"U" - "V" & "W" is for ....................

Winding down on ALPHABET in AUGUST over at Cliot's Run.

ULTIMATE - When I first meet someone I always wonder what ULTIMATE (final point or result) that person is working toward or aiming for.  Everyone will have an ULTIMATE destination or end of some kind or another.  It is a very important question for each of us to ask ourselves and then even more important to settle on a worthy ULTIMATE goal.  Mine is to live out my life to the ULTIMATE within my ability that I might reach my ULTIMATE goal, which is to run the race my Lord and Savior has set before me until the end.  I'm curious what your ULTIMATE goal in this life is?

VIOLIN - I love VIOLIN music.  It is so beautiful and soothing.  I tried to play the VIOLIN when I was in grade school but never mastered it so I stuck with my piano.  I truly admire people who have mastered this beautiful instrument.

WALK - This certainly has to be my "W" words for August.  I began walking, on a daily basis on July 7th by walking .4 miles.  As of today I have walked for 56 consecutive days and am now walking 1 to 1.5 miles per day.  I walk first thing every morning, right after sunrise, because we are having the hottest summer on record with our temperature up over 100 and sometimes as high as 107.  I also thought it might get easier after 56 days but it has not and I'm having to use my "T" word - Tenacity to get out there each and every morning!!!

"T" is for.........TENANCIOUS

The month is winding to a close and so is my ALPHABET in AUGUST posts over at Cliot's Run.

TENACIOUS - I love this word and it is definitely one of my strong points.  If once I start something I am TENACIOUS about finishing it whether that is reading a book, working on a prayer shawl, fighting for my marriage, my children or grandchildren, weeding a flower bed, etc.  The area I have not been TENACIOUS in is losing weight :o)  I don't know why this has been such an area of defeat for me but sadly to say, it has been.  But, I have not totally given up yet either!!

TESTIMONY - Every Christian has a TESTIMONY and as Christians we should be eager to share our TESTIMONY because it really isn't about us, but about how Jesus sought us and what He has done for us and with us.  My TESTIMONY is on my side bar, and if you have not read it I invite you to do so.

I would love for you to share your TESTIMONY with me!!!!

"S" is for.................SIMPLE

Did Spiritual Sunday on Saturday!!!! so I guess I can do ALPHABET in AUGUST on Sunday this time.  Participating in this through Cloit's Run

SIMPLE - At the top of my page is the quote "If you keep things SIMPLE they'll stay pure."  I have that quote there because I truly believe this is a truth.  I think we complicate too many things, and in doing so we lose the pure, unadulterated truth and end up making a big mess of things. 

SUSAN - Of course this is my name!!!  But I have always been grateful for my name and here is why.  My father's name was Henry Harrison Errett and when they knew they were expecting me they decided, if I was a girl, they were going to name me Henrietta after my father.  Fortunately, I had a 12 year old 1/2 sister that informed my mother & father that is they named me Henrietta she would not claim me!!!  I have always been grateful to Marion for speaking up for me because I would have hated to have been Henrietta Errett.  It just doesn't flow off the tongue well.  Further on my name, they chose the name SUSAN after my Paternal Grandmother, who was deceased before I was born.  As a further bit of non-important information about me:  when I was a pre-teen I got the bright idea that I wished my parents had named me CAROL because of being born on Christmas!!!  Another tid-bit of information on my name:  I was not given a middle name because when I was born I had convulsions and was not expected to live and in the hurry of the naming they only selected the one name.

This name business has been more information than you ever wanted, or needed, to know.  But it is all about my name - SUSAN, which by the way I have always liked and why I named my first child, Suzette.

Have a very blessed Sabbath.

THE VISIBLE CHURCH vs THE BODY OF CHRIST

I am participating in Spiritual Sunday.  Please go here to see many other Spiritual Sunday posts.

Coweta Assembly of God

This is the visible image of the church I attend in Coweta, Oklahoma.

 The visible institution is certainly ONE of the images of the church, but the TRUE image of the church should be ALL Christians.

It should be The Body of Christ, whatever name is on the building.

The Body of Christ has Jesus name in and on the hearts of every member. 

The Body of Christ is being the hands, feet, mouths, eyes, ears, etc. of Jesus in our daily, hourly, moment by moment life.  

  

The Body of Christ is busy ministering to the world around us where ever Jesus has chosen to place us.

So my question to you today is.....

Do you belong to a Church? 

Or do you belong to The Body of Christ?

 

"Q" & "R" stand for .............

OK, 2 more letters today as I work to finish up ALPHABET in AUGUST over at Cliot's Run.

