Thank God for Dirty Dishes

Thank God for dirty dishes;
They have a tale to tell.
While others may go hungry,
We're eating very well
With home, health, and happiness,
I shouldn't want to fuss;
By the stack of evidence,
God's been very good to us.

Author Unknown

From our table to yours...

Happy Thanksgiving from our table to yours!!

May your day be filled w/ food, fun, fellowship, family & friends - & your mind be so consumed w/ all that you've been blessed w/ that it pours out of your heart & mouth in the form of GIVING THANKS! :)

I'm off to bed shortly & looking forward to nodding off by counting my blessings. So much to be thankful for.

My Kitchen Prayer

God bless my little kitchen,
I love its every nook,
And bless me as I do my work,
Wash pots and pans and cook.

And may the meals that I prepare
Be seasoned from above
With Thy great blessings and Thy grace,
But most of all Thy love.

As we partake of earthly food,
The table before us spread,
We’ll not forget to thank Thee, Lord,
Who gives us daily bread.

So bless my little kitchen, God,
And those who enter in,
May they find naught but Joy and Peace,
And Happiness therein.

Author Unknown

via

a unique gift

Playmaker wrote this song as a gift for her best friend/boyfriend's 16th birthday. I wish I had filmed her when she played it for him for the first time last night at the surprise party we had for him here at our house - but I filmed her after the party instead. I've enjoyed hearing her compose it & find it to be such a unique & personal gift. She even named it after him.

It's the first song she's ever composed. So sweet.

Enjoy!

Q. What's this?

A. Frosty's baby picture :)

Stargazing

When most of the rest of our corner of the world was fast asleep (4AM! this morning), Strike & I were bundled up in our back yard & reclined under the vast canopy of stars to watch the Leonids Meteor Shower. With eyes open wide, & continually sweeping the sky so as not to miss any of the show within our view, we did manage to see a few shooting stars & to identfiy some constellations. It was cold so we didn't stay out long but we saw more shooting stars during that short time than we're likely to see in a whole year otherwise. Just a special time w/ my baby girl. After we came in, she stayed up a bit & watched out the window w/ Mak - & that's when I snapped this pic.


Did anyone else enjoy the show?

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.
Psalm 147:4

Q. What's black & white & red all over?

A. The very first ever quilt I'm making.

I've had a change of plans ... Yesterday my friend/quilt coach ("A") & I went to the fabric store together. Who knew that place could swallow you up for hours on end?! By the time we left I had plan, a pattern & .... almost all new material! Those of you who are "sew" inclined....does this happen a lot?! Just curious bc it could get expensive.

Anyhow - here's my plan:

All the normal squares will alternate checkerboard style w/ the black calico & the french looking black & off white fabric. The fancy squares will be the red w/ black print. The arcs, dots & thin inside border will be teal. The outside wider boarder will be the black/off-white/red flower calico.

...& the back will be soft... rich... warm.... red flannel.

I'm "sew" excited to get started.... I've gotta wash & iron the fabric then Monday I'm planning to head over to A's house so she can help me measure & cut & then I should be off & runnin'.

On another note....this is what it looks like outside our window today.


A good day to bake some homemade cinnamon rolls, hunker down & get some of the more mundane chores done around the house. I'm actually looking forward to it. I love days like this.

Have a nice weekend!

Bit o' Humor :)

From: The Good, Clean Funnies List

I rear-ended a car this morning. I knew it was going to be a
REALLY bad day. The driver got out of the other car, and he
was a DWARF!

He looked up at me and said, "I am NOT happy!"

So I said, "Well, which one ARE you then?"

That's how the fight started.

Veteran's Day Tribute

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Third Verse of the Star Spangled Banner
- Francis Scott Key

***

It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.
~Author unknown, sometimes attributed to M. Grundler


***

A decoration available to all who serve, but desired by none....

"Let it be known that he who wears the military order of the purple heart
has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland
and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen."

via

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

... and I'm still alive.

Seems I was healthy one moment & sick as a dog the next when on Saturday my body quite nearly seized up from aches & pains accompanied by a parade of other symptoms that joined in over the course of the weekend .... nagging cough, fever, headache. But - hooray for today bc I'm feeling much better - just wiped out.

From what I gather it could very well have been the Swine Flu but I guess I won't know for sure bc I didn't go to the doctor - as it was at it's worst over the weekend. Anyhow - I'm back here & that's a sure sign that I'm well on my way to recovery :)

I'm no doctor - but I tho't to share here some home remedies for cold/flu like symptoms that seem to help.

Drink, Drink, Drink - plenty of water &

Rest!

+

Hot Drinks ... - the hotter the better!

+

Rest!

+

Hot Soup. Hot & Sour Soup from our local Asian food restaurant is at the top of my wish list whenever I get sick like this. You can feel it working on the stuff lingering at the back of your throat w/ every swallow. Friends from church brought over some chicken soup on Sunday (said it was an old polish remedy) & it was ohhh soooo good (I hafta get that recipe) & homemade bread. I think the secret ingredient here must've been the extra measure of care & concern they mixed into it.

+

Rest!

+

Acidic Drinks ... grapefruit juice, orange juice, lemon/limeade (plenty of Vitamin C lurking here :)

+

Rest!

+

Salt water & baking soda gargle &/or steams ... boil some up - put a towel over your head, lean over the pot & b-r-e-e-e-a-a-a-t-h-e thru' your nose AND mouth .... be careful not to get burned tho!

