Woody Woodpecker

Woody Woodpecker lives in our back yard! He is frequently seen flying from tree to tree looking for yummy specimens for a tasty treat. My hubby was able to get a pretty clear picture of him this last week! Enjoy! I love to hear him peck away......

Since it is rainy and cloudy and dark outside today.....I thought I would post a happy, sunny picture as a 'toast' to my 'happy heart' today! Happy not because of 'circumstances' but because of 'WHOSE' I am! It really is all about HIM!

DayBook~

Outside my window~ rain, rain, rain. It rained all night ~ it is a pretty sound with a slight breeze, very warm, seventy degrees outside. I have every window in the house open this morning!

I am thinking ~ How blessed I am. I am a daughter of the KING. I am His and He is mine. I have a godly adorable husband. I have been given six children who I love. I have 8 grandchildren (one soon to be born!) who make me smile. I have loving family on both sides! I have a wonderful church family. I have everything I need and way beyond! God has provided a warm and cozy home. I am blessed beyond measure!

I am wearing~ bluejeans, black short sleeved tee, and bare feet ~ I might be changing into shorts shortly!

I am thankful for~ LIFE! All the good, bad and ugly of it. He has a plan and purpose for all of it. I trust HIM!

From the learning rooms ~ we will continue to work on Hannah's sewing project this afternoon. Her skirt is done. She is working on Rebekah's now. We hope to wear them for the Thanksgiving season!!!

From the kitchen ~ Gourmet Chicken and baked potatoes, glazed carrots and a green salad. No dessert...cutting sugar!

I am creating ~ a surprise gift for a young friends Birthday!

I am going ~ to make applesauce and apple pies (for the freezer for winter) this morning as Hannah works on school work near me.

I am reading ~ has slowed down big time. School is in progress, so my extra reading time is minimal. I still read at least 20 minutes every night before I go to bed though. I am #3 on the waiting list for Francine Rivers New Book at our local Library also. She is my favorite author~

I am hoping ~ the LORD saves those I am praying for!

I am hearing ~ ducks quacking as they fly over head. They are headed south. I love watching them in formation!

Around our home ~ I am going to clean out the frig and wash it down this morning, pulling from the wall and doing under it too. Also need to get the rest of my winter things out of storage and put rest of my summer things in a tub for the attic. (I hate this job)

One of my favorite things ~ a good cup of coffee with my Bible and journal early in the morning.

~ Marriage Monday ~

I love being married to Dave. We are celebrating our 40 years of marriage this year! May 16, 1970 we were married in Canoga Park, California. It was a sunny gorgeous California day. A day girls dream of. It was simple and elegant ~ a Church wedding in the Church I grew up in. All my loved ones were there. My sister was my maid of honor. It was a wonderful day as I married my very best friend in all the world.

Forty years have flown by. Babies born. Many events. We've moved, and moved again. We have traveled, made lifelong friends, served in ministry together, raised a family, and enjoyed our grandchildren.

In May my thoughtful hubby took me to Hilton Head, South Carolina for a week of fun and celebration. It was wonderful and we made so many good memories, riding our bikes, laying on the sand, swimming in the pool, eating out, long walks on the beach. Remembering and reminding each other of sooo many past happy (& sad too) days and moments together. "The best is yet to be", Dave kept saying to me.

On our last day....we hit a bump. Life is like that. Messy and not predictable. I was sad to leave South Carolina and so was he. We loved our week together far from home.

The amazing thing to me came the next day! My honey took me aside and said I have something to tell you Sherry. I have another gift for you. Since this is our 40th year together.......I want to extend our celebration. So I commit to make this year extra special.

And HE has. We are ending week 22 this week. He has written me 5 times a week for 22 weeks ~ long notes. Notes of poetry, notes of remembrances, notes of Scripture, notes of love, notes filled with memories and notes of times of struggles. This is good stuff, hey, this is GREAT STUFF......I am sure it would be a 'best seller' if it was a book.

I have cried. I have laughed. I have been so moved!

