Today Is National Son Day!

They are so adorable! I am so thankful for these blessings in my life!

If I had blogged back when they were little, such stories I could tell! haha...

I have to include Tim's Newborn Photo. This was 45 1/2 years ago. We didn't know if he would live, but here he is! God did a miracle in our lives!

All My Boast is in Jesus

I have had so many things swirling in my head to write about, and sometimes things just get stuck! We had a lovely lunch with family after church yesterday and loved being together. But family is not where we place our hope. Things are not where we place our hope. Money is not where we place our hope. Security is not where we place our hope.
We sang the song yesterday "All My Boast is in Jesus". It has been swirling around in my head all day today. I have sung it, played it on the recorder, and now I'm writing about it. He is where I place my Hope and He is Who I boast about!
The Song ends with singing 3 x's "MY BOAST IS JESUS CHRIST!" What exactly does that mean?


The only thing I can Boast in is Christ and Christ Crucified and what HE has done in my life and in the lives of my family and what HE continues to do! All praise to HIM. We live in a finite, material world, but we are both finite and spiritual. Everything was created by God and HE created everything that was made. There is nothing we know of that does not have the hand of God in its creation. That is one of the reasons I love nature so much. I can see it visibly. I can see the layers in the Grand Canyon, I can see the intricate details of a blade of grass under a microscope. I take for granted much of the time that I can plant a simple seed and it will grow into a plant for delightful flowers, or food; each after its own kind! If God is so detailed with nature, and animals, and he knows the hairs on my head and a feather that falls from a sparrow, then He knows me.

He knows my flaws and my faults, he knows my repentence and my rebellion. He knows ALL. And.... HE LOVES ME. He loves not because I am good or do good, but because he has chosen to love me. He delights in His children. His Character is perfect, and that is where I struggled for many years, misunderstanding the true character of God. Many times we hear that the God of the New Testament is different than the God of the Old Testament. This is not so. In Fact, in Exodus 34:5-8 "Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped."

The same is true today. THE LORD, our LORD is merciful and gracious and forgives sin. He IS just in his judgments. He does NOT just brush sin off. THAT IS WHY He sent His Son. Jesus, the second person on the God Head, who created all things, THE WORD (John 1) who walked among us, entered the very creation HE spoke into existence, humbled himself, EMPTIED himself and became a man, born of a virgin, FULFILLED all prophecy from the Old Testament perfectly, willingly laid down his life and took the punishment for our sin.
Sin was not ignored, Sin was PAID for! We who were born into sin, and know no other world, trust that Jesus paid what we deserved; the price of death. Jesus was the perfect lamb! The Lamb with out blemish, the FINAL and COMPLETE sacrifice for sin. BUT HE DIDN'T remain in the grave. Without the resurrection there would be no hope. The Resurrection, bodily, not just spirit, happened! GOD raised HIM from the dead! The Stone was rolled away! The Curtain at the Temple that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, that was a barrier between God and man, was torn from TOP TO BOTTOM and exposed the Ark of the Covenant! Roman Soldiers stationed around the tomb could not hold him there. Satan could not hold him there. HE CONQUERED and WON, and ALL who are HIS he will never lose.

Right now, He is preparing a place for us, if it weren't so he wouldn't have said it. (John 14:2-3) He says something else in John. I will not abandon you as orphans! This speaks loudly to my heart. No matter what heartbreak happens in this world, GOD will NOT ABANDON me! And this does NOT depend upon my perfection, but HIS faithfulness! So yes, ALL MY BOAST IS IN JESUS!

I SPY!

FALL!!!!

A GREAT FIND

I love thrifting and the art of a great deal! Searching for one thing and then finding a treasure to bring home is just plain ole fun!

I found this baby at a Good Will thrift store in our area.

It is designed to look super old, but it is really just kind of old. The great thing about it, is that it has a slot for old cassette tapes. Cassettes were a big thing before CD's came on the market and we had a huge set of them because I used to work at a Christian book store that sold a lot of music! We were just talking about not keeping our cassettes as they have gone the way of VHS tapes, which we STILL have also!

So, I knew the radio part worked as I tested it in the store. When we got home, Mike said, I doubt the cassette part will work and I doubt the cassettes will be any good because they have been stored so long! We tried it and Horray! I listened to long lost music of the 1980s. :) Now I have a large collection of old music to go through including some of my favorite Christmas Music! And that season is just around the corner!!!
NEXT is to find a VHS player that actually works and doesn't cost an arm and a leg! Though, if you've been reading this blog for long you'll know I do have a few spare legs in the attic to bargain with! HA

Just Keep Blogging!

I've had a few folks ask if blogging is a thing of the past. Many of my fellow bloggers, who were regulars and we followed each other's blogs have stopped. I know I slowed way down due to needing to take care of personal needs within the family and then cancer hit along with a bit of old age. Then, when I tried to post one day, bammo... my blog had been taken over by bad malware. Thanks to dear Erika, she saved the day and the blog!

