am trying to download it or at least get the lyrics. Please check back. It is amazing) I went to thier myspace to down load it and here is what I found.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:6-7
I mentioned awhile back about my journey to remembering and memorizing scripture. I realized I have so much scripture buried in my head but I don't know where it is. I think this is one of those. So it should be easy to remember this week especially since I have already lost two days. But I believe that this is the verse that my God, my Father wanted me to remember this week.
Today I have peace, I have joy, I have patience (just barely) and I have Thankgsiving because I know that my God does care and I know that he does heal the broken hearted.
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything,but in everythin,by prayer and petition,with thanksgiving,present your requests to God. and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

I blinked and . . .

I don't know where the time goes. The weekend flew by. Sunday was an amazing day of rest and just relaxtion. And I played in the sewing room. I got some new shelving last week and I worked most of the day washing and refolding fabric and getting it onto new shelves.
And wheather was so nice I had to work outside. Had some gates to move and rehang to section off parts to keep the horses off the pasture to let it green up some.
Cowboy is still recuperating from knee surgery so we didn't get to go to church yesterday. We did go the night before to service at a friends church. It was totally different than ours. The message was great. The music was great but not really my style. Anyway so at least we did get some worship and learning in if not on Sunday.
About the knee surgery. Recuperation is very slow. Sitting for any length of time. Or standing any length of time causes extreme swelling and pain. Any 1 hour outing takes 4-5 hours for him to recuperate. Last night was a really bad night for him because he walked outside for all of 30 minutes to help me. He helped me get two gates back up. And then spent the rest of the day and night with ice on his knee.
Anyway enough about that. That is where I was and what I was doing and not putting up a post. I do want to add a verse to memorize this week but once again I over committed myself last week. The Deuteronomy verse was too much well maybe not but I got bogged down toward the end of the week so I am repeating it this week.
Here it is partly from memory:
Deuteronomy 6:5-9
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commands that I give you today are to be upon your heart.
Impress them on your children.Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk
along the road when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

So this week I am starting again on this set of verses. I got the first 3 but got bogged down toward the end of the week. I think I am going to have to get on a schedule. I work so much better with one. Especially since it is getting so much warmer outside. I spend much more time out there.

And I also spend a lot of time reading blogs and writing posts. And taking pictures. Although they aren't very good. But I am learning my way around photo shop and I made a change to Friday's Show and Tell post. Nothing huge I just cropped one of the photo's of the quilts. Here it is but go back over and check it out. I finally figured out how to crop. Yea. On my Saturday's post at the very end is a photo of my rabbit I put a frame around it. I like the way it looks.

I hope that although today I just wrote about what I have been up to that someone is Blessed by this blog. It is my desire to share God with you. I am praying for you.

Bible Verse Memory

God has been putting it on my heart to memorize his word. Recently I wrote about verses that are buried in my head. I know many of us have those verses that you remember part of or even all of them but don't know where they are.
I work for a ministry that is dedicated to helping troubled teens. Most of them have had no experience with church and have little knowledge at all about God let alone the Bible.
There are a few though that do have some past experience and sometimes even remember verses. But it saddens me and makes me feel totally unprepared for what God has called me to do when one of them asks me about a verse or its reference and I don't know where it is.
And, sometimes even the volunteers that work with me will ask me questions about Bible verses. I guess because I am in a leadership position and I am the one that does devotionals with them and the girls they naturally assume I have the Bible memorized and can answer all their questions. If they only knew how wrong they are!
A few months ago one of my volunteers began teaching the girls how to memorize scripture. I don't know where she learned this method but I decided to start using it and so today I'll share it with you. I have adapted it a little and I think that is what works with me.
I am a visual learner. If I see something over and over I remember it much easier than if I am told something. Or I listen to it. I also learn by doing.
In this method you take a verse and you break it down into phrases.
Step One: Break verse into phrases
Step Two: Recite the reference.
Step Three: Recite the reference with the first phrase 3 times.
This is where I adapted it. I type the reference and the first phrase three times.
Sometimes 4,5 or 6 times. Till I can type it without looking back at the verse.
Step Four: Add the next phrase. Reciting the reference and the first phrase and phrase two. Recite or type three times. (4,5 or 6 times if your slow like me)
Continue with this method through the entire verse.
Here's the important part. Say the reference before and after the verse.

Here's this weeks verse broken down.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9
Love the Lord your God with all your soul with all your heart and with all your strength.
These commands that I give you today are to be upon your heart.

