Happy Thanksgiving ya’ll

November 25, 2015November 30, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Here are a few Thanksgiving things I have located around on the local intranet. They seemed to tickle me. Hope you enjoy them as well. Happy Thanksgiving, ya’ll!

Don’t mind if I do.

Praying for all y’all.

Piglet has always been a fountain of wisdom. I like that guy.

And don’t forget if you need any Thanksgiving help, this little gem over at Southern Plate has never failed to pile on a big heaping helping of recipes.

Click here for deliciousness.

Love y’all like sweet potato casserole & turkey & dressing.

photo credits: http://www.copiouscouples.tumblr.com, pinterest, somecards

Yesterday she would have been 69 & 5 things it’s changed about me

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

I texted my brother. I called my Daddy. I told Miss Neenee & my sweetie. I went by the cemetery on the way to work. Yesterday, my Mama would have been 69 years old.

Mama, Me, & Mamaw 1990

I don’t want to get all weird with this. Other than, her being gone has changed a lot about me.

It has made me appreciate life & being with my loved ones.

Me, Mama, Mamaw, & Papaw circa 1978

2. It made me realize I am not the boss of my health & it can falter at any time.

3. It lights a fire under me to accomplish & get done what I need to & want to today. I’m not promised another minute to get those things done. Mama was always mindful of the brevity of life. She would always say before we left home,

“Get this mess up. What if something was to happen & somebody was to come in this house?”

For shame that someone saw a coaster out of place on the coffee table. But, that’s just how she was. And I’m glad. I wouldn’t have wanted her any other way.

4. Family was so important to her. She loved & looked forward to all of our get togethers. I have gotten closer to my family in the past several years, as well.

Mama’s baby brother, Mamaw, Mama, Mama’s older sister, Mama’s middle brother at Christmas circa 1984

5. She always went to church. Even when Daddy had to dress her, pick her up & put her in her wheelchair & bring her. It made me know if she could go to church, in her shape, there was NO reason for me not to be there. She was a wonderful Christian example. Because of that I have grown deeper in my faith.

Me & Mama after church circa 1995

Here are a couple more pictures of her in my “Mama Shrine” today.

On the back of this picture if had,"Taken on the day we walked all over the place." She was sitting on the door step washing her feet.

On the back of this picture it had,”Taken on the day we walked all over the country.” She was sitting on the door step washing her feet.

I won’t ~~bore~~ overly inform you with more Mama stories. For that you can go here. I am just so thankful this ol’ world had her for 55 years. Now the Lord has her for the rest.

Hope you are having a great day. You know what’s Thursday! Bring on the family & turkey. My favorite. Until next time , I should be washing clothes.

Birthday sleepover fun & Thanksgiving is next week

November 16, 2015November 18, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

There perhaps was some tornadic activity or something of that sort, at our house this weekend. Here are the culprits:

If they did not have fun, it’s not because they didn’t try. I feel like it was a success. In lieu of that, I am posting things to make for a fun slumber party.

They made their own pizzas.We just used canned biscuits, pizza sauce, & toppings. Lots.Of.Toppings.

Of course, you need a birthday cake, specifically, if it’s a birthday party sleepover. (And on a totally unrelated note, my pants don’t want to fit very well anymore. First the wedding with candy & sweets, then Halloween candy, now this. If somebody knows how to remove that part of you that wants to cram sweet stuff in your mouth, all.the.time, please let me know. I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know )

Then, if you are ~~crazy~~ brave enough, you can do some fun games like laser tag. There was also an arcade at this said laser tag establishment. Which they enjoyed, as well.

Once we got back home, we had a talent show. I had made out “pre-made” talents on slips of paper. I put them in an envelope & handed out numbers. When I called their number, they picked out an act to showcase. Coincidently, this sweetie picked

Play the flute

And guess what? She plays the flute & had it with her!

This little beauty selected- Tell jokes.

I quite possibly laughed way too hard. She was so dadgum funny, though.

This sweet friend picked- Make hand puppets

She was pretty good at it, too.

This amazing friend did a wonderful theatrical reading of nursery rhymes. I have to say, she did an impressive job. And how do I know she is so amazing? Her shirt said so, of course

There was also some doing the Whip & Nae-nae .