The last few years the girls have asked if I was going to keep it up. They certainly want me to. It is a good exercise to get things out of my mind and in writing. Many years ago people had very secret diaries. They wrote all their personal thoughts in those books under lock and key so nobody could see them until after they were gone.

I don't want to do that! I want my family to know what I think and how I feel, what I love and how I view life. I also love that we can all share our thoughts. I have a few boundaries to respect. Our sweet Sarah doesn't want photos of the children on the web due to the sad state of our world, extracting photos for ill purposes. I totally respect that, and it is why only My Mike was seen having a tea party. LOL

Our lives have changed so much. I have written about it a lot over the years, and the focus was on adopting the girls and raising them. But now, they are all on their own, all living lives that could have never been possible had thy remained in Orphanages. I'm so thankful to just be a fly on the wall of their lives, watching them embrace everything about family life, marriage, children, and Jesus. What miracles they are. What miracles our sons are, all grown and married and now OUR AGE when we started this blog! HAHA


We have 2 grandsons in the military now. We have a grand daughter that delights in being a lumberjack. We have a grand daughter in art school, one who is learning guitar and ukelele, a grandson who is interested in astro physics, a grandson who is excelling in math and science, a grand daughter who loves tea parties and was just introduced to "Toy Story 5" last might. She was carrying around a very old Jessie doll from the "Toy Story 2"and hugging her like she hugs her new baby sister. Our grandson stopped by yesterday for Pizza and fellowship. He is flourishing on his own. He looks great!

We have a grand son living on the East coast, 2 more in the south east enjoying school and a grand daughter there who is on a cometitive swim team. We have 2 more grands in elementary school on the west coast. I THINK that is everybody. Ha.

It was suggested I use a different blog for what is going on now, but I don't think so. I tried to do that a while back here, but it doesn't feel like home like I do on the family blog. I'd like to keep this one as it morphs and changes because that is how life is. We are older, and it is good to express how older folks feel about life. Our perspectives might change a bit, or while we reflect, that isn't all of life, we have much ahead of us, as far as we know. Life is lived one day at a time because tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

I want to share my heart about things not for my kids to find out about them after I'm gone, but for them to know about them now. I appreciate EACH one of our children for how they have enriched our lives and helped us to stretch and grow in ways we never knew we needed to. :) I'm thankful for our church family that loves us well and I'm thanful to the Lord for HIS lifegiving word, for His Salvation and endless kindness and mercy. He has blessed me with what I do not deserve and lavished upon me blessings that are not material and cannot be bought.

AND THAT, I will comntinue to share as I keep this blog going, and morphing. I pray it will be a testimony of the Glories of God in a simple lady's life, who happens to love Jesus, converse high tops and blogging.

Alex Krutov Is Coming!

This is a recent photo of Alex, Amy and the boys! They sure are growing! I wrote about Alex coming to our home on October 3rd, here We are so excited to host this year.

MY VERY OWN TRACTOR MAN!

We are getting ready for a dump of rain early next week! It is coming from Hurricane Polo. We just had our driveway redone and it seems the flow of water will go directly towards the house, so Mike is trying to solve that issue now!

It appears he had his own Henny Penny Tractor Partner!

BACKGAMMON ON THE PORCH! AND HER VERY OWN MUM.

It is finally cool enough for this!!!!

In the fall in Texas High Schools, Mums are a big deal for homecoming! Our sweet grand daughter Ilse, who is now 15 was given her very own MUM! She looks lovely!

IT'S FALL Y'ALL! and TEA PARTY GRAMPA

It seems that every year these decorations aren't up long enough before Christmas rolls around! So this year I decided to put our fall decorations up now. It IS after all Fall even though the afternoons scream otherwise! One can wish!

And it is always great for a Grampa to have a tea party with the little one! She is a cutie and picked out his tea party hat herself!

Good Morning and GoodNight!

What a gorgeous morning sunrise! I have heard red in morning, Sailor take warning! We have hurricane Polo headed our way as a storm with loads of rain! My guess is this beautiful sunrise is a reminder to prepare!

I took this photo last night! It almost looks fake! But it is unaltered! What a gorgeous evening to spend with family!

Bundling Sheets

I've been bundling my sheets for a long time following THIS method! It works wonders and all your pieces are together and you just take out a bundle and change your sheets.

I replaced the sheets yesterday and washed the old ones. Today when I got them out of the dryer they were naturally bundled together! Not perfectly but I thought, "Hmmmm, I could leave them just this way!" And then I remembered! I threw a table cloth in there and a set of socks.... so no. I had to take it all apart and start over. Boo!

For Such A Time As This

I have been known to love antiques, and to relish in history imagining what it would be like to live at the time of Laura Ingalls Wilder during her childhood; living in a log cabin on the Prairie. There was something about history that made me feel like I had been born at the wrong time period, and it would have been better to have lived long ago!

But over time, the Lord convicted my heart that this was a sinful attitude. I was born in HIS perfect timing, for THIS day. It is wonderfully freeing to look at life this way. I can still love history and admire things that are old, but also be thankful for the present time in which I live.

