Graduation Sentiments and a Senior Board Idea

Our 2nd daughter just graduated from high school.  It's a special time but it also comes with a bittersweet feeling that this season of life has come to an end for her.  But a new season is about to begin.  It seems that's what God has in store for us in this life...new seasons!  

We had a senior board to complete before she graduated, but unfortunately, I suffer from a long line of procrastinators.  So we waited until the day before to get it done.  God was good as He provided ideas we had not even considered before.  Since we were excited about the way it turned out, I decided to share a photo.

It's a little different from most senior boards we've seen before, and I think it turned out nicely despite our procrastination.  

Here is a photo of most of our family.  We were so glad they were able to travel to be with us on this  special day.

The senior gal is in the back (to the right) by the tall guy who is known as Dad to our daughters.  

Blessings!

Suzanne

June Nature Discoveries in Pictures ~ Flowers, Flyers, & More

     As I reflect back over this month, I realize we've seen some "new" things that we'd not noticed before on God's beautiful creation.  Having not previously been much of an outdoor person (I don't like dirt, sweating, or bugs), I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I have enjoyed spending time with the kiddos and my husband outdoors.  With a little effort on our parts, we can see so many things God has put on this earth that will bless our souls.  As the weather has warmed up over the past month or so and due to my allergy to heat (ha ha), it has put a damper on our outdoor adventures.  But I still wanted to share with you the incredible blessings in nature that we have enjoyed during the month of June.

     Previously I had posted  photos here, but they disappeared.  So I will share what we saw - 2 little land snails, a U.C.C. (my own acronym for an Unidentified Creepy Crawly), a swiftly moving green lizard, the little scoundrel that is known as the local cat food eating raccoon, a typically carefree butterfly stuck inside our screened-in porch, a dragonfly, two birds' nests (both discovered by my husband), a stunning periwinkle iris bloom, a variety of daisy blooming, another daisy or daisy-look-alike, a Happy Returns Daylily (this variety happily returns all summer), more gorgeous daylilies, breathtaking blooms of our Crepe Myrtle tree, and a Blue Hydrangea in bloom.

     I really wanted to capture each moment that we discovered something "new."  For me, it was truly a blessing to take notice of God's beautiful creation and know that He loves me enough to share these wonderful creations of His with me.  For God's Word tell us in Romans 1:18-20, "Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (NIV)  What confirmation that verse should be for all of us of the depth of God's love for all mankind!  Ah.....more of God's little kisses.

Blessings to you!

Me be Meek and Quiet?

     Recently, I have been doing a summer Bible study with some precious friends.  I've had this book sitting around collecting dust for several years and never took the time to read it.  I'm so glad my friends asked me to join them.  The name of the study - Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit by Teri Maxwell.  PLEASE DO NOT STOP READING YET!  Hang with me here!  Those who don't homeschool, keep reading.  If you don't even have children, don't stop here.  Let me say that this book would be good for any Christian to read, especially moms and wives.  Even though not every mom homeschools, we are always teaching our kiddos something when they are nearby.  It may be love or hate, academics or values, giving or taking, building up or tearing down - whatever we are doing with our children, we are always teaching them something either positive or negative.  They learn from us by default - just by being with us.  So whatever character qualities it is that we are displaying, our children are learning from that.  We, as moms, all "homeschool" in some way or another.

      As I have been going through this study, I have been convicted in my spirit that I do not regularly show a meek and quiet spirit to my daughters or my husband, for that matter.  When I say meek and quiet, what I mean is having the self discipline (which comes from the Holy Spirit) to choose to not display my anger when I am angry.  I think meek and quiet many times is actually the opposite of what most people think it is.  It's not allowing others to run over us like we're doormats.  Instead, it's allowing the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to show others love when we don't really feel like showing love in the flesh.  It's responding to others in kindness, not with an ill temper.  Now, is there any way you could imagine that I would respond to my precious children in such a negative manner???  I know - it's hard to believe I would do such a thing.  