Yesterday I used the method and today I typed this part of the verse with looking back at my notes. I did begin working on it Sunday.
Another thing that I do is I go ahead and type it on Sunday I cover an entire sheet of paper with the verse. Then I can cut the repeated verse apart and put around the house so I can work on it throughout the day in whatever room I am in.

This method has been very effective for me. I am going to start using the method of writing it out and putting reminders around the mission where I work. Each week we will have a verse of the week and we will have it written and posted throughout the building. I think I will have the girls write the verse in pretty colored markers.

If you are struggling with memorizing scripture. Try this method. It works for me maybe it will work for you. Maybe before you start reading blogs work on the memory verse and start your day off with the Lords word.

Have a Blessed Day, Sherry (I wish I could figure out how some of you guys write your name pretty. Another one of those dummies at blogging posts!)

The end of the horse that you don't want to see . . .

Interesting title huh? I needed last weeks verse this morning. But as I said before I didn't completely learn it. Here it is anyway belatedly.
Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

This morning I witnessed a rodeo as I went out into the rain and mud. This is the end of the horse that I faced as I walked through the gate into his stall. Actually I didn't make it in!
Only it wasn't as docile as this. I have no idea what the old man was thinking.
He turned his rear to me. Put his head down and proceeded to give me a nice little show. All the while I am backing back out of the gate as I am carrying his breakfast. I can only hope that he was letting the "short people"(two mini donkeys) know not to come through that gate with me. Of course I yelled at him and after a nice little show he settled down. My heart didn't but I popped his rear and yelled again. Now I must add that all the while this was going on Daisy stayed exactly where I had told her to with her nose under the gate. This could be because yesterday she got her you know what busted for not staying where she was told. She just loves to help feed those horses but she doesn't know how to act around them.
I share all this with you because I believe it was actually a Blessing to see. This horse is 26 years old this year. And he still has a lot of spunk! And as you can see from this photo he is my daughters delight. This photo was taken in '04 so he was a youngster then. LOL. I was just thinking the other day she needs to take him to one last show this summer.
I might have been wrong he might need to go to a rodeo instead.
Now that I am back in the house and dry and not looking at his rear and his feet are not in my face I am actually smiling about the entire episode. I know some of you are reading this and thinking that this women is a nut. But some of you know exactly what I mean.

Switching leads . . .(that is equine lingo it means switching gears) Here is part of the verse of the week.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength.
These commands I give you to be upon your heart.

That is only half of the passage but I typed that from memory and it is only Monday!

Tomorrow I will be writing about the method that I use to memorize and about the wonderful friend that shared it with me.

So till then give thanks in song and Happy Trails
Blessings,Sherry

Easter Give a Way

Before you read my post I need some help. I tried to link some friends on my sidebar but it doesn't work. Can anyone tell me how to do it? (adding my dummies at blogging to the label for this one!)




I am doing a fun Easter give a way. If you homeschool leave me a comment about why you homeschool. If you don't but wish you could come on over and leave me a comment too. And if your a grandparent whose grandchild is homeschooled you can enter too.
These are mostly girly craft items like beads and stuff. But there are some fun bean bags and there are some of those plastic things that you design and iron.(I am still sorting through stuff so I will be throwing in some things too) They were all donated to our ministry but they are things that we actually wouldn't need for our regular activites so I want to pass them on to you.
I was Blessed to be able to homeschool my daughter for one year of school. It was an amazing time for all of us. This week I'll be writing about homeschooling and I'll post some of our photo's. I hope each of you are Blessed this week.

I didn't do very well with the verse of the week last week. And duh it was short and simple. I just didn't sit down and work on it like I did the week before.
I am really challenging myself this week because what I want to memorize is 6 verses!
But it is a passage that needs to be memorized together.
I mentioned the verse memory class at my church in an earlier post. This past weekend they had a women's retreat. I didn't get to go but one of my friends said that one young lady (maybe young has to do with it) recited the entire book of James. Wow. And here I am stressing over 6 verses. Here's my Verse of the week. I already know part of it so it should be easy.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9
Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road,when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your house and gates.

Today Lord I ask you to give me strength to get through this next week. Give strength also to everyone out there that is following you and trusting you and teaching thier children in the way that you direct them. Give them strength and courage to do what you ask of them to do. And be with the children this week as they learn and study. Give them a tender spirit.

This is my grandson. He is homeschooled. Maybe this is science class! He was so proud of his find. Do you think he is all boy?

