genesis 50:20

God is so GOOD!!!!

"......you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result......."   genesis 50:20


God loves us.

        Satan hates us & wants to hurt us & ruin relationships.

God answers prayer.

        even if you have to pray for something for 9 months or more!

He restores.

        even when you think it's hopeless.

He teaches.

        you just have to be willing to endure the (sometimes painful) lesson.

He forgives.

        but you have to ask His forgiveness.  & sometimes the forgiveness of others. 
        & they have to be willing to forgive.  God always is willing.

He waits for us.

        He's WAY MORE patient than i am!!!!  but He's teaching me!!!   & it hurts.

       

But it's SO WORTH it!!!!!


ok, God.  we can check this one off the list ---- now i'll be prayin' for LOTS of other stuff.  i know You'll be listenin'.  & i'll be waitin' for Your answers!!!  patiently & painfully.  but i'll be waitin'!!!!

thank you SO MUCH, God!!!!!

(imagine a picture here - blogger was acting up & wouldn't let me attach any!)


be blessed!

mistletoe

mistletoe normally looks like this

used in pretty christmas decorations but it's a parasitic plant that's pretty disgusting--

(from wikipedia:)

Mistletoe plants grow on a wide range of host trees, and commonly reduce their growth but can kill them with heavy infestation. Viscum album can parasitise more than 200 tree and shrub species. All mistletoes are hemi-parasites, bearing evergreen leaves that do some photosynthesis, and using the host mainly for water and mineral nutrients. However, the mistletoe first sprouts from bird feces^{[citation needed]} on the trunk of the tree and in its early stages of life it takes nutrients from this source.^{[citation needed]} Species more or less completely parasitic include the leafless quintral, Tristerix aphyllus, which lives deep inside the sugar-transporting tissue of a spiny cactus, appearing only to show its tubular red flowers,^[6] and the genus Arceuthobium (dwarf mistletoe; Santalaceae) which has reduced photosynthesis; as an adult, it manufactures only a small proportion of the sugars it needs from its own photosythesis but as a seedling it actively photosynthesizes until a connection to the host is established.
Some species of the largest family, Loranthaceae, have small, insect-pollinated flowers (as with Santalaceae), but others have spectacularly showy, large, bird-pollinated flowers.
Most mistletoe seeds are spread by birds, such as the Mistle Thrush in Europe, the Phainopepla in southwestern North America, and Dicaeum of Asia and Australia. However, distinguishing between these species and ones of other ecological biomes is not difficult. They derive sustenance and agility through eating the fruits and nuts (drupes). The seeds are excreted in their droppings and stick to twigs, or more commonly the bird grips the fruit in its bill, squeezes the sticky coated seed out to the side, and then wipes its bill clean on a suitable branch.^{[citation needed]} The seeds are coated with a sticky material called viscin (containing both cellulosic strands and mucopolysaccharides), which hardens and attaches the seed firmly to its future host.
Once a mistletoe plant has established itself on a branch, the usual treatment is to prune away the branch if it is a small one. However, it usually is possible to save a valuable branch by judicial removal of the wood invaded by the haustorium if the infection is caught early enough. Some species of mistletoe can regenerate if pruning leaves any of the haustorium alive in the wood.^[7][8]

Culture, folklore, and mythology

 

When Christianity became widespread in Europe after the 3rd century AD, the religious or mystical respect for the mistletoe plant was integrated to an extent into the new religion. In some way that is not presently understood, this may have led to the widespread custom of kissing under the mistletoe plant during the Christmas season. The earliest documented case of kissing under the mistletoe dates from 16th century England, a custom that was apparently very popular at that time.
Mistletoe is commonly used as a Christmas decoration, though such use was rarely alluded to until the 18th century.^[16] Viscum album is used in Europe whereas Phoradendron serotinum is used in North America. According to custom, the mistletoe must not touch the ground between its cutting and its removal as the last of Christmas greens at Candlemas; it may remain hanging through the year, often to preserve the house from lightning or fire, until it was replaced the following Christmas Eve.^[17] The tradition has spread throughout the English-speaking world but is largely unknown in the rest of Europe.
The type of Mistletoe used during Christmas celebrations is of the same type as that believed to be sacred by ancient druids, but, outside northern Europe, the plant used is not the same species. The mistletoe that is commonly used as a Christmas decoration in North America (Phoradendron flavescens) grows as a parasite on trees in the west as also in those growing in a line down the east from New Jersey to Florida. In Europe, where the custom originates, the 'original' mistletoe, Viscum album, is still used. The European mistletoe is a green shrub with small, yellow flowers and white, sticky berries which are considered poisonous. Ancient druids considered the Viscum album plant holy, but had no knowledge of the Phoradendron flavescens.
According to ancient Christmas custom, a man and a woman who meet under a hanging of mistletoe were obliged to kiss. The custom may be of Scandinavian origin.^[18] It was described in 1820 by American author Washington Irving in his "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon":

