Published..

So kind of a cool thing to me...I got an article published in the Fence Post magazine!  I was excited and partially because it was about my Father-in-law, husband, and son...and we had given Grandpa the Fence Post for Father's Day and the first one he got had him in it...Of course he referred to something about my BS...but I know he meant it lovingly!   Or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!   Anyway it also came out on Firecracker's birthday so was just a fun thing for me!   I love writing but was exciting that I got to see it in print...

So I scanned it but...turns out kind of hard to read the printed version...So I tried to print out my original with pictures...so maybe you can read it...

 Anyway...I was excited about it...so thought I would share for those of you who don't get the Fence Post!!

lyp

Happy Birthday Firecracker!

And I can't believe that Izzy is now 2 years and a day!   I am not sure where the time goes...but it does.   I have got to have lots of Izzy time and you all know that is one of my FAVORITE things to do!   We snuck up last night so we could see her on her actual birthday--even though her party will be later.   But had to share her and Aunt "Aum" making her birthday cake--Oh ya she's big!

Aunt Aum and Izzy MIXING it up!

Mama and Grandad watching on...gotta love it!

Was funny because Aunt Autumn took Izzy to the store to pick out whatever kind of cake she wanted...of all the choices...Izzy picked the confetti cake and got a little upset when her Aunt tried to sell the chocolate.   But the part of this is that the confetti cake was Izzy's daddy's favorite kind!... Of course Miss Isabel had to mix it up...because of being an M & M fan...she decided to add some to the mix.  

Then when the cake was done she put some more on top...but the best part of that was when we went to dish it up...she started picking all the M & M's off...Okay so maybe she is the only grandchild on both sides...could you really tell!!


Picking off our M & M's...







So who says you can't have your cake and eat it too...I sure do love these two girls...and hoping for a good year for the both of them!   TWO it could be an adventure for sure...

Happy Birthday Firecracker...lyggg

I got more...but thought I would put up a short one for now! 

I love a rainy night...

And I end the day singing good night to Izzy as she and her mother are discussing that she needs WATER instead of POP to go to bed...And I start singing "cool clear water...water...Oh Dan can't you see that great big tree..."

Well tonight I am away from my kitchen table...I am at Firecracker's house.   After all this is Firecracker Flex Friday!   And I have to say I love those days!   And today was no different!   I got up here to Limon before Little Miss Isabel awoke and got to visit with her mom a little before she headed off to work!   Then once Izzy woke up, it took most of the morning to get her dressed.   Toddlers have their own built in clock and she is no exception...and she is trying so hard to control what little bit of the world she can control...so she had to spend some time in her little princess night gown from Aunt Autumn...she did skip the matching pink slippers!

It is quite the transition in between times I see her and it was only a few days...However, today she was very much in NO mode!   She takes her "No" very serious and she means it.  But we did get our breakfast of scrambled eggs finished and we picked out our own outfit...so the shorts might be a little big right now...our shirt was a onesey so it stayed tucked in and no baby butt crack whatsoever.   Anyway we went out to feed the goats...to which I get several "Gramma--NO--ME!"   She might be a tad independent but you know that is okay with me!   And it is even more rewarding as her mom also gets to deal with an independent daughter!   But you know they grow up to be strong independent women...the kind you admire and are so proud of.

Okay I got distracted a little...Otis just climbed up on the couch to lay down by me.   For some reason he thinks we are friends...I am guessing Jay is watching and laughing away because me and the dog are hanging out!   But I know Otis must miss him...after all Jay is the one who rescued him!

Now back to my day...after all it is getting late...it will soon be tomorrow!   After the goats we headed to get mom for lunch...AFTER we took the truck to get the tires rotated.  In order to go we needed our baby Gretchen and our "Amy Dog Purse!"  

Although, it seems one little girl was a little tired and started to have a melt down and decided she did not want to go to Arby's.   However--we compromised on going through the drive-thru and off to the park!   An excellent choice as a beautiful day...not too hot...not too cold!   But while there--we also had the greatest entertainment...a group of boys...our own Sandlot came to the park and were playing their own game of baseball...they had tennis balls and a stick!   But was so fun watching these 10 - 12 year old boys and the dynamics of them all!  We were laughing at them....ball on the roof....ball in the pool....in which we were told....you didn't see anything!   Izzy loved them!   I could picture them all in high school before long...and then all of a sudden they will be grown but will have these special memories of growing up in a small town...where you and your buddies get in a game before

you head to the pool!

