Friday Funnies!

Welcome back to our 2nd edition of Friday Funnies! :)

I hope you had a great week and are looking forward to a wonderful weekend! I myself have nothing planned for the weekend and 3 whole days to relax, since I am off for President's Day on Monday. So, I am ready to get this day started so we can get to the good stuff! :)

Speaking of good stuff:

Done therapy...Facebook is free!!

Happens in my house all the time!

I know Valentine's was yesterday, but happy belated V day!

So cute!

 & For my fellow Whovians, Happy Belated Valentine's day!

give me a minute here....

still thinking......

That is all. Have a good one and make somebody in your world smile today! :)

take his hand

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11

I don't know about you, but I need some of that peace! Of course, I am the one preventing myself from reaching it. I was reading  a devotional called "Jesus Speaks" the other day and this jumped out at me:

"To receive My Peace, you must change your grasping, controlling stance to one of openness and trust. The only thing you can grasp without damaging your soul is My hand."

The only thing I can hold on to without hurting the purest, truest, best part of me is the hand of God. It's a pretty simple concept. Still, somehow my human heart and mind have a way of making it so difficult. But oh, how I crave that peace! How desperately my soul cries out for the peace that can only come from Him! Each day is a battle just to stretch out my hand. His is always waiting, always seeking mine. I just have to look up, reach up, and receive all the peace and comfort I desire.

This peace is the ultimate Valentine's gift. The heart of God, gift wrapped for each of us in the form of Jesus and delivered on a cross. Just for you and just for me. Forgiveness for our sins and the opportunity for a true relationship with the one who created us. And all we have to do is make the decision to reach out.

Happy Valentine's day

 
P.S. Don't forget to check out my Thursday Thankfulness page to see what I am thankful for today!

Sunday thoughts and pictures

This week will be more pictures than thoughts. I've been struggling with a sinus headache all day and therefore my brain has turned to mush. And I have a ton of night before Monday stuff to get done. For instance, I have been eating out too much lately so I promised myself that I would put together some lunch stuff so I can grab it and go in the mornings (since I am always running late). Also, I still have clothes to put away, cat litter and trash to put out, and I need to change the sheets on the bed. None of which I want to do. Sometimes being an adult really sucks!!

Anyway! I need to get back to it, so I am just going to keep this simple. Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

Wind chime

flowers at church last week. They are so beautiful

beautiful sky (last weekend-this weekend has been rainy)

See? Rainy

me, playing with my camera (last weekend)

I just like the color.

It took forever to get a shot that showed the detail the way I wanted!

Can you see my initials? (TT)

My favorite lamp (at my mom's)

we went shopping at Home Depot. Thought you might enjoy a pic before I kill it with kindness (neglect)

I just love the delicateness and detail in shots like this!

Okay, that's it.

Well, how about one inspirational quote? or 2....

don't let your dreams be dreams

Okay, here it is, my long dreaded awaited dream post. I'm still not sure what I want to say or how to say it. But the GBE2 writing prompt this week is "Dream" so I am taking that as a sign that it's time to give it a try.

the making of a dream jar.

It all started with a dream jar. I read this post by Ashley over at little {mrs.} sunshine. Ashley's post inspired me to make dream jars for my coworkers for Christmas (which were a hit!) but it also wouldn't leave me alone. After that it seemed everywhere I turned I encountered the subject of dreaming. And I really began to feel some real fear about it.

Why? Why does the very word "dream" make me want to reach for my anxiety meds? I have spent a lot of time trying to sort that out. I don't have it all worked out, but here is what I know so far:

I can't remember ever dreaming about what I wanted to do when I grew up. Maybe I did (most kids do, right?) but I don't remember it. I never wanted to be an astronaut or a ballerina. I read a lot and loved music and as a mostly only child I spent a lot of time lost in my own imagination, creating playmates and adventures for myself; but I don't think that is the same thing. I can't remember ever giving thought to my future. I never considered college because I had no deep burning desire to study anything. I got out of high school and went to work. One thing led to another and I stumbled (with God's guidance) into my profession. It was never my plan, I had no plan. 

I fell in love at an early age, but I never planned to marry. I could claim that as the child of divorced parents I was skeptical of the whole notion. But that's not really true. I think it is more accurate to say that I never let myself see a future, any future at all, much less one that included marriage. Then one day I decided to marry him (my 1st love) and that was that. I never envisioned it, but once I set my sights on it, there was no other path for me. I do not regret this at all, I just find it interesting to really look at how my mind worked in this circumstance. One minute, marriage wasn't even part of my vocabulary. The next, we were planning the wedding. My sweet hubby is still confused by this I think. He was certain, right up until I walked down the aisle, that I would back out. (He has spent a lifetime trying to figure out how my mind works, poor guy)

I could go on and on. My whole life seems to be a series of happy (and yes, some not so happy) accidents that led me to this place (even this blog wasn't planned). I love the words of God in Jeremiah 29:11

I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you...Plans to give you hope and a future.