'Q' is for QUIET -I love my quiet time and my spirit and soul need it!!!  When we was raising our 4 children I would usually stay up until 1 o'clock in the morning, even though I worked and we got up by 6 a.m., simply because the QUIET time was more important to me than sleep.  Fortunately, I am also blessed not to require a lot of sleep.  Mickey & I share most everything, as most of you know, and we talk a lot but we also can just be together and QUIET without the need to say anything.  I think that's the way our Lord wants us to be sometimes, too. 

'R' is for RELIGION - I hate RELIGION.  That probably shocks some of you but it is the truth.  RELIGION distorts the pure, simple, truth of Christianity and our faith in the Triune God.  RELIGION has done much harm in the world and is one of satan's tools.  Whenever any one calls me "RELIGIOUS" I politely correct them!!!  If it is anything I do not want to be it is "RELIGIOUS". 

'R' is for RECONCILE - I am a firm believer in RECONCILIATION and the importance of it in every area of our lives.  First, we must be RECONCILED to God and then we must be RECONCILED to each other.  No matter what has happened, how wrong we have been, or how wronged we have been by someone or something else, we must be RECONCILED and make the necessary amends.

'R' is for REGRET - We all have REGRETS in our lives; either for things we have done, things others have done to us, things that have happened, and sometimes dreams and hopes that have not been fulfilled.  We must not let any of these REGRETS become a stumbling block to us, but must make the RECONCILIATION needed and then move on and determine to be all God wants and intends us to be.     

The Letter "N" - "O" - & "P"

Oh my, I am falling so far behind in ALPHABET in AUGUST and only on the 14th letter and there are only 6 days left in August so I am going to bunch them up and do 3 letters today.  As always I am participating in this exercise that Cliot's Run is featuring.

'N' is for.....NEED - We all have many NEEDS and our biggest NEED is to make Jesus both Lord and Savior of our lives.  Unfortunately too many people accept Him as Savior but never make Him Lord of their lives.  The Bible tells us that God will meet our every NEED and I have experienced this over my entire long life. 

NEEDY - The world is so full of many NEEDY people.  People who no matter what they acquire, what they accomplish, what they achieve, are never content, happy or satisfied but are still NEEDY.  A NEEDY person sucks the very life out of everything and everyone it comes in contact with.  It breaks my heart to see NEEDY people because I know all they truly NEED is Jesus.

'O' is for.....OWNERSHIP - This word means several things to me:   being raised by a father who was in the Real Estate business I grew up knowing the value of OWNERSHIP in your own home.  I was raised in a home that my parents OWNED and during the 52+ years of Mickey & my marriage we have only rented 3 times (when we first moved to Denver for a year before purchasing a home), (when we first moved to Tulsa for a year before purchasing a home)and (1 year in Albuquerque when we moved there to take my mother back as she was nearing death).  We have OWNED 6 different homes during these years and have OWNED our current one in Coweta for the past 14 years. 

OWNERSHIP also means to me taking OWNERSHIP (responsibility) of our actions, deeds, thoughts, words, just everything about us.  It seems in the world today there is very little of this type OWNERSHIP.  Instead everyone wants to blame someone else or something else for everything.  I have always talked full OWNERSHIP of myself and my actions. It is one of the core values we taught our children and all 4 of our children take full OWNERSHIP of themselves.

'P' is for.....PRAYER - In my opinion the most important part of our Christian walk is PRAYER.  We begin that journey with PRAYER when we confess our sins and ask Jesus to come into our heart and forgive us.  The Bible tells us to PRAY without ceasing....when I was a new Christian that always baffled me because I thought, "How can we be praying all the time when there are other things I have to do and be involved in?" but I've come to realize what that means to me is having Christ, God, The Holy Spirit first and foremost in our minds at all times and whether something good or bad happens our immediate response is to praise Him or/and ask for His help and intervention.  I am thankful to have a God who hears and answers our PRAYERS.  I am glad He not only asks us, but commands us, to PRAY one for another. 

I hope I'm not boring my readers with this project.  It has forced me to think very deeply about some of the values I hold most important in my life and has been good for me!

'M' is for..........................MANY

Day 13 of my participation in ALPHABET in AUGUST.  So go to Cliot's Run and check it out.

MANY - A funny word to start with but I've been thinking about so MANY words and things as I've been writing these post the past 13 days.  Sometimes its important to take time to look at MANY things in life and I've enjoyed dealing with the words that have special meaning to me.  I've also noticed that most of my words have been action words - because I am a person of action and activity.  Not a sit around and do nothing person.

MANAGING -  I like to MANAGE my life, my affairs, my money, my spiritual walk.  I've come to the conclusion I am a MANAGER.

