Hello friends! I am sorry I have been away for so long, life has been so busy, I went to visit my family for a week, then of course you need a week to catch up from being gone for a week.
The weather today finally broke after 2 weeks of rain every.single.day. Fortunately for me it was not so much rain as to ruin my garden as it is all in raised beds, and my garden is going bonkers! I planted all heirloom veg this year, I get them from rareseeds.com which is Bakers Creek Seeds. I had 100% germination, which is really amazing and all of it is going great gangbusters. I hope that I get a plentiful tomato harvest. I have read that sometimes heirlooms do not produce as many fruit as the hybrid, but we will see. I did not get my San Martzano tomatoes in, and they produce like mad for me. I have 4 types, Cherokee Purple, Amish Paste ( which I hope produces like mad for canning), some kind of Genovese tomato, and Arkansas Traveler. If any of you have experience with these types, I would love input. Also if anyone would like to trade seeds at the end of the year, I would love to do that as well. I so enjoy sharing plants from around the country. I sent Kymber some of my forget me knots as well as a surprise or two for her rock garden, and she sent me Lupines which I will plant over the winter to put out next spring. It gives me a great feeling of connection with my friends from other places.
I have also been eating baby bok choy and peas from my garden! I wish I had room to plant enough peas to put up, but that would require so many rows, so I plant enough to enjoy eating fresh from the garden. They are perhaps my favorite fresh picked veg, well one of my favorites~lol.
My grand twins are still the joy of my life, they are starting to talk like gang busters, and man nothing is funnier than what comes out of a couple of 2 year old mouths. They are the joy of my life and I treasure each moment with them. We are finally making progress, after four years of saving, on finishing our kitchen. I cannot wait for it to be done, I think I got used to living in a torn up house, and that should not be! I am not picky, nor do I live in a "fancy" house, and let me tell you, the area I live in, the houses are RIDICULOUS. But we are so close to paying it off, which those fancy houses will probably never be paid off. We hope that when we pay it off we can afford better health insurance, how sad is that. Instead of paying off our house and traveling, like we had hoped, we will use that money to pay for health insurance that will be MORE EXPENSIVE THAN OUR MORTGAGE. I pray every single day that they fix this mess that is Obamacare.
Handsome has seemed off lately. I am not sure what is up, he says everything is fine. It is funny, when I started this blog, it was to deal with issues I was struggling with. I have veered away from that some, as I have internet friends who now read, and I don't want to talk "badly" about my DH. But if I am to stay true to why I started this, it was to deal with things that spin around in my head and grow bigger and bigger until it is a huge problem. I also believe that when we dwell on negative situations in our life, it is an open door for the devil to plant thoughts in your head, because we all know that the evil one wants to tear apart anything that God deems good, and marriage is good in the eyes of the Lord, and when we commit before Him to death do us part, and we honor God by honoring our vows, well the devil LOVES to ruin what God blesses. So that is another reason I started this, was to get it off my mind and my chest. Every marriage has problems, and nobody is immune to that, be you Christian or not. My problems stem from the issue of my handsomes emotional affair over five years ago. I get better and better at handling these issues as time passes, and I pray someday that I just never ever think about it, but that day is not now. Surprisingly it is not the woman who I ever think about or worry about. It is the things said in the heat of anger that I hear in my head so often. I know that he said these things to justify to himself that what he was doing was ok, but part of me ALWAYS worries that he was speaking the truth, the real inside him truth, but then when the dust settled that he stayed with me because of his obligations to family, because he knew his children would never see him the same way, than staying because he really realized that he did in fact love me and wanted to stay. This is my insecurity, and I deal with it every time I think that Handsome has something "wrong" He never really talks about emotions, never has, but one of the things we agreed in counseling was that he needed to tell me when there was a problem because I do not have the ability to read his mind. He agreed to that, and has done better about it, but I still feel at times he holds back with me. I have stated before that our intimate life has struggled as well, and that never helps things. I guess I throw that out here now because I have been having some insecure feelings lately. Feeling like something is bothering him, even though he swears there is not. I promised God I would not dwell on these insecurities, and I am trying so hard. But I felt like maybe if I puked it all out on "paper" it would help to get rid of them. I know that life changes, that we change, that being together for over thirty years, well that makes changes in a marriage. Funny thing though, if you asked either he or me who would we choose to spend time with, we would both pick each other, we are indeed best of friends, who really enjoy each other, make each other laugh, love adventuring together, get joy out of the same things. I guess what I am feeling is the passion is gone, not the love.
Uggg. I am sorry to have blathered on about it, but originally this was my intent, to get these feelings out in a way that helped me. I also know that as my birthday comes closer I always struggle harder with these feelings, as the day my world fell apart was my birthday. I have dreaded them ever since, and try to go away and not even acknowledge it at all! We have been able to do it every year, he has taken me away on an adventure, but this year we cannot afford it, and it kinda scares me. I like to run away for my birthday, and I cant.
Anywho~! I sincerely hope this finds my internet friends healthy ( waves at Mrs. PP) happy ( always miss Kymber!) And enjoying their gardens and summer!
Peace and Blessings to you...
LTW.....
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
sad, crazy dog lady
We have dogs. Three dogs right now, all Australian Sheherds. We have been raising or had Aussies for the last 15 years or so. Maybe you could call us crazy dog people, but they bring us such joy.
The hardest thing about owning a pet, almost any pet is the fact that you know they will not live your whole life, and odds are you will be tasked with ending their lives, for what ever reason.
Our first Aussie was just stunning but had immune system issues since her puppy hood. We took her to vets, changed foods, used steroids, and anything else that we could think of to try to help her, and at five years old, on the same day my nephew was killed in the war in Iraq, we had to put our beloved dog down. She told us it was time. Little did we know that an hour after the decision and appointment was made we got a phone call that our nephew was killed by an RPG, he was 24. When we took our dog to the vet we were a wreck. The family was scrambling to make all the arrangements that needed made for our nephew, life had suddenly put us in the news as it were. We went in with our dear dog, and held her and told her we loved her, and to go find our nephew who would be waiting with a frisbee for him. My Handsome WEPT over that dog, not just for the dog, but for the little boy who he used to chase around, the little boy who played with our sons, he wept for the future he would never have, and he wept over the best dog he had ever owned,
If you do not know Australian Shepherds, well, once you get one, you will never get another type of dog again. They are so incredibly SMART, and they are biddable, meaning if they feel you want something of them, they will do whatever it takes to make you happy with them. All my aussies were completely house broke in one week, if that. I have had one aussie become a therapy dog, and I have had two canine good citizens. People also say that like potato chips you cant have just one lol, and that has proven true, with us.
About a month after loosing our nephew and best friend, we decided that we have been sad for a month, nothing was making us smile. Soooo, we started the hunt for another Aussie. We found our beautiful Bella at a dairy farm about an hour away, she was a true stock dog, and came from some wonderful lines. We brought her home and found our smiles again. Anybody who ever had a puppy knows that you cannot help but laugh and smile at their antics.
In the meantime I had met a woman with Aussies in my area, and she was familiar with my lines. After much consideration, and testing, we decided to breed our black tri girl to her red merle male. We knew we wanted one dog out of the litter, and the stud owner wanted a male blue merle for her breeding program in the future. Alas, our girl had NINE puppies and not one of them would work for the stud owner. That was probably the most fun 8 weeks our family ever had! Nine roly poly little pups of all colors~then our poor girl got mastitis. She recovered from it, but go pretty sick so we decided even though we wanted one more litter from her, that we would spay her because she really gave to the cause. Well because of that we could not help ourselves, it was our excuse to keep TWO pups lol. So we kept a beautiful red tri, and a lovely blue merle bitch, and we thought down the road, we would breed the girl or use our boy as a stud dog. Well fate stepped in and our female we kept, developed epilepsy. As a result we spayed her, and our boy being a stud was taken off the table.
Well after 8 years of a valiant fight we put her down. We spared no expense in helping her to live a good and as long a life as possible. We wept.
For a bit we kept ourselves at two dogs, but we noticed that our mama dog was slowing down significantly and our male was desperately missing his sibling, they played every single day. Well I got an email some months later that there was an aussie litter in rescue and they were looking for experienced homes. So what do I do? I call handsome, send him a picture, and he sends me on my way to go get our pup! We know we will never have just one dog, dogs are pack animals and do much better in a pack, (its true really!) We had said we would wait until our mama dog was gone to get another one, but we noticed that our male was sad, like really sad. He had nobody to run the yard with and chase birds lol. Soooo we brought home a puppy. Our male was ticked off! We told him hey this little guy is for you!
