Hot Weather and Hens - Mass and Scripture - Families and Light!

 Good morning out there! I'm writing this post at 4:44 am. I woke up about an hour ago and decided instead of tossing and turning, praying and thinking, it was time to get up and write a long overdue post! Summer weather is definitely here! H O T hot! My computer monitor says that it is 83 degrees right now! I think the high today is supposed to hit 109. If you work out in this weather please stay hydrated! Our chickens do not like this hot weather - most of our hens are on strike. I can't blame them! Yes, they have plenty of water and shade, but with temps this high it is hot in the shade also! Enough about the weather and non-laying hens.

Last night Jim and I went to the 6 pm Mass at our parish. I wish you could have seen all the families!  The children and the babies, the mothers and the fathers! Grandparents! Young adults, so many people at Mass! Oh my goodness - that just does my heart good! Step into the light! I love our parish family! The scriptures from the Prophet Jeremiah - wow! I'm going to share them right now!

Jeremiah 20:10-13

Jeremiah said: "I hear the whisperings of many: 'Terror on every side: Denounce! Let us denounce him!' All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. 'Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him.' But the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. O Lord of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart, let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause. Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!"

That scripture really grabbed me - A lot of things are going on in our country that don't make sense to me. I will pray and pour my heart out to God and trust in His mercy, His timing, and His love for us.

The following scriptures are from today's morning prayers in my Magnificat:

Ephesians 5:14-15

Everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it say: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise. 

Lamentations 3:22-23

The favors of the Lord are not exhausted, his mercies are not spent; They are renewed each morning, so great is his faithfulness.

I'm headed to the kitchen to grab a large mug of coffee and get ready for the day! It's my grocery shopping day and I have a long list! 

I hope you all have a blessed day! Take care of yourselves and your loved ones during this heat wave and always! Hug your spouse and hug your kids and thank the Lord for a new day! Go out and be a light in this dark world ! 

Peace and blessings to you and yours, near and far, wherever you are!

Bye for now, Sharla

Through the Years...Celebrating 40 Years - Thanks be to God!

 Hello out there! Hope y'all are having a great day! Jim and I have been working in the yard this morning.  I haven't mowed in a long time. But today, I got on the riding lawn mower and vroomed all over the front and backyard, while Jim was weed eating the fence lines, around the trees, etc. Tomorrow is our 40th anniversary. We are going out to eat tonight with a couple who have been our friends for at least 38 of those years. Tomorrow is also their wedding anniversary and they will celebrate 57 years of marriage!

My goal is to post several, positive marriage memories during this month. I'm calling them my "Through the years..." memories. Life isn't always easy and sometimes the road is tough, but if you both live out your vows, and make sure that God is your guide, you'll be blessed! It definitely helps if both husband and wife have the same view of the "Death til you part" kind of marriage.

I copied a part of a post I wrote on June 3, 2016:

I want to think about the vows I made on a Saturday afternoon many years ago.

I promised to love my husband for better or worse,

 for richer or poorer, 

through the good days and bad days,

 in sickness and in health

 until death do us part.     

                             

  I have been blessed with a good, God fearing man. Jim is my knight in shining armor and always stands by my side.

 A wedding is just a day - but a marriage is a life time and it takes work. Like a
garden, you have to lovingly tend to it.
 Love, patience, kindness, forgiveness, and communication are a must -
but most important - you need to make sure that God is right in the center, right there
with you and then everything else will fall into place.

This sign is on our back porch.

The only thing I would add is - 

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15

Peace and blessings to you and yours,

near and far, wherever you are!

Bye for now, Sharla

Through the Years: There's no Place Like Home

 Hello out there! Good morning! I'm super excited about this month! Jim and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage this Sunday, June 4th! I've been married more than two-thirds of my life! Wow! How amazing and awesome is that?! I was nineteen when we got married. I'm going to try and share as many of my "Through the years..." marriage posts as possible this month.

I looked back to my posts from June 2015 and found one of my many favorites. Jim and I had gone on a trip to celebrate our 32nd anniversary. The story is below:

Friday, June 19, 2015

There is No Place Like Home!

Good Morning Out There! Today is Friday and I hope you all have a really
great day, a day full of blessings! In my previous post, I wrote about the vacation
that Jim and I took. I told you about the beautiful Cathedral Shrine of Our Lady
of Guadalupe in Dallas, TX. Today I'm going to tell you about our trip to
Jefferson, TX, the Catholic church and the priceless (to me) pictures we bought
at an antique store.

Jefferson is a beautiful little town, full of history, and northeast of Dallas.
They were having a corvette show on main street that Saturday morning. Jim and
I walked up and down the street looking at all the old and new, shiny and
colorful corvettes. Proud owners sitting in chairs behind their cars, or polishing
them with a rag, telling people all about the statistics and stuff. In the distance,
over the top of a building I spotted a bell tower and told Jim that I bet that was
where the Catholic church was. So we started walking towards the church, and
sure enough, the beautiful old white church with the bell tower was
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. We went up the steps and through the
front door. The priest was inside making sure everything was just right, he was
fixing to go out of town and so there would be a visiting priest celebrating Mass
that Saturday evening and the next morning. He told us to take our time and that
he was going to lock the front door, so if we would please go out the side door
when we were through and just make sure it locked behind us. Jim and I walked
up and down the inside of the church admiring the amazing stained glass windows.
The windows told the story of the Life of Jesus. One window pane was The
Annunciation, the next was The Visitation, The birth of Christ, scenes from the
Joyful Mysteries. Then there was the pane showing the Wedding at Cana, one of
the Luminous Mysteries. The Crucifixion and the Pieta were two more of the
beautiful, but heartbreaking stained glass panes. The entire church was so breath-
taking. Jim and I knelt down and prayed, and even though we were the only ones
there, we whispered when we wanted to point something out. Finally we walked
out the side door and made sure it was locked. We walked back around to the
front of the church and checked the Mass schedule and decided that we would
come back for the 5:30 p.m. evening Mass that night. I took a picture of two
signs they had at the side of the church.

                                        PREGNANT AND NEED HELP?
                               (Mujer Embarazada y Necesita Ayuda?)
                          The Catholic Church sees the birth of each baby as
                         God's unfailing love. We offer immediate & practical
                                 help to any woman faced with crisis pregnancy
                                                           888-300-5112
The picture next to the words is the beautiful, "Madonna of the Streets"

                                             Society of St. Vincent de Paul
                                        Immaculate Heart of Mary Conference
                The Society of St. Vincent de Paul offers tangible assistance to                                 
                                       those in need on a person to person basis.

We walked back to our truck, both of us realizing what really matters, what is
really important, and what and who God cares about. Taking care of one another,
carrying each others burdens, lending a helping hand. We passed an old antique store
and walked in. In one room, high upon a shelf, dusty and dirty, were two old pictures.
One was the beautiful "Madonna of the Streets" and the other was a picture of Jesus
I had never seen before, his face in the middle, and small scenes of his life all around
the edge. I told Jimmy, "We have to rescue them, and take them home." Jim smiled
and reached up and carefully handed them to me. The owner commented on how
beautiful they were, and that she had never even noticed them. She carefully wrapped
them up for us, and $35.00 later they were safely tucked in the backseat of our truck!
That evening Jim and I did go to Mass at The Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.
We walked through the doors, dipped our fingers in the Holy Water, made the Sign of
the Cross, genuflected and knelt down to pray. There truly is no place like home.
                             May your day be full of blessings! Bye for now, Sharla