Tell me your story....

A.W. Tozer said this in the first chapter of his classic "The Knowledge of the Holy,"

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."


I'm not going to argue with him. I love hearing about people and their relationship to the Lord.


I enjoy reading so many of your blogs and just about throw a parade over here when I receive a note or an email from you. Sometimes I'll even get a tantalizing glimpse into the deeper you, the real you, when you tell me a little of your own story.

Who has God been to you?

What difficult times has He carried you through?

How did you meet Him?

What has He done for you?

How did He change you?

Have you known Him since you were a child or did you meet Him as an adult?
How did He rescue you?

How did He save you?

I know He did. He saved me, too.

What is your "God story?" (AKA testimony)

I'd love to hear more about it, and I'm betting that boatloads (okay maybe a baker's dozen or so) would, too.
This gets to the nitty-gritty of who we are; where the rubber meets the road of what really matters.

If sharing with the bloggy world is not enough incentive for you, here are a couple more reasons.

1. It is good to have your own story (or testimony) prepared and ready for the time when someone asks you why a relationship with God is important to you. (1 Peter 3:15)

As I've said before, people will often argue with scripture, but very rarely will object when you tell them what God has done for you.

2. Two pertinent scripture references:



"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4



and

"Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south." Psalm 107:1-3

We can encourage each other with our testimonies, our stories. I don't know about you, but these stories lead me to worship and praise God. That is a good thing my friend.

So, join this Bloggy Carnival called "Tell Me Your Story" on Tuesday, May 14.
Copy and paste the button over on my right sidebar for your own blog and let's get that boatload of people involved.
This should, will work just like WFMW (if miracles still happen.)

I'll have a Mr. Linky ready to go (I hope and pray) on the morning of the 14th, so have your testimony ready to link up.

P.S. If you can help me figure out the Mr Linky, feel free to email me. ASAP. Or whenever. No hurry.

Kegerator dreamin'

I woke up early this morning to get up and get ready for church, but my neck seemed stiff. I was holding my head at a weird angle. I shrugged it off. (mentally)

As I made the coffee, I found I could hardly raise my arms high enough to reach the coffee. Uh oh! Red Alert! Red Alert!

All I remember is dreaming that I was installing the new Kegerator for Rod and I tweaked my neck.

We don't actually own the Kegerator, but it has long been a dream of Rod's (hence, it is now MY dream). Honestly, it is one he will probably not realize. The cost makes it prohibitive to him and he can't justify spending that money when we need things like electricity, food and gasoline. And occasionally sandals. :-)

But wouldn't it be fine to just be able to pull the lever and have the perfectly chilled brew of his choice come bubbling out, finishing in a foamy, frothy head? Rod does enjoy himself a cold glass of beery goodness occasionally. But to have this on hand for those summer BBQ's and potlucks would make his happiness levels soar. And make our house a pretty popular place, I'm thinking.

(Arden, if you are reading this, it is ROOTbeer. No worries.)

So, in my dream, I was surprising him with this sweet machine and even installing it with my daughter's help when, unfortunately, I tweaked my neck.

So sad. No real Kegerator. Very real pain in the neck.

So Rod got ready for church, thinking I was a wonderful wife who hurt herself trying to surprise her husband. (So what if it wasn't real. Rod thinks I'm GREAT!)

I am staying home and having church with the dogs. Don't mock. Both Chopper and Delilah love worship music.

Rod ran out to the car with his bible in one hand and his morning coffee in the other. I watched the car begin to pull out, then slam to a stop. The car door opened and Rod ran back to the house. This is what I saw.

He had dumped his hot coffee in his lap. Being the caring wife I am, I took his picture, then blogged about it. I hardly laughed at all. Because my neck. It hurts when I do.

It's lookin' like Rod might have had a little too much from the Kegerator last night.....

Winners!

The winners of the two signed Randy Alcorn books are:
Becoming Me has won "Deadline!" WooHoo!
and
Carolynn W. has won "Safely Home." Hurray for you!
Send me your mailing address and they'll be on their way to you.

