Trying again....much later!

6 years, I think, since I last posted here. Seems I didn't do too well with my blogging. I was super busy at the time I started all of this. I still had my daycare in my home at that time. I have since retired from that. My husband had retired the last time I posted. We still take care of  3 of our grandchildren after school every day and in the summer months. Life has slowed down a bit, too.

My mom passed away a little more than a year ago and I really miss her, but she had Alzheimer's disease and it truly was a blessing to see her out of that misery. It is such a terrible disease. I know she is at home with God now so I am thankful for that.

I have been trying to settle into this latest phase of my life. A slower pace, but still busy, as I said, being a helpmate to my husband and taking care of the grands. But with them being in school there is more time for us to do some of the things we enjoy and some things we just need to do! And hey! I finally lost that weight! Yea me!! :)

So...we'll see where this leads. Hopefully I'll have a little more time to devote to this now. And maybe, just maybe, I can learn a little more of the ins and outs of blogging! :)
Until next time....God bless!

Laughing at my last post

Just read my last post from July 2011....LOL   Said maybe I' be back before 2013....well it's almost that, and I'm back - who knows for how long!  I would love to become a successful blogger, if only to keep track of my life's goings on for myself. I'm almost certain no one else reads them.
Well, it's late and I am just fiddling around. Need to get to bed. Hoping I can use this blog for something good.
Good night moon! Ha!

Feeling better!

Praise the Lord! I have felt so bad for so long...good to have a day when I feel half way human! So many have been so kind to pray for me. I hope and pray I am on the right track with the vitamins now.

New baby coming to my daycare tomorrow, so I really should get to bed. I have so many things I want and need to accomplish here in my home. Hoping that I will continue to feel better each day so that I can soon concentrate on the things I need to do here. And so hoping I'll be feeling well enough by September that Henry & I can take a little mini vaction and go somewhere to get away for a few days!!

Thank You Lord for Your blessings on me and mine!

Wow! Long time!

Almost 2 years since I last posted! I'm not very good at blogging! As anyone can tell! ;-)



Soooooooooo...lots has happened in my life since my last post....won't even try to catch up. But I thank the Lord for all the valleys and mountain tops I've crossed since then! He grows us through all these things and so I wouldn't be the person I am today without them! Praise His Name!



I've been having health problems the past 3 or 4 months and don't have a clue what is going on and neither does my dr. it seems. Why is it that when they can't figure out what's going on they want to try to blame it on stress? Yes, my life is stressful at times, but no more so than many other people's lives. Ugh! I've been through this so many times and no one can seem to find an answer...except they think I'm stressed and that's my problem! Ugh! (again!)



Just a few short weeks until I'll be taking a week off from my daycare....can hardly wait! I am praying I'll feel up to Henry & I taking a short trip somewhere, just to get away from everything!



Well, that's about all I'm up to for now. Hopefully I'll be back before 2013! LOL!

I must have drifted off to sleep or something!

HaHa! It has been about 5 months since I posted something here! Good grief! Can we say busy?!

Oh well. Life gets in the way of many things, I guess! New grandson, husband retired, summer veggie garden, just daily ups and downs! What can I say?

Anyway....life is good, too, and God has richly blessed us everyday!

Nothing too exciting to report. Pretty much same old same old. Oh! Wait! Remember back in January I said I would lose 52 pounds this year? Well, I think I later reported I had gained instead of losing? Well, I am back on track ( hopefully!) and have lost 20 pounds since around the first of July. Slow, I know! But better than gaining, for sure. Anyway....that just leaves me 3 months to do the other 32 pounds! Hmmmmmm...not sure I'll get the whole thing by the end of the year, but I'm trudging along with it anyway! Praying it will come to pass.

Well, this is short and sweet. Just wanted to stick my nose in and let you know I'm still alive!

God bless you richly is my prayer!

Good news!...and...( ahem) not so good~sigh~

We have that new grandson I talked about back in December! He was born on April 17, and he is a dandy! Mason Carter Jenkins weighed in at 7 lbs. 6 oz and was 19 inches long! Head full of dark hair , but I still can't tell what color his eyes are gonna be. He's almost 5 weeks old now and getting just a little spoiled, I think, but that's ok! Well, that's the good news!
Now for the bad! I said back in January I was going to do my best to lose at least 1 pound a week this year. Would you believe that instead I have gained about 7 pounds! Argh! Well, I'm not giving up! I'm still going to keep trying to get back on track! I need to get started going back to the walking track...we've had so much rain that there's been little chance, and we've had so much going on around here there's been little time to go! I know...excuses, excuses! Some one hold me accountable, please!

It's brand new year!

I don't do resolutions anymore...try to set some goals, but never make promises to anyone or myself. Seems everytime I try to begin a new project or plan anything too far in advance someone in my family gets sick or something happens to delay or change plans made. Sooooo....I've decided to follow the scripture Matt. 6:34 " Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. "
Oh, I know we have to plan for things to a certain extent, but worrying about it changes nothing! Some things we have a little control over , but truthfully, none of us knows what the next hour, not even the next moment, holds. So, I'll plan on planning things according to His will and not my own....
Christmas was good. Everyone was well, and we were able to get together, enjoy one another's company and eat! What we all love to do best. Now it's time for me to really start pushing back from the table. I have a goal...ahem...hopefully, of losing 52 pounds this *year* ....this year!...ha! I decided surely...surely, I can lose 1 pound a week! Surely that can't be too hard!
What do you think? One lousy pound a week? I'm gonna give it a try, at least!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, they say! *sigh*

It's a boy!!

I thought it was so sweet of our son and daughter-in-love to invite her mother and me to go along with them today when they went for the sonagram to find out if they're having a little girl or boy....and yes! It's a boy! I think if either of them had smiled any bigger their faces would have split! I'm so happy for them....and for us, too! Now it's just a matter of waiting until April for the little guy to arrive!

It amazes me that there are people who actually believe these little ones are not real human beings until the day they are born! My word! Maybe they've never seen a sonogram up close and personal and seen these little guys and girls moving about in their mommies tummies, or seen and heard their little hearts beat!

" Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah 1:5. This tells me that God knows us before we are even concieved and has a plan for our lives! I'm so thankful I serve a God who loves me and knew me from the beginning of time!

I long for the day when we'll see Him face to face.

And can't wait to see our new grandson face to face as well!!

Last day

of November! Hmmmm, tomorrow, being the first day of December, officially opens the door to Christmas season, I suppose. I have bought about half the gifts I need to buy. Will try to finish that up next Saturday!

I wonder how many are thinking about our Savior as they get into the season!? It's so easy to get caught up in all the excitement of getting and giving gifts and forget about " The Gift" of the very first Christmas and every Christmas since! I always loved getting up on Christmas morning and seeing what 'Santa' had brought. I was probably 10 or 11 before I really understood about what Christmas is about. Mainly because I don't remember being taught that it was about the birth of my Savior. If that was ever mentioned, I don't remember it. You see, my dad was not a Christian until I was 13 years old. My mom said she was saved at a young age, and they were both good moral people. Worked hard, loved my brother and me, and tried to give us as much of the good things of life as they could afford. But it wasn't until I was 10 and my parents moved us ' back home' to Mississippi from Wisconsin that I remember hearing for the first time about Jesus. We moved next door to this wonderful Christian family who had a daughter just 6 months older than me and 2 sons, one of which was about my brother's age. They invited us to attend the Baptist church they attended and would take my brother and me with them when my parents didn't go. And my parents didn't go much until after my dad became a Christian some 3 years later.

I can remember always feeling there was something more....Someone more. I had a sense that just going from day to day in much the same way wasn't all there was to life. And I'll be forever grateful for that "family next door" who loved the Lord enough to lead me to Him.

So....as we celebrate this season....maybe you can look back a bit and think about your first knowledge of Him...or someone special who might have introduced you to Him!

Let's be sure to remember 'the reason for the season'!

Hmmmm, 10 months since I posted anything here! Been here a few times with good intentions, but left without saying a word. I do hope things slow down a bit for me in the new year so that I might get back here more often.

Alot has gone on in those 10 months. Things at church...family things. Alot of time spent taking care of my mom. She's better, thank You, Lord! Hopefully 2009 will be a better year for her....and me.

I'm way behind on plans and preparations for the holidays...Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Story of my life, though! I'm always behind!


Sigh...


Well, tomorrow is a new day......

This breaks my heart....

This article http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/religion/chi-religion-survey-26feb26,1,2242370.story from the Chicago Tribune appeared in our local newspaper yesterday. (I live in Mississippi, by the way)....anyway...I encourage you to go and read this! You may not be as disturbed over it as I am, but this is three times in recent days that I have read things concerning people, religion and the lack thereof. Just a couple of weeks ago when we recieved our literature concerning our Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions supported by Southern Baptist Churches it states that there are 251 million unbelievers in the United States, Canada and their territories. 251 MILLION! Can you believe that? In this country, where there are churches on almost every corner...and religious broadcasts on television and radio every hour of the day!




Then when we got our spring Sunday School literature this past Sunday there was an article in the adult SS teacher's book again stating that 3 out of 4 people in North America are without Christ! A quote from this article " Jaelin, who just finished second grade, started participating in a summer ministry led by North American missionary Debbie Wohler in Lake Tahoe, California. One of the summer missionaries working with Debbie told the children, 'We're going to have a Bible study now.' Jaelin asked,' What's a Bible study?' After the explanation, her brother, Woody, asked, 'Who's God?' "

Where are we, folks? Why aren't we more concerned? Why aren't we out knocking on doors?

My husband and I were discussing this last night at the supper table. I told him if 75% of the people in our county were in church on Sunday mornings every church in our area would be knocking out walls to make room for them...or building many new churches! He said if even 50% were in church...he's probably right!

This is so sad! Are we selfish...unconcerned...unaware...too caught up in other things?

Luke 10:2 " Therefore he said unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."

We've got to get a burden for the lost!

Don't put off until tomorrow....

Have I ever mentioned I am a world class procrastinator? Well, I am! It's not something I'm proud of, mind you! It just seems I keep putting things off. Not the real important things like laundry, or cooking and dishes...but the little things. Papers piling up, minor mending that needs to be done, or pressing that blouse that I rarely wear, but would look nice with a particular skirt and would give me a different outfit to wear once in awhile.

Don't we all do this to a certain extent? Some of us just make a bigger habit of it than others.

The one thing I put off too long has caused me much grief for the past two years! Tuesday, the 5th, was the 2nd anniversary of my brother's unexpected death. I have gone over and over in my mind the past two years all the times I could have picked up the phone and called him. All the things I wish I had said to him. The birthdays when I didn't send a card. I loved him so much, but was so "busy" with my own things....I just put off staying in touch with him more. It wasn't like we never saw each other or talked, but we just didn't do it enough. We were so close when we were growing up and...then we grew up....we both had our families and traveled in different directions. We had different interests...our children had different interests and we were just busy. Now I would give anything to just hear his voice....hear the silly giggle he had...hear him say, " Hey Sis...how're you doin?"
My life is richer because of him. After losing him I am also more aware of things I used to take for granted. And I pray I never take anyone or anything for granted again!

So to you, my little brother....I love you, miss you, think of you every day and am counting down the days until I see you again!! You were the best brother anyone ever had!

Jerry Wymon Moses - 6/27/51- 2/5/06

One Woman's Opinion

I came across this article ( see below) in a paper my husband gets called " Pulpit Helps", and haven't been able to get it off my mind. I have to tell you that I am troubled by some of the things I see going on in our churches these days in the name of religion and worship. I know worship comes in different forms. Some people raise their hands and praise God in services...I have no problem with that. Many churches have testimony services...don't have a problem with that either...some sing hymns...others praise and worship songs...I love both! However, there are things going on and people with attitudes about who Jesus is and how we ought to worship that are not scriptural.

So many times I see so little reverence in churches and among God's people.

God is holy...He is not a " good old boy" the way some people would like to portray Him. He's there for us 24 hours a day, but many seem to be misled or misunderstand that He is still the God of the universe. He is still holy.

I have a problem with the "head banging" ( so called Christian rock) music that many of our youth are listening to. I taught the youth class at our church for several years and this is what I told them about their music. ....If it appeals to the flesh I can't see where it would be of God. If it appeals to the spirit...then yes, I would say it is from God. God teaches us to be different from the world. If you walk like a duck, and quack like a duck...then you must be a duck. I want to walk and talk like Jesus. I want to be different than the people who associate themselves with the things of this world. I know He loves us even when we're not so lovable ( which, many times, is pretty often), but we are to strive to be like Him.

