prayer love...

My Prayer this Sweet Sunday (from Praying Through the Tough Times by Lloyd John Ogilvie):

WHEN I AM A STINGY RECEIVER

Revive me, O LORD, for Your name’s sake! For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.

          PSALM 143?11

Gracious God, sometimes I’m a stingy receiver who finds it difficult to open my tight-fisted grip on circumstances and receive the blessings that You have prepared. You know my needs before I ask You, but wait to bless me until I ask for Your help. I come to You now honestly to confess my needs. Lord, I need Your inspiration for my thinking, Your love for my emotions, Your guidance for my will, and Your strength for my body. I’ve leaned that true peace and lasting serenity result from knowing that You have an abundant supply of resources to help me meet any trying situation, difficult person, or disturbing complexity, and so I say with the psalmist, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits.”

I gladly respond to the admonitions of the psalmist: “Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall being it to pass…Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him.” I prayerfully accept the vital verbs of this advice and apply them to my faith today: commit, trust, rest, wait. You have shown me that when I commit to You my life and my challenges, You go into action to bring about Your best for my life. Commitment opens the floodgates of my mind and my heart to the flow of Your power to help with people or problems that concern me.

I trust in Your reliable interventions to free me from anxiety, and when I rest in Your everlasting arms, I experience spiritual resilience and refurbishment. All Your blessings are wroth waiting for because nothing else gives me the strength and courage I really need. Thank You for Your faithful reliability. You, dear God, are my Lord and Savior. Amen.

          (Psalm 68:19; 37:5,7.)

My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

          PHILLIPPIANS 4:19

 

I will keep on being filled with the Spirit.

EPHESIANS 5:18. AUTHOR’S TRANSLATION

 

May each of you have a wonderful day and upcoming week…

Commit! Trust! Rest! Wait!

Hugs,

ELC

p.s.: That “waiting” is the hardest part, right? Sheesh. 

friendsip love...

I LOVE my friends! I’m so truly lucky to have such dear, sweet, kind, special friends in my life. From junior high, college, my early marriage years, church, school days with TLC, work, My Sweet Husband’s long, long career, Facebook and even Words With Friends (Howdy, Mackie!), I’ve been beyond blessed.

My precious friend, Emily, surprised me with a very, VERY unexpected (and completely unnecessary) gift a few weeks ago. We’d met for our monthly Pedi and Lunch Date. She gave me the cutest sack with this fancy dish in it:

Isn’t it lovely? Could there be a more accurate statement about GOOD friends? I can’t even imagine what it would be. It's most definitely the way I feel about Emily.

Now here’s the funny/cRaZy/weird thing she said about this gift:

She thought I might use it as a jewelry dish when I’m at TLC’s!

Why, you wonder, is that weird? BECAUSE: (As I looked at Emily with my mouth open, I explained the reason I was totally blown away.)

ELC: Three visits ago, I was in My Room at TLC’s getting ready for bed, when I noticed the pretty bowl she'd given me months ago, to use for my jewels, was gone. I didn’t really have the nerve to ask TLC (a tired, often cranky Mom of a baby that RARELY sleeps all night) where the heck my bowl went! I’d decided I’d bring my own the next time I drove East.

Voila! I now had a new dish to bring! I mean, seriously, don’t y’all think that’s kind of spooky?

So here’s Emily’s charming dish on said nightstand time before last my last visit to TLC—full of my jewelry!  

I adore it. And I cherish Emily and her amazing friendship. Thank you, Darling Doll.

Y’all please have a WONDERFUL weekend—full of STARS and jewels, FUN and FRIENDSHIP!

smooch,

ELC

p.s.: That bowl? I found it on TLC's entry hall table. It's empty. But it's still pretty. Winky. Wink. I don't need it.

three things...

...I'm lovin' this week!

1. My new shampoo.

I have no clue what "mosa mint" is but it smells delightful. Bonus: it's gluten-free!

2. Rolos.

ELC included a bag of Rolos in my Valentine's treat this year. I need them out of my house. Now. I can't stop eating them. Bonus: they're ALSO gluten-free!

3. The Bachelor.

Ugh. I should be ashamed to type that. I give ELC such a hard time each season she tunes in. I got sucked into this train wreck and I can't stop watching.

Happy Friday Eve, friends! I am (still) sick. My little cold from last week turned into a massive sinus infection this week. So, because my antibiotic says I need to eat something before I take it, I'm off to gobble more Rolos! I think that counts.

i love...

...my new perfume!

I celebrated my birthday this week. ELC was here, helping me watch the (sick) girls. (Yep. We're sick. Again. The girls gifted me their lovely germs for my birthday this year. I literally came down with their gunk that afternoon. Thank GOODNESS I was able to get some solo-birthday-shopping done early in the morning. I would have sworn it was just allergies. Oops. And--UGH.)

