Choose Joy! ~ Carnival of Beauty

This Friday Vicki at Windows to My Soul is hosting the Carnival of Beauty with the Beauty of Joy as the theme.

I am so pleased that the theme of Carnival of Beauty is the Beauty of Joy!!

I have a dear friend Jody who has always given her children and friends the encouragement to “Choose Joy”!  Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have every reason under heaven to be filled with JOY!

Nehemiah 8:10, “…And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Psalm 4:7, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.”

Habakkuk 3:18, “yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

Luke 2:10, “And the angel of the Lord said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Our Savior is the author of our Joy. He is the one that has put joy in our hearts by redeeming us with His blood. We have every reason to shout for joy to our Lord. The good news was for us and we need to choose joy! Even in the midst of struggles and defeat the joy of the Lord is our strength. We look ahead to the Hope that is set before us with joy for what has already been done for us and for what is being prepared for us in Heaven. This kind of joy will make us beautiful on this earth. When we reflect the joy of the Lord to those around us they will have joy, too!

So dear friends in Christ “choose joy”!

On Friday you’ll be able to click here and see more entries on this theme…

Friday’s Feast ~ #5

Appetizer
When was the last time you were surprised?

When my over 40 year old brother and his over 40 year old wife told us they were expecting a baby. They’ve been married for a year and this is the first marriage for each of them. The baby is due in January. Very surprised and filled with joy for them…

Soup
Fill in the blanks: My eyes are Hazel, but I wish they were more green.

Salad
If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?

I would be a brown and black Hedgehog and my name would be Tiggy!

Main Course
Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.

Reading my Bible and eating High Fiber Cereal with a banana in the morning.

Dessert
What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?

Crest Paste not gel and not the one that tastes like pepto bismol. (yuck)

For more Friday Feasts go here.

Thankful Thursday ~

 

 

Psalm 79:13, “But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Psalm 145:10, “All your works shall give thanks to you O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!”

I Chronicles 16:8, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!”

I give thanks today to my LORD for saving me and for his work of sanctification in me and my family all these years. Our God is good and He has been so good to me. Thank you LORD!

To read more Thankful Thursday Posts to to Sting My Heart…

 

Josh and Laura ~

Some encouragement from the Bible and John Piper ~

God pledges to Carry Our Burdens ~

Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

The word for “burden” here is lot. What is your lot in life today? What has providence brought you? In the end, this is of the Lord. And He will carry it for you. It is not meant to crush you or carry you away. It is meant to test your trust in God to carry it for you.”

Psalm 16:5, “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”

Psalm 63:8, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”

God Pledges to Carry You – All Your Life

Isaiah 46: 3-4, “Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”

 

It was wonderful to spend an extra day with you this weekend. Blessings on both of you!

ht: Pierced by the Word ~ by John Piper

Baba and Deda ~ Grandchildren ~ Heritage

On Sunday afternoon my children got a rare treat of being at their Baba and Deda’s all together. My parents have been in their Senior Apartment for one year now and Katie is the only one of my kids that has had a chance to visit them there. We had dessert then 4 more grandchildren arrived and we got to listen to my Pop tell some stories about their time in Russia and Iran before they came to the U.S. The Photo below is of my Pop’s cousin who served in the Russian Army during WWII. The story my dad told us about him is below the photo…

 

This is Feodor Ivanovich Aryeshen. One night during patrol of the trenches, as he walked with his rifle in his hands he came face to face with a Nazi soldier. They faced each-other with their rifles pointed at each other. Then they both turned around and ran for their lives. When he woke up the next morning his hair had turned pure white! They say it was from being so frightened.

My Father told a few more stories about his life that were great for all his grandchildren to hear. What a rich wonderful afternoon we all had with my parents. What a joy to hear how God has kept them safe and close to Him for so many years. We ended our time with my Pop praying for all of us and blessing his grandchildren again…

Photobucket is holding hundreds of my photos hostage and that’s why you don’t see the original photos on this post.

WFMW ~ Shower Curtain?

Time for another Works For Me Wednesday and here’s my tip this week. If you have showers that need shower curtains purchase a pretty cloth one to go on the outside and then buy the cheapest vinyl liner you can find for the inside. When the vinyl curtain gets yucky just take it down and throw it away and replace it with a fresh liner. Trying to clean these is too much work for me!

There’s plenty of bathroom scrubbing to do without scrubbing the vinyl curtain!

Now head on over to Rocks in My Dryer and see what other tips there are today!

The Dean’s Watch ~ Elizabeth Goudge

 Woman to Woman is hosting a Book Review Theme today.

 

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I just finished the last page of this book and I’m so sad that the story has come to an end. Elizabeth Goudge is fast becoming my new favorite author. She has a great descriptive style. The same appreciation I have for George MacDonald and how he weaves a true loving relationship with God contrasted against a cold religious relationship is growing as deep for Goudge’s fiction. I love MacDonald’s Scottish Countryside settings and I love Goudge’s English countryside settings.

This story is built around the Dean of a Cathedral in an English City. Goudge develops the stories behind several characters within the city whose lives are touched and changed by the growing love of the Dean for his city and for them. I highly recommend this book to you. It can be hard to come by these books but start by checking your local library. I found this one at my library.

I published a quote from this book that you can read here.

To see more book reviews go to Seeds in My Garden and My Many Colored Days.

Wedding Day Fun In California!

We started our day with an amazing breakfast at Nick and Vera’s. Then we all got our wedding attire on and headed to the wedding in Seal Beach, California.

The first two rows of the collage: (DIL Laura), (Josh & his dad), (Katie)

(Katie, Michelle & Laura),  (Brother Tim and Letty), (Melissa, Svetlana, & Kathy)

 

(Kelly & Steve), (Miss, Kathy & Michelle), (Dan, Ryan, & Michelle)

(The mother of the groom, Letty), (Dave, Kristin, Laura, & Josh), (The Groom Derek)

Mom & Pop

Some of their Grandchildren (The Young-uns)

The Beautiful Granddaughters and one old guy!

Some of their Children (The Older folk)

Dear and My Family

My Guys!

Here’s Amy the bride, Lana and Bridget!

Mother and Son Dance

Photobucket is holding hundreds of my photos hostage and that’s why you don’t see the original photos on this post.