Sunday, January 30, 2011

Mission Field

Just wanted to share and ask you to pray for my dear friend Kathy and her hubby.  I have known Kathy for 19 years.  I met her when I moved into my little blue cottage in California.  We were neighbors and then became friends.  I sometimes babysat her daughters and then later her daughters babysat my boys.  Kathy and her husband have been very faithful servants of the Lord for many years.  I am so excited that the Lord has opened the doors for them to be used in this very special way...to teach English in Mongolia.  Here is a link to Kathy's blog regarding their trek to Mongolia.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Exhausted Blogger

The Lord brought me a treat this morning...time to REST.  Mark took Brandon to school this morning so I got to sleep in.  My schedule has been crazy since the boys started at their new high school.  I have to rise early to take Brandon to school.  I have decided that Colorado sunrises are not for me (even though sometimes spectacular as pictured below), especially when one wants to drive.  Ugh, seriously, those sunrises are blinding!

 
Well, as you can gather, rising early does not set well with me, but I do it happily even though I am a slow and late riser.  It has been hard because I am used to making my cup of tea and sitting down with my muffin to watch the news.  Then I watch Les Feldick who is a simple country farmer with a great gift for teaching God's word.  Never would have met Les if I had not moved to Colorado.  With the new schedule, my lovely "me" time is cut.  Rather, I rush in the morning and have tea on the go.  Yesterday I was running a bit late and I resorted to some rock music in the car to get me in the mood for driving.  Brandon and I actually had fun rocking out.  ;-)

Anyway, the reason my schedule is extra crazy this week is that Mark has been working long hours at work. This is only temporary, there is end in sight.  However, the stress has been piling up and I feel exhausted this morning. Have not had time to think, plan, dream, or blog.  I do try to keep connected with the Lord. He certainly has spoken to me through many blogs today as well as His word.  Thank you all!  Okay, where was I?  Oh yes, well, I have had the time to blog, just that I am in no condition to blog as there is daily drama.  Seriously, I have teenage soap opera going on here daily. (You may be able to pick up from my use of "seriously" that I am hanging with teens.)  Raising two teen boys with RAD is no easy task and it drains me terribly.

We are continuing to look for a house and so far nothing has jumped up and said "This is it!".  There are two houses that we have found, but each has their projects.  Being torn between the two houses, we have decided to just continue to wait.  There is a house close by that has come up for sale.  We both would jump on it, but what stops us is the price.  All I can say is the Lord knows.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Praise You In This Storm lyrics
Songwriters: Hall, Mark; Herms, Bernie

 I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say, Amen and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain, "I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls I raise my hands
And praise the God who gives and takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm and I will lift my hands
For You are who You are no matter where I am
And every tear I've cried You hold in Your hand
You never left my side and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

This song by Casting Crowns is a favorite.  Also, like Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name".  These words especially speak to me:

Blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name.

[Chorus:]
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

[Bridge]
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Dear Blog Friends

I want you all to know how each of you has touched my heart, through your comments and your blogs. I am sorry that I have not been in blog world much these past days.  Tonight I did more catching up with some of you.  My heart goes out to you dear friends and my prayers heaven-ward.  Sending out hugs to all.  Becky <3

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Snow & Ice

Well, I decided to visit some of my bloggy friends tonight.  My friend Outdoor Mom at Yaak Adventures was talking about the tremendous load of snow and ice she has been dealing with in Montana.  That got me thinking about the last couple of snows we had here in Colorado.  I have sort of been in a blogging funk.  I have been entirely wrapped up in house hunting among other things.  Still wonderful and interesting things have been going on that I have not even shared.  So here I go with pictures of our snows.

My friend Kerrie at Sea Cottage likes to take pictures of her feet at the beach.  I thought of Kerrie when I took this picture of my feet in the snow.

Here is my youngest son, Brandon, shoveling the back deck.

Here is Mark brushing the snow off his truck.  The road was so icy, even after the snowplow had gone by, that he had to back the truck down the hill to a more level spot and turn around.  We finally got traction and were able to move forward.