Just smile and nod

I can't seem to wake up this morning and I ncioheniugu....

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Can we please start over?

That was my tribute to Brooke for last night's AI first: a start-over. Or it was evidence that reality television is eating away at my brain cells. Whatever.

Actually, I am really tired this morning and can't seem to wake up. I showered and blew-dry my winter-crackly hair. Then I put my pajamas back on. Me and God had our time together, but I was wearing jammies. I don't think He cares too much. Maybe I should wear these to church sometime...? Really, they shouldn't call pajamas "lounge wear." It just encourages tired people to lounge around and be lazy. Like me.

There is just no reason to get up and get moving today.(Well, there is. But I'm ignoring that as best as I can.Which is easier to do while wearing lounge wear) I am just so very sore. I began my walking routine again and yesterday I upped the ante to 3.5 miles, which used to be my short walk. (yeah, I KNOW!) But I haven't walked that distance for 7 months or so and I FEEL it. My back hurts from swinging my arms too energetically. How sad and pathetic is that? I am like a stiff, little 95 year old arthritic Grandma smelling of Ben Gay.

As I was walking, I was pondering what bad parents Rod and I am.

I'll clarify. We're bad parents of adult children.

Case in point: Our son, Josiah is buying a house with a partner as an investment. This is the same son that served as a firefighter in Afghanistan with the Air Force.

So, you'd think as his parents, we'd be proud and pleased, or at least seemingly nonchalant.

But you'd be wrong. We eat a meal together discussing the interest rate. We lie in bed at night worried about the soundness of buying a house which is in foreclosure.

The other day, we knew Josiah was having an appraisal and an inspection done and we happened to be in town. We called and said we'd like to drive by and see the potential new house. Josiah gave us directions and wow, we were like right around the corner. It's not like we're stalking him or anything.

He met us in front of the house. As the car window slid down, I could feel our words bubbling up. We couldn't stop them, even if we'd wanted to. And then they exploded.

"Are you paying for this inspection? Who is doing the appraisal? Make sure they check in the crawl space. Have they negotiated who is paying closing costs? Are they leaving the appliances?" (that last one was me. Rod doesn't care.)

We sounded like little barky terrier dogs, yapping out the window at him. He responded to as many of our questions/comments as was humanly possible, then politely asked us to leave, as he had quite a few people in the house and needed to get back inside.

We were startled into silence. The window rolled back up and we slunk away with our eyes averted.

How humiliating was that?

Josiah was bound to think that we didn't think he was capable of making these kinds of decisions without his parents screeching at him like howler monkeys.

So I called him later to apologize (that is two times in three weeks for those of you keeping score) for nagging and nit-picking at him. I told him again that we are trying to learn how to be parents of adult children, but it has been tough going. He answered, "No problem. I always call and ask for your opinions."

For so many years we told the kids what time to go to bed, not to go past the stop sign, and how many Pop-Tarts he could have. (None. Those are mine. Now go to bed.)

Ahhh, those were the good old days.

Now they decide things ON THEIR OWN. Scary stuff, believe me. (What?! You're eating THAT for dinner?!)

It is hard to let go, people. I'm telling you. Hard. To. Let. Go.

But we have raised Josiah and Amy up in the way they should go and pray for them both daily. We need to let go of all these little things and trust that God, who loves them more than we do, is directing their paths.

Also, we need to embrace the wisdom of "The Smile and Nod" technique. Neither one of us is good at this yet,but we are practicing.

Smile and nod. Smile and nod. Keeping our mouths shut.

Oh, FYI, Josiah is traveling out of state today to meet his girlfriend's parents.I know, that sentence should be in bold, or italicized or something. But this is my new strategy of letting things go that are not in my control .

I'd better go. Rod just asked me what I was blogging about. I told him.

He listened carefully and without missing a beat, he said,

"Did you see Josiah last night? I hope he shaves before he meets Ashley's parents."

