All the Broken People

So many broken, hurting people.  That's not a revelation.  My heart hurt this weekend hearing of lost lives in tornadoes around the Midwest.  My heart hurt as I prayed with many, many women at a retreat I spoke at.  Heavy hearts.  Wounded hearts.  Women living with so much pain.  Sometimes I feel so helpless wondering what in the world I can do.  But I remember God is Able and to cast my cares to Him because He loves them much more than I ever can.   So I pray, and I pray, and I pray.   ROMANS 8:26 says "we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words."  That's how I'm praying today.

How do my Wildflowers Grow

  When you have a beautiful garden it's hard to stay indoors.  You want to spend most of your time in the garden because things change from morning to night.   This time of year the strawberries ripen hours after you've just picked.  Of course, if you're like my 3 year-old grandson he eats them like candy as fast as I can pick them.  They are SO yummy. I absolutely love spending time out there.  Flower gardening yes - vegetable gardening not so much. 





An unknown wildflower



  The emerging wildflowers are so much fun.    I'm hoping I'll get to know all their names; that will take some work no doubt.   I love walking among the flowers seeing what's bloomed since my last stroll.  Yesterday the goldfinch, red-winged blackbirds and even a couple of ducks were enjoying the garden as much as I was.

   Two new pieces of "yardwork" done by Wiemann Remodeling.  One is a bridge that is allowing us to get across our small creek to our makeshift firepit.   Anyone who has a large backyard knows that you have to take things in stages.   This year's larger investment was steps from the deck to the backyard and a small bridge.  Having steps sure has made composting much easier since I can go down right from the kitchen; and the small bridge wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be at under $300.  Of course, I don't have to pay for labor which helps!!

The red yarrow is in full bloom, as is the moonbeam coreopsis.  The fish in the pond are growing which of course is SO exciting because this is the first year for them. Now I know why my grandmother spent so much time in the garden. I call it "gardening with God". Every time I'm in my garden I experience God through His beautiful creation. What a gift to be able to say with a grateful heart "thank you God."

My evolving backyard oasis



The wildflower garden emerging



   In the spring I have a REALLY hard time focusing on work.   The beautiful thing is that my office overlooks our backyard and so until about 3 pm when the sun gets too hot in the western sky that I have to pull my blinds, I can revel in the backyard that is continuing to evolve over the past three years.  



Our pond



   Every morning after heading to the gym I put on my sunscreen  (still in love with my Beauticontrol Cell Block C AM sun protection because I absolutely hate wrinkles and skin cancer). www.beautipage.com/beautifulskinandspas.  Then I head out to the garden for a couple of hours, waiting to see if anything looks different from the day before.  This is the first year of our wildflower garden.  I spread some seeds last fall; and then more seeds the first week of May.   We'll see how it progresses.  The creekbed is nearly finished.  We still need a couple more loads of larger rocks to finish the waterfall and for the pond basin.  It's been a hard project with lots of heavy labor because we've done all the work ourselves, but so rewarding!!!  

   Our goal is to have perennials but also part of this backyard be native wildflowers and grasses so that we don't have to spend a ton of time with mowing and upkeep.  We want it to attract birds and were SO excited to see our first goldfinch this morning--3 of them sitting on the feeder eating.  What fun! 

   This weekend is Memorial Day; I'm sure I'll we'll be exhausted but it's a good exhaustion.  I can't wait to see what new things have budded if it ever stops raining!

One on One with Jose Luis: You don't need to get it right, you just need to g...

One on One with Jose Luis: You don't need to get it right, you just need to g...: "Hi friends, last week we talked about the power of doing just one thing. I just earned my certification and credentials as a Life Coach, to ..."

The power of journaling

  The new year always brings me to a place of evaluating.  I spend the first week of the year reading through my journal to see if there is any common thread of things God's been saying to me so that I can address it.  This year was no different than others in the past.  I read through 2010 journal entries, looked at my goals and mission statement and made new goals that would align with where my life presently is.   Then I re-write my funeral plans.  My close friends and family know that I do this.   It may seem morbid but the older I get the more I realize this is not morbid but instead very wise.  My sister-in-law of 50 died of cancer Jan. 12, 2010; three other friends in their early 50s also died of cancer last year; and the older I get the more I realize that life truly is fleeting; and there is nothing that says this won't be the year that I leave this earthly body to reside eternally with my precious Savior.  And I don't want my family to have to plan my funeral celebration.
  I actually got the idea from my friend Connie who's been doing this for years.  I love it.  I pick my favorite song which does change year to year.  I write a letter to my kids and my husband; I put it inside my bible and there you have it.  

