The Long, Bumpy, & Blessed Road Back

Hello all!  It has been a looooong time and a whole lot of life going on since I last posted, but, just like falling off a horse, I think it is time for me to get back on and blog again.  I can't believe that it is Easter week already and yet we may have a few flurries!  

So when we last visited I was already suffering with some blog fog (more like crazy hormone fog) and was slacking badly on blogging.   At that time my biggest concerns were angling to get the BDJ to move to this side of the country, moping around and dreading Mini heading to college next fall, and spending countless hours reading reviews in preparation for buying a new camera.  Boy, what a difference a few months makes.

The week before Thanksgiving I was making the most of some beautiful fall days, thanking God for those beautiful days and praying that I could get through them physically.  I took a few days off and spent some days raking leaves and working in the yard.  It was a slow go.  I continually had to take breaks and couldn't figure out why.  I slogged through the yard work and helped Wonder Hubby lay a new wood floor in my Coastal bedroom before returning to work. 

I headed back to work on the Monday before Thanksgiving excited that I had managed to clean up the yard, and precook quite a bit of our Thanksgiving dinner as well as finally narrowing my camera options to two.  The plan was cleaning on Wednesday in preparation for the family on Thursday, enjoying Thanksgiving with the family, getting most of the Christmas decor up and of course getting that camera on Friday!  That was the plan.  You know what they say about the best laid plans......

I have to admit here that I can be kind of dense ostrich-like when I choose to be and for a couple of months I had been making like an ostrich and playing the game of denying that there seemed to be something in my abdomen area that wasn't normal.  I also can be very mind over matter so I had decided to just do that....I would will it not to be there.  I made the dreaded doctors appointment for the Tuesday after Turkey day...cause you know I was not going to let this whatever it was mess with my plan.

That worked well until it didn't anymore and after a long Thanksgiving week with lots of pain and not being able to accomplish anything I had planned, a visit to my doctor was welcome.  I don't know what I was thinking other than the fact that since I could no longer wear pants they were probably going to have to do something to fix that, but I wasn't thinking that a mere 15 hours later I would be in an emergency surgery. 

Yep, I had time to go pack and feed the dog and that is about it. My doctor (who by the way I love to argue with) just didn't see my point of view on waiting a week so I could Christmas shop and decorate.  No...he whisked me right to the front of the line, he is polite like that don't ya know.   I had an emergency hysterectomy on December 4th,  they fixed up all my girl issues and found lots of goodies that I should not have been carrying around and took care of those too.  Thankfully it all happened so quickly there was no time to fret about any of it!  

BDJ was very helpful telling me what fun the Morphine pump would be....so I looked forward to that until it was determined that Morphine makes me very, very sick!  I was to be in the hospital for 2 days afterword but after a long and painful night I decided I could be miserable at home and this time my doctor let me win and sent me home after 23 hrs.

The next couple of weeks I had to do something I don't do well, let others do for me.  Thank goodness for my family because they took care of everything.  Because Wonder Hubby's schedule had him leaving for work in wee hours of the morning, Mini would set her alarm to get up and get my meds and anything else I needed.  She was a full time caregiver when she wasn't at school or work.  BDJ came home for Christmas several days early to help out and Spare Daughter was good with meds and monitoring me since she is in her final semester of nursing school.  I had lots of help and received some very pretty flowers to enjoy when I wasn't too drugged!

Mini surprised me a couple days after my surgery by managing to decorate 3 trees and put up all the Christmas decorations while I was in a drug induced slumber.  She will never know what that meant to me.

We did virtually all our Christmas shopping online.  Wonder Hubby and I did stop for a wee bit of shopping after a doctors visit the week of Christmas. That little outing took care of my feeling that I was missing out on that "holiday shopping experience" and completely wore me out!

The few days before Christmas we managed to finish up the family tree....wrapping finished up about 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve.  I never quit trying to act like I was completely healed, in fact, I worked on the gifts I had planned for friends two days after surgery.  They were a little project I had seen on Pinterest and I passed them out along with a note that explained "results may vary based on the amount of narcotics in my system at the time of production!"  I think they turned out great...below are some in progress shots, I guess I was a little too loopy to shoot the finished product. Just picture sets of 4 tied with pretty ribbon and made with love! lol  

The kids did a lot of cooking and I even felt up to a little candy making...although I did rely on a stool in the kitchen! 

