Winter Shadows

January 21, 1996

We stood in a courtroom in Bexar County, Texas and Jessica, Jesse and Marcy legally became our children. Happy Adoption Day, my children!

Simple Woman Daybook, January 19

FOR TODAY January 19...

Outside My Window... It's bright and sunny but still cold. The sunshine is glinting off the snow.

I am thinking... about buying a new vacuum cleaner. I don't have a lot of carpet in this house, but I still need a vacuum.

I am thankful for... so many friends and my family.

From the kitchen... I want to make some homemade bread this week with my new Kitchenaid. I also am working on a recipe for Pizza Salad.

I am wearing... my comfy blue and calico denim dress.

I am creating... I am working on the plans for a quilt for my granddaughter.

I am going... out to eat tonight. I'm off working for Martin Luther King Day and it's my birthday!

I am reading... my Bible. I'm waiting on the mailman to deliver a couple of books I ordered from Amazon to help me with the memoir of my mother that I'm writing.

I am hoping... to get some church projects done this week.

I am hearing... the hum of the furnace.

Around the house... I need to do some deep cleaning. (Yikes! This is the same thing I needed to do last week.)

One of my favorite things... wooden furniture.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week… I want to go to JoAnn's to get fabric for the quilt.

Here is picture thought I am sharing.

The dog and his boy

¡Bajo cero!

I'm working on my Spanish. I took Spanish in Junior High (middle school), High School, and College but I haven't used it in a while. I'm functional but no where near fluent. In the course of my week, I have about 30 or 40 contacts who speak predominantly Spanish. I let them practice their English on me; I practice my Spanish on them. It really is fun.

I had a very funny conversation this week with one of my friends. After the all to common "hace muy frio" (It's very cold), I continued to tell my friend that the temperature that night was predicted to be "veintinueve grados bajo cero" or 29 degrees below zero. Incredulously, he asked "¿bajo cero?" "Sí, bajo cero." Over and over the rest of the time, he just kept muttering "bajo cero" and shaking his head.

All day the next day, every time I looked at my desktop thermometer, all I could say was "bajo cero."

Wordless Wednesday

Simple Woman Daybook, January 12

FOR TODAY January 12...

Outside My Window... It's gray and overcast hinting of the impending snow.

I am thinking... that I need to get back into a regular routine. Since I have now graduated from school, it's time to develop a new routine for my life.

I am thankful for... a furnace. It's nice to be warm at the flip of a switch.

From the kitchen... I'm not sure what is for dinner.

I am wearing... my blue dress with tiny white flowers and poka dots.

I am creating... a scarf. I need to finish putting the fringe on it by tomorrow when our high is supposed to be 2.

I am going... to work.

I am reading... my Bible. I've started a series of through the Bible by stories.

I am hoping... that my daughter feels better soon.

I am hearing... a recipe on the Today Show.

Around the house... I need to do some deep cleaning.

One of my favorite things... my heating pad.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week… pretty much, work. I need to clean the church sometime this week.

Here is picture thought I am sharing.

This is pretty true

You Are Blueberry Pancakes

You prefer flavorful, fresh foods that are well seasoned. You shy away from anything plain or overcooked. It's not likely someone would find a lot of cheap convenience foods in your kitchen. Instead, someone might find a wide array of spices, herbs, and flavorings.

What Kind of Pancakes Are You?

Wonder

Last night, in the last few minutes of the evening, I padded through my quiet house checking that all the lights were off and the doors were locked. Just before I turned off the back porch light I happened to look outside. Quietly the snowflakes were drifting past the porch light and settling on the empty flower pots on the stoop.

I said, outloud, "Oh, it's snowing!" and a far distant memory griped me. It was December of 1965. My dad, my mom, my little brother and my almost-5-year-old self were taking the train from west Texas to Kansas City to visit family for Christmas. In the wee hours of the morning, a hand gently shook me and my mother's soft voice roused me from my sleep. "Oh, Terri, look! It's snowing!" I stood in the seat to watch the soft white flakes glistening in the soft light beaming from the train windows. I didn't remember the snow from my infancy in Germany so this was my first memorable encounter with the treasure. I sat back down and leaned against my mother and watched the white jewels fall for what seemed like hours. Soon the drone of the train wheels lulled me back to my dreams.

Even now, 43 years later, the vision of snow glinting in the lights at night fills me with wonder.

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,"

Job 38:22

What's Your Word?

Your Word is "Fearless"

You see life as your one chance to experience everything, and you just go for it! You believe the biggest risk is being afraid and missing out on something amazing. Sometimes your fearlessness means you're daring. You enjoy risky activities. And sometimes your fearlessness means you're courageous. You're brave enough to do the right thing, even when it's scary.

What's Your Word?

Heartaches

There are things that happen to all of us that just can't seem to be fixed. One of the hardest of these is broken relationships. Because of some broken relationships, there is a constant ache in my heart. This morning, I was hurting. I couldn't go to church this morning because my grandson is sick and his Mommy is at work so I was listening to a service online. Just when I thought my heart would break in two, the congregation sang:

No One Ever Cared Like Jesus

I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true.
I would tell you how
He changed my life completely;
He did something no other friend could do.

Chorus:
No one ever cared for me like Jesus;
There's no other friend so kind as He.
No one else could take the sin
And darkness from me;
O how much He cared for me.

All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me;
All my heart was full of misery and woe,
Jesus placed His strong arms about me
And He led me in the way I ought to go.


Ev'ry day He comes to me with new assurance;
More and more I understand His word of love.
But I'll never know just why He came to save me,
Till someday I see His blessed face above.

What a wonderful, wonderful truth and what a comfort.

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Hebrews 13:5