As usual...lunch flew by and time for "Mama" to go back to work.   So we dropped her off and we headed for Alco...to get a Father's Day card...and a "POP"!   We also found a few more items and we smelled several candles.   Found a Disney sing a long that has "Coming around the mountain".   A favorite she calls the mama song and pats her leg.   Gramma sings several different courses...one of the favorites is "She will say where is Bo when she comes...she will say where is Bo when she comes...she will say where is Bo...we will say we do not know...she will say where is Bo when she comes.   (Bo is our farm dog...who the Firecracker is usually more interested in than most people...she loves the animals...)  I also got her to say I....Love.....Gramma-Gramma-Gramma and pat her heart....just like we used to when we did patty cake!

Then we came home to watch our video and rocky bye the Little Miss!   And as I rocked her I thought it doesn't get much better than this as it was raining outside...RAIN.   I laugh because I got a text from Jay's mom who was on the train to Chicago...but the text she sent me just made me smile..."In Iowa, very green and lots of stuff standing in the fields I think they call it water!  It is caused by what they call rain!  Must be an Iowa substance cause we sure don't have the stuff in Colorado!"

For those from not around here...we are in desperate need of some rain...so getting to experience some was a blessing for sure!   And I hope that it hits all the grassland that desperately needs a drink as well as those fires that do not seem to want to stop!   I think of how we all need some "water" whether figuratively or literally!   I received the following from my friend Mary...

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Jesus,

pray for us.

We are as sure of your prayers
as we are that the sun will rise tomorrow.


and courage and wisdom.

We ask that you be with us all days
till the end of our days.

We ask your Spirit

Our roots
need
rain.

Amen.

So isn't that the truth...our roots need rain.   Then I hear Pastor Al (I now have a name for the one who started me thinking of Project Joy...you know "don't let the devil steal your joy!") anyway he talks about how we are trees that God has planted...planting us near the water...and I think of my thirsting soul...I think of my long time friend Phyllis and keep her and her husband Pete in my prayers as Pete got to leave the hospital today...after receiving a kidney transplant.  They are two tough people for sure!   I think of these two and how they could use some "rain" for refreshing as well...for them and for their farm!  I think of the Jerry Sullivan family who have lost a husband and father...and reading his son Shad's tribute that was nothing short of amazing!   You could tell the love that it was written with.  How they could use rain for their roots...and I think how Jerry has been lead to the "green pastures" that I am sure he has dreamt of!.

Took in supper at the local Southside with Lance, Heather, Izzy and Tyler...got to eat pizza and then when we left had to wade through puddles!  And so I write this out as my children and granddaughter are upstairs probably asleep...and my  husband is home alone in our bed!   Which makes me think of our song "I love a rainy night" and I so enjoy this precious rain I have been able to experience this day! 

Tomorrow is Jay's birthday!   And I think of just a year ago...celebrating with friends...his fire pit...and know that he will be in all of our thoughts!   But I also am going to have a big day with the Firecracker and maybe hang out with her Aunt Aum...as my kids are going to a wedding!  Congratulations Danica and Spencer...I wish you Joy!  I think of Jake's bachelor party...of my niece Bethany planning her own wedding...and so there is lots of Joy around.    I hope to write another...but for now I stop and give thanks for the rain!  And so I close this down...with the train and the thunder serving as background...and I realize that tomorrow is now today and so I say Happy Birthday Jay!

lyp

Thank you for being a friend...

READY OR NOT THIS ONE IS GOING OUT THERE....way longer than usual so I send it off...

Yesterday (okay a few more days have passed) with my FIRECRACKER FLEX FRIDAY...inspired me to pull this one off the shelf...and since it talks of Spring....and we have passed Memorial Day I pull it off the shelf to finish up.   I have since found out that this was during a blogger time that it was doing weird things with blogs...but still think maybe it was supposed to wait...but felt the need to pull it back off so here we go...hang on because I think this could be quite the "bike ride" with a few sharp turns...

The last week or so the theme I seem to be hearing is GIVE THANKS!  I had an e-mail that I received that said the following (I put the picture in just cause...)

This really made me think about how I seem to always come to God usually asking and not taking time for thanking...you know if we really stop and think we all have things to be so thankful for!   And among those I give thanks for is friends (this includes my family because they are after all some of my bestest friends)...

