This is how to do it!!!

For all of you out there that want to know how to do a signature here are the wonderful instructions that Karolee gave me to get mine...

Here is how to do the signature thing.

Go to this site for your signature:
http://www.mylivesignature.com/mls_menu.php

Click on Create Signature then click on Using The Signature Creation Wizard and just follow the directions. Then copy the Hmtl code.

Then go to your dashboard. Click settings and formatting. Scroll down to where it says Post Template and paste your Hmtl code for your signature in that. Save it and you are ready to go!

Thanks again Karolee! If you make your own don´t forget to drop by Karolee´s blog and thank her because she is the one that took the time to explain it to me!!!! She is also a wonderful person to get to know so a visit to her blog will be fun too!

Be true to yourself!

To thine own self be true,

and it must follow, as the night the day,
thou canst not then be false to any man.

~William Shakespeare, Hamlet

This quote pretty much encompasses the experience I want to share with you.

Remember I shared with you how overwhelmed I had been with negative feelings about my practical after visiting the Nursing Home? Well I had another incident happen a few days earlier that confronted me face to face with that time too, but I had kept it to myself!

I was shopping with my sister in our local supermarket when out the corner of my eye I saw one of the ladies I had worked with at the Nursing Home. I am ashamed to admit this, but I avoided her and managed to do my shopping and leave the supermarket without her seeing me or having to talk to her.

What was I afraid of? I was scared to hear her say the words, "Well you didn´t last long did you?! It´s people like you who make this profession a laughing stock!!" or something along those lines.

As I was hiding behind the the boxes of crisps and the cleaning supplies, I tried to justify to myself why I couldn't´t handle talking with this lady and facing up to what had happened. The dreaded meeting never took place, but I left there feeling guilty and yucky inside.

Why? Because I knew I was running away, hiding and not facing up to what had happened. I didn´t want to admit failure and look blatant in front of her or anyone. I had stopped my practical... I couldn´t go on... and that was the truth... Why hide?...

I had nothing to loose really except my pride. Pride is pretending to be something that I am not... to be better than I really am.

I was like Adam and Eve in the garden hiding from God after they ate from the tree.

I was afraid of admitting I couldn´t finish what I had started... afraid of the consequences... Everything in me tried to convince me that being transparent was NOT the right way to go. What deceit!

I knew I was struggling with a false sense of humility....(which is pride ).... The Holy Spirit convicted me that I just had to accept and be up front about what had happened. To be honest and humble and in doing so I would find peace. To be true to God, myself and others. God would help me deal with whatever would arise as a result of the past.

I am ashamed now to say that I acted this way. I know that in hiding and running away you just magnify the problem and give room for lies to take over rather than lessen them.

I decided that I didn´t want to run away from it anymore... I wanted to face up to my failings and be humble and live openly with all that I am !

God in his mercy allowed me yesterday to meet yet another fellow worker from the Nursing Home while at the Market. I struck up conversation with her knowing that I could face all kinds of accusations. She was one of the few trained nurses in the Home and had always be helpful and caring to patients and fellow staff and towards me.

Inwardly I braced myself for the inevitable attack.....but you know what? It never came!!!!

She actually shared that she wasn´t working there any more because she had received a better offer to upgrade her studies and so took it. She even consoled me and confirmed the reality of some of my struggles!!! Talk about gob smacked!

It felt great!!! I felt great!!!

Not only because she had made me feel right about my decision at the time to leave, but also because I had decided to stand up for what I had done and be honest instead of running away and hiding. God gave me the grace to do it... and you know what.... I prefer that much more than running away!

I hope you would feel encouraged next time you find yourself in a similar situation to stand firm and be transparent and not run away..... ...God is faithful to help us with whatever might become of the particular situation we dread and to be at peace with yourself is well worth it! There is such a darkness that surrounds you when you hide and try and cover up.....which reminds me of one of my favourite verses that shows us the opposite :

Hey Karolee.... I got it to work! I did it again and realized where I had gone wrong....thanks a bunch for your help!!!!

Allergies

Over the last three years my honey has been suffering with an allergenic cough and although he has submitted himself to a battery of tests nothing had come clear until this summer when the diagnosis revealed that it could be the cats & dog.

