My Thanksgiving

I don't know what I am thinkinging half of the time when my grandkids and nieces and nephews

attatck me! I can't say no to them, so my weekend was spent with 9 kids ages 7 to 15 eating, playing and sleeping at my house! The first few pictures are bedtime which didn't happen Friday night till 1 am Sat. morning and Sat. not till 11pm. The two oldest girls were the lucky ones cause after all, girls need their space! so they got the extra bedroom.

One boy in the recliner, one girl on the couch,

Lets see there is one boy waaaaaaaaay over there on the loveseat, then a lounge chair held another boy, then 2 cots one boy one girl, then the blow up mattress for the oldest boy! You had to step very carefully in my living room.

The next few pictures are the kids bringing wood to the house and raking leaves. I told them they were earning their dinner.!!

This is my adopted granddaughter She is really my daughter's niece but since I am grandma to everyone else so what is one more!! Isn't she precious?

Finally this is my daughter all dressed to ride the motorcycle in UC's parade of lights Friday night. I was a bit jealous as I would love to have been on the back of that bike!!

I also got to spend some time with Glen's sisters and their husbands we celebrated Jo's birthday late and mine early. It was fun catching up with them finding out about their grandkids and them asking about my dating life which is pretty much no existent at this point!! We laughed about that and lots of memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas past.

Sunday morning topped the weekend off getting 9 kids ready for church then my sister and husband came and we all went to my church all 13 of us!! They are all now delivered home and I am catching up on things here. My Michigan daughter got a web cam this week so yesterday and today I was on my laptop watching my grandkids up there, sure helps missing them so much. We still have some bugs to work out but it will come. Oh yes! the older kids set me up with a MySpace page!!! I have absoultely no idea what I am doing but it was fun watching them do things and making fun of me for being so dumb!!!! What a fun time.

I love family and I am so glad that God allowed me to be a daughter, mom, sister,sister-in-law, grandma and aunt. There is just nothing like the blessings of having those you love around you laughing and sharing the bounty and blessings from God. Can you hear anything? Do you hear the silence? There is no one here but me and the animnals but you know what I am not alone. I am okay with that right now, I can hear Jesus when he wants to talk to me now. I will listen for his voice in the quietness and know that all is well, he has it all under controll.

Until later have a great week!

Thanksgiving day

Stop telling God how big your storm is. Instead tell the storm how big your God is! My screen background says;" Christ is not valued at all unless he is valued above all" Augustine
Putting up the Christmas tree tonight I broke 3 glass ornaments. I've been collecting glass ornaments for 12 years and never broke one till now. Why now? Then the tears came and something in my head and heart said" Broken Dreams", perfect life gone~~~~ but is it really?
Did I really have the perfect life? Well of course I believe it was as close to perfect as possible but was it? I listen to Christmas CD's and gaze at the tree with all it's colors. I look around and see the oil lamps we collected together. I see pictures of motorcycle trips, vacations, wedding pictures the last church pictures we had taken,all beautiful memories and then my eyes fall on another wall. This wall represents the future~~~ pictures of my 8 grandchildren. One of the frames says;"GRANDKIDS can FILL a space in your HEART that you never knew was empty" The plaque above it says;"I have learned that being with those I love is enough" Another saying I have in my living room states"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain"
Lord Thank you for reminding me how blessed I am. Jesus please comfort all those who have lost precious family members. This is a tough time of year for us, show us the future and remind us of your promise in Jeremiah 29:11. Amen

Shoes!!!

I wore a pair of shoes today for the first time in 6 weeks! My foot is screaming but I am afraid to take the shoe off until I craw into bed. It is a funny feeling having something so restrictive on my foot again and I have to learn to walk correctly again too. I have been favoring that foot since July 18th and the rest of my body is paying for it now. I wonder if the chiorpractor will ever get me straight again!!

While learning to walk correctly I am reminded of how off balance I am when I don't listen to Jesus. When I put aside my bible, don't pray as much, try to solve my problems on my own; my life is pretty much a mess. Then when I get back to reading the healing words of my Jesus and I start sharing with him about my thoughts and hopes, dissapointments and frustrations, my life begins to take a turn for the better. Only problem is that Satin really gets nervous and starts throwing stones my way, even a slippery banana peal sometimes. I am learning to recognize that these things are not from God BUT he does use them to teach me.

