Autumn Amazes Me

I am finally posting some of the pictures from our Columbus Day drive. We had the best time together. I miss my hubby. He's been working 6 days a week since he started with the post office Feb. 2005. I'm so thankful that he's working so much, and making it possible for us to catch up financially. Still, I miss him. We just drove down the park, and stopped at places that were interesting, then we went to the nature center, and to the mall. A good time had by all, Huzzah!

Do the 'Do (double bun ponytail)

I divided my hair into 2 sections, and put 2 knots in them,

and then held it all together with ponytail.

I liked the fun feel of the shorter ponytail.

The Beauty of Fire (for Sallie's Carnival of Beauty)

I remember a song that I sang as a child. I did it as a special in my Sunday School class, oh so long ago....

"It only takes a spark,
To get a fire going,
And soon all those around
Can warm up to it's glowing.
That's how it is with God's love,
Once you've experienced it.
You spread His love
To everyone.
You want to pass it on."

God has been convicting me of not being a strong witness. I don't ever hide the fact that I'm born again. I'm very happy in my faith, and am willing to talk about it to people who ask me, but.....

I don't go out of my way to give out tracks. I don't ask the Lord to give me a burden. I live my happy life, and just don't think.

I don't think about the lost, about people who, in their heart of hearts are searching, scared to death about tomorrow, about dying.

I need to remember that hell is real....

I need to remember, that I can help. I can give out my little spark, and start the flame in their soul.

Fire has so many scary connotations (hell, for example), but it also has a most beautiful message too. It does only take a spark. A kind word or two to a lost soul. "Hey, I've been thinking about you. Are you saved? I can show you in the Bible, if you'd like." It's so easy for me to write it, but why is it so hard to actually bring myself to say it?

Lord, please help me spread the spark that is inside me.... Share the Hope of your Gospel.... Share the warmth of your salvation.

Help me have a burden for souls.

Dorothy's Garden: Amish Country

Dorothy's Garden: Amish Country

Sunshine Pie

"A pound of patience, you must find
Mixed well with loving words so kind.
Drop in two pounds of helpful deeds,
And think of other people's needs.

A pack of smiles to make the crust,
Then stir and bake it well, you must.
And now I ask that you must try,
The recipe of this Sunshine Pie."

Happy Columbus Day

Have A Happy Columbus Day.


My dear hubbie has the day off, and we're going to go for a drive and go Autumn sight seeing.

The "I hate cooking" Menu Plan for Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday

Monday- Smoked sausage and sauerkraut, green beans

Tuesday- Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup (with extra egg noodles), cooked baby carrots

Wednesday- Dinner at church- Chinese

Thursday- Spaghetti, salad

Friday- Dinner at niece's birthday party

Saturday- Bacon Quiche (frozen)

For more Menu ideas, visit http://www.orgjunkie.blogspot.com/

Photos of my visit to Revival at Daddy's Church

In the middle of a city, they have this sweet, little country church.


My dad. I peeked in the door, and surprised him with a photo.


I swear I didn't put Gabey up to this. He just said, "A cross!" and went over and was hugging it. (oh, my full heart!)


I just love this picture of Poppy and Patty Nana.

God is Truly the Giver of Good Gifts

What a day this has been. Praise the Lord, I love Sunday! I got to teach on "Give like God Gives." It was so much fun (it's always fun teaching kindergarteners). We talked about how, ultimately, God is the One who gives us everything in our lives. There was an illustration, and I made it into a mini play for them to do....

A little boy had a piece of bread for breakfast, and went to thank his mom...
His mom said, "Don't thank me, thank the baker. He's the one who made the bread that I bought."
So, the boy went to the baker, and the baker said, "Don't thank me, thank the farmer. He grew the wheat that I made into bread."
The farmer said, "Don't thank me, thank the sun and the rain. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to grow this crop."
And finally, the sun and rain said, "Don't thank us, thank the One who created us! God."

Our verse was..."Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above,..."
We talked about how God gives- Lovingly, Freely, Constantly, Sacrificially, and Willingly.


Later in the day, I fell asleep, and woke up way too late. I was making a corn casserole for my stepmommy to take to her revival dinner. I woke up at 4, and was supposed to be giving it to her at 4:30, yikes! So, I put it together and in the oven, and just took it when it was done. As we were on our way, I decided to stay at Daddy's church for their service. I'm so glad I did. The dinner was so tastey, and the people were all very sweet. I got some pictures of the church and the dinner with my phone camera. They aren't good quality, but they capture the moment. It turned out to be a great service, encouraging us to be soul winners. I need to hear that.

After the service, I got to watch my dad and Patty. They were helping an older man into his car. They touched my heart with their little act of kindness. This new church has been such a blessing. They are happy and serving, and they are home.

I am so proud of my dad. He has a tender heart, and that is rare and beautiful in people nowadays. I love you, Dad.

I am so proud of Gabey. Patty watched him in the little nursery, so I could join the service. She said afterwards that he's the best 3 year old she's ever seen. He whispered through the service, so she could keep the door open and listen to the preaching. God has given us something special in this little boy. I'm bursting with pride in how thoughtful he is.

My Family's Blogs are done.

I'm so excited! I worked on everyone's blog this week.... my husband, dad, mom, sister....they're all done. I just finished up my mom's, and I'm very happy with it. Since I did my husband's though, I told him he's going to have to start posting, LOL.

We went to the thrift store last night, and I found some canvas paintings for our bedroom. Our theme is lighthouses. I'll take some pictures when I get them on the wall.

Gabey's New Bible Verse

I got some video of Gabey saying his newest Bible verse.
"Give, and it shall be given unto you."

Fall Outside and In

I collected leaves from the backyard, and laminated them! I don't know how long they'll last, but I thought I'd give it a shot.




