Now for a little background! We are signed up with our city's Free Cycle (in our city it's called Full Circle). It's an internet-based "organization" with which people can post "Wanted" and "Offer" ads. All items must be given & received for free. The idea is to keep as much stuff out of the land fill as possible.
We have received a couple items already through Full Circle (click here to read about those). This past spring/early summer, I posted an ad on Full Circle requesting a patio swing. Because of the reaction my skin gets when it's exposed to the sun, I wanted to have a patio swing with an awning so that I could sit on it in the backyard, keep an eye on the kids and not get itchy in the process. I didn't receive any responses at that time.
Yesterday, someone was offering a patio swing that needs a little repair to the cushion & awning material. I forwarded the e-mail to Jeremy asking what he thought. He quickly dismissed it as not a good idea because of the repairs that would need to be made to the fabric. But I didn't want to give up that easily so I e-mailed the man back, asking if the swing was structurally sound. I never received a response back and the next thing I knew, the man had posted an e-mail stating "the patio swing has been taken".
My practical side said, "Oh well, maybe next time!" And that was the end of it. Or so I thought!
My wonderful, amazing, thoughtful, sweet...did I mention amazing?!...husband had taken matters into his own hands. With a couple of loving white lies (okay - they were rather blatant lies), he e-mailed the man himself and said he would love to take it as a surprise for his wife (me!). The man was concerned because I had already e-mailed him asking questions about it. So Jeremy (he's so smart) suggested the man (who happens to be a Christian!) send out an e-mail stating that the item had been taken. So that's what the man did; that's the e-mail I received which led me to believe that I had lost out on this opportunity for good.
Well, the next part of the story is pretty cool. Our next door neighbors were receiving some "new to them" furniture from their friends and we were taking our neighbors "finished with" furniture. As a stipulation (with a smile), our neighbor said we could have their funiture if Jeremy brought a truck home from his work to help them pick up their "new" stuff. So of course Jeremy obliged! He helped bring their old furniture over to our garage/rec room (it looks amazing now, by the way) then helped to pick up their "new" furniture. After all of this work, Jeremy told me that our neighbors' friend, Ian, needed help moving a couple things, so Jeremy had to go back out. No problem, I thought! Here's a great opportunity for Jeremy to connect with more non-Christians!
As it turns out, Ian didn't need help with anything. Jeremy took advantage of having a truck from his work and went to pick up the afore mentioned patio swing! He very quietly brought each cushion and piece up the back stairs onto our back deck. I was oblivious to the whole ordeal. When it came to moving the main frame, Jeremy enlisted the help of our new tennant. Together they quietly snuck it up the stairs and set the whole thing up.
I was sitting in the living room flipping through channels on the TV when Jeremy walked in. I asked how it had gone helping Ian. He said that it went well...there was some extra stuff on the back deck. What?! What extra stuff? Don't we already have enough furniture? Okay, I'll come see what's on the deck.
This is what I saw (well, actually I could barely see it because it was dark out and we don't have any lights on our back deck):
My FREE new-to-me patio swing!
For other Thankful hearts, visit Iris at Sting My Heart.
What I value:
What I do not support:
I wasn't sure what the name on the award meant, so I translated it on-line (may not be a completely accurate translation). "Premio al Esfuerzo Personal" = Prize to the Personal Effort. So I chose some of the blog writers who I feel deserve a prize for their personal effort in blogging.
I pass this award on to:
Lysa at Proverbs 31 Ministries
Susan at Penless Writer
Melissa at Mel's World
Leanne at Impressions
Yvonne at Life as a Gronau
Kristen at Janzen/Larsen Family
Well, it seems that most of my random things are from when I was younger! Now you know a little more about me!
I'm not going to tag anyone specifically, but if you do this meme, leave a comment on my blog to let me know - I like learning new things about other people. And check out Susan's 6 Random Things here!
This past week has been quite the adventure & next week will be no exception!
This past week my Grandma passed away. The funeral will be on Monday. I was already planning to go to the Island this weekend to do an Epicure Tasting Party for my mom (thanks, Mom for helping me get practice with my new business!). Now, because of the funeral, I will take the kids and stay until Monday (the funeral is Monday). Jeremy isn't able to come as he has to work. They just had someone quit so that makes them even more short-staffed.
Because of the funeral, my sister is coming down from up north with my niece. The neat thing is that next weekend (Aug. 2nd), my parents and Jeremy & I are heading up to my sister's place. She has offered to take Daniel & Rebecca back home with her on Tuesday! They will be up north for about 5 days before we get there! Daniel will miss his last week of Summer School but his teacher said it would be okay as today is the last day for collecting marks.
