Chihuly Glass

 

What a way to spend part of the day with my Sister Cathy and my Daughter Christy.  We had been planning to see the Chihuly's exhibit for several weeks and we were running out of time.  The exhibit ends in a few days.  Our cameras were clicking and so was Christy's phone These pictures do not do Chihuly's work justice.  Cathy, Christy and I had a wonderful time looking at the blown glass.  This show was at the Clinton Presidential Center. All the pieces were so amazing.
 

 

Love the reflections of the glass.  Each piece is handmade. This area was like a garden with all different shapes, colors and sizes.  We each saw different things from the shaped glass.  Moses rod that looked like a snake, swans, flamingos, reeds on the River Nile, antlers, Moses' burning bush.  We just let our imagination go and it sure was fun.

 

Clinton Presidential Center

 

 The Cabinet Room and the Oval Office in replica.  We got to walk in the cabinet room but we could only look in the oval office.  It was neat.

 

 

To the left of these shelves there are metal notebooks by the month and the year.  We pulled the month of our birthday and then looked inside for the day.   Christy and I had a normal presidential day but Cathy's was blank.  I guess he took the day off.  It was funny.

 

 

 

 

  

I collect salt wells and guess what, on the table with the presidential china was salt wells at each place setting.  Loved the find.

 

 

It was a great day.  We learned a lot and saw a lot.  Great time.

 

 

My sister and I had the opportunity to go to Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs.   We had a wonderful time.  Christmas lights were every where, along the ground, up in the trees and every where in between.  What a special place to take your family at Christmas time.  We listen to the families as they past us by.  They were laughing and having such a great time.  Special memories were made that night.



I was listening to a book on tape as  I was headed to Conway last week.  It was a fiction book and it sure helps pass the time, but today something really stuck with me.  When you are going through a really dark time in your life, such as death of a spouse or child, grave illness or even family troubles you don’t think you will ever be happy again.  And you are right you probably want be truly happy again but taking words from the book ,  Small joys strung  together  brings happiness.  We just need to recognize the small joys.   I call them Blessings.  Our life may never be the same but God is sending us Blessing everyday.  During this holiday season when so many people are sad and hurting lets remember to count our Blessings.

Is This the Day?

"IS THIS THE DAY"

 

When you look up to the sky and you see the bright light behind the clouds do you think, "Is this it?  Is he coming right now?  You know that His return could be at anytime.

Matthew 24:30 ......"and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory."  

What do you want to be doing when our Lord and Savior is coming in the cloud?  Pastors want to be behind their Pulpits preaching of His salvation. We all want to be able to say I was doing His good works and that is very admirable but we could be just driving down the interstate and see Him coming. Maybe asleep and wake up with a start. As Christians we will rejoice when we see Him.

How exciting to read that He is coming in power and glory.  He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  His glory.  Words can not described His glory.  He is glory.

I hope you can stop for a moment today and ponder on His coming and where you want to be when He  comes in the clouds.

Fall is finally here.

 

We come in all sizes and so do pumpkins.  I didn't realize that there were so many kinds, colors and shapes, of pumpkins.

 

 



We can see what is on the outside but what is really on the inside.  I am talking about us human beings not pumpkins.  Do we really know anyone very well?  Do we take the time to find out what is going on with others?  Does anyone really know you?  I don't think so.  We all keep a part of life hidden from others.  There are various reasons that we keep quite.  We don't want to be judged harshly when we don't meet others expectation.  We don't want others to see our weaknesses, fears sadness but guess what someone already knows.  He created us.

Our Lord knows when we have had a bad day at work, felt lonesome in the middle of a crowd, feared that we could not keep on keeping on.  He knows when our families are going through bad times with health issues,  when finances are in a mess and we are so sad and wonder how we are going to go through that unopened door.  Thank goodness He knows and He cares.  There is a Promise you can claim.  "Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you."  I Peter 5:7 

Our Lord and Savior is always only a prayer away.  I am reading Max Lucado's book, "before amen."  The Power of a Simple prayer.  That is all  we need to do, Offer a simple prayer.  He knows our cares but he waiting to hear from us.

I started a prayer journal on the 1st and I hope to continue it. Now I am going to sit back and wait for the miracles.

I have been so busy and then my lap top wouldn't work so I just getting around to updating my friends and family.  God has been working in my life and the results are amazing.

I sold my house.  The closing will be June 20th. I hope the family that is buying it loves it as much as Dennis and I did.

I was rehired at Centennial Bank and went back to work Wednesday.  I am glad it was not the whole week because I don't think I would have made it.

I am still not unpacked at the new house.  I plan on having a building built so I can store what does not fit in the house plus my lawn mower.  Right now I still have way to much to find a home for.  This will come in time.