Upon discovering this and wondering why it had never shown up before (which the doctor couldn't really answer well, except just say sometimes these don´t show from one year to the next! and then all of a sudden yes!...lovely explanation eh!!) the allergies specialist (would that be called an allergist...hahahah!!!)said that she would conduct another test just specifically for cats and dogs.

Stephan new that this news would cause an uproar in our house and that´s why the doctor suggested to do this test and not to take any drastic action until we got the results, but we wisely did mention it to the kids back then that this was a possibility so they could be prepared.

Stephan´s allergenic cough has been complicated by the development of asma, which has shown a 23per cent decrease in his lung capacity . He now is using a "puffer" as part of the treatment (which is somewhat costly one I might add). The use of the inhaler will be re-evaluated again in 2 months time.

Monday evening was "D" day and the long awaited test came back and sadly confirmed our suspicions. We now had the daunting task of finding new homes for our lovely pets!

I started to get the process going and wrote an announcement for a local paper and started sending out a few emails. It´s been really hard for the kids because now this situation was no longer just a possibility ....it was a reality.

But God in his goodness has begun to answer our need in such a special way... it´s almost unbelievable. Just a day after receiving the news a real good missionary friend of ours got word of our predicament and was just "LONGING" to have a fox terrier like "Lady"!! He called me up yesterday morning and came over and got her that very evening!!!! He and is wife are over the moon and excited to have our Lady and we know that she in turn has found a wonderful new home with them. Isn´t God good?

Although it´s been a perfect solution, this morning felt a sadness and longing for Lady... all the kids are feeling it too. It will be a bit of an adjustment for sure, but I believe it will be worse when the cats are gone too..... but I´m sure that if God helped with the dog...He will do the same with the cats.

I am blessed that God is involved in the details of our lives even with these things!!!!

http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54485/301/1361143315D4BEBDB4EB8BB114A8D846.png

Hey Karolee...why does it not show the pic but this? I did exaclty what you said ...any ideas??? Anyeone???

A word of encouragement!

Yesterday after I wrote my post about my struggle the Lord spoke this verse to me:

Isaiah 43:18-19
18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (NIV)

18 "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. 19 Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. (Msg)

I just so happens that sweetmummy and Carin and have done a post with the very same verses, so it´s interesting to see how God is saying similar things to us! My cousin Karen also has this as a special verse for her too.

God is exhorting me to forget and not dwell on what happened in the nursing home... that He is going to do a new thing. I feel hope welling up within me. Thanks for your prayers!

My battle

This Friday my sister and I did our Red Cross visits in a town close by here. It was really nice to see them after the summer break, and they are always sooooooooooo happy to chat and catch up!

There is a couple that we used to visit that now have moved into a Nursing Home and no longer use the pendant/telephone services that the Red Cross provides, but we decided to look them up in their new home anyway.

What I didn't count on when visiting them was that I would be flooded with the negative memories of my time working in the nursing home. Click here for my post when I worked in the nursing home. It took all I had to ignore those feelings while we visited them . Because they were so happy to see us, I was able to survive our visit pretty well.

Needless to say, when we left, I felt overcome by feelings of sadness and failure. I was glad my sister was with me. I didn't feel like crying... when it hurts so bad sometimes it goes beyond the crying feeling if you know what I mean. It was a hit below the belt!

Since then I have been fighting against these feelings and gone over what I could have done, what I should have done...you know those mind games you play somehow hoping by doing so you can change history.

I am sick at how quick I am to believe the worst about myself. It is easy to just somehow get lost in the overwhelming feeling of it all. What makes it worse is we are in financial straights at present and the need for me to get employment adds pressure to this whole panorama.

I would appreciate your prayers and that God would do a work in me and provide the job I need to be able to keep our heads above water!!!! Thanks!

Our 20th Wedding Anniversary!

It was a big day in our house!

We celebrated our:

These were the lovely flowers my honey gave me in the morning just to say he didn´t forget the actual date of our anniversary even though we had actually celebrated with style in February... more about that later.

I decorated the door with this sign and coloured flags so that when he came home from work he would get a nice welcome!
I also wrote 20 individual loves notes and strung them across the front room!!!!

Our big celebrating of our 20 years together actually happened back in February when we made a trip to Hawaii! It was a very memorable time and when I look at these fotos, I relive the excitement all over again... Here are a few fotos to share the joy with you too!!!

