It's all a gift

" When I realize that it is not God who is in my debt, but it is I who am in His great debt, doesn't all become gifts?"~ One Thousand Gifts

Hearing my husband say "ahh, I gotta get up" as he stretches his 6ft 2 inch frame the length of the bed.

The deep dark roast smell of fresh coffee as it brews, promising me a wake up push

The heavy weight of towels from the washer ready to by hung on the line to dry in the spring sunshine

Two girls with beautiful long hair preening in front of a mirror, sharing snippets of early morning talk

A vague achiness in the front of my legs, reminding me that I ran yesterday...I can run

All these gifts from my Abba, and it's only the first hour of my day.

Perfect Saturday

Today was absolute perfection.  Wayne and I slept in until 8:30.  Then I got up and made a big breakfast of sausage, eggs and toast.  We spent all morning cleaning, then Wayne and I took a little road trip.  We mostly ran errands, but we had so much fun.  We listened and sang to country love songs. We had lunch at Subway then Wayne let me wander around Goodwill while he patiently waited in the car.  The weather was beautiful.  I even rolled my window down.

Late this afternoon, I trimmed all the shrubs while Wayne checked the oil and whatever else you do to cars.  Then we grilled burgers and sat down...all four of us....and ate supper together. Perfection.

Ginny went on a walk and took these pictures of the neighbors horses. Willow is fascinated by the horses that the neighbor put in the pasture next to us.  I'm thinking we will be hearing lots of barking for the next few days. I love living out in the country.  Even if that demon dog drags up cow bones and barks at horses all day.

Enjoy Ginny's photography skills!

Can't Give up Now

This song came on my ipod this afternoon. At the perfect time, just as I was rounding the hill at mile 7 and had convinced myself it would be fine to walk the last one.  I started smiling when I heard the words, then I kept running, or you could call it shuffling at that point.

When I made it to my car, I listened to it on the way home. I thought about alot of things besides running.  I thought about talking to my aunt this weekend about how good, but hard marriage is.  I thought about the long, loud discussion I had with my kid last night. I thought about this last long year at my church with my faith family.  I thought about how easy it is to slip back into my old ways.

I thought about all that, and then I rolled down the windows and turned this song up loud.  I sang the words as loud as I could. Yeah, God hasn't brought me this far to leave me.

Once upon a time

there lived a man who had two beautiful daughters.  One looked like him, the other like his sweetheart.  For some reason, God decided he needed daughters instead of sons. He did not care that he never had a son, he loved his daughters more than life.

He decided that girls need to learn to appreciate the outdoors too, so he took them camping and on long walks in the woods.  He took them swimming in the lakes and taught them how to fish. They loved being outside as much as him.

They grew up and lost interest, or so they thought, in the great outdoors. They would rather ride in cars, listen to ipods and go to movies.  The only ones left to take walks in the woods were the man and his sweetheart.

This did not seem to make the man sad, for he loved his sweetheart, and he loved his girls.  The wise man knew that when his daughters looked through old pictures they would laugh and relive memories of when they were little girls.  He knew that when they gave him grandchildren, he would get to enjoy the great outdoors with them again.  Mostly, he knew that even though we don't always live it out, we hold what we've been taught to love close to our hearts.

A simple question

*More updates*

Today I text this simple question to some of my friends: What did God tell you out of His Word this morning?

Wow! Amazing responses!  These are the answers I got all throughout the day.  These women are insightful and their responses were so encouraging.  These are just average busy women who stop, and listen as the God of the universe speaks into their lives and this is what He said:

"He is coming back and no man knows when, don't want to find me lacking. Crud- I think He might be unhappy when He comes. I have to do something about that.  the big word is love for all people He created. Broken on down to trying to tell and truly relfect Him to those I come in contact with."

"To know that He is God and He is able!"

"let us not love in word or speech but in actions and truth...real love."

"GRACE. Be the ONE people are looking for the difference in."

"Psalms 63:1-8 david was so satisfied in the Lrod he expected total satisfaction in his soul and physical needs. I desire the same expectation."

"Psalms 139 God knows me better than anyone, wants to be with more than anyone, He is always thinking about me and loves me more than I'll ever understand or realize! his presence was and is overwhelming me today."

I'll post more as the day progresses so check back often.

*More updates*

"Godly grief brings repentance, wordly grief brings death."

 "God is holy, (reading the OT book of Exodus about all the priests went through before they entered the temple) but he wants to have a relationship with us, who are so unholy. As a result, Jesus came to bring us near to God. That is an awesome thought! Through Jesus, we can come to God and talk to Him, walk with Him. He has an individual Word for all His children."

Happy Valentines Day Mr. Welch

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me

There's a truth in your eyes sayin'

you'll never leave me.

The touch of your hands says you'll

catch me if ever I fall

You say it best

When you say nothing at all.

Weekend Catch up

Here's kinda how the weekend went:

Friday night, which has officially turned into our stay in, cook on the grill and watch "Gold Rush" was bliss. After a long hard week, I was so excited about laying around. Wayne cooked some chicken on the grill. I walked in the door, immediately got into my PJ's and started on a new pair of socks. Remember when I told you I wanted to knit a pair ever month this year? Well, February is quickly fading, so I figured I better get moving.  Delicate pink socks with white cuffs, toes and heels. Probably will totally regret the white, but it looks precious.
While Wayne watched "Gold Rush" I watched TV in the bedroom. I am sick and tired of Discovery channel toying with my emotions. I refuse to hope and wish for those Alaskan miners to strike gold. I have moved on to 20/20 which told a fascinating story of the Kim family that got lost in Oregon for nine days in 2006. 

Saturday morning, I got up to see Leslie off to take the ACT. Said many prayers for her through the morning, and we'll see how she fared in about 6 weeks. Praying for a solid 17 on math scores.  I spent the most wonderful day cleaning and knitting and even got on the ellipitical.  Never left the house except for a super quick trip to Walmart.  We went with our friends to Freedom church on Saturday night to their Valentines banquet. Sat with Heidi and Tim. I absolutely love that girl! We talked each others ears off.  I love it when people love Jesus and love each other.

Sunday was well, wonderful.  Our church has really gone through some hard dark times over the past few years.  The last few months have been extraordinary.  Despite (or maybe because of) going through difficult days, God seems to be pouring out a new anointing on this place.  I've realized that so many of the people I love dearly are standing beside me ready to really work.  God has done cool things in the last few weeks. He has created a sense of unity like I have never felt before.  He has spoken a warm blessing over our worship.  He has anointed our pastor. 
As we sang "Lord. I'm amazed by You" I thought about the words I was singing.  "How wide, how deep, how great is Your love for me." His love is never ending. People come and go in your life, in your fellowship. but God is unchanging.  That stability holds us as we go through uncertain times.  And then it dawns on you one day, that God is doing a new thing in your midst.

I look around this morning and see the faces of people that I love, and that I know love God with all their hearts. I see new faces that God has brought. I realize that although God's ways are not always clear, they are all together trustworthy.  There is an unmistakable  excitement in the air. He is leading us into a sure place, a place of spiritual prosperity that we were not ready for.  Bring it on Jesus.  Be big in our midst.

The less you need the more you have

I just finished up "Radical". Wow! Gave me alot to think about.  I have been asking God to bless me with more so that I could bless others in my life who really need it. Surprisingly, He told me I have plenty to share. He told me that I don't need more, I need to want less. So with this fresh on my mind I am doing an inventory of my life to see where excess is. Asking God to show me what please Him and what doesn't.
Insightful.  I caution you, do not pray anything like this unless you intedn to do something when He shows you. Believe me, He is showing me areas of complete self-centeredness in my life. Areas that are shamefully wasteful.  Material things that I think I "need" but don't.  Better ways of using the resources He has given me.

