Thursday, January 19, 2006

Say It Like You Mean It

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
Yes, it's been a while since I last posted. We've been super busy since the beginning of the new year and I can't seem to get my feet under me.
I've been thinking lately about the power of our words. More specifically, how what we say, or think, affects us. I'm not a real fan of Norman Peale and his "Power of Positive Thinking," but I do believe that we can edify or doom ourselves by the thoughts we entertain.
Sometimes, this battle of the mind is fierce--fearful or angry thoughts seem to bombard us. We grit our teeth and proclaim, "NO! That's NOT true!!!" I call this "taking every thought captive" so we can pull it down beside The Truth and compare the two. We *know* which one is True. God's word--His instructions for us in every situation.
I'll admit, this is something I've had to deal with lately. We have a couple situations coming up that I could get very fearful about, if I were to allow myself that luxury. That's the "flesh," our human tendency, and letting it take over *is* indulging the flesh. God says He didn't give us that spirit of fear. So, if it's not from Him, where did it come from? Hint: it smells like smoke. ;-)
Personally, I'm just fed up with making decisions based on fear. Our family motto is "'Rams' fear no man, 'Rams' fear only God." Now, do I *feel* that way? All the time?? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (ahem) Uh, no. But, I have a responsibility to, when I'm starting to allow fear, or any other negative, untrue emotion to take over my mind, to force it to leave and to speak God's truth into the situation.
You know, if we speak something long and fervently enough, we'll begin to believe it. What do you want to believe? You're not good enough? You're not safe? God isn't going to take care of you? That person *meant* to offend you? Or do you want to believe Truth? God loves you so much He sent His son to die for you! God is *with you*! Helping you!! He is able to supply all our needs!! Through Christ, we can believe the best of others!!
Wow. I'm feeling better. :-) Guess I'll go carpe diem for God's glory!!!
Hey, y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe

Confuse-Us say: "When life hands you lemons, avoid all paper." :-)

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Hokie Pokie Wedding

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s,
God's peace to you! I hope you're being blessed here in 2006, regardless of the circumstances around you. :-)
I want to tell you about a wedding we attended Saturday. It was the wedding of our midwife's daughter. She also attended our birth, so I guess you could consider her one of our midwives, as well...Anyway, this precious lady has waited a long time for God to bring her husband to her, and we have prayed for years He would orchestrate their marriage. So, a few months back, I was delighted to hear from our midwife that her sweet daughter was about to be married.
The wedding was this past Saturday. I appreciated that on the invitation, all our children were mentioned as well. That's always a question when we're invited to a wedding. The children were so excited to be invited, LOL!
When we arrived at the church, we were blessed to see the vast array people there. There were several Amish families, and several um,...er...pierced/tattooed type families. :-) Of course, too, there were many, many families who fell somewhere between. Also, there were many, many babies and pregnant ladies. What else would you expect at a midwife's wedding? LOL!
The theme was "Dreams do come true..." and the decorations were castles, etc. Rather "Cinderella-ish." Truly, that day *was* a dream come true for this dear lady.
The ceremony was rather short--maybe 30 minutes, but the reception was a real party! Loads of food, lots of music, speeches, etc. And it was all "family friendly." The highlight of the reception, for me, was the Hokie Pokie dance. T.T. and I danced that together--what a hoot! Our girls were amazed. LOL
The night wore on until The Ram reminded us that we had church the next day, and we might ought to be going. So, after a few more minutes we loaded up and came home.
If you're the praying type, please ask The Lord to bless the union of J and J.
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

Quote of the Day: "This syrup is supposed to be LIGHT!!!" unnamed Lamb

Friday, January 06, 2006

State Capitol

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s!
Thought I'd tell you about our little day trip yesterday...
The Ram needed to go by the state Headquarters for National Guard, which happens to be in our state's capitol city. I had been to the capitol while I was in college, but that was many years ago. Even then, we didn't actually go into the building, LOL.
So, we unloaded our brood beside the dome-topped capitol and went inside. We oohed the marble and ahhed the statuary. Then climbed steps and visited the galleries of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. We sat in the chambers of the Supreme Court. Once, I had to explain to a Lamb that, "No, President Bush doesn't work here." LOL We had a short discussion about state vs. federal governments.
We also enjoyed looking at the doll display. It was the "First Ladies" of our state. I was interested in what they would do about the lady governor we had some years back. Would there be a "First Man" doll? LOL No, they just did a doll in the likeness of that governor.
Anyway, we're back now. Looking forward to a quiet day at home. No mahogany, no marble...just hardwood, linoleum and peanut butter. :-)
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe

Quote of the Day: Our family was enjoying a visit w/ the GrandRams and it had gotten terribly late. T.T. was *not* wanting to settle in for bed. The Ram quipped to him, "Are you not wanting to go to bed? You're just wanting to stay up and read books?" (T.T. was looking at a book.) T.T. replied, "I dooo read books!" LOL

Monday, January 02, 2006

A Fire's a Fire...

...a grill's a grill...

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s!
I'm still forgetting that our year is now 2006. It usually takes me a while each year to adjust to the new date.
Anyway, we had temperatures in the mid-60's today. I've long said that 60's in January can come to no good. Indeed, there were storms today, but it never got very bad here. Storms seem to skirt our li'l' patch of the county. We are quite thankful. When it gets so warm during the winter, I always think of the tornado that we were in back in 2002. It was during January on a day the temperatures were unseasonably warm. The Lord protected us then and now, and we are thankful.
Today, the storms came through right after I'd put a pan of chicken breasts in the oven to cook for "lupper." (lunch/supper ;-) The thought occurred to me, "I hope the power doesn't go out..." Well, about 10 minutes after I put the meat in the oven...the power went out. LOL Once the rain was over and the sun was back shining, we "made lemonade" and pulled the chicken out of the dead oven and The Ram fired up the grill. So, we had a cookout. LOL Of course the rice I had put on the stove had to wait to cook until the power came back on a couple hours later.
All in all, a nice day. Not often you get to have a picnic in January. :-)
Y'all keep your wool dry,
The Ewe


Quote of the Day: (Overheard while watching a movie set in Asia when the character was eating raw fish)

T.T.: "That's shooey!!" (icky)
Ewe: "No, T.T., that's *sushi!*"

:-)

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Blessed New Year!

Hello, F.O.T.E.'s!
Well, we welcomed in the New Year last night, in traditional RamFamily order--asleep. LOL We had spent the day going to the park, visiting an "old favorite" restaurant ("Ole!") and generally just enjoying being a family. Somehow, that wiped us out and we were off to bed pretty early. Anyway, I believe the last time we actually made it to midnight was about 9 years ago. Anyway, hope your year is a new "Best" for your family. :-)
I did want to point out that we need to seriously be enjoying those party eye glasses that spell out "2006." Remember the others, 2000 on up to 2005? It struck me last night that we only have 3 more years left to amass those glasses. Once 2010 hits, the era of kitschy new year's glasses is over for another 100 years. ;-)
So, you might want to prowl the clearance sales and pick up a pair or two. They could be collectors' items one day, LOL.
Well, y'all keep your wool dry!
The Ewe