Just what I needed & clouds. Just clouds.

May 10, 2016May 10, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Today, after I dropped Miss Neenee off at school, per my usual, I turned on my Bible app. When I turned it on, it was on John 2. WHAT?? I’m supposed to be somewhere in Isaiah. Sometimes I just think these dadgum technological devices have a mind of their own. So, there I was listening to John while I was on track to hear Isaiah. AND y’all, it was King James Version & I listen to the New King James Version. To add to my confusion, it was a different man reading. He had some sort of thick foreign accent & I thought for a minute I didn’t know if I could tolerate the sound of his voice that early in the morning. Now go ahead & tell me how many foreign talking people I just offended there. But y’all, just to balance things out, I myself have a pretty thick southern accent, that some people might not like. So, I suppose it all works out. ANYWHOO, I figured I might as well not fuss with it. I love the book of John. So, I decided not to fight the Bible app & go ahead & listen. You can imagine my delight, when I got to chapter 3 & heard this verse-

John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease.

This verse is such a wonderful example of humility. John the Baptist was saying this about Christ. John was sent to be the forerunner for Jesus. An introduction before the big show, if you might. However, once Jesus’s ministry started, John stepped back, to let his cousin take center stage. How many times in life do we find ourselves in situations to be humble? It’s hard. Being humble means you have to forget about yourself. Being humble means putting the wants & wishes of others before your own.

Webster’s dictionary gives the meaning of humble-

as not proud : not thinking of yourself as better than other peopleJesus recognized the importance of being humble and kind. He showed His love & humility toward a Samaritan woman at a well. He could have turned His nose up when He saw her. But my Lord is not like that. He knew who she was & what kind of woman she was. He told her that. Not in a sense of condemnation, but in love, humility, & kindness. Because of that, the woman & lots of people in Samaria came to believe that Jesus was the Savior of the world (John 4:5-42). Jesus changed those people’s lives that day. And thousands of years later, He’s still doing the same thing. Not with an attitude of hate & anger, but of love, humility, & kindness.

Matthew 5:5

Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth. (NKJV)

Philippians 2:5-8

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

I have so enjoyed visiting with you today. I love it when you stop by. Sorry for all the new testament drama. Because when it was all over, it was just what I needed to hear. Enjoy the pictures below. These are some clouds I came across on my way from work, the other day. Pretty big fan of the One that put them up there. And some GRAND kids. (Did you see what I did there?) Until next time, I should be washing clothes.

Newlywedded bliss

Some sweet boys by the water.

There was a bird making an awful commotion. My son in law went over to check on it. Mr. Sweetie Pants, or should I say the fearless one, was right on his heels.

photo credits: http://www.thegirlcreative.com & http://www.lovethispic.com

May Scripture Writing Plan

May 1, 2016May 1, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Y’all, don’t forget the May Scripture Writing Plan. Won’t you join me in reading & writing Scripture during the month of May?

I hope you have a blessed week! Until next time , I will be going because I should be washing clothes.

Credits- http://www.swtblessings.com

Does anyone listen anymore & May Scripture Writing Plan

April 28, 2016April 28, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Sometimes I wonder. I just wonder what kind of people we are becoming. Raising a generation on technology. Our cell phones, for instance. You don’t have to know much of anything going out into the world. Why? Because you can call anyone at any time & find out what to do. How many times has my 12 year old puzzled me to the point my knee jerk reaction is “Google it.” Not to be confused with it’s close cousin “Googol”, which if I remember correctly from 7^th grade math class, that a googol is a 1 with 100 zeros behind it. And not JUST an internet sensation that I am mainly dependent on for vast amounts of knowledge. Just a little history lesson on math. Bet you don’t get that often.

ANYWHOO- There are many times that I personally may not hold myself responsible for listening as closely as I need to because why? I can call or text at any time & find out what that person said. Perhaps for example when my sweetie is giving me his grocery list, as I head out the door, I may or may not listen as intentively as I could, because, well you know, I have a LOT of other things I need to be remembering right then. I know once I get to the Kroger, I can text him & find out everything he told me, plus some other things he forgot. Sometimes I wonder, do I do this with God, too? Am I guilty of not listening, not heeding the warnings of sin, until I get into a fix, then I start trying to pray my way out of it? Then, I have time to listen & talk to God. I believe that is why we should daily stay in contact with God. I feel like if we are listening to the Lord, by studying our Bibles & talking to Him through prayer, we will have little time to be judging, looking down our noses at others, & fault finding.

