Happy Anniversary to Maria and Eric

Once upon a time, well 10 years ago...

As a parent, one of the things you hope for is that your children will be surrounded by love.  To see our daughter cherished by this young man is a beautiful thing.  You should see the admiration and respect in her eyes at she looks at him still today.

Happy Anniversary to Maria and Eric, a great team!

The Tale of the Poor Little Flower

I have three of these matching planters out on our deck.  I planted four flowers in each and am waiting for them to fill out.  I think they'll be lovely.

However, last night I found one of the pots looking like this...

It may be hard to see but there are only three flowers.  The one on the left had been pulled out!  I found it lying on the deck and quickly replanted it, watering it tenderly.  I had hope for its recovery.   I did not see who did this evil deed so I won't name names.

Today I went out and found that the same poor little plant had once again been uprooted. 

It's poor little pitiful body was lying nearby.

The situation didn't look so hopeful this time.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but try it again. 

Would it be wrong to put this little guy on the prayer chain?

I will keep you posted.

Bummer Day for Bumblebee

Bumblebee, one of our grandogs (or is it with 2 d's...granddogs?) came by for a visit yesterday.  She belongs to our daughter and son-in-law.  See here to understand how loved this pooch is...  http://maria-rose.blogspot.com/2008/03/good-gravy.html      Anyway, she and our new pup, Bode (Be sure to pronounce it Bodie even if it is just in your head.) play together and have a good time. 

Yesterday, though things went bad.  I wasn't home at the time and don't really know what happened but the result was that Bumblebee ended up with a torn nail.  I don't mean that the nail was chipped.  The nail was tearing away from her foot.  Mike was here and had to deal with it.  There was blood.  It was apparent that a trip to the vet was necessary.  Mike took her in and as it turned out, the vet had to give Bumblebee anesthesia in order to do a little surgery! 

I was the one who picked her up from the vet.  She was all excited and jumped up to greet me.  Actually, she did that several times, which surprised me since she was wounded.  Apparently she finally realized that fact, quit jumping, and limped out to the car where she insisted that I needed to lift her in.  Poor Bum.

I don't know if you've been around Basset Hounds much but they often have droopy eyes.  Bumblebee's really aren't too much that way but something about anesthesia makes her eyes look really red and weird.  I don't think she'd mind if I showed you a picture.   Doesn't she look sad?  Really, she isn't.  She perked up and played and ate normally, so don't be worried.  She sporting a cool new bandage!

I hope you heal up quickly, Miss Bumblebee!

Bode's Slide Ride

Come Holy Spirit

image from: stchristophermv.org

Come, gracious Spirit, heav'nly dove,

With light and comfort from above.

Come, be our guardian and our guide;

O'er every thought and step preside.

The Light of truth to us display

And make us know and choose your way;

Plant holy fear in every heart,

That we from God may ne'er depart.

Lead us to Christ, the living way,

Nor let us from his pastures stray;

Lead us to holiness, the road

That we must take to dwell with God.

Lead us to heav'n, that we may share

Fullness of joy forever there;

Lead us to our eternal rest,

To be with god forever blest.

text: Martin Luther

Tune: Erfurt, 1524

Come to Me

33 years ago today Mike sang this song, one he wrote, as I walked down the aisle toward him...

COME TO ME

I woke up this morning and I thanked my Lucky Star

That I get to know and love this person that you are

I opened up my window and the wind walked right in

Blowing warm and gentle so soft upon my skin

It reminded me of you and the way you love to please

You're flowing ever faithful, you're the whispering of peace

chorus:

Come to me, you're my serenity

Lay me down in understanding, Lift me up along my way

To walk with you into this day

Come to me for an eternity

Your spirit and mine

Another day has come to pass, another step into my life

Another passenger has coming aboard to be my loving wife

You sure can wait a long time for the seasonn to be right

And you can watch the stars above

You can wish with all your might

But I'll place my bet on true love

It's the kind that comes to stay

It holds on in the darkness, it lights the brand new day

25 years later he wrote...

