my Quest for SPECIAL...

I feel like I have been on a quest lately.  A personal quest for a little something called "special".

When someone is looking for something you will often hear them say "I finally found it in the last place I looked!" Of course it is the last place they looked - why would they continue to look after the lost item was already found? That phrase actually implies that they have looked in several places before they found it.

 I feel like I have been looking for a way for me to feel "special".  After not looking in the right place for a while - I feel I uncovered some special-ness today.


I celebrated mother's day - my wedding anniversary - and my birthday all within a month's time. All special occasions but I personally felt like my husband did not go out of his way to try to make me feel "special".  My disappointment grew after each event passed and I was a bit frustrated.

I am thankful for all of the birthday hugs from Annie and the sweet cards that my nieces and nephews gave me and there were a lot of birthday greetings on my facebook wall and some sweet gifts from my sister and parents but there was no billboard sign or the neon lights that I was hoping for.

Then while paging thru a book I am reading, Jesus reminded me how special He thinks I am.  I was going to try to sum up my thoughts about it in this blog and I attempted several times - writing some things -re-writing some things - deleting some things - changing some things.... But when it comes to trying to describe God's love for me and how special He thinks I am... I was having a hard time expressing my thoughts into words that could accurately explain it.

I have been surrounded by love my whole life - but it is still hard for me to understand the depth of how much God loves me.

I am so thankful that He thinks I am special and that's all that matters!

Clean sweep...

So, I am always amazed when I sweep the floor how much stuff I sweep up!
I try to sweep every day.
It doesn't take more than a minute or two and it is always nice when it is done.
There are days that I need to sweep more than once because I have a 3 year old (and I tend to be dropsy) so I need to sweep up a mess - but other days it is just because I don't enjoy the feeling of something sticking to the bottom of my feet while I am walking around. No matter how clean the floor looks there is usually a nice pile of debris that gets swept into the dust pan.

When I think of my life, I know if I let Jesus sweep up in the kitchen of my heart - I would be embarrassed by the pile He would accumulate. It doesn't matter if it looks clean at first glance - I still need to be mindful of the dust and crumbs that so easily get scattered about. It is a daily chore in my home and needs to be a daily chore to keep my heart and life clean as well.  I won't ever have a clean sweep - but hopefully it will be less dirty today than yesterday.

Lord, please help me.
Thank you for your strength.

Broad Street Park and Birthday fun

It was my birthday today.
I am old.
Just kidding - I'm not old.
There are a few things that might make you think I'm old....
Annie guessed my age was in the mid 90s.
It has been 20 years since I graduated high school.
I have been at my current job for 16 years.
But I still don't feel old - so maybe I'm not.

We went to Green Meadows Petting Farm this morning. I love that place. It is so simple and fun. Annie did not know what to do first because there were so many fun things that she remembered from last time. She kept running from one thing to the next. Here are a few pictures to highlight our time there.

Annie and I also were able to cross another park off our list. We walked from our house to Broad Street Park this afternoon.  It is about 5 blocks away but with all the walking we did this morning I was not sure Annie would want to walk to the park and back - but she did great! Henley came along, too.  Annie always amazes me with how brave she is and how strong she is.  There are a lot of little rock climbing walls at this park. After doing it once with my help she was zipping up and going down the big girl slide all by herself.

After the park, Annie tried out her bike that she got from my sister.  It is a great size for her and she loves riding FAST! We grilled hamburgers for supper and then it was time for Annie to go to bed. Don was asleep before 9 also - so here I sit on my birthday in a quiet house.  It was a nice day and even though my husband did not get me a present - or buy me a card - I am very blessed.
Year #38 - Here I come!

Summer Plans

One of the plans Annie and I have this summer is to visit some of the great parks we have in the area and enjoy as many swings and slides as possible.  We were able to cross one off our list today when we went to "Duck Pond" and enjoyed the park and had a picnic lunch.  My sister and her family gave me a new backpack along with some picnic supplies for my birthday.  I love picnics!
I love being in the fresh air and sunshine having a sandwich - but today was cold and rainy and I am thankful that we went to Duck Pond because we had a pavilion to sit under while we ate lunch in the cold rain and wind!
The weather did not slow us down and here are some pictures to prove it.  Annie wanted to bring her pink elephant with on our adventure today. His name is Henley and I think he might come along as we visit other local parks.  He can show off some of his acrobatic abilities along the way. We will keep updating our park adventures as we go throughout the summer.