Mother and Daughter

Saturday, at the API Team Roping, I ran into a young friend with her newborn daughter.  She was watching her husband, her daddy and her uncle rope.  This mommy and daughter were beautiful together. They were surrounded by both sets of grandparents, and an aunt and uncle. (The family that ropes together stays together!)

I’ve known this young lady and her family for years.  I’ve watched she and her sister grow up and mature to be beautiful, responsible adults. I know their parents are so proud of both of these girlies, and this new little one has captured all their hearts.

I was asked to have my camera with me yesterday to take winner photos, and snagged a couple of shots.  When I uploaded these images last night, my heart swelled again to see the love this young mother has for her beautiful daughter. I thought you'd be blessed to see the love, as well.  

I am so very thankful that the Lord has given me eyes to see, and the talent to capture what I see. 

Matthew 13:16  “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

Right On Time

Tears flowed around here last night for a bit.  One of our friends is in town, and we were catching up.  She has a new job, and we were talking over the last week's activities specific to her new position.

The tears were healthy tears.  You see, ThatManILove had just given our friend what we call a Position Statement. 

Sounds bad, doesn’t it?  It’s not.  A Position Statement is just that.  It’s a position. It’s a clear, concise view of how you see that person, in that moment.  And this is what he said to our friend:

ThatManILove: “I have a Position Statement for you.”

She sat up straight on the couch.  I held my breath.  (Isn’t it funny, how we always brace ourselves for bad?)

She said, “Okay.”

ThatManILove:  “Girl, you got this.”

I breathed.

She breathed, or tried to breathe.  When she could, she said, “Thank you for caring enough to share.  I promise to weigh it carefully.”

And then, she burst into tears.  I did, too.  In saying those few words, ThatManILove affirmed that she was in the right place, at the right time, and doing the right thing.  He spoke right into the very core of her being.  She grabbed each of us, hugged us, and thanked us for our portions in her life, and for our encouragement and counsel.

This young woman has scaled mountains.  She has come up higher in her relationship with the Lord, and He is her everything.  The Lord is prospering her, in every single facet of her life, her family, her job, and most importantly, in her minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day relationship with Him.  With Jesus.  With God as her Father.  As the Lover of Her Soul. With the Holy Spirit.

And she is blooming.  Her joy, contagious.  Her zest for life, uncontainable. As it should be.

As it should be.

I look at her, and I am encouraged.  Growth is encouraging. And inspiring.

Thanks, my friend, for being open to what the Lord is accomplishing in you today.  You're right on time.

For who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

For my readers:  I hope this post has encouraged you.  We all struggle...and Jesus lives to intervene on our behalf.  Turn to Him.  He will hear your heart cry.  I promise.

Best Text of the Day - Talking About The Grands...Again

Wahhhhhhhhhhhh

The more I watch my grands, the more I recognize my inner child when I myself don’t want to do something:  sitting on the couch, red-eyed, eyelashes all starred together, an inch away from passing out, tears leaking down my face, crying for my stuffed animal – but really,  really, hoping and praying someone will just swoop me up, lay my head on their shoulder and go put me in my crib where I can be all by myself to drift off to sleep. 

Yup.  That would be me. 

These kiddos are pretty dang smart. 

Kids Are Wayyyyy Too Funny

Saturday night I went to eat with family friends. These friends have two adorable children, a girl age 7(I’ll call her Belle) and a boy age 1 ½(I’ll call him Crash). These kids are seriously funny. Belle is elegant, prissy, but not afraid to get dirty, already a heck of a hunter as well as a serious basketball player. Crash is all boy, but flirty and funny, too. Both kiddos are sweet, smart as whips and function well around adults.

We’re through eating, visiting, and all of a sudden, Crash sits up straight in his high chair. He has this look of surprise on his face, says something (we’re not sure what) and points to his bottom. We laugh, and so does Crash.

Mom: Hey, Crash. Need to go to the bathroom?

