Updates and Nothin' Much :D

Hi, everyone! Happy Friday! :)

Aren't these beautiful?? Kenn just brought them home to kick off our anniversary weekend. :D It's on Sunday; it will be 12 years, officially. :D They are GLORIOUS flowers - although "peace roses" are deceptively named; they should be called "thorns of death" roses! :D Thank you, My Love, for the beautiful flowers. And for 12 years of ups, downs, and sideways - and love.

OK, you wanted to know how Rhonda's meeting went - so I had her write an update! Here it is:

The meeting I had with my principal and coworker went incredibly well. It really shouldn't be such a suprise. God promises to hear his children when they call to Him.
I had many people praying for me and could definately feel the prayers as they went up. I spent a couple of minutes before going in to the meeting praying once again that God would give me wisdom as I went in.

I don't think it is necessary to tell the contents of the meeting, but I will say this. God held my tongue when I needed to be quiet and wisdom to see what needed to be said at the right time. I truly felt God's presence in the room with me. Because of Him I could walk out of the meeting knowing that I had been obedient to God and as loving as one can be in that situation!

Thanks to EVERYONE who lifted me up that day! I am incredibly blessed to have people care even when they do not know me personally! I pray that God would pour down on you blessings far beyond anything you could ever comprehend!

Rhonda Binion

So there you have it! :) God is GOOD, all the time!!! :D If I don't post again this weekend, it's because I'm not feeling like doing so. :D Have a WONDERFUL weekend, my dear friend! BE BLESSED!!!!

Good morning! :)

Peonies!

How are you doing today? WHAT are you doing today? :D I just got done planning for my class tonight - nothing like procrastinating, is there. :D I had a hard time getting motivated yesterday; I've been sneezing my head off, and been tired a lot lately. So, I didn't do EVERYTHING I should have yesterday - and am paying for it today. :D

Well, things are growing quickly outside now! It's a beautiful day here in middle TN again, and the next wave of flowers is here. :) I thought I'd share some of God's beauty with you; I don't have much to say today, except to remind you to take a moment to notice what God has put into your day to bless you with. Maybe a flower? Or a person you don't say thank-you to often enough? Take a moment to count your blessings, praise God for them, and bless someone else! :) Enjoy, dear friends!!! YOU ARE LOVED, BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED!

These are going to be gold lillies SOON!

These are mini carnations. :)

Oh, what a BEAUTIFUL day!!!

THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE; I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow. What a GLORIOUS day it is here! The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, and God is on His throne. I am SO blessed!

Yesterday was my friend, Angela,'s birthday. Last year I kind of started something - if you've followed my stampin' blog, you saw the results! :D - of getting to choose whatever we wanted to do for our birthdays, and Angela chose a mani/pedi party at a local salon with some dear friends who do that as a service.

Well, let me tell YOU! What a party we had. There's one person missing - Jennifer - who had to leave early and go to church. But the ones in the pink aprons, April and Melissa, are the ones who do the whole shebang. Then, to finish the top row, is Ang and Lori P. - whose birthday is the 13th of this month. Amy's kind of the middle row, and that's me and Cris P. on the bottom. SPA pedicures, followed by maincures - and all accompianied with petit-fors, brownies, muffins, and CHOCOLATE, coffee, and punch. Whew!!! The girls did SUCH a wonderful job! My toes and fingers all match! :D

After that, the five of us who HADN'T been working :D left for dinner, and I drove. One of Ang & Cris P.'s college friends, Ron, was working at Carraba's - so off we went. He treated us all like QUEENS!!! We had a great appetizer - thanks, Cris! - and a leisurely meal - and THEN Ron brought out a dessert for us to share, compliments of him. There were three different desserts on this one plate!! :D And the plate itself was covered with choclate and caramel. Do you think we enjoyed it? :D LOL!!!! And MY birthday is next. Decisions, decisions!!!!

OK. So, it's MONDAY. We're supposed to be sharing what we learned yesterday. It was a wonderful day at our church; it was Seniors Day, and they were honored in different ways - like getting to sing some of the OLD hymns, including one *I* had never heard before, but really like now, "Little Is Much, When God Is In It". We had a guest pastor whose sermon was titled that, and our music minister taught us the song. WOW, was it appropriate!!! The gist of it was: if GOD is in whatever you're doing, NOTHING is too small. One of his examples was the little boy who had brought his lunch when he came to hear Jesus speak. Five little barley loaves, and two little fish. A boy's lunch, nothing big definitely. But when Jesus blessed it and distributed it, it fed over 10,000 people, and there were LEFTOVERS!!!!!

I think I'd grown ambivilant about some of the stories. Yeah, it happened. But hearing it applied in this way - WOW. I never thought of it THAT way. It sure puts a lot of things into a different light. Each year, about this time - about a month before my birthday :D - I usually start feeling like my life isn't going anywhere, that I'm stuck in a rut. But you know what? I may not be doing GRAND things, but that doesn't mean my God can't MAKE them grand. All He wants is for me to give even the little things to Him to use and bless!

Sunday school was about Joseph again, this time about what his story has to say about relationships with others. I maintain again and again - and feel this is a GREAT example of what I say! :D - that you cannot change or prevent most things that happen TO you. The chance for SIN to enter is when YOU CHOOSE HOW TO RESPOND. Joseph could have been vengeful - he had over 20 years to think about what his brothers did to him - and he had a lot of opportunities, while he walked the plan out about bringing Benjamin to him, when he could have said, "Too hard. I want to PUNISH you for everything that's happened to me!" But he didn't. He's a very interesting character study, ladies!

OK. I've REALLY written a book today. :D I hope you had a great weekend, and your week is starting off beautifully. Go enjoy this moment that God has given you - and PRAISE Him for it!!!!