This is a quote, from the Dad that is learning to let go. Hmmmm.

Parenting. It doesn't get any easier.

Just smile and nod.

Be excited. Be very excited.

The bloggy Giveaway carnival is back! It couldn't come soon enough for me because here's a picture from out my front door. Beautiful, isn't it? For JANUARY, maybe. NOT the middle of April.



Weep for me. Pity me. Go sledding with me.

To make me happy, I am joining up with millions thousands hundreds of you in the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival.

And do I have a treat for you!!

One of you will win Randy Alcorn's best-selling novel "Deadline."

Signed. Because he is my friend and you will reap the reward of this friendship.

One of you will win Randy's best-selling novel "Safely Home."

Signed. Because he is my friend. (Do I never get tired of saying that? Clearly, the answer is no I don't.)

These books are fiction, but the truths in them are inspiring. Randy has the gift of taking a subject you thought you were very familiar with and helping you to see it through different eyes. You'll see your relationship to God deepen. You'll see yourself in the pages. Pretty much, you'll be forever grateful to me for giving it you. (oh, and to Randy for writing it.Whatever)

So leave a comment to enter this giveaway and I randomly choose two winners on Saturday April 26. Please only enter one time each.

** PLEASE leave an email address if you don't have a blog, so I can email you when you win!

Go here to see all the other giveaways you can enter. Have fun!

P.S. I know you are in a world of hurry entering all the giveaways you can before the end of the week, but do yourself a favor. Take a breather and go read this. It is Randy's blog this week about knowing God's will for your life. Not a waste of your time, I promise.

Then you can go back to trying to stealwin all the Starbucks gift cards from the bloggy-world. (they should all be MINE, I tell you you!)

The Lost Sheep

Time for another prison story.

I don't know how to start this, and I keep writing and then deleting paragraphs because they don't communicate what I want to say.

I love these women. I love going to jail to see them. This is why I am here on Earth. Apparently, I belong in jail. :-)

Bringing desperate, unhappy, at rock-bottom people the Good News is a joyful pursuit. How many times have you been rebuffed when you attempt to share God's Word with your neighbors, or people in line at the store, or your own family members? Many times, these individuals are content with their lives.

Or at least can pretend to be.

Not so in jail. Broken lives and hearts and families, searching for some answer, any measure of peace.

I look in their eyes. Sometimes I see hostility, but mostly I see heart-ache and desperation.

I love them. And I have answers for them with me. I open up the Word.

"Call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you will honor me." Psalm 50:15

"That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10

"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." Romans 6:22

That is exciting news! I can't help but be enthusiastic about it. I pray I don't scare anyone with my over-the-top exuberance.

Simple verses. Verses we know by heart, many of us. But an actual life-line to someone who needs rescuing.

We spend time unwrapping exactly what each of these verses mean. Then we hold hands and pray together.

This week one young girl with wild eyes and hair to match made a statement.

"I don't think I can be a Christian . The bar is set too high. I would fail. Church is not for people like me."

I could only smile at her. I understood where she was coming from. I came from there.

So I told the group my own story. The worst sinner I know. A murderer, liar, hypocrite and more. Deserving of hell. How I was rescued, by God, and by "Jesus with skin on." How he loved me, (even me!) enough to die a horrible death so I can spend eternity in Heaven, a place I can only imagine.

They were all in tears by the time I finished, but I saw hope in their faces. People will always try to argue with scripture and theology, but hardly ever do when you tell them what God has done for you.

These women are all in the process of deciding who to follow, themselves or the Lord. Please pray for them this week.

My fingers are hovering over the keyboard again, wanting to share with you the anguish of the prisoner who is 5 1/2 months pregnant, worried for her child. About the woman who's mom is dying of cancer while her daughter is in jail. About the woman is looking seriously at spending the rest of her life behind bars.

