What we did today...

watched a marathon of Once Upon a Time!

Rain

Thank you Lord for this much needed rain!
It started out a drizzle, then a sprinkle, then a nice rain.

I was thinking about how the rain came down today and the Lord.

He always knows what is necessary.  Our ground was so hard and dry, and he watered it just right.  He moistened it first with the drizzle to soften it up, then allowed it to seep in deeper with the sprinkle, then saturated it with the rain.  If he had just opened up the clouds with a down pour - the water would have just run off, into the streets and down the drains without giving the ground its much needed drink.

He is the same with us.  He prepares us for everything.  Sometimes it takes us time to see that He has because the storm may be fierce, but when we stop and pray and think, we realize the He gave us exactly what we needed in the exact amount that was required.

Busy, Busy

We were short staffed today - and I have been feeling stretched thin.  Do you know that feeling - like there isn't enough time in the day? 

The verse in my study this morning was...
^{James 1:19} My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because our anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Our evening was nice - heading to bed early - need to wake early to take Becca to the eye doctor for another check up on her contacts.

What a catch!

Looks like someone will be having a fish fry soon!

Good job guys!



I met Collette for a nice breakfast at Panera - passed a few coupons on to her and the sale ads. 



Are you asking?

Recently - I have personally witnessed the Lord providing what was asked for -

because they believed they would receive it when they asked.

If you are like me, you have been conditioned to "be careful" what you ask for - keep your problems to yourself, and either fix it yourself, take care of it yourself - and of course pray for it but in private.  I do believe all of these things - but do think we put a limitation on blessings and answers sometimes by "being too private and cautious."  Don't get me wrong - I am a pretty private person - and believe that is biblical too - we should be content in whatever state we are in, and careful who we cast our cares upon - it definitely should be cast on the Lord first and foremost -- for that is what He tells us to do.  It seems like some people just seem to share every little detail of their life and look for the problems instead of being content.  But there are people that never share their burdens, needs, wants, desires and dreams. 
He tells us to ask!

Matthew 21:22
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
John 16:24
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

In Bible Study - someone shared a request- she wasn't asking for "assistance" - just that what they had would stretch to get them through until the next payday.  That is truly what her heart's request was.  Guess what!?!  She was blessed way beyond her little request.  God used someone to bless them more.  Once she vocalized this litte request, to ask that her sisters in Christ would share this prayer with her, the miraculous works of the Lord were seen by her family.  A few days later - they heard their doorbell ding, not just once but about 25 times.  When they opened the door - the simple prayer she prayed was answered more abundantly than she could have imagined.  There were boxes of food left on the porch - enough to fill the pantry.  Who did it- she does not know - because no one was there when she opened the door- just the blessings to receive.  Who could they thank - only God!  That person just added a little to their rewards in Heaven because they just allowed God all the glory for that gifts they gave!  What a wonderful way for the Lord to show Himself in a physical way to her children, herself and her husband and all she testifies this answer to prayer with.

Don't be afraid to share your hearts desires with your prayer partners. 

Look at what he says - in Matthew 18! 

Matthew 18:19-21

Today's New International Version (TNIV)

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

I shared my story about the cards tonight and guess what - He is blessing me again.  He may have blessed me sooner - had I not been praying in private!  One of the ladies' mother passed away last year and they have several of her things in storage.  One thing in storage is a huge box of cards.  She said that she and her sisters just couldn't seem to pull them out to use them - and that she wanted to bring them and give them to me to send to whoever I wanted to send to bless.  She said there were many kinds of cards - just as I prayed for.  The Lord just amazes me - more and more each day!

    

If we do not share our needs and wants we miss the opportunity to be blessed by those who may be being led of the Lord to bless someone with exactly what we want or need.  The same is true in reverse - we need to be open to hearing other's requests and be prepared to bless others when the Lord leads.

Acts 20:35
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

(how very true this verse is - Acts 20:35)

Not to bring a negative - because it really isn't.  I do not want to make you think that God is like a genie in a bottle, because He is not.  I am not saying you will always get a yes, your answer may be wait - not yet, it may be NO - He may have something better than you are asking for -

He knows best, loves us and will bless us with positives and through the negatives! 

