Day 27 ~~ Days of Thankfulness ~~

My word for this year has been.....

When 2011 started, I didn't have a word.

To be honest, didn't even really know about it.

And then I started seeing people on other blogs talking about their word.

So in about March, God really impressed on my heart the word for me for the year,

and it has been steadfast.

I have learned a lot about being steadfast this year.

I have learned what it is to be immovable in the Word and the things of God,

even when difficult things have come up.....

even when others haven't understood.....

even when I've needed time.....

God knew I would need to understand what it is to be steadfast.

Immovable.

In Him.

"My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast.

I will sing and make melody."

Psalm 57:7

As I started moving through the year with this word being on my heart,

another word started making its way into my heart to go with it.

Grateful.

Being steadfast makes you grateful.

Being steadfast helps you to remember to be grateful for that which God has given you.....

to be grateful for all God is.....

steadfast has been the perfect word for me this year.

And so lately I have been thinking about what my word will be for 2012,

and God has already given it to me as well.

I will be posting about it, much closer to 2012,

but oh the word He has chosen for me.....

I love you so ~~

Day 24 ~~ Days of Thankfulness ~~

Ok, so the ham is in the oven doing it's thang.....

The turkey is hanging out and getting ready to be placed in a roaster pan ever so gently

for it's turn in the oven.....

This girl has some coffee running through her body, (thank you Casey's),

And I'm ready to get it started!!!

I love Thanksgiving!!

I LOVE having my family all around me.....

I LOVE having my kiddo's home.....

I LOVE seeing my Mr. Winslow just doing what he does (he is SO helpful!!!)

Soon my sweet mama will grace our home with her humor and wisdom....

My baby sis will come bounding through with her energy and spunk,

wearing her "Street Meet" 5K shirt that her and her family will be wearing

after their run this morning....

My older sister will come through with her wit and charm (oh and Orange Salad..... LOVE.).....

My sweet Dak will be home soon and I can't wait.

He will be here to eat all of the Pecan Pie and Sweet Potato Casserole his tall drink of water body can handle.

Legg's right now is just feet from me, dreaming happy dreams and getting ready to get her cook on with her mama =)

This girl is just the sweetest.  

She leaves me the sweetest wall posts.....

She laughs with me.....

She even cries with me when its needed,

but mostly, she just loves me, 

even when I make the wrong Pecan Pie recipe and have to start over.

My Mr. Winslow will soon be up and willing to help me with whatever is needed.

He loves me like no other.

There will be so many more family surrounding the table today.

All with their own beautiful stories.....

I am thankful.

Very thankful.

Sir Cuteness will be here after while too,

and I can't wait to get me some baby lovin' on Thanksgiving!!!

So I hope you all have a Beautiful and Blessed Thanksgiving!!

I LOVE YOU ~~

Day 21 ~~ Days of Thankfulness ~~

THURSDAY IS THANKSGIVING!!!

Y'all know I do love Thanksgiving.

Usually I do several posts on Thanksgiving recipes and decorations and love.

But this year because I have been trying to participate in "The Days of Thankfulness" 

I haven't been doing my countdown to Thanksgiving,

but know that I am planning lots of Thanksgiving goodness for my family.

I love my family so and I absolutely love to serve them on Thanksgiving.

*****

So you can call this a "catch-up" Day of Thanks.....

I am planning on doing a give-away tomorrow,

but have not heard back yet, 

so be looking for my first ever give away 

THIS WEEK!!!

*****

And well, since this is Thanksgiving week,

that means my sweet Dak and precious Leggs will be home from college.....

well, Leggs will be home, 

I think Dak is just coming on Thanksgiving day.....

either way, my chicks will be under one roof for a little while.....

Love.that.

*****

So today I wanted to leave you with this song from Jesus Culture.

We sing this in church a lot right now, and I just love it.

If you are cooking Thanksgiving dinner or just want to read some GREAT tips and fun stuff,

head on over to Beth Moore's Blog  here.

It is SO fun!!!

Have a Super Blessed day ~~

Day 15 ~~ Days of Thankfulness ~~ Pain

Today, I am so thankful for pain.

Weird huh?