At my kitchen table there sits a whole stack of thank you cards that have not been written.   Not that I am not thankful...but back to the PROcrastinator.   I had worked on taxes and knew friends were more forgiving than the IRS.   Then I was sick and so I didn't.   And I look back at an old blog I had started titled Why Do We?   This was "pre" March 9, 2011 but it was after losing a very special man just a week before.   And I had asked why wasn't I there more for others and maybe I will finish that one up because as I have done there is a whole list of excuses.   BUT today at my kitchen table I have to share my devotionals...and other lessons I am learning.

This week I was looking out my kitchen window and there was the big old cottonwood with leaves and I thought when did that happen!   When I wasn't looking Spring came.   And it just put a song in my heart that there was green coming.   So this morning when the God Calling (Two Listeners) said the following, it made me smile:  (so this date might give away my timeline!)

"April 30 - Springtime

Rejoice in the Springtime of the year. Let there be Springtime in your hearts. The full time of fruit is not yet but there is the promise of the blossom.

Know surely that your lives too are full of glad promise. Such blessings are to be yours. Such joys, such wonders.

All is indeed well. Live in My Sunshine and My Love."

"Promise of the blossom"!   I love that.   I feel so for those that are going through such awful disasters, for those that also are suffering loss.   But there is the promise of the blossom!    And as I write this a song comes on by Addison Road..."This Little Light of Mine".   It is taken from one that we have all known as children but these words are very special to me.   Music seems to heal me and so I share the words and you can click on the link to hear for yourself!  This Little Light of Mine

There's a little flame inside a soul

Some shine bright

Some shine small

The rains will come

And the waters rise
But don't you ever lose your light

In this life you will know

Love and pain

Joy and sorrow

So when it hurts

When times get hard

Don't forget who's child you are

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm Gonna let it shine

Gonna let it shine

May you live each day

With no regret

Make the most of every chance you get

And your eyes get wide

When you look at the stars

With the same sense of wonder as a child's heart

With the ones you love

Treasure the time

And for those who are gone

Keep the memories alive

Hold on to your dreams

Don't ever let go

There's a fire inside you

Burning with hope

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine

Gonna let it shine

There will be days when you wanna give up

When clouds settle in

But after the rain comes the sun

Don't you ever forget

Don't forget

Don't, don't forget

One day there will be no more pain
And we will finally see Jesus' face
So until then I'm gonna try

To brave the dark

And let my little light shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine
I'm gonna let it shine
Gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine

I'm gonna let it shine

Gonna let it shine

Oh, shine

Gonna let it shine

There's a little light inside us all

Which this brings me to my next devotional from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers...(And I had written this whole blog and thought it was saved and had a glitch and so I start over and wonder if I will remember what I put before but...I am giving thanks all the same...)

"THE SPONTANEITY OF LOVE

The springs of love are in God, not in us. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts naturally, it is only there when it has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

"Love suffereth long, and is kind . . ." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we do not love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, it comes naturally. In looking back we cannot tell why we did certain things, we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God manifests itself in this spontaneous way because the springs of love are in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 5:5.)

And this brings me back to what I had started writing about.   And so I have a link that you can start playing and listen to while you read (I love the Golden Girls!)   Thank you for being a friend

On March 9, 2011 when we got "the phone call"...we did not think about packing bags, we did not think that we would be gone for days.   All we thought about was how quick can we get to our child!   And so we hopped in the truck and headed north!    So when it came time when we thought we should go to bed...we borrowed sleepwear from Heather and then we all laid down...not really sure we slept.

Then came the next day and the reality that we only had the shirts on our back and the jeans on our butts...I joked with some about not holding it against me for being the smelly kid!   I talked about this with Pam, Wes, and Diana...some of those that were there with a spontaneous love...I have been getting lessons from different places about the "washing of feet".    You know where it talks in the Bible in John 13 of Jesus washing the disciples feet the night before he died.   And I think of my cousin's wife going through a learning lesson with her children where they washed each other's feet before Easter.   A way to share this story, that her kids will remember.   I think of my friend talking at her church how they wash each other's feet and how the man came up right behind her and she felt that he was trying to "cut in line ahead of her"...He then told her that his bride to be was ahead and he wanted to be by her because they wanted to wash each other's feet.  And of course in reading the Easter story I read in John 13:12-17 (NIV) where it says...

¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

So back to my story...on not having clothes and so before long here shows up Diana with "bags" and within these bags, I like to refer to as my Love Suit...these "angels" knew that we did not have clothes and so just went and got us each some sweats, socks, unders, tooth brush, and just so many things that just touched my heart deeper than they may ever know.   Just an illustration of washing feet...this was only a small part of what these special friends did...even Wes you just being willing to eat when I needed to feed someone!   Taking Otis to the groomer...running errands...but I think I know where these learned it as their dad was right there and continues to be there when you need him (thanks Gordon).

