A Variety of Feelings Tonight

I had a great day at work, then made good progress with my grade mate during our meeting then made it through the rest of a larger meeting.  At home I had so much energy after dinner that I went down and rode my recumbent bike for 30 minutes.  It made me feel so good that by 6 I had my exercising in.  Amidst this day were bits and pieces of sadness and gladness.  A co-worker's daughter in Arizona is making slow progress following a car accident January 21st.  She is opening her eyes but isn't able to follow simple commands.  There are many other issues as well after several surgeries.
       This morning I heard that this girl's mom just heard her divorce is finalized and her house sold.....So during all of this trauma with her 24 yr. old daughter, this teacher is dealing with the emotional roller coaster of divorce and soon to be homeless..............This is a Christian family so there is a lot of support, but it makes me wonder how much more this woman can take?  I know God says he'll never give us more than we can take.
       Last night in spite of all the snow that fell, there were 635 people who came out for a spaghetti dinner with raffles to help raise funds for this hospitalized woman in Arizona.  That brought more tears to my eyes, that so many people would travel 30 minutes away or more to support this fundraising event.
        Tonight one of my co-workers lost her mother-in-law to cancer.  It was a sad, and long fight for her.  Lots of sadness for this family.  I'm praying for them as well.
       Yesterday I got to stamp with my dear friend Val.  We don't get to stamp together as much as we used to and I miss her terribly.  But today we each made time and got to stamp and talk for 2 hours.  Thank you God!
            Today I got so much work done that it was great to see that.  I am going to have to move to a classroom on the second floor next year.  So this year I have to go through things and weed out what I don't need and down-size.  It doesn't make sense to move it if I'm not using it ya know?  Plus, if I'm thinking of retiring in two years or so, it makes sense to get rid of stuff I've had since I started..........
        Sititng around our dinner table tonight I got to enjoy my two kids mess around and tease with Tim and I.  It's so much fun sometimes to just be silly.  When I do goofy things I remind my kids that they ARE related and there's nothing they can do about it! LOL
        All in all, I know God's in control of things and that sin abounds in this world as a result of Satan and Adam and Eve.  I have to trust God no matter what goes on around me.  I need to keep my armor strong by reading my Bible and devotions(now called devos by the kids), daily.  I need to pray and continue to live as Jesus would have me to do.
  Okay I'm gonna show you my works of art.  This is a card I made for the color challenge on SCS.  You had to use artichoke, rose red and plum.  I made a mistake by using a sponge to apply the background colors of summer sun and pretty in pink to make it look like a sunrise.  Those colors weren't in the challenge.  Oh well, here it is anyway.

The second item is another one of those cards that opens to see a box.  I love these things.  This is one for my assistant Patti.I'm also trying to use designer paper so I can eventually feel better about buying more!

Well, it's just about time to rest and get some sleep. I thank you for visiting today. I got to stamp today and it makes me so happy to do this.  Soon I have to design cards that our staff will be making to donate to the Ronald McDonald House.
Bless you for stopping by.
Hugs,