Composition Notebooks

Today I wanted to share a little something about one of my recent projects. This year my Dear Friend encouraged me to keep better track of my devotional readings by way of journaling. I didn’t think I could make it work for me, but I have taken what she does and tweaked it to make it easier for me to use. 

As a special gift for her I took a standard composition notebook and covered it with scrapbook paper and embellishments. I have made another for someone else and one for myself. They make great gifts for anyone who likes to journal. I’m planning to try some miniature ones for Christmas gifts next year. 

 Every Sunday afternoon I try to sit down and write down my goals for the week. Every evening I brain dump for the next day and make a To Do List as well as recap anything I want to remember from the day. Each morning I record what I read in my devotions and any special insights I was given plus any prayer requests I need to pray over, then I review my To Do List I created the night before. It’s working better than any attempt I’ve made in the past and I don’t have a bunch of little notes to myself laying all over the house or different notepads for different things. Everything is now in one book that I can easily refer to when needed. Here are a few photos of a couple of composition notebooks I have enhanced.

                                             Notebook #1

Notebook #2

I use heavy printed card stock for my covers and inside pockets. I also make sure I have very sticky permanent glue. If you try this for yourself, please let me know and share your photos.

Somehow it just seems more fun to journal in a pretty notebook rather than a plain one. 

Royal Blessings, 

Linking Up to Hodgepodge 410

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 410 Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here to add your link to the party. See you there! From this Side of the Pond 

1. Is March coming in like a lion where you live? Aslan, Simba, Elsa, The Cowardly Lion...your favorite 'famous' lion? 

For our area March is coming in rather lion like, but it could be worse. Yesterday was very cold and windy with a little snow, today is a little warmer but still quite windy. I guess I would say Aslan as that wind can get pretty powerful at times and definitely goes right through you. 

2. In what way do you 'march to the beat of your own drum'? 

Well I play an instrument that doesn't seem to be widely accepted these days. I was recently told no one can relate to the organ anymore and so even though I feel playing the organ is a calling, I should ignore that and just play the piano. I refused to give in, change who I am, do something I'm not comfortable in doing just to cater to someone else's agenda. 

3. What item that you don't have already, would you most like to own? Any chance of that happening soon? 

A quality organ for home practice use. No, I don't think that will happen soon, if ever. 

4. March is National Flour Month...are you a baker? Cookies-cakes-or pies...your favorite sweet treat to bake? What's the last non-sweet thing you made that called for flour? 

I am not much of a cook or baker, I don't care much for being in the kitchen. I bake cookies for my husband once in a while, but not very often, poor guy. I do make bread in the bread machine once a week. I can't eat it much anymore, but husband eats it daily and he doesn't like store bought bread anymore. 

5. There are 31 days in the month of March...where were you and what were you doing when you were 31? If you haven't hit that milestone yet, then tell us where you were and what you were doing 31 months ago? (if math is not your thing, that would be August 3, 2018) 

Wow, I had to think about that one. We had been living in this small town for 3 years. I had a 3 year old daughter and a 6 year old son and I was trying to be a good parent to them while trying to help my husband run a small printing business. I had my hands full! 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Today was a special day. I was asked to help a couple at church celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary by playing the organ for their vow renewal service. It was so precious watching them hold hands and renew the vows they said to each other before God 50 years ago. She told me she didn't get to walk an aisle when they married the first time, no wedding dress, nothing special, just a simple ceremony in front of the justice of the peace. I was honored to send her down the aisle with trumpets and fanfare.

Technical Difficulties

Yesterday was an awful day from a technical standpoint. From waking up to an email stating my information was on the dark web to my laptop dying to not being able to access my business email on anything other than my now dead laptop. I'm stuck for business email right now and hating that my life has to be so dependant on technology! I am blogging today on my husbands computer and even in the blogger program everything is different so I have no idea how this is going to look when I'm done. Speaking of how things look...because I couldn't use my laptop yesterday I thought I would try blogging from my phone...can I just say I had no idea my blog page would look so awful and unreadable on my phone! If anyone is reading this, I would appreciate help from more seasoned bloggers as to how to make my page look good in both desktop and mobile formats. I will be looking into that more as soon as I get my new laptop. I had hoped to share a little something about one of my recent projects, but I need to have access to my photos and I can't seem to get this computer to access them. If it's not one thing, it's another and I am so exhausted from it all. I hate the fact that I just started blogging again and now I will have to put it on hold for several days. Ah well. I hope your week is going better than mine. Royal Blessings, Julie

Maestoso Grazioso?

