It's HOW You Ask the Question

Sometimes it just takes a little change in perspective to really see the answers... Check it out...

In the movie Evan Almighty, God has a conversation with Evan's wife and part of it goes like this...

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"


Change the way you ask the question ... see where the answers take you!

Be blessed, I know I am.

Ran Over My Toe with a Stationary Bike

Yes, my day has been colorful already. Coloring outside the lines today can only lead to more adventures. I'm just praying for fun, exciting adventures that are pain free...

Just for starters... I got done working out and decided that the recumbent bike needed a new home across the room. I proceeded to pick it up the wrong way (yes, it's me people... would I do it the right way the first time? I don't think so!), and ran over my toe with it. Bet you can't say that happens everyday? Huh?

I'm glad I didn't have to go to the doctor or the ER, as it wasn't serious. Can you hear that conversation?

" Sooo, Mrs. Peterson, how did you hurt your toe?"

"OH! That! I ran over it with a stationary bike."

"Excuse me, what bike?"

"My stationary bike."

"Uh, huh."

That was just the beginning, the day will get better. I just know it! Positive thinking! Positive Thinking! Find a happy place, find a happy place!

Have a great day people!!!!!

Blessings,
Alana

PS: Don't kick said stationary bike in frustration after running over your toe with it. The whole idea goes nowhere.

Paint Your Atmosphere

"It is something to be able to paint a particular picture,
or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful;
but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere
and medium through which we look. To affect the quality of the day -
THAT is the highest of arts."

~ Henry David Thoreau

A Little Adjutment to the Eyes on the Back of My Head

It's a typical Thursday. The holiday break is over, we're back to doing our schoolwork and housework. I won't even get into the mountain that is the laundry and the dishes that tower over my sink. Hubby went off to work and I figured I'd better get on with the day - a peaceful house, snuggled up pup - ahhhh! That lasted 5 minutes in the bathroom before a sweet little girl voice said, "Mom, watcha doin', can I come in?" Realize, people, I tend to use sarcasm as a super-power, so my response was quite normal for my family.

"Nah, sweetie, that won't work right now. I'm having the eyes on the back of my head adjusted and it might not be fun to look at."

"Oh. Um, when your done, you should have a Creamsicle. It'll make you feel better."

I heard loud running down the hall and my little girl waking her brother in her Irish whisper, "Josh! Josh! Listen! Mom's having the eyes on the back of her head adjusted! Josh! I knew they were real, I knew it! We better watch out today! Mom's been a little off her game because of the holidays, she'll be ready to roll now!"

Yes, they do think I have eyes in the back of my head. Thanks to my microwave facing the kitchen table. When I'm cooking dinner, I can see their reflections and I tend to reprimand while keeping my head down and not turning around. It completely freaks them out! They also haven't realized that the little "kid mirror" in my car is to watch them, not to check my makeup, so the same rule applies in the car. Ha!

Go draw something!

Go draw something! That's how I started my morning. My artistically driven little girl was whining that she didn't have anything to do. So, the above phrase was uttered. Now the adventure begins. Once a thought enters her head about a project, there isn't much stopping it. I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE GETS THAT FROM :) Off we go...

Yes, it's cold in the Northeast today... that's not going to stop me though... Aislyn got an EZ tracer from my brother, for Christmas! Yay! Uncle Chollie! She loves it. However, I'm now official photographer to, "she who must be artistic." Hmmm, scratch that! I'm the Artistic Director for Ornery Acres. That's better. Sounds more official.

Anyway, the EZ tracer works by projecting whatever picture, photo, etc., placed beneath it, upon a wall, canvas, etc., and can be set to many sizes. It's a the coolest thing my daughter could have gotten, next to the HUGE art carry all she got from us. Uncle Chollie rates though. Well, because he's uncle Chollie and he's cooler than her parents. That said, I'm off to take some pics of the light snow falling on the frozen "lake" in our yard. Aislyn says, "it's the perfect mix of snow covering and the grass beyond." OK.

I know it sounds like I'm whining that I have to take pictures. That's really not the case. I LOVE photography and now I have a chance to share it with my little girl. Some of you may say, let her take her own pictures. That might happen sooner or later, but I'm not giving my 7 year old my Nikon.... not no way, not no how! I'm content taking pics and sharing with her right now. Last night she said to me, "Mom, I just love it that were doing this together." 'nough said.

Ordinarily I'd say, well, let's finish this and do that and get this other thing done, then we'll go take pictures. If I'm going to color outside the lines today, I'm dropping all of that for a bit and heading outside with my little artistic coordinator before jumping into the day.

Blessings and adventures....

Whew! OK.... posts are finally up for the past 5 days...

I'll see you again tomorrow with more Coloring Outside the Lines...

Blessings!
Alana

Soar

The following message was sent to me this morning and I HAD to send it out to all of you.... be blessed.

God's Wings -

A little something to put things in perspective...

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park , forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.

When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast ...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

'He will cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you will find refuge.' (Psalm 91:4)

Being loved this much should make a difference in your life. Remember the One who loves you, and then be different because of it.

Instructions: send this to people that you want God to bless.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend...lose one.