Catching up soon...

I have major things to share!!! I can't wait to have time to post them. My plan is to do it next week... Christmas week. Just had to go ahead & post something more recent than the garden post. We are WAY past summer! Here's to catching up :-)

Gardening

I've been wanting to post some pictures of our garden for a long time, and today is the day! This is the first year we've really had a garden. We grew tomatoes & strawberries & watermelons a few years ago, but we've mainly relied on veggies & tomatoes from my parents garden. So a garden of this size is a first for us. We actually have 2 gardens though! We are growing corn, white half runners, watermelons, potatoes, and onions in what we call the "upper" garden, which is attached to my parents garden next door, and it's about 2-3 times the size of the one behind our house.

We have enjoyed squash (yellow crookneck & zucchini) for a few weeks now. Tim has never liked squash, but he does now! Yeah! And I have learned SO much about how to prepare them to eat. I learned that we love to eat zucchini raw. My first couple of attempts at cooking squash were learning experiences! But since then I've managed to saute, fry, boil, and bake them... make them into patties after grating... make an "off the chain" casserole (my mom found the BEST recipe!)... and put some in the freezer (in patties, casseroles, and sauteed ones).

I've realized that green beans are A LOT of work and VERY time consuming!!! I've been picking them, washing, stringing, snapping, blanching, and putting them in the freezer. I like the white half runners, but those strings! No matter how thoroughly I think I've stringed them, inevitably, I find tons of strings after cooking them! Anybody have any suggestions for that problem?

I've been thrilled with how well our jalapeno plant has done! And we've really enjoyed jalapeno nachos, fresh salsa, and cheese dip! My mom found a recipe for jalapeno sauce to put up in jars that sounds amazing & I can't wait to do that. I've learned you can seed & dice them & put them in the freezer. I haven't pickled any of them yet, and I'm not sure I'll do that this year... maybe next year when I have more jalapeno plants!














Tomatoes are my favorite & just started ripening last week! Whoohoo! :-) I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE fresh tomatoes out of the garden, and with almost every meal! I've already put some in the freezer for soups.

























Here's a picture of one of my red bell pepper plants...














One of our watermelons...














And one of my herb garden... Lavender, Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary :-)






..






And I want to extend a great big thank you to my mom & dad for all of their expertise! I have placed a million phone calls to my mom for details, advice, and recipe help after we've "harvested". My dad has helped plow and taught us the ins and outs of planting and growing. We couldn't have done it without them. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
It's been a lot of hard work, but I know it will be worth it!

Me, Myself, and Lies

So thankful to have started this study along with so many others through the LPM blog. And I'm also thankful I'm not going solo on this one (and I did seriously think about going solo, thinking it might be easier and more laid back for the summer), but I already had 2 months off from the Esther study of "going solo", and I was ready to be back studying with a group! I know God put our little group together! There were a lot of people invited because I had a wild hair (& through the prompting of the Holy Spirit :-) posted an invite on facebook to all my female friends... but I trusted that God would put together the group. It made me nervous at times, and it was a struggle NOT to try to "control" it to make sure everyone fit together well, but He kept reminding me to just trust Him to put the group together. We met at Starb*cks on Tuesday evening. During our first meeting, we named our group "DID" standing for "Do it daily!" referring to a consistent, DAILY relationship with God & His Word & just doing the thing!

Rachel, Bethany, Jennifer, and Rhonda

DFCS Orientation

We finally did it! Tim and I attended the DFCS orientation!
We have been THINKING about taking this first step for MONTHS now... I tried to call and schedule us for one back in September 2008, but it just has not worked out until now.
I kept saying that we just HAD to do it sometime in May. (I started feeling an urgency and a peace about it.) Then my mom saw a notice in the paper for an event on June 6th called "Children Grow Best in Families" being held at a church in Calhoun. The event was for those interested in learning about fostering/adoption. We registered immediately. We were going to wait until after the event to schedule an orientation or see what our next step would be.
We arrived at the event that evening to an all-u-can eat Sonny's BBQ buffet. Talk about making my husband one happy fellow!!! Everything was SO nice! We found out quickly in the opening remarks and introduction of all the DFCS staff there representing 3 counties in the surrounding area, including our county, that this was the NICEST orientation the DFCS staff had ever been a part of. Did they say DFCS orientation?!?! I was ecstatic!!! :-) We were at an official DFCS orientation! Whoohoo!!! :-) We got a lot of good information, all of the paperwork we need to fill out, & we won a door prize! We plan to fill out the paperwork ASAP & be ready to attend the IMPACT training in July.

