Life in His Hand

Things are changing fast. God dropped another job into my lap--which I really love. My daughter goes with me and I get to spend every day with her. Kids grow up so fast! She'll be a teenager soon and you know what that means. My daughter, Savannah, is in a boarding academy about 3 1/2 hours from where I live. Our church is gung ho on having the kids in Christian Schools and have made it possible for kids whose families can't afford it, through various ways, to be able to go. My local church family have also committed themselves to helping Savannah. I pay what I can, which isn't a lot and I am so thankful for all the help. So there are only 3 of us home now...the incredibly shrinking household!! Hard to believe now there were seven of us! My girl will be here for visits and the summer. And of course I'd like to add one more member..instead of always decreasing ;) But he's nowhere to be found..YET! I do have my eye on someone...but it's just a thought. A sneakin...

Happy New Year! I am wondering what you'd like to accomplish this year. I know one of the major things I want to do is really declutter my house and get more organized. I want a house I can keep clean easily which means everything needs a home. Well, in a small house with too much stuff, that means...something's gotta go! I actually started the process last week. I rearranged my tiny living room, which I didn't think was possible, and found that the new arrangement "forced" me to get rid of a bookshelf and table and the room looks a lot neater. I just need to work on the "entryway"--if you can call it that :) It's just a space behind the front door. The horrible problem I am having is my bedroom! Things are a mess and this is where the cutting will really need to happen as well as the need for creativity. All of my things (even Christmas stuff) are basically stored in my small room, so this will be a challenge for me, but worth doing because whe...

For those of you that don't know, this year has been a doozy for me. I went through a divorce and all the transitions and changes have been very difficult. I am really learning to trust God. EVERYTHING is different. There is not one aspect of my life that hasn't changed or hasn't been affected in some way, even things that are foundational to me, like church, haven't been left untouched by this. But there has been a lot of growth on my part. This has been good for me, although it didn't/doesn't always feel so wonderful. Divorce is hard. I knew I needed out of the marriage. The emotional trauma that this divorce caused was just tremendous.  And so the pain and all the emotional stuff I went through, actually surprised me a little. I didn't think it would be so bad. Slowly, things have gotten better. I am learning to stand on my own two feet-still feeling a bit wobbly. On the flip-side, the benefits of this life-changing event are wonderful. I am no lo...

I have a simple, little house, but it contains everything and everyone I love the most. I walk in the door and see pictures hanging on the wall that speak to me. I feel the warmth and smell apple cinnamon candles, see my books at home on their shelves and I am wrapped in colors that I love. I see my kids' clutter strewn all over the floor...backpacks, shoes, you name it and it isn't long before I'm handing out the chores. Home sweet home. I can especially appreciate it now. I know how fleeting it is. One day these guys, too, will grow up and leave me like my older two did. And boy it sure didn't take too long for that to happen. So I need to cherish every day, every moment we have together. I am thankful to have the kids brighten my daily life. What a privilege. Some places remind me of just how fortunate I really am. People who are elderly, alone, they're homes aren't kept up the way they used to be. Their kids and families are gone and one by one they...

I have been getting ready for Thanksgiving this week. Okay, so the idea of decorating for Christmas, early, kinda fell by the wayside. Suddenly, I got really excited about Thanksgiving! I'm not having a huge crowd, just about eight of us. I decided that since it was a smallish group, I would set the table. So I started pulling out table cloths and napkins and candle holders. Then I realized I have NO pretty glasses! So I set out to find some at a second-hand store (which I did!). I watched a cool video about decorating your table with things you already have around your house. Was inspired. Here it is... As I waited around for my daughter to get out of school today, I checked out a second-hand store that was nearby and found eight really nice plates that were like new. I could have used what I already had, but these were really cheap and pretty. For a centerpiece, I am using pretty red Asian Pears and leaves. Tomorrow, I will hunt for branches with beautiful red and gold...

Lately I've been feeling a little scattered--like the leaves of fall. So many thoughts fluttering in all different directions. Wondering where I belong. Wondering what I should be doing. Wondering , wondering, wondering. It is said that someone cannot do too many things at once and do them all well--I have been wondering where to trim, and how to whittle my activities down to make sure my highest priorities get top attention. So for me, this requires lots of prayer--asking for wisdom and God's plan for my life. It's so easy to get side-tracked. Over this past week, I've been feeling a little burned-out. I think it's partially because of all the emotional stress I've been under. Also, I tend to let the amount of kids I teach or who comes to our Saturday night youth program, get to me--lately our group has really shrunk. So I was sort of losing my spark. Today, with a very small group in class, I was blessed to have two wonderful helpers who stepped in and parti...