What a great opportunity is given to us to make a difference in the now! Things are certainly different than generations before, but there are so many opportunities that didn't exist long ago. There are food pantries to give to for those in need. There are missions opportunities both to be active in, and to offer support for. We have opportunities to fly anywhere in the World in a matter of hours! We have strong churches with Ministers that don't need to travel from church to church. We have beautiful schools and if we so choose, we can teach our children at home. Books are prevalent in our society at a much lower cost than ever before.

I am relatively safe in my home, which was much different than the realities of the little house on the prairie time period! Many families died during those times of todays preventable diseases and from hostile tribes who did not want westward expansion.

While many famililes never moved away from each other, many did, and it meant only letters being exchanged. Today, if people live far from each other we have cars and highways to stay in contact.We have cell phones and constant ability to take all sorts of photos to share with each other. And we can call each other and hear those wonderful familiar voices.

God chose for me to be born now, to live now, to thrive now. And what He has chosen, is good.
My satisfaction in this life is in Christ. He is my life. He is my song.

Sweet Grand Baby Woes!

I met Sarah at the ER today because sweet 2 year old Diane pulled her elbow out of socket. The Dr. said it is a very common injury and some kiddos are more prone to it than others. She was very cooperative to a degree! The Dr. came and and put it back in place pretty quickly. But to be sure, they wanted her to move it and she was very unwilling! We offered a mint to her to reach for it and she said NO! Moved it closer! NO!!! And then closer and the final NOOOOOOOOO! like a great 2 1/2 year old! LOL

The next strategy was to put a sticker on me while I was holding her. Her left arm behind me, she could only get it with her right arm. Bingo! It worked! She grabbed it and they said, You can go home now! :)

She is such a sweet baby! I'm so glad her elbow is back in place! And she wanted to come to Yaya's house! :)

The Path of Life

52 years ago, to be exact, I took a test in high school that would give me direction for my future. I lived in California at the time and we took these aptitude tests. My scores came back and while I wasn't surprised at my strengths, I WAS surprised at how strong my strengths were and HOW WEAK my weaknesses were. I scored in the 99% for engineering. All those gears and wheels made sense to me. I scored in the 5% for secretarial strengths. YES 5%! I was supposed to be an engineer. Ha!

What am I? Well, I have been the secretary in our small business for years, and I'm sure that Mike would be the second one to tell you, me being the first, that I am not the best fit. But I do try! And I would say, if I took that same test today, I would score higher, just because of all the years of practice. However, I'm not just a secretary. I am a wife, a mother, a grand mother a servant of Christ, a peer Biblical counselor, a "Sanitation Engineer". :)
Some things come easier for us than other things. And the truth is, those early tests, while helpful for deciding a career path, that is all they are really good for. They are suggestions.

A while back when I was in my 30's I watched a very funny skit about little souls getting ready to go into babies being born, (I know silly, but it was a skit) and the head angel was telling the souls what kind of baby they would be. They then told them about the kind of life they would live and most were excited except this one that began to rock back and forth, then suck her thumb and finally hide under the table. It was well done and very funny.

The truth is, God does not reveal to us our personal future and all that life will present. If he did, we would all be hiding under tables sucking our thumbs! However, in His WORD, He promises to never leave us or forsake us. He didn't prevent the children of Israel from being stuck at the Red Sea but He was there WITH THEM, and provided a way of escape right through the middle of the waters. He went with them, and guided and protected them.

I can see how over many years the Lord has been with me through all the twists and turns of this life. I never would have dreamed I'd be where I am now, sitting at this computer on a 100 plus degree day, not caring about the humidity and typing to you, my reader. But here I am.

How did I get this old? How did I go from NOTHING, abandoned with 4 little boys, to married 37 years and 8 children, including 4 girls? How did I go through some of the things we went through together that were tragic, including our son having a stroke causing Cerebral Palsy, our daughter needing her feet amputated, wrongs against us that cannot be mentioned?

BUT GOD!!

He says in Isaiah 43, "Fear Not! For I have redeemed you! I have called you by your name you are mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the waters they shall not over flow, when You pass through the fire you shall not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle upon you, for I am the Lord your God!"

What a huge encouragement from the Lord. Of couse this is allegorical, but the implication is very real to my life. I'd be that little soul hiding under the table, but God in His wisdom only gives us the next step. And then He gives us His WHOLE WORD! Our thoughts are not his thoughts, and for those who LOVE Him, he truly does work ALL things for our good and for His good will and purpose.

There is much to learn through hardship and trial. It is best to lean on HIM and trust Him through it all. There is an old song by Andre' Crouch called "Through It All". It says, Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God, I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I am so thankful for all of my life. The Lord has been with me, with us, all along the way. I didn't like having cancer, or the surgery that followed, but He was there with me. I didn't like the betrayal, but He was with us all the way. I didn't like the long trials in my first marriage, but He was with me to lead and guide. And He is with us now. I have no idea of the future or what it holds. BUT I DO KNOW the one I can count on for all things. And I'm still a secretary! :)