Just some thoughts....

My Father has a path laid out for me...

He has a life plan for me, a plan that will not harm me...

Much like these tracks, when I stay on track...

His plan is amazing.

It is when I let other things get in the way and I get derailed

from His almighty plan that my ride is not smooth...

And once that happens, I do really stupid things...like

sometimes I try to hide from His presence...I peak out and see Him and much like a child...I don't think He sees me. I do things that I know isn't in His plan for me...

and then try to hide from Him.

Once I come out of hiding, confess my wayward ways, and restore my relationship with Him...I

always wonder why I waited so long....

And then other times...I wonder what He sees in me? Why is it that He cares for me so much? What did I do to deserve His love and care?

And then I remember...I don't deserve His love!

He cares for me. He loves me. He protects me.

He keeps His arms around me and wants to keep me safe.

And He has a plan for me...

What an amazing God He is!!!

I can't praise Him enough for what He did on the cross for me.

I can't imagine what my life would be like if ...

I did not have Him to guide me...

I could not come to Him daily...

And I did not have His loving care for me...

Praise His Holy and Magnificent Name.

This is my Father's world...

This is my Father's world and to my listening ear...all nature sings and round me rings...the music of the spheres.

I was reminded of this song in church this morning...It is His world...and we can't get so used to our surroundings, that we fail to realize the splendor and majesty of all His creation.

When I was growing up, we sang another song at the closing of every service...I was in the choir and we closed the service for years with it...

found in Psalm 19...May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O God, my strength and my Redeemer...

I never fully understood those words when we sang them week after week until later, after I became a Christ-follower.

I try to be aware of the words of my mouth...but the meditations of my heart? Are the things that are in my heart acceptable to my God and Savior? Today, I paused and wondered. I know growing up that wasn't the case...have I grown in that area?

Today, Father, let my words reflect what is in my heart. And let my words bring praise to You.

In Him we find freedom....

I have always been amazed when I have looked at the creative engineering that was used to construct this bridge at Deception Pass. It seems that every time we go over it, I want to take another picture of it.

We are celebrating Independence Day tomorrow. There will be activities with families, parades, arts/crafts shows, and a myriad of noise and fireworks.

It is important that we take time to realize the source of our freedom.

Jesus is our bridge to His Father, God. In Him is our freedom. In Him is our peace. In God's creative genius, He constructed a plan for each of us to reach Him, through His son, Jesus...

Tomorrow, on July 4th, take time from the activities with families, parades, arts/crafts shows, and a myriad of noise and fireworks to praise Him for the freedom that is ours.

Pray!

~Pray for our president that he will call on God for wisdom in leading...

~Pray that our men and women are in harms way on foreign soil will be protected...

~Pray that God and His precepts and laws will be followed in our nation...

~Pray for our nation, pray that we will be humbled and seek His wisdom and seek to follow His plan for our nation...

~Pray for peace...in our nation...in Israel...in the Middle East...

My prayer for you is that you know the peace of the Savior and will seek to follow Him.

Happy 4th of July

Highlights from our trip....

Flight....

We worked on Friday, got on the airporter shuttle and got to Seatac with only 3 hours to wait for our flight. We got on at 12:40Am...flew into Minneapolis @ 5:30 AM. We were the early birds!

Car Rental....

We went to Budget Car Rental...where the clerk tried to talk us up to a larger vehicle...we held firm. We were told to check out the car and we did...hmmmm....how do you find all of the dents...through the dirt...oh, and the door opener didn't work....Back to the desk.

Okay...new car...want to upgrade? Nope....New car and off we went.

Stop at IKEA to pick up some things for Jane...

it was 6:15...IKEA (reported by Jane) opened at 8:30. Let's go to Mall of America...old people walk in the mall early...after we walked around, glazed eyes, we had looked at Lego Land...tried to see if McDonald's was open and finally opted for chairs in the mall...and Steve closed his eyes and dozed...I talked to our girls on the phone.

8:00...how long do we have to wait? Let's go to IKEA...

Off we went where we found that IKEA wasn't going to open for 1 1/2 hours. Steve put his seat back, I thought...good idea...and we slept soundly in the IKEA parking lot until 9:30...woke up, had IKEA breakfast...and went to get her 2 items. Item 1...no problem....Item 2...longer than the car...we bought item 1 and headed for Fargo....

Car #2...oh no...PROBLEMS....

Big Problems!

I was driving...and a light went on...Steve checked the book and it said...have engine checked. We called Budget from Alexandria...about 1 1/2 hours from Fargo...they said, drive it to Fargo and get another car from airport....

by Fargo the blinking light was on full time...the engine light was on full time....

Fargo....

We made it...we traded in our Accent (#2) and got an HHR, drove to Betty and Carl's where we met Jane, Simon, and Mazie....

Was God in charge???? 3 cars....1 with problems....Oh yes!

