To God be the Glory!

Beautiful day...God is on His throne and answers prayers faster than we pray them...due to sensitive matters, I'm not at liberty to share right now, but suffice to say that the answer came, the power of God changed a situation that was potentially dangerous, and to God Be the Glory, great things He has done...


We are so looking forward to being with the brothers and sisters tomorrow and worshipping our God together with them and hearing the Word of the Lord.


This is a toad that was in the pool that we began to clean but discovered a hole (in the pool, not the toad!) that was significant...disappointment. But I found another one on Craigslist that we'll see if we get tomorrow...if not, then we'll figure out how to fix this one...



I have earthshaking news...our daughter and granddaughter are coming to visit and they are coming when our son and his fiance' and their friend are coming and they're all arriving on the same day (not at the same time)!!! What are the chances of that happening? God is moving, ordering our steps and orchestrating a beautiful reunion...my heart is ready to leap from my chest...pray we find a couch, a bed, something to lay them all on. It'll be the best early Thanksgiving we've ever had!!! I can't thank our God with words...there are none to describe how excited and thrilled we all are!
Good nite for now.

...As the sun sets...

This has been a beautiful day. I sent Caleb for the mail and watched him as he walked down the road. The sun was just setting so i caught it and him as he walked home.

My dear Jef has gone to a film festival tonite in downtown and is rubbing shoulders with movie makers. It's his dream come true to make movies and God has his hand on my best friend's life and heart. I am honored to be his wife and the mother of his kids.

The weather has been cooler (80's instead of 90's!) this evening and so I was able to mow...yippee...the mower is now working better, but the lawn isn't getting smaller...and it's funny how the grass doesn't stay the same height all over when you only cut parts of it at a time. :) I was most grateful that I didn't get attacked by all the ants when I disrupted their hills...oh, and how many hills, too!

Today, the boys and I worked on Nehemiah and the prayer in Ch. 9, the awesomeness of our God and His unfailing love. We discussed the Israelites and how when they piled up the dead frogs, how bad the stench was, as well as the night the angel of death was coming and they were dressed, with their walking stick in one hand and eating with the other one...it reminded us of Nehemiah and how they had their weapons in one hand ready to fight and worked with the other and how they did all this as a family, just like in Exodus...

We got eight eggs today and that delighted the boys...they would keep those hens in their room if we let them...Isaac hides his favorite one in his shirt, which obviously isn't hidden well at all, but he tries to bring her in to play with. They swing with them on their swing, jump on the trampoline with them, as well.

My best friend came home with a gift for me...better than flowers, if you can imagine. He brought me a photography book from Borders! MY sweetie knows me and what tickles my fancy and how to love me. I'm forever grateful for him.

Sleep well.

daune

Some Of My Favorites

This is my neighbor, Gladys. She don't care much about hygiene nor manners, but I love her anyway!

So gross, it's cool! Nature at its best! When I took this, I wasn't sure what kind of an insect it was...bugs are so strange around here. But after I downloaded it, I was able to see that it had been eaten on...I have more, but I won't nauseate you with them!

A beautiful fishing lake nearby

A cool cicada! I think what's reallyneat is how Isaac just holds these kinds of things with no fear at all! Hangin' out at the pond around the corner.

It's Friday, AGAIN...where does time go?

Let God be praised...Great things He has done. My mom is home. Actually she called me last nite from home saying that the MRI showed nothing and that the reason for the dizziness was too much insulin. She's actually needing to take much less of her dosage! And she was seriously anemic, which can cause dizziness, as well. So, the spot they found on the lung has to do with my dad's smoking long ago and how it affected her, but that, too, will go, in Jesus' name.

Well, the boys have slept in this morning...this NEVER HAPPENS!

I hear the rooster crowing in the house, but if I go out and let them all out, he may attack me again, so they'll just have to hang out in their house until the boys wake up...

