Mountain Storm

There is nothing better than a good ole' mountain thunderstorm! Steve and I enjoyed watching the clouds build up today and finally had to come in about 4:30 as it started pouring and then rained about 2 hours. It cooled things off so nicely and it smells fabulous! Made us doubly glad that we were staying an extra day!! Here are some pictures from our deck today. This first one I thought looked like a big rabbit in the sky but by the time I had Steve bring me the camera the ears had started falling apart. Maybe you can still see it?

The next two are from our deck before the thunderstorm rolled in.


Here comes the rain!

Steve let me take a picture of him on the deck as we watched the lightning, listened to the thunder and waited for the storm to come from one mountain side through the valley and to our side.

We both praised God for allowing us to witness such a majestic display of His splendor. Indeed the heavens do declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of His hands (Psalms 19:1)

Blogging from Angel Fire

Steve and I had a nice visit with family in Denver. Monday night we had dinner with my brother Brent and his girls and their girls (yes, I am a great aunt)The pictures below are of my great neices Alyvia and Ella, and then Ella and her mom Christa.


This is my sister Caren, her daughter Danette and if you have been reading my blog very long you will recognize Talon. He is now 16 months old and is adorable! They were sweet and threw me an early birthday celebration including a piece of my most favorite Chocolate Brownie Sundae Cheesecake from Cheesecake factory. Yummm. Early in the afternoon we took a trip to Target and while there my sister found out they had three WII's. She has been wanting one for ever, so we had fun playing with it as well although most of the time we were just laughing at each other as we bowled, played tennis and baseball. However I was impressed that I threw a 89 mile an hour curve ball!!

Then we headed to Angel Fire, only a 5 hour drive today but it seemed an eternity!! I think we are just tired of being in the car. In fact we decided we would forego the sidetrip to Santa Fe on Friday and stay an extra day here just to relax an extra day before having to get back into the car. I will post pictures from here tomorrow. We were a little apprehensive when we first arrived because it ends up the cabin we thought we were renting is actually an apartment over someone's garage. But after getting in, it is really a nice little place with a fabulous view and lots of humming birds. The lady that owns it lives in the attached cabin and appears to be single with a beautiful dog named Bubba. So it should be a good restful place for a couple of days. She told us not to leave any food in the car because of bears, so it would be cool to see one. She also said the dog might wake us up in the morning because when she takes him out at 7:30 he barks at bears and elk. Something about the nature of God that is just absolutely fascinating.

Another Travel Day

We arrived in Denver about 2:00 yesterday afternnon. Who would have thought the ugliest part of our trip so far would be when we crossed over into Colorado? For almost 3 hours this is what we saw. Not my idea of Colorado!!


This picture was taken in North Platte, Nebraska where we stayed Sunday night. When Steve was young his dad was a International Harvester zone parts supervisor and he traveled all over and would always bring Steve back buffalo nickels, so Steve saw this and wanted his picture taken with it because of those memories. We also saw this war memorial there.



The final pictures are of Steve's and His mom before we left Nebraska. And the two of us and his brother at the reunion.

Sunday Snippets

Well we were back in Omaha this morning for worship. We tried to talk Steve's mom into visiting a different church, but we had no luck and were back at the Pilgrim Christian Church. I was dreading going but found myself praying in the car on the way for the Lord to change my attitude. Worshipping God should not depend on where I am. I do think that God knew that fellowship with other believers is part of what builds us up. I did find it a little hard to focus this morning because the pews at this church have to be the most uncomfortable I have ever sat in. They are very low to the floor and seem to hurt my knees and make it very difficult to stand up from. I am used to using the pew in front of me to help pull me up and these pews are spaced so far apart you can't reach the pew in front of you (most people would find that leg room a blessing) Today a woman led singing, although I use that term loosely because basically she stood at the microphone and sang. She never looked up and did not really direct. We once again only sang 2 verses of each song. I have always had a problem with skipping verses just because I think the authors of most songs are telling a story and it is like skipping chapters in a book. You just don't get the whole message of a song when you skip verses. I did have a really cool experience as we sang "Open My Eyes Lord". I had my eyes closed and saw a silohuette of Jesus and He was reaching out and touching my face. I immediately started to cry.

The sermon was thought provoking. The text was I Peter 1:3-12. He started out by asking us what the biggest news story was this week. People from the floor said: Gas prices, the longest All Star Game in history, Obama visiting the Middle East, fires in California, and the Dark Knight breaking all movie records. He said we could take a vote and see which one would win the biggest news but they would all be wrong that the biggest news was in this reading in 1 Peter:
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things."

I am not sure I have ever thought that the angels in heaven did not experience salvation. That they were in heaven watching as Jesus died, ressurected and ascended.
They are in heaven longing to understand what the prophets of old spoke about--our salvation. The preacher challenged us all to take inventory of what we spend our time thinking about. Are we more caught up in thinking about the things of this world or are we dwelling on our salvation?

