How Great is Our God – Page 10

Trying to Catch Up

July 11, 2013June 23, 2015 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Florida Weather, Food and Drink, Hallelujah Diet, How Great is Our God, Obtaining Mercy Croft, What's Happening

We've had a quiet couple of weeks here at our house. Ike's caregiver was on vacation one week, then she took some days off for the 4th of July.

We've been getting lots of rain here, along with our mid-90* weather. The rain does help the mercury to stand still and stop climbing for a little while each day.

I think the crepe myrtles must really love the rain. They are all in bloom all over town.

Our summer skies are really breath-taking here in Florida. I know other places have beautiful skies too; but I am quite particular to ours.

I know Kepler doesn't get outside as much as she would like. I think she was trying to tell me she needed a little more vitamin D when she positioned her head to bask in this puddle of sunshine.

Doug is still planting seeds and harvesting a few veggies here and
there. Nothing has produced like we expected it to, so for this next
round of seeds he will be using a special fertilizer for each bucket. Yep,
we have a garbage can full of cow manure in our back yard. ;)

I like to call this new addition to our garden "Bowl-o-Cilantro". (You can click to make the pictures bigger.)

Now…I'm a little hesitant to tell you this, because I'm afraid I might get fussed at; but that bowl? Yeah…it's Tupperwear. And yeah, it does have drainage holes now. Is that like really wrong? I'm telling you, I just could not resist doing it. How amazing does that cilantro look in that bowl???

The trick is to cut from a small quadrant of the full bowl when you need cilantro, then rotate and clip the next quadrant the next time you need it. That way it will continue growing in the bowl all the time. I am looking forward to some yummy dishes this summer!

We are still doing ok, financially. We did have to dip into the money we were saving for Doug's surgery during last week, as he didn't tutor. (The boys spent the week at church camp.) We received a $300 check in the mail, just in time to pay our utilities bills this week. We also received a HUGE check towards Doug's surgery. He will be calling today to set up his surgery date. He is a little nervous about that, as he's never had surgery before; but I know the Lord is going to see him through it with no complications.

By the way, we are still continuing to try to stay on our diet. I say "trying" because we got waylaid a little bit by the 4th of July. When you step out the door and smell barbecue grills cooking, it sets up a domino effect! We did have burgers…and then cupcakes, and then we struggled all weekend. However, on Monday, we got back on track and are doing well now. According to my doctor's scales, I am still the same weight I was this past February. Eh… And Doug, of course, has lost in the neighborhood of 30 pounds already. Yeah…I know. I want to just poke him in the eye, too! 😉

I leave you with a close up of Poppet. Doug was cleaning her cage this week and so I was spending a little one-on-one time with her. Then she bit my ear. And went right back into her cage!!! But she looks really cute here.

That's all for today!

Talk to you again soon,

Alesha

Give to Get

June 7, 2013 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Food and Drink, Hallelujah Diet, How Great is Our God, What's Happening

So…somebody dropped off a box of food at our house.

I know! We were surprised, humbled and grateful.

It had 18 different things in it – from frozen chicken breasts to blueberry muffin mix.

Our God is just amazing, isn't He?!!

Then, we were faced with a quandry. We are committed to sticking to our new diet plan this summer. Several things in the box were things that are not on our list of things we can eat. Should we eat them anyway? After all, the Lord pretty much did the grocery shopping for us on this one!

We thought for just a bit, pulled out the things we could eat (several packages of frozen veggies!), and then sent the rest of the box on to someone else who needed it.

So we were blessed. And then we got to bless someone else!!!

It is hard to beat the feelings of gratitude that well up in our hearts at times like this.

Interestingly enough, I had planned to blog about giving today. You see, one of the ways that we are saving and stretching our money is to give some of it away. I know it sounds crazy, but it is an amazing principle that works on so many levels.

Even the world is learning how this Scriptural principle works. The wealthiest people in our country are often spotlighted for their charitable giving. They have stumbled onto the truth that when we give, we are blessed.

