Joyfull Living

Today's At the Well is sure to get the week moving in the right direction. The discussion is "The Most High" and the questions to ponder are: Who or What is most high in your mind and heart today? Is it the Most High or someone or something else? Numerous times in the Psalms God is referred to as The Most High. I love reading these verses as it puts God in His rightful place - above all. It stirs up praise and adoration in the heart as we place Him over everything. Here are a few verses: I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. Truly God is over all and is worthy of all our adoration and praise! But many times the sights and sounds of...

Mondays sometimes get a bad rap. New beginnings always excite and inspire me. Mondays signal a new week and new opportunities. This can be especially refreshing after harried and hectic weeks. Last week was one of those weeks for me. It was emotional for me as it was the two year anniversary of my mother's death. It was hectic as it was filled with baseball practices, appointments - planned and unplanned, work which kept piling up and laundry which threatened to bury us alive! Friday night I was trying to wind down for bedtime and my mind was still racing with what needs to be done still. My thoughts ran to "stop and let me off this train, I want to stop and sit out for a little while". Trying to find a silver lining, I reflected on "bite size joys". A mother is always going to be busy, there is always going to be work. Constantly thinking on it only brings stress to my life. Laundry can only be done one load at a time, no matter how much I want it all done. Bi...

This week at our house was spring planting! Here is my favorite guy planting in the garden: His father came over and lent a hand: This week has been gorgeous with flowers all abloom, here are a few shots:

Happy Word Filled Wednesday! What a great blessing for the mid week to share God's Word. May today's verse bless you as we bless our God and Father.

Last weekend our church choir had a practice/get together and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch together. I made a chicken tetrazinni dish and a few wanted the recipe. I'm taking the easy way and posting it here! Chicken Tetrazinni 1 whole chicken chopped onion chopped bell pepper celery - stalk and leaf top 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 small jar red peppers (pimentos) 1 can sliced water chestnuts spaghetti cheddar cheese bread crumbs melted butter bay leaves I do this dish over the course of two days. In a large pot, fill with water, add salt and 2 or 3 bay leaves, chopped onion and the celery tops (leaf part). Boil the whole chicken until it is tender enough to fall off the bone. I make this the night before and put the whole pot in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, heat the pot to warm, remove the chicken but save the broth. Debone the chicken and set aside. Strain the broth. Take 1 to 2 cups of the broth and set aside. Boil spaghetti in the pot of broth. While this...

Today's topic for At the Well is "Thankfulness In Marriage". The discussion question is What are some things that you can publicly thank God for, in relation to your husband? When I first met my husband, I was a teenager who was running with the wrong crowd, making the wrong choices and now years later, reflecting back, I can see that the choices I was making would lead to a life of heartache and pain. John 10:10 tells us these words from Jesus: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." This rings so true in my life. As a teenager, my family life was affected by things such as substance abuse, infidelity , the separation of my parents and it seemed like my choices were taking me down the same path. My husband rode the school bus with me and took an interest in me. He was more of a country boy, not like the boys I was usually interested in. W...

Today is the first official day of SPRING! The weather has been perfect the last few days and I caught a glimpse of this glorious spring color: Guess how I got around to catch that color??? On my new bicycle! Colorful wisteria A dogwood tree in bloom: Stunning azaleas: Welcome spring!

Remember when the teenagers we have were young, and sweet and precious? The biggest issues we dealt with were feedings, napping and crying? And remember when the siblings loved each other?? Then it seemed like overnight, they grew up, they are learning to do things themselves , making their own decisions. A parent's job is to guide them as they grow, giving them the freedom and responsibility they need to be responsible adults. Parenting teenagers, I am learning, is tough! And we are learning a lot! High school, jobs, driving open up a whole new world of experiences for the teen and the family. This week we got a new taste of teenage experience - our first fender bender: This is the other parties car: This is our damage, very minimal, the other party clearly got the worst of the damage, unfortunately, the fault lies with us... so we consider this a (expensive!) learning experience. We are thankful for life's experiences and for what God can do through us as we deal...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope that I have the correct day, because this is how I sent my youngest to school today - by his choice! Here are a few traditional Irish blessings that I found, hope that your day is blessed! An Old Irish Blessing May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face,and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand. From Saint Patrick's Breastplate Christ be with me Christ before me Christ behind me Christ in me Christ beneath me Christ above me Christ on my right Christ on my left Christ where I lie Christ where I sit Christ where I arise Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me Christ in every eye that sees me Christ in every ear that hears me Salvation is of the Lord.

Today's At the Well topic is about Friendships With Our Husbands . Of course we love our husbands ... we do their laundry, we cook their meals, we clean up after them, we know what they like and don't like and we try to keep them happy, we kiss them good-bye as they go to work and we kiss them good-night before they go to sleep... but are we friends with them? Discussion Questions: What other scriptures did you find pertaining to friendship? How do those scriptures relate to your marriage? What are some ways you die to self in your marriage? Do you have any ideas as to how we can develop a deeper physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy with our husbands? How do you sharpen your husbands countenance? What does the Bible say about friendship? Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times..." Proverbs 18:24 "A man who has friends must himself be friendly..." John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends....

This week seemed to actually fly by! I can't believe it is Friday already! Here are a few things to bring a smile to your face just in time for the weekend: A Sunday School teacher began her lesson with a question, "Boys and girls, what do we know about God?" A hand shot up in the air and the child said, "He is an artist!" "Really! How do we know that?" asked the teacher. "You know: Our Father, who does art in heaven..." Sunday after church, a mom asked her very young daughter what the lesson was about. The daughter answered, "don't be sacred, you'll get your quilt." Needless to say, the mom was perplexed. Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the mom asked him what the morning's Sunday School lesson was about. He said, "Be not afraid, thy comforter is coming." Wishing you a great weekend!

These are some of the baddest trucks in our little town! Now, if you don't have teenagers, "bad", means "good"! This is my oldest son's truck and his friends. Yep, these trucks are HOT! Oh, what used to be "cool" is now "hot"! They have the writing on the back window: They both have great tags on the front: Well, I got myself some hot wheels this week! My wheels are a Schwinn bicycle which came from a local thrift store for a great price! It rides smooth, looks great and is very fuel efficient! How is that for some hot wheels???