I’m a Pinterest copycat…

My mind is a steel trap for unimportant trivia.

Ask me to memorize the outline for the book of Revelations, like I’m supposed to be doing for a Bible study class I’m in, and it leaks like a sieve.

Yet, I can usually beat the pants off my opponents in Trivial Pursuit.

Who invented the flush toilet?

Know it.

Who invented the bra?

Know that too.

So when I saw this photo on the lovely blog, Pastels and White, (and pinned it of course),  out of the recesses of my mind, (that is crowded with unimportant information), I remembered seeing something very similar on one of my jaunts awhile back.  Remembered as in, knew what store, and the exact place in the store I had seen it.

Only, when I saw it, it was 1990’s forest green.

No worries.

Nothing a little sandpaper, some white paint, a little gray paint, and some paste wax, can’t fix.

I love the blue of the little drawers on the one in Pastels and White,

but knew the white and gray would work best for me so I can use it anywhere in my house.

Besides, I already had the paint.

Cute, huh?

So, in this instance, my random facts remembering mind was a good thing.

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

Yellow Roses and Eye Strain…

My friend from church buys fresh flowers each week for the greeter’s table in the church entryway.

She then blesses someone by sending the flowers home with them.

I got to take these beautiful yellow roses home on Sunday, Mother’s Day!

They are so lovely.

It’s tempting me to go to the garden center and get that yellow floribunda rose I saw there last week.

On another note, my very old laptop, (in PC years), is giving up the ghost.

I’m having to photo edit and blog on my husband’s itty bitty mini notebook computer.

If things look off a bit,  blame it on that.

If you meet me face to face and I’m squinting, it’s due to the eye strain.

I may have to start blogging with a magnifying glass.

PC or Mac, that is the question we are dealing with.

Money to buy a new computer wasn’t exactly on the priority list right now either.

Me and mini might just have to put up with each other for a while longer.

Doing it without griping, now that is another story!

 

So how’s your Monday been?

Other than the computer issues, mine has been good.

I’m making my home office/sanctuary over, so I’ve been puttering around on that project.

I’ll be blogging about it soon!

Still following,

Elizabeth

Mother’s Day Thanks…

The sun shone hot and bright today, like mid-summer, instead of mid May.

I’m soaking it all in,

the sun,

and the singing in worship,

and the preaching God’s Word at church this morning,

sharing the lessons God taught me through my own mama,

and brunch afterwards with oldest daughter, son-in-law,

and my two little granddaughters

dressed in sweet, fluffy Sunday School dresses,

with white patent leather shoes on their feet

and ankle socks trimmed in lace,

and the phone call from my daughter in Ghana,

and one from my daughter in Missouri,

and cards and yellow roses,

and blessings abounding.

************************

I’ve taken the Joy Dare.

I’m counting one thousand thanks in one year.

I hunt for thanksgiving using the prompts Ann gives us each month.

If you are interested in joining in, click the link above or at the bottom of this post.

I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my little black journal…

3 gifts found about your home-

-a “peace” rose bush from a friend

-planting a new peony

-working in the yard with my Hubs on a sunny afternoon

3 gifts inside a closet-

-the shelves my handyman son-in-law put in my bedroom closet to help me keep my clothes organized

-my favorite gauzy top

-my favorite “ugly but comfy” old slippers

3 gifts found in the dark-

-rest

-the Hubs in bed next to me

-treasures hidden in darkness (Isaiah 45:3)

a gift outside-

-a huge, ugly plant in the backyard finally dug up

a gift inside-

-my home office repainted and getting a little makeover

a gift upside down-

-looking up at the sky through the cedar tree branches in our backyard

3 gifts about my parents-

-knowing without a doubt that they are both in heaven and that I really will see them again

-Mama, the practical one, giving me roots

-Daddy, the dreamer, giving me wings

3 gifts held in my hand today-

-my phone-a phone call from my only grandson, (in Ghana),  on his 8th birthday,

(the first birthday I’ve ever spent apart from him)

-cleaning products- as I do my weekly chores

-my fork- as we have a yummy, homemade, barbecued chicken salad for dinner

3 gifts found in my mother-

-her hands that loved me with each garment she sewed, loaf of bread she baked,

floor she mopped

-her perseverance when life dealt her some really hard blows

-her willingness to change

 

Gratefully yours,

Elizabeth

Mother’s Day thoughts…

One of the greatest joys, privileges and honors God ever gave me was allowing me to be a mama and a nana.

I am so richly blessed to be the mother to my three beautiful daughters and the nana to my four grandchildren.

However, I’m acutely aware every Mother’s Day that for many it is a very difficult day.

For those who’ve lost a mother, it is a reminder of their loss.

My mama went to heaven a year and a half ago.

I still think of her most every day and especially on the special days like her birthday, holidays, and Mother’s Day.

For those who long to be mothers, but who haven’t been able to, it’s a reminder of their empty arms.

The photo above is our youngest granddaughter, now five months old.

She is the second born miracle to our oldest daughter, who spent ten Mother’s Days, putting on a brave face, but grieving inside over her barrenness and mourning the three babies she lost through miscarriage….

but then came miracle baby number one, our blonde, blue eyed three year old granddaughter,

and almost three years later came miracle number two!

Then there are those whose mothers weren’t exactly the Hallmark card kind of mom.