How about you? Do you have some relearning to do too?

The countdown has begun!!!

It is no secret that I love the holidays especially Thanksgiving and
Christmas. I love them because it is a time when I can show others, especially my family how much I love them. I don't care about gifts but I do care that they know that no matter how disapointed I may be for one reason or another my love never changes. I love them unconditionally because they are my family. I woke up this morning thinking about God's unconditional love for me. My devotions this morning centered around God's love for me, Pastor Kris's message Sunday talked about God's love, I got some emails today that talked about God's love--- do you think that God is trying to tell me something?!?! Sunday we were asked to give over the areas in out lives that we have been keeping from God I thought I didn't have any till we started praying--- yep I got some of those areas. I asked him today to help me to hold up my end of the deal in trying to let him handle things---- this is hard. I have tried to handle things on my own for such a long time, but my father in heaven showed me that he loves me and he will help me. So in my excitement of the upcoming holiday season ( did I tell you I LOVE the holidays?) I am learning to let God take over my hidden rooms in my heart and let him control and lead, can't wait to see what comes next!!

Help Me!!

As you can see my background is a bit messed up! Mindy and I tried to change it to a holiday design but something happened and only part of it worked. Can anyone tell me how to fix it or a place to find a new one that is easy to do? I am not good at all these techinal things.
I was reading Mila's blog and deceided to take up her tagg first the book thing.
1) I love reading books written by Thomas Kinkade he has a series going and also writes a Christmas edition I have everyone so far.
2) My mom and sister in law read all my new books befor I get a chance to.
3) Beverly Lewis, Jan Karon and Janette Oke are close seconds.
4) I love my Life Application bible I can read it and apply the lessons easily especially with the explinations at the bottom.
5) I also have several versions 6 different ones I think
6) I have given away to my son in law one of my bibles, and each one of my grandchildren have their own bible geared to their age.
7) In the suspense catagory Robin Cook tops them all!!

Now for some facts about me:
1) I am only 4'10" and I hate being short but have learned to joke about it.
2) I had my first broken bone this summer at 55 yrs. old
3) I learned to ride a motorcycle at age 52 what in the world was I thinking?!?!
4) My Monday morning fix is a diet vanilla colke from Haines drug store soda fountain! There's nothing like it!!
5) When I was younger I swore I would NEVER let animnals in the house much less let them sleep with me----- guess what!!
6) In 1971 when I first got married we could bring home 4 sacks of groceries for $25 and ate for 2 weeks like we were rich!!

Good morning all it is 6:25am on Sat. morning and I am headed off in this cold like several others (who are already there unloading the truck) to distrubute Angel Food. You either have to be crazy or really in love with Jesus to do this! I started with Angel food when it started a few years now when we went to another church to pick up our order, it was cold then and the truck was late and we had no idea what we were doing,we have come a long way. If you have never been involved come try it out it is an easy way to serve our LORD and the fellowship is great too.!
M first devotional of the day left me with some things to think about as I continue my journey back to N.O. L.A. and I want to post it for you to think about too.

Yielding to His Lordship
Day 218

God is not a therapist; He is not just someone you approach to make it through a difficult time. He is Lord and Savior. Your greatest joy will come when you yield your whole life to Him.

"Know that you have to leave it up to Him, and you have no control over life or death—that's what sustained me through it all," says Gretchen, whose husband died.

When you honor Him as God, you are better able to accept the circumstances of life.

"Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it" (Jeremiah 10:19 kjv).

Father, yielding to Your Lordship is difficult for me, but I want to give my every thought and effort to You, not just to get me through the rough times, but as an act of worship to You. Amen.

