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FAMILY

FAMILY/ Love/ Marriage/ Music Renews/ Spiritual

My Man Of A Thousand Years

Psalm 31:3
For Thou art my ROCK and my fortress; therefore for Thy name’s sake lead me and guide me. 

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My man is my rock, he is led and leads.

He lives the above words of Psalm 31:3

He is led by the Rock that is higher than I.  

The Unmovable one, the one who is never changing, who will not budge from His promises. 

He is solid, a strength that has been there for over a thousand years 


My man, his hand reaches and rests.  

Movement to rest.

Not a striving, just a leaning.

It takes this movement, a decision, a reaching out. 

A faith that our Solid is there steady. 

Ready for our leaning.

 

My man leans into this Ultimate firmness, which in turn makes his heart soft.

This safe strength opens my heart, makes me vulnerable, and I, too, lean.

I want to stay in this place, a thousand years more.

 

 

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Counting Gifts/ FAMILY

One Thousand Gifts #40

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
#840-#865

~a trip to the Arizona desert, a work trip for my husband, a gift that I get to go, too.
~health.  So many trips cancelled last year.  A strange fear crept up that something would happen this time, too.  It didn’t.

~old friends and new friends, sweet sweet fellowship!

~never ending supply of hot coffee where ever we went

~a red robin, decides to visit outside our balcony each day.

~time to walk long.  Trails through boulders, my Love and I explore.  So fun!

~Naps.  2 days in a row!

~our musician for the weekend, a man whose eyes do not work, but whose hands dance across piano keys and keyboard

~his sight gone, but joy radiates so clearly from him for all to see.  Thank you God, for such clear, childlike joy
~his laugh, a bit gumpy, sounds just like the lion from the Wizard of Oz.  I listen for it, for it brings a smile and makes me laugh gumpy, too.
~words of wisdom from a woman who is 104–“Risk more.  Reflect more.  Leave behind things that last.”

~dinner with Dr. Tony Campolo.  What a man!  He consults with God before speaking.

~my husbands dream fulfilled. Being able to thank him in person for the life changing influence he has had on his life.
~my Dee, my Jumping Tandem girl.  Her morning to speak…  “The message is not about ourselves” “God says “‘Come with me!  Jump with me! I GOT YOU.'” “He lives for the adventure.  He is risky.  He is Creative.  He entrusts US with His Message.”

~again my Dee, her morning greeting to me.  She comes up from behind, wraps herself around my shoulders and whispers “my morning did not feel right without coming to say hello to you.”  I take in her love, my heart warmed.  Toasty love.
~this place of boulders.  Finding such comfort within the boulders.

~lemon and mint for my water

~sunbathing by a pool in February.  This Midwestern girl is not used to that!

~my husband takes the podium.  He speaks, so articulate.  Words important are communicated and heard.  His preparations and prayers pay off.

~beauty inside reflects beauty outside.
~shapes of cacti.  God’s art.

~romance
 ~just plain silly fun
~grandparents who take my kids for 5 days, their care is beyond.  Priceless.
~video chatting with my little ones at the airport.  Their longing to see us.  So sweet.

~traveling safety.

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Books/ FUN/DIY/ Kids/Family

A Perfect Friday Night & “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand

OR, eat chocolate, drink red wine and sit curled up with a GREAT book!
It has been a great Friday night here at our home.  It started as every other Friday night does around here. Dad takes 3 little girls to the local drug store to let them pick out a sweet treat, and then brings home take-out so I don’t have to cook!  We eat while watching recorded TV, tonight it was ‘Survivor.’  
I didn’t want to miss out on a sweet treat, so I made my favorite Oatmeal Peanut Butter No Bake Chocolate bars, one of my most popular recipes here at New Nostalgia. The ingredients are very healthful, but you would never know it by tasting these.  They are luxurious!  This time I put dried cherries in them instead of dried cranberries, and THAT my friends, was an awesome decision!
I also poured myself a glass of red wine.  My favorite wine guy from Trader Joes pointed me to this particular kind.  I told him I wanted the sweetest red wine he had and he pointed me toward Joseph Handler Sweet Red.  It like it very much, it is mellow with hints of cherry and plum. It is a nice change from my usually bubbly Moscato.  I only indulge in a glass wine every few weeks, as I am too cheap and health conscience to do it more often!
To top the awesome night off, I sat with my Nook reading “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand.  It is an amazing story, one that is very hard to put down.  But, as I was sitting there finishing up my Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar and sipping on my glass of wine, I thought “this is the perfect night and I must go share with my readers.”  So yes, I tore myself away from my Nook book just to come tell you about it!  Here is more about the book about the author:

The Story of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
“Eight years ago, an old man told me a story that took my breath away. His name was Louie Zamperini, and from the day I first spoke to him, his almost incomprehensibly dramatic life was my obsession.

It was a horse–the subject of my first book, Seabiscuit: An American Legend–who led me to Louie. As I researched the Depression-era racehorse, I kept coming across stories about Louie, a 1930s track star who endured an amazing odyssey in World War II. I knew only a little about him then, but I couldn’t shake him from my mind. After I finished Seabiscuit, I tracked Louie down, called him and asked about his life. For the next hour, he had me transfixed.

Growing up in California in the 1920s, Louie was a hellraiser, stealing everything edible that he could carry, staging elaborate pranks, getting in fistfights, and bedeviling the local police. But as a teenager, he emerged as one of the greatest runners America had ever seen, competing at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he put on a sensational performance, crossed paths with Hitler, and stole a German flag right off the Reich Chancellery. He was preparing for the 1940 Olympics, and closing in on the fabled four-minute mile, when World War II began. Louie joined the Army Air Corps, becoming a bombardier. Stationed on Oahu, he survived harrowing combat, including an epic air battle that ended when his plane crash-landed, some six hundred holes in its fuselage and half the crew seriously wounded.

On a May afternoon in 1943, Louie took off on a search mission for a lost plane. Somewhere over the Pacific, the engines on his bomber failed. The plane plummeted into the sea, leaving Louie and two other men stranded on a tiny raft. Drifting for weeks and thousands of miles, they endured starvation and desperate thirst, sharks that leapt aboard the raft, trying to drag them off, a machine-gun attack from a Japanese bomber, and a typhoon with waves some forty feet high. At last, they spotted an island. As they rowed toward it, unbeknownst to them, a Japanese military boat was lurking nearby. Louie’s journey had only just begun.

That first conversation with Louie was a pivot point in my life. Fascinated by his experiences, and the mystery of how a man could overcome so much, I began a seven-year journey through his story. I found it in diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs; in the memories of his family and friends, fellow Olympians, former American airmen and Japanese veterans; in forgotten papers in archives as far-flung as Oslo and Canberra. Along the way, there were staggering surprises, and Louie’s unlikely, inspiring story came alive for me. It is a tale of daring, defiance, persistence, ingenuity, and the ferocious will of a man who refused to be broken.

The culmination of my journey is my new book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I hope you are as spellbound by Louie’s life as I am.”

Rumor has it that they are going to make it into a Universal film.  That would be awesomesauce!
What are you doing this Friday evening?

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How-Tos/ Kids/Family/ RECIPES

Fun With Food For Kids

Source: ontobaby.com via Amy on Pinterest

Toddler buffet using ice cube trays.  So cute!


{wanna follow me there? Click here.}

Fruit served in ice cream cone cups.  Would be cute for a baby shower or summer party!

Rainbow on a skewer.

Source: opiefoto.com via Amy on Pinterest

Tortellini skewers with pesto dipping sauce

Veggie cups. No more worries about double dipping!

Grilled chocolate banana melt.  Fun after school snack..at least they get some fruit with it!

Peanut butter and jelly “sushi” rolls.

Apple and grape cars.

