Signing off for awhile... on my way to Norway!...

I'm signing off for a little while...

in a couple of days...I'm
on my way to Norway...

the land of the Midnight Sun!...

This is one of those once-in-a lifetime gifts from God... my mom was born there, and now her 3 children are going together to her land...

I'll miss all of you, but... I'll be back!!

Cassidy...

She is curious and

interested in almost everything...

Has collected sticks, rocks and tiny pieces of things for a long time...

She was a better Diana Ross in the church musical than Diana Ross...

Makes very strong statements about stuff she is sure of...

She has the thickest most wonderful hair!

She is very brave...

She has a great sense of humor... she 'gets it'!...

She loves Jesus and is His girl...

She reminds me a lot of me when I was her age...

Loves to explore, climb, bike, swim, sing, dance and have fun...


She has a heart of gold, is a nurturing, comforting and caring friend...

Is about to start middle school... I can hardly believe it!!

The years are flying by, it's another birthday Cass!

We love you tons!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

A little pre-wedding fun...

In just a few weeks, my niece is getting married... in Norway... where my mother was born... and I am going to the wedding!!

She is having 2 overnight spa parties, at a hotel in Portland,
Oregon. One is for a very close friend, the other is for 4 of her closest friends.


I don't live in Oregon, so I am 'creating' in Texas and sending it to Oregon. My sister is getting fluffy robes monogrammed for one night and pj's for the other night. I've made a 'spa bucket and basket' for each friend. I've sent them to my sister and she will have them on the beds in the 'suite' for the girls, with her rolled up and ribboned robes and pj's!



These baskets and buckets were so much fun! And again... it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg... not when you have Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby & Michaels! They provided the basics, and then I did my own twist... a hot glue gun is a must! I added spa stuff, sponges, soft socks, soaps, and also chocolate truffles and pale pink Jelly Belly's, etc...

I also filled a tiny heart shaped glass ornament with some pearls and wrote the 'bride & groom's' names in a heart and attached them with little satin ribbons to the tulle bow, a keepsake to later hang on their trees at Christmas.

I just mailed our wedding gift today. It's a little unusual... a good friend of mine makes wedding garters from antique lace and ribbons, she actually did Jenna Bush's wedding garter. Her work is so beautiful, and she is a precious christian friend. She had one piece of hand knotted lace left from a descendant of Queen Victoria, which she saved for me...

Since our dad is in heaven and won't be here to marry them... I added to the garter, his wedding band and a tiny gold & pearl heart shaped necklace drop which he gave to my mother years ago. It kind of makes us all feel like they are 'with us' as we travel to Norway for the wedding day...

More on the Norway visit in the weeks ahead. For now... our love and congratulations to Mark & Romy!!

A word from Proverbs... winking at sin...

"Winking at sin leads to sorrow; bold reproof leads to peace." (Prov.10:10)

When we 'wink' at sin, or somehow think we are just barely doing something wrong... so slight that 'maybe it won't count'... we can 'be sure our sins will find us out'...

God doesn't want us to 'kind of' sin, He wants our obedience in all of the areas that tempt us. Actually, 'barely sinning' is still sin!

It will never fail... when we 'dabble' in sin... it will ALWAYS lead to sadness and defeat. Our hearts always know.. God knows that it drives a wedge between our heart and His, and we know it too...

He has created us with a mind and heart that knows right from wrong! Sin is not something to fool around with, at ANY level. God hates it and His Word is loaded with the DO NOT do it verses! He knows it is always wrong for us.

What I really love about this verse is the second part... 'bold reproof leads to peace'.... Isn't that the truth! There have been times when I'm tempted to do a little less than I know is complete obedience, and when He reminds me, and I obey... I am choosing bold reproof of sin. I am deciding and choosing to NOT sin.
Do we ever feel wrong when we make that choice?? NEVER!! It's the way to His peace, of mind and heart. He made us, and He knows what is the best for us! And when it comes to sin... bold reproof is ALWAYS the right choice!

Are you a good sleeper??...

Do you sleep well at night??

I have to confess that many times I do NOT sleep very well...

In the darkness, satan loves to creep into my thoughts and poke his arrows of fear, doubt and questions...

There are times in this journey of life when worries and problems can threaten to overwhelm us. And when that happens, the darkest and most fearful time always seems to be during the night hours...

This verse is one I have gone to and claimed many times...

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.! (Psalms 4:8)

There are many others...

"Be anxious for nothing...

"I will never leave you or forsake you"...

When the night hours loom long, and I am caught up in a whirlwind of my own scattered thoughts and I can't seem to slow down... this one always makes me sigh... with a measure of relief... not only will I 'lay down in peace, but I will also sleep. Why? Because only the Lord 'makes me dwell in safety". HIS safety covers EVERYTHING!...

I can't tell you that I always sleep right away... I've never been an 8 or 9 hour sleep person even on the best of nights, but what I do know is that when I think on that verse, it gives me 'permission' to rest my turbulent thoughts, to quit churning, and to KNOW that He has all of it covered!

One more time, it reminds me that it is a choice... "I WILL" lay me down... It's such a comfort to me that even our sleeping time is something He has thought of and addressed...

I need those reminders straight from the heart of our Father, and I am so thankful He has put them in His Word...

Praying in the haystack...

I am just now reading through the book on my dad's life and ministry, "Everything by Prayer", written by our good friend, Fred Hartley. I skimmed it after dad went to heaven, it was just too painful right then to read it word for word, the sense of loss was too fresh. But now... I am loving it, the tears still come, but I am re-living so much of dad's life...

Here's a neat story that came right from dad, one he shared with us many times during our growing up years...

He is describing an old Methodist minister whose praying caught my dad's attention immediately. Dad was 24 at the time and said "when I prayed, God was 'way out there' somewhere in the distance, listening. The answer, too, usually seemed off in the distance.... but when this Methodist lay preacher prayed, it was different!"

Fred writes what dad said...

"Eager to learn his secret, I went to see him one day. His name was Ambrose Whaley, everyone called him "Uncle Am". He was a retired blacksmith, a Methdist lay preacher. I soon came to the point: "Uncle Am, I would love to pray with you". At once he arose, led me outside across the driveway into a red barn, up a ladder, into a haystack! There, in some old hay, lay two big Bibles. I prayed first, as a I recall it. Poured out my heart, needs, burdens, wishes, aspirations, ambitions to God. Then he prayed - and there was "that difference" again. There, in that that barn, on our knees, at the eyeball level, I said "Uncle Am, what is it?... You have some kind of secret in praying. Would you mind sharing it with me?"

"I was 24, he was 73 and with an eagle-look in his eyes, he said, "Young man, learn to plead the promises of God!" That did it! Those 9 words have echoed in my soul a thousand times since. My praying has never been the same That word completely changed my understanding of prayer. Mentally, I "saw it" as soon as he said it. Saw what? When I prayed there was fervency, ambition, etc. And make no mistake about it, the Lord does not put a squelch on these either... But I lacked faith!...

There must be faith. Where does that come from? From hearing the Word of God. Uncle Am would plead scripture after scripture, reminding Him of promise after promise, pleading those promises like a lawyer does his case, all along the Holy Spirit pouring in His assurance. With this discovery, God really gave me a new Bible! That day I learned how to make the Bible my prayer book. It gave me new motivation for Bible study. I began to dig in"

...... And now, here I am, his daughter...so many years later, and learning and re-learning for myself the same lessons my dad first learned in that haystack! I am seeing in new ways that in order to pray God's promises... I need to KNOW those promises! My dad had to learn them with his own study of God's Word... so do I!

I am 'pleading the promises of God' in my own life and for my family and friends... It gives real punch to my prayers when I know that God has already given His promises for what I am praying about! Then I know it's not just me... but God who has said so! So, like my dad, it has made me want to know more about what those promises to me include, and they are all there, in God's Word!

our youngest...

original...

fun...

funny...

generous...

loyal...

thoughtful...

energetic...

gets things done!

born salesman...

loves his wife and kids...

serves God faithfully...

makes just about everyone laugh out loud!

and makes his family oh - so -proud!!

Happy Birthday Tommy!

We love you tons!!

My 'other' joke...