Hey, I've been checking out other blogs and have discovered that creativity is truly a gift from God. I have been amazed at the beauty, form, and depth to women's hearts that love God. It's inspiring. Thank you, Jesus, for giving women the ability to express YOU through their gifts.

Have a great day.

A Beautiful Trip.

We visited the coolest town a few weeks ago...Fredricksburg. If you ever get to go, you won't be disappointed. There's a park in the center of town that has a beautiful garden in the middle. The boys went back in time...

Obviously, it's a German town and the architecture is beautiful...felt like I was back where my ancestors lived!

It was a wonderful drive and the scenery was gorgeous.

We even pulled off the side of the road so I could gather these beautiful flowers!~

I have no idea what they are either...

Life is good!

P.S.-Please remember my mom in your prayers of thanksgiving...she is in the hospital tonite and I know she is healed by the beating that Jesus took for her. We are expecting to hear a good report and are refusing to believe an evil report. Our God is faithful to His Word.

Good nite.

Oh, yes, one more thing...for those of you waiting on the man God has for you...perhaps you should believe Him for a man like Nehemiah...we've been reading about him and I am praying over our boys to become a man with the character qualities that Nehemiah had...read the book, you'll see what I mean! Now, there's something to cogitate on a while...

Seriously, good nite.

I found an Acorn under the tree.

That's an awesome title for a book, I think. Isn't that a cool picture? I took it and it looks much better when it's bigger, but uploading with dial up service makes things fail a lot! I actually did find a teeny tiny acorn...they're my favorite things to collect in the fall..atleast they were when we were in Buffalo, NY. But down here in hot Texas, the oaks on our property don't seem to grow acorns...but we had tons of rain and I think that's what did it...I'm tickled.

Midday thoughts...You know Mondays can transition better, I think, if you do something a little different. I took the opportunity this morning to mow our wonderful 'yard' since the temp. was much cooler and the humidity was low. The boys began to clean the pool we got and that was great until it turned into a water war and they forgot what they were supposed to be doing.

When I woke this morning, I kept thinking about yesterday's message: Living in the realm of the Tree of Life, as opposed to the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil...so, I pondered how to apply this to our day.

I believe a key is to listen when opportunities present themselves with frustration, anger, and good behaviour vs. bad behaviour-(Particularly with those closest to us, and in particular, if we are home educating our children or just training them in the ways of God)...

Then comes the question, "Father, how can Your power flow through me RIGHT NOW rather than looking at what I see and reacting in the flesh?" Then comes the stillness and listening...if this becomes a practice over time, I believe that the lifestyle we'll live is one of being light and easy...it's definitely the goal...to reflect our King...Jesus was patient, kind, interested, forgiving, all the things He expects of us...that can only be done by coming to Him consistently and acknowledging our need for Him and taking seriously His Word...(Perhaps I'm going off on a tangent, now, so I'll just end here! :)) Another time, another sermon.

The point is living in grace (the power of God to change a heart), not law anymore cuz Jesus set us free from the law of do's and don't's...so when I'm training my boys in the why's of doing the right things, it's because of their love and respect, honor and healthy fear of the Lord that they should obey me.

I decided that it was time to wrap up the outdoor activity and bring them in to work on all our hearts!

It's been a long day and challenging at times, but my heart is to practice what I preach.

Therefore, I'm going to just sit and listen about how to respond to one of my children that is a sizzler...if you're unsure what that is, here's a website that will help...I think I have two sizzlers and once I discovered that they're little sizzlers, it relieved much stress about them...

www.SizzleBop.com

Enjoy your day. We're going to go hear a brother from our church that's a comedian tonite...God has opened the door for him to be light and salt and share Life through comedy...

www.myspace.com/latenightlivewithcleto

http://www.fullarmorentertainment.com/store/c/41-Cleto-Rodriguez.aspx

Just a couple of places to learn about him...

This has definitely been a day of musings. I apologize if it's too much work to try and get in my head with me...I have enough difficulty doing it and finding order, so I don't blame you if you finish reading and say, 'what the heck was she trying to say!!!'

