Saddened Heart....Remembering Boston

I didn't have the heart to write last night about the horrible tragedy at the Boston Marathon yesterday. My heart was broken. As a Christian, I know that such evil exists in the world and will continue to persevere until our Lord and Savior returns for us. I also know that this type of devastation happens with all too much frequency in other parts of the world. But to have it happen here, in our homeland, in the very heart of our country on a day set aside to remember the patriots who helped form the very nation we live in is nearly unfathomable. I can only find my knees and bow my head in prayer for the victims, their families, the city of Boston, the first responders, police, healthcare workers, EMTs, and all who attempted to help in the aftermath. I pray for our country and our leaders. And I pray for the person who caused this pain and chaos and their family. I can only find comfort in some of my favorite Bible Verses...and pray....

Tonight, remembering Boston...

 Christian, remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity.

~ Charles Spurgeon

 

         

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

~ Isaiah 41:10

 

 



 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

~ 2 Timothy 1:7

 

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

~ Psalm 34:4

         

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

~ Deuteronomy 31:6

         

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

~ 1 Peter 5:7

    

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

~ Joshua 1:9

   

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

~ Matthew 6:34

        

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

~ Philippians 4:6-7

        

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

~Psalm 56:3

        

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

~ John 14:27

 

God's Country

I know that many people claim to live in "God's Country" and I also know that all country (and cities) are God's but looking around on my drive to work today, I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty surrounding me. I am so incredibly blessed to live where I do! This is the view I see every day on my way to work~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy Weekend!

Hello Dear Friends!

I hope this post finds you all well and healthy! It has been a really busy weekend here! I took Friday off so that we could take Cookie Monster up to meet with the recruiter for the Minnesota Air National Guard. It sounds like this is the route he wants to go and no matter how I feel, I won't say a word against it. Honey spent 23 years in the National Guard and My ex-husband wanted to be in the Air Force. It is really different though when you are a Mama!

Minneapolis is a 3 hour drive from our house, so it was a long day to do the trip in one day. We actually got there early, and ended up sitting at my ex-in-laws for nearly an hour visiting. It was a little awkward since I haven't been in their house for nearly 10 years. It is nice that we are able to talk and laugh and reminisce. I feel it is the best for the kids to have a good relationship with their dad and his family.

Last night was the Syttende Mai Princess Coronation. I am the Secretary of the Board so I had to go. I have been working on my bunad (Norwegian dress) for the last month or so. Traditionally, the dresses are red, black or blue, but I chose a dark hunter green for mine. I made every piece of the costume and it was really fun to show it off last night.

 

 

It is the third bunad I have made. I also made one for my sister-in-law and for my niece when she was the 2nd Attendant. It was kind of cool that the bunad I made for my niece was worn last night by the girl who ended up getting 2nd Attendant! It was kind of a late night but lots of excitement!

This morning we are having more rain and sleet and snow. I am so tired of winter!  I'm itching for spring and my gardens and green grass! I don't want to complain. We had a drought last year so I know we need the moisture but sunshine would sure lighten some moods and make everyone feel a little better!

My oldest brother stopped for coffee this morning too! He is learning to live again after the end of his 18 year marriage. He gets terribly lonely and calls and comes to visit a lot. I love it and am glad that what I have experienced in my life allows me to help him through this tough time.

Now I am working getting some pictures ordered for Cookie Monster's scrapbook and his Graduation announcements and working on his scrapbook. At around 5 I have to run up and pick up the kids from their dads. How do weekends go so quickly!

Hoping your day is wonderful and blessed.

 

Loving on my Yard!

As many of you know, I am in the process of trying to by my parent’s home. This is the home I grew up in and I am so excited to have it for my little family. My beloved Mama passed away 4 years ago and my father has since remarried. He and his new wife decided that they needed a smaller house with fewer steps and a smaller yard, sidewalk and driveway. It was getting to be too much to take care of. None of us wanted the house to go, and I am the only one of the children in the position to be able to potentially buy it, so I am doing my best to do just that! I am praying hard about this because financially it will definitely be a stretch, but the Lord will provide a way if it is meant to be.

 I love this house. I love the rooms inside, the basement, and the garage. I love the feeling of home and roots and belonging. The town I live in is only about 800 people, and I love knowing my neighbors and having people honk and wave as they go by the house. It makes my heart happy when people stop to visit because they see us out in the yard or on the front porch. But one of the things I love most is the yard and the ability to be outdoors again and not feel like my neighbors are right on top of us. We have space to spread out and breath. 

