Morning Symphony

    Good -morning, coffee black, thanks~

The kids have been fed,lunches packed, hugged and prayed over.

I've done my ceremonial wave from my window, to the bus driver...I wonder if he recognizes my morning outfit yet?(aka-housecoat )

The sun is sending a warm greeting into my patio doors, I pull up my chair as I often will at this time for some quiet contemplation.

I love listening to the Christian radio station in the morning,I feel even when mornings are harried and I don't have adequate time for reading to my children the songs they hear as we are getting ready for the day and the contests we play along with such as Bible Buzz, subconsciously plant seeds of goodness and truth in their hearts.So many great messages in song on Christian radio...

powerful songs like this....

     

          Sun, words, music and coffee synchronised symphony 

                    that melts any need of rushing and urgency.

                                  

 So there should run through all our daily lives the music of continual prayer beneath our various occupations,like some prolonged,deep,bass note that bears up and dignifies the lighter  melody rising,falling,and changing above it.

Then our lives can be a harmonious unity based upon a continual communion, a continual desire after God, and a continual submission to Him.

                           (Alexander Maclaren 1826-1910)

Beautiful words from my devotional this morning,so glad I took the time to sit and be still before Him....

giving thanks still;
395-son writing a letter to his sponsor child (a brother we say:) 396-daughter home for reading week,397-hubby almost finished with the new floor,398-painting the front door,399-matching tissue boxes,400-children , mine and others that make me smile,401,watching The Help,402-cousins crocheting and connecting,
403-prayer for situations that seem hopeless,404,daughter making plans for next year,405-strength for each season,406-icicles and the way they fascinate,407-friendly neighbours who honk going by.

Of Couches and Clutches and Such...

I have a problem; well several actually, but the one I'm going to tell you about today is my tendency to be a bit too sentimental for my own good.
I'm reminded of the time several years ago when I spent my hard earned savings on a new couch. 
I loved the new couch!It was classic and elegant!
I hated the old couch; the seat cushions slid off constantly and it no longer matched my room.
But wouldn't you know it.... I ACTUALLY pined when we parted with it.....then it dawned on me that the memories that were attached to it is what I was pining for! 
The precious, elusive, intangible memories.

                                                  bedtime stories...always a good time!

                                       home from the hospital and checking out the new addition...

                                          contemplating brother and sisterhood...

                                            Easter Sunday 2004...




Of course the new couch has  melded its own memories and I have forgotten my feelings for the old one, and  a couch is just a couch, right?

                        breaking in the new couch, right!

Somehow these were my thoughts as I watched hubby put in a new floor over the old linoleum we had previously.Funny but it feels better to put the new floor over the old,  then I'm not getting rid of it completely, right?

                         a thoughtful process...

   eating supper in the family room...(missing in action...two oldest girls and me taking      photo!)

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling 
   of holding on and letting go.Havelock Ellis







Can you relate to this at all? or are you more of an 
'out with the old and in with the new type of person?'

All That Remains

After the roses have been dried, after our song has been sung,
After we've kissed and made up,
After the race has been won.

One thing will remain after we're dust,
The memories we've made,
With the people we've loved.

After we've proved,
All that we know,
One thing will remain....
The LOVE that we've shown.....L.M.




Now these three remain; FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.
But the GREATEST of these is LOVE.......I Corinthians 13:13



387-family day memories,388-canvassing for Heart and Stroke, 389-talking with my country neighbours390-,turkey soup, and homemade bread,391-teaching Sunday School,392-talking to that little girl afterwards about what it means to 'ask Jesus into your heart,'393-invitations and brisk walks,394-lots of chances to cross country ski now with the snow.

Fun With Pink

                                                                                            image via here

                                       

              

        on the last snow day my girls made popsicles with cream soda,                                  

Pink,a sweet colour
anytime, bringing
out the little girl                                    
in us all... 
         
                   
                                                 

                             
 I know, popsicles in February!! (we like to live on the edge:)

a cozy sweater,and my latest knitted creation...

