What am I most thankful for ?

What am I most thankful for this Thursday?

 










The gift of eternal life.  Thank you sweet Jesus for making a way for me to live eternally with you.

In the last several months since moving back to Kentucky, I have witnessed much sickness and death of loved one (older friends). And I am witnessing another slow and agonizing death of a dear friends husband (hence why I wasn’t on here at the blog yesterday).   And I am just thankful to know that when our end here on earth is over, it’s NOT over for us that believe.  God made us a way to never die.  I am so thankful for that assurance and gift.

Onto other happenings around here, today is my check-in.  Buy that I mean that I started working out on the treadmill several weeks ago, and last week I decided to take my measurements (inches).  So today I will check to see if the inches have melted away.  LOL….no really, not expecting any major progress, but I know some of my clothes are fitting a bit different so either way I am happy, and looking in the mirror I can see some difference….so it might take it some time to reflect in the actually measurements, I don’t know.







Since I am still unemployed, I will be spending my morning on the treadmill and with my bible reading.  I really enjoy this time.  I have read the Bible through twice now and this is my third go around.  I picked up a book by Dr. Henrietta Mears to accompany me in my reading the bible this time.  



This is the back cover.




It helps me to better understand why things happened as they did.  I’m also taking the time to learn the books of bible in order, I have learned the first 27 books in order now to learn the rest.

Couple of questions here.  Do you have any great resources that help you with reading your bible or for bible study that you would like to share?  I’m always looking.
And also, what are planning to do today?  Please do share.

Hebrews 11:1“[Faith in Action] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Many hugs and blessings,

Cindy

Simple Pleasures-Reading

Happy Thursday dear friends….hope your having a great week and are enjoying this fall weather.  I am loving everything about this time of year…

Last night I spent the evening making pumpkin bread and my house smelled so yummy, the mixes of cinnamon and nutmeg and pumpkin spice filling the house was a aroma to behold.  Anyway, I could go on about that and the smells of cooking are a wonderful simple pleasure, but today the one I am really enjoying now is reading.

This is my favorite…Amish Fiction, next to my bible and bible study books, this is what I enjoying reading the most.  These stories are full of family, love, faith.  Such strong family values.  Where life slows down and the real things in life that matter are tended to.

“If you think all romance novels have covers displaying a shirtless Fabio clone embracing a woman with heaving bosoms and are filled with torrid sex scenes, think again. The hottest trend right now in the romance genre is the “Amish inspirational,” which are books with chastely dressed women on the front and no sex inside. Yep, that’s right, kissing is about as racy as it gets in an Amish inspirational. But, for many readers, that’s very appealing. As a recent article in USA Today says, “In our sex-soaked society, nothing seems to inflame the imagination quite like the chaste.””

If your a reader, and you love the simple life, I highly recommend these books.  You will not be disappointed.

So what is your simple pleasure today?  Check out what others are saying, by stopping in at Simple Pleasures. Join Dayle (our wonderful  hostess) @ A Collection of This and That. 

 

1 Peter 1:24-25“For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Guess what came yesterday?

  If you said Country Sampler Christmas Magazine then you are right. 

However, I don’t think you said that.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I opened my mailbox and saw this peeking out.  Christmas and I just started decorating for Fall. 

Although, even though Fall is my favorite season, Christmas is my favorite holiday.  I love EVERYTHING about Christmas.    c

Well my plans for this little magazine is to put it away for just the perfect afternoon or evening, when all is quiet (and that includes my mind), to sip a cup of tea or cocoa and sit back and dream and get inspired.  It’s like a mini vacation for me.

If you want some Christmas inspiration, stop by my Christmas blog, and become a follower so you don’t miss a thing.  Soon I will be starting to populate the site again for this upcoming season.  At the moment I am working through a organization plan that I (try) to follow each year to make my holiday more stress free. 

1 John 4:16“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

My Monday

Happy Monday Morning everybody!!!!  I hope everyone had a great weekend and got a chance to spend some time with that special “father” in your lives.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to  spend it with my dad, but I did talk to him on the phone, nor did I spent it with my hubby as he went to Houston to spend it with his dad.  Plus he got to spend it with his children.  So he had a nice day.  :)  And that is all that matters right?  I mean, it is their day!!!

 

Let me say “thank you to everyone that has left me comments or sent me emails” to my last post.  Your prayers, and concerns really mean the world to me.  Let’s just say that I am doing quite a bit better, I have taken action and started on some medication.  Which I can see a big difference already and it hasn’t been that long…so I know it will get better as time goes on.  The hopeless feeling has dissipated and for that I am grateful.  Each day brings new hope and excitement.  I can’t tell you how good that feels.  Anyway, just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you all.

