Galatians Chapter 5

This is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible.
Verse 19 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolarty, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. (22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, (23) Meekness, temperance (or self-control); against such there is no law."

This says to me that hatred will keep you out of God's Kingdom just like adultery. Envy will keep you out just like murder. Let us all to be careful and do not let envy start in our hearts, so that hatred will not be there to stay. Let us work hard to get rid of the hatred in our hearts.

Verse 14 of this chapter talks about the most important thing. "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Love is what life is all about. Love will get us into the Kingdom of God. Loving others and God loving us. What did God do for us because he loves us so much?

Motherhood

Why do we think that being a parent will be an easy job? It is not. It is the hardest job that I have ever had. It is harder than hauling hay in July, it is harder than bathing a dog that has been sprayed by a skunk. It is harder than dealing with a boss that is mentally ill and a drug addict. It requires ME being in control of MYSELF at all times. I must be honest. I must work hard. I must be uncomfortable. I must do what I say I am going to do. I must do things that I DON'T WANT TO DO. I must move and do when I think there is no way for me to move or do another thing. It is a very physically demanding job but mostly it is an emotionally challenging job. It is the most rewarding job I have ever had. It is amazing how a laugh or a smile can mean more than any amount of money I could ever earn. Levi got it this morning, he got up by himself, got himself dressed, brushed his teeth and combed his hair and came downstairs, ready to eat breakfast. I did not have to tell him to do one thing this morning. WOW! So, all of the mornings of Kindergarten and First grade (so far) that I have told him to get up and get ready finally paid off. He was SO proud of himself, you could just see the self esteem grow. I am so thankful for my healthy children, my hard working husband and this amazing journey of Motherhood that I am on. Praise God!

40 years

Randy and I want to congratulate his parents, George and Mike, on their 40th wedding anniversary. They eloped when they were 18, in 1968, to marry each other and vow to spend their life together. They are a great example and remain committed to each other, in love and best friends. We love you Maw Maw and Paw Paw!

Quilting, cheap therapy

One of my favorite things to do is to quilt. I bought myself a sewing machine for my 30th birthday (almost 4 years ago). I knew very little about sewing at that time, much less quilting. Over the past 4 years I have learned so much. One of my best friends, Anna (Quilting Genius), has taught me everything that I know. She is a great teacher and very patient. We have a quilting group that meets every few weeks. We have a lot of fun together, talking and laughing and learning from each other. Here are some pictures of the quilts I have been working on in the past year or so.

Like Father, Like Son

Levi sees what Randy is doing on Saturday, comes in the house, gets a bucketful of warm water and a rag and starts doing the same thing. Without being asked. Our children are watching us and doing exactly what we do!!!

Marria's FUNeral

Marria turned 35 on February 11th. She had a great party to celebrate the women in her life. We had fun!

Quotes

I have a daily calendar in my kitchen window that has some very good quotes. My good friend Heather gave this calander to me and I think of her every day as I flip it to the new day. I would like to share a few quotes that stood out to me.

"Instant availability without continuous presence is probably the best role a mother can play."
L. Bailyn

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
Psalms 27:13-14 NIV

"Life itself, every bit of health that we enjoy, every hour of liberty and free enjoyment, the ability to see, to hear, to speak, to think, and to imagine - all this comes from the hand of God. We show our gratitude by giving back to Him a part of that which He has given to us."
Billy Graham

New Friends

How nice it is to get to spend time with people that you don't know very well and realize that you really enjoy being with them. Thanks to Mike and Donna for a great time.

A Beautiful Place

Randy and I were recently blessed with a fun trip without the kids. We had a great time. We took a snowmobile ride up to Yellowstone National Park to watch "Old Faithful" blow. Randy got to practice his skiing on the 2nd day (I continue to be the best skiier in the family). We also took a dinner sleigh ride. We had fun.

Stella's World

This girl loves animals. Each day she plays with her animals like they are babies, feeds them, tucks them in bed, rocks them, takes them for a ride in the stroller. She recently asked for a "sled wolf" as a prize. She pretends that she lives in Africa and feeds the animals every day. She brings her animals to me - the "veternarian" - to remove the fleas. Her imagination is great.