MARRIAGE - Of course this had to be one of my "M" words because of the wonderful MARRIAGE Mickey and I have managed to carve out and create for ourselves, with that Third Cord of Jesus!!!!  Although it is almost perfect now, we have, over the years, had to work through many issues, hurts, disappointments, etc.  My MESSAGE (another good "M" word) is don't give up and keep going and it can be done......and the doing is well worth it!!

MEMORY - I am so grateful for my MEMORY and for all the wonderful MEMORIES I have.  MEMORIES, good and bad, are ours.  We possess them and we need to remember and treasure them.

MONEY - Is a very important thing in this life but it certainly is not the most important thing.  I believe too many spend too much time concentrating on earning it and spending it, instead of using it for The Kingdom and for good.  We use our money wisely and I am quite frugal.  I was raised with those values and I am glad they were instilled into me by my parents.

MERCY - Where would any of us be without MERCY.  We all need it, and our Lord gives it so freely.  I am so very grateful for the MERCY bestowed on me and mine.

The HOLY ALPHABET

I've been participating in ALPHABET in AUGUST over at Cliot's Run this month so I thought I might as well participate in SPIRITUAL SUNDAY this week, using the Alphabet!!

SO HERE GOES:  

The Holy Alphabet

A-lthough things are not perfect

B-ecause of trial or pain

C-ontinue in thanksgiving
D-o not begin to blame.

E-ven when the times are hard
F-ierce winds are bound to blow
G-od is forever
H-old on to what you know.

I-magine life without His love
J-oy would cease to be,
K-eep thanking Him for all the things
L-ove imparts to thee.

M-ove out of "Camp Complaining"
N-o weapon that is known
O-n earth can yield the power
P-raise can do alone.

Q-uit looking at the future
R-edeem the time at hand
S-tart every day with worship
T-o "thank" is a command.

U-ntil we see Him coming
V-ictorious in the sky
W-e'll run the race with gratitude
X-alting God most high.
Y-es, there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Z-ion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

HAVE A WONDERFUL, BLESSED SABBATH and remember, WE WIN with JESUS!!

"L" is for................LOVE

A little late getting this one posted for ALPHABET in AUGUST at Cloit's Run.  Better get busy or I'm going to run out of August before I run out of Alphabet!!!

LOVE - You probably knew this would be the first word for "L" I would choose because I have been blessed with so much LOVE in my life.  Starting with my mother and father, then the LOVE of God pursuing me, then the LOVE of my life, Mickey, my 4 children who I LOVE so dearly and LOVE me back.  The LOVE of my friends, my church family and many of my blog friends.  Yes, I am indeed surrounded with LOVE!!!!

LUCKY - What I am going to write here will probably surprise you but I do not LIKE to, and don't, use the word LUCKY because: 1) I do not believe in LUCK and 2) LUCK comes from the name Lucifer.

LEDGER - Being I spent so many years of my life working as a bookkeeper and in accounting I am very familiar with LEDGERS.  I have kept LEDGERS of our personal expenses all of our married life.  I am one who likes to know where we are spending our money.

LONELY - Thankfully I do not have a lot of experience with being LONELY. Again, because of the amount of LOVE I have from others in my LIFE.

LIFE - This one is very tender with us right now because of our sweet Suzette losing her LIFE 3 months ago today.  That didn't occur to me today until I began to write this :o(  LIFE is such a precious gift to us and we need to value it fully and take advantage of each and every day we have to enjoy and appreciate it.  

LETTER - I use to be an avid LETTER writer when I was younger.  I always wrote my parents a LONG LETTER at least once a week when they were alive.  Sadly, with the advent of cell phones, fb, blogging, etc. (social media) LETTER writing is almost a LOST art.  A few months ago I received a beautiful, handwritten letter from Retha, a dear blog friend from So. Africa.  I was so touched with her LOVE in writing me and her penmanship was absolutely perfect and LOVELY.  Thank you again, Retha.

"K" is for....................KINDNESS

Have you checked out ALPHABET for AUGUST yet at Cliot's Run?  If not, why not?  It's been a good tool to get me back to blogging on a daily basis which was my goal in participating.  This is my 11th letter so I'm pretty much on track.

KINDNESS - What a wonderful word and the way we all want to be treated.  One of the adjectives I think of when considering Jesus was how KIND He was to everyone.  It truly should be our goal to spread KINDNESS where ever we find ourselves.

KIOSK - We had a KIOSK in a local mall in Albuquerque for a short while when I was operating the little craft store we ran for 2 years.  It was one of those experiences that you get to say, "I did that once" and would probably never do again.  The hours were very long, from open to close of the mall and for us, it was not cost effective.

KISS - Who doesn't like KISSES?  My husband and I greet each other every morning with a KISS and we KISS, in bed, just after praying together and going to sleep each night.  I highly recommend it!!!

KEEPSAKE - I have a lot of KEEPSAKES.  Some dating back 60 or more years to my childhood.  Unfortunately it is hard for me to throw, or discard, any gift away that has special meaning to me because of who I received it from.  It is my hope that many of my KEEPSAKES will be treasures to my children and grandchildren. 

KNOWLEDGE - It is important to gain KNOWLEDGE  and be an informed person. I attempt to keep adding to my knowledge and learning new things.

KIDS - I have been blessed with 4 and each of them are very different individuals. I value, appreciate and treasure each for their uniqueness.  

 

CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS WITH FRIENDS.

Saturday, July 30th, 6 of us celebrated our friend Barbara's birthday with a lovely dinner out at Freddie's Steak House in Sapulpa, OK.  Yes, we drove many miles just to eat here.  It was well worth it.  Then we all went to their house where Don served us delicious Key Lime Pie and coffee.  YUM.

The honoree, Barbara & Don looking over the many cards Barbara had received.

Doty, Ron & Mickey also reading the various cards.

Barbara & I - long time, GOOD friends that share everything:  joys, sorrow, all.  I pray you have good friends like this.

Last Friday night, August 13th, we attended Doty's 70th birthday celebration and was it a CELEBRATION!!!

The honoree, dressed as Cleopatra talking to the Phantom of the Opera.

There were 72 guests for the delicious meal and party held at the Hilton Inn.  This is the beautiful table setting with each person receiving this gift box filled with candies. 

Ron, Doty's loving husband who hosted this lovely evening, with their only child, daughter Fathan who lives in California, and who planned it all and prepared all the decorations, door prizes, etc.  I failed to get a picture of her.   In the background you can see Elvis & Marilyn Monroe. 

This is Doty's nephew, Austin Powers, and his two hippie children singing Karaoke and whom we, along with his lovely wife, dressed in a short white dress and white disco boots to her knees, shared our table with. 

There were many door prizes and Barbara won a lovely bottle of perfume.  It was a fun, exciting evening. 

'J" is for......................JESUS

Day #10 of ALPHABET in AUGUST participation at Chiot's Run.  Have you gone and check it out yet?

JESUS - If you truly follow my blog as a regular then you already knew this would be my top choice for "J".  Why?  Because JESUS it the rock of my life, my firm foundation, my Savior, my King and my soon coming LORD of LORDS and KING of KING.  Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that JESUS is indeed LORD of all. 

JOYCE - Of course I love this name because of the wonderful man  who gave me his name 52+ years ago, and my 4 wonderful children who also took his name.  Truly, I am so thankful that God saw fit to put Mickey & I together.

JOY - What a wonderful thing to be able to have in our hearts all the time, sometimes even in the midst of much sorrow and loss we can still have the JOY that only comes from our Savior.

JOB - I have been blessed to have many JOB's during my life.  First and foremost have been wife and mother.  But, also missed in and around those I have spent many, many years working as a Secretary/Bookkeeper - running my own Craft Store for a couple of years - Realtor for 2 years and then running our own Real Estate Company for 8 years - working for a couple of years for Walmart, first in the electronics department and then over Customer Service - and retired from an Accounting firm. 

JUDGE - I try very hard not to JUDGE people because I am very aware that we usually do not know the whole story and we certainly have not walked in their shoes.  I am thankful that I know and believe that there is one who will fairly JUDGE us all and I endeavor to live my life in such a way not to be ashamed when I stand before the JUDGEMENT seat of Christ. 

JOURNAL - I began  keeping a JOURNAL as a young girl and have maintained that practice throughout my life.  I think that is why blogging has been such a joy to me, it really is just a JOURNAL that I share with whom ever wishes to drop by and read.  Truthfully, this is a JOURNAL for my children and grandchildren.  

JOURNEY - I have been privileged to have JOURNEYED over every state in this great United States and all of the Canadian Providences, except Newfoundland & Northwest Territories.   I loved it and have so many precious memories of different sights we have seen and experiences we enjoyed.  I view life as a JOURNEY  and mine has been a very exciting one of which I am so grateful. 

SMALL TOWN THINGS

One of the reasons we bought our little home in the small town of Coweta in 1998, after Mickey retired in 1997 and we sold our large home in Tulsa, is that while traveling in our 5th wheel we had fallen in love with the many small towns we visited.

There is such a personal touch and a degree of caring in a small town that seems to get lost in the big metropolitan settings.

Just such a personal touch is this memorial in a small little area on the main downtown street of Coweta.  Which by the way is not named Main Street but Broadway!!

 Entrance to this small area

US Flag & MIA (Missing in Action) flag flying on the tall flagpole.

 The large permanent bolder that was placed here on June 14, 2011.



 You can see the 5 branches of Military honored on this boulder.

Another view looking in to the side of the oval arch entry.  Both sides have these wrought iron fencing and dedicated park benches.

The 3 pictures above honor 3 Coweta service men who gave their lives for our country in the recent war. 

This is hard to read but it shows this entire memorial display was provided, paid for & dedicated by Rolling Thunder (a local motorcycle club) on 14 June 2007.

Yes, we are proud of the little community of Coweta, OK where we are blessed to make our home. 

'I' is for...............INTEGRITY

Day 9 of participation in ALPHEBET in AUGUST over at Chiot's Run.

INTEGRITY - is very akin to honesty but INTEGRITY actually goes a step beyond because it is what you do, and how  you act, when no one is watching.  It goes to the very core of our being and who we truly are, not who people might think or perceive who we are.  INTEGRITY is what the Lord looks at because it is truly what proceeds from the heart and of course God always looks at the heart.

IVORY - this reminds me of the keys on my piano, which I played for so many years, owned for so many years and donated to our church auction last year when we were raising money to pay off the church debt.  You can read about it here.  I truly feel that my willingness to donate the piano, one of my physical treasure's was why the Lord enabled us to pay-off our home mortgage last November and our HHR auto debt last week.

INTUITION - I have always had a good INTUITION about people and things.  Of course, I also believe a lot of what we call INTUITION is the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  I am oh so grateful for this gifting.

INDEPENDENT - I have always been very INDEPENDENT, but even as I say this I realize how very dependent I am on my husband, and my youngest son.  They are both my rocks and I am so thankful God has blessed my life with them.

IDEA - I love to be around people who are IDEA people.  People who can think out of the box and are willing to share IDEA'S with me.  I think people like this are a real blessing and stretch me.  I like to be stretched in many ways.

IDEALISTIC - Sometimes I can be a little bit to IDEALISTIC and not as much as a realist as I need to be.  This is an area I have become very aware of and have been working on to improve. 

INITIAL - Of course this can mean either the INITIALS of our name or it can mean the start, or beginnings.  My INITIALS are sej.  When Mickey & I owned our Real Estate Brokerage, back in from 1976-1983, we called our company JJ Realty. 

Turn in tomorrow to meet "J".

CHARLES SPURGEON Writing

I love Charles Spurgeon and wanted to share this here on Spiritual Sunday with you today. 

"And the evening and the morning were the first day."
— Genesis 1:5

The evening was "darkness" and the morning was "light," and yet the two together are called by the name that is given to the light alone! This is somewhat remarkable, but it has an exact analogy in spiritual experience. In every believer there is darkness and light, and yet he is not to be named a sinner because there is sin in him, but he is to be named a saint because he possesses some degree of holiness. This will be a most comforting thought to those who are mourning their infirmities, and who ask, "Can I be a child of God while there is so much darkness in me?" Yes; for you, like the day, take not your name from the evening, but from the morning; and you are spoken of in the word of God as if you were even now perfectly holy as you will be soon. You are called the child of light, though there is darkness in you still. You are named after what is the predominating quality in the sight of God, which will one day be the only principle remaining. Observe that the evening comes first. Naturally we are darkness first in order of time, and the gloom is often first in our mournful apprehension, driving us to cry out in deep humiliation, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." The place of the morning is second, it dawns when grace overcomes nature. It is a blessed aphorism of John Bunyan, "That which is last, lasts for ever." That which is first, yields in due season to the last; but nothing comes after the last. So that though you are naturally darkness, when once you become light in the Lord, there is no evening to follow; "thy sun shall no more go down." The first day in this life is an evening and a morning; but the second day, when we shall be with God, for ever, shall be a day with no evening, but one, sacred, high, eternal noon.

Locate where you are currently at and keep pressing unto that mark of high calling until you come to the "last" which lasts forever and there is no evening!!  That is what I strive to do each and every day.

5th Wheel - GONE But best of all.....DEBT GONE

Saturday evening, July 30th, we posted our 30' Designer Jayco 5th Wheel for sale on craigs list for $8,900.  When we arrived home Sunday from church we had 3 inquiries.  We answered the 3 and one man from Pryor was going to come look at it Monday, the 1st, at 7 p.m.  The next day, Monday, the 1st, we received 4 more inquiries and at 5 p.m. a man and his wife from Haskell knocked on our door and wanted to see the unit.  Mickey & I were just getting  ready to head over to the church for some pre-prep cooking for our Tuesday King's Kitchen meal delivery.  I went on up to the church and Mickey stayed to show the unit.

He could tell the people were interested but they left with "we'll, we are just starting to look".  About 20 minutes later the man called and told Mickey they had been discussing the 5th wheel and they wanted to buy it.  He did not even dicker on the price and just said, "If you'll bring the license tag up to date we'll take it.  I'll go home and get my check book and we'll be right back."  We had not tagged the unit, since it had just been sitting in our back yard, and we knew we would have to bring  the tag up to date when it was sold.  Mickey called the gentleman who was coming at 7 and told him it had already been sold.  We didn't want him to make that trip for nothing.

I came in shortly after 6, after finishing up at the church and was greeted with, "I just sold the 5th wheel!"  WOW!!!  Thank you Jesus.  Shortly after this Don came over with the check. 

Don had to make an adjustment to the hitch on the 5th wheel to match the hitch in his pick-up and he came by on Wednesday and did that.

 Yesterday, at 9:25 a.m. Don (the new owner!) drove in with his green pick-up to pick up the unit.  As most of you know, it has been parked in our back yard since May 2004 when we returned from our last winter trip to Yuma, AZ and then all up the coast of CA to visit our son in San Francisco and then home for the last time. 

 Mickey & Don unhooking the electric line after getting it all hooked up and ready to go.

Don was a very skilled driver and did great getting it backed up out of the long drive-way and through the narrow gate.  Mickey was watching from the front and me from this view in the back.

 Onto the street and out of our yard for the last time!!!

At 9:36 a.m we said "Bye-Bye 5th wheel" as he drove away.  This Jayco gave us almost 13 years of wonderful memories and very good times. 

We had purchased this unit, trading in a smaller 25' used Layton 5th Wheel with no slide-outs that we had travel to Alaska and back on our first long 6 month journey, on October 31, 1998 - the very day the stock market dropped by 500 points!!!  We remember that well, because here we were going into debt on this beautiful brand new Jayco!!!

Not only did we travel all over these wonderful United States with this unit for many years but after we parked it in our back yard it has been lived in by 3 or our 4 children at times when it was needed.  Daughter Suzette & Dave lived in it for 3 months in the spring of 2005 while their new home was being built. Daughter Jacque lived in it for 18 months from September, 2005 until March of 2007 after loosing everything in Hurricane Katrina.  Oldest son David, lived in it for 9 months from September, 2007 until June, 2008 when he moved here for awhile.  The last joyous use was by our dear blog friends, Danny & Kathy and their 2 children, Bethany & Daniel just last month when they visited us for 3 nights & 4 days, July 2-5th.  

Our prayer and hope is that it brings this new couple the joy, fun & blessings to their lives that it has given us.

We had paid off this unit several years ago but the great news for us today, and one of the main reasons we decided to sell it, was that Wednesday we were able to go to our credit union and pay-off our HHR in full and for the first time in our 52 years, 9 months, and 2 days of marriage we are able to say:

WE OWE NO MAN ANYTHING, EXCEPT TO LOVE HIM!!!!!

It has been our goal to be COMPLETELY debt free since November, last year, when we were able to pay our home mortgage off in full.

I cannot tell you what a joy, relief and blessing it is to be

DEBT FREE.



'H' is for......................HOME

My 8th day in this fun, making me think about what is really important to me, exercise in participating in ALPHEBET in AUGUST over at Chiot's Run

HOME - Our HOME should be the safest place in the entire world for us.  I praise God mine always has been, starting with my childhood HOME, and then during the many years of sharing my HOME with Mickey.  HOME is so much more than the HOUSE we live in.  HOME is the comfort, security, sharing, love, all the joys, and sometimes even the sorrows, that we share together as family. HOME is anywhere we are together.  HOME for Mickey and I was living in our 5th wheel and traveling for many years.

HOUSE - Being raised by a father who was a Realtor, I learned at an early age the importance of owning your own HOUSE.  Fortunately, for the majority of our 52+ years together, we have always owned, or were purchasing, the HOUSE we resided in.  We have owned HOUSES in Albuquerque (3 of them), in Denver, in Tulsa (4 of them) and now in Coweta.  We were so happy last November when we finally owned our first HOUSE free and clear of any mortgage or debt.  It is such a wonderful feeling that come what may your HOUSE is truly yours and no one can take it from you.  

HONEST - To me HONESTY is the most important quality a person can have.  If we are not HONEST, first with ourselves and then with everyone we have anything to do with, then we are not dealing in truth or reality.  I have never understood why someone would lie, or pretend to be something they are not.

