Thanks Toni! Thanks Kat!

TONI at Amazing Grace passed the below award to me. Thanks Toni for your encouragement! I've really enjoyed reading your blog too and following your family life.

Last month, KAT passed this friendship award to me and I've just now remembered to add it to my blog. Thanks so much Kat! Thank you for sharing so faithfully on your blog!

FOUND A PEANUT, FOUND A PEANUT!!!

O.H. M.Y. W.O.R.D.!!! I think that this is really a great description of me! Why, just today, while walking, I had the toughest looking dog ( ENGLISHSTAFFORDSHIRE BULL)mosey right up to me and start licking my hand! At first, I mistook the doggie for a Pit Bull. His owner was right there in his driveway and I'm not a die hard Pit Bull hater, so I wasn't at all afraid. My brother owns one, and his veterinarian owns 3. But back to the quiz, I know for a fact that there are people who avoid me for whatever reason. I think I can be a little overwhelming with my friendliness. Maybe they think I'm an overly friendly Pit Bull! *winks*

You Are A Peanut

You are popular, even with people who tend to have picky taste. Kids love you, as do dogs. From rednecks to snobs, most people have a place for you in their hearts. As popular as you are, there are some people who can't be near you. Don't take it too personally. There's just a few people you rub the wrong way.

What Nut Are You?

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THIS MEXICAN HOLIDAY?

Especially for my Honey!
Here's a little something of Mexican history I don't think you're aware of!



Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England . In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico , which was to
be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York .

This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico . But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico , who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly
awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.

The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as ---Sinko de Mayo.

I LOVE Days Like This!

EDT 8:19 pm: Misspelled word has been corrected. Can you imagine my laughter when I read my post today and saw that I had given our "friendly neighborhood duck" a MONOCLE??? His "MONAKER" is "Mr. Quackers"!!!

I accomplished much! Now here is the proof!

I took apart the air vents/fans in both bathrooms to give them a good cleaning inside.

The vent back in place after a good scrubbing with

a toothbrush and bleach.

A freshly washed bathroom door.

My trusty "KIRBY" carpet spot remover. This took care of the problem in the next photo.

Proof for those who say my house is never dirty! See the orange spot on the formal living room carpet? I do declare, we did buy Cheetos last week!

A clean and shiny bathroom! The vent in here was also taken down and cleaned.

Shane's bedroom didn't get a good vacuuming due to an ensuing battle!

I couldn't live with out this monster! My hard-working Kirby Vacuum.

See spot? (on the wall)

See spot run?

This chased spot away!

Time was spent instructing Shane in Bible, Reading, Spelling, Cursive Writing, and Math! Maybe we'll sneak some History in before bed.

A healthy afternoon snack of pineapples and cottage cheese.

I weeded this section in the backyard.

You can see this section which remains to be weeded. I will attempt tomorrow and then will work around to the other side of the patio.

Shane and neighbor feeding our friendly neighborhood duck, whom we've given the fine monaker of "Mr.Quackers."

The hall bath, all clean and shiny!

Freshly laundered towels, folded and ready to be put away.

You may be wondering why my accomplishment of these few chores warrant a blog post and why all the photos of such menial tasks. Just know this, I AM AMAZED that I have the capability of performing any of these alone. You see, this time last year, I was just beginning a new regime of meds for my RA (rheumatoid arthritis), Diabetes, aand a couple of other issues I was dealing with. I had been immobile for many months and seldom left my home. My loving husband did most of the grocery shopping and heavy chores around the home. On his days off, he saw to it that our 10 year old participated in activities out and about. I, on the other hand, was happy if I had the capability of getting the bed made daily, my shower taken, and giving instruction to Shane. I only occasionally attended church services. It was much easier to get ready if my hubby was home to help me dress. Due to his work schedule, I wasn't able to attend as often as I should. As I sat in service this past Easter service, I reflected a moment on our Easter service last year. My then 20 year old son had driven up from Tampa to drive Shane and I to church. He first had to help dress me. So you can bet I remembered to rejoice and give thanks to the Lord during this year's Easter service. For you see, this year I was able to dress and drive myself! I've learned to not take small daily things for granted. God has used my chronic pain to teach me so many things and most importantly, He has proven over and over again that His tender mercies are abundantly given to me each and every day.

After one year of many changes, I can now:

*climb to reach things which need cleaning
*vacuum my entire house in one day
*walk an hour each day
*scrub my own bathtubs
*shop and cook on the same day
*kick the soccer ball with Shane and try to keep up with his neat tricks
*hold a baby for longer periods of time
*stand outside and talk with neighbors
*exercise on this!

I must now go do my 15 minutes on this thing. We lovingly refer to it as "THE BEAST"!!! (When we first bought it about a month ago, I could only manage to creak out 30 seconds or so on it. I've slowly worked my way up to 15 minutes at a time!) BABY STEPS!

Now on another topic: Here's the shot of my cowboy boots I mentioned in the previous post. One of the outfits I like to wear them with is a suede dress of the same color, which is enhanced with silver and turquoise bling! (Think Pocahontas) It drives my 21 year old son crazy! "Mom!" says he. "Those boots shouldn't be worn with that dress." I ask, "Why not?" He replies, "They cancel each other out. You can't be an Indian (Native American) and a cowboy at the same time." Oh well!

