Prayer Walk Revisited

Reflections on the Prayer Walk

We had such a touching evening at our women's ministry event.

The prayer walk was a fun experience to plan and facilitate for our

Ladies in the church.

There were some very inspirational activities, quiet contemplation, and creative communications with God over the whole evening.

Jesus is the light of the world, and Healing Hearts activities....

Here I am just finishing setup, and prepping for the evening. 

Getting a head start on some of the activities.

I was surprised at the things God brought to mind in this activity, things I

Thought had been settled and put to sleep forever, but I trust in the Lord, so I 

Used the Healing Hearts activity in the way the Lord led me to.

We are not alone in this walk through life... every Christian stands together to shine

In this darkened world... It is a good reminder... and one we need as fellow 

Women, wives, mothers and Christians....

Praise him, or the rocks will cry out and praise Him...

Jesus is the great Healer...

Wonderful time of Creative Prayer Journaling....

I enjoyed the comforting companionship of the other ladies as I talked with God 

Through writing in my journal.  Listening to what he wanted me to take from this night...

As I shared with the women at the end of the night, 

the Lord kept telling me Grace & Mercy.....

He really wanted me to meditate on these two actions....

There was more he kept telling me, private things I struggle with that he is

Still working with me on.... I know that he knows my heart, and he knows my struggles.

It is very comforting.

I loved seeing friends and other women sitting reverently spending time 

With God and Journaling there thoughts and prayers to our Lord and Savior...

It was a very powerful experience....

One of the activities to remind you to pray..... 

Creativity at its finest.

Found on pinterest and modified to fit our purpose.

This was one of my favorite stations.... and it was revisited through the night.

I love that when there wasn't enough R tiles, someone made some 

Out of paper and ripped them into a square shape to fit the board...

Creative and obedient to the Lord's prompting.

These are powerful words of God working in these ladies hearts and minds, and 

In their personal walk with the Lord..

It was such a privilege to serve our women's ministry with this evening.

Many months of research, and creative planning and shopping, and time

Spent talking with God about my plans.... what an amazing opportunity

The Lord let me facilitate...

I am hoping to be able to do this again soon for our church....

I even have a bunch more activities planned, so anyone whom already

Participated Will have new experiences to work through.

Praise be to God for this experience...

Grace & Mercy & Manny Blessings to you all.....

~ Brat~

P.S.  Thank you to my daughter for taking these photos.  

In all the craziness of planning and packing for this evening, I forgot

 To bring my camera....

Prayer Walk

This coming Monday night, I am doing an interactive

Prayer walk for our women's ministry.

I have participated in these several times, but this time I'm in 

Charge of the whole thing, and I'm really excited about it.

I have spent months doing research, and planning, and getting

All the ideas ready for an evening of prayer through creative activities.

The ladies will go from station to station throughout the night

Focusing on God through prayer and hands on crafts, journaling, 

And activities meant to draw their relationship with 

God closer over the evening.

Some of the activities include tying knots, writing with chalk, mirrors,

Bandaids, water, a clock, puzzle pieces, buttons, flour, candles,

Markers, pottery, and a lot more...

Did I say I'm excited???

This Monday September 15, 2014

Any and all ladies are invited to this women's ministry event.

Contact me if you need more information, or if you

Would be interested in hearing more about this night with

The idea of doing it at Your church or ladies retreat...

It's going to be a great night!!!

~Me~

Italian Themed Surprise Party

My daughter help plan a beautiful surprise birthday party for a friend at her place, with the theme of an Italian Garden party.... they put a lot of time and effort into making this event happen.... and it was a great success!

Happy birthday to beautiful Aliza, and Italian soda bar...

Appetizer course with bread and dipping oil, olives, mozzarella and basil, cheeses, grapes, and 2 feet tall breadsticks freshly baked at our favorite Italian grocery store...

Cozy seating in Stephanie' s back yard...

Happy birthday in Italian of course!

Everything was delicious

And as it got dark, candlelight made everything a little more intimate..

And then it was time for the Dessert course......

Blowing out the candles!!!

These ladies are such a joy to know, and love.

Each and every one is absolutely amazing, and I am so blessed to have them

In my life.  Spending time with them is always filled with laughter

And great conversation.  Never a dull moment when we get together...

Love them lots!!

Happy Valentines Day?

What better way to say Happy Valentines day, than with a 

Moose Kiss...

Now, I just think that they are adorable, don't you?

One of the things I miss the most about Alaska is the Moose, living side by side with the people.

They are so darn ugly that they are cute.

Of course on Valentines Day, there would be snow everywhere with the moose, but this picture just says Love to me!

Hope you enjoy this Moose Kiss!

Happy Valentines Day, 

A few Days early,...

~Brat~

Yes He is Still The One...

Once a month, we have a bible study with a wonderful group of married couples from our church. Each month we study a different couple from the Bible.  Our time together is a wonderful and precious time of sharing the Word of the Lord, fellowship, and of course food (you can't get a group of Christians together without food). I have come to really cherish the time I get to spend with these couples each month, and I am so thankful for all of the wonderful conversations we share around the living room, time of sharing from our hearts about our marriages, and digging into the Bible to find the treasure there about what God wants us to learn about honoring our spouses and 

living a life that is glorifying to him. 

So often in life, young people have a poor example of what a good marriage is.  They see a very bad example of marriage in the media, and in marriages all around them in the world.  Society doesn't take marriage seriously, and quite often the marriages end in divorce, or are bad examples of what a marriage should be, unfortunately even in the church, there are a lot of people in marriages only serving their selves and not their mate. The success rate in marriage just seems to keep going down.