Games

One we did was, What’s in your mouth. This was one of their favorites. We did peanut butter, candy, pickles, olives, honey, cranberry juice, cherries, & others that I can’t recall, because I am old & my memory never serves me correctly.

Divide the preteens into two groups. Blindfold one group and allow the other group to make a trip to the kitchen. The girls in the kitchen choose foods to eat and bring them to the room the blindfolded girls are in. Each girl feeds a blindfolded girl one of the food items. The girls blindfolded must figure out what the food is.

Nail polish game

Place the tween girls in a circle around several bottles of nail polish. The first girl spins the first bottle of nail polish. Whoever the bottle is pointing at when it stops spinning must paint one fingernail that color. The game continues around the circle. At the end of the game, all girls will have all 10 fingernails painted several different colors. Girls can also paint their toenails, if they desire.

The girls liked this game. They got their nails polished in the process!

They did some other things like making a human table. They thought this was fun.

They also did a marshmallow game

You take marshmallows & put them in a bowl. With a plastic spoon, in your mouth, see how many you can transfer to another bowl in a minute.

They played a cup tower game that was fun.

Cup tower game–

With a certain number of plastic cups each, 2 players build a tower & take it back down within a minute- oh, one handed.

I had some other games to play like- taking a pair of panty hose & putting a penny in the toe & have them get the pennies out. Another was to put tennis balls in the end of panty hose, put them on your head & knock down water bottles (which were in a circle, with the girl standing in the middle). I was going to mention some of those after they feasted on pancakes, eggs, bacon, & biscuits Saturday morning. HOWEVER, I looked in the living room & they were laughing, talking, braiding each others hair & the such. I thought, why spoil that with a panty hose game??

Also, I need to give a SHOUT OUT to my sweet husband, who was quite the trooper & helper through out all of this. Because did I mention, 8 PRETEEN GIRLS?? Thankfully, he is good with kids. Which is a delightful thing, because we always have a bunch around.

I am so proud these girls have each other. It made me think of this verse:

Proverbs 17:17

A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.

Some of these girls have been friends for years. Some of them just met, for the first time this weekend. Miss Neenee invited some of her friends from church & some from school. All in all, they got along beautifully. Which is nice. Because did I mention 8 PRETEEN GIRLS?? It made me thankful they will have each other, as they transition into becoming teenagers & adults. That’s just a hard time in life. I hope they will lean on each other & spend time with each other & other Godly girls. SO.IMPORTANT.

As I was going to bed, I told them these things:

A. That I loved them all & I hoped they slept well.

B. That they could eat & do whatever they wanted to.

C. That I would appreciate them not tearing the house down.

D. That unless someone is bleeding or has a serious medical emergency, please do not let me see their faces until the next morning

Luckily, they did happen to obey all these rules.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. I am feeling so blessed. Oh yeah & I am getting things together for my company next week. Seeing it’s the holiday season, folks start coming from near & far to be guests in my house. I am so excited. What do you have planned for your Thanksgiving holiday? Until next time I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

Go on over to see Kristi at I should be mopping the floor. She always has the cutest ideas. Click on the picture below.

Thanksgiving surprise & who I love

November 10, 2015November 10, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Well, apparently it’s 2 weeks until Thanksgiving & nobody bothered to tell me. Even though I have been reminding everyone how it’s so many weeks until Christmas, Thanksgiving just left me this year. And by the way, I have been getting some terrible deer in the head light looks when the mere mention of Christmas is made. I suggested to my sweetie maybe this year we should start Christmas shopping & have all our gifts bought by Thanksgiving, (which obviously I thought was at another time). He laughed & explained to me I would never be able to do that, since it is my custom to lose my hair & run around like a crazy woman the weeks & days leading up to Christmas. Well, shut the front door, he was right. However, I have had some happy things going on here of late. Mainly in the name of kids, of course. Here are some highlights of my weekend.

This is what you look like when you have “Super Speed”.

And on a very related note, as you can see, this was at a local cell phone store where I was attempting to do some business. However, was having to constantly remind Mr. Sweetie Pants that the cell phone store was NOT specifically the place to be exhibiting this said “Super Speed”. WHEW! I was one tired Grand by the time I left. Thankfully, I had a helpful Miss Neenee with me.