Solomon had some beautiful words about listening in the book of Proverbs-

Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel

Proverbs 19:20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days.

And this wonderful piece that is titled “The beginning of knowledge”

Proverbs 1: 10-19

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.
¹¹If they say, “Come with us,
Let us lie in wait to shed blood;
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
¹²Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,^[a]
And whole, like those who go down to the Pit;
¹³We shall find all kinds of precious possessions,
We shall fill our houses with spoil;
¹⁴Cast in your lot among us,
Let us all have one purse”—
¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
¹⁶For their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷Surely, in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird;
¹⁸But they lie in wait for their own blood,
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.

How relevant is that over 3,000 years later? We should listen & stay away from sin, as much as possible. I truly believe staying in God’s Word is one of the most important ways to keep listening.

My sweet friend Shannon, over at Sweet Blessings, said I could share her scripture writing plans. This is the one for May.

If you get a chance, go on over there & let her know what a “sweet blessing” she is for creating these scripture plans.

Y’all, I have so much to catch y’all up on. I will be back with pictures, before long! Until next time, I should be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Tuesday encouragement

April 12, 2016April 12, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Just wanted to pop in for some encouragement today. Hope you enjoy these little things I found on the local intranet.

Hope you are having a blessed week! Come back for a visit soon. I have LOTS to tell you about what all has been going on with us. Until then, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: Pinterest, knowing jesus

Hey- remember me? True love, grandkids, & what have you

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Y’all. If I said the past couple of weeks had not been a true test of my faith, I would be lying & my pants would be on fire. With me, I may go awhile without anything earth shattering happening. Then, BOOM! Everything happens all at once.

It’s like nuts falling from the sky.

(Which is an expression, my then 4 year old Miss Neenee would say, when things were awful or terrible. It’s the worst thing her little mind could image to explain something really crazy.)

I told my hairstylist if anyone feels bad about what’s going on in their lives, just have them come talk to me. I can make them feel a lot better about their own personal tragedies.

She said, “You do seem to have a lot of crazy things happen to you.”

Umm, yeah. So, not to go all negative Nancy on everyone. I just wanted you to know, even though my blog life has been a little ho-hum & sporatic, here of late. I am alive & as well as a person like me can be.

I did have an interesting conversation with a lady the other day. I was at the dentist office, waiting my turn in the chair of torture, when a nice older lady & I struck up a conversation. She started telling me how she had just lost her husband in January. I could tell it was still a fresh wound, because she had tears in her eyes as she talked about his passing. She talked so fondly of him I had to ask her how they met. She said they met at Fraley’s Drive In. He was home from the service & she was 17 years old. She said when she first laid eyes on him, she thought he was so handsome. She said some of her friends & his friends commence to playing cupid & before long, y’all, they were married. She said they were married almost 60 years. They had raised a family together & went through some hard times.

“But you know,” she said, “there’s not a single person in the world I would have wanted to have gone through hard times with. He was so good to me.”

Now. Don’t you guess those two did have some hard times? 60 years is a long time to go without an argument, any illnesses, heartaches, or anything of the like. And to still be able to have such a love for a person through all of that. That’s the remarkable love Paul talks about in

Ephesians 4:2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, (NKJV)

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,(NKJV)

Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.(NKJV)

Peter writes about love we should have for one another in

I Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”(NKJV)

It goes without saying, this sweet couple took their marriage vows seriously & loved each other the way the Lord commanded. What a true blessing! It is so heartwarming to hear the love, we are told to have, still exists. Having that talk with that lady just made my day, y’all. I guess I’m just a bit sappy over stuff like that. And since we are talking about love, let me talk about these grandkids!

We had such a good time this weekend. Our new baby grandboy is growing & so sweet. I could just eat him with a spoon. My granddaughter is so cute & sassy. She is so funny. Here are some things the older kids did over the weekend:

We made bubble snakes. It was pretty fun.

I gave a little tutorial on how to use the bubble makers before we started. “Blow into the bottle. Make sure you are blowing like you are blowing bubbles with a wand. Don’t suck in, because you will get a mouth full of bubbles.” And wouldn’t you know it, somebody got their mouth full of bubbles. There was a fair amount of spitting & wiping their mouth on their shirt. But thank the Lord, no permanent damage!