I Want To Go On With You

chorus: I want to go on with you

That's what my headlines say

That's my big news today

I want to go on with you

Through the good times, through the trials

I wanna walk the future miles with you

I want to go on with you

I'm lookin back now on all our time

I'm reminiscing and I guess that's fine

In fact, that's what I want to do

I want a chance just to say

That I've had many good days with you

I want to journey here some more

And dance upon life's floor with you.

chorus

I'm hoping that these words are okay

But I think I know you feel the same way

You have really been good for me

I know I'm a better man

 You have helped me understand what's true

So I need to say thankful words

For my life's been stirred by you.

Mike, I'm so grateful that I've had all these years with you. 

I still find you fascinating! 

I am so very grateful for our time together. 

You are a good man and I love sharing this life with you!  

Happy Anniversary!

  (Go to this site for these and other Mike Struck originals.)  http://origin.cdbaby.com/cd/mikestruck 

Underestimating Children

Do you think we underestimate children?  I do.  I don't believe we should expect a child to think as an adult or anything.  I don't think we need to be stressing our children by trying to stuff them with knowledge.  However, I know that I've been guilty of not explaining or teaching things to children just because I underestimated their ability to learn.

Maria and Eric have been showing letters to Cordy for a long time.  She has books that show "a" is for apple and such.  Maria said she'd recently been writing Cordelia's name and Cordy said it.  Maria, realizing Cordy now recognized her own name, tried teaching our names to her.  I didn't know anything about this and when they were over to our place, Maria wrote this...

Maria then said, "Where's Mama's name?" and continued on in random order.  Cordelia was successful at identifying (by pointing) at each word.  You can see how Maria marked under the p and m in our titles, which I thought was clever, helping Cordy see the difference.  Maria did not claim that Cordelia was reading or anything, but it was pretty cool to see that she was recognizing words.  She's only 20 months old, and I'm sure I wouldn't have thought to try that yet.  I would have underestimated her ability to learn this.  The important part of this is that Cordelia was proud of herself; it was a fun experience for her.  She also let us know when she was done performing as well!

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with this post. 

It was taken last month.

I just like to put up pictures of that sweet smile.

Give me a break!  I'm a grandma!





Edify!

Edify, this is a very important word to me.  It goes through my head a lot.  Sometimes it really annoys me.

(from firstcal.org)

The definition of edify includes "to build up, to construct, to strengthen a person" as well as "to inform or enlighten intellectually or spiritually." (from dictionary.reference.com)  When I consider if something is edifying or not, I ask myself if any good can come from it.

I suppose you wonder why such a nice word can be annoying.  Well, sometimes I just want to say stuff, whatever I'm thinking.  It may be something that would classify as gossip or it may be something just a little bit mean.  Why do I want to say things like that?  I don't know, but sometimes I just do.   I'm not proud of it but there it is.  It may be something like, "Hey, have you gained weight?" or "Did you hear that so-and-so cheated on his wife?"  It is even possible to SOUND sweet when you say it.

(from Kerripom.com)

Also, if you say "bless her heart" after such a comment, it's ok, right?

WRONG.  WRONG.  WRONG.

Usually the word "edify" comes to mind when I take time to think before I speak.  I'm guessing the Holy Spirit is responsible for that.  I'll have these little brakes screeching in my head and I find myself thinking, against my will, "Is this edifying?"  Rats!  I am usually, but not always, able to stop myself from blabbering out the non-edifying thoughts. 

On the flip side, sometimes I find myself thinking edifying thoughts about someone but don't make the effort to share those thoughts with them.  I'm trying to notice when I DO have an edifying thought so that I may pass it on.  Even that can be difficult.  Maybe they will think I am a weirdo.  What if they think I am trying to butter them up or think I am being phoney? 