It was Miss Neenee’s birthday & we were going to see Disney on Ice. Mr. Sweetie Pants was being sassy, so I asked him did he not want to go see Mickey Mouse? He promptly, let me know, he did not want to see anything. Please refer to the above photo.

So, this is why we go to see Disney on Ice each year. Mesmerized & happy faces. That’s what we have here.

Next, you have this one who obviously loves Disney just as well. I mean, crown him king Mickey, hello. Or maybe EA’s Prince Charming? Awww…..

Then, you have these faces, squished up against my face. Love.These.Faces.

I’m not sure if my son has some new leg warmers & back pack or if he was attacked by munchkins. Either way, they are all cute as can be.

And it was all because of this girl. Happy birthday Miss Neenee! More to come this weekend!

I am so very thankful for all these sweet people in my life. Since this month is Thanksgiving, (who would forget that?) I ran across this 30 day scripture reading plan. I know I’m a little late, but it’s still a wonderful exercise to commit to spend your time in God’s word.

I hope you all are having a good week. Now that I’ve realized it’s time for Thanksgiving, I will be making my menu for Thanksgiving dinner. What will you be making? Until next time, I have to go, because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: Facebook

Cell phones in church are the devil & why # 4 is my favorite number

October 26, 2015October 26, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Technology sure enough has its way of butting its way in & taking over everything. Sometimes I want to tell that guy to slow himself down just a bit. But then, I turn around & let my cell phone be the boss of me so much. Y’all, it’s just too easy to do. I know I shouldn’t be so weak. Even when I am sitting talking to my sweetie. I’m just going to briefly check my emails while he is telling me about his day. Then, all of a sudden y’all, I see an email where Vera Bradley is having a sale & it’s off to the races! The next thing I know of

He’s saying, “Did you hear what I just said?”

I’m like, “Sure, but could you repeat it just to make sure?”

He does the same thing to me so not much harm done. But do you see what’s happening here? DISTRACTIONS folks! Those of the technological kind. They run our lives.

Here is my message to technology:

“While I appreciate all you do for us, there are some things you should just be ashamed of. That’s right. You know what you’ve done. Stop it with the distractions.”

I will tell you, I do have an apparent pet peeve that is, looking on your phone during church. I get using a Bible app on your phone. I am talking about checking Facebook, looking on Pinterest, texting, etc.,. did I say DURING church? It’s so easy to be distracted by a phone. Even though you are supposed to be at church worshiping the Lord, that died for your sins, some people can’t give up the phone long enough to do that. And that’s WRONG if I’ve ever seen it. Just don’t do it. Don’t.

Coming up y’all, how I really feel about it.

I think this is a commandment or something.

I know it could be something as innocent as getting on your Bible app. In the process, you see you have notifications on Facebook or Pinterest. You are just going to glance to see what’s going on & before you know you are scrolling & looking & not paying attention to the preacher & the lesson being taught. Satan will try everything he can to take you away from the Lord. Even, using your phone. And why not? You can access anything on your phone & I mean ANYTHING. You have to be stronger than that & resist what the devil is laying out there at your feet. Or in this case, your fingers.

I Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

If we are at church to worship, let’s worship. I don’t think the Lord really wants any less. Ya know?

John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

How can we worship in spirit & truth if our mind is on what’s going on with Facebook? What did we ever do before social media & knowing what others are doing ALL. THE. TIME? Let the Lord have His time in your life. That’s what’s most important. Not “Suzy’s” new outfit or what “Bob” had for breakfast. You can get the 411 after you finish with worship service. I know. I know. It’s the whole fear of missing out thing. I addressed that here. We need to give God our best. Not what’s left over. Pretty sure the above scripture is a commandment, not a suggestion.

I hope everybody has had a blessed weekend. We attended a football game where my nephew played like a champ. Right now, the number 4 is truly my favorite number. (More about that later.) However, a grand time was had by all. Which means we saw our peeps & ate like pigs. Our favorite. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

My favorite number 4.

Me & my favorite number 4.

More faces I love.

photo credits: http://www.compliancesigns.com, http://www.smartsign.com

What God hath joined together

October 14, 2015October 14, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

So, we had a wedding. It was beautiful. My daughter was absolutely stunning. Everything went off without a hitch. We are all just tickled to death for these kids. Here are some highlights:

Pinterest worthy set up, if I might say so myself.