Daisy

I taught my dog a trick. They say that you can't teach an old dog a new trick. this is proof you can. I guess if 5 years is old. I have been promising to tell you guys Daisy's story.
But before I do. Have you seen those commercials for dog food that show the dogs in the pound. I don't even remember now which food it is because everytime that the comercial comes on I want to change it. It is just so depressing to me. They are trying to make this big deal that if you buy the brand of dog food that x number of dollars goes to animal shelters. I don't disagree I would be a big advocate of "no kill shelters" but I just think there is a better way to advertise than showing those sad dogs in cages with no hope. The least they could do is end the commercial with the dogs getting adopted.
That must of been the way that Daisy felt before I found her. Daisy came home with me just over a year ago.
Her story shows how God is "into" even the seemingly minor parts of your life. He will provide hope and reasurrance and love in many ways. You might be skeptical. You might think he isn't interested in seemingly silly or minor things. But I know he is all about giving us a purpose and a hope and a future. And the things that we might think are small add up to a purpose and a future.
God brought Daisy into my life. I was in a really,really bad place. I was having to quote scripture. Psalms 34:18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those you are crushed in spirit. I was at a point where I was crushed in spirit. I was broken. Because of circumstances out of my control I had for a time lost one of the most important people in my life. I was about to break mentally. My husband and I both at the time were just going through the paces. No one would suspect that anything was wrong. We were working in full time ministry. We were active in church. All appeared well with the world. But personally it was not.
But God pulled me up and pulled me out of the state that I was in and he used Daisy to do it.
It all started late one Saturday night. I tend to stay on the computer a lot (right now it is 10:20 on Sat. night. . . hmmm.) My husband had already gone to bed but I wasn't tired so I went to watch t.v. As usual there was nothing on. I kept scrolling through the stations and couldn't find anything to occupy me with. I flipped to the local access channel and the were showing activities at the local rec. center and local news. And then they started scrolling across the screen animals in the local shelter. Guess who's photo was there. I was not looking for a dog. I knew that my husband would not agree to bringing another dog into the house. He had said in no uncertain terms that once the two dogs we had were gone we wouldn't get anymore. He was tired of being tired down and not being able to go anywhere. He was tired of shedding. He was tired in the later years; of their health problems and all that incurs. When I saw her photo something inside me said she's yours. You need to go and get that dog. There was text across her photo that said urgent. (does that not pull at your heart? It did mine) Now realize this is late Sat. night. I went to bed and couldn't stop thinking about her. I went through Sunday and didn't say a word to anyone. On Monday I emailed the pound and asked about her. She was still there. I learned that she had been there for 45 days. The officer told me they only keep dogs for 30 days and then they put them down. But she was special so they kept her to give her a chance. I thought about her and prayed about her. I still didn't mention her to my husband. I knew in the back of my mind he would say no. On Tuesday I went to a ladies bible study at my church. On the way I stopped at the animal shelter to see Daisy. She immediately tore at my heart. The police officer told me her name was Daisy. How he knew that I don't know. He said that she had been abandoned in a back yard. He family had just walked away and left her. I told the officer I would go home and talk to my husband. I left and went onto bible study. And during that bible study time I realized I needed to leave and go and get my dog.
I went and picked her up. I asked the officer to help me get her to my truck. I wasn't sure if she would jump in so he helped me. She didn't know how to jump into my bit F350 43 wheel drive truck. So he picked up and put her in.
I took her home. I walked in the door and found my husband in the office. He looked up and asked. "What is that?" I said. "My dog." he responded. "Where did you get her?" I said. "At the pound." he said. "Take her back." I said. "No." and I cried. I was sitting down by this time and Daisy had sat down in front of me. I didn't ask her to she just sat and looked at me. I looked at my husband and said. "She is my dog and I am keeping her." through my tears. He said what are you going to do with her when we're gone. I answered. "I won't leave her. She will go with me everywhere I go."
And she does. He relented. I knew he would. His bark is worse than his bite. Daisy didn't really like him at first. He has one her over by offering treats.
On Friday he went to the doctor. One the way home we were driving along and he pulled into McDonalds. He bought the dog an ice cream. This is the man that didn't want more animals.
Now today I am healed by the love of this dog. God brought this dog into my life. Maybe to give me something that I could love. To replace in a small way my loss. Or maybe to show me that he is in control. That even though things seem dark that he will give us a sign. A glimpse of his love.
I see God's love every day. Because Daisy like God loves me unconditionally. It doesn't matter what I do. What I say. I don't have to perform. She just loves.
God just loves.