Crash shakes his head no, and goes on playing, sticking a chopstick into one of those square pretzels, then popping the pretzel into his mouth. He’s pretty dang good at it.

The conversation quickly morphs to how loud Crash’s burps are. Belle is avidly describing just how gross her little brother can get, all the while laughing. She laughs so hard, we all laugh. And then we hear it. And it is LOUD. And LOOOOOONG.

“Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrt!”

Mom, Dad, and I all turn to look at Crash, who looks at us, like, “What?” And then, it hits us. That sound emanated from Belle.

We look at Belle, and she’s got this surprised look on her elegant little face, but is half smiling, too. Mom and I look at each other, and start that silent shaking laughter, you know, the kind that is so strong, it hurts? Tears are flowing down our faces. Belle starts laughing, Dad starts laughing, and finally, Crash decides he’ll join in, too.

Lord. You can’t pay for entertainment like this.

*This is a story from my old blog, transferring over a little at a time.  Bear with me!

Hello, It's Me...Again

I know, I know.

I haven’t written in three weeks. Or maybe more.

I’ve fallen in love.

I’ve fallen in love with Young Living Essential Oils.

And we’ve been making Sleepy Salve, with Young Living Essential Oils.

I posted about it here.

And it has resulted in a lot of people becoming Young Living members along with me. They are interested in their health, and that of their families.

It’s been crazy around here, but crazy good.  I love it.

Here's a simple graphic I made about the Young Living Thieves Cleaner.  It's amazing.

So back to the craziness of MiVidaLoca.  Of course, it’s never boring, anyway.  But you knew that already!

But I’ve got stories to tell you, so stay tuned.  Funny ones.  As usual.

I promise.

It's Friday. And I Could Say More About That, But...

Yeah.  That.

A Bracelet Here, A Bracelet There, Everywhere A Bracelet, Bracelet

See these?

 These beautiful bracelets?

Well, some of them are some old ones I’ve gathered up.

One, the big silver one, is an original bracelet, created by a Greek artisan, on the isle of Santorini.  I loved that jewelry store.  We purchased three pieces there, and this is one of my favorites.

But some of those bracelets, like the purple one and the black ones?  Those are the original creations of RubyJames by Lauren Wall.

She’s amazing.  She auctions her bracelets off every Sunday night at 8:15 p.m. CST on Facebook.  

I love them.  Each and every one.

But they’re all super hard to wear when I’m typing on my computer.

So, I take them off.

My friends, who work with me on special projects (and I have a lot of special projects, and you know who you are) tease me unmercifully about my bracelet stash.

The stash I carry around in…

•    My vehicle.
•    My purse.
•    Or leave on my desk.
•    My coffee table.
•    Lord forbid I hang them up on my jewelry organizer.

Those same friends tell me I wear them just to play with them.

They're probably right. Yeah.  I know.  I’m really bad.

But, I DO love my Ruby James bracelets!

Aren’t they gorgeous?

Love love love love them.

Oh, well.  If they’re talking about me, they’re giving someone else a break, right?

Mickey May Have To Have Plastic Surgery...

We have had a casualty por La Casa de Crazy…

Yup.

Mickey Mouse has lost an appendage.

Well, three, to be exact.

See, the Wonderdogs think everything toy…is theirs.

Be it stuffed, plastic, Disney, or otherwise.

Yup, it’s a war of the territories.   Between the baby grands and the Wonderdogs.  Except the baby grands don't even know it's happening.  The dogs love everything these kiddos do.  

They love these munchkins.  Want to be around them 24/7.

Add baby smell to anything the kids have touched?  Oh, the dogs love that...even more so.  Legos? Sippy cups?  Anything.

Talking about baby smells?

The Wonderdogs love love love dirty diapers.

But I digress.

No, I divert.  Because I’m not even gonna go there.

But you get my drift.

Yeah.

Enough said.

It’s never boring around here.