She had N.’s great aunt & grandma as flower girls. PRECIOUS! They had matching dresses. I’ve never seen anything so sweet.

My sweeties- here comes the bride!

Sweet sisters

EA & Miss Neenee looking all grown up.

And this girl. Couldn’t have done it without her.

It was a picture perfect day through & through. My Daddy performed the ceremony. That made it extra special. We are blessed beyond measure. Now, we have one more blessing to add to our family, in the form of a new son in law. Life is good.

Hope you all had a blessed week. Loving this fall weather. We couldn’t have had better weather for the wedding, if we had ordered it. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

Now that she’s in 6th grade & have mercy….

September 8, 2015September 8, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

It always amazes me how much I learn by having kids around me. Just this week me & my Miss Neenee have had some pretty good conversations. You know she is in 6^th grade, this time around. The kids are stuck in the preteen years. They don’t know whether to play with dolls or be boy crazy. Some of them are both. They are also so very silly. There is a little girl, that’s just come to school this year. They have named her, “Bacon”. Miss Neenee talks about Bacon all the time. Everyday Bacon says something or does something new. It’s always something goofy or weird or obnoxious. You know YOUR PRETEEN YEARS in a nutshell. Any the whoo, one day Miss Neenee & I was talking about school this year. I asked her about some of the kids from school. Some that just so tee-totally got on her last nerve last year. (Which is funny, because she was probably getting on their nerves just as bad.) She said that they really didn’t bother her so much this year. She said it was all good with them. I told her perhaps they grew up some over the summer.

She replied, “No, I did.”

What a grown up thing to say! Sometimes we get so up in arms about how other people act, that we forget to look at ourselves. My Papa Clyde always said, to have friends, you had to first be a friend, yourself. I think that lesson has hit home for my Miss Neenee. She is becoming a mature little lady. I wish I could be as understanding & compassionate as she is.

Proverbs 18:24 A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.(NKJV)

Maybe she is learning the world is not all about her needs, but the needs of others. Hopefully, she is growing to have the heart of a servant. To be kind & tenderhearted, like the apostle Paul talked about

Ephesians 4:32

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.(NKJV)

Relationships are important. I am glad to learn from my 6^th grader that love, forgiveness, & mercy can come through from any age. And speaking of mercy, we talked about the unmerciful servant in my Wednesday night class, this week. I asked the class what they thought unmerciful meant. One little girl said she knew exactly what it meant. She said when she played basketball with her brother & his friends they just kept trying to beat her down & not let her have the ball. She said that was very unmerciful. These kids tickle me to death. We had promotion Sunday a couple of weeks when the school year started back. This is when the kids move classes, since they are advancing in grades at school. I MAY or may not have a couple of kids that do NOT want to advance out of my 1^st & 2^nd grade class. We just have so much fun in there. If one of the elders is reading this, I sternly told the kids they had to move up next Wednesday night, no exceptions. Then, I gave them a bunch of candy.

Hope you are having a wonderful week. Summer is back. If you haven’t heard. It’s just weather in Mississippi. Hot, cold, air conditioner, heater, all in one day. You just never know. I hope you had a great long weekend. We did. Lots of food, family, friends, & fellowship. Until next time I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

My favorite quote of the week. Don’t worry about saving your money. You don’t need a penny to do this-

Wedding planning for dummies 101

August 25, 2015August 25, 2015 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

So, if you really want to know what I have been doing lately, it’s been some of this:

It goes without saying there is not a day that goes by that wedding plans are not discussed. There’s a lot of thought, & preparation, & planning, & sometimes tension. Because ya’ll it’s hard to decide if you want navy napkins with foil coral writing or coral napkins with matte navy writing & there are so many cute sayings they put on them now-a-days. Back in my day, when they used to sell a pair of curtains in the pack, you didn’t have to worry too much about things like that. But that was a gazillion years ago. Now that my little ones are tying the knot, it’s A LOT of planning & stress, I tell you. A LOT. It’s just that you have things thrown at you, that you just aren’t accustom to answering, like how much lace & burlap can you glue on a mason jar without it looking purely like our grandkids did them & what trim should you have the invitations in? Square, rounded, squiggly, the corners cut out, & other shapes that I have never really considered before. (By the way, the last 2 of those trims may or may not be actual descriptions. But you get the picture.) And DON’t get me started about fonts. Goodness gracious. Decisions YA’LL.

