... that DOG! Oh, how we LOVE our Ruby! Country Man and Ruby have an especially close relationship b/c Country Man spoils her the most! Before Country Man, Ruby never ate people food and didn't have nearly as many varieties of treats as she does now. Now that dog begs at the table and expects to be pampered ... especially by Country Man.
I cannot remember the last time Country Man and I had the chance to sit down together and watch TV, but he really wanted me to watch his Houston team (choke) play on Monday Night Football last night, so I curled up with my husband to watch football. And lo and behold, but that Ruby the dog got JEALOUS! She did NOT like me taking what she thought was HER place with Country Man!
I told that Ruby the dog that she's as good a dog meat, and he's MINE. Discussion was o.v.e.r. The End. Period. Dogs can be locked up. She didn't like it, but I was serious.
She lost.
I won.
The End.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
"As water reflects a face ...
so a man's heart reflects the man."
Country Man and I spent some time with my almost-nineteen-year-old, freshman-in-college, niece on Friday night. I love that girl! She has always been precious to my heart!
Niece's mom, my youngest sister, is always in the middle of family 'stuff,' and Niece filled us in on some of it while we were together. As we already knew, my dad remarried a couple weeks ago, and my brother and SIL, and both my sisters, and my Niece's little brother, and my other sister's daughter, all attended the extravagant affair. My family was relegated to the back of the room for the sit-down spread, and my dad was curt with his grandchildren when they tried to approach him. My dad dawdled on making a decision to join my sisters and their families for their traditional Thanksgiving get-together before he finally agreed to come.
What is a continuous mild surprise to me is that this is a BIG deal to my sisters. My sisters are SHOCKED at the behavior of our dad. However, since this is the only way he has ever treated me, I find it normal.
I told my niece that I think she is going to discover that Papa (my dad) is going to morph into who he really is. Unfortunately, who he really is, is not that pretty.
Contrast this with another man I know, who due to unfortunate circumstances, has found himself in a conflicting relationship with both of his adult children and their spouses. He has been praying about this for a long time, and he has been making efforts to rebuild these relationships. His adult son recently told him that his dad (this other man I know) is changing the way he (his son) perceives him (his dad) because of these things his dad is doing. What this man's adult children are discovering is the true, pure nature of their dad, and they like this man.
Proverbs 27:19 says, "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
I do not believe my dad has a pure heart, and that is a very sad thing for me to say. He has been able to deceive many as to the true nature of his heart, including both my sisters and their families. Unfortunately, I believe that what they are seeing now is a true reflection of his heart, and this reflection is very sad.
This other man I know does have a pure heart, and what I believe his adult children are seeing is his pure heart reflected in who he is. I believe that through his prayers and his consistent efforts to rebuild his relationships with his adult children, God is opening their eyes to the truth of who he is.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Oh Lord, make my heart pure and holy for You and Your purposes. May my heart bring pleasure to You all the days of my life, and may it bless my husband and my children and my grand children and my great grandchildren all the days of their lives. I love You, Lord, Ame
Country Man and I spent some time with my almost-nineteen-year-old, freshman-in-college, niece on Friday night. I love that girl! She has always been precious to my heart!
Niece's mom, my youngest sister, is always in the middle of family 'stuff,' and Niece filled us in on some of it while we were together. As we already knew, my dad remarried a couple weeks ago, and my brother and SIL, and both my sisters, and my Niece's little brother, and my other sister's daughter, all attended the extravagant affair. My family was relegated to the back of the room for the sit-down spread, and my dad was curt with his grandchildren when they tried to approach him. My dad dawdled on making a decision to join my sisters and their families for their traditional Thanksgiving get-together before he finally agreed to come.
What is a continuous mild surprise to me is that this is a BIG deal to my sisters. My sisters are SHOCKED at the behavior of our dad. However, since this is the only way he has ever treated me, I find it normal.
I told my niece that I think she is going to discover that Papa (my dad) is going to morph into who he really is. Unfortunately, who he really is, is not that pretty.
Contrast this with another man I know, who due to unfortunate circumstances, has found himself in a conflicting relationship with both of his adult children and their spouses. He has been praying about this for a long time, and he has been making efforts to rebuild these relationships. His adult son recently told him that his dad (this other man I know) is changing the way he (his son) perceives him (his dad) because of these things his dad is doing. What this man's adult children are discovering is the true, pure nature of their dad, and they like this man.
Proverbs 27:19 says, "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
I do not believe my dad has a pure heart, and that is a very sad thing for me to say. He has been able to deceive many as to the true nature of his heart, including both my sisters and their families. Unfortunately, I believe that what they are seeing now is a true reflection of his heart, and this reflection is very sad.
This other man I know does have a pure heart, and what I believe his adult children are seeing is his pure heart reflected in who he is. I believe that through his prayers and his consistent efforts to rebuild his relationships with his adult children, God is opening their eyes to the truth of who he is.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Oh Lord, make my heart pure and holy for You and Your purposes. May my heart bring pleasure to You all the days of my life, and may it bless my husband and my children and my grand children and my great grandchildren all the days of their lives. I love You, Lord, Ame
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
late or early ...
