Friday Favorite

 I received my book this week to join the Bloom InCourage book Club.  There is a button on my blog if you want to check it out.

By way of their book club,I discovered Ann Voskamp's blog.

Her posts are inspiring and her photos beautiful.

Check out the "Free Gifts for You" section. There is a calendar for 100 hundred days to help you change habits. I printed that one out.

As I share these blogs,  remember that I too am just discovering them. I may keep them or change my mind later.

Enjoy the Journey of Discovery!
http://www.aholyexperience.com/

Birthday Girl

Happy 15th Birthday Week to one of the greatest joys of my life! I love you dear granddaughter beyond what words can say.

Yadas

Over the past 3 years God has blessed me with a group of women with whom I have prayed, done Beth Moore studies, shared, laughed and cried. I've known them for years but God has bound us together is a special way of late. He has made a heart connection.

We have prayed for one whose heart was broken by her son and seen her healed and the relationship move into restoration. We've supported each other in struggles and heartaches, laughed and celebrated the joys.Recently we've taken turns taking one of our sisters to the doctor, cooking and helping out as she battles an illness. I've seen the love of God in action.

Last night we hopped in the car and went to pray for a young woman who came to me with an SOS prayer need in her home.

I am amazingly blessed by these five women and their willingness to sacrifice, their acceptance of others, their faith when the going gets tough, and their joyous celebration of the tiniest victory.

At Christmas time they blessed me with the beautiful picture above.

Tuesday Treasures

One of my favorite childhood memories was playing marbles with my brother.

Even then my love of color and texture manifested in the excitement I felt over the various marbles- milky ones, clear ones, large and small. I wish I could remember all the names we used to call them.

When I saw this jar of marbles at mom's, I immediately asked her for it. I carefully placed it on the windowsill where I could see it everyday. I can almost feel the dirt under my hand as I place the marble to the ground for the game.

The wind howling outside my window reminds me that winter snows cover the ground and grown-up years dull the memories of  a few sweet childhood days. I am thankful to have a reminder of the good things of the past. Too often I focus on the negative.

Thus  Tuesday Treasure.

Dreaming

It all started with a dream, or lack thereof.

Everywhere I turned last week, I was hearing things like Dream Big, Imagine, and What would you like your life to look like in a year?

A blank piece of paper stared at me. I couldn't do it. I know me and if I write it down, then I will be on a mission, full-speed ahead to make it happen. Do you hear that? SPLAT! It's the sound of me falling on my face.

Over the weekend I took time to reflect and pray and then I remembered a book on my shelf that I have used a couple of times before. Your Best Year Yet. The chapter on choosing your focus asks several questions to get you to see exactly what it is you really need or desire. I answered the questions in seconds and they all pointed to the same thing- my health.
I know, I know, I've been here before but I'm a year wiser and I have made enough changes to give me hope.

So here we go.

2011 is the year I get healthy.

Figuring Life Out - One Thousand Gifts

This is a good one to leave you with for the weekend.

Friday Favorite

It's Friday again! Time to share a favorite blog.

This blog is new to me but I am enjoying her posts. This week they inspired me. Enjoy!

http://perfectlyimperfect-yolanda.blogspot.com/

Life is Like a Cup of Coffee

As We Go...

Over the years, I have developed the habit of spending prolonged mornings with the Lord. I write in my journal, pray for my family, read the scriptures, and listen for guidance. Most of all, I enjoy God. Lately my mornings have been full of appointments, work, interruptions, etc.

As I was sharing today with a friend of mine about the past week, I realized how many ways the Lord had spoken to me and shown things to me as I went about my daily life.

In the Song of Solomon, chapter three describes a chariot or litter carried on the shoulders of men, which Solomon rode in. I was reading Watchman Nee's book on this. It is one of my favorite books. My original copy is in three pieces held together by an elastic band. Recently I found a hardcover second-hand on Amazon. Anyway, he was describing this passage as God movements on the shoulders of man.
In other words, He moves through our daily lives. As we go, He goes with us.
He delights in every detail of our journey, not just the set apart times.

So the word for today is: Enjoy the Journey!

Tuesday Treasures

My grandchildren are one of my greatest treasures.
Yesterday I got to see two of them in a day trip downstate. Hooray!

One Piece at a Time

 After I got everything done around the house that I wanted to accomplish yesterday, I sat down to work on the new puzzle I'm working on. The past few days, it's been a struggle to settle down. A couple of good friends are going through tough times and they have been on my mind along with praying for wisdom in a personal situation.

Normally I settle right into my Bible and journal and find peace. Not this time. Working on this puzzle seems to be the place for me to find comfort. I am much farther along than the picture portrays at this point.

It is always one piece at a time, much like daily life.

Friday Favorite

This is Friday and the day I share a favorite blog . This week's blog is one I've newly discovered. There are several women who share on the blog and I have enjoyed the posts. I haven't had time to explore their site completely. Hope you enjoy.
http://www.incourage.me/

Blog in a Book

Once again I've received my blog in print and I love it!
Check it out at Sharedbook.com.

Tuesday Treasures

Tuesday posts are dedicated to things I love, that make me happy.

I had a long afternoon yesterday. I made a commitment to take a family member a few places, not realizing it would take all afternoon or that the wind would come up and be freezing. Needless to say I was dragging when I got home at suppertime.

When I stepped through the door into my warm cozy kitchen, there were a couple of packages waiting for me. My husband had picked up the mail. Inside one was an order from Papaya that I'd made, sort of an extravagance after Christmas. The purchases were wrapped in this beautiful paper and I was delighted!

As it turns out, the datebook I ordered has a bit of a strong smell and I'm sensitive to smells so I may not be able to use it. The calender was amazing and perfectly suited to my daughter, so I am treating her :) But I am still smiling at how a little thing turned my day around.

A perfect Tuesday Treasure.
Love to hear about yours.

Disencumber

Encumber:

1. To weigh down heavily, lay too much upon
2. To hinder, impede, or clutter with useless articles or unwanted additions
3. To handicap or burden 

I keep reading blogs about having a word for the year. I've been pondering this for several days and there it was- DISENCUMBER. I wasn't even sure what it meant. So I looked it up. My dictionary didn't have it so I looked up encumber. Hmmm. So in order to disencumber, I would be getting rid of unnecessary weights or things which have outgrown their use.
This morning I went out to work with my trainer who is helping me with muscle strength because of a shoulder problem. She understands my strengths and weaknesses. I used to be afraid of weights because of past injury, but now I realize it's about using the right weight for me and in the proper way. Kate has been a Godsend.
I felt so good when I left the gym this morning- refreshed and encouraged - although it was a struggle to get there. Sometimes it is a struggle to find the right balance, use wisdom, set boundaries, get rid of things that are no longer useful. I'm not always sure how to make the necessary changes.
According to my word- DISENCUMBER- I'm going to learn.

Top Ten Reads of 2010

I love libraries, bookstores, second-hand bookstores, Amazon books, Shelfari, book clubs, flea market book tables...okay, you've got the picture.
So when I saw this post on Relyn's blog about her top 10 reads, I couldn't resist! 
http://comesitbymyfire.blogspot.com/2011/01/pleasures-of-book.html

Here are my favorites from the 79 read last year. Check out my Shelfari for details.

                         Paula's Top Ten Reads of 2010

• The Yada Yada Prayer Group Series by Neta Jackson
• The Road to Eden's Ridge by M.L.Rose 
•  Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury
•  Beaded  Hope by Cathy Ligget
• Return to Me by Robin Lee Hatcher
• Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck and all the books that followed
•  Last Light Over Carolina by Mary Alice Monroe
•  The Shulamite's Cry by Mike D Brumback
• Sarah's Key by  Tatiana de Rosnay

and drum roll please.... #1 BOOK ( in a close race with Sarah's Key) is

This blog post took FOREVER! My fonts kept changing color, etc. Hope it was worth it :)

Want to Have Fun?

I really want to post everyday this year, at least weekdays, so gotta get creative.

Let's call Fridays the day we discover new blogs in the blogging world (haven't thought of a name yet).

Today is Friday! Let's have some fun :)

 Here's a new blog for you to check out with a couple of my favorite Christian fiction writers with a sense of humor. I found this blog today.
I loved "Just Between You and Me." by Jenny B. Jones. She is the Friday blogger  on Southern Belle View.
http://www.southernbelleview.blogspot.com/

Love to hear from you on any favorite or new blogs!

Happy To Be Me

I was driving down the road yesterday and it came to me that I had posted Tuesday Treasure Challenge on Wednesday.

Oh how badly I wanted to turn the car around and change that post! But God is in the business of setting me free from every last drop of perfectionism- at least the harmful parts. Then a thought occurred to me that perhaps someone might even get a chuckle out of it.

I reached over and turned on the  CD that I had been listening to by Joyce Meyer titled "Happy to be Me.". She immediately said, "God uses cracked pots." We don't have to be perfect. As a matter of fact, our very weaknesses enable God's power in our lives as we believe and trust in Him.

Tuesday continued to be a day when I felt out-of-sorts and tired, but I know whose I am and cracked pot that I am, I am happy to be me.

Tuesday Treasures Challenge

A daily blogger.
Hmmm, is it possible to be inspired, to have enough pictures, to stay transparent on a regular basis?

I thought I would begin with Tuesday treasures. I'll blog about things that I love, that bring me happiness.

This photo was taken in a little coffee shop in Camden, Maine. We were there with my daughter and her family. I took a pic of the ceiling because I love lights and dangling objects. I set it as my desktop background today to make me smile.

If you have a blog, want to jump in and participate? Post about your treasures, delights, things that make you smile and come back here and leave your link in the comment section. If you don't have a blog, tell us about one each week.
Let me know how easy it is to leave a comment or difficult and I'll see what I can adjust to the settings.

Perpetual Calendar Journal

Standing in my kitchen this morning,I threw up my arms and shouted hooray!
My daughter, Amber, created a postcard journal for her teenage daughter, McKenna  and I wanted to make one for myself but had a few misgivings. One was that my creativity level has been at an all time low for a few years.
Today that all changed!
I started my perpetual journal and managed to make the first month's card. Yay!
I've been keeping regular journals for over 30 years, 2011 being no exception. I write the weather, daily happenings, scripture promises, what God is speaking over my life and how I am feeling that day.
I am also writing in a devotional journal on God's goodness that I purchased by Gloria Copeland, in which I already recorded a poem of sorts.
Here is dearly hoping that this creativity continues and increases in 2011.
Find the original idea at this address:
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/12/diy-project-vintage-postcard-calendar-journal.html