ME OR NOT ME???

You Are Cowboy Boots

This doesn't mean you're country, just funky. You've got a ton of attitude and confidence. You're unique, expressive, and even a little bit wacky. You wear whatever you feel like – and you have your own sense of style. You are straight shooting and honest. You tell people how it is. Low maintenance and free wheeling, you're always up for an adventure. You should live: Where you can at least get to wide open spaces You should work: In a job that allows you to take charge

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

I do own a pair of Cowboy boots which I will post a photo of later today!!!

God's Peace

On a day when things were seemingly falling apart around me and my tumultuous mind needed calming, I FOUND THESE NOTES FROM ONE OF MY PASTOR'S SERMONS back in September of 2007. It was a blatant reminder that God wanted me to stay my mind on HIM and HIS GOODNESS!
***********************************************************************************


Preaching from Philippians 4:4-7 on the topic of - "HOW TO HAVE THE PEACE OF GOD", Pastor Naill gave the following points in his outline:


1. PRAISE - To have peace, you must first have PRAISE. There can't be discord if you're busy PRAISING!


2. POISE - act in moderation, Phil. 4:5. In the Greek, it means to be patient and gentle. Who would want to be caught away in the rapture during an angry argument? Always MODERATE your speech and relationships.


3. PRAYER - If we aren't spending time with the Lord in PRAYER, we'll have NO POWER in our lives. You can be the most faithful to church, singing in the choir, singing solos, dressed most modestly, but if not spending time in PRAYER, you will have NO POWER on your life.


God knows your requests before you bring them to HIM. He just wants you to talk to HIM about it.


God is interested in all parts of our lives. Pastor said he prayed before his free throw shots when playing high school basketball.


If he hears one of his children asking others for food during a "Dinner on the Grounds" at church, he intervenes and explains to his child, "Don't ask others for your needs. Ask me, I'm your Father. I enjoy taking care of your needs." He then related this to our Father God. God doesn't want to see us going around asking everyone but Him, begging, as it were, for our needs to be met when HIS purpose is to care for us and to meet our needs.


Having kids has confirmed in his mind that God set up the family to give us a real illustration of our relationship with God.


Pastor asked, "Is there any devastating occurrence which can disturb the peace of God? NO - God is the author of PEACE and the PRINCE OF PEACE! Philippians 4:7


One final quote from Pastor Naill: "The greatest secret to living a godly life and walking the proper walk is by knowing certain things about God and His Word."


I hope you enjoyed these little tidbits from a sermon which really encouraged me in my faith. I wish I could have posted the entire sermon for you, but I had only these few notes which I scratched out during the sermon. Feel free to visit my chuch website BY CLICKING HERE.

PLEASE BE PRAYING...

FOR this is going on at our church FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY! Much planning and preparation has been put into this event, with anticipation of seeing God work in mighty ways!

THE "DOODLINGS" WHICH MAKE ME CRY!

Join me and many others for this time of fun and sharing. Simply CLICK HERE to visit and/or signup! I'm so thrilled that Kelli started this Friday Fun for us to participate in.



Last week, I featured a special Bible which we recieved from my Uncle Ray's personal library. I thought I'd continue with the theme of Bibles until I've shown you all the very special ones in our collection.


Many of you know a little about my niece
JACKIE JO VERNOY MCCOBB LIVING IN PARAGUAY AS A MISSIONARY'S WIFE. When she and her hubby were packing up for the big move to South America a few years ago, she left a few boxes of things in a storage room at my dad's church. These boxes of items were to be donated to D & D Mission Homes. One afternoon, I entered that storage room to get some bulletin board paper for the board in my Sunday School classroom. AND THERE IT WAS...Jackie's Spanish/English Bible!! "What?" I asked myself in amazement! "She's going to just give this away?!?" Then I seized it! Yes folks, my greedy little hands had to have it."Hey this is still in good shape and Agustin has been wanting a 2 in 1 Bible! Thank you Lord and thank you Jackie!" I stood there in that hot little room, leafing through the precious Bible. I thought of that beautiful, godly niece of mine using that very Bible in mission's conference after mission's conference with her parents. AND SURE ENOUGH... there was proof she had used it much ! She had "doodled" in her Bible. A couple of the "doodles" brought tears instantly to my eyes as they showed a pure, devoted heart! Sometime later, when I finally remembered to tell her that I had RESCUED her old Bible and about some of the cute doodlings I had found in it, she smugly said, "Oh, I'm sure I drew those while sitting in yet another conference while dad showed our slides yet again!" We both giggled.



Well, I couldn't wait to get home that evening to show my hubby the treasure I had just found! He was actually very excited about it when he saw it. Then I showed him the doodlings and notes. How precious it was to think of those pre-teen hands using this Bible, taking many good notes which were interspersed with the "doodlings"! Now my hubby uses that Bible daily for his devotions and has added a few notes and doodles of his own!