Jesus is my Savior...and yes, my friend. But when I think of Him and all He did for me at Calvary and all He does for me each day of my life...I want to fall at His feet and worship Him...He's my friend, but He's not my buddy. I love Him and adore Him and worship him! He is worthy of all honor and praise! Let's give Him our very best!

~~~~~

JESUS IS NOT JUST A BUDDY

~~

We are living in a day when men think they can rush into the presence of God and treat the Lord Jesus as if He is just a buddy. May I say to you that He is high and holy and lifted up. If He should appear in your church next Sunday morning, nobody would rush up to Him, nobody would become familiar with Him. Everybody would go down on their faces before Him. That is the picture the Word of God gives. No one was as close to Him on earth as was His disciple, John. John would come to Him and make suggestions. The Lord Jesus never asked for advice, nor did He follow man's advice, but John was there to give it. Then in the Upper Room, John even reclined on His bosom. He was familiar with Him. But, my friend, when he saw the glorified Christ on the Isle of Patmos, he fell at His feet as if dead( Rev. 1:17) He did not rush into His presence.

You and I deal with a holy God.

From Isaiah -His Call and Commission

by J. Vernon McGee~Thru the Bible Radio

It's that time again....you know what I'm talking about!! Yep! New Year's Resolutions! But guess what!? I stopped making them long ago. Why, you ask? Because I never keep them, that's why!

This subject was brought up in our Sunday School class yesterday. The question was asked " What is the main resolution most people make?" You guessed it, I bet! Losing weight! Well, you all can see my pretty little bear here, can't you? This is what I tell my hubby ( and even told my doctor! once...LOL). That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Finally back to my blogging...

Been gone a long time I know! I had just barely gotten this blog up and going when, as my last post said, I had to begin helping my mom take care of my dad. Then on September 4 we had to admit him to one of our local hospice homes. He was there exactly 5 weeks when he died on October 9. It was a daily struggle for him and for us as well. I don't think there was a day that he didn't tell us he wanted to die. He questioned the drs. and nurses as to why he couldn't just die. His body was worn out and he was so miserable. I prayed every day we were there that God would just call him home. But things don't always go the way we want them to. God has His own timing in everything.

It has been a hard stuggle for my mom as she has dealt with being alone now. The holidays have been especially hard for her. I would say that they have been for me as well, but I would be lying. It was a great relief and blessing for me that he was finally at peace. That may sound strange to some, but when someone you love is that sick and has suffered for any length of time, I truthfully believe that deep inside you have to be happy for them if they were a Christian and prepared to meet God.

So as a tribute to my dad and others who are spending their first Christmas with their Heavenly Father , I want to share a poem that was shared with me. I don't know the author, but if anyone reading this does, if you'll let me know, I'll be glad to give credit to them.

My First Christmas In Heaven

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below

With tiny lights, like Heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away the tear

For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear

But the sounds of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.

I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,

For it is beyond description, to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart

But I am not so far away, We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me, dear ones, You know I hold you dear

And be glad I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I sent you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above

I sent you each a memory of my undying love.

After all, love is a gift more precious than pure gold

It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do

For I can't count the blessings or love he has for each of you.

So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear

Remember, I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I pray you've all had a blessed Christmas and will have an even better new year!

I don't like change....

Call me dull...boring...set in my ways! But I don't like change. But God uses different things in our lives to bring about growth and to keep us on our knees! I'm at that place in my life where I'm

" changing places" with my parents! My dad is in the last stages of his life after battling with heart disease for more than 25 years. Open heart surgery, 3 heart attacks, and 3 pacemakers in all of those years. Now he's pretty much bedfast. So....I am closing down my daycare to help my mom take care of him.

I have been doing daycare for the most of the last 30 years and it will be difficult to not have children around me every day Monday through Friday. But, I really don't have a choice at this point. With my brother's death last year , I'm all they have left. It's not that I don't love them or don't want to take care of them. I just hate losing my kids and I love being at home. I'm an introvert, I guess you might say. I prefer keeping to myself alot. Not to the point of it being unhealthy. I do love being around other people as well. My parents, my kids and grandkids, the people in our church, and most of all my husband. I just love being in my own home.

But they need me right now. They've always been there for me, and now I want to be there for them. And....if my mom doesn't have some help she'll soon be down and then I'll have both of them to take care of...which will probably mean the nursing home. And I don't want that to happen if we can aviod it.

So...change is necessary at this point. And I'll deal with it. God will give me the grace and strength I need to face each day. He has never failed me. I trust Him with everything I have and every member of my family. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I do know Who holds tomorrow!

Whew! Busy week!

But a good week! We had our " Save the Planet" Crusade with Jamey Ragle! He is sooooooo good! If you're reading this ( I feel like I'm talking to myself here all the time) and you ever have the opportunity to hear this man take it! He is so blessed by God with the ability to communicate to others the truths of God's Word! Especially the youth. And can do it quite comically, too. We had a three night crusade and I was wishing it could have gone on all week( even as tired as I was).

Then yesterday my mom calls and says my dad seems to be getting worse. He has battled heart disease for more than 20 yrs. now and is going downhill pretty quickly the past few months. He had the new pacemaker/defibrilator put in in March and it has been a downhill battle ever since. But he did want some fish yesterday and his appetite seems to still be pretty good. Husband and I went by the fish and steak house and got plates for him, my mom and the two of us. He seemed to really enjoy his. Then I took my mom to the drugstore for refills on their meds and she needed to do grocery shopping as well, so we did that, too. Husband stayed with my dad. We'll be going back over this afternoon to check on them and do a few more things for them. We've got to figure out how to rearrange their living room furniture so my mom can order a hospital bed for him. It will help her that she won't have to be pulling on him to help him get in and out of bed.

We've been getting lots of peas from the garden. I've put 78 bags in the freezer. That will be more than enough for us. Took some to 2 of our ladies in the church. There are some that need picking this morning, but husband is gone with our youngest son to pick up a dog and I have far too much to do inside the house today. We've offered them to some of the neighbors, but they don't want to pick them, so I guess they'll just dry up. Nah.....husband will most likely get out there when he gets back and pick them to give to someone.

~~~~~~

Isaiah 41:10~ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

The Lord's Day!

I love Sundays and being able to gather with other believers in God's House! My pastor husband brought a wonderful message this morning entitled " Is Your All on the Altar?" . His scripture reading was from Romans 12:1 - " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Do we even consider that God holds our very breath in His hands? What kinds of sacrifices are we willing to make to see the Kingdom of God move forward?

As my dh preached this morning....God wants our 'firstfruits' not our 'leftovers'. He wants first place in our lives. He must come before husband, wife, children, mother, father, brother, sisters....serving Him must come before attending that family reunion, or Sunday dinner at Grandma's. When revival efforts are going on in your church, He must come before that tv program you would like to stay home and watch. When it comes time to go back for the Sunday night services, forget that skiing trip you had planned!

We have 6 days a week....more than 300 days a year that we can do the things we enjoy. There are 144 hours in a week. Surely we can sacrifice 5 or 6 of those to attend the Sunday morning, evening and mid week services in the church of our choice. Surely we can sacrifice 30 minutes or an hour a day for personal Bible study and prayer. Surely out of the 24,365 hours we have in a year we can take a few minutes here and there to speak to someone about their eternal destiny.

He took a beating and sacrificed His own life so that we might have a way to spend eternity with Him one day. We can't work for our salvation, but when we become a child of the King, we can surely let Him know how much we love Him by serving Him faithfully!

Remember ....He gave the very best thing He had....his own precious Son...so that you might escape the horrors of hell. Give Him the best of yourself! When you fail to serve Him with all your heart, soul, and mind, you break His heart.

A pastor gets discouraged when every message God gives him seems to fall on deaf ears. You expect your pastor to be faithful in the calling God has placed on his life. You have a calling on yours as well. Step up and place your all on the altar. Be all that He calls you to be! He loves you so much!!

God bless you as you serve him!

Days off begins!

Thank You, Lord, for time off! I am so tired and need a break from the daycare kiddies! Thankfully my 9 days off has officially begun. They'll all be back on the 9th.

I have so many things I need to accomplish while they are not here....not sure how much of it will get done, but nevertheless...it all needs doing.

I'm trying hard to get myself back in action around here. I've been bogged down too long and need to pull my feet out of the mud and get busy. I can't remember the last time I was caught up on everything here.

I'll probably post a little of what I'm doing sometime next week, so stay tuned!

My first blog!!

Wow! I have been so inspired by so many other women's blogs I decided " Why not have one of you own!" Now I know nothing about creating anything on the world wide web! but hey! You never know what something simple might do for someone else! My prayer is that God will always shine through anything He puts in my heart and mind to do! He is our Creator and when we give Him our lives it is supposed to be for whatever purpose He wants to use us for, right?!

I have been so blessed with all the wonderful friends I've "met" online! So many precious godly women that are so talented and blessed with gifts that He has given them to bless others!

So we shall see where this leads and my prayer is that He will use it to glorify Himself!

May God richly bless you today!

Janice ( NHizName)