The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His Hands. Ps. 19:1

This is the sight that greeted me Friday evening on our drive to our daughters house. Wow, it was so spectacular to see so clearly. I am so thankful I got to see it-I was reminded that all things are His.

A New Game

Firstly, to all those dear friends who stopped by SUM yesterday and left me nice comments about my post, please know how much you touched my heart and how much I appreciate you. A big hug from me to you.

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Last night hubby and I went over to our youngest daughter's house to play a new board game, The Settlers of Catan, that all their friends are hooked on. Generally we play cards and love the time together; it helps daughter and s-i-l to unwind after living a full busy life with 3. Over the holidays they were invited to our pastor's house to play this new game, which we had never heard of before. In fact both our daughters have played it and it sounded so intimidating to me as well as them that I was surprised yesterday when we received the invite to come over and play. As son-in-law explained the strategy and objectives of the game I sat there feeling like I was never going to get the hang of it. For those who haven't heard of it, a person is accumulating goods-such as rock, brick, wood, sheep and wheat in an effort to win the game. Once we started playing though it was very easy to catch on to and although I'm sure I missed much of the strategy, it was a lot of fun. It only took a bit over an hour to play with just 4 of us so it makes a quick evening. I was a tad concerned because it really seemed like a "guy" game but it isn't and I just want to encourage you that if you get the chance to play this, try it you'll probably really enjoy it. I'm looking forward to our next game night.

Blessings to you this weekend.
Noreen

Without A Word

Last Friday I asked you, dear friends, to go visit Spiritually Unequal Marriage to read a story written by my daughter that tells of her childhood. I pray that you were blessed by her reflections. Today I am sharing some of my testimony there as well.

Please grab a cup of coffee or tea and join me here. http://unequalmarriage.typepad.com/

He Will Open The Door

Last night hubby and I decided to watch a movie our daughter lent to us, "Facing the Giants".
We have been told by many what a good uplifting movie this was and had just last week hubby had declined watching it. However, last night nothing was on so we watched it-and I was so glad we did. Not only did it exceed my expectations of being a enjoyable, feel-good movie it was filled with God's word. At one point near the beginning of the movie a verse from Rev. 3 is quoted and I truly felt like this verse was for me, given our situation in house hunting. It brought tears to my eyes and so I immediately wrote it down so that I can quote it as my own word from the Lord.

"He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut and who shuts and no one will open. I know your deeds, behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut because you have a little power and have kept my Word and have not denied my name". Rev. 3:7b,8

I am so very thankful for this Word-because the Lord certainly closed the door to one house and now we just need to wait until He opens the door to the house He has for us.

For each of us the Lord has a word to encourage and bring hope; may He bring you one such word this day.
Be blessed. Noreen

Faith

This weekend I was reading a book by William MacDonald that I've picked up from time to time but don't read it on a regular basis. This weekend, though, one chapter reverberated through my spirit, probably because I've been mulling over our current housing situation and where the Lord might lead in it.
"Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends. George Muller explained, 'The province of faith begins where probabilities cease and where sight and sense fail.'
Faith says, "If 'impossible' is the only objection, it can be done!'
C.H. Mackintosh put it this way:
"Faith brings God into the scene, and therefore it know absolutely nothing of difficulties-yea it laughs at impossibilities. In the judgment of faith, God is the grand answer to every question-the grand solution of every difficulty. It refers all to Him; and hence it matters not in the least to faith whether it be six hundred thousand dollars or six hundred billion; it know that God is all sufficient. It finds all its resources in Him. Unbelief says, "how can such and such things be? It is full of hows; but faith has one great answer to thousand "hows"and that answer is God." William MacDonald~True Discipleship chapter 6, page 48

So I now am choosing that, even though 5 weeks is quite near when we are to vacate our rental, with God nothing is too hard and He already has all the details worked out for the house He has for us.
Blessings to you this day.