                                                            somehow these tulips ended up in my grocery bag!
I know, it's the strangest thing when that happens:)
I shared them with my mother-in-law...note to self...flowers are much more affordable the day after Valentines!

                as are chocolates...but for the record these WERE purchased before....                                                           




   here's proof that advertising works... I LOVE this commercial...                             

      
          here I am ,keeping an eye on you...

          
             LOVE,and Blessings, may your weekend
                  be as sweet as you are....Lucy~

             linked here to Pink Saturday             
              Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life   
         http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.ca/ 

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.ca/2013/02/feathered-nest-friday_14.html

The Most Important Day

Someone told me recently the MOST important day of your life is not in the past...... the MOST important day of your life is TODAY.
Today is the MOST important day of your life!!!


LET"S PRAISE HIM FOR THAT!!



I love this song the message resonates powerfully...GOD IS GOOD....all the time...........when I feel it, and when I don't.... He never changes even when I do and I fumble and stumble, He tenderly picks me up and places my feet in the right direction....
and I say thank-you......what can I bring?

378-a vehicle to go places...:) 379- love in my life, 380- serving....graciously,381- watching the movie Lincoln,382- our fore fathers and their legacies,383-acceptance of circumstances I can't change,384-mistakes and the lessons they teach,385-a white world of beauty, 386-a simpler solution to the floor conundrum...



Reach higher......laugh harder.....walk slower.........sing louder...
   and LOVE more...Blessings, Lucy~

Love...Eternal Incomprehensible

             
              I love to display these pitchers...they serve as a    reminder to pour out LOVE daily...




a little grammar for you...
Love is a verb! an action word.( end grammar lesson!)
 This is especially clear when you think about the love languages , how do you convey love? how do you like to receive love?
Each language :quality time, acts of service,gifts, words of affirmation and physical touch require action for them to be implemented.
Reminds me of my word of the year, which is response.

My love language is acts of service, I love when my husband and children do tangible things for me. This can include and certainly isn't exclusive, but helping with chores and duties can really make me a happy wife and Mom.
 Everyone has a secondary language and mine would be words of affirmation. I do appreciate sincere praise and approval, (who doesn't really?)
 Consequently I find it relatively easy to do deeds of service for people, I also naturally praise and commend others as this is also "my language."

My husbands language on the other hand is quality time. He loves when we spend time with each other and as  a family.Weekends away together are high on his list, as are camping,fishing and bike trips.This is a part of his expression so I have learned over the years to appreciate his dialogue, even though it really isn't my language.

Our five kids who range in ages from ten to nineteen, all have their own unique love language as well. I thought I had each one 'figured out' and I believe I do; but let's just say teenagers can really keep you guessing!
The important part is to keep loving them even though their love language can be hard to discern at times. When they are the hardest to love they need it the most!  Hugs heal hearts.
Then there's the people outside of home;in work,church or school that we rub shoulders with on a regular basis.They too have a love language.
(note to self....Everyone has a love language!)

Here's a link to a great resource on this topic....I see their is a book on love languages for teenagers now along with the children and the first book ...hmmm.

I have learned that the greatest threat to love; is not circumstance but the absence of attention.For we do not neglect others because we have ceased to love;
rather we cease to love others because we have neglected them. (Richard Paul Evans )







365-those girls making salt dough creations today,366-those two sitting outside the library on the bench in deep snow waiting for me,367-that boy who comes up with one liners that bring a smile,368-cooking at that camp this weekend,369-thankful it's still winter,370-hubby working to put in new floor,371-everyone under one roof an extra night,372-great evening of music last night,373-intuition and understanding about situations,374-prayer that covers it all and more,375-healthy household presently,376-muffins and milk,377-hope of a new day.

A Little Perspective

Few things elicit excitement in this house like those four little words....
              IT'S A SNOW DAY!
 Amazing what those words have the power to do!
Suddenly the dynamics have shifted and normal is adjusted according.



My kids don't know this.....but I consider it  a compliment that they'd rather be home than go to school!

After all they don't sit and watch movies all day.....
We reinvent play as we bake, dust and vacuum,and do the barn chores.
Of course theirs always time to curl up with a book,paint,crochet and dig out all those toys that don't appear quite as often any more!

