The day of snakes and apples

Whilest enjoying my cup of coffee the great hunter came home early this morning with his proud catch.  Unlike our neighbors and peers we do not kill snakes we find in our chicken coop, we capture them and release them into the wild.  I usually have a little chat with the serpent about not coming back and send it along.  

 Horse apple hunting.  

Texas cracks on the journey.

Coming home with a bucket full of horsey apples. 

Clover rushes to greet us and to get his apples!

And now a nice nap! 

 "Here am I. Send me."  - Isaiah

Flashbacks & Recent Read

Flashbacks of Annah's recent party.....Melting gummy worms ....Because of the heat and because they were literally melting, when you ate them, they squished disgustingly between your teeth. You should try it sometime.... engaging in conversations with great friends, lots of swimming,Happy newly 5 year old girl.....

 

 

Happiest gift of all is her big sis coming home to visit and be at her party!

I just read this book, A Grace Disguised. I bought it off of Ebay. I really recommend it to anyone to read even if their life is still and calm and I highly suggest it in the hands of someone who has suffered a loss of a loved one.

The author, Jerry Sittser, was on his way home with his wife, mom and 4 children when a drunk driver collided with them killing his wife, his mom and his 4 year old little girl. 3 generations gone in a moment.  He provides such insight in the entire emotional process he went through with God and his entire existence in the midst of emotional numbness. I read this book when I was reading on how Steven Curtis Chapman was greatly helped by it after the tragic loss of his 5 year old daughter, Maria.  

Some reviews say:  "This is the single most reflective and redemptive book on sorrow and loss I have ever read" - Bill Hybels

"With profound insight into tragedy and forgiveness, grief and grace, justice and mercy, Jerry Sittser leads us through the darkness of loss and pain and into the light of grace". - Max DePree

Have courage for the great sorrows in life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have laboriously accomplished your daily tasks, go to sleep in peace, God is awake.- Victor Hugo

Minor itty bitty thangs that create small facial tics

So the truth is is that I lost my camera.  Where is it?  I have looked everywhere. 

Anyways. 

I have been planning a birthday party for Annah, her 5th, for a month and parties and groups of people are my one .... my rare one thing that really make me stressed out. I don't usually ever host anything or have parties ever because I just end up with some sort of nervous tic or something...  Trying to accommodate big groups and have enough food etc... no, its just my one thing... but people have to have birthday parties for their children, its what normal people, good moms, usually do and so I had to do it and I couldn't just have a small thing, she wanted "EVERYONE" she knows to be invited from the young to the old. And although I try not to spoil the little darling, I like very much to make her happy so I began the laborious task of trying to plan a party but I did it low key, Way low key to maintain my sense of sanity... ..nothing big... just a party at the largest park in Texas which happens to be in my hood.... its free, has a water splash park area, giant playground... my friend Debbie O   offered to bring an awning and some tables... we were bringing in pizzas, weenies, drinks,cakes etc....  sent out the Evite  weeks in advance.... and guess what... we get to the park ....did I mention the biggest park in Texas???? and so we get there and its closed... C L O S E D...for a few days.  OHMYGOSH.

As if thats the worse thing that can happen to a person right? So trivia but in the land of Libby it was a meaningful moment of OHMYGOSH!!!!!!  So we called everyone and said, meet us at Bethany park.... everyone, in the scorching heat...by 11 am its scorching.... covered in sweat, humid, hot, everyone gets out of their car with their children and we are at the Bethany Park and we realize its just SO hot... and its very unfriendly for children as the pond is right there, a huge pond.... inviting small children to curiously get too close... so then my friend says her mom is out of town and she lives near by (most of us, though this is our hood, still live in the country 30 minutes away) has a pool and we decided to be like teenagers and crash her moms house and have a big pool party... so we did.  :-)  It was very  nerve wracking for me none the less, I was surprised how I stayed calm although i'm not sure if I was calm or just catatonic. 

But, it was all very good, very close friends, like family and so they were understanding and it was all good and I say having a  pool party was even better than a water splash thing.  

So now Annah is officially 5. :-) 

Two blondes were going to Disneyland .
They were driving on the Interstate when they saw the sign that said  Disneyland LEFT.
They started crying and turned around and went home.

Many people think that the mark of an authentic Christian is doctrinal purity; if a person's beliefs are biblical and doctrinally orthodox, then he is a Christian. People who equate orthodoxy with authenticity find it hard to even consider the possibility that, despite the correctness of all their doctrinal positions, they may have missed the deepest reality of the authentic Christian life. But we must never forget that true Christianity is more than teaching - it is a way of life. In fact, it is life itself. "He who has the Son has life," remember? When we talk about life, we are talking about something that is far more than mere morality, far more than doctrinal accuracy. Ray C. Stedman    Website

Hiding the goods

I buy this stuff for Tiffany...this nutella.  Its chocolate and hazelnut stuff.... I never even tried it till today and today I mixed it into some peanut butter and put it on a graham cracker and couldn't believe how good it is... this stuff is going in my suitcase to Costa Rica. I have been told to take my own chocolate because they don't really have anything chocolaty like I, as an over indulged American would like.  So, I am seriously going to try and get a few weeks of chocolate into the country.  This stuff is really rich so it only takes a bit and I'm happy as a pig in a blanket. Chocolate is for my mental well being.  I figure when I mix chocolate with organic peanut butter I am eating healthy.

