new home

my new home on the web is

http://www.ateachingheart.com/

 I hope to see you there!

Some days........ this marriage isn't what I signed up for!!!

Have you ever caught yourself saying that.........???

............................be honest.

don't try to lie.......  i can see it in your eyes!!!!  YOU HAVE SAID IT!

it's ok... i will let you in on a little secret..........

i've said it too....  more times than my pride will allow me to admit.

When we marry, we have a vision..... of the wedding and how life after will be........  picturesque and orderly

and before you know it that wonderful serene vision has morphed into something much more like this ! ACK!

photo courtesy of Flikr

OH!  have I had days like that!

The key to a great marriage is remembering WHO it should be focused on.....  and that is Christ. 

Lorrie Flem has put together the perfect bundle of wisdom and encouragement for you.  It is just what you need to get you through those crazy marriage moments that were certainly not on the disclosure form you signed at the alter.................  oh?  you didn't get one of those either?.... haha.

The To Have and To Hold Marriage bundle is a wonderful tool to have in your back pocket to help you keep your marriage a priority

Here is a peek ............

My personal favorite was the booklet the 31 ways to pray for your husband.  It was wonderful.  I prayed through that list for my husband and I can't tell you how God worked in MY heart and in my marriage, just through those prayers.

If you would like to have access to these great articles and encouraging stories, they are available from http://www.eternalencouragement.com/ .  Valued at over $100.00 if purchased individually, they can be instantly downloaded for only $39.97.  If you would like hard copies shipped to you the cost is only $49.97.

******
As a member of the Gabby Moms, I was given the To Have and To Hold bundle, free of charge for the purpose of this review. No other compensation has been given.  All of the above opinions are my own.

Miscellany Monday 5.16.11

 

{one}

when your blog is down..... it is like running out of coffee beans on a monday morning.

waiting for posts to be restored..... is like trying to guess when the puppies are going to arrive....

{two}

nearly every seed i started this year... has sprouted. 

i assure you, this is not normal.



{three}

my daughter is preparing to attend college as a high school junior.  while i would like to say that i am prepared for that adventure.....

truth be told, i can't get the picture of her holding her daddy's hand in her chubby little finger out of my mind.

remind me again how she got so big so fast?

{four}

speaking of getting older.  i now have a 17year old.  he really was just 5 a week ago.  i swear it.

happy birthday son.  i am glad God gave you to me.

{five}

yesterday's sermon was about walking/living in the spirit.  for the first time i heard the fruit of the spirit described as a package deal.  you know, like a package of fruit snacks.  lots of little pieces in one package.

i always thought of them as something to obtain, and behave like.....i guess like a sort of code...

the concept that they are already there because the spirit dwells in me... is new... fresh.... and exciting

{six}

i really can't wait to eat veggies from the garden.

confessions of a tupperware killer

we just ate our last pickle.

i know you really wanted that information didn't you....

don't lie.

i knew you were in suspense.... hanging on the edge of your seat, waiting for this announcement.....


with the last pickle gone....  it was delicious by the way.......  now i get to think about what to put in the jar formerly known as pickle.


Past uses have featured....  coffee beans, black beans, rice, oatmeal.....

Now, what shall i use this jar for??? is a question that is pleasantly swimming around in my head.

i have turned to the use of glass jars, because really...... 

i am a tupperware killer.

i melt it, stain it.... and forget what it is in it, because i can't see inside the stuff.  i throw it out for fear of breathing whatever science fair project is germinating in there....

Switching to glass has been a meal saver around here.  Leftovers actually get eaten....  people can see what it is !! how novel an idea !!

Ever since my friend introduced me to these FABULOUS little lid things that Ball sells.....  the murdered tupperware isn't getting replaced....  we nearly use glass completely now for storing things. i reasoned, i have all these canning jars just SITTING in the garage, i should USE them !!

now the crackers, cranberries, almonds and walnuts sit pretty and neat on the shelves....  it is delightful.

and really.......... i am kinda glad i have killed all the tupperware.

....just 5....

{one.}  spinning.......

so many thoughts are spinning through my head from church yesterday.

do you ever just feel like there was so much good stuff shared that you can't even begin  to process it all?

i am so thankful to the Lord for his grace and showing me the areas of my life that need to be surrendered to him, there is lots of uckey (yes that is a technical term) stuff i need to work on.