But I truly mean that.

Pain has been a blessing in my life.

Especially arthritic pain.

It is constant a lot of days.....

It is generally hard.....

But the lessons it has taught me:  priceless.

I know what it is to move through it.....

I know what it is to have pain and smile and no one even know that I am in

excruiating pain.

Seriously, some days you would never know,

unless you are my husband.

He knows me.

Knows me well.

He knows when I hurt.

He feels my pain.

Sometimes I think literally.

He is such a tremendous Blessing to me.

Lately, pain is been pretty constant.

I am back to trying to control it with ibuprofen,

which is pretty much a no-no for me because of my ulcer issue,

but right now, it is knocking the edge off.

I don't tell you this, so you will feel sorry for me,

or even wish it different.

I tell you because I want you to know

GOD IS ABLE!!!

HE IS ALL I NEED!!!!!

HE IS THE SUSTAINER!!!!!!!

HE IS THE HEALER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND I AM HIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Through pain, I learn to be steadfast (my word for this year).....

I learn to be constant in my walk with Abba.....

I learn to be content.....

I learn to be peaceful in the storm.....

I learn He is ALWAYS present.....

ALWAYS.

So today, I am thankful.

I am Blessed.

Even in pain.

***********************

Here is a video I did yesterday.

WOW I wish I could control what picture they put up.

I look sick.

I'm not.

But I'm not wearing much make-up here either.

Okay.

Enjoy.

I love you ~~

Have a Super Blessed Day ~~

Day 13 ~~ Days of Thankfulness ~~ Addicted!!

On Friday evening our church had the last Ladies Rally of the year,

so I took Leggs, Lovely and Legg's friend, Sweet Pea.

Here is Legg's and I.....

Isn't she just beautiful?....

I love her so!!!

 Sweet Pea and Leggs ~~

Gorgeous!!!

Lovely and I.....

This young lady is so beautiful inside and out!!!

She has such a heart for God.....

I LOVE THAT!!

Okay, so Dak didn't go with us,

but brought Leggs home, so she could go with us.....

Legg's was taking pictures.....

look at this.....

Here I am cute-ing it up and look at him.....

Stinker. =)

(Doesn't he look all grown up?)

 And here I am at dinner, before church.

We had SUCH a beautiful time.

Well, while we were there I bought an "I (heart) My Church" shirt.

It is pink and girly and just beautiful.

Well, this morning, I ran to my local gas station before church to get a cup of coffee,

and in line in front of me was a lady with a JRA (James River Assembly) shirt on as well,

from Friday evening.

I said, "I like your shirt."

She whirled around and saw my shirt =)

and just bounded right over and hugged my neck.

We talked about how amazing Friday evening was and then she said the most wonderful thing.

She asked if I went to the Wilson's Creek Campus (our satellite church that is closest to our home)

to which I told her no, we go to the home church.

She said that they just LOVE JRA,

and then she said,

"I AM ADDICTED!!"

"YOU JUST FEEL THE SPIRIT SO STRONG!!!  I LOVE IT!!"

How awesome is that?!!

If I'm going to be addicted to something

LET IT BE JESUS!!

So I came back and told my husband what happened and he asked me if I knew her.

I told him "Nope."  =)

How neat is that?

Drawn together through JESUS!!

So I thought I would just post a few pictures of our dear church.

I love our church so much.

I love it because Jesus is there.

He moves in our midst and speaks to us.

He is saving souls and lighting our hearts on fire for Him.

He is teaching us how to be like Him.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!

So here is our church.

James River Assembly

This is the sanctuary.

And here are our dear Pators:

John and Debbie Lindell

They love Jesus unlike anyone I have ever seen.

They take being like Christ seriously.

Very.seriously.

And they teach us to do the same.
It is truly incredible!!!
They live it out loud!!

We celebrated, today, 20 years of these two beautiful people, John and Debbie Lindell, being the lead Pastors of James River Assembly.

Numbers are NOT everything for sure,

but I wanted to give you just a few statistics that were shared with us through a video tribute to them.

The most beautiful statistic they shared this morning was this one:

26,000+ Salvations!!

