God is SO good!

We had some excitement today. Our neighbor came over and asked if I had noticed the police cars on the street. I had noticed one car, but once outside, I saw several police cars. Rakey spoke to one of the officers and was told that our part of the block needed to be evacuated. There was a man in a house a few doors down, who had barricaded himself in with several firearms. Georgia, our neighbor, said she almost asked the cops if they realized this is trash day, but was glad she hadn't. The more I thought about that, the funnier it became. I'm glad I didn't talk to the police - I probably would have asked!

SO, I was in the middle of a mail merge and needed mailing labels anyway; I picked up my laptop & my purse, put on flip flops and walked out. It was a bit surreal walking out the front door in shorts and tee shirt seeing two SWAT team members in full gear with rifles drawn peering around the oleanders across the street. I waved to them, got in my car and high-tailed out of here!

As soon as I left the block, I felt burdened by the desperation the man must have been feeling. I pulled over in the shade and called another prayer warrior. We prayed until we felt release. Then I went about my rat killing (not actual rats - running errands around town).

Later, I called the police department and asked if I could go home. They said no, not yet. I sent out an urgent prayer request. I went to my friend Darlynna's house and afterwhile, we heard on the news that the standoff had ended. The man had fallen asleep! The police robot, who looked remarkably like Number Johnny Five, entered the house through the front window and the police could see on remote video that he was sleeping. No one was injured. The man was transported to the hospital for evaluation.

Isn't our God good? Who can fall asleep with the police and SWAT team outside your house without supernatural intervention?

STILL not gonna steal my joy!

P.S. The washer is still waiting for repair. The service person is scheduled to come on July 9th. I have a sweet friend that loves to do laundry so she invited to me to her house to wash clothes. I know! LOVES to do laundry! She told me that as she folds the laundry, she prays over each piece. Isn't that the sweetest? As she folds the t-shirts, she prays for strength for her husband and that his shoulders will be strong enough to bear the weight of his responsibilities. As she pairs the socks, she prays that the path will be straight and that they walk in the way of the Lord. The when she folds the underwear, for her sons, she prayed for chastity and for her husband, she prays that he be kept from temptation.

When I came home, I began doing the same with our laundry.

Finally! An update!

I started Bible College last week. I expected it to be "school" as I remembered it. I went prepared with something salty, something sweet and something with caffeine. I couldn't believe how quickly the time went by! Our one smoker finally asked for a break. I love it! It's going to be a lot of work, but I love it!

I expected support from friends. Silly me! I told my "best" friend. She scoffed and told me that she thought my timing was poor because I'm just restarting my jewelry business. Hmmm... supportive? I think not. Could it be that she is my up-line and let her own selfishness speak?

I have to remember that I'm living for an audience of one. Just in case anyone thinks by that I mean,"I'm self-centered and I don't care what anybody else thinks," that's not it. What I mean is that I want to please God and if someone doesn't like it, I don't care! If you haven't tried it, BELIEVE ME it isn't the same thing! Nah, don't believe me, try it. It's one of those things that's simple but not easy.

We went to a 4th of July / Birthday party yesterday for one of our friends. She doesn't tell her age, but she is a great grandmother. The party was at her house. It rained so it was much cooler than originally expected. Everything was great! Good company. Good food. Great music...

What do you do when children are rude and their parents do nothing or just don't notice? In the living room was limited space and very limited seating. On of the guests had been asked to sing a couple of songs and everyone crowded in. There were three children of different parents sitting in prime spots - comfy chair and comfy sofa - playing games on their phones or whatever. Headphones on! Either tell them to sit on the floor and let some of the elder folks sit down or go outside and let some of the elder folks sit down! I held my tongue but it wasn't easy! Overall though, it was a very nice evening and I'm glad we went.

These days, it seems that whatever friends home we go to, they have a grand or baby grand piano. I suppose we have room for a piano but then we would need to learn to play. This probably would be bad timing for that. : D

trying to steal my joy...

In the past twenty-four hours, the enemy has tried to steal my overwhelming joy and I keep laughing at him... it began with our sweet dogs, Tinkle & Lady Poops-a-lot, making certain the the carpet was not clean for our daughters' visit. I have a favorite pair of shoes that is getting a little worn, and I picked up a second pair on sale a couple of weeks ago. They've been worn once. Daisy was over on the floor chewing away on something and when I saw that it was a pair of flip-flops, I told her NO and replaced the flip-flops with one of her chewy bones. Apparently, the rawhide doesn't have quite enough of that good leather flavor, so a few minutes later I notice her happily chewing away on my new pair of shoes! I took them away from her and replaced them with her chewy AGAIN! This morning, I was packing up my jewelry for Allie's show and I heard crunching. Hmmm. Daisy was chewing on the windowsill. I made our bed, fresh and pretty with all the pillows. I changed the sheets on Natasha's bed. Took the down blanket out of the dry cleaner wrap and laid it on the bed and noticed a large tan-colored stain on the white blanket! Bravely I smelled the spot; surprisingly it smelled good... and then I recognized the scent of the diffuser from the back of my car. It must have spilled on the clean blanket. No problem! It was time for me to get dressed for the jewelry show. I had chosen my outfit last night. I went and put it on and noticed that I needed a camisole. No problem! They were in the washer - my fourth load of laundry of the day. Hmmm... I don't remember a soak in this cycle... I went to check the laundry. The washer has died. Oh well, no time to call the repair guy. Got to the jewelry show. Everything went well. I only forgot my phone and my datebook. Fortunately, I'm just restarting my business so I knew my schedule. It all worked out and my joy is still mine! Whooooo hooooo! Thank you Lord!

One bite at a time

I realized in the last few days that I have been looking at losing weight as a big deal - which it is. I know there are many benefits awaiting me. But when I think of how much I have to lose, how long will it take, what a commitment, etc., it finally dawned on me that I need to look at it as I would other goals. Break it down! So, I have decided that I will lose five pounds. I KNOW I can do that! Then when I lose five pounds, I'll lose five pounds. Brilliant! Yes? Thank you Lord! I know this inspiration came from you!

Here we go! The other thing that will help me with this is our new puppy, Daisy. She is a terrier/pug mix. Constant motion, boundless energy, excellent walking companion... okay, excellent is an exaggeration, but this morning she sat when I said sit! Yippee! That's a first! Hey, don't be critical! She's a puppy.

Wish me thin!

oh THAT's what I wanted to hear!

I was invited to a Bible Study Friday. What a treasure! This group was started over 30 years ago as a mens group. Now everyone is welcome, but I love being around the wise elderly people. They meet at a local coffee house called "The He-brew."
One of the younger men makes lunch for everyone for $5.

So, we were talking about how we came to know the Lord and get Baptized in the Holy Spirit. My friend Darlenna said something about me being Jewish and I told the story about the kid at the grocery store... The guy that makes lunch said, "I guess it's 'cause now you've got the whole Grandma thing going on."

I smiled at him but I was crying inside... in fact, my bottom lip is still sticking out...

You look just like...

I'm still chuckling to myself. When I went to the grocery store, the checker said,"Oh my goodness! You look just like that famous actress!"
I looked around, saw no one else and said,"Me?"
He said,"Yes! Oh I can't remember her name! She's Jewish, she's really funny and calls everybody meshugunah."
I still have no idea who he was referring to and it is the first time in my life anyone has ever said I looked Jewish! When you grow up blonde and blue, I don't think anyone considers it a possibility!