Wednesday, August 17, 2016

17 August 2016 - Wednesday Hodgepodge

Another post? And it hasn't been half a year?!





1. I read here four creative activities to try this month. They were-calligraphy, make your own cookbook, dance or learn a new type of dance, and letter writing. Which activity on the list appeals to you most? Will you add it to your August?

To be honest, none of them. :-) If forced to choose, I'd suppose letter writing.

2. Bertrand Russell is quoted as saying, 'To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.' Agree or disagree? Explain. 

How can you know what happiness is without sadness? I agree.

3. August 17th is National Thriftshop Day...are you a 'thrifter'? If so, tell us about one of your best or favorite finds. 

I LOVE to thrift; however, I don't usually have fabulous luck with it. Once, though, I did find crystal deviled egg platter that I just love, and it was only $1!

4.  On a scale of 1-10 (with 1= almost none and 10=loads) how would you rate your sense of wanderlust? What kicks your wanderlust into high gear? 

Maybe a 2 - I traveled quite a bit when I was in my 20s and 30s, and am quite content to be at home, or visit family.

5. Has life felt more like a marathon or sprint so far this month? How so?

Life is a marathon for me, right now. There is so much that always needs doing, and there is just one of me. However, I try to always remember Philippians 4:13.

6. What do you need to get a jump on before fall officially arrives? 

My yard needs some serious work. It is just so hot and humid here, though, that I've been able to talk myself out of trimming and pulling weeds. I can't put it off any longer now!

7. What's the last thing you did with friends or family where you lost track of time? 

Whenever my two children come sit on my bed and talk at night, the time flies so fast, and the next thing I know, it is 11:30 p.m.! And I always am up by 5:30 a.m.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It is very hard to parent a child that is vastly different than yourself. But one day, I'll get it right!

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Wednesday Hodgepodge

It has been six months since I last posted - I guess it is about time for a new post. :-)




1. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your summer so far? Why?
(1=eh and 10=best summer ever)

While I don't really want to be negative, I'd say a 4. While there have been spots of wonderfulness (I'm saying it is a word!), the challenges are many. Plus the humidity is not good for my positivity. 

2. July 26th is National Aunts and Uncles Day. Did you have many aunts and uncles growing up? Were you especially close to any one or maybe all of them? Are you an aunt? (or uncle for the men who join here on Wednesdays) Share a favorite memory relating to one of your own aunts or uncles or relating to a niece or nephew who call you Aunt (or Uncle).

I have 3 uncles and one aunt on my father's side, and one uncle on my mother's side - plus their spouses. The first memory that pops to mind is when my Uncle Wayne (my dad's brother) told one of us children to get out of his chair. When we told him his name wasn't written on it, he turned the chair over, wrote his name on it with a big grin and said it did now! It just tickled me so.

3. What's your favorite food dipped in chocolate? What's your favorite food dipped in cheese?

I think pineapple dipped in chocolate is absolutely delicious. As for cheese, probably a tortilla chip - I just love nachos!

4. When were you last astonished by something? Explain.

The princess agreed to chaperone a youth group event. Since she is rather soft-spoken and reserved, it just surprised me - delighted me as well.

5. Surf board, paddle board, ironing board, Pinterest board, score board, clip board, bulletin board...which board have you most recently encountered?

Seeing as it is a good year if I iron once a year, it definitely wouldn't be an ironing board! I'd say a clip board.

6. What's your favorite story from scripture? Why that story?

Probably when Samuel asked for God to put words in his mouth before interpreting a king's dream. It reminds me to pray before speaking in difficult situations.

7. If you were to travel from the east coast to the west coast in your own country, which five cities would you most want to see?

Bar Harbor (I love the scenery, the food, everything), Pittsburgh (to eat at Primanti Brothers!), Savannah GA (one of my favorite cities), Cheyenne (the surrounding countryside has a desolate beauty), and Seattle (I've always wanted to visit there).

8. Insert your own random thought here.

There are times I think I really want to blog, but I'm never able to do so when that thought crosses my mind.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

I Still Miss You

...and always will.



Monday, November 9, 2015

World Adoption Day

I had no idea that today was World Adoption Day! My world was totally changed for the better when we adopted first my son, then my daughter. They are God's greatest gifts to me, after His Son.

How did I know that today is World Adoption Day? Because I received the text below from my sweet, sweet, girl:


Love, love, love!

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Knitting and Reading



Obviously, I am a terrible blogger. However, I do love knitting and reading. So, occasionally I will be prompted to post here!


Right now, I've been knitting dish cloths for my niece's shower in December. While I can do a couple of patterns from memory, that gets boring. So the pattern books have been pulled out, and that way, knitting them doesn't get boring. I just finished reading the book, Humans of New York: Stories. This is a wonderful book - have you ever seen people on the streets of your city, and wondered about their stories? Then this book will fill that itch. It reminds you that behind every facade, there is a back story.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A Personal Testimony

On Easter Sunday, our minister asked me to share my story in regards to the Resurrection. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments I have experienced, as speaking in public is not my forté. However, I spoke without (verbally) stumbling, and have decided to share what I said publicly. Below is what I had written out prior to speaking - it contains most of what I shared:

I am the third and youngest child of (now retired) a college professor/historian and an elementary school teacher, born and raised here in IL. We went to church every Sunday (American Baptist), I went to youth group every Sunday night, and choir practice on Wednesdays. While I knew how people who believed should act from my parents’ example, faith didn’t really connect with me. I never really prayed over situations, thanked God for blessings or asked for help in serious situations. When I was baptized as a teen, I believed in God, but I went forward only because all of my friends had been baptized, and I didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t take communion on the first Sunday of the month in my row. I hadn’t really accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

My life was stereotypically normal of a middle-class, Midwestern family. I went to school, to church, had a part-time job. My teen years did have trials and struggles, but I just pushed my way through them and did as expected of me. Graduated high school, and went to college. (U of I, btw – Go Illini!)  All this time, people would have said I was a good Christian girl, but it was really just face value. I didn’t have a personal relationship with God. After college graduation, I started to break free a bit from what was expected – I went in to the Peace Corps in Guatemala.

Here I was, a prim and proper Midwestern girl in a totally unfamiliar setting, teaching people about family gardening in a language that was the second language for both myself and the people I was teaching. Bit by bit, I adjusted, became comfortable. By then, I never really thought about God or religion/faith. I never even prayed at all. But then, I was raped by a former boyfriend. For months I didn’t tell anyone, hiding in my house, cringing every time a bus would come through the village. I wondered why God had allowed this to happen to me. It was the first time in quite a while that I thought about God at all – and it was only because of this crisis. I still didn’t turn to Jesus for help, but instead I pushed through, only telling a few people (because I needed some medical tests), and behaved in some ways of which I am not proud, not realizing that what I was doing not only hurting myself but others. Ignoring God.

I met my husband in Guatemala months after this happened – Mark was attached to the embassy; we were married after my tour was up and I went to live in Africa, where he was stationed after Guatemala, for a year before returning stateside. While Mark knew what had happened to me, I still didn’t really talk about it or deal with it, pushing it away. We tried to get pregnant for a couple of years, even going through infertility treatments, but I never could get pregnant. I started to think about God again, but not in a “let me turn to You” manner, but thinking that He was punishing me for what I’d done in response to being raped. I started praying again, this time asking for forgiveness, pleading for a child in whatever manner possible. I still felt like I was being punished, but finally He was starting to make me see that not getting pregnant wasn’t a punishment, but a blessing. That our family was meant to grow through adoption – with my wonderful children, [the prince], & my sweet [princess].

Once we had the children, I wanted to raise them in a church that looked like our family – multicultural. Honestly, I didn’t give much thought to the faith aspect; I just wanted them to have a church home. We were Catholic at that point (my husband was raised Catholic), but I didn’t care about the denomination, just the makeup of the denomination – so I did parking lot tours before services to see the makeup of local churches.

Then came the moment which totally changed my life. We were invited by a neighborhood family to attend their church. For the first time in my life, I really studied the Bible because my friend took the time to go through the Bible with me, putting it on a personal level. I started actually praying, not just thinking that the hard times were punishments, but realizing God was just waiting for me to pay attention to Him. Finally, after 30 years, I had a personal relationship with Him. I was baptized as an adult – but this time, when I came up out of the water, I truly felt reborn and the heavy weight I’d carried for so many years was gone – the Resurrection became personal that day. From that day forward, I was able to accept the forgiveness Jesus had always had for me. I forgave myself for what had happened. I was able to let go of what had happened to me. Jesus became real.


If I didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, I don’t know if I would have survived Mark’s death four years ago. It was sudden – one minute, we were planning our 20th anniversary trip for two years out, and a week and a half later, he was gone. The man who had known every single thing there was to know about me, and loved me anyway, was gone. But God had put us in this church, and the Resurrection became more than personal – I started seeing it in others. People I hadn’t known before showed Christ’s love to me at a time when it would have been so easy for me to fall away. Like [a church couple] – they hadn’t really known me before, but they came to Mark’s service to support me. When I didn’t want to leave the house, I had to, because [the Princess] had youth group trips to attend, and [the Prince] would want to attend IW. When I couldn’t bring myself to go to a Bible class by myself when the children were in their classes, God stepped forward and had [Bible class teacher] ask me for help she really didn’t need in Cradle Roll. When I couldn’t bring myself to enter the worship service without Mark, God sent [my friend] to tell me she expected me to sit by her and [her husband]. When I wanted to sit at home and hide, He sent [my friend] to drag me out of the house to help her with a women’s ministry function. And many, many more in this congregation. 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Random Thursday

I haven't posted in a bit (so much for writing more!), so I thought I'd do a random listing:


1) The two songs guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes are "It Is Well with My Soul" and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The first due to it being sung at my husband's funeral, as well as being one of my grandpa's favorite hymns and sung at every family reunion. The second due to the third verse - it speaks to my soul every time.



2) I could eat some form of potato at every meal and be happy. Forget dessert, give me starchy potatoes!



3) Maxi dresses and long skirts always look so cute on the hanger, but look ridiculous on me with my short, stumpy legs. I've always wanted to wear them, but they never quite work out.



4) I'm definitely a cat person, but I still miss my sweet old boy. He was such a love.



5) As much as I love winter and snow, this endless winter is getting on my nerves. After five months of snow, I'm ready for it to go away.

6) Spending time with my sweet little five-year-old friend always brings a smile to my face. And when he says "Love you, Miss J.," without hesitation, my heart turns to mush.

Happy Thursday!