Miss Neenee entertained with the trumpet.

And they could play pretty good. Ever tried to play a trumpet? Not. Easy.

a trumpet Even though, the trumpet was fun, you know what the biggest hit was?

You guessed it. Something that wasn’t even a toy. A plastic tote was a boat, a hide out, a car, & anything else they could think of.

At the end of the day, all of them are still sweet & precious.

And this is when they are most precious of all!

I am so glad you came by to visit me today. For those of you keeping up with my Daddy, he came home from rehab & is being visited by home health. He’s doing well & opinionated as ever. With that, we know he’s doing alright. Thank you for all your prayers for him. They really have been working. Keep’em coming! Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

**On a side note- I can’t leave without showing my discontent for Daylight Savings Time.

Thank you, Mr. Indian, for your wonderful interpretation of insanity.

Seriously though.

photo credits: Pinterest

Wednesday night blessings & I didn’t know what day it was until today

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

LORD HAVE MERCY. Is it Friday, yet? On Wednesday, at work, I sent out a cute little meme about it just being Tuesday. One of my sweet friends, from Ohio, was kind enough to say,

“But it’s Wednesday, right?”

It’s just been these past few weeks, that all the days are running together. SO, I would like to officially say to Friday,

“Thank you for showing up. I appreciate that.”

Wednesday night at church, I got some sweet news. There are 2 little girls in my Wednesday night Bible class that are living at our local children’s home. They are twins. And precious. And spunky. And are so smart in God’s Word. I fell in love with them the 1^st time I met them. They told me before class started, they were being adopted. They were so excited. They told me what their new name would be. They hugged me & I told them I was so proud & what great news to have in our class that night. One of the girls said,

“Yeah, but who’s going to bring us candy now?”

We sorta have candy, gummies, chocolate, cookies, or whatever else I can come up with, every class. I reassured them I knew they would have a wonderful Bible teacher at their new church & hopefully, she would bring candy to class. What a joy for these kids. They told me this would be their forever family. Goodness gracious. What a true blessing.

It made me think of how many blessings you can have, that comes out of trials. No matter how grim a situation may seem, God has a plan. The Lord promised Abraham & Sarah a baby. (Genesis 18:10) They waited about 25 years, after that promise was made, before Isaac was born. The apostle Paul was locked up in prison for preaching the gospel. He still found a way to write letters to the churches & help them, even while he was in jail. (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, & Philemon) Lazarus died, while they were waiting on Jesus. However, Jesus turned sadness to joy, when he raised Lazarus up. (John 11:43-44) Joseph was thrown in prison & waited 2 years for the king’s butler to remember he interpreted dreams. After all that time he was released from jail & gained Pharaoh’s good favor. (Genesis 41:12) And do I have to even mention Noah building the ark? It took him about 100 years to build the ark. Then he gathered everybody up & God shut the door. (Genesis 7:16) Then, he waited for it to start this raining stuff that no one had ever seen or heard of. That took about 7 days. (Genesis 7:10) Talk about some good endings to bad situations. God can & will take care of us. Sometimes we may just need to wait through the problems in life. God uses hard times to develop us into the people he needs us to be. So, don’t get too discouraged with hardships. They won’t last. I saw this saying one day & loved it.

God recruits from the pit, not the pedestal.

I love this, because it lets me know, even when I am in the valley, God’s plan is still at work. I know God has been at work in my 2 little friend’s lives. He is putting them in fertile soil to grow & bloom. They may have had to wait, but the Lord has always taken care of them. I hope you know today that the Lord loves you. I hope you know how blessed you are & how God can make any mess a beautiful message! You just have to be looking for the good, not the bad.

Can I end by saying THANK YOU LORD FOR FRIDAY??? The sunshine is glorious. I am very delighted that you decided to stop by today. I hope you have an amazing weekend. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

**For those of you keeping up with my Dad, he is still in “rehab”. He has good days & bad days. His blood has still not thinned out to the doctor’s liking. His sugar is getting better controlled for the moment. We are hopeful he will be able to go home at some point. Prayers are much appreciated! Love y’all.

photo credits : clipart panda, http://www.imighthavestolethat.wordpress.com, pinterest

Stop it with the voodoo doll & I serve a great God

February 11, 2016February 11, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

So whoever has the voodoo doll of me, can give it a rest at anytime. I will publicly say I apologize for whatever I have done to upset you or cause you any grief. Seriously. Enough.