 Best of all I saw a lot of this......

 The kids decided to host Christmas as would be normal and everyone pitched in with food.  I think I will have them handle this every year from here on out since everybody brought way more food than it normal!  You literally couldn't even sample everything there was so much.

Despite all the craziness, Christmas was wonderful.  After getting the no cancer diagnosis and getting through the surgery I was feeling more thankful than ever to celebrate Christmas with my family.   It was my kind of Christmas too....it took 14 hours start to finish to open all the gifts! Yes!   Indulge me a little since I haven't yet shared any Christmas photos!

I wish there was music I could put here that would create the set up for the drama that continued to unfold in our lives because the next 3 1/2 months deserve dramatic music,  but I will just have to explain it all.

By the New Year I was feeling much better and The Nana, Mini, my MIL and I all headed out for a day of shopping.  It was a wonderful day....I was so glad to get dressed and out of the house.  By that weekend I was beginning to think this post surgical life might just be awesome...then the rug was pulled out from under us.  Wonder Hubby lost his job.

The man has had 3 jobs in the 30 years I have known him, so this really threw us for a loop!  The stages of this adventure are tons of fun!  It is strange, this job was a job he took because at the time the hours worked to allow him to be able to attend our son's college football games.  It was never intended that he be there long term and we had talked A LOT in the past year about it being time to make the change but when it isn't your choice it is a shock.  

So the month of January was spent looking for a new job and starting a new job. It was also the first time the signs of a very sudden menopause became very apparent as well as a month,  January also brought the death of  a sweet uncle to cancer.  Very sudden as he found out only a week and a half before he passed away.  January was also the month Mini's car began to have a sick transmission.   All of these events delayed my healing and I ended up being out of work five weeks.

I returned to work mid-January to a very busy travel booking season.   February was month one of the new job and a very different schedule and was a challenge to the whole family.  It was also so cold and gloomy the whole month it was hard to stay positive.  The fact that Mini's car with in and out of the shop 4 times and we were constantly arranging rides was frustrating as well.  

There were several moderately unbelievable events here and there in January and February including a close call on my convention oven, a tire issue on my car that required 2 new tires about 10,000 miles early, a leaking toilet line that should have been fixed in a half an hour but was complicated and lasted 3 days.  How about an ice storm that did some tree damage, the refrigerator trying to die again, Mini doing an about face on her college decision and the biggie....Wonder Hubby having a wreck in his parents car!

Yes March too was heavy on drama.  Thankfully from the ashes some good has come.  I was offered the opportunity to move back into my previous job as an travel consultant (oh yes....I am very, very excited about that one) and Mini chose her college.  With the new job has come lots and lots of studying and lots of brainstorming but I truly do love travel.

Wonder Hubby has managed to find a car, the in-laws car is almost out of the shop and thankfully the sun has begun to appear on a fairly regular basis again! lol  I am beginning to feel like a better version of me with a few meno ups and downs but not nearly the hormone and pain filled existence I had before.  

Wow.....I know there is more but truthfully I think I blocked quite a bit of it all!  We seem to be coming out of the fog and are on the road to better times.  We have learned and grown tremendously during this time and that is what we are focusing on. 

Whew, I am so glad to have this post done so that I can move on to posting about some fun stuff!

Thanks for stopping by and reading about our 4 1/2 month adventure in our little corner of the South! 

Blessings

Although I spend way more time on Facebook than I should, I somehow missed the memo on Thankful November.  I finally put it together this morning after days of seeing posts about being thankful.  I just thought people suddenly had woken up and realized how truly blessed there were! Silly me.

 

Since I didn't get on that bandwagon, I decided to write a quick post that gives an overview of my little corner of the world and all the blessings we have and have experienced to be thankful for.

 

Last month Mini was on fall break and Wonder Hubby and I took vacation time.  Other than our family vacation in the summer we are rarely ever all off at the same time.  We planned a few activities, antiquing, visiting colleges and seeing a movie (yes, that is a big deal around here, Wonder Hubby and I just never seem to get to the movies).  It was a glorious 9 days.  I truly mean that, I told both Wonder Hubby and Mini I don't know when I have enjoyed our time as much. 

 

Although Mini has been accepted to several different colleges (more blessings) she had not yet heard from the college she was most interested in.