Since I had the weekend to myself, by the way it was a LONG three days, I missed my hubby while he was gone, I had a chance to catch up on some reading.  I finished up “Plain Paradise”  by Beth Wiseman and “A Promise for Spring” by Kim Vogel Sawyer, (which I highly recommend both these books) and I’m now reading “Hanna’s Dream”.  Yet  another Amish fiction for me.  The book description states ” Set in the Amish communities of northern Indiana and Montana, Hannah Miller has just found a poem about love that stirs her dreams. Checking her past experiences with boys, no one seems to fit, especially not Sam. She had chosen him in the eighth grade only because everyone back then just had to have someone. With his mouth that always fell open when astonished, Hannah now looks for someone else. Feel the agony of mistakes, the burden of guilt, and one girl s attempt to make sense out of love. In this end, will Hannah go the whole way with the logic of her conclusions?”

I also had the chance to spend some time with my daughter and her boyfriend on Friday night, they came over to visit and it was such a wonderful treat to have them here, we didn’t do anything special just visited and watch some TV but it was WONDERFUL!  I loved seeing her and catching up with her. We talked about her recent trip to the beach, (wish I had pictures to show you but she hasn’t uploaded them yet) her work schedule, and just things going on in her life.  Then on Saturday night my son and his wife came over, actually we met for dinner and then came back to the house and just  chilaxed! It is one of the first times I have seen him since he got married and I loved having them here too.  I really do miss seeing my kids on a regular bases so it makes the time spent with them now even more precious.  They really made me one happy momma this weekend.  Thank you Wesley and Tori! 

I am suppose to have a lunch date with Tori and her boyfriend tomorrow, but other than that nothing is on the agenda.  Not really sure what this week holds in store.  I haven’t really kept up with my blogging or blog visiting, so I may try to catch up on some of that. Really need to scoot, want to spend some quiet time reading.  Hope you have a blessed  Monday!

Psalm 91:1“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) . All Rights Reserved.

Amish Reads by Wanda Brunstetter

Happy Tuesday everyone, hope this finds you all having a great day and a fantastic start to your week.  Now to interrupt my normal postings, I wanted to share something a little different with you today.  Something I have a passion for, and that is reading….in the last several years, I have gravitated to Amish fiction and I still can’t get enough.  Did you know that it has become the fastest growing genre of books….once you read one you’ll understand why.

This past weekend, I pre-ordered my reading material.  I love to read Amish fiction, there is just something about the simple life and the simplicity of their days that lure me in.  If you never have read any of the Amish fiction I hope you will give it a try.  I am eagerly awaiting the following book in the mail, and can’t wait for it to arrive.  It’s the third book in a series, but for fun, I thought I would post the trailers to this book as well as the two prior books. 

Book 3 in the “Indiana Series”.

Book 1
A Cousin’s Promise

Book 2- A Cousin’s Prayer

There are some great Amish writers out there, and believe me, I have a listing of them all.  I also have my “coming soon” list so that I can always get the latest releases.  If you are new to Amish fiction, you might want to try some authors like:

Beverly Lewis
Cindy Woodsmall
Kathleen Fuller
Amy Clipston
Beth Wiseman
A great site to check out is Amish Hearts

Enjoy!

 

Wow, how time flies

My question is wow where does the time go?  I can't believe it has been over 1 1/2 months since I wrote anything on my blog.  Life has really been busy for me over the last month or so...it naturally is but for some reason this year it has been particularly busy. 

As you see from the last post, we got our house on the market, and that is a experience all in itself.  As any of you that have done this knows, it is alot of work to keep your home "show ready".  So that has taken up some of my time, not to mention having to leave the house each time someone wants to come and look at it.  Oh well, that is part of the process I guess.  Everyone keeps asking....nothing has happened yet with the house, but we have had a abundance of second and third time lookers.  Guess people are being cautious about spending that kind of money so they want to get the biggest bang for their buck.  Can't say I blame them.  So if and when it sells, you will be one of the first to know.

I also have started back to work full time and that has taken a adjustment...the early hours and early nights....so therefore my evenings are more structured and blogging doesn't always fit into the plan. 

This is the first weekend we have been home in a month.  Three weekends we had a unexpected trip to Missouri for my dil's mothers funeral.  It was such a shock and sad time.  She was only 52.  I think our dil was glad we came down, just wish there had been more we could have done for her.  She is such a sweetie and glad to have her as a part of our family. 

