Many of you may feel down in the dumps or just don't know which way is up, here is a poem that I read today that warmed my soul hope it warms yours too!
God's Assurance Gives Us Endurance
My blessings are so many, My troubles are so few, How can I feel discouraged ]When I know that I have YOU And I have the "SWEET ASSURANCE" That I'll never stand alone If I but keep remembering I am YOURS and YOURS ALONE.... So, in this world of trouble With "darkness" all around, Take my hand and lead me Until I stand on "HIGHER GROUND" And help me to endure the "storms" That keep raging deep inside me And make me more aware each day That no evil can betide me If I remain undaunted Though "billows sweep and roll" Knowing I have YOUR ASSURANCE There's a HAVEN for MY SOUL For ANYTHING and EVERYTHING Can somehow be endured If YOUR PRESENCE is beside me And LOVINGLY ASSURED!
These are a few of favorite things!! Except Halloween, but that witch picture is too funny so I had to add it. If I get through fall guess what is next CHRISTMAS!!!!
I am so excited this year for the Christmas season. I am already planning and plotting as what to do. I want to do more DIY gifts this year. There will be some updating to our traditions now that the kids are older. I am just so giddy about Christmas that I can't really sit still. I just want to skip over Thanksgiving. Oh the joy of Christmas!! Jhona, how would like to string popcorn on this tree!!! That would be so much fun! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
"Merry Christmas" in Different Languages
1. Arabic - I'd Miilad said oua sana saida
2. Chinese - (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan 3 Croatian - Sretan Bozic 4. Danish - Glædelig Jul 5. Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest 6. Filipino - Maligayang Pasko 7. Finnish - Hyvaa joulua 8. French - Joyeux Noël 9. German - Fröhliche Weihnachten 10. Greek: Kala Christouyenna! 11. Indonesian - Selamat Hari Natal
12. Irish - Nollaig Shona Dhuit
13. Italian - Buon Natale!
14. Japanese - Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
15. Korean - Sung Tan Chuk Ha 16. Latin - Natale hilare et Annum Faustum! 17. Maltese: IL-Milied It-tajjeb 18. Portuguese - Feliz Natal! 19. Russian - Pozdravlyenie s Rozjdyestvom i s Novym Godom! 20. Swedish - God Jul 21. Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou 22. Spanish - Feliz Navidad 23. Urdu - Naya Saal Mubarak Ho 24. Vietnamese - Chuc Mung Giang Sinh 25. Welsh - Nadolig Llawen
On Saturday September 18 our daughter Shayla had her first horse show. Before I get into her show I need to tell you about our pooper scoopers. Our son Curtis and my husband Joe cleaned out the stalls before the show. They did such a beautiful job. I told my son that all jobs on the farm are important and if scooping poop is the job you are asked to do then remember you are doing it for the Lord. He embraced that attitude and was excited to scoop horse poo for Jesus!
Now onto Shayla. She first had to clean and tack her horse, before the show started. We brushed her coat and untangled her mane. Shayla's coach, Linda cleaned out Spicy's hooves. Then she had to put her number on for the judges
Brushing Spicy's mane
Shayla was number 49 in this show
Then it was time to walk Spicy around the arena and get her familiar with the few items that were added to the arena. That way Spicy and the rest of the horses don't get spooked. Then it was show time. Shayla was in the tater tot class. There were 3 or 4 other girls competing along with Shayla. The first thing the competitors did was ground work. That is where the competitors listen to the ringmaster for commands and then perform those command on their horses.
Shayla won second place on her ground work. She was very proud of herself. Joe and I were thrilled that she first had fun, and two did her best. We are proud that her hard work resulted in second place. After ground work, it was time to be judged on her riding skills. She ended up winning first place for her riding!! We all had a very fun morning at the horse barn. We learned a lot, and are thankful that Shayla has the opportunity to ride. We are thankful for her coach Ms. Linda. We are blessed to have her in our lives!