I have to say, though, I've yet to get a bad reaction when I pass on an edifying thought to someone.  It might be one-on-one or it might be saying something edifying in front of a group, but it needs to be said.  This world can be dark and scarey, but we are called to be bright lights of hope, letting Jesus shine from the inside out.  We are to encourage and build-up others.

(from Centralaz.com)



                    Maybe striving for an attitude of edification is where it all starts.

                                   This is a link to a post on a blog I enjoy.
          http://loveinactionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/06/speaking-up-loud-clear.html 
            Janine elegantly writes on this subject.  You could say it is an edifying post. 

So, now you know about being edifying.  Now you know why sometimes I look like I have a little struggle going on in my head as I am questioning myself, "Will this be edifying in any way?"  What are your thoughts on the subject?  Does edification come easily to you?  Tell me about ways you've found you can be edifying.

Moments of our Life

Grandpa and Cordelia getting ready for an evening stroll with Momma & Grandma...

                        Cordy adores Grandpa.

Why follow the beaten path?

It's fun to run!

Here are three generations looking at a swollen river.  Two are holding back the one who wants to touch the water!

Enough with Moderation!

I know, I know... moderation is a good thing.  For instance, eating in moderation means you will manage your weight and probably feel a lot better. 

image from photobucket.com

If you are going to drink alcohol, moderation means you won't have to deal with feeling bad the next morning, you won't make a fool of yourself, and your liver will be happy.

image from caveday.com

Even things that are good for you, such as exercise, are best done with some moderating limits.   I don't think I am in danger of surpassing those limits anytime soon but it is good to be aware of the risk anyway.

But, I'm tired of moderation.... comment moderation that is.  I've decided to take a risk and let you all put your comments directly on my posts without waiting for me to get back to approve them.  Sometimes it takes me all day to do that moderating stuff and in the meantime, no one else gets to read each other's comments.

I know, I'm wild and crazy.  Hopefully everyone will play nice so none of you will have to read mean or nasty comments.  If that happens, I may change my plan.

Previously, I went crazy and dropped the word verification requirement for comments.    I have had NO spam so that has worked out fine.   Hopefully this risk will work out just as well for me.

 image from lisburncity.gov.uk

So here we go; Let the comments begin! 

Treasure Hunt

When my daughter,Maria, and I first talked about having a little business, my thoughts mostly centered around the idea of an outlet for pieces we create ourselves.  We both love designing and crafting, but there is just so much we can wear or display in our own homes.  We like to design a WIDE variety of lovelies, ensuring we are never bored with it.

Then one day Maria started talking about incorporating vintage items into our repertoire.  That sounded intriguing!  Maria, with her art history degree and good eye, has learned a lot about vintage and antiques.  She's been teaching me as we go and it has been such fun! 

For one thing, searching for these delightful items takes some time... time together!  Cordelia comes along and gives her opinion as well.  Even when we don't find pieces that fit into our store, we ALWAYS see something interesting, something with an obviously fascinating history.  Sometimes it isn't the items for sale but those people selling them... or fellow shoppers!  We always have a good time and that's what's important.

Yesterday afternoon was one of those times.  Maria, Cordelia and I  went treasure hunting! 

You can see how excited we were to head out on our adventure!  Well, Cordelia really wanted to get down and do something else at the time Grandpa snapped this photo, but she got into the spirit later.  We headed to a local antique sale, leaving the men at home to watch tennis.  I think they probably felt bad about being left behind but they held it together and hid their disappointment.

When on such a treasure hunt, there are a lot of items that must be sifted through that do NOT qualify as a treasure.  Well, everyone's idea of treasue can vary but we try to only purchase doo-dads that WE find to be charming.  I notice we are especially drawn to dandies that seem a bit unique or display some sort of visual surprise, but we have also found some appealing classic beauties.

