Faithful Friday - "Courageous"

When films like this one come along, I think it would be wonderful for Christians to support it, especially on opening weekend! Let’s show Hollywood that this is the kind of movie we want for our families. And this one opens today (September 30th) in theatres.

Have you heard of it? It’s called “Courageous”. Maybe you’ve heard the song by Casting Crowns. If not, you really should hear it, so I’m including it here first. Just listen to those words. Wow! And it’s the theme song for the movie.




Here’s the synopsis for the movie.

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers, they are confident and focused, standing up to the worst the streets can offer. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge they're ill prepared to tackle: fatherhood. When tragedy strikes home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Sherwood Pictures, creators of Fireproof, returns with this heartfelt, action-packed story. Protecting the streets is second nature to these law enforcement officers. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That takes courage.

Since I haven’t seen it (yet), I really can’t say anymore about it, except that any movie that encourages husbands and dads to step up and be a wonderful role model and spiritual leader of the family is definitely the kind of movie I want for my family. It’s from the creators of Fireproof, and if you saw that, you know how good (and uplifting) it was! They also produced Flywheel and Facing the Giants. All of these were very good family films that deal with issues that families face these days.

We plan to see it this weekend. I encourage you to support this film and do yourself and your family a wonderful thing by going to see this movie!

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If you would like to participate in Faithful Fridays, which was created so that Christians can share their faith, please grab the button at the top of this page, and click here to Joy’s blog (Doodlebug) and leave her a comment letting her know you are participating. We’d love to visit!

Be Blessed!
~ Tammy ~

A Package for Luke

Oh what an exciting day it was for Luke when our mail lady left a package at the front door for him! He knew that a package was on its way, so he was waiting.

Recently, we entered Joy G.'s (Miracles, Markers, and Me) contest for adoptive parents. We joined her for “Thursday Tea”. The contest question for her giveaway was to tell your child’s favorite book(s) after bringing him/her home. Her two sweet daughters and the third grade class would be choosing winners based on the answers. Well, imagine our surprise when Joy G. left me a comment letting me know that Luke was one of the winners! The winners were to receive a pair of pajamas and a book.

Luke’s favorite book when he came home (and one which he still loves) was (and is) Caps for Sale. He loves the silliness of it, and of course we have to put a lot of drama into it as we read it, which has always made him cackle. And it has a lot of repetitiveness to it, which I think helped him learn his English as well.

Another favorite was (and is) The Little Fur Family. All of my children have loved that book. It tells the sweet story of the love of a family portrayed through little “fur people”. This story just has an air of coziness, sweetness, love, and the security of a family and home. Plus it has a song at the end in which I made up a tune when Colt was little. I have continued to sing it to each of my children.

And as of lately, a favorite book of his has been Green Eggs and Ham. He loves quoting that book. And of course, it helped when we made him his green eggs and ham which I posted about here.

So fast forward………the third grade class made Luke one of the winners……….and his package arrived Saturday! Luke was SO excited!

And wow! How generous they were! Joy G. knew Luke loved cars (and any type of vehicle), so it also included a Cars book and stamp set.

And going with the theme of Caps for Sale with the monkeys and all…………an album of Curious George stories! Luke loves these! 

They included a special (very sweet) inscription inside:

He's had the whole family reading it to him. Joy received the first honor:

And a sneak peek of something else “monkey”…….

Aren’t these pajamas (which can also double as a costume) the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen? Oh my goodness!

And since he plans on wearing it to our Harvest party the first week of November, I’ll save a photo of him as a little sock monkey to share for then!

Thank you so much Ms. Joy G, Olivia, Lian, and the third grade class for picking us! Luke thanks you and he thinks you girls rock too!

A Color and a Cut (The New Natural) :)

Colt’s fiancee, Amber, recently got her cosmetologist license and is getting her business started at one of “The” places to work (locally), when it comes to hair salons.

I went to Amber for the first time Friday, because I was way overdue for a color, cut, and eyebrow wax. And yes, I color my hair and we may never know my true hair color these days, because I have no plans of seeing the natural (if I can help it). I like to think of it as “the new natural”.

I’ve gradually been growing my hair out after an inverted bob a few years ago (which I did love) because I wanted a change and it’s nice to be able to wear my hair up when I want to do so.

I think Amber did a great job! I was very pleased with the layers she put in it. I don’t know if you can tell by the pictures, but I have very fine and thin hair, so anything that gives it volume, I’m all for! She added some layers and gave me “my red” with blondish highlights for depth and dimension. Guess I love red everything, right? :)

And sorry that the pictures aren't the best quality.  We grabbed Jason's camera instead of mine (which is a small point and shoot camera) and Joy just snapped some quick photos for me.

These photos were taken the day after (today), which means I styled my own hair. Believe me the style looked much better when Amber did it. Doesn’t it always look better when they do it though? I noticed that I have it a little puffy there in the back. Wish I had thought to take the photos yesterday. Oh well….

Anyway, I just had to “brag” on her a little bit here because I am really proud of her. I think she’s going to be great at her work! She is very creative. I think my hair is in good hands. :)

Faithful Friday - "Happiness is a Choice"

It's time for Faithful Friday again. Everyday is a day to share God's love and what He's done for us, but Friday is a day we've set aside to especially make a point to do so to encourage and lift up one another. If you would like to participate, grab the button below, click over to Joy's blog and leave her a comment letting her know you're participating, and we'll come visit! :)

I really believe that happiness is a choice. But let me be quick to tell you that I have most definitely not mastered this, so I’m really pointing a finger back at me as I write this. However, I am really trying.

I do know that the people that I really enjoy being around or those that make me feel inspired or refreshed after having been in their presence seem to be those that choose to be happy.

The Bible really has several things to say about this:

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24


But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Psalm 68:3


A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:13


A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22


Wow. I especially love that last one. It’s true! Laughter, or a joyful heart is actually good for your health!

I’m amazed when we visit the Nursing Home at the folks that end up lifting me up by their happy attitude. I was talking to one particular lady there, Ms. Viola, recently. I told her how I thought it was really admirable the way she gets up every day, makes her bed herself, cleans her bathroom, helps others around her, and is just a lovely person to be around and that I always felt encouraged after having visited her. I went on to say that I thought every person needs something to look forward to everyday, whether that thing is something small (as in playing bingo for the nursing home residents or taking care of the flowers in the garden in Ms. Viola’s case), or bigger things.

I believe that to be true. Find something in every day to look forward to. For me, sometimes that thing is making a blog post. Sometimes it is to continue the read-aloud that Joy and I are engrossed in, sitting down to enjoy my Country Sampler magazine, or other times it may be going to a particular place, or even decorating. But I always try to find one thing to look forward to everyday and I’ve encouraged Joy to do the same. I think this helps in making the choice of happiness.

I know there are situations in which it is very hard to choose to be happy because all feels hopeless. Sometimes in that position, happiness can be found in helping others. Actually God can give us that kind of happiness, but we still have to choose to embrace it.

I guess I just wanted this post to encourage others to stop and think about what it is you have to be thankful about, to wake up and purposefully have the thought that God made this day and to make the choice to be happy in it. Try to look forward to something (at least one thing) in your day. Set out to find some way to help someone else that day or put a smile on someone’s face.

Happiness is a choice and smiles are contagious. That’s one thing that’s nice to spread around.

It's That Time of Year Again......

The evenings around here have been cooler and just right for 4-wheeler rides. So for the last two weeks, right after supper, we’ve loaded up ….4-wheeler, wagon, and kids…. and enjoyed a ride on the farm field roads around our home and the back gravel roads. It’s something we all have been looking forward to each evening!

Would you like to come along?

Okay, here we go…..

We're starting off in the field right behind the house......

Joy and Luke are back there with a little padding because it’s a little bumpy.

Past the neighbor’s pond…….

Across the road in another field…..it's a little bumpy here!

Down the gravel road....

More neighbors down the gravel road……don’t they have a pretty house?

Yep, it's a dead end road, but I love the house at the end of this little dead end road so we always ride this way.....

Sorry for the blurry photo.....it's kind of hard taking a picture from a moving 4-wheeler.  :)

And here it is.......isn't this just the cutest house?  I think it just looks so cozy and homey.  :)

Here we go through the little "tunnel of trees"....

Cutting back through the fields again headed toward home...

It's starting to get a little dark, so here we are coming in at the back of the house. Hold on, we have to go down into the ditch to get into the backyard.....

And here we are. It was fun, but there's no place like home.

Looks like the little ride put Mr. Luke to sleep....

That happens a good bit of the time. His Joy carries him inside...

Home again until tomorrow evening after supper!

Hope you enjoyed the ride!

The Cedar Loft..........Revealed.

The Cedar Loft is, for the most part, completed. And we made our deadline of Labor Day! We are very thankful to my dad for all his work on the plumbing and electricity and my mom for helping whip it in shape at the last minute, as well as Colt helping us on Saturday mornings. There are still several little things that need to be done, but it is definitely a living space now! Most of the things left now are really just "wants" and cosmetic things.

As I mentioned in a former post, our first guests, Kim, Chuck, and their girls, stayed up there over the Labor Day weekend. And we’ve already enjoyed two Friday nights up there too, followed by Saturday morning breakfast. Grandmama and Pop came over and joined us for breakfast the last two weeks in our cozy loft.

I’m excited about the decorating part, but it will just take time since funds are low. Oh well, I will definitely have something to look forward to and will be keeping my eye out for bargains now. :)

Some of the “little” things still left to do include more trim pieces (several in the bathroom), little spaces stained where boards were cut, my bench painted and put at the foot of the bed, the chest put in the dormer window by the bed, night stands by the bed, a free standing cupboard in the kitchen (Jason will build this and I’m really looking forward to it), curtains over the bed and in the dormer window, wall décor, coffee table, rugs, a TV/DVD player………… Wow….that sounds like alot when I typed it. Oh well, we will eventually get there.

In spite of the things left to do, we’re enjoying it as it is. I can envisioning the Christmas holidays up there and enjoying my anticipated Christmas movies there as well. We just might make a regular Friday night treat out of it. It’s nice having a special retreat in our own backyard actually.

Well, I won’t keep you waiting any longer……..here’s The Cedar Loft……….

The little spot next to the refrigerator will be the spot for the free standing cupboard.

Closer look at the countertops

The bathroom…..it actually turned out to be rather roomy and especially has a cabin feel to it.

Don't you just love Jason's toilet paper holder design?  He surprised me with this!

One of the curtains is the shower and the one across is a double closet with a curtain in front of it.

My mom and dad brought this home from Alabama to add to our bathroom.  I love it!



You can see the little spot for the cupboard here.  You can also catch a glimpse of the laundry area here too.



The little laundry room/pantry area.

Jason's design for closet doors.

I really like the way the bathroom is on an angle.  It seems more roomy.