I have wanted to blog about this for sooooooooooo long, but I could never really could get my thoughts and appreciation into words until now. I am going to write to you about my sister from another mister. Over nine years ago when we first starting living on post in Buedingen, Germany. We attended the chapel on post, the first Sunday we arrived, a woman came up to me and voiced her opinion on the current chaplain, and then introduced herself as Jhona Oberholtzer. She told me that she has 2 boys who's ages were 2 and almost one and then told me that she just found out she was pregnant with her third. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Living on an army post in foreign country is challenging, but here are a few memories from that time that I clearly remember.here is an overhead view of post
Castle gate, entrance to downtown Buedingen
Buedingen Castle The Obie's and my family decided to take a train to Frankfurt for a day. I don't remember what happened in Frankfurt, I remember what happened on the train. Jhona was pregnant with her daughter Grace and got up out of her chair to go somewhere on the train. When she got back she forgot that the chairs on the train seats fold up when you leave, kind of like the ones at major stadiums. Well I don't know if she thought that she could slide into the chair with her bottom or if she simply forgot that she had to fold it down. Whatever the case may be she ended up on her butt on floor, she hit the floor hard. There was a lady trying to help her up but Jhona wouldn't let her and kinda snapped at the lady. She hurt her tailbone pretty good. I look back now and don't remember if I laughed or not, but now I laugh my pants off cause it was so funny. The farmers market is another memory that clearly stands out in my mind. We would load up the kids in strollers and head downtown. It was easily a half an hour walk from post to downtown Buedingen. We would go down and look at all the vendors and see what they had to offer. My favorite was the people selling flowers, Jhona's was the people selling stuffed olives. That could have eaten the whole bin if you would let her. Those olives made here world go around. On the way back we would sometime stop and get our kids a scoop of gelato, we would window shop in Joh's, or stop at the bratwurst man and get what my son called a white hot dog. Then we would head back to post. We would sometimes walk the old farm roads which were off the beaten path and let our boys run free. The trails would dump us on the far end of post. Sweet memories!
One December our families got together and we strung popcorn and cranberry's and put it on a Christmas tree outside on there balcony for the birds. I could go on and on and on and on, but I won't. There are so many memories from Germany that tested our friendship and for me truly shaped it. We have had our bumps and bruises, not nothing major enough to end a friendship created by Christ.
Jhona is one of God's greatest creations. She will and has bent over backwards for me and my family. She loves me for who I am, and has my best interest in mind. She has no problem correcting me when I am wrong and putting me in place when I need to readjusted. Everything she does is laced with love. She pulled her kids out of public school to home school them because the Lord told her it was the best thing for her family. She has been stereotyped because of this, but still continues to follow the convictions of her heart. Homeschooling was the best choice, those kids have excelled and have done much better at home then at public school. It doesn't work for everyone, but I know it works for them. Through the power of and surrender to Jesus she overcame Bipolar. I could tell stories about that subject, but watching her heal and seeing the transformation in her family has been so wonderful. She has and continues to heal from her childhood. She has healed and forgave people from her past and seemed liked they didn't deserve to be forgiven. She has allowed the Lord to work in her life and transform her through forgiveness, healing, and surrendering into a beautiful woman of Christ.
I wish everyone could have a Jhona in their life. When you have a Jhona it makes life's uphill battles not so steep. It makes love so much sweeter. It takes the sting out pain, it makes you almost like her cat because her cat has special needs. It gives family a whole new meaning. The number one reason why everyone needs a Jhona is because it makes life worth going through. Jesus knows what He is doing when He picks out your friends.
My heart is hurting right now because I can't see her often, not even once a year. Our hubby's jobs are not the same anymore so that has pulled us on opposite sides of the country. I wish I could see her everyday. I wish I could be there to give her a hug when it hurts. I wish for cleaning parties. I wish I could be there to jump up and down in victory with her. I wish I could watch her kids grows up in front of me instead of in pictures. I wish that I could on friend weekends with her. I wish for a lot, but I know that the Lord has us where we are at for a reason. Distance hasn't separated us yet, and it never will. She is my soul sista and I am truly blessed to call her friend! I love you Jhona!!!!
Yesterday I called my hubby from work to ask if he could help me catch up on laundry. He said that when he gets home he would help me. I asked him where he was and he didn't tell me. He wouldn't give me any ideas. So I dropped it and went on with my day. When I got home he showed me where his adventures lead him. He went out and bought me a new digital camera. He did it because he loves me. Our old camera died last weekend and our daughter has her horse show coming up this weekend so I just planned on getting a disposable one for the time being. My hubby had a different plan. The camera he got me also has a video camera on it, and it can take action shots such exciting features to me because I have very busy active kids. I love it! It is so pretty and beautiful. I love my husband more. He is always paying attention to me and our family and blessing us. It is such a wonderful thing to have a husband like that. I am truly blessed!!
"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."
~ Alexander Graham Bell
"Fall seven times, stand up eight."
~ Japanese Proverb
"Problems are only opportunities
with thorns on them."
~ Hugh Miller
"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."
~ Judy Garland
"If God had wanted me otherwise,
He would have created me otherwise. "
~ Johann von Goethe
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
~ Dr. Seuss
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is. "
~ Albert Einstein
"We make a living by what we get.
We make a life by what we give."