Personal note to Jackie: Honey, You don't know the times that I've used that Bible just so I could feel connected to you somehow. I've even had tears come to my eyes occassionally when I show your notes and drawings to others. It is certainly a very special item which I plan on keeping until the day I die.

PHOTOS OF JACKIE'S OLD BIBLE

One of the heart wrenching "doodles". If you enlarge it, you may be able to see where she wrote: "I got saved!" and "My Grandma's in heaven."

More "doodling"! I love how the stick people appear to be happy neighbors.

Sermon notes!

More sermon notes in Spanish.

This Bible was given to Jackie by my parents for Christmas, 1993.

This shot shows how the English translation lines up right next to the Spanish one.

The words to one of my favorite choruses, "Hay Una Cenda"

This is my favorite "doodle" It says volumes about Jackie's heart! The person in the drawing is shedding tears. In the word bubble out from it, it says, "I LOVE JESUS!" Isn't that the most precious thing? *okay, I can't see the keyboard through my own tears now*.

JACKIE just posted an awesome post tonight. If you want your heart to be blessed today, be sure to pop on over and check her blog out today! FAITHFUL IN THE FEW THINGS

A MEME about ME!

From MY SIS AT THE JUNGLE HUT


1. Go to http://www.photobucket.com/


2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box


3. Use only the first page


4. Insert the picture into your Blog.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


1. What is your current relationship stat?



( happily married)


2. What is your current mood?



(Deep In Thought)


3. What is your favorite band/singer?


(The Dartts)


4. What is your favorite movie?

(A Walk To Remember)

5. Where do you live?

(Florida)

6. Where do you work?

( In My Home)

7. What do you look like?

(I'm a sometime blonde Brunette)

8. What do you drive?

( Dodge Durango)

9. What is your favorite TV show?

(Each evening @ 7pm, CNN headline news channel)

10. Describe yourself?

(Well, I typed in Conservative and this is what I got. I don't think I'm this arrogant really!)

11. What are you doing today?

(EXERCISING! Every day baby!)

12. What did you do last night?

('A Man Called Peter' by Catherine Marshall)

13. What is your name?

( WARNING! I got an EYEFULL when I typed my name in! *HINT: Think, P*mela L*e Anders*n*)

And now I tag...

ANYONE WHO HAS THE TIME AND PATIENCE TO PARTICIPATE. IT'S GREAT FUN BUT VERY TIME CONSUMING! Do it, I dare you!

FRIDAY SHOW AND TELL (in memory of Uncle Ray Kennedy)

Surprise! I haven't participated in a Friday Show and Tell since I don't know when! To enjoy more goodies, link on over to KELLI'S HOUSE where a long list of participants await you! I have a 'CERTAIN COUSIN' who keeps getting on to me about it, says he really misses seeing what I will come up with for my Friday Show and Tells. I think this 'CERTAIN COUSIN' will particularly like what I'm featuring today! Enjoy! You know who you are! LOL

My Show and Tell today is a very special book. Not only is it special because its the Bible, God's Holy Word, but it is in the Spanish Language and once belonged to my Uncle Ray Kennedy. Uncle Ray was a well educated man and a minister of the word. After Uncle Ray graduated to heaven, his wife gave many of his books, commentaries, and this Bible to my dad, her brother. I remember driving over to Aunt Donna's when she still lived in Vero Beach to spend time helping dad box up some of the treasures that had been my Uncle's. He was like a little boy in a candy shop! I'll never forget his demeanor or the twinkle in his eyes that day as he lovingly handled, sifted through pages, and packed up what to him was the best gift ever! It was peaceful standing in Uncle Ray's study, knowing that he was now with God and out of all pain. I remember the day well as it was the day that the van of Bible students from Crown College had been in a terrible crash and all died right there on Highway 60 just the night before. We passed YeeHaw Junction without knowing this, but on the way back home, we received a phone call telling us about the horrible incident. I had chills as I realized we had just driven right through the very spot where those Christian young people, on a singing tour, had been called home. Aunt Donna was a trooper and worked hard right beside dad and I. I think we drove back to Tampa with 5 or 6 Rubbermaid action packers full of wonderful, delicious volumes. This Bible doesn't have a copyright date printed in it. It only says it was printed in the United States of America by the American Bible Society. As I handle this precious and small Bible, I wonder if Uncle Ray ever had the opportunity to lead a Spanish speaking person to Christ while using it. I love the musty, yellowing pages as I flip through. I'm so glad dad recalled I have a weakness for old things, especially old books! I'm sure he also thought Agustin and I would get more use from it than he, since we actually speak, read, and understand Spanish! LOL

Thanks dad for giving me this treasure from Uncle Ray.

The spine of my small, Spanish Bible. See the white discoloring on it from age? It is a beautiful hunter green color which didn't show up well in the photos.



Opened up to John 3 :16 "For God so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in HIM should not perish but have everlasting life."

Juan 3:16 Porque de tal manera,amp Dios al mundo, que a dado a su Hijo, unigenito,para que todo aquel que en el cree, no se pierda,mas tenga vida eterna."

The front leaf of the Bible.