Three Years and Forever

       Today is my love's and my 3rd anniversary. Three years ago, we were standing on a hill on a hot, Saturday, afternoon making some very important promises to each other. They went something like this:

       Bea, Somebody once told me that I should marry my best friend because that is the relationship you have to work the hardest to keep strong. So, in this beginning of forever, I promise to be your best friend. I promise to be the shoulder to cry on and the hand to hold on sunny walks through the park. I promise to be the arms of protection and the man of God that you need by your side. And, I'm not sure that it will ever be enough time, but I promise to love you forever.

       Luke, today is the beginning of forever for you and I. And as we begin on this adventure, I promise to love you through it all. I promise to be with you through all the ups and downs of life. I want to see the stars with you and walk the miles with you. Someone once said that, “A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” Luke, I promise that I will always try and be that friend to you. I love you.

     I have been truly blessed by the One who created this life. He put Luke by my side and continues to walk with us. And those words that my love promised me on that day three years ago, he has kept them. He's been there for me through a lot and he has my heart.

 "Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world."
~Nicholas Sparks

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you." ~Elbert Hubbard

Three Years and Forever

       Today is my love's and my 3rd anniversary. Three years ago, we were standing on a hill on a hot, Saturday, afternoon making some very important promises to each other. They went something like this:

       Bea, Somebody once told me that I should marry my best friend because that is the relationship you have to work the hardest to keep strong. So, in this beginning of forever, I promise to be your best friend. I promise to be the shoulder to cry on and the hand to hold on sunny walks through the park. I promise to be the arms of protection and the man of God that you need by your side. And, I'm not sure that it will ever be enough time, but I promise to love you forever.

       Luke, today is the beginning of forever for you and I. And as we begin on this adventure, I promise to love you through it all. I promise to be with you through all the ups and downs of life. I want to see the stars with you and walk the miles with you. Someone once said that, “A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” Luke, I promise that I will always try and be that friend to you. I love you.

     I have been truly blessed by the One who created this life. He put Luke by my side and continues to walk with us. And those words that my love promised me on that day three years ago, he has kept them. He's been there for me through a lot and he has my heart.

 "Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world."
~Nicholas Sparks

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you." ~Elbert Hubbard

The Adventures of Summer

     August is here again. That hot, sticky, month of county fairs, bluegrass festivals and blooming gardens.  This summer has been full of so many wonderful things. Little adventures of everyday life.       Earlier in July, a friend gave us some garden fresh strawberries. So, I got to play farmer's wife and freeze several containers of delicious summery goodness. My extended family decided to have Christmas in July once again this year, that was fun. There were only 4 members missing.
      My sweet husband got me a sewing machine for my birthday and I have had fun creating with it. Saturday afternoons spent with friends. Evenings spent at the annual Itasca Family Bluegrass Festival where good music, happy thoughts and memories abound.  My love and I will be celebrating 3 years together coming up this week. 3 years down, forever to go. Isn't life wonderful!
     My garden is starting to bloom and that makes me smile. I noticed the other day that even though the sunflowers haven't bloomed yet, they still move to follow the sun. Adventures!  Happy Saturday.

