I FOUND DORA!!!

Look who I found! A great person I met in the east when I was there in about 1993 for 6 weeks. Dora Alexander is someone I never forgot and have been asking about ever sense then. We got in contact through the McAdam family in Crystal Spring and had a short visit there about a month ago.

It was wonderful to see her again, and getting to know more about her is a pleasure. We are communicating and she has awakened that artistic part of me again, that seems to have died sense I was hospitalized 5 years ago. She helped me see that being an artist isn't just turning out a painting ever so often, but a way to live. Getting every bit of juice out of every sweet moment that we live on earth.

Doesn't she just sparkle?? This is one beautiful woman and I'm so glad that we could get in touch. She sent me a butterfly all the way from South Amarica, it is just too beautiful!!
Sorry about the no show pictures. Need new batteries.

Delishious Dirt

Judas' Birthday was a few weeks ago and I made a big fuss about dirt, that was the theme of the party anyway. We had a muddy tug of war in the water filled sandbox and his side won. There was a prise for the most warms found and the best mud sculpture. We were almost rained out but it came down just after presents were opened and the food was consumed. Lucky. We had planned to have a sleepover and a swim with the boys after the party, but had to postpone that for the day after when things dried out.

I made a delicious dirt desert and put a worm on every cupcake and topped it off with ice tea (muddy water) with gummy worms crawling at the bottom. It was great fun!!

JBK is growing into a fairly responsible young man, he is very helpful and kind hearted, just like his Papa. He is mastering his reading skills at 7 and has a good handle on his math as well. The kids are taking some more swimming lessons at Southport and I call him 'The Fish' to boost his confidence.

There is one thing that I'm struggling to teach him as he is smack dab in the "Me" stage and that is being good or doing good not just because someone is watching or praising him. I'm working on having him doing his best just because God sees everything we do. It's not as simple to a 7 year old as it sounds, but I can see the progress in his taking some of the responsibility of caring for himself and others when no one is around.

He listens to an endless array of stories that build his character and I sure knot his responses to some traets like honesty and caring even when he is the center of his world for now.

I was pondering yesterday as I watched my sons giggling and eating their night lunch out on the porch in their PJ's that if this was the only blessing I ever had, being the mother of two beautiful boys, it would be all I'd ever need to know happiness.

Last season pics

Not Cronologic

Boys in winter

New additions to family


Bench at park that Rod made for my birthday.

Had very special friends over for my birthday, they brought me bright tulips and carnations. It was my aunt Lana and her two beautiful daughters, Sonya and Debra.

Slapped a cake together for B-day.

These are my two treasures.
Thanks Deb for the pic

Boys at my house got me some flowers for Mothers Day.

Elisha play at the school.

Sonya this is for you, who helped make the alter.

Happy with it??

Look what I found!

WWOOOWW!! Ask God for a little wisdom and He just pores it on you. You have to read this if the past post spoke to you in any way. It is a quiz as to how humble we are in our relationships. My friend and cousen Selma always talked about brokenness and I never really know that it was just another word for humility. Here is the link.

Pride or Humility

My faults humility
I’ve been exploring the difference between real and faults humility. Since Jesus was washing feet with a towel and basin at the last supper, I’ve been asking about what it really means in that light. Here are some of my ideas, and I sure wish that you would add or take away according to your wisdom.
Pride

The inability to take a complement

Constant need to mention good deeds, even when no one asks

Rejecting help, service, or gifts

Putting myself down

Criticizing others to try to make myself look better

Ranking jobs

Doing good to be seen by others

Real humility

Realizing my desperate need for God

Being obedient and able to be led

Realizing my own weakness

Giving others the chance to fail

My Vows

Today is the day we consider the vows we made when we were baptized. Rod and I reread them this morning in preparation for the meal of remembrance. Here they are:

Before the prayer:

1. Do you recognize the teachings of Jesus, which have been laid before you, to be the truth and the true foundation of blessedness?
2. Do you believe in and agree with the twelve points of the Christian faith, and will you diligently witness to them?
3. Do you desire the intercession of the church so that God may forgive and remit the sins you have committed either knowingly or in ignorance?
4. Do you desire to yield, to give, and to sacrifice yourself to God the Lord in the covenant of Christian baptism?

After the prayer, each one is asked the following six questions while kneeling:

1. Have you now understood enough of the Word of the Lord to recognize it as the way to eternal life?
2. Are you sorry with all your heart for the sins you have committed against God, either knowingly or in ignorance? And do you henceforth want to fear God and never willfully sin against Him anymore, but rather die than willfully do anything against Him?
3. Do you believe that God, through Christ and the intercession of His people , has forgiven and remitted your sins?
4. Do you desire to accept brotherly admonition and discipline and also to use it toward others when necessary?
5. Do you desire to give and sacrifice yourself to the Lord in Heaven with body and soul and all that you have, and to yield yourself in obedience to Christ and His Church?
6. Do you desire to make a covenant with God and with all His people and to be baptized on confession of your faith?

Now that Easter is upon us we like to check ourselves and see that we are still keeping them. The hardest one for me besides keeping the faith is to use brotherly admonition. When I use it, my own house has to be clean, and I always have to keep my motives pure and humble. That's not easy, but it does serve to bring us closer to each other and to God.

There are no excuses to use before God because He sees into my heart and knows my deepest secret thoughts. It appears that if I don't keep my vows then I am a lier and Gods word says that the devil is the father of all who lie. This pretty much sobers us up at this time of year.

Sign

I finally finished my sign, it is carved into the wood. I've never tried carving before and it was an exciting venture.
The paint is acrylic and I hope it weathers well as it it is going outside. It has a few coats of varnish.
It's funny how I have trouble knowing when to stop paining, tossing the question "When is it good enough?????"