A Man’s true wealth is the good he does in the world.
Grace for the Day
Writer Marjorie Holmes’s prayer, “Just for Today”.
Oh, God, give me grace for this day.
Not for a lifetime, for for next week, nor
for tomorrow, just for this day.
Direct my thoughts and bless them,
Direct my work and bless it.
direct the things I say and give them blessing, too.
Direct and bless everything that I think and speak
and do. So that for this one day, just this one
day, I have the gift of grace that comes from your presence…
Grace is available for each of us every day–our spiritual daily bread–but we’ve got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and try not to worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow. There will be.
Simple Abundance, Sarah Ban Breathnach
Letters
I have been blogging Kelsey’s letters that she sends me. I figured I could put them where you all could read them too. You can find it here. 🙂
peace…
Committed
A week ago I was given some information about a situation that greatly affects me. As it stands, my plan for purchasing a house this year is on hold. When this was brought to my attention at first I was devastated. What was I going to do now? If I didn’t purchase before the end of November I won’t be able to take advantage of a tax credit. The housing prices are rising and I won’t be able to purchase for a long time. This dream seemed to have crashed to the ground and shattered in a million pieces…
But then the Lord came to me and asked if it was committed. Why yes the house is, the house on Merton was, but I had to work on getting the dream of a house by the end of this year committed, any house. As I worked the better part of that evening to get it all committed, the Lord brought such a great peace and comfort. I don’t have to be worried. And the prayer that I have prayed through this whole situation of, “Lord where ever, when ever and for how much” God knows what we can handle and if our desire is to be in his will, even if it is different than our own, he will give that grace and peace to be able to stand where he wants us to stand.
I am thankful to say that it is committed, the house on Merton, a house by November 31 and a house by the age of 25…God knows and will provide. If it is his will for me to have a house by any of these standards than it will be his miracle and he will definitely get all the honor and glory. If it isn’t his will, than we will just wait and see what it is, I am sure that it is destined to be the best for me and all those that are involved.
As for my offer on the house, I am not going to pull it, God is a big God. If it is his will, he will work it out. If it isn’t, he will work that out to. I just have to sit back, wait patiently and trust that whatever the outcome, it will be perfect.
thankful for lives spared…
This time of year when it’s Mom’s birthday and mine is coming soon… I reflect on how thankful I am that God spared both of our lives. Mine when I was born – so early and small, thankfully the nurse was wrong when she said “this one isn’t going to make it”. And Mom’s in the year or so following my birth, when she was so ill. I’ve heard her testimony time and again, how she held on to God’s promise – one day at a time, when she didn’t know what to do. And God was faithful to hold on too, he has promised us, he will never let go. I am thankful for my Mom – for the lessons she has taught and the example she has been.
60 things
Sixty things You May or May not Know About Leslie
1. Likes yellow roses the best
2. Doesn’t like her feet messed with
3. Favorite meal to eat out Breakfast
4. First choice dark chocolate with almonds
5. Favorite vacation spot – ocean beaches
6. Next car Hyundai Genesis ( I’m hoping)
7. Loves to knit and challenge myself with new stitches
8. Determined to finish quilting projects
9. Would rather piece tops than quilt them
10. Happy my children live in Sacramento area
11. Been married 42 years
12. Born in Fresno, at St Agnus Hospital
13. Never lived more than 4 hours away from Fresno
14. Went to 4 grammar schools, 1 jr. high and 1 high school
15. Attended both ARC and Sac City jr. colleges for assorted classes
16. Could eat Chinese food several meals a week
17. Favorite color green
18. Favorite songs Not My Will and Every Need Supplied
19. Enjoys having stuff organized
20. but Procrastinates about organizing stuff
21. Volunteers in Kyle’s second grade class
22. Reads many types of books: mystery, science fiction, light romance, espionage
23. Grows violets, now that I know their favorite window, they bloom
24. Mistreats orchids and sometimes they bloom
25. Definitely a night person
26. Has seen sunrises and sunsets and knows the sunrises are not worth getting up for
27. Will get up early to see hot air balloons rise
28. Favorite holiday – thanksgiving
29. Enjoys being by myself
30. Enjoys just driving around for no real reason or destination
31. Loves to stop at yarn and quilt shops in new cities
32. Doesn’t really like garage sales
33. Knows that grandchildren are a special blessing from God
34. Loves black walnut ice cream at Baskin Robbins
35. Fascinated about how children learn
36. Knows audio books are the answer to how to anything and read at the same time
37. Thinks Bacon, tomato, Avocado sandwiches is a good breakfast
38. Must have lots of open (without curtains or blinds) windows in her house
39. Loves ironed pillowcases
40. Is learning to blog
41. Is being more open to people
42. Would like to go horse back riding on the beach
43. Collects thimbles from places she has been, has 30 (not all from places, some gifts)
44. Loves scissors that are less than 7 inches long
45. Thinks her children are wonderful, smart, beautiful and clean up well
46. Is a yarn and fabric fondler
47. Doesn’t have a passport, yet
48. Favorite scripture: Malachi 3:6a For I am the LORD, I change not;
49. Loves the fall because of the cool weather and the wind and the rain
50. Thinks she wants to own a dog
51. Would love to take a long road trip every year, home or abroad
52. Gets very frustrated with mechanical things that don’t work right, right now
53. Doesn’t really like to shop for clothes
54. Could not have picked more perfect daughter in laws
55. Volunteers at a school library one day a week during school year
56. Loves to look up words in the dictionary
57. Thinks thrift shops are okay
58. Would like to travel to England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland
59. Is going on her first cruise this year,
60. August 16 is my birthday and I am 60 years old.
Friday Fiction: Green
Write a brief bit of fiction involving money.
I remembered going to Sunday School as a small girl and having my offering tied in the corner of a hankie. The hankie was 100% cotton, not the permanent pressed ones of today. I was very careful not to lose the offering and held on tight to the hankie. By the time the offering basket was passed around and I had untied the knot, the hankie was is pretty sorry shape. The offering was all I had.
It belonged to Jesus.
Relaxing?
1dad1 and I left town on for a few day of R &R. I made sure the RV Park had internet access, we didn’t want to rough it too much. We arrived and got set up. The park is small and very quiet, except for the AC’s. Well, the server I got on was commador issued. Relaxing, no. I had to wait up to 3 minutes or more for a page to load, I could read, knit, fill my water glass, empty…
but relaxing it was not. 1dad1 ran a check disc and a defrag. That helped a little, sometimes. So today, he hooked me up to a different server. Much better, although now no time to ….
Another day on the House Hunt
Mom and I went out again to look at houses. This time there were 3 out of the 5 we saw have potential. However the one on Merton is still my favorite. I haven’t gotten the same feeling in the others. Two of the three possibilities felt like they could be home, but I was still comparing them to the previously found house. I am having the Realtor look into those that we found today to see what the scoop is…more info to follow…
It has become quite an adventure!
Pondering a Tidbit
Who would have thought a tidbit could start that kind of thought?
I love your thoughts, I’ll ponder.
Offer #1
I did it, I put an official offer in on a house today. Yes, my only favorite out of the dozen that we have seen. It made me feel big. However exciting it is, it still is scary. Its official, I am really trying to do this.
Now I am beginning to feel a little anxious, I want to know how the offer goes on this house and I don’t really want to look for others. However, with this market, I don’t want to completely close the door to other opportunities. And it is a short sale, (in the second phase, whatever that means) and will take forever to decide on an offer to accept. Oh well, I will be searching for more houses to look at next week.
It is all in God’s hands and I know that he will work it all out to his glory. As I have said through this whole process is, He knows where I need to be when and for how much. I am glad that there is someone that knows what is going on.
I’m a big girl now.
On Wednesday Travis and I had an appointment with the insurance guy. To talk life insurance. This is something that Travis and I have talked about off and on. Not that we want to die an untimely death, but we do want our children to have something when we are gone. And yes, we know that money won’t replace us. But it would be nice for them to have something – to use however they wish.
So we talked about the difference between term life and permanent life insurance. And what kind of coverage they gave. And the advantages and drawbacks of both. And we talked about how much money we want to have for the kids. The kinds of things we want them to be able to do with the money – and what that looks like in terms of dollar amount – and how that translates to a monthly payment. And what that looks like in our budget.
Age hasn’t ever meant anything to me. It never meant that I was an “adult”. It just happened and I got to do different things – whether I wanted to or not. Some things one just doesn’t stand in line for in life (suicidal partners, cancer, death of a loved one, etc). But when we filled out these papers – that protect the children in the event of our death – I felt like a big girl. Like I was taking steps to assure my children had a better future.
It felt – good.
Responsible.
Like we were moving forward.
I like it.
Em’s House Hunting Sidekick
I have had lots of fun being Em’s side kick on this hunting journey. Watching her: look through the houses, weighing the plus and minuses, can I make this work?, do I want to make this work? But the house just doesn’t say, Welcome home.
Until the house on Merton Way, eyes lit up and a little happy dance began in the way Emily moved through the house and studied each room. Yep, I could tell this one would be a keeper if it was the Lord’s will for her.
Day 2 on the House Hunt
Hi, I’m back with more on the house hunt. I have learned some more things.
I don’t want a condo. It was mentioned a couple times that I look into them. I went to look at a few today and they are just glorified apartments and I don’t want to purchase an apartment. They are ok to rent…but not to buy. Half-plexes might be an option, I saw the outside and would like to see the inside of one that might work. It is on a corner and the two halves are painted different so they look like two different houses. On this one they only shared a wall in the garage, which might work. If I have to share a wall, that is the best option.
Today I saw a house that I really like and am looking into putting in an offer. I’m not sure how this actually works, but we will see. I need some numbers run and some questions answered first. I am keeping it all in God’s hands. There are a lot of variables in today’s market and I need to keep my options open. However I would be just fine with this one.
I will probably be going out next week again to see some more houses and we will see what we can find.
Elmer’s Company Picnic
Yesterday was our 2nd annual picnic. And like last year there was too much good food (Aaron & Anatoliy – the BBQ Kings & Anthony with the yummy fish fry). There were about 36 of us that attended. The adults enjoyed eating, talking and playing frisbee (maybe next year we will remember the horseshoes). The kids had fun running around and playing at the playground. Renee (our Safety Queen) presented our 1st Safety incentive awards – Blue t-shirts with “For a job done right, the first time. ~SAFELY~” on the back of them. Thankfully, we have not had a WC injury so far this year. Good times were had by all, and we look forward to next year!
Thoughts of Grace 