 

These are pictures of the first couple of acceptances (then she lost interest in me taking pictures!).

First Acceptance!

 

Part of vacation week we planned a visit to her college of choice. It turned out to be a beautiful day here in Tennessee for a 3 1/2 hour drive there and the tour.  I didn't photo journal the visit, I just tried to actually live in the moment.  After the tour we met with her recruiter and she was told of her acceptance.....and let me take pictures. 

 

I think she may have been a bit overdramatic for pictures, but she was very happy!

 

We also took a day and drove into Kentucky to do a little antiquing.  We all enjoy digging through junk for treasure. 

 

 This trip Mini was on the hunt for a lamp.  She ended up finding one that she fell in love with and snapped it right up.  Turns out she was making her first purchase for her college dorm room (girl, please stop hurrying to get there you are killing me!).  I didn't realize what a big deal this was with her until I read her blog (which btw it a Christian based blog that features some of the content of her newspaper column and is AWESOME).  It was such a fun day.

 

We took in the Sandra Bullock movie Galaxy, which I loved cause I love some space stuff.  Toured another college and then ended up with a last minute home improvement project.  We decided to rip out the carpet in Mini's room and put down hardwoods.  It was a lot of work but she loves her floors and I am thrilled to have one less room with carpet (only 2 left to go!).

 

It was a great, relaxed and totally chilled week and I was so grateful for that.  Since then, well I am thankful we managed to get a tree that was leaning toward the house dangerously taken down, just before severe storms.  I am grateful to have had a really good sales month at Lottie and Molly not to mention that I have so enjoyed the pieces I have been working on as of late. 

Wonder Hubby was off last Sunday and we were able to attend church together which is huge because he is never off on Sunday!

 

How blessed are we that we have a nice home, a reasonably healthy family, cars with no major problems to drive to jobs we are blessed to have?  I would say very, very blessed and for all these things I am very, very thankful. 

 

Today, I am blessed with beautiful sunny skies and sweet texts from my children to start my day!  I hope you all are enjoying your blessings this minute, this day, this month and always.

Guest Post - Words of Hope

I am so behind on posting and that includes sharing Mini's latest columns.  I think I am currently 2 or 3 behind...and I feel horrible.  She pours so much into these columns with the hope that they reach people and change hearts and I am such a slacker and haven't done what I could by posting.  I am a bad Mama right now :(

 

Hopefully I will be caught up on these within a couple of weeks. Below is one of Hope's most recent articles.

 

 

                Do you ever just pray and pray about something and ask for God’s guidance, but you feel like you never receive it? I think that this is probably something that happens frequently in the average Christian’s life. In most (not necessarily all) cases, the root of the problem can be traced back to the lack of growth within you.

          When you first become a believer or undergo this revival in your spiritual life, you are SO passionate and ready to receive whatever God gives you. You pour your time into the word and prayer and whatever could satisfy this hunger inside of you to become as close to God as you possibly can. But then what happens? Life happens. Everyone is stretching you into a different direction and demanding your time and your mind and your energy and you just become exhausted and preoccupied. Your prayers become shorter with less emotion, your bible reading turns into skimming or you just stop reading altogether. And slowly but surely, you lose that passion you had. I don’t know about you, but when I reach this point, God seems to get pretty quiet. Why is that?

          Let’s take a look into an Old Testament book that I am reading for the very first time: Ezekiel. When this book starts out, God is MAD at Israel. He has given them years and years and years of signs and warnings to turn from their idols, but they refuse. Their hearts are far from God. So God tells Ezekiel that he is to go to Israel and tell them all about what is going to happen to them. In Ezekiel 2, God hands Ezekiel a scroll filled with “words of lament and mourning and woe” that he is to deliver to the people. But God starts to tell him some pretty strange stuff.

Ezekiel 3:1-3 “And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.”  So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.”

          That’s a pretty strange request if you ask me. History shows that these scrolls were normally made out of insanely thick paper or even hard leather. Just imagine digesting an entire scroll made out of leather… God was definitely trying to get some underlying point across. Maybe not just to Ezekiel (I’ll probably be able to answer that when I actually finish the book), but maybe a lesson in itself. If you notice, Ezekiel didn’t say something along the lines of “it was really bitter and hard to swallow, but I do as God commands and it was worth it”. No, he says that it tasted sweet. It was delightful and it filled his stomach to the point of no more hunger. I believe that God is telling us that we must absolutely consume his word in order to grow.

          If you look in other parts of this book, God is constantly telling Ezekiel to stand up and basically prepare to be used. A device called repetition is used here, and for any other English geeks like me, you know that if something is being repeated, it is of major importance. As used here, the underlying message is that in order for God to use you or guide you or even seriously dwell in your heart, you MUST eat the word of God.

          So the moral of the story is this: If you want a constant revival, something that you will never ever lose, start consuming the word of God. Get all that you can get, read all that you can read. Take notes, do bible studies. Be in the word every single day. It may be tough at first (like leather) to take that time out of every day to read, but I can promise you that it will be sweet as honey. God’s word will fill you up and you will experience that revival we all love every single day. God bless.

         

  

Back to School Breakdown?

Wow....hard to believe it is that time again but Mini started back to school August 1st.  We are on year round school which has the advantage of multiple breaks but the disadvantage of bringing summer to a screeching halt August 1st.  Below are pictures taken her first day of school back in 2001.

 

 

This year going back to school brought some very unique challenges for Wonder Hubby and I (starting with the fact that to us she still looks like the pictures above).  Sometimes we experience the same thing Steve Martin did in the scene from Father of the Bride when his daughter announced she is getting married and he sees a seven year old! 

Mini started her senior year in high school.  I know it is cliche' but where did the time go?  Her past 11 years of school have flown!  I feel like we learned how quickly time goes by with BDJ and were really soaking in every minute with Mini but it still wasn't enough.

On Sunday before school started the family and Mini's boyfriend got together and surprised her with a "Good Luck Senior Year" party.  She was surprised for sure. She expressed how much she appreciated the party and the unwavering support she has from her family.

Completely confused as to why all the cars are in the drive.



Thankfully it was a pleasant surprise!

 Below are pictures of Mini's last first day of school. Someone appropriately pointed out she is still rocking the capris, sandels and backpack!

I am not sure whether the breakdown I have had about her going back to school has to do with her growing up, my hormones, facing an empty nest or fighting the feeling that this is the end.  I have really been up and down since school started back. 

I am trying to keep in mind that my feelings toward graduating high school and heading off to college may be skewed due to BDJ.  He graduated college and moved across the country only days later.  It shouldn't be forever but right now the two years he has been gone feel like forever.  So, I am transferring a unjustified fear that senior year is just step one in being far, far away to Mini and I know it isn't fair so I am working hard to tamp that feeling down.

The year has gone well for Mini so far she is so, so busy.  She is trying to balance being President of the student body, and clubs with honors classes, church activities and her job while being inundated with college options and the dizzying process of scholarships.


Time feels like it has kicked into warp speed.  I think I have had a total of 3 hours with her in a week!  Bless her heart she is so aware of this and makes a huge effort to make time for us.  We are so very, very blessed with such a sweet, beautiful and successful daughter but there are times when you wish for a underachiever!

An underachiever might not finish high school and would live with you forever!  Okay maybe they would finish high school but not attend college far away.  Maybe they would stick close to home, get married and have babies quickly therefore giving us new grandbabies to distract us from our empty nest.    I'm joking people.  As completely unabashedly selfish appealing as that all sounds at times, I want to help my children take advantage of the opportunities they are presented and spend their lives doing the things they love. Which means, like it or not, not just letting them go but helping them to fly. 

I wish I had understood this more when BDJ first left for college (first kid = guinea pig) but with time comes wisdom.  Not that I am not hanging onto Mini with both hands! lol 

So once again....taking deep breaths and accepting change.

Guest Post - Words of Hope

Mini has been so busy this summer!  She is working a job, very involved in all her church activities and is preparing to start her senior year of high school but she still has time to churn out one amazing/moving article after another. We are incredibly blessed with this child.  In the latest issue there was this note from the editor,

 

"I would like to take a moment of your time to show a little of my appreciation for Hope Duke.  I have been so blessed by her writing talent and the content she chooses for each issue.  This young lady has a desire to teach and to be taught.  You can feel it in each of her articles and especially this one.  She will be a senior in High School this coming year and looks forward to attending college.  I would like to thank everyone for the compliments you continuously give about Hope's column.  Again, she is a very talented writer and has encouraged so many people young and old.  This young lady is definitely an important part of "The Good Stuff." - JM - Editor

Without further ado....here is her latest article.

