Suites, Private Pools, and Harley Joe!

There are many things I think when traveling...some I never blog about. I suppose this is due to the fact that I usually leave my computer at home while on vacation. This week it is an ADVENTURE (not vacation) and blogging will probably maintain my sanity levels while Loverbrains is working long hours.

What things do I think you ask? Well, like how you spend time teaching your kids to pick things up and put them away and how they decide to OBEY and pick up nasty things from parking lots and restrooms. GAG! Or, how they ask embarrassing questions about anatomy in public restrooms that ECHO! Or, how much fun are bathroom blowers (after you get past the stage where they scare the kid to death)! Yeah, DEEP thoughts...deep thoughts!

First time we have ever had a suite...very cozy...very WONDERFUL...sort of privacy.
We even enjoyed a private pool...well, not really...but no one else was using it at the time.
My real thoughts are with Joe...a scary biker dude we met at a busy rest stop. I'm a pretty bold chica...I know this doesn't shock most of you...but especially when I'm securely with my Loverbrains...I talk to just about any poor stranger who will stand still for it. This guy was in full Harley duds...with a sunburned nose and cheeks...and a worn and tired feel about him.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Mt. 11:28

Anyhew...we were eating our refrigerator clean-out lunch...meaning I had a loaf of bread, bologna, cheese and blueberries...not fun really. I didn't even have napkins or condiments. We were under a mini shelter...from the blazing sun...on a humid day. It rained on and off the whole trip.

I stepped over and said...,"Hey you're welcome to join us. We don't have anything exciting, just sandwiches...but would you care to join us?" He looked surprised and hesitated and then accepted. He said he'd checked out the vending machine and it was junk (true, true). He didn't want to stick his fingers in the food...so asked if I'd make the sandwiches. *Smile...and he really opened up to us. I learned lots about him...born in Poland, ex-marine, heavy drinker, etc. etc. He sort of wanted to know why we were being nice to him. He said that most people that talked to him were old couples....not young families.

That was our opening to tell him about our personal relationship with Jesus Christ...and how we try to live our lives for His glory...as we think He would live...as HE DIED. Such conversations rarely go as far as I'd like...and Joe didn't say a whole lot. But ya never know what seeds were planted or what seeds we watered, etc. (Mt. 13) I waved to him as we went into the "potties" and he roared off on his HOG. It POURED the rest of the way up past the Chicago split. And I prayed silently for him...that the searching he's doing will lead him to the ONLY WAY, TRUTH and LIFE! (Jn. 14:6)

*Drum Roll...*

Do you see it???
TA DAH! Yes, we are the winners of the Golden Scoop for yet another glorious year!
Yes, here is the ice cream genius...MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP...ala Loverbrains...
Our Sweet Girl really really likes it!!
Yummm...for the recipe...you have to go where I'm MomE & Loving It!

CR: Rich man, poor man...

For anyone who remembers when I called peonies the "poor man's rose"....here is *drum roll...
...the "real deal rose." Actually, it's my family's tea rose. My great grandfather cultivated it (don't ask me how that works please)...and it is bright and gorgeous and the SMELL IS OUT OF THIS WORLD...really...heaven smells like this I'M JUST SURE!
And on other random thoughts...I'm missing my Loverbrains cuz he's doing a major project in another state...and only comes home on weekends...*sigh* and here's the crazy random part...I'm thinking of going with him next week...yeah...with the kids!!

Oh come ON...where's your sense of adventure?? Live in a ritzy hotel for a week, swim in a big pool, go to new parks, sleep next to your Love...

Can we do it?? YES, WE CAN...unless we talk ourselves out of it between now and then!

Lord, I Need You...

Sometimes when life seems gentle and blessings flood my way,
I turn my gaze away from You and soon forget to pray.
But when the sky grows darker and courage turns to fear,
My anxious voice cries upward with words you long to hear.
Lord, I need You when the sea of life is calm.
O Lord, I need You when the wind is blowing strong.
Whether trials come or cease, keep me always on my knees.
Lord, I need You. Lord I need You.
Lord, help me to remember I'm weak but You are strong.
I cannot sing apart from You, for Lord You are my song.
Although I'm prone to wander and boast in all I do;
Lord keep my eyes turned upward so I depend on You.
Lord, I need You when the sea of life is calm.
O Lord, I need You when the wind is blowing strong.
Whether trials come or cease, keep me always on my knees.
Lord, I need You. Lord I need You.

Song by Ron Hamilton (sorry I couldn't find the recording to share.)

WFW: Read the whole thing...

I find that, as a Mom, I'm guilty of knowing and repeating portions of scripture but not reading the whole thing. I'm not taking anything out of context per se...just not remembering what the whole thing says.

Recently, this portion of scripture has been brought to my attention. I say, "Be kind to one another" about forty two billion times a day! What I was needed to hear was the tenderhearted and forgiving AS CHRIST forgave YOU parts.

Funny, so close...yet so far away. So, write down verses that you "spout off" and see what's written around them. You might just find that it's what you've been looking for all along.

For more WFW go to...Susan's where she is FOREVER HIS.

Tube Tuesday: Whatever You're Doing...

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
All I can do is surrender

(Chorus)
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

(Chorus)

Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly
Something heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time breathe in and let everything out

by Sanctus Real

Perspective...

Isaiah 40:12, "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?"

Psalm 33:6-9, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm."
Job 38:4-7, "“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?"
More zoo day pictures at MomE & Loving It...