I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to get up close and almost personal with someone I have admired from afar. Oh MY STARS, was I excited! You just never know what's going to happen from one day to the next!!! Mark Grace was so nice. So were the other guys who were there for a Meet and Greet. Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, Deron Sutton (favorite announcer), Jay Bell (one my favorite players who hit the million dollar grand slam ball that a lady who was sitting close to us caught!), and Bryan Price, pitching coach. Fabulous day. And I was supposed to be at Bible study!

My Forsythia photo got cut off! Anyway, I took a little look at things in my back yard yesterday. Lo, and behold! The Forsythia is already blooming! I was so excited to see that! What a nice little gift from the Lord. I love how He takes care of the condition of my heart. He knew that I needed a little extra something along with the encouragement and advice from so many of you, my friends! I love my LORD and I love all of you!

...that Spring has already sprung?!

I miss my friend Judie. She and her family moved to Tennessee awhile back. Every now and then, we could talk to each other about what it was like to raise our daughters. Judie was always so sweet and understanding and probably alot more patient with her daughter than I was with mine! I wish she was here right now so that I could just have some of that "Don't give up" spirit that would come through her. She has been through alot, yet always had a precious, calming smile. I hope the people she comes across in her new city have had the priviledge of knowing her!

Jesus can love people through me. Sometimes, however, I step in the way and say, (in my imaginary whiney voice), "NooOOOooo. I don't LIKE that person. You  know how he/she is! Know - it - all, controlling, twitchy, complaining, uppity, deceitful, miserable, too chipper, creepy, selfish, bipolar, loud, proud..." My whining is a waste of time and emotion because God always, ALWAYS sees to it that at least one stickery person is in my life at ALL times. There is no break. And I'm not very picky, either. I am generally a loving, understanding person on my own power. As life goes on, the Lord has shown me that my power is not enough. He has shown me that stickery people are lovable and that maybe even I am considered stickery to someone else! Whoah! That hurts!I am supposed to love others as I love myself. I can only truly love myself when I see Jesus in me, through me. So, I pray that He will show me an extra measure of love for those people who will not go away, because He put them where they are and together we can all become like beautiful flowers in a spring garden!

I have a new little buddy who will be 3 soon. He is friends with my almost 3 year old granddaughter, Grace , but they don't see each other much. They live 2 hours apart. Recently, my little buddy saw a picture of Grace and asked, "Is that Amazing Grace?" I hope he always thinks she's amazing and that they would get married someday! Our little Amazing Grace was here to visit on Saturday with her mommy, daddy, brother Josiah and sister, Autumn. We also had other totally wonderful visitors; my daughter - in - law's mom, Audrey, sister Laura, brother Shane and friend Lily. After they left, in came friends Mary, her daughter Angela with little ones Aiden(my buddy) and Eli (only 10 days old!), Mary's son and his wife and their bouncy little girl!! It was so fun to have all this loving togetherness in our teeny house, but it's times like this that I truly wish we had a bigger house so that everyone could spend the night! Oh well. I am so glad they all came. I am posting pictures of "Amazing Grace" (the blondie), Josiah (our curious one who especially loves P.Pa's old green car),  Autumn (the Baby Grandwonder who started walking at 9 months), and a few other nice pictures that my son Ryan took with my new camera.

Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. Proverbs 11:7

This is one of my new favorite verses!  Today was a good day. I went to Bible study and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. We have some very special ladies in there; young, old and in - between! I love some of the silliness and energy and questions from the young ones. Then there's the wisdom from the old ones. Those of us in the middle are relieved that we're past all the diapers and the teething and the pressure to keep up with the "Joneses". Most of the prayer requests are all about the same thing; everyone has pain of some sort, whether it be physical, emotional, financial, spiritual, and yes, even mental. We are encouraging each other to TRUST God and His ways and to just be patient about how His Will works out. I don't want to be dragging on the floor in discouragement over whatever is bothering me right now (still). I don't want the devil to pull me down into his realm of darkness. He is the enemy and he will NOT win!! I want to live in the light of the Word and the light of God's love. God's light is brighter than the beautiful light that flows past my newly painted yellow door! It's brighter than the sunlight that streaks over my old oak floor and it's way brighter than the light that comes through my kitchen window! Yes, light is sweet. And my soul belongs to the Son!

I've added a silly "self portrait" so you can see the little earrings I made!

See that pretty brownish haired girl in the middle? That's my daughter. She is 16 and will be 17 in May. I pray for her all the time. Not just because I love her so much, but because I desperately want her to believe that I love her intensely. And that the Lord loves her even MORE than that! I am a huggy person and when I want to hug her, she sometimes rejects me. That hurts. My boys are are much more receptive to my hugs. What is it with girls who reject their mommas? I also pray that my little girl Grandwonders, who are also in this picture with me and my daughter, will not reject their momma. Tara is a fantastic mommy to her little ones. Besides the girls, she also has her awesome little son. Children are such a bunch of lovies.