So we are now a three dog family.
But our mama bear is not doing well. She is twelve, and has terrible arthritis in her hips and back. I am doing everything in my power to help her, she is on many medications to treat inflammation and pain, and they really seemed to help her be more comfortable. But she has lost almost all muscle in her back legs. She also has cataracts, and I think is getting slightly deaf. I wanted to let her live until she just died from old age, she has been such a blessing to us, she brought our smiles back, and gave us our beautiful puppies.
I left for work today, and she could not make it up the steps from outside. She is still a happy dog, please dont think I am leaving her in pain, I would never do that. I have had to put down many dogs, and I always wait for them to tell me. I dont think mama will tell me, I think she is still a happy dog, who just cant get around like she used to. I cried on my way to work. I think the end will be soon, and much sooner than I wanted or expect. I wanted to let her just grow old and die, but I dont think that is going to happen, I think I will eventually have to take matters into our hands and that breaks my heart.
I am spoiling her rotten now, if she wants a bite of pizza, by gosh she gets it. You want to ride in the car, come on!
Belly rubs, let me help you.
I want to make her remaining time as pleasant and fun as possible.
She gave us so very much in her life, the least I can do is spoil her rotten till the end of hers.
Peace and Blessings
LTW ( and mama bear)
The hardest thing about owning a pet, almost any pet is the fact that you know they will not live your whole life, and odds are you will be tasked with ending their lives, for what ever reason.
Our first Aussie was just stunning but had immune system issues since her puppy hood. We took her to vets, changed foods, used steroids, and anything else that we could think of to try to help her, and at five years old, on the same day my nephew was killed in the war in Iraq, we had to put our beloved dog down. She told us it was time. Little did we know that an hour after the decision and appointment was made we got a phone call that our nephew was killed by an RPG, he was 24. When we took our dog to the vet we were a wreck. The family was scrambling to make all the arrangements that needed made for our nephew, life had suddenly put us in the news as it were. We went in with our dear dog, and held her and told her we loved her, and to go find our nephew who would be waiting with a frisbee for him. My Handsome WEPT over that dog, not just for the dog, but for the little boy who he used to chase around, the little boy who played with our sons, he wept for the future he would never have, and he wept over the best dog he had ever owned,
If you do not know Australian Shepherds, well, once you get one, you will never get another type of dog again. They are so incredibly SMART, and they are biddable, meaning if they feel you want something of them, they will do whatever it takes to make you happy with them. All my aussies were completely house broke in one week, if that. I have had one aussie become a therapy dog, and I have had two canine good citizens. People also say that like potato chips you cant have just one lol, and that has proven true, with us.
About a month after loosing our nephew and best friend, we decided that we have been sad for a month, nothing was making us smile. Soooo, we started the hunt for another Aussie. We found our beautiful Bella at a dairy farm about an hour away, she was a true stock dog, and came from some wonderful lines. We brought her home and found our smiles again. Anybody who ever had a puppy knows that you cannot help but laugh and smile at their antics.
In the meantime I had met a woman with Aussies in my area, and she was familiar with my lines. After much consideration, and testing, we decided to breed our black tri girl to her red merle male. We knew we wanted one dog out of the litter, and the stud owner wanted a male blue merle for her breeding program in the future. Alas, our girl had NINE puppies and not one of them would work for the stud owner. That was probably the most fun 8 weeks our family ever had! Nine roly poly little pups of all colors~then our poor girl got mastitis. She recovered from it, but go pretty sick so we decided even though we wanted one more litter from her, that we would spay her because she really gave to the cause. Well because of that we could not help ourselves, it was our excuse to keep TWO pups lol. So we kept a beautiful red tri, and a lovely blue merle bitch, and we thought down the road, we would breed the girl or use our boy as a stud dog. Well fate stepped in and our female we kept, developed epilepsy. As a result we spayed her, and our boy being a stud was taken off the table.
Well after 8 years of a valiant fight we put her down. We spared no expense in helping her to live a good and as long a life as possible. We wept.
