THE BUTTERFLY

One day a small opening appeared on a cocoon, a man sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force it's body through that little opening. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further so the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened... In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of it's life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the opening, were God's way of forcing the fluid from the body of the butterfly into it's wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved it's freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could have been. We could never fly.

I asked for strength... And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom... And God gave me problems to solve.
I asked for Prosperity... And God gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage... And God gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love... And God gave me Troubled people to help.
I asked for Favors... And God gave me opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted...Only everything I needed.

♥♥ A TIME FOR MEMORIES ♥♥

On December 8th We Had Our Church's Annual Christmas Dinner. It Was Wonderful Sharing Quality Time Together. Our Own "Creator's Critters" Delivered Beautiful Messages. So Many Delicious Foods, So Much To Choose From! We Set Up 10 Tables And Barely Had Enough Room. But No One Seemed To Mind. The Room Was Definitely Filled With The Christmas Spirit! We Shared Laughter, Food, Fellowship and Made Many
Beautiful Memories!

Enjoy My Slide Show And Please Remember, Keep Jesus In Your Heart And Never Take CHRIST Out Of Christmas... After All It's Because Of Him We Celebrate HIS Special Day!

Merry Christmas Everyone
I Thank God For Giving Me, You!

ANOTHER FUN DAY

Here Is A Slide Show Of Our
Stepping Stones To A Brighter Future
Kid's Fun Day!

Berkeley Springs Annual Apple Butter

We had our annual Apple Butter Festival
Columbus Day weekend and this slide show is of
the parade which kick's off our Festival at 9:00 AM

THIS IS A BIG THING FOR ME!

This desk has been in my honey's family for longer than I have been! I met my honey in 1986. I remember visiting his parents for the first time. When I saw this desk, I couldn't believe how LARGE it was. I instantly fell in love with it. His dad owned a business and this was his desk. Back then, little did I know it would be mine someday! His dad passed away in 2005 and it instantly became ours! We took over his business and the desk came with it! Every time I would sit at the desk, I would be reminded of that first day. When Peggy and Scott moved into their home, one of the things she wanted was the desk. I can understand it was her grandad's desk and she would have liked to have it and they certainly had the room for it, but I kinda got upset that they wanted to take it away from me. I've really grown attached to it. I wasn't ready to part with it then.




Even today I really n truly love it . . . but . . . I'm afraid in the past 2-3 years the business is definitely not doing as well as it did once upon a time. We became the "old Folk". My honey retired recently and things are not the same. So I ask myself daily why do we need so much stuff?! It's taking it's toll on my emotions here. This is a big thing for me that I'm doing! I really can't believe it's happening but it's definitely for the best. It's just the two of us and we live in a double wide mobile home. It's really too large for this place as you can see.
So it really has to go!!! :(





Lynn and Christopher decided they were ready to get a place of their own so it gave me the incentive to "downsize" our life's possessions which does include this desk. I asked Peggy if she wanted it now and she said she now has a desk of her own and don't need it. Lynn and Christopher moved out and I'm still giving her stuff that I don't want anymore. I asked her if she wanted the desk and she immediately said yes. Their place is so large she has plenty of room for it so I've been slowly cleaning out the drawers so it can be taken apart. That's the next step. I think Lynn said she'll have "manpower" this Saturday to take it apart and move it. God knows my honey cannot take it apart or move it anymore. This way I can admire it in their home now instead of ours. So since this move started I am able to see places and spaces in my home I haven't see in a while with all the clutter. This makes me happy specially cuz I have a little claustrophobia.




This shelving unit was filled with office stuff AND craft supplies! It too is going to Lynn's. I managed to empty it and get rid of a lot of things. I replaced the shelves with those "drawer bins" that you can see in the corner. I'm able to stack them and that's where my craft supplies now live. The office stuff has been downsized considerably.



Right now I'm getting ready
to use the desk as a place to sew some curtains


Although I'm downsizing,
I still need a place to do my finances so I ordered this

CORNER DESK
from

ABC Distributing

Which happens to be one of my family's favorite places to shop. It's an online store that has very reasonable and affordable prices for a lot of really nice things. Click on the link and it'll take you there. When I get their Christmas catalog in the mail, I have my family write their names on things they would like for Christmas :) Being on a fixed income, things are very affordable!


I know I will miss having that big ole desk around, but I also know it will make someone (Lynn & Christopher) as happy as I was to have it!

Peace Be With You And Yours and have a great day!