Elmbeetlehill is the name I have given our place because we have elm trees that attract beetles of the sort that suck the life out of these trees. This year was actually a pretty year for the trees because of all the rain we had. So, YAY and thank the Lord for that water! Today, more rain came down with a spitting of snow. I was on the couch gazing out the window and decided that even though the trees have given up their leaves, beauty is still there. I am like that elm tree. Going through stages, giving up my leaves, allowing more of myself to be exposed (properly, of course!) to the world around me, and in a way, I've had the beetles - circumstances of life - eat away at me. In God's eyes, I am still beautiful. He still loves me! He created me and has allowed things to happen to me because that is life according to the results of Adam's and Eve's sin. I look forward to the day when I will be like these trees in the early summer; full of healthy leaves, retaining the shape and style God designed for me, firmly rooted in His love. I love that I know Him at least a little! I love that I yearn to know Him better! What all am I willing to give up in order to see His face, to really be completely in Him and absolutely empty of myself and my desires? There is a difference between shedding leaves naturally because it is time for that to happen. The ravaging damage from the elm beetle causes the leaves to fall off prematurely because they simply cannot hang on. The evil beetle took the nourishment from the tree. I want to be healthy, giving up my leaves when it is time, as God has physiologically programmed! There are two things I continue to stubbornly keep a tight grip on. Two big fear leaves that someday soon I need to let go of. One is the fear of losing one of my children and my husband. The other is the fear of having to live in this ailing old house for the rest of my life. If I let go, God might still never allow me to live in a nice house. He might let me lose my loved ones.  So, this is really about suffering and my desire to avoid what I think would be the most painful thing. Shame on me for having another spell of not trusting HIM to do what is best! I guess I need to experience a bit of an earthquake to shake me up to where I can finally let go of those two leaves!

Don't let fear cause you to not even approach the door! The New Year is upon us; life is to be LIVED! I am painting my door today!

This word has been stuck in my mind since a recent blog from Dawne got stuck in my heart. It has DAWNED on me that this is the theme of my New Year's resolution! My Vows! I promise to CHERISH my Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus. I also promise to CHERISH my husband, my children, my grandchildren, every family member and friend. I promise to open my heart so that I may CHERISH with God's unending love, the strangers I happen to come across. I will cherish even my frustrating and ugly surroundings and will dedicate myself to fixing up and beautifying whatever I am capable of doing. I will CHERISH each moment that God gives me on this earth, no matter how painful. I promise to CHERISH the fact that God loves me and that He will give me what I need to take care of my image issues. I will CHERISH people so much that I will bubble over with the joy of knowing Christ and they will want to Cherish Him, too! I am so blessed!                                                                                                                                                                        

This IS my Ryan! He looks so much better now!

Yesterday it was almost evening when my hubby and I decided to go out and do a little bit of Christmas shopping. I needed to focus on something joyful. The camera came along with us because I knew that if I captured something beautiful, my spirit would be lifted. My hubby pulled into the high school parking lot so that I could get out and capture the sky. It was looking interesting! We trekked over to the middle of the football field in the bitter cold and I quickly took a picture and declared that I was finished. The Lord knew how I was feeling about life right then and I didn't know til eleven at night if I even got a good picture. Here it is.

A few minutes ago, my daughter came in the house and said "Debbie ....." shot herself". Shock set in. After a few more questions, I was told that a casual friend/acquaintance of mine shot and killed herself at home last night. I am numb. I cry for the kids. I don't know about the husband; if things were good or bad. Kids are 14, 16 and 20. The oldest was a student of mine in 6th grade. The youngest is a wrestler and we just watched (last time I spoke to Debbie) the boys wrestle Sat. a week ago. This is so dreadful. I do know that God knows and that we need to pray for His will to be done. Please, please pray for the family and for Dee Dee, Debbie's best friend. love, Gail

This is a very wintery morning! The angels got out the powdered sugar and got a little silly with it because it is all over our yard! I am glad, though. It makes me feel like Christmas really is almost here! May we know what real comfort and joy is through knowing who Jesus IS!

I told the Lord recently that I really wanted to make a scarf, knitted or crochet. But because I don't remember how to do either form of yarn work, I would need for Him to bring somebody along who could help me. Just like He did when I said I wanted to paint a picture but needed for Him to provide someone who could help me do that. Ya never know what the Lord will do to make things happen! Last Thursday morning my Hubby and I went into Starbucks (even though it would've been quicker to do the drive - thru). There, sitting in a comfy chair, was a woman from church who I am friends with but rarely see because we "run" in different circles. GUESS WHAT SHE WAS DOING!?!? Knitting a scarf!!!! I was all excited but in a restrained way, and asked what she was making. Told her I loved the yarn color. Then I told her my little "Lord I would like to make a scarf but..." story. Ruth smiled and said she would love to show me how! I nearly cried I was so thrilled with how the L ord did this. I know to some people this might seem trivial and I seem too emotional. But if you knew where I came from in my fearful, stifled, "Do you think you'll ever amount to anything?" life, you'd understand. I sometimes feel very strongly delighted now, each time I accomplish something new and I see the Lord's hand in it that I just jump up and down in my heart and sometimes in person; like I am a little kid. Here I am, age 51, happy as a little 5 year old because...."I DID it!!!" And I don't need anyone's approval or criticism because the sheer delight of the accomplishment is enough to fill that old hole in my soul that has been desperately needing to be filled for SO many years. God is loving me through and through and I am feeling it and knowing it bigger and better. I SO want to share this big God love with everyone I come in contact with. There are so many precious people out there who don't know or don't believe that they are precious and that God's love and power and forgiveness can heal anything and anyone. He knit each one of us in our mother's womb, so amazingly. So, He cares! Therefore, I will knit my scarf with Ruth and share my little story with anyone who might "admire" the scarf!

This was the vibrant evening sky that I was priviledged to see last night! It was better "in person" than the picture shows!