Multiple Choice...

Becky over at The Butler's Wife has tagged me to join a personal meme. This one involves listing 9 items about yourself...however, one of the items listed will be false. It is your job to decide which of the nine statements are not true. Go for it!!

1) I once had an 8’ boa constrictor snake wrapped around my neck.
2) I began sewing when I was 7 years old.
3) I know how to (and have done) the following jobs around our house: lay a tile floor, installed sheetrock & patched holes in drywall, laid stones on the face of the fireplace, laid a laminate wood floor, wallpaper, paint, install wainscoting, rewired an electric lamp, install tile backsplashes, and repair a broken toilet…to name a few.
4) I enjoyed reading about my cousin, a famous Indian fighter, in our history textbook when I was in elementary school.
5) I am the daughter of a blacksmith.
6) I have a 100 hour pin for hours worked as a hospital candy striper.
7) My favorite vacation was our trip to The Holy Land.
8) I have been hired to demonstrate how to hand make rope.
9) I have been in an automobile with literally hundreds of bees closed in with me.

Vote now and in a few days, I'll let you know..."the rest of the story!"

Middle Ages Tech Support

This is just too cute not to pass on. New technology can be pretty tricky sometimes!! LOL! You have to go to "You Tube" and watch this video clip. What a HOOT!!!

The "D" Word

Discipline... Just the word makes me a little edgy as I recount the areas of my life that I find this character trait sorely lacking. At times I feel overwhelmed with the lack of discipline I have to move forward and accomplish those things that I know I need to do. I have it all planned out in my mind and my heart seems fully "on board".... but somewhere between my good intentions and reality I choose to be sidetracked. In our society we might say "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." I guess I am in good company, as Paul shared his own struggles with this dilemma in Romans 7:18 & 19:

"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish."

Whether it be in the area of physical exercise, physical restraint (watching what I eat), completing chores, or areas of spiritual and relational growth...I can find myself out of shape and lazy.... or worse yet, just plain rebellious! Plain and simple, there is no other way to look at it.

I have met people that seem to have a greater inclination towards discipline as part of their character. Do they have to work hard at that trait in order to make it appear natural and easy? I don't know. All I do know, is that for me, it is a struggle to make a disciplined lifestyle habitual and become second nature. Paul addresses this idea of training in 1 Timothy 4:7:

"...discipline (train) yourself for the purpose of godliness..."

The idea here is the same as going to a gym to work out...training yourself for better physical health and form.

A few months back we purchased a treadmill and I have been trying to use it for 30 minutes 3-4 times a week. I finally got tired of feeling fatigued, not fitting into the clothes hanging in my closet and the general physical slump I've been in. I desire to be a good steward of the body the Lord has given me...and to age as gracefully as I can. Likewise, I want to discipline my spiritual life in the same manner by growing in grace and wisdom, honoring God in what I say and do. Truth of the matter is...I'm not always willing to do what it takes to achieve success in these areas. Whether it means enduring the pain and sweat of my treadmill workout, or clearing my mind enough to come before God for renewal on a daily basis...I often don't make the best choice. Why is it easier for me to turn on the computer and read the encouraging posts and comments of my blogville friends...than it is to steal away and read the encouraging words of my Savior? This is an area I am addressing.

Paul reminds us that our spiritual workout is much more important that our physical training:

"...for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things." 1 Timothy 4:8-11

We are also encouraged to keep our focus on renewing our "inner" being:

"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16

It is clear from scripture that this spiritual "workout" calls for a serious commitment and approach, just like the discipline needed by an athlete in training. It is a "no-pain, no-gain" effort! So, I can't wait around for the Spirit to "move me" to approach the throne of grace...any more than an athlete in training would wait for his coach's invitation to "feel like" joining him at the gym. Improving personal character and discipline takes personal commitment, personal effort and personal desire for improvement. Spiritual discipline also takes work, training and dieing to self. I don't always have the "desire" to spend time in the Word in a spiritual "workout" or to serve someone that the Lord has put in my path. But, the rewards are worth the effort....and I am interested in growth.

