Sabbath Keeping

~ Kit Carson ~

"Above all else,

 guard your heart

 for out of it are the issues of life."

~ Proverbs 4:23 ~ 

"Follow your heart, never surrender your dreams. Always believe in yourself and let God do the rest."
~ Simphiwe Ntuli ~

"I could take time to compliment you on your beauty and physical features, but I want to get to know your heart and soul." ~ Raghib Clitso ~

"It's okay to follow your heart but take your brain with you."
~ Nicole Hill ~

"It's never the right time for the wrong people in your life."
~ Sandra Bennett ~

"Women, consider guarding your heart until you find a man who is willing to protect it for you." ~ unknown ~

"It is not your experience, knowledge, or skills. Your heart is your most important leadership tool." ~ Michael Hyatt ~

"The problem with letting people tear your walls down, is that you never who wants to take down those walls just for the fun of it. For amusement purposes. Just to say that he knew that he could. At the end of the day...the things you build should stay built. And you are no scapegoat for the sins of other people, in anyone's life. How dare anyone take down your walls not in order to see you; but only in order to feed their ego. In order to make you pay for the sins not done by your own hands." ~ C. JoyBell C. ~

"Some people need to be loved from a distance." 

~ Sandra Bennett ~

"While God does want us to be open with others, he also encourages us to put boundaries in place as we do. He talks repeatedly about guarding our hearts. So what's the difference? Hiding is a response out of fear, while guarding is a proactive choice to protect what matters most. In other words, we're not to deliberately put something of worth where it won't be valued." ~ Holley Gerth ~

"Keep guard over your eyes and ears as the inlets of your heart, and over your lips as the outlets, lest lest they betray you in a moment of unwariness." ~ Anne Bronte ~

"Be careful who you open up to

Only a few people actually care

The rest are just curious."

~ unknown ~ 

"A lion never loses sleep

over the opinions of sheep."

~ unknown ~

"Be angry and yet do not sin. 

Do not let the sun go down on your anger."

~ Ephesians 4:26 ~ 

Prayer Keeping ~ Jim ~ Sandra ~ bus drivers ~ students ~ teachers ~ 

"What Are You Busy About"

“It is not enough that you are busy.

The question is, What are you busy about?”

~ Henry DavidThoreau ~

Lately, I’ve been on a Downton Abbey kick due to buying the first four seasons for a pittance on Boxing Day. As an aside, do you think of “small things” like paying little for such pleasure as blessings? I certainly do for in the evenings, when I’m holding down the sofa after a day of, seemingly, endless activity, to escape into a beautiful world that was and, probably, will never be again, a pleasurable blessing. 

During the night, should the dogs or I need to get up, that’s a time of prayer for folks on the prayer list, family, friends, my country, me and the list is endless. One recent night, I got up in the wee dark hours and found myself praying for Cora and Robert Crawley, Tom and his baby and his status as a new widower...then, caught up short, I thought, “Wake UP you crazy woman! These are characters in a television drama, stop wasting prayer on them!” Thus the power of JulianFellowes and his wonderfully crafted script, Downton Abbey and another favorite Gosford Park.

~ borrowed photo ~

When I asked a friend if she watched Downton Abbey she retorted, “I tried watching it but it’s nothing but a soap opera and I’m not wasting my time!” But, isn’t most of television, outside of game shows, soap operas? They may not sell soap but they have a cast of characters whose story goes on and on and on, week after week after week. I think it comes down to choose your crazy...I mean soap opera aside, Downton Abbey has captured me, heart and mind, if I admit to praying for them during the night when I’m half awake/asleep...crazy woman!

During the daylight hours, I am busy about a lot but find I’m too scattered and disjointed to be always effective.  I’ve always been a great list maker, much to Dave and my MIL’s amusement, but if I don’t have lists, I get less done. Time management studies say “focus, focus, focus” and my question is, “How does one focus where there’s SO much to be done?” I’ve pared down, especially since Dave’s death, and no longer do volunteer work off the farm. Instead, I knit orange hats and scarves to give to shelters as well as orange hats to give to neighboring hunters but say ‘no’ to everything else. (And, I say ‘no’ with absolutely no guilt whatsoever!)

I’m thinking of assigning different days of the week to different tasks but that’s not a great solution. Farm work has to be done on sunny days while house work can be done any day and I keep Sabbath on Sundays except when there's a "have to' situation.

Some say writing down the __ (fill in the number) most important things you must do today and focus on those things and that’s where I get off track. When you’re flying solo, everything is important and there’s no sharing of tasks so I choose the 5 most important areas and chip away at those making sure to leave some porch sitting time because personal renewal is always important. Along with porch sitting time, Bible devotions are done in early morning but neither porch sitting nor devotions are on the list.

This morning, walking to the barn, I spent thirty minutes taking photos of an eagle; there's always time to squeeze in the important! 

And more time taking photos of Kit Carson:

So, to answer Thoreau’s question, what am I busy about? 

I am busy about the task of life and am blessed to be able to have this as my business. So many people are on the “career treadmill” and some are caught up in a daily grind that chips away at personal satisfaction and even life itself. When I see bloggers who are making a living blogging, I raise my cuppa in salute! It’s wonderful when people are able to schedule their lives in a manner that enhances their life, the lives of their families and making money to pay bills is an added plus. Well done!

How do you handle “time management”? Are you a list maker? How do you handle the many hats you wear? Do you find you get a lot done or a little done about a lot? 

What are you busy about?

Blessings ~ fresh air ~ eagles ~ Kit Carson ~ time ~ Kensington Station, such memories! ~ Downton Abbey and Gosford Park ~

Memory Lane, Wedding and Winner, Winner, Lobster Dinner

In a couple of trips down memory lane (because I just realized I've never downloaded the photos), here's a photo of Kit Carson, nursing Sam P. Spade, Secret Agent Angel. Sam is a sweet boy; he knew the kitten was too young to be abandoned so Sam allowed Kit to nurse for the emotional benefit. I still had to feed Kit kitten milk and chow until he was old enough to eat 'big boy' food.

Beloved Sistah, Stephanie, pins a corsage on Mom at her 80th birthday celebration, October last year.

Here, Steph pins JW, her son who was married Saturday.

~ Steph and Mom ~

~ Jerry (JW's Dad), my Daddy, JW ~

~ Jerry, Stephanie, Daddy, JW ~

~ Steph, Mom, Dustin, Stephanie's youngest son ~

Nothing like being late to your own party, is there? My reason (because, let's face it, excuses are a dime a dozen and over priced at that!) is...this past weekend my nephew was married on my 62nd (yeah, I really am that old!) birthday and the wedding was fabulous! He married Katie, a beautiful young woman, a nurse by profession, and just as lovely on the inside as out.

~ Katie ~

~ Mr. and Mrs. Williams ~

~ first dance ~

It was a lovely wedding and there are a lot more photos but not tonight. Now, it's time for the Pacsafe winner and then aspirin and bed for me.

Last Monday, at 5:00, using random I pulled the names of three people who left me no way to get in touch with them so they didn't win the Pacsafe travel bag. Finally, Judy's name was chosen and she's been sent an e-mail and has 24 hours to respond. If she hasn't responded by 5:00 Tuesday evening, another name will be chosen. Whew! I never realized it was so difficult to give something away -grin-.

(My apologies for the varying font sizes...exhaustion forbids me to figure out what I've done wrong.)

Blessings ~ family ~ weddings ~ JW and Katie ~ wonderful memories ~