Wagons, Pumpkins, Shoes, Oh my!

I got to go to visit Hannah (oh yeah, Patrick and Jana, too!) last week. I decided a few weeks ago that Christmas was entirely too long before I was going to see her again. Patrick also called and asked if there was any way I could come to visit. How cool! I was disappointed that David couldn't go, but he was very encouraging for me to go. It was a really special time. I really felt a part of Hannah's life. We did lots of things. We went to the Farmer in the Dell pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins, played in the corn and on the hay. We didn't take the hayride but Hannah, Patrick and Jana sat on the tractor (see Patrick and Jana's blog for more pictures).

I loved to give Jana some time to do things that she doesn't get to do as well with Hannah, like shopping and going to the library. Jana dropped Hannah and I off at Target and we wondered through the store for awhile. I had hoped to find a wagon for Hannah. After looking for a very long time and feeling very disappointed I finally found it! I also got Hannah a few books and 2, yes 2, pairs of shoes! David had bought Hannah a pair of sparkly, red Dorothy shoes for me to take to her.

Hannah woke up early from her nap so she and I started to put the wagon together. Hannah loved her wagon!

Unfortunately, I got about half way through and figured out I had made a mistake putting one of the wheels together. I was really frustrated. Patrick and Jana were on a lunch date and I wanted to have it all put together when they got home. Oh well...

As you can see, Daddy saved the day! It didn't take long to undo my mistake and finish up. We loaded up the wagon and headed off to the pumpkin patch!

I had a lot of fun giving Hannah several meals. She is doing so well learning to use a spoon. Jana is a wonderful mother! She takes a lot of time preparing for Hannah healthy foods from real foods, nothing packaged or jarred.

Hannah and I played and read books a lot! She is so smart!

Are you sure you know what you are doing, Nana?

Hannah and I doing self portraits!

Sparkly, red Dorothy shoes.
More new shoes! The timing was great! Hannah had just grown out of her shoes and really only had about one pair that fit. Nana to the rescue! I got to get her a brown pair and a black pair. So fun and so cute! She loves shoes, by the way!

I had a wonderful time. I am blessed. What a privilege to be a part of this child's life!

Better Than I Deserve

I recently went with several women from my church to our annual women's retreat in Pennsylvania. I had a wonderful time. I really felt the Lord's word for me for the weekend was LAUGH. Without knowing this, my special friend and roommate, gave me a gift of a charm with the word LAUGH on it. If that wasn't a confirmation than I don't know what is! The weekend was filled with lots of LOL moments! I also had a another Word(s) from the weekend that has really resonated with me. Nothing fancy but very profound. Whenever anyone asks "How are you?" I usually say fine or ok without much thought and sometimes without much truth. What I heard this weekend was "better than I deserve". A friend was quoting Dave Ramsey when she mentioned this but I was hearing the voice of God whisper in my heart. This little phrase has not left my mind and has really helped keep me focused on the right things namely God's great love for me and His great grace! My faith has been stronger since retreat. A Great God and special friends are a perfect recipe for peace.

I keep this poem by Beth Moore above my desk at work to help remind me of who I am called to be. Since retreat, I have read this with new eyes and have found great freedom. Enjoy!

Believing God
The Commission to Faith

Lord, today I accept my calling
Not to perfection or performance.
My calling is to faith.
I have been chosen for this generation.
I have a place in the heritage of faith.
I’m going to stop wishing and whining
And start believing and receiving.
What your Word says is mine.
I won’t let others steal my hope.
I won’t argue with a Pharisee.
I will believe and therefore speak,
For you, my God, are huge.
Nothing is too hard for You.
Our world needs your wonders.
Rise up, oh Lord!
Please renew Your works in our day.
I confess the unbelief of my generation
And ask you to begin Your revival of faith
in my own heart.
For You are who You say You are
You can do what You say You can do.
I am who You say I am.
I can do all things through Christ.
Your Word is alive and active in me.
Satan, hear me clearly:
My Father is Maker of heaven and earth.
You are under my feet,
Because today and the rest of my days,

I’m believing God!

Mild Mannered Hanna and Great Expectations

Well, Hanna turned out to be somewhat of a non event. We have had some rain which was needed and not much wind which we didn't need. With memories of Isabelle and Gaston, people don't take hurricane related weather in Virginia lightly. We prepared some as well. David made sure our generator worked and went to the grocery store. With the exception of possibly having bad weather, we were looking forward to a rainy day with good food, good books and good movies. We have had a low key morning but it looks like the rain will clear out this afternoon giving us thoughts of running errands. Not necessarily what we expected but not a total waste either. As I am writing this, I am thinking about expections, met and unmet, and how they affect our lives. I think expectations have the most significant impact on our lives than anything else. By definition, expectation is looking forward to something, antitipation, hope. We either look forward, anticipate and hope for the best or the worst. When our expectations aren't met we either feel very upset or very blessed. Often our expectations are not based on truth but our perspective of truth based on our experiences. Our expectations are also more often of ourselves and others and the actions and attitudes of each. Of course experiences, actions and attitudes are all very fallible and cannot always be trusted. In our lives there is only One who is infallible, God. If our expectations are based on God's truth we cannot be disappointed. "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them (whatever happens or you think may happen), for the LORD you God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake(disappoint) you." Deut. 31:6, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear(fear of failure, negative expectations); but of power(God), and of love(love covers a mulitude of sins i.e forgiveness) , and of a sound mind(wisdom)." 2 Tim. 1:7 and " Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight(even the paths of your expectations)." Proverbs 3:5-6.
To summerize, proper perspective produces peace.
Shalom,