The Treasure Chest

When you talk about treasure chests a host of images come to mind, depending on your reference. If you have boys in the house a mom will often think of games involving Tom Sawyer or pirates. Thoughts might even involve digging on a island in the sand or some fun game. Several years ago we went camping with our girls and their families and my hubby buried one on the river bank. But this story is of another kind~more centered towards girls and young ladies.
If you remember I was a teen in the 60's and my morals were pretty indicative of the time. I was looking for love in all the wrong places.
When I had my two girls I immediately knew in my spirit that I did not want them to go through the heartache I did and that I would need to teach them deep truths grounded in the Lord.
At this point I had never heard of the chastity movement and as far as I knew there were no books about this type of training.
One day the Lord gave me a story to tell them and I have shared it often with other moms; I thought it might benefit some moms out there. Over the years some embellishments has been added but does not take away from the story. You may or may not agree and that is your prerogative but if you do I pray you might share it with others.

I saw a treasure chest, beautiful and intricately carved with rich gold and many jewels on it.
As beautiful as the outside was the inside was filled with the most precious and rare jewels of all types. This was a gift for a groom at the wedding, more costly than all else and more to be desired than any other gift. I saw two brides-one would carelessly open her treasure chest and grab a handful of gems and give them to whomever she fancied over the years while the other bride took such care of her chest and kept all the contents safe. The year came for the brides to give their grooms the chest but the one who had given so many of her treasures away, I noticed, the beauty of the chest had diminished so that it was ordinary while the bride who had cared and protected hers presented her groom with a beautiful chest. When the first groom looked at the chest, he was puzzled because it was just an ordinary box and as he opened it there was nothing inside while the second groom took his in awe and gazed at his wife. Slowly he opened it to find that all that were originally placed were still there and he was touched beyond words.
You see the treasure chest represents the bride-all the purity that she is born with; her hugs, love, loving looks, kisses and touch were the jewels on the inside that she had kept safe for her husband. You may think this is far fetched and that hugs and kisses don't need to be kept but it is in giving those away carelessly that one is apt to give more and more away so that there are no precious gifts left for her husband. I can still remember my girls being in early elementary school and seeing neighbor girls "making out" with jr high age boys and my girls innocently saying "Mom she is giving all her treasures away." This story has been told many times over the years and it is the Lord's. Once you give yourself away so carelessly there are parts of yourself you never can attain again. Having said that, the Lord is able to redeem what has been lost, as He did in my case. May this story impact one girl to save herself until marriage.

To God Be The Glory

Reflections on a Childhood

I am blessed with the two most amazing daughters in the whole world. I never had a close relationship with my own mother and God in His graciousness and mercy answered those heart yearnings in my life. His grace was especially evident because there was one dynamic of our home that left me longing for His touch on our family. Today, my oldest daughter,Carrie, is sharing some of her memories of growing up in our home.
Carrie's post today is part one of two and next Friday I will have a post over there for any who might be interested. Please join us for hearing of God's Hand in our lives.

To Read The Story go here.

Blessed Be

One of my all time favorite songs is "Blessed Be His Name" and it is one of the songs that is on my playlist here. I embraced this song when I was in banking and robbed and I embraced this song when I was walking through the valley of the shadow of death with my sister. The words are etched in my heart and spirit; if you haven't heard the song just scroll down to my playlist and listen.
Today I am embracing these lyrics because yesterday we went down to the bank to sign papers for the purchase of our home(it had already become our home in my mind)only to find out that there had been an error, innocent though it was, and we no longer are eligible for this particular home. For those of us in Christ Jesus, we realize that "all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose"; there are no mistakes or coincidences but just what is good for us. Many in today's world are hurting and hopeless and I can say without a shadow of doubt that I fully trust the One who is able to lead us to the right house. For whatever reason this one wasn't it and I'm thankful that the door is now closed. I'm excited about the house or condo the Lord has for us and how it will become our home. I'd love to say I am not concerned about the timing or lack therein but in all honesty I'm ready to head out first thing today and start looking again.
No matter what transpires I will bless His name!

Hurrah, It's Done

For the last several weeks dear hubby and I have been helping our oldest daughter and her hubby lay hardwood flooring in the living room,eating area and kitchen. Prior to this, we had installed laminate that snaps together but had never put in the real thing. Although it took longer than we initially thought it was well worth the hard work and time because it looks beautiful. Hubby still needs to finish up trim work and paint the baseboard but it feels good to have this major project behind us.
Over the past week I was fighting a bout of allergies which ended up resulting in a bronchial cough so the last couple of days I've been really low on energy.

On another note, today we found out that the house we purchased should close at the end of the month and we are so very excited. There will be much to do in the next couple of weeks~more packing and of course thinking about furniture placement etc. It will be so good to be in our own home and not renting although we've been blessed with the house we are in.
Have a blessed day!

Our Valentine's Day Party

Sweet Faith, it was cold but so sunny-she had a hard time looking up at me.





Mr. B during our outside time.




Carrie and little Liv watching the kids crafting.

Kim handing out the ingredients for heart shaped bird feeders.


Mama Kim and girls hosted our party.

We all had such a fun time together~but I know Kim and her girls were so tired when it was all over. It is such a wonderful time for all the cousins being together, creating crafts, sharing lunch and playing outside. We are truly blessed.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours.

Crafting Fun

Top picture: Knit hat on our little peanut made by mama Kim

Bottom picture: New skirt for Shannon made by mama Kim

I am so very proud of my two daughters; they are so industrious and creative and they amaze me time and time again. I have always loved the work of my hands; be it needlepoint, cross stitch, macrame, knitting and my passion for quilting. I have to admit I am not a natural at any of these but love working with textiles. In high school when I took sewing I didn't do well because my speed is fast and furious, not slow and methodical. My girls have always seen me working on something, the last 15 years it has been quilting so it is no surprise they are undertaking crafts with a fervor. Their dad, my dear hubby is very gifted in working with his hands-mostly wood working but since he worked in the electronics industry for 35+ yrs it is no surprise that he is very skilled at what he undertakes.

The last six months my girls got into knitting and they have both excelled in it. I, on the other hand, could only do the basics when I was in high school. Both have undertaken sewing projects that still overwhelm me, such as making book bags that look like they should be in stores selling, drapes for bedrooms and much more. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of projects my oldest daughter has made. She is a natural though and made a quilt when she was in high school~I keep telling her she needs to take up quilting. My youngest would be a quilter who made art quilts-free form style.

Each time my girls come up with some new project, I just stand in awe. I am so thankful for them, for all they do and both are shining examples of a Proverbs 31 woman.

Have a glorious Valentine's Day.

Blessings, Noreen

A Work In Progress

Many of you know that dear hubby and I have been laying hardwood flooring over at our daughter's house; we are now about 2/3 of the way done. I wish I had taken "before" pictures because it is looking so different and so nice. I will say that it has been more work than anyone has anticipated and has taken longer because we are generally working on the weekends with a few hours in the evening if schedules allow. Hubby and s-i-l just moved into the kitchen and hopefully by this weekend the floors will be done, with baseboards getting painted before going back up.

Looking towards the eating area with our favorite puppy greeting us.

At right, looking back to the front door. Initially we hadn't planned on putting hardwood in the entry but we are so glad we did-it is so clean and fresh looking. Everyone agrees that the oak flooring makes the rooms look bigger.

This project really made me think twice about taking on a fixer as our home-I remember being younger and tackling big projects like this but now that we are older and it is harder on our bodies I have begun to re-evaluate. I am so thankful that my hubby is a man truly gifted in working with his hands. He has a mind that can see what the outcome will be and having been a machinist for over 35 yrs gave him the ability to work precisely and in a timely fashion.

Winter Returns

We've been enjoying a nice mild winter here in Colorado and have been teased with spring like temps. I have been dreaming of planting trees, shrubs, flowers and herbs in the yard of our new home. However late this afternoon I once again realized that we are still very much in the middle of winter. We had quite a bit of snow and it was different from our usual white stuff in that it was what we can "Sierra Sludge" because there is so much moisture in the snow. Here in Colorado we get dry snow but not today; in fact we ran across the street to our daughter's house and couldn't believe how big the snowflakes were that were coming down. The kiddo's loved it as did their dog and spent a bit of time playing outside in it. Our winter here has been what the locals call normal but it is so different than last year. No matter how much or how long we newbies still love the snow. But come March and April I'll be wanting to get out in the yard and make it look like home.