For years, we have talked to our daughters about marriage, and what God says about it.  God needs to be the center of a marriage, and the core of the relationship.  God should always come first in a marriage, then spouse, then children.  Marriages that put all the focus on self, often fail, but marriages that keep God foremost in the equation, have a much better chance of success, notice I said better chance, not a guarantee.

I think it is important to mentor young people to seek God first, in entering into a relationship, and to do it with much prayer, and consideration.  The heart is a fragile thing to hand over to just any person, and should be saved from needless harm and cherished deeply.  I think it is important to start early  in talking to your children, and helping them to seek a partner that fill Gods purpose for their life with much prayer, and Godly counsel.

We have counselled our daughters that Marriage is a lot of hard work, or should be.  When you say "I Do" you should be saying it for a life time.  It is something that should be considered carefully, and with much caution, because you will be with that person for the rest of your natural life.  Once the marriage brings children, there is a whole new period of learning and balancing that needs to be done. It is so important to keep working on the relationship with God and your spouse every day of your life.  I personally am really guilty of forgetting this on a day to day basis, but I know that in order to keep your marriage healthy and lasting it is important to keep working on Loving that spouse each and every day.  

Remember that you are a shining example to those around you of how God is or is not working in your life and in your marriage.  People are observant of what is happening around them, and are perceptive.  Be a good example of God working in your life, and in your marriage.  Those who will come to marriage after you are looking for good examples to follow.  Take the time to encourage young couples to love God and each other daily within their marriages.  Be a shining light of Christ to those around you by filling your heart and mind so much with Christ, that it just oozes out of you to those all around you.  

My wish for you, my friends, is that when you have been married to the love of your life for many, many years to come that you can look at that person and honestly and truly say..... 

"You are Still the One for me".

Love my Grandpa and Grandma

I love my Grandpa.... He is such a great example to me and my family... He loves my Grandmother with his whole heart.  He will talk to you for hours about his life, and the people he has known in his lifetime, which have been a lot of pretty famous people.  He will tell you about his job at JPL working with the unmaned space shuttles, and other really neat things for NASA.  He has so many wonderful tales to tell, and I could and do sit and listen for hours and gather so much wisdom from his tales... I am so blessed to have him in my life...

He recently had a birthday and my cousin put these pictures up of him when he was younger... Such a handsome man... and my Grandma is pretty darn adorable too....

And here he is with my beautiful daughter this past summer at her wedding doing the Jitterbug... He taught the girls to dance when they were little, 

and they love to dance with him any chance they get... 

An Amazing Man....

Still dancing after all these years......

27 Years filled with love and adventure

This marriage that God has blessed me with has been a grand adventure.

It started off with a crazy trip to Hawaii and a catamaran cruise, and has lead me all over the United states, filled with times of laughter, excitement, and too many blessings to count.

I couldn't have asked for a better man to walk beside me and share my life.  He loves me despite my enormous faults, and never fails to bring entertaining times to our life on a daily basis.

He allows me to bloom wherever I need to be, and supports my itchy traveling nature.

We have seen our fair share of complications and roadblocks that every married couple goes through, but during those times we have learned to rest in God's grace and mercy, and draw closer to Him and each other.

My life is a daily event of silliness, and quirky things that would drive a lesser man to the brink of a meltdown, but through it all, we have learned to love each other more, and to embrace those strange and quirky ways about each other, and instead of going crazy and running away from each other, to appreciate those things that make us unique and our marriage something that works for us.

The best parts of us are shown to us daily in our two beautiful daughters.  Evidence of our amazing love, and God's faithfulness to us.  How awesome is that...... those things about our great love living daily before us, reminding us of why we said I do, so many years ago.

My oldest, just started her marriage, and it is amazing to see all that love and promise blooming in their new life together.   

I look back at my parent's marriage, and how they taught me throughout my life how to love deeply and freely.   They truly loved each other, completely, I learned the precious gift of romance, and dedication from them, and try to show that in my own marriage.  

A favorite saying of my mom and dad was..... "The love in your heart wasn't put there to stay,  love isn't love until you give it away..."

I try to live that to it's fullest, and invest in people around me, sharing the love I have received, and make their lives better by loving them in any way I can to make a difference.  

It is wonderful to touch people in a small way, and show them the love of Christ,  some people never get that, and when I can have the opportunity, it is a blessing to my life.

It has been a wonder life so far, and I look forward to seeing where God leads us, I am sure there will be lots of interesting places, and times ahead for us, and I have the most amazing man to share my journey with...

Thankfully God will be right alongside us as we proceed forward, sharing a life filled with love, and so many people to share it with.

Thanks Darling for this marriage and our adventure together.....


~ Brat ~

Some Pictures from the wedding...

Wedding Pictures are getting done, and here are 

some of my latest favorites.

Daddy Daughter Dance.... She'll always be 

His little girl....

The Bouquet was made to separate into 9  parts, with one main 

bouquet and 8 smaller ones giving more ladies a chance to catch the flowers.

The Maid of Honor won the toss....

Great Grandpa and Bride doing the Jitterbug... 

He taught the girls to dance when they were just little girls, and they dance

 when ever we go to visit them.... It is tradition...

My Husband's fathers pocket watch being held by the newlyweds.... 

He passed away 2 weeks before the wedding.... 

He was missed at the wedding so very much.... 

But still there in our hearts and thoughts...

Those whom I love more than anything...

These two girls are the light of my Life..... and bring me so much joy, I don't know what I would do without them in my life, a mom couldn't be more proud of them.

This was taken at Aliza's bridal shower.... What a great day that was.

Same day, and before my new hairdo.....

My two beauties, from this weekend at Shawn and Aliza's wedding.... Wonderful day!

And the Love of my life, without whom, I would not have my two beautiful daughters..... 

And me with my new Hairdo....  Shortest I have had my hair in 20 something years... 

Photo is from this weekend, in Ohio....