     Since I started going through this book, I have been much more conscious, almost constantly, of my response to my daughters and my husband.  I believe that's conviction and I'm so glad.  I have realized that many times I treat mere strangers better than I treat my own family whom I love dearly.  Why is that?  How can I treat someone I barely know better than I treat my own family members?  We take them for granted and we're teaching them, when we treat them badly, that it's okay to do that.  Well, it's not okay.  God tells us that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20).  If we truly love the Lord, we will show it in our actions.  It's not enough to just say we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we must live out in our daily lives what we say we believe.  Otherwise, we're "deceiving ourselves" (I John 1:8) into believing the lie that we can say one thing and live another.  It's just not so.  I feel so blessed that the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to this Biblical truth!  

     While it may seem that I was asked to do a review on this book, that is not the case.  I just felt the tug of the Holy Spirit on my heart to share the insights I've gained from this book with others.  I would encourage anyone who's interested in living out their Christian walk daily to pick up a copy and see what God might show you through Teri Maxwell.  You can find the book at this link, http://www.titus2.com/.    

     Thank you Lord for loving me enough to change me from the inside out.  Ah...another little kiss from God!

Grace to you!

              

On Father's Day - A Tribute to my Daddy and my Husband

     Today is Father's Day!  And while this day could bring heartache and bitterness to my heart, instead it brings blessings.  It was such a blessing to be able to spend the day with my husband, David, and our 3 precious daughters, Carrie Beth, Scutter, and Rae-Rae.

     As I was sitting here thinking back over the day, my memory takes me back to when I was growing up and my daddy was still here on earth.  I was so blessed to have a godly father, one who cared about me while I was growing up, and I'm so thankful for that.  Although I struggled with his death for years, God has helped me overcome the bitterness that his death brought to my soul.  And all that is left now is gratefulness for the man, husband and father he was.  I know today he is joyfully in fellowship with Jesus and other loved ones, who have gone before us, in Heaven and has been there for over 25 years now.

     While the void that was left by my father's death could continue to sting like a dagger in my heart, I turn my thoughts to the man I now have as my life-long partner and the loving and caring father of our 3 daughters.  How blessed I am and our girls are to have him in our lives and how grateful I am to the Lord for the man, husband and father he is!

     You see, I could allow bitterness to control my emotions but I must remember the  little kisses from God - not few blessings but many more than I can even imagine.  I could focus on the loss and the void but instead, by God's grace, I choose to focus on the precious memories I have of my own loving father and the wonderful times our girls are able to share here and now with their father.  I choose, by God's grace, to be thankful for the man who is now in my life and who is a wonderful daddy to our daughters.  

     I love you, David!  And I hope you've had a blessed Father's Day today.  And thank you, Lord, for the caring father I had in my life while he was here on earth and for the father our daughters have in their lives here and now!

     Encouraging you to focus on the little kisses from the Lord this week.  It will bring joy to your soul too! 

This is my Little Kisses from God Family

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Blessings!

Wordless Wednesday ~ #2

Blessings!

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday ~ #1

Just for fun, I decided to begin participating in Wordless Wednesday!  This week they are doing Wordless Wednesday all week so here goes nothing!

Continuing to enjoy God's little kisses today and hoping you are too!

Life Lessons from the Beaver

     We took another trip to our local state park this week which was especially enjoyable because my husband was able to join us.  That was a special treat!  Almost everywhere we turned we saw the work of a beaver.  It was amazing to see how much work they do to get a dam made.  What perseverance and determination they have - a concept many of us, even adults, don't completely get nowadays!  The bashful beaver or beavers, who remained hidden, must have worked long and hard on this dam.  Their hard work is proof of their tenacity.

  
Further proof of their resolve can be seen in the photos of these trees.

And these are only a couple of examples of the trees that the beaver(s) had worked on.  Here is another example.