Normally, I don’t moan & whine on this blog. However, since I am president & CEO of I should be washing clothes.com, I will be putting some information out there to my peeps that love & care about me, THAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE I LAST BLOGGED.

On Monday last week, I was at watching Miss Neenee at basketball practice when my aunt called me & said I needed to go see about my dad. He was at a funeral home visitation, for a classmate, & started acting strange. To make a long story short, he was & is still having mini strokes. He also has a blood clot in his heart.
Some good information to know about Medicare is, unless you are actively in the midst of a major medical situation (having strokes is not considered major, go figure), you have a short 3 night stay in the hospital. Then you are, O-U-T spells out goes he, on your bum. No exceptions.
We found out this delightful Medicare will allow you to go to “rehab” & stay. Which “rehab” is a fancy word for nursing home. They could call it the “most wonderful & magical place on the planet”, it’s still a nursing home. So, Daddy is currently in “rehab” for therapy.
My daughter had her baby! Yay babies! He is just a little bundle of joy. He is as sweet as can be. His big sister LOVES to hold him. Hopefully, we won’t find him in the washing machine, per her usual of putting things she loves in there.
We got to keep my baby grandgirl whilst her mama went to have the baby. #funtimes, #canttelleverythingthathappened, #grandkidsarethebest, #grandshouseiswhereitsat
Got confirmation, someone at my house, is having surgery very soon. Not saying who it is, but he’s not looking forward to it. 😦
I have the BEST family in the world. They all have gone out of their way to help us out, with Daddy & my daughter. It’s a true blessing to have such a close knit family.
Much to my dismay, I have had to miss some work. I also have some of the BEST co-workers in the world. They took care of everything while I took care of my family. Didn’t have to worry about ne’er a thing. Insert GOOD FEELING here.
There was a bomb threat, in the school district, where my daughter goes to school. They got out early that day. Thank the Lord she got home safe & sound & no one was hurt. Nonsense. Pure nonsense.
Last night, in a whirlwind of getting ready for bed, I put some cream on my face. I thought it was some I had used before. However, I didn’t recall all the tingling it was doing. I finally got it all rubbed off & today, I look like I have chicken pox. (Or at least that’s what our custodian, at work, told me I looked like.) Painful & burning. All day today. While I am typing, it is burning. That cream was promptly thrown in the garbage. Not a fan of the “burn” cream.

So, one may wonder, “What kind of mental state is a person in, after a week of unusual happenings?” All I can think is at the end of the day God is in control. Job 2:10 says Shall we indeed accept good from God & shall we not accept adversity? I have so many blessings in my life. Daily blessings. I can’t forget that, while I have these other unfortunate things happening. I am so thankful for our new grandson. I am thankful for the knowledgeable doctors & nurses that attend to my Daddy. I am thankful for all the friends & family that have called, texted, visited, messaged me, & just plain ol’ been there for us. When I think of those things I think of the amazing & remarkable love of the Lord. He has come right in & made things that seem bleak look hopeful. For all these things I am humbled & I so treasure the great God I serve.

I hope you all have had a good week. If not, remember, daylight’s coming. It can’t stay dark forever. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

5 things to do when you don’t know what to do

February 2, 2016February 1, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Do y’all ever have those days, weeks, years, that you wonder why

you haven’t given up yet? I’m talking about just a good ol’ throwin’

your hands up in the air & saying,

“Y’all can have this, I quit!”

Sometimes, it just seems like nothing is going right. When there’s

too much month & not enough money, not enough time in the day

to do it all, piled up laundry, stacked up dishes, legal problems,

deteriorating health (whether yours or a loved one), relationship

problems, or worse- you may feel like you don’t know where to turn.

It’s sadly a reality that people are hurting & sometimes the grief of

life can overwhelm us. However, sweet friends, I wanted to share

with you how you can get through these things in life & oddly

enough, come out ok.

Here are my 5 reasons not to go hollaring and screaming into the

sunset:

1. Remember that everything in life is temporary. If everything is going good,enjoy it, because it won’t last forever. And if things are going

bad, don’t worry, that won’t last either.

James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. (NKJV)

2. Know you have to trust the Lord. When God says you can do this,

you can. Know that the Lord will not let you go so far, you

can’t see your way back.