Who doesn't love a Super Hero?

"There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle."—Psalm 76:3.

UR Redeemer's glorious cry of "It is finished," was the death-knell of all the adversaries of His people, the breaking of "the and the battle." Behold the hero of Golgotha using His cross as an anvil, and His woes as a hammer, dashing to shivers bundle after bundle of our sins, those poisoned "arrows of the bow"; trampling on every indictment, and destroying every accusation. What glorious blows the mighty Breaker gives with a hammer far more ponderous than the fabled weapon of Thor! How the diabolical darts fly to fragments, and the infernal bucklers are broken like potters' vessels! Behold, He draws from its sheath of hellish workmanship the dread sword of Satanic power! He snaps it across His knee, as a man breaks the dry wood of a fagot, and casts it into the fire. Beloved, no sin of a believer can now be an arrow mortally to wound him, no condemnation can now be a sword to kill him, for the punishment of our sin was borne by Christ, a full atonement was made for all our iniquities by our blessed Substitute and Surety. Who now accuseth? Who now condemneth? Christ hath died, yea rather, hath risen again. Jesus has emptied the quivers of hell, has quenched every fiery dart, and broken off the head of every arrow of wrath; the ground is strewn with the splinters and relics of the weapons of hell's warfare, which are only visible to us to remind us of our former danger, and of our great deliverance. Sin hath no more dominion over us. Jesus has made an end of it, and put it away for ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end. Talk ye of all the wondrous works of the Lord, ye who make mention of His name, keep not silence, neither by day, nor when the sun goeth to his rest. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

http://www.spurgeon.org/morn_eve/m_e.html#06/11/PM  (Spurgeon -Morning and Evening Devotions)

I know most of you are like us.  We love a great super hero movie - and they have made some excellent ones in recent years - speaking of - Avengers has been released this week!

Think about all those powers we see on the big screen - none of their powers compare to our Lord's Power

Aren't you glad we have a real Super Hero...

named Jesus!



Getting back to it

Ok  - I have been neglectful of my healthy eating and exercising.  Charles and I are jumping back on the fitness wagon.  We would appreciate your prayers!  We drank our water, ate our good and healthy food and even worked out our thirty minutes today. 
I don't know why it is such a battle!

I failed to mention it but  - I completed my million steps last week!  Yay.  I lost my spreadsheet when the computer crashed but I believe I did the first 250,000 in about 25 days.  I should have stayed the same or gone down in time to complete the remaining but actually increased each time - I think my final 250,000 took over 60 days.  It was fun keeping up with the steps and I may do it again in the future - but will definitely set specific time periods to complete!

God Answered my Prayer

And can you believe...

I almost missed it!

Becca and I stopped by an estate sale today and they had a bunch of cards.  I bought a few on Saturday and then when back for another batch on Sunday.  I think I just had in my head that it would be in a specific box when I found them.  Becca was my little voice from the Lord this weekend speaking in wisdom!  She was like...Mom - this is it!  I'm telling you this this your answer!  I was like Balaam - missing what was right in front of me! (I wasn't speaking like him, mind you ;0)...but I was missing the point!  This was my answer and I could kick myself for not seeing it immediately.

This is my $4 pile - The box is full of beautiful blank floral patterned cards with matching envelopes and stickers to seal the envelopes.  (Duh - here is the box!)

The others are a variety of every card you can think of (which was another thing I was praying for)...it even has an anniversary card to the Woman I married....ha ha ha ha...guess that will be getting passed on 

A box of floral cards

and

A full box of assorted cards

Two boxes - not just one and for less money than I asked

God is so good! 

These are a few other I bought at the sale

Boxes full of assorted cards

I believe these totalled about $7

What an amazing blessing!

Thank you Lord for hearing my prayers and blessing me more than I asked - help me to be faithful in using what you have provided me to bless those around me!