     The tree on the right was lodged against limbs of another tree but was only hanging on by a thread at the point of destruction.  At any rate, we can learn much from the beaver and his work ethics.  God must have had much for me to learn over this past year about perseverance.
     What we really went to the park for was a refreshing hike in the woods and to see if we could spot a few more wildflowers.  We saw very few but here are some photos of what we did see.

This is Fire Pink.

These are pictures of the flower of a Tulip Tree (Yellow Poplar).  It is a member of the Magnolia family.  It was quite colorful.

This looked like a miniature iris bloom, possibly Southern Blue Flag.

An Eastern Tent Caterpillar (moth).

Here's my family racing ahead to see what else they could discover and Rae-Rae balancing on one of the beaver's trees.  Our experience in nature, God's beautiful creation, over the past few weeks has been so much more enjoyable than I had expected.  If we look for things to enjoy that God gave us, we can certainly find them!

Enjoying little kisses from God,

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  Romans 5:3-5 

Appreciating God's Creation

     Today we went to a local state park attempting to find something in nature that interested my kiddos enough to study.  I think more than anything they just wanted to play and explore on their own.  

     What we decided would be a fun study for all of us is flowers of any type, whether in a garden or growing wild.  What ended up being the most fun was searching for the flowers.  Then we'd take snapshots of them and try to see if we could identify them.  So here's what we saw and our stabs at identification.

We think this is a Potato Dandelion (wildflower), a member of the Aster family, but if anyone else knows exactly, please feel free to share.

We are pretty sure these are Wild Blue Phlox (they also grow wild), a member of the Phlox family.  But again, I'm new at this.

   

Rae-Rae is holding a Common Dandelion.

I'm not positive but I think this is Common Fleabane (wildflowers), also a member of the Aster family.

I couldn't find anything that looked enough like these wildflowers to even guess.  Yet they are still beautiful. 

Periwinkle (or Vinca)

This is another annual, like the Periwinkle above, but I don't know what it is.  It was a beautiful, vibrant red.

     I was amazed myself at how many wildflowers we caught a glimpse of when I've never paid much attention to them before.  I guess it goes to show me that we can always see beauty amongst the "weeds"  when we're looking for it which is especially true of everyday life.  Even my 8-yr. old daughter got that from today's nature walk.  As we were driving out of the park, she said, "Thank you Lord for the beautiful flowers!"  Amen to that!

I hope you are also catching glimpses of God's little kisses today!

    

Little Kisses at the Beach

     Last week, my daughters and I made a trip to the beach with my mom and my brother and his family.  It was a last-minute opportunity to enjoy a beach we haven't seen in a while.  And since my hubby said he thought it would be a nice change of scenery for us, we gladly accepted the invitation.

     It was so pleasant at the beach - not too hot and not to cool.  For me, it was just right.  The girls, my two nieces and nephew splashed around in the ocean - the younger four riding on River Rats most of the time we spent at the beach.  There was no end to their energy level.  When they weren't doing that, they were playing in the sand or swimming at the pool.  While digging in the sand, one of my daughters, accidentally I might add, picked up a sand crab without realizing it until after she'd done it.  Another one got stung several times by the jellyfish that seemed so abundant where we were.  We also saw a Blue Heron and some beautiful yellow Hibiscus blooms.  I just sat back and enjoyed spending time with family that I don't see often enough along with the ocean view that God made.  All of these, from spending time with family to enjoying God's beautiful creation, were little kisses from God and I enjoyed them all.

      
I was about ten feet away from this incredible bird when I snapped the camera.

Blessings to you!

More Time Spent in Nature Study

     Today we spent some more time outdoors.  These are the beautiful things we saw.

Blooming Camellia

Kids flying kites & just being kids

Our 2 cats,
Scout & Winchester

and a Tulip Tree bloom (Japanese Magnolia).

     Hope you also experienced little kisses from God today too!