This little light of mine...

(Kim's elevate texture, hardlight, 20% opacity)

When we took our oldest granddaughter to the beach last week,

Papa gave her some spending money for the outlet mall, where she picked out some cute new clothes.

Then Papa gave me some spending money, too! 

What a nice Papa!

 I went to my favorite antique store and found this old enamelware chamber-stick.

(Kim's carmel texture, hardlight, 30% opacity)

I've always had a fondness for chamber-sticks. 

I have a few others, some reproductions and some vintage, but this is the oldest one I've found.

I was surprised at how inexpensive it was, and happy to discover that it was an additional 20% off!

And I love it's blue color!

 (Kim's 2303 texture, screen mode, 40% opacity)

I'm slowly working my way through Kim Klassen's Lightroom class.
She's a great teacher, but I'm a slow learner, and even slower without a lot of time to devote to it right now.
Wish me luck!

(Kim's 1217 texture, hardlight, 30% opacity)

still following,

Click here to enter my giveaway for a copy of Shauna Niequist's new devotional book, Savor.

texture-twist

With each gift...

There were dozens of reasons not to go,

to-do lists nagging,

church members hurting,

but we went anyway,

and the world didn't come to an end!

In fact, God quite capably took care of everything.

I'm so glad we were able to take our oldest granddaughter on a promised little getaway to the coast this week, 

and I'm so very thankful for how God, 

our church leaders and our church family took care of the needs at home while we were gone.

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

Since 2009 I've been counting my blessings thanks to the prompting of Ann Voskamp.

 I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my little green journal.

(and capturing some of my blessings via my camera or iPhone)

#5898-#5924

3-16-15-

-people praying for a dear one who is in the hospital

-ordering our daughter's wedding flowers

-a fun evening crafting for the wedding at my daughter's future mother-in-law's

 3-17-15-

-the two youngest granddaughter's cute St. Patty's day outfits

-Papa bringing our youngest grandson to our house so I could bathe and dress him,

(our daughter broke her finger this week!)

-making corned beef and cabbage and Irish Soda Bread for dinner with the family

3-18-15-

-a nice start to the day

-God's provision

-being able to zip up my mother of the bride dress

(I bought it a bit tight as incentive!)

-a sweet time in God's Word

3-19-15-

-taking our oldest granddaughter to the beach 

(her desire as her Christmas gift, and she finally had a day off of school so we could go)

-a nice long walk on this beautiful day

-our granddaughter having so much fun with the sea anemones and urchins

-photographing the man riding his horse on the beach

-ending the day with devotions about Christ's resurrection

3-20-15-

-beginning the day slowly with coffee and devotions

-a fun antique store find

-watching a mysterious wooden crate being washed ashore as we're sitting in a seaside restaurant eating lunch, (and so much wanting to know what it is and what's in it!)

-precious time with our oldest granddaughter

3-21-15-

-a safe drive home from the coast

-kisses from our youngest grandson when we brought his big sister home

-our daughter's wonderful future in-laws helping to paint the interior of their son's home, 

(the one he'll bring his bride home to)

-this beautiful evening

3-22-15-

-the beautiful Holy Spirit,

(my husband is preaching a series on the Holy Spirit and it's making me appreciate Him even more)

-our sweet pastors of Truelife Espanol

-good reports from the hospital, 

(a young mama from church is coming out of her coma and the MRI showed no brain damage!)

-Psalm 37, one of my favorites 

Click here to enter my giveaway for a copy of Shauna Niequist's new devotional book, Savor.

gratefully yours,

O Lord, how manifold are Your works!

Our oldest granddaughter's love language is quality time.

For Christmas we asked her if she wanted a present or a getaway with Papa and I.

She chose a getaway and chose the beach given a couple of options of places we could go.

When the day came that she didn't have school and was able to go, 

I didn't know that our gift for her, this little getaway, would be a gift to me as well.

Sometimes it's not easy being a person who "feels all the feels".

As a pastor's wife, it seems we're in a season where several of the people in our church 

are facing serious trials and my heart is hurting for them.

Then in my own life, I've got a calendar full of events before the big event

 of our youngest daughter's wedding in May.

I've been feeling anxious, waking up at night with things to do running through my mind,

and dreaming about the wedding being about to start with us not ready.

Our first order of business when we arrived at the coast, was a long walk down the beach.

The longer I walked, the lighter I felt as my burdens rolled off of my shoulders and onto God's.

The beautiful weather and getting to witness and photograph this older gentleman, 

in his western clothes and cowboy hat,  ride his horse down the beach was an extra blessing.

This afternoon I got a phone call with news that a young mama from our church,

who has been in a coma since her recent heart surgery, opened her eyes and that an MRI of her brain

 showed no brain damage from a stroke that occurred during surgery.

God does a lot better job taking care of things than I do.

So why do I waste a moment of my life being anxious or fretful?