The appeal seems to be in the gleam of possibility and the unknown.

Makes me thankful for the unknown, because if I knew all that was to transpire in a given day or week, I would either become too self assured and not trust, or I'd become fearful and anxious.

So thank-you God for snow days. When plans take a detour and we learn to say " not my will, but Thine be done."

              (view from my front window ,the world is indoors)

                    my ten year old still likes to play...

           

             oatmeal valentine cookies we made ...

        my wintery sill...

 I couldn't resist...bringing out  my tulips, 

love the white, with the  snow.

















   
        two things cannot be in one place...
                 where you tend a rose,
         a thistle cannot grow.( The Secret Garden)


linked herehttp://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.ca/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.ca/

Winter Gardens

   Winter;I can't say it's ever been my favourite season.
     After all it's usually too long and too cold and too dark.

     The stark landscape and frozen gardens seem devoid of dreams.

    Then it dawned on me how my heart has a winter season too.

At times it feels too dark and too frozen, like nothing could ever grow there,
not even a flicker of a dream.

As I contemplated my winter garden and heart I couldn't help but notice how necessary this winter season is though if I am willing to accept it as good and useful to overall growth and beauty.

After all, this is the time to add new hopes and dreams to enrich the soil and fortify it with the nutrients of His word.

The time to remove the old,dead wood of pride and stubbornness, that  can quickly mar any beauty in my heart garden.

The time to plan what I am going to plant and where I will plant it, to help serve others.

The time to pour out prayers; like water on parched land thatcan give new heart gardens the long roots of encouragement and safety and shelter to nurture a few forgotten dreams.

Heart gardens; so like gardens of clumps of dirt, must learn to be patient.
Never giving up but knowing in His time their will be beauty.(Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Waiting always precedes growth. Some things grow very slow.

When we have laboured diligently,committed it all to a much greater Hand...
                    the reward will be in the relinquishment
                        and the peace that follows.

    

           Reflect upon your blessings,of which most of   us have plenty,not on your past misfortunes, 
          of which all men have some.  Charles Dickens)  





354-for gorgeous sunrises like this one,355- Super bowl Sunday-a great tradition,356-impromptu lunch with friends,357-shopping with daughter and son home from school,358-realising we didn't need anything,and that is what made it fun:) 359-the shortest month of winter,360-my mother's beautiful example of sacrificial love,361-Love that came down here,362-a happy husband,363-bedtime prayers ..for this boy Johnathon who we just can't forget,after reading this...364-beautiful friends whom I love in blog land.

linked here..

Just Crackle It

I had never really been happy with the color of this project.
I posted it here...

so it was time for a redo...
I tried antiquing it a bit with some stain....

                      still NOT right.....

so I decided to do what seems to work every time; a crackled, distressed look

          







here's the magic so to speak... 

paint this on,let it dry.


add top color, and

wala....

watch it crackle...

                so much better...( this turquoise is my new favorite color)

Here is a few more items that got this treatment...

these frames hanging here by my kitchen sink....














                                                         

  

            
          this frame; that frames my immortal love...

                          also this mirror in my bathroom...

  (Do you have anything you'd like to crackle? :)  


 After all isn't changing ones mind a woman's liberty?

  linked here... http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.ca/                               

Prerequisite For My Day

Give me your eyes of grace, Lord.

                                         
I need them to see through this day.

Give me your hands of mercy, Lord.
 I have much work to do.

 Give me your feet of faith, Lord.
 The road before me is long.

 Give me your lips of truth,Lord.
 Someone needs your hope.


Give me your heart of love, Lord.
Without it I am void,

For all I have is nothing
Without love to spur me on.


                                                                       

    Love bears all things, believes all things. hopes all things,endures all things,love never fails.
                 I Corinthians 13

341- baby lambs still living, ,342-flowers,343-tea with daughter,344- young love,345-children who are diligent with school,346-exams went well for them,347- a good book to read on a snowy day,348-hugs,349-laughter,350- sharing concerns 351- praying for people who have shared,352-family time,353-summer dreams and plans....