Not Complaining--It's Taking Me Places

"As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision."   ... Helen Keller


*****
     So my main New Year's resolution was to stop complaining and wow-- I highly recommend that. You know, determining not to complain (on the outside or inside), but rather, beginning from a base of acceptance and then going from there.


It's like if I don't use-up my limited-because-I'm-54 energy by moaning aloud or inside my head, then I'm left with strength to fix things. There's lots of creative energy left which didn't get zapped by complaining energy.


Rather than groan and cry about Tom's being in South Africa for many weeks, I've been blessed with super contentment. The days don't drag, I find plenty to do or read or watch and it almost feels like a reward, even, for peacefully allowing (and accepting) that Tom must do what God created him to do.


This is huge for me.


And instead of complaining about my least favorite part of winter--battling dry air sinusitis--I just quietly do what must be done:


Sleep with my window cracked open (for moistened air).
Steam a pan of hot water on the stove in the mornings (stainless steel, not non-stick).
Use my facial steamer, if necessary.
Faithfully take Vitamin C, morning, noon and night (to ward off infection).
Go light on milk products, drink more water.
Get outside for a few minutes daily.


Oh, and take marvelous, sanity-saving Vitamin D3--not for sinusitis, exactly--but for keeping me cheerful these inside-the-house months.


Fixing broken things (discovering solutions by reading, searching, doing) far outweighs whining about them on Facebook or over the phone. Accepting what cannot be changed and being happy anyway because God is still incredible and with me is marvelous, also.


Creatively fixing what's wrong and also accepting what cannot be repaired--both walk me much farther down Great Peace Road than I once traveled ...


... and my eyes love drinking-in this greener, brighter territory. Even in the Dead of winter, I'm finding a surprising amount of Life.


****


"Instead of complaining about his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such a one is "content" with such as he has."
    Author: A.W. Pink


****




Have you ever watched Dual Survival? (It's on Netflix, Amazon and Discovery.) On my list of Favorite Survival Shows, this one nears the top, for Cody and Dave are both survival experts, but trained in different ways and with opposite personalities. How fun to watch their adventures in wild terrain as they learn arguing will only get them killed, but working together, using each others strengths, will return them safely to civilization.


This is another terrific show to watch during wintertime for it reminds you there's a whole wild world out there in case you've forgotten during all those hours at home on your couch. Watch it and you'll feel you actually went someplace. :)


******
Aw... my fellow old house romantics will enjoy this story:  Long Lost Letters Found In Attic.






*****


Thank-you for your kind comments about my sunny curtains! Those and my mustard ones add a warm glow to my windows even on dark days and they're another way of 'fixing' rather than complaining.


*****


I hope when I reach Heaven I won't think, "Oh, I could have accomplished much more if only I'd not complained my energy away."

What's New Around Here

"No good work is done anywhere without aid from the Father of Lights."

     ... C. S. Lewis

****

I know. You're sick of looking at my dining area (I would be, too). But just one more time, ok?

So when my new curtains first arrived I thought, "Oh my goodness. These puppies are in-your-face yellow!" They nearly hurt my eyes (well ...) and I wasn't sure if I'd made the right choice. But after I put up the new curtain rod, ironed the curtains, hung them then stepped back, well, I fell in love.

To me, they look just right. Cheerful, and I must smile whenever I look upon them. It can't be helped.

*****

Guess who actually got out of the house today? Quite nice, this getting out. :) I even visited Dollar Tree where I found another fun book:

Hey. Don't we need all the help we can get? :)

*****

And now it's time to venture outside again, (but in 20 warm, sunny degrees!) so to feed the poor sparrows who insist upon staring at me from the hedge. Which reminds me, Tom said he's not seen a single sparrow over in South Africa, and well, it's difficult to imagine a world without sparrows.

It's also time for more than just a mildly productive day around the house. What I've basically had is a three-week-long vacation and it's time to knock that off and return to aiming for excellence rather than Doing Just Enough. Vacations are pleasant, but were never meant as a way of Life (not according to those certain Bible verses about the benefits of work. Alas.).

But at least God-led work is a joy--or can be--when done His way, and with gratitude. We live in a world that won't always be as it is--someday it will worsen(!)-- but I'm determined to seek and find all the Good Things which God created for us while they're yet with us...

...and think and speak of them freely while I still can.

*********

"Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense."   ... Proverbs 12:11

******

Why do I love my dining area? Because there with the sun upon my face it almost--almost!--feels like a day at the beach.

No, really.

What's in Your Kitchen? What's In Your Head?

"Thou shalt not covet what thy neighbor or HGTV have."  :)

****

See our kitchen? The sunshine, alone, makes me smile as I look at it from The Red Couch.

Does our kitchen have an island?
A microwave?
Tons of counter space and storage?
Under-cabinet lighting?
Lots of gadgets?
Stainless steel appliances?
Lots of drawers?
A utility closet?
Pull-out shelving?
A pantry?

No. Nor does it have built-in Lazy Susans, special spice drawers, spiffy canned goods cupboards, porcelain counter tops or ceramic tile flooring.

Are Tom and I suffering because we don't have these things? Uh, no. Not even. Oh, pantry and utility closets might feel dreamy, but we're cooking, eating and cleaning just fine without them and we've created different forms of kitchen storage in other places.

Now, does the world tell us we should have all of those extra things?

Yes, it does. Everywhere on tv, online, home stores, newspapers, catalogs, billboards and well, as I said, everywhere. It finds us even when we don't go looking.

Could Tom and I currently afford to add some of these things to our kitchen?

Yes. We could. But as for us and our house, we will only install what feels necessary and what we believe God is nudging us to do. Not what the world tells us we must have if we're to fit in and be cool. Not what the world says is necessary to live comfortably today. And not because we gave-in to any pressure from anybody to, "Keep up or be left behind in Nobody Land."

Oh, how we all need to unplug from the world each day! To quietly separate the truth from all those thousands of subtle lies which brainwash us, making us think we're missing-out. Confusing us as to what matters and what does not. 

May we, daily, come away and remember what is real, Whose we are and how very rich we are in Him.


*******


"My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because they are easy; you don't make them because they are cheap; you don't make them because they're popular; you make them because they're right. "   ...Theodore Hesburgh 

****

I snapped this through our living room window yesterday. Thought the lighting and subject matter kinda cool.

****

May I count my blessings rather than always list what I do not own.
May I treasure the need, the privilege to be creative and never resent what happened on the unique journey to finding Myself With Him.

Long Winter Outside, Bahamas Inside

"Contentment makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor."   ... Benjamin Franklin

****

So I saw on Facebook that a friend of mine's daughter took her to the Bahamas and I thought, "Wow! Cool!" And I felt happy for them and the memories they now carry.

Then I asked myself, "Would you want Naomi to take you to the Bahamas?" And immediately I said, "Nope! I just want to stay home. I love staying home."

How freeing to not wish myself someplace else. (I've not always lived that way.) Longing to be where God didn't want me only made it impossible to love where I was.

Then I arose from the computer and saw this:

And smiled, remembering myriad times sunlight warmed my face there during reading or coupon or bill paying pauses. "There's my Bahamas," I told myself. "Right in my own dining room, available on any of our sunny Buffalo days."

There at that table I've got warmth and sparkle and books. And peace and utter calm and tranquility. And quiet ... blessed, healing silence.

And I'm thinking even in the Bahamas you might have to search a bit for quiet.

Of course, hey! Many people find healing in travel and that's wonderful. (Assume everybody feels like you do and that's when you turn into a Bossy Old Lady.) Search and see and touch and visit everywhere you can, while you can. Heal, rejoice, refresh. God implants all sorts of different desires which mix perfectly with our purpose and travel can be one of those God-given desires.

But today I'm simply thankful that I've got Dining Room Bahamas, no plane trip necessary (whew), especially after an interrupted night of wind where I, three times, pulled aside the curtain by my bed, barely seeing across the street because of the howling, swirling snow, ala The Long Winter.

But today we have bright sun! A reward, I think, for every blizzard we snow country folk survive. And there's Dining Room Bahamas for anyone who'll not darken their thoughts by complaining, but slow down and bask in the sunlight and gratitude there.

*****


There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.
    Author: D.L. Moody


****

Speaking of Naomi, today is her 34th birthday(!) (Can it really be?) What a joy to have such a sweet daughter and truly, I am blessed.


****

I finished watching all of Crossing Jordan and loved it, well, except for the season 5 and 6 episodes where the writers went ballistic and turned certain characters into bitter maniacs, killed-off various cast members and basically turned a more-on-the-light-side crime show into a wild-eyed, stressed-out, violent mess.

Er hem. Pretending to be something you're not is always a bad idea. (I fast-forwarded through those episodes.)

But the final half of season 6 episodes returned to their original, delightful selves and ended on a much better note. Really, I loved the whole medical examiner team and will miss them.

Preparing For The Unseen

Remember those math word problems we all hated in school and considered Useless For Real Life?

Shocker alert: I think I actually used one today. Weird, right?

It went like this:

If today is sunny, 6 degrees with gusts of minus 10 wind chill and tomorrow is supposed to be 25 degrees, but dark, with steady wind and snow, which day would be better to go grocery shopping?

The correct answer? Today. heh.

And as I gingerly stepped upon the ice in the parking lot while gripping my long black wool coat, I watched folks similarly dressed, pushing their carts to their cars, heads bent against the wind and thought, "How tough and rugged we all must be! Every winter we brave these ridiculous temperatures. We don't whine much about it, we just do what must be done, decade after decade."

And I smiled. It actually reminded me of this verse from Isaiah 41:

"Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties..."

The 'harden you thing' is like when you have a young plant that you leave out during sunny days, then carry inside protectively at night, until it can safely remain outside 24/7. God has prepared my 37-years-in-snow-country body a bit like that--slowly, over the years--and now 30 degrees feels nearly tropical. (Humor me.) I still feel the cold, yes, but oh! Not as brutally as, say, some Los Angeles native whose shivering body I'd have needed to carry inside the store this morning. :)

And you know? I think daily tests come along to help strengthen and harden us all off against Really Hard Times ahead in the road. God knows exactly what's beyond and He loves to strengthen us before-time, like, for when your husband spends the winter in hot South Africa, leaving you home in 6 degrees, alone but not alone.

God has ways to prepare us for anything ahead, including showing us where we need to come up higher. What matters is that we cooperate with Him so that we'll be ready, calmed. For all of it.


*****


“I will prepare and some day my chance will come.”
― Abraham Lincoln



"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
― Benjamin Franklin

Valentine's Day. It's Coming.

(From 2010, tho' some tweaking was involved.)




"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."   ... Philippians 2:4


****


Valentine's Day--it's coming!

Lots of (misguided) people believe they hate Valentine's Day, that it's just pushy, flagrant commercialism for the spineless gullible, meant to torture singles. But me? Always the quiet rebel, I love it. Next to my birthday, it may be my favorite time of the year.

Why? Because there's just something about sitting down and writing messages for friends on tiny Valentines (packs of blank message cards with cute pictures are fine, too), then slipping them into a mailbox. It's like being 8-years-old in a classroom all over again with glitter and red construction paper. And it's anticipating a friend's smile when she opens your Valentine miles and miles away, perhaps making her feel 8 again, as well. Doesn't that just make you shiver with delight?

Well, that's how I feel, anyway.

I hope you've bought your cute little cards and stickers or that your pens and glue sticks are all ready to create. Here's to hoping you will experience the childlike joy of making another heart glad on February 14th--or any day, of course! 'Anytime Valentine's' are always a joy to receive, too, and well, why not create your own holiday? Really, who says you can't?


(I'm certain when we reach Heaven we'll realize we could have been far and away more creative down here. Sad, but true.)

Love, appreciation and fun are always welcome gifts, you know, and February 14th! What a perfect day to celebrate friendship and love. And Life. And still having a creative child living inside you who treasures the friends God sent her.





*****



"The greatest of these is love..." from 1 Corinthians 13


(I'm thinking God just may rather like Valentine's Day. It's about His favorite subject, after all.)


*****


“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves



*****


Oh, and as I posted at Facebook this morning:

Oh joy. Postage stamps go up on Sunday to .49 cents(!) So I went over to the USPS website for more forever stamps and loved the two 'love stamp' choices--perfect for Valentine's Day! (My Valentine cards from amazon.com already arrived so I'm nearly set.) Anyone else thinking about Valentine's Day yet?


The seed packet stamps are awesome, also!


*****


My copy of We Keep a Light arrived yesterday. I thought it might be a fitting, timely book since it's about a family alone on an island with a lighthouse. You know, what with Tom being away and all. I'm enjoying the book as well as my own 'little island surrounded by snow'.  :)


*****

Flinging Calm Around

From 2005...

"You are the light of the world." ... Matthew 5:14

****

My grandparents were my reminders that real Christians exist in this world after all. I'd visit their simple house with their red-checked table oil cloth and worn chenille bedspreads, and those two people were always the same--peaceful. Calm. Perhaps that's partly why I love vintage stuff like jade-ite and flowered metal canisters now--those things remind me of the tranquility in my grandparents' home.

To mention the term 'stressed-out' and my grandparents in the same sentence is ludicrous. I don't recall them ever acting stressed-out about anything.

And the wonderful thing? They brought that peace, that Light, with them wherever they went. My siblings and I rode in the slippery backseat of their old white Ford and my grandparents would sit in the front seat quietly talking, no matter how many other drivers or pedestrians acted crazily around them. They never rushed us through the Five-And-Dime or K-Mart, no, we ambled through aisles, my grandfather exclaiming over the cleverness of people who'd thought-up  new inventions upon the shelves.

I loved walking around in my grandparents' world. What a serene, safe place.

The amazing thing, though, is that while my grandparents and I stepped calmly along it was 1968, one of the most dark and turbulent of America's years. It's as though we stood and moved inside a peaceful core, while around us spun a screaming, out-of-control outer edge. Two ways of living taking place at one time.

I preferred my grandparents' way of living. I still do.

To prove it, even though they're gone (yet always close by hearts), I still walk in that peaceful core. And I do a lot of watching of those people swirling all around me, the stressed-out ones, even Christians, who have no steady peace, little calm and only wispy, come-and-go joy.

What I love, though, is to reach out and--snatch!-- a person from that chaotic, swirling stream and bring them into this calm center.

With a smile.
A warm "Hello."
A real "How are you?"
A "Here, let me help you with that."
An "Oh, you can go ahead of me."

... or even with these blog posts. 

Now, as a grown-up, myself, I bring some extra Peace, Light and Calm with me to share whenever I drive around or shop or visit. They were real to my grandparents, they're real to me and I so want them to become real to others.





***

First keep the peace within yourself,
then you can also bring peace to others... Thomas A. Kempis


Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." ... Isaiah 30:21


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To read more about my grandparents, click here.

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12 Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening.

Catching-Up With My Exciting Life :)

"Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance."   ... Psalm 16:5,6


***
So yesterday while Skyping with Tom, he began talking about his next trip to South Africa.


He's not even home from the first one yet.


But his company's already giving approximate dates of his African return trip and I told him, "Hey. Let's just see how this one goes, ok?" But then I said at least if he goes again, it'll be springtime and I can venture outside and play in the yard. Warm weather will change everything.


Yet on the other hand? Even during this current (second) arctic freeze, I'm having a lovely time with God, Grace and the cats and all of you(!) Really, the contentment feels palpable and I told Tom that yes, I miss him, but in a peaceful way.


He said he misses me in a peaceful way, too.


Honestly, he's having too good of a time, if you ask me.




****


I can't believe God's timing. I mean, He spent months preparing my head and heart for these weeks alone and He even kept me from watching Crossing Jordan on Netflix until a couple days before Tom's departure. Oh wow. Crossing Jordan is the absolute perfect tv series to watch at this time. Honest. I love the characters, the stories and well, all of it, and I'm grateful that I missed this show when it ran a decade ago.


But oh, I love Chuck more and on Sunday I cried through the final two episodes both because of content and because I didn't want it to EVER end. This was another show I missed the first time around.


So there's a lesson: just because we miss out on something, that doesn't mean we lost out. Perhaps we're meant to receive it at a more perfect time--later--when it would be treasured more.


And really? Don't even try to understand my love for Chuck. I only know that it delighted me and warmed my very heart more than any other show that I can recall in this Millennium. Can I explain why? Not really. It just felt as though the stories (the writer in me loves stories...deal with it) were written by kindred spirits with my same sense of humor and penchant toward sappy sentiment and the characters (who actually grew as people over the years) were perfectly cast.


And don't laugh, but on Monday, I began watching Chuck all over again. I'm not yet ready to let go.


****


Then yesterday I used most of my Christmas gift card to order dining room curtains, plain yellow ones since I've got a lot going on there and more paisley ones would distract me to nervous shakiness. I'm thinking I'll expand the (also ordered) copper rod way beyond the window frame so not to block one ray of sunshine while the curtains are opened. Every sunny day I sit at the table with my head back, face tilted upward absorbing pure, warm winter sunlight.


***


Naomi arrived home safely from her cruise!  A grateful thanks goes to those of you who prayed for her. She sent me a quick email last night and said she'd call after she got caught up on sleep. :)


Oh, and if you heard anything about the Trace Adkins episode, yes, Naomi was on that cruise. Tom and I are currently praying for Trace.


Anyway, I took a birthday box for Naomi down to the post office this morning (it's sunny today, but just 5 degrees...) and felt blessed to see little grandmas sending boxes to--I like to assume--their children and/or grandchildren. (Or wait! Maybe they are Wild Ebay Grannies. Hmm. Could be.) I held the door open for one of them and smiled.


Life in Buffalo is oh so good, especially with an oh so good God.


***
"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."   ... Isaiah 40:31






***

A Saturday Tale

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God."   ... Exodus 20:8

***
Way back in Olden Times when Debra was 17, she decided she kinda hated Saturdays.

Strange, right? Shouldn't all kids love their day off from school?

Well, this teen dreaded Saturday afternoons, especially, because I'd spend the morning pursuing whatever I wished, but by 1:00, I ran of things to do. Hours until dinner loomed like a boring grey eternity, filled with struggle to keep my mind occupied and happy.

Actually, I missed the structure of the other six days (some personality types need that.) On my own 'ship', it felt like the sail dropped into the sea, leaving me to drift on boring waters.

Or something.

Even weirder? I can still struggle with Saturdays in my 50's. When I don't treat Saturdays as my personal day of rest, it's as though my mind and body whine,"Stop feeling guilty!  Just take the day off. Play or read or watch tv, but don't treat this day like all the rest." (Many choose Sundays, but Saturdays have always felt like my body's perfect rest-day fit.)

Of course, this would be easier if I wasn't a rather organized homemaker who loves what she does and takes many hours 'off' each day already and who totally believes Hebrews 4 in an hourly kind of way:

"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;  for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.  Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest..."

 Those facts weave hugely into my weekend angst.

Now, when Tom's here, Saturdays aren't a problem. He's a pro at turning all Zombie-like on Saturdays and pulling me along with him. And because I usually do double the housework on Fridays, I can become a do-nothing slouch without guilt more easily.

But Tom wasn't here yesterday. So I had to silence the, "Get back to work!" voices and then lecture myself a bit. "Hey! It's Saturday, my day of rest. Cool it. Respect your body's request to take one full day off, guilt-free ...

... and respect God's request that you take a day off, too." (Remember those verses?)

Oh yeah. It's weird how I can forget He asks us to relax our bodies at least one day. Dream. Meditate. Count blessings. Do what calms and renews us.

So that's what I did. Gave myself permission to be a Saturday Slouch. Took a few pictures from around the house (which you're seeing here), fed the birds out in the snow, played around on the Internet and pretty much just did whatever.

And called that Saturday, Good. Rejuvenating. Refreshing. 

Because it was.


******


Hooray! Tom and I signed-up with Skype so now we're able to see each other when we chat each day. Love that.


*****

Oh! I discovered that I'm able to view all my Kindle Cloud Reader ebooks here on Tom's computer, as well as mine. Did something change? Seems months ago I tried, but it didn't work, so I assumed that whatever computer you downloaded your Kindle Cloud, that was the only one you could read from.

Either my much repeated phrase, "Never assume anything," applies here or else amazon.com changed things. But whatever, I'm thrilled since I spend most of my time downstairs (where Tom's computer is) because of the glorious natural light. I'm thinking a couple skylights are in order for Debra's World upstairs, well, someday hopefully.

****

It's True. You're Not Enough.

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
― John Piper




****


As I do occasionally, yesterday I went on A Great Search For Amazing Blogs. In my hunt, I discovered a (Christian) blogger who wrote about often feeling she and her blog are not enough for her readers.


She received many comments from sad, like-minded women who usually feel defeated about not being enough for others.


Did I set them all straight? Nah, I waited to give my 2 cents to you here:


No blogger was ever meant to be enough for all the people. Why? God won't let us. He won't allow any of us--non-bloggers and otherwise--to be everything to everyone. He won't even allow us to be everything to our own spouse.


What?!!


Because only God, Himself, will ever be enough for any of us. Only He can meet every deepest need and if we, ourselves, attempt to be that to anyone, we are trying the impossible, wasting our time and are, frankly, in error.


Call me crazy, but it's a welcome relief for me to realize that I and this blog will never be enough.  How calming to know God doesn't expect me to have ready answers for all people all of the time! 


No, He just asks that I listen to Him, share with you what I heard, then point you toward where He is standing. You know, so you can run to Him, spend quality time with Him, fall in love with Him. And then have your deepest needs met, causing you to overflow and dance ... then go about sharing with others what you experienced.


Simple. No personal flogging, doubting and trying-till-I-die involved. No forcing, dreading or head-hanging in shame about not being enough. Uh, no. I'll never be enough ... but I know the One who always will be.


Just loving God, obeying Him, then pointing others to Him in God-designed, unique ways.


Loving, obeying, pointing.


Those will always be enough.











“When we are passionately in love with our Prince, we put Him above all else--not just in theory, but also practically, in every moment of our day-to-day lives. We do not live for the applause of heaven. Our longings are not for people's approval but only for more and more of Him. We are marked by an effortless, unshakable strength that is found in the presence of our perfect Lover.”  


― Leslie Ludy, Authentic Beauty: The Shaping of a Set-Apart Young Woman


******


"You Shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself."


*****


Today I am rewatching my America's Heart and Soul dvd, another perfect it's-winter-but-I-can-still-travel-this-way thing. Always inspiring! If you love gorgeous autumnal photography, farms, the countryside, travel, mountains, music and watching people live with passion no matter what the Country is doing, well, you'll love this. It can be found at Netflix by way of discs through the mail or through amazon.com.






****


Hooray! If you've ever wanted to read/own David Grayson's books, now's your chance. Amazon.com has five of his books free (as of today) for your kindle. Go here to find some of the most helpful-for-your-blood-pressure books anywhere!


(Thanks again, Judy!)


***


"And God is able to give you more than you need, so that you will always have all you need for yourselves and more than enough for every good cause."   ... 2 Corinthians 9:8

Some Free Things. For You.

Sometimes we have not because we didn't seek or even ask. Sometimes we traveled, searching, but not nearly far enough.


*****

I've traveled around Blogland today and thought I'd share some treasures with you.