Words of Hope

A few weeks ago, God decided to answer a constant prayer I have had on my heart for as long as I’ve been a Christian. While serving on a mission sight in Jackson, Mississippi, my creator revealed to me my calling in life. From my re-birth as a daughter of Christ to that very week, I had constantly been praying that God simply show me his will for my life. Where was I going to go to college? What profession would I have? Where would I go on mission trips, something very dear to my heart? How is the course of my life going to be significant to God’s over-all plan? All these questions have weighed on me and I’m relieved to finally be able to say I think I have it figured out.

My job on sight was to play with children ranging from ages 3 to 10 and to tell them bible stories without boring them to tears. I was disappointed when I arrived because I noticed that poverty was not a factor for these children and most of them attended church. Other people from my church were at sights located in the “ghetto”, where kids were elated to hear the good news of Christ for the very first time. My children, however, knew every answer to Cain and Able, Moses and the burning bush, when Jesus fed the 5,000, and Saul’s transformation to Paul, all at a young age. I immediately began to question why God even wanted us here. These kids already had Jesus, right? As the week went by, God began to answer my questions. From talking with the kids, I learned of divorce and heart break in their lives at a very young age. I noticed some kids’ shyness and lack of love they were receiving at home. I quickly realized that I wasn’t there to just tell people about Jesus, I was there to show these sweet children who Jesus really was.

You see, in that week, God showed me that I absolutely adore children and my aspirations of being a teacher should be carried out. But He also showed me that in order to be a follower of Jesus, my heart must break for others and I must be moved to be a real servant. He showed me that it doesn’t matter if I’m in Africa, Russia, Canada, or the US, need is present. Though people may disguise it, their hearts are aching for a love that they can’t yet comprehend. My calling in life is to serve others and, in essence, serve my savior.

After this experience God has given me, I can already see him exercising my servant heart. I see him telling me to do this or that, even small things, and I see in people’s faces how it lights up their day. This is the true living like Christ. People will never be open to receive love from our savior if they aren’t open to the love his children are providing. And if his children aren’t providing much love, others are at a loss. I challenge you to start asking God to guide you in servitude and to grow your heart to break for others. God bless.

John 13:12-15 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Dinner, Devastation and Guest Post - Words of Hope - God is Faithful

Last Monday was a beautiful Spring day here in Tennessee.  Mini just finished her junior year of high school and she and I bummed around the house all day.  While  cleaning,  I unloaded the dishwasher and set a stack of Fiesta plates on the counter next to the flowers my spare daughter Bri gave me for Mother's Day and saw how beautifully they matched.  Ah ha....beautiful day, beautiful flowers and matching plates = dinner on the deck! 

Nothing fancy or really blog worthy but I was excited to shift dinner outdoors and I love the colors. We prepared Chicken Pasta Florentine (Mini's new favorite dish) and a nice salad (which Mini made a homemade Italian dressing for) and were looking forward to a relaxing dinner.

We set out the dishes, gather the napkins and rings and found a cloth that was just perfect.  I prepped the salad and the pasta ingredients early around 2:30. 

I was just finishing up the prep work when I decided to flip on the tv and catch a bit of Dr. Phil.  I had checked in on the latest on the Jodi Arias trial earlier in the day so when I flipped on the tv it was already on HLN. I expected to see trial coverage but instead saw tornado video.  I assumed they were showing footage from last Sunday's Oklahoma tornado and flipped the channel. 

Fast forward 45 minutes, Wonder Hubby, Mini and I were catching up on our day and flipped on the tv to see the tornado footage again, only this time we realized what we were watching was live.  Live as the first helicopter flew over the devastation of a tornado that has just disappated after literally wiping the lives of many completely away. 

For a good hour we sat shocked and mesmerized by the overwhelming devastation and praying feveriously for all the people in this area.  How could this happen?  Why did this happen?  How could schools in this area not have storm shelters?  What will the people that lost their homes, cars and possibly their employment do? How will the families of lost children deal? 

Suddenly, a dinner on the deck with matching flowers and plates seemed so indulgent. I could only think how I was heartbroken for those that were in harms way and give thanks that we were given the opportunity to gather together around the table together. 