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Over $19 Million Dollars giving to missions ~~

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

Please hear my heart here, I do not post this on here to say look how great they are.
They would NOT want that.
I just want to acknowledge all that Jesus is doing in our church,
using these two beautiful people to lead us.
You see, it is not about them or us,
it is ALL ABOUT GOD!!
And they were very quick to point that out this morning.

Pastor told the story of how they came to be the Pastors of JRA.
It is truly a beautiful testimony of God's faithfulness.

*****

Today, we also had a special baptism service and there were over 500 people

Baptized today.

Just today.

They brought in 3 swimming pools and put them in the fitness center

and Baptized 3 at a time.

It was simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

I am SO thankful for my church.

I am SO thankful that God lead us to this church so long ago.

We live in exciting times.

I want to be ALL I can be in Christ!!

And my church helps me to do that!!!

I am SO thankful!!!!!

Day 9 ~~ Days of Thanksgiving ~~

Uncommon Love & Grateful Submission

*****

So today is my stepson Chase's birthday.

When I first married my husband, I had NO idea how being a stepmom would enrich my life.

I was nervous as to how to relate to his son.

At first, I wanted to love his son, because I loved my Mr. Winslow so much,

but over time I started loving him, because of who he is.

His struggles, his pain, and his heart has drawn me to him over and over again.

I have fought with him, laughed with him, and cried over him,

but most of all,

I have loved him.

Being a stepmom has given me the unique opportunity

to love outside my comfort zone.  

It is a rare Blessing when you can love so completely,

which only happens through Christ.

I love Him so!!!

So today I want to give a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

to my sweet stepson Chase. 

*****

When I married Mr. Winslow, I had no idea how to be truly submissive.

He has been so extremely patient and kind with me.

I sincerely wanted to love him well.

I sincerely wanted to be submissive to him.

But I had to learn what that meant.

You see, this is what I have learned:

When you are loved like Christ loves the church,

which is how a husband is suppose to love his wife,

and which is EXACTLY the way my Mr. Winslow loves me,

then submitting to his authority is beautiful.

He doesn't lord it over me.

He doesn't demand it.

He just loves me.

I love him so.

Please enjoy

"The Day Before You"

by
Matthew West

So let me encourage you today,

Jesus loves you SO much!!!

He wants only His best for your life,

and that my friends,

is a beautiful thing!!

I love you so ~~ Have a Blessed day ~~

Day 9 ~~ Days of Thanksgiving ~~

~~ Super Hero's & Words ~~

Yesterday was a better day for our little Super Hero, Sir Cuteness,

although he still didn't feel great, it was still a better day.

He slept a lot, but didn't throw up one time.

YAY!!!

He has been SO sick, so we were so happy that he got over that hump.

And last night, he was well on his way back to his Super Hero self.....

(not taken yesterday, but several weeks ago =)

But he will be back to leaping off couches in a single bound,

probably as early as tomorrow.....

Just in time for his daddy's birthday =)

And last night was also a very special evening because it was Tuesday,

and if you have been around my blog long enough, 

you know I have a rare affection for Tuesdays =)

Well, I have a new reason to LOVE Tuesdays since college has started.

It is the day Dak comes into town for Glee night at a friends,

so I usually get to see him for just a few minutes,

and because Leggs has started coming home with him and spending the ENTIRE evening

with this mama.....

Sheer Girl Time Bliss!!!!!

Well last night Leggs and Lovely were here for a very special dinner.

You see Lovely helps run a farm with her dad and she is an AMAZING cook!!!!!

So she had given me a recipe for homemade Alfredo when we went to dinner Friday night,

so last night was the night to try it.

And it was a HUGE success!!!

It was SO SO good!!

(I have NO idea why I didn't take a picture of it.  slacker.)

Well, after dinner, I asked if the girls would like to here my composition of "Mary Did You Know".  

Lovely didn't realize I played the piano, so I sat down and played for her and Leggs.

They are just the sweetest girls EVER!!

From there, we started singing.....

Yes singing with my girls..... SHEER AND TOTAL BLISS!!

God has Blessed me so.  

We sang "By Your Side" "Jesus Messiah" and many others.

It was a wonderful evening.

I love to sing and play the piano.