For a bit we kept ourselves at two dogs, but we noticed that our mama dog was slowing down significantly and our male was desperately missing his sibling, they played every single day. Well I got an email some months later that there was an aussie litter in rescue and they were looking for experienced homes. So what do I do? I call handsome, send him a picture, and he sends me on my way to go get our pup! We know we will never have just one dog, dogs are pack animals and do much better in a pack, (its true really!) We had said we would wait until our mama dog was gone to get another one, but we noticed that our male was sad, like really sad. He had nobody to run the yard with and chase birds lol. Soooo we brought home a puppy. Our male was ticked off! We told him hey this little guy is for you!
So we are now a three dog family.
But our mama bear is not doing well. She is twelve, and has terrible arthritis in her hips and back. I am doing everything in my power to help her, she is on many medications to treat inflammation and pain, and they really seemed to help her be more comfortable. But she has lost almost all muscle in her back legs. She also has cataracts, and I think is getting slightly deaf. I wanted to let her live until she just died from old age, she has been such a blessing to us, she brought our smiles back, and gave us our beautiful puppies.
I left for work today, and she could not make it up the steps from outside. She is still a happy dog, please dont think I am leaving her in pain, I would never do that. I have had to put down many dogs, and I always wait for them to tell me. I dont think mama will tell me, I think she is still a happy dog, who just cant get around like she used to. I cried on my way to work. I think the end will be soon, and much sooner than I wanted or expect. I wanted to let her just grow old and die, but I dont think that is going to happen, I think I will eventually have to take matters into our hands and that breaks my heart.
I am spoiling her rotten now, if she wants a bite of pizza, by gosh she gets it. You want to ride in the car, come on!
Belly rubs, let me help you.
I want to make her remaining time as pleasant and fun as possible.
She gave us so very much in her life, the least I can do is spoil her rotten till the end of hers.
Peace and Blessings
LTW ( and mama bear)
Monday, May 18, 2015
no matter how old your kids are
No matter how old your children get, when they are hurting, you are hurting right along with them. When someone has hurt them you hurt right along with them, you want to serve up retribution on a silver platter. The mama bear does not go away, even when your kids are almost thirty.
My son called us last night. His debit card was hacked in FL, and they took most of his money. My son is a hard working husband and father. He works so hard so his wife can stay home with the twins, he works a second job on Saturdays just to make ends meet, after working overtime at his normal job from 5 am til 10 am. He does not begrudge this at all, he wants his wife to be with the kids, and he is willing to sacrifice what ever it takes to do that, he knows it is only a few years that he needs to do this, as it goes so fast. My boy suffers with anxiety like his mama does, and his anxiety got so bad over this he felt like he was gonna faint, and that makes my heart hurt. I know what that feels like, it is the most awful feeling in the world. He has so many responsibilities and this was just the icing on the cake for him. He said to me, why would they take from someone who has so little to spare.....
I know he should get his money back, but it takes time, time they do not have when paying bills and feeding a family. Handsome and I will help as much as is possible. I just feel so bad for my first born, he is struggling to do the right things, and gets hammered as a result.
It is coming, I believe the more we are hacked and our id thefts are going up, it will be no time at all for the government or someone to propose some device that will be implanted in us so that there can be no id theft ect.
I fear that is coming.
Did a bunch of planting this weekend, got most of my tomatoes in, peas and onions and potatoes are doing great, Planted my herbs, my bok choy and boston lettuces are doing well. I have melons in the front yard doing their thing, I decided that I have too many flowers in my front yard, and I have killer dirt out there, why not grow other things in there as well, like food! So in and among my perennial flower beds I have tomatoes and basil growing, a few pepper plants as well as the melons and pumpkins!
Life is moving along, faster every day.
Peace and Blessings
LTW
My son called us last night. His debit card was hacked in FL, and they took most of his money. My son is a hard working husband and father. He works so hard so his wife can stay home with the twins, he works a second job on Saturdays just to make ends meet, after working overtime at his normal job from 5 am til 10 am. He does not begrudge this at all, he wants his wife to be with the kids, and he is willing to sacrifice what ever it takes to do that, he knows it is only a few years that he needs to do this, as it goes so fast. My boy suffers with anxiety like his mama does, and his anxiety got so bad over this he felt like he was gonna faint, and that makes my heart hurt. I know what that feels like, it is the most awful feeling in the world. He has so many responsibilities and this was just the icing on the cake for him. He said to me, why would they take from someone who has so little to spare.....
