One Word for 2015

January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 / kstrick7 / 2 Comments

I had been thinking about my One Word for 2015. In 2014 it was Pray. With that, I focused my year on prayer. With prayer always being in the forefront of my mind, I saw things in my life start to change. I am so glad I took the time to focus on prayer. It has made the world of difference. So, it goes without saying, while I was doing all this praying, I began to feel more thankful. It has truly been a humbling time. I gave it some thought (with some help from my friend Falen) & have declared Gratitude as my One Word for 2015. I want to keep this thankful vibe going. It sure does make things more peaceful in my life. When I am thankful, I become richer. I become happier. I become more humbled. I become mindful of the fact, I don’t “do” all of this myself. I have Someone greater, wiser, & more concerned about me than anybody else, watching out for me. That’s where the peace of mind comes in. Realizing the Lord cares for me. Little ol’ me! That makes me feel good. Like chocolate gravy & biscuits good.

I saw where Falen had announced her One Word on Facebook. I immediately commented as to where she snagged her beautiful button. She made it. And because she is AWESOME on a daily basis, she offered to make me one. Here it is:

From this One Word, I will focus on being thankful & grateful this year. I can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for us! God’s blessings were all over the place last year. I know He will bless us in 2015. And p.s. THANK YOU Falen for taking your time to create this gorgeous new addition to my side bar!

Ephesians 5:20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (NKJV)

I hope you have made some goals for 2015. I have my list & want to do my best to put them into action. I am even doing a Bible study with Melanie over at Only a Breath . I know it will bless my heart. Go on over & get your daily dose of blessings, too. Until then, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Christmas fun & how your taste in Christmas presents changes

December 20, 2014December 19, 2014 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

While reading over my favorite blogs, I thought, perhaps you all would enjoy some of the Christmas fun I have been reading about.

First is one of my faves: Christy Jordan’s Southern Plate. Not only does Christy share with us about delicious food, she gives ideas on how to have some Christmas fun. Click on the cookies to find out how you can do 25 free & inexpensive things for the best Christmas ever.

Next, there is so much going on over at I should be mopping the floor. Kristi has some adorable printables & ways to make your holidays less stressful. Just don’t be mad at me if you spend A LOT of time there.

Then, my other fav, who is always keepin’ it real over at Only a Breath. Melanie has announced she wants us to share reading the Bible in 2015. I know she would love having you all join in to study God’s word together. Just click on her messy kitchen to go to the blog post. (And by the way, this was after a night of at the last minute reindeer cookie making. I feel her pain.)

Now that I have shared some of my favorite blog stuff with you, I want to talk about how my taste in Christmas presents have changed. When I was younger of course it was toys, toys, & more toys! Then, as I became a teenager, it was a special piece of jewelry, clothes, or whatever it was everybody else was getting that year. As I got older & had kids & now grandkids -it’s hard to buy my Christmas present. Not that I am that hard to buy for. You see, what I want for Christmas has become something you can’t buy in a store. My kids will ask what I want, every year.

For the past several years, it’s been the same- nothing.

I just want them to take care of their own babies now. To make sure they get what they want. My Christmas present is my house full of people who I love & who love me. Being able to open up my house to the ones who are dearest to me is a wonderful feeling. In the past few years, people have become so much more important to me. I think it’s just something that tends to happen when you lose those who are very dear to you. Many of our loved ones have gone on & you start to really pay attention to the relationships you have. My mama loved a get together. I think I am getting more like her. I love eating together, laughing together, & watching them all be excited for the season. Seeing the little ones squeal & rip & romp through my house. Having enough food for everybody & then some. Being able to cook with my sweetie. That is what I want for Christmas. The feeling of contentment that right then, for a split second, my loved ones are fed, safe, & sound. There, for the moment, there is peace on my earth, that I live in. I wouldn’t take anything for all of that. Now show me how to bottle & sell that & we will be gazillionaires!

What are you doing for Christmas? Whatever it is, I hope you feel as blessed as I do. Not with what’s under the tree, but being grateful for your family, friends, & spiritual blessings. That’s what it’s all about anyway. Until next time, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

A little Christmas perspective from Calvin & Hobbes

Time change is for the birds & my secret sister

November 6, 2014November 5, 2014 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Ooohhh, the time change……..Really, is this change necessary? I mean, at work Monday around 2:30pm, I thought it was time for me to go home. Imagine my surprise. Since, I work until 5pm, that was definitely upsetting for me. Next time they take a vote for cancelling daylight savings time, will someone let me know? I perhaps have a strong opinion about it. Thanks ya’ll. Because time change is hard.

Isn’t it wonderful the love of the Lord never changes? It is a very constant thing for those who are His. Do you wonder sometimes if Jesus still cares? He does. He never changes. We all get discouraged. We all have struggles. It’s every day, for some of us. Not just occasionally. It is nearing the time of year that is, harder than normal, for us folks who have lost loved ones. Times come when you feel you just can’t go on. It may be the loss of a job, loss of a loved one, a divorce, or sickness, whether it be you or someone you care about. Things happen. Things that we don’t plan for. Change happens. But, I am here with some good news, the Lord is here for us. The whole time. Not just for the parts that are easy. He will be with you as long as you will let Him. He wants us all to have a home in heaven. Now, that’s a change I am happy about. I will gladly change my earthly address in exchange for a heavenly home.