{two.} cowboys.....

yesterday on the way home from church i saw a cowboy.

not so weird in and of itself.

but......

 the cowboy had a big ten gallon hat, a nice vest, and a bolero tie....

only problem was,  he was driving a Scion. 

and that.... is what i can't get out of my head....

it is like showing up to the rodeo with a miniature pony....

bad form.

{three.} dates....

i need a date with my husband.

badly.

life has been busy.

i miss talking with him about the random things.

i need one so badly i am not sure that just a few hours will cut it

maybe i need a weekend

{four.} puppies....

the puppies are growing well, they are fat little balls of fur.

their eyes started opening today, personalities should begin to emerge soon

they will be two weeks old on wednesday.

{five.} fat.....

i am fat.  there is no use hiding it, or pretending that i am skinny. 

the first step to recovering is admission....

right?

it is time that i stop letting the P90X box mock me from the foot of the bed where it has been collecting dust for over a year.

i need to be a little more Nike....

and

just do it.

~julie

Link up with lowercase letters.

love, me.

Dear Friend,

It was good that you called.  Hearing your voice, made me keenly aware of its absence for these many years, and aware of  how shameful of a friend I have become to you.

It was good to hear of jobs and kids and life........ all that happens when time slips by.

I wish I lived closer.  In the days since our talk I have thought of you so much.  I wish we could share couch time, our jean clad legs and bare feet curled up under us as we talked and talked the hours away.  Pouring encouraging wisdom into each new subject, with an ease that only a lifetime of knowing someone can produce.

Both of our lives have been on a bumpy path....

There has been lots of laughter and joy.......  hurt and pain...... and then the search to regain the joy.  I am very aware of an emptiness, an ache that lurks in your soul.  The one way down in there that you don't let people see, or even really want to think about.  It is the one that confronts you when the nights are long and quiet, and life is just overwhelming enough to bring it to the surface involuntarily.

I know all about this ache.... because I have had it.  Some days I still live with this ache.  Some days it envelops me and it's grip is so tight, I think I might die from the weight of it.  When we talked, you said how perfect my life sounded, how I seemed to be doing everything right.....  Those words haunt me. 

My life is not perfect.

At all.

I fail so much more than I succeed.

When we were young we made a promise to each other......besides the one that we would always be friends.... we promised that we would pray for each other, and that we would love each other as sisters in Christ..... 

I stand before you to ask your forgiveness.  I failed you in that promise.  My own life, my own selfish life, got in the way......  and I beg your forgiveness.

I resolve to return to that promise that we made to each other long ago.  I resolve to make it a reality to pray for you, and love you, to rebuild what time has torn down.  I want to share the burden of the emptiness that you are feeling, and let you know how I made it through.

If you'll let me......
I'm here.........

Love,
me

Miscellany Monday 4.25.11 ~ dryers and derriere's

{one}

So there I was head first into the dryer scraping off the 2 inch wide swath of calcified bubble gum off the drum....... and if my head was "in there".... you know my derrière was all "out there" for everyone to see....

My husband walks up to the laundry room door and starts talking....

It sounds like *wa, wahwah, wha, what, wah*

I  rearrange my knees, reposition my torso in such a manner so that I can extricate my head, and not crumple the dryer door.........lean out so that my left ear is able to hear him and exasperatedly say... WHAT!??

He just stopped by to inform me that the spot price for Silver has gone up 14 dollars.  It is now $46 an ounce.

Seriously?  I had to extricate myself out of the dryer, and end my quest to de-throne the gum.....

................for THAT??????????????

ugh.

{two}

I really do love my husband. 

and yes he knew he was going to be blog material.

{three}

Had a surprise phone call from a dear friend last night.

It has been far too long since our last chat......

God willing, there will be more frequent communication.

I miss her.

{four}

little boys with freckle kissed noses that come up in the middle of the day for big hugs

because they are "jus wuvvin ya mom"

are simply gifts from God.

{five}

its raining today.

fire in the fireplace........ check

big mug 'o coffee.....  check

slippers....... check

reading out loud to the kids day........ check.

 ~  julie