These are all items that will soon be available at Wyoming Rose Boutique, but first we must sort, clean and otherwise tweak to be sure each piece is at its best.  That is part of the fun as well!

Victory in Jesus

I love singing in church!  I always have.  This love is not because I have a great voice, but I do have enthusiasm!  My sister and I used to sing together for church services on occasion.  She had the stronger voice and better range so she sang the melody.  I played the piano and sang alto.  We were limited on song choices by my ability to sing the alto part (I love singing harmony but it just doesn't come naturally to me) and my very limited ability on the piano.  We had fun, though.

One of the songs from those years was "Victory in Jesus".  We sang it with some zip.  Actually, we sang most songs with zip because I liked to play fast.  It was probably a nervous thing, I don't know.  Anyway, I was excited recently because our worship team is singing an updated version of this song.  It is syncopated and fun and I will definitely be thinking of my sister as we sing it!  The picture below is from last Summer.  My sister, Tina, is holding my grandaughter, Cordelia.

In my zest for singing, though, I find that I am focusing so hard on notes and tempo, I forget to ponder the words.  For some reason, I get more out of the words at times if I just pause and read through the verses and chorus first.  This old song has some particular nuggets that speak to me.  I think all of us have times when we feel we have a broken spirit in need of healing.

Victory in Jesus

copyright 1939 by  E. M. Bartlett

I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory,

How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood's atoning,

Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.

chorus  O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him-

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing, of His cleansing pow'r revealing,

How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see;

And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit",

Then I repented of my sins and won the victory.

chorus  O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him-

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory,

And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;

About the angels singing and the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I'll sing up there the song of victory.

chorus  O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him-

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.

Do you know this song?

Beach Cruising... Sort Of

Last night I enjoyed cruising on my sweet ride.  Yes, I mean my bike that I got for Mother's Day. 

 I've been calling it my "grandma bike" because of it's wide handlebars, comfortable seat, lack of gears, etc.  However, someone else called it a beach cruiser.  Suddenly, I felt COOL! 

So, I road my bike to the beach.  Well, admittedly I do live in Wyoming and beaches aren't really that easy to come by, so I rode to the river.  This picture was taken from a bridge, not a beach, but at least there was water involved.

We live pretty close to this river and I've been a little bit worried because like rivers in many states right now, this one is threatening to flood in a memorable way.  I don't really think we will get flooded but some of the nicer homes along the river are already losing part of their backyards, at least for now.  The trees in the center of this photo are actually on a lawn that is losing to the river.  Since the snow in the mountains is just getting started with the whole melting thing, this could be intereseting!

On my way to the river I  stopped to watch 2 hawks floating around in the sky, seemingly enjoying the lovely evening as well.

I also pondered the absurdity of seeing sprinklers going on a front lawn of a home who's backyard is partially in the river already.  I understood that they'd want to keep their front yard from drying up, it just seemed odd.

Are any of you nervously watching a river this year?

Filling sandbags?

A Thursday Evening to Treasure

I am so very grateful to have our beautiful grandaughter, Cordelia, living in the same town as us.  I do NOT take that for granted!  It is such fun to watch her grow and learn and change!  I hadn't been around her as much for the last few weeks and I was really needing some Cordy time.  So, last night I took her home with me for the evening while her parents had an evening out.  It was a delightfully busy evening.  Here, I'll just show you some of it...

I thank God for this sweet little person in our lives!

Rock-a-Bye Baby

I think this is what it must be like to rock a long-legged fawn to sleep!

 



Cheat Cleaning Tips...or Not!

Jumping into my car this morning, heading out to pick up a friend, I realized that once again I'd not used my free time to clean out my car.   It had dog hair, mud, pebbles, cracker crumbs, fruit loops and lots of interesting things such as a broken magnet from the back of an old name tag, one mitten, a deflated mask that was intended for giving mouth to mouth rescucitation, bobby pins, band-aids... you get the idea.  I didn't really have time to do anything about it, but I had a great idea.  I had a clip-on smelly thing from Bath and Body.  I clipped it on the strap anchoring Cordelia's carseat and smiled with approval as my car soon SMELLED clean.  The mess in my car was barely noticeable because the smell was so delightful.

