Sons of Korah -Winders-FREE Tacos!!!

Suggested music - Sons of Korah !!! ALL of their CD's are phenomenal. Their music is straight scripture but, the sound ... I can't describe it...its like being back in the days of David... here is a bit of explanation:
With their unique acoustic, multi-ethnic sound Sons of Korah have achieved an intriguing re-creation of the musical drama of the psalms. Sons of Korah have put the Word of God and music together in a dynamic and captivating way in order to lead their listeners into an impacting encounter with the heart of the bible. From lamentation to songs of jubilant praise, from battle cry to benediction, from exclamation of awe and wonder to reflections of tranquillity and perfect
wisdom, Sons of Korah provide a compelling portrait of the world and experience of the psalms.
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Annah, my child with creativity and initiative.... she found a paintbrush, found the Windex and is cleaning the window. I appreciated it greatly!

And FYI.... if you are out tonight, Taco Bell is offering one Free Black Jack Taco from 6 pm till Midnight.

Strong Wills

"If you raise a strong willed child to do right, they will be strong willed about doing right" - Jim Duggar

I really love that quote! I heard it tonight while watching "18 and Counting" show on the Duggar family.

My little Sunshine, Annah, is very strong willed. She is sweeter than a huge lump of sugar but she does amaze me with her strong willful nature. She will do things she wants to do despite knowing she has perhaps just been told no and knowing she will get in trouble for it. She would rather do what she wants to do and get in trouble rather than not do what she wants to do. Its difficult but I am very consistent ...and prayerful. :)

After all, God was the Perfect Father to Adam and Eve...they wanted the fruit after being told no... wanted it bad enough to take what they were told not to...bad enough to deny the consequences or believe they just might get away with it.

JellyBeans-N-Frosting

Annah brought me a snack. She brought me one blue corn tortilla chip, one pringle and a couple Jelly Bellies covered in what she called frosting.

I looked it over and did not recognize the 'frosting' at all... didn't recall having such substance in our cabinets... I smelled it... delicious...smelled absolutely delicious... not so much on chips and jelly beans but it was very yummy smelling... I asked her to bring me the 'frosting' and it turns out it is Caramel Latte Liplicious Tasty Lip color that she squirted over my snack for me.

It was very sweet but, I didn't eat it nor could I even pretend to because she had a bowl just like mine with one blue tortilla chip, one pringle and two Jelly Bellies covered in lip gloss and I sure didn't want her consuming it.
After rejecting the snack we went downstairs to check on dinner and she had taken green food coloring and squirted it all in the stew that had been carefully simmering all day in the crockpot.... Why? She wanted to make it yummy. She said she was in the process of making her own playdough ( with flour and other stuff all over the counter ) and thought the stew could use some coloring. It was the green food coloring that we do indeed use to make playdough.

May this be a lesson that we must never ever ever, not even for a few moments leave children unattended at home even if we are in the next room or in the bathroom ( HOLD IT till someone else can be in the same room or house with you) or doing a Sudoku puzzle... it just can't be done till they are maybe 20 years of age or something.

What an incredible joy she is. She makes me smile. She makes me laugh out loud, she makes my heart warm, she lights up my day. She is a gift from God and I tell her that all the time. I tell her how special she is to me. She tells me I am special to her to. :) I wouldn't trade my lip glossed jelly bellies and green stew for anything in the world.

My Flu Secrets, Family Warmth

These are are always in my cabinet....always. I make Annah take a tsp of the Immune formula Sambucus daily and then at the first sign of the flu for any of us, a vial of Oscillococcinum is consumed. I take several packets of the Emergen-C daily and I give it to Annah every other day or so. Not only does it saturate quickly and thoroughly, it gives you superb energy. I usually put 2 packets in a small cup of ice with just a little water...I can't handle it watered down by the recommended 8 ounces so I just do little water with an icecube and guzzle it down quickly. 2 packets is a pretty strong taste. All of the flavors mix rapidly and smoothly, fizzly EXCEPT the one for j0ints...it is clumpy. I don't like that one at all.

I am pretty convinced by all 3 for sickness, flu prevention and or rapid recovery. I have thought about making my own Elderberry tincture but, I just haven't done that yet. I give the Sambucus to Annah in the morning with breakfast and mixed with a little cranberry juice because she doesn't like the flavor of the immune support one, but she loves the regular one without the Eucalyptus.