I know he should get his money back, but it takes time, time they do not have when paying bills and feeding a family. Handsome and I will help as much as is possible. I just feel so bad for my first born, he is struggling to do the right things, and gets hammered as a result.
It is coming, I believe the more we are hacked and our id thefts are going up, it will be no time at all for the government or someone to propose some device that will be implanted in us so that there can be no id theft ect.
I fear that is coming.
Did a bunch of planting this weekend, got most of my tomatoes in, peas and onions and potatoes are doing great, Planted my herbs, my bok choy and boston lettuces are doing well. I have melons in the front yard doing their thing, I decided that I have too many flowers in my front yard, and I have killer dirt out there, why not grow other things in there as well, like food! So in and among my perennial flower beds I have tomatoes and basil growing, a few pepper plants as well as the melons and pumpkins!
Life is moving along, faster every day.
Peace and Blessings
LTW
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
The "burden" on responsible men
I was talking with my oldest child, a son, and he told me of having panic attacks sometimes when thinking about caring for his family, wife, and 2 year old twins. He owns a home ( well the bank still owns it) and they have 2 reliable cars. His house is small and well within their budget, they were wise and did not listen to lenders who said they could borrow more. My son is very frugal as we are.
We are all blue collar, my Handsome, and my 2 sons. I wish that my children had chosen collage, but it was not to be, and they are such incredibly hard workers, that I never worry about them providing for themselves. My son and daughter in law are trying very hard to keep her home with the twins, and this has meant cutting back considerably, but to them it is worth it and I applaud their effort, many people say they cannot survive without two incomes. But I say nonsense, you can, you choose not to make the hard choices. Now I do not want to cast a wide net, some really do need two incomes, there are circumstances I understand. But my son bought a small inexpensive house so they could do this. They do not have tons of stuff. They hope to sell this house when the kids hit school and buy a slightly larger home, and that will be when DIL can have a part time job. They sacrifice a lot to do this, but it is so very worth it.
But, I digress, when I spoke with my son about his anxiety attack, I told him that it is completely understandable. HE is the one responsible for providing everything for his family, that is a huge responsibility, and yes sometimes a burden. It weighs him down sometimes, not because he is not able to do it, but he worries about the what if's. I told him to talk with his father, as I could help counsel him, but I cannot put myself in his shoes. Handsome took care of us, his family. I went to work after #2 was in school, we lived ( and still do) in a very small house. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, and right now 4 adults, but at one time I had 2 boys in school, handsome, me and MIL using one bathroom. Did it stink,( not actually lol) yes. But we lived well within our means which meant that one time when Handsome was out of work ( for 3 weeks , but we did not know how fast he would find a job) we knew we could both work 2 minimum wage jobs or deliver pizza or whatever to make it work, we could cancel so many "things" but we would not loose the roof over our heads.
So #1 son spoke to Handsome, and we both found out that Handsome did not sleep thru the night he said for 2 years worrying about having the money to care for his family. It is a huge responsibility for a man. I think we as women seldom can really understand the weight they can feel at times. Now when we first bought our home, Handsome was not a Christian, so that I think handicaps a person, he did not have the knowledge that the Lord promises to take care of us, that we need to cast our worries upon him. We both now are Christians, and he has seen God bless us over and over when we thought we might not make it. My son was raised a Christian, but I am afraid he has strayed from his faith. I know he is saved, but right now he is not in a relationship with Christ, and that handicaps him. He is taking all the worry on his back and not letting God help him carry the burden of worry. But I know he will be ok, he is an amazingly hard worker, with a good blue collar job. He is a loving and caring husband, and such a beautiful father, he needs to look and see how much God is taking care of him!
I see so many single mothers that have no help with fathers of children, men who do not take the responsibility of raising those children, the opportunity to be blessed and to bless those children. They run from the "burden" instead of manning up and doing what God equipped them for. It breaks my heart especially because children learn what they live, and I fear for a generation of boys who are not being taught that when they have a family, they have a God given gift of providing for those people who depend on him, and they run from it. They are teaching that to the boys they bring into this world. We need good strong men, whether they are blue collar or not, to be teaching our boys that the responsibility is great on them, but it is a GIFT from God, and HE WILL care for them, He will let them cast their worries on Him, and He will equip them if they only turn to Him.
