For His Service

This video is a must watch for anyone who says he/she loves Christ.  The church too often judges and doesn't love.  Sometimes the church says "we want you here..but we won't let you forget your past." God, Holy and blameless.. remembers our sins NO MORE... Why don't we?  What is our righteousness?  Christ ALONE! Galatians 2:20-21 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Romans 8:9-11 - 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spi

Erythema nodosum (EN) is an acute, nodular, erythematous eruption that usually is limited to the extensor aspects of the lower legs. I started battling it during a bout of Fifth's disease.  Then, 6 months later, it came back.  I work with a naturopath who told me to stop having coffee, as I had already given up gluten.  .. well...almost.  For the last two weeks or more I have had NO gluten and NO coffee.  So far...NO new knots.  The Erthema Nodosum is going away.   Having hot tea instead of coffee... no problem.  Having gluten-free things instead of gluten... no problem.  Having the pain go away... AWESOME!

For my birthday, Russell made a yummy gluten-free cake that was posted at Fox News a few weeks back.  It was soooo good.. I hope you enjoy the recipe... For the Icing: *2 pkg. (total 12oz) frozen coconut, just regular sweetened (bagged) coconut will work as well *2 cups sugar *2 cartons (8oz each) Sour Cream ~Blend above ingredients for icing; place in covered container and refrigerate overnight. For the Butter Cake: Ingredients 1 cup softened butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 large eggs 3 large egg yolks 1 tablespoon vanilla 3 1/4 cups flour (preferably cake flour)  (WE USED GLUTEN FREE FLOUR) 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cups milk Preparation 1. In a bowl, with a mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy and yellow, 4 to 5 minutes. 2. Add eggs, then extra yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla. 3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking p

Today for my birthday.. God brought all three turtles out of hiding.  If you haven't been reading my blog, then you won't know that I raked the yard looking for them. ...and it is a lot of yard to rake.  I felt like the widow looking for her coin. LOL... I also drained the pond..most of the way.... still couldn't find them.  Then, this morning..for my birthday... there they all are... together...sunning on the log. Here is "Mr. Big" to the left... hanging out.  Who knows where he has been?  Hiding in the hibiscus?  I do not know.  But, it made my day to see them all there!  No wonder God communicated to us in the terms of having great joy over lost things being found!  So much joy over a lost turtle..how much more over God's people! Luke 15 The Parable of the Lost Sheep 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 T

So I have had my friend's three turtles for about 2 months.  There is a small male, a medium female, and a large male.  A few days ago I drained the pond because I was concerned that a white spot on the female might be a bacteria... she is fine...  Well, after 90 % of the water was drained and we searched for her another hour, we finally caught her several hours later, after we refilled the pond. (They are HARD to catch).  Alas, I still don't know where the Big one is.  It has been nearly a week since I have seen all three lay on the log.  We had a cold spring stretch of weather  (in the 60's for the highs)...cold for GA... and now..it is HOT..in the mid 90's.   Now, I am stressed out because I want these three little turtles to show up on the log..and behave.  I see two every day...but not the third.  I pray a raccoon did not get him.  I will let you know... With the fencing, I don't see how he could have POSSIBLY run away...  hummmmm???

Well, it isn't quite summer, but it is hot!  It is well into the 90's..but just 10 days ago the high was in the 60's.  Welcome to late spring... summer around the corner! John-Michael made a funny joke today.  He has really been into riddles lately. He said, "What city do you always loose things?   We said, "What?"  He said, "Lost Vegas"...   It was funny because he didn't know about gambling and loosing money. :)