This is the Island of Oahu, Honulu and behind us you can see Diamond Head. The people who hosted our stay (family of family!!!) gave us this helicopter ride over the big Island of Hawaii, which was the first time I had EVER flown in a helicopter. It was 45 mins of bliss for me!!!
This was only one of the many pools that belonged to the 5 star Hilton Hotel, which was more like a community rather than a hotel! We just pretended to be hotel guests and even joined a "chat" given in the bar about all the sights to see while on the island...it was really fun!
My honey used the unusual white stones on lava rock to send me a subtle message!!!!

Our Weekend in pictures!

SATURDAY

A Wedding to attend!

Of course one must take advantage of these moments for a good family shot!

SUNDAY

A trip to Warner Bros!

Having a cup of tea in Tweety Pie´s house!!!!!

Two of a kind?????



Dh & Nº 2 celebrating their manhood after surviving the big ride you see in the background... the rest of us stayed on solid ground!!!!

On the boat ride we got soaked through to the bone!!! Then the kids stood in front of the crashing point and got a double soaking...just for fun!!!!!

This was how the West was REALLY won!!!! That´s all folks!!!!

Busy!

Yes! It´s been very busy around here....hence the silence!!!! I have hosted two families of 5, attended a Conference, No 3 started school Monday and I did all the paperwork for the boys inscriptions for school, all this plus those everyday activities!!!! This Saturday we will be singing at a wedding and the following Monday the boys are back to school.

Do I deserve some kind of medal or what?????

I try to take one day at a time,

but sometimes several days attack me at once.

~Jennifer Yane

That is kind of how I felt this last week... So now it´s time to just regroup and get back into the rhythm of things.... I'm feeling rather exhausted and find my body trying to catch up with the rest of me. I think it´s lost in the process somewhere, but I will catch up with myself soon!

I have been very encouraged with things that the Lord has been speaking to us so that makes the busyness worthwhile!

A girly day with my girl!

We had a nice afternoon at the shopping centre, looking at clothes and jewellery and eating out.... it was fun! We did this pic in one of those cabins.... Just thought you might enjoy sharing the moment with us!

Another blog test

I saw this one on my cousins blog and thought it was fun to do!!

You are most like: You are Blue
You are cool and soothing, with a hidden spontanious side. You are deeper than most people percieve, and you care a lot for those whom you surround yourself with.
Take this quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You?
Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

Mary, Mary quite contrary...how does your garden grow??!

How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence.

~Benjamin Disraeli

This is the Hibiscus plant right out side my front door. I love this flower not only because I find it to be so beautiful, but because it reminds me of my trip to Hawaii with my Honey!

Today I attacked my somewhat desperately needy of attention...... front garden!!

Due to the water shortage (although this year it is much better than last year) we didn´t feel at liberty to water all the grass spaces (which now no longer has grass since last year...well....just patches) and so now it´s like dry kind of groundy wilderness with weeds!

It never ceases to amaze me that even though everything else dies... the weeds survive! Why is that? How come thistles and other ugly looking grassy things live without water and the other lovely plants can´t? I don´t get it....

Anyway, back to my groundy wilderness with weeds! I raked the whole thing tidy and cut back all the roses that had got diseased and our vine..... Yes we have a grape vine..isn´t that cool?????

And then I found myself enjoying another one of those little house on the praire moments of picking grapes.... I just love the feeling of picking my own fruit.... it´s so satisfying!

Here is my harvest...what do you think?

Actually there would have been more, but some clusters we had already eaten, others were devoured by birds and others simply rotted...

Look at this little cute cluster of grapes.... just a few... almost meaningless, but in God´s eyes they were just as important as the bigger bunches.... I love that about God.... he cares about the small things in life... the details. I care about details too... sometimes I find myself more concerned with details than with major issues!!!

Well my back aches alot and my shoulders do too...but I have the tremendous satisfaction of looking out on my steps and seeing a lovely tidy garden.... and enjoying the fruits of my labours!!!!

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

~Dorothy Frances Gurney,

Kid no 3 took the pics.... pretty good eh!

My vows

I am not sure quite how to make these just focus on the bits I wanted!!!...but at least it is here!!! This September 19th , we will celebrate 20years! I can hardly believe it!

Jane Austen´s Heroines Quiz

Take the Quiz here!

:: M A R I A N N E ::
You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a little to vocal in your honesty. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

This result is pretty much me I guess!!!!