My grandmother changed my life. Not by teaching me to crochet, although she did do that. Not by showing me how to can fig preserves or roll up cinnamon rolls, but she did that, too.
My life wasn’t changed when she taught me the value of saving pie tins, bits of fabric scraps, Cool Whip cups, the bags from the outside of the newspaper, milk jugs, or even butter tub lids. Grandmother helped to change my life with three little words.
Use me Lord.
For as long as I can remember, my grandmother got up every morning and uttered those three words to God.
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photo © 2010 Courtney Carmody | more info (via: Wylio)This week, I have been purposeful in reminding myself of who I am. There are many things that I DO that I have allowed to become such a part of me, that I sometimes lose my way.
It is true. I wear many hats. I am wife, mother, sister, friend, administrator, blogger, counselor, cook, dishwasher, laundress, housekeeper, caregiver.
And the list goes on.
I interact with people on a daily basis who ask me what I do. And I can give any number of answers to this question. Why is it that no one ever asks me “who I am”?
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Do you ever find yourself in a bit of a funk during the months of January and February? I never seem to mind the cold and snow in December, but now I’m ready for warm weather to return. It doesn’t take long for me to find my mood plummeting right along with the temperature.
Thankfully, I’ve learned that a cranky attitude doesn’t help anyone, especially me! So, I’ve developed a list of five things I use to help myself overcome the wintertime blues.
1. Movie Night – Having something to anticipate with enthusiasm always helps my mood. Watching a movie at home with a fire in the fireplace, cuddled up under a cozy throw, munching a little buttered popcorn.
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“Wow! Look at that! Can you see that, Mommy?”
“Oooooh…look over there!”
I smiled as I listened to the joy-filled exclamations coming from the back of my minivan. You would think we were driving through some exotic locale or past a squeal-inducing theme-park. But we were just driving down a normal, everyday road in our hometown.
So what was all the fuss about?…
Two little girls with their first pairs of glasses could finally see! With the lifting and lowering of her bronze-colored frames, my oldest began a little chant, “Fuzzy…not fuzzy…fuzzy…not fuzzy…”.
As a fellow farsighted one, I totally get the wonder my girls have been feeling.
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You have heard the old retort to when a kid asks his parents how he came into the world: “The stork brought you.” I’ve decided that is actually a pretty good response to my nine-year-old daughter and eleven-year-old son. Yes, we have already had the “s” talk, but more than anything I need them to know something even more important… Someone who loves you and will protect you to the death brought you into this world.
I have been stumbling through the book of Job lately. Job has really been difficult for me to glean much from because I just keep going back to the fact that Job’s friends are just jerks dishing out a bunch of twisted truth.
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We live about 20 miles outside of a major city and we love the beautiful drive we have along forested highway to get to and from church, work, etc. Each time I prepare to make the drive, my dh (dear husband) says, “Watch out for deer and trucks!”
So, when I saw the Associated Press article titled, Wisconsin Runner Collides with Deer During Race, I had to know more. It seems that a high school sophmore was running a cross country race when a deer ran into her path. Thankfully, no injuries more serious than a bruised leg were sustained, and they each continued on their way.
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I drove along the unfamiliar road, going maybe 50 mph at best. The sun was quickly setting in the west, much faster than I had hoped. I had left my house forty minutes earlier for the hour and a half road trip, equipped with nothing more than anxiety over navigating country roads by myself and – of course – my trusty GPS.
His name is Walter. You know, the faceless guy who gives you minute-by-minute driving directions. The same one that announces, “You missed your exit. One moment. Redirecting.” Walter and I had made several trips together before this night, and he’d not given me any reason to doubt him before now.
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“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You…” Psalm 63:1 (NKJV)
I never expected the Lord to use the hound dogs next door to bless my life. They are just your everyday, ordinary hounds…the kind that get to howling in the middle of the night and that bark their heads off at anything that moves during the day. I had never paid them much attention, that is until one particularly cold, winter morning.
I held a delightfully warm cup of coffee in my hands and gazed out my kitchen window. As I sipped and pondered what I should do next with my day, I noticed the dogs.
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