Election Day and Hymns For Peace in Your Heart

I am an American.
I will exercise my right to vote.
Election day is today.
There seems to be so much at stake in America these days.

I am a mother.
What kind of future awaits our children and generations to come?
It can all be downright scary.
Do I need to be afraid?

I am a child of God.
God will never leave us nor forsake us.
He carries us, tucks us under His wings.
He holds us by the hand!

I am not afraid.
There is no need to fear.
God is in control of everything!
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done."
He has the whole world in His hands!

I believe in God, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost!
I believe in the promises of God.
I believe in Emmanuel~God is with us!
And if God is with us, who can be against us?

I am not afraid!

Our peace, joy, hope, strength and encouragement for today and everyday 
is always in the promises of God.
His Holy and precious word!
His most precious gift!
Jesus.
What a friend we have in Jesus.

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."  Isaiah 41:10

"For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." Isaiah 41:13

" These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, then he that is in the world." 1 John 4:4

Enjoy listening to these hymns with peace in your heart!

Once On This Island

Our little homeschool just finished a wonderful children's book series by Gloria Whelan!
The first book is called Once on this Island and it takes place on Mackinac Island during the War of 1812!
The other books in the series are, Farewell to the Island and Return to the Island.
We met wonderful, interesting characters and learned so much about what life was like for those living on Mackinac Island during the war between Britain and America.
The second book takes the main character all the way to London which gave us a glimpse of a very different way of life than here in the States during that time and then, of course, the last book is back on the island with more adventure involving a fur trading company and the local Indian tribes.

The little girls were playing Indians all day today in the woods with braids in their hair, beaded necklaces and scarves over their shoulders.
If I were on the ball I would have taken a picture or two!
Anyway, perhaps you'll check these books out from your local library like we did!
LOVED THEM!

Poems & Other Scribbles by CoffeeChlo

My daughter, Chloe, started a blog featuring her own poetry and some of the music she loves!
She is the daughter who was born in Australia 20 years ago!
She loves painting, writing and music
which are traits handed down from my mom's side of the family, 
though I tell Chloe that I was constantly singing to her and her siblings when I  was expecting her!
We sang the patriotic songs I learned in grade school:
This Land Is Your Land, The Star-Spangled Banner, My Country T'is of Thee, America the Beautiful
And every children's song that I could think of:
Daisy, Daisy, The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, In The Good Ol' Summertime,
Hey Diddle, Diddle and the whole album of a wonderful lullaby cassette that I received as a gift when I was expecting our first child in 1990 featuring songs called The Appalachian Lullaby, Tomorrow We'll Go to the Fair, Look at Teddy, and Raindrops. 
We sang all the hymns and church songs, too, that we loved so much: Jesus, Tender Shepherd, Jesus Loves Me, I Am So Glad, Day by Day, When We Walk With The Lord,  When He Cometh, Within Thy Wings.
We learned all kinds of Australian children's songs and discovered the singing group, "The Wiggles".
It was so cute listening to Miss Polly Had A Dolly in an Aussie accent!
And since our oldest, Shane, attended prep grade in Australia, we learned the Australian National Anthem, Australia Fair, and I still catch myself singing it from time to time!
Life was less busy in those days living so far from home without a lot of extra activities. 
I would walk in the neighborhood close to the school with the girls while Shane was in school and sing the whole time! No one seemed to be out and about in the neighborhood and the girls loved it.
We sang all the songs again at bedtime!
Chloe would then grow up to be the one child who actually liked to recite poetry, and the other day she inspired our whole homeschool class with typing out their own writings along with accompanying artwork!
So, anyway, here is Chloe's blog!
I hope you enjoy it!
https://coffeechlo.wordpress.com/

Knit Together In Love

It was a beautiful day yesterday sitting on the deck by Lake Walden celebrating my dear friend, Sarah's, birthday!
A wonderful group of ladies took time out of their day to share their love with our treasured friend.
Most of us have been friends since childhood and we laughed about old memories.
We were blessed to have in attendance her mother and mother-in-law who joined in on the fun plus a few young ladies and a handful of children who scurried around us to offer up a delightful mix of youthful energy!
The sun warmed us nicely on this beautiful fall day!
We sang hymns.
Were angels chiming in?
It was beautiful.
Everyone wrote a memory of Sarah and then a question for her to answer.
It was quite fun!
We laughed and reflected and even received a few wonderful lessons on family, faith and the latest rage in household paint colors.
A few opened up about minor or major struggles.
We listened.
We learned.
We laughed.
We shared.

