Who Needs Pockets??

Barb O. just sent me this forward! With 2 grannybabies coming I couldn't help but laugh! I'm pretty sure Carter will only have lizards to put down his pants but Adam sure might teach his lil' "person" how to make due without pockets! They have TONS of frogs on the farm! Wouldn't Ally freak??

New President...and a SNOWSTORM!!

Today I got up to the most beautiful snowfall of the season!! This beauty is partially due to the temperature being all the way up to 23 degrees!! A heat wave of sorts for us! I could tell before my feet hit the floor that it was a quite morning...a day that we were going to see our 44th President inaugurated and thankful for another day for me to spend with my Mister! I have mixed emotions about our new President. First, I will say that I will honor and respect him just as scripture commands me to do, but after his speech, I felt like I was seeing prophesy unfold before me and for a moment, I had a little shudder. It has NOTHING to do with race b/c I can honestly say that my decision to vote or not vote for or support a person has nothing to do with his or her color. What bothers me is that I see AMERICAN'S turning President Obama's victory INTO a racial matter! While Americans are rejoicing in the fact that we are "United" and "becoming one", the topic of every speech and comment is focused on race...which when made the pivotal point of discussion in and of itself is dividing, is it not? While this IS history making in the United States, it is common in many other countries, so lets get on with his qualifications for running the country, which in my opinion have nothing to do with the color of his skin. I always like to remind people who have negative comments about "color" that our Savior most likely is not a fair skinned blond! ;)

I enjoyed the simple things of the inauguration...the gift that Mrs. Obama presented Mrs. Bush...which later was announced that it was a journal and pen for her to write her memoires, the DARLING matching coats that the little girls wore, the beautiful John Williams piece, "It's a gift to be simple" that was played, the little girls just being little girls during the song, the blunder during the actual oath of office, which showed me that this man is very human and VERY excited, really paying attention to who was who for the first time EVER in my life as they were being introduced when they walked down the steps, the fact that as this was all going on, there were 95 people in the white house painting and bringing in the Obama furniture and changing out the Bush choice snacks for the Obama choice snacks (can you believe that??), watching former President Bush and Mrs. Bush turn to wave at the crowd before getting on the helicopter and thinking, I'll bet she's saying to George, "let's go home honey!", and my interest in the actual time and how many people it took to make sure everything went as planned not to mention the actual planning itself. All of it was very interesting to me this time.

Now...10 Balls!!?? I have an issue with that wondering WHO is paying for those? I know it's good and right to have a whoppin' celebration for this event, but TEN BALLS?? I really want to know who all is paying for that! So tonight I'll tune in to make assessment on the evening gowns they'll be wearing and tomorrow will be another day!

Now for the other side of it...I can't help but wonder as all the prayers were being extended this morning what the Lord must have been thinking? I thought Rick Warren's prayer was more like a speech than an actual prayer, although he did mention Jesus Christ along with several other names of our Savior finally at the end. Then, there was the benediction at which time this Reverend had my support until he took the opportunity at the end to make light of his calling by making a joke which encouraged more division. I saw a clear picture of "adding Jesus" to the package along with the "idol" of every other faith which was mentioned. It was clear we are headed to a one world order today. I saw this as if looking though a glass, probaby for the first time in my life. Knowing what is taught in scripture and knowing what lies ahead, but now SEEING it unfold was a sobering moment for me. What a perfect opportunity to praise God for being one of his own! We have a tall order in front of us. We are called to pray for those in authority over us and you can bet I'll be doing this more fervently than I've ever done. This is not a matter of race or history making, but it's a matter of this man leading our country in doing what is right before God! Given the fact that he has never made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, we as Christians have a wonderful opportunity to be obedient to our God's command to honor this man and to do what is right regardless of where he leads us. President Obama is not going to change our world in a direction towards God. BUT...you and I can stand firm on the Word of God, live our lives as a reflection of his Glory and make a difference in our families, in our churches and in our neighborhoods. I pray this might be the year that I take seriously the charge set before me...and to live my life as a reflection of the One who saved me!

Now that I've solved the worlds problems...I'm going to shovel my neighbors walk before they get home from work!

What do you do when it's -11 and the electricty goes out??

I had just come downstairs from being on the computer looking for a new recipe that I wanted from this morning when everything went STILL!!! Kinda weird...then Dennis, sitting on the couch got up and said, "The electricity just went off". (It takes a real pioneer man to make such a fine announcement!) Oh well, it happens off and on and I'm SURE they'll get it on soon. He went directly to the phone and called NIPSCO (who he's hoping to get an interview from BTW!!) to report it. Ahem...someone already beat us to it! Guess we city folks don't mess around with these temps and a power outage! So...he ran upstairs to shower (a man can't be too clean when there is no power!) while we still had hot water and I started dinner! Thankful for a gas stove! I lit that hummer with a stick of spaghetti! In fact, as it got darker out (it went out at 4:30 PM) I went candle gathering and cooked by candlelight. Good thing for a sense of smell, b/c I let my nose do the telling....since I was browning chicken!

Oh yeah...you're seeing it right. MINUS 11 degrees and dropping! It's gonna be a cold one tonight! Predicted that it's going to hit -15 with -40 to -45 wind chill! Bet you don't miss Nebraska about now, do you Sandy???

