I have had the privilege of reading quite a few books over the last few months and thought I would share the titles and authors for those of you out there looking for quality books that are fun reads for the summer. Denise Hildreth Jones has by far been one of my favorite authors. Some of her fun books to read have been Savannah from Savannah, Savannah by the Sea, Hurricanes in Paradise, Flies on the Butter, Secrets over Sweet Tea, and this week I read The Will of Wisteria. The Savannah Series is just light, fun and funny. The one by the sea takes place at Seaside in Florida, so if you have been there you will love it. All of her books have strong Christian characters. Any of them are a good pool read because you don’t have to think, just enjoy. The Will of Wisteria really captured my heart this week thought because it reminded me of how we all just get to caught up in our own worlds and miss what is going on around us. If you are looking for a good read this summer these would be a great choice and all are available on Kindle. I will post more of Cindy and my summer picks later this week.

Today marks a special day. Our daughter just called to say goodbye as she boarded a plane to fly to Swaziland Africa to live on mission for the next year. A little over a week ago she walked across the stage to receive her high school diploma. Today she walks across the threshold of living on mission. Many have asked me “Well how are you?” I love what my friend said, smiles and tears. That is truly how I feel. We are seeing a culmination of something God has been doing for 18 years. From the time she was conceived we gave her to the Lord. She was not an easy to child to raise and I often talked to the Lord about her attitude. I really believe God reminded me of how hard headed I was at times. Today I celebrate not only Gene’s beginning to a season of life, but I celebrate God giving me the privilege of raising an awesome daughter. We have launched her from our nest but our prayers will go with her. We are truly blessed.

I started the morning today praying for people that just seem to need drama. God must have put that on my heart because so many seem to need a small or large controversy in their lives to be happy. Then they talk about it and their mind turns it over and over and over. These are the very things that can cause division in teams, churches, and families. Several verses came to mind but this one posted by a friend really caught my attention. “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Wonder why they were told to warn the idle. Could it be like the old quote, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop” ? If you find yourself with an idle mind let me challenge you to set your mind on the positive. Seek a way of helping others. Find someone in need and serve them. Write a note to someone who is lonely. Exercise. Prepare a special dish and take it to someone who is down or sick. There are so many things we can do other than allowing our minds to go to places they have no business. In the end we need to obey the last part of the verse, “be patient with everyone.”

These ideas were compiled by one of our Mom to Mom groups here in Louisville. Hope you get some ideas from our list, but get a group of friends together from your community and come up with your own list. Then have fun making your marriage all it can be.
Anchorage Café’ and Trail
Picnic at any area Park
Miles Park
Going to Basketball games
U of L sports, many are free
Watch a movie @ home
Restaurant coupon special dinner
Bernheim Forest
Waterfront Park- free concerts
Star gazing
Biking
Trolley Hop
Ice Cream
Cooking a meal together
Batting Cages
Driving Range
Peddler’s mall
Sit outside by fire pit and fix smores
Iroquois Park free concerts
Pie Kitchen
Wander around Target
Grocery shopping
Captains Quarters on River- no cost to sit
Putt Putt
At home Frozen pizza/ read a book together (possibly Marriage book and discuss)
Riverbats game
Drop kids at grandmas and date night at home
Falls of the Ohio/ Museum
Black Acre Farm
Hubers
Schimps candy in Jeffersonville
Glassworks
Art in Speed park or art festivals
Drive to see Christmas lights
Starbucks intentional discussions
Zoo
Outdoor activities at the Creation Museum
Bardstown road
Earth Fare
Derby Dinner Theatre
Krispy Kreme
St. James Art Festival
Marriage Rocks (Southeast)
Cooking Lesson
Free Museum Day
Ride bikes Riverfront Park
Cheap candy and rent a red box movie
Go look for cars or the apple store.
Play board games
Cards
Play video games
Sit on back deck and roast marshmallows
Go to small towns and look around
Travel the back roads
Walk through houses under construction
Walk Frankfurt Ave
Frozen Yogurt
Watch movie with mattress in den
Make something together
Walk through Home Depot and dream of projects
Go Karting
Go to a farm and pick fresh vegetables
Plant a garden
Schedule an intimate evening with just the two of you at home
Picnic lunch and play Bocci ball
Look at Big Houses for sale even if not interested in buying
Breakfast date
Take out and a movie
Bike riding
Geocashing Treasure hunting (0nline)
Half price books
Star watching on the trampoline
Coffee or Hot Chocolate on the deck
Concerts at the seminary
Carriage rides downtown
Hiking
Camping
Candle light dinner after the kids go to bed
Serve together – loving Louisville or on a short term mission trip
Exercise together.

