Trekking with Me

Ahem.  I turned 40 this past week.  I missed blogging on my actual birthday but its good I did not blog because I have been an emotional mess this last week. Confession: it's been hard swallowing this one. With this past week being my first dip back into teacher land and my BIG birthday tucked in the middle, I was a little emotionally overwhelmed.  I still have not wrapped my brain around it. Just being vulnerable here! I was tremendously blessed through lots of cards, birthday wishes, calls, and even a visit from my parents as well as a series of comments on Facebook regarding the significance of the number 40, especially this one: I'm hearing that after 40 years of gathering/experiencing/processing/feeling/digging.....you are ready for a new era - an era of refreshing/being refreshed/walking in your true identity. Because nothing is wasted, and all that you have already walked through will be empowering you to live in the Spirit and listen to Him as you neve...

If you have been following me here, you will be well aware I have been neck-deep in a huge renovation project.  This last week, it has about done me in! I don't know if I am receiving some physical notices that I am getting older... but every part of my body is "powerful worn out" (know where that quote comes from??)! Since I am in the renovating mindset, I thought it was time to make some updating changes on my blog.  I wanted to add a few gadgets to make it more interesting, give me some better feedback, and freshen it up a bit.  As you can see the "gadgets" are on a slide out thing to the right of the screen: notice I have added a "Popular Posts" gadget.  You will also notice there are some feedback and sharing tools for you! I also added a few links to my "about me" page, if you are just coming through for the first time (or have only visited a few times), stop by and let's officially meet! I would LOVE more feed back, so plea...

It's a special week for three of my nieces and nephews.  I wish I could be there to celebrate with each of you; on the other hand, i would have to run a few miles to work off all the extra calories eaten.  My sister-n-love is amazing in caking making so I could hardly have just one piece. Each of you will hear many times, "I can't believe you are that old!" --- at least while you are under 25.  After that it gets more exclamatory: "You are HOW OLD?!" This makes you wake up in the middle of the night wondering, "Was that a good or bad comment?" I guess the surprise hits us more than it affects you.  To us who state those words, the reality of how this makes US feel old is what is really being digested. So this year, since I have been the world's worst aunt - I forget birthdays - I am blogging a "Happy Birthday" post for you!   (I truly only remember a handful of Birthday's, that gene is weak in my system or something.)    ...

I am a little behind this month in posting my Scripture memory verse.  My computer dying was the main culprit.  My posts are beginning to be few and far between; this does not mean I have nothing to write about, but that I have not had many precious hours to sit, marinate and digest all that is going on.... so much! This last weekend I went to FL.  I have much to share on that but for this post, I will post my memory verse... before I do that I have to explain why I chose it. I was so blessed to hear my younger brother preach this past Sunday.  Something he shared spawned the significance of my new verse challenge. Romans 6 tells us " Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness."   To borrow some of my brother's words, "... the way to freedom is through death..." ...

I am about to throw some clothes in my suitcase and head out the door to land in NC tonight.  I whipped open my Apple to quickly check emails and the ADORABLE BLUE EYED WONDER was staring at me from my screen.   I had to stop and drink in the darling thing... he literally took my breath away.  This is my new little Nephew, Micah Troy.  I had fun snapping pictures of this hunk-a-chunk over Easter Weekend.  I showed this picture to a friend this morning... and snapped my MAC shut and ran out without closing the picture down.   What a beautiful delicious baby.  :-)  Soon he will be 4 months old... 4 years old... 14 years old... 44 years old... gulp.  So... i am capturing him now... to remember always.   :-)

Friday Morning Sky from my back fence; it was one of the most incredible sunrise skies I have ever seen! I like pancakes, but i have always had a battle with making them ...  these were a little on the thick side... i hate it when it is still uncooked in the middle... the pan was too hot... so... Sasha was happy to take care of some of them. Jimbo helped me out and the last half of the batch actually turned out decent.  Ask Kayden... she even shared them with George. :-) Now THIS is the face of a satisfied customer! This one... it's up for debate. ;-)

I have loved this song for a long time ago - I first heard it while working at Brother John's in Toccoa, GA; it would play on the radio and it just made me smile every time I heard it!!! Now... what's one of your favorite Christmas songs??  I dedicate this post to all my nieces and nephews... love you all!! 

