Saying Goodbye to 2011.... A Year in Pictures

"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot." Michael Altshuler

Love that dog!

My Big Brother the Sky Diver

Handmade flowers for residents of The Little Flower

The Linus Project

Love cookies

Williamsburg, VA with friends

Our Easter snake found while hunting eggs

Homeschool experiments

New life

No Complaints

Rising Above

Meeting Ann Voskamp

Summer flooding

Mom Retreat

Library volunteer

Beach Jewels

Biology

Balloon Fest

Love Notes

The power of one

Picture Study

Gavel Club

Ellie's masterpiece

CHRISTmas bells

YMCA Dance Team Talent Show

He is the man!

 "We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called “Opportunity” and its first chapter is New Year’s Day."  Edith L. Pierce

 Shalom 2012!

My Favorite Things...

 Inspired by Robin at Pensieve...

Sung to the tune of My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music...

(I got carried away and added two extra verses)
If you know me, personally, you know these really are my favorite things :)

My Favorite Things...

♪ Soft fuzzy socks and a hot cup of tea
children decorating the Christmas tree
Fridays with friends and the laughter it brings
These are a few of my favorite things.♫

♪ Books for a deal at 25 cents
Blankets and sheets to build forts and tents
A day of yard sales and the treasures it brings
These are a few of my favorite things.♫

 
♪ Drinking Coke icees and time at the beach
Homemade ice-cream, blackberry and peach
Tic tacs and chocolate and birds in the Spring,
These are a few of my favorite things!♫

♪ The scent of a baby and warm skin hugs
Flying the girls on my feet on the rug
Blessed to stay home with kids under my wings
These are a few of my favorite things!♫

♪ Snuggling close for our school read a louds
On our backs looking up at the clouds
Salvation Army and the bells that they ring
These are a few of my favorite things!♫

♪ When I stumble, when there’s bad news
When I'm feeling sad.
I simply remember all of God’s gifts
And then I don’t feel so bad. ♫

Okay,  now it is your turn!  You have at least one verse in you :)

CHRISTmas bells....

Some people hide their eyes and look down when they slip money in the red bucket, like they don't want to be noticed.
Some nod and tell you they will get you on the way out, and they do.
Some cheerfully smile and return your Merry Christmas with an even merrier one.
Some avoid eye contact all together and make a wide arc to get into the store's door.  These are the ones who seem sad to me.   It isn't that they don't give, it is their expressions.
We smile anyway.

The children have the most fun of all.

My girls have always loved to fold the money or plunk the coins one by one into the small hole in the red kettle.  Gabrielle tried to get her eyeball into the hole to see the money.

One year, it was freezing, we bought a hot chocolate for a bell ringer who shivered in front of a Wal-mart.  It was bitter cold meets icy wind.  We brought it back for him and he paid us with a big smile.

This year it was nearly 70 degrees! 

With no bells last year, we thought we had hit the jackpot! 
.... 3 bells and 2 aprons!  We even got the bells in rhythm. 
.....And shortly discovered that hand bell ringers, we are not.
But we sure can make some noise!
We had a blast.

 Consider the bell ringers this CHRISTmas!  Consider Salvation Army too :)

Psalm 41

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 ¹ Blessed is he who considers the poor;
         The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
 ² The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive,
         And he will be blessed on the earth;
         You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

How a pair of shoes can change your life.

Field trip to Samaritan's Feet...

 We learned how one young man made a difference.   And that, being only one, we can make a difference too.

Manny never had a pair of shoes until he was 9 years old and never slept in a bed until he came to the U.S.  Samaritan's Feet began with an idea and shoes he collected in a garage.  Nearly 3 million children have been blessed with shoes and have heard the gospel because of him.  Nationally and internationally.

Ibrahim

Impoverished children have their feet washed before they are given their new shoes.  

 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  John 13:3-5

And they hear the gospel.  

How beautiful upon the mountains
      Are the feet of him who brings good news,
      Who proclaims peace,
      Who brings glad tidings of good things,
      Who proclaims salvation,
      Who says to Zion,
   “ Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7

Hope from head to toe.

We unpacked boxes and processed shoes.  Our fingers touched a gazillion shoes today.  I thought of the men, women, and children whose lives would be affected by the shoes my hands held. 
It was an honor to participate.
I took for granted the shoes I carelessly pulled on this morning.  I didn't even 'see' the selection and choice I picked from.   I take for granted so many things.

Imagine not having a pair of shoes. 
I. mean. really. imagine.
Think barefoot.  Go barefoot.
It is good for the kids to imagine too.

 

 The Goal:
10 million pairs of shoes on the feet of 10 million children in the next 10 years -  

 "...nearly 1,000,000 die each year as a result of foot-borne illnesses that may be preventable by simple protection – shoes."

Get involved.  Start a shoe drive of your own.  Go barefoot and feel the difference.  Donate money required to ship shoes.  Buy a pair of shoes.  Go on a mission trip.  Volunteer.

How can we impact our community?

Pause music at top right.