Maybe she was indifferent, cold, too busy, or even worse, absent or abusive.

Psalm 139 says God was watching over our creation even in our mother’s womb.

Dare I say, He had His reasons for choosing your mom for you…

life lessons for you to learn from her,

even if the lesson was what not to do.

I know that’s easy for me to say.

My mama wasn’t perfect, but she was a pretty great mom.

I just want you to know, that I know it can be a tough day for some,

so I’m praying right now for God

to wrap you up in His arms and overwhelm you with His great love.

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

Friday’s favs…I’m lovin’ bread boards

Ok, I know the under counter c.d. player/radio isn’t all that lovely,

but I do like some music when I cook.

(I guess I need to come into 2012 and get an Ipod dock instead.)

I’m drawn to homespun things,

things used in the every day life of a homemaker…

heavy earthenware mixing bowls, homespun kitchen towels, aqua blue canning jars.

Lately my affection is for bread boards…

big ones, small ones, round ones, rectangular ones, old ones, new ones.

Newer and older boards are gathered all together in a wooden box on my kitchen counter.

The old bread boards have all been found for a dollar or two when thrifting.

A large wooden spoon that I got on our recent trip to Ghana sits next to an old carved spoon

nested among the bread boards.

This bread board was tole painted.

I sanded off all of the painting down to the original wood, and it left this interesting effect.

My daughter bought me an olive wood bread board in Bethlehem, Israel on her recent trip there.

I have just the place for it.

{By the way, when I buy any used wooden boards or spoons I clean them thoroughly with bleach,

dry them well, then rub them with a clean cloth and some food safe mineral oil.

It’s a good idea to occasionally treat all of your wooden spoons and breadboards with food safe mineral oil,

found very inexpensively in the pharmacy area of stores such as Walmart or Target.}

 

Friday’s almost here friends!

I hope your Friday is HAPPY and that your weekend is BLESSED!

Elizabeth

 

The dancing God…

I skyped with my daughter and grandkids in Ghana yesterday.

My homeschooled grands were excited to tell me that for a few hours each morning

they now go to the Christian school next to the church.

They’re the only “obruni” in the classes full of beautiful, black Ghanaian faces.

When I asked my grandson what he learned at school that morning, he said.

“Allah is not God.”

I smile.

He is, after all, in Ghana with his parents and sister as Christian missionaries.

(Though it’s not politically correct to say so, either the Bible is true or it isn’t,

and if it is, then the God of the Bible is the One True God, and His Son Jesus is the Only Way to Him.)

My grandson proceeded to tell me that people who worship Allah cannot dance in church,

but people who worship the true God of the Bible can dance when they worship.

This makes me smile too.

Ghanaians love to dance during worship.

First the women start, a conga line of worship, hankies waving in the air.

Then they mosey back to their places and the men dance,

and my grandson, he joins right on in.

I kind of regret that when I was in Ghana last month,  I didn’t join the line of dancing ladies.

I thought about what my grandson said all the rest of the day.

The Ghanaian teacher could have used any of many theological examples

to contrast Allah and the God of the Bible…

God created the heavens and the earth.

Even before creation, God knew man would need a Savior,

and in His mind and heart already decided to offer up the sinless sacrifice of His own Son,

so that He could adopt us as His own children,

 just so we could be wrapped up in the same great love that already existed between Father, Son, and Spirit.

(The God of the Bible LOVES…does any other God love?)

Jesus was born of a virgin.

He lived a sinless life.

He died a cruel death on the cross.

He rose again three days later.

He ascended to heaven and sits at God the Fathers right hand interceding for us.

He’s coming back to earth to make wrong things right once and for all.

The teacher could have said any of those things.

Instead, the teacher taught the children that the difference between Allah and the God of the Bible

is that God wants His children to be able to dance.

I really believe it’s true.

David, the man after God’s own heart, danced before God in worship.

And God, He sings over us and twirls with delight, when He thinks about His kids,

all because He loves us just as much as He loves His Only Begotten Son, Jesus.

On my walk/jog yesterday afternoon, the truth of this dancing God, Who wants His kids to dance,

settled right down into my heart,

and right there in the middle of the the street I kind of wanted to

look up to heaven and lift my arms high and do a little twirl,

and I kind of regret that I didn’t.

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

 

Friendship, good food, and treasure hunting…

Last week my blog friend, Adrienne, and I finally were able to get together

for a long awaited lunch and afternoon of thrifting.

We talked non stop at lunch.

Me, about my recent trip to Ghana.

Her, about her new ministry at her church.

We shopped nonstop too.

We went to three Goodwill stores and two Salvation Army stores.

Adrienne went home with lots of goodies, and I didn’t do too bad myself.

I added some vintage silver to my collection for twenty five cents a piece!

I also got two vintage kitchen towels.

(I saw some just like these in an antique store for over forty dollars each!)

I got them for two dollars.

A few vintage tin molds were added to my growing collection.

Some pieces of transferware that go with my set,

(Johnson Bros. made in England “Indies” pattern),

were found too.

(I found cups and saucers at Salvation Army on my trip with Adrienne,

and the creamer, sugar and platter on an earlier visit to Goodwill.)

It was a lovely afternoon of friendship, good food and treasure hunting.

Not bad for only about $25 including the lunch!

 

Still following,

Elizabeth