So long July...

I think it was in June that I announced there would be a new post every M,T,W....LOL! They are all home! I love it, but they are still all here all the time! People keep telling me my hair looks great and we all know what that means, so at least my health efforts are working...

Football starts on Monday, Liz starts her new job on Wednesday, Swim starts in a week and I am helping with the Potter's House in a more hands on way...so when do I blog? Again, LOL!

I woke up yesterday at 6:45, AHHHHH how I love to sleep in! But it was tooooooo late. John was getting ready for work, and only a few minutes after he left, Jack joined me on the balcony...the still not finished one, but at least I can sit and chat with the Lord and drink coffee on, balcony.

So I hope you all had a blessed July...lets shoot for August? And again, LOL! Mwa!

...and here we are....

Today is July 7th and that means that tomorrow is July 8th. Like how I know that? Yeah, I am smart. These are tender days for me. A very long time ago, I drove over to St. John's hospital where my mom sat on her death bed. I brought the anointing oil with me...not so I could pray over her, but so she could pray over me, anoint my head with oil, and give me her blessing. I did it both days before I headed into NYC to sit for my nursing boards on the pier. I will never forget the heat on those two days. But I will never forget the peace I had either. Those two days would be the end of my mom's involvement in my nursing career. She would be in Glory by the time I got my results that October, announcing that I had passed. Thanks Mom.

Only a couple of years later, I would be in another hospital, this time on July 7th and 8th...to meet Elizabeth Anne, my oldest daughter. She was very late and very big. Her birthday is tomorrow...and she might just see sweet sixteen if teenzilla makes it.

She has done nothing short of drive me crazy over this party of hers. Being an Irish girl, I don't get the fuss. We just didn't do this at 16. Annie got a stereo, I got to see Duran-Duran in concert. Party? Nope. Sigh...

So I went on strike yesterday in prepping for the party. But something amazing happened: her sisters. One made 108 cupcakes, another put together all of the favors...I went to bed. I smiled as I fell asleep and thanked God for her sisters who loved on her. They blessed her and I am so glad.

Girls and their moms are tough some days. I have no idea where her stubborn streak comes from. Ahem. There is a lot of peer pressure on a kid these days. I've tried to teach her that the Jone's moved to a tenement because they lost the house, the cars and the yacht. But I am not so sure she understood. She will get it, eventually. I hope.

At some point today I will anoint her head with oil and pray with her. It's what a mom does. I will also pray that this very good kid I have, grows in holiness because in the end it is all that matters.

Happy Birthday Liz. As your grandmother would have said, "I love you...in spite of yourself."

"Our Founding Fathers were men of religious conviction. Thomas Jefferson was a Christian Deist and believed that God created the universe, but as a clockmaker - once set in motion, it would run itself on the rational laws of nature. He believed the highest moral code for man existed in the Ten Commandments of God and the Beatitudes of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson believed that man received natural rights from God our Creator. "All men are created equal with certain unalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"

We the people. How amazing that this American experiment is still going on. There are those who believe we are in a season of scrubbing the constitution...I don't know. There are days, as an American, I feel completely hopeless over where we are. But I think it was in a correspondence between Adams and Jefferson where one said to the other that this experiment would fail. The other responded that it most surely would...but it will be okay. The people will know what to do.

...and the truth is, we do know what to do. We stand on the truth that we are free...free in Christ if we are believers and no government can take that away from us. As Americans we stand on the truth written by our founders. Those truths were based on the Word. No one can take that away from us. We are the first nation in the history of man that has "we the people" in charge of our own government. But with that charge, comes a mighty cost. It is dependant on self self control and governing. We are expected to be in control of not just our own moral character but as such, able to govern the elected officials as well.

Today we celebrate our independence from tyranny. By the power of prayer and our votes, with wisdom and knowledge we stand on the wall with a trowel and the sword of Truth.

It's Friday...

My girls are doing a Beth Moore bible study this summer. How awesome for them. When we were on our way home one of them was disparaging her body and the way she looks.
Me, "Being obsessed with what is wrong with your body is just as much vanity as being overtly proud of it."
Girls, "Beth Moore said the same thing in the study tonight!"

Love it. How blessed I am to have a God who would communicate with me and share His heart for my girls. The three of us sat and talked until almost midnight...and we prayed. I got to sit with my sisters-in-Christ/daughters at the very feet of the Creator of the universe.

Anyone need more proof that He is completely wild about me? Nope. Me neither.

Have a blessed weekend all.

Picking on my man...

"Hon, the battery is dead in the car again." She says.
"Seriously? How did that happen?" He asks, completely annoyed and ready to deal with a child.
"Um, you left the lights on when we got home from the movie last night." She explains.
"Oh." He says, not having anyone to blame.
"I attached the portable battery thing you have but it won't turn over." She informs.
"What portable battery? I don't have one of those." He informs back.
"Yeah, you do. It has the cables. You hook it up to charge the battery?" She exasperates.
"I don't know what you are talking about." He exasperates back.
"Hon, you use it every time we have a dead battery. You plug it in, and attach the cables to the car...positive and negatives..." She explains with attitude.
"Oh, you mean the battery charger?" He inquires.
"Yeah, hon. The battery charger." She sighs.
"Oh, good." He approvingly says.
"It's not working." She informs.
"Oh, well it is going to take a few  hours." He informs back....

Okay, why do men not know what we are talking about when we very clearly explain what it is what we are talking about. Seriously, how many battery charging, portable, thingy-ma-bobs to we need in order to get a grasp on this one? I know, I didn't use the correct term. I understand that there could be other battery charging type of equipment in the house, however....

It's like hanging a picture on the wall.

HE:
First he goes to the garge and gets the ladder. Places it by the wall for picture hanging. He returns to th e the workbench in the garage, procures the proper nail for the said job. He finds the tool box, opens said tool box, grabs hammer and returns to wall that needs the nail. Ooops, forgot the measuring do-hicky that has a proper name. After measuring the proper amount of space between floor and ceiling and wall to wall, he marks the spot for the nail. He returns to the basement for the stud finder (I found one and married him! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!) to assure proper placement of that nail. When a stud cannot be found to nail into, he returns to the work bench for one of those bracket thingy-ma-bobs that goes inside the dry wall to keep the dry wall from tearing and the nail from falling out. Picture is placed. Tools are not put away for several months.

SHE:
Procures a vanity nail from the junk draw. Grabs a chair. Removes high heal, hammers nail into wall. Hangs picture. Done.

I don't always know the right tool name and I often have to look things up before I try them....but what is the worst that can happen? Yeah, I know it can go pretty bad, but things usually work out for the best, for the most part anyway. And tooth paste can be used as spackle in a pinch. Heck, I just used this duster thingy with a bendable medal section to clean the gutters out. It worked, no harm no fail.

Some times, our Heavenly Father requires our exacting attention. Sometimes, He just wants us to come. Being a believer is not that complicated. Access to the Word is about all that we need and even that does not have to come in the form of a book. How many believers over the centuries only had the word handed to them by word of mouth. One generation to the next. Faith comes from hearing.

I may be the half of the couple above with the high heal, but I adore the exacting detail put into his projects...and faith. We are very good balance. If we did the ying and yang thing, I would so rock his ying!

MONDAY!!!!!!!!

Maybe I will get this done later? I've gotten six drafts started and nothing that has grabbed me. I will check in later...but Monday may wind up as a Tuesday post! Mwa to all!

Hmmmm.....

What can I say about the first day of summer vacation? Probably much. I have too many words to use on my family every day and that is why God created blogs.

I just spoke with another friend who's going through the heart ache of facing the end with a parent. It is so awful. I've often cried when I hear from friends going through it. Not because of any other reason except that I know the pain my friends are in.

It just brings a heart to tenderness when you see that someone is walking on the road you've already been on. My brother and I were so young when we lost mom. Mark was only 28 and I was only 25. Yes, we were grown ups and I would never minimize someone who is orphaned as a child. That is a horror I don't know. Thanking God right now for that.

But what I've discovered in my "old age" is that we are never old enough to be with out our parents. There is a kinship with others who are traveling the same road. Sigh. I am just tender on this subject I guess.

How much more I need my Heavenly Father now that my natural parents are gone. How important it is to cultivate that relationship. Think about it: if we have regrets when we bury our mom or dad once tehy are gon, there is nothing we can do to change the past...I have never met anyone who does not have some regret over the relationship they have/had with thier parents, even if they are not sensible regrets, the enemy will do everything he can to impose guilt into our season of grief. Always remember, he hates you and wants to steal, kill and destroy you

But our Heavenly Father's mercies are new each morning! That means that it is never to late to start again with Him. There is never a moment, as long as we draw breath, when we can't turn to our Abba. And when we do that, while the enemy may try to remind us of our past, we have the advantage of reminding that enemy of his future. God's Word tells us that there is now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There is nothing the enemy of our soul can do to separate us from Him. Read that very important word once again: NOTHING.

I won't pretend to have all the answers and if you read this blog, you already know that. But I know the One who does. We have access to the heart of our Father. And like a very good Daddy, He adores you. He is waiting to comfort you, smooth your hair and just love you. Start your summer off on that good and perfect will. Let me tell you, it may be the only thing I have ever done right and I have banked my eternity on it. I think I will rest on that thought today, as I pray for my friends in this season.