Please, somebody stop this merry-go-round . . .

. . . I'm getting dizzy!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed and cared for us over the last few days. DC's surgery went very well - I thought he'd be released by now, but not quite yet. He'll go to my parents' house for a few days for peaceful rest - not available here too much. My mom loves to be the halfway house from surgical procedures to home.

Add in a funeral - they never come at opportune times, do they?? I always count it a privilege to play the organ for the homegoing of a saint. I am so thankful for a sister and a sister-in-law, one who has no grandkids yet and one whose grands are far away. They have relieved me by caring for the twins 3 times already this week. My sis has also picked up the big girls from school every day this week. Talk about servanthood in action.

This week one day I posted this on Facebook - it touched a spot in my spirit and seemed to do the same with others. I want to share it, because it's where I'm living right now.

No man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourself so. If you find yourself so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God's. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present. -- George McDonald

I always like to share with you all what I'm reading. One of the books I'm almost finished with is Carol Kent's third in the story of her life-imprisoned son. This one is about the joy that can come in the midst of unimaginably horrible circumstances, and how God can use ANYTHING for His glory. If you haven't read these books, please, for your own sake, buy them, borrow them, get them from the library - you'll never regret it. The first one is When I Lay My Isaac Down, and the second is A New Kind of Normal.

I really love this verse Carol used as the basis of this book, from Romans 9:33 in The Message:

Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,
a stone you can't get around. But the stone is me!
If you're looking for me, you'll find me ON the way, not IN the way.

Another book that I'm reading at the same time, with my devotional time in the mornings, is by Sheila Walsh. It is also hitting home with me.


I've started this one by Condoleeza Rice, but haven't gotten too far into it yet. I think it'll be great - I saw an interview with her when the book came out. She's a classy lady, to say the least.


Halloween has come and gone (yay - not my favorite "holiday"), but I had to dress the littles in their costumes for at least 3 days to get the maximum enjoyment of watching people's reactions. It's so much fun to make folks' day better. These were taken when we went to our library day - this is an enormous tree that is growing in the space between the gutter and the sidewalk on this very old street downtown - it's far to big for where it is, but I'm glad nobody's cut it down.





After library time, we went out to visit Great Grandma - they love the aquarium in the lobby. Side note - if you want to have a good feeling kind of day, take some little darlings to a place where really old grandmas and grandpas live - it lights up their lives.



I didn't get pictures of the big girls in their costumes this year, but we did have our own little personal jack-o-lantern pattern.




On an entirely different topic. I have never been a thrift store shopper - the only reason being that I don't have the patience to search for treasures in such a large amount of stuff. I have had great success finding cute clothes for the girls, but never for myself. However - the other day, I was passing by a rack of tops when this wonderful jacket caught my eye - my size, which is very unusual to find. Everyone I know who has good luck at thrift stores is a tiny person.







I had the shirt at home which matches the ribbons precisely. It is such fun to wear and I've had so many compliments. I have a friend who is raising yaks and she was really interested when she saw the brand name in the collar - Yak Magik. I looked it up on Google and found this information:

Yak Magik has its origins in the search for extraordinary places, people, and things. Months spent exploring the high peaks and valleys of the Nepalese Himalaya led to a deep appreciation of the people and culture of Nepal. That appreciation led to great friendships and business partnerships manufacturing novelty jackets in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Almost 30 years later we continue to develop our uniquely beautiful jackets with these amazing artisans.

Yak Magik is fine tailoring, one jacket at a time, not assembly line production, and features complex fabric manipulating, top-stitching, and piped seams.

I wrote an e-mail to the company in the state of Washington to ask how old my jacket might be. They wrote back (pretty neat) and said it was probably made 15 years ago. I love it. It's a treasure.


I love this picture I took of the last full moon, outside my front door.





Finally - our first little snow storm yesterday. The girls were so excited to put on their new boots and head into the white yard. After school they made a snowman - it amazes me how much the littles like to be outside in this stuff.








Well, this turned out to be quite the rambling post - I hope you find a part that makes it worth wading through! BTW, I am continuing to sing in the community choir, plus the church cantata (both on the same week-end, as it turns out), and enjoying. It'll be a challenge to get there this week with DC not at full capacity. I'll have to ruminate on that problem.

Have a wonderful week-end.

Don't Forget the Give-Away!

Be sure to go back to this post to enter my little give-away, if you're interested, and if you haven't had a chance yet. Wednesday morning I'll draw the winner, then let you know of the excitement I am looking forward to.

You probably are aware by now that this is one crazy place for weather. The 21- inch snowfall we had last Wednesday here in our town is almost entirely gone. It got up to 60 degrees F today, and tonight was a gorgeous moonlit night for the kiddoes who were out trick or treating.

