Sunday Devotionals - A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3



"What a winter it has been! It has been so long with so much snow. I'm sure glad that spring is finally here aren't you?"

I bet you have heard someone say those words recently. Spring hasn't come soon enough for many people I know. What a long winter it has been. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of the cold, dreary winter and have summer all year long?

God doesn't think so. He tells us in Ephesians that there is a time for everything. And that means a time for sunny summers and cold dreary winters. God has created a balance in our world. Imagine how boring going to the beach everyday would soon be if we didn't have the first snow to look forward to. Imagine how quickly we would get tired of making snowmen and hot chocolate if there weren't the picnics in the park to look forward to.

God also tells there is a time for happiness and for sadness. Life is full of disappointments; sickness, injuries, deaths. Although sadness isn't an enjoyable part of life there is a time for it. Without sadness, we wouldn't appreciate our joyful times and how wonderful they truly are. Being happy all the time would be boring because we wouldn't know any other emotion.

So the next time something sad or hurtful comes along in life, don't despair. God has assured us the bad times won't last forever. Winter won't last forever either. Happiness will come again. Those sad times will make those happy times that much better when they come.

Dear God, Thank you for sun and rain, happiness and sadness, and the balance of our world. Help me to be happy for everything you have given me, even those things that are unpleasant. Amen.

Macro Shots

Some photos I took the other day while waiting for my car to get worked on. Amazing the bits of beauty you can find in the most unlikely places...like a tire shop!

This Kid is Way Too Independent!!

She shouldn't be doing this...she's only twelve months old! Here's Yahoo walking towards the road. She wants to go for a walk...great! But she doesn't want to hold my hand or wait for anyone else. Really...she's too independent for her own good. She's been walking for a month and a half but only had the chance to walk outside for the last week or so. It's about a tenth of a mile to the end of the driveway! And she did it all by herself. I'm not sure if I can handle 17 more years of this sort of indepencence. Where could she have learned this?? Oh yeah...me!

Toast Cups with Peanut Butter and Jelly

I first saw this idea from Souffle Bombay using salad as a filler in the cups. Yeah...the salad idea didn't fly with Yip and Yap. So we pulled out this.


That's apple butter between the peanut butter and jelly. They also pulled out apples which we diced and peanuts.


First, Yip flattened bread with a rolling pin.


Then, he "painted" melted butter on both sides of each slice.


I tucked them into a muffin tin, because they just got smashed when the boys tried.


We baked them at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. It may actually take you less time. I kept checking every few minutes because I didn't want them to burn. That's a skill of mine...burning things.


The boys filled the cups with whatever combination of fillings they wanted and munched away! Two pretty satisfied customers and the beginning of two great cooks!

Photo Thursday - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is one of those four leaf clovers from my freaky brother!

Whatever Wednesday - The Death of My Shoes

As all married couples have probably figured out, husbands and wives get on each others nerves. I guess that's what happens when all the little embarrassing things you hide while you are dating come out after the wedding. My husband leaves his socks on the floor and falls asleep to the radio...it bugs me. I have a million craft projects strewn around the house and he doesn't like how I organize the kitchen...that bugs him. But what really gnaws at him, what really gets his goat are my shoes.
To defend myself, I don't where these in public. I know they are ugly. That's the point! I wear these to the basement to do laundry, to get the mail, or to work in the garden. They are easy to get on and off especially when I'm carrying a baby or a basket of laundry. I live out in the country folks, I NEED grubby shoes.

Their are nicely broken in and comfy.
I have an intimate relationship with these shoes! After all I've had them for, oh let's do the math....oh my. I have had these shoes an embarrassing amount of time. Let's just say these shoes are older than my children...combined. You do the math.

Hubby has been nagging me, constantly and persistently, to get rid of these shoes.

"But what will I wear to the garden?" I whined.

"Go get a pair of those Croc shoes. They'll wash off easy." he replied.

I cringed. Crocs...uugghh....I thought Crocs were ugly. I have never figured out what the attraction was to those shoes. But my shoes are ugly too so what the heck. I went shoe shopping and found these. Not Crocs but close.
And oh, was I ever wrong. Now I know why people wear these all over the place. They are SO SO comfy! I have been wearing these constantly for a week! They are like little pillows for my feet.

I still think they are ugly but, hey, I won't be wearing them in public. Well, maybe just once. They are really, really comfy!

Now hubby is happy and he burned my shoes yesterday. I snuck out of bed last night, gathered the ashes and ceremoniously scattered them in the dark. They served me well those wonderful shoes. Silently, in my Croc knockoffs, I tiptoed back in the house. Hubby was right and I was wrong. I did need a new pair of shoes...just don't tell him I told you so.

Easter Eggs and your photos

I stumbled on this fun site where you could manipulate your photos in really fun ways. You'll just have to check it out. But one of the things you could do was put your photo on an Easter egg. So the boys and I chose some of their artwork and pictures of themselves and loaded them up. Here are the results.






My next step is to get them printed off on photos and have the boys make Easter cards to send to all the grandparents. I'll keep you updated!