My Sister and Me!

My sister Kelly (KBella) and Me!
I was at my Mom's yesterday and came my one year birthday party picture. I just thought that my sister was just so adorable that I had to share! It made me think of how much life she and I have experienced together and how much I have loved being her sister and friend. I just can't imagine this life without her. I just love her and love this image. Those were the days when the biggest thing in life was how to get to the icing and cake beyond the 1 year candle. I guess the candles get smaller as we age so we can fit more on the cake. I truly hope to live to 120, so can you imagine how small those candles are going to get! Lord willing, I will find out...smile.

Because it's Friday, that's why!

This dog cracks me up! What is he thinking? More so, what is the dog next to him thinking?! I would love to know. I have never seen a dog smile like that, but can only think that it makes him happy to offer it to anyone near.

Quote for your Friday:
“May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human enough hope to make you happy.” - Unknown

Happy Life, Happy Friday to you!

I have no idea how where the image orignated from to give credit, but I wanted to share anyway and hope the photographer finds grace with me.

My heart - American Idol

Last night American Idol touched my heart so to the point of tears and in truth, anger as well over how we are not quickened by action to save, nourish and love, but worry more about our own selfish desires! It was even better that my kindred friend felt the same in being touched by this show event. It has always been my hearts desire to adopt an "It's a small world after all" and be a Mom to kids that need love. I wanted to immediatly board and plane and go and adopt these children or lend a hand or just something to wipe a tear, bring a smile and bring some solace to their hurt. I received this verse, thought and prayer from heartlight this morning and see that God does know and is truly still the father to the fatherless! I pray that it moves my heart to action. We are so blessed and I ask forgiveness for my selfishness.

VERSE:
But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to
take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the
helper of the fatherless.
-- Psalm 10:14

THOUGHT:
Just as God saw the plight of the Israelites in Egypt and heard
their cries for help, he still sees and hears today. But now, he
hears not only because he is omnipotent; he hears also because of
the intercession of his Son and our Savior, Jesus. Jesus has been
here. Jesus has faced the specter of death and the pain of torture
and ridicule. Jesus means God not only hears our cries for help; he
also feels the agony with us. That is why he came. He is our
assurance that God feels, cares, acts, and ultimately saves.

PRAYER:
God, Father and Savior, please be with those who are bearing the
incredible weight of agony and pain. Some of these I know and pray
for personally. Others I do not know, but they still need your
comfort, strength, and grace to sustain them in their days of agony
and grief. Please bless them with clear evidence of your care. In
Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Oh Me Oh My - So Adorable

Emily, Savannah and Madison.
My favorite picture of these three from a long while back and I wanted to share. There is one more, Caroline not pictured, but these girls just light up my life when I see them. I have known each of them since birth and they are just my tender hearted friends, and just girls that I can hang out with and talk about silly things or deep matters. I just wanted to show you a little light of them. So, to each of you Knudsen girls, I love you and feel so blessed to know each of you. I hope your day is filled with smiles as this image did for me this morning.

Prayer Needed

Friends of mine and Anthony's have a little boy that needs some prayers to heaven. His name is Evan. Here is the email from his Dad (Phil) below. I wish I had a picture to share because you would find this to be one of the most beautiful children that you have ever seen! If you could offer any prayers his way, well, that would be more than I could ever ask for!

Phil wrote: I always feel funny when I ask people that I barely know to pray but would appreciate prayers for the following. Today in school Evan had three of the worst seizures he's had all school year. At 8:30, 9:15 and 1:15 he suffered what Lisa and I call category 4 seizures where he stiffened and would have fallen if his teachers weren't holding his hand. One of the three times he fell off his chair onto the carpeted floor. We're calling these category 4 seizures because we normally rank them 1 to 3 with 3 being the most severe. Evan seems to recover pretty quickly from the seizures but afterward he always seems to be scattered in his thoughts / actions. Needless to say Lisa and I are worried that he may fall into a pattern of increasingly worse and more intense seizures. This would be much like what he experienced three years ago when the doctors told us that Evan would slowly digress into profound retardation with every incident.