I pray for my husband and sons daily that their burden is lightened and they are free from anxiety. I think all wives and mothers of boys need to let them express this fear, realize that more men I think feel this than actually say it out loud. I am so thankful that my Handsome worked hard, sometime long long hours to provide for his family, and to do it so well that I never felt that anxiety. He kept it to himself, which I wish he had shared, but at least now, I can recognize it and advise my sons. Their father can advise them and hopefully they will go to God to get His advice.
If your husband makes it possible for you to be home, or to put a roof over your head, and feed you, and take that responsibility on himself we need to acknowledge it and pray for them.
I leave you with this
We are all blue collar, my Handsome, and my 2 sons. I wish that my children had chosen collage, but it was not to be, and they are such incredibly hard workers, that I never worry about them providing for themselves. My son and daughter in law are trying very hard to keep her home with the twins, and this has meant cutting back considerably, but to them it is worth it and I applaud their effort, many people say they cannot survive without two incomes. But I say nonsense, you can, you choose not to make the hard choices. Now I do not want to cast a wide net, some really do need two incomes, there are circumstances I understand. But my son bought a small inexpensive house so they could do this. They do not have tons of stuff. They hope to sell this house when the kids hit school and buy a slightly larger home, and that will be when DIL can have a part time job. They sacrifice a lot to do this, but it is so very worth it.
But, I digress, when I spoke with my son about his anxiety attack, I told him that it is completely understandable. HE is the one responsible for providing everything for his family, that is a huge responsibility, and yes sometimes a burden. It weighs him down sometimes, not because he is not able to do it, but he worries about the what if's. I told him to talk with his father, as I could help counsel him, but I cannot put myself in his shoes. Handsome took care of us, his family. I went to work after #2 was in school, we lived ( and still do) in a very small house. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, and right now 4 adults, but at one time I had 2 boys in school, handsome, me and MIL using one bathroom. Did it stink,( not actually lol) yes. But we lived well within our means which meant that one time when Handsome was out of work ( for 3 weeks , but we did not know how fast he would find a job) we knew we could both work 2 minimum wage jobs or deliver pizza or whatever to make it work, we could cancel so many "things" but we would not loose the roof over our heads.
So #1 son spoke to Handsome, and we both found out that Handsome did not sleep thru the night he said for 2 years worrying about having the money to care for his family. It is a huge responsibility for a man. I think we as women seldom can really understand the weight they can feel at times. Now when we first bought our home, Handsome was not a Christian, so that I think handicaps a person, he did not have the knowledge that the Lord promises to take care of us, that we need to cast our worries upon him. We both now are Christians, and he has seen God bless us over and over when we thought we might not make it. My son was raised a Christian, but I am afraid he has strayed from his faith. I know he is saved, but right now he is not in a relationship with Christ, and that handicaps him. He is taking all the worry on his back and not letting God help him carry the burden of worry. But I know he will be ok, he is an amazingly hard worker, with a good blue collar job. He is a loving and caring husband, and such a beautiful father, he needs to look and see how much God is taking care of him!
I see so many single mothers that have no help with fathers of children, men who do not take the responsibility of raising those children, the opportunity to be blessed and to bless those children. They run from the "burden" instead of manning up and doing what God equipped them for. It breaks my heart especially because children learn what they live, and I fear for a generation of boys who are not being taught that when they have a family, they have a God given gift of providing for those people who depend on him, and they run from it. They are teaching that to the boys they bring into this world. We need good strong men, whether they are blue collar or not, to be teaching our boys that the responsibility is great on them, but it is a GIFT from God, and HE WILL care for them, He will let them cast their worries on Him, and He will equip them if they only turn to Him.
I pray for my husband and sons daily that their burden is lightened and they are free from anxiety. I think all wives and mothers of boys need to let them express this fear, realize that more men I think feel this than actually say it out loud. I am so thankful that my Handsome worked hard, sometime long long hours to provide for his family, and to do it so well that I never felt that anxiety. He kept it to himself, which I wish he had shared, but at least now, I can recognize it and advise my sons. Their father can advise them and hopefully they will go to God to get His advice.
If your husband makes it possible for you to be home, or to put a roof over your head, and feed you, and take that responsibility on himself we need to acknowledge it and pray for them.
I leave you with this
1 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? ...
Husbands, God is telling you that the task He gave you is NOBLE~live like you believe that!