And so...she stays...he doens't suggest taking her back anymore.
And the most amazing thing is that we have looked at the local access channel at least a dozen times. They don't show photo's of the animals. Still think God isn't into the small things?

Verse of the week
Psalms 28:7
the Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart turst in him and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Joy

I recently joined a new church actually it will be two years in April. But it still seems new. I don't know why. We are connected with our Sunday School class. And they are awesome I wrote a post a few days ago about them. We haven't really got involved in any other way because of the ministry. I don't know if that is why it seems like it is still new or because it is just a short time compared to the lengths of times we have been in other churches. I don't know. Anyway. They have this amazing class on memorizing scripture. I have always wanted to go but the timing isn't right. They not only memorize verses but they memorize chapters. There is this awesome young lady in our church and she quotes entire chapters. Her speech is just darn pretty. The scripture just flows from her. She is young and cute and pretty and it is just a beautiful package. She is almost angelic when she is reciting.
One of the things that I put on my list of things to do in '08 is to memorize scripture. So I have been working on it. I realized last week that taking a verse a week is a good way for me. Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to add more. Maybe a weekly verse and a weekend verse. But for now one a week works. And they are one verse maybe two at a time. Not a chapter. I am not there yet. And when I say the verses it doesn't sound pretty. But they are in my heart and I remember them so that is what counts.

I chose this verse because God has really been talking to me about Joy. And so I made the pretty little photo in Coral. I am sure it looks pretty elementary but to me it is amazing. (see my label at the bottom!) Here's my verse of the week.

Psalms 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts him and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Dear Lord. I am working on having joy. I know we talked about it yesterday and this morning. Thank you for giving me many things praise you for.

Verse of the Week

Psalms 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Our hope. Our reason for joy.

Thank you Lord Jesus for being my redeemer. My source of strength. Help me to always remember I have reason for joy.

Trusting in the Lord

There are times when all we can do is trust in the Lord and know that all things work out for his good. Many times I have to do that. And I pray everyday that the decisions and choices that I make are pleasing to him. There are so many verses that speak about this truth. I thought about this verse all week.

Psalms 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Then today I read part of Psalms 28 and read this.

Psalms 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Sometimes it is really difficult for me to be joyful. I know that I should let fears or circumstances rob my of my joy. But they do. I am not necessarily sad or depressed. But I worry and I fret. And so all these things take away the joy that I should have just resting in the knowledge that I am redeemed.

Tonight I think that I will rest in my fathers arms and ask him to show me which verse that I should learn this week.

Tomorrow I will post the verse of the week.

Amazing

Amazing is all I can say about my day. I spent the entire morning and afternoon with who know how many screaming teenage girls.
They were all gathered in one place to see:
Point of Grace, Susie Shellenberger,Jaime Jamgochian,Chris Wheeler,Barlow Girl (on video)Stellar Kart and



If you read my post Thursday you probably know I had no idea who this was. Do you? I am sure that all of America knows. But I have to admit I didn't. He was gracious enough to let me take his photo even though I yelled across the lobby and called him by name and then when he didn't immediately stop yelled another name (I really wasn't sure what his name was). He then waved. Later I apologized and he did let me photograph him for one of the girls.



I have to thank White's Chapel United Methodist Church for giving us the tickets. It was an awesome treat for my girls!



I know I promised Dog and Cat stories on Sat. so I have to give you guys the next installment. I know some of you want to hear Daisy's story but I have to lead up to why her story is so important. So today I will tell you about Bear.
Here is a photo of him