I brought the candles to the FR and set them in front of the mirror...so they would reflect more light. It worked! That room lit up like the power was on! (well...almost!!) Sure looked pioneery though!

This looks more like a sci fi movie than our family room by candlelight, but with the fire roarin' in the fireplace, we acutally stayed nice and toasty!

Dinner's ready...and my mister came a runnin! A man can't get enough food incase he has to go out and gather up the horses and cattle (or the mail that he forgot earlier!) in this wicked cold! Ha!
Then he thought since I was going to blog this event (if the power ever came back on!) that I should have my picture too! It was pretty romantic...dinner by candlelight. {I should have had him take this with the ISO, huh Natalie?? B/C my hair really isn't this BIG!!!) Of course, I didn't make the salad since there were veggies with the Chicken and Orzo. You can't see it, but we had glasses of FRESH homemade lemonade with our candlelight dinner!! Real pioneer woman food!!! Ha! I sure was thankful that we still had some hot water after Mister's shower...so I could get the kitchen cleaned up! Dennis called Mike and the others to cancel our Bible Study tonight with all that wasn't going on. Of course, me being me...thought it'd be real fun to study the Word by candlelight...just like our ancestors...but he didn't...so I didn't argue. We just sat in front of the fire with the red blanket warming us...waiting....waiting....waiting. I tried several times to call Mom and Dad but they only have digital phones, so they didn't work. I called their cell phone, but they didn't have it on. It was 6:30 and I finally got up to get my coat on to go over and check on them when the phone rang. It was Dad. He asked me if our electric was off... and about that time....WHALA...it was back on! Answered prayers...and a warm night ahead! Thank you Lord!!!

#1 Song on the Day I was BORN!

I would have thought it might be something like "Here comes trouble" or something of the like, but no...it's a sweet song about LOVE! Isn't that just special?? Funny thing, I know this was one of my parents favs b/c I remember hearing Dad sing it a lot! Hmmmm....love was in the air that year!!!
Thanks Sandy...this was fun! I'm going to see what it was the day we were married...and when the girls were born! Good times!
You can go to THIS SITE and check your's out girls! That is, if you don't have anything better to do! ;)

Arizona Christmas

Time to tidy up my heart as well as my home...

Today was a busy day. After pawing through a box of mail that we picked up from the post office yesterday I began the task of taking down the Christmas decorations and getting my house back to "normal". This afternoon, I finally got around to reading some old emails that I saved when I was in AZ. This one from Revive our Hearts made an impact on this ol' heart of mine. Consider each word carefully.

40 Evidences That You May Have Left Your First Love

1. You can go hours or days without having more than a passing thought of Him.
2. You don’t have a strong desire to spend time with Him.
3. You don’t have a strong hunger for the Word; Bible reading is a “chore” – something to
mark off your “to do” list.
4. Spending time in prayer is a burden/duty rather than a delight.
5. Your worship is formal, dry, lifeless, merely going through the motions.
6. Private prayer and worship are almost non-existent . . . cold and dry.
7. You are more concerned about physical health, well-being, and comfort than about the wellbeing
and condition of your soul.
8. You crave physical food, while having little appetite for spiritual food.
9. You crave human companionship more than a relationship with Christ.
10. You spend more time and effort on your physical appearance than on cultivating inner
spiritual beauty to please Christ.
11. Your heart toward Christ is cold and indifferent; not tender as it once was, not easily moved
by the Word, talk of spiritual things, etc.
12. Christianity is more of a checklist than a relationship with Christ.
13. You measure spirituality (yours/others’) by performance rather than the condition of the
heart.
14. Christianity is defined more what by what you “do” than who you “are” (“doing” vs.
“being”).
15. Your obedience and service are motivated and fueled by expectations of others or a desire to
impress others, more than by passion for Christ.
16. You are more concerned about what others think and pleasing them, than about what God
knows and pleasing Christ.
17. Your service for Christ and others is motivated by a sense of duty or obligation.
18. You find yourself becoming resentful over the hardships and demands of serving Christ and
others.
19. You can talk with others about kids, marriage, weather, and the news, but struggle to talk
about the Lord and spiritual matters.
20. You have a hard time coming up with something fresh to share in a testimony service at
church or when someone asks, “What’s God been doing in your life?”
21. You are formal, rigid, and up-tight about spiritual things, rather than joyful and winsome.
22. You are critical or harsh toward those who are doctrinally off-base or living in sin.
23. You enjoy secular songs, movies, and books more than songs or reading material that point
you to Christ.

We're home....

...and BABY...it's COLD outside! Oh how I miss Arizona!! I guess I should say how much I miss the kids, but honestly, I think right now I miss the weather more! We went out to Adam and Ally's tonight to deliver gifts brought back from the southwest and have dinner...and almost slid off the road! Dennis did a great job of counter steering to keep the truck between the ditches! PRAISE THE LORD! Really...it was like a scary movie! I looked at him and he was turning the wheel as fast as he could, first one way, then the other until he got it under control again. He knew we shouldn't have driven the truck b/c it's so light in the back, but we had a coat rack to deliver! We're back now...and the truck is parked until Spring! ; )

I'll have pictures to post when I get my chores done. The dryer decided to quit heating today, so tomorrow we have to see about fixing that. Kind of a bad time for that to go out...right after a long trip and all, but I'm thankful I have my own full time handy-man right now! It's good to be home!