Just the times that so many have "washed feet" with no other reason than just because...I think of a friend, Tyler, and how he just came and helped Heather clean house or help with whatever...just because....I think of Patrick who was there for his friend Lance not just during the times when the pain was new....but then weeks after just came and helped him with sheep...probably not on  his top ten list of things to do...but just because...and I think FRIENDS!   I think of the friends that were and still there for me...Mary you are an angel sent for sure!   There are so many that are just there..."washing feet"!   I think of during the funeral time and my brother and his family just being there...Shane, my brother, driving us around....Jo, his wife--my sister, mopping the floors, serving food, covering the fort.   Denise running a shuttle service from the airport...sharing her voice.   Sandy and family being there....babysitting....All the food brought in....all those who gave and continue to give gifts of money, love, and prayer!  Then I can't even touch the Chief and his family...the Yowell's are an amazing bunch!    It is overwhelming but reminds me that there is so much to be thankful for and that there are some special people out there!  And inspires me to the kind of person I want to be.   There are many other instances but these are the snapshots that come to mind...



Misty, Patrick and Lance and Patrick and Lance...my kids!



Which this brings me back to how yesterday and so many yesterdays have lead up to this blog.    I got to have lunch with Pam and her precious Gabe and Kara as well as with Izzy and her mama and P-pa!   And my heart hurts for Pam and Wes and their loss but even though they have their own "stuff", they continue to be special friends...doing chores...and being friends.  



But then Friday night Amy, Jake, and Andy (more friends of Jay and Heather's) that just showed up and played t-ball with Izzy...Yes Jake I believe real men aren't afraid to use pink bats...(even if you dance sitting down!)  Then out to dinner at Jenny's the local Mexican food establishment in Limon and there was Gordon (another special friend and Pam's dad), Andy, Jake, Amy C., Tyler, and I think of how I heard the other day this preacher talking about how we should try to live so that even when you die your life still carries on...and I think how Jay would have loved this gathering...time with friends and how he was still there with us...conversation of "Jay's wedding" made me smile and happy memories that we still have!

But I think about how friends...are sometimes those that are there for a short season, for a day, a minute, or for much longer.   And friends aren't just those that do for you...but some that you just enjoy being around and bring joy to your life, those who might just come and "be" with you, I think deeper on what a friend is.   There was a saying if you want to have a friend...be a friend! 

  

It is funny how this blog has taken on a life of its own...how each time I come parts are removed, things cannot be added, fonts are changed.   And so I wondered if it was something I shouldn't share...it didn't really seem controversial...but as I sat at my kitchen table I again asked if I should not redo and finish...okay so my devotion after I had just asked that was the following:

Delay Is Not Denial

Read the lessons of Divine control in Nature's laws.

Nature is but the expression of Eternal Thought in Time. Study the outward form - grasp the Eternal Thought, and if you can read the thoughts of the Father, then indeed you know Him.

Leave Me out of nothing. Love all My ways with you. Know indeed that "All is well."  Delay is but the wonderful and all-loving restraint of your Father - not reluctance, not desire to deny - but the Divine control of a Father who can scarcely brook the delay.

Delay has to be - sometimes.  Your lives are so linked up with those of others, so bound by circumstances that to let your desire have instant fulfillment might in many cases cause another, as earnest prayer, to go unanswered.

But think for a moment of the Love and thoughtful care that seek to harmonize and reconcile all your desires and longings and prayers.

Delay is not denial - not even withholding. It is the opportunity for God to work out your problems and accomplish your desires in the most wonderful way possible for you.

Oh! children, trust Me. Remember that your Maker is also your Servant, quick to fulfill, quick to achieve, faithful in accomplishment.  Yes.  All is well.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
 your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:9

And so I sit there and laugh out loud thinking how not only in writing a blog but in so many things we do (even writing thank you's)...that it is not always on our time or even in our plan or understanding.   So I smile and say Thank You God for being a FRIEND!!!   And while a lot of this was written quite some time back it still has just been growing and so I leave with the scripture I was given today...2 Corinthians 9 in my study Bible 6-14 says:

The Cheerful Giver

   ⁶ But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

      “ He has dispersed abroad,
      He has given to the poor;
      His righteousness endures forever.”<sup>[a]

10</sup> Now may^[b] He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, ¹¹ while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. ¹² For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, ¹³ while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, ¹⁴ and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Yes thanks be to God....but also to special angels right here!  lyp