From 21 Days

I have not sat down to blog since the end of April. I knew that I was not going to be home much for the first part of May, so I took the time to schedule the posts that have appeared so far this month.

Even though I am home again, I haven't updated because my laptop is in "blackout"...

Time to play catch-up I guess!

*We spent a long weekend with friends being tourists and celebrating a birthday, complete with a surprise party.

*Came home for celebration dinner with friends here and to get ready for another short trip.

Every trip needs fresh baked cookies

I came home with some new nail polishes...I realized they're basically just different shades.

An attempted sewing project. It's delayed until the machine works again.

The first step to getting organized involves new calendars for the month.

*Short trip to help some friends get settled in their new home turned into a week away.


*Home again. More baseball games and a new recipe on Mother's Day.

 Sticky Date Toffee Cake, good stuff!

Caramel Macchiato  after a day of filling in at the coffee shop I used to work in.

Yes, this happened. I went into the garage to find the DOG watching the CAT eat the dog's food.

*Enjoying a few days that reminded me of my life a few years ago. I got a couple of calls from people I used to work for who needed help.

Here we have the Momma cat doing something right...Keeping an eye on her kittens who made their first trip outside a couple of weeks ago.

Now, all of this probably looks like fun and full of life and joy. It is, but there are other things going on too. Sin and death and struggle and strife have been a very real presence over the last few weeks. 

No one has actually died, but everyone that I have been spending time with has been facing the realities of life in this broken world. Somedays with God are good and sweet and somedays His presence just seems to be missing. On those days when the bad outweighs the good, sin, death, struggle, and strife become overwhelming. I have seen that where sin has been left unchecked it has grown.

Pray for them and for me. For hope. For Jesus to be real. For sin to be hated, God to be loved, and people to be CHANGED. For people to be cherished in a way that is most loving. That is, a way that points them to Christ, that by God's grace we ALL would become more like Him. 

We have had some good times. Still the background is full of these issues that we are all continually reminded of and going back to. 

Our problems are real but God is bigger! 

"And I am SURE of this, that He who began a good work in you

 WILL bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:6