Love After Marriage

Really?  After?  YES!

We have been blessed since March of 2013, when we participated in Love After Marriage for the first time.  Since that time we've attended three times, attended leader training, facilitated three DVD workshops and can't wait to do more.  What is different about this marriage program?  One word.  Authenticity.  Here's two more.  Nothing Hidden.  It's really that simple, and yet hard.  It is really hard for us to shake off the limitations we put on ourselves through shame and fear.  Will anyone still like me if they knew the "real" me?  Surely not.  The answer is pretty surprising when you try it.  For real. Check out the personal stories (or testimonies) on their website.  www.nothinghidden.com

Here I am....again?

 Here I am, again.  I don't really know why I am here.  Some of the reasons I'm here are the same reasons I've been gone for nearly four years.  Yes, I've been busy.  Yes, I've been needing to write.  So I am going to start again.  Here.  Ready. Set.... naw.  I can't do it.  What am I thinking?  If I start writing again, then I will HAVE to keep it up, and I really don't want something else to add to my already overwhelmed to-do lists.  Poor lists!

There's really no NEED for another blogger.  The internet is already overSTUFFED with them.  Some can write, and some...well, they have nice links. :-)
I can't tell you how many times I've read a post that I thought...they could write this in fewer words or at LEAST SPELL THE WORDS CORRECTLY! (I did really shout that, didn't I?) Or grammar! Stop. The world doesn't need another armchair critic.  At least they are putting themselves out there, right?  Me, I'm scanning the Facebook feed to see what I'm missing out on in life.  Really.  I rarely read any other blogs, because I'm not looking to see the "church face" that people want to display.  You know what a church face is? Right?!  That face that says "I'm ok, so don't ask" :-)  Yeah, tell me how you're making perfectly formed and photographed dishes or crafts while your kids are screaming and dirty and just want a minute of love and attention.  Yeah, I do it too.  My kids know it takes awhile to get Mom away from the screen sometimes. Whether it's Facebook, Kindle Book, or QuickBooks.  It sucks you  into it's web.  The Matrix, I like to call it.  Welcome to the Matrix.  In here you don't know where you are or who you are, really...or do you? 

Value

WE hold these truths to be self-evident...

In a country that barely reminds me anymore of these lofty words, it stirs my heart to read them again. It so much feels like today that our attitude is much different. What can I get for nothing? How can I get out of working and still live? Of course I fight these feelings daily myself (and might be the reason I am blogging now, and not working...ahem...but I digress).

She may be 235 years old, and we may have become so accustomed to freedom that we take it for granted. I am certain, however, that this is the best deal on the planet.

We gathered together on Independence Day to hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud on the courthouse steps. Fine words. What passed through my mind was the gravity of the meaning of this document. Pledging, "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" to this cause, 56 men solemnly vowed. For decades, and even centuries since, people from all walks of life have invested the same, for the future of this country. It is only because of those willing to sacrifice, those willing to lay down their own comfort for the benefit of the rest, that I am able to enjoy the freedoms I do today.

I salute them.

God Bless America.

"...The best day of my life! "

The first day of Fresh Air started out slow. THIS time, I had arrived on the bus with the kids, too! THIS time we had two children come for a visit. D, our favorite girl, and J our first boy in years! So it took awhile for the mama to get herself caught up on life. Particularly since we didn't get home until just before sunset.

Of course we were out of waffles and pancakes, so we pulled out the irons...
























...and made waffles! (I tripled the batch, so hopefully there will be enough to last a day or two)


















But the children found ways to entertain themselves...

a snake....


















....a moth























Then I remembered Grand Caverns was having a special discount for Library Card holders under 18.
So we packed up and went!

Photos in the museum...

Then home for a late supper, and a brushfire,
(thanks to my life scout)
and bonfire...with the requisite s'mores....

Sitting on the patio my new visitor exclaimed "This is the best day of my life, ever!"

I guess it turned out all right ...