Do you want to know one of the most annoying things about these drastic weather changes? Constantly having to change the straps on the twins' car seats to accommodate coats or not!

Before - Wednesday, October 28

After - Saturday, October 31

So tonight was our big function at church called Light in the Night. We have lots of games and booths, candy galore, a chili contest, prizes. People come from all over the neighborhood and have a great safe place for their families to spend the evening.

DC won a prize, and I picked it out for him as he manned the popcorn machine. I had spotted something I REALLY wanted, so when his name was called, he asked me to go pick out something for him. I brought the envelope over - it was a half hour therapeutic massage - which I talked him into giving me! It wasn't too hard! The massage artist is a friend from our church - I have been privileged to enjoy her services one time before, and it is something I could stand to have at least once a month - she is fabulous. And she comes to my house! Who ever heard of house calls these days?? So I'm looking forward to taking advantage of that gift.

I wish I could have a chance to take pictures of all 4 girls, but only got the littles - and they weren't too excited about it. But they looked adorable anyway.








See you Wednesday!

Kudos. . . and Other Things

Remember when I bragged on Fed-Ex awhile back, when they went out of their way to give me good service? I have two more companies to brag on.

DC has had a jacket he ordered from Lands End approximately 15 years ago. Recently the zipper broke. Not long ago I discovered that Lands End now has a retail outlet inside the Sears store in a mall near us. We headed up there the other day to see if they perhaps had this jacket in stock. There was a good sale going on, but this jacket was not there. He picked out two others, only to find when we went to pay for them, that only one of them was on sale. He asked the clerk about the other jacket he had really wanted. I mentioned that the only problem with the jacket was the zipper. She told us something amazing - their clothes are guaranteed - and no matter that the jacket was 15 years old, had served him well for all those years, was a bit frayed around the cuffs, and the zipper was broken, it was totally covered. All he had to do was go to the catalog desk, put in an order, and a brand new coat of the same style would be sent to our house. It arrived today. That is what a call a good company!



I've shared recently about DC's employer, Walker Manufacturing. They've been in business for over 25 years. They take their employees' welfare very seriously. When sales went down 35% over the last few months, it was impossible to continue producing at the normal rate. They have had two lay-offs and two furloughs in the last few months. It has been very hard on them, as well as those who work for them. We feel very blessed that DC wasn't laid off, but was allowed to go to part-time and continue working.

Today the company made the news. A crew was out there last Friday covering a very heart warming story. Rather than have a third layoff, they are sending some of the guys out into the community for volunteer work, while they are being paid by the company. There is a tremendous amount of good will being created, as well as keeping the guys busy and making them feel good about themselves on top of it all. Our friend, the CEO, says it has been such a positive experience for everyone that they'll seriously consider continuing the program once things pick up again (which hopefully they will!)




Today I read a Christmas book - it must be the combination of colder weather and practicing all of that awesome Christmas music for the community chorale. I put this book by Richard Paul Evans on hold at the library awhile ago, and it already came in. I also have Debbie Macomber's annual Christmas book, The Perfect Christmas, and will read it soon.

The Christmas List was a very moving book. James Kier, the main character, had the unusual opportunity to read a premature obituary about himself - and also comments that were made about him after the obituary appeared on line. That's all I'm going to tell you, except that it changed his life. It took only a couple of hours to read, and it is well worth your time. Here is one of my favorite paragraphs:

"The true meaning of Christmas? God's grace. And the understanding that we cannot earn grace any more than we can bargain for love. By its very nature, grace must be unearned and freely given, without cost, constraint, or commandment. The best we can do is to open our hearts to receive it wholly, with all our strength, desire, and intent, that we might become children of the Gift."



I have only one very good memory of Halloween, and that was way back in the 5th grade in Heber Springs, Arkansas. It was a big deal in this little school. Every year, the week of Halloween, everyone brought home made goodies to school to sell at recess and lunch time. I don't know what the money was used for, or how much sugar we all consumed that week, but it was a contest between the grades and it was lots of fun.

Each class elected a king and queen candidate for the big celebration at the end of the week. I don't remember much about it, but I think each class had performances of some sort. The class which sold the most goodies and made the most money had their candidates crowned king and queen. At least, I think that's the way it went.

I guess I must have been pretty popular in those days, because I was the 5th grade queen candidate. My brother was the third grade's king candidate. My sister, who was in 4th grade, wasn't elected in her class and was a very unhappy witch at the celebration. We have a picture of her, but I think it's on a slide, so I can't share that one.

Mom made me a beautiful red satin dress - I was so very proud of that dress. Dad made our crowns. It became a real family affair.

Two months after this event, Dad took a church in northern Minnesota and we left Arkansas. I have very fond memories of those days in that little school in Heber Springs, Arkansas.




Have a fabulous week!