This Man

  This Man and I are celebrating 29 years of marriage~

We did not start out as “best friends”  like so many couples share about -
           but  after 29 years of marriage he has become the one friend,
                                    that knows me better  than any other.


He knows my quirks and I his-
  He has seen and shared the good,  the ugly and the in-between     
places of my personality –
  and yet he loves me more  today  than he did 29+ years ago,


And the intensity of the way that he looks at me still overwhelms me.


After 29 years -   he’s the one I still want to hold on to,  going through this life’s journey.
     he’s the one that still makes me smile, laugh and stick my tongue out at.

          

After 29 years these posts ring even more true

28 Years of Marriage
  27 Years of Marriage

Happy Anniversary, Babe – You're still the one for me.

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Stones of Remembrance

    Stones of Remembrance



In our front yard is this awesome, wonderful tree…

    that the Lord has been using to speak words of hope…

               words of promises fulfilled...
                         words of love…

   that simple say “I am listening…  I remember”

He hears and remembers every prayer…   every word spoken...    every word sent up to Him.

and…

around this tree…  this tree of life…      are 12 bricks…     
 
12 bricks that have become memorial stones of remembrance…

Joshua 4: 4 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”
⁸ And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. ⁹ And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.

Joshua 4:20-22
And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground."

12 stones that are a visual reminder of God’s love…
                of His provision…
                      of Him opening the way for us to cross…
                                  onto solid ground…
                                             into  His promises for us.

Stones of remembrance~


As a visual reminder…
we each took one brick…  
              one stone
   
and wrote our name on it.
because...
     He calls us all by name. 


We took our stone of remembrance…  
and gave Him praise…   thanks…  

for all He has done for us this year.

we flipped that heavy brick over weighted down with blessings - and wrote one  “hard thanks”…   


one area in our life that we struggle with giving thanks for…

Why?

           because giving thanks in all things is what He asks us to do…

                    and when we can give thanks in the hard things… 

we open His flood gates of heaven…
                                turning the hard things into praises… seeing the blessing…

                                                 a sacrifice of praise.

He becomes the cornerstone…    the center of all things…   
   in our life…  

     easy Thanks...
no brainer Thanks...   
   and those messy,

     hard Thanks…  

       

He becomes the beginning and the end...  
              Our starting and finishing place…
                                              Our Chief Cornerstone

reminding us that…

God is building a home.
 
He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using us, fitting us brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.

We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.  Ephesians 2: 20-22



We can also "set up stones of remembrance” symbolizing times in our lives when God gave healing, perseverance, protection or encouragement—times when we were especially aware of God’s faithfulness.

Possibilities:

• Make a quilt with squares symbolizing "faith events."
• Create a display of items on a shelf as reminders.
• Draw, paint, or craft a collage.
• Decorate actual stones in your garden.
• Write your faith stories, tie them with a ribbon, and put them in a special box or bottle. (Then read them on special occasions.)

building stones…    of remembrance~ Pin It

Life–in abundance

  I have been on this journey of learning what it means to live the life of abundance that my Savior told me about…  

well He actually promises it…
                                   
 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.      John 10:10

He says:   “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
the word Life comes from the Greek word zōē  which means”

1. to live, breathe, be among the living (not lifeless, not dead)
   
2. to enjoy real life
   
   1. to have true life and worthy of the name
      
   2. active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God
      
3. to live i.e. pass life, in the manner of the living and acting
   
   1. of mortals or character
      
4. living water, having vital power in itself and exerting the same upon the soul
   
5. metaph. to be in full vigour
   
   1. to be fresh, strong, efficient,
      
   2. as adj. active, powerful, efficacious
      

The word abundance comes from the Greek word perissos which means:
exceeding some number or measure or rank or need

1. over and above, more than is necessary, superadded
   
   1. exceeding abundantly, supremely
      
   2. something further, more, much more than all, more plainly
      
2. superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon
   
   1. pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent
      

life …
    breathing…
            enjoying…    real…
                     to be fresh, strong and efficient
                              powerful, active and vigorous…
                                         
abundance…
       more than…    exceeding  my needs
                    more than…     my expectations
                                   much  more than…   over and above…     surpassing

Another version says…               but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.
      
                abundance…    fullness

His promise…
                   LIFE…    in all its fullness

In this blog post I write more about this idea of living life in the moment:

LIFE

I am reflecting again on the word life~

What does that word look like to me?

  L – Letting go to the moment
  I – Investing myself in that moment
  F – Feeling the emotions of that moment
  E – Engaging fully in that moment

I want my years to have LIFE in them… to be full of life and memories…

I have gotten away from “writing” one living moment a day down, but I hope that I have not forgotten to “LIVE” those daily moments.  I would like to think that I am getting better at” living life”  instead of  “doing life.”

You can check out some of my lists here; each one of these lists has suggestions on how to live life more fully:

365 Days (8-14)
365 Days (15-21)
365 Days (22-28)
365 Days (29 – 35)
365 Days (36-42)
365 Days (43-49)
365 Days (50-56)
365 Days (57-63)
365 Days (64-70)
365 Days (71-77)
365 Days (78-84)

Reading over my lists…   seeing fullness in all things~
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Seasonal Picture Bucket Lists - Autumn/Fall

Years ago, I read an article by Jack Hayford, called Recovering the Lost Art of Celebrating..
He talks about three Greek words which build a foundation for celebration: the following are inserts from his article:

Kurios is the Greek word for "Lord,"

First, they are done before the Lord—He is the Lord of the celebration. You see, all through the passage in Deuteronomy, the Lord said, "Come and rejoice before the Lord your God."            