Side note:
I finished my husband's blog. It's a superman theme. LOL.


My podcasts aren't working. I'm going to have to check into it. :(

Fun with Computers

Look at the pretty graphics I found!
The one above is from Kool Graphics.
I love computers!! LOL!



Today has been a great day, so far. I have a bit of a cold, and sinus headache, but other than that, things are wonderful. We went to the library to take back the library toys. I was prepared for many tears, and I wasn't disappointed. We had to take back the train. We got a very large truck to bring home in it's place. My dad took us to McDonalds for lunch, and I tried their Asian Chicken Salad. Holy cow! I loved it. I would never have thought to eat raw lima beans, LOL, but they were in the salad, and they tasted awesome. I'll have to remember that.

I've been working on my family's blogs, changing backgrounds and graphics. It's been really fun so far. You have to check out my sister's blog...the link is in my blog links. That is one I finished yesterday, and I'm so proud of it. I'm really just adding my own graphics to the templates they have available. It's hard being semi-illiterate in html.
Maybe someday, I'll take a class.

For Your Listening Enjoyment

I've been searching for a good way to put music on here. I have found a few ways that other bloggers have music on their site, but I wanted something different. I found some nice podcasts from Odeo, and have uploaded them to the sidebar. Feel free to give a listen. My favorite is the 3rd one. I'll add different, and more podcasts as I find them. Once I can figure out how to hook up my microphone, hopefully, you'll hear some good old fashioned hymns (Acapella, most likely, LOL.)

:(:(:(:(:(

Flushing

Fish

Is

Never

Fun.

Be Not Conformed: Cell Phone vs The Bible

Be Not Conformed: Cell Phone vs The Bible


"I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones?

-What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

-What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

-What if we flipped through it several times a day?

-What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

-What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

-What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

-What if we used it as we traveled?

-What if we used it in case of an emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm.....where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't ever have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!"

Thank you, Sunday School Teachers!

Here's a little thank you to all the Sunday School teachers out there!!

Tropical Fish Lesson for Today

I tried to take pictures of my fishies, and my digital camera is just too slow. I decided to just look them up, and get good pictures online. Here are examples of some of the fish in my tank.

Serpae

Swordtail

Swordtail Female

Tiger Barb

Platy

Honey Gourami

Blue Gourami

Penguin Tetra

Black Tetra

Pleco

Here is an actual picture of the tank, an up to the minute photo, taken this morning. I put some new rocks in, so the fish could hide, and I fixed the paper in the back of the tank, because it had fallen off.


Gabey and I are having so much fun watching the fish swim around...Gabey asks..."Are they glubbin' around?" We named the pleco "Glubbie". I learned that some of the fish I got are just fin nippers, so I'm going to get a few more of those so they will have their own school, and hopefully won't mess with the other fish. Also, I think my swordtail might be pregnant! We also have 2 mystery fish. I don't know what they are, and can't find pictures, LOL. Daddy doesn't remember that he bought them. I'll have to go to the fish store, and do some research. They're really weird, totally clear!

Satan, you won't win this Sunday!!

A while ago, I was asked by our friends, John and Kara, to sing at NorthCoast Baptist's 2 year anniversary service yesterday morning. I was so excited! If you've followed my posts for a while, you'll remember that we helped alongside John when he was led to start NorthCoast. Jeff led singing and ushered, and I sang specials and helped lead singing at the nursing home ministry.

For a while, we met in a senior resident apartment building, on the 4th floor on Sundays, and at my house for Wednesday night Bible study. God blessed us with a wonderful little church building in February 06. It was so exciting to watch a baby church grow. We signed the charter when NorthCoast became a church, and left the umbrella of CBC's ministries.

In May, Jeff and I felt that we were needed back at Cleveland Baptist. We left NorthCoast, with a sadness about leaving our good friends, but with an excitement of being used again at CBC. So, you can imagine how happy I was to accept their request to sing, and to visit NorthCoast again.

Well, Saturday night, I laid down a little early, after putting the baby to bed, and just a few hours later, he came in crying, and I let him sleep with us. He spent the night, kicking me, and keeping me awake, plus, I noticed that my sinuses were raw, and I just prayed..."Lord, don't let Satan keep me from doing this."

I woke up in the morning, and was DIZZY! I was having to lean on the walls to get to the restroom! I was so upset. I assume it's an ear infection. I didn't want to MISS the service! I woke up and talked to Jeff about maybe staying home, and asked him to get me some sinus medicine. After about an hour, I felt better, and not dizzy anymore. PTL!! I rushed and got ready, and was able to make it to the service! They had a sweet lady, Mrs. Reed, playing the piano. She's a missionary to Brazil, and is such a blessing at NorthCoast on her furlough. She played for me, and I sang..."Great and Marvelous!" I was just so happy to be there. We stayed for the luncheon afterwards, and I was able to visit with my wonderful friend, Kara, and see her children.

God lifted me up, and let me stand!! Thank you Lord, for helping me feel better, so I could be a part of that awesome 2 year anniversary of NorthCoast Baptist.

Thrift Store Find

Friday, I took Gabey to the Farmer's market and the thrift store. I found 2 sweaters for Gabey, a pillow for the living room, a tractor for gabey- LOL, and....

THIS for snack set of 4, for only $3.00!.....




Now, it has a home among my other snack sets! Two of my sets came in the original box. They're so inexpensive, and so sweet. I started collecting them right before I got married almost 5 years ago.






This set sort of came with the house, I'm not sure if it belonged to my family or if it was my ex sister in law's. I'm hoping no one asks for it back. Hee hee.


not a snack set, lol, but some pretty cut glass trays and pitchers...