I don't want to be fearful of the Piggy Flu but, it does concern me. I heard on 60 minutes that those born before 1950 have antibodies to it.

This is Richard, Paul's dad. He was here with Martha (Grandma and Grandpa to Annah) for a much to short visit. He doesn't always wear shell necklaces but Annah wanted to doll him up.


























This is Annah with Martha. Martha was a missionary for a zillion years and as far as I am concerned, she still is one! She is also the the Author of "Meandering With Martha" - Missionary Tales - Burundi, Africa, Colombia, SA Ecuador, SA' Lakota Reservation, SD .... Tales from EVERYWHERE! This is an incredible read for anyone interested in the life of a missionary and all that it entails for someone who is considering giving up creature comforts of the USA and living in a 3rd world country as a missionary.

What a treasure this time was to visit and share stories ....catch up!

And while we were busy chatting.... Annah took matters into her own hands and began to help herself to whatever she needed.. I can't recall what she was looking for... I was too busy snapping her picture.

May your day be as filled with warmth and family!

Big Huge Giant Churches

like rolling thunder and power in the magnitude of voices singing to God. It was like being wrapped up in a blanket of warmth and power on Sunday.

Everyday Mondays

Its early morning and I begin my jog... I'm not always enthusiastic about it but, I never give myself an option to not do it. Its like brushing my teeth... just have to do it. So out the door I go only to see Annah's Winter coat shredded to bits and pieces. I bought it at JC Pennys for more than I would typically spend ... but, it had a little inner jacket and a warm hat and so I bought it. Its been dragged through the mud, ripped up, mauled.
It took me a moment to really believe this to be true. My Doberman is 6 years and my other little mutt thing is almost 2 and she really doesn't do much destruction any more and actually never has been a destructive pet...but together they paired up and destroyed a coat. Thats kinda how it always is right??? Sometimes we wouldn't be bad or at times even good on our own but, with the help of someone else we can be persuaded to do good...or bad. "Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good habits." 1 Corinthians 15:33 .... and vice versa.... So while Roxanne, the Dobie...or Izzy, the mutt... wouldn't do this necessarily on their own... together they played and ripped and tore and chewed all the while not caring they were ripping up a little girls winter coat and not just any little girl, their little girl!

And the culprits of the ripping of the coat. Grrrrrrr........


Everyday Mondays sometimes consist of Paul and Annah mowing the pastuer...





















I realize this does not look appetizing however, its what Annah requested for lunch. One of her favorite lunches is a wheat tortilla with generous amounts of mustard, sprinkled olives and any kind of cheese we may have in the fridge.... cooked lightly in butter and then rolled up. Tomatoes on the side straight out of her garden.
I hope your Monday was full of surprises and beauty.

Every Day Stuff

This is my old cozy comfy Bible...I write in it and mark it up. I love this Bible. I don't take it out of my house, its a very personal Bible... lots of wailing and crying marked in it... tear stains, coffee stains! It is not a translation I prefer any longer but regardless, its still the Bible I gravitate to when I am home and 'needy'. Of course then I feel so privileged to have so many Bibles in my home when there are people in other countries who are not allowed to have a Bible... people who will risk their lives to smuggle Bibles in to dangerous areas and countries. So much I have. To whom much is given, much is also required.

Here is a Ministry (Bibles Unbound) that sends Bibles to other countries where it is illegal. They are a ministry of 'Voice of the Martyrs'.

This is Annah's little sandbox. It is not overgrown with weeds as one might first think. She took a bag of beans and planted them in her sandbox. So, its full of little beanstalks. :) Daddy's gonna have to make her another sandbox!


This is my friend Debbie getting ready to ride her bike around Celebration Park. She has recently lost 30 lbs and is diligently doing Weight Watchers. I think she will hate this picture. My plan is for her and I to run a 5k together in the Spring.

I got a kick out of this because Annah brought her baby doll to Homeschool PE and she put the dolls stroller in the trunk and then buckled her in. This doll is very real looking... people usually gasp in the stores when they see Annah holding it. I find them typically only in December at Walmart for $9.99.

Watched this movie, The Climb, last night....so very good! Wonderful Christian movie! Just loved it!

And, I JUST love this YouTube on GodTube! Its true, I verified it through Snopes. Just love it, watch it and I promise a smile and perhaps a tear!