I have a hundred things running around in my mind tonight and it all started with this prayer: Mighty God, I am not content to continue in my own simple ways. I want to know You as I have never known You before. I read this in a devotional and now I can't stop thinking! I have started asking God about New Orleans- I wasn't going to go this year to allow someone else to go BUT my niece said she really wants to go back-yes I told God if he wanted me there then have Lacey choose N.O. and not N.Y.answer #1 now I pray "God start preparing my heart now for what you have for me then" I must admit that I am both excited and scared because each year God has taken me a little farther out of my comfort zone, and I wonder what he will ask of me this time. I wonder where he is leading me and I asked him but he only reminds me of the verse he gave me almost 20 months ago;Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope" then I read the following verses; 12 "In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.14 I will be found by you," says the LORD.
I am reading the book The Shack and although I am having trouble with some of it today something popped up that makes me think. When someone is drowning it is pretty hard to save them if they don't trust you. Jesus says that all he asks is when I start to sink, let him rescue me.In otherwords stop fighting and let me do my job!! How often do I fight against the waters of life when all I have to do is relax and trust Jesus? Then something else was mentioned;It is not my job to change people, it is my job to LOVE them and let God do the changing. How often do I find myself wanting to change someone to fit what I think is the right mold? I'm afraid that I have done that far too often so I am going to try to throw away the molds I think people should fit into and let God do the changing and I will pray for a more loving heart. I also was reminded that I need to use the SFGTD file much more often;incase you don't know what that means it is Something For God To Do.
If you think of me sometimes pray that I will be willing to step further out of my comfort zone and do what he asks of me. I am sure that life is about to get exciting!!!!

Random Thoughts

Lots of things running around in my mind today.
Smart machines at Curves -those machines work me to death!!! At the end I had burned up 484 calories, maxed out all my muscles and had 0 energy left. I didn't need the computer to tell me that!! Good thing is I am doing it right oh yes and I lost 3 pounds this week!!
It's cold outside- I used to love the snow and cold but something happened when I hit 50 cold just doesn't get it anymore and while snow is pretty they can keep it up north!
Sunday was just as wonderful as I expected- The music was energizing, PK's message was thought provoking to say the least. Then off to Muncie with a friend to see the movie Fireproof what a wonderful movie well worth seeing more than time. The off for some early dinner/late lunch at Bob Evans they have some really great comfort food!!
I got flowers this weekend! So nice to have pretty live flowers in the cold winter. Thank you Tom.
I can't believe it is Wed. already I haven't gotten nearly everything done at work that should be done by this time. I have news letters to run, fold and mail. Hope I can get some volunteers for this big job, got the bulletin to print and fold. OH YES this week is Payday!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't tell I'm excited about that can you?!?!?!?!
Through all that has been going on this week I have still had time to sit and listen to God, through music and through my Tuesday night growth group. These girls are really loosing up and asking some deep questions. I thought about how God has taken me down paths that I did not want to go and definitely would not have chosen on my own. But by traveling these roads I have learned so much especially about God's love for me. I see the picture of the Footprints in the Sand and realize that he is carrying me most of the time. Will I ever be able to walk along side of my Lord? I don't know if I will here on earth but I know I will when I get to heaven. Will I ever stand on my own two feet or am I supposed to? I don't know, I have so many questions of Why? How? When? Am I asking too many questions Lord? Best thing about it is that he never gets angry at me for asking the questions even the same ones over and over, it's a good thing he has more patience than I had with my girls!
Well I think it is time for jammies and a caffeine free diet Pepsi. I just talked to Parker and he was eating a chocolate fudge pop tart! doesn't that sound good?!?! Nite All