I also ask that someone not only pray for Evan and his worrisome parents but pray for Emily that what our family is experiencing doesn't negatively impact her but that somehow she grows from this and grows up to be a well adjusted young lover and follower of Christ.

Thanks for your ears to hear us, your eyes to look to Heaven and your hands to fervently pray for us.

God bless you all,

Phil

Virtues

Instead of always harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues.
Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits. Hold up to him his
better self, his real self that can dare and do and win out.
-- Eleanor Porter (1868-1920) American Novelist

This is one of my most favorite photographers Gregory Colbert (www.ashesandsnow.org)

A New Hope

I found this picture of Peyton Grace. It made me smile big when I saw it this morning! You cannot see it in this image, but in the background on the TV behind her were the words "A New Hope". She is that to me!

Great Verse Great Thought

Learning to love God and lean into Him. To really feel his presense beyond the fact of tangible.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the
mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
-- Psalm 46:1-2

THOUGHT:
God is not only our protector, he is also our helper. Even when
our world seems to be crashing around us, he is there. He will
deliver us from death or deliver us through death. He will deliver
us from evil or he will deliver us to overcome evil. Our task is to
trust that in the midst of our earthquakes and tidal waves we are
not alone or abandoned.

PRAYER:
Holy God, I pray for those today who are in the middle of life's
earthquakes. You know those for whom I am concerned. You know I
care about their struggles which are too big for me to mitigate and
too painful for me to truly bring comfort. I ask you now to bless
them, be with them, and please deliver them quickly. You are our
only true hope and Jesus is our only sure redeemer. In the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Happy Birthday Woo Wee!

Wendy (pronounced: wooooo weeeee): defined: sister, friend, fire fighter and sunshine in a human. She is like a warm Krispy Kreme donut without the calories. I went to dinner with my family last night for my sister Wendy's birthday. Funny, with my family together, I took these moments to really look at each sweet face at the table and thought about how I value each of them. Then I looked at Wendy. She has always been and will always be my true deep in my heart friend in the world. Like God just knew we needed one another. Okay, in truth God knew that the world needed her and I just landed the lottery by getting her as my sister. I am a captive laughter audience in her company and she knows it! We laughed like we did when we were young without feeling the hardness that life has brought each of us and well, we just get one another. She is the most giving and gracious and absolutely hilarious person in the world besides my Mom. At any rate, I figured out last night why I like to laugh with friends and family. It is because it reminds me of her. As happy tears fill my eyes, I don't know how to put it into words, but her light shines incredibly bright and it is just who she is without effort. I know I talk about God a lot, but to be in her company would be the closest thing I could think of to sharing time with God. She is funny, gracious, thoughtful and such a big heart. So, Wendy if you read this, I hope your birthday year is just full of amazing! I hope all your dreams and wishes come true. I pray over you true joy and amazing health for a very, very, very long and happy life! Love you, L.B. (Kiki)

God Has No Limits - Wait expectantly for him to move!

I thought I would forward hope to you today. This is so great.

“I am the Lord, the God of every person on the earth.
Nothing is impossible for me.”
(Jeremiah 32:27)

Thought:
Sometimes it’s overwhelming to think about everything God has done for His people. Sure, you can always find things to get angry, disappointed or confused about; but God has blessed you in many ways and He doesn’t plan on stopping! God wants to open doors for you that no man can shut—and His infinite power has no limit. God wants to shower you with blessings and nothing can stop Him. Expect big things from God, because He is all-powerful and He loves you!

A Prayer for Today
God, thank You for Your care and love for me. I know that nothing can separate me from Your blessings because You are all-powerful in my life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Joy - Great quote for your day

I slept and dreamt that life was Joy.
I woke and saw that life was Duty.
I acted, and behold, Duty was Joy.

