Miscellaneous

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Artwork by a sponsored Compassion child

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Learning to quilt!

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Babies are so sweet!

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Meaningful artwork on the carillon at Kansas University

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The bell tower at my Alma Mater that I used to play

An Awesome God

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Redemption

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Omni-Presence

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Omniscience

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Forgiveness

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Mercy

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Grace

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Love

More Zoo Critters

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True Love!

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Meerkats crack me up!

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Sleepy little foxes of some type

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Giraffes heading in for the night

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A shy rhino

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Capybaras — one of my favorite animals that I had never seen until now

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I especially like this cute little zoo critter — it was there when I was a child & I always loved it.

I’ve probably rubbed his nose dozens of times in my life!

Zoo Critters

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A beautiful Tiger

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This one was being pushy and greedy

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I gave food to this one because he wasn’t being pushy

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Colorful Sheep

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Kangaroos

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Sea Lions

Quality Times

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I’ve been blessed to see Jeremy several times this fall

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Fun times with Sarah in Lawrence, KS

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Chris got to go horseback riding in the mountains with friends

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People that appreciate the gifts & potential of our kids

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Crazy times with friends — I’m especially thankful Sasha wasn’t hurt

when she rolled her car three times.  Thank you Lord.

Compassion Advocate’s Conference

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Jesus welcomes the little children to come unto Him

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Some of the wonderful Advocates on my team — Autumn, Mindy and Carly

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Silly times with Caitlin

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New friendships among the Child Advocates — Sarah & Carly

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Special friends like Cris — from Compassion’s country office in the Dominican Republic

More Critters

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Massive Bison

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Multi-colored Sheep

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Sheep Dog

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Baby goats in a bucket

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Funny Creatures

Family

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Goofy fun on the road (touring the Wyoming Frontier Prison)

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Family reunion!

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My sister, Robyn, with one of her grandkids

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Babies!

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Smart kids — Sarah giving computer advice to my sister

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Playing games and beating these guys!

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Some of my sister’s grandchildren

Beauty

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My records show I’ve gotten 507 children sponsored; Compassion’s records show 516.  Woohoo!  And who are these extra children whose names I don’t know?

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Great views in the Big Horns

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Late summer flowers

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A beautiful sunset over the Big Horns

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A great place for devotions — I was discouraged and sensed God’s call to me to “come away” to the mountains.  He clearly met me there and brightened my spirits, too.

Scenes From the Past

I had the opportunity to return to my home town of Raytown, MO, recently.  It sure stirred up a lot of memories and thankfulness.

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It’s always fun to get together with high school friends

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Donna, a childhood friend I hadn’t seen for 35 years or so — we still remembered and giggled about all the goofy things we used to do.

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Blue Ridge Elementary School — I received a good education here

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My other grade school, Westridge Elementary School — also excellent

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Paul and I were married here 34 years ago this month

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Sanctuary

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This is my childhood home, which unfortunately has seen better days

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I’m thankful for my childhood town of Raytown, MO

God’s Creatures

I’ve always had a love of nature, and especially of animals.  I’m thankful for all these funny creatures.

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Our beloved Holly, who died a few years ago

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We have lots of dogs in the back of pickup trucks in our town

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A playful otter, seen in Alaska

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A beautiful butterfly, found in the bottom of a trash can

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A friendly cow

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Horses in the shape of a heart

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Turkeys

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A friendly horse

Beauty All Around

Creation is such an interesting variety of beauty, glory and power!  How do flowers open?  What keeps a volcano from erupting for hundreds of years?  Why do some leaves come in green and others red?  God is amazing!

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Sand ripples and moss

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Roses

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Mt. Hood

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Japanese Gardens — Portland

Homelife

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We have a lot of beautiful birds at our feeder, such as these finches

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A cute little chickadee at the feeder

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I love our little western town!

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We often have deer in our front yard

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Our son, Chris, makes the best smoothies!

Multnomah Falls Hike

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Hiking near the falls — beautiful weather and views

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My Compassion manager, Ian, organized a wonderful retreat for us!

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Multnomah Falls

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My friend, Jane, and I at the falls

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Blogging friend, Jill (“Girls Just Want to Have Fun”)

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AC friends waiting for the glorious sunset

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Ripples in the evening sky!

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Sunset over the Columbia River

Portland Retreat

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Compassion International Area Coordinators — NW Region

Area Coordinators

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Daisies

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Scripture Plaque

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Flowering bushes

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Beautiful leaves

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Tiger Lilies

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Multi-colored Pansies

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Chapel at Multnomah College

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Great food and fellowship!

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Excellent seminar about coaching — supporting and listening to others

Daily Blessings

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Sunset

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Sunrise

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The Cross

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Our Town

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Transportation

Little Things

In keeping with Brad’s suggestion that we remember to thank God for the little things, I want to add to my list the following things.  These are considered the “little” (or normal) things in life — but actually, they’re huge.  Ask someone living in poverty if shoes are necessary, or food, shelter, clothing and medications.

Enold

Brad pointed out that his Compassion child, Sabato, needed a new pair of shoes, which Brad’s family supplied.  It caused me to get up out of my chair and go look at the photos of our Compassion children, and I discovered that Enold, of Haiti, did not have very good shoes on either.  I’m sending money to Compassion with a request that it be used for shoes for him.  How many “little” blessings around us do we take for granted?  We have such an abundance of them!  But many involve issues of life and death — food, shelter, clothing, medications.  I’m thankful I can help supply these needs for children in poverty through a company that I trust implicitly — Compassion International.

In the meantime, regarding my needs being supplied –

Thank You Lord; Thank You.

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Medications for all our health needs

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More clothes than we need

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More than adequate shelter

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An abundance of food

Also — a big thanks to Ann for starting this Gratitude Community, for sharing her tears and thanks with me (I’ve shared many over her beautiful blog), and for the warm welcome!

Shoes and Boots

Brad Ruggles wrote an excellent post about Thanklessness. Take a close look at the shoes in the photo he posted of his Compassion child.  After reading that, I was inspired to add “shoes” to my list of Endless Thanks.  I also noticed that my child in Haiti has worn shoes in his photo, too, so I’m sending money to Enold for new shoes.  Thanks, Brad, for the reminder of things I’ve taken for granted, such as an overabundance of shoes like these:

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Crocs

Crocs

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Boots

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Dress Shoes

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Slippers

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Walkin’ Shoes

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Sandals

Daily Walks

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A nice walking path close to home

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Deer in the sunrise

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Funny scenes on my walks, such as this dog with a huge log in his mouth.  His owner says he picks it up every morning and carries it for his walk, then leaves it behind for the next time.

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The Big Horn Mountains

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Canada Geese flying over my pathway, honking loudly

Health — Body, Soul and Spirit

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Beth Moore Bible Study on Esther — today

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Positive comments and support from friends!

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Sunshine today, finally!

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My blog friend, Chris, is reporting that he is doing better today after a tough weekend from treatment for Lyme’s Disease. Yeah!

God is good!

God and Family

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Our third-born, Sarah

Sarah

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Our second-born, Chris

Chris

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Our first-born, Jeremy

Jeremy

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My husband of 33 years, Paul

Paul

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Family

This was the last family portrait before my mother passed away in 2001

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The Presence of Jesus Christ in my life –

Lord, Savior, Counselor, Friend, Lover

Endless Thanks

I’m so ready, finally, to join this group — the Gratitude Community!  The challenge began with Ann Voskamp, and was a challenge (to herself) to come up with One Thousand Gifts from God for which she was thankful.  True to gratitude, it didn’t stop at one thousand, but became a list of Endless Gifts.  

 

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.                                       — Colossians 3:15-17 (ESV)

And so, I begin my list of Endless Thanks in the form of this blog.  Take a closer look at the verses above.  I love them.  We even had them read at our wedding.  Our Pastor, Tom,  just reminded us Sunday of the solid advice they contain:

1. Let the Peace of Christ Rule in Your Hearts.  I think the word “let” is a huge word in these first two points.  We can LET peace rule (control) us in the midst of the conflict, during the trials, not just at the end.  In all things, we can let peace rule rather than anxiety, fear and despair.  Tom compared this to the control of a baseball umpire:  ”Let this peace rule — let it be the thing that rules and controls you and keeps you on track.”
2. Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Richly.  We can let God’s Word come into our minds and affect how we think.  We don’t have to be controlled by thoughts of rejection, inadequacy or concerns about what others think about us.  Instead, we can fill our minds with the truths of God’s Word.  We can sing songs of gratitude — in fact, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs are one of the best ways to memorize God’s truths, and to express what you’re feeling.  He suggested we sing what we’re experiencing — blues, for instance, came out of tragedy and pain.  It’s interesting to see the words of hymns that came out of the Protestant Reformation.  Spirituals came out of slavery.
3. Whatever You Do, in Word or Deed, Do Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus.  It’s not all about us; it’s all about Him!  To quote Tom again, “What is not included in this word, ‘Everything?’”  That made me stop and think!  He also spoke truth to my heart when he said, “Maybe the purpose of your life is not about making you happy, but about making others happy — loving and serving them.”    We live to glorify Him, and that includes thinking of others besides ourselves.   And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”  –2 Corinthians 5:15 (NIV)
4. And Be Thankful…With Thankfulness in Your Hearts to God…Giving Thanks to God the Father Through Him.  Tom rightly pointed out that thankfulness is the common thread in all of this — notice how it weaves through all these verses.  He said, “Thankfulness is learning to tie every event in life to God, even the things that hurt the most.  Allow the peace of God to give direction, to impact your life and to overflow to others.”     

As these fall in place — Peace, God’s Word, Purpose, Thankfulness — we will find that everything in our lives points to Christ.  He is central; He rules and controls our very thoughts.  We can then realize that illusive dream — abundant life — and certainly a peaceful and joyful life of Endless Thanks.  Finally, I need to mention that Tom has been battling a mysterious fever and fatigue that has been holding him in illness for over 45 days, since he returned from ministry in Asia, so he knows what he’s talking about.  This is what has come out of that pain, and these scriptures have given Tom the courage he needed to experience peace in the midst of the trials.