Tid Bits

I have been crocheting up a storm. Mostly just headbands with buttons. It has been a longtime dream of mine and I have attempted several times to learn from different teachers. All to no avail, UNITL... my momma Nash pointed out to me that it was because I was trying to do it with my right hand instead of my left. Total lightbulb moment and now, it is my latest greatest hobby to keep me busy on the grey days. I really enjoy this hobby and it reminds me of both of my grandmothers. I would love to be able to learn how to make more than just headbands with flowers and scarfs but for now, I am happy with that at least.




My daughter went to her open house/ Jr. High/orientation thingy this morning. She got her locker combo. I remember when lockers were a really big deal and my greatest stress in life was not having enough time in between classes to go back and forth between my locker and classes. Sigh.....




My dog has been itching, scratching, and itching some more due to the new climate we live in we now have to worry about things like flea collars and stuff. I remember when I lived somewhere that I didn't even know what a flea collar was nor did I ever have to purchase them for my pets. This reminds me of all the changes that have taken place for us this past year. Adapting to a new place involves much more than just a new zip code.



My other daughter is looking over her shopping list of back to school items that she got from her teacher today. She is making her own list of things she already has and things she still needs. She likes making lists. She is like her mother that way. I love finding her lists all over the house. This reminded me of her list last year that she made for things she wanted to do for her birthday. Her Aunt Jenny loved that list so much she blogged about it.



September 1st is when the FAB 4 all go back to school. 7th, 5th, 3rd, and 1st grade. We are entering a whole new world. Here's to a wonderful summer, a whole new school year, and to Life in general.

What a wonderful world !!

Hope Part 3

“ But this I recall and therefore I have HOPE and expectation;

It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His tender compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

The Lord is my portion or share says my living being (inner self); therefore I will hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him, inquire of Him, and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God’s word. It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation, the safety and ease, of the Lord."
Lamentations 3:21-26

This would be the portion of these past 3 blogs where I would like to take the right to use a little thing called a soap box. If you would be so kind as to let me get up on it for a minute, I promise not to stay there for very long.

In the above scripture the writer says that "It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness" that he has HOPE , expectations, and is not consumed. I too, would like to shout out a HUGE; AMEN,or here, here !, or YES !, or I agree wholeheartedly with that!! There were so many, many things this past year that tried to consume me and yet, I had HOPE. There are so many things these days that come to rob, kill, and destroy the life that God has given us... but IF we hope in Him we won't be consumed.

I would like to say that the above scripture is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites because it talks about not only HOPE, but also the reward for those that HOPE in Christ Jesus, "Safety, Ease, Peace, Salvation" these are all the rewards of hoping in God. He is the only one worth hoping in, because He never fails.

I could easily look back on this past year and think, "How could you have failed me God? Where are you in all of this wreckage that is now my financial situation?" But, I don't see it like that. I choose NOT to see it like that. I SEE that God was there all along. That HE was the one that kept my children from harm these past 2 years when we didn't have health insurance for them. That he kept food on our table, warmth in our cabin, and people around us for support. That he kept Mo and my hearts intertwined, in love, and gave us strength in character when the times got really tough. That HE changed our hearts and minds, and healed our internal emotional wounds, like no Doctor ever could. That HE is still healing, still moving, still alive, and still worth hoping in.

This is the God I serve.

This is why I HOPE in Him.

This is why I wait, expectantly for Him to turn ALL things to GOOD.

After all, isn't He the one that calls a thing "GOOD" - Genesis 1:31

I don't think I could explain better than what this says for the reason of my HOPE. And so that being said, I am getting off my box now. Hope is a powerful God given tool to keep us out of the "depths of despair" . To quote from Anne of Green Gables "to be in the depths of despair means you have turned your back on God". Friends, don't turn your back on God.

You can bank on Him, truly like no other.

HE IS FAITHFUL and so full of HOPE!

Hope Part 2

Hope.

It's something that comes from deep within.

It cannot be moved by circumstance.

It does not easily cave in by popular demand.

It is a word that has been used by politicians, theologians, and poets for thousands of years to evoke a response.

“To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.”

We took a risk this past October. It was painful. It is still sometimes painful.

When a move occurs as far away as ours, and under the circumstances that ours did, you sometimes feel like you have to know why?

We hoped for something better.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick"

When the outcome of your hopes comes crashing down around you, you have to reevaluate, restructure, reinvent, and renew what it is you truly hoped for in the first place.

I can still remember the first time in my life when my hopes were dashed. It was one of the most painful experiences in my life. And I still remember the faith it took to hope again. I am so glad I did begin to hope again.

In my life I have come to know and be known for having a hopeful, optimistic spirit. I do believe it is God given. I do believe it is for a reason. I am not always full of hope. I sometimes doubt if this character trait would be described but others as being incredibly naive.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 'How did I get through all of that?”

For me when I look back on the past 2 years and ask the above question; "how did I get through all of that?" I know the answer.

still more to come on this topic....

Hope Part 1

“Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action.”

The above quote has got to be an all time favorite of mine now, in regards to quotes that give me Hope.

To me it has always been one of the things I consider to be most helpful in my relationship with God. The fact that He never holds things over my head or brings past mistakes back up again. He is always the one who encourages, ever so gently to move forward. Forward motion, what a beautiful thing!

A while back, I would say it has been almost 2 and half years back now I got stuck on the idea that Hope often gets overlooked in the verse that says, “Now these 3 things remain; Faith, Hope, and Love and the greatest of these is Love.” I am not disagreeing with the manual on this one, I just wondered why for so many years I never really paid close attention to that word HOPE?

It got me thinking about the fact that maybe it’s because I never really in all my 30+ years ever had a reason to really “keep hope alive.”
Maybe when you have love and you have faith, hope just kinda gets lost by the waste side?
Maybe when you are not in a place in your life that seems hopeless you don’t even realize that you need this hope that others speak of?
It’s like being on a boat and until it’s sinking and you are desperately trying to find a way to safety, you don’t realize that there are get away boats all around you and a life vest right by your side.

Until the past 2 years came along the word Hope, the action of Hope was not as necessary. But, this past year I have clung to Hope like a newborn baby clings to it’s mother.

(To Be continued)

Summer 2010

These are just a few of my favorites so far....

Me and Mo at the Georgetown Farmers Market

These are now surrounding our outside porch and garden fence, trying to keep the bugs away

The front outside porch, or The picture of summer here in Redmond WA.

This picture = Leisure