~ Winston Churchill
"Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it."
~ Mother Teresa
"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey."
~ Stephen Covey
"Work like you don't need the money,
love like you've never been hurt
and dance like no one is watching."
~ Randall G Leighton
"You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth. "
~ Shira Tehrani
"Life isn't measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
~ Unknown
"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."
~ Walter Winchell
"A winner is one who accepts his failures
and mistakes, picks up the pieces,
and continues striving to reach his goals."
~ Dexter Yager
"Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success. "
~ Henry Ford
"Best friends are the siblings God forgot to give us."
~ Unknown
"A friend is someone who can see the truth and pain in you even when you are fooling everyone else. "
~ Unknown
"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. "
~ Charles Swindoll
"Do one thing every day that scares you."
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"If your life is free of failures, you’re not taking enough risks."
I have had lots of thoughts on my brain for a while, they all come down to the same two topics. Faith and healing, those two words are very deep and you could write novels in them. The Lord has called me into a life of solidarity and I was wondering why at first cause I am a social person. As I surrendered to Him and set up boundaries I soon realized why. Through that He has laid on my heart that I need to read through the Bible. It is much easier to do if you have a chronological Bible, I have found that our first hand. Through the reading I have learned so much. The Lord has placed HUGE dreams on my heart, impossible dreams according to the world. I serve a God that all things are possible. I know that my faith and the words He has spoken to me will come true. To get to that point, I needed a spiritual cleansing. I have had to get one on one with Jesus. I have been on this journey for about 3 or 4 months and it has been hard, but very rewarding. I have learned to not live a life of fear, that the man who created me calls me "friend", that Jesus really truly loves me and that He believes in me, He taught me what the meaning of friendship and family is, right now I am learning to question what I believe, and see if it is backed up by what the Bible says and I am also working on forgiveness. It has been a challenge, but to me it is worth it. I want my life to be a life that serves the Lord body, mind and soul. I refuse to be a couch potato christian and sit back and watch the world pass by. I want the Lord to use me in reaping of a harvest of souls. I want to be out there showing people the love of Jesus. My favorite passage on this subject is (this is also my favorite Bible story):
Luke 8:43-48 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.” But Jesus said,“Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.”When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed.“Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
I see something different every time I read these verses. Powerful story! I would like to have the faith this woman had. Jesus wasn't known like He is today. He is the Savior of the world, but that wasn't revealed yet because Jesus hadn't suffered on the cross. She had the faith in her heart that this was the coming Messiah,not many believedthat, and the Jewish leaders were also casting doubts among the people. She followed the conviction of her heart and knew that all she has to do was touch the hem of his garment and she would be healed. What did she have to loose? She already was told there was no cure for her sickness. Her faith knew where to get healing, and because of that she was healed. See the world said impossible, but with Jesus she knew it was possible, and she was healed. The other thing that blows me away is when Jesus asked who touched Him. He knew who touched Him, but He wanted that woman to verbalize her faith and show the crowd what her faith produced.What a witness to the people around her. Jesus wants us to use our lives and our faith to bring people into the kingdom of God. We will never know how many people's lives were changed by her acting on her faith and not caring what anyone else around her thought. She just knew that to be healed completely both spiritually and physically she would just have to touch his garment. Then the Lord tells her that her faith has healed her, and to go in peace. That woman has changed me and the way I look at life. Like I stated at the beginning the dreams the Lord has laid on my heart are HUGE and impossible, but I know that if I continue to get real and personal with Jesus; like He has called me to do and let my faith continue to be built up in Him, that the verse that says NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD, will come true. What He said to me will be manifested. I need to do my part and He will do His. The healing I have received is mostly spiritual, and painful at times, but the end reward is that I will see what my faith manifested. I grabbed onto Jesus and I will tell the whole world what my faith had produced. I am doing this cause I want to and because I love Jesus, not so I can get what I want, it doesn't work that way. A true heart change is the key! Praise Jesus. What a mighty God I serve. Glory to God!!!!
Now onto Shayla. She first had to clean and tack her horse, before the show started. We brushed her coat and untangled her mane. Shayla's coach, Linda cleaned out Spicy's hooves. Then she had to put her number on for the judges
Shayla was number 49 in this show
Shayla won second place on her ground work. She was very proud of herself. Joe and I were thrilled that she first had fun, and two did her best. We are proud that her hard work resulted in second place. After ground work, it was time to be judged on her riding skills. She ended up winning first place for her riding!! We all had a very fun morning at the horse barn. We learned a lot, and are thankful that Shayla has the opportunity to ride. We are thankful for her coach Ms. Linda. We are blessed to have her in our lives!
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