I am grateful. I am blessed. Yes, I have written him notes too....not as many.....not even one a week, I am sad to say. He says that is okay. Hey, HE is the real writer in our family!

Dave is right. When you love the LORD, the BEST is yet to come. Do we have 'our moments'? Yes, we do. Yet, God's GRACE is our HOPE.

Thank you Lord for loving me so much to give me such a wonderful husband, one who loves YOU most of all and because of that fact ~ is the love of my life!!!

Thankful to HIM who is faithful, Sherry Lynette

PS. Next week ~ part 2.

Why?

We ask ourselves 'why'. Why are things all turned upside down? Why is my life not going according to plan? What is going on in me? What is going on at work, school, church, our neighborhood, with our friends? You name it. There is a mystery to LIFE. Mystery. Why? What is happening to my life? What is happening to those around me, those I love?

My plan was to graduate and marry a Californian and live my years out in sunny California. God had other plans. He loves me. He wants my good as well as His glory. I spent almost 5 years in Germany with snowy hard winters, far away from family and friends. God was at work. He had a plan. He knew what HE was doing. I didn't. I cried. I wanted to be back in California. I was miserable at first. Then God got my attention. He had a plan. He was using 'Germany' for my good. I came to find that I can be 'home' where ever Christ is. My HOPE is really in HIM. Home is not a place but a PERSON! Yes, I have a home here. I enjoy it, yet it is temporary. My real HOME is not here on earth. It is in Heaven.

God taught me so many lessons in Germany. He has taught me so many lessons since then too. He is up to something in my life. The two questions really are "What is God doing?" and "What is my response to it?". Those are the questions!

Here is a quote from Paul Tripp that I love~

"Are there places where you’re crying for the grace of God and you’re not realizing that you’re getting it? But it’s not the grace of relief and it’s not the grace of release; it’s the boiling grace of personal transformation. Again, God will take you where you do not want to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own. In those unexpected moments, don’t run away from your Lord, run to him. You are not being forsaken you are being loved.

What does all this really mean? Well here it is! You can look mystery in the face and have hope. You can live in the middle of a life that you don’t really understand, that you can’t really figure out and you can rest. You can deal with the unexpected with joy. You can accept mystery; and you can do it because you can look through the clouds of mystery and see a God of love who is actually near when he seems far. He’s actually active when he seems passive; who is doing something very good right in the middle of when things seem that they’re going very badly.

Are there places when you just can’t figure out what God is doing? Are there places where it feels that he’s not near? Where right now in your everyday experience are you dealing with the unexpected? God is at work in your life. He hasn’t turned His back on you. You see, you can accept mystery because in the middle of the unexpected there is love and grace and help to be found. God is right smack dab in the middle of your unexpected moment and he is up to something very, very good."

Good words for a day when my heart cries 'why ?' Good words for you too when that day is your day! Run to the Cross....it is our HOPE !

Trusting He who is Faithful, Sherry Lynette

Fall Saturday ~

Today is Saturday! Our Saturdays are usually so busy, busy, busy. We have lots going on, on our Saturdays. Today we were able to rest and do some fun things, like go watch Volleyball.

We went to the Championship Game for our OBCA Girls VolleyBall Team. It was fun. The team that wins the most out of five games wins. We won the first game. We lost the second game. We won the third game. We won the fourth game. SO WE WON the CHAMPIONSHIP!

God was gracious to our team and our team won.

They played hard. They had good team spirit....encouraging each other when in error. They showed character when they lost the second game. No booing. No complaining. They were a good testimony for the Lord, to the other team and all those present. I am glad we were able to go see it!

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. So no pictures to post! Yet, I can see it in my head.

Caleb keeping the score. Steve Hohman handing the trophy to Michele Love, Coach. The girls hugging and laughing and yes, some tears too!

Congratulations to Open Bible Christian Academy on winning the Championship! Well played, girls! We are proud of you! Yes, God is gracious and HE is GOOD!