Adjusting to my new life has been interesting. Things are definitely different. The atmosphere changed dramatically around here. I still feel a lot of stress and am having to try HARD to trust in God, but I know that I am doing this according to His will and plan for my life. He has been with me this far. I know I can count on Him to continue being with me. There are some things I am putting off doing that I know I need to do. I feel better about them now that I read an article which gives you permission to do just that. Deal with things when you're ready. So I will. I've surprised myself that I haven't let the lawn die and that I didn't, when I was mowing the back "field" this morning. Somehow the garbage can actually makes it out to the road before garbage day, too, which sort of amazes me. I've been working on organizing things around the house and it seems easier to keep clean. It feels more like "home" now. My kids have been spe...

I just feel like writing and this isn't good. I've already posted something today and I'm pretty sure I have nothing to say, so whatever comes out will most likely be just a bunch of rambling. Oh well. My sister is getting ready to move away in the near future all the way to Florida! It will be strange with them missing. We have pretty much raised our kids together. I'm sure I will regret all those years of taking them for granted. I'm sure I will regret that we didn't spend more time together. I'm sure I will miss them more than I even know. Seems life is always about saying good-bye. Lately I've felt a little bit lost in my life. Almost like I'm just being carried along. Maybe not feeling really secure. I know why. It's because I am being asked to do things that I am not comfortable with. And I'm stressed . Then I try to forget it all, but the time comes...time never stops when you are dreading something!! Time becomes your worst enemy ...

A few nights ago, I watched "Coal Miner's Daughter"- the Loretta Lynn story - with my family. I grew up watching that movie and listening to her music. So for me, it was a real treat to share it with my daughters. To see their reaction to her getting married at 13, to see her life unfold with her making her dream of becoming a country singer, come true, though that same dream, later would take it's toll on her. One thing I appreciated about the story, this time, was the fact that though there were many problems in Loretta's marriage, the love came through and triumphed. When Loretta collapsed onstage and Doo carried her off - you knew theirs was a love that was deep, comfortable, real and lasting. It had survived many tests and still made it.  Loretta Lynn's childhood spoke to me of the simple things in life. A hardworking and loving father providing for his family and keeping food on the table. A mother tending to her children, showing her love by being th...

                                   I collect old kitchen utensils and spice cans and I finally have decided that they've sat in the trunk too long. I pulled them out and put them on a shelf. My aunt came by and said, "You want to have your grandmother's kitchen." And I said,"Yes!" And started thinking...  About my grandmas and how I don't remember what they had in their kitchens so much, but I have a few very cherished memories of them that have been packed away far too long. So I thought I'd bring them out and share them with you.                                            We'll start with Clara, my great-grandmother. She lived in a tiny, little house with my great-grandfather in an alley called Willow Way. They had a white-picket fence and the yard was full of cactuses. Their c...

Yes, it has been awhile since I've felt inspired (motivated) to begin again in the room. Thankfully all that I did before hasn't been undone. My closet is still neat and organized. I was able to gather a lot of stuff to donate to a second-hand store, which I still need to drop off. So today, my goal is to sort through several boxes of junk. And find a place for the stuff or toss it. Basically decluttering. I printed some cool labels, maybe I'll have a chance to use those. I will be back to update this blog and let you know how it went... Until we meet again :) * Good news! Made some progress! And I am actually almost done. Some of these boxes have been toted around, unsorted and undealt with for YEARS. So I am pretty happy to have finally done it. Still have things to do...find prettier storage containers, like baskets and sort through my books. Did I forget to mention my room doubles as a library? I have two tall shelves, overflowing. I'll be back :) ** YAY!! ...

It's one day after Christmas and I am feeling so motivated to work on my bedroom. We live in a really small house. We moved here about 6 months ago from a house twice it's size, almost (and I thought that house was too small). But God had a plan for us to live in this even smaller house. When we moved we got rid of a ton of stuff. But unfortunately we ran out of time and so the boxes of mostly papers that I didn't have time to sort all came here, plus the things I couldn't decide on. So that leaves me where I am today. I have a very small bedroom that doubles as a storage. My closet is tiny and I have storage boxes stacked up in there, too. Barely any room to hang our clothes, so there's a good excuse why I also have clothes piled up here and there. What I'd like to do is buy some type of wardrobe/closet thing and just use the tiny closet for storage. Today I am going to get started on sorting. I should add pictures so you can more fully sympathize, but wow! t...

                                              Hmm... an average day. But it's the only one I have. It's Monday so that means the house is messier than usual because I don't believe in cleaning much on the weekend- haha. So what I should do is clean of course. I need to do laundry and I would like to work on figuring out just how to organize my tiny bedroom with it's micro closet. I believe it can be done but... where to start? Well the right question would be- what to toss? I have an armoire which is full and three tall bookshelves taking up one wall because my living room is too small to house them and I love my books! I wish it were easier to simplify. I wish I knew how to need less. I have a few storage boxes full of papers- I hate sorting. So those always get put off until never. When we were planning on moving to this tiny house, I pretty much became addicted to wat...