1. Be proactive- plan time together. It really doesn’t matter what you do
2. Communicate when you are together. Even if you spend time together but don’t communicate you will not receive the most for your time spent
3. Don’t assume your mate knows what you enjoy doing. Help him with ideas and work together to make your marriage really sizzle.

It has been a while since I have written about the lessons God is teaching me in the stable. A year ago my husband Les gave me a horse for my birthday. For the first 20 minutes my adult self explained to Les why a horse did not seem like a good idea for people who lived in a subdivision. As he batted down each “reason” I came up with I became excited. After that my 4 year old little girl within took over and was ecstatic to have a HORSE!!!! The last year has brought many changes in our lives, but God has used the horse an spending time with her to teach me many things about Him. When I first started working with Meg I was nervous. I had never owned a horse. Through working together over this year we have learned to trust each other. I feed her daily and spend time with her. I now know what to expect from her and can quickly identify when she is not acting quite “right”. I have been able to teach her many new things. Using apple treats as a reward she has learned to turn her head, move her feet, come to me and back up by hand commands. Last week she learned to bow. I was super impressed with that! The thing God is revealing to me is that we have learned the rhythm of relationship. She knows I care and want her best. God is teaching me He is my owner and care giver. I can trust Him. The more I spend time with Him I know what He wants and what pleases Him. My treats are not apple bites with the Lord. lol But there are treasures that await the one who is obedient to God’s ways. Those treasures include peace of heart, mind, provision, safety, and so many more. I appreciate the Lord for giving me Meg and for teaching me so much about the master and servant relationship. Excited about the new things God will reveal in days to come.

Michael Bailey is a gentleman I grew up with. His insights brought great joy to my heart so I thought I would share them.
So as i sit here getting over all the Christmas carving shows i have for the year i let my mind wander again. to the most fantastic childhood anyone could ever have. and my favorite time of year as a child, Christmas… as a child of course, money is never a factor. we ,or i, want the Evel Knievel stunt cycle and that’s the be all. end all!!…but now looking back i see with the wisdom of a parent and now grand parents eyes, that money is not where the memories lie. Christmas traditions that i recall now so well, involved little money. Christmas lights looking was always so much fun and not only was it to see lights in houses but also the wondrous stores and store fronts downtown. stores use to go all out creating true winter wonderlands and would almost look like amusement parks for wide eyed kids. thermos full of hot chocolate and blankets to cover up in and riding through the rich part of town to see the amazing lights. i know i know, it ain’t about money i said, but they had the money to really decorate neat at night!! to this day we load the kids up and now my parents and ride all over town looking at lights with our thermos of hot chocolate and snacks. cady hills always provides beautiful lights, and of course im rolling across the top of those steep hills like a roller coaster, me and debbie and the kids throwing our hands up and whooping like on a roller coaster ride, and my momma always hollering for me to slow down and put my hands back on the steering wheel!!!… pop is grinning like a possum back there, i know ,thinking if he was driving and we were kids he would be doing the same thing.

We still go by the old funeral home downtown with the live animals in the nativity scene , i’m not sure what strikes the reverence ,and and serenity of this setting. if in fact, it’s at the funeral home and that always seems to invoke that, or the actual scene with the live animals . as a kid seeing the live sheep and goats there, made it all so much more real to us. the plastic mary and joseph and baby Jesus never seemed like just cold plastic figures. they seemed as real as the animals, and for a few minutes it seemed as though we were actually there. as though we didn’t dare laugh or giggle at the animals or holler for mom and dad to hurry and get out and see. in our minds we didn’t dare want to wake the sweet baby Jesus, or in anyway disturb the glorious moment that was unfolding right before our own eyes. we eased fingers through the fence just enough to feel the sheep and goats cool fur if they would come close enough and then slip ever so quietly back to the car …not wanting to awaken the savior of our world.

see if this will jog a memory…..sears Christmas catalog !!!…oh man what a book…well to us this was not just a book, as a kid this was THE BOOK!!! now if you were a only child maybe this won’t ring. but me and my brother wally ( not really his name but because i always say i had a beaver cleaver childhood i call him wally in my stories). we had two permanent markers usually one red and one black..the color chosen was to be used all holiday season and as if that wasn’t good enough one of us would be and x and the other and o. why we didn’t just write our names is now beyond me. but legendary battles would be waged over just whose turn it was to even look at it!!! then when it was your turn , trembling fingers would peer page after page reading every single word of every toy that remotely caught our interest. the major mat mason space station looked promising so an appropriate red x was placed by it to indicate to santa that this was a pick of mine!..then on to the next , turn the page and there it is….cue the angels singing and blinding lights beaming down on the page…..EVEL KNIEVEL STUNT CYCLE!!! this was it the toy to end all toys age appropriate for children 7 to 12 …that included me!!!… this thing was awesome…the ad showed it jumping cars and buses and canyons….CANYONS!!!!!!… OH MAN there were red x’s all over this page!!! then in comes wally claiming it was his turn…ughhhhh….thats fine mom just got done fixing popcorn balls so grab your ol black marker and have fun!!! who can ever forget watching the peanuts Christmas special what a staple , poor charlie browns tree but to be honest what is the part that really stands out…linus and his telling of the Christmas story. that peanut voice telling the story of Jesus birth, to me still is so haunting. i can remember no matter what we were doing at the time when it got to that part. we got eerily quiet, just like we had been at the nativity scene downtown earlier. and all eyes and ears were focused on this single cartoon character standing on stage telling us the meaning of it all.

At my last carving show of the year today, i watched as a father and his little son looked at my carvings. and when they got to the Christmas section with angels and santas, you could see the little boys eyes light up. he started pointing, and even though i couldn’t hear what he was saying i didn’t have too. i saw the excitement in his eyes and the wondrous joy on his face. and i thought what a great time in life.for the child, to be amazed by simple figures created in wood, by an extra large hairy feller.for me, to be the extra large hairy feller, so blessed to be able to create simple figures in wood, to spark the imagination.

i have been very blessed ,this past year and a half’s battle against cancer has open my eyes to so much. i think sometimes i took my carving for granted . i love carving, and it takes me back to a time in my youth spent with my grandfather creating in his leather shop. but times like today, to see an innocent child light up in true amazement at something. and when it’s something i was so blessed to be able to create. there is the reality check . and as they walked off hand in hand i wondered to myself was this one of those memories ..it cost them nothing to come in and look, the little boy was so excited smiling and pointing i wonder how long he’ll remember seeing my creations .

so put your wallets away, grab your kids or grand kids ,as is the case with me. fill your thermos with hot chocolate and hit the town. go see the lights and woop and holler and point with excitement, take them to see the nativity and whisper, look it’s the baby Jesus ,in their little ears. go home and fix popcorn to string together to put on the tree, while the charlie brown Christmas dvd is playing. then when you see linus headed on stage. tell them to be really quite ,linus is going to tell you the greatest story ever told to man.and all this was free, and created memories to last a life time. may God bless and keep you all, much love from BOOGER SWAMP.