Update on books I'm reading...

This is what I'm doing for a short Bible study while I'm "in between" studies. "He Speaks to Me" by Priscilla Shirer.








I read Captivating while doing the Esther study & have 2 chapters to go before finishing it & re-reading!










I just started this book, but it has really captured my attention & has intrigued me. What a treasure!!! (This is a bad image of the book, but the only one I could find online.)











I also started the Mitford series, and did not expect to enjoy it so much! What a wonderfully charming, funny, uplifting series to read over the summer. I'll be on vacation in Mitford this summer :-) I've read the first 3 books so far.

A brief summary of what studying ESTHER meant to me...

****This "brief" summary ended up being a little lengthy :-)

I'd like to get in the habit of blogging more, but it's so hard sometimes when you feel like you are talking to air and have no idea who your audience might be. I still feel led to try to blog for some reason. I just can't seem to actually do so consistently. Since the theme lately has just been to share what I've been reading/studying, I might as well get caught up on that :-)

The Esther study ended April 1st & I can't believe that 2 months have already passed. God taught me and reminded me of so many foundational things throughout the study & I was amazed time and time again of how the "themes" through Esther matched up with right where I was at the time. God was actively working in my heart and speaking throughout the study. I loved seeing the Providence of God. Even though I loved every minute of the study & all the video sessions, my favorite sessions were:
--Session #4 dealing with fear and trust.
--Session #7 dealing with waiting on the LORD
(If you've done the study or WHEN you do the study, you'll understand why it was extremely hard for me to pick favorite sessions. I'm just trying to be more specific on what spoke to me the MOST.)

Some of the biggest concepts the LORD really drove home for me were:
--We will never fret our way to victory! The LORD wants trust.
--The longing is a part of the wait. There is no wait without the longing. There is something the wait is for.
--It is TRUST that turns it all around!!!
--Trust Him period.

Also I just have to mention the topics of deliverance & PURIM & chiastic structure & peripety & tables being TURNED! WOW!!!

During week #8, there were 2 paragraphs that were chock full of all sorts of meaningful goodies that really stood out...

pg 188 - "Some of us with little previous battle experience have no idea why God is allowing us to go through such difficult times in a place we thought was His will. He's trying to make warriors out of us, girlfriend! Rise to the occasion! But we aren't meant to fight unseen forces alone. You and I have the God-given right to lock arms with our sisters and brothers in Christ and defend ourselves with the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith. Here's the best part: When we do, we are guaranteed the victory. I said guaranteed" - Beth Moore

pg 197 - "Beloved, take these simple words to heart no matter how many times you've heard them: your God cares about you! He wants to show you what He can do with your life and your negative conditions, but He wants you to know without a doubt that He alone is the author of reversals. Wait like a watchman on the wall and when the first sign of reversal comes, don't dream of calling it coincidence. Raise the roof with praise and ask the One who has begun a good work in you to complete it! He is not only glorified through our suffering. He can also be supremely glorified through our celebrating." - Beth Moore

On page 220, Beth Moore writes "I've savored so many things about the Book of Esther but nothing more extravagantly than the pure element of story. That's what God used to captivate my imagination for months on end. Eugene Peterson explains the wonder of "story" in words beyond what I can express: 'Story doesn't just tell us something and leave it there, it invites our participation. A good storyteller gathers us into the story. We feel the emotions, get caught up in the drama, identify with the characters... Honest stories respect our freedom; they don't manipulate us... They bring us into the spacious world in which God creates and saves and blesses... they offer us a place in the story, invite us into the large story that takes place under the broad skies of God's purposes.' "

Through the story of Esther, the TRUE story of Esther, I believe God was inviting me to my own destiny & He strategically planned for me to go through this study "for such a time as this." To prepare me. To build my faith. To seek Him by faith. He is calling me to courage and perseverance.



p.s. One of the cool things that happened during the study... and the story behind one of my memory verses... (This is kind of hard to explain, but I'll do my best.)

