Thought for the day....

I had not planned to do a post today, but I heard something last night that I wanted to share. Many of us have weathered some pretty rough storms in our lives. Financial hardship, sickness & death of a loved one, personal health issues, betrayals, or just plain mean people trying to upset our world. Satan will come knocking on your door in all manners of disguise, looking to upset the wonderful life God has planned for us. You may sometimes feel like you have hit rock bottom and don't have a clue which way to turn from there. You feel like you are as low as you can go and just want to sit in a padded room and scream "Why me?". I was talking with a gentleman last night who made a random remark that really gave me one of those WOW moments. He said, "When you are down to nothing, you can be sure God is up to something." That hit me as very profound and true. Every obstacle, every trial, everything that has brought me down in my life to where I feel like there is no where to go, God has been working in the background to bring me through it and to make my life even better than it was before. I am going to strive to make the "down to nothing" times of my life into a time of celebration and anticipation, because I know that God has a plan and He will bring me through my trials into something of great joy and blessing for me.

A second post today....

Unless something really inspiring happens, I will be taking a "vacation" from blogging tomorrow and Monday to enjoy every moment of my 3 day weekend. I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful 4th of July. Amidst all the fireworks, cook-outs and picnics, take time out of your busy weekend to thank the military men and women who have dedicated their lives for centuries to insure that we have been and will always remain the land of the free and the home of the brave. Spend some quiet time with God this weekend and thank him for allowing us to live in this beautiful land where we have the freedom to worship him as we choose.

Going gray gracefully....

Am I ready to go gray? NO. I colored my hair again last night. Someone was teasing me several years ago about not being ready to go gray. They thought I was afraid to get older.But they were wrong. I love to color my hair. It is one of the perks I do when I pamper myself. I've earned every gray hair I have and I have no problem at times letting them show. However, I have had a close, personal relationship with Lady Clairol since I was 18 and colored my hair walnut brown when Waylon Jennings came to town. (Why I remember that, I'll never know.) I was naive and had never done this before. So I bought a bottle of brown because it said on brown hair it would lighten and provide highlights. WRONG! It made my hair the color of a overripe walnut. It was almost black. But I survived. The next time I tried it, someone recommend I use a golden blonde because it would simply put light highlights in brown hair. WRONG AGAIN! Since my family has the "red" gene, it simply turned it a strange shade of auburn. So I thought a few months down the road, since I had auburn genes anyway, why not use auburn coloring. It should just be a beautiful shade of brown with reddish/golden highlights. Third times a charm? WRONG! It was so orange, I could have passed for a pumpkin on Halloween. So after many aborted attempts and not willing to spend the money at a salon to do it right, I did some checking. It turns out that if you have red or auburn genes, and you are wanting to lighten brown hair, you simply use a Ash Blonde. The ash tones down the red/auburn and you end up with a variety of golds, browns and blondes that make it look like you've had some streaks placed in your hair. Now that I have the gray, when I use my ash blonde, I get variegated shades and the gray looks much better covered with browns and blonde highlights. So I can grow old gracefully. I have no problem with that. But I will fight my grays as long as I can. Not because I am ashamed or embarrassed by them, but simply because I love changing my hair color. It gives me a lift, boosts my spirits and makes me feel younger. Vanity? No, just one of my little quirks that I like to do.

To God be the glory.

How many times have you heard that phrase? Songs are written about it. Preachers do sermons on it. Sunday School lessons are prepared to teach it. If you Google that phrase, there are 32,500,000 results for those few precious words. Yet, how many times do we actually GIVE him the glory. Without him, we are nothing. Our goals are not reached; our dreams are not acheived. Our happiness and existence depend on Him and Him alone. I've always heard life is what you make it. No, life is what you make OF it with what God provides for you. Do you glorify God when He blesses you? Do you give him the praise when things are going great in your life? Or do you simply cry out to Him in the bad times? Do you just need Him when the going gets tough? There is a song that says it best: For The God On The Mountain Is Still God In The Valley when Things Go Wrong He'll Make Them Right and The God Of The Good Times, Is Still God Of The Bad Times and The God Of The Day Is Still God Of The Night So, don't wait for the dark times to call on Him. Praise His name daily for what He does for you. Look for the good and you will find it. I glorify His holy name. He has poured blessing after blessing down on me this week and I am so thankful that I am His and He is mine! My favorite prayer that I pray is so simple. I just simply close my eyes, turn my heart toward heaven and say "Dear Lord, it's me again. Help. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen." It is basic and simple, but He knows my needs before I even pray. When life gets overwhelming or I'm facing challenges, I turn to Him with that simple prayer. And He always, always, always come through for me. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. - Romans 11:36