Morning on the Mountain. Nothing beats a sunset from this view! What more can I say? It was w-i-n-d-y ... and cold. brrrrr. Gorgeous. I love  this. "He clothes the lillies of the valleys...." Apples! My first time picking in an apple orchard... yummy! Me and Dad. Brasstown Bald, Ga. :-)

I have been blessed with a new Camera!! :-) I am so excited over it... "i can't stop smilin'".... so, here are some random shots with my new toy: My dad and I scrubbed those railings and he painted them ... it is a tougher job than it sounds.  Myrtles are EVERYWHERE around here; I can't give over how long they stay bloomed. You can see almost every variety of color in my neighborhood: white, pink, purple... it really is beautiful. These two are just over my back fence.   Evidence that my dad has been here for a few days...  the yard is SO beautiful after a few long days of work.   This would be Sasha's favorite toy. My favorite place: the Farmer's Market. That would be Nancy, Tom's wife - what a joy to work with such fine folks. This is a beautiful sight; it is also where I get my veggies!!!  One of the sweetest, hard-working women I know....makes me want to work on learning some spanish...  our conversations are f...

This is my three brothers and I! I don't think I have ever had a picture of just us! I am so blessed... I think my brothers are the most amazing men in the world. Each of them are incredible husbands and fathers. No Lie, and even though I may be biased in my opinion, I know first hand that they are among the BEST! We shared a wonderful family Christmas a few days early - the 23rd - and we realized it was the FIRST Christmas we have ALL been together, for Christmas, in 15 years! It was truly blessed of the Lord! Praying you all, who read my blog, have had a very blessed Christmas - I pray Jesus is brighter and incredibly beautiful in a new way.... The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. From this fullness of His grace we have ALL received... ...ONE BLESSING AFTER ANOTHER. John 1:14,16 NIV

I have a DRYER!! My wonderful dad kept telling me he could find a dryer for a good deal; i was ready to buy one new from Home Depot a few weeks ago. I have enjoyed hanging out my laundry but having several days of unpredictable weather, a dog who LOVES to play "pull all the clothes off the line," and at least one trip to my brothers to get my laundry done had me pining for this useful machine! But, because I truly did not want to spend at least if not more than$300 on a new machine, I trusted my dad's word and waited. It was WORTH it! $50 and a little trip up from FL - Dad delivered! I have a fantastic, wonderful, good dryer sitting in my utility room! Yeah DAD! So, today I did my first few loads of laundry in my new dryer as the day was a bit overcast but it was more about TIME than inclement weather. I won't forego using my laundry line if the weather is nice and I have the time. It is a good way to save energy, enjoy God's beautiful creation and just slow...

OH boy...I was "tagged" - I was told to go to my picture file and post from the fourth file, the fourth picture. Well - I say "kind of" because i recently loaded pictures from my dad's digital camera and his camera had the wrong date in it and it filed them in the wrong place....so anyhow, this is "my fourth" of my fourth! This is last Christmas - It may have been the day after Christmas - my mom and dad and I in Genova, Italy. It was SO cold that day and we were wishing we had a few more layers on!

Here we are - My family and I and friends from church - waiting for the arrival of Kayden Joy. My Sister in law is having a C-section at 12:00; we have all been a bit on edge for a few weeks as we waited for this big day! The birth of a baby is such a miracle and we all are heightened to this fact more and more after the events of last January. Losing Oliver has been one of the hardest events our family has walked through - How thankful we are for the Body of Christ, for tears, for love - for Life. Kayden Joy's arrival will certainly bring great Joy! Yesterday I read Psalm 104 - I have been repeating the words found therein, "You God are VERY GREAT!" So...our GREAT God, no, our VERY GREAT GOD - is here with us, in the operating room with Timbrel and Jimbo and we are counting down the minutes to celebrate this new little life coming out of the womb! HERE SHE IS!!! She is 8lbs, 6oz, 20.5 inches, with tiny curls!! OH my goodness, the emotion is unexpressible, s...

Whew! I am just taking a seat after making some headway on a few of my house projects this morning. The house is quiet, except for Kenny G playing Christmas tunes. I have laundry to hang out before the morning gets too far along but I thought I would jot a line here to say Hello to my friends who check on me now and then =) I finished my first semester! Woo-hoooo!! I have a goal oriented mindset so when a goal is reached I like to cheer! And I also realize that i have about four more semesters to go, I wish it would not be so long - but when you think about it in numbers like "4" - it doesn't seem so long! Thank you all for your prayers. God used this last semester to work in my mind and my heart. It is all good. Right now - the Christmas Holidays are here and it truly is fun! I don't have ONE piece of Christmas decor up! Not yet anyhow, I tried to get Kitty to get some things done but, well, you know, she doesn't always carry out my wishes.... Somehow...

