Just following Jesus in my real life...

Monday, June 20, 2011

The rainy and the sunny and the giving thanks for it all…

It was Friday, our day off, or date day as I like to call it.

It was sunny and warm with blue skies, a beautiful day sandwiched between days of typical Oregon late spring drizzle.

The Hubs and I drove through the beautiful countryside to the rose nursery where I bought my first English rose.

Afterwards, we took the the meandering back roads home, the windows in the car rolled down, enjoying the air and the weather and the sights.

We stopped and got burgers and diet cokes to go, and found a place to park by the river for an impromptu picnic. Though the temperatures were barely in the seventies, it was a sunny June day in Oregon so the teenage girls in bikinis and boys in long baggy swim trunks played in the river and splashed and giggled, and young mamas brought their kids to the water and the toddlers splashed their hands in the shallows, and little boys threw rocks and tried to make them skip.

I think about the joy and appreciation of this sunny day that I see in everyone around me and how the rainy days make us appreciate the sunny days and how it’s the rainy days that give us the Oregon beauty that makes the sunny days so amazing.

Life is like that, when the storm gives way to calm, oh how the calm is appreciated, and yet in the storm lessons were learned, roots grew a little deeper, a little stronger, so when the sun and the calm come, the beauty gained through the storm is revealed. It takes all kinds of weather to make the beauty of a life, and God is teaching me to give thanks for it all.

my continuing gratitude list #1187-1198

-working through miscommunication and hurt and misunderstanding until healing comes

-Jesus is My Righteousness

-our nephew, our right hand man, at our church

-hearing from middle daughter about what a good time she had with her dad on his visit

-an unexpected evening out together, precipitated by a broken coffee pot and going to the mall together to pick out a new one

-seeing birds building a nest on a busy freeway sign

-youngest daughter’s coworker letting her use their more reliable car for her drive to Chicago

-her arriving at Chicago safely

-date day!

-the Word

-oldest daughter, son-in law, baby granddaughter’s safe trip to and from Wisconsin and how God used them as SIL spoke at a youth camp there

-a great Father’s Day, and the good dad and papa my Hubs is

Gratefully yours,

Elizabeth

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Keys…

Aren’t you glad that through His death and resurrection, Jesus took the keys from the enemy?

The Bible also says in Matthew 16:19 that He gives us the keys of the Kingdom

and that we have God’s power and authority when we pray!

We don’t serve a passive, wimpy God, but One with great might, power and authority.

Likewise, we don’t have to passively accept whatever the enemy throws our way.

I believe it’s a dangerous thing to live a “que sera sera” type of life, a “whatever will be, will be” existence.

I take this most seriously as I pray for my descendants.

I believe it’s my responsibility when I pray for them, to bind them to God’s will and purposes for their lives and to loose them from any plans of the enemy. I love to use the Word of God when I pray, because then I know I’m praying God’s will and not my own. One of the verses I pray aloud over my children and grandchildren is

Psalm 102:28 “Our children will dwell safely and continue and our descendants will thrive in Your Presence.”

Do you use scripture passages in prayer? If so, I’d love you to share one in a comment.

Still following,

Elizabeth

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Friday Favs…Vintage ladders, blue ticking pillows, custard cups…oh my!

I told you here about my fun day last Friday junking and antiquing.

When I was at Camas Antiques I saw this old wooden ladder.

I knew I wanted it to come home with me, but wondered if the Hubs would think I was crazy.

So, I called him, (he was still out of town at the time), and I think his words went something like this, “Huhhhhh??? Do you really want an old ladder? Well, I haven’t gotten you a surprise yet, so get yourself the ladder if that’s what you really want.” To which I replied, “Yippee!”

I’m so glad all my blogger friends understand how old, chippy, wooden ladders are très chic décor!

Here’s proof!

Links:image one image two image three

So here’s mine…

Now, look at the picture below and see if you can see something different in this picture than in the one at the top of the page…

Yes, I gave my little wooden paddle a makeover!

And yes it has P.E.I. on it, in honor of Prince Edward Island, my mama’s birthplace.

Do you like the before or after better?

I also picked up a couple more Homer Laughlin custard cups at the antique store. Sometimes I also find them at Goodwill. There’s something so homey about their chunky sturdiness. They make a good soup cup for baby granddaughter’s favorite tomato soup.

Lastly, a blue and white ticking pillow came home with me from Camas Antiques too.

My vintage school chair needed it.

I’m looking forward to Friday, the Hubs is home, and it’s our day off together!

Elizabeth

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Infused with His strength…

Philippians 4:13 Amplified Bible “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me, (I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him, Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency).

Definition of INFUSE

transitive verb

1a : to cause to be permeated with something (as a principle or quality) that alters usually for the better <infuse the team with confidence> b : introduce, insinuate <a new spirit was infused into American art — American Guide Series: New York>

2: inspire, animate <the sense of purpose that infuses scientific research>

3: to steep in liquid (as water) without boiling so as to extract the soluble constituents or principles

4: to administer or inject by infusion <stem cells were infused into the patient>

If boiling water is infused with tea, can the two be separated again?

If Christ infuses me with inner strength, isn’t the same principle true?

His strength in me means I’ve become permeated with His strength, I am permanently altered for the better.

If He is in me, and I am in Him, then now I am whole new creation, never to be the same.

Infused with Him, His fragrance wafting from my life, His strength enabling me to face and to do what I could have never done on my own, what I never even wanted to do before. Like walk in love, like serve, like put others before myself.

My only hope is this, this being infused with Him, being forever changed, permeated, with Him.

Still following,

Elizabeth

Monday, June 13, 2011

Meakin English Ironstone and other treasures…

The grandbabies were all safely home with their parents.

The Hubs was out of town.

The housework was done and the house was all clean and tidy after a wonderful month full of grandkids and fun.

What’s a girl to do with a whole Friday to herself?

Run a few errands. Check.

Get some exercise by going on a bike ride. Check.

Go junking at Goodwill and Salvation Army, then go to her favorite antiques mall. Check. Check. Check.

End the day with dinner with a friend at a cute little floating café on the Columbia River. Check.

Share the “remains of the day” with you all. CHECK!

_____________________

The Salvation Army near me is AMAZING!

So clean and tidy, with great worship music playing in the background while you shop.

I about fainted when I found a big pile of Meakin English Ironstone plates, bowls, salad plates, and saucers there for $3.99…for the whole lot! Monday they have 50% off everything in the store, but I didn’t want to wait until Monday and risk them getting snatched up. Three of the pieces were cracked enough that I just threw them out, a few of the pieces are heavily crazed. The majority of the pieces are in great condition.