We do get to have a lot of fun conversations, while pouring over what size buckets we should put baby’s breath in. Some are about how much a responsibility it is to be married. You are basically becoming someone else’s caretaker. Because you know: MEN. And too, how you are in charge of feeding your family meals, washing the clothes & the dishes (even when you just don’t want to) & how they do get sick & it’s pretty much a guarantee they consider themselves much worse off than anybody in the ICU part of the local hospital. Then, how unselfish you have to become because real love has to do with sacrifice. You have to have a heart of a servant. And if all that’s not trying enough, you sprinkle some kids in the mix & wa-lah! You are full on loaded down with commitments & what have you. At some point she jokingly wanted to know was I trying to talk her out of all this?? Never would I. But ya’ll marriage is serious & evidently many don’t take it that way. Because hello, TRUE LOVE, ya’ll. Some of the stuff that goes with it like starry eyedness & ooey gooeyness, just doesn’t always last as long as it should. I just want some reality to be spoken. Sorry, I just don’t want her to be in total shock the 57.379^th time she has to remind her sweet husband to put his socks in the dirty clothes, that no matter how much you want to hurt him in a real bad way, you have to pick your battles. This will be a good time for her to practice up on her favorite songs from the song book at church. Because she will be needing to sing a few verses of Amazing Grace, to herself once her patience starts to run out.

The apostle Paul talks about what true love is in I Corinthians 13:4-7

⁴Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

That’s a lot of stuff! If we are going to love another, as the Lord wants us to, we have to be patient, kind, & put their best interests first. Our needs become less of an importance to us & theirs become more to us. We shouldn’t be jealous & want what others have. And we cannot be full or ourselves. That will never work. It may all seem like it’s too much, but it’s all a work in process, ya know? I know my daughter & her soon to be husband will be happy as larks, once all this wedding stuff is over. Just pray for them & their new life together. You can never get too much prayer.

I am so glad you came by to visit with me today. It’s been a beautiful Mississippi day. Why, it was 63 degrees this morning, as I drove in to work. I talked to someone this morning, in Houston, Texas. They said before 10am, it was already 90 degrees. Sorry, Houston. Maybe cooler weather is coming your way. Sounds like fall could be right around the corner for us! Until the leaves turn brown & the smell of cinnamon & apples is coming from my kitchen, again, I have be going because I should be washing clothes.

The Willie & Waylon method of parenting

June 23, 2015June 23, 2015 / kstrick7 / 3 Comments

My brother, of whom I affectionately refer to as “Bud”.

It’s funny how everybody has opinions about how to raise kids. Some things work for this kid. Other tactics work for that one. No two kids are exactly alike. That’s for sure! My mama, being the good Southern mother she was, had an unconventional approach to parenting. It appears she used the “Willie Nelson/Waylon Jennings method”. If you ain’t quite sure what in the world that is, just follow me down this rabbit trail for a bit.

Mama loved to listen to country music. Willie & Waylon were 2 of her favorites. The song, “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” was literally written about how to bring up your kids. The lyrics go:

Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys Don’t let ’em pick guitars and drive them old trucks Make ’em be doctors and lawyers and such

So, that’s just what mama did. She made sure my brother was raised with all the Southern graces & hospitality that a boy could be. He did not attend cotillion classes, however, was well versed in how to act right, carry on conversations with politeness, & mind his manners at the table. His learning came from being a preacher’s kid. My mama wouldn’t have her kids carrying on like a bunch of hooligans. He was to behave & “act like he had some raisins’ ”. She was the first to tell him when his behavior was less than stellar. Many times it could be a swift smack. My mama was a smacker. So you knew what was coming if you did step out of line. Daddy was more of a belt man. I saw this the other day & thought, yep, more people need to be buying & using these.

