Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I was blessed by the message I read this week from Becoming a Woman of simplicity by Cynthia Heald.  Some quotes from her message follow:

” …live each moment with grace, wisdom and humor. Knowing that life is unpredictable, embrace God’s mercy and provision for each day”

“Each birthday I’m reminded that God has graciously given me another year. So each day, each moment, should be accepted in the same way”

“Wisdom is knowing that life is short and time is a gift.” “May I learn to value each moment as a gift.”

Reflecting on these statements and the lesson I’ve just studied has caused me to realize the importance of each moment. Take time to value the person/persons you are spending time with. If you meet a friend for coffee to chat….leave that cell phone in the car or turn it off and give your full attention to the  person. I know some interruptions are important and sometimes God ordained but don’t forget to focus on the moment and the person you are with when interruptions come. “Because we are increasingly on call 24/7, it is easy to be distracted and not completely present for one another.”

“What becomes important is not that I manage time, but that I let God manage me.”  David W. Henderson

Psalm 39:4-5 “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you.”

Steve finally hung the old lamp in the Man Cave that belonged to his mom and dad years ago. It’s an old lamp like you would hang over a pool table. It says Arrow on it…like Arrow brand men shirts. It used to belong to Salesman Sample Outlet store in Waco.

I’ve been catching up on birthday cards and letters and that’s always fun. I think letters are timeless and everyone should take the time to write one once in  a while.

I’m looking forward to a visit from out youngest son, Scott, this week. I miss him. I hope he will get to stay a few days and spend some time with little Chandler. Chandler is growing up so fast and Scot has only seem him once or twice. We need these family times together.

I have a couple of sewing projects that I want to tackle this week. I’m just learning but it’s so much fun. I found out about a quilting class as a local quilting shop and I think I’ll sign up for it. Quilts are such great family heirlooms. I have two that my granny made and they are priceless.

SO …what are you into right now? What makes you smile? Do share.

Get post. I can say, “me too” on this one for sure.

P.S. I don’t know how to do the cute little link thing that takes you to another blog. Teresa…Help me please…if you read my blog. LOL although, I never write anything worth reading I can truly relate to Laura Parker in her blog.

Okay, I know that probably sounded kind of strange to say we are too busy living to really live but think about what I mean for a second. We are so busy that we don’t think about what we are eating everyday. We need to get that last errand done before we pick up the kids or we need to get to the cleaners before they close…we don’t plan out our meals, exercise, relaxation times as we should. Don’t get me wrong, I know what it’s like to raise kids but I guess now that I’m at this time in my life, in an empty nest, I have more time to reflect on how I wish I had lived. More healthy.

But how does one really achieve a balanced life. Time for your family, your faith, your job, your friends….and somewhere in there find time for yourself? All of these things are essential for a well rounded life but how do you give just enough to each one so as to stay balanced?

I can say I know my life is not balanced but one thing I know now is I pay more attention to trying to give a little to each area. I will focus more on the foods I eat and take a little time each day to do something active. I will reflect on the good memories I have with my family and spend time making new memories. I will give attention to my house and yard everyday as those places give me contentment and I will spend time with my man, the love of my life. I will spend time with God and growing in my faith. I will give to others my time, as I believe time is an investment that you put into someone’s life.

Overall, I love being alive. I love living. I want to breathe in every moment of everyday. Now I’m off to see if I can find more balance in the things of living. Anyone want to go on a walk?

What about you? What kind of things do you focus on when it comes to living?

Now for something fun:

I am sure you mind went back to the days of Sesame Street….

You have to watch this amazing video film by Nature on PBS. It’s so cool to see the hummingbird up close and personal.  You might even decide to place a feeder close to window at your house.

I have a hummingbird feeder right outside my kitchen window. I love to watch them.

Next, in another page, I will post a video of some hummingbirds that I filmed while working at Peaceable Kingdom a couple of years ago. I plan to add more feeders to my yard so I can get that close in my own backyard. Awesome!

Tell me what part of nature do you love and appreciate the most. God is good! All the time.

