Wednesdays int the Word

A little encouragement for your day. Make it a good one!

"The Lord is my strength and and my shield. My heart trusted in Him and I am greatly helped!"  Ps. 28:7


" You have hedged me in behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me." Ps. 139:5I

"I will not forget you, see I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands."  Is.49:16  -How great is it to know that God has a tattoo with your name on it on His hands?!

"Your hand shall lead me and Your right hand shall hold me." Ps. 139:10 

~Becky

Playing and painting

So, the bad thing about painting one room in your house,
is that you look around and realize that the rest of your WHOLE house could use re- painting.
So, I may be spending all my days off painting from now until Jesus comes.
But I should be able to move into my new bedroom in the next couple of weeks and I'm excited.

And speaking of days off, last week a friend and I had plans to go to the beach but red tide spoiled those plans. So, we decided to be adventurous and try Weeki Wachi State Park.
It was kind of like going back in time and getting to see an old view of Florida.
We saw a mermaid show that has been happening since the 1950's. Seriously, girls in mermaid suits, were underwater, acting out the play of  The Little Mermaid and mouthing the words! -There were hoses they could grad and breath from whenever they needed to. It takes a lot of skill to be a mermaid, Y'all!
There was a boat ride included with admission and it was a beautiful ride on the  spring which is completely clear and always 74 degrees.  Usually you can see manatees but because the Gulf of Mexico is so warm right now, they are there instead. But if you go in the winter you will see some!
We went to the 'beach' and got in the spring, which was a bit too cold for me. But Joy went down the lazy river in a tube and there was also a gigantic water slide to enjoy. -You know you planned a cool event when your daughter crashes Mom's day out. Yes!

And speaking of crashing things. My BFF crashed my week in the best possible way! She decided on Monday morning to fly to Florida and arrived that night! It was great to see her again. She spent the week helping her son get ready for college and fixing up his new place.

Here's hoping I can get my kids to crash my next painting party!  ; )

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

Hey Girls,
We may not feel like we are the whole Proverbs 31 package, I mean who really can be?! And some of those things she did probably don't apply to our society today anyway,
(but maybe I'm in denial -LOL) but these verses are sure worth striving to have said about us!

"She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness." 

Another version puts it like this: 

"When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say and she always says it kindly."

I love that!


~Becky

A new season

In 2005 my hubby's best friend helped us build an addition on our house. The kids were young and we pretty much just cheered him on a cleared away debris. ; ) 

 Part of the addition included building a large room and bathroom for our three boys to share.

Hubby and I planned to make it "the honeymoon suite" when they grew up and moved away. 

After his passing, I couldn't move in there because it seemed too sad.

 Many months later, I invited Zac and Tiffany to move in because Zac was about to go back to school and I thought living here would make things easier for them. We also missed them and thought our house was WAY to quiet. Thankfully, they said 'yes' and we had a great time having them here for the last two years.

 

They just found a really cute apartment closer to their jobs and they moved last week. We are so excited for them and a little sad for us. Zac has just one more semester until graduation! Hooray! They moved in on Monday and on Tuesday he took his final exams for his summer classes and turned in a final project. His determination and diligence never cease to amaze me. 

That room actually did have its season as a "honeymoon suite" when I thought about it because they were still newlyweds when they moved in! : )

And I've decided that it is NOT TOO SAD now, for me to move in there. Bring on all that space and my very own bathroom! Yes, please!!!! Can't wait!

So, I'm looking forward to switching rooms soon. -Lots of painting and decorating and room moving to follow. Andrew is thinking about switching rooms as well.

Joy has a new job as a barista in a boutique coffee shop, which she is enjoying. She's also been dog sitting  and house sitting all over town and we barely see her. I saw her at church the other day and I took her picture because Joy sightings are rare. LOL

Andrew is ready to start his second year of college and it wasn't without the usual financial aid paperwork nightmare that college life seems to include. But he is set now and school starts next week. 

Nathan is greatly enjoying his ministry position in CA and he can't be talked out of living there even though we often try. 

My schedule at work has changed and that has been fun. I love having Fridays off  now and I work on Saturday nights., so my brain has been confused all week over what day of the week it actually is, but I'll get used to it. 