Surprises

I can't believe that it is Sunday already but it is and I am ready to worship!! On Sunday morning I bounce around with anticipitation for church I kow that I will be closer to the Lord on Sunday than anyother day. When I am at church the devil can't get anywhere close to me it is like there is a big wall around me that only God can penetrate. I love the music that we are allowd to sing now, don't get me wrong the old hymns are wonderful but for this "baby boomer" the upbeat worship is much more meaniful.
I titled this surprises because my week has been full of surprises the biggest is the surprise my mom and I gave my sister in Ashland,Ohio Friday night. See Sis turned 35 on the 14th and I think mom was missing her as much as she was missing mom. So we took off after I got off work Friday and headed to Ashland. Her youngest Blade was the first to see the car but didn't recognize it cause mom had gotten a new one. When we got to the door and he opened it he yelled Aunt Jean!!! Grandma!!!! my baby sister turned from her computer and with sheer surprise yelled MOMMY!!!! It was such a joy to see this and once again feel the love of family. I am writing this through teary eyes as I remember how much bigger my family used to be and how quickly it can change, so driving 3 1/2 hours for a hug and a smile is worth every min. of the drive. Another surprise was ice on the road! I am not ready for this weather and as we were driving home we were in rain, and snow and slush and then all of the sudden the road was ICE! I was so thankful that my guardian angels were on duty because at one point all I could see was mom's new car going across the median !!!! But just as we hit the edge of the road the car gently came back and somehow got back over in the lane of traffic that was not iced up!! I looked behind me and the car following us was doing the exact same thing!! Mom doesn't know how weak my knees were at that moment but God was there as he is everytime I start slipping and sliding. Someone told me this week that they could see God shine through me, that has been my prayer for a long time that when I meet someone they will see Jesus through me. Now I know that he is working in and through me, what a great feeling that is.
Well it's time to get ready for worship and an exciting day. It's SUNDAY =:)

I love Sundays!!!!

Girls day away, yes we had such a fun time here is Rita and I getting our teeth whitened! Aren't our smiles beautiful?!?! We had massages, tasted all kinds of
goodies, bought Christmas presents, laughed and laughed, ate chocolate covered cherries and dark chocolate malted milk balls, and laughed and laughed. Yes what a stress relieving weekend!!

It wasn't too long ago that I dreaded the weekends, it was our special time, time when we just enjoyed each other. But all that changed one Friday in March 2007 and I haven't been the same since,BUT today I realized that I again love Sunday!! Church was awesome, Pastor Debbie you were awesome! The praise and worship was just way too cool I felt myself smiling as I sang praises to my Lord, Yes our (my) God is an Awesome God!! I continued as I traveled home with the Cd's cranked up then I just popped it out and took it inside and played music all afternoon just jamming away with Chris Tomlin, Amy Grant, Mandisa, Point of Grace, Twila Paris, Paul Baloche and on and on! I even picked up Boots and danced with him----- he wasn't impressed!!

I decided that I wanted to go barefoot so I shed the boot and shoe, the doctor really didn't mean wear the boot ALL the time did he? Well about 2 hours into my wonderful afternoon I realized that yes he did mean all the time, oh how my foot hurts. Oh well only about 2 1/2 weeks then maybe Shoes! =:)

The count down has begun for the holidays!!! Yes this year I am pumped for the holidays, I love the cooking, family gatherings, church services, shopping, TV specials I just love this time of year!!! I don't have any plans for Thanksgiving because we will have ours on Sat. following to allow my daughters to spend time with their families sooooooooo I think I just may stay in my jammies and watch the parades on TV. Glen wasn't much for parades so we usually watched a movie instead, so I will watch the parades and be thankful for all that I am blessed with!! Sounds like a plan to me!!!

Just catching up and thinking

Ok Mila this is my 6th picture a huge apple basket at the Logenburger basket place. My sister set up a pink ribbon bus tour for my mom, sister -in-law , myself and her this Sept.. We try to do something just for us at least once a year in the past we have gone to Little Nashville in Brown County but deceided to change directions this year and go north. We had such fun just hanging out, spending the night in a hotel and just being away from all the normal life stuff (for sis she really needs this she has 5 kids, a mother-in-law and a husband all living in the same house!!!!) Sis I really don't know how you do it but I do know that God is surely on your side!! Love Ya.

It's gotta be a "Girl Thing"!