 

The Oklahoma tornados (including those just yesterday since it is now 5/31/13) have weighed heavily on me and I have been out of sorts with Mini gone to Girls State.

 

I knew Mini was terribly troubled about the tornados as well, but she was busy all last week packing and preparing to leave.  It wasn't until today when I picked up the local paper and read her most recent column that I realized she was just as deeply affected.  Below is her latest article, I think she does a wonderful job of putting it all in perspective. 

 

Words of Hope - God's Faithfulness

 

As many of you know, an F5 tornado recently ripped through Oklahoma, killing a few and completely devastating many. If you were anything like my family, you were glued to the television, scanning the debris left in the path of the tornado in complete disbelief. Shortly after the disaster hit, my mother quickly logged onto Facebook to see what everyone else was saying about this horrific natural phenomenon and she came across a picture of one of the victims who had literally lost everything. In the caption of the picture he was quoted saying “It’s not my stuff, it’s God’s. It’s His decision what He wants to do with it”. As she read off that quote to me, I let it sink in.

Yes, this is a powerful quote at face value, but take a minute to really think about it. This is coming from a man who literally lost everything he had mere hours before he was quoted saying this. I took a minute right then and thought about how I would respond to being in the same situation. No hot shower to go to or warm bed to crawl into anymore. My entire clothing collection (which is a BIG collection) would be completely gone. No shoes or electronics or my phone. What if my dog hadn’t been as fortunate as us too? What if all I had was the clothes on my back and my family? Where would I be spiritually at that moment? I think everyone’s natural reaction at a time like that would to be angry with God. I believe we all would begin to ask a lot of whys. But what did this man do? He kept his faith that God will provide. He had provided the stuff this man had lost in the first place. And our God is not a God who would take away and not give back. This man obviously has faith that God’s love can reach even through this terrible situation, and that’s inspiring.

It very much reminds me of the story of Job. If you can recall, God and Satan had a conversation at the beginning of Job. God boasted about Job’s faithfulness but Satan asked if he was so faithful just because he hadn’t been put through any hard situations. God considered this and agreed He would prove to Satan that Job was faithful because of his love for God, so He allowed Job to be put through some pretty rough stuff. But the whole time, Job kept his faithfulness. He didn’t listen to what his friends were telling him about God or what Satan told him about God. He kept what HE knew about God in mind and knew that it was all going to turn out alright. And did it? Of course it did. In the end, Job was blessed more than ever. Why? Because our God is faithful.

It is stories like these that I want to keep in mind when life knocks me down. A large amount of faith comes with the title of Christianity. It is faith that reminds people that God loves them and His plans are bigger than their circumstance. It is faith that allows a person to stare disaster in the face and not fear. It is faith that gets people out of the deepest of holes and helps heal the largest of wounds. Why? Because faith allows you to believe that you can forever rely on God because he will always pull through.

 Lamentations 3:22-23 “Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Guest Post - Words of Hope

Another week another newspaper column for Mini.   Yesterday I didn't get a chance to go out and pick up the latest newspaper so I have just read this myself!  Hope you enjoy, take a little something away from the article and enjoy a blessed weekend!

 

As I’ve mentioned before, I am challenging myself to read through the whole bible in one year. Currently I am almost done with 2 Chronicles, so I’d say I’m making pretty good progress. If you’ve read around this area of the bible, you’ll notice that Israel has got a TON of kings. I mean, most of the stories from 1 Kings to where I am right now (and who knows, it may go beyond that! I’ll see soon!) are all about how Israel got this really awesome king who either had his heart set on God or was as far from God as one could get. When you read, you notice that there are probably 4 good, solid kings who are after God with all of their hearts and do as God moves them to do. The others either are completely opposed to the idea of Israel’s God or kind of try to get into Him but don’t feel like giving their whole heart away. A noticeable trend seen is “so-and-so had his heart right with God but did not remove the high places and Asherah poles and this was detestable in the eyes of the Lord” or something like that. The first couple of times I read that I thought nothing of it. But when all of these books of the bible CONSTANTLY repeat this and every single time the king who keeps these “high places and Asherah poles” fails at what he’s doing because his heart isn’t right with God according to the bible, I noticed a great lesson to be learned.