Snakes in my path

This is my path. Well, Its me on my path. Below are pictures of my actual path. Before we moved here 11 years ago it was just pure weeds and sunflowers but, our constant treks to the lake and to "Pooh Corner" have forged out a nice path that I now jog on daily. I know my path so well that I can jog it with my eyes closed. It has slight inclines, declines, bumps, ant piles...Texas size... and other curves, corners, turns and stumps but with my eyes closed I could run it all the way to Pooh and back which is about 1/2 mile. This is because I am extremely familiar with the path. I know every corner, curve and turn. I know where the trees are and where the lake is. I have been walking and jogging this path several times daily for years.

When I jog, I do not listen to music or have anything going on except my own prayers and thoughts before God. I often am not even thinking about where I am going ...I'm just going and praying and thinking and trucking along.

Because this path is so familiar to me I no longer think about it. I don't look down when I jog. I don't worry which way to go. Its memorized. Blindfold me and off I go. But, sometimes things happen to throw me off guard, such as rain. Rain has completely soaked my path. The lake is so near that if it rains again it will probably cover it. So when it rains and there are huge puddles in my path then I have to think about my next move. I have to pay attention to where I am going and avoid the mud puddles. Sometimes I miss and my shoe gets pulled off or I slip.



Here it is, completely soaked. This is how it looked today. And not only did I have to avoid puddles, as I was jogging I got to a place of dryness so I began my almost blind jog back home when all the sudden, as I was jogging... my mind jolted... what had I just jogged over...what was in my path... I had literally jogged over something not familiar...although I wasn't paying attention...in a quick second my brain recognized something different was on my otherwise dirt path...so I stopped, looked back and there it was... a snake... a snake in my path. It took me a moment to process this foreign object now on my pathway and then I became a bit bothered because I could of stepped on it or gotten bitten... it was out of my comfort zone... disturbing my peace of mind. However, I went ahead and got a stick and moved him along...he seemed more scared of me and frozen on my path... not moving or breathing or even hissing at me so I poked him and he slithered off. Of course after this very brief encounter, on my next round I was neurotically staring at the path in front of me to make sure I didn't see a snake.

This reminds me of life in general...how comfortable we get...trekking along... no longer looking closely at what is going on ... not really always seeing obstacles. In all honestly, I mean, heck, I jogged right over that snake... lept right over it... stopped in my tracks because something in my brain clicked...obstacle... I jumped it and then looked back but the damage was already passed... I could of been bit...I could of stepped on it and that would of really kinda freaked me out. I noticed it but I could of just as easily kept going and never known how I crossed over a snake...
What else am I not noticing in my life? I do know I recently lost a friend. I don't know how or even why. I saw her in the store and bounded up to her like Tigger and got the cold shoulder... called, emailed, ...no reply...no response... we had been very close friends... I thought...for almost 18 years.... how did I lose a friend like that? What did I do or not do so horrible to not even be told that hey I messed up... how did I get so busy in life that I didn't notice or pay attention?
I think that happens in marriages too.... couples get so familiar...so comfortable that they can sometimes no longer notice the snake in the grass. It can happen to parents, friends, people ...life... gotta pay attention to the details no matter how familiar we get because out of nowhere a snake can cross your path.

On a another note... This is one of my Texas ant hills. I have several parked right next to my path... I don't understand why it has to be right next to the path...if my foot goes even an inch off the beaten path it will wreck their well built home.


Okay, off to bed... I'm tired!

Same Kind of Different and Rambling....

I just finished the book "Same Kind of Different as Me"..... It was just.... I can't even describe it... How does one sum up such a book.... I can't. It was entirely different than I thought it would be.
The man who was a hardened, hopeless homeless man who shunned people and the world was amazingly 'found'.... found through the eyes of love... found by God... but, the story is so much more than that... when I picked it up at Borders to read it I thought I would be reading a story about a previous modern day slave (...yes, they did exist well into the 60's and such but obviously not by that name) homeless man who was brought out of helplessness but... thats just some of the story.... anyways, after reading the entire book I underline the below quote because I just loved it. This is what Denver ( ex homeless man) said in an interview upon finishing the book with Ron Hall:

When asked in an interview what his current definition of success he said:

"A successful person is one who can thank God for nothin', and then He'll give him everything. Success, I have found out, comes with a great deal of responsibility. I used to stand in the middle of nowhere, where time didn't matter and there was nowwhere I had to be at. And now I be standin' in the middle of everywhere and never enough time to get there so I have learned TIME MATTERS! "


On another note.... Life is plugging along. So many little random things. Loose ends!