I don't know how God will answer each of their prayers. But I know that He says "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." and "Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

I also know that each of these women will someday have their own story about how God rescued them (even them!) and will tell it gratefully and with tears in their eyes.

Lay it down

I got up this morning with a weight on my heart because of a problem I can't easily fix within a ministry I'm involved in and love. My thoughts raced with potential answers to this problem and I argued with myself for a couple hours with "If I do this, then that will happen" and "But if I try that, than this is gonna happen." You know how you do that.

The whole time I knew I wanted to pray about it.

Finally, after Rod left for work, I had time to sit down in my comfy chair, bring out my bible and prayer journal, and spend time with Jesus talking about the day.

But my mind kept wandering in and out during the reading. Then during the praying. I just could not focus. I couldn't concentrate. (Except on my problem and how I'm going to fix it. Insert sheepish smile here)

I had my new cd from Matt Maher playing. I'd played it yesterday for the first time through, but didn't really listen. If you'd asked my opinion on it yesterday, I would've said,

"It's a'ight, dawg." or

"I'm not mad at him."

(Too much AI overload.)

But today, I'd say, " Listen, man. Check it it out!"

The songs spoke through my frustrating situation to the heart of the matter. Especially the last three songs, Unwavering, Lay it Down, and Maranatha. (Click on the link in the upper right hand corner to get a special price "Empty and Beautiful" cd)

They helped me cut through "ME" and get back to "HIM."

"

Unwavering is your voice,

unwavering is your hand,

unwavering is your heart

that bled for the sins of man.

Unwavering is your will

unwavering is your plan,

the fount of salvation

on which we will stand.

Send us out to be,

your hands and feet.

Send us out to be

your hands and feet."

This cd is going on my iPod. TODAY.

I owe Matt a big debt of gratitude this morning for helping me lay it down this morning when nothing else worked. (Thank you, Matt.)

The situation is still there. But it is in perspective. Laying at the foot of the cross.

This cd is going on my ipod today.

Rats!!

To get my mind off the fact that it is mid-April and snowing hard, I thought I could either do some data entry work for our business and actually accomplish something or scroll lazily through the "pets" section of our local Craigslist.


Guess what I chose.


You might remember the last time I posted about the kitty on Craigslist. Unbelievable stuff.

Today, to make my Spring snow day complete I found an ad simply entitled "Rats!!"

Why, oh why did I open it?

If you have any rodent phobias, as I do, please hide your eyes now. Turn away quickly. You have been warned.

"2 cute rats that need a new home. I would like to see these 2 gals go as a team. "Starsky" is the fat one, and "Dotty" has the white dot on her forehead. Both are around 16 months old. They are not sisters but have been together in a cage for a long time. Great shoulder rats and fun to play with.Thank you. Cage included."

I hope that Dottie and Starskey find a new family where they can play rat games and climb on people's shoulders all day long.(Is it just me, or does Starskey look hungry?) I need to go take a shower now.

Here is another ad I saw today(No picture. Just use your imagination):

"i am looking for a venomous snake. i've been doing venom research and just recently moved here from utah. (venomous reptiles are illegal there) and i would love to get one or two venomous reptiles. i have worked with many species of rattle snakes as well as tree vipers and cobra's. i'm most interested in gaboon vipers and rhino vipers. thanks for looking. kind regards chad."

Chad, best of luck in your venomous snake search. Please don't be my neighbor.

And finally, to wipe out any traces of shoulder rodents nibbling on your ear or venomous snakes crawling up your drain pipes I offer the following kitty ad:

"We have a 4 year old beautiful golden persian that needs a new home. We just got two new kittens from our family and our landlord said two cats must go. We hate to leave her but we need to find her a new home with a loving family. She is a pure bread persian with papers, all up to date with shots, and has an amazing hair cut. See for your self. She's a spunky cat, she runs the house and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She does not like dogs much but gets along great with other cats. Her name is Beulah Belle. If you feel you'd be a good parent please call me to come over and take a look at her."

