Just following Jesus in my real life...

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Friday Faves...It's not perfect but it's ours

I've blogged previously about the progress we've made so far on our new to us home.

(See these posts...here, here, and here)

We've lived here 7 1/2 months now.

The living room, dining room, kitchen nook, bedrooms and my home office are done.

What's on the back burner at this time is updating the cabinets and countertops in the kitchen,

and the cabinets, countertops, and flooring in the bathrooms.

What's on the front burner right now is yard work!

Somehow, when we walked into this house when it was on the market,

we fell in love with the house and forgot our plan to buy one with a smaller and easier to maintain yard!

(Look closely and you can see we've not put the trim around the bottom of the cabinets since we put in the hardwood floors.)

We opted to keep the oak cabinets because they are completely solid wood, even the shelves inside,

which is pretty much impossible to find anymore.

What I'd like to do is either strip and restain the cabinets in a lighter driftwood look stain,

or paint them. (Ideally, we'll hire this done.)

I'm also looking into an idea for new countertops that is economical.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Reflections from Exodus 15...

The Lord is

my Strength

my song

my salvation

my God

a Man of War

THE LORD is His name

He is

glorious in power

shatters the enemy

He is

great in majesty

He is

glorious in holiness

awesome in splendor

does wonders

leads us with mercy and lovingkindness

redeems us

guides us in His strength

reigns forever and ever!

Reflections on the song of Moses that the Israelites sang after their crossing of the Red Sea on dry land and the drowning of Pharaoh's army. Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, led the women in playing the timbral and dancing. In the very next verse, it says that three days later the people murmured and complained because of their lack of fresh water. I've wondered how they could see God part the sea and deliver them then three days later doubt His goodness and faithfulness. Yet, I can recall times I've praised and worshiped God on Sunday, then doubted His faithfulness on Monday. God forgive me! I want my mind to be focused on who He is and my heart to be fixed on that truth. I want to be unshakeable and immovable in trusting Him.

still following,

Also joining THOUGHT PROVOKING THURSDAYS

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Bittersweet...

"When joy and sadness meet

...this life is bittersweet."

Bittersweet by Moxy Fruvous

My husband got a text from his sister on Friday.

She said their mother wasn't doing well,

not eating, not drinking, not staying awake.

The caregiver at the private care home where their mother lives thought we should come.

We've grieved the loss of her for some years now.

Alzheimers stole her away.

She hasn't known who any of us are for quite some time.

At least her mind doesn't know who we are,

but it seems like something in her spirit knows we are connected.

When we walked into her room, she woke up, started smiling, and tried her best to talk to us,

though very little of it made any sense.

Yet, the fact that she was smiling, chuckling at times, enjoying us being there,

was the sweet in the midst of the bitter of this devastating disease.

It didn't take long for her to be worn out and to go back into a deep sleep.

We were able to enjoy lunch and some good conversation with my husband's sister.

Afterwards, my husband and I drove and enjoyed the beauty of summer-like weather in April on Puget Sound.

Time with my husband's sister, time together, the beauty of this place, the warm weather,

more sweet in the midst of the bitter.

(Kim Klassen's waterfront-1 texture, lighten, 15% opacity)

The next day our three daughters, with our youngest grandson tagging along, drove up.

Again, their grandma woke up, smiled, and tried to talk to them when they came into her room.

Seeing my girls speak to her about good memories they recalled with her,

seeing them kiss her and tell her goodbye in case they don't see her again in this life,

was definitely bittersweet.

On our way home, we all stopped for a short time to let our grandson play at the park on Lake Washington.

Seattle and the Olympic mountains could be clearly seen across the lake.

My daughters getting to enjoy some time together, us getting to have some time with our three girls,

our youngest grandson supplying us all with plenty of reasons to smile,

more sweetness.

She's our last living parent.

We've been through the bitterness of loss before,

but each time there is the sweetness in the midst of the goodbye.

There's the sweetness of the assurance that this life is not all their is.

There's the sweetness of knowing that sorrow and suffering will one day be over.

There's the sweetness of family love and connection and support.

There's the sweetness of God's love and comfort and the sense of His presence.

And, in this case, there was the beauty of two unusually summer like days in April,

in this beautiful place.

still following,

songography at "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out"

image-in-ing:Variations

life-n-reflection

buckaroomama

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Thanks as fuel for joy's flame...

Our dear friend, a wonderful Bible teacher, came and ministered in our church this morning. In his message he mentioned 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." He spoke about trusting that God is leading you, even when circumstances may tempt us to think otherwise. Resting and trusting, surrendering and relinquishing, God has been speaking to me about these things repeatedly in recent days. (You can see that in this post, and again in this one.) If I really trust that God has everything that comes my way in control, that He always loves me and has my best interest at heart, that He really will cause everything to work together for good in my life, then it's easier to thank Him in all things. I'm still not there, I still don't start thanking God as my first response in all circumstances. I'm working on it, though!

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

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 journal.

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

#8277-#8302

4-11-16-

-our youngest daughter, today's her birthday!

-God's help doing our taxes

-a fun evening celebrating our girl's birthday with our nephew and his family

out at the state park where she and her husband are camping

4-12-16-

-trusting, relinquishing, letting go of control

-talking to my two youngest granddaughter's on the phone

-our second born and her family safely home from their vacation in S. Carolina

-hot and spicy potsticker soup for my hubs who has a cold and fever

4-13-16-

-birdsong outside my office window

-getting to see my grandkids after them being gone on spring break

-a letter from the girl I sponsor at Villa Esperanza

4-14-16-

-God's help and wisdom when I ask for it

-a good prayer and worship time

-my husband saving some of my favorite BBC shows for me to watch

4-15-16-

-a yummy breakfast for the hub's day off, (these pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage)

-a nice relaxing morning

-a late lunch at a restaurant by the river

-taking our two oldest grands to the new Jungle Book movie

-a fun time after the movie at our daughter's house

4-16-16-

-a beautiful Saturday

-going to our grandson's baseball game,

and my friend coming with her grandson to watch the game, too

-a late evening walk

4-17-16-

-wonderful worship

-a great message

-God's help with a problem

-a safe trip this afternoon to see my mother-in-law who is not doing well

-a free hotel room

still following,

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Don't be a "but you would not"!

Those four words, "but you would not" may be some of the saddest words in the Bible. Time and time again God had proven Himself faithful to the children of Israel. He'd miraculously delivered them from slavery, He'd fought for them in battle, He'd miraculously met their needs. Yet, here they were facing another challenge and instead of turning to God, which you'd think would be their first response to trouble, they decided to seek help from Egypt. God pleads with them through the prophet Isaiah, warning them that Egypt would be a stumbling block to them, warning them to turn to God instead. The words in this thirtieth chapter of Isaiah are heart wrenching as God tells them how He is waiting and longing to be gracious to them and to hear and answer their cries. But they would not turn to Him.

It sounds incredulous doesn't it? But let's be honest, how often is our first instinct in times of trouble to phone a friend or to try to reason and figure out our own way through the situation? All too often I'm afraid.
(Join me for the rest of this post on Sunday, April 17th, at Woman to Woman Ministries where each Sunday I share a bit of Sunday Soul Food!)

still following,