This is my oldest son, Eric, throwing down salt to melt the ice on the driveway.  I couldn't get my car out of the garage because of all the ice.

This is the mesa covered in snow.  I am so blessed to live in such beauty.

A winter wonderland of snow.  All the colors of winter...white, blue, evergreen and brown.

A winter morning sunrise.


A winter sunset.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Offer was a "no go"...

We made an offer on a house, but we were beat out by a full cash offer near the asking price.  It took us a couple of hours to get the whole deal together and it took under an hour for us to find out that we did not get the house.  The Lord shut the door and we were fine with it.  Okay, I was a little bummed, but I realize that the Lord has some place else for us in mind.  I am really glad that it was over in a few hours rather than days.  What a blessing that was!  Anyway, we are back to searching.  There is no big hurry, but sometimes after so much looking I want it over and done with.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

The New Year - Longing, Awe & Thankfulness

Well, our new year has started out with change.  It seems that our family has become very sensitive to change since moving from California to Colorado.  As the saying goes "One thing we can count on in our lives is CHANGE."  Okay, so what change have we experienced lately?  Well, both boys are going to a new high school this semester.  Right now it is a bit of a challenge working out a schedule.  Even though the boys are going to the same high school they don't go at the same time.  Drop off times and pick up times are different.  We decided on this new high school because the regular public high school was just not working for either boy.  This new high school has more structure, a closed campus and so far seems to be a perfect fit for their ADHD issues.  We are blessed that they were both accepted.

You may ask, what other change has come about?  Well, nothing yet.  We are still on the prowl for a house to buy.  Our landlord is kind, but can be neglectful in some respects.  We really would like to have our own place, so we keep looking.  However, I must admit that sometimes I don't even know why we are looking, because right now the market is slow.  However, we are considering a house that we found recently.  The boys went with us to look at the house and they love it.  We also looked at two other homes the same day and the boys did not like either of those houses.  The boys really want us to buy this house, but Mark and I are dragging our feet.  One reason is that the house is near a highway (but remarkably the noise from it is very low) and the other reason is that it makes living here in Colorado a more permanent deal.

Yes, all of us still miss California, but then too, the Lord has opened up so many wonderful opportunities for us here, ones that would not be available to us in California.  I do not quite know how to word what I am thinking in my head.  I am thinking about life and all the opportunities that come our way.  How do those opportunities wind up in our lap?  I choose to see it as God's hand.  The Lord chose for me to come to Colorado to live where I am living and meet the people I have met.  I knew nothing of what I now know. He led me here, He chose certain people to bless our family and each of us individually.  When you start thinking about it, well it is just plain awesome!

As I try to wrap up this post, I am thinking of all of my readers.  Some of you are regulars here and I am so thankful for the blessing that you have been to me.  Kind words are like honey, they bring sweetness and health.  Your kind comments have done that for me.  What a blessing each of you have been.  Remember after the Lord's resurrection he spoke to Peter and asked him if he loved him?  Peter responded that he did love Him.  Jesus responded "Feed my sheep."  Showing our Lord that we love Him means that we in turn love others.  I am so grateful that you love Him.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Sick, But Happy

I enjoyed our new year's eve. Our family was invited to a party held by my friend Cindy.  We had a wonderful time ringing in the new year with Cindy, her hubby Milton and their family.  The next morning I very much enjoyed watching the Rose Parade in California.  It made me long for green California, especially with the cold and snow we got here in Colorado. On Sunday night after new years I came down with a sore throat and from there it has been downhill.  Sneezing, sniffling, coughing, lots of herb tea and rest for me.  Even so I took a couple pictures of the big excitement at our house.  Eric ordered a Sector Nine California Skateboard.  It came on Monday and we had one excited boy on our hands.  Even though he is sick with the same nasty cold I have, he was up and about when the UPS man came with his board.  Here are a few pictures.

Here is Eric with his awesome board.  He can't wait to ride it.

Daisy thought the board was pretty cool so she hopped on.