Oh, to trust Him and His wisdom and to learn to instantly give Him my cares and burdens!

 still following,

Also happily linking up with the lovely Lisha Epperson 

and Cheryl McCain Photography.

Friday Faves...Easter Mantel

I made a few simple changes to the mantel for Easter.

I can't believe Easter is only a couple of weeks away!

I reluctantly took down my fuzzy, wooly pom pom wreath,

since it didn't seem very spring like.

I added a simple homemade cross to the mantel vignette to remind us of the reason for Easter.

Some old aqua canning jars filled with blooming branches were a free addition to the mantel decor.

Well, it's almost Friday, friends!

Have a HAPPY, HAPPY Friday

and 

a SAFE and BLESSED weekend!

Click here to enter my giveaway for a copy of Shauna Niequist's new devotional book, Savor.

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com

             

The D Word...

My youngest daughter has a tender heart and a sensitive conscience.  When she was a little girl if something was bothering her, out it would come when I was tucking her in and saying her prayers. One such night, her big brown eyes welled up with tears and she confessed that she had been having bad thoughts.  I asked her what kind of bad thoughts she was having. "About sex." she replied.  At that point I had to swallow a panic-y feeling and try to remain calm, which was difficult since I wasn't aware that she even knew about sex yet.  "What about sex?" I asked.  "Do you mean what people do when they have sex?"  "No." she replied.  "Just the word sex keeps coming to my mind.  I heard it on t.v. and I think it's a bad word."   With great relief, I explained to her that sex wasn't a bad word, and that sex wasn't even a bad thing if it was used in the good way God had intended for it.

There's another word, another good gift of God, that can be misunderstood.  It's the D word, discipline.  That word can conjure up negative thoughts of every sort, from childhood spankings, to starvation diets, to sweating on the treadmill, to boot camp.  Not very often is the word discipline associated with something pleasurable.  No wonder when we hear the practice of Bible reading and prayer called spiritual discipline, we tend to either avoid it, or we do it out of guilt and gritty determination because we know we should and it's supposed to be good for us.  It reminds me of the old time cure all, cod liver oil.  You swallowed it because, supposedly, it was good for you, but boy did it taste nasty going down!  Surely, that's not what spending time with God is meant to be, and yet, how often does it become just that?  It becomes something that we do because we know it's good for us, but it's certainly not pleasurable.

I've had times of great enjoyment with God as I've read His Word and prayed, and I've had times when it was as tasteless as melba toast. I've tried everything there is to try.  Read so many chapters in the Bible a day, pray for one hour a day using this or that outline, read five Psalms and one chapter in Proverbs every day of the month, read a devotional book and the suggested scripture passages. Like I said, sometimes things were great, and sometimes it felt like I was just going through the motions out of obligation.  Another thing I tried was reading through the Bible in a year.  I had read every book of the Bible before, but never in a year's time.  When I finally decided to give it a go and successfully finished up on December 31st, I was disappointed to admit that all too many of the days it had just been a to-do item to cross off of that day's list.

I've spent the better part of my life in a relationship with Jesus Christ, but I still can't say I have it all figured out when it comes to the spiritual disciplines.  I do, however,  have a couple of things that have helped me take more delight in the D word, discipline.   Just like in a marriage, my relationship  with God can become dull when I become stuck in a rut. One thing I've found is that, just like dating and little getaways can rekindle a spark in a marriage, the same holds true when it comes to my devotional disciplines.  When I find that I'm in a rut, I'll pack up my Bible, journal, pens and pencils in a tote bag that I have just for this purpose, I'll get in the car, grab my favorite coffee drink somewhere along the way, and find somewhere lovely to park and to spend time with God. Something about purposefully getting away combined with the beauty of creation around me, whether I'm parked by the river, by the sea, or at a local park, seems to rekindle my connection with the Lover of my soul.

This year, I've decided to try reading through the Bible again.  In the hopes of avoiding the disappointment I experienced in the past, I decided to try a whole different approach.  I bought a journaling Bible with single column text and large margins and am doodling my way through the Bible!  I'm filling the margins with picture doodles of some of the key points in chapters, writing out my thoughts, jotting down word meanings, rewriting key verses.  Being a quirky creative, this has totally breathed new life into that dreaded word discipline and into my relationship with God.  It has caused me to slow down as I read and to meditate on what I'm reading.  And guess what, I've even gotten some good stuff out of the book of Leviticus!

God loves us, even in the melba toast seasons of our walk with Him.  He doesn't love us more based on how our spiritual disciplines are going,  but He is certainly delighted when we find more delight in Him.  There are vast expanses of His greatness that we have yet to fathom, and shouldn't we enjoy the journey?  I'm pretty sure that's what He wants, too.

still following,

  

Also joining THOUGHT PROVOKING THURSDAYS 

at 3-D Lessons for Life