We are still going to movie theater church. It was so funny because one Sunday I was watching the preacher on the screen and then as it was almost over I glanced down onto the stage and I gasped.... I was thinking...wow... he looks SO real !!! How do they do that? Its like a 3D Hologram or something and was simply amazed and then, in that flash of a thought I realized... "SNAP"... he's real! He's really here! I've been watching him on the big screen and there he be right in the middle of the stage live and in person! :)

Someone suggested I just stay home in my jams and Cup O' Joe and watch him online but, while we could do that... there is something about being in the midst of live worship and praise... something about the music and the flesh and tears and joy all in one room. You really can not trade that experience of being live for tv or online. The real live fellowship and people and human contact, sounds etc... I rather muster myself out of my house for that. Some things can't be viewed from a distance but need to be in person.

I feel like I am standing at a cross road unsure where to go exactly. I want to go back to school and become like a radioligist or something... maybe a emergency tech... (would I be called ET????) .... I want to do full time missions in a foreign country. I want to volunteer in a zillion different places..... I want to take care of orphans..... I want to become fluent in Spanish. I want to I want to I want to I want to.... which one do I take and run with? I have my hand in a little bit of all of it at the time but, I can't do all of them... I can't volunteer at 5 places, be a full time missionary in Panama, have oodles of babies, be in school and immerse myself in Spanish all at one time. I'm just praying for it to come together as I know it will eventually.

I have Annah all set with her school stuff. She is only 4 so we get to have lots of fun learning. We are working on learning the days of the week, recognizing money, coloring in the lines... phonics from starfall.com and lots of daily reading from a variety of library books.

Today, she told me she liked my freckle. I have a freckle on my neck. She asked me how it got there and I told her I was born with it that God put it there and she said "did he glue it on"... Hahahha! I said I suppose He did. :)

Oh goody!!!! Tiffany is home for a few hours to visit... !!!! Which ...I had bought her a box of ding dongs and put it in her room, went in to put more stuff in her room for her to take back to college and found an empty box of ding dongs... Annah informed me she was hungry so she ate them. !!!

God directs our steps

Workin' on TeXas !!!

I have been very prayerful, very much looking for places to volunteer and outreach. I have been given so much by God...so much and while I know I can not earn my salvation I also can not bear to not do as much as I can to show God I am so grateful to all He has done in my life and heart.

While I have printed off applications of local places to volunteer and being prayerful about it.... setting up times to go to orientations etc... well, seems I have been alerted about a place I was not even considering ... last night, as I was sleeping ... I heard very clearly " Last Call for Hopes Door".... sounded kinda like an "All aboard" type thing... So, I got online and found Hopes Door is a shelter for women and children of domestic violence.

I thought...wow...I have laid my own plans down, printed out applications but not for this one place... isn't it interesting how indeed we set out and make our own plans but God will complete our steps... I don't know where this will lead but for sure this place has been brought to my attention.

Proverbs 16:9: "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."
Psalm 119:59: "When I took a long, careful look at your ways, I got my feet back on the trail you blazed."

Same Kind of Different

I am currently reading this book.. "Same kind of different as me".... I am on Chapter 24. It is quickly becoming on of my most treasured readings.... right up there with 'China Cry'.

Here is what it is about:

Meet Denver, a man raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s; a man who escaped, hopping a train to wander, homeless, for eighteen years on the streets of Dallas, Texas. No longer a slave, Denver's life was still hopeless-until God moved. First came a godly woman who prayed, listened, and obeyed. And then came her husband, Ron, an international arts dealer at home in a world of Armani-suited millionaires. And then they all came together.

But slavery takes many forms. Deborah discovers that she has cancer. In the face of possible death, she charges her husband to rescue Denver. Who will be saved, and who will be lost? What is the future for these unlikely three? What is God doing?

Same Kind of Different As Me is the emotional tale of their story: a telling of pain and laughter, doubt and tears, dug out between the bondages of this earth and the free possibility of heaven. No reader or listener will ever forget it.

