My cup of tea

So...It's Monday morning and in an hour from now I'll be leaving to teach my women's Bible study. I thought I'd have a calming cup of tea and perhaps lose my headache somewhere between now and then.

On Friday I purchased several sample tea bags from a little store in an an adjacent town. I wish I had thought to take a photo of the store - but alas, I did not. The Happy Egglant is our new favorite store, one in which Brillo Man and I visit almost every Friday during our "date day." There we have discovered, among other things, some amazingly flavorful Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. The glass flasks are refillable and the oil is imported directly from Italy. Being of Italian descent, I have a slight affection for anything Italian. Not to mention that it's the best olive oil that I have had.

But I digress. I started out talking about tea... The Pomi-Berry Tea Sachet from Two Leaves and a Bud just may be my new favorite! The description on their website reads:

"Pomi-Berry might be the Goldilocks of herbal berry tea. With a combination of calming chamomile, zippy forest berries and fruity strawberry, it doesn't hit you over the head with berry flavor, and it isn't too herbal. It's just right."

It is a very good tea. And I'm thrilled that it didn't hit me over the head with berry flavor because, after all, I do have a headache...

Anybody Need a Chair?

I was SURE that long ago I posted something about Brillo Man's amazing auction win. 63 Filing Cabinets....Does that ring a bell with anyone? I can't locate the post - so perhaps I didn't post it...but I was sure I did.

Anyway...to recap...he was absolutely thrilled to have won an auction of 63 government surplus filing cabinets. Then he had to rent a HUGE U-Haul to bring them home - and then rent a storage space for three months to house them while he decided where he would put them.... He then bought a very expensive shed to house them - so he could store "stuff" in them. ??!

Yesterday he arrived home with these:



Goverment surplus chairs....
We are NOT buying another shed.

The Queen of MisMatch

As part of Red Ribbon "Say No to Drugs" Week at school, Olivia was encouraged to dress all Mismatched today. Her teacher said that "she won!" - For sure she is a kaleidoscope of color and patterns!



We even mismatched her hair!

Not Enough Time

I have come to the conclusion that there simply are not enough hours in my day. And how is it that I've come to this earth-shattering conclusion?...it's 10:33pm as I'm typing this and I still have a bazillion blogs I would like to read and a dozen things I need to do before I turn in for the night....not to mention that since we had church tonight, I didn't get the dishes done... I also neglected to help Olivia choose her outfit for mismatched day at school tomorrow. Which means we will probably be rushed in the morning and she won't be nearly as mismatched as she could have been had we chosen her outfit earlier.

I spent over an hour today trying to get through the next level of Angry Birds. Who invented that horrible time-sucking game anyway??!! And why could it not have been me??!

One hour was spent in preparation for our youth group lesson - we gave the teens a spiritual gifts test. OH!...what fun we had...not to mention the interesting things we learned about our small group of teens!

One hour spent overseeing Olivia's homework progress. She did fairly well on her own - which was good (because I was preoccupied trying to solve ANGRY BIRDS!)

Ten minutes was spent on the phone with the bank begging for mercy in hopes that they'll reverse the THREE overdraft charges that hit today when I realized that I paid bills out of THE WRONG ACCOUNT!!! What was I (NOT!) thinking! (Pray for favor please...they will let me know tomorrow if they are able to forgive any of those charges...) Ugh.

I know one thing upon which I didn't spend enough time ....eating. It's official - I'm hungry. My stomach is growling. I think I need to go heat up a bowl of that ham and cabbage soup Brillo Man made yesterday...

Yummy Deliciousness!

I returned home after a long day...led a Bible study this morning - then spent some time encouraging a friend during a long, extended lunch - then picked up Olivia from school - went to the bank....thought I would have to cook dinner when I returned since I knew that Brillo Man was gone all day... only to find that Brillo Man wasn't gone all day! Change of plans! Yahoo...and he made dinner! Have I mentioned lately that I love my husband?

Trunk or Treat

Olivia donned her blonde wig and off we went...to the New Beginnings Church Trunk or Treat Celebration.









Olivia was disguised as Taylor Swift and was elated that most people guessed correctly when she asked them to guess who she was.



She had fun collecting a ton of candy. She painted a pumpkin, went on a hayride and won a Webkinz duck. She was thrilled!






And as the afternoon was winding down, they drew names for some prizes for the adults. I said to myself, 'it sure would be nice to win a gas card,'...and then they drew my name for a $10 gift card for the gas station. God is good!

...and Now I wait...

I have finally taken the steps to do something that the Lord has been calling me to do for a number of years. I will pursue my Master of Arts degree in Professional Counseling beginning in January.

All paperwork is complete...now I just wait for a response from the Veterans Administration regarding financial aid (as the wife of a disabled veteran, I qualify for education benefits!) Today I received a letter in the mail stating that they have received my application and due to "a great number of claims, action on mine may be delayed." Fun. Whee. So typical of anything having to do with the VA...ugh. Hopefully, the finances will come through BEFORE the admissions office will require payment for my classes. If not, I'll be taking out a student loan to get me through the interim. At any rate, I'm believing that the Lord will work out all the details. He has called me. I'm trusting He'll equip me.

So for now...I wait.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words....

...or so the saying goes.

Our Pastor Marty is an amazing woman of God (Her name is Martha...but most call her Marty.) She is in the midst of an incredible sermon series entitled, "Thy Kingdom Come" and felt inspired to commission me to paint a "coat of arms", if you will, for our church. I am honored to be using the gift that God has given me.

This painting is about so much more than the coat of arms...it goes deeper...the Lord is doing a work in me through it...He is working on the canvas of my heart with each stroke of the brush. When I'm finished with the painting, I may share more about what the Lord is doing in my heart. But for now, just know that God is amazing....and I am a work in progress...just as this painting is a work in progress:

Pencil Drawing Sketch of THY KINGDOM COME
I spent considerable time reading
the scripture references which
Martha has chosen for her series.
And then spent some time in prayer...
and this is what the Lord gave me
(drawing time on the actual sketch: 20 minutes)



Adding a grid so I may transfer it to the canvas



Drawing on the canvas begins (Canvas measures 30"x40")
It took a little more time than 20 minutes
to 'grid off' the canvas
and transfer my drawing to scale



Filling in the background
Randy suggested the color...very good choice


The background complete


The start of the tree


More of the same


The tree complete...for now
Revisions to follow, I'm sure!


The ribbon...


And that's as far as I've gone thus far. I will be painting some more today. Just as this canvas is a work in progress, so is my life. The Lord is painting on the canvas of my heart...changing me, refining me, perfecting me, conforming me into His image. The goal being that I will reflect His character. It's a process. As an artist, I am reminded that at times the design comes easily and the paint flows freely and quickly, but often times, it's a more arduous task to make the painting look like the vision that is in my head. My prayer is that I may not be resistant to the work that He is doing in my life - and that I allow Him to create in me a masterpiece.

...more of the painting in upcoming posts.