A Little Complaint and more Good News

 I don't want to sound ungrateful here. 

Life really is getting so much better.

But

We don't have Internet yet.

I love my house

I love living in the country

But

I miss my Internet!

I came into town to do laundryy and to put a very uplifting blog entry on here.

I started the laundry

I had 40 minutes

I already had it written out so this should work.

I went to Tim Hortons, ordered a sandwich and sat down to log on....

It wouldn't let me.

I rebooted, reloaded, turned my laptop on and off, on and off.

I messed around until I was out of time

I felt like this lady but I controlled myself.

so, back to the laundrymat, put clothes into dryer.

1 hour - this should be enough time.

drive across street to McDonalds

order a snack size McFlurry (got to support the people who provide the wifi)

Log on success!

Start to catch up on my friends and a girl behind me is applying for something on line and is reading all of it to someone on the phone. really?

Couple across from me talking softly then she gets real loud.

She is on her phone.

I put on head phones to drown out these rude people and I can still hear the kid to my left, the man (with the loud lady)  has a ringger on his phone that goes off and sounds like a siren. 

I start looking out the window for the emergency vehicle.

Another guy sits near me and starts talking on his phone, loudly.

Remember, I have music in my ears now.

Now a team meeting accross the dinningroom.

Forget it. 

I'll write my uplifting entry when I am more in the mood.

Maybe when my $700.00 check comes from the colon test study I did comes in and I can pay for internet at our new place.

Yeah, that is another story.

2 colonoscopys for a study for a camera pill rather than the traditional scope.

I had to do both

to compare

I don't have to tell you I had never had one done before I signed up.

O well, I got paid $700.00 (not here yet) and 5 pollops removed.

I can't consentrate here so I'll just leave you with this entry and a bit of good news.

I got a new job!

The original reason for coming to town, to update you all and leave you uplifted. Like I felt.

I'll get back with you with that one.  New job starts tomorrow so it maybe a few days before I can find a quiet place to blog.  I'll shoot for Starbucks after work on Wed.

I Have Great News!

For those of you that have been following my blog for awhile you will be excited to know we now have a place to live!

 For the new visitor, We lost our house to foreclosure and had to move last February. We were lucky enough to have a friend offer her finished basement for us to move into until we could find a place and employment. 

 It has been a stressful time and unfortunately, at times I lost my hope and trust in God. I know better and He has proven himself so many times in my life but we grow through difficult times and I had a lot of growing to do. I thought I had learned the lesson of patience many years ago but with that I needed to learn perseverance and trust. We often say we trust God but when the rubber meets the road and we have nothing left and no positive thing insight you begin to wonder. 

 Every great man in the Bible had a desert season, even Jesus. I know this has been mine and I can truly say I am thankful for every bit of it! 

 I am stronger, more peaceful and my trust in God is now very strong. 

 I was willing to, and have, given up so much of what I thought was important. 

 I have learned to trust in the dark places. 

I have learned that He is a God that loves us and really does want great things for us. 

We just have to understand that we need to give up our ego and pride. 

Stop trying to make our lives happen and learn to rest in Him. 

Listen to Him. 

He will guide you and then guess what? 

He gives you the desires of your heart. 

 I am stunned as to what he has done for me right now. I just sit in amazement of His provision and goodness. The house we are moving into is my Grandparent's homestead. The house my mother grew up in. A vintage, shabby chic, farm house! My favorite style to decorate with and what I like to sell in my shop on Etsy. I am sharing with you some before pictures of a few rooms as they were when we started the clean up. I will be sharing as we decorate this awesome canvas. If you like cottage style, Farm House style and Shabby Chic then stay tuned I hope you will enjoy watching as we add some TLC to this 100 year old home!

Formal Living room

I LOVE the fireplace.

Our bedroom.  

LOVE the built in closets and wood work. 

 It has looked like this all my life.  Can't wait to decorate in here!

I already took out the carpet and waxed the floor!

The 40's retro kitchen!!!!!!!

OK, I already had the kitchen of some peoples dreams and people would die for.

I'm not a cook and I could care less.  

I have always dreamed of having an old fashioned kitchen 

so now I will.

We are renting so a kitchen remodel is not our job.

 In this tight economy and situation, you make do with what ya got and I got this!  Hahahaha, score!

I shared in a blog on June 26th about seeing

old homes on a Sunday drive.  Go back and read it.  

Who would have thought 2 1/2 months later I would find out I am moving into a house I have dreamed of.

Stay tuned to see how God does wonderful things and 

continues to put this tapestry together.

Oh yeah and I just saw how my background matches the house!

Wow.

Our Collage Graduate

After 3 full years of classes our oldest Daughter Liz graduated from the International Academy of Design and Technology with a bachelors in Fashion Design!