MY NEPHEW MICHAEL

I Have To Tell You About My Nephew Michael.

I can't help but to brag about my family. God has given all of us special gifts and my nephew Michael is definitely showing the world what he has been given.

Take a look at this video clip. It's a time lapsed video clip of just a sample of what he does then I invite you to go browse through his world.
You'll be glad you did!!

♥ I love you Michael And Michelle, ♥
ThanQ for sharing your God given talents with us.

BTW, Michael is Michelle's Brother.
So As You Can See, God Is So Wonderful!!

♥ HERE IS MICHAEL'S ART GALLERY
♥ FOLLOW ME TO MICHAEL'S CHANNEL ON Utube
♥ HERE YOU CAN PURCHASE HIS WORKS OF ART ON eBay

MY NIECE MICHELLE

I am so proud to be a part of this loving family. I come from a long line of creative artists who are so gifted. I'm so amazed by their gifts God has given them. In particular here, I'd like to take this opportunity to brag about my niece, Michelle.

She has a floral boutique, MDS FLORAL DESIGNS, in southern New Jersey where she creates unique floral designs exclusively for weddings, parties and special events whether it be small intimate gatherings or a grand ballroom affair. MDS FLORAL DESIGN has received the "Peoples Choice Award" at the 2007 Dining Spaces Tabletop Contest to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Michelle is a Breast Cancer Survivor. I am truly honored to have her as my niece.

She has created such beauty for many occasions and this slide show is just a fraction of what she has done since she started her own Floral design in 2004.

I invite you to take a virtual tour of her web site HERE to see the many beautiful designs she has created.

MY BUSY PAST FEW MONTHS

Well, I got through it all. We first had Nelson ♥ Angela's wedding. That turned out really kewl to say the least. It was a blustery day. It was held outdoors and the wind didn't want to let up. We rented a canopy but the wind didn't want us to have it up. The poles broke and down came the whole thing. And I tried to put table cloths on the tables and I had to wrap packaging tape around the whole table to keep from coming off. What a time I had. I was getting so angry. I had a lot of plans with decorations but those plans went down the drain. I wanted to decorate the gazebo where they got married but I couldn't :( I don't ever remember fighting with things as bad as that day. At times I felt like we were the flying nuns. (Gee, that's telling my age. The flying nun was on TV back in the "olden days" when I was a teen). Being non traditional, Angela asked me to give her away rather than her dad. Her dad did come to the wedding of course. Her maid of honor was her daughter, Kimbi. For those of you that don't know, this is not Angela's first marriage but it is Nelson's. Angela said this time it's for life. She's finally happy. Yeah!! ☺ (They say third time's a charm) Heheee. These pictures will show you how windy that day was. SEE HERE



In June we had our Relay for Life Event here in my town. This year our theme was to celebrate more birthdays so everyone decorated their own site for a birthday party. (SEE HERE) I think the best part of the Relay was the Luminary ceremony. For those who don't know what this is, we line the track with candles in little white bags with the names of our loved ones on them. We choose whether they are in honor of those who are survivors or in memory of those who have lost their lives to cancer. This year we wanted a few extra candles. I wanted to include a candle in honor of my niece, Michelle, who I found out is a survivor. Wow! I was so heart broken when I found out about Michelle as I did when I found out about my honey's sister, Ellen. (Ya know, Cancer don't give a damn who it takes. It can hit anyone at any age at any time it darn well feels like striking.) We also had a candle in memory of my niece Marleen's grandmother; my sister, Jeannie; my honey's sister, Ellen; n his mom ♥ dad. Within 2 years my honey lost his dad, his mom and then his sister. We had a few rough, heart wrenching years then. I guess we all have to go sometime, and it don't matter how we do, it's part of our life cycle. God will take us when He wants us and when our work is done here on earth. This is my 3rd year having a team. It's a lot of work but rewarding. I have decided from now on though, I will only be in charge of the games we play. That alone involves a lot of prep work. I'm in my element with games n fun. This year Lynn n I organized the games. We got ideas from that TV show "Minute to Win It". Everyone had a great time and we had a lot of fun. I met people in our grocery store and said they loved the games and are already looking forward to next year! It gives me a good feeling knowing I am making a difference and making people happy.



I was also involved in our church's Vacation Bible School. It's always a week long. It was awesome!! I am the craft teacher and I get to teach each class how to make a different craft for each day of the week. We also had a covered dish picnic with games, and a turtle race. I think the first n second graders turtle won. Check these pics of our VBS here (SEE HERE)