Peace and Blessings
LTW
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Tattoos
I am of an age that I certainly should not worry about what my mom thinks, but I do lol. For my whole youth, and young mother hood, and even when my children were teens, I was adamant about no tattoos. I had many reasons for it then, I was attending a very legalistic church, and that helped to influence my opinion of them.
When Handsome had his emotional affair my life was turned upside down. As I moved away from the legalistic church many years ago, my attitude about tattoos had changed. I had seen many beautiful ones, many professing faith, some fun ones. Of course there will always be ugly ones, that say ugly things, but it is that freedom to choose which is a wonderful thing.
I was struggling so badly during this period, nothing in my life that I thought was the truth turned out to be lies. Things I believed with all my heart, things I had faith in, turned out to be false. When something like that happens it shakes you to your core, and makes you question so many other things. I prayed, constantly for help in discerning the truth in my life , what could I truly believe.
Then I saw the answer. The ONLY truth in my life, now and forever is GOD LOVES ME. The only truth was Jesus SAVED me. As I prayed and realized the truth of this I decided at 48 to get a tattoo, to mark it and proclaim it. So I had a wonderful friend draw me a simple cross of nails and then had in big bold Hebrew letters Truth tattooed underneath it. Now I can truly say, had I gotten a tattoo when I was in my twenties, I would never ever put the thought into it that I had. I can only imagine what might of ended up on my body lol.. This tattoo is under my hair on my neck and I can show it when I want to, or not if I do not. So my mother in all these years hasnt seen it. But I broke the ice last year, I have a favorite card that my dad sent me before he died. I have it on my mirror in my bedroom, and when I miss him (which is all the time) or when I am sad, I take it out and look at his signature to me and it makes me smile. So I decided to have his signature blown up and tattoo on my inner right arm as well as the verse that I had inscribed on his tombstone ( not the whole verse but the reference) It is Isaiah:40 30-31
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
What an amazing promise, it was a verse I taped up for him when he had an open heart surgery. As a result of that verse he loved eagles after that , and what the symbol represented to him. That tattoo has brought me more comfort than I can tell you. Well that one I could not hide from my mom, and when she saw it, she really said nothing about it lol. Like seriously, what on earth can my mother do, I am over 50 lol. But still when I visit, I never ever wear my hair up. Well it is going to be hot this summer, and by golly I am going to wear it up. I really am proud of my tattoo on my neck, it proclaims for all to see that I claim Jesus and the Cross to be the way the TRUTH and my light.
But a really cool thing happened at church the other week. Our worship leader has tattoos, and a girl came up to her after services and said how glad she was to see someone in leadership with tattoos. This girl used to play in her worship band at church, and had gotten a small and totally beautiful tattoo, and her church told her she could no longer use her God given gift to serve God, because she had a tattoo. So she found our church, and when she saw our worship leader on the stage with her tattoos, she knew God brought her there. She has a beautiful voice and has joined our worship team. She feels loved and valued here. What a shame her old church really lost out. How many people make snap judgments based on a persons appearance, without knowing their heart.
I go see mom in two months, I will be wearing a high pony tail, and you know what, my mom will love me just as much as she always has.
Take time, learn a persons story before you judge them.
Peace and Blessings!
LTW
When Handsome had his emotional affair my life was turned upside down. As I moved away from the legalistic church many years ago, my attitude about tattoos had changed. I had seen many beautiful ones, many professing faith, some fun ones. Of course there will always be ugly ones, that say ugly things, but it is that freedom to choose which is a wonderful thing.
I was struggling so badly during this period, nothing in my life that I thought was the truth turned out to be lies. Things I believed with all my heart, things I had faith in, turned out to be false. When something like that happens it shakes you to your core, and makes you question so many other things. I prayed, constantly for help in discerning the truth in my life , what could I truly believe.