It is Saturday morning and I have been up since 5am did you read that right? 5 am who in their right mind would get up on a Sat. morning when it is cold and you could stay snuggled up in the comforter? Well if you are a woman and you love being with your friends, and you are still a kid at heart, and you love craft and hobby shows then you understand! Today I get to spend the entire day with my best friend, her daughter -in -law (who is also my friend) and a friend of hers. We are going to Indy to the Christmas Craft and Hobby show and I am soooooooooooo excited! I love the holidays and this year I am looking forward to getting back into life with them. Thanks giving and Christmas are such special times of the year to spend with family and friends, and although last year was hard to feel the spirit God has brought me a long way and has again allowed the wonder of the holidays to well up inside me. I am so very blessed in my life, I have a home and car, lots of family who I love dearly, a ton of friends, a bestest friend in the whole world.I am blessed to be a mom to 2 wonderful daughters and I am a grandma to --well there are 8 for sure and then well I know of at least4 more who call me grandma!! I have a great, growing , alive church and have the privilage of working in Kids Zone, Angel Food, Food Pantry, Bible School,WOW! I know what it feels like to be dumped and how it feels to have been loved so deeply that you can't imagine life without him. I have been blessed to know the pain of death, divorce, abuse so that now I can help others to survive. I have a God who is alive and is living in my heart and life, without him none of the above would mean much.
So as I go off to have a good time with my friends and enjoy the blessings I have, why don't you also take a few min. and count your blessings? You will be amazed as you look at life what you will find as blessings.

Need Washing?

I love it when the rain is warm and is washing away the dirt and crud out of the air. I love the smell of a gentle rain and how it smells after the rain. When I was little I did like to play in the rain and when my girls were little we would go out and play in the puddles. We had one place where the puddles if we had a heavy rain would be deep enough for them to actually swim! Oh the fun! Now in my grown up years I worry about how I look if I get wet but after reading this email again I think I will look at rain in a whole different way AND I may just get out and run cause I know I need washing!!!!

NEED WASHING??

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in 'Mom let's run through the rain,' she said.

'What?' Mom asked.

'Lets run through the rain!' She repeated.

'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain,'

'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said.

'No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?

'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!'

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing,' Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget and remember to also send it to the person who sent it to you. It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them.

If you don't send it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry.

Take the time to live!!! Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain!

What a weekend!!

I am waiting on the Colts game to start we HAVE to beat the Patriots or I will never live it down with my son - in - law!!! Please Payton pull out all your magic!!
This has been a busy week I got to go back to work and by the weekend I was so glad not to go. Being off for 2 weeks is the same no matter what job you have you always have to figure out what did and didn't get done and then pick up and go. I am back on top now so Monday should be great! I spent Sat stacking wood with my mom we now have enough wood at the house to get me through at least a couple of weeks by then hopefully the boys will be around to help bring up another round. Then Parker James came and spent Sat. night and Sunday with me. What a time we had from going to my HOG chapter meeting, going to Meijers and examining all the toys, games animinals food and oh yes we got a movie Journey to the center of the earth, what a fun movie. Then Grandma deceided that I wanted some fresh flowers so I treated myself to flowers helps me to remember that spring will be back!! Today we went to church and another week in Kids Zone that will wear you out!! I love working with the kids they have so much energy and yet they will admit to having needs that only God can meet. I love reading their prayer cards and praying over them, sometimes the tears just fall when I read their concerns. We are learning about imagination and courage. Just imagine what God can do if we just let him good lesson for us adults too isn't it? I played fooze ball? with Kenedy and another little guy and got beat bad!! After clean up we were off to Muncie to Chuckie Cheeses now Parker and I neither one have been there before but oh the fun we had!! The pizza was pretty good and low and behold they had a good salad bar and yes caffine free diet Coke how much better could it get!!!???? After 2 hours I convinenced him it was time to go to the Mall for grandma to have some fun!! Yeh Bath and Body for another treat. We went to visit someone who I haven't seen for some time and discovered that she is in the hospital so tomorrow I will go back to Muncie to visit her I know her time is short and I want to be able to see her again before she doesn't recognize me. There were several gas stations with gas at $1.97 !!!! Then we headed home and that is when I noticed God's beautiful paintbrush at work. The sky was so pretty, and the trees wow I was so afraid that our fall would be colorless but the trees are becoming beautiful reds and golds. The color and smells are the best thing about fall. Thanks giving is just around the corner and this year I can see all I have to be thankful to God for.