Fun cheesy sunflower and grapes.  Another after school snack idea.

Source: google.com via Amy on Pinterest

Fun owl food.  This would take just minutes to make, but lasting smiles!

Source: thekitchn.com via Amy on Pinterest

Watermelon and Cantaloupe fruit pops!  How clever.

Source: tumblr.com via Amy on Pinterest

So tropical!
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FAMILY/ Kids/Family/ Love/ Spiritual

How To Live At Peace With One Another


How To Live At Peace With One Another

This morning our home was not even close to peaceful.  I see habits forming in myself and my children that make me uncomfortable.  It is just too easy to complain, to snip and snark at each other, and to speak negative.  We have not been counting the gifts together and it shows.  When the heart is not thankful, there is room for complaining and lots of other junk!  

I searched the Scriptures and I am amazed how just one chunk of the Word can ground me, lead me and instruct me so I in turn can instruct my little ones. I will be sharing this with them tonight, all the while letting them know that it is just as much for me, their imperfect Momma, as it is for them.


I Thessalonians 5:14-18 NAS

We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.  Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.


~admonish the unruly
~encourage the fainthearted
~help the weak
~be patient with everyone
~see to it that no one repays evil for evil
~seek after that which is good for one another
~rejoice always
~pray without ceasing
~in everything give thanks

I Thessalonians 5:14-18 The Message


Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other’s nerves you don’t snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

~get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part.

I love this.  We are a family and we each contribute to the atmosphere and reality of our home life.  We all play a very important part.

~gently admonish the freeloaders
Ha. Love that word, freeloaders.  We all are guilty of this once in a while.  Wanting others to do our part.

~gently encourage stragglers and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet.
This was perfect for me today.  My middle girl had bad dreams last night and could not get back to sleep.  She woke up REALLY needing more sleep.  Here is the perfect example to where I need to be fore-bearing and reach out to comfort her in her exhaustion.  I am glad to say I did this.  Just having her Mom acknowledge that she must be tired from all those yucky dreams was enough to get her on her feet.

~be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs.
Oh boy.  This one is for me.  I  know my family well.  But, being attentive is much more than just knowing.  It is serving based on the knowledge of individual need, and yes, this takes thought and patience.

~…and be careful that when you get on each others nerves that you don’t snap at each other.
It is so easy to snap and snark at family members.  Ugh…why is this?  There has been a lot of that going on among siblings lately.  Oh how we need these reminders from the Word of Truth!

~look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out.
As a mom and wife, this one is key.  It is so easy to look at the negative.  To see peoples faults.  Love looks past, and sees the best and works to bring it out!

~be cheerful no matter what
REALLY?  No matter what?  Yes, it is there.  It is a command.  To rejoice always. When I was sick I really had a taste of this, and it IS possible, but only with the Lords help.  He is the one that gives that peace that passes all understanding, that inner joy.  It is Him in me.

~thank God no matter what happens.
again, REALLY?  Yes, really.  Finding contentment in all circumstances is another supernatural thing only found in the power of God.

~pray all the time
A constant awareness of Him.  A continual communion throughout the day. Whispers between friends.  Thoughts to the One who knows me, loves me, and promises to be with me always.  He is the Peace giver and the Peace maker…

…and OH how I need Him in my family’s pursuit of peace!

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Love/ Music Renews/ Spiritual

Extravagant Love

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I have had the song below on repeat in my brain for almost a week now.  The lyrics are beautiful.  It is a super intimate song, one that reminds me that I worship a relational Being with whom I have a deep soul relationship.

This song started on my heart when I was out of town this weekend in the beauty of the desert of Arizona.  I think I know why God put it there–to remind me of how close and intimate He is, and longs to be with us. I think it is so easy to get caught up in the beauty of creation, and forget that all of creation is just a reflection of the Creator God!  His love IS extravagant, everything about Him is, and to think we can be in relationship with Him forever? It blows my mind.

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