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ~Henry James

The Garden

         I was thinking the other about how our lives are like gardens. A garden in which we have the opportunity to plant and cultivate just about anything we want. I love it when I get joy, peace, wonder and excitement growing in my garden. When these start to grow the colors and smells are amazing, and life feels good. But, I do believe that I need to work at my gardening skills because all to often I fail to take care of the weeds. The weeds can be different from garden to garden. Some may have weeds of discontentment and others may have weeds of bitterness or anger or sadness etc. I however struggle with the weed or worry.
         This weed is something that has sprouted in my garden since I was a little girl and more often than not I have cultivated it rather than rooting it out. The thing about weeds is that they can be sneaky. When they first begin to push through the soil it is often hard to tell if what you are seeing is a weed or one of the seeds you planted. And so, you sometimes just leave it alone instead of pulling it up right away. That's the first mistake. Weeds are going to happen, it's a part of being human, but we as gardeners need to vigilantly tend our gardens. When weeds start sprouting we need to pull them right away, or they just might get out of hand.
       I know in my own garden if I catch the weed of worry when it's still just a sprout I can pull it and stay on top of keeping my garden flourishing. However, I really need to work on identifying those nasty little sprouts right away. Because, more often than not I look at the weed and go, "Oh this must surely be a good plant. I have to water it and tend it and take care of it because it is right." And so I do and then I get this giant nasty weed that starts to suffocate my joy sprouts and it takes over the peace plants and all of a sudden my garden is a jungle of worry and I feel overpowered.
    And you know what, it is a lot harder to keep my garden nice once I've let it get out of control like that. Weeds that have been cultivated grow big and their roots grow deep and it will be harder to pull them out than if you had done it when they were just sprouts, but they can be pulled out. 
     The best part is, I know the Master Gardener. He knows just what the joy plants look like and what the weeds of worry look like.  When I consult Him He will come to my garden and give me a hand. He Shows me what to look out for and how to take care of the plants. He waters my joy and peace plants and He gives me a hand at pulling out the weeds. He knows exactly what to look for and helps me to notice the difference between a good plant and a weed.
       So remember, the Master Gardener, the One who loves your heart is there for you. Have a lovely day and happy gardening.



“When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.”
 ~Horace Walpole

Sunny Saturday

     Today I ordered new pictures and hung them. Planted sunflowers, daisies, and pansies while barefoot. Soaking up sunshine sure does feel good. Baked delicious treats for my dear friends wedding shower and got ridiculously excited about a new vacuum cleaner. Happy Saturday.

"Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows." -Hellen Keller

Remembering

     I love being an elementary school teacher and the other day, I had the opportunity to take my class on a field trip to the Williams' farm. As I drove up the lane I thought about the first time I ever made that drive. It was before I knew that I would move to this wonderful town, before I was a teacher, it was the day I met my husband. It's crazy to think about, because that day, almost 4 years ago, I would never have guessed that I would be making this trip now, With a new name and a classroom of kids in tow. As I make this trip I wonder what I will think in 4 more years or 10 or 20. What changes await in the future? What adventures?
    

 “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.”
~Heraclitus

The I.T. Guy Part 2

     So, as I wrote last time, my work computer was having difficulties. Any way, as it turned out the poor old desktop computer I had been using was simply too old to be updated. So, the next solution was to drag out my dusty old laptop and start getting my files moved over. And so, I began the process, happy to find out that the laptop actually runs a lot faster than the old desktop. Then, the world of technology threw me another curve ball. I couldn't get the printer to hook up to the computer and suddenly my happy progress was halted. So once again, my wonderful dad has been spending many phone calls and texts with me trying to get it all figured out. I try to tell him what I see on the screen in my very un-techy way and then he begins to search and advice and talk me through the steps I need to take. We were stilling having problems and that's when the really cool tech savvy stuff started to happen. Dad tells me over the phone to click here and select that and then suddenly from 300 miles away my Dad has complete control of my computer. I sit back and watch as the mouse moves across the screen, seemingly on its own, but knowing that it's just my dad working his magic. Now the printing problem is not fixed yet, but he's still working on it.
      Did you know that our Heavenly Father wants to help you with your problems? I can't physically see my dad right now because he lives way across the state, but he's still there for me. And so it is with our Heavenly Father. No, we can't see him and sometimes you may feel as though He isn't there but all you have to do is call him. I could have tried to work through my computer problems all by myself and never once told my daddy that I was having problems. I could have done this, but I wouldn't have gotten very far. In our lives we are going to come up against "computer problems" these problems may be seen in sin, loss, hurt and  million other technical glitches. Sadly, we all to often attempt to fix these problems on our own or sadder yet simply give up on them and attempt to work around our "printing problem." But our Heavenly Father is just waiting for that call, "Dad, I need help...It's the dumb printer again. What should I do?" And you know what, He will take time from His day to talk you through the steps, to give you pointers on things to try and tell you what buttons to push and which ones to avoid.
      Now as I mentioned above, my dad has this really cool program which lets him access my computer from miles away. But you know what I had to do before he could take the controls? I had to give him a password from my laptop. He couldn't access my computer without my permission. Our Heavenly Father, the One who gave you life, who loves you and knows yours joys and your pains want to help you. He knows the solutions to all your "computer problems" but you have to give him the password. Open your heart and let Him take control . Because then you can sit back and watch Him do His thing and you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the One who wrote the program knows how to fix the glitches that are operator errors.


"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. ... He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken."
~Dieter F. Uchtdorf 
     

The I.T. Guy

       My Dad is pretty great. You see, my computer at work was having issues. Something about an out of date program that no longer had available updates and is thus at risk of computer viruses etc. etc. Anyway...Some people might experience this problem and have to spend time on the phone with some unknown IT person and have a whole lot of run around and hoopla. Not me, nope. You know why? Because my Dad just happens to be one of those smart, tech-y, people who fixes others computer problems for a living. So, I text him and he says "Call me." And so I do. After talking with me and running over options and the specifics he simply tells me, "Bring it home over Easter, I'll fix it for you." So there you have it, my Dad is AWESOME.
       But let's look at this one step further. We have a Heavenly Father who is there for us. He loves you so very much. And you know what He did. He died so that He could fix the biggest problem His children have--sin. Our imperfections, our faults, our mistakes, they have the power to be the end of us. But our Heavenly Father took care of that by allowing His son to die in our place. Just bring it to Him and He's there ready to take the problem off our hands.

" Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face." -Ronald Reagan

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/problems.html#ycsGekXjV8Hdfi2Y.99Within the

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/problems.html#ycsGekXjV8Hdfi2Y.99

   

Thank you

To the parents of my love,
     I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for raising a son who is truly wonderful. Thank you for teaching him about God and helping him to have a firm foundation. For I have been truly blessed to be married to a man who is so rock solid in his faith. He has been there for me in many ups and downs.
     Thank you for teaching him respect and love. I am one of those lucky girls who has a husband who opens doors for me and warms up my car on bitterly cold days.
     Thank you for teaching him about hard work. Because I am blessed to have a husband who provides and does a great job at it.
     Thank you so much for all that you did in raising him, you did a spectacular job. I love him a lot.

Psalm 136

Psalm 136

Give thanks the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the LORD of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever.

To Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever. 

To Him who by understanding made the heaves, for his steadfast love endures forever.

To Him who spread the earth above the waters, for His steadfast love endures forever.

To Him who made the great lights, for His steadfast love endures forever;

The sun to rule over the day, for His steadfast love endures forever;

The moon and stars to rule over the night, for His steadfast love endures forever...

It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever;

And rescued us from our foes, for His steadfast love endures forever.

He who gives food to all flesh, for Hist steadfast love endures forever. 

I've heard it said that you can insert your own thanks and praises into this psalm. So, here is my personal version.

Give thanks to The One who lived and died for me, His steadfast love endures forever. 

Give thanks to The One who took my sins, His steadfast love endures forever. 

Praise to The One who loves me so, His steadfast love endures forever.

He blesses me daily, His steadfast love endures forever. 

He has given me an awesome family, His steadfast love endures forever.

An amazing husband, His steadfast love endures forever. 

Friends who make me laugh, His steadfast love endures forever.

A job that I love, His steadfast love endures forever.

Beautiful days of sunshine that make my heart dance, His steadfast love endures forever. 

Frosty Fridays in November to be enjoyed, His steadfast love endures forever. 

Happy Friday.

Coziness

     I think that in some ways, I am an old fashioned girl at heart. Ever since I was little, I've been fascinated with the times gone by.  I'd imagine myself living on the prairie, being a pioneer. Recently I got a new pair of boots which in my head look like something that Laura Ingalls Wilder would have worn. I put them on, head to school, and feel like an old fashioned, one roomed, school teacher and it makes me smile. Last week my husband and I attended a barn raising. The very term "Barn raising" pulls me back to that old fashioned place.  We strapped on our work boots, tramped through the mud, had fun with friends and watched as the barn took shape. Fall is here and there is a pot of cranberry tea simmering on the stove. We have plans to make caramel for apple dipping, and as the wind howls outside coziness abounds.  All these things blend together creating a quaintness and charm that makes the heart smile. So find a cozy spot and have a lovely evening. Happy Friday.