Happy Birthday Jonathan

Happy Birthday my Jonathan.....

Here is the plan for those who visit with me.

I am asking that you will comment and add a birthday greeting... a special thought...fun time....memory together...etc for Jonathan to read. He should be back at Arifjan later today.....

Join me in telling him Happy Birthday...

(even those of you who never post comments.....) .

Thanks and blessings!

So... here is my comment... I added it to the blog for those who join me later and maybe do not read all the comments... :)...

Jonathan loved scaring me...and for a long time we had a small rubber snake that we passed back and forth. Of course, he was never scared when I would hide it in his pocket or drawer or wherever! However, he made me jump out of my skin MANY times! Even when Hal and I took a trip to England...Jonathan (somehow) put it in my suitcase. The really funny part is that one morning...as I got my clothes out of my suitcase... the snake fell on the floor (without me knowing it) and when I came out of the the bathroom...it was laying there...and I nearly had a heart attack! I laughed my head off and called him immediately... I did not even care that it was an international call...and that the time was not good. I told him if he was going to give me a heart attack...he at least needed to be close enough to give me a hug. We laughed and laughed at how worked just as we wanted it too. Oh, me...it has been a while since I have seen that snake. (Maybe for now, I am safe... since he is on the other side of the world)... LOL! Love you JON.

Snow Pictures for Jonathan

Jonathan.....






here are the pics of your dogs (in the snow). And just to let you know...they did NOT like it!












I am also adding others of our house. It is so beautiful. It always makes me think of this scripture: Isaiah 1:18"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."




And how beautiful is that..... washed white as snow...



Also notice... the yellow ribbon at the base of the flag and if you look closely - you will see our blue star banner hanging in our window. I am missing my soldier. Hal's friend from high school that he met with last week (I may blog about that later) told him - "You and DeeDee raised a Warrior .... I know you are proud." He was right on track - Jonathan is a Warrior and we are so proud!


Thank you Lord, for the Snow. It comes so rarely to the South, but I love it. And I am so thankful for the reminder that my sins have been washed by the blood of the Lamb... and I am white as snow!

Thank you also for my warrior... That I am missing so much right now....

Through the Fire

Not really ready to blog....

Was SO hoping to talk to Jonathan in person first...

But today... for you Terry... and for you family....

Psalms 73:26 "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" Remember that is the scripture that I claimed on the day that Jonathan was on the way to Iraq.

From my blog posted on that day : "That was it - my rock to hold on to for the day. I quickly wrote the verse on a small piece of paper - and put it in my pocket. And literally all day, when someone would ask how I was doing - I would put my hand in my pocket and squeeze the piece of paper - and tell them, "I am holding on". Holding on. That even when my flesh (I was so physically exhausted) and my heart (hurting so bad) may fail - God Is the strength of my heart and He is my portion forever. Holding on.Thank you Father."

So, really all that I can say today is, "Hold on". Our Savior has promised to never leave you or forsake you. Hold on.

I wanted to add a video from Youtube...but could not get it to post. So for now, just go to this address and listen to this song. Through the Fire (I know how you like Southern Gospel...so this is for you!!!)
Go to this link and listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCIvTVIFvTY
.
Love to you, Terry... We want to be here for you and your family. Not with answers...just with love and support.

WW # 9 My Soldier... In Iraq...

In the Presence of the King

On a more serious note than my last two posts...

The President was in Kuwait today. Jonathan told us last night that he was coming. The work on the base had practically stopped in preparation. And of course, they all would be there.

They waited outside for several hours for just a few minutes in his presence. A short speech.Only one television station even covered it. So what I want to know today is...... Did it change any of their lives? Did it make a difference? Not really. Just an experience to talk about. Certainly I am not critizing the President. I was excited that he was there. I wanted Jonathan to get a picture. One with him if he could. But the reality is...nothing is different tonight... Life is just back to normal. (Whatever normal is for our soldiers.)

But in the presence of our King...

Esther knew she would be given the opportunity to come before the King. She had a petition to make.
She needed and wanted to find favor. A couple of years ago, a friend sent me a quote from a book about Esther by Tommy Tenney. It was called "Twelve Protocols of the Palace." (Esther's secrets of finding favor with the King) Read carefully, and see if it speaks to you as it does to me.

