It's a Hello Kitty Birthday Today

WAKE UP, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!...Were the first words out of her mouth today.  Oh the joy this child brings to me on a daily basis!

My Madi Sunshine, you make me happy EVERY DAY!!

Good Article...Made Me Think.

Isaiah 40:31:
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
I was reading a blog post and a certain part in the post made me think..."I am simply going to offer you a pair of wings. They are eagle’s wings. Some days they work, and some days they don’t seem to. The wings themselves will create scars in your eyes that could be avoided should you decide not to take them. You will fall over and over again with these wings. For the most part, you will not know how to use them. One day you will soar into the clouds, the next day you will crash into the rocks."

It dawned on me...how many times do we decide to not to take the wings. Instead we choose other routes, our counterfeit wings, based in fear, with justification and deceived hearts, only to protect ourselves from what may come or what we think we cannot handle.

I say this only because I know the temptation well. 

Gods grace may be the very thing we are protecting ourselves from.

Hubby and I have said time and time again, if we had had a better understanding of what reactive attachment disorder was before we had adopted our daughter we probably would have bowed out in fear.  We honestly were cluless.
We can now say...it has been God's grace in our lives.  Life Changing!!!  As a friend pointed out long ago...God was holding a mirror up to us, showing us just how much we ourselves had not attached to Him.  We too were lacking in trust.


HE IS ABLE

Good Question...GREAT Answer

Question: "What is predestination? Is predestination biblical?"
Answer: Romans 8:29-30 tells us, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” Ephesians 1:5 and 11 declare, “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Many people have a strong hostility to the doctrine of predestination. However, predestination is a biblical doctrine. The key is understanding what predestination means, biblically.
The words translated “predestined” in the Scriptures referenced above are from the Greek word proorizo, which carries the meaning of “determine beforehand,” “ordain,” “to decide upon ahead of time.” So, predestination is God determining certain things to occur ahead of time. What did God determine ahead of time? According to Romans 8:29-30, God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved. Numerous scriptures refer to believers in Christ being chosen (Matthew 24:22, 31; Mark 13:20, 27; Romans 8:33, 9:11, 11:5-7, 28; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 5:21; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 2:9; 2 Peter 1:10). Predestination is the biblical doctrine that God in His sovereignty chooses certain individuals to be saved.

The most common objection to the doctrine of predestination is that it is unfair. Why would God choose certain individuals and not others? The important thing to remember is that no one deserves to be saved. We have all sinned (Romans 3:23), and are all worthy of eternal punishment (Romans 6:23). As a result, God would be perfectly just in allowing all of us to spend eternity in hell. However, God chooses to save some of us. He is not being unfair to those who are not chosen, because they are receiving what they deserve. God’s choosing to be gracious to some is not unfair to the others. No one deserves anything from God; therefore, no one can object if he does not receive anything from God. An illustration would be a man randomly handing out money to five people in a crowd of twenty. Would the fifteen people who did not receive money be upset? Probably so. Do they have a right to be upset? No, they do not. Why? Because the man did not owe anyone money. He simply decided to be gracious to some.

If God is choosing who is saved, doesn’t that undermine our free will to chose and believe in Christ? The Bible says that we have the choice—all who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). The Bible never describes God rejecting anyone who believes in Him or turning away anyone who is seeking Him (Deuteronomy 4:29). Somehow, in the mystery of God, predestination works hand-in-hand with a person being drawn by God (John 6:44) and believing unto salvation (Romans 1:16). God predestines who will be saved, and we must choose Christ in order to be saved. Both facts are equally true. Romans 11:33 proclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”

Did You Notice The Flags On the 15th?

I was actually in the car today and noticed the flags were at half staff.  Didn't know why?  Glad I now know...especially since we have a cop/detective in the family. Makes me proud now to see those flags as half staff. 