I cannot tell you how amazing this dog was. He was a registered Lab and had been through obediance and retriever training. When we first got him (he was 2 1/2 past the chewing on things stage!) he was so well trained that he wouldn't get within arms reach of any piece of furniture. He quickly learned that in our house a dog is part of the family. And the couch was just as much his as ours! He was the best dog for the kids. He would come outside when I came home from getting groceries and he would help take the groceries in. He carried the toilet paper and paper towels and anything in a box. Stuff like mac and cheese,minute rice etc. He would actually get mad if I didn't let him help. He also learned to "fetch" individual Blue Bell ice cream cups out of the freezer (we opened the door)and he would take it to whoever was waiting in the den. Then when he was done eating he would take the empty container back to the kitchen and drop it in the trash compactor. He loved it when I took a bubble bath. He always tried to get in the tub and when I wouldn't let him he would sit beside the tub and try to drink the water. (yuck) We loved that dog. He would sleep between me and my husband. Not the entire night usually but at least part of the night. We never let the kids sleep in our bed. (some would think that horrible but)and some would think us horrible for laughingly saying that if we ever got divorced we would have a custody battle over the dog! LOL really. Bear was so amazing he even accepted a puppy into our lives. We got Noel for Christmas when our daughter was in 2nd grade. Bear fetched balls like crazy. And even played soccer with the kids. He tolerated Noel. When we would throw a ball he run to get it and Noel would grab his bandanna and hang on for a ride. Or bite his ear. He always let her! Noel never learned to fetch. (I just think some dogs just don't know how. I think it is the breeding.) We had Bear well beyond most Labs live. He was almost 13 when w finally put him down. Noel was raised with Bear and we all worried that it would be hard for her when we put him down. She wasn't a puppy anymore either. Our son was married then but our daughter was back home from college. Bear was awesome. Bear was amazing. We didn't think that another dog could ever replace Bear. Bear and Noel both have unique individual stories that I'll share soon. And, I'll share more photo's too next weekend.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. And thanks for patiently waiting to hear about Daisy. Her stories coming next!
Have a great weekend!

Verse of the week
Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds.
Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its works so that you may be mature and complete
not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4

Dog & Cat Stories Saturday

You'll have to wait a few hours to read todays story.
Because I am about to go the Girls of Grace Conference. I'll be gone all day.
I am priviledge to be able to take 10 of the girls that we work with from the halfway house. I had a hard time sleeping last night. I kept waking up and thinking about them.
I prayed that they would make it safely to the church.
I prayed that God would prepare each of the hearts last night while they slept to be open to him.
I prayed that the concert although I know it will be awesome Praise music that it would also be envanglistic.
I prayed that God would reveal himself to them individually.
I prayed that someone would receive Christ as their personal savior.

Please pray with me today for all that will attend the concert.
I'll be back later and post my story.
Have a Blessed Day, Sherry

Verse of the Week (typed from memory)
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy you face trials of many kinds.
Because the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must complete its work so that you may be mature and complete
not lacking anything.

Show and Tell Friday

Today is Show and Tell Friday over at Kelli's House. On my sidebar is her S/T button and lower down I think (I hope)is her link. (notice my categories at the bottom of my post)
I was prompted to show this collection by a comment from my last weeks S/T. Last week I showed my cookbooks and bookcase reading area I recently put in my kitchen.
(check it out) On one of the shelves is an Elephant creamer or small pitcher. That particular item is part of a collection that I will share today. But before I share the collection let me show you how it started.

This my daughter holding an elephant that my sister gave her for her birthday. So began the saga of the elephant. At one count there were over 200 in the collection.
Don't worry I haven't posted them all only a few.

The little creamer is back with a few friends. Unfortunately I wasn't the planner back then because I didn't mark where they came from or when or who gave them to her. The bigger one on the right with the baby is a cookie jar. (unfotunately he was attacked when he was taken out of the jungle. He was sitting innocently below a shelf containing horses and a wild bronco jumped down and knocked some other things down and pour mamma elephant in attempting to save her baby kicked the bronco and hurt her foot) This cookie jar contained flower petals from the flowers that my husband gave our daughter on her birthday. (how that began will be in a Sat. animal story post soon)
The two larger elephants on the left are a tea pots.(don't know why we never had a tea party. I love all you bloggers out there that have tea parties with your little girls. You inspire me. I'll dig out the tea pots when I have a granddaughter someday)
The little blue wrinkly guy and the Dumbo's are just part of the collection and I don't really remember anything special about them. I am sure that my daughter can.
I'll see her today and she will see these items in the living room. That was my hint from yesterday. The are sitting on the dresser on the far side of the fireplace for now.
This last photo I saved because it is really my favorite of the entire group. I did not buy it for my daughter. I bought it for myself. It sits in her room on the dresser. (I don't always hang pictures. You'll see when I show you my den).



I don't know if you can tell why I like it so much. To me this looks like my daughter and one of her big friends! She was in college when I found this and just had to have it. It brought back many memories.

I hope you have enjoyed my show and tell. Don't forget to come by tomorrow and read the dog story. I promise soon I'll post Daisy's story.