I.have.missed.it.

Then afterwards, we moved our party into the kitchen and popped Kettle Corn,

and started talking.

It was such a beautiful conversation.

I went to bed thinking about the impact of our words.

Just how life-giving they can be,

and sometimes how life-taking they can be.....

yes they can suck the life right out of someone if your not careful,

but last night was all life-giving, getting to know a new beautiful girl,

and basking in the glow of how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of people who

love Him and have a desire to grow in the LORD amidst difficult situations.

Beautiful.

Something else that struck me about last night

were the words that weren't said.

Those are just as powerful sometimes.

One of us, is going through a really hard time,

and so few words were said in that regard.

But we knew.

Most importantly, God knew.

And knows.

And loves.

And so do we.

Words unspoken.

Powerful.

Profound.

Beautiful.

*****

I am REALLY enjoying being alerted to things in my everyday to be thankful for.

It is a beautiful thing.

I love you ~~ Have a Beautiful day ~~

Day 8 ~~ Days of Thanksgiving ~~

So I must tell you ~~

I AM OVER THIS KNEE.

OVER.IT.

Ok, so having said that,

I am also

SO THANKFUL FOR IT!!!

The lessons I have learned and keep learning from these knees are priceless.

Priceless.

Let me explain,

At church Sunday, during prayer time, my ligament on the outside of my left knee popped and it hurt so much.

After that, it was NOT a good knee day.

I ended up icing it that night,

and oh.my.stars.

That was SO painful!!

Obviously you are NOT suppose to ice ligaments,

well unless you want intense seasing up and pain.

Not.fun.

So after Mr. Winslow got it warmed back up,

it just went back to pain and annoyance.

Well, yesterday it was better, just really tight.

I told my husband on Sunday,

as I limped in from church.....

I.AM.OVER.THIS.KNEE.

To which he smiled and said,

"I'm sorry sweetie."

It helps because I know he really is.

Well, today as I think about thankfulness,

I'm thankful that I can still walk.

I am thankful for my husband, who traverses the daily pain and issues that knees like mine seem to produce.daily.

He is such a trooper.

So in being thankful for my knees,

I have to remember that this is where I have come from.

When I have difficult days like Sunday,

I try to remember that this is the way it was about a year ago. 

This.was.bad.crazy.bad.

Those blisters drove me CRAZY!!!

I show this not to gross you out, but to remind me of how far this knee has come,

especially when I get discouraged.



So as I lift my hands to the LORD today, I will remember from hence I came.

And I was much worse looking than this knee.

Yep, I was a.mess.

And God picked me up out of the muck,

saved my soul,

and set my feet on the solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

I am very changed and very grateful.

I am thankful for Jesus Christ, today and every day.

I love you all so ~~ Have a Blessed day ~~

Day 6 & 7 ~~ Days of Thanksgiving

So today I'm thankful for Baptism & Baby Cuddles =)

Yesterday at church our Pastor; Pastor John Lindell, preached the best message on Baptism

I've ever heard. 

He went through many Scriptures on Baptism and what exactly that word means in the Greek,

and why actual Baptism happens after salvation.

He discussed infant baptism and told his own testimony about being sprinkled as a baby.

He also told his testimony about when he was saved at 17 and then baptized a little while after that.

He really didn't see the need to get baptized, because he'd done that as a child.

But his girlfriend's dad (his now Father-in-law =) took him to lunch and went through all the Scriptures and talked to him about the importance of it.

He knew at that moment that he was at a crossroads. 

Was he going to follow God whole-heartedly and completely or was he going to do his own thing?

He chose God.

The night he was baptized, his brother (he is one of six) also got baptized.

His mother was sitting in the service, (she had been saved a long time prior to this but never been baptized), very prim and proper. 

Hair all done (she'd been to the beauty shop),

very beautiful and proper clothes,

and when she saw her boys get baptized,

the Holy Spirit moved in her,

and she stood up and went up front and told the Pastor she also wanted to be baptized.

So right there with her up-do and beautiful clothes, she went under for the LORD!!!

I LOVE that!!!

It took many, MANY more years for his dad to get saved.