Happy July 1st

Happy July 1, 2010 The first half of the year is gone. How did you do on your New Year’s Resolutions? Do you even remember what they were? I’m sorry to say I didn’t do so hot on mine. But I still have the rest of the year to pull it together. July is known for being the month of Independence, celebrated with fireworks and cook-outs. But many people are not aware of the other things of importance that happened in history. Today in history the following occurred: 1863 - The Battle of Gettysburg, which marked the turning point in the Civil War, began. 1943 - Income tax withholding began in the United States. (Yippee, like we want to celebrate that). 1963 - The U.S. Post Office inaugurated its five-digit ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) codes. (Never knew the ZIP stood for something. I thought it just mean “speedier mail” 1997 - After 156 years of British colonial rule, Hong Kong was returned to China. 2000 - The Confederate flag was removed from the South Carolina statehouse. July is National Cell Phone Courtesy Month. Be sure and put you phones on silent or turn them off when attending church, court, or public events. When you must use your phone in public, please be aware that everyone around you can hear what you say. My number one pet cell phone peeve is to be sitting enjoying a wonderful lunch/dinner with my husband in a nice restaurant and the jerk in the booth next to me spends most of his/her meal on the cell phone cursing and arguing with someone. Be aware that not everybody wants to be involved in your drama. Remember that cell phones are wonderful devices that you can use to talk in a normal tone. There is no need to increase your own volume and talk loud just because you are on the phone. If you must take a call, please say “Excuse me.” I am constantly seeing people in the middle of a discussion with someone and the phone rings and they whip it out with a hello and totally ignore who they are with. I used to work with a couple of women who would spend 90% of our lunches together being on the cell phone with their mother or husband. I ended up eating quietly and finally quit going with them because of their rudeness. Don’t invite someone to do something with you and then spend the majority of the time you are together on your cell phone. That’s about it for today. Have a wonderful July!

An unfinished project...

How many of you start a project only to make it half way through? I am notorious for that. I'm still knitting a scarf that I started 6 years ago. And it is just straight knitting. I like to make things in plastic canvas and get so excited when I see new yarn. I have several projects that I haven't finished because I just can't seem to find the time. My good friend, Debbie, gave us instructions on her blog on how to make a rag quilt. I am starting small. I bought material to do doll quilts for the granddaughters. But haven't even cut the first square yet. I used to worry about it until it dawned on me that in God's eyes, we are all a work in progress. Philippians 1:6 says: "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." So, if God can continually work on me without getting aggravated and giving up, then I will just continue to work on my projects until I see them through.

The mini-series....

I have a bad habit and wonder if any of you suffer from the same malady. When I go to tell someone about something that happened, my story usually involves an entire mini-series. I'm sure you know people like that. For example, a normal person would say "I went to Wal-mart the other day and they were having a great sale on picture frames." I would say, " Saturday, me and Diana were going to Wal-mart because I wanted to look for a new tablecloth. Actually, we went to Jefferson City because we were on our way home from Knoxville. It is still laid out the old way. They had the best craft department. I picked up some material for the doll quilts......" on and on and on, until I forget that the point of the story was to tell you picture frames were on sale. That's as bad as when I call to check on auto parts and they ask me what type of truck, I say "2002 Red Ford F150." Now I ask you, is a starter for a Ford F150 a different version for a red versus a blue truck. The color doesn't matter, but I will invariably tell them what color it is. And what about people trying to tell you that you remember something when you know you don't? I'll say something to Mom about "Remember the time...." and she'll say no I don't remember that. And then I proceed to say, "yes you do. Remember, such and such was there and so and so said this..". I know it must be aggravating. So if you ever catch me taking you through one of my mini-series, just say "Short version, please."