A Peek Into My Life This Past Week

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There are some days when things seem overwhelming minutes after waking up.  The demands seem great, the energy minimal.  Too many obligations for the hours that lie ahead.  That’s how Saturday morning was.  Ahead of me I needed/wanted to accomplish –

He will direct your paths.  Yes.  What a comfort.  What a relief.  Then I prayed out loud…

“Lord, You know what I need to get done today.  I know I can trust You.  I want to be a blessing to others and to my husband, and if that will happen through meeting our friends for lunch, then I trust You.  Help me to accomplish what is important today and let go of the rest.”

I went home with peace in my heart and the overwhelming feeling gone.  I had a spring in my step – even after a little more than a two mile walk in the country!

While I was getting cleaned up and dressed for the day, my husband sent me a text (he was still out running) –  Our friends got a late start and can’t meet for lunch after all.  While I knew our time with our friends would’ve been sweet, this was the Lord’s hand, and I knew it.  He had directed their steps, and mine, too.

All day I kept asking myself what the next right step was, and I kept my hand to the plow.  You know what?  At the end of the day, I had accomplished everything on my list, plus we had even taken off for a couple hours in the early evening to go out for supper and a drive through the country – something we hadn’t even planned to do!  Isn’t God good?

Starting my day with the Lord in His Word and prayer was, I know, the best thing I could’ve done – especially on a busy day. It’s easy to think I need to move on to my list when I’m overwhelmed in the morning, but how wonderful to see the Lord direct me and enable me to accomplish exactly what He had designed for my day.

On your overwhelming days, stop and ask the Lord to help you take the next right step.  The first thing will always be to seek Him.  He will direct you and that will make for a profitable day!

Lovingly,

If you were my neighbor, you would know by watching us that we LOVE being outside!  We have spent as much time as possible on our front and back porches this spring and summer, and have loved every minute of it!  We haven’t eaten supper in the house in a very long time.  If it’s hot, we turn the porch ceiling fan on.  If it’s raining, the covered back porch keeps us dry.  If it’s too sunny, we lower the shade.  We swing, we rock, we play in the yard, we take naps on the swing that lays back, we play games on the patio table, and we eat our meals out there.

Because we enjoy our yard so much, I’ve tried to make it inviting.  But then, maybe we enjoy it because it is inviting.  In April, Southern Living Magazine had pictures of a backyard that caught my attention.  Because our yard is so deep, I wanted to break it up somehow.  The picture in the magazine got me inspired enough to come up with a plan.  I’m dividing the yard into thirds.  The first third, closest to the back porch will be a manicured yard with grass, benches, bird bath, and a path leading to the backyard.  But I needed a focal point.

Enter…Alli’s wedding pergola that was sitting in its deconstructed state with no home! A talented man in our church (who would never be caught dead or alive reading this blog b/c it’s for women) made this pergola per Alli’s request.  (Tell him we love it, Angie!)  Alli and her husband live in an apartment with no yard, so, I’m “taking care of it” for them.  I know, isn’t that nice of me? =)

This week on one of my husband’s “days to rest” (ha), he got out there and put it together!

What a husband!

It was no easy task to do this alone, or with the help of a 4’9″ wife, but he did it!

So now this is the focal point for the yard!  Behind it will be the rest of the 2/3 of the yard for volleyball, croquet and maybe a few raised beds for herbs.  This will be  a work in progress for the next several years, but I love that we have gotten things rolling!

I bought 2 climbing rose bushes to ascend up the sides of the arbor.  Even though the bushes are small right now, I can already envision it covered with blooms up to the top!

My encouragement to you to freshen up your Friday is to look at your yard – small or big, and think of something you could add to make it more inviting.  Even if you just have a small deck or patio off your apartment – what could you do to make it a liveable space?  Consider:

Stay refreshed,

Perhaps it is a normal part of life that as we age, we think more about death. I have thought a great deal about it recently.  A book I’m reading has death as the central theme.  Death has touched several families I know in recent days.  Then of course, there’s the tragedy going on in Iraq and the suicide this week of an actor.

I realized yesterday that after all this thinking about death, I was feeling kind of depressed!  Then, as many other times, I took my burden to the Lord in the morning while having my quiet time.  As I read my daily Bible reading in Proverbs 13, I read about the wisdom and blessing of the righteous man.  I read,

A Peek Into My Life this Week

I’m always interested in conferences/workshops that are going to motivate me to do something better, better myself, and my life in general.  Last year Whitney and I learned about the Becoming Conference.  It’s not a “Christian” conference, but one for women to inspire you to become more creative, purposeful and frugal.  I love all three of those ideas, so, what’s not to love about a weekend spent learning and sharpening your skills in those areas?

Last weekend was the fourth (or fifth) year for this conference.  If nothing else was accomplished, we had a fun Mother/Daughter get-away that included a night away, chocolate, and catching up on one another’s lives.  That made it worth it right there!

This conference is put on by bloggers who have a passion for DIY projects, couponing and home.  We attended workshops that included some fun ideas.