Snuggled on the Couch

First things first. The new verse I'm going to memorize is:
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

I was in the office today accepting an appraisal order, when I heard some suspicious noises from the living room. I walked out there to find that Sunny had rearranged the pillows and pulled a quilt up on to the couch. She was snuggled under the quilt (well, it was only 74 degrees in the house) watching Sesame Street with her stuffed doggie and kitty. I just had to laugh at her!

A Girl's Best Friend

Here's Sunny and Daisy. Watching TV. Eating goldfish. Enjoying a leisurely morning together. Poor Daisy. She's getting old and starting to have more bad days than good ones. But she somehow finds the strength to hold it together when Sunny is over. What a good friend!

Down

I can already tell that this could be a "down" day for me. I say could because ultimately the choice is mine. I can either accept the state of being down or I can pull myself into up. Don't worry, I'm going to pull myself into up, but I'm also going to consider why I got out of bed down and try to make changes (at least to the extent of my control) so that I don't get out of bed down tomorrow.

I know that I'm feeling overwhelmed. Not necessarily in a bad way. Sometimes good things can be overwhelming too. I feel overwhelmed by the amount of projects I want to do. Need to do. Would like to do.

I know it sounds ungrateful, but I'm overwhelmed by the smallness of our home. You would think that after living in this house for over two years I would be used to the fact that there are no closets. I don't think that's something you can ever get used to! I'm tired of shuffling items from one flat space to the next because I don't have a closet to put them in. That's also part of my project frustration. I have no space to lay out a project to work on it.

I'm overwhelmed with the pick up in appraisals. That's a good thing. It's trying to schedule the appraisals around a full-time job at Sam's Club that puts me over the edge. I'm grateful for the Sam's Club job too. I'll be glad when Dan works at it part time instead of full time. That day may be coming soon.

You know, just writing this out and seeing it in print helps to take the weight of it off my shoulders. I think it's time to start this post over.

I can already tell that today will be an "up" day for me...

Wednesday at Grammy's

Yesterday was another fun day at Grammy's house. I just love watching Sunny play. Her imagination astounds me. Yesterday the three wise men from the nativity set were busy at work at the farm set. Driving the tractor, sleeping in the barn, feeding the horses. The zebras from Noah's ark were worshiping at the manger by baby Jesus. The dog from the farm had joined the animals on Noah's ark.

When she has a snack at her little table, she gives each of the stuffed animals and babies a chance to share her snack. She holds the snack up to their mouths and says mmmm! Was there ever a more brilliant child?!

Resigned to having another picture taken by Grammy

Playing

More playing

Taking a picture of Grammy taking a picture

Puzzles

Playing outside

Helping Gramps water the plants

Making sure the water is cold enough

Supervising Gramps

Settling in to watch TV

Absorbed in "Curious George"

My Family

We had family photos taken a while back and this is my first opportunity to share them with you. I would like to give credit to the photographer: Joanna Polling Photography. To check out her website, click here. She is hands down the best!

The Whole Family

The Girls

The Boys

Zach and Ashley (before baby K)

Jess and Adam

JD and Janel

Sunny... with places to go!

I love this photo!

Best friends...

Katie, Gabe, And Sunny

Just the six of us

30

Today is our 30th wedding anniversary.

Neither one of us can believe we've been married that long.

It seems like just yesterday.

As I look back to where we've been...

4/4/1981 Our Wedding at Circus, Circus in Las Vegas

...and ahead to where we're going,

 

I am so thankful that Dan has been and will be at my side.

SSMT Verse #7

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV

This is one of those verses that I learned as a child. I attended a non-denominational Bible church for most of my growing up years. I also attended a Southern Baptist and an American Baptist for my teen years. At each of those three churches, scripture memorization was an important part of the curriculum for kids and teens. Add to that the two years I spent at Christian school in the 8th/9th grades, the Saturday nights spent at Youth For Christ rallies throughout high school, and you'll find lots of opportunities to memorize Bible verses.

I shudder to think how many verses I once had committed to memory that are now lost. I can confidently say that the only four passages of scripture that I can still recite memorized as a child are Luke 2, Psalm 23, and Revelation 3:20, John 3:16. All of these were memorized from the King James Version. That's still how I say them today. Obviously I also memorized Genesis 1:1, but it's not a verse that springs to my mind very often.

Do kids in Children's Programs at churches today have memory verse work? I have no idea. I don't recall my kids having to memorize verses in the children's program at the mega church we attended. Maybe that's one of those things that I'll have to try to pass down to my grandkids.

What about you? Did you memorize a lot of scripture as a child? Did you retain it? Or are you new to the idea of memorizing verses, starting now as an adult? Do you have a life verse? a favorite verse? a go-to verse? Please, share...