 

There is a double lot with the house so we have plenty of room for kids, grandkids (eventually) and pets. I can have all the gardens I want…vegetable, flower, herbs! And fruit trees, grape vines and berry patches! I have a clothes line that I want to expand and a shed that will make an awesome gardening shed now that I don’t need it so much for storage! There is a spot for a sandbox and room for a fire pit and of course my dad’s famous horseshoe pits! I am so excited for spring! I want to put a tire swing in the walnut tree and maybe eventually a playhouse (for little ones who may need such a place some day).

My parents let the vegetable garden go back to yard in the last few years. Mama just couldn’t care for it anymore, but I plan on digging it back up soon and having a royal feast later this summer! I can’t wait to put my canner and pressure cooker to work in the fall! Corn and beans and peas, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, carrots and watermelons! I will be putting in berry patches and grape vines too, but I am not sure if anything will come the first year. There is an apple tree already and I plan on adding more so that we will have a small orchard along the back lot line. Maybe pear trees too, along with rhubarb! Yummy! So much abundance to come!

My dad was an avid flower gardener and there are flower gardens in every corner of the yard! Front yard, side yard, behind the garage, at the end of the horseshoe pits, and in the far corner of the lot. They are everywhere and I can’t WAIT to see what comes up and add my own touches and ideas! Princess Pea and I already planted Daffodils, Irises, and Tulips to come up this spring! She is excited to check their progress. Yesterday she discovered that the tulips she planted with her Grandma several years ago are still growing and will bloom again this spring! My favorites, the lilacs, are already starting to bud! We have 5 big bushes of them!

 

 

 

 

And because of all the tree cover, there are the birds. Oh my Mama loved birds and fed them all year round! We have finches, mourning doves, sparrows, black-capped chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, tufted titmice, nuthatches, juncos, and woodpeckers. There are feeders in the trees and right next to the kitchen window. Soon we will have the orioles and the hummingbirds too. I could sit for hours and watch them. What the birds don’t eat, the bunnies and squirrels sneak away. We also feed those furry little critters, but I am starting to second guess that thought as I think we may have peanuts growing in our yard this summer!

The view from our yard is just spectacular! No matter what season it is or what direction you look, the view takes my breath away. In spring, the hills turn this beautiful color of green, bursting at the seams with new growth. In the summer, the dark green leaves and evergreens fill the hillsides. Autumn brings a blaze of orange and red and yellow and in winter, the trees hang heavy with their burden of glistening white snow. Looking out one window I can see the neighbor’s fields stretching to the hillside and out the other I can see the steeple of the church where my beautiful Mama is laid to rest. And of course, don’t forget to look up. In a town of this size, with very few street lights, the stars are amazing!

I love our home and especially our yard. I hope you enjoyed the tour and will come back to visit! I can’t wait to show you my flowers in bloom!  God’s Abundant Blessings to you my Friend….

Ah Ha Moment!!!

I am a Christian. I have been for many years. I got “saved” in high school because one of my best friends was and it sounded like the right thing to do. Honestly I didn’t even know what it meant at the time. I knew that I believed in God. I knew that the Bible was the Word of God and that it was Truth. I knew that Jesus died for my sins. That’s about it. Everything else I knew, or thought I knew was hearsay or stories from other people. I never opened my Bible, I prayed only when I needed something, and my church attendance was dismal. It really didn’t change a thing in my life. 

Over the years, I met people who explained the Gospel, people who told me how to REALLY become saved. I met people who sat with me and discussed the meaning behind accepting Christ and who encouraged me. So again, periodically, I would confess my sins, ask Jesus to be my Lord and Savior and then go right back to my sinful life, my limited views, and my wayward thoughts. I didn’t consider myself a “BAD” sinner. I didn’t steal and. I didn’t lie (much), I have never killed anyone or beat them up. But I did sin and even worse, I did not repent.

Somehow, someway knowledge about what it meant to be a Christian started to seep into me. Whether it was from the people God placed in my life (for that is what I now know it was), to signs He gave when I prayed, to overheard conversations, I was growing in faith. And the more I grew in faith the more my husband (at the time) grew away from me. He started calling me “Bible Thumper” and making fun of my beliefs. Over time, the decision was made to divorce, but as soon as I was away from him, I also let go of my faith. It was like once again, I only “used” God in a time of crisis.

