31 Days: I Love Even the Sound of His Name

 

There has been a wide array of things for which I've declared my love over the last 31 33 days.

Some of them have been absurdly trivial, and a few of them infinitely precious, and the majority probably would land somewhere in between.

And while all of my postings this month have been sincere, albeit often leaning toward the silly or superficial, there is nothing superficial about The One who loves me best, The One to whom I owe my very life.

* * *

Jesus has never once been too busy to visit with me or take my calls.  

He has never grown weary of my over and over again pattern of falling on my face because of foolish choices.  

He never rolls his eyes at me, or becomes inpatient with my weakness or angry at my frustration.

He just loves me.

He listens to me every single time I call on Him.  He protects me, and He provides me with all I need...and then He gives me things for which I wouldn't even have thought to ask.

When my heart is breaking into a thousand pieces and I feel all alone inside my own skin He's there.  He picks me up off the floor & places me in His lap, and He hugs me tight for as long as I need, and then He helps me to my feet and gives exactly all of the strength I need to do what I need to do.

And He holds my hand the whole time I'm doing it.

I'm not nearly as loving to Him.

sigh.

There are times when I've gone days and days without even speaking to Him.  Not because I was mad.  Just...disinterested.  distracted.  

Selfish.

But no matter how I behave He always behaves the same.  

He's the epitome of Consistency and Faithfulness and Integrity and Righteousness.

(and a million other things!)

Through the years our relationship has deepened and grown ever sweeter, and I have a trust and a confidence in Him that comes from all the living.  

I talk a lot around here about the people I love - and there are a lot of you.  

I have family who share my blood and have my heart, and know (most) all my dark places.  

I have friendships that are decades-old and strong and beautiful and priceless.

But nothing.  No one.  Could ever come close to filling my heart and my life like Jesus does every minute that I breathe.

With Him I have everything, and I love Him with all that is in me.

**To read the 31 Days of Things I Love series just click right here

31 Days: I Love Being Their Grandmother

  

 Love it.


With all my heart :)

**To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here

 



31 Days: I Love a Little Walk Down Random Lane

Question:  Can you even believe that the above picture was taken a mere 24 hours or so before the snow started falling here in our little Valley?  Now mind you, we didn't get any goofy annoying lovely accumulation with said precipitation, but there was a fair amount of noisy sleet and all manner of Facebook status updates.

Snow of any amount in the month of October is NEWS around these parts.



Question:  Does anyone out there close their front blinds and ensure the porch light is in the off position before darkness falls on Halloween for the simple reason that she neglected to buy candy for the precious little neighbor children?  Anyone? 

Anyone at all?


Would anyone like to clean up that mess of a run-on sentence for me?



Question:  Quick show of hands.  Who among us has found herself at the mall wearing jeans with orange peanut butter crackers smeared all over the leg. 


I know you're out there...?


Surely there are others amongst us with a sweet little bundle-o-boy-joy in the form of a grandson/son/nephew/brother/husband who has shared the snack-cracker love.


Come on, y'all, fess up...am I the only one to wear the same jeans twice, thus finding myself in unclean dungarees at the Food Court?



Question:  Before the preceding five seconds, when was the last time you heard anyone use the word "dungarees" in a sentence? 


I do believe this was my very first usage of said word. 


(It just came to me from Out Of The Blue.)


(It's a gift.  And a curse.)




Question:  Have you ever in your life consumed carrot soup?


I have!  I made some tonight per PW's suggestion, and I must say it turned out pretty well. 


I think I might have enjoyed it even more if I actually, you know, liked carrots.



Question:  Did anyone see this?  I'm not gonna lie.  It made me a cry a little.  It also made me want to call my brother immediately.  Unfortunately he was at work and that was not a viable option. 

But I still wanted to. 



Question:  Do you think this post this is completely and totally cheating in the whole staying-on-topic nature of my 31 Days series? 


If so, would ya still be my friend anyway?

Until tomorrow!

(unless you break up with me...)