So each week that Doug works, we will be giving a portion of our income to the charity of our choice, our local church. We will also be giving a small weekly gift to the missions project in our church. Then monthly, we give a very small gift to support our favorite Christian radio station, Gospel 90.3, which is also a ministry of our church.

And…just in case you are wondering, we do not give to our church because our pastors harp about needing money week after week. They don't. We give to our local church for two reasons:

We know how our money is being used because we are right here. We see the ministry.
We are practicing a Biblical principle that will bless our home and family far beyond the dollars that leave our bank account.

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together,
and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same
measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." ~Luke 6:38

Giving some of the blessings away,

Alesha

It’s Going Swimmingly

June 5, 2013May 31, 2022 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Hallelujah Diet, Household, How Great is Our God, Isaac Update, What's Happening

With the tropical disturbance in the Gulf, we are getting a LOT of rain every day. It feels like we need to “swim” about the yard to check on the garden and out to the mailbox and across town with the rivers of water rolling down the street.

Speaking of the mailbox, yesterday I was tickled to find the first of two books that I ordered last week. I’m sure you’re wondering why in the world I am ordering books when Doug is out of work. So, I will tell you! 😉

I order all of Isaac’s diapers and wipes from Overstock. Each year, I renew my membership in their “Club O”. For me, it is an excellent deal. Let me explain.

The first year, I was automatically enrolled in Club O for free. That was great. I earned a certain percentage of O Rewards, which you can spend on their site. The second year, I hesitated to pay the full amount of the enrollment; but then they offered it for $10 off. Now THAT was a deal! I’ve since discovered that they offer the $10 off every year. I just wait until then to renew.

In 3 years time, I have received over $300 worth of merchandise with those O Rewards! And guess what I paid for my Club O renewal last year! $9.95!!! Over $100 of merchandise a year for $9.95.

Now I realize that not everyone buys $150 of diapers and wipes every month like we do, and so for you, this might not be worth the money. For us, though, it works great.

Last week, I realized I had over $15 in rewards waiting, so I ordered 2 books that I’d been wanting to read. For them both, including shipping, I paid $1.68.
Today, I found a 10% off coupon for a food order that I was making online. It saved me almost $5 AND I got free shipping!!!
I did quite a bit of surfing on the internet this morning, looking for raw cashews. I finally found them here in Florida for just over $6 a pound. We got the large pieces, and that saved quite a bit of money. I will use these cashews to make sweet dishes on the Hallelujah Diet, and so I don’t mind one bit if the nuts are whole or not.
We picked 5 small tomatoes from our garden today – 3 red and 2 yellow pears…yummy!

Well, Isaac didn’t sleep last night. That’s the 2nd time this week that he has done that. We are trying to track down the culprit causing his insomnia. We are suspecting that it might be a tummy issue. Anyway, I am thinking very seriously about taking a nap, so I am going to end this for today.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s surprises,

Alesha

A Day to Celebrate!

December 6, 2012June 23, 2015 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Holiday, How Great is Our God, Just My Thoughts, What's Happening

Happy Birthday to the world's greatest Mama!!!

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for teaching me about Jesus.

Thank you for giving me home full of love and peace and fun.

Thank you for being YOU.

I love you,

Alesha

Isaac’s Funny Little Schedule

October 5, 2012 by ObtainingMercy, posted in A Door of Hope, Household, How Great is Our God, Isaac Update, Just My Thoughts, What's Happening

Hey y'all. We've had a good week here at our house. With the exception of continuing allergy issues, we are all doing well.

Isaac has developed this really odd schedule, and I thought I'd share it with you. Keep in mind this is a child who has multiple special needs and is not supposed to be aware of things, you know. Heh!

We put Ike to bed between 8:30-9:00. He listens to his "Hallelujah" (Gaither video) for about an hour and falls asleep.

Then somewhere between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. he wakes up.

Then he goes back to sleep around 7 a.m. and sleeps until Noon.

Isn't that peculiar?

