Welcome 2012 with One Little Word: Shine

Happy New Year everyone! 

I’ve been busy catch up on several Big Picture classes that started today (One Little Word, Move More/Eat Well, and Twelve- yikes it’s a lot for one day!)  Cody is, of course, at the deer lease- last day of deer season.  I used to say it’s the last day of hunting season- yes, I was naive.  NOW, oh no, hunting season is year round.  But it does mean it’s time to start thinking about the next big season. . . TURKEY.  Can’t wait, but I have to- even longer this year.

Yesterday, I posted about One Little Word and how my word, Home, last year had such a great impact on our life.  I knew it was something I wanted to do again and I started thinking about what my word would be for 2012 a few months ago.  I thought about a few and then one day, while listening to an Eminem song (of all things) it hit me- and the word, after re-listening to the song, wasn’t even in the song. . .

Shiney

That will be my word for this year.  I want to shine in 2012- I want to shine by His grace.  My thoughts quickly turned to “This Little Light of Mine.”

Have you heard this version?  Loving it!  Also purchased another Live version of this on Itunes and have been listening to it alot.

(LOL- When I went to the video on my favorites, I listened to it while posting it here and then came the “dandy” fight  between the Sabres Cody McCormick and the Jets Tanner Glass from earlier this year.  How wrong is that!?!?)

I love music and have pretty diverse tastes.  But, it was fitting that the thoughts about what my One Little Word would be for the year came in snippets of songs.  The next song I thought about was Aaron Watson’s “Sonshine”.  I can’t find it online other than a sample for purchase but here are the lyrics.

Sonshine

 

When wilted and withered
And dyin’ of thirst
In need of forgiveness
When you’re at your worst
Let the rain fall upon you
Like sweet mornin’ dew
Wash away all your sorrows
And let the Son shine on you

CHORUS

Let the Son shine from heaven
Through the clouds in the sky
Come receive your salvation
From His sacrifice
And when you’re down and discouraged
And your heart’s torn in two
You turn your face to the Father
And let His Son shine on you

I’ve been there before
And I know your pain
Surrounded by darkness
All alone and ashamed
While you’re out on life’s highway
The wrong turn can leave you lost
So when you come to the crossroad
Take the road to the cross

CHORUS

And when you’re down and discouraged
And your heart’s torn in two
You turn your face to the Father
And let His Son shine on you

Turn your face to the Father
And let His Son shine on you

(Aaron Watson, Neal Lowry)

I really think those two songs tell the story of what I want this year- to let God’s love shine down on me and through me.  I want a stronger faith and I want to share the gifts God has given me with others.

As I’ve thought about my word and God’s Son and Faith, I’ve often thought back on that Aaron Watson song as the Benediction is read each week at church. As God would have it, today’s first lesson (Numbers 6: 22-27), the lesson for Jan 1, 2012, was the text from where we get our Benediction. I marveled out how cool that was this morning and still can’t believe that was our text today.

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26

 I’m once again taking One Little Word at Big Picture so that I can explore my Word for 2012 more.  You can certainly still sign up  and it’s not too late to choose a word for the year.  You can find out more here.

Yesterday I completed the title page for the year and today I worked with the January prompt.  I still need to take another picture of myself. . .  or get Cody to- but’s it’s deer season remember.

Here’s a look at my pages so far.

This page was printed out and placed in a nine pocket page protector.

 What do you want for 2012?  Will you be choosing a word?

December Daily: December 12-16

Wow!  It’s been a busy week!  Here’s updates for my December Daily:

December 12:

Journaling reads: He's home. Cody got back from the deer lease leaving his familiar black bag in the living room. It seems like that bag is a fixture in our lives these days with all his trips to Austin and New Waverly this year. Of course, now with hunting season there are even more piles and messes but I'm always glad when he's back home.

December 13:

Journaling reads: He's home. Cody got back from the deer lease leaving his familiar black bag in the living room. It seems like that bag is a fixture in our lives these days with all his trips to Austin and New Waverly this year. Of course, now with hunting season there are even more piles and messes but I'm always glad when he's back home.