Our BFFs in CA sent their son to school in our city and he just arrived and found a place to live nearby. We are excited to have him over for laundry-doing and some home-cooked meals. (when I can catch my kids long enough to atually cook)

Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

 A prayer from Colossians chapter 3


Lord,
Help me to remember that I died and my life is hidden with Christ in God now and that my focus is to be on things above and not on just the things that I can see. 
I have been made new and my mind is renewed. I am the image of Him who created me. I am holy and beloved. You say that I am the elect of God and that sounds awesome! As such, may what people see in me, be YOUR kindness, YOUR humility, YOUR meekness, 
YOUR patience, YOUR ability to forgive and to bear with one another whenever I have a complaint against someone. 
All of this is possible because You make us able to wear love which is the bond of perfection. Help me to wear love well today. And not to take it off in the middle of my day at the first sign of controversy or pain.
May Your peace rule in my heart. Help me not to let anything else rule my life today. So many other things would like to! May I keep in mind that as Yours, I've been called to peace.
May I also remember to be thankful. Thankfullness has the power to change everything. 
May I load up on Your Word daily like it is caffieine or vitamins! May I not let the Word in me dry up, but be ever consuming it so that it dwells in me richly and not barely! Your Word will keep me! 
May it give me the wisdom to live, admonish, and teach. And may I remember to speak it, sing it and meditate on it.
And whatever I do today, may I do it all in Your name and make You proud. 
Amen! 

~Becky

The terrible, horrible, very bad day or almost

On Thursday we got six inches of rain and the parking lot at work became a small river. I was parked right behind this new river and when I got off work, I was fully prepared to roll up my pant legs and run to my car and pull out, when I was informed that if I did, the water would go inside the tailpipe of my Prius and totally ruin my engine.
WHO KNEW?!
I had no idea I came so close to ruining my car!

Then one of my kiddos, who was house sitting near by,  picked me up and we watched Shark Week while waiting for the water to recede. We made dinner and I found out that the owners of the house store their frying pan in the oven! Isn't that odd? With a RUBBER spatula in it.  How weird is that? We took them out to use the oven, and then when we were cleaning up, I put them back in.
I THOUGHT we had shut off the oven by that time but I was sorely mistaken!
So, it wasn't long before we smelled something like....melting rubber!
Then I tried to scrape the rubber out before it cooled and a plastic bag on the counter stuck to the hot pan and hardened and then I burned my hand!
It was craziness.

And then I WHINED! Which I'm happy to say, really surprised my kid because I don't usually.
But by this time, I was just done. LOL
The good news is that by that time, the water had gone down and I could drive home!

Over the weekend, I heated that pan back up at my house and scrapped and scrubbed it and ended up damaging the finish in the process. So, then it was off to the store to buy a new one. UGH!
I was totally bemoaning this fact to myself when I found the pan and saw the price and that is when I felt like the Lord reminded me that I spent a lot of years teaching my kids about restitution and that this is just another opportunity to model how important it is even if they are grown now.

So, when this couple gets back from their cruise, they will have a shiny new red copper pan and rubber spatula waiting for them and maybe they will think twice about storing them in the oven? We can only hope. I've surely thought twice about where I park my car now!

~Becky

I guess sweating is required

So, I usually go on our  treadmill for an hour after work about 4 times a week. And I have been watching Downton Abbey while I exercise and having the best time, although not exactly sweating. L
But I switched shows last week and it has made all the difference. I've been watching old episodes of  Hawaii 5-0, and even sweating! Because it is amazing how fast you walk during car chases and shoot outs! LOL


~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

After I gave my life to Christ, at 16, the book of Philippians was my go-to whenever I needed cheering up as a teenager. 

I remember my friends knew that and would ask if it was a Philippians kind of day or not. LOL

Reading all four chapters in one sitting, always made me feel better for some reason. 

Here's some gems from Philippians 4:

"Let your gentleness be known to all men, the Lord is at hand."

"Be anxious for nothing, But in everything by prayer and supplication -with thanksgiving- let your requests be made known to God. (not everybody else!)

"And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus." 

Lord,

Thank you that I have the option to give You my requests while thanking You for for all You've done, and in exchange, I get a peace that doesn't make sense and one that will guard my mind from further anxiety. What a deal! 

Please forgive me for the times that I don't thank you and just rattle off all my anxious thoughts.

Forgive me for the times that I make my requests known to everyone else and don't leave them with You. And especially for the times when I don't take You up on this offer at all and am anxious about all kinds of things.

You are so good to us! 

~Becky