So why is he waking up and staying awake???

Because DADDY is home! Daddy comes to check on him. Daddy sits in his room for a while. Daddy changes him if he's wet. Daddy gives him his juice and meds at 5:30.

And why does he go back to sleep after 7???

Because Daddy comes in and says, "I'm going to work now. Be a good boy for Mommy and Mrs. Julie today."

And out he goes like a light!

Isn't that something???

This poor, little unaware, handicapped, developementally delayed child that knows nothing, and is incapable of making decisions or understanding the concept of time wakes up to spend time with his Daddy. And sleeps the sleep of the dead when Daddy is not here.

Julie and I can talk. The dogs can bark. Julie can vacuum, clean the bathroom…he snoozes through all of it…because he doesn't want to spend his waking hours with us. He'd rather spend them with dear ol' Dad!

I love that he loves his Daddy and is so attached to him. I love that he knows who he wants to spend time with. I love that he can alter his schedule to suit his own needs and desires.

God has been so good to us, and I am so thankful that He is allowing our boy to grow and mature.

Psalm 139:14 "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."

It also makes me wonder how excited I am to spend time with my Heavenly Father.

Do I wake up early to be in His presence? Am I willing to give up sleep to talk with Him? Will I alter my entire schedule just to sit with Him for a while each morning?

Yes, I think there is much to learn from my child in this area. I think I should probably pay close attention to see what else he can teach me about myself, about life and about God.

I used to think the following verse applied to simple salvation, but maybe there is more to it than that. I will be meditating on this for a bit, I think.

Matthew 18:2-3 "And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

Praying you have a blessed weekend,

Alesha

Catching Up

August 16, 2012June 23, 2015 by ObtainingMercy, posted in Blessings, Household, How Great is Our God, What's Happening

So what have we been doing for the past 2 weeks?

We've been working on bulletin boards, of course! What else would a teacher be doing during the final few days of summer??? 😉

Doug had some big plans for his new room, and we worked hard to pull all the pieces together for that (quite literally!). He has 2 boards 8×4, and one 4×4…so you can see that we had a lot of space to fill.

Here's the small board:

(Math: The only place a kid buys 60 watermelons and nobody asks "Why?")

And the larger ones:

(John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. Doug will add the "blocks" to the pyramid throughout the year, along with the corresponding "Building materials" explanation to the right.)

(Heaven's GPS. This was a great idea that Doug had to make the Plan of Salvation a setting on the GPS. You can see his "map" and his many instructions, along with detours and road blocks. We are praying that his students come to understand the concept and come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, if they don't already know Him when the school year starts.)

Isaac and I are settling back into our routine with Julie, Ike's caregiver. I am hoping to add some new activities to my schedule this year…just what that will be, remains to be seen. I would love to start voice lessons, as well as volunteer somewhere each week. I'd also like to settle on whether I want to write a book or not. I love to write, but do I really have a book "in me"??? I just don't know yet.

I have a HUGE coupon that is active in my Etsy shop right now. Use 25OFF to receive 25% off any purchase from Alesha Kay Jewelry. I added a few new things to the shop just today.

My aunt Helen, my mom's sister, passed away early this week. We will be attending her funeral tomorrow. Yesterday would have been her birthday, had she lived; but my mom was happy to think about her spending her birthday in Heaven with the Lord. I am so thankful that she is at home with Him now, healthy and happy and whole.

God has been so good to us throughout this summer. It has been very difficult financially, but He has met our every need. It has been a summer of spiritual growth and I am thankful for that…even though it was quite painful at times. I'd rather walk through the hard times WITH the Lord, than to have no troubles, but not know Him.

What do people do when they don't know Jesus? It's a sad thing indeed, when you think about it, isn't it? That's why it's so important that we live our lives to show them how different it can be to know a Saviour like our Lord Jesus Christ! Our walk should show them what our talk tells them.

Philippians 2:15-16a "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life…"

Blessings to you and yours as you shine as lights for the Lord!

Alesha

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: