Gifts 136-148

136~ a safe trip to Lookout Mountain, Georgia and back (God provided for all that we needed when I had only $15 in my pocket for the trip up! Thankfully payday came before the trip back home.)

137~ We had such a fun time camping ...the first two days, that is. Rain came the second night and next morning. But most of it was a blast, when I managed to stop gritting my teeth and just enjoy! After hiking all day, I have never tasted anything as good as those hobo packets we made!


138~ Nature walk treasure hunt on a cool fall day



138~Rachel was accepted to Covenant College! Although we have decided after visiting that she will need to wait on the Lord to provide the right opportunities for her and she will not be going to CC right away, we are so excited and proud of her that she worked hard on improving her SAT & ACT scores to the point that they met CC's requirements. This is an accomplishment!

139~ Sound of geese flying overhead as they head south

140~ the scent of cinnamon in the kitchen from the cinnamon broom I smelled in Publix and just couldn't walk past!

141~ A board game from our food co-op that is about Exodus, which we are reading about right now. It makes me so happy that God cares about those details of our life!

142~fun making little "acorns" with Abbie & Irene out of Hershey kisses and Nutter Butter minis. So much fun for them!

143~ this one is old but deserves a belated mention...friends (you know who you are!) who so kindly let me into their homes for a hot shower when I had no hot water!

144~ In the same vein, still more friends (you also know who you are!)who offered their homes for food, showers laundry and you-name-it when our plumbing problem left us temporarily without water...thank you does not say enough.

145~my sister who is so good to me and helped me out of a tight spot...thank you!

146~ This crisp, cool (even cold!) fall weather feels so good!!!!!

147~ 50 cent corndogs at Sonic equals one CHEAP DINNER (it's the little things!)

148~ The Lord answering prayers for a job for Michael (Jr.)...he got the job with CSX. He is very excited, even about the location (Buffalo, NY). As a central N.Y. native, I am not sure he understands what he is in for in Buffalo, but I am so happy for him and know it will be an adventure. Thank you, God, for answering prayers and providing all that we need!

God Taught Me to Spell...

Courtesy of a blog called "Old Guys" & Charles Spurgeon :

"I have known some that, at first conversion, have not been very clear in the gospel, who have been made evangelical by their discoveries of their own need of mercy. They could not spell the word ‘grace.’ They began with a G, but they very soon went on with an F, till it spelt very like ‘freewill’ before they had done with it.

But after they have learned their weakness, after they have fallen into serious fault, and God has restored them, or after they have passed through deep depression of mind, they have sung a new song. In the school of repentance they have learned to spell. They began to write the word ‘free,’ but they went on from free, not to ‘will’ but to ‘grace.’ And there it stood in capitals, ‘FREE GRACE’. . . . They became clearer in their divinity, and truer in their faith than ever they were before."

~Charles Spurgeon~

Gifts 129-135

129~ Abigail Hope turns six (that's a whole 'nuther post!)

130~ coming to the Lord's table for a meal that lasts

131~ the learning of new things about my children all the time...even the hard things, so that I can pray for them and know how to help and guide them.

132~ a drive through a beautiful forest as we went to an afternoon class with a very gifted teacher

133~ bumping into a friend unexpectedly and getting a hug

134~ water, even if it's cold. electricity. indoor plumbing. modern medicine. television, computers, phones, ovens. Lord help me use these things as blessings, but not make them into my idols.

135~ the smell of coffee brewing in the morning. Most friends & family know I was a bit of a coffee addict. What you may not know is that I have not been able to drink it since my pregnancy. As always when I am pregnant, my stomach turned at the idea of coffee when I was pregnant. Although my baby is no longer with me, what has not gone away is the aversion to coffee. I have tried to like it again, so that I might feel a little more like the "regular me". I can't. I still make it sometimes in the morning, hoping that I will want it, and even though I never end up drinking it, I like that smell...it is the familiar and the comforting. It breaks me down to think of the ways we are changed by the hurts of this life...Lord, I give my brokenness back to You...please use it for Your glory.