Wow. What a haircut. There is just not anything else to say. Hopefully these kitty pictures helped erase the shoulder rat pictures from your head.

Weird and Random

Loverly Queen B has tagged me and because I love her and her blog, I will play along.

I am supposed to list seven random and/or weird facts about me.

Hmmmm.

I know a few of you who are reaching your hands in the air, waving frantically, hoping I'll call on you to tell something weird about me.

Not gonna happen. Your weird facts about me are probably too embarrassing to air in public.

So here are mine.

1. I can't order a coffee drink in Starbucks. Ever since my daughter began working there, two long years ago, I am like a deer in the headlights when they ask if they could get a drink started for me. I guess I wasn't ordering properly before, and now that I know this, I begin stuttering Starbuckese, but in no particular order. Just shouting things out like Grande! Decafe! 1 pump sugar-free vanilla! No whip! Oh gosh, does that make sense? Well, it may, but chances are it is in the wrong order. And those Starbucks people, with their green aprons and their jovial greetings just intimidate me, okay? I usually just go in when Amy is there anyway, and say "Just get me that thing I like." Which she does. And it is always best when she makes it anyway.



2. I was almost KILLED today while riding in a brand new Mini-Cooper. A Honda Civic was barreling towards us looking as big as a Boeing 747 from my vantage point.(Keep in mind, I was in a car the size of a Big Gulp)
Go ahead, Brenda. Try to defend yourself.



3. I can't stand the thought of paper towel, TP or napkins on teeth. Maybe it has something to do with pulling my teeth out when I was little, but seriously, it is like nails on a chalkboard to me.



4. One time I was able to wear a sparkly gown and sash, sing beautifully in front of millions of viewers and come in second runner up in the Miss America contest.



5. Okay, you're right, that wasn't me. That was my little sister Stacie who can still sing beautifully and would look stunning in sweats. Or sparkly sweats. Whatev.



6. I apparently see nothing wrong with stealing other peoples' random and/or weird facts and making them my own. Theirs are more interesting. Mine are just weird.



7. Except for this one. I have had a book dedicated to me. And, no, it wasn't "Diane....Queen of Thieves and Liars." But the title actually is "Deception, by Randy Alcorn.

Hmmmm. What do you think he might be trying to say....? Suddenly, I'm not feeling all that happy about that dedication.

To finish this little game up, I need to tag seven of you to play along. See, it is all about the number seven.

Amy at Oh Me, Oh My, My Wonderful Men..

Becky at The Meyers. (I went to her baby shower today and know she has nothing better to do than play this game. :-)
Here are the rules. For those of you who like that sort of thing.

Michelle at What Was I Thinking? My Florida bloggy friend.

Jennifer at Fox Family Fun. I enjoy her. :-)

Amy Beth at Ministry So Fabulous. Because she has lots of spare time and I would so heart reading her answers.

Erin at A Peach livin' in the Evergreens! She needs something to entertain her now that vacation is over.

Wendy at Momlady. Last but never least.

So, ladies, play along if you can. I'd love to read your answers.




The Rules:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

The Saga of THE SANDALS

Gather 'round, my little Fashionistas, gather 'round.

Today you will hear the tale of the cutest shoe ever to leave a foot print. It is the legend of THE SANDALS.

I first heard about them a long, long time ago on Big Mama's own blog. She posted a link one innocent Fashion Friday which showed a picture of THE SANDALS. I followed the link and beheld the footwear vision for the first time. My heart skipped a beat. Perfect footwear can do that to me.

(DANGER!DANGER! DO NOT CLICK ON LINKS PROVIDED ON BIG MAMA'S FASHION FRIDAY'S POSTS!)


I knew they belonged to me.

In my closet.

On my feet.

In my coffin when my husband sees how much I spent.


I do believe they may cost the same as a week's worth of groceries.




Knowing this was abhorrent in His sight, I asked for the Lord to deliver me from this evil temptation as I clicked on that Nordstrom site as quickly as I could.