Which brings to mind the really great book, "The Sneaky Chef" ...as a matter of fact, Mrs. Geezer should probably buy this book to cook for Mr. Old Geezer.  Although it is strategies for hiding healthy food into kids favorite meals, I think it would work for all the Old Geezers and husbands out there too.  I saw the author on the 700 Club and she showed some of her recipes and it was really really really good. I was amazed that I personally haven't thought of this myself...simply marvelous....like an invention or something. She offers several free recipes online. Here is the link to Speedy Stovetop Lasagna....lots of good stuff hidden inside.

“In modern day evangelism, this precious doctrine [of regeneration] has been reduced to nothing more than a human decision to raise one’s hand, walk an aisle, or pray a “sinner’s prayer.” As a result, the majority of Americans believe that they’ve been “born again” (i.e., regenerated) even though their thoughts, words, and deeds are a continual contradiction to the nature and will of God.”

- Paul Washer

But thats not what I asked for

Seriously, isn't this address label so cute?  Its time for me to re-order some. They have lots o lots of faces and eyes and hair colors and styles and you create your family and stick em on a label. Just go to AmazingLabels.Com and create your own. You can do Christmas labels, We are moving labels... Do I hear Fun!!!

I made matching sleeveless tunic shirts for Annah and I. It was fun wearing them to church. :o)  I am making her oodles of pajama sets and little tunic sets. They are so easy to make, in about an hour and half.  Of course I cheat with a serger.  :)  Sergers make life of sewing very easy but, if it weren't for Paul I'd be lost once they needed new thread. Those things are just to difficult to thread....even little bitty needles INSIDE ... But they are wonderful!!!!

 We had a very very very very sad occurrence in our family.... up all night, I don't feel like blogging about it but, I did sure beg God for a miracle. The intervention and divine instant power of a the miracle I had in mind did not occur.  I knew it could of. Sometimes things seem so random and it seems God picks and chooses but if He does or if He does not, I am sure that "No matter how deep the darkness, God is deeper still" (Corrie Ten Boom) and I most assuredly know that when I seek I will find  and that for me is one of the most profound verses that I carry with me in my heart and on my lips. No matter how much I don't understand, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when I seek, I will find the answer to whatever it is troubling me. God will show me. And I know that regardless of what I want to happen, God is creator. God is God.  I don't want to breathe without Him so regardless of any disappointment or sorrow I feel in not having an intervention that I wanted, it does not change that God has always been and always will be the most important breath I breathe and suffering, pain, disappointments  are nothing even near as comparing to the great love He has poured out to me. If God stopped listening to me today, if the the rest of my life I heard no more from Him then He would still be my Hero. He would still have my loyalty, my devotion and my life.  But I know that He will never disappear from my life nor stop hearing or caring.  God will always be near. There may be times I think He has gone off and forgot about me or for a moment looked away just long enough for something really painful to happen but in my walk with Him through many trials  He has always picked me up and never left me feeling utterly abandoned.  Seek and you will find.  Its that simple. Seek and don't give up and you will find God and you will find His heart for you and in those moments, there is no doubt of His presence, His great love and His kindness...ever.

"In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit." Anne Frank

Tissue anyone?

Nobody in the family is sick. However, Annah came to me this afternoon and asked me if I would please tie this toilet paper around her neck so that she would have it available for anyone who needs to blow their nose. I told her she is absolutely brilliant, just brilliant. 

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength."   - Corrie Ten Boom

Vibrams, Poohead me, The Road

I can not believe what a poo poo head I have been and let time just flush away and its been forever since i've been here. Forever. Feels like forever.  I don't even know what I've accomplished or done but it seems every single day in June is rapidly already disappearingl. I did get my Vibram Five Finger Shoes and I LOVE them.  I got horrible bloody dripping heel blisters....but the shoes are amazing and my heels are adjusting. When I run, I feel one with my trail. I can feel slight little bumps and shells and rocks but not enough to cause pain. However, my trail is now laced with little bloody band aids and first aid tape that have fallen off my heels as I jog. :)   Do I hear  "EW".  :) 

Paul and I watched the movie "The Road".... anyone see it?  It was one of the most disturbing movies I have seen in  a very very very long time.  I tend to have dreams alot of an world that has been destroyed ....the destruction of roads and houses,buildings etc... and in these dreams there is always a survival aspect and I see people sleeping or just being wherever they can find ... so when I saw the beginning of the movie I could really relate to so much...just because it looked just like in my dreams...UNTIL... and something I never ever factored in and my brain probably never could even draw from any source or any thing that would even factor it in... cannibalism.  And one scene... when he breaks into a locked cellar and its full of  people starving, unclothed, chained and waiting to be a food source, and the big sink of rich blood that looked incredibly and eerily real...I almost couldn't get my brain to wrap around it... and some reviews are saying its a Christian type evangelism film.... Why??? I mean seriously, God is only mentioned one time and the old man is saying God must of left.  Maybe a post rapture film at best but the little boy wouldn't of been in it. I loved the kindness of the boy though... he wanted always to help people and his dad just wanted to survive.

I'm on my way to visit you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"We can scarcely indeed look into any part of the sacred volume without meeting abundant proofs that it is the religion of the Affections which God particularly requires....Joy...is enjoined on us as our bounden duty and commended to us as our acceptable worship.... A cold...unfeeling heart is represented as highly criminal"....  William Wilberforce