Grateful to be a daughter of the KING, Lynette

Be Affectionate~

We are told over and over again to 'love one another' ! What does that mean? A piece of it means we are to be affectionate. It comes easy to some of us. It comes with work for others of us. Nevertheless we are to express love to those around us. Why? Because we do as our Father does. God is love. He is my Father....I want to be like HIM. Sooooooo............here are some ideas I enjoy~

Kiss your husband in a place that you don't normally kiss him. Perhaps the tip of his ear, his elbow, wherever. And, of course, more than one kiss is good too. Be spontaneous ~ he will love it!

Happiness is like a kiss - it feels best when you give it to someone else. Author Unknown

When your husband is sitting with his back to you, sneak up and give him a kiss on the back of his neck. Just do it!

Now a soft kiss - Aye, by the kiss, I vow an endless bliss. John Keats

Pray for a sense of play, humor and fun in your marriage. Being serious all the time makes everyone a bit cranky, so ask the Lord to infuse your marriage with fun and laughter.

Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it. Henry Ward Beecher

Laugh at yourself today, and tomorrow! Tell a joke even if it falls flat. My kids laugh at my flat jokes! Ask the LORD to help you lighten up! Smile more!

There is no remedy for love but to love more. Henry David Thoreau

Hug a child, smile at a teen ager, laugh out loud at something funny, pat an elderly friend on the back. Give yourself away. You will make a difference in life.

Tell your family and friends 'why' you love them ~ think ~ then 'say' it! We are told over and over again in the Bible to 'love one another'.....just do it!

Grateful to be HIS, Lynette

~Marriage Monday on Thursday~

Since I missed Monday to blog on marriage, I thought today I would! Flexible is good!

I answered the phones at work today. I was in the outer office enjoying the comings and goings all day long as I typed or answered the ringing phones. One of my friends came in and said "Hi" as she was going about her business, not as 'peppy' as usual. So I asked "things okay?". She alluded to the fact that things go haywire once in awhile in marriage. This was one of those days. We chatted for just a minute or two about marriage and I reminded her we don't always have to agree with each other to have a fabulous marriage.....differences are good and that is okay.

I just have to say it!

Life is messy. We don't live 'perfect' lives, or live in a 'perfect' world.

Cars break.

Kids vomit,

Water heaters leak,

Friends forget.

Spaghetti sauce splashes all over the new wallpaper,

Kids break lamps,

Dogs pee where they are not supposed to,

Children color on newly painted walls,

Hubbies get tied up at work,

Moms get loud,

We get tired and cranky,

Teenagers don't call,

Homework gets eaten by the dog,

Cookies for a surprise get burned,

A friend doesn't show up,

Broken bones happen,

People over sleep,

Rain ruins the hair-do for the date,

Sickness hits at an inopportune time,

Repairs take the money we planned for a surprise,

Spills leave stains.

Clothes rip.

Sweaters get lost.

We miss the bus.

Arguments erupt.

We lose our way.

Friends die.

We get disappointed.

We forget a bill.

Someone misunderstands us.

.......Lots and lots of things HAPPEN!

To all of us!

Life happens.

Messy at times--I remember so many times one of our babies filling a diaper to overflowing just as we got them strapped into the car seat~ dripping 'stuff' all over the car seat and our clean outfit ~ already running late for Church and my hubby is the Pastor! Whoa.....what can I say? Life happens.

I said to my friend, "Dave and I don't always agree on everything. If we did, one of us is un-necessary. Hey---I don't even agree with myself all the time.....ask my kids. I have been known to change my own opinion more than once!!"

Agreement is not what makes a fabulous marriage.

Commitment is.

Love is.

Respect is.

Forgiveness is.

A willingness to work through the things that really matter and let the 'little things' life is made of 'go'.

We are not perfect yet we know 'the Perfect One'. He gave HIS life for us. As a wife and Mom I am investing my life in those I love as I come to know HIM better and better each day. Center on HIM and the things that have eternal value.

Allow yourself to laugh at yourself and the funny things that happen around you. Love people and not 'things'. Tell them you love them, even when you don't agree!

Life is short. What do you want to be remembered for? Grouchy and impatient? Or loving and fun to be with? Short-tempered or long suffering? Sweet or bitter? Frowning or smiling (ugh!)..".did my kids really ask me why I had my mad face on?" (yes...to my shame..)

