The Titus 2:4 Project

Somehow, here it is October 30th in central Indiana, and we have yet to turn on our furnace.  The 's-word' is in the forecast for tomorrow night, but my heels are dug in and I'm not budging...until Saturday.  November 1st is our goal for firing up the wood furnace - and it looks like we are going to make it.  So what if I have to sleep in a stocking cap, sweatshirt, wool socks and fleece-lined leggings.  As the sun comes up, so does the temperature inside my house...and I finally broke down and brought the electric space heater in from my husband's 'Man Cave' last night.  It has helped take the chill off.  I'm thinking we could go another week without the furnace... As I stood in the shower this morning, watching the steam billow from the top of the shower into the chilly air of the bathroom, I seriously pictured myself standing there until every last drop of hot water was gone from the tank.  Cold water would certainly chase me back to my woo...

There's no doubt that fall is in the air.  It's more than just the golden leaves floating in my pool.  It's the delayed sunrise and the eager sunset.  It's the angle of the sun at midday.  It's the pending harvest and the slow-moving vehicles along country roads. It's the pages on my calendar that beg me to put away my white slacks. Oh, for sure...summer is a fading memory.  And if you have seen any of the ominous warnings about what's coming our way this winter, then you are probably like me, wondering if now would be a good time to pack up and head south...far south!  According to the Farmer's Almanac we should expect our first blast of cold air this month!  The trusted book predicts a winter that will be exceptionally cold.  Bitter cold.  I don't even like the sound of that.  There aren't enough cute sweaters in the world to make me excited about 'bitter cold'.  We heat our home with a wood boiler furnace.  As the...

Today, I am praising God for a victory...one that shows personal growth. When does growth occur?  In the beautiful, sunny days - when blue skies show no hint of rain?  We all know that sunshine is a necessary part of the process, but when we compare a desert to a rain forest, we are forced to admit that growth obviously occurs more prolifically in the rainy conditions than under those sunny, blue skies.  Several days ago, I ran into an old friend who keeps up with me on Facebook.  She asked about the grandkids, and other things she had seen me posting about.  With a huge smile on her face, she shook her head and said, 'Your life is so perfect!' Of course, this caused me to raise an eyebrow at her and chuckle.  'Not exactly.' What she doesn't know is that sometimes, God allows the rain to fall on my spirit, but He does it to bring growth.  Beautiful, necessary growth.  I'm not ashamed of it.  So why doesn't my friend realize that ...

I used to be able to get my son to take trash to the burn barrels or pick up fallen branches around the yard by offering to let him drive his dad's big 350 Ford diesel truck around the farm.  Now that he is almost 16, and driving often on his learner's permit, the allure just isn't there anymore.  I can no longer dangle that carrot in front of him.  What used to be a privilege has become a chore. Isn't it strange how that happens. And it happens a lot.

I did it!  Today I learned how to drive the John Deere!  As I drove up and down the field, leaving row after row of cut grass in my wake, I felt strong.  I felt like there was nothing I couldn't do.  I even considered tackling my husband's broken down diesel truck, parked in the driveway.  If it hadn't been for the streaming sounds of my contemporary Christian station on Pandora filling my ears, I'm certain I would have been hearing the Katy Perry song, "Roar" inside my head.  I love to cut grass.  On the riding lawn mower, at least.  We cut approximately 15-17 acres of grass at our place, week after week after week...all summer long.  The whole process takes at least two full days, sometimes three.  And when rain messes up the routine, it can take even longer.  We have a system that has been working for a few years now, since all but one of the kids have left home.  I cut 60% of the grass with the riding mower - because I...

Have you ever seen a pond covered with thick, green, gross-looking algae?  It's not very pretty.  You try to go fishing and by the time you reel in your line, you have a six-foot long piece of yuck hanging from the hook.  Sans fish.  We have man-made pond in our front yard, about a half an acre or so.  There was a creek running through our yard and we just had it 'expanded.'  We added a sand area for bon fires and a small L-shaped dock.  We have spent many a summer night sitting around the fire, visiting with friends while roasting marshmallows and catching catfish. This year it seems like there's been a lot of that green gunk floating on top, which makes fishing nearly impossible, thus hampering our enjoyment.  It looks stagnant, even though the flow of water rarely stops completely.  But after the weather we've endured over the past 24 hours, the pond is looking much, much better.  The surface is clear and inviting.  I am...

Sometimes God whispers to us. Sometimes He shouts at us.  But usually, it's just a normal, conversational tone...like today. The weekend is over and it's back to the grind.  At my house, that means hubby heads to Chicago again for a couple of days.  I took our youngest to school and dropped him off.  When I returned, Randy was dressed and ready to go, sitting at the dining room table with his laptop already fired up, tapping away at the keyboard.  I served up his favorite: eggs and toast with a 'go-cup' of coffee. I'm a multi-tasker.  I recently learned that multi-tasking is a fallacy.  We can't really do more than one thing at a time effectively.  Maybe that's true...then I just do lots of different things, one after another with no stopping in between.  While the eggs were frying, and the bread was toasting, I unload the dishwasher.  Flip the eggs.  Butter the toast.  Load the dirty dishes.  Serve the breakfast....