See ya *smile*

So Many thoughts...

Isaac stole a marshmallow, so the penalty was tickling...

My head is so full of thoughts to share...

I spent way too long looking at others blogs trying to figure out whether I should respond to posts on my blog, go to others blogs and respond that way, or what exactly is protocol...what I see is that it's up to me! That's good news...this new venture can be intimidating at times.

Friday, once again and the lawn is still not mowed! I tried on Wed. afternoon, although the temp was very high! It started, I cheered, and it died! So, I gave up and tried again yesterday...thinking all the while, "I put oil in this thing, that's gotta be what's wrong." NOT~same thing happened yesterday and my dear husband hasn't had any time to intervene and rescue me from this monster yet...I suppose we'll attempt it again tomorrow...after we clean up a pool we were given last nite. It was free...needs serious cleaning; that's no big deal.

Have any of you gone on Craigslist? It's awesome...check your town for it...well worth the effort. (Guess what? I just went to the site, and found a LAWNMOWER FOR FREE!!!) I emailed them and we'll see.

The pool guy from last nite said that he got twenty-seven emails about his pool within thirty minutes~I'd have to say that was the favor of our God on me! He also said he was homeschooled. But that was after he chose us as the receivers of his gift.! I've been asking God for one since last winter...all two months of it!

Have I ever mentioned that we have some fun family traditions in our home? One is our "Highlight of the day" and that's when you sit down together for dinner, everyone gets a turn at telling their best part of the day to everyone else. If you've ever eaten with us, you know this is serious business...sometimes, if one of us has had a difficult day, they'll tell their 'lowlight' instead, but that doesn't happen too much. Or maybe they didn't have one. That's ok, too...Josh always asks if the boys had gotten a spanking that day and if so, then he ALWAYS CHANGES HIS to that! I guess it's his dry sense of humor!

The other tradition that's been going on for quite a while, but not as long, is Friday nite family nite with a movie...it's open to the members of our church, but I wonder if everyone thinks we live in Mexico or some place else, so they don't want to drive too far to watch a movie and get the best popcorn in the state! It doesn't matter, tho, cuz we always see a movie and get popcorn, too...

Tonite's movie is one that, as you can tell, I've dodged watching, except for popcorn delivery: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"...not my favorite...I'm allowed to be excused cuz I really don't even think they even know I'm not in the room...this is the third time they've watched it now (not in a row, I mean!) and so I know I'll be hearing quotes from it for the next three weeks, at least! But it came from the library, which means we didn't have to pay to watch it this time.

Don't you just love the library? I mean, it's such a gift...when we were back in Buffalo, they closed the one near us and it was like saying goodbye to a dear friend moving far away...what a similarity to our life, huh?

Boy, I really do have a lot to get out of my head tonite. Thanks for your patience.

I'm so excited for our fellowship...we've gotten into a facility to have our services, the school, symposiums, meetings, community outreaches, etc, and everyone is working so hard to get things painted, cleaned, and ready to move into. Jef has gone every morning to pray with the men for the city and God's will for our particular church.

Ya know, we came 1800 miles to fulfill the Great Commission with this particular group of people and I couldn't be more thankful. They're hearts are set like flint to go forward, obstacles or not. I feel privileged to be a part of it all. I love and appreciate our pastor, his wife and the passion and zeal they have to affect this culture. Do check out our website...and if you're in our area, please come and check us out. You are so welcome to run with us and the vision to transform San Antonio, Texas.