1. Never underestimate the potential of one encounter
2. Seek the heart of the King, not the splendor of His Kingdom
3. One day of favor can be worth more than a lifetime of labor
4. Worship is the protocol that protects the King and qualifies the visitor
5. Influence flows from intimacy, and access comes from relationships
6. If you know what the King favors, you become a favorite
7. If your enemy is the King's enemy, then your battle is the King's battle
8. Favor is what happens when preparation meets opportunity
9. The deeper you go into the palace, the fewer the people, but the greater the provision
10. When the enemy plots your demise, the King is planning your reward
11. Favor can restore in a day what was stolen over a lifetime
12. One night with the King changes everything (or A few moments in the presence of the King can change your destiny)

Several points jump out to me... some make me stop and think for awhile.

Today my favorite is # 9 or maybe # 11. Tell me what you think.

Blessings to you all!

Continued......

Here is the update....

2 more large bags for the Thrift Store (already delivered). 1 large bag of trash.

Grand Totals:

• 5 large bags given away.
• 2 large bags of trash.
• "landing" still holds the items that need to be put somewhere other than my closet (5 Nativity Scenes, the boxed wedding dress, the ventriloquist doll, 6 file boxes of pictures - waiting to be put in albums)

But the closet looks WONDERFUL! It is amazing (and embarassing) that you can get rid of that much stuff...and still have a closet full. But for now it is organized and clean.

Proverbs 13:19 says, "The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul."

Accomplished...... SWEET!

The Great Closet Clean-Out

After Christmas is the usual time to sort through clothes and straighten the closet.

Last Saturday, when I told Hal that we were going to clean out our closet... I informed him it was not the usual clean-out. This time I meant that we were going to the walls. I wanted to see the baseboards (and wipe them clean of course.) I planned on vacumning the ENTIRE floor. Really I just wanted to "dump" the closet into my bedroom...and only put back what should go in there.

There was SO MUCH "stuff" cluttering my closet - items that I kept asking myself - "Why in the world did I ever put this here?" Some things were put there almost 13 years ago when we moved into this house. Maybe because there really was no place else to put it at that particular time in our lives. But we are empty-nesters.... I have room now.

I had made the decision that this small room called a closet needed to be organized and de-cluttered because we use it every day. I was on a mission.... I had recently read FLY-lady's instructions on cleaning out the closet. And as we went through... the things that we loved (and needed to be in this closet) were put back. Then there is the throw away stack... the give away stack... and the put away stack. So here are the embarrassing statistics so far.

We had three large black trash bags to give away (so we took them to the Thrift Store). We had one large black trash bag that went to the dumpster. I have several large stacks still on the landing (hallway) outside our room. On a side note... I cannot ever keep that landing cleared off. It is just the place to put things when you do not know yet where they go. How sad is that???? But back to the closet.... now comes the rest of the statistics....... This is just from ONE side of the closet. We still have all of my clothes and the wall of shoes/books/misc. items to go through. That is the plan for this weekend. I will let you know how it goes.

Here are a couple of examples of items found...

• The Teddy Bear that Hal gave me in 1974. I am not going to get rid of it now (I have kept it all these years.... that is one thing my kids will have to deal with when I am gone) but you know, it will survive in the newly organized attic.

• The Teddy Bear that Hal had when he was a little boy. He gave it to me when we were dating also. It too has found a new home in the attic.

• My Bride doll from my teen years. She will stay in the closet.

• Cassette tapes - lots and lots and lots of cassette tapes. Once again, why my closet? I asked Hal if we even still had a cassette tape player that worked. We do...it too was in the closet...so I kept a few of them... but they are neatly stored in a box. Not sure where I am going to put the box...tell me, where do cassette tapes go?

• An afghan that a high school friend made for me years ago. Nothing wrong with having it...just why had I seen the need to put it in my closet. The linen closet in the hall has all of our blankets/afghans/sheets, etc.

• You are going to love this..... I still have the Brides Magazines from 1976. Now, how do you throw them away after all these years? So, what did I do with them? I put them in the box with Hal's old comics. Sorry kids, that is one more thing you can deal with. :)

• The Wedding Dress. Again...nothing wrong with keeping it...just not in my closet that I use every day. (So.....where is it now? on the landing... Where do you put it? FLYlady will not let me put it under the bed. LOL.)

And I could go on, but I will spare you. However, I will let you know how the second half of this project turns out.

So you know I have to have an application.... for me and maybe you too. What is cluttering up my life? What needs to be re-arranged for me to be free to do what God has called me to do... to the best of my ability? Functional? What needs to be given away? What needs to be thrown away? Maybe that is why the clean out always comes at the first of the year. I want everything back in order... or in better order (i.e. the resolutions/goals). I really like goals better. I am still working on that list. For now, decluttering is high on the list. From my closet ... from my life.

More later!