It is also a soon to be movie with Samuel L. Jackson portraying Denver. You can read about it here.
Annah had her 4 year old required shots today. Because we homeschool, I do not necessarily have to keep up with shots but, despite the controversy... I feel better that she has her immunizations. For me personally, I measure the risk as small compared to the disease itself so therefore, we choose to keep up with these vaccines.

She also had her well child check up which she passed with flying colors and being Over the 95 percentile in both height and weight for her age. Who could ever look at this beautiful child and know she was just a handful of a baby at 3.8 lbs?

This is a pile of material that I am piecing together to make a rag quilt for our bed. Its called "Texas" because rather than having any sense of continuity it has fall colors that suddenly turn springy and then rapidly rainy and chilly back to happy summer colors... Tiffany doesn't like quilts that do not have any sense of matching.. but me, I like it all thrown and pieced together like craziness which I worry represents my brain and thought process. ????

Now, off to do things that need to be done such as cleaning my kitchen, hugging Annah and chasing butterflys which seem to be in abundance here at this time. God bless !!!!

Daddy's Lunch

Continuing life on 2cd shift can be exciting especially when you have an adoring 4 year old who dedicates her morning to making you a special brown bag lunch. As I mustered my way into the kitchen to where Paul pointed to the bag it took me a moment to grasp the fact that Annah had woke up and prepared this lunch for her daddy. Below are the contents to which I pulled out to see exactly what she thought was necessary for him to survive into the night without a warm home cooked meal.







This is exactly as she packed and I pulled out to see:

1. One sandwich made completely and singly out of Blue Cheese Dressing. Nothing else.

2. Several Dill Pickles.

3. Bags of Green Tea







4. Lollipops

5. Can't go to work without Emergen-C

6. He may need a flashlight

7. And if he gets bored he can play with a pipe cleaner...certainly entertains Annah! :)

What a joy she is!

Sneezes, Expresso, Praying & Wondering

Yesterday I had a case of allergies. I was sneezing so badly that well... things were sneezing out.... yep. And, I enjoy being dramatic when I sneeze... so I make loud sneezes with sound effects.

But, yesterday, I had to take Annah to Gymnastics and I knew I had to have nice sneezes or no sneezes at all so I took Benedryl and in a brave effort to stay awake I consumed several diet cokes... which is a weakness because I know they are horrible to consume but still, I drank one after the other but, I was still druggy drowsy with that fog head feeling... yet I absolutely was not sneezing. So, after drinking 5 diet cokes I stopped at Starbucks and consumed a Grande Mocha Frappucina with 2 extra shots of expresso and I popped one of those stay alert pills... because I'm telling you, Benedryl will knock me out and I had to be awake for many hours to come.

But, come 2 AM I was still wide awake. Sooooo, I took a very uncommon amount of my peppermint Melatonin under the tounge tabs... they never kicked in.

I finally fell into a deep sleep around 3 and woke up again around 7 and I feel super great. I made it to the store yesterday and bought OTC Clariton so today is sneeze free and I am mentally and physically awake.

Paul is getting ready to work ... sadly the 2cd shift but, I keep telling him maybe God is just getting him ready to get out the door and on our way to the mission field after 33 years of the same Engineer job. It seems the more I say it, the more I can never even see it happening and it feels like just talk.... when he got called to do this 2cd shift...for the first time I thought...oh my gosh, this is just the beginnning...its really happening...they are moving him around to find something because they are not ready to let him go but what if in a few months they do??? For the first time ever it really felt like it could be happening and rather amazingly because he had been told he had 10 years of job security and I thought... 10 years... oh please I don't want to wait 10 years to goooooo and then BAM, within a day his entire job position and hours suddenly and rather dramatically changed albeit they told him its temporary.... I don't really know what is around the corner I guess. I do know that I have my bags packed in my mind and I am standing ready. I just wish I could settle one way or the other and not always be wanting to gooooooooo. I wish I just had a clear knowing. What I feel is that we will be gone but what if its just a deception and keeping me from being more focused right here? I've passed up the blessing of adopting on several occassions because I am so convinced we are leaving... I think the babies need families here and so many people want babies so I passed that up.... plus I'm older... but, not that that would really stop me if I thought we were really rooted and staying put here... hopefully I'm not just living some sort of dillusional deception. Thats a really depressing thought. !!!!!!!

All the same, this is where I'd like to go for training: HERE