I was also able to have lunch with My Sweet Friend, Lauren! I cherish our time together. This year, she gave me a gift card to one of her most favorite new stores. I hadn't been yet and wanted to immediately go. They sell skincare, makeup, fragrances, candles. Lauren has impeccable taste, and I knew if she thought this store was fabulous, I would, too. I had so much fun browsing and instantly made a little "mental wish list" for future visits. This time, though, I used my gift card to buy my first Jo Malone perfume. I am nuts over this scent. ELC can attest I am SUPER picky/sensitive about perfume--I can't do florals. I can't do sweet. I can't do anything "musky." I like citrus. Fresh. Clean. This pretty little bottle does this trick. It's called "Wood Sage and Sea Salt," and it is YUMMY. It is light--not too overwhelming-- and just simply delightful. 

The perfume I've worn for almost ten years now has apparently been discontinued. (Of course.) I purchased my last bottle on Amazon before Baby Elle was born. I've been hoarding it ever since. It's sitting in my bathroom cabinet, unopened, and it may stay there. I really think I've found my new go-to scent! Y'all should try this out ASAP. Wouldn't it be a nice little Valentine's Treat for yourself? Winky-wink.

Do you know what else I love? Bedtime. Yep. I do--as do most parents. We FaceTimed ELC and My Sweet Dad after lunch this afternoon, and I told them I really wished it was bedtime. Oh, the days are long. Especially when my two bosses are also cranky from being sick and bored. Thank goodness they're asleep now! I'm off to take my Benadryl and say my prayers that my children at least let me sleep until 4:30 tonight/tomorrow.

TGIF, peeps!

sheesh and wowzer...

…it’s February.

Actually, it’s February 5^th. CrAzY.

I’ve challenged TLC to write “love” posts for the rest of this month. This should NOT be too difficult, right?

I’m going to start!

I LOVE the way Little Leighton (aka LL aka Biscuit) thinks. Talks. Laughs. Makes me laugh.

A few days ago, TLC, LL, Baby Elle (aka Belle) and I were Facetiming. (LL only had to see a teensy bit of where I was to know I was in my boffice (guest bedroom/office). I was impressed. At one point, I reminded TLC that, the next morning, Emily and I would be going to have our monthly pedi and lunch date. I said: I’ve got to call David, to see if he can do my toes.

LL chimed in: David Muir?

Apparently, David Muir is the only “David” Little Leighton knows.

TLC and I immediately cracked up! She told LL there were many other “Davids,” including the man who does my pedis. We were truly tickled. (Would I love David Muir to give me a pedi? Yes. Yes, I would. Perhaps have lunch with me and Emily. And then I woke up…)

A few other “goodies” from Biscuit:

There was the day, a few months ago, I felt I should tell LL “more gooder” was not the right way to say that. She just looked at me. Turned around and went along her merry way.

There was the night, a few weeks ago, I was putting her to bed at her casa. We’d read our three books. Said our prayers. Had our sip of water. Grammy was sitting at the end of her bed—waiting for her to go to sleep before I slipped out. She was flipping back and forth. Then she yawned. She quickly sat up and said: That was me yawning, Grammy! I smiled and assured her I knew it was. Bless her heart. Did she think I thought it was one of her fifteen stuffed animals/dolls on her bed? God love her.

Finally, there was the afternoon, not too long ago—at our casa—she and I were watching television in her room.  A commercial came on for a hair conditioner and they were talking about how good it smelled. She went up close to the TV to try to see if she could smell it! I really think she knew she couldn’t. But it was sooo convincing—she had to try.

I LOVE My Biscuit. With all of my heart and soul.

Y’all have a WONDERFUL Week!

Smooches and Hugs, Dear Friends…

life lately...

It's Wednesday! Hallelujah. It's all down hill from here.

So, life lately has involved very little sleep at my house. OH, this Baby Elle.

Don't let those eyes fool you. She is a TOOT. I don't know if she's teething (I've been blaming teeth for about 6 months now and she only has two to show for it.) or growing or just an inconsistent sleeper. But here's what I do know: I am pooped. My eyes twitch. There isn't enough coffee to help with my haze. She was ten months old last week and is darn lucky she's tres cute. She is sassy, opinionated and loves to dance! My birthday is this month and all I really want is a nap. Or two.

Meanwhile, her Big Sister seems to have suddenly jumped from four years old to 8--overnight!

We are working on learning the capitols right now and she is blowing our mind! She has an excellent memory. She is quite opinionated, too--while Belle's opinions mostly revolve around food (girlfriend loves her meats--chicken, hot dogs, turkey), Little Leighton's revolve around clothes. Heaven, help me! I cannot even imagine what the teenage years will be like.

However, despite my exhaustion from sleep and battling wardrobe issues, these two bring me JOY. This morning, during breakfast, I got a glimpse of what life around my table will be like: Belle was in her highchair. LL was sitting next to her. They were both having waffles and uncontrollably giggling with and at each other. It was priceless, and I desperately wish I had taken a video!

I hope you all have a wonderful and sleep-filled rest of the week!

TTFN.