Breath Holding Moments

By now, I'm sure you've watched or heard about Aly Raisman's parents reactions during her Olympic gymnastics performance on the uneven bars. In case you missed it, watch and enjoy.

(I just discovered this video is no longer available. The International Olympic Committee has blocked the video on youtube due to copyrights. I guess this video may be some sort of breech of security, huh?! ;-P Sorry if you didn't get to see it. The parents are so into their child's performance they do not even know they are holding their breath and moving like they are on a roller coaster ride without being seat belted in!)



Yes, it is quite humorous. Yet, it got me thinking.

How many times have we, as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, held our breath while our child has performed? We squirm, inwardly groan or nervously tap our foot. We want our child to succeed in life in general.

Is it the same way with God? Is He holding his 'breath' as we go out into the world? Does He cheer when we accomplish something we only dreamed of doing?

And, dare I say, I bet He is shoutin' so loud He scares a few angels?! :)

God is our greatest and best cheerleader. Smiling down on each one of us. Throwing us a good measure of grace when needed. Picking us up when we fall. And, perhaps even crying all the while He is wiping our tears.

Smile and let your heart be filled with joy. God is smiling down on you!

The Bride Wore Blue Review

The Bride Wore Blue by Mona Hodgson is the third of four books in The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek series. (4th book due out in October)

The baby of the family, Vivian, makes her way from Maine to Cripple Creek to join her sisters. Adventures happen one after the other starting with a train robbery. Enter the sheriff, Carter. Carter clearly is smitten with Vivian but something in Vivian's past effects every relationship including her relationship with God.

It is a story of feeling unforgivable and how that not only affects Vivian, but, those around her. It is about forgiving herself as well as letting others forgive and love her.

The story is very predictable. I found myself guessing what was going to happen and it did. There weren't any surprises along the way for me. Just my humble opinion. However, it is a good, easy read and is well written.

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing for review purposes. I am not required to give a positive review, only an honest review.

Those Pesky Silks

It is that time of year when fresh sweet corn is just a slurp away. Well, normally. We've been hit hard by the drought that seems to be going around like the common cold.

A relative bought some at the grocery store since he can never pass up a good deal. If you cannot read between the lines, he overbought. So, we became recipients of eight ears of sweet corn two days before we were to leave on vacation. Great timing. Did you note the sarcasm in that last sentence? I didn't want to mess with corn even if it was for a meal in the midst of packing. My self-diagnoised, unmedicated ADD is funny that way.

I remembered seeing someone's pin on Pinterest on how to cook corn on the cob in the microwave. With the husk on. And, the silk still intact. Skreeech...back the truck up! I know, right?! This might be the answer to my laziness small dilema. I hate those pesky little silk strings. And, I've come to the conclusion the feeling is mutual.

After googling it since the person who originally pinned it didn't link to the post, but, only the blog site which is really quite annoying to me, I found a recipe. Sorry, no pictures since I was already lazy overwhelmed. But, it worked. Shockingly good when then corn isn't tough from being too old. I think we had maybe 2 ears that were tiny and tender...yum. Hmmm, sweet corn on sale and most of the corn is old...hmmmm.

The recipe I used was a combination of two recipes I read. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Fresh Corn on the Cob
(the microwave edition)
source: Cooks.com

Corn on the cob still in the husk and silk intact

Run each ear under water just to get the dirt/dust off the outside husks.

Place three to four ears (depends on size of microwave and your ears...the corn's ears, not yours...ewww...that would just be wrong in so many ways) on dampened paper towel(s). Turn ears (again, the corn's) over after 1/2 the cooking time.

1 ear: 1 1/2 min
2 ears: 3-4 min
3 ears: 5-6 min
4 ears: 7-8 min
(if you can fit more than four in your microwave, you're on your own with a cooking time!)

Using a hot pad/mitt, remove from microwave after the annoying beeping sound chimes. Either wrap the cooked ears in foil or put them in a pan and cover (that is what I did). Let stand for 5-ish (or less) min. With a knife, cut the a tiny portion of the bottom of the cob off. (makes husk removal so easy!)Remove husks and silk (it will slide off...seriously!) and serve with butter, salt and pepper.

Try it. Let me know if you like this method or the "watch-pot" boiling method.

Knockin on Heaven's Door

I've been talking to (praying) God with a ton of requests lately.

[Updates in green]
A little five year old boy fell and hit his head on concrete. After 2 surgeries, he is now in an induced coma. Yesterday was his worse day. It wasn't looking good and his mom requested prayer....now! He is making a miraculous recovery! Parents, family and friends are shouting thanksgiving praises to our Mighty God. He has a long road of recovery a head of him but things are looking good!

A co-worker's father just entered Heaven yesterday morning after a battle with lung cancer, his family by his side for almost two weeks. Keep praying for her as I know how hard it is to look a parent. Also pray for unity as the family makes decisions.

A young woman who is still struggling with her health after either ten or eleven surgeries in roughly six years. The surgery in January has really taken its toll it seems. Still struggling to feel better. Praise be to God she is feeling better. She even came to church a couple weeks ago. She hasn't been these since this all started back in January!! God is just awesome! Keep praying for pain. She is in constant pain and digestive issues are still huge. The family will travel to NY soon for pain managment for her back.