+

=

+

Rest!

+

Whatever you do, don't let that yuck linger at the back of your throat. Scrape it away w/ Toast ... extra crispy. Salty potato chips - or dill pickles may do the trick too - bc of their salt/vinegar content.

+

+

+

Rest!

+

If at all possible - open your windows & let fresh air circulate. Thankfully yesterday & today have been so nice & warm that we've been able to do that.

+

Homemade Cough/Throat Drops:

Regular Strength - swallow a teaspoon of honey topped w/ a squirt of lemon juice

+

or

EXTRA Strength - pineapple chunks soaked in a whisky & honey mixture (hubby taught me this one :)

& let them work their magic on the way down.

+

get

Plenty of

rest!



- even tho' no matter how much rest
you get - it won't seem like enough, you might as well get as much as you can bc you aren't good for much of anything else & most anyone who doesn't really love you doesn't want to be near you anyhow.

How about you? Any others you care to share?

I'll check back soon to see what tips you have to offer. Something tells me I may need to linger here in the not really sick but not exactly healthy either mode for a bit longer before I claim victory over this nasty bug - so please excuse me while I go get some more - you guessed it ...

rest.

Beautiful Mystery

Beautiful Mystery
Caedmon's Call - Back Home Album

I tried to know
Every mystery
Soon realized, no
It was too much for me
'Cause most things true
Are simple and complex
So it is with You
What else should I expect

You suffer the seeker
In You they abide

You are to me
A beautiful mystery
You are to me
A Servant and a King
You're a beautiful mystery

You're like the water
I can feel but not grasp
Still You say all I've gotta do
Is seek and knock and ask

You are to the river
What hems it in and sets it free

The truth is a river
Where the strong can swim down deep
The weak and the broken
Can walk across so easily

Yesterday I opened my Bible to Ecclesiastes after reading a thought provoking post over here & as I did, phrases/verses jumped out from all over the pages. When I read my Bible I try to journal things that "struck & stuck" but yesterday it was hard to keep up! One thing, among others, tho' that did stick w/me was this:

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man’s labor on earth– his eyes not seeing sleep day or night – then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover it’s meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.
Ecclesiastes 8:16 & 17

I found this to be encouraging - which might seem strange - but a few years ago I dove deep(!) in a desperate attempt to know God better & to find the answers to the really big questions of life. I was at my lowest point ever & reeling from the most difficult life circumstances I'd ever been dealt. A friend encouraged me w/ this verse:

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. - James 4:8

... & I attempted to do just that.

I opened God's Word & I prayed that He would open the eyes of my heart & make Himself real to me.

Indeed I did experience something so real that allowed so much to make more sense to me - & I journaled fast & furiously at times thru' it - yet I certainly could not comprehend it … nor could I ever seem to wrap words around it to adequately explain to anyone else what I was beginning to better understand (tho' this blog has been a good place to attempt to do that at times).

...Evenso - the more I think I understand…the more questions I have! So – this passage just seemed to confirm that – that’s normal (Hence why I found it to be encouraging) - And I'd go so far as to say that I believe that's exactly the way God intended it be.

It's ironic - that after all I've studied, learned & pondered, that verse my friend shared w/ me back at the "beginning" ...

Draw near to God and He will draw draw to you. - James 4:8

...summarizes concisely all that I've learned since then! Everything God has ever said ...or made... or done - seems to whisper (& shout!)...

"relationship!"

Note: The "poem" above is actually lyrics to one of my very favorite songs - one I sense God gave to me back then to help me understand, right from the start, that "in the end" I would not have all the answers I was looking for - but that "simply" by pursuing the answers to the really big questions of life....... I'd end up knowing Him - much better.

The lyrics are beautiful in & of themselves but they're even moreso when accompanied by their music. Click on the album & then on the play button that appears at the upper right hand of the screen if your interested.

BeautiFULL Moon

Strike captured these photos from our back yard tonight
- they're not cropped or doctored up at all.

How DOES she do it?!

If you look close at this one...

...does it not look like the moon has a belly button?!
(towards the lower right "corner" of the moon)

There's got to be a children's poem or story in there somewhere :)

³ When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4

On a scale of 1 - 10, What's your #?

Perhaps the world was made round
so that no one could see too far ahead

Watched this movie over the weekend. What a grand illustration of two very different philosophies of life that - if I had to summarize them in my own words - I suppose I'd use these...

His

Nothing is worth owning because whatever you own - ends up owning you.


&

Hers

There are some things in life worth owning .... & they come with a price.

It all has had me thinking....if, on a scale of 1 - 10, his philosophy is a 1 & hers is a 10 - what about me? What's my number?

Hmm ... I guess I'd have to say, I'm a "5" ... forever attempting to achieve that oh so difficult to achieve "perfect balance".

....tho' honestly - I've suppressed a sense of adventure in exchange for - safety, satisfaction & security - & I kinda think I'd like to be a 2 - but that would require exercising some courage to willfully give up some of those things we own that cost us dearly, yet make me feel so safe, satisfied & secure ...

How about you?

Does "your number" reflect both who you are AND who you want to be? - - or are they different?

Just curious.

Trick or Treat ... & Pumpkin "Pi"

Strike was a tiger
(I found the 102nd thing you can do w/ duct tape! :)
& her friend was a zebra

a spooky house

Even Mak dressed as a hockey player & got in on the fun :)

the loot :)

Pumpkin Pi ... get it?! Took us a while but we finally did :)