"Oh Happy Day"

Some of you may be aware of a play we went to several years ago entitled "Oh Happy Day". We were on a romantic getaway to Lake Junaluska, NC. We like to explore a new area for fun opportunities. We discovered a community theater and they were doing a show called "Oh Happy Day". We couldn't tell what it was about but thought with a title like that it had to be fun, maybe a 50s style show. The only thing I will say about the play is it was not a "happy day" for us in the audience. It was the most depressing, boring, utterly ridiculous thing we had ever seen, about a husband and wife who felt like they were stuck in their lives (and they were literally stuck in something like a gopher hole, all you could see was their top halves sticking out of a huge gopher hole). After everything they would "complain" about they would sorrowfully say "Oh Happy Day". I hope you get the picture.

Our day today was nothing like the play I just spoke about, but like the old hymn...

Oh Happy Day, Oh Happy Day

When Jesus washed my sins away

Oh Happy Day

He taught me how to watch and pray

and live rejoicing everyday

Oh Happy Day

When Jesus washed my sins away!

We started our day early with time on our deck....

It was a beautiful, cool morning and the "view from here" was delightful. Hummingbirds and a Grandpa and granddaughter fishing. We set tea out in the sun to brew and headed out...

Every August we always have a church picnic and baptisms at Naylor's Beach. Admittedly, I am not always very thrilled with going. Today, though, my heart was "happy". It was a beautiful day, and I was with my husband and best friend, David.

A glorious sky and a glorious day for baptisms! Nine people were being baptized today, all new believers in the past year!

"To show my eternal devotion to Jesus Christ", "Because Jesus loves me and I want to show my love for Him", "Because I want to have the Holy Spirit fill my body and my heart", "I want live a life of faith in Jesus" were some of the testimonies shared before each person was baptized.

Oh Happy Day!

Hanover Tomatoes and Friends

People in Hanover County and places nearby claim that Hanover County tomatoes are the BEST in the country. Apparently it is the soil. They may be but I remember years ago (18 or so) I grew tomatoes on our farm in Kansas and I thought they were wonderful. I really can't say if Hanover tomatoes are better than Kansas tomatoes but I certainly can say with confidence that I had the best time canning tomatoes tonight. I was invited to be participate in a family tradition of canning tomatoes at my friend Christy's home. Christy's sister, mom, grandmother, aunt and husband were all involved. Christy's 3 year old daughter even cut a couple of tomatoes. (With a safe knife, of course.) They have been doing this for many years and have a great system and I was able to fit in quite nicely. Living so far away from my sister and mom, I don't have the opportunity for this sort of family tradition. It was a blessing to be "a part" of this family's tradition. We peeled, cut up and cooked enough tomatoes for about 40 quarts. I know we will enjoy these tomatoes not because they are Hanover but because they are fruit of great love and friendship.

OUTRIGGER ISLAND!

I wanted to show you what David and I are doing this week...

Our Vacation Bible School is "Outrigger Island". The sanctuary looks awesome, so much better than these photos reflect but you can get a good idea. We were really blessed to have several other churches loan or donate their leftovers from their VBS and we had some great people spend several hours organizing and decorating. The next two pictures are of the "HUA HUT"! (We made up the name. Hua is Hawaiian for Word.) David and I taught three classes each evening to 3rd - 6th graders. We totally decorated our room on Saturday. We felt really good with the results.
We used the beach towels for games and sitting areas. Here we were using them to play "Musical Outrigger Island" (yeah, like musical chairs. We made it up. Clever) The towels represented islands and the kids had to paddle around the islands while the music played...I'm sure you get the picture.

We used a variety of methods to tell the stories, teach Bible truths and memory verses. David even did a "Pat and Brett" style story to retell the story of the Moses, the plagues and the Red Sea.

David and I have discovered we are a really good teaching team.

A few times in each class we took a "Surf Break". You just can't be in the islands and not surf! The kids loved it! We would surf, hula and beach dance to great surfing music!

more "Musical Outrigger Island"...

ALOHA!

Daughters

I have two wonderful sons, Patrick and Brett. I have really enjoyed being their mom and have a special place in my heart for boys. I can get a little defensive when people stereotype boys and sometimes feel boys are are viewed a little like second class citizens compared to girls. There are a lot of things that my sons do that make me feel very special. Their hugs are about the most wonderful moments in my life. Admittedly, I have always wanted a girl and always felt David would have been the perfect dad to a daughter. (By the way, I think he was the perfect Dad to our sons.) You might be wondering by now if I made a mistake in the title of this post, Daughters. I didn't. Patrick and Brett have blessed us with the most amazing women that we have the honor to call daughters. Patrick's wife, Jana, and Brett's wife Jes, have become a very special part of our family. Not only do they "complete" our boys but they "complete" our family. We have gotten to spend some really special time this summer with Jana and Jes. They are both so sweet and we really feel their love and respect for us. I have gotten to do some girl things like baking a cherry pie from scratch with Jes and making a collage for Hannah's birthday with Jana. I really felt honored that they wanted to spend time with me. I am looking forward to years of girl activities with my "daughters".

Obviously we are not baking a cherry pie but a sweet moment none the less!

Thanks for stopping by,