I love a good joke...

However...

My whole family knows I can't remember a joke to re-tell it!

The other night our son asked me 'what was that joke (that ONE joke) you used to tell ??"... (I actually have 2!)... I did post it here about a year ago, but I still love it, I still don't remember any others, and it's a good time for a smile...so here it is again...

A baby was dedicated in church one Sunday morning with his big 5 year old brother standing alongside of the parents. On the way home from church, the 5 year old could not stop crying, he cried so hard that his father finally had to pull the car off to the side of the road. The dad said 'what in the world is the matter?'

The boy said through his tears...'that preacher said he wanted us to be raised in a christian home... and I want to stay with YOU guys!"

Proverbs... a dripping faucet...

"A nagging spouse is like the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet; You can't turn it off, and you can't get away from it." (Prov.27:15)

It probably won't come as a surprise that my husband loves this verse in Proverbs...I've never seen him read it without getting a big grin on his face!

I would imagine that some of you have a husband who also chuckles that such words are in the Bible...

When I get past seeing him smile... I can see the truth of these words...

I am always both annoyed and distracted by the sound of a dripping faucet when it happens in my house. All I want to do is go and figure out how to turn it off!

The thing about dripping faucets is... they do NOT stop!

I don't think I am really a 'nagging wife'... but...

Have you ever pushed or 'kept on' about something with your husband, even when you knew you should 'be sensible and turn off the flow'... that I can identify with...

Another blessing with the book of Proverbs is... the language He uses to instruct us is so clear and simple... sometimes even humorous, that even someone who is stubborn, thick headed or maybe even in denial... is without excuse! I mean. come ON... 'a nagging wife is like the constant dripping of a faucet'... no wonder my husband smiles... it makes me smile too, especially when I am not the cause!

You and I are responsible for stopping the drip, and it can be done... or God would never have mentioned it...

When I get a dripping faucet turned off in my home... the background sound is peaceful once again!

Racing toward eternity...

I was thinking today about how human beings are 'racing toward eternity and thinking we have all the time in the world'...

The older we get, the more sure we are that life goes fast! As our kids grow up, grandkids are born, and the face in the mirror changes.. (some days not so much, other days... yikes!)...

But the thought that held my attention this morning was how difficult it is to maintain an 'eternal perspective' all day, every day, and how quickly my focus can change according to the immediate circumstances... I can be so blessed in my heart after a good quiet time in the morning, and head out for the day ready to roll... and something totally unexpected happens and I'm caught right up in 'dealing with life'... many times whatever holds my attention can also spoil my joy... learning to live in the moment while keeping my focus on Jesus is not 'a given'... it is a choice.

That's when I must choose to 'take every thought captive'. I am learning to go more quickly straight to Jesus with all of the 'stuff'... I know I go to Him with things that probably just make Him smile (if it were me... I would probably roll my eyes!...) But I take huge comfort in the knowledge that He has made me, and He knows the workings of my mind and heart better than I do... so He understands my rambling words, and even speaks His truth to me in the midst of them...

I believe that God means for us to enjoy this life... 'He has given us all things to enjoy'... I aim for the balance of living this life and enjoying every day, while understanding that it is all temporary, and that what I am in my inner most heart is what matters the most to God. He sees it all!

The view on my immediate horizon changes constantly... it's the view of the distant horizon that I want to never lose sight of!

So today... I race, live, enjoy... while being aware that the whole of my life belongs to Him... and I seek more than ever to make every day count!

"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back."...
(Phil.3:12-14 The Message)

Here come the 'brides'...

I pulled the big Bullocks box down from the shelf

memories held of a long ago self...


4 young girls giggling with glee

trying on dress, from a bride that was me...




one by one they came down the curved stairs

holding the dress, sticking clips in their hair...

the rest of us stood at the bottom and sang

'here comes the bride' ... the descent began...

flip flops and shorts under satin and lace


but what captured my heart was the look on each face...


a hint of 'shy' and a smile of joy

thinking more of the dress and less of 'the boy'...


but that will all change in the coming years

and the hopes for these 'brides' is what caused my tears...





a little fun on an ordinary day


snapshots of life in a special way...