Beach, Prayers and Lilacs

I saw this on FB today and loved it.  We will be leaving for vacation at Nag's Head, North Carolina, Saturday at 6 a.m.  I don't like the hour we'll begin however, I'll be able to sleep if I want to.  Tim is driving and Ben is driving the other car.  It's nice when the kids can all go together in one car.  Sometimes it's hard to listen to their antics  probably due to our age.  Tim and I can have a quiet ride and the kids can have a lively ride.

We will be at Nag's Head Island for a week.  I am looking forward to the sound of the ocean and the feel of sand between my toes.  There's nothing like it.

We went to dinner tonight with a couple who have been married 31 years today.  That in itself is a testimony to God in their marriage.  They were married at 18 and have survived some pretty bad times and sad times and have come out the other side loving God and each other.

I pray that they continue to stand and fight for their marriage.  I also pray that the stress that they are going through right now can be destroyed and allow them to be at peace.

I was talking tonight at dinner about how God calls us to pray for our enemies and how difficult that is.  The couple we had dinner with had issues with a person.  I said, I guess that we need to pray for this person who has brought such upset into your lives.  She is in desperate need of prayer and God's direction in her life.

For all of us complaining doesn't do a thing but continue to stress us out.  We need to pray for that person so we can be free of the strife that person is causing us.  We can see a huge difference between those who have God in their heart, and those that don't know Him.  We all need to pray for those who don't know the Lord.  

We must keep in mind that we too, at one time were without the Lord.  We were blind to things of God and deaf as well.  It took someone telling us about God and praying for us that enabled us to have the choice to accept God's free gift.  I'm so very thankful for all the events that brought me to Christ.

 A friend on FB posted this picture.  It is a mama duck leading her babies out of the courtyard in a school through the front doors and outside.
I used to work at a school in Parma called, Pleasantview Elementary.  Every Spring we would see the mama duck fly into the courtyard and make a nest.  We'd watch for activity until we'd see chicks.  Then each time we passed the courtyard, we'd have to see who was swimming in the pool we'd provided.  When it was time for the family to leave, we'd set up gym mats to create a pathway for the ducks to leave by.

The whole school would line the hallways and walkways outside to watch the duck procession go by.
Such fun memories of teaching in that school.

 This is the card I made for the color challenge on SCS. The colors were pear pizzazz, wisteria wonder, blackberry bliss and pool party.  I used an old Flourishes stamp set and it seemed perfect for the colors today.  I colored the purple and brown with Copic markers.  The leaves were colored with Copic markers then I added pear pizzazz ink with a blender pen.  I added pearls to the flowers and in the corners. I used clear, Wink of Stella on the image also.

Today I used the stirrup hoe that I showed you a few days ago.  I weeded the front yard, then used the push broom to clean the walk way of blossoms and mulch.  I cleaned up the weeds that were removed from the garden and side yard.  I did a little more on the side then had to quit.

Right now I'm sore from all the work, but so happy that I was able to get so much done.  The first weeding of the season is always the hardest. I'll be going to bed early tonight for sure!

Verse of the Day:


Blessing of the Day: Cleaning up the yard and going to dinner with dear friends.
Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings,