My birthday weekend was absolutely great!
Daughter Hannah got home in time for supper and we grilled out hotdogs and hamburgers DESPITE the fact that it was COLD and wintery (even though it's spring)!
Then we watched a movie, "Mad Money". How funny!
Saturday we got up and the girls dressed us to match - pink and black. We went shopping and out to lunch at Red Lobster. Rebecca and Hannah and I had so much fun.
When we finally got home we were tired and still too full for supper.
We did prepare dinner for Sunday (Hannah made her recipe of ham balls), as well as my icecream birthday cake.
Then watched another movie, "The Visitor". Very interesting.
After church on Sunday middle son Pete and family joined us for lunch, and oldest son Tim and family called from Arizona.
It was just one of the best weekends ever.
(And you're only as old as you want to be!)
Our Family
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Almost Friday!
Well, it's ALMOST Friday (Thursday night, 9:30 p.m.), and my daughter Hannah is coming home tomorrow (Friday) afternoon to celebrate my birthday with me, which is on Sunday this year, but we always try to make it stretch over the whole weekend. I'm so excited! I'm so glad to have a daughter-friend! We always have such a good time together, whether it's doing something or just being together.
And this year we have Rebecca, my Taiwanese exchange student daughter, to share it with us too. The three of us always have fun together too.
(Interestingly! Rebecca's mom, Teresa, and I share a birthday - same year and everything! How cool is that?! Rebecca always says we are EXACTLY the same - two totally different countries and cultures and yet we always tell her the SAME THING! Poor girl!)
In May, for Mother's Day, the past 2 or 3 years Hannah and I and my two daughter-in-laws, Renee and April, have planned a McCloud girls weekend where we try to go spend the night in a hotel and go out to eat and go shopping somewhere. That has been alot of fun too.
I just enjoy my girls!
Including my (one out of six grandchildren) granddaughter, Abby!
And this year we have Rebecca, my Taiwanese exchange student daughter, to share it with us too. The three of us always have fun together too.
(Interestingly! Rebecca's mom, Teresa, and I share a birthday - same year and everything! How cool is that?! Rebecca always says we are EXACTLY the same - two totally different countries and cultures and yet we always tell her the SAME THING! Poor girl!)
In May, for Mother's Day, the past 2 or 3 years Hannah and I and my two daughter-in-laws, Renee and April, have planned a McCloud girls weekend where we try to go spend the night in a hotel and go out to eat and go shopping somewhere. That has been alot of fun too.
I just enjoy my girls!
Including my (one out of six grandchildren) granddaughter, Abby!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Always Learning
Ok, so we're down to L O N G S U F F E R I N G -- i.e. PATIENCE.
I have been amazed how much I have learned about love, joy and peace, things I thought I knew about. And now patience (which I obviously need to keep learning about, as anyone who knows me can tell! :) is opening up things I never thought about before.
Wow, imagine, refusing to allow circumstances or the behavior of others spoil my day.
The Greek word "hupomone" means patience, "to persevere, remain under...bearing up under...refers to the quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succub under trial." It is "endurance-patience" in relation to things or circumstances.
It is associated with hope, "the desire of some good with expectation of obtaining it", or biblically, "a positive outlook toward an expected end." Hope inspires this kind of patiene.
Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
FURTHERMORE! Romans 8:29, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn of many brethren."
Hope in our lives that God is at work and is transforming us to be conformed to the image of Christ!
Then there's the Greek word "makrothumia", also patience, "to be long-suffering", "forebearance...self-restraint before proceeding to action", "the quality of a person who is able to avenge himself yet refrains from doing so." This is patience in respect to people rather than circumstances.
Hmmm...This "patience" is the fruit of the Spirit inspired by mercy. God's mercy! "Mercy-patience!"
We need "hupomone" in responding to circumstances, and "makrothumia" in responding to people!
We can pray for "endurance-patience" in circumstances, but we need "mercy-patience" for people, and that can only come from being filled with the Holy Spirit! Allowing the Holy Spirit to express His patience through us!
God's Word is so amazing! One can be a Christian for (35) years and still be learning! It just never gets old!
I have been amazed how much I have learned about love, joy and peace, things I thought I knew about. And now patience (which I obviously need to keep learning about, as anyone who knows me can tell! :) is opening up things I never thought about before.
Wow, imagine, refusing to allow circumstances or the behavior of others spoil my day.
The Greek word "hupomone" means patience, "to persevere, remain under...bearing up under...refers to the quality of character which does not allow one to surrender to circumstances or succub under trial." It is "endurance-patience" in relation to things or circumstances.
It is associated with hope, "the desire of some good with expectation of obtaining it", or biblically, "a positive outlook toward an expected end." Hope inspires this kind of patiene.
Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
FURTHERMORE! Romans 8:29, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn of many brethren."
Hope in our lives that God is at work and is transforming us to be conformed to the image of Christ!
Then there's the Greek word "makrothumia", also patience, "to be long-suffering", "forebearance...self-restraint before proceeding to action", "the quality of a person who is able to avenge himself yet refrains from doing so." This is patience in respect to people rather than circumstances.
Hmmm...This "patience" is the fruit of the Spirit inspired by mercy. God's mercy! "Mercy-patience!"
We need "hupomone" in responding to circumstances, and "makrothumia" in responding to people!
We can pray for "endurance-patience" in circumstances, but we need "mercy-patience" for people, and that can only come from being filled with the Holy Spirit! Allowing the Holy Spirit to express His patience through us!
God's Word is so amazing! One can be a Christian for (35) years and still be learning! It just never gets old!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Time
My goodness time flies. There's so many things to do in a day or a week.
I have a wonderfully full life filled with God, family, friends, a job I really like, and things I like to do. Finding time for everything isn't always easy. Prioritizing is sometimes really hard for me.
But I know God definitely has to come first, and when He does everything else runs so much smoother!
So, what's on my mind? We're having a really good study on the fruit of the Spirit in Bible study. We're on Peace right now. Have to have peace with God (through salvation) to have the peace of God (in the midst of the many faces of life). So glad I have peace with God, and thanful for the peace of God. Don't know how I'd face life without it or Him.
Last time was joy. Being able to have joy in any situation because of a personal relationship with God.
And that joy goes right along with peace. A great combination.
And all that because of love, the love of God that makes it all possible!
I love the body of Christ. I love sharing the Word, sharing needs, and sharing laughter, and even tears.
I have a wonderfully full life filled with God, family, friends, a job I really like, and things I like to do. Finding time for everything isn't always easy. Prioritizing is sometimes really hard for me.
But I know God definitely has to come first, and when He does everything else runs so much smoother!
So, what's on my mind? We're having a really good study on the fruit of the Spirit in Bible study. We're on Peace right now. Have to have peace with God (through salvation) to have the peace of God (in the midst of the many faces of life). So glad I have peace with God, and thanful for the peace of God. Don't know how I'd face life without it or Him.
Last time was joy. Being able to have joy in any situation because of a personal relationship with God.
And that joy goes right along with peace. A great combination.
And all that because of love, the love of God that makes it all possible!
I love the body of Christ. I love sharing the Word, sharing needs, and sharing laughter, and even tears.
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