anticipation

"Looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them."

– anne of green gables

l.m. montgomery 

celebrations

The Preacher is at a Christian school, he has played his Native American flute and now he tells the children a story of a little Indian boy who is in charge of his own celebrations.

The Preacher is at a women's luncheon, he has played his flute and now he tells them of the same little Indian boy. 

The story is from the book, I'm In Charge of Celebrations, by Bryd Baylor.

How can I be lonely? I'm the one in charge of celebrations ...it's true. I am. I put myself in charge. I choose my own. Last year I gave myself one hundred and eight celebrations–besides the ones that they close school for. I keep a notebook and I write the date and then I write about the celebration.

I have heard this story twice now within the last few weeks and upon hearing it I wondered, do we choose our own celebrations? And then I remembered some of the celebrations that we have celebrated within this last year.

We celebrated the beautiful western sky sunset by texting a friend saying only ..."sunset alert", and them knowing that we want to share the beauty.

We celebrated the night sky by sitting on a picnic table with friends, watching the stars shooting across the sky.

We celebrated when we received a card from a friend saying that they miss us.

We celebrated by traveling to places that we had not seen in a long time.

We celebrated when we heard the voices of little children singing the praises of our Lord.

We celebrated when we looked up and saw the last of the season's aspen leaves hanging on until the very end.

We celebrated when we drove down the road and our favorite song was playing and we sang loud.

We celebrated when finding an old photo of a father now gone for 36 years.

We celebrated when we saw a son's face after being separated for too long.

We celebrated when we looked across a crowded room and saw the one we love coming near.

We celebrated when we found that perfect gift for a loved one and seeing their face light up after the unwrapping.

Are you in charge of your celebrations? Celebrate the ordinary and the extraordinary.  

Choose to celebrate!

  

what a gift; what a promise!

Last month, the month of October, churches all over America celebrated Pastor Appreciation Month. 

DaySpring, an online website where you can order faith-based cards and gifts, wrote an article titled, "A Real Day in the Life of a Pastor". 

I want to share an excerpt from an article today, because a Pastor, no matter what church he pastors, needs these three things everyday, not just for the 31 days of October. 

They posed this question to many of the Pastors that they know, "How can we best show our appreciation?"  In every case, the following three points were mentioned:

1. Be constant in prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:25 (MSG), Paul says, "Friends, keep up your prayers for us." Paul understood that even great men of God are human beings. Just like us, they sometimes find themselves weary, discouraged, confused, and vulnerable. Your pastor depends on your faithful prayers for him, his family, and his ministry.

2. Be faithful to encourage. If you think your pastor gets his or her encouragement from God, you are right. However, God often delivers that encouragement through our words and deeds. Proverbs 12:25 (KJV) says, "Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad." You can begin by taking your pastor's hand and delivering a heartfelt thank you. Keep your words simple and positive, filled with life. For example: "I learned something important from your sermon this morning. Thanks for all the time you spent preparing it.", "Thanks for your prayers. They are making a big difference in my life." 

3. Be ready to lend a hand. Typically, the smaller the church, the more the pastor is asked to handle. Be ready to jump in and help. That might mean the physical upkeep of the building or helping with hospital calls and visits to shut-ins. You can also express your thankfulness through monetary gifts, babysitting, gifts certificates, or by delivering a nutritious, family meal. Running errands may not seem like much but in a pastor's harried day, it can mean a great deal. Keep your eyes and ears open and you will soon be aware of many ways to bless your pastor and lighten his load. 

Your pastor is a gift to you from God, placed in your life to teach, encourage, challenge, strengthen, and keep you growing spiritually. Paul says it best in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 (MSG): "Friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility or urging and guiding you along in your obedience. Overwhelm them with appreciation and love!" Like the Great Shepherd, they give their lives daily for those who have been given into their care. Jeremiah 3:15 (KJV) says, "I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."

What a gift, what a promise! 

roses or thorns

We can complain because rose bushes have THORNS....

or rejoice because thorn buses have ROSES...

hold me forever

"All I see is you holding me forever"

                                                                                --Mandy Harvey

Happy Anniversary, my love!

say hello to october in the mountains

Advice from a pumpkin: Be well-rounded and think big

always stay humble and kind

I drive by this church's parking lot every day and I didn't notice this sign in their lot until just a few days ago. "No Semis - please" I love the fact that they said please. 

Did your momma teach you to say 'please' and 'thank you'?

A couple of nights ago, the Preacher and I were traveling back home from Denver, when the song, Humble and Kind, by Tim McGraw, came on the radio. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't the world be a better place if more people would say please and thank you?"