I can't let too many days go by without sharing a great treat God blessed me with...a trip to Florida! After being here in SC for almost six months, I was feeling like a tumble weed. God heard a very sad cry a few weeks ago for something special to perk me up. I had no idea a trip to Florida would be His answer and gift! A dear friend was in need of someone to drive her to Florida; I offered my services. It was a blessing to her - but I was the one who received the best blessing! Fall in Florida may not have all the brilliant colors of the north, but it is about the best time of year to visit! The temperature is perfect, and well, it is just great - especially when you get to visit some of the most wonderful people in the world - or at least of the ones i have met so far and stick you toes in the sand and surf of the Atlantic and not lose them to frostbite! After dropping my friend off at her destination, the open road was mine. I did a loop-de-loop through Central Flor...

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Ecclesiates 11:5 This was the "Verse of the Day" on Biblegateway.com today. It reminded me of something i read the last few days. When we walk with the Spirit, in His Wind...we walk in freedom. I have been meditating on that...the context of that truth was in a paragraph about having boundaries in our lives. Sometimes boundaries seem to keep us from things but really boundaries are safeguards and actually, paradoxically, bring us MORE freedom. Going Deeper with this - remembering Jesus' words to Nicodemus! Jesus was trying to explain a heavenly concept to Nic - being born of God, it is a Spirit thing, not physical - How beautiful is that! I was marveling last night as a friend and i discussed the state of our society...it seems like it is going down hill, fear would be easy to give into, YET, God works in...

Here I sit, tears streaming down my face - it is not often that a teacher will sit in her classroom, so touched by the content of her subject that the heart is touched, triggering a memory. It is one of the richest moments to experience. I teach history, American history to be precise. Today we finished watching a video about WWI and the devastation the world experienced through that travesty. As I have walked with my students through this time period, my memory has been stirred. A memory floats up from a book in the "Anne of Green Gables" series - of which i was a huge fan. My favorite in the series was the final book, "Rilla of Ingleside." For those who are familiar with Anne, Rilla was Anne's youngest daughter. This story took place during the early 1900's and WWI weaves into the story in a fantastic way. (you must read it!) Anyhow, I identified with Rilla in a special way. She had a very special relationship with her brother - very much li...

I love my mom. I really do have a wonderful mom. I am so thankful for a mom who i can call one of my best friends. She is a good listener. I have always thought my mom had a special ability to really say the RIGHT thing. She has always shown me how to think of others more than myself. And, she always looks at herself when offended or hurt and tries to see what needs to adjust in her before pointing an accusing finger. I love that. She is the picture of "I can't change them so what does God want me to change in myself." She is the worlds most gracious and loving servant....she finds JOY in serving. Seriously! She would rather be the one on her feet, doing for others than to sit down and be served. I have always loved her sence of humor. She can laugh at herself when she is clumsy, she has never been a self conscious person - always able to find humor in something or herself. I wish i could be more like that as i am too concerned about what others think! Many ...

What are you reading? Melanie at monday through sunday tagged me for this meme. The Rules: 1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages). 2. Open the book to page 123. 3. Find the fifth sentence. 4. Post the next three sentences. 5. Tag five people. The book I am reading right now is:.....Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. A wonderful classic! "That is not the point in which faith comes in. But supposing a man's reason once decides that the weight of the evidence is for it. I can tell that man what is going to happen to him in the next few weeks. There will come a moment when there is bad news, or he is in trouble, or is living among a lot of other people who do not believe it, and all at once his emotions will rise up and carry out a sort of blitz on his belief." I don't know that many to tag!!

"As they pass through the valley...they make it a place of springs..." This past week has been a valley week for my family and I. As some of you know who are close friends, our little Oliver Isaiah never breathed into this world, but breathed in the breath of Heaven - seeing Jesus before any of us got to meet him here on this earth. To say the least, it has been a shock. A little baby....gone. Many thoughts, many emotions, many tears....and yes, questions; yet the evidence of God's grace in the midst of the trial is undeniable. The loving arms of the Body of Christ, of family members - helped bring comfort as they wepted with us in the sorrow. In times like these, questions do rise, comments are said that make you think and ponder....one of those comments that kept coming out was "this will help you as you minister to others..." I tried to process this comment...I know that God uses the things in our lifes to enable us to be able to touch others...b...