Here’s how it went down:

First, we numbered ALL, yes ALL of our games that were age appropriate for our three kids. That included some for younger kid/kids and some for older ones. If it was too hard for the youngest, one of the older kids would play along with him/her or one of the adult would play with that one. They caught on quickly so that didn’t happen often.

Next, after numbering the games we put corresponding numbers into a cup or the proverbial hat and took turns drawing numbers.  Everyone got the chance to draw a number on game night. Since we had five people in our family that meant we played five games that night before we stopped. And we ALL played whatever games matched that number. We had a no complaining rule when it came to actually playing some of the games. Because some of them were gender specific and that was the time when a whine or a complaint might rear its ugly head. So we nipped it in the bud and set down some rules before the gaming started.The games played that night were set aside so the next week we had a chance to play other games that we had. After playing them all we put them all back into the stack and started over again.

Finally, just a note to encourage you to make this an activity that your family participates in regularly because before you know it that will all be grown and only interested in video games… (not that there’s anything wrong with video games …you can use that as a fun family time as well,  just don’t do that instead of the board games).

These are some of the fondest memories I have with my kids because we were all together having fun. And watching them grow and learn is just amazing.

Here are some of the games we played together as a family:

These are just a few of the games we played. (Opps…One of them got posted twice. Oh well. ) There were others, of course. These are so many more games on the market now so get to your local toy store and start buying some games to play with your children.

Below is an interesting website that talks about playing games with your children.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2060

If you wear orange on August 3rd and go to Whataburger between 5 and 8pm you can get a FREE Whataburger. The orange needs to be the same as their orange but at least you don’t have to dress up as a cow, or chicken.

So dig in your closet and find that horrid orange T-shirt you got from camp 100 years ago and slam it on and go claim your FREE Whataburger.

Oh, and tell your friends. And the homeless guy on the corner…but you’ll need to bring him an orange shirt….or just give him your free burger. Hmm, not a bad idea.

ENJOY!!

P.S. Whataburger also has a contest where you could win free burgers for the next 60 years. It’s to celebrate their 60 year anniversary.

Read This:

Because Whataburger has inspired generations of fanatical fans, the company will also search for its biggest Whataburger fan with an online contest that begins August 4. Customers can submit pictures and essays or videos to show their love for Whataburger for a chance to win 60 years of free Whataburger, a trip to the Whataburger convention in Dallas, TX and other cool prizes.

http://www.whataburger.com/news_release_details.php?nid=155

I found this in my backyard this morning

When I was taking the dog out this morning I found the cat perched over a hole in the dirt in the backyard. I first thought it might be a snake. As I got closer to the hole I heard a noise coming from it. Hmmm, no wonder the cat was so interested.

I got the water hose to water my flowers but decided to try and flood out what ever was in that hole. I noticed about 6 feet away was another smaller hole that I assumed was the escape outlet in case of an emergency. Well…I ‘m here to say what happened next was an emergency….not so much for whatever was living in the hole but for me. I started the flooding process at the exit and ran quite a bit of water in the hole but nothing happened. So, I decided to move over to the entrance. By now the cat had lost interest but I wish she had stayed as she could have been very helpful to me. When I ran the water into the entrance nothing happened at first but when I moved the hose out came this creature. I thought it was a locust but the back of it looked like a bee. So I yelled for the hubs to come check it out and about the time he got to the door the creature took flight.  And…I screamed and jumped almost falling off of the step as I knew he/she was coming for revenge.  See, if that cat had only hung around just a few more minutes I would have shown her the prize of the day and I would have been able to continue watering my yard without fear of  THE CREATURE!!

I am so excited about this event. We will set up a tent at the Baylor track and take turns walking or walk together all night long. We will be selling things at our tent to help reach or surpass our goal.

I am looking for more people to join my team. I’m also looking for other cancer survivors to join my team. So if that;s you or you know someone I’d love more people on my team. The link to ACS webpage is below. Just click on it or copy and paste it into your browser then click on donate. That will take you to a place where you can join my team. Type in Jan’s Fans and the join me.

Thanks for supporting me and American Cancer Society.  The Relay for Life is October 16-17, 2010.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=24263&pg=entry

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