Have you ever felt lead to read the Bible through but never followed through?
Cindy and I have read the Bible through each year for about 10 years. When we first became friends she asked if I wanted to read the Bible through. Honestly I was already doing a Beth Moore study and a few more minor studies and just did not think I had time to invest in reading the Bible through. That year every week or so Cindy would send me and email about what she had learned that day from the word. Her insights were great and I was a bit jealous of all she was learning. So, the next year when the invitation came I did join her. I was still able to keep doing other Bible studies as well. I just had to map out early morning time. I have learned is something is important to you. you will make the time to get it done. I was not disappointed with the decision. God revealed so much to both me and Cindy that year and as we traded emails about what we had read we both had deep growth in our own personal life. Now 10 years later we have added others to our reading group. Some rotate in and out depending on the demands of their year, but without fail those who have completed this journey each year with us have grown exponentially in their walk wiht the Lord.
This is your invitation to join us.
Our daily Bible reading plan will start on Jan 1, 2013. We will be reading through the Bible using Reading God’s Story: One-Year Chronological Plan. You can read it from YouVersion.com on your mobile devices or computers or you can get a hard copy at Lifeway or other Christian Bookstores. I encourage you to join us and post what God reveals to you as we share in this experience. We will post daily or at least a few times a week on our fb pages and also on the Mentoring Moments for Christian Women site. This is a way that we have used with many to help with accountability and spiritual growth. Cindy and I look forward to taking this journey with you.

?”… his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm 1: 2-3

Thank you for your kind comments. Your love for me is evident. After prayer and introspection I believe I struggle with expectations. I even struggle with expectations with God. I know God can do all things, but will He. This may be too much honesty for some of you guys, but I believe God has a plan and I can trust Him. People…. well that is another thing. I am sure that plays into my lack
of asking because then I am not disappointed. Hmmm. I was talking to Les about this and I told him I am even careful about having expectations for vacations or special events. Maybe God just made me this way or experience has taught me that, but either way I am working on trusting God to give me wisdom about when to ask and when to just work.

I learned something about myself today. I rarely ask others to do anything for me. Some think it is because I don’t think I need their help. I know that is not true. Other times it is because I hate to inconvenience others. But today I realized even that comes from my fear of being told no. I had moved 13 bales of hay about 100 yards from the front of the house where the pasture is we are r
enting to the barn. The whole time I was moving the hay two men in their 40’s or 50’s stood there and watched while they gave their attention to a project they were working on. They would comment on my work. Then one of them said, you should have just pulled your truck around here to the barn. They were standing in their drive way right next to the barn. Trying to be gracious, I responded that I did not know if it was alright to pull through there to the barn so I had opted on the side of safety but if it was okay the next time I would take them up on the offer. I hauled more stuff from around the other side of the house and after a few minutes the gentleman came back and said he had reconsidered it and it might not be a good idea. He gave a couple of lame excuses about just not sure they would see me if I was parked there and they were pulling out and that kind of thing. It really is not about what he said as much as how in my heart I felt. I felt defeated and wondered why I even asked to begin with. That is when it dawned on my. I don’t ask because I don’t want to be told no. Not really sure what that says about me and I am sure some of you counselors can get to the bottom of why I respond like that, but it helps me to understand me better and know it is not a pride issue for not asking others to help. It is just a part of not wanting to be told no and feeling I have done something wrong. I think I will just have to think more about this.

Today has been so awesome with Meg, our horse. We got her moved to within 10 minutes of my house last evening. Today I went out first thing this morning. She was still anxious, but we spent some time with her and by the time I left she was better. Went back this afternoon and we took a walk in her new pasture. She stayed by my shoulder as we walked the fence line. After she realized I wasn’t
going anywhere she ran around throwing her head, running to different parts of the field, just playing like a little kid. After a few minutes she came back to my side. Such a sweet time with my animal friend.
The spiritual lesson I am learning is that there are many who are afraid of new environments especially churches that are large or just different. We can walk with those who are new and help them to see it is all okay. We will be there for them as they learn, investigate, look around, or even run around having fun. When they feel secure they can trust even when other things are foreign.