In fact, he was saved at our church, in the old building, on Easter morning in I think about 1998.

He hadn't been baptized.

So his parents came from Colorado for the first service in the new building

(the building where we are now),

and there were baptisms planned for that night.

Over lunch, Pastor's father asked him how many they expected to baptize that night,

and before he could answer,

Debbie (Pastor's wife ~~ I love her) said, "One more if you get baptized today."

To which he smiled and said to her, "I believe I will."

And then he asked Pastor John if he would baptize him.

How profound and beautiful.

So that night, the heater in the tank wasn't working so the water was FREEZING

and Pastor John's dad was about 80 years old at the time, and Pastor was concerned about it.

So he told his dad he was putting him in waders =)

and so he went into the water in waders =)

and Pastor John baptized his dad in very cold water wearing waders.

I LOVE THAT!!

And then on the way home,  My Mr. Winslow and I shared our Baptism stories again.

It was beautiful!!

I LOVE that man so!!!

I am so thankful for the gift of our church, my man and Baptism,

and the testimonies that result from being obedient to the LORD.

LOVE.THAT.

*****

I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I was also thankful for baby cuddles.

Well, you know what that means, Sir Cuteness =)

but in this case, I am sorry for the reason I am getting so many,

but still so thankful for the relationship that I have with my sweet G-Babe and that he KNOWS his Gamma loves him FOR REAL!!!

You see, he has the stomach flu.

He has been SO sick.

Poor baby.

Last night he was cuddling with me on the couch,

and said his tummy hurt,

by the time Mr. Winslow got over to scoop him up,

he'd thrown up all over him and me.....

Poor baby.

He was SO sick.

He ran a fever most of the night and didn't sleep very well,

and then this morning, got sick again about 7.

So he has laid on the couch and I've sat next to him and rubbed his head.

I got him to take some Motrin and he kept it down,

and he is starting to feel better.

He has been eating crackers and drinking watered down Pedialyte.

I hope he can keep this down,

and we get back to regular, baby cuddles,

like as he jumps off the couch into my arms =)

or sticky cuddles as he eats marshmallows (one of his favorites),

and, of course, sick cuddles when it is needed,

but I sure hope he is over the hump.

I love this boy so!!

Have a Super Blessed day ~~

Day 5 ~~ Days of Thankfulness ~~

I am so thankful for the young ladies in my life.

Yesterday, I got the unique opportunity to spend the evening with these two lovlies.....

Leggs and Lovely .....

These girls are so beautiful, inside and out.

They are so cute together!!!

I picked them up at Legg's Dorm.....

and then we headed to McAlister's.....

Then we went to Wal-Mart and got Legg's phone on.

She had lost her battery, so we had to order her a new one, and then she had to get it back on.

It has been quite a deal.

She has been without a phone for 2 MONTHS ~~~  I'm over it!!!  =)

I'm SO glad that we can randomly text each other again!!  =)

Is she not just the most beautiful girl?!!

After Wal-Mart, we went for dessert at FruityLand.....

It was very good, but Leggs and I prefer Orange Leaf.

Me because they have brownie batter and coffee ice cream (be still my heart) ~~

And Leggs loves it because they have cereal to put on her yogrit .....

What can I say, she is a simple girl.....

Cereal on her ice cream = bliss =)

Again, such a beauty!!!

 This is her Fruity Land concoction.....

Yes that is gummy worms.....

What can I say.....She is a lover of all things gummy =)

and cereal =)

anyway......

 Here I am enjoying my yogrit.....

Yummy!!!!!

 Here I am at McAlister's.....

Why does it look like I have a lazy eye?!!

Hmmm..... not sure.....

Although my right eye has always been a problem child =)

 My lovely conction.....

Yes that is andes mints in there.....

Be still my heart.....

and Chocolate covered raisins and cherries and cookies.....

and calories.....

anyway.....

 These two made for an absolutely beautiful evening!!!

Thank you my sweet girls for making me feel so special.....

and young =)

We are planning on going to church together Friday evening for our Women's Rally.

I am looking SO forward to it!!!

