Author: ObtainingMercy

The Color of February

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Colorful Life, Foto Friday

 

Febcolor3

My ivy is thriving in the house in this terra cotta red planter.

Febcolor2

Any Cafe Bustelo coffee is good, but the espresso style is my fave.

Febcolor4

The smell of this hand soap makes me smile every time I use it.

Febcolor5

My Vera Bradley blanket in "pink swirls".

Febcolor

A tart way to start the day.

Febcolor6

Finger Paints "Paint Me Happy" with Orly's "MirrorBall" on my ring finger, highlighting my wedding ring.  It's been on that finger for 27 years this February.

Last but not least, my favorite red Gospel 90.3 cup.  Restorathon happens at the end of this month.

I love February's colors!!!

The Color of Sleep

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Colorful Life

This – a full night's sleep – is a real answer to prayer for me:

100sleep

If you are struggling with sleeping, I feel your pain, and want to encourage you that you will, one day, sleep again.

The best advice I ever got about insomnia was from my sweet friend, Patricia, who told me,

"Make friends with the night."

She went on to share that if she couldn't sleep, she didn't lay in bed, angry, staring at the clock.  She read, she made a cup of tea, she worked on a project or she prayed.

We can make use of those hours, especially when they are coming night after night and we seem stuck in a cycle of insomnia.

I've also added a few practices of my own:

  • Pray through the alphabet, calling the name of everyone whose name starts with "A", then "B", etc.  If you only get to "G" one night, start on "H" the next night.
  • Recite Scripture, beginning in Genesis, go through every verse you know from memory in each book of the Bible.  You'll be surprised how many verses come to mind.
  • Listen to audio books.  I use the free site Librivox to download classics to my iPod.  I listened to different readers until I found a few whose voices I found soothing.  I rarely make it through one chapter before I doze off.

I'm wishing you sleep, my friends,

Alesha Kay

 

 

Adding Color to My Life

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Colorful Life

I like color.  I like sparkle.  I like pretty and attractive and feminine.

Sometimes, due to weather or circumstances or illness or busy-ness, our lives can get a little drab.  So, I love to find ways to add the beauty of color back into my life.

I am not good at painting my nails.  I never did it as a child.  Having no sisters may have had something to do with that.  But my mom painted her nails every Saturday night.  So, really, I have no excuse, except that I really didn't like to sit still long enough to do it.

Since I am so inept, I've developed a theory.  I will never have that perfect salon manicure.  So I might as well have fun.  (And since my paint job is always less than spectacular, why not add a layer of sparkle to cover the defects!)

Polish1

Polish3

Polish5

PolishB

PolishD

 

I bought some new colors recently:

ColorA

And lots of sparkle to layer on top:

ColorB

I even watched a video about nail polish clean up and picked up some of the recommended products:

Tools

I feel like I'm getting better at it.  I am enjoying the process and finding that "practice makes permanent."  I know I still have a lot to learn, because some manicures last a week and others peel off in a day.  But I'm having fun learning!

Here's to adding color to our lives!

Thanks for reading.

Alesha

Fruit Salad, Yummy, Yummy

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings

This past weekend we were able to pick up some gorgeous melons at our local Publix.  They had honeydews, cantaloupes and watermelon.

We'd also been given a homegrown pineapple by a friend at church.

Last night, everything was perfectly ripe ~ all at the same time!

So, I spent my evening slicing and dicing and spilling cantaloupe seeds all.over.the.floor.  Sigh…I know!

But the result is well worth the effort:  a lovely bowl of fruit salad.

Fruitsalad

 

(…and bonus points if you sang the title of the blog!  Yes, we are Wiggles fans here.) 😉
Alesha

It’s Time For Making A Decision

by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, How Great is Our God, Just My Thoughts

I read these verses this morning, and thought "That could have been pulled from today's headlines!"

 

Psalm 83:2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.

3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.

5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

Things will ever be the same for the nation of Israel, until the day that Christ returns to earth and sets things right for His people.

Before that day, however, there will be a calling away of Christians, a gathering together of all the saved to Heaven.  Then we will return with Christ on the day that He overturns the enemies of Israel.

Will YOU be ready for the rapture, for God's calling up to Heaven those who have been saved, redeemed from their sins by the precious blood of Jesus, shed on Calvary?  

If not, my friend, I hope that you can take a look around you, at the things that are happening daily around the world, and realize that your time is short.  Jesus will be calling us out of here to Heaven just any day now!

Why delay turning your life over to the Lord?  There will come a day when time for repentance will run out.  The timetable of God's rescuing Israel will be put into motion, and those who are not FOR God will be AGAINST Him.

Make your decision today to trust Him for salvation from sin and Hell, to everlasting life with Him in Heaven

The time for making that choice is quickly running out.

II Corinthians 6:2 – (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

A Bit o’ This and That

by ObtainingMercy, posted in Craftiness, Isaac Update

I took my mom to get a hair cut this morning.  A few minutes after the hair stylist got started, my brother walked in the door.  Turns out, his appointment was right after my mom's.  Too funny!

Yesterday, we traveled to Orlando for some routine tests for Isaac.  We asked folks on Facebook to pray about the procedure.  It went so much better than we even anticipated.  We were so grateful!  The results of the test were good too.  Our God is so good to us.

Remember, I made some homemade hair gel last week?  Well, I am LOVING it!!!  I highly recommend your giving it a try.

I also found another use for it:  eyebrow fixative.  I don't know about you, but as I get older, my eyebrows have gotten a little wild.  ;)  I never know what they're going to look like when I get home from church.  It's embarrassing!  So, I purchased a tube of brow fixative a while back, and it works well.  It was getting old, though, and almost empty, so I thought I'd replace it with my new flax gel.

I simply removed the stopper from the top of the old tube, and rinsed it with hot water until it was clean.  (The tube was clear plastic, so I could see when it was clean.)  I washed the wand thoroughly as well.  Then I used one of Isaac's medication syringes to draw up a bit of the flax gel and squirted it into the tube.  Now, I have a lovely new tube of eyebrow fixative, and it didn't affect my pocketbook at all.

Today I mixed up a hair rinse, to follow my baking soda hair cleanser. 

Hairrinse

It is a combination of water, vinegar, aloe vera gel, honey, and a couple of essential oils.  You can click here to find the recipe.

I'll be using it this weekend, and I will let you know how it goes.

Doug heads back to school on Monday, and Isaac and I will be fending for ourselves during the day.  We are working on getting a nurse, but the process has been one of "hurry up and wait".  I am trying to be patient and not push ahead of God's timing.

Praying you have a great weekend and that you spend time with God's people in church on Sunday!

Alesha