"You know there's a lot that goes by the front door

Don't forget the keys under the mat

Childhood stars shine, always stay humble and kind

Go to church 'cause your momma says to

Visit grandpa every chance that you can

It won't be a waste of time

Always stay humble and kind

Hold the door say please say thank you

Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie

I know you got moutains to climb but

Always stay humble and kind

When the dreams you're dreamin' come to you

When the work you put in is realized

Let yourself feel the pride but

Always stay humble and kind"

--Tim McGraw

change

The days are cooler and the nights are colder. 

The leaves are changing and falling to the ground. 

Change is coming.

When I begin to feel like I am in a rut, when things seem to be same-old-same-old, 

I begin to have visions of change. 

How can things be different? 

How can I change things up a bit?

But when it comes right down to it, I don't like change.

Change scares me, change is not comfortable. Change is, well, change. And yet as time goes by, people, places, jobs, positions in life, houses, friends, on and on, things change.

I have the feeling we are in one of those seasons. A time of change. 

I don't know how or when, but I feel a change is coming.

remodeling the camper

Here are the updates that we made to our new a-frame camper.

As you can see, she is very brown. The cabinets, the walls, the counter-tops and the curtains all are brown. My first thought was to paint the cabinets white and re-do the counter-tops. But seeing how much work that was going to take, we decided to put that off this year because we wanted to go camping right away.

The picture above shows the dinette area that folds down to make a bed, but the cushions had been taken out and were not available upon purchase. We decided to not worry about purchasing or making new cushions and we put a full size mattress in here and we would just keep it as a bed.

We knew we wanted to get rid of the brown curtains and lighten up the interior. We went to IKEA and found a duvet for the bed. Then we went to Wal-Mart and found material to make the curtains and the cover for the hinged area where the trailer folds down.

 I painted a couple of flower pictures and made the Let's Get Lost map picture. I hung the paintings with 3-M Command Strips.

The Preacher even made a scarf for the Sergeant!

As you can see, the Preacher enjoys relaxing in his new trailer!

I think the green and yellow helped to give it new life. Next summer I would like to paint the cabinets and even put in new flooring.

We love getting away in our own little tiny house!

opportunities to serve

The Preacher and I got up very early in the morning. 
Grumbling 

The Preacher and I drove 60 miles to a Christian School. 
Tired

The Preacher played his flute and spoke to the kids about spilling God's grace out on those around them. 
Excited

The Preacher prayed -- "Thank you Lord for these opportunities to serve You." 
Thankful

treasuring all these things in my heart

I have always treasured the things our son has said or did.

When he was little I would sometimes write down those things and then. at a later date, use them in my scrap-booking pages. But since he has been living on his own, I have not had the opportunities to hear or see many of these moments.

Recently the Preacher and I traveled to Texas to visit our son during his time off from work. While there, he needed to finish working on his car so we spent many hours visiting him while he had his head either inside the top of his car engine or under it. He also had a couple of friends there helping him.

During these times he said and did some things that I just had to write down and treasure in my heart. 

After purchasing pizza and drinks for him and his friends, our son said, "You guys are the best!"

After the Preacher helped him work on his car and helped with purchasing tools, nuts and bolts, he said, "Dad, I really appreciate it!"

When we first saw our son he gave me a hug, but later on in the day, he wrapped is arms around me and kissed me on top of the head and said, "Come here mom, I haven't given you a proper hug yet."

These things might seem minor to you but having not seen our son for 5 months, they just seemed extra special to me.

Love from the Preacher and I

a wilder life

The Preacher and I went on a three day camping trip this week. We didn't go to far, just up into the foothills here in Colorado. 

On the second day of our trip we decided to go shopping and we ended up in IKEA. While looking through one of their displays, I found a book called " A Wilder Life, Living Outdoors". And inside on the first page was this:

"A WILDER LIFE. What happens when you open the WINDOW and let in a bit of FRESH AIR? The curtains start to flutter, and the room fills up with movement and wind. A bumble-bee flies in, creating a little PLEASANT CHAOS. Your home BRIGHTENS UP, and that tidiness you've been trying to keep on top of for so long suddenly doesn't seem quite so important. YOU BECOME FREER. YOU FEEL A BIT WILD. And it feels good, It feels fun. You also want more. To go outside more, and stay outside more.   LIVE A SLIGHTLY WILDER LIFE -- OUTDOORS. A life with the city, the forest and the ocean as your neighbor. A life full of fragrances and feelings, of hair tangled by the wind. SIMPLE. FREE. WILD!"