 draining the pond...looking for turtles What a day!    5:30 am.. 6:00-leave to see Surgeon.  7:00- waiting for Surgeon  7:30- seeing nurse for surgeon. 8:00-seeing NF specialist.  9:00- see surgeon.  9:30- they take photos of his tumors. 10:30 arrive back home. 10:50 leave to go get a friend's cat to take to the vet.  11:00- 12:00 at vet... Then off to take the cat to another friend's house.  Off to shop for groceries.  Home for lunch.   See spots that make me worry about the turtles (think it is just growing spots/ any experts out there?)  Drain the pond .... to try to catch the turtles to look at them.  Caught one... Clean pond.   Clean filters....  Refill pond.  Get shower.  Drive to pick up my son's friend...  Make gluten-free pizza. Clean kitchen.  Catch 2nd turtle. :) (She looks fine)... Blogging... off to run 6 miles in the am... but first...thank you for praying for John-Michael. His surgery will be scheduled in the next week....the surgery should be in 4-6 wee

Bluebird-Blue! For the summer....I am going to enjoy my blue highlights.  I just wanted something to make me smile.  John-Michael sees the surgeon tomorrow morning at 7:15... pray that the surgeon agrees to de-bulk the plexiform by his spine... and that he feels confident in relieve his nerve pain.  I will keep you posted... In the meanwhile...I will enjoy my blue... thankful for my creative Heavenly Father....trusting in HIM! ...Praise Him for His beautiful earth..including the bluebirds... Psalm 146 1 Praise the LORD. [ a ] Praise the LORD, O my soul. 2 I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD,

That is one thing I have going for me....... I don't give up easily!  So far...the bird netting has kept the heron out!  I ordered a fake/floating alligator (not my favorite decoration).. for the pond as they SAY ..it will keep herons away.   We shall see.  In the meanwhile, I will keep an eye on the pond..and for the feathery thief! This is what the fake alligator looks like.. maybe it will trick him...

See the lack of fish??? They are in there..under all of the lily pads...scared out of their minds. The heron is messing with my peaceful retreat!!!...and I do NOT like it one bit! Do you see the bridge to the right? A great blue heron thinks it is his personal porch.. and the buffet is set before him (the fish in my pond).  I have tried adding twine to two metal poles...criss crossing to keep him out.. did NOT help.  Today, I added 5 foot tall  bird netting. I hope it keeps him out and I don't actually catch him.  If I do,...maybe that will "learn him".  LOL..... upclose shot of the netting...

It looks like I am choking him..lol..but I am just trying to get him to say "cheese" One of my friends, who will go unnamed (smile)..., bought chickens and guinea fowl..and THEN, got two bird dogs.  You can imagine that her feathered friends didn't last long. We are suppose to research the kind of pet we want..to match our desires and needs.  I did not do this well myself 8 years ago... So, 8 years ago we bought home a schnoodle ..it sounds like some weird Chinese dish, but it is actually a 22 lb pound mousing machine.  Dirk, our schnoodle, is a schnauzer -poodle.  He is super friendly and great with the kids.   He doesn't shed. He is great for kids with allergies.. Bonus.. He is small but not too small...., however... he likes to kill furry things... EVEN CUTE furry things.  In the last few years, I have taken a couple of chipmunks to Dr. Orr (our local vet) so he could sew them back up.  I have also requested that my husband bury a few that weren't as fortu

I spent 2 days taking care of 7 children..ages 2-15.   The true mom..was in Paris with her husband of 20 years.   She had a schedule of the children’s chores and of the children’s meals.   She ran a very efficient house..and had to with so many people in it.    I am amazed by how well mannered her kids were, how well they treated each other, and how they knew how thing generally would go! There was no time to sit down. There was no time to read a magazine.   There was no time to watch my favorite show.   I have now been back with my 3 children (ages 12 ½- 7)… and my life is so much easier! LOL…. Back to painting for www.scripturepainting.com , teaching at Veritas Classical Schools, running 10-12 miles a week, homeschooling my kids...etc.. I am still exhausted..just thinking about living her life…LOL.    My hats off …to moms with Large families….

Anita Renfroe's new salute to moms. I love how she says "when you were expecting..this ain't what they told you to expect".  Funny!  I also love how she says, "if you are messing with my kids, you straight up messing with me." 