Daddy did use the occasional ping pong paddle. But, low & behold, it must not have done any permanent damage to Bud because, ya’ll, he grew up to be a lawyer. Just like Willie & Waylon used to sing about. And mama was so proud of him. She wouldn’t boast of it much, because, you know, not everybody’s boy got to be a lawyer. She didn’t want people to think for a second ANY of us had become high falootin’. (Because mama didn’t raise him to think he was better than anybody else. It must have really worked. He has passed that attribute on to his kids. Who are both a hoot & a half, but are very grounded in life.) I would say, if done right, the Willie & Waylon parenting method has some salt to it. For my brother, at least. It kept him from:

Growing up to be a cowboy. (the kind that is a self seeking wanderer & never stays in one place for long at a time. Which we did think for awhile there he was going to be a bachelor for life. But thank the LORD for my sister-in-law, who changed all that for good.) Mind you he has cleaned many a barn stalls, rode horses, tended to hogs, chickens, dogs, cats, & swam in the branch on hot summer days.
Being a truck driver. Albeit, there are worse things to be. However, he has opted for a life off the road to make his living. Although, there was the time he moved to Atlanta to work. He lived in his car, ate on the run, & didn’t shower much. That’s kinda like a truck driver.
Never staying home & always being alone. Let me say he would much rather be at home than traveling. It’s just something about sleeping in a house with all your peeps under one roof, that is good for the soul. There is always camaraderie going on with his bunch. Ne’er a dull moment.
Loving smoky ole pool rooms. Mind you, he does love a friendly game of pool. He has never been the one to let leisure & responsibility collide. Being responsible & a rock for us all to lean on has always been his specialty. This is where I need to say he is God fearing, too. Good people is what he is.
Being hard to love. If you are around my brother, for any amount of time, & do not deem him likeable & more fun than a ride at the county fair, then you need to quit being such a stick in the mud. He’s always the life of the party. He loves to laugh. And ya’ll, he is quite the dancer. Not the kind of dancer that has any rhythm, but hey, he’s out there trying. You have to LOVE that. My kids think he is the BEST & hands down, I totally agree.

I know Father’s Day has just passed, but I did want to give a shout out to a WONDERFUL brother, daddy, & friend. He is a terrific brother that has such a great sister. Dadgum, he’s lucky.

Thank you for coming by to visit with me today. I hope everybody had a good Father’s Day weekend. We had a birthday we celebrated, as well. It was outside & it was hot. But we are into June with this year, so it was just as expected. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

Birthday boy in all his cuteness

Mr. Sweetie Pants enjoying the festivities.

What party is not complete without some water balloon action?

And this guy. He’s always willing to play with the kids. They are a bit smitten by him.

Sweet boys- they didn’t care it was hot.

You think it’s hot here

June 16, 2015June 16, 2015 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Two boys & a bucket of water

It’s funny. We know summer comes every year. But when it starts getting scorching hot, ya’ll, we act so shocked. Like,

“Lord have mercy, where in the WORLD did this come from?”

The heat, the humidity is just atrocious. Thank the Lord, I have lived in the south all my life & ya’ll, I will tell you, you never get used to the heat. You just survive it. Just today I talked to a man, that lives in Texas. He said OUR heat was stifling. And he’s from Texas! Is Texas not hot?? And we DID say after all of the cold this winter we would not say a WORD, a WORD, I tell you, when it got hot. But, here we are.

I love the church sign I saw once, in the dead of summer, that simply stated

“You think it’s hot here…..”

What would we do without the temperature showing up in our cars?

Well, that’s true. There is a place that’s going to be hotter than Northeast Mississippi (Yes, we are from the North. And we are o.k. with that.) in June that’s why we do everything we can to avoid it.

Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the spirit. Not fruits, plural but fruit singular as in meaning one. It means you have to be ALL of it. Not just a part.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (NKJV)

Let’s back up a little & see what we can do to avoid an eternity of “hotter than a $2.00 pistol” surroundings:

Galatians 5:19-21

¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,^[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹envy, murders,^[d] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (NKJV)

When my all my kids were still at home, I had all of these listed & posted on the front of the refrigerator. Since our most sensitive & highly classified topics came up in the kitchen, of all places, one of them would bring up a situation. It could be from what was being worn to school, to how someone was handling a certain situation, or maybe how someone was acting. I would point to the refrigerator & say ,

“Do you see it on this list?”

With that, they would know the rest of the story. Lots of good conversations came from having that list out where we could see it all the time.

I am so glad you stopped by to visit with me today. Don’t forget this weekend is Father’s Day. If your daddy is still living, make sure to visit or call him. It’s the right thing to do. We will be having Sunday lunch at my house for our Daddys. I will be sure to post some pictures later. Also, see below for my pet peeve of the week. Until then, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.