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (NKJV)

God’s team is the winning team. Be on that team.

3. Don’t forget the prize. Keep your eye on the prize (heaven). Do

all you can to be faithful, so that you may be able to have that

prize. God’s plan for your life, far exceeds the circumstances

of your day. So, know if you just hang on there, the Lord’s

going to come right in & take care of it all. But we have to do

our part, too. Be sure you don’t forget to continue to be a beautiful Christian like example. God won’t forget you for it.

Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take,

when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. (NKJV)

4. Be aware that with the good, comes the bad. Hard times are a fact of life.

How we view them & handle them is up to us.

Job 2:10 Shall we indeed accept good from God & shall we not accept

adversity?(NKJV)

5. Most of all know you are not in this by yourself. There are billions of people on this ol’ earth. Know when to ask someone for help. I had a dear friend tell me once, “You can get through anything with a lot prayer & a lot of Paxil.” I love her light hearted take on life. It’s reality that sometimes we have to ask our medical care providers for help. Don’t be afraid to do that. But do know that Jesus is right there waiting to help you no matter what. If the Lord does not seem close to you, seriously, who moved? It wasn’t Him. Just seek Him, because He’s there. Acts 17:27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (NKJV)

Let me stop here & say something about Job. He lost everything he ever worked hard for. His wife turned against him. His friends gave him bad advice. He had health & financial problems. In one day his whole world was turned upside down. However, it was in his attitude, his God fearing, God loving, God trusting attitude that helped him make it through. It seemed like sometimes that God had forgotten Job. But He didn’t. It was over years before Job’s life ever turned around. What did he do during the mean time? He was faithful. Don’t get me wrong. He was upset & didn’t like what was going on. However, he never turned his back on God.He knew the Lord would deliver him. And guess what y’all? He did & Job was more blessed in the end, than the beginning.

Now that’s a beautiful reason to keep your head up & keep

going. I have been through times in my life, that it was day by

day, minute by minute that I had to try to focus on getting

through something tough. The good news is, I did it. I know I

prayed a lot, stayed faithful to the Lord, & just kept going.

Sometimes that’s all we can do.

I am so glad you came by to visit me today. It is SUNSHINING here. Am I really here in NE Mississippi or is this heaven? So glad to see the sun after all the cold & gloomy days. I hope you have had a blessed week. As for me, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credit: pinterest

28 Day Scripture Writing Challege

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

What would February be without LOVE?? Well, Melanie’s done it again. She made another beautiful writing plan for us! Won’t you join us as we seek God’s love in our lives together?

ScriptureWritingChallenge_LOVE You can visit Melanie at http://www.southernmelle.com Her blog has truly been a blessing to me. I know it will be for you, too!

I knew 2 of the lottery winners!

January 18, 2016January 18, 2016 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

With all the hoopla about the lottery this past week, I wanted to let y’all know, I knew 2 of the people that won the lottery. I really didn’t think about it until I talked to my cousin. We had a good friend, who was like family to us, pass away last week. I was talking to my aunt’s granddaughter.

She said,

“On Monday I told my grandmother we need to go buy a lottery ticket. Then, we found out about her friend. I was over here worrying about winning the lottery, when he won the real lottery, He got to go home to be with Jesus.”

Tears flowed & we agreed that was the best lottery there was.

There was another sweet lady, that I had grown up knowing, that passed away, also. She was a school teacher, my school bus driver, an author, a mother, a grandmother, & wonderful Christian. As long as she could go, she was always at church. Another lottery winner.

It all made me think of this scripture:

Matthew 16:26

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

I am so proud for these “lottery winners” this week. They finally gained their home in heaven. I talked to my uncle & aunt, while at the funeral home. My uncle pointed out that he hated to see our friend go, however it was an appointment all of us were going to make. I pray all of us will be ready to make that appointment. We never know when it will be. However, as long as we hold that lottery ticket in our hand, we still have time to prepare. Every day God gives us breath, we have the chance to live for Him. So, let’s do all we can, daily, to be sure we are prepared to have that big win with the lottery one day.

I hope everyone has had a blessed weekend & are ready for a cold week ahead. It was a balmy 21 degrees in our neck of the woods this morning. Miss Neenee has started basketball. I will post some pictures on that soon. She’s already had a couple of games. I am so proud of her. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.