The Lord did not deliver me.



Nordstrom's did just a few days later.


All I could do was hope my husband would not notice or care about the price once he beheld their beauty.


But he did notice and he did care. And I thought I was going to end up, buried in the new garden out back. I would have, too.



If his package from Cabela's hadn't arrived and saved my worthless life.


Now I can wear THE SANDALS to my heart's content, eliciting admiring sighs as we walk on by.

Even though they are not from Cabela's, and not come in Mossy Oak camouflaged, Rod is now very fond of THE SANDALS.



They are cute. They are comfortable. They will go with everything,like this outfit, all Spring long and coast into Summer. Did I mention they are cute and comfortable? They are. I love them. And I am not angry at Big Mama anymore. Not even a little bit.

Click back here to see what loverly bloggers are wearing this spring. Thanks, Big Mama, for throwing this Fiesta and for, well, you know, THE SANDALS.

That video

You know that video?

The one with the girls all beating up the one girl. They keep showing it , over and over on all the news shows.

This morning it was on NBC. Rod was watching it. I watched Rod. His face had a look of pity, disgust and anger on it.

I told Rod it gave me a feeling of familiarity. (yes, everything is all about me today, apparently)

I've been in the position of the girl who was getting hit more than a few times.

The rage would catch me by surprise and then it was all swinging fists and screaming as I would try to cover my head with my arms.

It was my Mom who would do it.

My childhood was spent trying to avoid her out of pure fear. I never knew for sure what would set her off. Out of the two, rage or apathy, her apathy was preferable.

One time I rode our horse when it's foot was hurt. One time I went to bed without washing my mascara off. Once I was doing poorly in math. Those are particular times I remember. There were plenty more.

As I grew up, I slowly figured out that not everyone lived like us. Not every kid was afraid all the time.

As a kid who was ever hit for whatever reasons, I slowly discovered that the physical bruises fade quickly(at least in our family) and are actually almost inconsequential.

The shame of having a parent who treats you worse than you would treat a dog leaves a wound that is difficult to heal. The more I saw parents that doted and loved on their children, the more ashamed I felt. I was unworthy of that love. What was wrong with me?

But God placed people in my life. Jesus with skin on. A church family.(Psalm 68:6) Most importantly Rod, who loves me unconditionally beyond all others and stuck by me. (After 25 years of marriage it still nudges my heart and gives me butterflies that I can say, with conviction "Rod loves me." It still seems like such an unexpected gift.) He taught me what love really is and showed me what it is not. And believe me, I tested him. Poor guy.

When I had my own children, I adored them with every atom in my body, and I was terrified that I was going to hurt them. As they grew, that fear receded and my love for them grew, year after year. I just didn't know about that all-encompassing tidal wave of parental love. I loved them with my entire being during those harsh unlovable teen years, when it is a struggle and they sometimes look at you with contempt.

Now it is an easy joy again.

When I see this cheerleader video, I can feel those old scars and the anger begins to find a foothold. Shame, guilt and anger.

Forgiveness, like love, is a choice, not a feeling.

Though I have forgiven my Mom, sometimes I just gotta do it again. Not justify it, or rationalize her behavior. But forgive, as I have been forgiven.

Not because of her, or even me. But because of Him.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Family Time. It can be fun.

Rod and I are grandparents! We are so excited, happy and proud. We knew this moment would come someday, but when it did, we were just not prepared for how overwhelmed we would be.
Without further ado, may we present the triplets:







Keeping with the current trends, they are named (left to right) Corn, Tomato and Pole Bean (Just "Bean" for short).

Those are little peat pods which we watered, planted seeds into and now tiny little vegetables are sprouting. Warm weather had better arrive before July or my office desk will be overrun with large plants. Not conducive to good business practices. So I hear.

The sprouts are as close as we will get to grandchildren for a while, as neither Josiah or Amy are married. Without a doubt, both the kids are really hoping that the veggie-babies will hold Rod off for a time.