"And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary." Galatians 6:9

"...let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith..." Hebrews 12:1-2

To My Sweet Blogging Buddies...

Poor things! I'm sorry, I keep changing "the look" on you and confusing things. Yes...today my background is green...not brown. The brown was misbehaving...so I am trying something else. Thanks so much for continuing to help me by leaving comments to let me know how my blog is being "translated" on computers far and wide!!
:-)

This and That

Several blogs I've read are doing a fun little ditty... Grab a book closest to where you are seated, turn to page 28 and read the third paragraph. So.... what does it say???

Ha! I'm afraid it's not going to be very interesting to the masses. The book closest to me was picked off the top of a stack of four new technical manuals we just purchased. These purchases are resources in our attempt to further my education on the technical side of photography and photo editing. I have been learning more about Photoshop (photo editing software), Adobe Lightroom and photo restoration and retouching.

So... from "The Photoshop Elements 5 Book for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby:

Page 28-3rd Paragraph: "Step Two: Go under the Find menu, and at the bottom of the menu choose Find Faces for Tagging. This brings up the Face Tagging dialog. Within just a few moments (depending on how many photos you have), it will sort through your selected images and separate out the images that contain a human face."

Ok...I'm sure this is clear as mud to you.... but hey... I'm just following directions! What about you... grab your nearest book and let us know what page 28 says!!

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Now, on to another subject: Thanks to each of you that left me comments yesterday with suggestions on my cry for help with my blogger template. I made a few changes using your information, tried a few different templates on for size and finally ended up receiving a large amount of design help last night from our eldest daughter, Erin. She has been teaching herself web design and was able to help me tweak one of blogger's templates to suite my needs. I may continue to play around with the look of my blog, but for now it will sport this current look with my new header and wallpaper background. I have actually looked at the template on 4 different computers and it looked different on our desk top than it did on the 3 laptops I tried. So.... I have a question for you. When you view my blog page on your computer...does the brown "wallpaper" background with the small tan designs show up on either side of my white blog page? It did on the laptops, but our desk top only showed the white blog page with a small dark brown border. Thanks for your input! I'm sure this redecorating project isn't quite over yet. Thanks Erin for all your help and teaching me more about HTML!

Requesting Blogger Help!!!!

Ok Ladies (and gents, if I have any male readers :-) I need some input on how to fix up my sad attempt to change out the header picture on my blog. I am using a blogger template and when I tried to insert a new header photo...it just stuck it on top of the template header as you can see above. So many of you have wonderful sites with lots of pictures and pretty headers and backgrounds, etc. I don't have a clue how to correct this issue...so if anyone can give me a little Lesson.... I'd be so grateful!! Thanks in advance for the help!!

Family Recipe Book

One of my favorite "gifts from the heart" I have ever given was the joy of passing on family recipes to the second generation. This labor of love began years ago with anticipation of presenting each of our girl's their own copy of a recipe book containing all of the favorite recipes they'd grown up with. This would be a good foundation to begin their own collection. My plan was to present this gift to them at their Bridal Shower.

Erin was our first daughter to marry and although I was unable to make the "deadline" for her shower, I was able to present it to her within a few months of the wedding. (Busy times and a flurry of wedding planing took higher priority since they were going to college out of town and wanted to get married before summer break ended).

Ashley & Casey were married a year ago April and this time I was able to meet my goal. I presented her with her own copy of our Family Recipe Book at her Bridal Shower.

What a joy to pass on this keepsake to each of our girls as they venture into their new position as wife and homemaker! This book has been in process literally for years, and I still continue to update our files with great new recipes almost on a monthly basis! I look forward to presenting Megan with her very own copy as well upon the event of such a happy occasion.

Photo source: Personal Portfolio, Ashley & Mom (me) at her Bridal Shower