May you enjoy the beauty of the Lord's creation.

A Fun Adventure

Yesterday hubby and I met up with our friends and they took us into downtown Denver for the annual Garden & Home show. For me the idea of driving around Denver is a bit intimidating since we don't yet know our way around but having friends take us was wonderful. We used to attend these back in California but were always disappointed in how small they were. Yesterday was a delightful day, the home show here is huge and there were lots of fun vendors. I actually got to talk with a gal from a nursery in Denver about what type of pretty ornamental trees grow here and although I was a bit saddened that our favorites won't grow, I did come away with many ideas for when we buy our house.

These are some of the ones I've chosen and if any of you are local you can add your ideas as well.
Autumn Purple Ash
Aspens(0f course)
Honeylocust(we had these in Ca. and I loved the purple robe locust)
Autumn Blaze Maple
Radiant Crabapple
Redbud
It also looks like there are several shrubs that are dogwood
Possibly Lilac

We spent about 5 hours walking around looking at the different booths before heading home. Our friends were dear and had made lunch for us, wanted us to stay for dinner but we had our two old dogs to think about and also potential commute traffic(which is light compared to Ca.)
but we were able to get home by 6:00 pm.

So what are your favorite plants, shrubs and trees? We had lots of Japanese Maples in Ca. but aren't sure whether the ones we've bought here will make it through or not. I love a soft flower scape with benches etc. to adorn our garden. I will miss our Crepe Myrtle and other flowering plants but love that we can plant Columbine as well as Foxglove.

Enjoy your day.

Fresh From The Garden

I am blessed to have a dear friend and prayer partner in California who loves giving to others from her garden. When we lived in the same town, Cyndi would bless our family with fresh pears, cherries, apples and lemons every season. Produce was one of the things I missed most when we moved and this year my friend sent out a box of Meyer lemons from her yard. I have been enjoying having lemon for my water, fish and anything else I can think of; I've resisted the urge to bake because I'm trying to cut back on sweets.
I am also adjusting to a shorter season for flowers and never realized how spoiled we were by being able to plant year round. I now appreciate gardening so much more than I ever have before. Cyndi would ask me if that means I'm thinking of "coming home" as she calls it and my answer is no, I love Colorado~where else can you see 3 bald Eagles in one day? I love winter and snow and this makes me appreciate springtime so much more.
Have a rich day enjoying your home and area.

My Guy

My guy loves to golf and golf is his passion. Moving from California to Colorado limited his months of golf and instead of being able to golf year round he now has to wait until spring. This week has been so beautiful and almost all of our snow is melted thus letting him get out with friends and enjoy different courses. The pictures above are of a course in our town that is open during the winter if snow is minimal and he took these to send to his buddies back home. They've been sending him pictures of some of his favorite courses and teasing him about how often they are able to golf. California is facing a potential drought and I'm not sure how this would affect the courses but they will probably look like the courses here. You probably won't be able to see them, but the Rockies are in the background of the picture on the left.
If any of you are married to a golfer you will understand how difficult it is for one to sit out several months a year. Since snow is in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow I imagine we will be laying more hardwood at our daughter's house and possibly even packing for our move in a month and a half.
Blessings to you, may your joy be in Jesus today and always.

Filling Up

Yesterday as I sat in the dentist's office waiting to get my old silver filling replaced my dentist took a picture of my old filling to show me. I am always amazed at how far technology has come.
The tooth next to the one he was going to work on had a much older filling and that showed on the picture as well. He was more concerned by the second tooth because the edges of the filling were lifting and there was a small crack on the side of the tooth. So instead of replacing just one filling he ended up taking both fillings out, cleaning the surface of the teeth and putting tooth colored fillings in. Again, technology is wonderful~you can't even tell I have fillings in these teeth; having said that though there are still more fillings that are 30 years old that eventually will need to be replaced.
As I said yesterday I often think in terms of how our natural events relate to spiritual events and this was no different. Often in my life when the Lord has graciously showed me specific areas of sin that I needed to repent of I am quick to seek His forgiveness. Just about the time I feel satisfied that things are good then another area pops up that I need to bring to the cross and seek forgiveness for, or as Chuck Swindoll once said "two steps forward, three steps back". All we can do is keep on looking to the cross and seeking His purification in us.