I have always found comfort and security in those words. In the knowledge that God has a plan for me, even if I don't. But lately I have begun to wonder if my fear of dreaming has held me back from that planned future. Dreams are all about hope and a future. Am I allowing my fear to hold me back? Yes, I think I am.

Don't let your dreams be dreams.....for me I think the first step has to be to let myself dream. To speak and write about what I want to happen in my life. This fear is crippling me. How in the world did I let this little thing become so powerful in my life?

Those dream jars I made as Christmas gifts, I made one for myself too. I never put anything in it. I think it's time I did. Just typing those words knots up my stomach and makes my breathing shallow. But I can do this. Right??

I am going to try. And for accountability, I will be bringing you, my faithful reader, along for the ride. So, if I go too long before I post something about dreams again, give me a nudge. Fear has no place in my heart. I don't want it there. I want to strive for the future that God has for me. I want to let myself dream and imagine what it might hold without fear. I really think that is what He wants for me too.

I'm going to try

Friday Funnies

Psst! Hey you, over here! Did you hear the good news??? IT'S FRIDAY!!

In honor of this awesome, once a week occurrence, I have collected a few funny pictures and such to share with you! Who knows, I might try to make this a regular thing if you like it! :)

Be afraid...very afraid

this really works!

why I avoid gyms

LOL!

You have been warned! 

And finally:

Oh, okay...I have one more important message for you:

Now, get out there and make someone smile today! :)

Some thoughts on stillness....

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

 

This is so hard to do! I have 2 extremes in me, battling for control. Action and inaction. Action wants to fix it. And it doesn't really matter what "it" is or how impossible it may actually be for my human hands to fix. I want to help, to make whatever is wrong right. 

 

My mom is not a very empathetic person and she knows it. In an effort to raise me right, she tried to instill empathy in me. She often says she did this too well. I can very easily become wrapped up in other people's problems. I can feel their pain, if I allow it, so clearly. And I become their champion, looking for a foe to vanquish.

 

Inaction is my other extreme. This is not stillness. It is not the same thing. Inaction turns a blind eye to the world, even to those closest to my heart. This happens when I become overwhelmed by life and start narrowing my focus to just get through the day. I stop interacting, stop making eye contact. I have trouble answering my phone or listening to my voice mail messages (I currently have 3 messages from the weekend I need to listen to, I think one is my Dad). I move through my days, doing what is needed and only that. And sometimes not even that much, if I am honest. Inaction is a symptom of depression. It hurts me and those I love. And it is definitely not the same thing as stillness.

When I read the scripture above, I know what it means. Be still, be calm, be patient, be prayerful. Rest in the knowledge that you can give your cares to me, you can talk to me and tell me what worries you. Tell me about your loved ones and friends and I will champion them. Tell me your fears and I will help you to stand against them and overcome them. I am God. I am your Father. I love you more than you can imagine, trust in that. Trust me.

 

 Being still is place between action and inaction. It is the place of trust. It is the place of peace. It is the place of perfect love. And in my very human, very broken state it is a very difficult place to find. But I am trying, Lord. I am. Be patient with me, teach me to fully trust you, to be still because I can see your hand moving in my life. I want to learn to be still in awe and wonder. I want my heart to be lifted and enlightened by your love and grace. I want my actions to directed by you and I want my inaction to be fully replaced by your peace.

 

Yes it is.

 

Sunday thoughts and pictures

I have a confession to make. I am not a football fan. The Super Bowl (or Stupor Bowl as a friend called it) holds no interest for me. Not even the commercials. I know, I know, this is completely un-American. But football is just plain boring. So, today, while everyone else in America was watching the game (or the pregame, I have no idea what time the fun started) I decided to do a little gardening.

First, you need to know one thing. I am not a gardener. I do not have a green thumb. But I don't let that stop me. The only thing that stops me is my attention deficient disorder (I am not officially ADD, this is a self diagnosis). Basically every spring I buy a few flowering plants, put up some hanging pots and  then spend my afternoons and weekends taking pictures of flowers and playing in the dirt. Until the weather starts to get hot, then I resort to bribing my hubby to water the poor pitiful survivors. When fall comes around I have a burst of energy and buy a few more plants (mums usually) & take a few more pictures. Then we have a cold snap and I give it up. Sometimes the hubby will try to save some of them by putting up a green house or covering the exposed plants with a sheet. I think he can hear them screaming or something. Not me, I can't hear a thing.

Now, it's the 1st Sunday in February and I know that some places are still in the grip of winter. We aren't. The temp today was in the 70's. It was a beautiful day. So, I decided to see who might have survived the winter of neglect on my front porch. And I took pictures so I could share them with all of you!

This leaf caught my eye as I was trying to put some baskets up..

Old iron of my step dad's and a $ store find from last spring

Some of the survivors hanging up and a few more getting some sun under the tree

pink flamingos. A $ store find from 2 years ago. Gotta get them cleaned up and find their legs

This little guy survived better than I thought he would

so did he.

I still have a lot of work to do on my little front porch before I can buy more victims flowers to play with, but I got a good start today, and it felt good. I think it was just what I needed. I hope you had a great day, even if you are watching that boring football game. :)

My prayer for the week ahead...