Thankful for the Mystery of God ~ Guest Blogging Day

Can you discover the depths of God?
Can you discover the limits of the Almighty?
Job 11:7 NASB

We moved to Nevada nearly a year and a half ago now, and quickly I adopted Lake Tahoe as my favorite place in the whole wide world. At first I loved the North shore for the ease of access to the water and the picturesque view across to the opposite side. I quickly discovered the beauty of the South shore too. The vast number of restaurants kept us well-fed, and the shallow beaches made it seem like a perfect haven for my daughter to safely swim. I also fell in love with Emerald Bay and it's mysteriously brilliant green waters. We would often have to drive right on through because it was hard to find parking in such a beautiful area, but when we could stop and snap a photo, we always would.

Then, this past weekend, a year and a half later, we finally made our way to Sand Harbor. Oh my goodness. I felt like I was meeting a celebrity. For a year I'd been seeing post cards and photos of Lake Tahoe and many of the images were taken from a shore which had these flat, grayish-tan PERFECT rocks. The blue lake water would compliment the neutral and graceful appearance of the rocky shore. I wondered, "From where is this taken? How have I never found this place?"

Continue reading on Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

Sacrifice and Thanksgiving ~ Guest Blogging Day

Photo Courtesy of Felixco, Inc/freedigitalphotos.net

On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

2 Samuel 24: 18-25 NIV

As the year 2014 becomes history in the next few weeks, we; my family, could look back and focus on what we have lost this year.  

What have we sacrificed?

Continue reading on  Comfort in the Midst of Chaos...

A Letter From My Grandma Ev

I found a true gem the other day.  A card from my Grandma Ev, dated from 1991.  Based on her response, my guess is that my letter to her was about school, and perhaps some of the "picking on" that I received as a little goody-goody and bookworm.  I love this letter.  It reminds me of how I made it through and where I got faith...and, knowing that she was praying for us every day still makes me feel better today.  Is it any wonder I named my daughter after her?  I typed this out as Grandma wrote~grammar and spelling and all...

My little Sweet heart Tammy, or is it Tammie?  You are Grandma's little Sweet Heart, you know.  And I thank you for thinking of me! 
And you know what I do when I don't fall asleep right away?  I start thanking God for all His goodness to me~like Protection, and I always can find so many times He has been there to guide me and soon I'm asleep!  Always remember to Thank Him, cause without Him we'd have nothing and He likes our love too.
And when we feel the bottom is falling out, and you've no place or person to go to, God will always make a way, and guide you thru it!  And you know what?  Your friends don't know or rely on Jesus or they wouldn't complain all the time, rather count their blessings...If we obey His laws we are happier too! 
Pray for her and Grandma will too.  I pray a prayer cover of salvation and protection over all of you every day!  Ask God to fight your battles, and He will! 
Boy and only one month to go and school will be out and will you have time then to lay in the sun and relax.  And by that time Gram should be thru raking and etc. and you can always visit me!  Right?
Congrats on your rating in Spanish and thank you for the poem.  I have it sitting here and now thanks so much for thinking of me.  I love you all so very, very much and so does Jesus.  Grandma Ev

Thankful For...

We are doing this on our WAGR/11p Deletion listserve and thought I'd share my list of thankful things with you...

I have so much to be thankful for:

I'm thankful that even my mistakes can become blessings

I'm thankful that the Badger Hockey team swept North Dakota and won a game against #1 Gophers

I'm thankful that I have an incredibly wonderful and supportive family and group of friends

I'm thankful for WAGR/11p Deletion Syndrome and all that it has taught me

I'm thankful for incredible doctors, therapists, teachers and staff that work the MH schools

I'm thankful for Facebook, E-mail, and Twitter for making the world a smaller place so the few families of WAGR don't have to feel so alone

I'm thankful for Thin Mints, ice-cream, and pizza

I'm thankful for shirts that have tags on them because Evie always plays with the tags...especially thankful for the ones on the side of shirts and not the back of the neck

I'm thankful for the advancement of medicine and science so we can live longer, healthier lives and make EVEN MORE mistakes to learn from :)

I'm thankful that gas prices are lower (ha, ha, just kidding; wanted to see if you were still paying attention.)


I'm sure I'm forgetting something here...but hoping that I've covered it all :)