Let's Catch Up

Hello! I hope that everyone is enjoying Spring. The weather is warming up and the outside is calling my name. I can hardly wait to start working in the garden and planting flowers. Still a little early here since our frost day is mid May.

Things have been hopping around here. I hosted a bridal shower for my niece, Alison. It was wonderful! Once I get all of the pictures sorted out I will share.

Megan ended up spending a couple of days home from school. She was having sinus issues and ended up with terrible headaches. Thankfully the worse of it was only a couple of days. She spend most of her time resting on the couch with an ice pack and cool wash cloth. We made the most of our time when her headache was mild. She was quite spoiled by her afternoon tea and toast!

 I can't begin to tell you how many episodes we watched of this.

In the mist of the crazy we have made a really hard decision. We are leaving our church. :(

 It has been a long time coming. We tried some other churches a couple of years ago, but didn't leave. Our church was in a transition period then with the pastor leaving and we had hope for change. We stuck it out and the new pastor has been there for a year now. There have been changes, but not in the way we had hoped. We have watched family after family leave. We have watched the budget shortfall continue to grow. We have watched some of the leaders of the church lead, do and say things that we don't think are Christ like.

Church should be a place of unity, love and refuge. Of course, you will feel convicted and squirm a little in your seat from time to time. We haven't been leaving feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the week ahead. Instead we leave discouraged by the things happening around us and quite frankly it has been a struggle for me to get up and go.

We have a commitment to teach Sunday School through the first Sunday of June. We have already asked not to be put on the new teaching schedule and will let the appropriate people know we are leaving that last Sunday. (I know that might seem rude, but if you knew the circumstances of what was said when a family recently left you would understand why we are not giving proper notice until we are ready to walk out the door.)

I am not sure if peace is the correct word to use when describing how we feel about leaving. We did not make this decision lightly. We feel that we did all that we could according to Matthew 18:15-16. We had a meeting with our pastor to express our concerns and to get a clear understanding of were the church is headed. We also spoke a couple of elders. We are sad and heartbroken that it has come to this, but we know it is the right thing for us.

We have no idea where we are going once we leave this church. We are praying for direction as we search for a new church home.

My guy has been working tons.

 He is on mandatory overtime through the first week of May. He has been logging many hours. This week he clocked out with 70 hours!

In the middle of long work hours and hard decisions life has happened. There is a new baby on our street and a meal was delivered.

Thursday night we attended Megan's spring choir concert and Friday we volunteered at the school carnival.

Only 4 1/2 weeks of school left! They will be full weeks as there is a science fair, camp to attend, testing week and field day. Not that I want to wish my life away, but I am ready for summer break. 

I have been grabbing slow anywhere I can. Megan has been bringing me fists full of love.

Before we retire each evening Chuck and I have been sitting on the back porch. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we pray and other times we hold hands and soak in the joy of the ending day. Some seasons of life are hard, some seasons of life are busy, but through it all life is good!

May your day be filled with joy and contentment!

Break Time!

If you haven't already guessed I am going to step away.

Probably just for the week. I am hosting a bridal shower for my niece on Saturday. I need to wrap things up for that, attend to finishing up a project or two, along with the normal daily grind. Being on the computer too often can certainly eat up time that could be spent elsewhere. 

Until I return... 

May your days be filled with joy and contentment!

Joy in the Ordinary

Look around, really look around and you will find joy... joy in the everyday... joy in the ordinary things.

I love spring for so many reasons. Everything is fresh, green and new. Now if it would only warm up a little bit so I could get out and enjoy it!

Mom gave us several containers of leftovers. Enough variety that I didn't have to cook one evening. Free and easy... I like it!

 
 What is a girl to do when she doesn't have a little house to play with? Well, create your own with popsicle sticks!

 Spending the morning doing dinner prep makes dinner time run smooth.

 We made a bunch of cookies. A double batch actually.

 Some to eat, plenty to share and some to put into the freezer for another time.

 Science fair experiment in progress.

 A selfie I found from my silly girl!

 May your day be filled with joy and contentment!

Working Weekend

Chuck was off on Friday and we spent a lot of time working this weekend. We were beat last night. So much so that the entire house was in bed by 9!

 I knew that this was coming so on Thursday I made sure all of the laundry was done. I had a few things hanging around that had stains so I tackled those while I was at it.

There is end in sight for our never ending garage project. Friday the painting was completed. I put two coats on the walls myself. Whew! I am not as young and energetic as I use to be! Thankfully it is done. 

Saturday Chuck had his dad come over and they put the garage door opener back up and then we put the cabinets back up in the laundry area. It took all three of us to get them up.

What do you think of the blue? It is not a color that I would normally pick. I love it in this space.  

When we returned from church yesterday I put things back into the cabinets. If time permits Chuck will help to put the doors on this week. Then the laundry will take a back seat as shelving is added the garage and things are sorted and put back into their place. I hope that doesn't take long as I am itching to get the laundry put back together and prettied up.  Once that happens I will be back with pictures. 

Now it is time for me to get moving. Megan is returning to school after a two week break. After I drop her off I am off the the grocery store and then I have tons of things that need done. Working in the garage means the inside of my home has been negelected! I am also going to try to pick up sticks so the grass can be cut. The temperatures might not say spring, but grass cutting and a long project list does!

May your day be filled with joy and contentment!