Have a Happy Day. Sherry

Joy

We've been playing Scrabble and having loads of fun. At least my husband has been having fun! The man can play Scrabble. And if you believe in luck he has it. Or he knows how to cheat well. Since he has been recovering from knee surgery I have been trying to keep him from getting too bored and Scrabble has been a fun a way to entertain him when he is totally bored with t.v.

For the first time we have been watching American Idol. He has been watching Rachael Ray in the morning and then again in the afternoon. And, we have been watching Decorating Sense which is one of my favorites I love trash to treasure.

Speaking trash and treasures here is a photo of my fireplace.

I love it. The mirror is old I managed to talk my mother in law out of it. She used to buy and sell antiques and ended up with it but couldn't sell it. I am sure it is not all that old but I like it.
The metal screen in front of the fireplace I bought at my favorite little antique store. I don't know what it was originally used for but I just think it is pretty.
Sometimes I put it in front of the doorway to keep Daisy contained.




And somewhere in the fireplace photo is what I will be posting about tomorrow at Kelli's Show and Tell Friday. But I am not letting the cat out of the bag. (that isn't a hint).

I will be writing the next installment on Saturday leading up to Daisy's story. I think I have decided that Saturday will be my day to write about the animals. They are all a Joy to me and I am thankful for them. I hope you all enjoy thier stories.

Until tomorrow . . .

Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds.
Because the testing of your faith develops persverance.
Perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete.
Not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4

Facing many trials

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds.
Because the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4

Sometimes do you wish that God would finish working on you? You know when things just seem to go from bad to worse. You think you are in his will. You really feel like you are but then you begin to have doubt? I guess that is when you can turn to a verse like this and realize that God is working even when we don't see any evidence.
He gives us many things to be grateful for like a blue sky. It was so beautiful yesterday. I was working outside in a t-shirt. Yea.

But with all that beautiful weather I face another trial. It is trivial in comparison to some of the other things. I face this.



Which perseveers and produces this.

(Did you notice I put in three photo's? I figured it out on Sunday when it was pouring down rain. Which caused all of this!)

And we have this lovely field and yard full of dandelions. (As I think about them I must search through my quilt patterns and show you a photo of a dandelion quilt that I will make one day. I have many others to complete first.)

It makes me realize that as much as I try to rid the yard of this pesky little weeds that it must be what God is trying to do with me. He is trying to rid me of my pesky little issues and problems. And those mistakes I make that sometimes I don't even realize. This is what I read this morning . .

Psalms 19:13 & 14 (Contemporary English Version)
Do not let me do wrong on purpose, Lord, or let sin have control over my life.
Then I will be innocent and not guilty of some terrible fault.
Let me words and my thoughts (and my actions) be pleasing to you, Lord, because you are my mighty rock and my protector.

This is my prayer today that as I perseveer through many trials that my words, my thoughts and my actions are pleasing to you Lord and that you will teach me what I need to learn.

p.s. I almost forgot. Over on the sidebar is Amy's awesome Wordfill Wednesday.
You can visit her at http://www.the160acreawood.typepad.com Thanks Amy

Thy word is . . .

I found this photo over at Laurel Wreaths and it along with reading on someone else blog about scripture memory got me to thinking. The last couple of weeks I have been posting a new scripture each day with my post. I realized a couple of times that while I was typing and then editing my typo's that I began to memorize some of the verses I used that I did not already know.

All this got me to thinking and then today in Sunday School a couple of verses were mentioned and some of us were trying to remember the reference.

Do you ever have that problem where your thinking of a verse but don't know where it is. Or you read a passage and run across a verse and something in the back of your mind reminds you that you memeorized that verse a long time ago but haven't used it lately so it is somewhere just sitting around almost collecting dust waiting to be retrieved and used.

One of the goals that I meant to put on my 8 in '08 was to memorize more scripture and so to that end I have decided to try doing a verse a week.

Each day for the next week at the end of my post I'll have the verse of the week. I figure that with all the typo's that I usually make that I'll write each verse at least 14 times. Is that right? Once a day for 7 days and then again for typo's yes if my math is right that is at least 14 times. So just maybe I'll have a good start on memorizing some verses.

I would love to have you guys join me. This really isn't anything fancy (mainly because I don't know how to put up a fancy button or do that Mr. Linky thingy...this post will be under my dummies at blogging category) just leave me a comment and then type the verse in your blog at the end of your posts.

I hope everyone had a Blessed weekend and I hope you are looking forward to an awesome week. Here's our verse.

James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance. Perseverence must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything."(NIV)