Fridays This and That

Happy Friday dear ones. I trust you all have had a good week. We have had a lot going on here.
Tim has had sciatica pain in his back but the pain medications he's taking is helping.
I'm dealing with hand pain which is another reason I've been mostly absent from blogging and replying to comments. I've had pain for a number of years but it seems to be getting worse so my doctor had me do some bloodwork to check for lupus and to find out if I'm still prediabetic or if I have full diabetes. Well I'm still prediabetic but my bloodwork came back postive for lupus. Because I had TTP( severely low platelets) back in 2007 I knew I was at risk for lupus. I've been referred to a rheumatologist so I hope to get a call in the next couple of weeks.
The pain makes it hard to type and do my normal everyday activities not to mention my crocheting is affected.
That being said I'm taking a two week break from blogging. I want to give my hands a break. I'm taking gabapentin at night for pain but it has unpleasant side affects such a loopiness and it seems to make me crankier than usual.

Before I go I want to post this picture of the planter I bought. When you see it, you will see why  I just love it!

I love teacups! I'm growing sweet mint and the mint will make the most delicious tea!

Have a great weekend friends. I'll be back around July 11th Lord willing. Have a great 4th of July to my USA readers and have a great Canada Day to my Canadian readers!

Happy First Day of Summer!

Hello dear friends! I apologize for being away for so long. We've just been here.
We have had opportunities to help families at church in various capacities. It's been a pleasure to help where needed most.  And it's been a pleasure to apply what I learned from the book " Just Open the Door" to our lives.
As a matter of fact my Kaitlyn my 17 year old is practicing " out of the blue" hospitality by inviting the high school youth group girls from church to our house for movie night next month. Without asking me first. Oh my goodness! This will be interesting.

We had baby birds again in the past month but they left the nest today so we are a little sad. You babysit them and keep predators away and they show their thanks by growing up and flying away somewhere nearby!

My tomato plant is finally blooming and we just can't wait for lots of tomatoes. I hope to get over to Lowe's this week to pick up some potting soil and a mint plant to put in my very special planter I bought our local Shopko. Sadly our Shopko is closing at the end of this month with the reasons being poor business decisions.
After I get my mint planted, I will post a picture and you will see why I love this planter.

Recently I've been dealing with frustration over redeeming a offer for a free magazine subscriptions. The first time I tried to redeem an offer about two months ago I chose Victoria. A few weeks later instead of Victoria, they sent a trashy tabloid called Entertainment Weekly. Well there was no way, I was going to allow that garbage in my house. So I immediately called to cancel though I feel like I was talking to a robot but the magazine was canceled.

Three weeks ago I received an offer for a free magazine subscription this time one of the choices amongst all the other icky was Southern Living. I chose that one and even got a confirmation that I should get my first issue of Southern Living in about three week to four weeks.

Two days ago Shannon brought in the mail and says "You are going to love the magazine you got" She then hands me the June issue of, well I won't say but it's extremely popular among women.  I'm like, I didn't subscribe to this! She then says " Okay then how about this one?"(With a grin on her face) It's the July issue of the magazine I don't want to mention the name of. Let's just say this magazine is very New Age, feminist, so very worldly. I had to go online to cancel this one because there was no phone number for customers to call.

At this point, I've given up on free subscription offers. I will just pay for my Christian magazines like Keepers at Home and not worry about trash coming into our home.

Well I have to eat breakfast and get started on my household chores. I hope you all get out and enjoy the the Lord's creation.

Hospitality

Hospitality! Oh how that word makes me nervous! In my prevous post I shared about Jen Schmidt's hospitality book Just Open the Door.

The Bible is full of examples of hospitality:
Abraham and Sarah providing food and water to the three visitors- Genesis 18:1-8

Lot prepared food for the two angels who came to him before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19:1-3

Rahab took in two spies sent by Joshua . Joshua 2:1-22

Mary and Martha provided hospitality to Jesus Luke 10:38-41

Zacchaeus hosted Jesus Luke 19:5-6

There's many more scriptures recorded and way too many to list here but you can  search your own Bibles for people who provided food and shelter to loved ones and strangers.

Providing hospitality for me personally is rather scary because when we lived in CA I rarely had guests over. The reason I didn't have guests over much was I was totally ashamed of my messy house so I missed many opportunities to fellowship with friends but that's for another post.

So how do we even begin to open our doors to fellowship? Well personally, I  would start small. I'm talking invite one person over for coffee, tea or even a meal if you are comfortable. You can serve muffins and fruit with your tea or coffee. It really doesn't need to be anything elaborate.

After that first initial experience you can invite  someone over after church.
Again it doesn't need to be fancy. Sandwiches, frozen pizza and salads are great meals. If you do canning and you can meat like chicken, you can make a quick chicken salad or perhaps chicken salad.

Something I learned from the book  " Just Open the Door" is we as Christians don't  have  to practice hospitality.  We get to! I think when we have that mindset, it helps us to take the focus off of ourselves so that we can concentrate on being the hands and feet of Jesus to our guests.
We don't need to be little "Martha Stewarts and have everything all perfect with matching decor and elegant centerpieces!

I can go on and on about this topic but I want to encourage you all( and myself included) to bless someone. I have had guests here but I still have those fears of having people over and wondering what they think about me

Other ideas for blessing other with outside our home ideas include taking a meal to a family, making cookies for a new neighbor, on an especially hot day give bottled water to the panhandler you pass daily and the list goes on!

Have a blessed day my friends!

Book Review: Just Open the Door

 Just Open the Door

Jen Schmidt wife, mom and author shares how you can change a generation with something as simple as an invitation .

What I liked about this book: Jen is really down to earth in her writing. She gives practical and doable ideas for practicing  Biblical hospitality which doesn't always mean having someone over to our homes.

It can be as simple as bringing a meal to a family, treating a woman to coffee or tea at your favorite restaurant. Jen shares ideas that I never even considered to be hospitality. Ideas like visiting a senior home with your children and bring cards to them and not just during holidays. Bringing snacks for the parents at your children's sports events.

Jen shares so much more than I can write in this review but what it all boils down to is when we practice Biblical hospitality we are being the hands and feet of Jesus.

I can't of anything negative about Just Open the Door. I really would recommend this book for anyone who wants to practice hospitality but just don't know where to start.

Jen Schmidt writes on her blog Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. She and her husband Gregg are the parents of five and live in rural N.C.

I was given a copy of this book from Lifeway.com in exhange for my honest review.

Update on Tim and Shannon

Hi ladies! I apologize for my late updates and I thank you all for praying. So Tim saw the doctor on Tuesday. His doctor said there is indeed scarring on his lungs but he's not too concerned about it. It's not severe enough to cause alarm. We are very grateful for that.
Shannon's ear is much better thanks to good old Amoxicillin. She thanks you all for praying.

I'm going to post next a book review next and the book is about hospitality.(gulp!)

Five Minute Friday Prompt- Return

Today I'm trying something different since I haven't finished reading the book I plan to review.
I'm joining the Five Minute Friday link party where you write for five minutes on whatever the word prompt is.
This week the word is Return. My five minutes start now!
I was thinking about when Jesus will return. But honestly I get rather discouraged at the state of our churches and wonder when He does return, will He have a church to rapture?

I'm not perfect by no means. I have done things, said things that have greatly disappointed my Lord. I want to be more like Jesus. I want to live a life that honors Him. Are we prepared for His return?