--Rabindranath Tagore

Laughter and Courage

I think laughter may be a form of courage. As humans we sometimes
stand tall and look into the sun and laugh, and I think we are never
more brave than when we do that. -- L. E.

Courage

I found this quote in my one of my creative files. I shared with a treasured friend of mine today in email, that I just don't get the fact that wanting a pure heart and trying to do the right thing before God and be a person of honorable character just doesn't match the world system. In honesty, I realize it doesn't match my heart system either at times, as I desire the pure heart to be forefront in my life but in a moments notice, fall and think "Me oh my, where did that come from? I thought that was gone from my nature!". Who knows, my not getting this could be the fact that I am growing for the better in my soul and hopefully cause me to move in courage and hold onto the gentle hand of God who is trying to lead me and everyone else through this life. One can hope at least. Funny, even at age 41, I want people to know me as this fun loving, caring woman that just has a gentle heart for God that is just in a word, True. I do not mean this in a religious, A-type personality sense, but, that I have a real personal relationship with God and more a person of good and honorable character that makes people smile until their cheeks hurt and leave people better than I found them. This being human stuff is just hard sometimes. Hopefully I will grasp that just being me, with my at times baby steps towards him with scars and all before God is just enough. Now, there is my deep and oh so transparent heart for you today.

I pray your day is filled with truly happy smiles of courage.

Cutie Pie

While I am into introductions this month, I thought I would introduce you to Anthony's twin brother's son, Wesley. Such a fun loving cutie pie. This was a day that Anthony went to babysit a couple of weeks ago. They were on their way to eat lunch and I think Anthony couldn't resist this photo moment. Anthony speaks of Wesley with a sweet glimmer in his eyes and I think often finds reasons to go to Wesley's side of town so he can just spend time. I think they will be lifetime friends and I am looking forward to seeing them cultivate a lifetime of memories together. Anthony is just going to make an incredible father one day.

Light with all the twinkles

Meet my friends Angie and Don’s twinkle of light, Raegan Audrey Hearn. To get to know Raegan, you must first know Angie. Have you ever met someone in life that the more you get to know them you see that they are just true people of good character? Well, Angie is that kind of rare jewel. She is truly honest, beautiful inside and out, has a keen sense of humor and is a creative and a deep thinker. Already you can see some of Angie’s fun and tenacious spirit in Raegan. Anthony and I both just adore this family. When Raegan smiles, oh my goodness! It is like she is delivering effervescent sunshine to your soul. I love to just look at her, or tickle her toes and watch her smile and well, call Angie to ask the "What is Raegan doing new?" question. I just wanted to introduce you to her and hopefully over time, you will be able to experience some of the miracle of watching this little girl grow.

So, I guess I want to say, that in life there are these friends and I have no idea why God has blessed me enough to know, but I pray that for you as well. To be bestowed with friendships that matter and that you will feel as blessed as I know I am. I must run now. Have a happy and blessed Easter.

I don't mean to bring light to this, but every time I go to publish my blog and there is someone pictured, doesn't my picture to the right look like I am trying to be a part of the picture I share? I just thought it was kind of funny that is all and indicative to the thought that I just like being with my people. Silly me!

Sweet Birthday Wish

Paige and her family (Husband Dan and their girls by age, Savannah, Madison, Emily and Caroline). If you read this blog at all, you will get to know them well. Monday was my tender friend Paige's birthday. I am 6 months older than her, so try as she may, she will never catch up to me...smile. I wanted to wish her more blessings than one can hold in ones lifetime. I love it that we are just kindred, adult, silly, iron sharpens iron, creative, God loving, walk through life's hard or blissfull journey's, dig deep, written into the tapestry of each other's lives kind of friends. She is truly just someone dear to me. So, hugs and happy birthday to you JPK! Much love to you friend.

Two good quotes

Being at peace with yourself is a direct result of finding peace with God. -- Olin Miller

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns. I am
thankful that thorns have roses. -- Allophones Karr