Bow the Knee

This past Sunday evening our church had a singspiration and a time of testimonies. One of my friends sang a solo. I wasn't able to be in there during it because I had to go to the fellowship hall to get the food ready for afterwards. Our church just recently starting recording the services digitally so Jeremy let me listen to the part of the service that I missed. When I heard the second verse of this song, it fit perfectly into my life the last few months. The words are below and you can listen to the song here.

There are moments on our journey following the Lord

Where God illumines ev’ry step we take.

There are times when circumstances make perfect sense to us,

As we try to understand each move He makes.

When the path grows dim and our questions have no answers, turn to Him.

Bow the knee;

Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.

Bow the knee;

Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.

And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,

In the presence of the King, bow the knee.

There are days when clouds surround us, and the rain begins to fall,

The cold and lonely winds won’t cease to blow.

And there seems to be no reason for the suffering we feel;

We are tempted to believe God does not know.

When the storms arise, don’t forget we live by faith and not by sight.

Bow the knee;

Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.

Bow the knee;

Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.

And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,

In the presence of the King,

Bow the knee;

Trust the heart of your Father when the answer goes beyond what you can see.

Bow the knee;

Lift your eyes toward heaven and believe the One who holds eternity.

And when you don’t understand the purpose of His plan,

In the presence of the King,

Bow the knee, bow the knee, bow the knee.

Bow the knee . . . . .

Money Saving Tip #9

Fix and eat more meals at home.

Eating out all the time can be very expensive and unhealthy. If you are worried that you don't have much time to cook or you don't feel like cooking a whole meal, then crock-pot meals are what you want. You just fix them and forget them! If you're stumped or looking for a new recipe to fix, check out the recipes that we post here on our blog. Also, you can check out www.allrecipes.com.

Kids say the funniest things!

Melanie asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied she was so old she didn't remember any more. Said Melanie, "If you don't remember you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six."

Steven hugged and kissed his Mom goodnight. "I love you so much, that when you die I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window."

Brittany had an earache and wanted a painkiller. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a childproof cap and she'd have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: "How does it know it's me?"

Susan was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. "Please don't give me this juice again," she said, "It makes my teeth cough."

Danni stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked: "How much do I cost?"

Tammy was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for a while and then asked, "Why doesn't your skin fit your face?"

Mark was engrossed in a young couple who were hugging and kissing in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad: "Why is he whispering in her mouth?"

Clinton was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, "I don't know what'll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?"

James was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." Concerned, James asked: "What happened to the flea?"

and my favorite kid quote ever . . .

A little boy was attending his first wedding. After the service, his cousin asked him, "How many women can a man marry?" "Sixteen," the boy responded. His cousin was amazed that he knew the answer so quickly. "How do you know that?" "Easy," the little boy said. "All you have to do is add it up, like the Bishop said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer."

Picture of the Week

New fruit on our tangelo tree!

Catalogs, Thanksgiving, and parties!

I will try to post my normal Friday recipe later. I just wanted to share with you what is going on with us.

It's fall again (yay!) so that means our schedule is getting really busy. Jeremy is nearing the end of catalog season. It will officially be over the beginning of December. We are a little over a week away from November and that means the holidays are just around the corner. Right now we're preparing for fall parties and Christmas. The ladies at our church have a fellowship coming up the first weekend in November so Sarah is busy preparing for that. Then Jeremy's mom will be visiting and we will do our Thanksgiving dinner for her. (We are really excited because we will be getting two Thanksgiving meals this year!!) A few days after she leaves, we will be having a party for some of the kids in our Winner's Circle kids club. (Those who earn a certain number of points, get a party.) Then, of course, is Thanksgiving. Hopefully Sarah will be able to try her hand at that apple pie again!! Her parents will be visiting us then. After Thanksgiving, we will be preparing for all of the Christmas festivities. We will have the church Christmas Cantata, another ladies fellowship, and a few other Christmas parties. It's going to be a busy season but it will be very enjoyable. So, you understand if we forget to write a post once in a while. But please keep checking our blog for pictures of all of the activities!

