Joyfull Living

My Husband Rocks is hosted by Katy Lin each Friday. It is a fun way to express love and appreciation for the things our husbands do and also includes a challenge for the upcoming week to show him how much he is loved. I wanted to be on the lookout this week for opportunities to share for today. It didn't take long to find something he had done nice. At our home, I work part time and every day DH (dear husband) works it is a 12 hour shift. I gladly assume responsibility for most of the household chores and cleaning. DH had worked all day Sunday. I went to church that evening and knew he would be home before I got home. I left a quick dinner of Sloppy Joes on the stove. When I got home he had washed all the dishes from the dinner left. In addition he had set up the coffee pot for the next morning, pulled the bed covers back and had the alarm clock set up for me. Those are little things, but go way above the call of duty after a long hard days work. There were three...

Here are some basic healthy living tips I came across recently. They are pretty simple and the great thing is they are easy to start little by little. Sometimes we think getting healthy entails hours of strenuous exercise and eating habits that offer no enjoyment. These tips can be easy to use to make small healthy choices: 1. Food and Drink Tips: Always eat breakfast. Even if it is a piece of fruit. Eating breakfast kick starts your metabolism for the day. Drink lots of water through the day. Cut down on sweets, begin by eliminating one a day or week. Limit fried food, begin to use a little less butter for cooking and taste. 2. Exercise: Move more! Park further away in the parking lot, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Any movement counts as exercise. Take a 10 minute walk, you will be surprised how good you feel, 3. Sleep and Rest: Try to get one half hour more sleep a night. Take a 10-20 minute "power nap" during the day, it will revive and refres...

Today is Word Filled Wednesday, where many are blessed by reading and sharing God's Word in verse and picture. I was first drawn to the beauty of this picture, but the verse captured my heart. We all face times where we need a dose of courage and strength. God's Word assures us that when we put our hope in the Lord, He will fill us with courage and strengthen our heart. He can enable us to continue on through His endless supply of what we need. May your Word Filled Wednesday be blessed!

Our family is in the midst of little league soccer season. My youngest son is playing and his enthusiasm is contagious. He is pretty good at the sport, but what makes it so great is that he loves it! He counts the days until the next game or practice. He loves his coach and teammates. He has moved up an age level this year and the players are working more like team, passing to each other and watching out for each other during play. During the last game, my son scored two goals, they were the only goals of the game. In today's game the team scored eight goals. My son came up afterwards to me and said, "I didn't score today, but I blocked". What a powerful truth those words can hold. In life, sometimes we score, sometimes we block. Sometimes we do great things, we excel, we achieve, we meet our goal - we score! There are also times we see the needs of others, sometimes they are sad or hurting, we block their hits. We look out for them so they can score. We...

Thank God It's Friday! It has been an interesting week for me and I am glad to say it's almost over! There hasn't been much posting for the blog, but there has been a lot of other stuff going on: My job is a church secretary where quarterly financial reports must be done - and balanced to the penny! Early in the week, I was preparing the reports and was waaayyy off on the balances. I spent three days trying to find the error, went through every single transaction, expense and income and finally found that it was a computer glitch causing a wrong amount to show! GRRRR . Those computers! Since I spent so much time on that, most everything else fell behind schedule. On my day off, I had a routine dental check up. Like clockwork, every six months there is a visit to the dentist. For 15 years these visits have been nice and bland, no surprises, no cavities, no trouble. During the cleaning the hygienist asked, "So when did your tooth break off?" Duh - I ha...

Revive Our Hearts is a fantastic ministry to women. Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a gifted teacher and speaker encouraging women in their Christian walk. One visit to this site will bless and encourage you greatly! Revive Our Hearts is hosting a True Woman movement. Don't miss out—take the 30-Day True Woman Make-Over to discover and experience God's design and calling for your life! Join Nancy Leigh DeMoss on a journey through Proverbs 31, 1 Timothy 2:9-10, and Titus 2:1-5. For thirty days, we’ll send this email directly to your inbox, complete with biblical teaching, helpful links, printable downloads, and recommended resources. I have started this and am currently on day six. Each email is filled with inspiration and encouragement in many areas, our talk, our homes, our attitudes etc. I have certainly been challenged, convicted and looking forward to a true woman make over in my life! Take a peek at True Woman , I know that you'll love it!

I recently ran across some great tips for a healthier lifestyle. So many times we want to change how we eat and live and be healthier, but don't want to give up "all the good stuff". Here are some easy tips to get moving in the right direction: 1. Clean out your kitchen cabinets: Get rid of all the unhealthy snacks - brutal, I know, but if they are staring at you, you will eat them! 2. Do most of your grocery shopping around the perimeter of the store. This is where the fresh fruits and fresher foods are. Try to avoid as many packaged items as possible and use fresh ingredients. 3. Buy fresh fruit and vegetables and when you get home, cut them up into serving sizes. It will be easier to grab a healthy snack or use fresh vegetables for meal preparation if they are already prepared. 4. Strive to eat smaller meals, more times through the day. Eating every three hours - light meals and snacks, helps keep the metabolism up and energy going through the day. 5. Don...

Today was a glorious day to be outside. It was crisp, cool and the sun was shining beautifully. I wanted a picture for my profile, so I invited my middle son to come do a photo shoot with me! He agreed and this is what we came up with: Then, I got my camera back and went to see what the boys were doing...the oldest son was putting a new radio in his truck. The middle son who has learned that any family activity is liable to make the blog, tried to head me off: But as most people know, moms are tenacious and move forward and usually get what they are after! So consider this a glimpse of a random Saturday!

Let me go ahead and confess that I have spent waaaayyy too much time this week looking through other blogs, lots of them!!! But... I found some very enriching and encouraging blogs which have been a great blessing to me. Each Friday KatyLin hosts "My Husband Rocks". The purpose of the weekly post is to encourage and lift up husbands and to share at least one thing your husband said or did this week that reminded you of why you love him. Since I love my man so much and consider myself blessed beyond measure to be married to him, I had to join in! DH (Dear Husband) works a 28 day rotating shift. Each shift is 12 hours. These are long days, but they lead up to several days off at the end of the rotating shift. Of course, this is the highlight of the rotation and of our home. A few times a year the company does a "turnaround" which is a time where repairs are done and everyone must work regardless of where they are in their shift rotation. Well...turnaround ...

What is more fun that playing at a park with a friend on a glorious day??

Today is Word Filled Wednesday where God's Word is shared through verse and picture. It is a beautiful time in the week to encourage others and in turn be encouraged ourselves ! My verse for today reminded me that even though things around us may fail, God's love will never change and is truly unfailing, therefore, we can rejoice! Not with just a happy face, but a heartfelt JOY!

In Other Words presents an opportunity to discuss a chosen quote each week. Today In Other Word s is hosted by Susan at Forever His. The above quote is one I embraced. One of the characteristics I would like to have more evident in my life this year is kindness. As I child I was not raised in a Christian home. Love was evident, but kindness was not a part of daily life. Kind words were not given freely. They were reserved for extra special events or deeds. Through the years I have gained a greater understanding of the power of words. Many times I read Proverbs and gain a clearer view of the power of words and the effects of them. Some of my favorite Proverbs are: "The tongue of the righteous is choice silver." Proverbs 10:20 "...but the mouth of the upright will deliver them." Proverbs 12:6 "...but the tongue of the wise promotes health." Proverbs 12:18 "Anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad."...

There is a fantastic tool that I use to help me pray for my husband. It is the " Power of a Praying Wife" daily prayer calendar. I found it on EBay for about $2.00, but it has a much greater value and the return on this investment has been priceless! I want to share the beginning of the year posts which give a glimpse of the power of a praying wife. "The power of a praying wife is not a means of gaining control over your husband... In fact, it is quite the opposite. It's laying down all claim to all power in and of yourself, and relying on God's power to transform you, your husband, your circumstances and your marriage." "The power of a praying wife is a way to invite God's power into your husband's life for his greatest blessing, which is ultimately yours too." Proverbs 31:10-12 - "Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. Sh...

Today is a day off from school and I changed my work schedule to be at home today with the kids. While attempting to come up with an interesting post or attempt to use my day of lounging around into a way to encourage others to be their best...I found "Not Me Monday". Not Me! Monday is a list of all the things that there is no way in tarnation I did this week. And if anyone says that they saw me doing any of these things, they are totally lying. So, it was Not Me! who pulled a bowl from the deep freezer and planned to feed to the dog, when under the freezer burn discovered that it was a dish of Italian Sausage and Pasta. So, it was definitely Not Me! who put it in a baking dish, sprinkled it with cheese and served it up for Sunday lunch! It was Not Me! this morning who decided to wait until after my workout to get dressed...it is now 12:46 and guess what??? Still in the pajamas. It was Not Me! this morning who let my kids sleep until nearly 11:00 AM so I could have ...

Here is the patriarch of our family. He is affectionately called " PaPa ". The granddaughters have perfected his name to " Paawww Paawww ", drawn out slowly and with the twang that no one can refuse, especially a grandpa! PaPa will do anything for his granddaughters, he loves them dearly. The boys who are now mostly teenagers call him "Pops". They inherited a love for the outdoors from him and through the years, have spent many hours walking in the woods, fishing and just being outdoors with Pops. Recently we took PaPa out to dinner for his birthday. Here is Papa and Nana. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and time of fellowship with them that evening. I found a few photos of PaPa where he likes to be best - outdoors and with his sons: (there are four sons total, he has lots of experience with boys!) Here are some pictures from our dinner: This is my middle son, waiting on the deck: Here is part of my bunch waiting for a table. Right after th...

It's great to be a Gator!

Friday Funnies is hosted by Kim at Homesteaders Heart. Today is my first time participating, but I have enjoyed a splash of joy received on Fridays. Here is a cute story I found for today: A lady in California was having a terrible time with her gas bill. Every month after she mailed her check in, she received word that she had sent either too much money or not enough . It began to seem as if she and the gas company would never agree on how much she owed. Finally, a kind soul in the gas company's office sent her a little handwritten not. It said, "Please pay the amount. You have been paying the date!"