Saturday, November 29, 2014

We HaveThe Most Wonderful Time Every Day!

Hello out there! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.
We were blessed to spend time with all of our children and grandchildren over
the past week.
The week of family time began last Friday night. Our family events
unfolded like this:
Friday 11/21/14
We took care of two of our granddaughters while their mom, dad (our son) and brothers,
(our two grandsons) went to a football game on Friday evening.
Our daughter, her husband and their two daughters (two more granddaughters) came
over to eat dinner and let the kids play. Their family went home at about 9:00pm.
Our granddaughters were picked up about 11:15 pm. The youngest is almost one and
a half, she was sound asleep. The oldest is seven and she was still watching Disney
movies! Their "Pa" my husband, was sound asleep also. Their "Nana" of course me,
was still awake cleaning and watching over my little ones.
Saturday 11/22/14
The alarm goes off at 5:15 am, please hit snooze! No can do, we have to get up, and
get ready because we are headed to Houston to see our oldest son, his wife and our
other two granddaughters!
We arrived at about 3:00 pm because of a delay that I won't even go in to. All that
matters is we made it safely! We visited, caught up, went out to eat, and talked about
the big family vacation that is coming up in December! The girls are growing up too
fast! We head to the hotel that is only about 10 minutes away to get some sleep!
Sunday 11/23/14
We kind of wake up about 7:00 am. My sweet husband goes to the breakfast area to
bring me a much needed cup of coffee! The phone rings at about 7:30 am, and the call
is from our six year old granddaughter. She politely asks if we will stop and pick
up some donuts on our way to their house, and then she tells me what she and our
eight year old granddaughter would like. I was told that our son and daughter-in-law
were cooking "a real" breakfast for us! We got ready, checked out of the hotel,
picked up donuts, and drove to our son's home! We were greeted with hugs, and
barking from the dogs. We sat down and had a wonderful breakfast with our family.
Then, my husband and son started working on the girls playhouse in the backyard.
After more visiting, and wishing we could stay longer, we loaded up to head home.
At 3:00 pm we were headed west, back home. We arrived home about 9:45 pm.
Thank you God, for the safe trip!
I will talk about the rest of the week in another post! My daughter and her family
are fixing to come over. My husband is on his way home, he's been helping our
son do some work on his house that they are trying to sale.
We have plenty of yummy left overs from Thanksgiving day, and I also made a big
batch of Chex Party Mix, it's that time of year!
Have a wonderful evening. 


             "Thank God the Father at all times for everything, in the name
                of our Lord Jesus Christ."
                                                      Ephesians 5:20


Bye for now, Sharla



Tuesday, November 18, 2014

O Lord, I am not worthy, thank you for my many blessings. Amen.

Good Morning out there! I hope that everyone is doing well and staying warm!
It is 23 degrees right now (8:20 a.m.) but the sun is shining, and it looks like it
is going to be a beautiful day! I'm getting back into my old routine, now that the
40 Days for Life Campaign is over.  Though I have to admit, I miss the daily
fellowship! However, I have enjoyed sitting by the fireplace, with a roaring fire,
on these cold days! I was way behind on the book work for our family business,
so I have been busy catching up. On the cold days, I dragged the little table my
grandkids use when they are coloring, working puzzles, and eating their snacks
on, over by the fireplace and worked! Of course when everyone comes over, I
have to move all my stuff back into my office!
It has been so cold at night, that we have let our dogs come inside to sleep. They
are a mess, Stormy is an English Bulldog, and Bella is 3/4 Blue Healer, and 1/4
Australian Shepherd. They are both really good dogs, very protective of me and
the grandkids! We have tile floors in our home, and there is a red throw rug between
the kitchen and living room. Both of the "girls" were on the rug this morning, and
Jim was trying to come into the kitchen to eat. He had to step over them because
they were not moving! We both laughed, they are so funny!
I don't know if I told y'all that my daughter and her husband are expecting another
baby, a little girl, due in the spring. We are all excited, this makes three little
girls for them! Their oldest daughter is eight, and she is very practical. When they
found out the baby is a "sister", she said "Well that's good, because we are prepared
for a girl, we have all girl stuff already!" Their youngest is two and a half, and she
sings to her mommy's tummy, and tells us where the baby is!
My son and his wife are also expecting in the spring. If everyone stays on schedule
the babies will be born about a week a part! They have two boys and two girls,
this baby will be the tie breaker! They are waiting until the baby is born to find
out if this one is a "brother" or a "sister"! The boys want a brother, the girls want
a sister, but really and truly, they are just excited about having another sibling.
Jim and I are excited about our new grandbabies! Our oldest son (my stepson) and
his wife have two girls, I dreamed that she was also expecting, but was informed
that it was just a dream! Jim and I are very blessed to have ten grandchildren now!
Even though we won't be able to hold two of them until the spring, they are already
loved and prayed for, already a big part of our growing family.
Last week I was with my daughter and her family when they did the sonogram. There
is know way to adequately describe how amazing it is to see my newest granddaughter's
development, her little nose, and how she placed her hand over her knee while we were
watching. I'm just so thankful, I feel so blessed.
Well, I better get busy. I have a lot to accomplish today. I think I'm also going to make
some oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips in them! I'm still trying to figure out what
I'm going to fix the guys for lunch (my husband and son come home for lunch most days).
I've got the dessert figured out though!
I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with many blessings!
              I'm going to close with a prayer written by Cardinal Newman.
       Dear Lord, shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in
 contact with may feel Your Presence in my soul...Let me thus praise you in the
               way you love best, by shining on those around me. Amen.


                                                Bye for now, Sharla



Tuesday, November 4, 2014

40 Days of Prayer, Fellowship, and Blessings!

Good Morning out there! The fall 40 Days for Life Campaign is over! I received
an email from the 40 Days headquarters letting me know that 546 babies were
saved during this campaign! Isn't that amazing? I'm so thankful for all the people
who took the time to go and pray. Peaceful, prayerful vigils. I can only imagine
what these young ladies are thinking when they are taken to an abortion facility.
I'm so glad that there were people who care standing outside in prayer, telling them
that there is help available.
We don't have an abortion facility where I live, the Planned Parenthood closed
down in September 2013. They did not do surgical abortions, but they did give out
the pill that would cause a chemical abortion. We use to pray in front of the Planned
Parenthood during the 40 Days for Life Campaigns until it closed down.
We still wanted to be involved, and found out that we could still have a campaign
in our city as long as it was outside where we would be visible.
Our campaign was held in the courtyard of our parish, Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Our vigil hours were from 7:00 am - 7:00 pm each and every day from Wednesday,
September 24 - Sunday, November 2, 2104. We had many people come and
pray throughout the days of the campaign. Several people came 4 and 5 times a
week. Some people came daily. Many stayed and prayed for more than 1 hour at
a time. We had rosary groups come and pray in the courtyard. People would stay
and visit after their prayers or devotions. It was an amazing time of fellowship.
We came together to pray for the unborn, for their families, for the whole world.
The courtyard use to be a place we walked through to get inside the school building.
It has now become a place of prayer. A peaceful place where you feel the Holy Spirit.
You can feel God's Presence there. Time just seemed to slip by as you prayed. You
never felt alone there, even if you were the only one there.
The big oak trees gave us shade, the daily visits from a squirrel, the birds singing, our
courtyard has become a peaceful place of prayer!
We did have trouble with pesky mosquitos! They were vicious! We kept bottles of
repellant on the table! But those mosquitos were a small nuisance! The blessings we
all received from the devotion to our prayers was indescribable. My life will never be
the same. I will hold forever in my heart the beautiful, humbling witness of God's
faithful people coming together in prayer. New friendships made, a closer bond
with old friends, the joy of worship, the joy of fellowship!
At the beginning of the 40 Days for Life Campaign, we would pray the Divine Mercy
Chaplet together when the church bells would ring at 3:00 pm. Mid-way through the
campaign, we would tentatively sing the chaplet, and towards the end, we would
sing with confidence, knowing that our voices lifted up as one made a beautiful
melody, a song of praise to our God. One day last week when I had gone home, the
ladies shared with me that while they were singing the Divine Mercy Chaplet, a man
was standing outside the courtyard, listening to them. The ladies stopped singing
before they started the next decade to ask him if he needed something, if they could
help him? He replied that he didn't want to disturb them, the song was so beautiful.
He explained what he needed, and then they finished singing the Divine Mercy
Chaplet.
As I'm writing this post, I can hear the rain pouring outside. We had beautiful
weather during the campaign. Here in West Texas, rain is always a welcome blessing.
I thank God for the rain, and for the babies saved. I pray for the families of these
babies, that they will be given the guidance and help they need.
I thank God for all the people who participated in 40 Days for Life Campaigns
everywhere. I'm going to close with a refrain from a song we sing at Mass.


     "Lead me Lord, lead me Lord, by the light of truth, to seek and to find
            the narrow way. Be my way, be my truth, be my life, my Lord,
                                 and lead me Lord, today."


                             Blessings to you all! Bye for now, Sharla