As this weekend approaches, please take some time to remember that it's more than a three day weekend.


"Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. "


Take some time to quietly reflect on what so many have sacrificed for your freedoms. Thank those you know who have served our country. Do something special for service members. Hug the next service member you see and thank them. Be sure to take some time to share with your kids what the day means and encourage them to do something.

Need a place to start? Here are some helpful links:

Operation Shoebox
USO
A Million Thanks
Action Tips
Letters To Soldiers
Operation Gratitude
DOD Community Relations
Memorial Day History


This shouldn't be the only time we do these things, but it serves as a powerful reminder. Be the hands and feet of Jesus to our service members and their families.

It's only May, but I want to encourage you to begin doing research for your November vote. I will not tell you how to vote, but please take some time and vote in your elections!

Here are some practical steps to get you going:

• Decide what issues are most important to you. Make a list and put them in order from most important to 'it would be nice, but it's not a huge deal'.
• Research candidate on your own and see which one best shares your views. Look at voting records (they will say anything, but when it comes to votes, where do they stand? You can check out more here and see how your representative has voted in the past). Research news stories and adds on your own. Don't just take someone else's spin on it.
• If you haven't already done it, register to vote in your state. Be sure to do this well before the elections (most states require that you register x number of weeks before elections). You can usually do this at your local DMV, you can go here to find out more
• Vote. Don't vote for someone because they are the popular candidate or a smooth talker. Look at their record. Actions speak much loader than words.
• Don't just wait for presidential elections...if the polls are open, you should vote. Research what's on the ballot. See where you stand.

Sometimes it does just come down to the lesser of two evils

Pray for your leaders. You may not have voted for them, but God has allowed them to be in that position for a reason.

Working in the garden today has again brought to mind some spiritual truths :) This morning I discovered some yucky little worms on some of my leafy plants. I had to do some research on how to handle them, because that was something my granddaddy did for me in the garden. Once I discovered how to rid my plants of them, I had to do it...turning over each leaf, examining and reexamining the plants to be sure I got them all. They blend in quite well, and if you don't look closely you can very easily miss some...they grow up and lay more eggs and you're back in the same boat once again.

The first truth I was reminded of was how as we grow, we don't rely on our parents and grandparents to tell us right from wrong as much...you can't always rely on them (they will not always be there), you need to search out the truth of what Christians are called to for yourself. Driving into the Word to search out how we are to act, deal with things and treat others. We must teach our children how to study the Word on their own so they will be equipped for the battle that is waged around us.

The second, you have to look very closely and thoroughly to be sure you remove even the smallest pest (sin)...even the smallest worm out there would grow and eat the plant until it laid more eggs. It would have been easy to grab the water hose and blast the little guys off the plants. This would have just been a band-aid for the situation. They would have been back. You have to take them out completely. We have to get rid of sins in our live as soon as we discover them, and really examine our live and ask God to reveal the sin in our lives and remove them at once. Completely. It's not always easy. It may cost something. It can be unpleasant. But it is well worth it.

Sometimes those worms look very much like the plant. Again, this is were *knowing* the Word comes in. Satan used scripture (twisted to mean what he wanted), he knows it as well, and can use it to lead us astray. We must study so that when he tries to use pervert scripture in our live we see it for what it is.

The cause of all this ugliness is something quite lovely...the little white butterfly looking things I've admired dancing about my plants in the past weeks. Sometimes something can look beautiful, but lead to destruction.  Satan will not usually lead us astray with something that is unattractive.

Another interesting little bit: The solution to the problem was salt :) I sprayed the plants with salt and picked the worms off and put them in a cup with very salty water and scraped off the eggs (yes, it was gross, but again, if they hatched it would start all over-even the littlest sin, left to grow can cause much trouble in our lives and cause us to fall away from God) and put them in the salt water as well. Now, I will need to rinse the plants of the salt in a bit, and prolly give them a bit of Epsom salts, but I thought it was interesting :)

Working in my garden has taught me many truths about growth in our Christian lives. There's no real order to these right now, but here are a few of the lessons I've learned. A garden takes work, just as a relationship does. You can't throw out some seeds and expect a perfectly manicured garden to appear. You have to prepare the soil, removing weeds and rocks. (More on this later) We have to maintain it, being vigilant to take care of any weeds that pop up or any diseases

that plague our plants as soon as can be. Like the garden, we must draw near to God and work on that relationship. We must spend time with Him. Ask him to reveal the weeds of sin in our lives and the diseases to be dealt with.


Weeding is something that must been done to keep a garden growing. Weeds will quickly choke our the plants your are trying to grow. When you weed, you must not only get the leaves, or sprout, but the root as well. If you don't take the root of the weeds, they will grown right back. We must ask God to reveal the roots of sin in our lives. Does a tv show cause you to sin? Stop watching it. Friends influence you to sin? Stop hanging with them (surround yourself with godly friends who will encourage you to pursue God and hold your accountable.



When watering your garden, you must water the roots deeply. If you only water the very top of the soil, the roots will stay there, not growing deep into the ground to help keep the plant stable. A plant with a shallow root system will be easily knocked over. We must drink deeply of the living water and ask God to continually fill us. Again, it's a part of spending time with God, seeking His face. How many times are we okay with a little devotion, maybe a little verse of Scripture, from a book instead of drinking in God's Word? We must root ourselves in the Word of God. Then we will know the Truth for ourselves and not be easily swayed or blown over.


