FEELING DOWN.... WELL ...GET UP....

 THIS SHOULD JUMP START YOU (BE SURE TO TURN YOUR VOLUME UP)... love to listen to this song to start my day. It’ll get you up & out of that mood.....

We can't let things get in our way,....  REFUSE to let them MOVE you off your  PATH and PUSH THEM BACK !!!...

THINK ABOUT THESE THING ! LETS CALL IT OUR 8 WAYS TO RE-THINK LIST.. 
Philippians 4:8 verse, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

THIS CAUGHT MY EYE TODAY, IT'S "GOOD MOOD MAKERS".... 

                                                                                                                                                                                       

 

My good friend just delivered her baby girl today. I am blown away just to think her eyes are seeing for the first time. This is a fresh new life...WOW!!!

A Robin has hatched three babies today on the rail of my porch and they are waiting for mama to come back with food...

  

.......later as I checked on them, mama Robin was sitting, guarding them with care....

Just saw someone wearing a Life is Good tee-shirt. Reminds me we NEED to go camping soon..

NOW MY ASSIGNMENT FOR THE DAY IS BE HAPPY!!!

 SEE YA NEXT TIME RIGHT HERE....

WHEN "LIFE'S ISSUES" STARE YOU DOWN...

"LIFE’S ISSUES"... a two-word statement that is frowned upon sometimes. It might cause to face reality and come out of your "comfort zone" of denial where they like to hide to escape... ouch!  

Or... at other times, it is welcomed, because it will manifest itself  allowing you to identify what is causing you pain in our life. Finally, you can get answers and apply Truth bringing about a solution.  And this is the answer!

I had something happen just this week that almost took me down looking like a wilted flower.  I was hurting and almost gave in to "gloom, dispair and agony on me" attitude...  

It went on for a couple of days until I found the solution and was able to work through it.  I even got physically sick feeling very mad at someone who hurt me and at myself for letting it happen before I took control of my fleshly behavior.   

Our natural response in situations that stop us in our tracks is to want to “take flight or stay in and fight”.  I decided to stay in and fight it until the end. 

 

A coined phrase helps me when these times come, “just turn it around and make it work for you”,  it has given me a footing before I fall to far.  

Got it from Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^] have been called according to his purpose.”; and Gen 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

As I sat this week looking at my situation and hearing a friend share about a tight spot she was in, I was reminded of three simple questions to ask God.  Since He does allow “all things for our good”, I choose to see what this was all about.   

Within 24 hours I got answers and was able to work through this LIFE ISSUE that was Staring me right in the face.  I can honestly say, I have benefited from it.  My Joy and Peace is back and I am on Center again, and yes I have peace with the other person.  

Today as I write this, I feel there's someone out there who can use this information. 

Take a minute to read it, make a copy to keep with you if necessary to use each time you find yourself caught in a trap that will try to take you captive. 

When Struggling with the ISSUES OF LIFE, ask these 3 Questions...

1- "Lord, what good is it that you want to work into my life through this?"

2- "Lord, how do you want me to cooperate?"

3- Or "What response do you want from me?"

Then just listen quietly for His answers.

 Flowers from my garden are blooming again...

DON’T YOU JUST LOVE A JUNK FOOD DAY?...

I have for years tried to be good by eating healthy, like veggies made all kinds of ways to change them around.  Grilled fish and chicken is not so bad unless you consume so much you think you’re growing fins or cackling like a chicken. 

It is at that time I want to have a blow out with Junk Food and have what I call A Junk Food Day!

Well, I want to talk about those days when I have had enough and I go out planning to be bad looking around to see if my doctors are looking with some kind of guilt that I immediately identify as “false guilt”.  So.... I go and JUST DO IT!!! 

 As I can remember, the Fast Food business got into my life when I put my mouth on my very first Big Mac.  Oh My!!! I know it was near the date of the first one served, August 22, 1967.  And... I know they think they are fooling us, but it seems to be shrinking, more money in their pockets, shameful... it WAS much bigger than it is now.  But, even though they are De-sized, I liked them anyway.  

Never forget a day in Feb of 1984 while on a mission trip to Germany, I bought one and left it in the van.  It was so cold outside it froze and you ought to try it, they are even good frozen...good memories!

........and of course, you can't eat a Big Mac without fries.  Now don't ask me that standard question, "you want fries with that?"  Well YES!!!  Don't you know this is a "drop all boundaries day to EAT JUNK FOOD?  And another thing, an attitude is just waiting right in front of everybody, if they are not put on my tray HOT. 

Are you like me?  I always have to eat the ones sticking out the top as I walk to THE RIGHT table. Even one time a person was being served next to me at the counter while I waited and I stopped just in time from picking off of their tray...one embarrassing moment avoided, just in time!

 ....while I am being so transparent here, after all that traditional eating, the last thing to top it off is an _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _ you fill in the blank.  You know what I mean, don't act so innocent with your small waist line!!!  Yes, see below if you are still wondering....

...Yep! Only 150 more calories, that is, if you don't ask for a little cup of chocolate and a spoon to take a bite with a spoon full of that brown stuff that will just hit it off...hum... all I can do to keep from calling it a JFD now!! 

....and one more thing before you leave that place of Fast Food I love to make a stop at the counter for one more thing, if I can't hold it right then I get a bag of theses to take home to have later...oh I love um....

 

OK thanks for putting up with my random thoughts here, got to go now see you when my thoughts get loaded again. What will I talk about next.... check back and see... 

SIGNS OF SPRING!...

Daisies in the fields are a sure sign of Springtime.....

 

The Spring of 2013 in Georgia is so different. It has thrown us a curve.   

Every year its like clock work, you can predict the temperatures and know when that long awaited season gets here.   