I truly acted like Balaam and Becca truly acted like his donkey this weekend [no, honey this is a good thing for you not me ;o) ]

First - we were at the grocery store and I bought frozen asparagus instead of fresh for Charles...Becca tried to warn me - he is going to want the fresh, but because I had already bought one bag of frozen at a store that didn't have fresh - I just had to buy a second bag of frozen instead of switching to fresh

She was correct - he wanted the fresh and was not pleased with the frozen

Second - The cards - She knew immediately that this was my answer to prayer and had to tell me and almost convince me that it was (this is a humbling thing to admit ;0\ )

Third - We had some snack foods to eat on Sunday for lunch and dinner.  I bought the stuff to make cheese dip.  We used half of it for lunch.  For some reason I didn't make the other half for dinner even though, Becca mentioned that we ought to.  Well, what happens next, here comes the boys - with the question - where is the queso?  Again - I didn't listen to my little donkey!

What did this weekend show me?

First of all - God answers prayers - bigger and better than we ask

Second - I need to clean out my ears and open my eyes

Third - Don't ignore the wisdom that God gives to those around me

Running Errands

After breakfast - Becca and I went on the errand adventure.  First to Lifeway, then to drop something off to a sweet friend, then to Walmart.  We made a quick pass there before heading to Aldi to finish up.  We saw an estate sale by the house and ran in real quick - it was being run by people from our church!  We dropped off the groceries at the house then ran back to the estate sale to look a little closer.  I found a few cards.  We then went to Michaels where Becca found some posters to buy with her birthday money.
One more stop at Albertsons to pick up what was missing or missed at the first stores this morning.
Charles grilled our dinner pork chops, corn on the cob, asparagus and stuffed jalapenos.
It was a busy, good day!

Breakfast

with Collette and Cheryl at Panera.  It is a refreshing time for all of us.  The conversation on what we are getting from Wednesday night Bible study has been great.  It was a nice day at work. 
We watched Snow White and the Huntsman when Chuck got home - it was a good one!

Well...

This one didn't work out at least for now.  I prayed for a clear answer and that is what I got.  Where He leads I will go, I will follow Him.  I'm thankful for knowing it is not there for now. 
I am content until the change comes.

A Little Bit of Nature

I stopped for a cup of coffee this morning and this bird stepped right up next to my car as I ordered

This guy freaked me out!

I saw his striped tail as I lifted the lid to the mailbox and thought he was a snake!

I definitely hestitated and looked a little closer before proceeding.

I was glad to see it was a lizard and not a snake - but must confess - reptiles are not my favorite type of creature.  I had to capture him in a photo - it looks like he is eating our mail!  LOL!

Charles had a good chuckle - he asked me how I thought a snake would get in the mailbox?!?

Bible Study was awesome again - I had a nice treat - both kids rode with me on the drive back and forth!

What are you learning right now?

Luke 2:52 (TNIV)

And as Jesus grew up, he increased in wisdom and in favor with God and people.

Proverbs mentions wisdom over and over again.

Websters definition of wisdom - - -

1. The right use or exercise of knowledge; the choice of laudable ends, and of the best means to accomplish them. This is wisdom in act, effect, or practice. If wisdom is to be considered as a faculty of the mind, it is the faculty of discerning or judging what is most just, proper and useful, and if it is to be considered as an acquirement, it is the knowledge and use of what is best, most just, most proper, most conducive to prosperity or happiness.

2. In Scripture, human learning

If the Lord increased in wisdom - I believe it is a good thing for us to do too. 

The Bible is a good place to start, it will definitely grow your wisdom - but there are also skills and talents that you can refine and master.

Charles is currently studying Proverbs, photography, cooking and anything techie.

Chuck has learned and is becoming a master of print and copy equipment and photoshop.

Becca is learning Spanish and Algebra and refining her art skills.

The three of them are planning to build a computer from the inside out - top to bottom - it will take some time to purchase the components but what a cool skill to learn and master.

My current study is mainly in the New Testatment - James, Luke and Acts primarily.  I have been learning so much about the Jews and Gentiles, about the Spirit, and so much more.

Find a subject and dig in - it's a good thing to keep on learning! 

Fell into that Pillowtop

Whew!  What a busy day - woke- helped Charles' get ready to head out the door, threw that magical color on my hair to hide the grays - turned on the soaker hose - had a cup of joe- a little reading - washed the magic potion off my hair and headed to work. It was a whirlwind kind of day.  Once I arrived home it was time for dinner, dishes and clean up, a quick run to three stores, back to fold a few loads of laundry, switch the clothes one more time, make coffee for morning, prepare meals for Charles' day tomorrow, work on my Bible study homework, print a few tests for Becca's week, play a few rounds of my current game addiction and then sit on the end of the bed and fall back into that pillowtop and drift off into dreamland.