HUMOR - I love life and I love to laugh.  I find great HUMOR in the most common of things and just life in general.  Look at life through the eyes of HUMOR and you will be entertained to no end.

HEALTH - Mickey and I, and all of our children (until Suzette's cancer) have been blessed with good HEALTH.  If you have your HEALTH you have one of the greatest gifts in life you could have.
It is important for us to maintain and treasure our HEALTH.

HEAD - To me HEAD represents authority.  Christ is the HEAD of the Church.   The HUSBAND is HEAD of the family.  The father and mother are HEAD over the children while they are at HOME, etc.  I would highly recommend the book, "Spiritual Authority" by Watchman Nee on this subject. 

HUSBAND - I am blessed with the most wonderful HUSBAND.  I love and cherish him with my whole HEART.  Has he always been perfect, NO.  Is he now, ALMOST!!!!!  I am so thankful to have Mickey for my HUSBAND and we always say, "Our two halves make one terrific whole" and you put Christ in the middle of that and truly, "A 3-fold cord cannot be broken". 

See ya tomorrow with "i".

A SPECIAL GIFT

Last Saturday my husband came in with the mail and handed me a box.  I thought, "What in the world is this?"  Then I saw the return address and who it was from and was surprised and thought "How sweet of Leigh Ann".  Then I opened it and after taking it out of the box, carefully unwrapping the tissue paper wrapped around it and seeing what it was I burst into tears!!!

Only someone with the heart of Leigh Ann could have thought to send, not only me but 2 other of her blog friends, a handmade, precious pillows with our word for the year embroidered on it.

Therein, came the tears....for the past 3 years I've asked the Lord to give me a word on January 1st for that year. In 2009 the word was "unity".  Go here to read about it. Then in 2010 the word was "vulnerable".  8 months ago on 1-1-11 it was "persevere".

At the time I thought, "Oh, persevere - that means that we will persevere through Suzette's chemo treatments and she is going to be healed, cured and whole."  Little did I know that on May 19th we would be called on to "persevere" in a way that we had not, until the week before, even let enter into our minds or hearts. 

Yes, persevere we did, and persevere we are, and persevere we will because Jesus holds us in the palm of His hands and because God has plans and purposes for each and every one of us that we know not, nor can we question why because He is God and He is good and He is all sufficient.

So this precious treasure, from a most precious friend, sits here in my office by the computer where I spend so many hours blogging, in this basket that holds yarn left off from prayer shawls I have made. It reminds me daily that I not only HAVE but CAN and WILL persevere no matter what. 

Another reason this gift is so precious to me is because of Leigh Ann and who she is in my life and what she means to me.  When I began blogging on January 21, 2007 I wondered if anyone would ever read or comment on my little blog.  I had 1 comment on that post and 1 comment on 1/22 post and then on 1/27 I had 3 comments and one of them was from Leigh Ann, but she went under Momma and then LA and it was some time before she told me her full name :o)  

Whatever she went by, it was instant connection between the two of us.  Strange, because I had just turn 68 years old and she was in her early 30's.  Younger than all 4 of my children.  But there is no question that ours has been a God connection from the very beginning and one I treasure with all my heart and soul.  

So thank you Leigh Ann, you touched me at a level you will never truly understand until we finally get to meet some day in Heaven around HIS throne.  I love you and thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!  

'G' is for............GLASSES

Seventh day to participate in ALPHETBET in AUGUST over at Chiot's Run.   It's fun, give it  try or at least leave me your "G" words for today

GLASSES - I have worn GLASSES since I was in the 4th grade.  A very l-o-n-g  time.  I have never worn contact lens, just only GLASSES.  Over the course of these many years I have had GLASSES of many shapes and colors.  I have always had a very hard time selecting the frames and it takes me a long time while I try on pair after pair, finally narrow it down to 2 choices and still have to try them on and off/back and forth trying to decide which I really like and want.  

Not this time - I had my eye exam recently and walked in to select the frames ......... 

Saw this pair and said, "Oh, I like these."  Tried them on and said, "These are what I want!"  What a joy to know immediately.  The second bonus is that everyone who has seen me since has said, "Oh, you got new GLASSES.  I love those."  So I guess I made a GOOD choice

I also got new tinted sunglass lens.  I loved my sunglass frames, which were a tortoise shell frame and I couldn't find any frames I liked as well, in my price selection choice, so I opted to just have the new lens put in my old frames.  When I went to pick them up they had broken my frames so substituted these for me.  They are very close to what I had and new so I was pleased.