"The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Christmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases."^[19]

i have one hanging in the doorway between the dining room & the kitchen.  it's been there for about 3 years.   me, suzanne & a friend of hers were coming home from church one sunday & we saw some boys selling mistletoe by the side of the road.  suzanne's friend said, "suzanne, if you hang some mistletoe maybe that boy you have a crush on will kiss you!"   as a joke, we bought some.  (suzanne didn't think it was funny!)

i think ours is broken.

no one has been kissed under this mistletoe.

after about a year i completely forgot that it was hanging up there!

but i didn't take the time to take it down.

one day i noticed it - all brown & ugly!!

it's been up there so long that it's "part of the decor" of the house!!

i've decided i'm going to leave it up there til it works!!!

work, dang mistletoe, work!!!

have a blessed weekend!!!!

everyone pray!!!!   i've entered a blogger contest with some of the projects i did in 2011 (like completely re-doing my house for $10, & my free purse, & my signs/suzanne's mirror).   the contest ends today & the judging will be this coming week & the winner will be announced next week.  that's a long time to wait!!  but it'll be worth it!!!!!  just look at the prizes:::::!!!!!    (can you just IMAGINE what i could do with THREE GALLONS of paint???   i could re-do MANY houses!!!!!!!!    shoot!  i could just build a new one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the winner of this contest will receive these prizes:

Behr’s new Premium Plus Ultra paint is amazing! No priming and amazing coverage :) I LOVE Behr paint. The winner will get 3 gallons in their choice of color!!!

Minwax is offering the winner a starter kit worth $100.00! Whoot whoot! If you read my blog you already know how much I {heart} Minwax :)

The Home Depot AKA “The Orange Kingdom” AKA “The Happiest Place on Earth” is giving away a $50.00 gift card. What DIYer wouldn’t want to have a little shopping spree???

Black and Decker’s new All-In-One Laser Level is like the laser level of all laser levels. Dude, the thing suctions onto your wall! No marks!

Cutting Edge Stencils are the BEST! I love using them. I even have another stencil project in the works as we speak! They will be giving away a stencil of the winners choice, plus a foam roller!

Utah Truffles…….Oh Utah Truffles. Their mint truffles are my crack cocaine! I am totally addicted and I love getting others addicted too :) The winner will get a chance to sample $50.00 worth of pure bliss.

I have been using DecoArt products for YEARS! I use them on projects big and small. They are giving away a gift package of all my favorite products you see pictured :)

wow!!!!   i could bless so many people if i win....................pray!!!!


it's going to be a busy weekend & i've had people emailing me asking when i'm going to write another post on my blog..............soon, people, soon!!!  y'all have got to learn to be PATIENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    ha ha ha!!!!!  (i'm talking to myself here too!!!!!)

love ya!  be blessed!!!!   (& pray i win!!!!   there are over 770 entries!!!!  mine are # 770, 772, 773!!!!!!)

mother/daughter projects

the other day i said i'd post my sign makeovers & suzanne's project but other things took precedence so here they are...................

my signs, before:

this one is hanging in the dining room---

my house used to have a red/white/blue theme.


this one hangs over the tv in the living room  (the 11th commandment!!) --

my house now has a black/white/red/green/brown sort of theme & the red/white/blue of these signs has bugged me for a long time!!!   (funny the things that bug a person!!)

so i painted them white with homemade chalk paint



 & used that same gallon can of black paint that i re-did the whole house with  (some friends yesterday said that gallon was like the widow's pots of oil in the Bible - they couldn't believe i did everything with that one gallon!!!).


not "into" hearts, but that's how these came when i bought them, unfinished, bare wood, about 100 years ago!!

i hot glued black stars (spray painted some yellow ones i had!) over the hearts



& now they are perfect!!!!  (i cleaned up that glob of glue after i took the picture!!!)

i purposely painted them like that because i'm a rustic-kinda-girl (& i also didn't want to have to do any sanding!!!!!! saved some time!!!).

from this:

to this:

 much better!!!!

i think they look a lot like those old black & white metal door signs!!!!



suzanne's project:

suzanne's gonna live in an apartment on campus with some other girls next year & they've been shopping  good will  for things for their apartment.  (smart girls!!!!)  one day she came across this DEAL. 

she found this huge, heavy mirror for $8.    that's right eight dollars!!!!  she called me & asked if she should get it - not knowing anything about how it looked i asked if she REALLY needed it.......she said "MOM!  it's ONLY $8!!!"   

she bought it. 

someone had started to paint it white, got 1/2 way done & quit. 

she's her mother's daughter, so suzanne painted it, sanded it, stained it & now has a fantastic looking mirror that would have cost hundreds of dollors & she only paid $8 & change for the paint!!!!!

of course, i forgot to take a picture before she got started painting!

now this is her mirror, her project, so of course she painted it turquoise!!!  (i probably would have painted it black!!!!!!)

i also would have painted it in the GARAGE, but she was very careful to protect the dining room table!!!  and i was very careful to bite my tongue use PATIENCE & not say anything during the whole process!!!!