December 14:

Journaling Reads: Once again, we chose children from the angel tree instead of exchanging gifts with family. Five kids and lumpy fishing and hunting items made me remember how much I really don’t like wrapping presents. . . it’s not by any means a talent of mine. But, the gifts all got wrapped before NCIS came on and date night began and that felt good.

December 15th:

Journaling Reads: Cody took these pictures as I baked cookies for the Troops that Cody would see tomorrow at the strip. I love these pics- they show just how at home I am when cooking. Speaking of home- today I ordered a necklace with my 2011 one little word- Home

December 16th:

Journaling reads: Finally, we had a chance to get our tree. We wondered around until we found our own little slice of a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. We always do- the perfect tree doesn't exist on this hill where we always get our tree. Now to decorate it.

December Daily: Dec 7-11

Well, it’s safe to say that I got a wee bit behind on my December Daily pages- which I finished tonight.  But, I’m not behind on taking time to enjoy the season and this project. 

Here’s my pages up through tonight and a slice of life this last week.

Dec 7th

Really? So I forgot to unplug the truck one morning last year. Two notes! Perhaps one, but two. It was the first time I've headed for work when the truck was plugged in since this spring, but I don’t think I needed both reminders from Cody before he left town. But perhaps I did. If nothing else this one made me smile.

Dec 8th

Dec 10

Cody was off early today so he went to the grocery store, came home and packed, and went hunting. When I got home after work, there were three Little Debby Christmas Trees on the counter. I knew Cody was in the blind so I texted him.

And Lastly Tonight- Still can’t believe Pominville got in a fight. . .

Tis the Season- Hit Him!I was in the spirit tonight- not exactly the holiday spirit- but it was a fun game to watch even if we lost. I could be heard screaming- Make 'em pay, shoot the Puck, Hit him! Score! This is the Season!

Dec 9th

December Daily: December 1-3

One of the many projects I have going on right now is December Daily.  The basic idea is to capture something from each day from Dec 1-25 and appreciate the Christmas Season.  (If you want to read more about the project, check out Ali Edwards Website.  I was able to get my first page done Wednesday after church but didn’t get to finish yesterday’s until tonight.  I thought I would post the first three pages and I’ll post the rest as I can.

It's so fitting that my December Daily begins with our first Wednesday night Advent Service. It's time to focus on the real reason for Christmas and singing the Advent Hymns always brings that home for me. It's funny how songs we only sing this time of year become like old favorites, songs like "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus"€which we sang tonight. Tonight I really began welcoming the Christmas and Advent Season.

Our annual unit meeting was today. I fixed the ham- my Stephenson's recipe ham. Everybody seemed to compliment me on the ham and obviously it was enjoyed. The meeting went well and I received my 10 year service certificate. Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures.

Today was a work day away from the office. We were both off so that we could get some things done at home. After cleaning house in the morning, I worked on getting my Christmas papers and elements uploaded to share them with others. Then, as a reward for all the work that I was able to get accomplished today, I started getting the Christmas decorations out. It's beginning to look a bit more like Christmas here. I just love the feeling of getting out long lost decorating favs.

Giving Thanks: Still Got My Home

When we came home this evening, we noticed that the folks behind us were burning. As we got stuff out of truck and got the mail, Cody remarked that cool- the neighbor would have burned his stuff before we burned our Ike debris. Jack and Lisa were planning to come up but now aren’t. . . leaving Cody’s honey-do weekend free. I noted that if Jack had come up, they still could have burned CAREFULLY.

We came in the house, I changed, and came into the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate and to figure out dinner.

“Oh my goodness” I yelled as I looked at the back door. Half of my back yard was black! Our neighbor fire had gotten out of control sometime today, burned much of what we needed to burn, and half the yard. I yelled for Cody, who was in the back bedroom to look outside.

You know those strange thoughts that come to mind. . . Well, I now knew what my pick for my 365 project picture would be. We noted that we should have some better grass. Cody just might be able to mow the back yard with our poor sad riding lawnmower on it’s last legs when spring rolls around- The tall stuff that Cody hadn’t been able to mow is gone.

Who do you call when your yard’s charred. . . your “little bro” who works for the forestry service of course. . . And then we called the sherriff’s office just to make sure the incident was documented. Strangely, the neighbor still hasn’t come by even though we’ve been home for several hours now.