 

It's always very difficult to begin blogging again after a long hiatus. I didn't intend to be gone so long, I had some changes take place in my life and it took time to sort through them. I'm looking forward to being back and hope I can stay somewhat consistent. I've thought long and hard about how to begin again. Rather than a long boring timeline post starting from where we left off, I'll just start with today and as we go on I'm sure I'll be weaving in stories and lessons learned from the past year and four months. I'm sure if there was anyone following me from before they are long gone, but I hope to connect with some old friends and find some new ones along the way. I used to struggle to find things to blog about, now I have much to blog about but I'm so busy I may find it difficult to find the time. Anyway, this is the first attempt...if you're here, please let me know, I'd like to visit your blog as well. 

My husband stepped into the pulpit yesterday for our pastor who is
enjoying a much deserved vacation in Florida this week. He preached from the book of Haggai from which he shared four messages that Haggai gave. Message one - Build the temple. Background for this can be found in the book of Ezra. Message two- It's not the size of the temple, it's the size of the God of the temple. Message three - Holiness cannot be transferred, unholiness can and message four - God will keep His promise. I encourage you to read this short book and look for application for us today.

Every morning through text message our Pastor sends out a devotional passage for us to read. This mornings passage was from Joshua 3:1-4. I love how the Old Testament is still so applicable for us. The people were being instructed to watch and follow the ark of the covenant as it led them; verse 3 "...when you see the ark of the covenant...then you shall set out from your place and go after it" and from verse 4, ..."that you may know the way by which you shall go, for you have not passed this way before". In this last year I've heard the term "unprecedented" used a tremendous amount and it's true...we "have not passed this way before"! In addition to maneuvering through COVID protocols, I also went through a process in my personal life that was unlike anything I had been through before. If I have been made keenly aware of anything this last year it is that God leads us through everything life can throw at us if we are actively obeying Him and following His lead. As I look back over this last year I can see His hand in every decision my husband and I made regarding the life changes we went through and how He continues to bless us as a direct result of our obedience to His leading. Often we are called to the difficult things in life in an effort to draw us closer to Him. The grief I have suffered was not pretty, it wasn't fun, but the blessings on the other side have made it all worth it. 

Monday. Mondays this year have become extremely busy days. Here is a good place to interject information that the challenging process I spoke of in the previous paragraph was leaving our church family of 30 years and making ourselves at home with a new church family. This year most of the weekly activities were scheduled for Monday and since I am involved in most of them, Monday became BUSY! A typical Monday starts around 7 a.m. (I'm sleeping in these days, more on that later). After having breakfast with my Dear Husband (after he walks his dog and blows the snow) I usually have my devotional time with my Lord followed by a little housekeeping and food preparation. After lunch I head to church where I practice on the organ (there will be more on this topic later...it's a love story) until 3:30 when I head to the basement to participate in a Bible study on the book of Revelation led by my pastor's wife and new best friend (please refer to this post because she is one special lady that I love telling people about...I can't believe this post is so close to being 2 years old now). As soon as that lets out around 5 ish I run home (one block away), quickly reheat and eat the supper I prepared that morning then return to church for 6:00 when I practice the songs and hymns with the worship team. We usually practice for 45 minutes or so and then Contenders starts at 7:00 and runs until around 8:30 unless we talk a lot afterward, we are currently studying New Testament Survey. WHEW! Today however since our pastor is enjoying vacation, all the events I participate in have been cancelled so I have a day "off"...which I get to spend with a sink full of dishes, a hamper full of laundry, a dirty bathroom and dust, dust, dust! I'm trying to take it slow...I plan to get a lot accomplished but at a pace I can manage. I'm understanding a bit more how my fibromyalgia affects me personally as it can be different for each individual. After a busy Saturday and usual Sunday responsibilities I am grateful for an unusually quiet and less busy Monday. I am finding I can no longer have busy day after busy day without a quiet day to recover in between, I get so incredibly exhausted I can barely move. 

Well I believe I have sufficiently dipped my toe in. Please do say hello if you've stopped by and I'll be searching through my list to see if I still know anyone here. 