 Here is the Radical Experiment that David Platt invites the reader to embark on for a year:
1.Pray for the entire world in a year
2.Read the entire Bible in a year
3.Sacrifice your money for a specific Purpose
4.Spend your time in another context

What would our lives look like if we lived a radical life for a year?  Is it really radical or is merely obedience?

I found this interesting article online this afternoon. He expresses my thoughts perfectly.

Pretty babies

There is alot I have not perfected in this life......

But I made some pretty girls with that Welch man!

Lukewarm

My Sunday School class is doing "Crazy Love" over the next few weeks and God has been showing me so many things.This week, we are studying what it means ot be lukewarm. Ugh! Nothing more nauseating than lukewarm. Reminds me of..........

...............cup of coffee that has been sitting all day
...............being so sore and dirty, getting into the shower and realizing there is very little hot water left and I am stuck with a lukewarm shower
...............Feeling passionate about something, explaing that to someone and they just give you that blank I-could-care-less-about-anything-you-just-said look. FRUSTRATING!
..............A scorching July day, a clear sparkling pool that you dive into, and as you splash into it, you realize that the water is not cool and refreshing, but lukewarm and almost suffocating. Ugh! you feel better outof the water than in.

My favorite description is this on on page 70-

"Lukewarm people are moved by people who do radical things for Christ,yet they do not act.They assume such actions are for "extreme" Christians not average ones. Lukewarm people call "radical" what Jesus expected of His followers."

Sprints

Tonight I met the girls and ran sprints. Why oh why did that seem like such a good idea this afternoon?  I know that one thing that makes you a better runner is to run with someone faster than you.  I have loved running with these two girls. I usually can just barely keep up. It has really improved my running.

Tonight we decided that to increase our speed for the half marathon in March, we really need to start sprinting.  I have been doing sprints on the treadmill for a while but sprints on the pavement, in the cold is a whole other situation. 20 seconds fast as we can go, 2 minutes walking. Over and over,  When I was flat out running, the girls shot off and left me like a rocket.  My chest was burning and by the third set, my legs were on fire.

IT KICKED MY BUTT!!! Even now, after a hot bath, four advil and a hot cup of coffee, I can feel an ache in my calves and thighs. Tomorrow I will be sore.  I will be able to tell I went further and harder than I am used to. And that is a good thing.

I remind myself, "If you keep doing what you always do, you will never improve". I think, "If you don't want to look and act middle age, you gotta keep moving."  And when it's all over and the sweat is running into my eyes and my breathing finally returns to normal I say to myself, "Girl, you are mighty fine for 41!"

Hey Stephanie, what's for supper?

Well folks, tonight is leftovers so take your pick:
grilled cheese sandwiches
tator tots
shrimp chowder
grilled chicken from Upwards
and Kenny Huff's famous corn dogs
Oh yeah and I'm having broiled aspargus!

Mix and match to suit your fancy.

And for dessert:
dried out blondie brownies
or
rainbow sherbert poptarts

Nothing like mama's kitchen on the eve of grocery day!

Sunday Thoughts

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Col. 3:4

A perfect day

............to start knnitting this baby blanket, although it will be a beautiful soft lilac. Sorry, don't wanna wrap my new nieces in an dirt brown blanket. But look at the pattern....it's beautiful.

....................to listen to my new Chris Tomlin CD my pal Worth got for me.  I'm gonna play it LOUD.

...................to cook my big girl some shrimp chowder. She ask me last night could I make her some, her favorite.  Can't say no to that, plus it looks like a good day to make some warm chowder.

....................to meet my friends Rick and Pam for coffee. I love them and miss them so much.  Cannot wait to hear all the good things God is doing in their lives.

......................take Ginny with me to the Goodwill. Hmmmm wonder what we'll find?

Reader Beware

This book is not for spiritual wimps.....then again maybe it is.

*Picture dowloaded from Amazon.com*