Then I saw the answer. The ONLY truth in my life, now and forever is GOD LOVES ME. The only truth was Jesus SAVED me. As I prayed and realized the truth of this I decided at 48 to get a tattoo, to mark it and proclaim it. So I had a wonderful friend draw me a simple cross of nails and then had in big bold Hebrew letters Truth tattooed underneath it. Now I can truly say, had I gotten a tattoo when I was in my twenties, I would never ever put the thought into it that I had. I can only imagine what might of ended up on my body lol.. This tattoo is under my hair on my neck and I can show it when I want to, or not if I do not. So my mother in all these years hasnt seen it. But I broke the ice last year, I have a favorite card that my dad sent me before he died. I have it on my mirror in my bedroom, and when I miss him (which is all the time) or when I am sad, I take it out and look at his signature to me and it makes me smile. So I decided to have his signature blown up and tattoo on my inner right arm as well as the verse that I had inscribed on his tombstone ( not the whole verse but the reference) It is Isaiah:40 30-31
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
What an amazing promise, it was a verse I taped up for him when he had an open heart surgery. As a result of that verse he loved eagles after that , and what the symbol represented to him. That tattoo has brought me more comfort than I can tell you. Well that one I could not hide from my mom, and when she saw it, she really said nothing about it lol. Like seriously, what on earth can my mother do, I am over 50 lol. But still when I visit, I never ever wear my hair up. Well it is going to be hot this summer, and by golly I am going to wear it up. I really am proud of my tattoo on my neck, it proclaims for all to see that I claim Jesus and the Cross to be the way the TRUTH and my light.
But a really cool thing happened at church the other week. Our worship leader has tattoos, and a girl came up to her after services and said how glad she was to see someone in leadership with tattoos. This girl used to play in her worship band at church, and had gotten a small and totally beautiful tattoo, and her church told her she could no longer use her God given gift to serve God, because she had a tattoo. So she found our church, and when she saw our worship leader on the stage with her tattoos, she knew God brought her there. She has a beautiful voice and has joined our worship team. She feels loved and valued here. What a shame her old church really lost out. How many people make snap judgments based on a persons appearance, without knowing their heart.
I go see mom in two months, I will be wearing a high pony tail, and you know what, my mom will love me just as much as she always has.
Take time, learn a persons story before you judge them.
Peace and Blessings!
LTW
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Onion snow
A little more than a week ago I was planting onions and peas. Today it was snowing. ARGGGG
I want to garden so bad, all my tomato starts are going gangbusters as well as peppers and basil and some zinnia seeds. I was getting ready to plant potatoes, but between the rain and the snow, that may not happen for another week. I am jonzing for a good garden day!
So around here, when it snows after most people have planted their onions they call it an onion snow. In different parts of the country it is called different things. I have heard of blackberry snow too.
Do you have a local term for the crazy snow that comes when it should be all over?
I am ready to play in dirt, how about you??
I want to garden so bad, all my tomato starts are going gangbusters as well as peppers and basil and some zinnia seeds. I was getting ready to plant potatoes, but between the rain and the snow, that may not happen for another week. I am jonzing for a good garden day!
So around here, when it snows after most people have planted their onions they call it an onion snow. In different parts of the country it is called different things. I have heard of blackberry snow too.
Do you have a local term for the crazy snow that comes when it should be all over?
I am ready to play in dirt, how about you??
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Want to make a correction
I think perhaps I was misunderstood in my post about baptism. I believe that baptism should be a full immersion , as it was for Jesus when He was baptized, and it also is a symbolic joining of the Death, Burial , and Resurrection of Christ.
When I said it was a heart matter, I was describing my brother in law. He is physically incapable of being immersed in water, he is large and paralyzed over half his body. In his case, I 100% believe that God knows BIL heart, and knows that if he could, he would have been immersed, but he was baptized just the same as the people who were immersed this past weekend.
I hope and pray to never argue about our faith, because as individuals we all make certain decisions based on the free will we were given. I hope that at its core, we all love the Lord, and that is the common string we carry.
Being baptized does not get you to heaven, a heart that turns to the Lord, and repents of his sins will be saved!
I hope you all have a blessed day!
Peace and Blessings
LTW
When I said it was a heart matter, I was describing my brother in law. He is physically incapable of being immersed in water, he is large and paralyzed over half his body. In his case, I 100% believe that God knows BIL heart, and knows that if he could, he would have been immersed, but he was baptized just the same as the people who were immersed this past weekend.
I hope and pray to never argue about our faith, because as individuals we all make certain decisions based on the free will we were given. I hope that at its core, we all love the Lord, and that is the common string we carry.
Being baptized does not get you to heaven, a heart that turns to the Lord, and repents of his sins will be saved!
I hope you all have a blessed day!
Peace and Blessings
LTW
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