Two peas in a pod.....or potatoes on a couch.....whichever

True colors

My grey hair

Rub a dub dub

The mean things parents do to their kids....or maybe just us.....either way....

I am blessed

I am blessed, I am blessed,

From when I rise up in the morning,

to when I lay my head to rest

For all the worst and all the best,

I am blessed

-Rachel Lampa

I was thanking God for His blessings today. A part of me felt that I didn't fully understand what it meant to be blessed. As I looked up the word, this is what I found.

Blessed: to be blissful, contented, endowed, glad, joyful.

The word blessed is an adjective, meaning, it describes it's noun.

Does the word blessed describe who I am? Or do I allow myself to be described by my circumstances? Far too often, I walk around saying "I'm blessed", but I base me saying this on what I have. It was easy to say "I'm blessed!" when we bought our first house, or when I gave birth to our first son, because I looked around and saw "blessings". But after the death of my nephew, and during the painful prunning process that proceeded, I found myself in a time when it was difficult to see the physical blessings in my life, so "I'm blessed" was never spoken, let alone modeled.

All this time I've been thinking that being blessed has to do with what you have. I thought that when something good happened upon us, then we had been "blessed". But being blessed isn't something that happens to you, it's something you are! It's something that describes you! Glad, thankful, contented, joyful! For all the worst and all the best, I am blessed, from when I rise up in the morning, to when I lay my head to rest. The desire of my heart is to grow in maturity in this area, so that when I say I am blessed, I really am.

I hope you enjoy your time together!!!!!

Phew...
Last night was my hubby's surprise birthday party. I am happy to announce that all went very well, and hubby was totally surprised. I've been planning this for him for about 3 weeks, and you have no idea how hard it has been keeping something like this from him. I swear, I married a super-sleuth, and did he ever pull out his magnifying glass and detective badge yesterday! He was looking up mysterious phone numbers, asking all kinds of questions, my poor brother-in-law was trying so hard to cover things up for me, even went as far as saying, "yeah I called that number, I don't know who it is, I've been doing weird things lately, then I forget doing them." Yeah...
My sis and her hubby were a big help, thanks for everything! As was my dad. They invited us over for supper, so I could get hubby out of the house while Carebear and Firestarted came in and finished the last minute food preps and computer set ups. There was a lot of time to kill at dads, so to distract my hubby, they decided to take apart the wall in my dads basement. Then, half-way through, dad realized it was time to go, so he said, ok, this is good for now (with half of the wall off, the baseboard off, the light switch taken apart....and and and...). My hubby's like, what do you mean that's it? We still have the other half of the wall, and don't you want to at least put your light switch back on? So you can you know, turn the light on and off?? Typical dad, uhhhh....yeah, I guess I could put the switch back on.
Sheesh.
Once I got my hubby here, and he saw all his boy-friends and toys, he quickly forgot about me, so me and my sis and mom went out for coffee and shared some laughs and funny stories. Such a blessing to be so close to my family. And what a weird yet wonderful feeling, to drop everyone off at their houses, by simply driving around the block.
Am so glad it's getting nice out. I'm looking so forward to enjoying this new season. I feel like I missed the whole summer last year, and didn't partake in any of the cool things summer brings. My sis would call me,
-wanna go outside and tan?
-no it's too hot
-wanna take the kids to a park?
-no I'm too tired
-wanna come over and run through the sprinklers?
-no I'm too sore
-wanna just talk on the phone then?
-nah......~click~

God's mercies are new every morning, and each new seasons brings it's own beautiful growth to our lives. There is a time for everything under the sun, rest assured that wherever God has taken you, He will not leave you, He will finish what He's started.
God has been speaking to me a lot about this new season. He told me that I will be seeing many changes, and that many of them will feel very uncomfortable. But to NOT BE AFRAID, for these changes are GOOD. There is going to be a lot of letting go of old, and embracing of new.
My little one had her hair cut recently. I love it.

My little trooper popped out his first nub of a tooth today!! Poor guy is not a happy camper : (

the song in my heart

Holy Fire

Burn away

My desire, for anything

That is not of You

And is of me

I want more of You

and less of me

Empty me

Empty me

And fill me

with You

Looking at flyers with Daddy

Ooooooooh.... I want that

Behold, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the desert

and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19


I love how God will give me a beautiful illustration of where He is taking me. As I look outside at the new season emerging I am deeply encouraged. The mud covered snow I see melting outside my window, is the same dirt and grime that I feel melting off my spirit. This last season has been a cold one, outside and in. So cold that I found myself cuddling up under a blanket I had hand-crafted out of a security found in myself, not my Father. I ran from God, like Jonah running to Tarshish, I just wanted a place to hide, and sleep.

As the dirt is melting away, I am renewed with a fresh release, to speak the word of the Lord, and to speak it BOLDLY. I am encouraged and deeply humbled by His mercy and forgiveness, and His blessing to move forward in my walk with Him. I'm overwhelmed by a great anticipation of what's to come, as I know I have already seen GREAT THINGS!

This is a new season, of new beginnings, of new life and new heights. It was just before last spring that my husband and I removed ourselves from our outside commitments, and even in most ways, our social life. I think that's why I've found myself looking at this last year as a write-off, feeling like we didn't do anything, and nothing happened. I forget that we have walked through more things in the last year than many walk through in 10. God has shown me that it is in the times of solitude, just as Jesus went off on His own, that God speaks to us the most, if we listen ;)

I'm looking so forward to building new relationships and restoring old ones. I have missed my family, and the joy that is found in sharing His love with others. God is good, and He is never changing. Through the winds and storms He has remained the same, and I am captivated by His love once again. Be blessed today, HE IS NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!

You wanna piece of me?

Smoochie smoochie

My little model

Smiles... (notice my death grip on my auntie's finger)

Deer caught in the headlights

What? You never seen a big boy in a chair before?

The life of my party

My quote for the day:

No matter how flat the pancake, it always has two sides