Verse 8 says "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy" Am I? Am I so focused on the prize of of my salvation that I am filled in an inexpressible and glorious joy? I am afraid I have to confess that too many times my face relfects my focus on the trials of this life instead of bubbling over in joy because of what the Lord has already done for me. I can only hope that this is a lesson that will not be short lived in my life but I can truly keep my eyes focused on eternity. 2 Peter 1:5-9:
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

For me the key words here are in verse 8, "in increasing measure", I cannot stay stagnate or ever be satisfied, I must be increasing in each of the qualities until the Lord comes again. I am glad that I have others like you to help me along that journey. Would love to hear how the Lord spoke to your heart today.

Favorite Artists

Last night I was listening to my IPOD before I went to bed and just enjoyed going to sleep to three of my favorite male singers. Michael Card, John Michael Talbot and Dennis Jernigan. I thought I would tell you a little bit about them just in case you aren't familiar with them. The song from Michael Card was "I Left Everything To Follow You". I tried to find it on YouTube to post, but could not find it although there are a lot of other songs. What I love about Michael Card is he is a song writer who has written songs that tell the stories throughout the Bible. He has three albums of the Old Testament and two or three of the new. We have seen him in concert several times and he does not consider himself as a performer, but leads you in worship. He said one time that he submits his lyrics for his elders approval before publishing them. We have just found him to be such a humble man and enjoy the stories he tells through his music.

John Michael Talbot is probably one of the first people I was introduced to when I first began listening to contemporary christian music. He is a Franciscan Monk and his music soothes my soul. When we were in Eureka Springs early last May we saw in their newspaper that his headquarters was there and they had a fire that destroyed their chapel and another structure.

Finally, there is Dennis Jernigan. I like his music most because I know that he is a redeemed homosexual and his songs are mostly about redemption. I have also heard him in concert several times and again he would not consider himself a performer but a worship leader. He has given his testimony about his redemption from homosexuality and gives light to what it looks like when you totally surrender your life to the Lord. I don't know how many years he has been married, but he now has nine children! I found this testimony on YouTube and it is so sweet I could not help but post it for you to get to know him, if you don't already.

Anyway...you may not have time to listen to any of these, but wanted to post about them while they were fresh on my mind. If you look all three of these guys up in your hymnal you will find songs that we sing that are written by them. El Shaddai, When The Night is Falling, Nobody Feels My Heart Like Jesus, Jesus Let Us Come To Know You, You Are My All and All, and Thank You to name a few. I am thankful for the Christian artists who produce music from their own relationship with the Lord that makes it easier for me to connect to the Lord, draw closer to Him and lull me into a very peaceful sleep at night! (which can be very helpful in sleeping in so many strange beds in a few weeks time!)

On The Road Again

Steve and I are back in Salina, KS for the 2nd time in two weeks on our way back to Omaha for his mom's family reunion. We were stopped about 30 minutes outside of Oklahoma City while they cleaned up an accident. We saw two helicopters land and leave, so assume there were two injuries. From what we could tell it looked like a motorcycle accident. I do wonder if I will ever be able to pass an accident or hear a siren where my own memories don't just flood back.

Anyway...I have always wished there were more cops on the road to catch all the people who have no regard for speed limits. When the speed limit is 70, I just don't think people need to go faster than that. But I even want it more now that we are all suppose to be doing our part to conserve gasoline. If everyone would just go the current speed limits I doubt they would need to pass legislation to make us all go 55. Who is going to do that anyway??? The Leamings and a few others that believe that the God wants us to honor the laws of the land. So there you have it, now you all know I want people to get caught for breaking the law. I follow it and they don't and it makes me angry when they get away with it.

Mom's Favorite

We all know that mothers are supposed to love all their children equally.
Hopefully you never felt like this?



My mom and I had a special day today as she took me out for an early birthday celebration since I will be gone on the actual day. We went to see Kit Kittredge.We were both surprised that it was actually a good movie. However, I don't think it should be rated "G". The subject matter about the Great Depression and how Dad's left families to find work and people had to live in Hobo camps where they were looked down upon by others and accused unjustly. It had a good moral message, but I am not sure children under the age of 8 would have even understood? Couldn't help but wonder if the kids watching even knew what a typewriter was?

Then we went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. Yummmmmmm! We split the Country French Salad and the Chicken Alfredo with Sundried Tomatoes. Mother had the Chocolate Coconut Cheesecake and I had the Carrot Cake Cheesecake. It was yummy too, but have to admit I like my old standby the Chocolate Brownie Sundae Cheesecake much better.

I am blessed to have a mother that I enjoy spending time with. We are the best of friends and I praise God for her steadfast and unconditional love.