Wow!

My Aunt posted this picture she took, out in her backyard, on her FB page. I just wanted to share it. These were taken just after a hail storm. The words she put as the caption was "Thank you Lord for your promises."

rain

I love watching the sky and knowing when a storm is coming. There is something about it that just gets me excited. Not that I want anyone to get hurt or loose anything due to the storm, but the power behind it. It is like a nervous excitement. Sometimes there is a stillness that you can't describe, but it feels funny. Then the trees start to sway until they look like they will get ripped out of the ground. The most amazing is when the sky suddenly gets dark, and you almost hold your breath until the rain or hail starts to pound the ground so hard that you can't see your neighbors house. Then it all stops and you just have a trickle of rain and the sun comes out as if nothing happened. If you catch all of the signs you can bring things in before the storm or roll up your car windows, but if you only see the darkness and then the rain starts you cannot protect the fragile things.

If you have ever been through an Oregon rainstorm you can relate to what I am saying. Life can be like this. If you are in tune to what is happening in your life and around you then you can prepare for the storms or battles that are coming your way. God put little hints into our lives and safeguards, but if we don't listen we can loose everything. I find comfort in knowing that God is there and He knows what the future holds for each of us. We just have to listen to His voice and be ready. We must be watchmen at all times and in all seasons.

"Oh how He loves us"

I haven't blogged in a while. The main reason is every time I sat down to do it my words were just full of frustration and very negative. I have been sick for the last couple of weeks. Of course it is when you are down that the small problems of my world came crashing in on me at the same time. God works everything out and I knew in these instances He would do the same thing for me. I never got depressed or lost hope. I just prayed and cried my way through it. I really don't have a lot to complain about when I think about all that God gives me including his love. I am very well taken care of. I may feel I need other things, but those are just wants.

Today I woke up crabby and I just needed some comfort foods, so I put a roast in the crock pot for dinner. Right now I am cooking hamburger and rice for lunch. That just sounded good. :) I put on a happy face and played with the kids, that always helps. I also turned on the worship music to bring a good atmosphere into the house. I still am tired and my coughing is just as bad, but my mood is much better.

The boys are doing better this week. We are at a week and a half with on referrals or phone calls from the school. Stephen is calmer and easier to deal with since visiting the doctor. Eric is still "Eric". His struggles stay struggles, but we are learning how to help him better. I know that eventually he will be able to handle things in life a bit better. This will just take time and determination.

I praise the Lord for all he does. His grace and mercy overwhelm me. "Oh how He loves us".

PS ~ I just got done reading a really good book. "The Scarlet Thread" by Francine Rivers. It teaches about how God's hand is in and on all things, even when we feel he has left us and forsaken us. I recommend it!!!

In my weakness I praise the Lord.

In my weakness I praise the Lord.
When I feel alone and lost, I know he is there for me.
I keep believing there are no accidents and that the things I go through are making me who I am meant to be.

These 2 weeks have been difficult for me as a mother, but I have to just take one day at a time and know that God is in control. I am thankful that I have people I can lean on and who love me. I am very thankful that the Lord will never leave my side.

A few tears are ok, but I will not let this get me down.

Planting seeds.

Between the ages of 8 and 11 my family lived in Salem.  Up the road from us lived a wonderful older lady and her husband.  They went to our Church and she was a wonderful friend to my mother.  They would walk together and she was a shoulder for Mom to lean on.  The most wonderful thing was she was a Grandma figure for my sister and I.  She taught us how to sew, make candles, pick apples, and other wonderful things.  She also took us school clothes shopping and helped us make presents for our Mom and Dad.  We loved going to “Grandma’s house”.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my real Grandmothers, but this woman lived only a few houses down from me.  The coolest thing was she chose me.

 

As a mother I prayed for such a woman to be in the lives of my boys.  The Lord answers all prayers.  We bought this home 5 years ago and low and behold there she was.  Right across the street is my boy’s other “Grandma”.  We started with just visiting back and forth.  Finding Easter goodies inside the screen door  after Church.  Christmas presents showing up.  To her showing me how to grow plants and her teaching my boys how to find the tomatoes, carrots, peas and other veggies that she grows.  She then sent over all that they picked because “she like to grow the plants, but can’t possibly eat them all”.  She also has bought them school clothes and enjoys having them pop in and say hello. 

 

Then at the end of  last summer she decided to kick it up a notch.  Now she has 3 large planters in her yard that they are going to grow things in.  She then helped me to did out my dead soil and replaced it with new compost.  Today she took the boys to get  their gardening tools so they can get started.  We are also putting together a strawberry planter.

 

She isn’t the only one giving.  Jason helps her with repairs and other stuff.  I am a listening ear and a “daughter” that she enjoys visiting with.

She is simply a wonderful blessing to my boys and to us.  I praise the Lord and I thank him for his answered prayers.  I have had many adopted Moms, Aunts, sisters, brother, and Grandmothers in my life.  I feel these people are very important and help to for who you are just as much as your family does.

 

All of our needs are full filled even before we ask or know that we have a need.  My boys will remember this for the rest of their lives.

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My favorite new spice that I highly recomend!

I feel like writing a funny blog today.  I feel the need to tell all of you that read this that I found an amazing spice bottle at my bread store.  I am some one who loves salt, pepper and garlic.  Now for some reason I do not have the talent of getting these three amazing spices evenly dispersed on my food.  This is a skill I lack.  So when I saw this bottle in the store I had to get it and try it.

It is really good!  I am enjoying the flavor and am a bit nervous because it is almost gone.  Must remember to pick up some more.  I found it at Franz Bakery Outlet.  I really hope it is not like most outlet stores that don’t always carry the same items from delivery to delivery.