Let me see...is there anything else...oh, yes. I wanted to share a small thing that was a big thing...you know my heart is for marriage, family, etc. Well, I really wanted to go on a date with Jef on Tues. nite after the boys went down and Josh didn't work...I made a suggestion we go out, and he jumped in the shower. Well, when I looked at the clock, it was already 9:45 p.m. and I knew my batteries were going to run out in only a short while, so I said, "why don't we do something different?" So, we put two small candles on the table, and as we always go to Borders on our dates and find books to share and a drink at the cafe', we got two books and took turns reading, "John Adams" and "I Have A Dream" to each other...AND WE WERE ALL ALONE! Josh was still asleep from the floor picture you saw in a previous post~! He did eventually wake up and sit with us and listen, but that wasn't for too long...it was a marvelous time and we saved money and gas! Those are the times that bring you close and you touch each other in a different way...I saw, firsthand, his heart in the emotion of reading me MLK's speech and he heard my heart in Abigail Adam's words of love to her husband far away from her.

Well, Jef is putting the boys to bed. He nightly reads passages from both the Old and New Testament to them and prays over them. It's an excellent time of bonding and imparting. I love it. He also sings, too, and occasionally, if he's not too tired, or they aren't, he brings out the guitar and they worship together that way...these times are slipping by at light speed. I remember when the older ones were little and he'd do that with them...sigh. Selah.

Goodnite.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DON GAVIN!!!

Well, today is our dearest friend, Donnie Gavin's 51st birthday and I wanted to honor him by publicly giving him this picture of what we believe he looks like everytime he gets on his Harley and takes a cruise with my best friend, Diane. You see, we have never seen his Harley, but we know he looks even cooler than this guy!

Happy Birthday, Don, and may the next 51 years be even more exciting as you ride for Jesus!

(The picture is from the back of the Reader's Digest magazine I get and when I saw it, I immediately thought of you, Donnie!)

How we miss you guys and wish we were there today to celebrate with you and perhaps go for a spin around the block~!

Notice the title: "King Of The Road"

It's Tuesday and the week is getting underway. We finished our 'table-time' segment of the day earlier than usual because I had an appointment and then we had time to hang out at the library and get all kinds of books...I found "Beowulf, A New Telling" by Robert Nye and it looks like something the boys will like.

Tonite Jef discovered he can work from home on the computer, good for him, not so good for me~! But having him home to discuss things like history, science, subjects he's well informed about, will be wonderful...I knew it was coming, but I didn't think it would be this soon. Yippee!!!

While Jef worked on the computer, I sat and caught up on a Bible study I'm doing, "The Power of a Praying Wife" and the boys built a new creation with Legos.

They got their Lego magazine in the mail and it was like Christmas (Isaac has been reminding me that 'it should be coming soon, mom!').

Here is a pix of Caleb's new 'guy'...as well as Josh crashing on the floor in the dining room after a productive day at work.

He was so generous to bring pizza home tonite. I could kiss him when he does that. He's a very thoughtful son. Someday, some fortunate woman is going to be so blessed by his kind and giving heart. I look forward to welcoming her into our family as much as I am looking forward to meeting Jackie! But I hope I don't have to wait too long!

Sleep well!

...go a little deeper...

OH, one more thing...did you see the word, "pudenda" in the definition of fountain? Please look up the definition for yourselves, because it's extremely enlightening, to say the least. Ladies, we are to take the Word of God seriously. Check it out for yourself...God is very direct, don't you think!
Cogitate on that one a while...then comment!

Fountain of Love

" Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.

Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts satisfy you always.

May you always be captivated (intoxicated!) by her love."
Proverbs 5: 19

Are YOU a fountain of blessing to your husband?

Fountain in the Hebrew is:
maqowr

properly something dug, i.e. a (general) source (of water, even when naturally flowing; also of tears, blood [by euphemism of the female pudenda]; figurative of happiness, wisdom, progeny) :- fountain, issue, spring, well (-spring).

That sums it up, yup!

Thought I'd give you something to chew on a while...

