Grains of Sand

pass Traveling on the mountain pass, navigating the twists and turns.  Going through tunnels that are so small you can reach your hand out the car window and touch the wall.  Every corner brings a new view.  Tall pines crowd the road.  On the next turn the view opens to sweeping valleys with a view of sunny pastures.  You can hear the rush of water before you see the waterfall around the corner.  On one side of the pass, sheer rock and on the other, a drop to certain death with no fence or safety rail.  Looking beyond the loose gravel at the turn, you can see the mountains looming and their shadows on the water below. Life is a lot like this.  One adventure after the other.  Harrowing drops into the unknown and twists and turns you don't see coming.  The sound of rushing water from a stream moving too fast to wade into.  Yet, you have no fear.  Just excitement and the rush of adrenaline....

For Today... April 25, 2016 Outside my window...  a gray day is pressing in and the goldfinches are sunny yellow. I am thinking... of Megan.  We celebrate her 9th birthday this week. I am thankful... for friends who stand with me through the good, the bad and the ugly. I am wearing... workout clothing.  Hoping that if I wear them, I'll actually work out.  If not, at least I look like I did. :) I am creating... a long awaited master bedroom spruce up inspired by the new quilt.

My son is wrestling with his faith.  Don't we all?  Well, I didn't so much wrestle with it as I rebelled against it.  But I know what he's going through.  Right now he's trying to make sense of the gift of salvation.  Ephesians 2:8-9 states, " For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast." What then, is all this obedience you read about in the bible?  Isn't that works?  My son asks some difficult questions.  Sadly, teaching is not a great strength of mine.  Answers to those questions don't just flow from my mind onto my tongue.  I didn't know how to explain the difference in a way that made sense to him. A few days later I was meeting with a group of women and Tammy just so happened to be speaking about Godly obedience.  She read an excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswal...

Whenever you find a good product, recipe or trick, don't you just want to share it?  Here is my tip for this Tuesday.   You must get one of these!  This is my new curling iron/brush.  I know what you're thinking.  New?!  I used one of those in high school 20 years ago!  Well, yes you did and did you know you can buy them new today?  They are rather hard to find, but I must say this little curling iron has drastically reduced the time I spend in front of the mirror trying to tame my wayward hair.  Seriously, you must go retro and buy a new curling brush.  Your morning will thank me.  Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday and we'll meet again tomorrow.     

For Today... April 18, 2016 Outside my window...  leaves!  I see teeny tiny little leaves just unfurling on the pear trees.  Won't be long and my world will be much more green than brown this spring. I am thinking... about the fact that I just registered Logan in a drivers education class!!  Seems like just yesterday I was teaching him to ride a bike. I am thankful... for hot showers and washing machines.

I recently listened to a podcast on friendship by Timothy Keller.  You can find it here if you're curious.  In an effort to be a friend to those around me, I have tried to look outside of my comfort zone for ways to support my friends.  One way that presented itself was in the form of making a meal for a friend in need. Making meals to bring for a friend after a birth, surgery, illness or just to bless them has not been my strong suit.  The minute I commit to bring a meal, a whole slue of insecurities rise up.  What will I bring?  I'm not a very good cook.  What if they don't like the way I prepare this?  Do they have food sensitivities or allergies of any kind?  Do I need to include dessert?  Should it be hot or cold?  Can I just pull out something from my freezer?  What time should I deliver it?  Will there be enough?  Should I make it spicy?  What if it's too spicy?  The list goes on and on!

I'm in the last semester of the discipleship class I'm taking.  This semester, we the students try our hand at teaching.  My friend Mindy used this wonderful word picture to share the purification process that we go through after surrendering to God's tenacious pursuit of us.  I hope I'm able to share as well as she did. Picture a window.  We're on one side and God is on the other.  Before we surrender to Him and give him the keys, the blackout curtains are drawn, separating us from God and his light.  We are in total darkness. After we put our belief, trust and faith in Jesus and the death he died on the cross for us, the curtain is removed and God's light shines through the window and on us. Am I a completely transformed person now?  Well, my heart has been justified by faith and I have the assurance of eternal life in heaven, but because I am not perfect, there are and always will be things in my life that God will want to tra...

For Today... April 11, 2016 Outside my window... red wing blackbirds are singing accompanied by robins and finches.  They must be thanking God for an absolutely beautiful morning.  Sun is shining brightly and the wind is gently whispering.

W onderfully made H eld in His arms O odles and oodles of flaws yet L oved, cherished and chosen E nduring forever Five Minute Friday is a wild and wonderful flash mob of words.  Five minutes on one prompt. No overthinking or editing.  Please visit Kate Motaung and link up with Five Minute Friday  to see more.

We are studying the solar system and all things space related in the next few weeks.  In my research, I came across this video that we all found interesting.

When I told Mason, our five year old that I was going to pay our taxes, he thought about that for a moment and then asked, "Will we see the President?" When I questioned him about that he replied, "Don't you have to go to the President's house to pay your taxes?" I love his thought process.  Thankful he can articulate those tidbits of information.

So, I have overdue library books that need to get back.  I have an hour of time in which I can return said library books or I can blog.  I am guilty of blogging and will pay another day of fines.  However, I can't help myself.  If I don't blog now, I will not get it done. I wanted to share some photos from our 1950s sock hop.  Our co-op celebrated the end of our 3rd unit by enjoying root beer floats, hamburgers and french fries, a variety of candies, great music from the era, bowling, trying out the hula hoops and catching up with friends. Megan and Mason posing for the camera.