Great Blue Herons are beautiful, yet pesky birds. ; especially pesky when they are eating the .....goldfish out of my pond and they are scaring the turtles.   I already had a 3 sided fence up to keep the turtles from roaming the yard, as the forth side is the waterfall/ stream entrance.   The big stinking bird flew onto the bridge and jumped down to feast upon my well-loved fish.      So, what do I do?   I took some ugly twine to create a roped area off of the bridge so visitings herons will no longer have access to a free meal.   Well, we will see if it works! My pond .. bridge he uses to have a feast!  

Have you ever wished you had someone else's life?  Well, one of my sweet friends is in PARIS with her hubby for their 20th wedding anniversary ..so for the next couple of days.. My husband will be home caring for our 3 children..while I am at her house...caring for her 7 children!  I am tired already..just thinking about it!  LOL....  I will keep you posted...

Mother's Day can be quite a painful day for people.  We have had years of infertility and times of losing babies through miscarriages.  Through that time, Mother's Day brought tears...unfullfilled dreams...and longings.  ..Not understanding God's plan.   In 2001, I brought home my beautiful Madline from Russia.  I finally felt my arms were full and Mother's Day was no longer painful.  Even now, almost 10 years later, I hurt for those who long to be moms.   In 2002, I gave a talk at an adoption seminar.  I was one of a few speakers trying to encourage others to adopt.  I wanted to let them know that adoption is NOT second best!  I did want them know that ..like natural childbirth..it isn't without pain.  Here is part of my talk from back in 2002.  " I want to say a few words to those of you who choose adoption, because like me, you struggled with infertility and miscarriages and just wanted a baby of your own to love.   I found some wonderful words of wisdom

Michael Jr. is a Funny comedian!  I hope you enjoy this Saturday laugh. Sometimes you just have to laugh!

So..there is this hard machine  ..elliptical type machine... that has settings to add more and more resistance to your strides.  It was tough but it burned alot of calories.  Then, we did 40 minutes or so of free weights!  Tough workout..and at 6:30 am. I am not a morning person...nor an evening person... I think I have just a few good hours around noon. LOL.. Now off to homeschool my kids, paint two paintings for two clients, and all the other things... a mom has to do...

Our pastor just addressed this questions this past Sunday: How do you know if you have a saving faith?  You can listen to it here: http://www.perimeter.org/index.php?module=pfamily&submodule=content&section=37   Can anyone KNOW if they have eternal life?  Look at 1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so  that you may know that you have eternal life. So here are 3 things you must ask yourself...and   (you can't get 2 out of 3... you must say YES to all 3! 1. Do You Love God? (Moral Test- Do you love God most/ wish to serve Him out of a grateful heart?) 1 John 2:1-6 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His comman

John-Michael lost his two front teeth to a horrible pool/diving incident over 3 years ago!   (Do not ever let your child spin and jump into the pool)...  Today, he lost  TWO of his bottom teeth...the old fashioned way... Lots of wiggling and tugging!

 Olivie'- our newest furry friend- 8 month old Deaf, papillion/ poodle I heard someone say they think they figured out why God makes man crazy about dogs?  So we know how God feels about us... I mean how is it that a furry little face can make us happy and down right joyful?  How is it that when our dog is sick we can get sick with worry?  How is it that we are SOOOO excited because our dog is soooo smart because he can fetch or "shake"?   How is it that a creature so inferior to us can have  our hearts?  I think that is the way God feels about us.  We are so inferior to Him, just as dogs are to us.  He can understand everything and we can understand ...practically nothing, just like our dogs.  We are thinking, feeling, and complex ...compared to our dogs.   Yet, any dog lover will tell you that their little furry friend is just that...a furry little friend. I had Lupe', my chihuahua for 15 years... she died 8 months ago...I miss her. Here is Dirk', our 8