I hope you all are finding LOTS to be thankful for ~~

Have a Blessed weekend ~~

I love you ~~

Day 4 ~~ Days of Thanksgiving ~~

So sometimes in life you have to see the silver lining.....

Sometimes things hurt and it is hard to see the brighter side.....

But I am so thankful for Days of Thanksgiving, because it gives me the opportunity to do just that.

You see, this week, mom had a cardiologist appointment to check out her heart with the new medication they put her on, and also to check her pace maker.

I knew mom hadn't been feeling very well, but I didn't realize how bad she has probably been feeling.

The pace maker showed that she is still having A LOT of A-Fib.

The medicine isn't helping as much as they'd hoped.

The doctor talked over some different options, but at the end of the day, he decided it was best just to keep things the way they are. 
Mom is on so many medicines and there is one in particular that keeps her from being able to take some meds that would help this problem.
So we are just keeping things the way they are :(
I just wish there was more we could do.

This is a well loved mom, Grandma and Great Grandma.
We love her so ~~ and am SO thankful for her!!!

So on this Thankful Friday,
I am so thankful for my mom.

I pray for God's best in my mama's life.
She is a beautiful woman, inside and out.

~~

Have a Blessed weekend ~~ I love you ~~



Day 3 ~~ Days of Thankfulness ~~

Okay, so yes this is Day 3 of the Days of Thankfulness, and no I have not posted on days 1 and 2, because well, I am a slacker =)

Actually, I didn't know about this until yesterday when I read RJ's blog post.  I LOVE that she is doing this unconventionally.  I tell you, we were seperated at birth.  There is like, well let's see, NOTHING conventional about me.  It's just the way God made me.  Made me, broke the mold.  But I am completely okay with that, because I know that His plans are best for me, even if they are unconventional =)  I'd have it no other way!!

*****

So since, we are doing this unconventional (and if you want to know exactly what that means head on over to girlfriend's blog.  She has been thankful that horses are not getting hit by cars and wedding pictures ~~ I LOVE HER!!!) 
So.....

Today I am thankful for Orange Leaf and a pretty brunette, lots of Leggs kind of gal.

You see, Dak dropped Leggs off here on Tuesday while he went to a friends house to watch Glee.

So when I got home from taking mom to the doc, pretty girl was here eating Potato Soup and laughing with Mr. Winslow. 

I walk in the door and boom ~~ here she comes looking all beautiful in her yellow shirt and skinny jeans (y'all know I love me some yellow), she gave me the tightest hug and biggest smile.  Melted my heart.

I love this girl!!!

So we girled in out for about 2 hours and then decided we were hungry (again! =)  So we decided to go to Orange Leaf and get us some self-serve frozen yogrit (Sir Cutenesses interpretation of the word =)

It was SO good!!! 

I got Brownie Batter and Coffee Yogrit (don't judge =)

Topped with chocolate covered raisins, 1 brownie bite, 3 marchino cherries and love =)

Leggs got vanilla and brownie bite (don't be judging =)

with Fruity Pebbles (yes the cereal)

100 (or like 5 but who's counting) marchino cherries

Hot Fudge and love =)

The ice cream was good, but the company was MAGICAL!!!

We laughed until we cried (ok maybe that was just me ~~ I'm a laugh until I cry kinda girl and maybe even at my own jokes, which Leggs says is ridiculous, but I'm okay with it =)

We had some good 'ol girl time.

It was needed.

I've had a hard week.

I'm over me..... just sayin'

anyway.....

We took pictures with my iPod, but I don't have them uploaded yet,

So I will leave you with two of my favorite Personality Pictures of Leggs.

Oh and Dak cracks me up in these as well.

Looking all innocent.....

Our Big Personality, Baby Girl ~~

We love her so ~~

We are SO THANKFUL FOR HER IN OUR LIVES!!!!!

God knew EXACTLY what He was doing when she entered our world!!!

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

She is all that and a bag of chips!!

So today I am thankful for a little girl time with my Leggs ~~

Fruity Pebbles on Ice Cream (and seriously if you are not a teenager, try at your own risk =)

And so thankful to God for bringing it all together as only He can.

Romans 8:28

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

More Than Conquerors

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Have a SUPER BLESSED DAY ~~ I love ya ~~