Silent Sunday

A soldier's cry

I shared this story at church on Wednesday...however I just felt like I wanted to share it here as well.

As I was driving down the road the other day the lyrics that are posted on the photo above came across the radio. The thought of going home hit my aching heart so hard I started to cry to the Lord….”I want to go home, I want to go homeeeee”… But as I saying those words with tears streaming down my face.  I was also interjecting…”I’m sorry Lord I know you have work still for me to do and your plan for me is not done…but this longing to go home is still so deep in me”. And ever so sweetly inside my heart I heard the Lord say… “Anna it's ok for a soldier to want to go home”.  My immediate thought was… how true that is. There is not a soldier stationed anywhere in the world that does not long for home. In fact that hope of home can often keep them alive and give them the will to keep going on. So if someone needed to hear that today I hope that is the word you were looking for and God touched your weary heart just as he did mine.

Here it is by the way…the whole song is beautiful…

Going Green

Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.  Psalm 50:10

 I found one of those hills when I was taking a ride to the store.

My brain is still mulling over Sundays service at church.

The minister spoke about how often Jesus broke away from the crowd and went to the mountains.

The name of the message was called “Go Green” and even though I spend a large amount of time outdoors it has almost become mechanical for me and I realized I have stopped appreciating it.  

So a few times this week I made it a point to “go green”.... (Although MY crowd is a pack of dogs…lol.) ...and instead of just driving by this beautiful view I pulled over spend some time in the Fathers presence…took a few pictures and then went on my way to the store feeling totally refreshed.

Yeah, I’m going to start going green a lot more. :)

What I want to be when I grow up

Mowed the lawn.

Washed the cars.

Finished power washing the house.

Cleaned out the shed.

Threw a load of laundry in the washer.

And when I sat down to finally take a break I got a good look at the dogs and had to chuckle …

Looking at them you would think they just did all that. 

I want to be one of my dogs.

3 Is A Magic Number

So the winner is number 3! Thank you everyone for your comments, emails, texts and phone calls.

Lil Ricky however sealed the deal.  And thank you Jo for the idea…of course I should have thought of it…which one does Miss Ricky look best on!  LOL

Seriously, I just went out in the studio and took a ton of pictures. And this was the one that shows up the best. The lightest ones, along with the white walls reflect the light too much and washed everything out.  The oak one gave a yellow tint I didn’t like….and the darkest one was just too dark. And number 3 was the one most voted on :)

 But I’m just glad that’s done! 

However it’s amazing what you learn to do when you don’t have the one who use to do everything around any longer.  

I’ve hired contractors, learned to replace a sink, use equipment that I was once scared of….but I’m learning…..sometimes the hard way. Like the other day I was using the power washer to wash the house and didn’t realize you CAN’T get the hose to the gun near the machine… because it’s HOT…and it will burn a hole in it…. Oh and then, DO NOT put your hand over it to try to stop the water from gushing out….I nearly power washed my skin off…lol.  And ohhh the poor gentlemen at Lowes who helping me find a replacement hose and the right attachment so it fit my machine. Says to me “You will need to get your husband to tighten this up for you.” And without think I blurted out ….I can’t do that my husband’s dead.  I know I made him feel so bad….but I didn’t cry….I think he would have cried with me if I did…lol. Well, you have to laugh or you will cry.  Richard was a man of joy and I’m sure he is looking down and loving the Annie show…lol 

And why???? I have no idea…. and I have ceased trying to explain my brain to the world. But every time I hear the number 3 this song goes through my head…

Help me choose

Well today I don’t have a pretty picture or story to tell but I am coming to the masses for some help.

I’m trying to pick out my flooring for the studio. Again things that make me REALLY miss Richards’s wisdom.

Floor guys suggest I go with a lvt (Luxury Vinyl Tile) because the room will not always be climate controlled….which makes my choices limited. But maybe that’s a good thing…lol

So which one do you like?

Thanks peeps!

Challenge ahead

I watched this delightful movie last night about, of all things… a woman that blogged. Although I could not relate to what she blogged about… which was a one year challenge she gave herself to prepare all 524 of Julia Child’s recipes from her book Mastering the art of French cooking. Yes my eyes even glazed over as I typed that. Mastering the art of PB&J is about all I care to master as far as the kitchen is concerned. But what I found so delightful about the movie was the process she went through as a daily blogger.  Like, does anyone read her?… was there anyone out there? And then when people began to respond to her post the feeling of obligation she started to have to a people she didn't even know but now somehow felt connected to.  All of that felt very relatable to me. I found myself actually becoming anxious this weekend when I wasn't able to post my blog due to a computer issue. When I finally was able to get it up very late in the day… I felt this crazy self imposed weight lift off of me. And the question of… “why are you doing this?”, comes up again. Which often does when you blog daily… and especially on days like today when you feel you have nothing to share.

So as I was thinking about last night’s movie I thought I really like the idea of a giving myself a challenge. I have seen photo challenges and I think I’m going to try one. Not a one year challenge but I think I will start with a month…. and I’m going to start in August. 

The Lord has already been comforting my heart as the one year date of Richards departing approaches.  I don’t want to dread a month or a date …. I’m believe God for it to be like this scripture in Esther… as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday… I believe this photo challenge is a God timed thing for me….so now I’m on a hunt for one. I’ll post it before I start on August 1^st.  Please feel free to share any ideas you have.... I would LOVE to hear them.