We love our camping trips, living outdoors. Sometimes we camp close to a town and other times the campground is a little farther from a city. Either way, we love being outdoors, feeling the breeze on our faces, watching a river run by. These freer moments help us recharge and recuperate from crazy, busy days.

The Preacher and I highly recommend getting outdoors. See and feel the wonders of His creation. Even if it's for just a day, go out and live a slightly wilder life outdoors!

Love from the Preacher and I

Note: I wanted to list the author and/or publisher of this book. Upon calling IKEA to get the correct name, author, and publisher's information, I learned that this is not one of their books but a book they may have used as a display. I apologize to anyone who may want to look for the book in order to purchase.

Happy Birthday to Sergeant!

This dog, this beautiful Border Collie, came into our lives 3 years ago this weekend. You might say he was our son's rebound dog. 

We had lost our precious Max just 3 months before we found Sergeant. Our son missed having a dog in his life so much that he was asking us almost daily if he could get another dog. (You can read all about Max here.)

On the second weekend of September, our town has Old Thresher Days.  At this festival of re-enactment of the old farming equipment and days gone by, there is always a small petting zoo where you can find baby kittens, chickens, goats, lambs, donkeys, and even one year there was a llama. Sergeant was there that year, along with his 3 brothers and sisters. Our son picked Sergeant out immediately and then went looking for us to come and see this puppy, this puppy that he just had to have. Our son knew this was the dog for him, the one he had been looking for these past 3 months. 

The Preacher was not thrilled with the idea of getting a dog so soon, especially when he knew our son would be heading to Basic Training in just a few months. He knew that we would be "babysitting" this dog when our son left for the Army.

But I fell in love with this puppy too. He had the cutest little face, who could resist? The Preacher has a hard time with telling his son and his wife no, so we scooped the puppy up in our arms and off he went to live with us and to become the Church Dog.  

Happy Birthday Sergeant!

Love from the Preacher and I

God of This City

"You're the God of this city; You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation; You are

You're the Light in this darkness; You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless; You are

There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this city"

                                                              – God of This City by Chris Tomlin

I hope you have enjoyed this photographic tour of our town, Yuma, Colorado.

Pray this prayer with us -- that God is the God of your hometown and the King of the people who live there. 

Love from the Preacher and I

The Fruits of Our Labor

We spent Labor Day, 2017, harvesting our grapes. This is our third year working with our grape vines. The Preacher has done some research each year trying to get the best crop.

This year the grapes are so plump, sweet and juicy. We're not sure what to do with them at this time, so for now, we cleaned them up, we bagged them and put them in the freezer until a later date. 

God's fruit is the best fruit.

Love from the Preacher and I

Our Maiden Voyage

I have not been as consistent posting here on my little blog as I would like to be, but life has been so hectic and fast paced that it is hard to slow down enough to put pen to paper, or in this case, fingers to a keyboard.

Today I want to share with you some of the exciting things that have been happening in the last couple of months.

You might remember that I posted about our search for a new vehicle and how we decided to keep our Jeep Compass. Well, we ended up trading it in for a new Jeep Cherokee. We decided to go ahead and get something new because the Compass was breaking down and with the miles we put on a vehicle, we knew it was just a matter of time.

Then, just a few weeks after we purchased the new Jeep, the Preacher was searching online and found the cutest A-frame camper. We have been wanting one of these campers for quite some time. The price was right so we purchased our little camper. Now we are happy campers!

Our maiden voyage was a blessing, as it was a trip to a lake in the Rocky Mountains where the Preacher would be baptizing a friend of ours.

Our friend, Ross, came to the Preacher one Sunday and asked if he would baptize him in Lake Granby, because it has a special place in his heart, this is the place his family had many wonderful vacations.

Lake Granby is 4 hours from where we live. It is located on the west side of the Rocky Mountain National Park. We all decided that we would drive up the day before and camp right on the water's edge. So we hitched up the camper and over the mountains we went.

By God's blessing we were able to get a campsite directly on the bank of the lake in the perfect place to have a baptism. It was a beautiful two days. The Lord was good to us! On the day of the baptism the lake was calm and the sun came out and shone bright above us!

What a beautiful way to experience the mountains, the lake, and God's glory!

We also discovered that our Sargy likes the water. Never before did he want to get into water but something about this lake he thoroughly enjoyed.

It was a wonderful first trip in our camper! We enjoyed every minute of it. We already have our next camping adventure planned - we will be traveling south to visit our son next week. We are so excited. And soon I will be posting some of the upgrades we did on the camper, which by the way, the Preacher has decided to call Carolina.

Let me know what your summer plans have been. I would love to hear from  you.

Love from the Preacher and I