Have a joy filled day!

Nightime Ponderings

I'm at the age where sleep comes in bits and pieces and it's not because I have a baby waking me. Most nights I'll fall asleep quickly and wake up within an hour and then toss and turn for 1-2 hours. This week though, I've been waking up at 4:00 am and this morning couldn't get back to sleep. Many of you may have experienced the joys of menopause and this season of life but I do not usually do well with a lack of sleep.
My foremost thought when I awake during the night is to ask the Lord if there is someone who needs prayer and I go through all those I pray for asking for the Lord's blessing in their lives.
This week I realized it might be due to the fact that I am thinking about our move and all that I need to get accomplished before the end of March. Prior to moving to Colorado if I couldn't sleep I got up and packed throughout the night, which may end up happening here. If that isn't enough, my mind often thinks allegorically and this morning it was working like that. You see today I have to visit our dentist and have a cavity filled and it made me think about getting rid of the decay in my tooth, scraping it out and filling it to prevent more problems. This of course made me ponder our spiritual lives and the need to rid our spirits of decay,death, disease and sin and fill ourselves with life from the Lamb. But we also need to be cleaned by the blood just as the dentist drills away the decay(yuck!); ridding ourselves of the old is not always easy and without pain. Dying to the flesh always has a cost but the reward far outweighs any price we could pay.
I can't say this makes me jump at the chance to go see my friendly dentist today but I know it is for my good.
Blessings to you this day!

A Heart Of Gratitude

I love mornings when I wake up with a praise song floating around in my head and heart. It is usually a different song each time this happens and it just sets my morning off on a good note-amazing how singing songs to our Savior can do that. This morning, once again, I woke up with a simple, old praise song-"Thank You My Lord". Each morning before I get out of bed I spend a bit of time thanking God for all the blessings in my life; even waking up each day is a blessing.
There are so many things to be thankful for every day but it seems that list grows and grows. For instance, I am thankful that we are making progress laying the hardwood floors at my girl's house and that I can actually move without too much soreness. I am thankful for family that not only works together but plays together as well. I am thankful for the home we are in contract for and hopeful that the seller will get the financing he needs in order to sell the house to us. I am thankful for the end of renting and for the beautiful home we did rent. I am thankful for a husband who had wisdom and worked hard his entire life to provide us with a home. I am thankful for all the friends and prayer partners I've made in the blogging world. But most of all, I am thankful that I worship a living God not just a stone statue somewhere. I am thankful that He loves me unconditionally and calls me His own with blessings overflowing. I am so thankful for all He has given me; I just want to thank You, I just want to thank You my Lord.
Today what are you thankful for?

Out With The Old

This weekend we joined our daughter, son-in-law and their children and ripped up old tattered carpet and began laying hardwood flooring. What a lot of work; it gave me a new appreciation for people who do this for a living. I did most of the laying of the pieces so there we no seams side by side and making sure the color variation looked random. The others did the really hard work but I can tell you that I must have done at least 200 squats throughout Saturday and Sunday. We finished about half and will probably be working in the evening and next weekend to get it done.
There is nothing worse than having to pull up old carpet, especially when the previous owners had dogs but it is so nice to see that everything will be clean and bright.

This morning I woke up with one of my favorite older worship songs floating through my head~
My Life Is In You Lord, my hope is in You, It's in You. I realized how wonderful it is to take off those old patterns, clothes(so to speak), baggage,thoughts, sinned stained garments that envelopes our lives and put on the new-a new heritage, a new heart, new thoughts and everything is brand new, sparkly clean because the blood of the Lamb cleanses us from all sin. There is nothing He can't remove from our lives if we but ask.

Have a joyous Monday.