An "out of the blue" grateful-for-my-family post

This is a picture post.  Pictures of sisters and family.  Pictures of lovely times spent together eating ice cream and drinking coffee at Mary's house.....

Us five sisters in age order at a recent reunion

Rhoda & I 

A happy mug with coffee & creamer goodness

Ice cream.....Amazon storm & cappuccino chip

Mary, Rhoda & I,   (Dorcas was behind the camera ;))

Naomi gets a picture all by herself on here because she wasn't at the 'party' :)

Aubrey, perhaps a future pianist..... *wink* :)

Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts.  
~Author Unknown :);) *wink*

Rhoda, the favorite aunt, with the nieces and nephews

 This older brother & sisters of mine are such a good thing in my life ;)

 Naomi & Mary

 Dad & Mom

You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.  
~Desmond Tutu

Things Change....

Recently I have been thinking about how things change. Constantly.things.change.

So I decided to find a couple old pictures of myself to show ya'll.... ;)  

(Yea...I'm way glad that I look different now then I did back then! ;))

  This was alot of years ago....
and that's my brother Micah beside me.... (he has changed too.. ;))

             ________________________________

   _________________________

    

It was only a matter of years between then and now...

I don't think I really look like the same person but they say those are the pictures of my childhood so I will believe them.

Along with growing up, my family also moved from Wisconsin to Missouri.   From winter wonderlands & lush, happy green summers, to winters that are less wonderland-ish & summers that are very hot & brown.  But since this sounds like we didn't gain anything I will tell the things we have gained.... the surreal beauty of the Ozarks  and getting spring about 2 months quicker then those in the grand north.

So there is definitely good and bad, beauty & not so beautiful things about both places....(but I will say that the north has trickled into my blood from a very young age and will undoubtedly stay there! )

And so just now I will post a favorite picture from a place known as the far South to those in Wisconsin and at the same time, it is now known to me as my home of 4 1/2 years. Missouri. It saddens me to not have any pictures of Wisconsin Winters and summers but they are on another computer that doesn't work so this is it. You cannot tell me that the picture below is anything, but...

....Simple.beauty....

....I  have learned, in whatsoever state I am, [therewith] to be content. Phil 4:11

And the winner is..........

    Rachel Gingerich!!

Congratulations Rachel! You are the winner of this fine CD! :)

So here's what you must do: Send an email with your address to  schannah95@gmail.com and I will stick your CD in the mail and you will have it within days!

Yay!!!! It's a GIVEAWAY!!

  This is it!  I am giving away this CD to whoever wins it.  It is one of my biggest favorites ever!

 

It has a value of about $14.00 and it could be your very own for completely FREE!

How to enter:
Just leave a comment with your name and then the winner will have to email me within a week with an address.  If I don't hear from the winner within a week then a new winner will be chosen.
The deadline to enter is July 23.   So let the fun begin! Tell your friends and relations and try to believe that you just might win it!! ;)

Hi peoples! :)    And so I see that it has been a little while since I posted last.    This is very quick..... Today Wes & Sara came and then this weekend all of Mom's brothers & sisters (my friends & relations) will be together at a retreat center of sorts by the lake for my aunt Karens 50th birthday....
and then...................... keep reading.................. next week I will post another giveaway!   It's very exciting! ;)  I am happier about this giveaway then the last one I did because it is something that everyone (nearly everyone) wants, (or has) (& the people that have it really like it ;))...
So please go ahead and guess what it is and then next week I will reveal the wonder to ya'll! :)

Have a happy weekend!

My prayer...

...Let the Glory of the Lord rise among us!

 

 When God uses us for His glory, we can easily start to think, "I did it! I am gifted! I am talented! It is my position, my decisions, and my ingenuity that got it done! I am the one who..." We forget that we are but dust, "jars of clay" as Scripture says (2 Cor.4:7). Yet within these jars of clay is a great treasure-- the glory and power of  the living God! But we must remember we are merely the vessels, and even in that, just clay vessels, not gold, silver, bronze or even steel.

Do you recognize this? Just because God has given you responsibilities and opportunities to serve others does not mean you are a gold vessel. In yourself you have no value. You are an earthen vessel, and what that vessel contains belongs not to you, but to the Lord who committed it to you. All is from Him, for Him, through Him and for His glory so that the glory may not be in the jar itself, but in the Lord!

                                                                     

Excerpt from Against the wind- by K.P. Yohannan

The other night I read this and it blessed and inspired me so much that I wanted to share it with all of you... It has truly become my hearts cry that I would just "step out of the way" and allow the Lord to accomplish what He truly desires for my life! 

Have a blessed week!

At long last....

 ...I am updating with mostly pictures and some words.....
Firstly, a small while back I traveled to Iowa to surprise my cousin for her birthday... In talking with her sister etc. we were able to get by without her knowing and I must say that she was very surprised (or shall we say it like it was; she was scared! ) when I jumped out from behind a door and grabbed her... I don't blame her for being scared.... ;)  Here are some pictures...

Here we are making chocolates....the healthy kind I tell you, with cocoa butter and coconut oil, maple syrup, cocoa etc... they were divine!

One afternoon Chels, Allison and I went to Washington where we went to some thrift shops, an adorable place called "the village" and then to the square to eat our picnic supper....

Chels tried getting pictures of us talking "seriously" but we always ended up laughing....

 

 Later that night Alli and I hung out at the coffee shop while Chels went to a meeting.... we had more grand conversation there..(and on the way home ;)

 Superb chocolate peanut butter icecream...

And that is the end of pictures Alli and I.... now here are some pictures that were taken last night...

 Micah, Dorcas, Rhoda & I

 Dad & Mom

 Pictures with siblings are the best! ;)

And lastly... a few weeks ago Dorcas and Rhoda were painting and decided to paint themselves too!;)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Psalm 139:14

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.       Psalm 139:14

Each one of us is God's special work of art...

a painting like no other in all of time.

Joni Eareckson Tada

An update...in pictures

Hi!  Here are some pictures from last week. It was a wonderful week with Jon and Mary here cleaning their little camper/house and with some other very special people to help (and hang out with! :)  In these next few pictures we are trying to get all the tapping etc. done so Jon could spray primer on everything while us girls went shopping!

 

                                          Dorcas & Chels finish taping a window....

Mary is very happy while she is closing holes :)

That afternoon Mary and Dorcas dropped Chels, Rhoda and I off at Starbucks 

while they went to get more paint....

This picture is a wee bit bright and grey but I still like it :)

 

 Giving Brook adorable strawberry toenails....

The last night we went on a very fast walk after supper.... we totally love having Wanda along for wise council!!  One night she was up with us til 1:00 (in the morning)! We were laughing terribly hard lots of times but surprisingly we only woke about 2 people! ;)

 And lastly.....

Here is the 5 steps to Chelsy getting a doughnut...

(Eventually I lost track of how many...... )

Step #1  Peek around the corner and make sure no one is looking.

Step #2  Begin to take one very fast while no body looks....

Step #3  Decide which one to take.

Step #4  Be horrified that someone sees...and is taking a picture!

 

Step #5  ...In it goes....;)

And afterwards take a happy picture with Dorcas!

That's all for now....The next post will very likely include pictures etc. from this weekend....Naomi is coming home to visit this weekend!!!!!! 3 cheers!!!!!