I was trained young to cheat-clean.  I remember being at the home of one of my aunts when she received a call that someone was on their way to visit her.  She set to work hiding any mess.  The tactic that most impressed me was when she stuffed her dirty dishes into her oven.  Wa-La... a clean kitchen!  I thought she was quite clever!  Perhaps that could lead to disaster if later you decide to preheat your oven, forgetting your Tupperware is hiding there.

Another one of my own inventions is to pour bleach into the toilet bowl.  Again, the smell of clean gives the illusion of clean.  Maybe?  Anyway, I like to do that before we leave for vacation.  When we return, it almost fools even me into believing the house was just scrubbed.  By the way, someone told me this was dangerous because if a person were to urinate into the bleach mixture it could produce a gas that could make said person pass out.  Could that be true?  It is also a bad idea if you have pets in the house that could lift the lid.  Maybe I'd better just scrub the stupid toilet for real, flush and move on.

By the time I picked up my friend this morning, my car's interior was really, really perfumed.  In fact, it nearly brought tears to our eyes!  I got a little bit of a headache.   She coughed and sputtered...ok that part isn't true.  She did, however, mention that the smell was a bit strong.  Maybe that plan wasn't so good after all.

You'll be pleased to know that tonight I came home and cleaned my car.  I mean I REALLY cleaned it.  I didn't even save any of the spilled sunflowers seeds, ignoring my concern that if we were to get stranded we'd be sorry they were gone. 

I did hold on to the little clippy deal.  I hid it in the console, though, to reduce the potency of it.  If I have to haul a stinky dog or something though, I can wave it around for quick relief.  

Anyone else want to confess some of their cheat-clean methods?

Rejoicing and Weeping

     Romans 12:15: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."

I have a day of rejoicing ahead of me!  I will be with a friend who recently faced a life-threatening situation but is improving daily now.  We will be going to several appointments where I know I will hear doctors and therapists tell her she is a miracle in that her improvement so far is exceeding expectations.  We will smile.  We will probably have a few laughs.  We know this story could have ended very badly but we won't be focusing on the "what if's" as we will be rejoicing!  This is a good day!

Even as we rejoice, though, I will be thinking of some other friends today, friends who are grieving.  Today they endure the funeral of a family member.  They are saying good-bye to someone they love, someone young, someone who's death was unexpected.  They have suffered multiple losses and difficulties, one after another.  They are sad.  They are tired.  They are grieving.

Years ago, shortly after I'd suffered a miscarriage, a dear friend sent me a card he'd made himself.  On the front was a big, tough hand-drawn Frankenstein guy.  On his cheek were tears.  Inside the card referred to Romans 12:15's words regarding weeping with those who weep.  I was weeping and he was letting me know that he was weeping as well.  Obviously he'd never had a miscarriage.  He'd never known what it was like to have your body work against your desire to protect the life within you.  Nevertheless, he was feeling my pain.  That card meant so much to me.  It comforted me just to know that my friend shared my sadness.

I think Romans 12:15 is the ultimate verse about empathy, about how we are to share this human existence.  We are not islands.  We truly are commanded to be there for each other, through the wonderful as well as the horrible.  God knew that we could find strength in each other.  He knew that we needed friends.  He knew we were not meant to feel alone in our happiness or in our pain. 

So today I rejoice

and today I weep.

Image Source Page: http://brentcwood.wordpress.com/



Really, I Just Turned My Back for a Moment

Breath of God

Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Breathe on me, breath of God;

Fill me with life anew,

That I may love all that you love

And do what you would do.

text: Edwin Hatch, 1835-1889                                            tune:  Aaron Williams, 1731-1776