Vegetable Soup

My kids got lots of Nerds for Easter this year.

Grady loves opening the little boxes & then shaking the candy all over the floor.

(Anyone notice a pattern here? First the fish food; now the Nerds. Someone has got to get this boy some maracas!)

He just finished emptying two boxes & I was vacuuming up the mess.

All of a sudden, I looked down, & sure enough, there was Garrett, on all fours, trying to eat the candy before I vacuumed it up!

I don’t think I’ve seen him move that fast in a long time.

You just gotta love him!

My family came here to celebrate Easter with us.

We had a wonderful time together.

As they were getting ready to leave, my Grandma Rita called.

Grandpa Jack just passed away & is now sitting before our God.

We knew that he had taken a turn for the worse, so I guess we were prepared.

It still doesn’t make it any easier.

If he could pick a day, he would definitely have chosen today to go Home.

I loved my grandpa dearly & I will miss him very much.

Please keep Grandma Rita & my family in your prayers.

I posted the words to this message a while back.

Here’s the video that goes along with it.

Remember, you always have a choice.

I pray this Easter you choose Jesus as your forgiver & leader.

I love you all.

“God, grow me.”

These words are the hardest for me to pray because I know God will.

Wait a minute, what??”

Oh, you know what I’m talking about. Have you ever prayed one of those life lesson prayers & then questioned why you did in the first place?

For example…

One of my recent prayers was to be more patient. As the mother of three young children, I was seeing that my patience was, well let’s just say, wearing a little thin.

I was in the store recently, and was in a rush. I only had to buy two things, so I hit the express line. The person in front of me though, kept having issue after issue with her groceries. She would have everything rung up & then would be like, “Oops, I had a coupon for that.” So, the cashier would have to return the item (couldn’t they just scan the coupon?), ring it again & then scan the coupon.

Well, we went through this little dance about 3 times.

The person behind me started making comments & doing the heavy sigh. The cashier would give him the “what can I do?” look, but it was becoming uncomfortable.

So, I told him it was my fault that he had to wait this long.

He looked at me oddly.

“Yep,” I told him, “I asked God to help me be more patient & He’s answering my prayer.”

He did give a little chuckle & thank goodness, the coupon woman finally left with her groceries.

“God, grow me.”

I have to gear up for this prayer. In my experience, whenever I ask God to grow me, usually the rug gets pulled out from underneath me.

There was something that Dennis said on Sunday, that I am still reflecting on:

“We grow through the test of trials and hard times.”

Here’s the thing I’m learning – growth can’t occur on my own terms. I can’t ask God to do His will & at the same time, hand Him my list of conditions. It doesn’t work that way.

When I ask God to grow me, I never say “oh, and please do it in a comfortable, safe way.” I can’t. As much as I don’t enjoy going through trials & tests, I know that these circumstances are opportunities where God can refine my character.

Ultimately, our goal is to be more like Jesus. When I grow, He is shaping me more into the person He desires me to be.

“God, grow me.”

I’m Irish, so this is fun for me…

I just love going green!

I don’t know, I think this puts a little twist on the color “kelly green,” huh?

Enjoy your day!!

Silly me…

How could I forget to post the picture???

Be sure to pay extra attention to the centerpiece – isn’t it lovely?

I have always wanted a large centerpiece for my dining room table.

I’ve been looking for five years.

A month ago, I walked into Hobby Lobby & there is was…

It was like the heavens opened & the “Hallelujah Chorus” sounded in the room.

And to make it even sweeter – it was on sale!

I bought it, brought it into the house, placed it on the dining room table and…

watched at it completely tangled itself in the chandelier.

Now, an ordinary person would probably have returned the centerpiece, but there was NO WAY I was doing that.

So I did what any wife would do – I told my husband to take the light down.

For the record, I love that Adam chooses what battles to “fight.” He wisely knew he didn’t stand a chance in “The Battle of the Centerpiece” – even if it meant having to buy a new light – good man!

So, for the past month, we have been lightless in the dining room.

I bought one light, but, as Adam put it, it came with crappy hardware.

Not to be deterred, we went to Menards the other night & picked out a second light.

He put it up today…

and it looks great!

Thanks honey – I love you!!