Good morning! :)

There's not a lot going on here; I'm still trying to remember what "normal life" is like. :D I got to go socialize with a group of ladies from my church last night, and tonight I get to go out witha group of rebel Red and Purple Hats. :D I have FRIENDS?!?!??! Woah. Haven't seen most of 'em in a LONG time!!! :)

So, since there's not a whole lot going on life-wise, let me tell you what I've decided to do! You know those tiny flower pictures I keep showing you, the ones with verses on them? Well, I'm going to be offering them in some poster sizes, so you can order for yourself or for loved ones as gifts. Also, I'm going to do greeting cards with them. I want to get a few more images together, and determine pricing, before I get the whole gallery set up. But I'll also continue to share them here. :)

Here's one for today. May you have a richly blessed day, fully content in resting in Him while you take care of all the "must-do" things you have!

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday! Oh, I said that already, didn't I. :D Well, I meant it! LOL!

This picture was featured in Monday's devotional that Kenn & I send out, so I apologize if it's a repeat for you - but I REALLY liked this shot. :)

Have you heard about the WOMEN OF JOY conference? Well, I'm BLESSED - I get to go to the one in Branson, MO this month!!! Here's the link, if you're interested in finding out a bit more:

http://www.mywomensevents.com/

If you're going to be there, please drop me a note! I'd LOVE to meet up with you!

So, what's everyone up to today? It's the beginning of allergy season here, and I'm starting to pay for it. I've got a wicked sore throat, so I'm taking it easy today - because I have four more days of show, and Sunday's going to be DIFFICULT, with strike and church and show.

Please talk to me! :) I may take a little long to get back to you, but I promise, I will eventually! :) There are a lot of you hurting right now; thank you for trusting me enough to tell me about it. I am praying for you, dear one. God knows your heart! He loves you, and knows the plans He has for you. He knows the desires of your heart - and they're His desires! You've sought after Him, and He loves you, SO MUCH. Rest in Him today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BE BLESSED. You ARE blessed, and highly favored! Now, go BE BLESSED!!!!

Show & Tell Friday!

Good morning! It's Show & Tell Friday, hosted by Kelli - go check out her website. It's a GREAT place - and her Mr. Linky has some great things to share. :)



My Show & Tell today is my flowers from my dear friend, Becky. She sent them to Kenn & I for the opening of our show last night, OUR TOWN - Kenn & I co-directed, and I'm also stage managing it. We've got one show down, nine more to go! It's a wonderful show, and this is probably one of the best times I've had with a show. :)







This is our Professor Willard, played by Daniel Mathews, and our Stage Manager, played by Bobby Daniels. I just LOVE this shot that Kenn grabbed on Wednesday evening. :)

I can't claim THEM as my own, but this show surely is!!!! If you live in the middle TN area, we'd love to have you come see our show! :)

Got to jet - miles to go before we end up at the theater again tonight. :D Have a WONDERFUL, BLESSED DAY!!!!!!!

Good morning!

No words necessary today. GOD IS GOOD! (Click on the image to make it larger. :))

FIND YOUR BLESSINGS!!!

Happy Thursday!!!

Good morning, dear friends! Forgive my absence yesterday; I was just having a ME day. :) Amy and I went out in the morning, and I took care of show business most of the afternoon. Kenn & I went to turn on heat in the theater space - it's FREEZING in there!!! - and then went to get some Chinese food for dinner. I'd been craving it since Monday. LOL!!

Anyway. Here I am! :) Aren't my flowers pretty??? They were left over from a production at the theater last weekend, and I was allowed to bring a few home. They're SO pretty, and smell sooooo good. There's just something luxurious about the way roses smell - and the feel of their petals, too. They've lasted all week - even the dreenery, which usually starts shedding its fronds. :) I've enjoyed them SO much!

Have you had a blessing like this one this week? Something that's small, but that continues to give you joy and/or pleasure? Share with me! :) I can't tell you how important it is to look for those things, dear one. God keeps putting things like this into our lives; it's one of His ways of showing you how MUCH He loves YOU. Have you enjoyed watching the birds at your feeder? Or watching the sun set? How about your child's hearty laughter? You're SURROUNDED by God's saying, "I love you! Take delight in what I've put around you - that's why it's there!"

So. :) There's a website called Fun, Crafts, & Recipes that, every Friday, puts out four food questions. I just found it, and want to start answering the questions! :D Here were last week's:

Here are this week’s four questions.
#1. Steak. Plain, steak sauce, hot sauce, ketchup or something else?

#2. Water. Flavored, plain, carbonated. How do you like it?

#3. What’s your favorite kind of waffle?

#4. If you could have any one new small appliance for your kitchen what would it be and why?

1. I like my steak with some A1 steak sauce. I always put some Worchestershire sauce, salt, & pepper on before we grill them, but I like the extra TANG of the A1. :)

2. Well, actually, I like the flavoring mix sticks you can put into your bottled water. My favorite lately has been Walmart's version of sugar-free Tang, the orange drink. :) I need to pick some more up, as a matter of fact.... :)

3. Gosh! I don't eat a lot of waffles. I love chocolate chip ones, of course. :) Maine blueberries are good, too. I also like IHOP's harvest grain ones. I'm really not picky! :)

4. Wow. Ummm....Maybe a fry daddy? We have a lot of great appliances already; if I didn't have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer, THAT would be my choice - but I do. :D

Fun questions! I'm looking forward to the next set, coming out tomorrow. :)

OK, dear ones, I'm going to run. I have lots of work I don't want to do still waiting for me. :D I'll see you soon! PLEASE know you are loved; He's waiting to talk to you today. Have you had your conversation with Him?