Day Nine of Lent

Today is Day Nine of my Spiritual Journey through Lent.

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(via Flickr)

A couple of months ago I talked to a friend of mine, Laurie, about Lent.

It was not a long conversation, but enough to peak my interest in observing it this year.

My upbringing was Baptist, and as an adult I have attended more Charismatic fellowships, neither of which holds an observance of Lent.
 My intention was to subject my whole being to "sacrifice" and "prayer", including praying intently for something very specific; however, in this process I have learned there is more....so much more.

The Holy Spirit has caused my heart to reflect much deeper on just "who" is this God that I call Heavenly Father; and "who" is this man named Jesus whom I say is my "friend".

 (via Flickr)

My chosen "sacrifice" for Lent has been sugar, as in the form of "dessert"....God knows how much I love my sweets!

  (via Flickr)

As my lust for "sugar" rears its head, rather than groan and moan about being "deprived", I have found myself remembering the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus went through, and mine pales in comparison.

 I mean, really, Jesus was spit on, whipped and beaten until there was no more flesh, a crown of thorns was shoved on his head, and he was forced to carry the very cross on which later he would hang.

 Later, on top of a hill called Golgatha, he was laid on that cross, with arms outstretched nails (which were more like spikes) were driven into the palm of his hands, and the top of his feet. If all that wasn't enough, that cross was raised up and dropped into the ground to stand, with Jesus hanging there. After several hours with barely a breath left in him "Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit'^[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last." (Luke 23:46 New International Version)

 To believe what I have written in this last paragraph, you must believe that the bible is true. I do, with all of my heart.

 I am looking forward to these next several weeks leading up to Easter and this spiritual journey called Lent.
As I do, I will write to you, my friends, and share what good things the Lord has done.

Blessings to you.

March Ten-on-Ten

1 - Air Cast

2 - My Chauffer - Sweet Hubby

3 - Lunchtime

4 - My coworker and friend: Laurie

5 - A surprise gift from Laurie ( I have really been wanting to order this book) - thank you Laurie SO MUCH!!

6 - Knitting during lunchbreak

7 - Christian Alexander (he is 20 months today)

8 - Another :)

9 - Tonight's dinner: Apples, orange, and banana with a bit of Cinnamon (hubby home late tonight)

10 - Buck looks like he's watching TV - hmm..maybe he was!

ANOTHER PROJECT

We started another project yesterday. As most homeowners of older homes already know, there is ALWAYS something to do. I have said in previous posts, probably on my old blog, that this house had been a rental before we bought it. We have been so grateful for this place and have taken our time to decided what is really necessary to be done and what can wait, or perhaps not be done at all.

With all that said, we have been putting up with this horrible light blue carpeting for quite awhile now. We've tried cleaning it a few times, but each time spots that had not been there before were there when things dried. That was frustrating to say the least, and just plain NASTY! We have been talking for a couple of years about eventually putting wood laminate flooring throughout the house. We had been thinking that our next project would be replacing the windows since the current ones are not energy efficient at all. That idea went out the window, ha, no pun intended, when we ripped up the carpet in the dining room yesterday and finished pulling up the tack strips today.

Did I tell you that Rick and I work so great together? He is the best teacher too. Before working for Weyerhaeuser he worked for a remodeling company in Tacoma. This is his real passion, but as with any construction type work, jobs can be hit and miss. It has been such a joy for him to work on our place, and he has taught me quite a few things along the way. 

For now we put down an area rug we had in storage.

This project is going to take awhile since we don't use credit cards. What that means is we will buy necessary supplies each payday. The cool thing is that when the project is done, it is done - no payments!

I will be sure to post updates on this project, and more.....

LAST WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY : Part Two

Christian is so serious..

 

 

 

Today we got the pleasure of having Christian, Caleb's son, spend a few hours with us.

His mommy, Jamie, dropped him off around 9:30, visited briefly, and headed off to work. This was the first time he has stayed with us alone and I think Jamie was a tiny bit anxious as to how he would do...I assured her that he would be fine, as we watched him with our dogs. I was pleased that he didn't even cry when she left.

We had a nice time together. As you can see in the pictures above and below he loved the iTouch - he thought it was a phone like his daddy's.

Here are a few more pics of our time together, he is such a sweetie!

Buck's size didn't even bother Christian in the slightest!

Thank you Caleb, and Jamie, for the privilege of this time with your precious son.

LAST WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY : Part One

 

Port Gamble

If you are a Face Book Friend then you already know that Rick and I took a day trip to Port Townsend yesterday.

Our 9th wedding anniversary was this past Wednesday, February 23rd. Since we both had to work, and different shifts from each other, we set aside yesterday to celebrate. It was Rick's idea to go to Port Townsend, and his idea to head up I-5 to Edmonds and take the ferry over to the Penninsula.