Sundays in the Fall

These are some of our favorite days!
Becca and I went to Sunday School - what a blessing! 
Our class finished up our covenant study this week.  We were primarily reading in Galatians.
This part of our study was interesting.

Galatians 3:22-

²² For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

²³ But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

²⁴ Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

²⁵ For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

²⁶ But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

²⁷ For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

²⁸ Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

²⁹ But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

³⁰ Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

³¹ So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Ishmael	Isaac
bond woman	free woman
flesh	promise
Mt. Sinai	Jerusalem
bondage	free

We talked about the freedom of Christianity and the bondage of islam and other religions.  Jesus came to GIVE us Salvation.  These other religions have their laws, rituals and legalistic ways and they hate/judge those who are free.  It is interesting to see how this still is happening proving God's Word.

The last half of our day is another favorite past time.  We are enjoying multiple games of football all day long.  I'm catching up on the blog and preparing for possible future opportunities.  The boys are talking football and hoping for wins in their fantasy league.  Becca is finishing up her homework and watching football too.  If you are wondering about Major...well, he is currently sleeping....but I must say...football season is NOT his favorite time of year.  Why? - you ask? - - - Well if you have ever watched football with the boys for any length of time  - you would quickly know why -- THEY GET LOUD!  Yelling at the tv at good plays and bad!  Major will just get into a good sleep and then there is one of those plays that prompts the yelling and it disturbs his slumber.  He is usually right under foot - but on this fall Sundays - he is more likely found as far from the tv as possible!

Go Cowboys, Bucs, Bills, Romo and Tebow!!!

Multi Meals

I don't know about you - but I love multi meals.  This is when I take the leftovers and make a new or different meal.  It cuts down on my prep time and helps in using up the remainder of the first meal.  Do you ever do this?

This was apparently the weekend for it.
Earlier this week we had spaghetti.  I had leftover sauce and leftover noodles.
I made two spaghetti pies  - yum!  I still had pasta - therefore, made one more meal.
It was a garlic, chicken pasta with broccoli.

We also had a chicken enchilada type casserole that we ate over rice a few days ago.  I made a huge batch of the the chicken casserole in the crockpot.
There was a recipe that I have been wanting to try for a long time.  It was one of Nelda's (Gramma's Friend) recipes.  It was called chicken cups or chicken baskets.
You line greased muffin tins with shredded hashbrowns (mixed with butter, salt and pepper) - then fill with your chicken filling.
They were delicious.
I believe I have enough of the casserole left - I will be making a pot pie to finish it off.

I love it when I can save time by re-creating something new from what we have - don't you?

Awesome fellowship today

Breakfast was amazing.  Tracey and I got into a deep discussion about our Bible study and how it relates to our personal experiences.  Collette came later and joined in too.  I can't wait to see how this study is going to grow each of us.
Work was good - it has been a busy week - the orders have been coming in - keeping us busy as bees.  Becca has been doing well with her school work - staying focused and learning a lot.
Chuck is excited about having the entire weekend off.
Charles, Becca and I had a great conversation after dinner.  We talked about the different personalities of the disciples and how each was necessary.  We also talked about Jesus and his personal life, his earthly parents and siblings. We are so quick to blame our actions/make excuses for our actions because of those around us.  It's a pretty cool example that Jesus remained perfect even though He was surrounded by imperfect sinners.

Have you ever thought about

Jesus' earthly family? There were at least 7 children in his earthly house.  James was one of his half-brothers.  He grew up with the Son of God and at first was not a believer.  Our instructor is giving us so much to ponder!

Our Memory Verse for the Week

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV)

¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

It is so true in many instances.  The one that is applying to us personally is in sticking to our 5 week challenge.  It is much easier to keep it up when more than one of us is working at it- we can easily be overpowered by excuses and stop our progress.  If we both/all keep up the encouragement we will make it to our five week goal.  If we add God to that cord - there is no doubt our plans will succeed!

Becca and I had dinner with Collette, Jonathan and Benjamin before church - it was fun!

Poor Charles was stuck in traffic for a long time - but we are thankful he made it home safely!

Chuck met us at church and he and Becca enjoyed hearing Jared Wood!

We then headed out to Bible Study and got to see our sweet friends that just returned from Disney (so lucky)!  They even brought a few treats - how thoughtful - thank you Tracey!

Our study is about James - it is already deep and inspiring - I can't wait to dig in and pass along some of what I learn.

Can you believe it has been 11 years?

Our Five Week Challenge

Becca and I have decided to tackle a five week challenge that we came across last week.
Today is day one of the challenge...we would love for any of you to join us.

I am not the most "techtacular" blogger - so for now have copied PEAK313's challenge and listed it below - there are several links to her page below.   (I may adjust the page later - when I have a moment to play around with adding the buttons and links)

Posted by Clare in Challenges, Featured, Spiritual | 372 Comments

Our 5 Week Fall Challenge: “Living and Active”

It’s time for another CHALLENGE and what better time to do it than when we are getting back to school and in the swing of things! Every time I consider a challenge, I am so overwhelmed. There a thousand ways to slice it, and I end up over my head with dreams for you all….but…
God is good and one day in church, we were reading in Hebrews and came upon 4:12.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

It hit me square between the eyes and gave me the inspiration to start this challenge: “Living and Active”.  My goal and passion is to get you into God’s Word which holds the keys to getting us Living & Active!

Here are the challenge basics:

Physical:

Many of you are already in an awesome routine with your workouts, so I want you to keep that up. But for those of you who need a little guidance, I’m here to help!  I will provide a set of workouts you can do from your home (or take to the gym!) All you need are one or two sets of weights, an exercise band (similar to this), and a big exercise ball. These are great basics to build your home gym. They are also fairly cheap! Most of these exercises will be derived from my New Move Mondays, but I also may add a few new routines, too!

CHALLENGE GOAL: Exercise (with your routine or mine) 4 days a week for the 5 weeks we are in it. (25 minutes is minimum time)

Spiritual:

My faith lays the groundwork for everything I do and the upkeep of my body and health is included in that!  So I want to take us through some key principles to get us “living and active” in both our physical and spiritual lives. I’ll provide a small devotional and insight to each principle along with a challenge for us to consider each week. Scripture memorization is also a great discipline, so we will be adding that on too! (I call that our “Soul Food”)

CHALLENGE GOAL: Memorize the new weekly verse/Soul Food (as well as maintaining prior weeks) and do the key challenge.

**A Bonus: For those of us who have children, we are going to be praying these same key principles into their lives!

Accountability:

This all is great, but if we don’t have accountability, then chances are we won’t stick with it. I have a few ways this is going to happen:

- Facebook: Periodically through the week, I will check in with you who are a part of this. This is your chance to check in, ask questions, claim victories, express frustrations etc. so make sure you “like” me on facebook!

 - Twitter: I’ll be doing the same thing on twitter with hashtag #livingandactive. Follow me there!

- Weekly Link-Up: If you are a blogger, this is your chance to write about your journey! Every Monday, I’ll provide a link up for you to write about how you did that past week. You can include healthy recipes, or exercises you like, or the victories and valleys. Set your own goals and measurements. Detail your specific daily diet and what you will be avoiding or adding. This is your place to make it your own! (If you don’t have a blog, you can join us in the comment section, letting us know how you are doing!)

♥♥♥

And guess what? This time I have a prize package! (All the goodies still being added up so I’ll share later!) For those of you who are 100% on the scripture memorization and exercising 4/7 days a week during this 5 week period, you’ll get a chance at winning the package!

We officially start next Monday, but you have some things to do now!

1.) Grab the button below, add to your blog and link-up a post telling me that you are in! (or just comment below)

2.) Grab a friend, sister, daughter, roommate…whoever…and ask them to join us! (HINT: Headstart to Key Principle #1!)

3.) Pray through your commitment! I want you to really be successful over these 5 weeks. If this is a bad season in life for you, then maybe this isn’t the time to join as it would leave you more discouraged than encouraged. But if you need a kick in the rear, get focused, dust off those weights or gym membership card and let’s get going!

