Sending Smiles Across Miles

Oh, how beautiful to see a rose garden.  Makes me smile already.  Roses are calming to look at and admire.  Enriched with color and aroma.  We can look at a rose and think that is what we want in life, the way we feel when we see a rose garden.  Then we walk in and feel the thorns, see the blood, feel the tears and realize that is what we do have in life.  God never promised that life would always be easy.  But did promise He would always be with us.  So the next time you see a rose garden, admire the beauty and remember the walk Jesus made for us.  After the thorns, the blood and the tears, our Savior rose again to save us from ourselves.  We will always have good and bad in our lives.  But will we always remember to look to Him for all that we have good and bad?  Remember to smile, to laugh, and yes, to cry.  When you feel your lowest He is there with you to the end.

You remember hard times?  Still having hard times?  You know the times that others, label people, place judgement on them.  We have all been through that and let's face it, we are all guilty of it.  We are sinners.  None of us are perfect.  I pray we all can find it in our hearts that when we want to do this, we will have the power to put our stones back in their place and look in the mirror and ask God to forgive us and remember God loves us all equally.  Even when it may be hard because we have let Him down.  Please take the time to help those that have let Him down, to see Him, to know Him, to have the courage to turn from their ways and to ask for His forgiveness. Let your light shine, so that others may open their hearts and receive His comfort. Hugs to all of you.

Get out of the chaos of everyday life and get back to the simple things.  My idea of the simple things are spending time with my family, picking berries, and baking.  Do I do these daily?  Of course, not.  But strive to get my life back in order to accomplish them more often.  Today, I want to share my bread recipe.  This is my basic recipe that I use for all breads.  I just change it to suit my families needs for the day. Homemade White Bread 1 Cup Milk 1 tsp salt 2 Tbsp butter or oil 2 Tbsp sugar or honey 3 Cups flour 1 Tbsp yeast I use a bread maker for mixing.  Ingredients go into the bread maker in the order listed.  I like the bread maker because I don't have to be concerned about the rising temperature or time.  I put it on the dough setting and it is ready in 90 minutes.  I take it out and make rolls or loaf.   I put it in the oven at 170 degrees til it has risen to the size I want, then turn the oven to 350 degrees, til bread reaches 200 degrees.

Love, Fun and Six wheeling! I absolutely loved getting out and enjoying the beautiful area near our home.  Have to say, I love getting on the six wheeler.  Today, was loads of fun, lots of water, mud, dust, bear tracks, wolf tracks, and more.  Now I want to drive our sons truck, when it is finished.  Time for some Mud Bogging for Mama. Pray each and everyone of you are enjoying time with your families.  Life is too short, to not enjoy! 

Really, it is time to shake off the grime.  Not grime, as in dirt, grease or the like.  It is time to shake off the dirt and grime that keep our lives in chaos.  You know the mud that keeps our brains from seeing clearing what we need to see.  Or the Goodnight Irene Song, my dear husband is singing now, not realizing I have other mud I am clearing right now.  So how do you clean out the mud?  For me, being able to discuss it is very helpful.  A nice realaxing hot bath, making a card.  Although, giving it to God should be number one, I am human and when your brain is muddy, you don't think clearly. I think this week, I will work on how to start my day clearing my brain with God.  I will let you know, if I find myself thinking more clearly in a week.  So, let the sunshine in meet it with a grin.  Hugs and Smiles!

I am an avid stamper, as Rush Limbaugh would say, talent on loan from God.  As we live life, many of us tend to get so caught up in our daily routines that we forget to be happy.  When this happens, we start looking for happiness.  As Snoopy is showing us, we look everywhere.  But what we need to be doing is looking within.  Remember what it is within ourselves, we enjoy and enjoy it to the fullest.  We cannot look for happiness in places, things or in others.  Happiness is found within.  Look for the seed of happiness that God gave to you and nurture it to full maturity and you will find yourself smiling before you  realize it and maybe even skipping, like Snoopy.  Hugs and smiles to all.

