“Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings see what God has done.”
Spend time thanking God for all things…… because, it all is a gift from Him.
*Rainy days
*Gray clouds
*Drizzle rain
* Skype
* Good news
* New magazine
* Beautiful pictures
* Comfy jeans
* Singing Hymns
* Tomorrow is October 1st
* Funny inside jokes
* God’s plan and His Sovereignty
The word for Five Minute Friday is: TRUE. Go……. 
Uh oh. Do I want to do this?
The truth is, my house is never as clean and neat as I want it to be…
I pour over decorating magazines and dream about having it look like those in the pictures.
It will probably never happen. Ever.
I wish I looked like I did in my 20’s, sans the big hair. I want to be more accepting of the fact that I am 45.
The forties are supposed to be great years. Old enough to know, still young enough to do something about it.
That is the thought anyway. Truth is, sometimes I feel like a kid in a middle aged body, some days I have it together and some days I don’t.
I am the most comfortable in jeans and t-shirts. Although, glamming it up once in awhile is fun.
I need to exercise more. Sigh.
I color my hair, because I’ve always been a blond. I didn’t like my hair getting darker as I got older.
I decided to do something about it.
I love my new hairstyle, that I can tuck behind my ears. It is cute and sassy. That is what I tell myself any how.
Truth is, I love to read and write. I love to travel and dream. I love meeting people and hearing stories.
I’m glad I grew up in rural Maryland, lived in east Tennessee for decades, and am now living in the countryside of Ohio.
I am a lover of sunsets and clean, fresh sheets, warm towels straight out of the shower, and wet dog noses.
I love Jesus. I want to understand more. I try to do the right thing.
I teach and I learn and I laugh and I cry and make mistakes.
I make a lot of mistakes.
I yell and I slam around and I sometimes want to act like a two year old….because I can, and sometimes it makes me feel better.
I love watching the weather, and am kind of geeky about it. I also like scary movies and watching NetFlix with my husband.
I’m conservative and I pray and wonder what will happen to our country.
I love my family, even though all of us are imperfect. That is okay.
Truth is, I’m just figuring out life one day at a time.
Five minutes is up…..
“Not all those who wander are lost.”– J. R. R. Tolkien
Stop. Listen. Hear the quiet… allow it to still your soul.
Take in the views. Be aware of how small you actually are…
Breathe it all in. Savor the beautiful times.
Memorize the moments, because you might not come this way again….
From my blog archives…..
Ode To Autumn
A chill in the air
Canadian geese I hear?
Time for sweaters
autumn is here!
Pumpkins, and corn shocks
hot chocolate mix
football and soccer
My autumn fix!
The smell of chimney smoke
is in the air,
A fire in the fireplace
the perfect pair.
This season is a favorite
because of family together
holidays that bring us close
No matter the weather.
I love this season
it truly is the best
snuggling in before
the long winters rest.
Written by: Dawn Gibson
A blended family. Favoritism. Half brothers that hated him. 
Dreams and foreshadowing.
Anger, resentment, jealousy…murderous thoughts, leading to a pit.
An empty cistern, and much emptier souls. Pits of despair. Regret.
Slavery. Prison. Interpretation.
In a foreign land, far away…with people that were not his own.
Did he ever wonder if God had forgotten him? Had the God of his fathers turned His back on him?
God had not forgotten Joseph.
Not in the pit. Not in a foreign land. Not in prison. Not when falsely accused.
Not as a leader, second only to Pharaoh himself.
Not ever.
God sent him ahead. To save his people.
But Joseph said to them (his brothers), “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives…..” Genesis 50:19-20 NIV
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Have you ever felt forgotten? Wondered why this thing was happening to you?
I know that I am, many times, short sighted. I cannot see the whole picture. I easily become frustrated and confused.
Why me?!
I want the plan laid out, not left out.
I want comfort, not confusion.
I need details, not doubt.
I stamp my feet, and shake my fist and demand an answer that I can understand.
But, if I could understand God’s plan, wouldn’t that make God small? Wouldn’t that be putting God in a box? And if that is the case, He wouldn’t be much of a God would he? Do I really want that? Ultimately, I am thankful God is sovereign and in control and His plans are always perfect.
And God says to me….
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart……” Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV
Mentally going over the to do list. So many things to get done, and I can feel the muscles tighten. Stress comes as an uninvited guest….and why can’t I get this right? Give all my burdens to Him and He will give me rest. I give them, and take them back, and I frustrate myself with my hesitancy to completely trust.
It is difficult to remain stressed when I’m thanking God, the One who gives the gifts. Thankfulness and stress can’t share the same space.
I need to get this right.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
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*Quiet evening, walking the dog
*Golden sunset
*Mama deer with her baby, on the edge of the cornfield
*Morning stillness
*Mist low on the ground
*Silhouette of the neighbor’s barn in the mist
*Heavy dew clinging to the grass, the weeds in the field, shimmering in the morning light
*Fuzzy purple socks and a hoodie
*Daughter’s birthday cake with home made frosting
*Ice cream with all the toppings
*18th Birthday
*The first official full day of Fall
*Jesus, always Jesus…
Everyone seems to be doing “Throw Back” Thursday. I thought I’d add a picture, just for fun.
This is a picture of me, circa 1990. I was a fresh faced young adult. I had just turned twenty-two, the month before this picture was taken.
A new college graduate.
Everything in front of me.
Opportunity.
I would land my first “real” job in a mere two months from the time of this picture.
My adult life was just unfurling… I was new and green.
I thought I had it all together.
But, I had no real idea. Sigh, no idea…
The road ahead would lead me to some of the best times of my life and some of the most tragic.
Isn’t that how life is?
A constant mystery. Choices and decisions lead to other choices and decisions.
They knit together a life.
I look at this young woman in the picture
It seems a million years ago, and yet I remember it like yesterday…….
and I smile.
Early Fall in Ohio Amish country……
Leaves just barely changing next to neat white farmhouses…
Wash day on a cool, crisp morning…
Someone has left scuff marks all over the floor. Hello! Pick up your feet! 
The toilets need cleaned. Again.
The kitchen sink has scuzzy stuff in the drain covers. Ick.
The cats have scattered their litter all over the floor again…and I step on it, in my bare feet. Ugh.
Frayed nerves and not one more thing!
Poor decisions and consequences that are felt by everyone in the family, cause struggle.
Mud and dirt, and mess and mayhem…
And I just want to crawl in a dark corner, light one of my scented candles and not deal with it.
Life Is Hard.
It is, isn’t it? Don’t we all feel it?
Yes, there is a lot of good in this life, but why is it so much easier to see the bad?
The lens zooms in on the imperfect, the marred, and the spoiled.
And just when it seems under control, the fabric of life rips wide open.
It is a choice.
I preach to myself.
I know this is true.
God is good, He is always good. His ways are right and His decisions are solid, in an otherwise unstable world.
It is in Him and through Him that I can really see.
With Him I can choose joy. The lens is clearer, sharper somehow.
A choice.
It always is a choice.
I looked across the house and through the living room window. The clouds were starting to darken.
Dark gray underbellies, scudding across the sky. I thought that I had better go feed the animals before the rain came.
Hurry, hurry, hurry! Isn’t that the way? Never. Enough. Time.
On the way back from the barn I stopped. I made myself slow down. I breathed. I noticed the trees.
Such simple things, really.
Their leaves changing colors, popped against the darkening sky.
A smile curved the lips.
I felt kind of silly standing in the middle of the yard, before the rain came, just staring at trees.
Fiery beauty. God’s painting.
Autumn was coming.
It Just Dawned On Me 