His family settled in Georgia when he was around 11 years old, before then they traveled since his dad was in the military. Needless to say, ferry boat rides are still a novelty to him....it is really rather endearing.

We stopped in Port Gamble and I fell in love....with this quaint little town (already in love with the hubby). It is just so clean. We didn't go into all the shops since we were headed to PT, but are definitely looking forward to visiting again.

Onward to Port Townsend!

First stop, McDonalds for a quick bite. Now I must say, it was already a very cold day, but somehow I don't think that they got the memo to turn up the heat. It was almost as cold inside as it was outside, so we ate in our car....TOASTY WARM! 

Snack done, into town we go......

After circling the town once,  we found a parking spot in front of "The Green Eyeshade" a lovely little "kitchen" store. I came away with a couple of  "finds"....like a cookbook called "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey", and YES it looks as wonderful as it sounds, AND it was 40% off! I cannot wait to put a few of the recipes to the test.

Out into the cold again....that wind was pretty "nasty"....and it didn't help that we were walking into a headwind......thank God for so many cool stores to duck into!

Rick was such a sweetie by being so willing to go into my idea of  "fun" shops, such as "Diva Yarn and Trim". I have never seen such unique trims. I wanted SO bad to buy some, but honestly didn't know what I would use it for, so I resisted the urge and told myself I'd wait for another visit. I wasn't as impressed about the "yarn" part of the store, perhaps because it wasn't even close to being as cool as "The Artful Ewe" in Port Gamble, now that is a place for all knitters to visit!

We poked our noses into a few more places and decided another favorite was the "EarthenWorks Gallery". We fell in love with some of the artwork there....just a tiny bit too expensive for us...another great place to visit though.

We decided to follow Hwy 101 back to Olympia.  By this time it was starting to "spit"out snow and when we reached Hoodsport we were in snow and it actually started sticking to the road between there and Shelton....did I say that we really LOVE our Subaru Outback?

We ended our trip with a final stop at Papa Murphy's for a half Cowboy and half Canadian Bacon and Pineapple Pizza.

 Home....warm, cozy home....Pizza, beer, "Cops" (Rick's favorite) and a very contented heart.

Without sounding too sappy, did I tell you that I have the best husband in the whole world? Well, I do!

9 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today, February, 23, 2011, marks 9 years of wedded bliss to my husband, Rick.

We met in early March of 2000 in the parking lot of our apartment complex. He lived at the opposite end of the building where my apartment was. We would talk a bit each time we saw each other (this was after I had already been living there for about 8 months) and then one time we just stood there for about 2 hours talking about everything and anything.

A few weeks later we went walk/jogging together over to St Martin's University and ran the stairs and walk/jogged back to the apartments. Several more times of this were followed by a Lasagna Dinner at my place where we ate and then just sat at the table and talked and talked. Before we knew it the clock said almost midnight and neither of us knew where the time went. A couple weekends later Rick took me on a picnic to Ocean Shores, with Paulie, his dog - now that was a fun trip because Paulie and I shared a seat in Rick's truck. Then came the notes left on each others' doors...sweet love notes. He would stop by my work (Top Foods at that time) on his way to work with an excuse that he was buying a soda or whatever, but we both knew it was to sneak a hello.

Now contrary to what I would do now, a few months later he moved into my apartment and we lived together unitl  a year and a half later when we were married on Saturday, February 23, 2002 at 11:00 am. We kept things extremely small and simple with just his sister, Renae, and brother in law, Jack, standing up with us. Afterward, we all went down to The Oyster House in downtown Olympia for lunch. We didn't have an honeymoon until April when we spent about 3 days in Cannon Beach at The Harrison Street Inn.

Life has been really good together. We have an amazing relationship. His love to me is the closest thing to the love Christ shows us with His "unconditional" love. Rick has never tried to change me, nor I him. We have an understanding to "meet in the middle" when we both disagree on something, or when necessary (which is not very often) we agree to disagree. 

I am blessed that we "understand" each other SO WELL, at least 99.9% of the time. We let God teach us the other 1% how to grow through our misunderstandings.

So, to you Lord Jesus, I give thanks for this wonderful, loving and generous man to be in my life. And to you, my sweet HonBun, I love you and am so incredibly grateful for the sweet love you give me. I look forward to the rest of our lives together. Happy Anniversary, Hon....Love, your LindaLou :)

Valentine's Day Question: What is Love?

(via "atouchofpinkxo")

On a day that is filled with roses and candy does anyone really stop and think, "What is love anyway?"

I have a suggestion and it comes from the greatest author about love that there is, He created LOVE after all.

This is what God's word says about love:

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.....

....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is LOVE."

1 Corinthians 13:1-8a &13 (NIV)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY