More Birthday's...

Yesterday was Keegen's birthday!  I gave him a big hug and told him Happy Birthday and he looked at me and told me that it really kind of wasn't his birthday!  I said...Yes it IS your birthday...I was there when you were born and I know today is THE day!  He said...Well, MiMi...we're celebrating tomorrow (which is today, Saturday) so tomorrow will really kind of be my birthday!  HuH??  So I'm blogging about his birthday on his really kind of birthday!


My how time flies....



Look who's 6!!


I can't believe it's been 6 years since my first grandchild was born!!!  Keegs you pave the way for me being a MiMi!!!  Love you Bunches!!!  Happy really kind of Birthday!!!!

Also...My Dad, Keeven and Keegen's Pop (who Keegen is named after) is having a birthday today and he is %# yrs. old!!  Happy Birthday Dad!!!  Love you Bunches on your REAL Birthday!!!

*Lord, show me the sin in my life...*

If you see me walking around with my head hung low...don't worry, I asked for it!  Here is why:
While reading my bible last night I was reading some of the Psalms of David.  I highlighted some verses that really spoke to me, I thought they would make a great prayer to pray!

Psalm 139:23-24 (New Living Translation)

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 143:10 (New Living Translation)

10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
on a firm footing.

Then as I was listening to the radio online this morning (Wed. May 18th, 2011) Dr. Charles Stanley's message "A Helper For All Occasions" came on.  (Click on Audio Archives and enter May 18th, 2011 and you can listen to it.)  I heard the very same message!  Is God speaking to me?  I THINK SO!!

The road may get a little bumpy as God reveals to me what it is that He needs to help me fix in my life!  I've put on my seat belt and I'm hangin' on for dear life while I head down the road to building a stronger relationship with Him!!  Would you like to ride along??

Little nuggets I learned from today:
*Depend upon the Spirit of God to be IN you!  Your words are nothing without it!
*Spend quiet time with the Lord so your spirit can be renewed!
* In order to live a Christian Life...the Holy Spirit has to live IN us!  We can't do it on our own because our human nature won't allow it!
*I can't, YOU can, I surrender, YOU do it!
* In order to win in life we have to give up!
*When your life is over and you look back...what do you want to see?

Aspen is 2 today!

I really can't believe it's been 2 years since our precious grandaughter Aspen Clare was born!

When God created her He knew exactly what He was doing!  After having two grandsons I had NO idea what I was getting when I got a little girl!  She melts my heart everytime I see her!  She has such a big little personality!

She was having so much fun at her birthday party that getting her to look at the camera was almost impossible!  This is the ONLY pic I got with eyes on me!  The simplicity of this picture says it all!

We love you Aspen!  Happy Birthday sweet girl!

VERY expensive "hotel"

One more night is what the Dr. ordered!  I really think he doesn't want to take a chance at Jack going home and going back to work right away!  We told Jack that we would call him after church tomorrow and see if they were going to release him. He said, "well, if you would have just left my pickup here...I could have drove myself home"!  He wasn't kidding either!!  I'm sure that's exactly why he got to stay another night it one of the most expensive hotels around!!  Silly man!!  He sure did enjoy his Quarter Pounder and french fries from Macky D's tonight though! Mmmm....  I'm positive he hasn't lost his appetite.  After he ate the burger and fries, he called down to the cafeteria and ordered himself an order of onion rings along with a strawberry shake!
Hopefully tomorrow will be "the day"!

Surgery update:

The surgery went well...a little longer than expected and a few more tumors than expected.  He did end up spending the night, which didn't surprise us one bit!  We're waiting for the Dr. to come in this morning to (hopefully) dismiss him to come home today.  They will read the pathology reports next week and then the Dr. will have a clearer picture of where to go next with treatments.  Please pray that Jack will allow us to help him out on the farm and he'll "take it easy" until his body recovers!  Thanks for all the prayers so far!

*The "C" word*

It's 4:45am and I've laid awake in bed for the last 2 hours tossing and turning trying to fall back asleep.  I finally decided to get up and share with you why my mind is spinning!  Tuesday (yesterday) our family got hit with another nasty blow!  Let me back up...A couple of months ago, after a string of events, my mother in law was diagnosed with lung cancer.  The doctors told her she wasn't a "canidate" for surgery because she's 81 and only weighs 80 lbs.  Her body isn't strong enough to go through it!  Chemo & Radiation would wipe out any quality of life she has left so she chose to go home and live life.  It's been really hard to watch her hurt and struggle with her breathing and not be able to fix it for her.  As if that wasn't enough...my father in law hasn't been sleeping and he's been in quite a bit of pain.  After a Dr. visit and CT scan, then another Dr. visit with a different Dr. then an immediate "procedure" it was determined that he has bladder cancer!  He will have surgery this Friday at 1:00 to remove the mass and see where to go from there.
The "C" word really scares me and takes me reeling back 18 yrs. ago when my first husband died of cancer which left me a widow at 23 with two small children.
I said it then and I'll say it now...God doesn't come knocking on our door to ASK us if we want a burden or two to carry for a while!  What He does say is, "Here, while you carry that burden, let me carry you and we'll walk through this together!"  I have to hold on to that and continually remind myself that we're NEVER alone.  I have no idea what the future holds BUT I do know who holds the future!  Please pray for Jack & Lorene...
1 Peter 5:7 says:
Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you. 

~Cuteness OR Messes?~

Looks can be deceiving!  These are the 3 little cuties we welcomed to the farm last week!  After all the OOHS & AHHS settled down...guess who's left to clean up their MESSES...yep, it's me!  Who else?  They even have 2 litter boxes just in case they want a change of scenery!  There's a problem though, only one kitty knows how to use it!  Must be the oldest one because US oldest children are rule followers! HA!  The middle kitty and the baby of the litter don't have a clue!!!  My garage is starting to smell and my knuckles are burning from the bleach and scrubbing of floors!  And my patience level is decreasing!

I wonder how God feels when He has to clean up our messes?  Kitties just leave little poo messes!  (thought about inserting a picture here but figured you could visualize this one on your own)  Human's leave GIANT messes sometimes!  And He just keeps loving us and cleaning up behind us!  OVER AND OVER AND OVER!  Just think of how many messes he has to clean up in one given day.  I don't know about you but I don't really feel the love when one of my kitties decides to leave me another mess!  Makes me want to send 'em packin'!  Good thing God doesn't feel that way about us!

Sometimes we may feel "cute" on the outside but really we're one giant "mess" on the inside!

Acts 13:38

"Brothers (and sisters of course), listen!  We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins (messes).

Oversize Load!

Tonight was Boot Camp night!  Boot Camp is an intense exercise class that takes place 3 days a week.  This week started my 2nd month of attendance.  For those of you that don't really know me...this is a BIG deal for me!  One, because I'm hangin' in there and not quiting and Two, I'm exercising!  I'm also changing my eating habits!  It's truly a lifestyle change!
I'm not really a chocolate eater so that hasn't been a problem for me like most women!  BUT...today, when I came home for lunch, there was a bag of caramel filled kisses left over from Christmas in my pantry!  For some crazy reason I had a hankering for one (OK...2)!  On my way back to work as I turned off of our rock road...this is what I was following:

I've worked so hard over the last month!  Boy did I ever want to spit out the chocolates that had already settled in my stomach!  I sure felt guilty!
I started thinking about every day living and how we carry around "oversize loads" that are burdens on us.  As a human I can do a few more sit ups and a few more push ups to "work off" that chocolate.  But more importantly as a Daughter of Christ, I can simply ask Him to remove my oversize load/burden.  He will carry it for us!  All we have to do is ASK!
Sometimes I think my load is too small for Him to carry but it's definitely too oversized for me!  I shouldn't wait until I feel worthy to ask for His help!  Tonight our trainer brought to our attention that our worth is completely separate from our weight that the two are not to be compared.  Our weight will always fluctuate but our worth never changes!  Because of Jesus Christ...we are worth so much more!
Romans 8:18 says:
...our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
So, get out there and give Him all the glory for who you are!  YOUR WORTH IT!