Waves

I had forgotten that grief comes in waves.

And I remember...

I know the One who calms my sea.

l

So grateful for your friendship here.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Overwhelming Grief

When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?"
"Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept. (John 11:33-34)

Last week my friends and I talked about the reason for Jesus' anger. I said that I thought he was angry at death...furious at Satan...enraged because this wasn't how life was supposed to be when His Father created us. This grief...this overwhelming and suffocating grief He had! His friend Lazarus...gone.

4 days later, I sit here grief-stricken and angry. My friend, a true soul-sister and kindred spirit, one who stood beside me on my wedding day, is gone.

We hadn't talked for years as the miles got the best of us. But our friendship was held together by invisible heart strings and we are Princesses of the same King.

I have no memories of her other than us laughing. Except the day I moved back to Ohio. That day we cried for a long while.

The coronor has ruled her death a suicide. Suicide. When her husband said the word it was like a punch in the gut. It cannot be. It. cannot. be.

He (Satan) was a killer from the very start. He couldn't stand the truth because there wasn't a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. John 8:44

I am angry that for a brief moment, my beloved friend believed a lie from the pit of hell that said taking her life was a solution to whatever obstacles she faced. Had he been lying to her for a long time about other things? Had he convinced her that she was no Princess at all? I am livid that he could have been hurling insults and lies at her for months...years. No wonder she was weary. The evil one is ruthless and tireless. I sit here looking at a picture of my friend...her hand on someone's shoulder and her tongue sticking out. I remember we laughed after I snapped the photo. My friend would not take her own life. Of this I have no doubt.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

We need each other, friends. The world is full of lies and we know the Truth. Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing. Let us put on the full armor of Christ, let us teach our children how to suit up, remind our spouses, and let us encourage our sisters to dress for the battle.

How dare the thief try to steal what was never his.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Moving

We're moving. Next week.

Not really. But in my mind, we have to move.

I need to be in this frame of mind (thank you Fly Lady) because I have brought too much JUNK (purchased, salvaged, given, created) into our home.

SIGH.

So as I clean and organize, I will ask myself if I want to move this crystal candlestick or that wicker basket across the country. (Or maybe across the world to be missionaries in an exotic place!)

I just gave my neighbor 6 Lean Cuisines. Frozen food doesn't travel well anyways. (Don't worry, we're good enough friends that it wasn't an insult). I hate the chemically taste of diet foods.

Now I'm off to tackle the Bug Room*.

I need breathing space.

I need to travel lightly.

Seriously. When our house gets too messy and disorganized, I can't function well. And I begin having dreams that we have to move quickly and I end up sending my family on without me because all my stuff is taking too long to pack up.

I am not kidding about this recurring dream.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

*I'll share the story of the "Bug Room" soon. But I'm moving this week! So much to do!

Toughest Job (I Love)

OH

SO

THANKFUL

k

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello

Hey friends! Just thought I'd pop in and show you what I've been doing lately. Bought these date blocks at Hobby Lobby and I love them! Our baby (10) took the changing of the date as his calling, but before I took the picture I had to find the 7. It is the 7th, isn't it?

Time flies unless your date changer quits.

***

allan grant, Life

I have been cranking Rod Stewart lately (after I heard him crooning at Urban Farmhouse -- his Great American series. Who knew?!). I'm not the romantic type, but man does this music put me in the mood to dance with and kiss my husband!

Saw that uber-cool photo on someone's blog and

l-o-v-e it so much! It reminded me of how I used to hang vintage posters in my college dorm room while my roommates hung posters of The Police (Syncronicity, not bang-bang), and tear-outs from Cosmo.

My sister needs to sit down before she reads on.

I MADE THESE PILLOWS. I MADE THIS WREATH.

I am not even kidding.

I got the idea for the wreath from here.

Re-did my mantle. The painting was done by one of my parents.

Silly, talented parents. They sometimes forgot to sign their work. Cheeeeesszzz.

Here it is up close. I'm gonna say my Dad did this one.

Having my wonderful in-law family over Saturday to celebrate moms.



What have you been up to?

Paula's in the House

Am I the only one who can cook up a storm one week and than feed my family Lucky Charms the next?

I have been needing a new frying pan. Now I have other pans, but a cooking boycott has recently been in place pending the replacement of my sad-sack frying pan. Not that I fry very much of anything, but a good excuse for not cooking for your family is hard to come by when one is a stay-at-home-mom.

But I digress. I need a frying pan, but as I priced them I found that I could buy a whole set of new pots and pans for a little more than the price of a good frying pan.

Now, we're not talking All-Clad pans. (I do have one All-Clad but the clean-up? UGH! I'm just too lazy to soak and scrub. By the way--I bought my All-Clad from Home Goods for a song.) I just need basic, nonstick cookware.

Enter Paula Deen. My homegirl. She has a line of pots and pans ("cookware" if you want to be fancy), and every internet source I checked included raving, 5-star reviews. The look of this particular set is

antique-y and beautiful.

And I'm thinking a little part of Paula in my kitchen might just inspire me to branch out from our recent cereal buffet. And then in this morning's paper? In the Walmarts ad? (Yes, I meant to say "the Walmarts")

ON SALE.

With a BONUS!

(Adorable hen measuring cups and hen measuring spoons.)

SOLD. (They had me at "hen...")

Tomorrow I plan on making my homemade spaghetti sauce (since the big expensive freezer has been a cold breadbox lately).

And ya'll, on Tuesday I'm fixin' to try grits in the morning and fried chicken for supper. Wednesday, I'll be whipping up a pound cake with butter cream frosting and strawberry-butter-jam-butter filling. Thursday, I think I'll do some hoecakes or cornbread, and Friday I'm gonna try to fry some pickles, ya'll.

l

Uh-oh.

Today's Adventure

necklace I bought last weekend

I get to go here today with my friend, Nichole.

JOY!