She has had quite a lot of moves through the last year but she finally got her own studio apartment in North Chicago.

The ceremony was very nice.

Luckily it wasn't a huge school so they only had around 200 graduates. Everyone was extremely glad to receive their degrees.

The guest speaker reminded the students of the difficult times they are graduating in but encouraged them to press forward and not loose hope. I thought that was a good approach and he was very wise in his other advice.

It's a hard thing to have to do, speaking to college graduates when 9% of Americans are unemployed.

He should be commended for taking that job on!

He did say "if women shop for clothes like my wife the fashion students should be OK. No woman is going to go around out of style."

Family

Liz with her sister who leaves to start her freshman year at Johnson and Whales in 2 weeks in Miami Fl. and Mom and Dad who are looking forward to being alone again for the 1st time in 21 years!

My Awesome girls! I am so proud of both of them

Aunt, cousins and grandparents who all took the trip to Chicago to witness this great day.

Waiting

This is how I feel

Do I just sit and wait on God? "Be STILL and KNOW that I am GOD.

or

Do I try to find a way out of this place?

Here We Go Again

thomas-moran-oil-painting-on-canvas-the-angry-sea

I feel like this ship tossed on the angry sea.

Tomorrow my husband is going in for a heart cath to put stints in to relieve more blockage. He has been having trouble for months but we didn't have insurance so we were waiting until I could get a job with benefits. That hasn't happened and so we could not wait any longer. We go to meet with the surgeon today.
I am still looking for a job. We went to a trucking job fair Friday and are seriously considering driving a small sprint truck. We might as well see the country. Our girls are at college and we don't have a house so we could do this to get back on our feet.
(As long as my husband gets better.)
The lady we are living with is getting tired of us I think, so I am really feeling the pressure to find a new place. ( but I don't know where)

I know with all my heart God is in control
That these trials make us stronger
Most days I am at peace, trusting in Him and waiting. Knowing He has a plan.
The pastor yesterday had a great story about letting Jesus steer my bike.
It was a great illistration. I felt better.
But
Today I do not.
I'm scared
Getting scared gets me in trouble.
So it's back to FAITH and TRUST.
He has not let us down yet and we really are not in need of anything important.
He has truly blessed us so why do I get scared?
I'll be fine but I'm just really feeling that I don't have the strength He thinks I have.
If you are so inclined I'd appreciate your prayer support.
Thanks

Help Please

A library in need...

I LOVE books. I LOVE to read. I want everyone to LOVE to read or at least have the opportunity to read. When I came across this post I knew I had to share. We have to many books to move again so I am just going to bite the bullet and let them go. I hope you have some to pass along or can buy some nice used books from your local 2nd hand book store and support local! Win, win for all involved.

The original post comes from Danielle ~ here http://www.frenzyofnoise.net

"The literature section of Ballou Senior High School's library in Washington, DC has 63 books, not enough to fill five small shelves. In the area marked "Pure Science," there are 77 volumes. The generally accepted standard for school libraries is 11 books for each of Ballou's 1,104 students."
Why we should care:


"It's a challenge for kids to take their literacy seriously when they don't even have books to read. Ballou is located in the most dangerous ward in our nation's capitol. Right now, the library serves as a physical safe space and a refuge for students in off school hours, but wouldn't it be great if they had something to read while they were there--even choices across genre?....This is not the only school in the country with needs, but when the flare went up we saw it and chose to respond."
What they need:
Everything. From Shakespeare to Octavia Butler to Richard Wright. Fantasy, sci-fi, YA, adult fiction, history books, poetry, classic literature, science. Basically anything and everything suitable for teens. She said they would take anything as long as it is in GOOD condition and has no writing in it.
I've asked if they would accept ARCs (new or old), and the director of the book drive, Lisa, said YES.

How to donate:
If you have books you want to give, please mail them directly to:
Perry School
c/o Margaret Pegram
128 M St. NW suite 318
Washington, DC 20001
Inside the box put a note that says "c/o Lisa P. Ballou Book Drive".

The school will be accepting books until August 22nd.

(Also, if you'd like to include some kind of quick note for the kids, words of encouragement, that would be awesome!!)

Spread the word!
Reblog this post on your blog. Tweet this post. (we're on twitter at #HSBookDrive) Tell everyone. Send books

Solitude and Silence

I am currently studying Dallas Willard's book The Divine Conspiracy. Today he was teaching us how important times of solitude and silence is to our spiritual growth.

I usually feel the need to be busy. I feel guilty if I just do nothing.

I like solitude. Actually I LOVE it!

So reading that it is necessary gave me permission to just enjoy this day of rest the Lord tells us to observe.

Quietly observing nature

meditating

praying

reading some

napping

What a great day!

I named this file "Builder of Dreams"

Just thought I'd share some summer images and a prompt to stop and be silent sometime this week.