 For a long time I felt like a fraud. I believed and yet I didn’t. I guess it is because I didn’t know how. I prayed, but for the wrong things. I questioned whether I would honestly go to Heaven when I died. Even though I had asked Christ to be my Lord and Savior, I  wasn’t sure and I felt that if I wasn’t sure, then I surely wasn’t going to Heaven. I knew the truth but felt disconnected. I felt unloveable, broken, weird, different than everyone else. I felt like Jesus came for everyone BUT me. He couldn’t possibly want me. I was ugly inside, I was a mess, I had done rotten things. No one was as horrible as I was. I didn't get it.

Then I met Honey (nearly 8 years ago now) and one of the first questions I asked him was if he is a Christian. I was relieved to hear that he is, even if he had moved away from his faith. Just knowing that he had knowledge in this area helped, though I didn’t know why. For some reason it was important to me that he be a Christian. At this point I was a year divorced and not living a very Christian lifestyle, but sometime during the early part of our relationship, I could feel Christ calling me back, so every once in a while, I would read a bit in the Bible or listen to Christian CDs,. I also started reading blogs posted by Christian women, including the Proverbs 31 girls. Then when my son was ready to be confirmed, I started to attend church more. Thankfully God led me to a Bible teaching church that teaches salvation and how to attain it. But once again, after Cookie Monster was confirmed, my church attendance and my faith once again dropped off.

Then, a few years ago, I started reading Christian authors (not the ones who write the Amish stories either, though they are good as well). Serious Christian authors who right about everyday women, like me and you, and how they deal with life in this world that continues to spiral downhill. They wrote about being having bad days and bad hair and screaming kids and messy houses. I read Ann VosKamp, Lysa Terkeurst, Mary Beth Whalen and drank in their words via blogs and books.

Not long after, a Christian radio station was started in a nearby town with towers in my little home town. It had been 8 years since I listened to Christian radio and had forgotten how much I loved it. It's all I listen to now and I am so excited about it! Every word I hear is positive, encouraging and upbeat, instead of the negative, degrading, sad, or depressing songs on conventional radio. I started to really listen to the words of the speakers – Chuck Smith, Skip Heitzig, Allastair Begg, Ravi Zacharias, and others! I found Chuck Smith going through the Bible verse by verse every day on my way to work. What a treat! There was so many stories that I had never heard. And then Skip Heitzig preaching the Gospel of John on my way home! I wanted to stop my car and listen, to take notes, to drink in what they were saying. I had been praying that God would give me a thirst for His word and He did! That and so much more. I have been reading my Bible every night at bedtime, listing out my gifts from God, and praying more as well. I even have the Bible app on my cell phone and have plans that I study every night and there are different versions of the Bible so I can cross check and read a different version if something doesn't make sense.

Then yesterday I received a daily blog post from one of my very favorite authors and it spoke directly to my heart. This author is someone I would consider a “put-together” woman. She’s got it all going on, everything I want. Beautiful, thin, stay at home mom, lots of kids, lives on a farm, homeschools, beautiful home, great photographer, powerful writer. I wanted so much to be just like her. I tried, I really did. Then she posted yesterday and I went WOW! Her post was on her “messy life”. She is broken, she is messy. She has fierce internal monsters to slay. She is insecure. She is afraid. She is emotional. She is sweet. She is kind. She has felt unloveable. She is loving. She loses her temper. Her house is dirty and messy. There are crumbs on the counter, dirty dishes in the sink, laundry piled high. Her pictures prove it and they made it real for me. She is not perfect, and yet, she is secure in the knowledge that JESUS DIED FOR HER AND SHE IS ON HER KNEES THANKFUL.

And then it hit me, hard, like a ton of bricks, knocking the very wind out of my gut and bringing tears to my eyes. She is ME! If she is not perfect and Jesus came for her, then he came for me as well, in all my messy, broken, unloveable, imperfection.  What a revelation! After all this time (nearly 30 years) I feel it! I am secure in the fact that I am a "God Girl" like Jamie Grace sings. I may not feel that way tomorrow, next week or next year but for now it is enough for me and I am so incredibly humbly thankful for that!