I have to say, I am very much enjoying being a parent to adult children. My learning is continuing, (I already said I'm sorry, Josiah)and I make many mistakes, but hopefully they can overlook those because that would be the Christ-like thing to do. Right??

They can make me laugh like no one else in the world, and spending time with them is my most favorite thing in the world. Right up there with spending time in prison. :-)



This weekend we went to the fabulous wedding of Josiah's friends, Zac and Erica. It was fabulous. It bears repeating.

Josiah was one of the groomsmen and this is his darling girlfriend, Ashley. We all went over to Grampa Arden's house for pizza after the wedding and Grampa warned Josiah not to let Ashley get away. As if!

Ashley is a wonderful,sweet girl who truly cares for Josiah.

And she has top-notch fashion sense. You should see this gal's shoes! What a catch!

So I'll end today's post with a shout out to the gal who fell all the way down our front steps wearing the most darling trouser jeans, tailored short jacket and perfect shoes, making it look as though it hardly hurt;

"Hey Ashley, hope your bruises are fading! Love you! Diane"

Free Woodstove on Craigslist

3 .....That is the number of days our advertisement has been on Craigslist.

2548...that is the number of people who called and said "Hold it for us! We are loading up the trailer and will be RIGHT OUT!!

2....That is the number of people who called and said "Sorry, we are not coming after all. Don't wait up." Thank you kind and responsible people. Thank you.

4.... the number of Oregonians who called and didn't know where Mt. Hood is located. Turn around and open your eyes, people.

FYI: Mt. Hood is the almost 12,000 foot tall, snow covered mountain sticking up directly to your East. Very picturesque and makes for a prominent landmark when looking for our house. (this geography lesson was offered free of charge)

2....the number of people who kinda scared me when they called.

1.... person who emailed me and said they couldn't afford to drive out here, but really wanted the free wood stove, so maybe we could "work something out." Ummmm, tempting. But no.

2...Strong guys who actually showed up and hauled that wood stove off my deck.

0....number of times we'll do this again.

This hurts

Just a quick note to send you to my friend Randy Alcorn's blog. He has an important post about Planned Parenthood. Beware....it hurts.

If I knew you were coming

That's right; I'd bake a cake. So I did. Even though you are not actually coming. Here is the cake , in all it's glorious, highly-caloric scrumptiousness. It only takes two days to make and three years of strenuous cardio to work off. Perfect. It is called "Put the Lime in the Coconut Cake" . I wish I would have made it this weekend instead as Ashley, Josiah's girlfriend, is coming up because he is in a wedding. And needed a date. :-) So, hurray! We get to visit with our favorite Idaho/Utah girl.

Feel free to stop by for a bite of cake if you are nearby, as Rod and I are determined to eat it for every meal until it is gone or Jesus comes back. One more reason to pray for His quick return.

Spring is trying to emerge here, so that means Rod and I rush out and buy all the fruit trees and bushes and vegetable seeds and plants we can find. Even though it is 20 degrees in the morning and we'll likely murder anything we plant. Here is Rod planting the newest members of the family, Blu-ray and Duke, both types of blueberries.

Yes, this is, in fact, snow on the ground. But we are from hardy peasant stock and digging deep holes in frozen ground doesn't deter us. (by "us" I mean Rod. Just so we're square.)

Speaking of Rod, I was absolutely delighted yesterday when he received a package from Cabela's, the Outdoorman's Valhalla. It contained a backpack, camouflage, of course. It is comfortably padded, and has a place to carry water and drink from it. Kinda like a giant sippy cup. It is camouflage(the importance of this feature cannot be overstated) which goes with everything and it says "Cabela's" on it in big letters just in case the odd mule deer can read, or the other hunters need to stop their stalking and rush to Nebraska and pick up one of these babies.

Well.

The price tag was $109.00. WAY more than "THE SANDALS."

I'm just sayin'.

Needless to say, I am doing the happy dance, wearing THE SANDALS.