It was February 26th... the subject of "belonging" came up when I was talking to one of my BFF's Ashlee... She was 2 weeks ahead of me in the Esther study, and she was telling me about one of the video sessions I had not yet seen where Beth talks about "GP"... (which is "God's Property" from Kirk Franklin & is a part of the song "STOMP"... LOVE that song by the way :-) .... We were talking about being "God's People" though.
Fast forward to later that evening when I was searching the scriptures and asking the Lord which scripture to memorize starting March 1st. I had narrowed it down to two possibilities. I came across my Becoming magazine (the NT in New Century Version) & wanted to look up Psalms 112:7-8 (one of the possibilities) in that version, but Psalms was not in that magazine. So then I was just flipping through and noticed the "calendars" where they make suggestions on certain days. I found the February calendar & the suggestion for that day (February 26th) was
"Memorize Ephesians 2:19." Guess what Ephesians 2:19 has to say?!?! "Now you who are not Jewish are not foreigners or strangers any longer, but are citizens together with God's holy people. You belong to God's family." :-)))

In regards to the song, "STOMP" by Kirk Franklin & God's Property, I got the biggest kick out of hearing it right after the Esther study was over & do you know what one of the lyrics is?!?! "TURN MY LIFE AROUND!!!"

Books I've read since my last post...

I read this one around Friday 13th & during the week in Esther where we study Haman. It helped during the Esther study that I had this picture of evil. The book also dealt with beauty... "true beauty," which also goes right along with the Esther study. I thought it was extremely interesting the "timing" of me reading this book.
I read this book in April, and LOVED it! Highly recommend! It was perfect timing when I read this book as well.


I can't find a picture of "The Steadfast Heart" by Mary Wolfe Thompson. It was published in 1951. I found it in an antique store & paid $2.50 for it. It was a WONDERFUL story about a 15-year old girl, Jo, and her younger sister going to live with a foster family. Loved that it dealt with "belonging"

Finding Church

John Eldredge just posted a blog entry titled "Finding Church". Click here to read it. Wonderful insight.

God is AMAZING! He is working & moving!

I am amazed at how God gets my attention, how He speaks, how He works and moves, how He times things perfectly. He truly blows my mind. My God (the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob... The "I AM THAT I AM") is truly amazing! HE IS REAL!
He is up to some huge things in my heart right now. Messy, painful, hard things. But He is with me. He is near.

I heard a song last night on the radio sung by someone I've never heard of (Kristy Starling)... "I NEED YOU"
Here are some of the lyrics...
"I NEED YOU like water, like breath, like rain... You're the HOPE that moves me to COURAGE again... You're the LOVE that rescues me when the cold winter rages... I can't turn back now! You've brought me too far!"

Let me tell you...
I have felt like turning back & just going into HIDING!
My God has brought me way too far to do that.
I NEED GOD MORE THAN I KNOW!
HE is Love & I praise Him that He does rescue me...
HE IS MY HOPE!!!
HE will move me to COURAGE again.

I started the ESTHER study by Beth Moore last week. And Beth said something in the introductory session that I believe. God has something strategically planned during this journey of studying Esther the next 9 weeks that will do with MY destiny. There is something He is calling me to, and it is going to take COURAGE & PERSEVERANCE!

One thing I learned in the introductory session is that the book of Esther "offers tremendous HOPE", and "it extends a vital perspective on the PROVIDENCE OF GOD."