This kind of thing makes you appreciate having a house and no damage beyond the yard was done. God was looking after us. Bring on tomorrow’s rain!!!!

Saying Goodbye to 2009

When I look back on 2009, I cannot help but be glad it’s over and hope that 2010 brings more happiness. Despite all the negative of this past year, I’d rather dwell on the many good things from 2009- the many things I give thanks for. . . . Here’s just a random list (though I alphabetized them using the computer) of some of the things. . . I know there’s a lot more. . . . I bet I could list 2,009 things or more if I had the time.

(If you read my blog many of these may sound familiar. . . others I’ve yet to write about.)

365 Days of Life with Cody
50 mm lenses!
A family Christmas
A Home
A House
A Husband who makes me smile and laugh every day
A Job that gives me variety and freedom
A portable water heater
A Royals Win in Houston!
A trailer at the deer lease
Ability to listen to great music
Acoustic Jason Boland, Cory Morrow, and Roger Creager Concert
Adam Carroll in Concert
Air Conditioning
Amy Lynn
Answers
Backroads
Banana Cake
Baseball Autographs
Beautiful Sunrises
Bed
Blogging
Breakfast and Shakes at Jimmy’s
Cell Phones that do more
Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Fondue at the Melting Pot
Chrismons
Church Friends
Climbing around at Turner Falls
Coca-Cola
Cody and Jack playing catch at the ballpark
Cody getting together with Billy and Terry
Cody’s Blue Eyes
Coke Cans being gone from the house
Computer Skills
Confirming my middle name
Creating
Cutting a Christmas Tree from the Farm
Dance
Decorating
Deer Meat in the Freezer
Exercise
Facebook
Faith
Family
Finding Inspiration Online
Flexible Work Hours
Food on the Table
Football kicks into the brush at the deer lease
Fred Eaglesmith in Concert
Freezer Cooking
Friends
Fudge at Crowne Center
Fun at Nine Flags
Fun Shoes
Getting Cody a camera
Getting Packages in the Mail
Getting through tough times with Cody
Getting to go to the Park for work
God
God’s Saving Grace
Good Food
Good Health
Great spots to take pictures
Having my Uncle and Aunt around
Health
Hearing the History of the Round Barn
Heated Mattress Pads
Heaters
Help from Friends
High Speed Internet at home
Impromptu Trip to See KC play in Arlington
Improving my photography skills
Internet on our phones
Jack “graduating” to the 243
Jack getting to hunt
Jason Boland in Concert
Kelby Training
Laptops
Learning from Frank White
Living in a town with so many memories
Living Small Town life
Love
Macaroni and Cheese
Meeting Debby
Melting Pot
Milk
Morning Fog Paint
My kitchen
My Marriage
National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Museum
NCIS
Netflix
New Opportunities
New Speakerphone at work
No Hurricane!
Online Friends
Online Shopping
Organized Moments
Photography Class Scholarship
Pictures
Prayer
Rain
Reading Good Books
Redeemer Lutheran
Renting Camera Lenses
Route 66 Trip
Royals Hat with the Fleece Flap
Ryan Bingham in Concert
Scrapbooking
Seeing a Drive-In Movie
Seeing Chris Knight in Nacogdoches
Seeing the Negro League Hall of Fame
Seeing the Plaza in Lights
Seeing The Proposal with Cody
Seeing the Renovations at Kaufman Stadium
Seeing the Royals Play in Kansas City
Seeing the Sabres Play Hockey
Seeing wildlife
Skipping rocks in Turner Falls
Smiles
Soaking in anything I can learn about photography
Spending time with Family
Spending time with Lisa and Jack
Spending Time working to make the trailer ours with DH
Sports packages on the Satellite
Sunshine
Surprising Friends when in Need
Surviving the Year
Sweaters
Taking Candice Strigham’s Portrait Photography Class
Taking Cody to Nelson Atkins and him watching the guy break the ice
Taking Jack through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri
Taking Karen Russell’s Photography Class
Tears
Texas State Aquarium Membership
Texting
That Cody and I didn’t get arrested when he touched the Shuttlecocks
That Kaufman’s was renovated instead of replaced
The Baseball Diversion on TV
The Field Goal at Smith’s Restaurant
The Joy Cody has gotten out of shooting a buck
The Old Front Porch
The Open Road
Time Spent at Deer Camp and Lease
Trips to Bass Pro, Boardwalk, Saltgrass
Tuesday Date Nights
Turkey Hunting
Two running vehicles
Vacation Time
Walmart Finished Renovating
Warm Clothes
Watching Jack and Cody feed the fish at the Blue Whale
Watching Jack grow up
Watching Mitch Maeir hit a home Run
Watching the Bears and Seals at the OKC Zoo
Water
Wii
Work
Writing
Zack Grienke’s Year

Lone Star Christmas

I was browsing the internet today and came across a book called “Lone Star Christmas”. . . I thought about what the book might be about as I clicked on the book’s image which included a single spur and holly.  Lone Star. . . Christmas. . . There is really is only one star at Christmas, now isn’t there. 

It seemed to sum up what I want Christmas to be like this year.   In the last few Christmas’s, I’ve really focused on Christ- Decor for Christmas.  I’ve focused on cutting out the secular world from my Christmas.  I’ve decorated with things like Poinsettias, Stars, and Nativities.  Even my Santa cookie plate and Santa stocking have stayed in the decorations box.    And, without kids, I haven’t had to wrestle with what to do with Santa at Christmas.

I will continue this new tradition this year.  When I think about my holidays this year- From Thanksgiving to Christmas- the things I want are the same.  To focus on my faith and family with simplicity, joy, and gratitude. 

We’ll be going to my parents for Thanksgiving and I’ll be spending time with my husband out at the deer lease for much of the holiday season.  Advent starts just after Thankgiving and I’m looking forward to the waiting and preperation for Christmas.  I plan on completing several advent devotionals this year.  And then it’ll be Christmas.  I really want the focus of my Christmas to be celebrating the Nativity of Jesus with my family- and good food of course.

(To my dismay, the book actually appears to be a Christian Romance novel and I’m not sure that it even touches on my thoughts as I read that title.)

Finding Peace in God’s Will

Today, I read a devotional about God’s Will.  Part of it read, “A major cause of the restless, unsatisfied feeling and the frictions that spoil the soul’s peace is that God wants on ething and we desperately want another.” . . . “This spells civil war within.” 

Been there, done that.  These days I’m awaiting for God’s full will to be revealed to me.  These days I’m at peace with that and really enjoying letting go and letting God.

God Is Great. . . People are Crazy

My husband opened his big fat mouth yesterday and created quite a stir in our household yesterday.  You see Monday we were talking about my enrollment into Karen Russell‘s Snapshots of a Good Life Photography Class and how much it cost.  You see, he’d had selective hearing in our previous converations about the cost.

Well yesterday, he was telling a dear friend of ours about his selective hearing.  Next thing he knows, he get’s a card with my name on it.  It was a Photography Scholarship for me.  (And it’s not the first time she’s done something like this for us either!)  This friend is crazy but oh so Good.  Too Good.  Too Good to be True.  

She loves giraffe’s and so I made her a little thank-you- using none other than my photographs.

I can’t wait to take Karen’s class.  And, I’m in awe of the people that God has put in our lives and how crazy good they can be.  And, Cody is going to have to learn to keep his mouth shut around a certain someone we both know and love.

A Sign and A Promise

Saturday, we went down towards Houston to watch Jack play his last soccer game.  On our way home, we marveled in the beautifully lit dark stormy skies off to our east.  We saw showers a few times on our way home.  As we came up the hill to our road, we saw a rainbow.

I doubted that as we turned the corner (and subsequently the angle) and drove to our house that I’d still be able to see the rainbow.  But, as we pulled into the driveway, the rainbow was shining over our house.  I wish I’d taken a pic from our driveway, but alas, I didn’t take any until I got into the backyard.

Sunday, as I prepared for church, I marveled at that rainbow and God’s promises.  We’ve been healing around here and it was a great reminder that God isn’t going to flood us out.  He’s certainly not going to give us more than we can handle.  He made his bow in the sky a covenant with Noah, his family, and his people.