 **To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here

31 Days: I Love Chasing Him Up & Down and All Around

It matters not whether Owen is outside hunting pumpkins in the neighbor's yard or exploring inside, either way he is not often still.

I forget how fascinating the world is to an 11-month-old.

...and how much energy they have.

...and how very pleased they are when they achieve their goals.

And certainly as time flies by and his first year feels like eleven minutes tops, that dogged determination so unique to our littlest ones figuring out the world can fold into blurry memory.

However, I will never, ever forget how utterly delicious it is to share in the adventure.

     ...or how yummy the kisses when I finally catch up!

Happy Sunday :)

**To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here

31 Days: I Love Saturdays

So here's the thing.

I have a terrible, terrible, I tell ya, case of blogger's block.  I don't know what it is about this whole tied-to-one-topic(sort've) scenario that has me so stymied, but STYMIED I AM.

Katie thought it was amusing earlier as I was whining and complaining and she realized I'd run out of things I love.  

I am not as amused.

It's not so much that I don't have anything else to love.  

There are gazillions of things of which I am fond, but I just feel so repetitive and redundant.  and maybe a little repetitive.

sigh.

So tonight I'm just gonna ramble for  a few and then find my remote.  I'm already a couple of extra days behind schedule in getting in my 31 days due to my writer's paralysis, so if I don't push through I fear we'll be sliding into Thanksgiving :)

Katie drove in for a little while today so she and the Littles could meet her new sweet nephew, Wyatt.  (Jeremy's brother's newest bundle of joy).  They visited for about 10 minutes, and then we went out for an enchilada (for Kate!) and fajita taco (for me!) or two.  

Audrey and Owen were so good but I'm not gonna lie.  Owen is approximately 11-1/2 months old and MESSY.  I always feel like the tip should be doubled just for the baby cleanup.  

Either way, the waitress was really sweet and no one sighed loud enough for us to hear, so I'm assuming all was well.

When we got back to the house we visited for another 10 minutes and they then hit the road so they could get to the Main Event, which was the oh-so-tiny and shiny-brand-new Baby Wyatt.

Even Naynay can't compete with that kind of wonderfulness. 

My favorite part of the day was right after they arrived.  I had carried Audrey inside from the car because she was all sad about realizing she had left something suddenly vitally important back at home, and Kate brought Owen in.  

After we sat down, with Kate in the chair across from me, Owen started reaching for me & smiling (awww...), so Katie put him down, and he walked right to me :)  

It was just maybe three or four steps with the typical new-walker landing into my arms at the end, but he was definitely walking.  As I scooped him up he snuggled right up with me laying his cheek on mine.  

It doesn't get any better than that, folks.

After they left I felt kinda lonely but mostly chilly, so I pulled out my trusty favorite black blanket (thanks again Kate!) and enjoyed an episode of Murder, She Wrote.  That Angela Lansbury is like a plate of warm cookies to me :)

One more thing.  My new sewing machine arrived today!!  I am so excited and yet also a little stressed thinking about all the stuff I need want to get done. 

For starters, that would be figuring out how to operate my new sewing machine :)

Have a great night, y'all!

**To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here

31 Days: I Love October Skies

Happy Friday :)

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31 Days: I Love Every Single Page

Approximately about maybe 18 years ago, give or take a couple of years, I found myself at Lifeway in the midst of a sale and picked up a Bible on the clearance table.  

It was, shall we say, inexpensive even at full price, and I think the final charge was in the neighborhood of about nine dollars and ninety-nine cents.  

plus tax.

Also of note, it was a "Living Bible" and while I was a touch exhilarated by my foray into paraphrasical Scriptural renderings I also felt more than 65% naughty for spending even $9.99 (plus tax) on a purchase of something that was not the Traditional King James.

Isn't it interesting how these things sometimes go?

That inexpensive impulse buy became my very best friend.

I still have my good ol' King James, and my kids bought be a lovely study Bible which I've really enjoyed.   

...and don't tell but I just might have recently purchased an NIV edition with rather large-ish print.