You know what?
We loved!
We loved being together.
We loved being in the fresh air.
We loved the fellowship.

This morning is a new day.
We hear of death and sorrow and heartache.
Our hearts are aching for friends who've loved and lost.
We ache over sickness and loss and uncertainty.
One day our hearts are filled with joy.
The next heartache and sorrow.

I am reminded of what is precious in this life.
Love.
And the relationships we've been blessed with.
God is reminding me that our relationships are the most important thing we have on this earth!
The love of our Heavenly Father the most important relationship of all!
He lovingly calls us to Him, wants us to confide in Him, talk to Him, listen to Him!
He's our Best Friend!
Our Best Friend Forever!
He is constantly giving us unexpected gifts of love:
~a friend out of nowhere.
~a conversation of comfort.
~a smile from a stranger.
~a quiet moment to hear His voice.
~a small child to hug.
~a glorious sunrise.
~the joy of a birthday, a celebration, a birth.
~the comfort only He can give when our hearts are broken.
Can we find joy in that?
When our joy is lost, He gives us His!

Let us find the time to love.
We were created in love~it is part of our identity.
Enjoy it!
Celebrate it!
Give it away!

Life is a gift.
Love is a gift.

"That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love,"
Colossians 2:2

Singing About My Closet!

Has anyone ever wanted a beautiful, streamlined closet?
Where you can find something nice to wear no matter what kind of day you're having?
I've always dreamed of having a beautiful closet thinking I'll get to it when the kids are all older, when I'm not so busy, etc, etc.
Ahh! Wouldn't it be wonderful to feel HAPPY when you opened your closet?
Thankful, even, and so excited that you felt like SINGING? 
Well, let me tell YOU 
I'm SINGING!
My closet is ORGANIZED!
AND BEAUTIFUL!
AND I THINK IT'S A MIRACLE!
It IS a MIRACLE!
I'm so EXCITED!
I CAN'T STOP SINGING ABOUT IT!
I told you my New Year's resolution was to have more fun 
and I AM HAVING A BALL!
I have a clean, beautiful and organized closet!
And it has stayed clean, beautiful and organized for over a month already!
Believe me, there is nothing special about me!
I have never been the most organized person know matter how hard I try!
I plan on keeping the house neat and then before I know it, POOF! 
Back to a mess!
Constant cleaning and maintaining.
You all know what I'm talking about!
So, Here's the SECRET!

This little book is all the rage, you know.
It really is life-changing!
The author, Marie Kondo, is a tidying expert!
Her philosophy is to gather all your things by likeness, clothing, for example, and deal with it all in one go.
For example, she has you start with clothing, so I gathered all of my clothing from all around the house from winter coats that were hanging in various closets and in the basement to summer sandals stored in a bucket on a basement shelf~
All hats, scarves, shoes and dump them all on your bed or bedroom floor.
Then she advises handling each piece individually and asking yourself if it sparks joy!
I LOVE IT!
If it doesn't spark joy then OUT it goes!
I got rid of bags and bags of stuff that didn't spark joy:
shabby looking t shirts, shoes that really weren't that comfortable, hats, scarves and coats I never wore anymore because I had too many and they were just taking up space!
It felt SO GOOD to get rid of stuff I could hardly believe it!
I threw a bunch of shabby things straight in the garbage and bagged up everything else and brought it to the local thrift store.
I figured someone else could find real joy in the things that no longer sparked joy for me!

Another thing that the author suggests is keeping everything you wear in one place!
So no more storing things in the basement or downstairs closet!
EVERYTHING I own as far as clothing goes, FITS IN MY CLOSET!
All my shoes, boots, hats, scarves, purses, workout wear, swimsuits and cover ups, camping shorts and flannel shirt, socks, underwear, hoodies, jackets, fur collared coat, fancy hats, gloves, winter ski pants.
EVERYTHING!
Isn't that MAGICAL?
Here is my closet!