This year it is teasing us. One day you wear sandals and shorts the next winter boots and heavy jackets. What's the deal???

Being almost the middle of May, I found an interesting thing.

Neatly spun on the rail of my porch, is a Robin's nest. Looking at the construction will amaze you, it is precisely made.  And seems like overnight this bird plopped it right here in the corner....

....and look how she sits on this nest like a good mother.....

 I could not stand it, I had to see what was inside.  I waited for her to fly away,  and took a picture of its content.  I could hear her squawking in a tree near by like a good responsible mother! What I found was so beautiful. What do you think?....

Also because of these cool temps, I didn’t want to take a chance having my Iris get frostbite.  Taking a few in doors made a nice table arrangement to enjoy....

 

 One last photo of Spring in Virginia.  Someone posted it on Facebook I couldn't help but think how nice it is to see the "virgin green" everywhere spreading across the mountains, announcing  another year of a beautiful season ....

Hope you have enjoyed the happenings in my part of the world and that you take time to see all the fresh beauty springing forth for yet another wonderful time of the year, called SPRING!....

BEING A MOM...WHAT AN HONOR!!!....

THESE TWO GUYS GIVE ME THE HONOR OF BEING A MOM!!!

Rob, our first born, turned 50 this year. It was a wake up moment for me. I felt glad and sad as the mom. Glad, because I'm thrilled seeing both our boys enjoy their adult lives as it unfolds.  My heart skips a beat with excitement when I see their accomplishments as Real Gentlemen!

ROB AND HIS WINNING SMILE!

Sad, because the days have flown by and I can’t hold them, rock them and sing to them.  Those days slipped before I knew it. 

God SO blessed us with another son, Phillip.  Yes, 3 years, 5 months, 22 days, 15 minutes later to be exact, at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA. Dr Paul Turrentine came out of the delivery room and told Phil you have another healthy baby boy.  Phil told me the doctor had him all wrapped up carrying him like a football. The delivery of babies is so different these days!

PHILLIP LOVES HIS HOBBY COOKING ON HIS GREEN EGG

 I look back and think, poor child.  You see, the second born doesn't get the same attention as the first born.  The first born gets the perfect "text book I've got to do it the right way" care.  You practice on the first born.  I quickly experienced the second child rearing day even faster in the school of mothering.  I think now, "where was I while they were growing up"?  I was so busy making sure they had the right foods, clean clothes, and homework done sending them off to school in life’s busyness.....

 

If I had it all over to do again, I would surely take time to live in the moment with them.  To just look into their eyes and see them as who they were and able to express my love and appreciation right then as little boys.  Things take over before you know it and the rich moments just zoom by.  Being a Mom is an Honor to be cherished! 

I'M SO GLAD I HAVE THIS MEMORY OF READING TO CAEDEN WHEN HE WAS THREE

 One word of advice is, don’t get lost and so busy in the fast pace of child rearing.  Take time to love that little one, hold him or her in your arms, kiss that little face and whisper those loving words in that little ear.  Before long, your job will be history in the task of keeping them clean, watching out for their safety and showing them how to build a God fearing life with courage to face life’s challenges.  One day you will look back and say, “What an Honor it is to be a Mom”....

Last Mother’s Day we attended the worship service at Oasis Church in Loganville with our kids.  Their Pastor’s Wife read this poem, and I could really relate.  Phillip ask her for a copy.  This speaks about what happens when we go through our busy days that swiftly take us away.  It’s so true, but Oh How I would long for another day like that now 50 years later....

"If You Give a Mom a Muffin.........................."

If you give a Mom a muffin, She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. The coffee will get spilled by her three year old. She'll wipe it up.  Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do some laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan dinner for tonight.  She will get out a pound of hamburger. She will look for her cookbook (101 Things to Make With a Pound of Hamburger). The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill that is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook.  The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two year old. While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. Her four year old will answer it and hang up.  She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee on Friday. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some.  And chances are...... If she has a cup of coffee...... Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Enjoy you life having the HONOR OF BEING A MOM!!!

MY HUSBAND IS BEATING WEGENER’S GRANULOMATOSIS....

I’ll never forget a day in June 2009!  As usual, we had blood drawn for blood work needed for our next annual doctor’s visit.  This time it was different.  The nurse told Phil to go directly to his doctor for more test. We laughed and went on our way.  But then it hit us as we thought, we should look into this and see what’s going on.

The next weeks were a fast down hill ride from there. Until one of the 5 doctors finally identified what was taking over his body.  It was Wegener’s Granulomatosis.  If you don’t know what it is just Goggle WG symptoms and treatment and you will see how dangerous this condition is if unchecked.  Only 1 out of 30,000 get it and at this time there is no cure. 

Thank goodness he has a good mindset, practicing being Pro-Active.  Since then, he has grown even more by educating himself and practicing how to manage this condition. By doing this, he is able to have a quality life!  I am so proud of him.  In fact, he says, "he is Highly Favored".

He began to do his research and his team of doctors supported him on his case.  He found a Medical Doctor that also practices Holistic treatment who gave him a formula of supplements after studying a 20 page workup of his blood work. That put a plan into action.  It has been a big fight but I am so proud to say, "he is winning!".... 

Crying Out to our Heavenly Father was our first step, following the path before us, one step at a time.  He has led us the whole way and we are seeing victories.  All the credit has to go to God for His Divine Guidance.  Everywhere we go the way is being directed. Along with Phil's winning spirit, WE ARE WINNING this battle that has "tried" to control us for almost 7 years.... 

I know there are so many others out there in this world who are on their journey searching for information for WG.  If we can help in any way please feel free to contact us at:  
www.safeplaceministries.org