GIRLFRIENDS

  I'm very intentional about this each and every January.  I'm also very intentional about looking at what God's been doing in my life and making adjustments to be disciplined and intentional about how I live.  About where I serve and my job and my relationships.  The older I get, the more intentional I become. I've been studying through Luke for the past month and was reminded today that Jesus challenged his disciples, thus challenging us to "put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me."  I love and I detest this challenge.  But two years ago this was the verse that turned my business around for me. I realized that even after 18 years of being in sales and building a clientele and a sales team I often had my own motives in mind.  When I turned them to having a heart of serving everything changed.  Being in a business like I am with BeautiControl I am constantly working with women. Yes I'm trying to sell, but it's mostly about the relationships and I need to shoulder my cross daily and not make this about me.  Trying to impart that to my team is a discipling and mentoring thing. Sometimes I weary of it; but mostly I love it and know God has called me into this.
  That's the power of journaling. That's the power of evaluating and being intentional and seeing if I'm living out what God's called me into.  I do not want to leave this earth with lots of regrets, but rather with lots of satisfaction knowing that I lived well, served well, planned well so that my God would say "well done, good and faithful servant".

You Never Stop Missing Your Kids

Cousins at the Rose Cottage

 You never stop missing your kids do you?  My daughter came home for 3 1/2 days last week - first time in 5 years that she's been here around the holidays and it was way too short!   I think a mom never stops wanting to have her children around at Christmas, at least I don't.  All the wonderful memories of years past; celebrating this special season together - it never stops.  And of course as the parent you have your own ideas of what you should do and who they should see and of course they have their idea.  And then comes getting married, having to share with others, blended families....and learning to just be quiet which I'm not always very good about.



Amanda, future daughter-in-law?

   This time was so sweet. We spent a few hours at a cute tearoom visiting family; then a short shopping trip to the mall and the infamous Trader Joes that finally opened in Des Moines, then the winter farmers market where homemade food beckoned at every corner; two family Christmases and a birthday celebration. It was fun to watch Nicole with her nephew Dawson.  Only the second time she's seen him.   I remember how special my times were with my aunts and uncles. I still swear that I remember one visit in particular with my Uncle Russell and his wife when I spent several days there on the farm.  My mother says it's not possible to remember something that happened when I was two but I am positive I remember it. In fact, I can still picture the stairway and the bedroom I slept in.  I desire that for my grandson - that he would know his aunt because those relationships are invaluable.  And visits to aunts and uncles when mom and dad aren't around are way too much fun! I still have a special relationship with a couple of my nieces in particular, and I love having them near.  I'm also blessed to have, I think, a future daughter-in-law nearby who I'm loving getting to know more.   They all help me when I wish my daughter was closer to go on a shopping trip with or go to a movie with.  God's gracious to give them to me, and what a beautiful gift to be able to spend those three short, but wonderful days with my daughter.   

A Nagging Wife

  As so often God does, he awakened me this morning with the words "a nagging wife is like a dripping faucet."  POW - not words you enjoy hearing but when the Holy Spirit whispers to me it's like the old EF Hutton commercial "when EF Hutton speaks, people listen".  
  The deal is, these whisperings didn't take me by surprise.   I've found myself nit-picking at my husband a lot lately.  I condemn the things he puts in his mouth, I prod and push him to start exercising, I grumble at his sitting around watching TV doing endless Sodoku puzzles.  Pick, pick, pick and before you know it I feel lousy about myself and he's frustrated and tuned out to anything I say.   I've told myself hundreds of times not to become one of those old nagging wives and yet I do it anyway.   He's an awesome husband, a great dad and a wonderful grandpa.   Does the dishes every night; loves God; leads by example - so why do I pick on the negative things he does or doesn't do rather than build up the wonderful man he is?  
  Proverbs 21:19 says "better to live in a desert than with a crabby, complaining wife."  And Ephesians 4:29 says "do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up according to their needs."  So the question is WILL I LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT and WILL I LISTEN TO GOD'S WORD.  My choice; I certainly know that.  I can't change my husband and his health choices no more than I can change inevitable snow that has arrived in Iowa.   I need a tongue grabber so that every time I start nagging my tongue gets yanked.  How I pray for my nagging tongue to only be edifying to him today.