Faithful Friday - "Nails in the Fence"

I have always thought this was a great story, full of wisdom, to illustrate the effects of words spoken in anger.  I thought I’d share it today for Faithful Friday. If only I could heed this always.   I don't want to leave holes.

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it; and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there." A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.


My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.  James 1:19  (NIV)
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If you would like to participate, grab the button above and leave Joy a comment letting her know you participated and we’ll stop by your blog for a visit! If you just stopped by to read for a word of encouragement, we thank you for that too!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend! :)

A Happy Hubby

My hubby is an especially happy man today.

And this is the reason why.

He has wished, dreamed, “window shopped” (online) and planned..........

And now he finally owns his own Chevrolet Silverado Z71 4 WD (not new, but new to us).

He’s walking around with a big grin on his face. It arrived Monday evening.

It looked like this when it arrived (from Delaware):

He removed the camper.

And starting the inevitable babying it and sprucing it up (with chrome).   Now it looks like this:

And the best part is that there’s no monthly note to go with it!   :)

We’ll be trying it out on our little road trip to Georgia tomorrow morning to see Kim, Chuck, Dakota and Shiloh.

The up side to that: More leg room inside the truck than my little Mazda 3 S for a road trip. The down side: Jason is going to be very picky about letting us eat and drink in it (at least for the first 6 months). ...............So if you see a lady and two kids sitting on a curb at a gas station with a snack and drink, that will probably be us.



Shhh.......Don't tell Jason, but we're really excited about it too!  :)

Have You Ever Been This Tired?

Have you ever been SO tired you just wanted to fall over right then and there?

Well I believe that all three of my kids are experts at it. They could go to sleep anywhere anytime. (And I have the pictures to prove it). Forget the noise or anything else that was going on, they just stop and sleep. Except Colt did have this thing about not letting me sleep at night, but that’s another story.

Most of these pictures today are of Luke, but it’s only because I had all these pictures on my computer and the photos of Colt and Joy are in albums (that require scanning and my scanner isn’t working right now). But suffice it to say that I have pics of them standing up sleeping as well.

I also have the cutest video of Colt eating a lollipop and falling asleep (when he was a little under two). In his sleep, he remembers he must have been eating something and his tongue is constantly searching for his lollipop. I should have entered it in America’s Funniest Videos, because it is hilarious……and precious to me!

Luke goes and goes until he can’t go anymore. Then he just stops to sleep.

He hasn’t taken a planned nap in a few months now. That’s mostly because I just don’t enforce it anymore. He really just seemed to be requiring naps less and less during the day. I remember when Joy hit four years old, she was done with naps too (although she was my best sleeper at night..going to bed the same time and getting up the same time).  She slept all night the first night home from the hospital and unless she was sick, she always had that routine.   Colt took naps until he was older I believe, but it was probably because I laid down with him and took one too!  :)

However, when evening gets here, Luke just goes to sleep anywhere he wants if he doesn’t make it to the bed first, and in any position, I might add.

Usually he gets somewhere near one of us, whether that’s on the chair or couch......

 Or in this case, under the dining room table.

However, Luke can’t resist a nap in the car. Driving puts him to sleep usually while he’s absorbed in all the 18-wheelers on the interstate. Actually the drive from our house to town is just long enough to put all our kids out for a nap. There were many days after church (especially when Colt was little) that we’d pull up at the house and he was napping, so we would recline our seats and finish up a little nap because if we turned off the car, his eyes popped open. We grabbed our sleep whenever we could with that boy!

Luke sleeps like a rock all night long. Now mind you, arms and legs are all over the place owning the bed, but he sleeps well and all night long!

So……are you sleepy yet? :)

Faithful Friday - "The Hairbrush"

I don’t know about you, but there have been times that God spoke clearly to me in my heart, telling me to go speak to a certain person, say a kind word to them, or to offer my services. He has spoken just as clearly to my heart before in not driving a certain way. Call me crazy, but I believe God does that to bless us (or other people) or even protect us.

Oh that I could say that I’ve always listened and obeyed. But the truth is more times than not, I’ve missed the moment and regretted it later. I have tried and am trying harder to listen when God speaks to me in that way and to follow through and obey. And when I do, there’s no feeling like it. What a blessing!

Many of you have probably heard this true story from Beth Moore, Christian author and speaker. Hearing her tell it is all the more a blessing because I can just envision me questioning God in the same way. I too have been known to argue with God (silently) of course over things He was asking me to do or not to do. You know...... trying to talk God out of something.   But funny thing......sometimes God can be so bossy!

I hope this blesses you as much as it does me. And just think if we could all listen to God’s voice (even when it is bossy) and obey. What a blessing we can be to others and what a blessing we will receive in return!

Enjoy and be blessed!




Sorry I was late on Faithful Friday! Seems like a pattern these days…….but my intentions have been on time…..it’s just the follow-through!  :)  And if you’d like to participate, go ahead and jump right in!  Grab the button above, leave a comment on Joy’s blog, and we’ll visit your blog. Even if you aren’t participating, Joy would love for you to stop by and enjoy her Faithful Friday post as well!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!  :)

(Luke's) World of Imagination

There’s a certain little four year old around here that loves to build……and pretend.

  I suppose he’s learned to entertain himself and to embark on his own imaginary adventures mostly out of necessity while his sister and I are working on school. But he’s learning all the while even if he doesn’t realize it.

We love to sit back and eavesdrop on his conversations (with himself) from time to time. He plays all the parts well. One of his favorites is to play out a scene from Fireproof especially since he’s all about fire trucks lately. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll remember the “car on the tracks” scene, where the firemen are attempting a rescue. Well this is his version reinvented.  And believe me, he knows all the dialogue to go with it.

Every day the blocks come out and the building begins. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the kitchen while we’re schooling, sometimes it’s under my feet while I’m getting ready and sometimes just scattered across the living room floor. He knows that we think he’s quite the builder, so he asks us to take pictures……of which we are happy to oblige.

Sometimes he builds castles (with dinosaurs attacking).

Sometimes he just builds houses for “all the peoples and all the families”.

But always he has to declare demolition on his creations. He will spend great amounts of time building them just so-so, only to plow into them afterwards……..and with all the required sound effects.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that if I just leave the kids with some free time (without keeping them constantly entertained), they will get creative. And this is learning at its best (not because of what I do – but what I don’t do……and that’s interfere with their thought process).

So we encourage the building and praise all Luke’s efforts and treat them with utmost importance when he comes running declaring what he’s built. We always make a point to go look (and take pictures because he usually asks).

And speaking of building, Luke loves building his vocabulary too. We get tickled at some of the words he comes out with from time to time. Like the word, apparatus. Yeah, he was using that one last week when Joy was in the hospital. It kind of took us by surprise, especially Joy, who said “I don’t even know what that is”, to which Luke proceeded to explain in the correct context.

But then there are also the words that he’s heard but doesn’t quite get right or confuses with other words. The other day he kept asking me about the bamboo in my purse. I had no idea what he was talking about. I asked him to explain it to me a little more, and when he mentioned getting at the doctor’s office, I realized he was referring to, “tattoo”. (They give out little kids’ tattoos at the pediatrician’s office).

One day while listening to him play while I was getting my makeup on, he was speaking in a tone like an announcer over a loud speaker and declared “Ladies and gentleman……Lightning McQueen broke the world”. I was puzzled until I realize he meant broke the world record.

And of course we kind of encourage that vocabulary building too. You know, telling him things like, “Young man, your vocabulary is actually quite impressive. I do believe it has improved drastically”. :) 

In this world of  arranging“play dates” and keeping kids “entertained”, I think it’s just important to let kids have “time to themselves” to use their imagination. It builds thinking skills which lays the foundation for more structured learning. Besides, it’s just plain fun too.

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On another note, I’m excited to hear that my furniture has been built and sent to the delivery company. Technically, they have three 3 weeks to deliver it, but I’m hoping to hear from them soon to see when it might be headed my way! It’s hard to believe that I will have new furniture in the near future. That’s very exciting!

Thanks so much for stopping by and for the comments! I appreciate it and really need to catch up on my blogging friends. Please don’t give up on me! Have a great day! :)

Getting Back to Normal.......

We’re back at home!  Things are pretty much back to normal around here except for all the “stuff” accumulated in our house from cleaning out Pawpaw’s house getting it ready to sell. 

Last week, right before the hospital adventure, we had just finished moving everything out of Jason’s dad’s home.  We pretty much came in and left it in our house with the intention of getting it all organized over the weekend.  We had to go from Plan A to Plan B, which was to camp out in the hospital from Friday evening to Monday evening (which wasn’t so bad by the way).  The hospital was wonderful.  Luke and I slept on the futon bed and Jason on the recliner chair that stretched out to a bed.   

We have a "coffee table of goodies" from the hospital.  She received the dog from Grandmama nad Pop for all the guests, nurses, doctors, and staff to sign, flowers from a friend, and the teddy bear and a balloon from a friend.  She also received a book and cards!  We had so many calls and texts and knew so many were praying!

But Praise the Lord, Joy is much better and by looking at her now, you’d never know how sick she was this weekend and how much pain she was experiencing.  After the pancreatic enzyme they were watching came down to 296 (from the original 1346) and she was able to eat without hurting so bad, they let her go, which was Monday afternoon.

We still don’t know the cause, as I said in the previous post, but we are to call the pediatric gastroenterologist if she has any other kind of “stomach episode” like this and get her to the ER so they can check her pancreatic enzymes again.  Documenting any further episodes (which we hope and pray she doesn’t have) may help with figuring it all out.  Besides sending us home on Protonix and a low fat diet, we have no restrictions.  That sounds pretty easy but for a picky eater like her, it’s not really so easy.  They told us to just take it slow and make small dietary changes, which is what we’re working towards.

Joy’s post today goes into more detail, if you’d like to read more.  I just wanted to update you on the fact that we’re back home and Joy is doing well and that we thank you all so much for lifting her up and covering her in prayer.  I can see God bringing good from this already, if nothing else but to help her overcome some deep rooted fears.  Now, it’s time to get all this “stuff” organized and finish up our school year!  Then…..we’re looking forward to a trip to see our friends, Kim and Chuck, whom we were in China with (and that also came to see us last September) the end of this month.  We’re so excited!  I think we all need this! 

Thank you for stopping by today! 

From the Hospital.....

Hello blogging friends.  We are in the middle of another "adventure".  I'm typing this post from the children's hospital.  Joy is the patient.  She was admitted through the emergency room Friday night (well more like early Saturday morning) with pancreatitis.  

She has been in pretty severe abdominal pain.  Enough so for her to want to go to the emergency room, which is a huge thing for her considering her phobia of needles.  She has been a trooper though having IVs and blood drawn numerous times.  

An ultrasound has ruled out most of the "normal" things they might expect to see as contributing causes of pancreatitis in children: gallstones, pseudo cysts, enlarged pancreas, or a blocked duct.  Other things that contribute could be familia (family history) which is something we're asking about in relatives, or a recent virus or illness.  As far as we know, none of those apply.  Actually, they have told us that we may never know the original cause and we could have recurring episodes.  The "stomach issues" she has had in the past were most likely related to this (which date back to before we went to China).   

She hasn't been able to eat anything by mouth at all.  She has been on  "nothing by mouth" orders.   Just today they are allowing her to drink water.  Bless, her heart, she really wants to eat. She is so hungry.   Until her pancreatic enzymes come down more and her pain lessens, the doctor won't let her eat.  She has a long list of foods she keeps thinking about.  :)

Her pancreatic enzymes have come down today (one of them from the 1300 range to the 500 range). According to the doctor, until her pancreatic enzymes come down more, and her pain improves, we can't go home.  Today she hasn't had morphine but is still hurting.  I think she's just trying to not get it because she has a very high pain tolerance.  Actually, she is sleeping right now for the first time today, which is a good thing. 

We would appreciate your prayers.  I'll try to keep you updated.

Oh, and Luke is camping out here in the room with us by choice. :) My mom and dad have come to take him home with them many times and he wants to stay with his Joy.  He is "helping take care of her".  He was ready with a tissue to wipe away her tears!  He's been here the entire time and has done so well, especially for a 4 year old energetic little boy.  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great week!  :)     

A Few of My Favorite Things

From a decorating point of view, I definitely have favorites. These are things that draw me in. Things I can’t pass up picking up “just one more”. I like sitting back and looking at them. I love being surrounded by these. They feel cozy. They feel like home. (Home first and foremost is where my family is but I’m speaking about things that I love).


So I grabbed my camera and walked through my house taking pics of a few of my favorite things. I thought I’d share them with you!


First and foremost, there are quilts. How can anyone have too many quilts? They’re so cozy to sleep under. There’s nothing like the weight of a quilt over me while I sleep. And the colors….oh the colors! When Colt was little, he used to watch antique quilt videos with me and he knew the names of the various patterns. Not every 3 year old knew that.

Gameboards. Love the patterns and the colors of those too. I have plans of doing a wall of those behind my recliners (one of these days). Here are a couple of my favorites that I have now.

Wooden bowls. I love when I find these treasures, even at Goodwill. I just bring them home and give them a little paint and distressing.

I also love my dough bowl rack that Jason made me to house a few more wooden bowls.

I have a thing for wooden spoons too.

And rolling pins.

My old country cook stove. Now you know where we stack our shoes. It’s the catch all right beside the stove as we come in the back door (into the kitchen).

Stars. I have so many....they're everywhere in our home!  :)

Spriggy twig wreaths. That’s the rustic coming out in me. I’m definitely not a full fledged colonial decorator, although I admire those homes so much. I have decided that I am a rustic/farmhouse/primitive/touch of colonial/country decorator.

I love words, so it’s no big surprise that I love signs. I have them everywhere. Here’s a few favorites…….

Mason jars. They just are so versatile and nothing says farmhouse kitchen like them. And they’re functional too.

Baskets make me happy.

And Americana.  This Betsy Ross flag flag was a splurge for me.  It hangs in a place of honor above our fireplace.

Smell goodies……candles, tarts…….Oh the atmosphere it evokes and the aroma makes our home smell and feel cozy!

Cutting boards. Most of mine came from yard sales and Goodwill.

And I just love crocks. There’s something about the brown ones that call to me. My little brown one here needs a little attention….needs a good dusting. Oh well, now you see the real me. My house isn’t perfect. Life happens.

And this one tickles me a bit. I love wax creations and other similar reproductions for decorating. A child once visiting here remarked how all my food was “fake”. She was referring to the apples, the pears, the cinnamon roll there. It reminded me to put out a few “real things”. And tucked in here with this picture is another cutting board and rolling pin too.

Oh, and stitcheries. I guess it’s the stitching but it’s also the words. And my friend, Betty, keeps me stocked in those.

That’s just a sampling of a few of my favorite things. Having my home sprinkled with these things makes me happy!



What about you? What are a few of YOUR favorite things?