One hanging bar with shelf on top, a set of four wire drawers, and 4 shelves tucked into the side where I keep all of my shoes, purses and a few hats- right side of photo.
Hanging are all the dresses I chose to keep, jackets, shirts, blouses, pants and skirts.
The drawers hold all my pj's, underwear, socks, nylons, tights/leggings, 2 hooded sweatshirts, 2 swimsuits with cover ups, 2 pair shorts, t shirts, tank tops, camis,
 workout clothing, even my painting clothes!
The TRICK in getting all this stuff into the drawers is Marie Kondo's magic folding method!
Basically, you fold everything into a narrow rectangle then fold in thirds. Then she has you file them standing on end rather than stacking on top of each other.
Check it out here: http://goop.com/the-illustrated-guide-to-the-kondo-mari-method/

She suggests you use little boxes that you have hanging around the house to hold accessories and as dividers for socks, underwear, etc, as seen in the photo above. 

I keep extra hats, accessories, and off season clothing in these pretty boxes I bought from TJ Maxx for $8-$10!
I love them!
You can see them in action in the first photo above.

Here is one box with a few fancy winter accessories that I keep on the shelf!!

Can you see why i'm singing?

After you tackle your clothing, Marie suggests tidying your books.
And being a homeschooling mom, I LOVE MY BOOKS!
But somehow she has you happily going through all of your books and asking yourself if each one is still bringing you joy!
I got rid of over 400 BOOKS!
I'M NOT KIDDING!
PHOTO PROOF!
These all went to our beloved local public library who were more than happy to receive them!
It's going to help fund their summer program!

All of a sudden our home has so much SPACE!
After implementing Marie Kondo's Life-changing magic to your home, you will find your home is so much bigger than you realized!
You don't need a huge walk in closet, but if you have one. you'll soon be able to use it as a valuable space for so much more!
You don't need more square footage!
You just need to start TIDYING!

Life just got more FUN!
Get the book from your local library and start right away!
Your whole life will change just like mine did!
Pretty soon you will be singing about YOUR closet!

I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!

"O sing unto the LORD a new song.." Psalms 96:1

The Beautiful Garden

There is a beautiful garden.
The most beautiful garden in all the world.
The sun never stops shining and love and joy will forever grow.
The tears have been shed, The bloody sweat poured out.
The work is finished.
It is ready for all to enter.
The price is free.

All are welcome into this garden.
It is a place where all hearts find True Love and Joy!
Forever!
Happiness forever!
Joy forever!
And it's for YOU!
All sins have been washed away by the Gardener~
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

"The hour in Gethsemane I never shall forget,
When Christ alone the battle fought,
In grief and bloody sweat.
Gethsemane, Gethsemane, 
I must remember thee,
Where God's eternal Son I saw
In pray'r on bended knee."

"When I among the solemn trees,
In spirit gazed around;
I saw the burden of my sin
On him with judgment bound.
Gethsemane, Gethsemane, 
I must remember thee,
Where God's eternal son I saw
In pray'r on bended knee."

"I saw Him tempted to despair,
By anguish, grief, bent low;
The depth of pain He suffered there
No man can fully know.
Gethsemane, Gethsemane,
I must remember thee,
Where God's eternal Son I saw
In pray'r on bended knee."

"If ever. Lord, my love to Thee
Should cold and fruitless be,
O show me in Gethsemane
Thy suff'ring there for me.
Gethsemane, Gethsemane,
I must remember thee.

Where God's eternal Son I saw
In pray'r on bended knee."
               Author unknown

The story of our Lord's agony in the garden can be found in Luke 23:41-44.
Be happy!
There is no need to fear! 
The agony turns to Joy on Easter morning where the angel at the empty tomb proclaims:

"He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."  Luke 24:6, 7

Grief turned to JOY!
The promise of that Beautiful Garden!

May all Hearts be filled with Neverending Love, Joy, Praise and Thanksgiving this Easter!
You are all So Loved!

*All drawings done by my children

Today's Workout

Do you need a workout idea?
Today I worked on my shoulders with 4 different exercises using my 15# dumbbells.
I warmed up with front, back and side kicks and jumping jacks.
I did 3 sets of 12 repetitions with 10 jumping jacks between reps and then 25 jumping jacks between the different exercises.
-Overhead shoulder press-12 reps, then 10 jumping jacks; repeat 2 more times, then 25 jumping jacks
-Side raises (arms hanging at sides with palm facing in, raise to shoulder height and lower to sides)-12 reps, then 10 jumping jacks; repeat 2 more times, then 25 jumping jacks
-Front lateral raise (dumbbells in each hand in front of thighs palms facing in, raise arms alternately up to shoulders in front of you)-12 reps, then 10 jumping jacks; repeat 2 more times, then 25 jumping jacks
-Overhead shoulder raise (arms shoulder height out to sides palms facing up, raise arms simultaneously up overhead)-12 reps, then 10 jumping jacks; repeat 2 more times, then 25 jumping jacks.
I struggled with some of these exercises with my 15# weights so do what you can starting with a weight that is comfortable for you-0, 5 or 10# and and repeat this workout on the same day next week if you want to get stronger shoulders. My plan is to do a different body part or combination of body parts each week day, Monday through Friday.
Please work at a pace that is comfortable for you!
If you have never worked out with weights, try this workout without any weight and work up to adding dumbbells! 
It is very important to not do too much too soon but I don't think it's a good idea to not do anything.
Start light and build up your strength.
We need it to run this race that is set before us-I believe we need patience, too, but a strong, healthy body may make it easier!

I then was able to add a 45 minute session of cardio:
5 minutes on the rebounder (mini-trampoline)
5 minutes running my basement stairs
5 minutes jumping rope
REPEAT whole sequence 3 times!

Cool down and stretch out your body!

I know, I had a lot of time to work out today!
It's not always that way. but you can break the cardio down to 15 or 30 minutes if you wanted to give it a try or do strength training one day and cardio the next.
If you don't have a rebounder, just use the jump rope and stairs or pick something else that you can do for 5 minutes-maybe kick boxing moves, crazy dance moves, high knees or stepping or running in place.

Put on some music and work up a sweat!
Take a well deserved hot shower and enjoy the day with more energy!

Drink lots of water and enjoy a healthy day of eating-scrambled eggs or egg whites, carmelized onions, leftover peas all fried up in skillet with a little coconut oil for breakfast, grilled chicken breast with sauteed veggies, a dash or two or three, of hot sauce and maybe a little or BIG side salad for lunch! And a yummy dinner!

Have a healthy, happy day!

"..Let us run with patience the race that is set before us," Hebrews 12:1

"I can do all things through Christ which srengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 1:2

Finding True Love

It wasn't that many years ago that I found true love.
I was a little ball of despair huddled into the corner of the bathroom pleading to God to help me.
I was an emotional wreck! 
I wonder if being 44 years old and pregnant had anything to do with it-I don't know, but there I was-a complete basket case-feeling hopeless!
I am not making light of this. It was true! I really felt hopeless even though I had a beautiful life.
I thought I was going to die in that corner.
No one could help me.
Oh, I wanted so badly for my loved ones to come in and save me.
Surely my darling husband would. After all, he would know my needs more than anyone.
In my mind it would have been so easy for him to swoop in and give me all the things I felt I needed from him. 
Shouldn't he know exactly what I need to be comforted, to get me through this needy time in my life?
Or what about family and friends?
Where is everyone when you truly need them?
Honestly, do I have to DIE in this corner?
Couldn't my loved ones see how to help me, how to love me like I needed them to?
I prayed my little heart out! Surely God would intercede for me and let my loved ones know how to truly help me!
SHOW THESE PEOPLE HOW TO LOVE ME!!
I heard a soft voice deep within me.
"It's Me.
It's Me. There is no one who can love you like I can.
Come to Me, My darling child."
It struck me right in my heart and soul!
In my mind, I formed ideals of how I should be loved by the people in my life.
My husband would be my knight in shining armor, coming in with full armor and a sword, swooping me up in his arms and carrying me to love and safety.
My family and friends would come to my aid just at the right time.
What was I thinking?
The little girl in me couldn't let go of the romantic notion of being so loved that surely everyone would know when to do the swooping and saving!
And I was CRUSHED when it didn't happen!
The Voice of my TRUE LOVE came to me that day.
It was and is my Saving Grace!
Jesus is my True Love!
I no longer look at people to be my saving grace. 
How could anyone on this Earth be my savior?
Could I be someone's savior-always doing the right thing?
Of course not! 
This simple revelation has completely change my life.
I no longer put expectations on my loved ones.
I am so faulty myself, how can I expect others to perform to my expectations.
I have so many people in my life that love me so dearly.
I don't doubt their love.
And I love so deeply, too, those that God put into my life.
But my Truest, most Perfect Love is my True Savior.
My Jesus.
I sobbed and accepted again His love into my heart that day (I have known it my whole life but still thought others could do the true swooping, saving and chivalry-type of love!) and immediately felt true healing.
I am loved!
I am LOVED!
And so are you! So deeply-to the core-everlasting-perfectly LOVED!
There is no greater love than that of our True Savior!