We can wear jeans and tennis shoes to work.  That sounds good but I had to go buy two pair of jeans at Walmart and new tennis shoes.  Now I am fixed up.  I have to wear bank T-shirts so I only have one.  Guess for a few weeks I will have to wear my dress cloths.  I am just glad to be back to work.  I wish I could have retired but right now is just not the time. Sixty six sounds like a good jumping off place.  I don't have to much longer.

Each time I say I am going to more diligent in writing on blog but the days are short and I am sure you are to busy to read every time I write.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers in my finding a job and selling the house.  Please continue to pray that I will allow God to guide in my life.

Judith

My sister asked me to go with her to see her daughter and go to the twins Spring concert.  I was so excited because I had never been to her daughter's house since she had moved up in the Northern part of Arkansas.

My sister's daughter was such a gracious host.  Had a wonderful dinner and a tour of her home, which is beautiful.  The school's musical was so good I even recommended it to my daughter Christy, who is a music teacher in East End.

We got up Wednesday morning and took our time coming back to our homes.  First we went and watched an Eagle's nest for a long time.   It was so far up in the tree that we had to use our special camera lens and hold the cameras so still.  The nest was built with lots of limbs and they were not small ones.  We felt like the nest was at least five to six feet wide and was  sitting in a fork of a very large tree.  The nest is close the to main road but the Eagle's don't mind because they continue  return to the nest.  People don't bother them either.  I am so glad we got this opportunity.

 

 As we  headed back to the car, my sister looked back and from that new angle we could see the Eagle.  It was worth the wait.  Trying to steady our camera's were an effort because we had been holding them up for so long.  It was so exciting to be rewarded for our patience.

 

 

We had lunch at a café in Clinton that was "Pay it Forward."  It was a lot of fun.  Each day the lunch is different and so we tried it.  Creamy Vegetable Casserole, Bell pepper corn bread.  I chose the pear pie and my sister had the Milky Way cake. We both enjoyed the meal.

 

 

We came back very tired but we had a great time.  As we were pulling into our town we were making plans to have another photography day. We always have one more place we want to go.

 



I changed the header on my blog.  My sister and I went to a park last week and again this week.  I loved the art.  Rusty and resourceful.  There were a few more pieces of art and some even moved when the wind blew. It was fun to look a see what item was used.  The day was so much fun.

 I wanted to use this picture so you knew that I was really there.  A photographer is always behind the camera and not in front. 

Also I love all the violets that grow wild in the forest.  The pop up everywhere.

 Red tulips covered the ground and then this lone yellow tulip stood tall and proud.  The park was so beautiful last week they we wanted to go back this week to see the dogwoods in bloom.  We were not disappointed.  We want to go back again.  Rhododendrons and the azaleas will be in bloom in less then a week.

 

 

 

Buster the swan  had an attitude with the geese.  Can you believe his name is Buster.  He also follows the golf cart that the gardener uses. He just posed for us stretching his neck even longer. To funny.

 
 

 

Several have asked to see my house.  As you know when Dennis and I bought the house in London we saw its potential. I saw this house's potential but I am not finished yet.  My little house is across the yard from Dad and Mom.  That is good for me and for them.  I have a new roof, new windows and a new A/C.  I am still waiting on my door and storm door. I hired a carpenter to finish the inside of the house.  It is really cute. Before I put the siding on the house I will have a building built on sight to store my lawn mower and tools.  I also have a price on a  10 x 10 deck on the front.  The house is small but as I get older it will be easier to take care of.  When Dennis and I started remodeling in London I was a whole lot younger.  The remodeling may do me in.  I am trying to do everything at once and the mind is willing but the body is not.  As my "Little House" comes along I will post the updates.

 

 

 

This covered bridge is in Burns Park in North Little Rock.  What a peaceful place.    We are going back to walk the trail as soon as we can.  There are so many places to visit in our area.  My sister and I have a good time.  We pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and snacks and drinks. We walk, take pictures and then have a picnic and then look and take more pictures.  I take two cameras and my sister takes three.  Each camera has its specialty so we can get the shots we want.  I am learning a lot following my sister around and I have a lot to learn.  It sure is fun.

I will let you know when I post again.  Have a blessed Easter week-end.

 

 

It has been a long time but I am back.  I have a pray request.  I will share it with you in a couple of minutes what I need you to pray for but first of all I want you to know where I am coming from.

When  we lived at DeWitt and our three children were small and they needed tennis shoes, I asked God for tennis shoes.  I could have asked the Lord, "You know my need." but I felt like I needed to be bringing my need to the Lord, So I did.  He allows us to see His work in the little things so when the big things come along we know He is there and listening. I learned early on to ask even for the small things.
The big things are, My cancer, Dennis' cancer, Dennis death, then my Grandson Dylan dying and then my illness that took six weeks out of my life brought me to the point that I wanted and needed to be closer to my family.  Dad and mom had a house that they use to rent out but now it was setting empty.  I hired contractors, plumbers, heating and air guys, gas company, cable company, water company.  It is like a new home inside but on the outside I need siding.  That is not what I am asking for you to pray for.  That may come later.