Romans 15:4 - "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

Jeremiah 29:11 - " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' "

I also learned last night during the Week 1 video session that Esther means "star".
Today I am seeing the word "star" everywhere... literally.
Actually it started last night on the way home with the artist's name Kristy STARling :-)
I was writing in my journal this morning, and the quote at the top of the page...

"To us also, through every STAR, through every blade of grass, is not God made visible if we will open our minds and our eyes?" - Thomas Carlyle

As of right this minute, I also don't think it's a coincidence that Tim and I have been staring at the night sky and the stars more often than we ever have. (It really started this past fall.)

As I was watching Life Today... the TIMING of the message today was unbelievable!... With the things going on in my heart and my mind.... I really couldn't believe it! The verse Beth was sharing has been before me all week long... (Isaiah 26:3 - "The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You." I have to share verse 4 too - "Trust in the LORD forever, For in God the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.")
He was meeting me right where I was at.
He was exposing some areas where I don't trust Him... the areas where I have vain imaginations, fears, anxiety, and insecurity.... the areas where "my mind spews"...

Right after, I read this verse...
"He heals the heartbroken and binds up their wounds. He counts the STARS and assigns each a name. Our LORD is great, with limitless strength; we'll never comprehend what He knows and does." - Psalm 147:3-5

I know this post is all over the place, and it's probably not going to make a whole lot of sense to anyone reading it, but I was just too amazed to not at least try to document some of this stuff God is stirring up in me and putting before me. It's impossible to explain or put into words, so I didn't expound or put a lot of detail here. All I know is He is up to something. I know it's going to be good. I know that HE is God and I am not. His understanding is infinite. I LOVE HIM!

MY NEW BOOKCASES!!! :-)

Timmy has built me the most wonderful bookcases in the whole world!!! Talk about the most memorable, wonderful Christmas present ever! He had started them in early December with the goal to finish them way before Christmas, but his work schedule had made that impossible. So our basement has been a construction zone since then, but I was too excited about the reason it was a construction zone to care :-) They are ALMOST finished now! The only thing that has not been done is the mantle / top piece. But praise the Lord, that does not affect me being able to stock them with books!!! So in my book, they are finished :-) Stocking the shelves and going through my books has been thrilling, exciting, tiring, nostalgic, rewarding, and SO much fun! What a trip down memory lane as I unloaded TOTE AFTER TOTE of books I had not laid my hands on since middle school (& before). What a relief to see all my books finally at home on display where I can get to them & use them. I know they are relieved to be at home finally ;-) It has also been nice to take some pressure off my overloaded bookcases upstairs. They are breathing a sigh of relief as well & look SO much better! I would love to post a picture right now, but our camera is broken. As soon as I can get a picture, I will post it!
A big THANK YOU to my wonderful husband who now has a new name... "Master CraftsTim"

2008 was just the BEGINNING!

In entering a new year & looking back to 2008, I honestly couldn't believe that 2008 was OVER already! I felt disappointed. I had high hopes for 2008. It was the year of NEW BEGINNINGS & RESURRECTION LIFE! I just knew it was going to be such a special year... a year God was going to transform our lives completely in big & amazing ways. We were going to be living completely different by the end of the year.
Well, it's over... 2008 is gone... And..disappointment. UNTIL....
God encouraged me & let me know that 2008 was indeed JUST THE BEGINNING!!! It was completely OK that none of the big things/changes that were started got brought to completion! 2008 was only the BEGINNING! God is going to continue the works He started. I pray that he will put to death any works of the flesh "I" started. So thankful for perspective!

Between Sundays

This book is set in the NFL & is a fictional story about the star quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and a foster child. This book deals with the foster care system as well. It's a story of finding faith, romance, and what matters most in life. ...And what matters most is who you are, what you do, WHOSE you are, and how you live life "BETWEEN SUNDAYS".

I read this book over the weekend. I feel like one of the "themes" in my life right now is WAITING. (I'll write more about this later.) Another theme has been HOPE. As I was nearing the end of the book, the connection between WAITING and HOPE jumped off the page. The 2 things are connected in a big way!!! I will be researching/exploring this further.

Celebrating 10 Years!!!

It is our 10th anniversary today!!! We had our first date exactly 11 years ago on a Friday night. We were married exactly one year later on January 16, 1999 -- 10 years ago!

It seems like forever ago & just like yesterday.
Our love for each other has grown.
It has not been all peaches & cream... We have had some rough patches... (WHO DOESN'T!)
But the LORD has brought us through!
(Lord, we praise You for being so faithful and keeping us and protecting us!!! You alone have brought us to this point. Your love has sustained us. Thank You for Your amazing love that flows through us to each other.)

This is an "Ebenezer" moment... Like from the hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing "Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here by Thy great help I’ve come!".... Like 1 Samuel 7:12 "Then Samuel [Gen 35:14; Josh 4:9; 24:26] took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it [I.e. The stone of help] Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the LORD has helped us.'"

What a 10 years this has been & I know God has good plans for us during the next 10 years! What an adventure!

I LOVE MY WONDERFUL, AMAZING, SEXY, HARDWORKING MAN! YOU ARE THE BEST HUSBAND EVER! YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND! YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! I love the way you love me. (I know those are words in a song, but I mean them from the bottom of my heart. You know they are true.) You truly love me, just as I truly love you, and you know how to show it! Thank you for not only telling me all the time, but SHOWING it!!! You know how to put a smile on my face when I feel like frowning. You know how to cheer me up. I love it when you are giddy with excitement. I love singing with you and sharing music together. I love dancing with you. I love watching God working in your heart, my reader :-) I love laughing with you. I love BEING with you, even when you are in your "nothing" box :-) I love living life with you. You light up my life. I know this is going to sound random, but thank you for taking me to that book sale a while back. That meant SO much to me! Thank you for all the little things you do to help out the ShuTeam, even the stuff I don't notice or appreciate like I should. Thank you for always extending me grace, my love.
Forever and always,
Shubaby, Precious, Sweet Peach, and J (Only some of my special names, I know, but I'll spare the readers the rest & we'll just leave them between us :-)

Rejoice in Every Day of Life!

Ecclesiastes 11:8 "Rejoice in every day of life."

I had no idea this scripture existed until last Saturday, but I have a feeling the Lord wants me to know it now. I was with my mom on Saturday morning getting ready to start my sewing lesson, when she receives a package. Among the items she had ordered were some file folders with scripture, and this was one of the scriptures. I decided I had to have these file folders, so I immediately ordered these folders for myself :-)

Later that evening, I was at The Open Door Christian Bookstore with Tim's discipleship group that our former pastor (James Black) leads once a month. It was the first "joint" meeting where the ladies were invited as well. I just have to say that I was SO thankful to be there! It was such a privilege... a huge blessing!!! I love James & Judy! And the lesson that night was so timely. Anyway, at the bookstore were 2 small canvas prints that were black & white with a touch of red that were perfect for my home office! The verse on one of them was Ecclesiastes 11:8! I couldn't believe it! I knew the Lord was bringing my attention to this verse. Now it's sitting on my desk where I can be reminded all day long to REJOICE!
Some of the things it means to me already...
Rejoice every day.
Rejoice in the midst of the "dailiness" of life.
Rejoice in every single day regardless of what it holds or how I feel...

To be continued...

Dressed to Kill

I heard about this book months ago when watching an interview with the author Rick Renner on "Life Today" with James & Betty Robison. I FINALLY got it, and just started reading. I'm so excited!
To read his biography, click here.

Books I recently read & LOVED!!!

I need a new background!!!

I can't figure out how to get the "Christmas" background to go away! When I do succeed in hiding it, then my blog list goes away :-( and I can't deal with my blog list being gone! :-) I'm not a good consistent blogger myself (yet), but I do love to keep up with the wonderful blogs on my blog list.
Anyway, hopefully I can take some time to figure this out soon...

Update: I got the Christmas background to go away!!! Yeah!!! :-)