GOOFY - This is our wonderful neighbor, Wayne.  He came down the other day just to show us this GOOFY hat he'd gotten on his vacation. 

We love to be GOOFY and are glad that we have a lot of GOOFY friends!!

GOD/GODLY - No other name under heaven GREATER than our GOD.  His name is above all names.  His names encompasses so many other names and I love Him with all my heart and soul and all that is within me.  Because I love Him so, I endeavor to live a GODLY life and set a GODLY example.  I would never want to bring shame upon the name of my wonderful GOD.

GIFT - I love to GIVE GIFTS and I love to GET GIFTS, I think we all do.  I received a wonderful GIFT this past Saturday, and it is so wonderful and so special that I am going to do a separate post on it.  Hope you'll read about it also.  Of course the GREATEST GIFT ever GIVEN is Jesus and the GIFT of eternal life through Him.

GREED - The complete opposite of GIVE and one of the traits that hurts me to see in anyone because I know in the long run they are just causing pain to themselves.

GRIEF - We have, and will all, experience GRIEF.  This family has just gone through the worse time of GRIEF that we have ever experienced.  I am so thankful for our Lord & Savior who carries our GRIEF and our sorrows.  I am also so happy that we do not GRIEVE as those who have no hope for we know that Suzette is in Heaven with her heavenly Father and that we will soon be united again. 

GRACE/GRACEFUL/GRACIOUS - GRACE, GRACE GOD'S GRACE.  There are not words to describe the GRACIOUS Love that GOD bestows on us in GRACE.  I admired people who are very GRACEFUL and carry themselves with a certain GRACE.



"F" is for FATHER

Day six in Alphabet for August for me over at Chiot's Run.http://chiotsrun.blogspot.com/

FATHER/Earthly - Oh, this one just jumped into my head, and heart, the minute I began this.  I had the most wonderful FATHER any person could ever have.  He was 52 years old when I was born.  He taught me so much, and he was so loving, kind, honest, trustworthy, honorable, etc., etc. I literally could go on and on.  I posted about him soon after I began blogging and I invite you to go here to meet him, a picture, and get to really know him!!

FATHER/Heavenly - I have always said it has not been hard to wrap my arms and my heart around my Heavenly FATHER because of the example I had in my Earthly FATHER.  What a wonderful world this would be if every child knew the wonderful Earthly FATHER and Heavenly FATHER that I have, and do, know.  If you do not know our Heavenly FATHER please turn to Him.  He is waiting for you with arms wide open and He will never leave you or forsake you or let you down.

FATHER/Earthly - part II - Mickey the FATHER to my FOUR children.  He is a wonderful FATHER and all his kids adore him.  He exemplifies so many wonderful qualities of his Heavenly FATHER as he leads a godly example before them on a daily basis.  They know they can always count on him and they love him with all their hearts.

FAITH - Nothing in my life has been more important to me than my FAITH in my Triune God:  FATHER - Son - Holy Ghost or Spirit.  I do not know how anyone survives in this cruel, hard, wicked world without FAITH in God.  I am glad, and thankful, that I have lived 55 years of my 73+ with strong FAITH built upon, not a Church, but upon THE Word of God/ the Bible.  

FAITHFUL/FAITHFULNESS - I am determined to remain FAITHFUL to my God, my husband, my children, my grandchildren, my in-loves, and my church as long as I have breath in my lungs.  I count FAITHFULNESS as one of the highest of qualities that I desire and look for in any person or relationship.  Jesus says (in the red letters ! :o) "When I return, will I find FAITH upon the earth", I am determined He will find it in me.  How about you?

I don't know if many are reading these or not but I am truly enjoying doing Alphabet in August and it is certainly getting me back to blogging daily.

"E" is for..............ERRETT

Fifth day of my participation in Alphabet for August with the Letter "E"

ERRETT - I know this is a strange one to you, but this is my maiden name and I am very proud of it and actually use it as my middle name because when I was born I was not given a middle name.

ENERGETIC - I have a very high energy level and I require only 5 or 6 hours sleep.

EVASIVE - One thing I am not is evasive. I am very straight forward and honest.

EAGER - I am eager to see what God has in store for me each and every day.  I am eager to meet new people, try new things, and accomplish the tasks set before me.

EXCITEMENT - I have, and continue to live a very exciting life.  I cannot imagine living a life where I did not participate in and try new things.  That is why I was able to start blogging at age 68 and how much excitement that has added to my life.   It is also why we have owned 2 hot air balloons and spent 5 years traveling around the U.S. & Canada in our 5th wheel. 

EVENTUALLY - I will eventually spend eternity in Heaven and that has been, and is, the goal of my life.

END - It is time to end this post and go to bed!!!