As We Celebrate Easter

My family and I will be celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday,

I and pray that this will be a celebration of joy for you and your families.

I share this excerpt from Max Lucado's book

His Name is Jesus

<><><>

He Did It Just For You by Max Lucado When God entered time and became a man, he who was boundless became bound. Imprisoned in flesh. Restricted by weary-prone muscles and eyelids. For more than three decades, his once limitless reach would be limited to the stretch of an arm, his speed checked to the pace of human feet. I wonder, was he ever tempted to reclaim his boundlessness? In the middle of a long trip, did he ever consider transporting himself to the next city? When the rain chilled his bones, was he tempted to change the weather? When the heat parched his lips, did he give thought to popping over to the Caribbean for some refreshment? If ever he entertained such thoughts, he never gave in to them. Not once. Stop and think about this. Not once did Christ use his supernatural powers for personal comfort. With one word he could’ve transformed the hard earth into a soft bed, but he didn’t. With a wave of his hand, he could’ve boomeranged the spit of his accusers back into their faces, but he didn’t. With an arch of his brow, he could’ve paralyzed the hand of the soldier as he braided the crown of thorns. But he didn’t. Want to know the coolest thing about the coming? Not that he, in an instant, went from needing nothing to needing air, food, a tub of hot water and salts for his tired feet, and, more than anything, needing somebody—anybody—who was more concerned about where he would spend eternity than where he would spend Friday’s paycheck. Not that he kept his cool while the dozen best friends he ever had felt the heat and got out of the kitchen. Or that he gave no command to the angels who begged, “Just give the nod, Lord. One word and these demons will be deviled eggs.” Not that he refused to defend himself when blamed for every sin since Adam. Or that he stood silent as a million guilty verdicts echoed in the tribunal of heaven and the giver of light was left in the chill of a sinner’s night. Not even that after three days in a dark hole he stepped into the Easter sunrise with a smile and a swagger and a question for lowly Lucifer—“Is that your best punch?” That was cool, incredibly cool. But want to know the coolest thing about the One who gave up the crown of heaven for a crown of thorns? He did it for you. Just for you. From His Name is Jesus © (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) Max Lucado

Spring is back already!

Just a quick update - that 6 inches of snow is all gone (except for the areas in the shadows) and the temperature reached 60 degrees! What a difference a day makes, and we do thank the Lord for the moisture!

(photo)

Choosing Paint Colors - Aaaaugh!

 

No, this is not our cat; we don't have a cat, we have a Golden Retriever.

This isn't our house, but if you were here, you would see our dog, Lucy,

napping in her corner of our living room next to the 3 different samples of blue

painted on the wall before we went out of town to the wedding last week.

I'm thinking the cat or our dog may have about the same ability to pick out

paint colors as I do.

However, because of some very savvy bloggers who share their paint colors

on their blogs, there is HOPE!

Lauren and I are in the process of rethinking our home, as in,

should we stay here or downsize to a newer and smaller home.

The plus to moving is that he wouldn't have to continue the remodelling

of our 103 year old house. It has taken several years, because we always try

to put family first, and quite frankly, I think he has had enough of remodelling.

Because of my disability, I cannot do a lot of heavy work or even painting because

of how it hurts my neck, but I can paint doors and trim, taking breaks as needed.

The negative side is that we have lived here for 28 years and our grandchildren

now play in the yard their moms played in and sleepover in the same bedroom.

But it may be time to let go.

So we are looking into the possibilities, and we will be painting no matter what we

decide to do. We started with the blue swatches, but the ones we picked are too intense for resale,

so we are now looking at beige, gray, and those that have green or blue undertones, as

suggested by realtors. Right now, our entry is a soft yellow, our living room is called

 "wooden spoon" and is a very light, boring color, and our dining room is a pretty sage green.

 I'd go with the sage green, but I am ready for a change.  I'd like something

I can use accents of blue and green with, no matter if we stay or sell.

We once had the living and dining rooms painted a color our friends called "Band Aide",

but there are so many new hues of gray and beige that I am sure we will find

some good choices. In the meantime, I will be going to the local hardware store

to get more paint chips and samples to put on the wall.

Here are a few blogs that have beautiful paint colors in their homes that are

subtle yet warm and inviting:

For the Love of a House

Here's her kitchen (no, mine doesn't resemble it at all)

The Paint color is Benjamin Moore Gray Owl, a gray with green undertones.

Then there is...

The Inspired Room

This is a beautiful color in her dining room,

 Behr All in One Studio Taupe...

This looks like a beautiful color, but may be too dark for our living room.

I like the taupe color, a soft mix of gray and beige.

And the last I will share is

The Nester

I love this color, Comfort Gray by Sherwin Williams ...

which I believe is the same or very close to Restoration Hardware's

Silver Sage which is the same as Benjamin Moore's Gray Wisp, which

is one of the swatches on our L.R. wall and won't work.  It does, however, look a lot like

 our bedroom walls...hmmmm,

I am back to this color I love, so We will probably freshen our bedroom walls with this.

All of these blogs have several paint colors shown, and I am sure there are

many more blogs that I do not dare to go to or I will not get anything else done today!

But it has been fun sharing all of this, as we have had a heavy spring snow...

about 6 inches so far...

and it is still snowing!

A Special Wedding Day

Lauren and I went to Iowa recently for my niece's wedding. Stacy is the daughter of my late brother Mark, who went to be with the Lord several years ago. I'm afraid I didn't get very many quality photos, but here are a few shots anyway:

The wedding was held outside at Eagle Point Park, which is in Clinton, along the Mississippi River.

It was quite chilly and cloudy, but the bridal party and guests

braved the cold and it was a beautiful ceremony.

Our other niece, Stacy's sister Allie, was the maid of honor, and the groom's

  brother was the best man. Stacy's new husband is Bret, and they seemed like

a wonderful couple. The girls also have a brother named Brandon, who served as usher,

although I did not get a good photo of him.

This fuzzy photo shows the groom, Bret, my mother, Stacy's grandmother and Stacy.

My mother traveled with my sister and her husband from Wisconsin, and then went to Nebraska with my brother, who has arranged for her to live in a beautiful care center not far from them. It has become time to do so since the Alzheimer's continues to get worse, but this

is a God-filled blessing for her to see my brother and his wife more.

I had not seen my nieces and nephew for many years, as distance, their

parent's divorce and Mark's passing made it hard to keep in touch or to get together.

God really blessed us when Stacy invited me and my husband as well as my other siblings and their

spouses to her wedding, and it was worth the long drive just to spend this special moment

in her life with her. My niece Allie told me that she is now engaged and will be getting married

next year, so we have another Iowa wedding to look forward to! 

After we got home, I had several days with our grandchildren, so I wasn't able to update my blog.

I will try to visit your blogs this week and see what you have been up to!