Centennial Bank, with their head offices in Conway bought our bank.We were as large as they were   so that caused some problems with the merger. The big employee cuts came in December. Liberty knew more cuts would be made but when I got my pink slip Thursday a week ago in the afternoon and my last day would be the following day, to say the least I was in shocked.  Cried with my friends and we discussed what I would do next.  I left work the next day and went straight to sign up  for unemployment . Lunched with two good friends and headed to the S.S.office.

This is what I am asking you to pray for.

I need to sell my house in Russellville. Dennis and I had remodeled it thinking we would retire there.  God had other ideas and so I know that he will take care of the house.  I believe in asking for specific things so please pray the house will sell.

With all my love,
Judith

Where I Spend My Day

Most of my family and friends have never been to my office.  I thought I would post some pictures so you would know where I am for over 40 hours a week.

I got two screens with the merger.  I love it.  I can toggle back and forth and it sure saves a lot of time.

 

 

Take a look at the bottom of the right hand screen.  See the yellow sticky note.  It has the date 8-24-2016  My retirement date.  To work everyday I take pills, lots of pills. Can't wait until I retire.

 

Winter is here and I am the only one freezing so I run my heater until the unit says 71.  Off, On, Off, On,  all day.

 

All the red folders and the blue one are suppose to be paperless, but not yet.  It takes a while,to work up the old files and go paperless.  A paper file may have over 300 pages and when all is paperless they will be under a hundred pages.  Some even a lot smaller.  That is going to make my job easier.  I want be having to pick these files up. work them through one page at a time and then take them to the mortgage department to be filed away.  Paperless I upload the files send to the investor and shred the small stack of paper.  That is going to be so nice.

 

See my double window.  Across the hall is our fitness center.  I get on the treadmill at least once a day for 15 minutes.  Since my doctor said I had to get sunshine I go outside my last break.  This is a new thing,  exercise, eating right, getting sunshine and more rest.

 

 

 

 

I started an excel program to keep up with everything, Date, Water, Fruits, Vegetables, Exercise, Mood 1-10 and I am adding Sunshine.

 

I want to thank my sister.  She has worked with me for several months showing me how to work my blog.  This week she even stopped long enough to write all the directions down.  I now know how to import from Picasa, enlarge my pictures and change the pixel.  I saved the directions in my phone and in my password book, now I just click and I have the directions right beside me.  I even learn how to edit.  I may not catch all the mistakes but I can fix a lot now.

 

I was just diagnosed with RA and I am under the care of a Rheumatologist and my GP and will be going to Arkansas Pain Clinic in a couple of weeks.  With medications and a new life style, I hope to be doing better real soon.  I have lots to do, places to go, kids and grandkids to see.  Parents to spend time with.  A sister that I can't wait to run around with and take lots of pictures.

 

My "Little House" in LR is almost finished.  Heating and Air today and I hope water next week.  Then I can really start cleaning.  I have moved in but I am still living in Russellville until my house sales. 



I can only imagine a deer slipping to the edge of this stream to get a drink.  As the deer longeth for water my soul longeth after my God.


COUNT 1000 GIFTS

Today is the 29th of January and I am starting a little late but I hope to go back and pick up the days I missed.
TODAY   A song heard, a soft word, light seen.

A  song heard

Tonight at church our first hymn we sang was "As the Deer"   written by Martian Nystrom copyrighted 1984

As the deer panteth for the water, So my soul longeth after Thee, You alone are my heart's desire, And I long to worship Thee.

You're my friend and You are my brother, Even though You are a King.
I love you more than any other, so much more than anything.

I want you more than gold or silver, Only you can satisfy. You alone are the joy giver, And the apple of my eye.

Refrain
You alone are my strength, my shield; To You alone may my spirit yield.  You a lone are my heart's desire,  And I long to worship Thee.

A soft word,
I was setting in the sun for 15 minutes.  As I closed my eyes I heard a distant sound, it was soft words from a Bird.  It had a very calming effect on me because I was setting in down town Russellville., Noise cars, Trains going through all the time and a plant was in full swing but I still heard the small voice of one of God's creations.

Light Seen
I think of the "Light that Jesus shows on us"  His perfect light will look at my imperfect self and judge me for what I have not done. Even things I felt like was service to him I am afraid they were for the wrong reason.  At 63 years of age I don't have a lot I can do but what God guides me to do I will do it. I don't want to go empty handed.

