Great Bible study session last night.  Contentment under any circumstance.  Easy to say but oh so hard to really feel.  Paul tells us to give praise and rejoice always, all the time, even on crummy days.  This ability is one that I kind of feel like  I'm not capable of.  Paul, yeah sure, he could do it, but me?  I know that when there is conflict in my life, it is all consuming.  In the back of my mind I know I'm supposed to be focused on God but the tension and pressure in my chest just keep me far away from rejoicing.  This lack of ability to see above and beyond my problem is depressing.  I like to think that I could do it and that I'd be stronger the next time.  Spiritual growth.  I know that I need to spend more time in the word, it would help me cope in darker times.  When all is well it is so easy to be grateful and praising of Him.  Really, I'm so ridiculous.  God has brought be through every conflict I've been in.  Why wouldn't I ask God to help me right off the bat?  Well, dealing with conflict of any kind in a Godly way is nothing short of a fine art.  Your attitude while dealing with conflict may be even more difficult to keep in check.  My mission: First ask Jesus to help me deal with the conflict in a way that would glorify Him and second, to keep the image of Heaven and God's immense love foremost on my mind the meanwhile.  The good Lord knows that there's plenty of opportunity in my life to put this new resolve into practice.  Contentment.  With so many blessings and promises it's a wonder why a believer would ever be less than ecstatic.   We're not even in a Roman jail!

This is my beautiful rose of Sharon.  It is hard to see the red throat in this picture but it has a deep red inside and a fluffy, long white stamen.  In bloom right now!  And that is Socks.  She is extremely good natured and hasn't scratched or bitten a hair-grabbing, tail-pulling, eye poking child as of yet.

Two wonderful things have happened lately (post burn day).  One, I truly believe was a miracle. 
 I've been waking up with a lot of back pain lately and it has been putting a damper on things in general for me.  For a few days now I've been trying to put God in my mind as soon as I can make the decision to do so after waking in the morning.  I have not had that back pain since I've been doing this!
 The other really awesome thing involves my husband.  He was hunting the other day (Monday night, I think) and as soon as he arrived to the property where he hunts, his truck battery died.  He was alone way up on the hill where he usually doesn't see anyone else.  And his cell phone didn't have any minutes on it.  It sounds pretty bad but it was actually even stickier because he'd seen bears up where he hunts.  My husband is very cool and levelheaded about what to do in situations like these.  Even so, he was up a creek w/ out a paddle, pretty much.  So up drives a man in a truck, who happened to have jumper cables.  Yeah!  The man told Felipe his name but names don't adhere well to my guy.  Felipe made it back down the hill (his major thought was that he didn't even get to hunt, jeez) and of course the battery died as soon as he got to my parents house.  Thank you God for Angels with jumper cables!     

 My poor, sweet Gianina Rosa has an enormous 2nd degree burn on her upper left arm.  She went to the doctor yesterday and he said it looked super.  I know he meant that it looked like it was healing "super" but that is definitely not the word to descibe how it looks.  Poor baby!  Doc said it probably won't scar permanently but it will take a year before the scar goes away.  How did this come about?  Little one was playing out on the deck while Papa was bar-b-queing chicken.  Papa came in (10 feet away) to get a plate and within seconds she was screaming.  Talk about chaos - what to do? What to do?!  My husband said not to put it under water, no ice, my mother-in-law said to slather it in mashed up beans, I could only gather enough wits about me to slather the wound in neosporin.  I still think we should have run it under cool water.  The burn is about three inches long and about one inch wide.  The skin turned black, like charred chicken skin.  Horrible.  She dealt with it REALLY well and slept soundly despite it all.  The next day the black skin peeled right off to reveal nauseatingly white skin - which I also slathered w/ neosporin (while she squirmed).  Gianina kept saying, "my owie no hurt no more".  So brave.  She needed new princess slippers and Marie (white kitten from Disney's Aristocats movie) pajamas to make her ( mostly me) feel like she'd been rewarded for being such a trooper.  The new rule at our home is that no kids are allowed on the deck while the bar-b-que is in use.  I know, this should have been a rule already but I guess I was too relaxed since none of my other three children had ever been burnt by it.  Lesson learned at the expense of my precious little girl.  Soooo sad.  No picture, I don't want to remember how it looked. 

I love color!  This flowering maple is climbing up the side of my house.  It looks so pretty even if my husband doesn't like things against the house (yes, I understand why).

It seems like I do dishes from the time I get out of bed to the time I go to sleep.  I certainly had a black cloud over my head this morning.  "I'm so tired, my back still hurts, blah blah blah."  When I remembered something our pastor said on Sunday.  He said that until he focuses on God in the morning, everything is about himself.  That was me!  I hadn't said a prayer this morning or even thought of God, just myself.  So I refocused and counted my blessings.  Thank you God for being so much bigger than me and all of my little ( or big) selfish moments.  Like medicine, my mood lifted and I remembered that I'm working for God.  This life is so short, enjoy the blessings and keep focused on Him.  Time to start the week.

  Well, we all had the stomach flu this week.  Except, of course, for my husband who only ever gets a "touch" of something.  I'm so glad, too, because that way he can help the rest of us!  Being sick makes me grateful for many things.  Washing machines and dishwashers to name a couple.  And of course, for feeling better!
  I kicked the bug just in time to be able to make a birthday cake for two little girls that I babysit.  Orange chiffon w/ fairy flowers (nasturtium)  on top.  So much fun to make and more to eat!