There sometimes comes a time for pruning. It can be a dead branch/vine, a burnt out part of our ministry that we must seek if it's God's will for us to continue in this ministry, and if not, it's time to prune it. Sometimes, to make other fruits better, to let more of the plant's nutrience go to other fruits, you prune blossoms off. Sometimes we take on so many ministries, that they aren't being given what they need. That is when we must seek God's will for the ministries we are a part of, if we are able to give it our best, and reevaluate which ones God is calling us to.

Just a few of the many lessons I've thought about while gardening.






















Gardening such a relaxing hobby. Practical as well.Even more than that, it is full of metaphors for our lives.

Sunday I realized I haven't posted since August!

Loads of changes....
I'll probably post retro actively, but for now here's a quick recap of the big stuff:

We bought a house in August. Moved in the weekend we closed.

Spent Christmas at my mom's.

Had a lovely second honeymoon.

Work is going well, things are picking up a bit.

Today I hung a temporary clothes line between the sides of our fence. Did laundry and hung it out.

Baked banana bread.

Made chicken taco/burrito things for dinner.


I've been getting things ready for my garden. Yesterday I got some broccoli and leeks and brussel sprouts at the store, already started. I've been trying to time planting my seeds so that they won't bear fruit until we get back this spring. Need to find  someone to take care of them while we're gone (two week vacation coming up..)...

I love gardening.Can' wait to get started!

We need to return to citizen statesmanship and limit terms in office. Our country's political offices where never meant to be held indefinitely.  Things were set up for doctors, lawyers, farmers, etc to represent the people, then return to their lives when their elected term was over.


There are many things I would change, but this one would filter down through the rest.


The checks and balances also need to be restored.


People should also vote according to their beliefs, and do research on who they are voting for. Look at their voting records and old interviews etc.  Not voting for them because they are the cool candidate or have a silver tongue. Words are cheap and if they don't have the actions to back it up or keep going back and forth on issues, how do you know where they stand? 


:steps off soap box:


And now for the rest of the story....


I started an oil painting today, then I realized I left my paint thinner at mom's. :rolls eyes: so I ran down to AC Moore. I've really missed working on my art. 


I've been doing a bit of catching up on Warehouse 13 today while working on the painting. 


So, now I'm off to put away laundry and maybe get crafty again......

Anthony left a bit earlier for work today to ehlp make up for taking yesterday morning off. Since I have Beach Blast at church tonight I think he's working later too.


Work for me was pretty short today. Ran by the library. The apartment office. Fun errands :)


Finishing up laundry and then I'm starting on mom's birthday present.


I got a wonderful package in the mail from one of my lovely penpals :)  That's always nice. I'm going to read the letters in a bit.  Also got this week's sales papers and coupons in (mail got delivered twice today oddly enough).  


That's about it for now ....I have laundry that isn't going to fold itself!

  Ooops...forgot about posting yesterday!
 

Life is crazy but good. I think we finally found a house. We saw it online Friday night, went there (and a bunch of other places) Saturday, put in a contract Saturday night. Sunday it was accepted (after a bit of negotiation). Today we had the home inspection. That went well, so if everything keeps going smoothly like this we'll be ready to close around the end of the month :)  


After that I had a bunch of errands to run (including spending an hour and forty five minutes at the DMV). Got to cross many things off my list. Got back around 4 and started laundry (currently one load in the washer, one in the dryer and three waiting their turns) and took a meal out of the freezer for dinner.


Yesterday we redid one of my stores at work. So now it's all nice and neat.


Grandma went back to the hospital yesterday. They did a heart cath today and found some blockages in a stent. So they fixed that.  Granddaddy finally got his heart monitor (while he was at the hospital with Grandma yesterday). 


I really want to get all crafty, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet....

Where exactly has this year gone?

Lats Thursday Anthony and I celebrated 6 months of marriage (!). Monday was our 9 month as a couple anniversary. God is so good!


Still no word on the house yet.....We looked at some more last Friday, but nothing piqued our interest. Hopefully we'll hear something soon.


This past weekend was quite busy.

We went house hunting after Anthony got home from work, then we headed down for the HUT in NC. After the HUT we went and stayed the night at Mom's. Saturday we hung out with my family. We were going to go to the beach, but it was pretty cloudy and Cas called and said it was raining there, so we just stayed home. Mom and I went into town for a bit and Anthony got in the pool with the kids. I got in for a bit when i got back. We watched some movies...had a pretty good time. Sunday we hung out, I baked cupcakes for Cassi's birthday and made pizza dough and pizzas. By the time I had all that going I didn't have a chance to get in the pool :( We made the best pizzas ever. Juju loved the crust. Anthony and I left around 3:45/4 to go to Ainsley's to play a while. I played with Ainsley (I miss my girlie!) and Anthony hung out with Wayne and Amy and Landen (Anthony ended up getting a lesson in farming from Landen :)  ). It was such a nice time! By the time we got back we were about ready to crash.

Monday brought a shorter day at work. 

Tuesday I caught up around the apartment (washer in our building still isn't fixed so I used the one across the court yard-and met a lovely lady who lives in that building). I also got crafty for a bit. I made a sign for my Beach blast (kids summer program at church) room. I started spray painting a vase...got it all white coated first. 


Today I had work for a bit, started spraying the vase with a metalic blue color...well, I didn't notice that it says 'metalic on chrome'...so it's just a pretty blue really. I think it needs a couple more coats. I ran across an awesome DIY site....so many things I'd love to do! I can't wait to get a house so I can decorate and get crafty! While I was surfing this site I watched the new episode of Warehouse 13 online....it's gonna be a great season :) Mika's back :D


Well, I need to go get something to eat before I leave for the beach...blast.