...Is it me, or does time seem to be whizzing by and the seasons beginning to change? Where did the weekend go? On Saturday, I yardsaled for a little while, we took turns fighting with the lawn mower that kept dying, and we're still not finished, cleaned out the car and then we were wore out. We spent Sunday with our church family and after the boys went to bed last night, we spent time talking together, discussing our life, and praying together. Great end to the weekend, but it was way too short. How I long for the day when my dear husband and I are together and serving the kingdom together...it won't be too long from now, I'm sure.

Our son, Dan, is moving down here with his fiance', Jackie, in a couple of weeks and it only seems like yesterday that he came for a visit, but it was the first week of June. We are extremely excited to be together again after many years of him being gone to another place far away from us. And we're also looking forward to getting to know his fiance' and making her a part of our family.

Friday nite we watched, "Miss Potter", the story of Beatrix Potter...I enjoyed it and the scenery was breathtaking...if you get a chance, check it out...it's based on her life and the children enjoyed it, as well.

Of course, I take tons of pictures on Sunday with our family and I was playing around with little feet and came up with these...

She's so little that her skin is still peeling from the birth!

There's so much to share, but time forbids me right now.
I will say, tho, that this season has been one of learning to stand on the Word of God for every issue and that His joy is my strength. Only His Word and His promises will carry us through to victory; not any material thing, any relationship, any gift or talent, nor any amount of money or pleasure...without His joy, we lose sight of the big picture. It's not about us, it's about Him and His purposes in the earth through us. Finding Life, joy, contentment, peace and security in knowing HIM. Now cogitate on that one a while and see what happens...could be good, could be more struggles because we realize we're resisting the reality of Him being all we ever need...

My precious granddaughter!!!

I just read this...

"Grandmom's are like Mom's only with a lot more frosting."

I love it...only wish my granddaughter was here to smear some frosting on her.

Here's some recent pix I got...enjoy...

Is she not the most beautiful child in the whole world???

Wow...how the week has flown by. The temps are dropping down lower at night, but still peaking to 90 + in the day.

Life has been very busy and 'school' is going well and that's also peaking later in the day than I'd like! Thank God for Fridays...

The boys got sooo excited today, running in yelling, "mommy"!

...the hen that they bought with their money was laying in the nest box and they were sure she was going to lay today...so they were planning on how they were going to cook the one egg tomorrow for breakfast...they sat right down and began to journal about it which I was delighted about.

Have a great weekend.

Here are some pix from yesterday as I promised.

This is Olivia, sweet Olivia.

The day of rest.

Today was the Sabbath...the day one is to rest from his labors and enjoy the Word of God, fellowship with His body, the church, and worship Him...
I had an idea that perhaps I'd like to finish the 'yard' and the mowing in the afternoon, but when the temp is 85 at 10 a.m., and I sensed the Holy Spirit speaking so softly to me that I needed to focus my heart on Him and enjoy the day, then the yard was not an issue. Grass will always be there! It was a wonderful day and the only regret is that we can't seem to do it every day!
Good nite.
I want to upload pix from the day, but it's taking too long, so tomorrow, when my eyes aren't burning, I'll try again!

What a muggy day!

"Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!

His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance;

therefore, I will hope in him!

"The Lord is good to those who depend on him,

to those who search for him.

So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline.

Let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord's demands.

Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last.

Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies.

For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever.

Though he brings grief,

he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.

For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow."

Lamentations 3: 21-30

More of the beauty of my yard...

I believe this is a wildflower, as well.

Can't seem to remember what kind this is...does anyone know?

I finally did it. I've thought about making a blog for quite a while so family and friends far away can keep up with us and our daily goings on as well as my thoughts and cogitations...isn't that a cool word? Perhaps I should define it for those of you who wouldn't otherwise go to the dictionary to look up new words...
Cogitations means: deep thought or consideration that somebody gives to a particular problem or subject.
I've tried several times to write here what matters most, but that is impossible because there are so many things that really matter...family, little children's hearts, friendships, education, heaven and hell, etc...the list goes on.
On the lighter side of the day, here's a picture of some of our hens and rooster enjoying my bench in the back yard. Enjoy.