Chairo is the verb for "rejoice," 

Philippians 4:4 - "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"
We need to be reminded to rejoice. Then we need to be reminded that we were reminded. How do we rejoice? The obvious way, of course, is to rejoice with feasting and not feel guilty about it. Rejoice at the holiday seasons with certain activities that contribute to the remembrance, the commemoration and the fun of what it’s all about. That isn’t giddy, that’s Godly. There’s just something about rejoicing that we need to be told "…and again I say, ‘rejoice.’" It’s consistent with God’s order of celebration.

Koinonia is the word for "share" or "sharing."

The Bible makes it very clear in such passages as Acts 2:44, 45; and 4:32-37 that it was characteristic of the Early Church to share. And they shared everything they had… Now sharing takes place in three ways: in funds, in feasting and in family.

I love the seasons…  
         I love the holidays…
               I love finding ways to make them special…  to celebrate…
I love bucket lists. 
            Being a list person…           I love the idea of them.
                   Being a creative person…   I love the creative element to these kinds of lists.
                               Being a somewhat obsessive pinterester…    I love all the wonderful  ideas out there for each season and holiday,   but I forget about them and do not do many of these brilliant, creative ideas,  they just sit there in my Pinterest boards, collecting dust…
When I was searching for new bucket list ideas I came across this format from Lapetite Fashionista:
  Being a visual person…   I loved everything about this picture bucket list…
So I came up with my own version:  (click the picture for a larger view)
It sits on our fireplace mantle, where we can look at it daily.
So far we have decorated for fall… 
       
      
We made the fall pretzel desserts:
      



I drank my first cup of Pumpkin spice Latte…
        (not on the list, but an autumn must)



We made the Paper Pumpkins…  lots of them.
  
We made the candy corn candles and a leaf picture frame…
  
We are having so much fun celebrating Autumn…
       Celebrating the Lord of the Harvest…
rejoicing in the richness of this season and sharing from our harvest of paper pumpkins.
Living in celebration~ Pin It

365 Days – Days 71-77

Living in the moment…

Day 71 – joy in son’s freedom from passing driving test

Day 72– fear turned to trust – teaching children to do same

Day 73 – unique son plugging into area

Day 74 – hubby and I reflecting on month and all that the Lord has done - Blessed

Day 75 – yard work – hard work – working together

Day 76 – hubbies participation at church – post it notes of thanks

Day 77 – celebrations – family game time

How to Live in the MomentHow to Helps

Warnings

• Living in the moment doesn't mean you shouldn't care about the future, or do reckless, irresponsible things. It means that when you make a choice to do something, you focus on actually doing it, rather than letting your mind dwell on the future (or past).

http://www.wikihow.com/Live-in-the-Moment

This is an important reminder and one that a planner like me needs to hear.  Planning helps me to be able to slow down and rest in those moments when they come.

I want to rest in everyday moments – whether I am watching and seeing them happen or actively participating in them.

Resting in everyday moments~

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365 Days – Days 64 -70

Living in the moment…

Day 64 – enjoying driving again

Day 65– abundance of vehicles – vehicle that passed smog and is registered

Day 66 – school back on track – enjoying routine

Day 67 – resting in others help – knowing giving son has place to rely on

Day 68 – hubby enjoying watering the lawn and just resting in You again

Day 69 – watching unique son mentor another young man

Day 70 –hubby having purpose again and JOY

How to Live in the MomentHow to Helps

Tips

• Listen to music and enjoy it. Express yourself by dancing to it or singing along.
• Participate in active conversation and engage in the subject matter with another human.
• Forgive. Many of us carry grudges with us that haunt us, and those grudges also prevent us from opening our hearts to others because we're scared of getting hurt again.
• Children don't worry about the future; they play and enjoy every moment for what it is. They haven't yet learned to think ahead, or mull over the past, so take the opportunity to learn from them.
• Watch your breath, by noticing your breathing pattern your mind naturally quiets and pays more attention to the present moment.
• Think about how happy your good deed could make someone!

http://www.wikihow.com/Live-in-the-Moment

enjoying those daily moments~

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Looking Forward

   
“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
-C.S. Lewis
Reflecting on 20 years of living in this house…
     that became a home,
              to a family of 4,
                 the traditional American dream,
                      of a boy and a girl.
      
a place that grew with us,
         through the addition of 6 more,
                 no longer that traditional American dream,
                       but God’s desire for this family,
                            and a fulfillment of a deeper hearts desire -
                                   more than we even knew possible.

I reflect on the memories…
    the joys and the sorrows 
         the gains and the losses
               the victories and the battles
                       the triumphs and the trials
                               the blessings and the hardships

the joys always outweighing the sorrows,
   the gains out numbering the losses,
       the victories winning far more battles,
          the triumphs overcoming the trials,
                the blessings overshadowing the hardships,
                                     Memories full…  Growth immeasurable.
Yet I am reminded…
There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.
I look forward to all He has for us in this new place…
This new season, as we enter our "Promise Land."

Keeping my eyes focused on the one who is our prize.

Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.  Proverbs 4:25

looking forward~

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