The next two weekends were spent in Williamsport Pa, for the Little League World Series.  It just so happened that both my hometown team, Russellville, Ky....the Logan County team made it as well as hubby's team from San Antonio...so of course we had to go and root our boys on. We had a great time, seeing old friends and making new ones.  Although neither of our teams won the title we were so proud of them and the way they represented us.  Our hats off to the parents and coach's of these young men.  What a wonderful experience for them to carry into adulthood.

Our weather here has turn almost fall like, and I welcome it.  It is by far my favorite season.  It has my mind reeling with all kinds of things I want to cook and bake....I love the days spent out going to craft fairs, fall festivals, apple picking, hayrides, shopping for the perfect pumpkin.  Is there anything about the fall NOT to like.  God blesses us with wonderful warm and cozy colors to set the perfect backdrop for this time of year.  Simply gorgeous!

I have also been reading like a mad woman...I have read some wonderful books written about the Amish...my favorite...and have a list of about 6 more to buy...both Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter have new ones out.  Woo Hoo!  So might try to hit a bookstore over the weekend to pick them up, if not...here I come Amazon.

Well that is a brief snippet of what has been going on with me...with alot of little mundane sprinkled in there...but overall just real busy and feeling real blessed.  God is so good! 

Heading out this morning to get me a manicure which is in great need as lately typing has become a major chore....so going to take care of that before much else gets done. 

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Happy Labor Day, spent with those you love and capturing sweet moments that will linger as wonderful memories with your family and friends.

Till next time,

Hugs to all!

Safegaurding your marriage

Howdy friends, it's finally here...the weekend that is. I am beside myself, because it has been a LONG week with work and more work at home. Originally our forecast called for a wonderful weekend, but that has all changed and now it is all about rain. I know I shouldn't complain because later this summer we will be needing it. So I am trying to be optimistic and just work between showers. That is if there is "between time". I still would like to get out in the yard and get some flowers in the ground. Will see if it happens or not.

Right now I am in the midst of reading about three books and last night I ran across a book that I had forgotten that I had until I went to packing away books last night. I ran across a book by Kay Arthur on a biblical marriage. So now it resides on my bedside table. I read about two chapters of it last night before calling it a night. I am excited to read this book. It really looks good. This is the book description:

"A Marriage Without Regrets": No matter where you are or where you've been, you can have

This book isn’t about how to have a perfect marriage, or to change our spouses,” says Kay. “It’s about having the kind of marriage where you can stand before God and say, ‘Lord, I was all that You intended me to be.’ Only when we make that kind of commitment can we truly have a marriage without regrets!”


Speaking candidly about her first marriage, her conversion to Christianity, and her longtime marriage to Jack, Kay offers practical advice on effective communication, security and significance, difficult relationships, parenting, and God’s guidelines for divorce and remarriage.

Readers will discover what the Bible says about.

resolving conflict

understanding each partner’s role

improving the sexual relationship
becoming financially wise

respecting and keeping marriage vows

This rerelease with a fresh new cover (more than 110,000 copies sold) contains the marriage–building and life–changing material Kay has presented to enthusiastic audiences worldwide—helping thousands of people in many countries experience supportive, Christ–centered marriages.

No matter how great we think our marriage is, it could always be better. I know after the dimise of my first marriage (which I thought was a great marriage) if you don't stay connected to God, the creator of marriage then when things start falling apart, your marriage will too.



I often look back at the mistakes that was made in that marriage and my part in them and remind myself, I don't want to make the same mistakes twice. I hope I have learned from that experience, no matter how good it is and how much you love someone else, you have to be practical. I loved my husband and was more than forgiving on many issues that others couldn't believe I could forgive. But my marriage was important to me, as I had made a covenant with God. I honestly believe I was married to this man for a lifetime. However, one thing I learned during the process, that one can't do it alone. I didn't want the divorce but he did and you can't make someone else stay if they don't want it. I believe I wanted the marriage for all the right reasons, and I asked/pleaded with God to save this marriage. However, my ex told me he didn't love me anymore. I felt so hurt and rejected, and I knew that I had never known anyone other than my family that loved me so unconditionally as he did. So what happened!!! I believe what happened is that God wasn't the center for both of us. I believe my ex couldn't or wouldn't deal with the past mistakes he had made, even though I was willing to forgive the past so we could move on to the kind of marriage that God ordains.



Marriages aren't safeproof unless you put GOD first. I have known for a while that was a major problem in the first marriage. So many hurt feelings, and no abilitly to forgive ourselves. You later, sit and ask yourself what happened? I know I did. I know that me and my ex both played a part in the demise of our once happy home.And I know we will answer to God for that one day. But by God's grace, we can move on and be happy once again. Believe me, I never thought that would happen for me.



I guess that is why this book has intrigued me. You see, know matter how strong you think your marriage is, Satan has a way of moving in. And he will, unless you both stand firm and arm yourself with the appropriate armour. Be ready to go to battle for your marriage. This book tells us the biblical truths about marriage and how God designed it for us so that we could have a marriage with no regrets. I had one with LOTS of regrets but I NEVER want to have another one that way. God is/will be the center of this marriage.


Didn't mean to get off on a tangent but I feel so convicted that I have to share with you, that you MUST have God in your marriage. It is the most vital part of your marriage. As the bible says, " What God has put together".....you know the rest. Please safeguard your marriage by knowing what the bible says about it. Don't be a victim of divorce as I have been.





It took me a long time and lots of prayer before I could move forth in another relationship. But I have been blessed to find a man who loves ALL of me. I have been blessed to have that twice in my lifetime. (yes, I say twice, because I know my first husband did too, but ....) I want to glorify God in this new marriage. I thank God everyday for my husband and continue to pray that he will be the head of the household as that is God wants. I have been learning to trust again, and that has been hard when you have felt so violated and rejected. But God has a way of healing those wounds. Praise God!


As I did deeper in this book and also in th WORD, I will be made aware of where/how/why my first marriage when wrong, so that I don't repeat the same mistakes.


I hope I have given you something to think about.


Feel free to drop me a note if you feel you have something to share. Would love to hear from you.

Blessed,

Cindy

Aren't long weekends wonderful?

I am so happy to have this long weekend.  My Saturday was spent running around and having some fun.  My day started with running some unwanted yard  items ( old wicker chair and settee, trash cans, and misc things) to our city park.  Twice a year the city brings in trash trucks and dumpsters to the park to make getting rid of old, tired, worn, broken things easier for us instead of having to carry it all to the landfill.  We didn't have any little things this year, mainly bigger items so it didn't take us long.  So off we headed to rid ourselves of the unwanted baggage.

Then we were off to do some yard saling.  And yard saling we did.  We also traipsed through the craft fair at ColorFest.  We finally got back home around 2:30 and my body was aching from all the walking. So I took a little nap and headed out again, only to get back home with bags of goodies all over the place and no energy to put them away.  So that leads me to what I am going to be doing the rest of the weekend.

Now for my do-list for the next two days-

• Clean my kitchen (completely) wash down my cabinets and counters, clean out fridge, run dishwasher, possibly rearrange my countertops.
• Put goodies (from saturday away)find a home for all my little treasures
• Spend some time reading - Picked up some reading material last weekend and again this weekend.  One book for pleasure and one for a bible study.
• Complete some computer work- upload some pictures to the web, create a new banner for the holidays, to be used at a later time.  Work on organizing some of my computer files, etc.
• Bake- some pumpkin bread and possible make something using some of my apples.
• Cook- I am craving for some home cooking, I get tired of eating quick type meals. Hopefully I will have plenty of leftovers to carry to work this week.
• Get to the antique mall (I always like to check it out several times a month)
• Craft projects- I have several projects that I need to complete.  Get out the black spray paint. 

I am sure there is more, but most likely will not get all these accomplished.  But I hope I get most of them done.  What a awesome feeling it would be to go back to work with all that behind me. What are you working on this weekend?

Have a blessed Sunday!

Today is just one of those days

  when you don't want to do anything, but at home.  I ask Michael last night if we could just stay home this morning instead of getting out.  So few Saturday mornings we stay home, because we normally get out to go to yard sales or such in the summer time.  But all week I have been thinking about staying home and getting caught up on getting some computer stuff done and just relaxing.  Actually going to read some more of my book in a little bit.

I have added a whole batch of new links to Home Simple Home, for weeks now I have been finding some new places that I just love.  Several are very inspirational for home decorating and I can just sit  and gaze at the pictures for what seems like hours. Kinda like I do my country magazines. Which I need to go through and dispose of some, and organize the others.  That has been on my to do list for awhile.  I might actually do it tonight while watching tv. 

