Today's Lesson:

Struck Me Funny...

Which of these things is not like the others?

I'll bet you could come up with a pretty cool caption for this :)

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

When is the last time you read these lyrics and really absorbed their truth?  I have highlighted below the phrases that have encouraged me lately.  Seems like this song has popped into my head many times lately, and I don't think that's a coincidence.  Whether it's a time for blessing for you, or a time of trial, what a wonderful reminder of God's ever-present faithfulness from the ol' Baptist hymnal...

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee ;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
  Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
    "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow ,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

May you experience the peace, strength and hope of God's great faithfulness in ABUNDANCE today!

Not Just A Cardigan.

I've admired and respected the faith and character of Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers, as he is well-known) for many years.   His wisdom has lasted far beyond the framework of his children's television show and the span of his lifetime.  I received a couple books for Christmas full of "Important things to remember," according to the man in the cardigan himself.  Small quips and quotes, I thought I'd share some of the ones that have resonated with me in recent days.  Just a little "neighborly" gift from me to you.  :)

Some days, doing the "best we can" may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn't perfect- on any front- and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.


Confronting our feelings and giving them appropriate expression always takes strength, not weakness.  It takes strength to acknowledge our anger, and sometimes more strength yet to curb the aggressive urges anger may bring and to channel them into nonviolent outlets.  It takes strength to face our sadness and to grieve and to let our grief and our anger flow in tears when they need to.  It takes strength to talk about our feelings and to reach out for help and comfort when we need it.  


When I was a boy, I used to think that "strong" meant having big muscles, great physical power;  but the longer I live, the more I realize that real strength has much more to do with what is NOT seen.  Real strength has to do with helping others.


People have said "Don't cry" to other people for years and years, and all it has ever meant is "I'm too uncomfortable when you show your feelings.  Don't cry."  I'd rather have them say "Go ahead and cry.  I'm here to be with you."


Mutually caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other's achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.  We need to accept the fact that it's not in the power of any human being to provide all these things all the time.  For any of us, mutually caring relationships will also always include some measure of unkindness and impatience, intolerance, pessimism, envy, self-doubt, and disappointment.

I'm so glad you're my "neighbor" today!

Every Child Matters to Jesus!

While in Stockton, we had the privilege of dedicating our little Carter to the Lord at First Baptist Church.  I have always considered First Baptist my family, having spent 25+ years involved in the church body.  Chris and I love going back to visit, allowing distant friends to love on our kids as they grow. 

Baby Dedications are a special time for family, as we make a covenant before God and our church body to make  

Christ the head of our lives and our  

Home, where all are safe, loved and encouraged to build one another up in ever 

Increasing Christ-likeness while setting our hearts on Godly priorities

Living a life towards God and one another with a

Determination and passion to fulfill the good news of the Kingdom of God!

We received the above reminder on a special plaque, along with a letter to read with Carter on his 10th birthday.  The letter shares the promise we made to him and God on this day, and hopefully someday he'll make the decision to follow Christ for himself!  

 Thank you to all who came to share in this celebration and who continue to love our family, even from afar!

Going Green

Starting traditions with our kids is something that has been on my mind lately.  If we want to say in the future, "We've been doing _____ since you were born!", it needs to start now!   So, I'm busy creating new traditions and making sure old traditions are kept up.  (Anyone else singing "Tradi-shuuuuuuns!  Traditions!.....Truh-di-shuns!" to yourself as you read this?   If you weren't, I bet you are now.  *wink*)

St. Patrick's Day was on Saturday and, though I am not Irish, it's still fun to use the occasion to play with green a little bit.  So, I prepared a "green dinner" for the family.  Green pesto, green grapes, green Sprite (okay, I was too lazy to create a green drink), and GREEN CAKE!  Pretty low key this year, but I plan on doing it up bigger in years to come...when kids can appreciate it (or, at least notice it).

Kendall added to the festive meal with some headgear :)

Kendall REALLY liked the "Deet Cack" (Green cake)

I think I'm pretty "lucky" to have such a wonderful family to spoil!

The Heart Melts...

...when moments like this sneak up on you.  Good thing I had a camera in hand.

You Had Me At "Grilled Cheese"

When Chris and I started dating, he told me many times that he was a good cook.
AWESOME!  I was thinking lots of gourmet goodness was in my future!
Reality:  "Cooking" means he is able to throw a couple things in the oven or whip up a grilled cheese sandwich.

I guess that's okay with me, since I LOOOOOVE grilled cheese.
However, in my world of grilled cheese, I like to shake things up a bit. 
You know, add a little of this, a little of that. 
Thanks to some recent inspiration, we've been trying out some new combos lately.  ALL delicious and highly recommended!

Caprese Grilled Cheese:  Mozzarella, Tomato, Balsamic/Basil Aioli

Rosemary Apple Butter Grilled Cheese with Brie

Pepperjack. Avocado. Bacon. Apple Slices. Sourdough.

Bacon Guacamole Grilled Cheese

And from the GRILLED CHEESE ACADEMY, the ultimate in Grilled Cheese:

I present....the Lisa Marie

 8 Slices of bacon, brown sugar, maple syrup, peanut butter, bananas, hot fudge, and Wisconsin Butterkase Cheese.  Whhhaaaaat? 

 (Somebody make this and tell me how it is.  I'm completely scared of it.)

A Little Bit of Sweetness

Hope your Saturday is super sweet!

DIY Disasters.

I used to be crafty.
Sometimes I think I still am.
But then I undertake a project, and what was a great idea in my head usually goes horribly wrong.
Thanks, Pinterest, for making me feel incompetent.  Everyone else makes it look so easy!
Here are a few of my recent *fails*.

 This lampshade is for Kendall's room.  Thankfully, I got it on clearance for only a few bucks since it might not stay in her room long.  I HATE it. 

 The ribbon I added is too wide and doesn't lay flush against the lampshade. 

 And the top......sigh.  Not sure what I was thinking there. 

 Can you guess the flavor of these cupcake gems?  LEMON.  Yep.  I decided to throw some extra berries in the mix, but did so too early instead of folding them in later....hence the gross brown color.  And if the left one looks a little lumpy, well, that's because I forgot to add WATER to the first batch.  How does that even happen!?!  (PS. they were actually pretty good.)

 I wanted to make some hangers for the kids' rooms, and found these wooden shapes at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $0.40 each.  It would have been great if the actual hangers FIT on the shapes.

I'm actually pretty happy with this one.  Just to show you I'm not a TOTAL crafting disaster zone, I picked up this navy lamp at Target.  I had some leftover felt stars from another project, so I lined the bottom of the shade with them and, voila!  The perfect addition to Carter's nursery.