God's Art

I am always amazed that some of the most splendid sunrises happen on the dreariest days! This is my view from my kitchen counter in my new home this morning. Our old home was blocked in by our outbuildings and I had to venture outdoors to catch one of God's morning art shows like this. Now there is nothing in the way of the lovely view. Within a half hour of when this was taken, the day became grey and dreary.

This shot was taken with my new toy; a Sony Cybershot (DSC-S60). I had mentioned that on the day of our house demolition, my camera quit. I went nearly 2 days without any camera and was in some serious withdrawal! I picked up this cute little camera clearanced at Wal-Mart. I chose this one because is has manual settings so that even though it is not our dream camera, I can begin to educate my girls a bit more about photography than I could with a straight point-and-shoot one.

For some reason everything electronic around me is acting kooky lately and I was unable to open PhotoShop this morning to tweak this image so this is straight out of the camera. This is definitely better than what my old camera could do. Of course my old camera was a mere 1.3 megapixel point-and-shoot. It did do a really good job for what it was, but I realized how extremely out of date it was when I could buy a 2.1 megapixel camera off the shelf at wal-mart for $39.95!

Anyway, I leave you with this thought: Even on the dreariest of days, we can remember that the sun is still up there, it is just obscured by the clouds. God is kind of like that, too. Even when things look bad, the SON is still present. That is when we need to rely on faith. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the certainty of things unseen." (Hebrews 11:1) We know that He is still there with us, even through the storms of life!

Changes

Well, a lot has happened in the past few weeks! We got possession of our new home, moved in, closed on it and tore down the old. I type that all in one easy sentence, but the reality has been exhausting both physically and mentally. We are thrilled with our new home! The space is WONDERFUL! The kids are adjusting well and it has immediately felt like home for me. Perhaps the fact that we designed and thought about every square inch of this place, as well as being through it many times a day helped with that fact.

Today being Thanksgiving and thinking about what I am thankful for, I can't help but be grateful to God for the gift of this place. I am also so thankful for all of my dear family and friends that have been SO helpful.

I leave you with this great photo taken by my dad. Unfortunately, our last limping camera died on the day of the demolition :( so I have no photos of my own (but I do have video). It is of our old house literally biting the dust in the shadow of our new home.

May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.~~ Maryanne Radmacher-Hershey

Obsession

I've not had a whole lot of time for blogging or scrapping are anything recreational lately. I have been focused on our new home pictured here. It is oh so close to completion and we have been busy making sure all the last minute items are done as well as packing to move into it. My current home is packed to the gills and I have been hard at work de-junking. I don't want to move junk into this beautiful new home! We may actually get occupancy by this weekend.

This lovely photo was taken by my hubby from the roof of our current home. He was up there to remove an antique weather vane that we want to save an took the camera up with him.

"I think too many times, we, as the church, stop well short of reflecting the greatness of the God we serve. Anytime we share the Great Story in the midst of mediocrity we tarnish the gospel. We need to be creative creators - reflecting the image of our God."
- Chris Ediger
a visual planet artist

Children are a Blessing

I just keep telling myself this! Children are a blessing....children are a blessing...over and over...say it with me....children are a blessing.....

In my heart I believe this, but a part of me is just not convinced today. I am just having a day that although I love my children, I am not liking them a whole lot today. Why is it that when things are stressful and there is a whole bunch to do, something happens to children. Normal routines that should work like clockwork disappear and they look at you and say, "Was I supposed to brush my teeth today? Oh, I shouldn't stay in my pjs?" Like this is some new chore you have just made up today. So frustrating that I have micro-manage my children as my friend calls it. "Now, put on your shirt, now button the first button, now button the next button......now get out the toothbrush, now put just a little bit of toothpaste on it." No, this is not my 22 month old I am talking to, or even my 4 year old, this is the type of things I have to say to my eight year old. On a day when I have a gazillion things on my brain and a billion things to do, my children all revert back to being helpless infants it seems. Even my normally really responsible 11 year old is slyly trying to skip chores today.

I guess the most frustrating part of their lack of discipline is that fact that I really have no one to blame but myself. It my job to train them and today proves that I haven't done my job very well at all. I pray that God gives me wisdom and strength. Wisdom to know how to discipline and guide them correctly and strength not to strangle one of them (just kidding - I really just need the strength to control the volume of my voice and not lose it and start yelling which has really been a temptation today.)