Life happens.

How will you respond? How will I respond?

I am glad 'chatting' with my friend reminded me of something today. My day does not have to go well for me; or my hubby and I to fully agree about everything to be happy! I already am happy because of WHO lives in me! How delightful!

Happy to be a daughter of the KING ~ Lynette

Greenville, South Carolina ~ Part 2

Front of their new Church Building they meet in ~
PopPop and Sammy playing together after Church ~
Happy is what PopPop and Sammy are!!!

What a time of JOY we had. Great preaching of God's WORD! Delicious lunch provided by the Church family. We loved our time with our sisters and brothers in Christ in Greenville!

Greenville, South Carolina

Rob preparing for Church Service~ Sunday
Hug a bunch after service ~
Genna, Sammy and Jeannette playing at the park ~ on Thursday
Thursday at the park....Genna and PopPop
Alex and PopPop ~
Sherry, Genna, Calvin, Tommy, Rob, Sammy, Jeannette & Alex
Hiking at Jones Falls State Park
This picture does not show how BIG the rock Alex is on really is!
Sammy ~ our cutie!

Calvin ~ always on the move!
Genna and MiMi ~ posing...ha
Tommy and Sammy playing on the scooters~ at the park.

We had so much fun in Greenville, South Carolina. We went to see our kids. We went to the State Park, hiking. We sat and chatted. We went to Church at Greenville Presbyterian Church. We enjoyed our family ~ our kids and grandkids. God is so good! I personally wish we lived closer, but that is not the LORD's plan. You see Rob is a Pastor and so is his Dad. HIS way is perfect! I am grateful for our times together! We are so blessed ~ FOREVER!

Thinkings.....

If you are like me, I like it when things go according to the plan. Neat. Easy. Organized. Planned. No hitches. Just easy peasey. Why am I surprised when I am reminded life is not that way? Life is messy. Life is turbulant. Life is real. I can be honest with God and with myself!

'But he said to her (Job to his wife), "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.' Job 2:10

I like Job! I want to be like Job! I must admit though that I understand his wife's struggle, even though she is way wrong. I have never said what she did, yet I have known the frustration of trying to 'figure' things out. God tells me in His word that somethings are not to be figured out. We walk by faith not by sight. He knows what He is doing. I can rest. I must rejoice in the process of what He is doing. Sight is way easier yet it is not the walk of faith for the christian.

So I wait. I trust. I pray. I hold on to my Lord and learn to lean on Him. I seek His face. His grace is abundant to me. He knows, He cares, He is in control, and He will glorify HIMSELF in my life as I run to HIM! So I run to HIM daily and ask HIM to help me be like Job ~ trusting Him who is faithful!

Gratefully His, Lynette

PS. Here I am...'humming' again! It's a good thing!

Cape May, NJ ~ Learning to Watch Birds

Our Expert Bird Watchers invited Dave & I to Cape May, NJ

Sherry and Kim having a blast watching the Sharp Shinned Hawks ~

The love of my life and me!

White Swans, so graceful and pretty to watch ~

A favorite spot of Chip's to bird watch ~ so very interesting!

Beautiful~

Me learning to 'focus' ~ takes practice too.

Learning from the "BEST" ~ Thank you Kim ~ I'm grateful!
October 7 & 8, 2010
Cape May, New Jersey

Marriage Monday~

Today is Marriage Monday ~

"Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the Church and gave himself up for her." Ephesians 5:24 -25

Scripture tells us that we, as wives, are to submit in EVERYTHING to our own husband. RESPECT is what our husband appreciates. Husbands are told to LOVE their wife. God knows that is what speaks to a wife...love. (More about this another day) So many women love their husbands yet do not respect them, which is what their husband wants most. Love and respect are two different aspects of marriage. Go look them up in the dictionary...I'm sure you will be surprised!