she did a fantastic job & i really like it.  i don't want to let her take it!!!  i think i could even live with the turquoise!!!!!






here's the after.  you can tell by the chair how big this is.  & it's heavy.

 i like the way she brushed the turquoise over the white decoration thing leaving some of the white showing.....

she did a really good job with the sanding.  really sets it off nicely!!!!  i love sanding!!! (except when you're doing 52hundred kitchen cabinet doors!!!)

that's my girl!!!!!!!!!

well, it's the last day of a 4 day weekend......got lots to do!  took down the christmas decorations at church this morning & i really should take them down at home today too.   the worst part is dragging all the storage boxes in from the garage & then dragging them back out there!!!!!!!   at least i don't have to  haul them up to the attic!!!

last year i still had a garland on my dining room window sill until EASTER!!!!  had some friends over for breakfast after sunrise service & as we were eating i noticed it!!!  i wonder who else did??!!! (oh well, i had a good excuse last year - no excuses this year!!!!)

have a blessed 2nd day of the new year!!!!


linking to:

not just a housewife project contest:  
http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2012/01/best-diy-project-of-2011-contest.html
 

howdy twenty twelve!!!!!

twenty twelve

2012, yer gonna be even MORE fanstatic than 2011!!!!!!!

i'm excited to get this new year going. 

i can't wait to see what opportunities God has in store for me this year!

i've already started my new year off with TIME.

time with God this morning at church - it was such a good time that i was shocked when the pastor said, "let's pray" and that was the end.   i almost didn't want it to end & neither did some others that i talked to afterwards!!

time with friends - what a blessed time!  i honestly wished that didn't ever have to end.  i didn't want people to leave!  i would have been happy for them to stay with me forever!   my home was filled with so much love this afternoon!!!  i want it to be that way everyday!!!!

i had a wonderful weekend with my friend sandra.  it was so good to spend hours & hours talking & getting re-connected.   it was so neat to learn how much we have in common, even after not seeing each other in 20 years!

i am so excited to spend time with friends this year.  really strengthening relationships.  making new friends.

nancy brown "won" THE PLATE this year!  (she moves FAST  so the pictures are blurry!!!!)

 she thought she got ritz crackers!  then she thought she got klondike bars!

she couldn't believe it when the paper inside the box said, "THE PLATE!"

- but it was stolen from her by madonna boyd!!!! 

poor nancy!!!  that's twice she's gotten the plate & twice it's been stolen from her!!!   (& i had it twice  & now madonna has had it twice!!!!  i'm gonna miss it, but it's so much fun to pass it around!)

nancy couldn't belive her friend madonna was really going to steal it from her!!!

 

 look at the look on madonna's face!!!!! she is sooooooo happy that she got the plate!!!!!

and  look what i got!!!!!    it fits me & my house just perfectly!!!!!!!    it's iron, it's rustic, it's texas, it's got a star!!!!!!

and i had the perfect place to hang it!!!!!

it truly was a happy new year!!!!!

be blessed!!!!

EVERYONE PLEASE PRAY!!!

please pray for my highschool friend max baer & his wife nancy.  max has been putting up a strong fight against cancer but we've received word that he has contracted pneumonia & is on a breathing tube & is really struggling.  the doctor's have not given much hope, but we all know that OUR HOPE IS IN JESUS & GOD IS IN CONTROL & GOD IS A WORKER OF MIRACLES.

max IS a survivor - he will survive, one way or the other, but please pray that it might be God's will to use this as a way to draw many to Him.

thanks.

more writing on the wall!!

i have wanted to write colossians 3:12 - 17 on the ledge in the living room forever.  but i was worried that i would mess it up while writing it, so i kept putting it off. 

well, the other night i took the plunge!!!!   i was going to write it big, across the whole ledge, but then decided to write it small so i could write more verses if i wanted to!!!!!  suzanne said tonight, "every time you turn around, another verse pops up on the wall!!"

and wouldn't you know it, the one thing that i have the biggest problem with is the one thing that i messed up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

patieence.    patience.   (it's an ugly word, when you look at it for a long time!!!!)

i think that happened on purpose - a "God-incidence" - just so God could teach me a lesson!   suzanne also said tonight, "if you had had patience when you were writing it, you might not have messed up!!"

(who asked her?!)


here's another - i've always loved this verse.  i used to have it written on an index card that i kept on the window sill above my kitchen sink.  it was really ratty so i threw it away.  i wish i had kept it.  dang!  i'll have to write another............

this verse always helped me when the kids were little & i had to do everything myself.  (what am i talking about, when they were little?????  i STILL have to do everything myself!!!!!)

i've had that sign since they were little too!!!!   i don't think anyone reads it but me!!!!!!!!


and speaking of signs, a couple i have got a makeover!    and suzanne's doing a project!!!    like mother, like daughter!!!!   (she'll LOVE that!!!!!)     i'll show you tomorrow!

be blessed - hug someone you love!!!