For those of you who maybe haven’t gotten into that part of the bible or need some brushing up, the “high places and Asherah poles” are these really strange locations to worship other gods. When I noticed this trend, I started thinking about why most of these kings didn’t get around to taking these places down. I mean, if it was that important to God and could all together improve the quality of their lives, wouldn’t you think that the removal of these places would be of the upmost importance?

The reason that these kings didn’t get rid of the high places is in the name itself. High places…. They weren’t necessarily the easiest things to get to. Out of sight, out of mind, right? They thought it would be too much of a hassle to tend to these worship centers so they just never got around to it. Now does that remind you of anyone? To me, we are these kings.

The way I see it, our “high places” are parts of our lives that don’t necessarily glorify God. They might not be particularly bad, but we aren’t giving God the control. We take certain aspects of our lives that we just don’t see as important or maybe that we don’t think we can give up and we hide them in the highest places in our hearts but we expect God to make something of us. The truth is, God will never be able to make anything extraordinary out of our lives until we give him those high places. We will never be the few great kings mentioned who triumph over all by God’s hand until we realize that God deserves EVERY part of us. It’s time to get rid of the high places, friends.  

Words of Hope - Guest Post by Mini

Hope's latest newspaper article has now been published so I wanted to share with my readers.   The article is a bit old so to speak since we are almost two weeks past Easter now, but still important.  Hope you enjoy the article and find something that will provide you food for thought.

 

Words of Hope

This past Sunday was a time when all came together to celebrate Easter, the holiday that commemorates Jesus’ death and resurrection. Everyone tends to focus on the death of Jesus and all that it means, but skims over the resurrection. I often times think about Jesus’ death and the cup of God’s wrath that he drank for the rest of us. I could talk about the death of Christ in every article I ever write and it still wouldn’t be enough! The other day I was thinking about this while getting ready for bed. However, my mind went to when Jesus rose from the dead and I started thinking about what that meant. God took that moment to speak to me and really make me realize what that event symbolized.

          It started by me thinking about Satan. Yes, most people think of Satan as a big red devil with horns and a tail. Most people could see this Satan from a mile away, if not further. This is the image that we are taught to fear from the time we were children until death. But is that who Satan really is? No. Satan is a business man. He is going to make any sin look and sound good so that we separate ourselves from God even more. His ultimate goal is not to win our souls over to Him, but to keep them away from God, which essentially does give them to him. How do you think Satan felt on the day of Christ’s death? He probably felt pretty dang good! He won, God lost, we all go to hell. I bet he threw an absolute shin-dig when Jesus died. It probably lasted about three days, and then his jaw dropped.

          Three days after Satan thought he had won, Jesus rose from the grave. What does that mean? God wins! We’re His! His love has broken the powers of hell and there is NOTHING Satan can do anymore that can separate us from God! Isn’t that awesome? It is, unless your name is Lucifer. That just made his game a lot more difficult. It wasn’t about trying to get people to break rules anymore, it was about convincing them to hide their hearts from God. The resurrection of Christ was the nail to Satan’s coffin. There is NO way he can recover. It is final that one day he will be no more and we will FOREVER be with God and live in love and happiness. Think about the celebration in heaven!

          What this ultimately means for us is that nothing in earth or in hell could ever separate us from God. Romans 8:37-39 says it plain as day!  Satan’s hand will never touch you because God has got you covered. By not accepting Jesus’ death and living in a manner that reflects His life is the only thing that condemns you. You yourself are the only thing that stands in the way of your salvation. Yes, Satan does come in his suit and tie and try and sell you some good looking sin at a discount price, but ultimately it is your decision if you want to take that sin and whoop it up on Earth or have an eternal life with the God who loved you so much that He would give his son the wrath of the world. The resurrection of Christ symbolizes our victory and our life simply because Satan lost. How awesome. I leave with words of a worship song, for you to rejoice with.

“Oh death, where is your sting? Oh hell, where is your victory? Oh Church, come stand in the light. Our God is not dead, He’s alive! He’s alive!”

Precious Memories and Peeps Tables

Whew.....Easter snuck up on me this year!  Although I have been playing with my mantel and making some decorative eggs, I had not put out any Easter decor until yesterday!  So with the day fast approaching I put together a couple of tables.  Make sure to read all the way through the post for the story on Table 2, it is special to me.