The water is running so swift that a deer will look for calmer water to drink out of. Maybe we need to get of the train and walk a little bit.  We can see more of God's handiwork when we are looking for a gift from God.   A rock shaped like a heart.  A tiny seed trying to grow from a dirty tennis shoe.

 

Pastor Doug has asked us to claim a scripture that we can post every where as a daily reminder. I our daily walk with Him.

 

I will be posting right back at you.

 

I will be posting more about my life.  I am not asking to walk in my shoes but just realize these shoes have been in a lot of places.





The Focused Life

It is hard to focus when everything seems so out of focus.  I thought 2014 would have to be better, so as I work through all of life's experiences I have to remain focused.   I have said all this to say.  I am going to eat better, exercise and get out in the sun. (Doctor's orders).   I have set up an excel spreadsheet so I would be more accountable to myself.

I went to Walmart Monday night and bought groceries.  Might not be a big thing, but I had to talk all the way from Little Rock to make myself stop and go in.  I did good.  No panic attacks or anything.  I bought way to much but that is ok since I  haven't been shopping for weeks and weeks.  I had to buy all the stuff you need to make anything. 

I bought a George Forman Grill.  The small one.  I was so tired after the shopping Monday night that I had a peanut butter sandwich and I cooked tonight so I ate a grilled cheese sandwich.  Forgot to buy the bacon bits but that is ok.  It tasted great.

The pictures that I uploaded today I had put in a folder.  Tonight I could only remember one step.  I went to Libraries and then found the Blog but I guess I didn't do it right.  I will work on it tomorrow night.

They are showing my house tomorrow morning.  Maybe this will be the one.

 

I am learning something about the workings of this blog.   

 Here is the afghan that you couldn't see last time.

Now you can see the little seed.

 

Cathy, thank you for helping me enlarge and show me out to export.  I plan on posting more often so I don't forget how to do it.



Can you believe this is 5 P.M. as I left the bank.  When I saw the full moon.  I went to get my camera out of my purse.  This is the first time in a long time that a I wanted to take a picture.

 

 

You know you live in the country when you see a cattle guard at the edge of a field.  The gate maybe keeping more than cows in.  I looked up and saw an oil drilling ridge getting set up.

 

 

I took a detour into the woods and found an old dump site.  I saw a afghan, records, rusty toaster and an old shoe.  All of these items were used and cherished at one time.  Now they are laying open for the elements to  do their magic.

 

 

 

I moved the tennis shoe, look close, there is a seed growing inside the shoe.  Maybe I was looking for something positive in the negative and I spotted a little seed growing inside the shoe. What a struggle with so little soil. 

 

The weather was great and I enjoyed the afternoon of sun and getting back to what I enjoy.  I am not a winter person so I really enjoyed today.

 

I wish I had cropped these pictures but I forgot that part of the process until I had trouble finding the oil ridge and the afghan.  I will work on this next time.  

 

 



January 2014

It is here.  The new year.  For weeks I have heard, can't wait until this year ends and the new year has to be better."  Many families have had such hard times this year so we are all looking and hoping for a better new year.

This year rather than make a new years resolution, I want to use the phrase "The Focused Life." This is the Title of a devotional book by Turning Point that Christy told me about.  To make 2014 better than 2013 I need to be more focused.  I am not sure what part of my life will be affected but I am sure I am going to have many surprises.

I want to be more focused on:
Growing in the His Word.
Living through my grief.
Making a difference.
Being there for my family.
Making friends.

Our family has gone through a lot this year and Dylan going to heaven has been very difficult.  I was looking for a picture to post and this one made me stop and think.  This was a very special time in Dennis and my life.  We had all the grandkids up for a week and we did lots of fun things.  I shared with them my first attempt at being a author.  The kids loved it.  I look now at this picture and realize how sick Dennis really was that week.  But we still had a wonderful time and we made great memories. We just did not realize that in a few months Dennis would go to heaven and then two years later Dylan would also go to be with him. Heaven has always been special to us and desiring to go there has more meaning now, than ever.

Dylan's birthday is the 3rd  and our hearts are still so heavy at his going.  It has brought up so many feelings of Dennis' death.  It feels like I am reliving it all over again with a heavier heart because of Dylan's going.  I am so glad that I got a chance to spend time with Mike's family.  I have lots of pictures and lots of memories.

 

 

We spent a week again this past summer in Florida.  We were looking all the time for the large shell and the perfect sand dollar.  Most of the time Mike had Aida on his hip so this was a special opportunity for father and son to search together.

 

I am glad that I took a lot of pictures so I have a lot of visual memories.  We will not forget our special Dylan.  A little boy that could make what he dreamed up in his little head.  He was talented with tools and he had a way with his winning smile.  We will miss him.

 

Judith