May 15th

Peace Officers Memorial Day

This day brings an occasion that deserves more notice than it often gets. May 15 is Peace Officers Memorial Day, a time to honor the police officers who keep our neighborhoods and country safe. In 1962 President Kennedy signed a Congressional resolution, which reads, in part: Whereas the police officers of America have worked devotedly and selflessly in behalf of the people of this Nation, regardless of the peril or hazard to themselves; and Whereas these officers have safeguarded the lives and property of their fellow Americans; and Whereas by the enforcement of our laws, these same officers have given our country internal freedom from fear of the violence and civil disorder that is presently affecting other nations; Whereas these men and women by their patriotic service and their dedicated efforts have earned the gratitude of the Republic: Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the President is authorized and requested to issue proclamations designating May 15 of each year as Peace Officers Memorial Day in honor of the Federal, State, and municipal officers who have been killed or disabled in the line of duty Each year, the president calls on Americans to fly flags at half-staff on May 15. By annual proclamation the president also urges Americans to pay tribute to fallen officers and asks them to honor the men and women who work daily in the cause of justice. American History Parade 1602 English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold leads the first European exploration of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 1756 England declares war on France in America, beginning the Seven Years’ War. 1911 The Supreme Court upholds an order for the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company, ruling that it is a monopoly. 1940 Crowds of shoppers scramble to buy nylon stockings the first day they go on sale in selected stores. 1951 AT&T announces that it is the first U.S. corporation to have 1 million stockholders. This content is courtesy of The American Patriot's Almanac © 2008, 2010 by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb

DIY Credenza...Take 3

The third one is always a charm!!

A couple weeks ago I found these two amazing Mid- Century dressers on Craig's list.  The guy had just listed them and knowing they would go really fast I called him right away.  The girls and I hitched the trailer and we left to go pick them up.  He was selling them both for $95.00.  Whoop Whoop!!  This older man just thought he was selling some old dressers...not knowing this kind of stuff goes like hot cakes!!  As I was driving there he called me to confirm I was on my way because he was getting so many calls on them.  I knew when I saw these dressers this was going to be the DIY Credenza I had long waiting for.  The set consisted of two (one long and one short) dressers.  In this picture I had already removed the legs. 

 The dressers were old and the wood was dry and dull.  The top had a laminate top but that was okay because I was going to be painting it anyway.

 Here is the smaller one with the legs.

 I lightly sanded all of the drawers and gave them a good coat of Danish Oil.  Look at the difference!  Love it!!!

 There were quite a bit of chips, nothing wood filler couldn't take care of.  You would never know now there were chips.

While I was working on the dressers my girls were busy finding treasure around the yard.  They made necklaces with the treasures. DIY necklace with rusted washer lol.

 Here is the almost finished product.  I painted the sides and top white.  You'll notice the legs are different.  As much as I liked the white legs I thought it might look better with some satin legs.  The white legs reveal that it's a mid- century piece, not that that's a bad thing, but my eyes seem to go right to the legs and that wasn't really the look I was going for.  I thought the satin legs modernized it more and now the attention was no longer on the legs

 The Finished Product...

 I love it so much!  I love how long it is, I love the color, I love that I didn't spend $3000 (that is what my dream credenza cost) and I love that I got to work on it with my own hands...makes me appreciate it all the more!!

I have been waiting and waiting for that perfect piece for this wall.  At times I was tempted to just go buy something because I never thought I would find the right length, color etc...But just like everything else, I knew if I waited long enough, eventually I would find something.  It's better than I had hoped for!  So thankful!!  Okay, I just noticed my lamp shade is crooked in these pics...gotta go fix it.

Another Wooden Stump

Of all the places to find a wooden stump, Good Will was the last place I thought I would find one!!  This sucker is huge and HEAVY.  My dad and I had to roll it into a wheel barrel out of the car and then roll it out of the wheel barrel onto the carport.  Unfortunantly there is this other stupid piece of wood that was nailed to it and when I say nailed, I mean huge, thick monster nails!!!  So the first task was to remove the two pieces of wood.

 See the hammer behind the stump.  I spent a lot of time whacking the wood with the hammer.  If there was ever a time to get some aggression out, this was the time!!  I was whacking that sucker so hard!  I had sweat pouring out my pores!

Then came the crow bar.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.  I will seperate you!!!!

That little bit of separation took  F O R E V E R!!

What I was doing looked like so much fun to the girls so minus the hammer and crow bar, I let them try to separate it.  They decided...Hey if you can't seprate it, ride it!! They were having so much more fun than me. 

I finally did give up and ended up letting hubby take care of it.  Kind of funny cause he though it was going to be a breeze. 

 Unfortunately there were these weird draggon flies that were in the wood.  Some kind of indentation? What would I do without my sander!!

After sanding it I polyurethaned it with oil based poly and it really brought out the richness of the wood.  It's a seat outside for now but I have a feeling it's going to make it's way inside soon.