WOO-HOO! ooo-rah. Got a call from my Marine. He is doing well in California while training at Twenty Nine Palms.... Intense training as they finish this final stage of work-up before deploying. It was simply outstanding to hear his voice. Thanking God that he is well, and doing great. :-)



The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16)

*thought for the day*
EVERY DAY IS A GIFT HANDED TO US FROM GOD. EVERY MORNING THAT BIG YELLOW BALL RISES UP IN THE SKY ANNOUNCING A NEW START... A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO DO GOOD. WHAT WE DO WITH THAT DAY....IS OUR GIFT BACK TO HIM.

Shoot your Arrows Straight....

Linking up with Ginger and Charlotte at Spiritual Sundays for sharing my heartfelt thoughts about the most treasured blessings God can give us on this earth. Our children...they are the future generation of Christians. Love em so much.

Visit here to get more Sunday inspiration shared by many.

http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/2010/01/hello-friends.html


"Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates." (Psalm 127: 3-5)
















Feeling incredibly blessed with gifts from God, richly rewarded because of HIM,
joyful to have such outstanding arrows....
Thankful to God for His awesome blessings bestowed via my children.
God bless them and keep them.
Thank you Abba Father.

Missing the Big guy...

Missing Justin.... Hoping for a call from Twenty-Nine Palms tomorrow. He said if he called it would probably be on a Sunday. Looking forward to hearing about what's going on and how the training is hopefully getting them good and ready for the future deployment. Been praying he is getting enough to eat. Seems when they were in Yuma, Arizona, food seemed pretty scarce, and his stomach growled a lot!!!

Whenever he comes home, we fill him up with what he requests.

Sure do miss seeing his face too. I have to just go around the house and look at his photos. :-) Aren't mamas so.....well....they're mamas...that's all.

We had these little beings knit together inside our bodies, and carried them for nine months, providing all they needed to get to the point where they could finally pop out into this world and start doing it on their own. No wonder we absolutely feel like a part of us is literally leaving when they leave the nest. And yet we wouldn't have it any other way...especially for the boys. It wouldn't be healthy. We have done our part to make them feel loved, secure, and fully supported by us, and we tell them we are always, always here for them no matter what. I have told Justin there is nothing he can do that will make me love him any less and there is nothing he could do that would make me love him any more,...I love him so MUCH right now, and hereafter.

God is watching him now and paving the path for Justin to continue on to become His man and warrior and ambassador for Heaven. I pray this for him. That he will be successful in his mission and in what he explained to this mom that God had called him to do. ..to be a Marine.

God bless our military persons. God reward them with success as they seek to stamp out evil and bring justice to the dark parts of this world. God keep them safe. May America forever more support her troops who go out and fight, willing to lay down their lives if necessary for the freedoms of all people back in their homeland...beloved America...and beyond her borders.



I am posting one of my favorite songs today. Kurt and I feel this for all four of our treasures God has blessed us with. WE will always be here for them.

White Wednesday Again..

Here's Kathleen's link to her White Wednesday party she does weekly.
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/



Love this little toile bird. Hangs on my large birdcage.



post-Christmas sale purchase. Having a Marine, this is a constant thought, so I wanted to keep it on display year round.


Reduced items sitting lonely and abandoned at different places in a Hobby Lobby Clearance aisle. Rescued them and brought them home, gave them a matching white coat, and set a little guardian angel in the center..think they now feel at home and loved.


Hung an old chippy white (with a touch of robin's-egg blue showing through)window up over the hutch to give depth to the vignette up there. It fits in well. that window has been resting in my room for 4-5 months waiting to be hung on a wall....finally!


Was a wall shelf... repurposed to be a pretty doorstop in the front hall. Now all I need is a little white mouse to set there on the ledge. I'll be keeping my eyes open for one.


This also was moved. It was in the master, but now hangs over my desk in the Living Room where I can view it more often, as it is a favorite print. I like the different shades of white it displays.



Remember this white tree I posted back in December for Christmas, and I said I planned to keep it out year round?

Well, here it is now with twinkle lights in a corner of the LR. The lights stay on always. Pretty at night. :-) *( the print above that table is also another that I LOVE!! vintage print >very hard to find - by Charles Burton Barber. grabbed up at Salvation Army on a visit. I almost MISSED it!!! ($7.00)



And Last but surely not least.. the two fluffy whites that occasionally pop up in these posts.
Another reason it is good to have a King size bed, and a $3 blue thrift-find spread to throw over the quilts and bedding because of the FUR!.. doggie beds abound, but still, they migrate to this spot.... go figure.

That's all for today. It's been fun!!! Thanks so much for visiting. Go over and see a lot more white at Kathleen's FADED CHARM blog.

Pillows in Question...

This is my 2nd post today. I saw a "Pillow Party" going on when I visited Manuela over at The Pleasures of Homemaking.