For a little pumpkin trivia, click here.

Money Saving Tip #8

Okay, so you have a savings account but all of that money goes for clothes, food, or buying this years Christmas presents. Why not start a separate savings account for vacations? Just put in about $10 each week. You'll have your money for the every day things that you need and you can make sure that you will have money for that special trip you've always wanted to take.

They're back!!!

Most of you, I'm sure, can remember back to a blog post that I wrote on September 11, 2008 titled Leaping Lizards! Well, I thought for sure that we were out of the woods on that subject since we have a cat that adopted us. Jeremy and I were really grateful for that. But apparently, I am not immune.

I attend a weekly Bible Study on Tuesday mornings or at least try to--when I'm not away on vacation or incredibly sick. So today was like any other Tuesday. I got to my classroom and I was preparing to sit down, when all of a sudden (cue creepy music) I see out of the corner of my eye, a lizard. You've got to be kidding?! Well, I noticed that it was on one of the chairs at the table. So, being the kind hearted person that I am--I did not want someone to sit on it--I tried to get it off. That crazy thing wouldn't budge! Someone walked by and asked if I needed help. So I explained the situation. We decided that we should just push the chair out of the room, down the hall, and outside. Brilliant! So, I proceeded to push the chair, all the while internally freaking out and silently praying that the thing wouldn't jump on me.

Once, again, I remind you, I am NOT afraid of lizards. They only really bother me when they are not where they are supposed to be . . . which is OUTSIDE.

So, I'm pushing the chair on the carpet and I get to a spot where the carpet ends and tile begins. I think to myself, this is not going to work. I am going to scrape this chair along the tile, the lizard will freak out and jump straight at me. So, I notice that there is carpet on the other side of the tile and I decide that I will carry the chair across the tile section to the other carpeted section. I picked up the chair and carried it across with much success. That is, until I set the chair back down. That lizard did not want to be on that chair anymore! He jumped so high, I thought for sure he was coming to attack!! I screamed, several other ladies screamed, and that little lizard took off running through the cafeteria! Oh, no! I have let the monster loose!!! After running zig-zag around the cafeteria flailing my arms about, he finally stopped under a table to catch his breath. I thought, I've got you now! I crept up and he started running again, right into the kitchen and under the prep counter! This is REALLY not good! People cook food in there. What am I going to do?! So, another dear lady decided to help me. She got on one side of the prep counter and I on the other. Neither of us could reach him, so I grabbed a broom from the supply closet. I guess the broom only made him more nervous because he ran under the oven for cover. That little booger must have known we would not be able to reach him there so we had to give up. As far as I know, he is still there. I'm sure he enjoyed a smorgasbord of crumbs for his lunch.

Picture of the Week

The sunset on Friday evening.

Saving money while grocery shopping . . .

Money saving tip #7: Always have a grocery list when you're doing your grocery shopping

Then you won't buy things that you don't need. It also helps to write out a meal plan for each week. That way you know what you're going to make and when you're going to make it. If you write out all of the ingredients you need for that weeks meals, you go through your cupboards and pantry and find the ingredients that you already have and cross them off your list. Those you didn't cross off, go on your grocery list. If you follow these steps, you are sure to save money on your grocery bill.

Picture of the Week

Fall is here! Unless you live in Florida. Nevertheless, this weeks POTW is from Sarah's visit to Indiana. The trees weren't as beautiful as she expected but she was still delighted to see some of the fall colors coming out. This picture also portrays the thought that comes to every one's mind when flying from Florida to Indiana. . . . In Florida, every house has a pool. In Indiana, every house has a barn.

Indiana Trip

We're a little behind on our blog. I was able to go visit family for a week. My cousin, Kyle, got married on October 3rd. I was glad that I was able to join them on their special day and spend time with my family.

Sarah and niece, Hannah.

Kyle & Ashlee's wedding

Happy marriages begin when we marry the one we love, and they blossom when we love the one we married. -Unknown

A trip to the Old Bag Factory.