Are Old Wives Tales true or false?  There are many out there, but you don't normally hear them from doctors.  Chicken soup for colds, Apple Cider vinegar for tonail fungus and acid reflux, Vicks salve applied to soles of the feet for night coughs.  I love to hear about Old Wives Tales and will admit, I have tried my share of them.  I won't recommend any to you, they are for you to decide and there are so many websites out there that have them. Please use caution when trying them and make the decision for yourself. Come back tomorrow for Saturday Stamping with Shelly.

Is your week flyin'? I can't believe it is already Thursday.  What a wonderful week.  It has been filled with ups and downs.  But what is life with out them?  You need a few waves to make life interesting.  Have you ever flown with Flylady?  What a fun and wonderful way to bless your home and family.  You can check her out at http://www.flylady.net/ .  She helps get you motivated, lookin' good and FLYing (finally loving yourself).  As well as gettting your home out of CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome).  I do suffer from both of these disorders and she is a huge help.  She has also helped me to get my closet to a minimum and what clothing to wear to help me enjoy how I look and feel about myself.  So what is stopping you?  Perfection, the thought of: Why start something if I can't do it right.  She covers that too.  She takes you back to baby steps.  Your home didn't get in the shape it is in, in a day and is not going to get accomplished in a day.  Pr

Wednesday-- Sending out prayers for all of you, God knows your heart and your needs.  Enjoy your day and look for Gods many blessings.

I will start to day off with my smiles found yesterday.  I actually found a lot to smile about.  But will give you the funny smiles.  Our youngest son has a Thomas the Tank bed, that he claims is not his.  So we put it outside and filled it with dirt for him to play in.  Today, him and his sister filled it up with water, making an ooey gooey mess.  They painted pictures on each others backs, splashed, oohhh the joys of being a child.  Then they filled the water trough and played in it to clean up a bit.  It was so nice watching the two of them having so much fun.  God has totally blessed my day with smiles. Now for Tuesday Tantrums:  A day to complain?  Why not?  What are some of the complaints you hear daily?  Too hot?  Too cold?  Too much rain?  Too little rain?  Can you imagine being God and having so many people requesting weather in their favor.  He  made all of us different, how could He ever please us everyone?  Makes me wonder, heat, cold, rain, dry spells, no wonder there a

WOW!  It is Monday! (Well, in the lower 48 anyway) My how the weekend passes.  Hope all of you had a great weekend.  Now it is time to start our week.  What better way than to start a week than to start it with smile.  I am sure that while Jesus walked among us, He found reasons to smile.  Have you ever looked for joy in strange places?  For instance, as a carpenter, you know Jesus had to have hit is thumb or fingers on more than one occasion.  So do you think, like most today, He cursed, or did He thank our Father that is was only this thumb and not his hand?  Did you at least crack a smile on that one? Now for one in our modern everyday life, have you ever gotten stuck in traffic and been madder than a hornet?  Turn that around and thank God for the extra time with Him.  What a better time than that to ask God for some smiles to help you through your day.  Even if it is as your sitting there a bird poops on your windshield.  Getting the picture.  Look for a reason to smile, y

Today, I would like to give you point to ponder: We have all heard the old saying, "When God closes a door, He opens a window".  I have come up with a new swing on this.  "God sometimes leaves a crack in the door, do not open further than He intends". I know that I have thought there were doors that were closed and come to find out, it was not completely shut.  So how open should you let that door open?  You never know what is waiting on the other side.  First:  Pray about it. Second:  If you feel that it is time to consider opening the door, take a peek. Third:  If you at this point you feel this is all God has intended, then close the door. Fourth:  If you still feel inclined to move forward, move with caution and open the door carefully. Fifth:  Now that you have the door open, ask why and what will be accomplished by this now open door. Sixth:  Once you have the why, decide if Gods intention was fulfilled and close the door.  If not, move on to seven.