... either one, i should be in bed. Oldest is still not well. Country Man's work is having their Thanksgiving Feast at work tomorrow, and I needed to make two dishes for the event. They will both require finishing stuff in the morning ... (read, in just a few short hours for the first so it's done and still warm when he leaves).
blending a family is so very hard on kids. their hopes and dreams that mommy and daddy will get back together are crushed, and there really is rarely anything better than one's own mommy and daddy under the same roof. i wish adults understood that when they make stupid choices.
oddly enough, it is another death in my hopes and dreams, too. i never wanted to be divorced; neither did my Country Man. but we don't get to make all the choices in our lives.
when Eve and Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they really bombed, big time.
God tells us it is best for a man to remain with the wife of his youth (or his first wife; or do not get divorced), and there's a reason for that. too often people just skip over that not realizing that to not remain with one's wife, or husband, from their youth, is to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. once knowledge is acquired, it cannot be removed ... and then it's too late ... and what was so enticing and mouth-watering at one moment turns into something terribly evil and disgusting the next.
it is hard to make the hard, right, choices in a marriage. boy howdy, sometimes it's really hard. all the enticements of Satan light up in glamorous neon lights, and the fruit of that tree seems sooo irresistible. then one chooses the neon lights to the hard choices ... and the knowledge of good and evil is acquired ... and it's too late.
what really stinks about that is that for one to eat of that fruit, they impose the knowledge of good and evil on many others around them ... it's not just theirs; it's shared. by default, it is shared.
my Country Man is an incredible man! how blessed i am! if only we'd met first and only known each other ... and had all our kids together ... but, alas, tis was not to be. so choices were made, and we are both privy to the knowledge of good and evil.
and that is all so depressing that it makes one just want to jump off a cliff and end it all. it seems so ... final ... and reeks of death.
BUT! that is NOT all there is! Jesus did not simply become man and live a perfect life and die on the cross for our sins, but He rose again and is alive! sure, there's the knowledge of good and evil, BUT JESUS CONQUERED THE EVIL AND SQUASHED AND SMUSHED IT ALL TO PIECES WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE GRAVE AND SPAT IN THE FACE OF DEATH!
so, because of New Life through Christ Jesus our Lord, my Country Man and i know there is healing to be found ... for us, and for our kids. it's a long and gruelling and treacherous path, the path toward healing, but so was Jesus' death on the cross. and when we reach the end, when we endure the long and gruelling and treacherous path of pain and reach the healing, we realize the Life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is ALIVE and able to give us that Life!
divorce sucks. it always will. but there is hope out there for those of us who have had to partake of that fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and that hope is the reality and Truth of Jesus Christ, alive and Sovereign and Holy and Just ... and that Truth sets us free, to live.
~~~
blending a family is so very hard on kids. their hopes and dreams that mommy and daddy will get back together are crushed, and there really is rarely anything better than one's own mommy and daddy under the same roof. i wish adults understood that when they make stupid choices.
oddly enough, it is another death in my hopes and dreams, too. i never wanted to be divorced; neither did my Country Man. but we don't get to make all the choices in our lives.
when Eve and Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they really bombed, big time.
God tells us it is best for a man to remain with the wife of his youth (or his first wife; or do not get divorced), and there's a reason for that. too often people just skip over that not realizing that to not remain with one's wife, or husband, from their youth, is to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. once knowledge is acquired, it cannot be removed ... and then it's too late ... and what was so enticing and mouth-watering at one moment turns into something terribly evil and disgusting the next.
it is hard to make the hard, right, choices in a marriage. boy howdy, sometimes it's really hard. all the enticements of Satan light up in glamorous neon lights, and the fruit of that tree seems sooo irresistible. then one chooses the neon lights to the hard choices ... and the knowledge of good and evil is acquired ... and it's too late.
what really stinks about that is that for one to eat of that fruit, they impose the knowledge of good and evil on many others around them ... it's not just theirs; it's shared. by default, it is shared.
my Country Man is an incredible man! how blessed i am! if only we'd met first and only known each other ... and had all our kids together ... but, alas, tis was not to be. so choices were made, and we are both privy to the knowledge of good and evil.
and that is all so depressing that it makes one just want to jump off a cliff and end it all. it seems so ... final ... and reeks of death.
BUT! that is NOT all there is! Jesus did not simply become man and live a perfect life and die on the cross for our sins, but He rose again and is alive! sure, there's the knowledge of good and evil, BUT JESUS CONQUERED THE EVIL AND SQUASHED AND SMUSHED IT ALL TO PIECES WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE GRAVE AND SPAT IN THE FACE OF DEATH!
so, because of New Life through Christ Jesus our Lord, my Country Man and i know there is healing to be found ... for us, and for our kids. it's a long and gruelling and treacherous path, the path toward healing, but so was Jesus' death on the cross. and when we reach the end, when we endure the long and gruelling and treacherous path of pain and reach the healing, we realize the Life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is ALIVE and able to give us that Life!
divorce sucks. it always will. but there is hope out there for those of us who have had to partake of that fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and that hope is the reality and Truth of Jesus Christ, alive and Sovereign and Holy and Just ... and that Truth sets us free, to live.
this morning ...
... i was reminded again this morning of what a small world it really is :)
'it's a small world after all! it's a small world after all! it's a small, small world. it's a world of laughter and a world of tears; it's a world of hopes a world of fears . . ."
thankful and blessed to hear how God is working all around us.
Oldest still home sick today. apparently stomach virus going around ... her's is mild, and THAT'S a HUGE blessing! wonderful Country Man prayed over her last night.
have made two hand-bags/purses ... working on third ... having fun :)
'it's a small world after all! it's a small world after all! it's a small, small world. it's a world of laughter and a world of tears; it's a world of hopes a world of fears . . ."
thankful and blessed to hear how God is working all around us.
Oldest still home sick today. apparently stomach virus going around ... her's is mild, and THAT'S a HUGE blessing! wonderful Country Man prayed over her last night.
have made two hand-bags/purses ... working on third ... having fun :)
Monday, November 16, 2009
gathering and giving
i have my Oldest home with me today. she woke up sick to her stomach and weak. i think it's just her allergies kicking her butt ... hopefully as we go through the day this will prove to be true.
Oldest was required to do a project through her language arts class where she gave something back to others in her community, state, nation or world. our church gathered food last night to give to needy families, so Oldest took on this project last week, walked around our new neighborhood asking for food donations, and we took them up to the church last night.
it was an incredible experience. they were well organized. my girls distributed the food we had to the appropriate places ... then gathered specific food from a list to fill a basket ... the we got the name of a disabled woman, picked up two baskets of food, and took them over to her. it was dark and raining ... and incredible!
this woman was immensely appreciative. she hugged me with tears in her eyes. i held her face and said, "i know. i was a single mom for four years, and we needed food, too." after lots of hugs from this woman and her daughter who had come by to clean for her momma, my girls and i left ... but this experience will never leave their hearts, or mine.
my girls had been bickering even up till when we were at this lady's doorstep, but when we walked out, there were different. helping others changes us, and i love the way it's changing my daughters.
Oldest was required to do a project through her language arts class where she gave something back to others in her community, state, nation or world. our church gathered food last night to give to needy families, so Oldest took on this project last week, walked around our new neighborhood asking for food donations, and we took them up to the church last night.
it was an incredible experience. they were well organized. my girls distributed the food we had to the appropriate places ... then gathered specific food from a list to fill a basket ... the we got the name of a disabled woman, picked up two baskets of food, and took them over to her. it was dark and raining ... and incredible!
this woman was immensely appreciative. she hugged me with tears in her eyes. i held her face and said, "i know. i was a single mom for four years, and we needed food, too." after lots of hugs from this woman and her daughter who had come by to clean for her momma, my girls and i left ... but this experience will never leave their hearts, or mine.
my girls had been bickering even up till when we were at this lady's doorstep, but when we walked out, there were different. helping others changes us, and i love the way it's changing my daughters.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
praying for ...
spent some nice time talking with Oldest this evening. what a delight my daughter is!
praying for my girls, for their hearts, for protection and wisdom.
praying along side a friend who is praying for God's direction in a relationship.
praying for the young children brought under the wing of my friends as legal guardians ~ and my friends who took them in without thought.
praying for replenished strength. i have been so depleted for sooo long ... finally at a place where i am safe, and i can un-frazzle, where i'm no longer living in survival mode all the time, and i'm finding i am weak and in need of His strength poured into me, strengthening me, fortifying me, refreshing me.
now ... off to bed so i can be replenished with rest and sleep!
praying for my girls, for their hearts, for protection and wisdom.
praying along side a friend who is praying for God's direction in a relationship.
praying for the young children brought under the wing of my friends as legal guardians ~ and my friends who took them in without thought.
praying for replenished strength. i have been so depleted for sooo long ... finally at a place where i am safe, and i can un-frazzle, where i'm no longer living in survival mode all the time, and i'm finding i am weak and in need of His strength poured into me, strengthening me, fortifying me, refreshing me.
now ... off to bed so i can be replenished with rest and sleep!
a blessing-filled day
the girls and i had the most wonderful time visiting our friends in our old hometown today! they are dear to our hearts, and it was truly a blessing-filled day ... and not just the perfectly delicious meal the sire chef created for us!
friendships and good friends are ... good. they are good for our hearts and souls. i am thankful for our friends we shared the day with today.
friendships and good friends are ... good. they are good for our hearts and souls. i am thankful for our friends we shared the day with today.
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