But the difference is kinda like comparing new friends you hope will be in your life for a while to the best friend you've had for like, a hundred years.

Apples and (less emotionally-attached) oranges, my friend.

The pages started falling away from the binder years ago.

I left it on the (covered) front porch when living on Plymouth and it rained.  No direct hits, but it was crazy windy & I can still find the pages that got wet that day.

I can also find the pages blurry from all the crying. 

...and I remember like it was yesterday sitting in my bed all night long unable to focus on words.  

So I just sat there holding it open to my chest, sometimes praying.  

and occasionally breathing.

...and that was enough.  He was enough.

This beloved Old Friend is all marked up from heartbreak-y times and joyous discoveries alike.  

Page after page is covered with Truth...and precious memories of how God revealed Truth to me as I opened them.

I take my new Bible with the larger words to church and Bible study, and I pull out the study Bible when digging in the Word, 

but when I just want to visit with my Father for a bit it's my old, falling apart inside the used-to-be-popular-mauve-ish zip-up-cover Friend that I reach for.

This fake-leather-bound paraphrasical rendering is more precious to me than I know how to articulate. 

...and I'm so grateful for all the learning, and growth, and wonderfully tender comfort I've received from these pages...and The Author who gifted me with them.

 **To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here

 

 

31 Days: I Love Being Their Mom

   



Have a great evening!

 **To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here

31 Days: I Love Poaching My Daughters' Photos

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31 Days: I Love Reliable Transportation

It will be eleven years in November since I bought what I have often referenced as my-only-asset-doggone it! when hollering at my teenagers who were doing things like letting friends literally run over it with their much larger bullying truck (Hi Darren- love ya!!) and allegedly spilling chocolate milk over every surface and cleaning it up as only an unmotivated 16-year-old could.

(I know that was an absurdly thorough run-on sentence but it's Monday and I'm not proud.)

I suppose I could have been nicer to my teenagers, but I like to think that my willingness to share with them my-only-asset-doggone-it! and allow them to contribute in abundance to the total mileage reflected on the odometer -  with only occasional complaining/hollering - balances things out.

Prior to my beloved car I had a sweet ride that had belonged to Mamaw Farmer.  I was terribly grateful for her generosity, and it was a nice car...but when it was time to replace it I must admit to being excited.  

I walked onto the car lot on my lunch hour and by the time I got back to the office I owned a still-smelled-new-but-better-because DEPRECIATION car.  

The men around me were shocked.  and horrified.  and extremely disapproving of my impulsiveness and lack of spending at least MONTHS investigating and shopping around.

I'm not a shopping-arounder.  I'm a get-it-over-with-er.  So I got it done.

I haven't regretted it one single day.

She has been nothing short of wonderful.  In all these eleven  years she hasn't caused me any grief that I didn't deserve by wearing her OUT, taking her everywhere with me.  We've done some driving, she and I, from Miami to Lake Placid...as well as all over tarnation.  

It's not her fault she's tired.  At 133,530 miles I'm tired too.  If she wants a new battery here & there, or maybe a new set of tires once in a while I say she's deserved it.

I'm praying that she'll give me another year or two before starting to really feel her age.  We don't gallivant like in the Glory Days (neither of us are as young as we used to be), and I let her rest a good bit now...just hanging out in the driveway sunning herself...so things are looking good for our immediate future.

But I can say right now, if she did give out today and find herself unable to go another mile I wouldn't blame her.

I would miss her like the old friend she has turned out to be, and I'd be very concerned about how in the world I'm going to replace her...

But I wouldn't be mad.  She's been good to me, and I'm thankful for the time we've had together.

Thanks, Old Gal, for getting the girls and me everywhere we've needed to go for these last eleven years.  Through ice storms & blizzards, and wind and rain we have been safe and warm...and we looked a bit sporty in the process.

(These pics are from today...doesn't she look GOOD??)

Happy Monday :)

**To read more of the 31 Days of Things I Love just click right here