So, are you with me?  Make sure you are receiving these posts in your email box (sign up at the top of the page!) so that you don’t miss a thing! If you have any questions, fire away! I know this is a lot of info, so please contact me! 

UPDATE: READ HERE for further clarification on some commonly asked questions!

Physical: 30 minute walk - approximately 2 miles

Accountability: - right now we are keeping each other accountable & Dad will be exercising too

Spiritual:  Reading Luke and Memorizing Scripture (starting with...Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Inspection & Football

Yay - my car passed inspection too!  We are both good for another year!
Becca and I walked over to Aldi and picked up some veggies to make a veggie tray to snack on while we waited for the inspection to be completed.
We wanted something healthy to eat for the first Sunday of football for the year.
We went shopping and Becca bought a new outfit with her birthday money.
It was a really great day!

Errands

It was a busy day. 
Chuck worked most of the day and left early.
Becca and Major stayed home.
Charles and I went to UPS and dropped off the boxes from our previous cable provider.
We then went to get his truck inspected and walked around a little while we waited.
We then had a lunch date at Cracker Barrell then headed to the local electronics store and Sam's.
Once we got home - Becca and I headed to Tim and Misti's.
I now have new front brakes, rotated tires and a new blinker.
Good to go - just need to get mine inspected now!

It's Aunt Collette's birthday today - Happy Birthday!

Taking care of business

I've been trying to get things finalized and cleaned up a little at a time.
Purging and cleaning up  - once it is complete - it always makes me feel better!

Appointment

went well.
Chuck's cleaning at the dentist was loads of fun - lol!  The hygenist and he talked about gca and dc - she knew Chuck's old football coach.

We had a nice evening all together.

Just praying for wisdom and clear direction - thank you for praying with me!

Yay the Cowboys won their first game last night!!!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our sweet young lady!

We love you so very much!

This is going to be your best year yet!

Reading and Challenges

I'm in the middle of a few books right now. 
They are both good reads...
The first one is The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson which is about praying, praying boldly to Honor God. 
The second book is The Jesus Chronicles - Luke's Story.  It is a novel that brings Luke, Theophilus, Saul (Paul) and Barnabus to life.  It ends with Luke's writings - the book of Luke and Acts.  Books like these make me want to dig into The Word coming at it with a fresh perspective.

Our Bible Study starts tomorrow night.  I can't wait - we will be doing a Beth Moore study on the book of James.  It is called Mercy Triumphs.  I picked up my copy the other day and read through the introduction.  She has different levels of participation - one includes trying to memorize the book of James.  I'm debating whether I am going to attempt this or not.  Are any of you up for this challenge - you know I love a good challenge!?!

Becca and I are also thinking about starting another 5 week challenge - starting next Monday.  More details to follow...

Labor Day

    Federal holiday observed in the United States on the first Monday in September.  The holiday was created in 1882 to give working individuals a guaranteed day off.  Despite the holiday being established for a day of rest, most retailers still operate as normal and offer in-store specials.  Parades, cookouts and shopping are a common occurrence on this holiday.

   September 3, 1988 is the day that Uncle Tim and Aunt Dawn were married.  This would be their 24th anniversary.  Praying for Uncle Tim and Misti today - I know it must be one of those hard days.

    The yard is all mowed up and looking fresh.  Chuck did have to work all day today.  The rest of us have been watching tv, reading and relaxing.  

Celebration

We celebrated Becca's birthday today since everyone was home.  Presents, cake and ice cream and her choice of dinner.  She picked Chan's chinese.  It was all good.  She now has plenty of books to read and a nice tv to watch her school videos and more.

It was a nice day of relaxation and celebration.

Shopping

Chuck had to work.  Becca stayed home and Charles and I went shopping for someone's birthday.  It's hard to believe someone is about to be sweet 16.
We dropped off the goods then the three of us went to Cracker Barrel for lunch and it hit the spot.  We all got chicken fried something - steak, chicken and shrimp.
Chuck surprised us by arriving home earlier than expected - they were trying to keep him close to 40 hours.  Dad went back home and then Becca and I went to do a little more shopping.