I added these free (as of today) ebooks to my (free, but of course!) Kindle Cloud Reader from amazon.com. Please remember I've not read them yet, so if they turn out to be disasters, uh, I meant well.




Declutter Your Life: Quick and Easy Tips For Busy People


Home Staging On The Cheap


You Are Creative, Start Here


The Clean Home Boxset


How To Save Big Money on Groceries


How To Clean Your Home Naturally


How To Develop An Organized Mindset





Each day I get an email from DailyFreeBooks.com with long lists of free ebooks. They're the reason I have literally hundreds of free books in my (did I mention free?) Kindle Cloud Reader. Click on your favorite category on the left to more quickly find books of interest.




From a different source, I found the latest Sun Maid Cookbook. I always send for the paper version by mail, but this is available to download, also:




The latest free Sun Maid Cookbook here.


Oh, and daily I get an email from FreeSamples.org with a list of free items to send for. Over the years I've received tons of free coffee, cologne, calendars, hot chocolate mix, shampoo, hand wipes, cookbooks, coupons, etc. No credit card is ever required for these.


Shop4Freebies.com is another good place.




Now, through Netflix last night I watched the most gorgeous thing, especially lovely since I'm in snow country and not exactly hiking any mountains right now. It's called Moving Art: Forests. Such gorgeous photography and music--you'll gasp and the cool thing? You may feel like you actually left your house and went someplace. Gotta love that. 


Also part of that series are Moving Art: Flowers, Moving Art: Oceans, Moving Art: Deserts. I'll be checking those out soon.


This all should keep you busy for awhile, right?  :)


There are tons of free, beautiful things still out there ... May you never tire of the search for them.




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If you read my previous post early yesterday, you may have missed this:


Oh! Just now found something for those of you who love reading about off-the-grid farming. Go here.  I  enjoyed this article and all the photos--such views from the windows!

If God Says We Can, Then We Can

"(He) equips the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ..."   ... Ephesians 4:12









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God reminded me this morning that whatever He asks me to do, I can do it, so any excuses I offer are invalid. Made-up. Whining.


Like now, with the way I'm home alone while Tom and Naomi are spread out across the planet. "You can do this," God tells me. "And you can do it with joy."


Uh-oh. There's the challenge--with joy. Any Average Jane could muddle through this, be all UP one hour, DOWN the next, but with joy! Joy is strength and it shines steadily and never resembles muddling or just surviving.


And you know? Whatever God's asking you to do, you can do it, also, for He never lies (but our excuses, do). He never disappears right after He nudges us out upon a scary high wire, either. Instead, He holds our hand and equips us with the specific items needed to complete our daily missions.


But it must be Him. His ideas, His plan, His specific ways, not ours.


And always, He includes Time, so there can be no declaring, "But I'm too busy for that!" Instead, there should be a clearing of our schedules, a wise flinging away of the unnecessary. A making room for our obedience which precedes our wide-eyed recognition that yes! I've found Life as He meant me to live it. Finally.


And afterward comes the daily minor miracles on this side of Heaven, even, all because we believed Him when He said we could.





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"... for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."   ... Philippians 2:13





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Put simply?


If God asks you to write, then there's time and courage and talent for that. You can.


Same goes for baking for your neighbors
or pursuing photography,
decorating
or nursing.
Or couponing,
becoming an artist,
or teaching,
counseling
or adopting.
Or building,
designing clothes or bridges
or studying,
crocheting,
or preaching.
Or singing,
giving,
jogging,
buying groceries for others
or going to school,
babysitting,
walking dogs.


Whatever God has called you to do, there's a way to do it...


... even if it's to forgive, to be bold or patient or to move on.


 He promises His help with it all.




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Rest in this - it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call or whatever you want to call it. It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you.
    Author: Jim Elliot


Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self.
    Author: C.S. Lewis
    Source: Mere Christianity




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Oh! Just now found something for those of you who love reading about off-the-grid farming. Go here.  I  enjoyed this article and all the photos--such views from the windows!