A team from our youth group at church has been in Africa. They should arrive safely at home tonight. The highschoolers and sponsors have been in some tough conditions which have stretched them in every sense of the word. They arrived home safely and had lots to say about God and His working through the African people. It is great to see young people on fire after such a trip. Pray for that fire not to be extinguished as they go to school and college.

This isn't even the entire 'list'. It seems to grow with more and more situations.

Do you ever get weary? Do you ever wonder if God is listening? I do at times. But, then I mentally slap myself up-side-the-head and come back to reality! God listens. Yes, He does!

Isaiah 40:28-31:

²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

God is always there. Always listening. Always walking with us. Always ready to carry.

Care to join me in prayer for those listed above?

The Moment When...

The moment when you're in the middle of a drought and you hear rain pounding on the church roof during a sermon and the congregation roars with applause. (I think our pastor was slightly jealous as we've never burst forth in applause for his sermons! ☺)

Thank you, Lord, for rain.

(Is the drought over? No, but every little bit helps! Thank you, Jesus!)

The Adventures of a Misty Monday Morning

We have way too many cats. Want some? It is a community of cats made up from at least two different neighbors. And, we haven't even talked about how many litters of kittens were born this spring.....sigh. 

Now that you have some background on our cat population, I have a true story to tell.

We have a pool. Not a 'real' pool that costs a ton of money. One of those blue sided pools. Not the kind with the blow up ring on the top (although we did start out with one of those) but one with the poles holding it up. Yup, we are livin' the life. When we had the cover on the pool this winter, some of the cats would leap up on the cover and sun themselves. Drove me nuts! I kept picturing pin holes in the cover from their claws because I knew how much the cover cost me! Put try as I might, like pounding on the window in the house or telling one or more of the kids to go get them off the cover, I could not win this fight. [I think it was more like a fight with myself.]

We have two different locations in the backyard where the cats and the dog can drink water. But we have at least one cat who thinks it has to go to the pool and get a drink. I was walking past a window and saw this cat eyeing our pool. I, of course, did the only logical thing and pounded on the window. The cat just looked at me. Then, as if it were thumbing his/her nose at me, proceeded to climb up the ladder, go down a step [paws in the water] and drink the water all the while swallows are swooping and screeching mere inches away. The cat's tail would flick every now and then as to say, "Away from me you dirty bird."

Oh, but that isn’t the best part. The cat then decided to do a ‘high wire act’ along the side of the pool stopping to amuse itself by the filter. I’m watching the thing thinking, one of these times the birds will startle it enough to have it fall in the pool. I’m wondering how long it would take for a cat to drown and wonder if I should wait that long to scoop it out or wait until two of the kids get home from volunteering at Bible School and have them scoop it out. Can you tell cats and birds are not my favorite things? Anyway…..The cat starts to move again, this time with something in its mouth. Something white and big for it…MY POOL SKIMMER SOCK!!!! The dumb cat stole the ‘sock’ out of the skimmer!!!!! I proceed to pound on the window since it obviously helped the last time. It just kept prancing off toward the field like it was carrying a mouse instead of the sock. What in the world?! We have a psycho cat!!!


What to do, what to do. The cat was headed for the field...with a skimmer sock. So I did what any good mother who is deathly afraid of birds would do; I yelled for our oldest to get downstairs. She came down and I told her to go get the sock away from that freak of a cat!!! She did as any dutiful daughter who isn't afraid of birds did. She went outside and walked toward the cat while her hands were covering her hair. She wasn’t worried about the birds swooping. She was worried about her hair….it was misting. It was a sight to behold. I'd like to embellish the story here and say she 'wrestled the sock away from the cat' but it basically dropped the sock when she got close to the cat. Wrestling it away would have been so much more romantic, you thing?! ☺


Did I put the 'sock' back on? Nope. Did I even go out to the pool to 'check' things? Nope. I did actually open the back door when I thought I was brave. Two birds swooped and I promptly did what a mature forty-something woman would do. I slammed the door shut and decided tomorrow would be a good day to check the pool. I really am afraid of birds. I like their songs....but from a safe distance.

So, we have psycho cats and swooping birds. How was your day?!

Wildflowers from Winter

Bethany Quinn is a young, driven architect who specializes in remodels. Haunting childhood memories surround her when tragedies strike and she heads home. A home she escaped as soon as she turned eighteen. A home she never wanted to return to. Guilt over leaving her best friend, Robin, in the town she hates. Hatred for a pastor who did more harm than good.

Evan Price has been living with her grandfather and taking care of the farm for five years. Bethany and Evan do not agree on many issues. The farm being one. God being the other.

The “universe” keeps throwing the two together. Will one of them finally let go and realize it is God rather than the ‘universe”? Will Bethany and Robin find their way back to the friendship left for dead ten years ago? Will Evan and Bethany finally agree on something?

Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert [her debut novel!] is a lovely read. Author Katie Ganshert weaves the story to make the reader feel the story. Not 'see' but 'feel' the story. There were times tears flooded my eyes. Times I could relate to Bethany’s questions of life.

Although I’m not found of the title, [minor details!] I am fond of the storyline and this new author. Should you run out and get this book? You bet! I can’t wait until Spring of 2013 when her next book, Wishing on Willows, is released.

I received this book free from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing through their Blogging for Books program. I am not required to write a favorable review, only an honest review.