Royal blessings, 

Trust In The Lord Part One

This evening I found myself with my nose pressed up against the screen door as I listened to the sounds of the neighborhood, inhaled the scents of summer/fall and watched the color of the trees change and deepen with the setting of the sun. Today was one of the last beautiful days of fall. Our fall season up here can be awfully short; it's been so wet and cold this fall and the last few days have been so lovely, almost like summer. I'm not a fan of winter and fall is my favorite, I just wish it would last longer. Not only was the weather beautiful today, but I was privileged to have lunch with my dear friend and mentor. If you have read my blog for a while, you'll know that the man that taught me everything I know about playing the organ is now one of my dearest friends. We only live a 10 minute drive from each other but we only see each other about once a year and that's if I do everything I can to make it happen. Today was the day. We have one of those friendships where we just start talking like no time has passed. We had so much to catch up on today. I've also been quite wistfully melancholy of late. October is my month. I was born in October and so was my mother; she and I were very close. Her birthday was near the beginning of the month and mine more toward the end so we'd start celebrating with hers and we'd celebrate all month until mine. I miss her terribly, but mostly in October. We used to buy each other gifts and do nice things for each other all month long, always using the excuse, "it's for your birthday" when we knew darn good and well we had already spent and done above and beyond. It was special though and I can't quite let go of the tradition so I tend to try to find ways to treat myself during the month. Silly I suppose.

July was the last time I posted, which has been far too long. I did go back and delete a few posts, they were quite negative and too descriptive if the wrong readers should happen to find this blog. They were all about the struggles we've had at church and I really shouldn't have shared the specifics in such detail. My apologies.

Here are the teasers for the continuing saga of Trust In The Lord.

During the month of August I continued to struggle with all that was going on at church and watch it go from bad to worse. I played for the last hymn sing and our last Sunday was August 11. Stay tuned to learn how I've had to place my trust in the Lord as we both left one church family and became part of a new one.

Also in August was The Deer Chase a mountain bike race my husband heads up and manages. Deer Chase weekend is always stress filled at our house but this year it started off with a bombshell that would rock our foundation for several weeks!

Just prior to all of this going on we also decided it was time to purchase a new to us car as my husband was becoming more and more concerned for my safety.

At the end of September my second granddaughter gave us quite the scare and it remains to be seen if any permanent damage has been done and just what is ahead for her future.

Now I find I'm facing a health issue I had so hoped I could avoid.

To say the months of August and September have been emotional and stressful is an understatement but through it all God has been good to us and we praise Him for upholding us. Hopefully I will be back in a few days to expound on each of these events.

If you stopped by, please leave a note so I know you were here and can visit you as well.

In the meantime if fall is beautiful in your area, do enjoy it.

Royal blessings,

A Woman's Work Is Never Done

I have finally begun my detailed cleaning for this year. I can't call it spring cleaning since we are well into summer. Perhaps I could call it fall cleaning as at the rate I'm going I might be finished by Thanksgiving. I hate my kitchen flooring! It was here when we moved in, it's very light in color and has a texture that is intended to resemble stone. All the texture seems to do is trap dirt and the only way to get it clean is hands and knees type of scrubbing. I used to be able to do the entire thing in one day...it was a long day, but one day just the same. Now that I'm older and in pain more days than not I can only do a small section at a time. Wouldn't you know that as soon as I finished, my daughter took out the trash and it leaked all over my clean floor. Fortunately I saw it right away and was able to get it cleaned up before it settled into those awful grooves! I am a little concerned that by the time I finally finish the entire floor, the first sections are going to need another scrubbing.

That's where my cleaning started today. I managed to wipe down the walls in the kitchen as well as the upper cupboard doors, one section of floor and the steps that lead to the basement. My knees are red and tender and I'm sure tomorrow my arms will ache, but at least I've started. Up until now I haven't had the motivation to start and I really don't think I could have made it down to the floor and back up again. What made the difference? I finally have a new chiropractor and have been adjusted twice in the last week. It is amazing what I'm able to do when I am in good alignment. I'll rest from scrubbing for a day or two and focus on some less physically demanding chores, but it feels good to feel good again.

Well that's all for today, not very exciting or profound. How often do you do a detailed cleaning of your home? If you've stopped by please let me know you've been here. I enjoy comments, touching base with friends and meeting new ones.

Royal blessings, 

Wednesday Medley

Although I'm happy to see Terri is hosting this (thanks Terri), I'm not always very good at coming up with answers for these things, but I'll give it try. 

1.  Who is your favorite "Joe/Jo" and what can you tell us about him or her? 

I'm sorting through my mind looking for a Joe...can't find a favorite. I haven't known very many Joe's in my lifetime. I had a date with a Joe once...no, not a favorite, never again, YUCK!  My daughter has a Joseph in her life....no engagement ring yet, but I do believe one day it will show up. I guess my favorite would have to be a piano student I used to have who was named Joe. He learned so quickly I had a difficult time keeping up with him. He was also a hockey player and often came to his lesson in his hockey gear! One year his mother didn't sign him up, never gave a reason why and when I tried to contact her she never replied. I have no idea what happened. Sad. 

2.  Who were you named for and do you or did you know that person?  

I am named for my great-grandmother on my mother's Dad's side of the family. I have one picture of her, but no, I never met her or my grandfather for that matter. 

3.  Do you have a middle name and do you like it/use it? 

Yes, I do and I like it, it goes well with my name. I use the initial when I sign legal documents, but as a general rule I don't use it.  

4.  Have you ever named your car?  

No, but my husband has. I did name the organ I play though. Meet Sebastian, named after my favorite composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. 

5.  Tell us the name of a fictional character you have never forgotten and why you remember it so well. 

I honestly am coming up blank on this one.

6.  Share something random with us about your week.  

It's spring break here and all but one of my students have chosen not to attend piano lessons this week. It's ok, but I'm broke. I am trying to make good use of my "time off" but I have wasted two days so far but hoping to do better the rest of the week. Today is a good start. 

Prayer Warrior

Once again it has been awhile...a long while. I know I'm not a very consistent blogger and for that I'm sorry because I would love to be here regularly. Maybe if I were I would have more followers that I could interact with which would lead to more friendships but I simply cannot devote the time to it that some of you do. In trying to catch up on some of the blogs I like to frequent, one blogger said she'd be away for a while because she couldn't think of much to write about. I've known those days and have had many but lately it seems I am so busy and could write about so much but I just don't find the time to sit down and write or I can’t seem to find the mental energy to form the words.  Feast or famine and both it seems lead to inconsistent blogging.

Now to resume...

Have you ever had a prayer warrior come alongside and pray earnestly for you at any time in your life or have you been a prayer warrior for someone else? I hope you have been blessed by both in your life. Today I’d like to introduce you to my prayer warrior...it’s quite an interesting story.

There is a small Village Missions church in the next block and several years ago they purchased the house next door to us to be used as a pastors house.  Over the past few years I have enjoyed getting to know the pastor and his wife...she and I chat over coffee on her deck from time to time. Two years ago when things started really falling apart at church I needed to talk to someone outside of my church who could offer me Godly counsel, so I went to her and was welcomed with open arms. When the new pastor at my own church almost had me doubting my own beliefs I found confirmation with her.  When we first met we added each other on Facebook and she discovered that we had many friends in common yet we had never met. While comparing notes we found out that many of my friends from the Christian college I attended had spent time serving at a Bible camp where she used to cook. We thought that was pretty remarkable until we talked more and found out that we used to live in the same town. When she asked my address, we soon realized we used to be neighbors...living back to back with each other in a suburb of Denver. Neighbors now neighbors again! What are the odds? This is my neighbor's house...her backyard is connected to my side yard. It will be a while before we're enjoying coffee on her deck again!

Last summer we visited my neighbor’s church. It was nice to get away from the drama, but we weren’t sure it would ever be a church home for us. After that she has made herself available to me anytime I need to talk and has put me on her daily prayer list. She invites me to fellowships and ladies events and Dear Husband and I  joined a Bible Study at their church this fall and have enjoyed the in depth study that we have been missing at our church and the rich fellowship also now missing from our church. Anytime any new development arises she is right there by my side praying me through and suffering with me. We bumped into each other in the grocery store one day and had an impromptu chat and prayer right there in the store. She is amazing and I am so very grateful for her diligent display of Christian love.

We are still at our church...drama and all. Some would ask why in the world, but there are a few that still appreciate my ever shrinking ministry and though it becomes more and more inconsequential, for now we don’t feel the call of the Lord to leave. We know that I am no longer wanted by the leadership and if I left my position I would free the leadership to complete the transformation of the ministry there. For that reason we will most likely leave soon but there is so much to think about, so much to leave behind and starting over is not something I relish either. In the meantime I try to be there for those friends that need me...I am often a sounding board of frustration and sadness. If/when we leave we will plan to start over at my neighbor’s church...at least I know I’ll have support. She says “just come, let us love on you while you heal”.  

God bless her!

In other news the blizzard of 2019 left us with quite a large load in our yard. Yes that is what is left of my clothesline pole...note the 6 foot high "privacy" fence between our property and the yard behind us! 

But it's going to take a while before it looks like spring around here! 

Ephesians 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and
on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened
with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your
hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and
height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Walk with a fellow believer today or let someone walk with you...

Royal blessings,