So next Tuesday my sister & niece will leave with Daniel & Becca, Wed. & Thurs. I will be babysitting two kids and then Friday I won't have any kids so I can actually sleep in!!!! I'm so excited! Then next Saturday morning we leave for the great north for our vacation!
It will be strange for Jeremy & I to be home in the evenings without any kids! Jeremy's birthday is next Wed. so we may just go celebrate as we won't need a sitter!
For other thankful hearts, join Iris at Sting My Heart.
So, mark your calendars, September 26th, and plan to see this quality movie, Fireproof. (I'm not sure if it will be in Canada on that date - if I find out I'll let you know!)At work, inside burning buildings, Capt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner behind. At home, in the cooling embers of his marriage, he lives by his own rules.
Growing up, Catherine Holt always dreamed of marrying a loving, brave firefighter...just like her daddy. Now, after seven years of marriage, Catherine wonders when she stopped being "good enough" for her husband....
Is it too late to fireproof his marriage? His job is to rescue others. Now Caleb Holt is ready to face his toughest job ever ... rescuing his wife's heart.
Now here's the best part. The more entries we receive, the more we give away. I love givin and gettin so I'm gonna delight in watching it all transpire. I just wish everyone could be a winner.
So here's what you can do to increase everyone's odds. Begin telling your blogging buddies now about Olive Leaf Ministries' upcoming giveaway. Send this link to your friends or announce it in your won blog entry. Many of you have been kind enough to add my link to your blog page (thank you dear girls) so pointing the way will be easiest for you.
Now, who says you can't get something for nothing?
Stay tuned girls! I'll give you another bean very soon, but only when I am allowed. Don't want to get fired.
Many thanks to Iris for hosting Thankful Thursday.
I am thankful for:
What are you thankful for today?"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5,6
I missed posting this on the 1st, but it's still not too late! Head on over to Praise & Coffee and leave a comment before June 10th. That will sign you up for this month's prize:
and a
Steven Curtis Chapman's latest CD, "This Moment, Cinderella Edition".
Today is "Thankful Thursday". I have never participated in it before, but today I have something I feel compelled to share. I first saw it at Heather's blog, "Mumblings of a Mommy 'Monk'", but I believe it originated at Iris' blog "Sting My Heart". If you want to participate in "Thankful Thursday", go to Iris' blog and leave your link on Mr. Linky. So here goes...!
I was reading a post by Heather at "Mumblings of a Mommy 'Monk'". I must say that this post was very good and I encourage you to read it! Click here to read this post. It's about the tone that mothers set for the home, based on the saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" Definately worth reading the post.
But back to my point. A few posts ago I wrote about "Joy???" and feeling like I didn't have it at the time. Since then, I have struggled to feel like I have joy.
I left a comment on Heather's blog because I was really able to relate to what she shared about moms setting the family tone. While I was leaving a comment, I quickly read through the other comments. A lady named Christin, of "As Gold Refined", left a comment that really spoke to me. Christin made a comment about the difference between joy and happiness. Here is part of what she said:
"Joy isn't the same thing as happiness. Happiness comes as a result of circumstances - joy remains no matter what your circumstances - you can be unhappy and still have joy. Joy is a promise from the Lord and it is obtainable - we just need to seek Him first. :) As we continue to do that, He will continue to mold us. We just need to remember to keep moving forward with our eyes on Him. :) Yes, we are certainly works in progress! And God promised to complete the work in us if we don't grow weary in doing good."
Although it was encouraging to read that explanation between the two, I still struggled to feel the joy. As much as I loved what Christin wrote, I felt that I still wasn't "getting it" with the whole "Joy" thing.
Well, last night, our church small group met. Instead of doing our regular routine, we spent the evening praying and having communion. We prayed for people in our church, whoever God put on our heart. We were able to get through quite a few people. Have you ever spent time praying in a group, and when you were finished praying no one spoke right away? That's how it was last night.
It was so good to spend that time, bringing people before our almighty, caring God. I am so thankful for that time last night. After our prayer time was over I felt the joy return to my heart. "Joy is a promise from the Lord and it is obtainable - we just need to seek Him first." In order to seek God first, we need to take our eyes off ourself! Coming before God in prayer is an excellent way of doing this.
I am thankful for fellow Christians who share a passion for praying. I am thankful I shifted my focus off my own woes to consider other people and how they are hurting. I am thankful that I can have joy even when I don't feel happy. I am thankful for a God who never changes, who is always waiting for us to come before Him, who wants to bless us in ways we never imagined (big or small).
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