"...I have loved thee with an everlasting love.." Jeremiah 31:3

Please know how much you are truly loved!

Sweet and Spicy

That's it!

My pants were starting to feel tight-straining at the buttons!

Too many sweets over the holiday season!

And in a large family-immediate, extended and church family-

there are a LOT of occasions to have sweets!

I was putting my foot down!

Or to be more precise, my dessert fork!

I refuse to use age, hormones or any other excuse as a reason to buy bigger clothes!

I need to take charge of the situation!

Time to pull out the SECRET WEAPONS!

First of all, in my last post I mentioned that I am seeing a functional medicine doctor who ordered blood tests, etc.~That has been wonderful for leveling out crazy hormones, pointing out food sensitivities, allergens, etc.

It doesn't, however, magically get my pants from being too tight so out come the 

SECRET WEAPONS!

SECRET WEAPON #1: 

 Morning protein shake that keeps me full for hours! I am NEVER hungry until lunch!

My favorite recipe:

*1 cup coffee (opt.)

*1 cup coconut milk

* 1/2 cup water (or more if not using coffee)

* 1-2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

*1 serving protein powder-I use  vanilla Vega Protein and Greens (Costco sells it!)

* 1 teaspoon of xylitol (opt.) 

* 1 heaping teaspoon of 100% pure cocoa (opt.)

*ice (opt.)

I put it all in a shaker cup and shake it up good!

I LOVE IT and look forward to it every day!

I will also drink it without the coffee and cocoa for an evening snack if I feel like a need something.

It really is a treat!

No need for sugary, fatty desserts!

SECRET WEAPON #2: (Super easy!-Gotta try it!)

Sweet and Spicy tea from Good Earth!  http://www.goodearth.com/

It comes in decaffeinated herbal or herbal with black tea.

It's a wonderful substitution for dessert as there is cinnamon, orange, peppermint, ginger, lemongrass, chamomile in the ingredient list.

I take it with me wherever I go and drink some in the evening if I do not want to have a sugary dessert!

It completely takes any cravings away!

Love it!

The ladies at the church coffee table have been trying it and loving it!

I always have an extra teabag for you if you ever want to give it a try!

I gave some to my dear friend, Sarah,  for her birthday and she said

it SAVED her life!

Ha Ha! I chuckled at that!

Never underestimate the power of a teabag, I guess!

Celestial Seasonings also has a very similar tea that I love: Cinnamon Apple Spice

SECRET WEAPON #3:

Drink a lot of water! 

SECRET WEAPON #4:

Refuse to eat fake food!

SECRET WEAPON #5:

Move a little extra every day! You know, as in EXERCISE!

Even if it's 5 minutes! 

These are the secret weapons that I am currently using and sure enough my clothes are starting to fit better!

And doesn't that make life more fun!

Sometimes we just have to pull out a few weapons and charge forward!
Try one or try all and see if any of them work for you!

So there you have it!

And I know a few of you were wondering if this was going to be a 'spicy' Valentine's post!

But, no!

Maybe another day!

Having More Fun in 2016

So here I am.

All safe and sound.

Feeling I should write again.

So here I am.

January is almost over and my one New Year's resolution is to have more fun!

I thought that was a good one.

Why not, right?

Everyday things can be more fun with the right attitude!

So I've been working on my attitude.

It really helped that I am seeing a functional medicine doctor that ordered blood testing.

Not that I had a bad attitude.

It just seemed like a good time to get everything checked out.

I'm taking supplements specifically for what my body needs!

And honestly, my attitude really is better!

I am so thankful!

Everything is so much more fun!

Even washing clothes and doing dishes!

I think God has been working on me, though, in that area and I'm learning to be more thankful for everything and more willing to serve in these little ways that we all do~ you know, the little things we do everyday but don't appreciate or grumbling because no one seems to know how much work we do or how hard things are, etc.

It really is easy to get weighed down with everything when the attitude is poor!

Sheesh! 

So, this year I resolve to have more fun!

The supplements definitely are helping but I am also learning to say yes to God!

Trusting, listening, getting to know His love for me through His precious word!

Learning to really appreciate the gifts He has given me!

He has set the perfect example in giving us His perfect Son~

Jesus, who came to serve.

I am learning to serve more cheerfully!

And it really has made life more fun!

Wishing you all a fun 2016!