We were able to load our car and Andy's to move a load to Grand Forks...the Accent...not so much help!

On our way to Omaha later in the week, we would never have gotten all of the things in...Mazie and Simon come with a full zoo of stuffed animals not to mention some of the other things we had to move.

And another plus? Nana rode in the back seat all the way to Omaha, reading and watching a movie with her favorite kids in the world.

Fargo...unfortunately no pictures...or very few

We had fun reading, bubble baths, but mostly we helped Jane and Andy. Andy is moving to Grand Forks for a year in his residency program and Jane will continue to live in Fargo. They will both know I-29 by heart at the end of the year. Pray for them as they go through this year.

Jane also had her birthday party at a local motel pool with a slide. We had a great time. The first time that I went squealing down the slide...Andy's family probably said...oh, that's why Jane isn't so quiet! Then, Simon wanted Jane's attention and screamed the length of the pool...JJJJJAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE...and they thought...and there is no chance of quiet grandchildren....we do loud well!

Omaha Zoo...Majors...Bird House Building...

On Saturday, the family has major chores to do and so Betsy and I stayed home doing some major chores while Steve, Jon, Simon, and Mazie headed for the Omaha Zoo! And it looks like and sounded like they all had fun!

Monkeys....hippo statues....Poppa's favorite...the elephants...

The Merry-go-round...for everyone...and a perfect poser...oh, she does remind me of my mom in so many ways...posing is just one of them...she works the camera!

Poppa helped the kids make the bird houses. When I came out...Simon set up the picture....He, too, has the whole camera posing down. The arm around his sister...that happens a lot.

What a blessing to have all of these memories!

Birthday Party...Omaha Slides...June 28

A happy birthday to you ........ A happy birthday to you

May you feel Jesus near .... every day of the year

A happy birthday to you ..... A happy birthday to you

May it be the best year that you've ever had!

Mazie is 3!

Well, actually on June 30, but this was her monkey party with us!

Betsy has become an amazing creator with her cakes for her family of 10

She had a good time! She opens presents like Betsy while her brother opens them like his dad. Mazie really wanted to walk around and show every one of them to her family while Simon...he wanted to get into the bags.

Then we went to Omaha Old Town to the art fair that they had...

Pirate hats...it was hot and it was "rest" time because this family doesn't take naps!!! According to the young man in this picture...

Painting was always fun....

Yes, those are the eyes of a very tired boy...but he just kept painting!

Flashing skirts, fast music, and Mazie was mezmerized....

Omaha Slides

Then Jon said...we're going to the slides...so I wanted to see them...

I wasn't really planning on going down...I had a skirt on for pete's sake...
And then I gave Jon the camera

Simon flies down the slide!

Nana and Mazie flew down the slide...take a look at the hair...we were

FLYING!!!!!!!

Poppa went down too...screaming okay it was more

OOOOOOOOOO all the way down!

Then I went down by myself...flying not only down the slide but almost flipped off of the slide and landed on my knees and hands in the rocks at the bottom of the slide....Oh, my dear, precious son-in-law....loved it. No pictures but forever etched in his memory...this will come back....

Another very fun day....

Our last day of our trip....

Mazie and Simon stayed with us so we got up and watched a little cartoons and got ready to leave. Betsy and Jon came over and we went down to the dining room...We found that the buffet had not been set up. When we saw the waiter, we asked about the buffet and in a very harried voice with actions that matched...no one had shown up...he was cook, dishwasher, waitstaff, and he kept saying...I'll do my best.

NOTE: Miss Mazie can be quite dramatic...she chose to roll around on the floor at the mall posing frequently for her photo opportunity!

When he did take our order he was very honest. Steve ordered oatmeal and he said, I have only made that one other time so I can't promise that it was good. So Steve said...how about dry oats and raisen bran. The guy said...really...that sounds horrible....it's Steve's breakfast fare each day.

Simon's bear lost his voice so we went to Build a Bear workshop to have that fixed. Steve and I composed a new message only to have Simon say....NO I want the same message. Betsy (having heard this message 1 or 2 million times) remembered it. We re-recorded the same message and then Sparkie Bear had a bath, got a new outfit, and off we went to Betsy and Jon's.

It always amazes me that no matter how long we stay...I always have a tough time saying good bye unless I have my next date picked out. I didn't. I cried.

You know, we have always thought that our girls were a gift from God. God has given us 2 sons-in-law, Jon and Andy, who just increased our gifts from Him. And Simon and Mazie...it is almost over-whelming to realize how much we love these gifts.

When we left, Simon and Mazie both said...don't go! Stay here! Can we come with you? It brought back memories when Betsy and Jane learned to talk and could tell us...please don't leave. It ripped my heart out then...I can't even tell you what it did for me on this day!

Praise Him for keeping our loved ones in His sight! God has blessed our trip...we loved being with ones who love us. He has and will continue to be so faithful!