Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day!  Though I am laboring in my office today, it's still a happy, happy day.  My sweet hubby is home having a relaxing day, as well as my sister and mom.  Woo hoo!  Plus, traffic was a breeze this morning and it's super-quiet in my office...the makings for a very productive day! 

Though I have lots of fun pictures to share from our weekend, just wanted to pop on and wish everyone a Happy Labor Day!  Have a grilled hot dog for me!!!  :0)

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,

as working for the Lord, not for men,

since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.

It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

--Colossians 3:23-24

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life,

to mind you own business

and to work with your hands"

--Thessalonians 4:11

"But remember the Lord your God,

for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth,

and so confirms His covenant,

which He swore to your forefathers,

as it is today."

--Deuteronomy 8:18

The Girl Who Drove Down the Freeway & Went Up the Elevator

Last night I watched "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain" for the first time.  It was a really cute story...with a sweet Bible reference too!  (Don't you love little God winks like that?!!!)  The town loved their mountain and as they were trying to save it, the town's preacher quoted Psalm 99:9 (KJV):

"Exalt the LORD our God,

and worship at His holy hill;

for the LORD our God is holy."

I loved it!  And it got me thinking...I work in downtown in a building on the 38th floor.  The lobby is 2+ stories high but often buildings don't have a 13th floor due to superstition, so we'll say I'm 38 floors up.  If each floor is approximately 9 feet, that means I'm 342 feet up each work day.  And if, as the movie suggests, a qualification for a mountain is a height of 1,000 feet, that means I'm 1/3 of the way to a mountain!  But, also as the movie suggests, since I'm not 1,000 feet up, that means I'm a hill...which takes me back to Psalm 99:9. 

Now I know tax accounting isn't preaching the Word or saving souls, but I do pray every day that everything I do some how and in some way glorifies God.  I mean, He's 100% given me the ability and the opportunity to do what I do, so really everything I do and everything I am is completely His.  And since everything is His and He is holy, so too can everything (my tax work, this building, etc) be holy in His glorious name.

So, my prayer today is that though I walk through the valley of accounting workpapers and tax returns, I will exalt the Lord my God and worship at this newly-deemed holy hill, for I am His and it is His, and the Lord my God is holy. 

Hallelujah and Happy Friday!!!  :0)

Humility & Santa Claus

At church on Sunday, the sermon was on humility and quoted Sirach 3:17-20 which says,

"My child, conduct your affairs with humility,
and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.

Humble yourself the more, the greater you are,
and you will find favor with God."

The deacon giving the sermon noted the first sentence...be humble, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts.  "So", he said, "be humble, and people will love you more than Santa Claus."  I thought that was HILARIOUS!  And it was such a great message too!!! 

"Conduct your affairs with humility,

and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts."

"Humble yourselves before the Lord,

and He will lift you up."

--James 4:10

Ho, ho, ho...be humble!!!  :0)

Love One Another

Last night we went to the wedding of one of Matt's dear high school friends.  The bride was beautiful, the friends there wonderful to see, and the wedding so much fun!!!  Congratulations to the Mr. & Mrs!

Here's Matt & I hanging out before the wedding. 
The location was so beautiful!!!  It felt like we were in a treehouse!

And here's a fun picture of the wedding party. 
Doesn't L look beautiful!!!  :0)

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for

love comes from God.

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God...

because God is love."

--1 John 4:7-8

My Grannie's Granddaughter

Just as I'm absolutely my father's daughter, so too am I my Grannie's granddaughter.

As you all know, I LOVE the birds in my backyard, and I LOVE my bird feeder. It's just so calming and peaceful to watch them and such a great example of God's providence. ("Look at the birds of the air...your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"--Matthew 6:26)

Earlier this week, I noticed the big bag of birdseed in our garage had a hole in it and was slightly spilling out onto the garage floor. I cleaned it up and didn't think twice about it. Yesterday, I found that even MORE had spilled out, but I just figured the seed had shifted in the bag and spilled through the hole again, so I duct taped the bag up and cleaned up the spill. This morning before heading to church, I noticed not a lot but just a few dribbles of seeds around the bag...the bag I had completely taped up and cleaned around yesterday. Uh oh. We have no sign of any thing living in our garage, but I wasn't about to take any chances. (Especially after I mentioned it to my father-in-law and he mentioend it might be a mouse. Hey, I love Mickey Mouse probably twice as much as the next guy, but I don't want one of his cousins living in my garage!) So, we decided if the food was gone, any thing would be gone too. I decided to be EXTRA careful and move all the food into sealed containers inside the house; nothing was going to get into it.

Now I could have gone to Container Store and bought a sealed plastic container to store the birdseed in for $40. But did I do that?

No.

As I said...I am my Grannie's granddaughter. So what is all the bird seed stored in on my pantry shelves???

Tons of cleaned-out odd-ball plastic containers! Oh my Grannie would be so proud!!!

I am pretty proud of my thriftiness too!  :0)

Farmer's Daugther

I am absolutely my father's daughter. This morning I watched "A Walk in the Clouds" on a movie channel on tv. A friend of mine had recommended it as a very sweet love story, and it was. What was shocking to me was my reaction...

A girl falls upon a difficult situation and is scared to go home to her family.

Not a tear.

She meets a wonderful, kind-hearted man who helps her.

Not a whimper.

Come to find out, her wonderful hero was an orphan who never knew the love of a family.

Nothing.

They fall in love, he saves her, etc, etc, etc.

Dry as the desert.

Then, the family's vineyard catches fire...and I cry like a baby! What's going to happen to the crop??? What will her family do???

You see...DEFINITELY a farmer's daughter! :0)

1st Day of School

In just about an hour or so, my mom, sister, aunt and cousins, as well as other dear family and friends, will start their 1st day of school for the year. First days are always so exciting, but they can also be rather daunting, overwhelming, and downright scary. My prayer is that they ALL have a GREAT school year, that they learn and teach lots, make a ton of sweet friends and wonderful memories, have a safe and healthy year, and that they do well and do good in Jesus' precious and saving name. Happy New School Year!!!

"Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it."
--Proverbs 22:6