The actual party is taking place with Rhondi here:

http://www.rhondisrosecoloredglasses.com/2010/01/pillow-party_10.html

Go see all her fabulous pillows.

I commented while visiting Manuela that not many pillows are here since I have DAWGS!!!

They love to de-stuff "stuff". But just for fun, and to show you the pillows I do have here or there IN a house that loves dogs, take a look and you will understand MY pillows. I threw a couple of cute people pillows in that are placed where the canines don't snuff around.




at the foot of our bed, not ON the bed..... :-)


in the den where the tv/movies/x-box go on, even though they always jump on the sofas.


near the warm fires right now.


Dining Room cozy-canine-cave








Kitchen instructions for the mornings




Indeed! Especially if the King loves you, and the others in the castle put up with you!


ahh. cushions my back while at my desk. :-)

Well, you can tell...below... states the obvious!, but we make do, a pillow here a pillow there, a few destroyed (feather/down was the WORST mess!!!)



Thanks for visiting.. It's always fun. :-)
Have a super week.
Julie

Monday Musings....

It's Monday January 11th. Where did the Holidays go? It was so wonderful, such a heart-warming and joy-filled time to have all four of my treasures here at home together, to hear them joshing and laughing together again late at night in the den, after Kurt and I had retired. Having Justin back for two weeks was just outstanding.

He is currently in Twenty-Nine Palms, California finishing his pre-deployment workup with his battalion before the inevitable leave for Afghanistan this year. We miss hearing from him, and pray constantly for him and his platoon, his company, his battalion ...to learn well and retain all knowledge. I pray they will be successful in their mission to fight evil in this world and bring justice and an environment closer to peace in a culture where it is rare and not known. These men and women are noble and brave and committed. They deserve all our support and prayers and ooo-rahs. All of our military.

This photo and quote rest just to my left in the corner where my desk is. It reminds me that discipline to pursue Excellence is d-a-i-l-y! And that young man I cherish is huge motivation to do so. :-)

My other three are back to the usual...school, work and activities, albeit in frigid temperatures!!! Wow has Charlotte been cold. TOO cold. Walking the dogs is about all I can take outside.

Jonny went and helped with a special project - a filming of a song...a production by the Billy Graham Assoc. last Friday and they were on a restaurant roof-top uptown in Charlotte... at night.. and he was pretty frozen to the point of pain in his hands in the wind chill way up there. He got home sometime after 3 in the morning. He enjoyed the experience immensely as he got to observe all the details of filming...(except for the COLD!)

Katie is in the final lap of her Associates in Criminal Justice and is set to graduate in February. Woo-Hoo! Hard work studying and working and keeping that GPA up there. So proud of her. Curious to see what her next step will be.

Kam is about to be revved up in his schooling at home. (yeah..get ready Kam!!!)
He has stayed quite busy over Christmas/New Years with his petsitting business. He has found out that you never know what you're gonna face in this arena of work.

Kurt has just gotten all the details worked out and been informed that he is done with his studies to get his Bachelors Degree (after all these years) and will receive his diploma in May. Two graduates this year. Hurrah!

As for me?... I am staying busy trying to keep the home fires burning, continuing Child Care part time in our wonderful Church, and Petsitting with a long-established and well-run PetSitter Business here in the Mecklenburg area. Always enjoying my change-it-up, move things around -- feathering of our nest with thrift finds, here in our little cottage on Woodberry. I post on all that fun in other posts and blogger parties!

We look for 2010 to be a year of Hope and Great Expectations as we turn our eyes to the Lord, as always, to see what HE would do in us and through us. As we go about business as usual, and seek to bloom where we are planted in the here and now each day.. we continue to throw our full trust in HIM to work all things out for our good and HIS glory, which is our number one desire. Continuing another year to stay on the path HE is placing before us...

White Wednesdays 2010 !

It's the First White Wednesday of 2010. Join In! :-)
Thanks Kathleen for hosting these fun posts to visit and enjoy.
Here's her blog:

http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/


Loved these stems of sparkly jeweled berries at the thrift.



sweetest little bunny screen food cover I have ever seen !



Kept my vintage little Christmas balls out when I put away the decor, and mixed them with pearls in a .25 cloche from the Thrift.


You've seen this little bunny before in a "White" post, but now he has his own private setting in this scene I put together. I think he likes it better! :-)


Nifty white egg basket - repurposed to hold sparkly fruits.


Sweet little birdie doorstop. Instead, for now, he perches on a pedestal. :-)



Found this pretty lamp back in December in a booth that was closing at a Consignmnent store. It was less than $10....so I carried it up front to see if I was reading the price wrong. No! and Yes...I grabbed it. Love the French Country look and the crystals.

Hope you had fun visiting. Hop over to Kathleen's at the link above and see a lot more white! If you enjoyed your time there, let her know.

Julie :-)