 

Table 1 is in our eat in area of the kitchen and I am calling it "Gathering of Peeps" because this is where we gather to eat daily.  Since I wasn't adding anything new this table features the "Cherry Blossom Branches" I blogged about here and an old Easter bucket of Mini's as a centerpiece.

Has there ever been a better time to use colorful Fiesta plates?  I think not!  They are perfect with the brightly colored Easter eggs. 

We have been dragging the Easter bucket with the bunny and peep around for years while dying and hunting eggs.

The bright colors of these Fiesta glasses blend well with the fun colors of this table.  Love these....and they are special to us since they were a gift from our spare daughter Christmas before last.

 

Last year I made these adorable peep napkin rings and I love them!  They are just so darn cute...you can't help smiling when you take a seat and see this face.

 

 

Simple but serviceable and springy!

 

 

Now on to table 2.   This table was an excuse to drag out some pretty special dishes.  I recently inherited more of my grandmothers dishes.  These particular dishes sat in a corner china hutch in her kitchen my whole life.  On extra special occasions she would use these on the adult table....the kiddos could only view them from afar while we ate off mismatched dishes. 

 

This is a photo (circa 1975 or so) taken from behind the little table (that is what my grandmother called it) to the adult table. 

 

As you can see from the picture,  when sitting at the little table you can see those dishes in the hutch you can barely see in the left corner.  Below is a shot from the living room where you can better see the hutch (my grandmother is the lady nearest the hutch on the right of the pic) and you can see the dishes on the table.  This was my great grandmother's (forefront right) birthday so it was special enough for the dishes!

 

Fast forward many years and sadly both my grandmother and great grandmother have passed on.  I was fortunate to receive "the dishes" that I had looked at for so long. 

 

Before I show you the table, I wanted to share a little story.  I have NEVER been about brands.  If I like something I buy it.  Old, new, priceless or worthless it matters not if I like it.  Many times I will be using something and someone visiting will pick it up and be astounded when it is an expensive piece and I have no idea! 

Just a couple of years ago Wonder Hubby gave me several place settings of Fiestaware dishes for Christmas.  We/he became obsessed with collecting after that and now we have both old and new and continue to add to our collection.  He purchased it because he said it made him happy and thought I would like it.  He was right, I did like it and it does make me happy.

 

  We did a bit of research on Fiestaware and discovered Homer Laughlin Company.  I had no idea there were so many HLC patterns out there.  When my father delivered the dishes to me I flipped one over to see what they were.  They were HLC!  Wow, I knew I love HLC Fiestaware but I would have never dreamed I had been longingly staring at HLC china for years! 

The line of dishes is Skytone and had several patterns.  It appears that my grandmother had dishes for 12 in 1 pattern and additional serving pieces in the other patterns.  What I had loved about these dishes was the color.  It is such a pretty blue.  After a bit of research I discovered the color is not a color at all, it is the color of the clay.  After the piece is fired it is simply glazed. 

 

Any who....since I received these I have been stalking antique stores looking for more...so far no luck, but I am not giving up!  Here is a close up shot of one of the serving bowls.

This is my Easter table featuring my grandmother's special dishes. 

Last summer when car shopping for Mini in Lynchburg, I squeezed in a bit of antiquing and scored the tablecloth and gingham napkins.  I am amazed that it looks like it was made for these dishes! 

If you visit me on the blog you have seen these milk glass dishes often.  I can't help it I just love them.   They are always in use here for one thing or another and this time they are hard at work showcasing my dimensional eggs.

 

I used my blue Fostoria glasses from way back when Wonder Hubby and I were married and the Green Chantilly glasses he gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

 

I have been putting the Easter tree on our table since the kids were little...no matter what the color or decor it goes on without fail!

I added the little waving bunny (a recent GW score) to this Spring basket.  I think he likes it there, I certainly do.

The basket weave napkin rings were a GW steal for .99 and so versatile.

 

 

Dish detail.

 

 

I can't not show you some of the little houses and bunnies my mother has given the kids over the years.  They also always make it to the Easter table.  So sweet.

 

 

This sweet Easter tea set was a gift from my dad several years ago.  I love the soft coloring,

 

and this sweet little bunny atop the tea pot.

 

This is my Easter table, a table filled with wonderful, precious memories and mementos from special people in my life. 

 

Thank you for hopping along with me.  May you all enjoy a blessed Easter.