While I sitting here this morning and cruising the net I found many things that I would love to do....but when I saw this I new I needed to do these things first, so that I will not forget what it is I would like to do.    First, I think I need to create myself a mood board.  Do you know what a mood board is?  It is a board that you simple put all your loves on.  There are several at Decor 8. As well as create myself a decorating binder.  See this is the kind of things I do when I have time.  I get creative and want to do things.  Guess I could carry this binder a little further and make it my "dream home binder".  How fun is that? 

Let's see what else is going on with me.  My eyes are doing great. I can't tell you the difference the enhancement done for me.  I highly recommend it if you aren't completely happy with your Lasik procedure.  Don't get me wrong I am so glad that I had the procedure done, but apparently my right eye was only doing about 70% of what it was suppose to be doing.  Even at that, that was much better than what I had seen my whole life.  So wasn't complaining, but still wanted to try for better.  So like I said...I am very happy with the outcome.

Last night Michael and I met up with some friends and went to play basket bingo.  And I didn't win a thing.  Actually no one at our table did.  Boo Hoo...but it was for a good cause so hopefully all the money I spent wasn't for waste. I wanted to give you a idea of what a basket bingo is like.  You usually pay to play 20 games with 20 baskets filled (like these in the picture) and if you win the game you get the basket.  They normally have special games where you have to buy extra cards to play which brings in lots more money.  The room is usually packed.... below kinda gives you a idea of how the game rooms are set up and how serious the women are that play.   Now these aren't from any bingo's I have actually gone too, but they are the same.  Basket bingo is taken seriously here.  Usually these are played as a type of fundraiser for a family in need, a school program that needs sponsored, etc.  It brings in lots of money at one time. Now you know the rest of the story.

Well, I have been working on this post for a while, but my phone keeps ringing so will close.  Hope you all have a great rest of the day.

Hugs!

Time is flying by

Where is the time going? I have so much going on and my mind is rattled but other than that, I am doing great. I realized that one month from now, I am going to married again. WHEW! Hard to believe that it is coming along so quickly. Everyday there has been something that I have had to do, but today, I came home from work and took a nap and just have been hanging out. I actually just got out of the shower, had to wash this hair...but I wanted to get that down so that I could try to watch AI tonight. Actually I am watching last night show as I type this.

Tomorrow, I am going in for my dress fitting and I am taking Tori with me, because afterwards we are going dress shopping for her. She is going to be my maid of honor and we still have to find something for her. I hope we can find something that we both can agree on.

Depending on what is going on this weekend, I might go and get my hair cut and get it highlighted...but if not this weekend, it will be next week. Michael said something about trying to get tickets to go see the San Antonio Spurs in Philly, this weekend as they are playing in there.

I am so sorry I haven't had time to get around to visit or to even update my blog lately. Just way to much going on. But I have really missed it and checking in with you.

I have been spending as much time as possible reading these days. I have been reading two different Elizabeth George books. Almost finished with the second one. I have read her book on prayer and " A woman after God's heart". If you haven't read them, I recommend them to you. Both are excellent books and Elizabeth has a way of relating God's intention for us in such a way that it is easy to read and understand. I have thoroughly enjoyed them. I have made a concious decision this year to balance out my life with my priorities as well a dedicate time each day with the Lord. I have had times throughout my life where I felt my life was more aligned with God's plan, but over recent years it kinda slipped away....and my heart has graved for that relationship again. Thus, I have been diligently seeking his will in my life and for my family's. I find when I have a few minutes of spare time these days, that is where you will find me, with a book in my hand trying to learn. I just want to stay "teachable".

Well, there is much more going on, but will stop for now. Hoping that I will get back here soon.

Have a great rest of the week.

Happy New Year

Hi everybody. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe new years eve. Michael and I didn't do much. We were home kinda early and visited with my kids, until they scattered to other places. I was actually in bed around 10 ish. So needless to say another year I didn't see the ball drop. Oh well....
This morning he and I got out early this morning and hit some shops and went to some fellowship meetings and just got back home. Now I am preparing dinner for tonight. I have all the kids here tonight so wanted to get a head start on things.

Have a list of things I want to have organized before heading back to work tomorrow, but hoping that I will get a little nap in this afternoon. Would kinda like to do some reading too, as I have a new book/series started. I started a book by Wanda Brunstetter, "The StoreKeepers Daughter". So good so far. Not sure I like her style the way that I do Beverly Lewis, but then again, I have been reading Beverly alot longer. In saying all that, I do enjoy the book.

K....going to get the rest of my dinner on. Talk to you all later.
Hope your new year will be everything you want and more.

PS....I added current pictures (Christmas 2007) to my Flickr Badge on the left.

Hugs!