As we think about marriage and how we are with our husbands it should cause us to ponder why we do what we do. Do I show respect? Do I esteem my husband? Do I lift him up in the eyes of my kids? Do I show proper attention? A man longs to be respected. God has made him this way and God has given me to him as a means of grace in this area. I must confess at times I fail to do these things and it makes me sad. What if the Church didn't listen to Jesus? What if Jesus was shown no respect by believers? It would be a broken and sad church wouldn't it?

We are wives who need to take GOD at his WORD! We often don't have the witness in our world that we desire because we don't respect our husbands the way God calls us to. As a believing wife, I need to run to the CROSS and confess my failings, knowing God in his grace and mercy forgives me. He also helps me exhibit Christ-likeness in my respect for my husband.

May we all commit to live as God asks and enables us to live. Yes, I will forget, but that isn't the point. The point is I 'want' to live for HIM! Isn't it great to know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Respecting my husband because God asks me to!

I'm committed....I hope you are too.

Faithfully His, Lynette

Stand by Your MAN ~ Part 2

Yesterday we were talking about watching your man ~ he likes that. Yet, we need to watch how we watch our hubby. No nagging, barking or harping! Men tune out when wives do that.....not very sweet of us wives to do it either. I always hate it when I do such things!

Go read yesterdays blog so I don't have to review.

~Take the log out of your own eye.

That allows us to see clearly (ever had a piece of dust in your eye?) AND

Allows us to correct humbly (which is the only way to correct our husband)

~ Should you watch it, drop it or over look it?

-Over look

-Forbear

-Share it and drop it

-Lovingly persist

"He said that a wife, if she is very generous, may allow that her husband lives up to perhaps eighty percent of her expectations. There is always the other twenty percent that she would like to change, and she may chip away at it for the whole of their married life with out reducing it by very much. She may, on the other hand, simply decide to enjoy the eighty percent, and both of them will be happy." Elisabeth Elliot ~ Love has a Price Tag

Remember what 1 Peter 4:8 says: Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. When you love someone you choose to over look short comings.

Wives are not only submissive wives, they are also loving sisters. There is a unique way for a submissive wife to be a caring sister towards her imperfect brother-husband. She will, from time to time, follow Galatians 6:1 in his care: "If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness." She will do that for him.

Will you? Will I? As sisters in the Lord we are to spur one another on to love and good deeds. I want to do that and I hope you do too.

Faithfully His, Lynette

PS. Are you not glad God gave us 1John 1:9 ~ As a wife I need that verse!

Stand by your MAN~

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make a helper fit for him." Genesis 2:18

"For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man." 1 Corinthians 11:8-9

Marriage ~ we love it. We talk about it. We get frustrated at times in it. We invest in it. We enjoy it. We are happy when others join in it. We cry when people break it. We are surprised by it. We are hurt by it. We are enriched by it. We grow in it. We struggle at times in it. We love it.

1. Watch your Man
~What is a friend? One who will be a 'real' blessing to my soul? One who tells me that which I desire to hear? "Is it enough that he would spend his time and energies in my service? This comes far short of my desire....The friend for my case is one, who will watch over me with open rebuke....the genuineness of friendship without this mark is more than doubtful, its usefulness utterly paralyzed." ~ Charles Bridges, Proverbs

~Make your husband your friend....there is a difference you know!

~God has gifted you to watch your man.

2. Watch how you watch

~Do not nag, harp and bark

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. Proverb 21:9

A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike. Proverbs 27:15

"Quarrelsomeness is the habitual critiquing of male leadership, expressed in the tone and spirit of of sarcasm rather than respect for male leadership. It is how the good gift of female guidance expresses itself when twisted and controlled by sinful self centered-ness rather than by the Spirit and by love. It harps and barks and nags and belittles the man and his position as leader." --John Ensor ~ Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart (I believe every woman should read this book before she gets married and every year there after ~ it should be required!)

~Take the log out of your own eye.

"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "let me take the speck out of your eye," when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." Matthew 7:3-5

Convicting isn't it? I need to hear this often, you need to hear this often, we all need to hear it often. Enough for today......more tomorrow!

In need of God's Grace today, faithfully His, Lynette