David talks about his own troubling times in Psalms 30. David had a man killed, so that he could take his wife. David & his new wife had a baby & the baby died. (II Samuel 12) David was so full of grief. He called on God. He knew His love was there. Never changing.

Psalms 30: 2

Lord my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. ^{v. 3}You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared me from going down to the pit. (NKJV)

The Lord obviously loved David. He was right there for him. Even though David did wrong, God came back to him, when he repented.

Psalms 30:5

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.(NKJV)

Have you ever stayed up at night & wanted relief? Didn’t things look much better in the morning? David found favor with God. God made sure he was there for David. Why? Because God’s just awesome like that. He’s a dependable. He never changes. And after the baby died, David went to worship the Lord. David was changed. He knew the same Lord that allowed bad things to happen to him, was the same Lord that blessed him. He knew God was going to take care of everything. And He did.

Thank you for stopping by to visit with me today. Did you know it’s only 3 weeks until Thanksgiving? I am so excited! I can’t wait for all of our family to be together. There is ne’er a dull moment with my bunch. There will be lots of cooking, eating, & fun times. And too, my secret sister, from the Only a Breath encouragement project, sent me a card this week. She wrote a beautiful scripture in it. Do you know where it was from? Psalms 30. I had been reading & studying that very scripture the same day I got the card. Now tell me the Lord didn’t just send me a friend! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week. Until next time, I have to be going because I should be washing clothes.

photo credits: deposit photos, pinterest

How I found Faith at the local Sonic & loving Bible study

October 1, 2014October 1, 2014 / kstrick7 / Leave a comment

Does anyone besides me live in the land of convenience? We schedule everything, to our leisure. My Mamaw used to wash clothes on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday, she would go out to the cellar & crank up that old washing machine. It was one of the old ones that had the wringer you put the clothes in. Similar to this one.

Now, I can load a ton of clothes in my high efficiency washer & schedule when I want it to wash. It can wash right then. Or I can schedule it for 3hours or 6 hours to commence to getting our clothes clean. Convenience. Then, there is my dishwasher. My Mamaw did not have a dishwasher. She hand washed everything that passed through her sink. Right then. There was ne’er a dirty dish in her sink. My dishwasher will allow you to schedule the washing of the china (which is actually Corelle), at 3 or 6 hours. What ever is best for me, is just fine with the dishwasher.

There are some things that we must not do out of convenience or leisure. Bible reading is one of them. Not saying reading the Bible in your leisure time is not a great way to spend your time. Just saying it should be a priority, not something you leave to do if you have time. Reading the Bible is a wonderful way of having your faith strengthened. Prayer is our avenue we use to talk to the Lord. And he wants to hear from us & what we have to say. The Bible is the Lord talking back to you. What kind of relationship would you have with someone if you were the one doing the talking all the time? You never took time to listen to what the other person had to say. That’s why I believe it is so important to make time to listen to the Lord daily. We should be hungry for his word. Not, something we just check off our daily list of to dos.

II Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (KJV)

II Peter 1:4

⁴by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

What kind of promises are these that Peter talks about? If we don’t read our Bibles, then, we won’t ever know.

Satan tries to

Limit your Bible Study

Because he knows your

Bible study will

Limit him

Melanie over at Only a Breath, has begun a faith series about reading the Bible. It starts today. Go on over & see what she has to share about Bible reading. I will be joining her for this wonderful series. I hope you will make a little time to be with us.

We had a funny thing happen to us Sunday night. We attended church at a sister church. The churches in our area sponsor Campaign for Christ. Which is like an area wide meeting or revival . The preacher spoke about faith. He spoke about how to have faith, having faith, & how faith works in our lives. It was a wonderful night. There was 1,013 folks in attendance. It was a great night. (Did I already say that?) We really enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, Miss Neenee suggested we stop for ice cream. I placed our order & waited for the deliciousness to arrive. After awhile, the carhop came out to the car. Of course we were excited to see her. She came bearing sundaes! As I was handing the treats to my daughters, I noticed her name tag. You know what her name was? Faith. Coincidence? I think not.

I hope you all are having a wonderful week. My past weekend was full of little boys playing, rippin’ & rompin’. We made a trip to see the ducks & to the park. Even though there was a fare amount of ballin’ & squallin’ their eyes out when we were leaving. Fun was had by all. (Hey, sometimes little kids don’t want good times to end.) And by Monday, I was going to work to rest. Thank the Lord for sweet grandbabies. Amen. Until we go on more adventures, I have to be going, because I should be washing clothes.

Mr. Sweetie Pants blew out the candles on his Mickey Mouse cake like a boss

Mr. Sweetie Pants had a happy birthday!

Hang on boys ya’ll are gettin’ too close to the water!

Come up here & let me make your picture by this tree.

Now let’s get to sliding down the slide!

Courage- to make relationships better

February 15, 2013 / kstrick7 / 3 Comments

I am glad to get the chance to link up with Melanie at Only A Breath blog to talk about my one word. This year I chose “Courage” to be my one word. When I was thinking about my one word, I was thinking a word that would help me to be the best I could be. I made a list & thought about what I should work on. It came to mind that everything in my life, that was holding me back, had to do with action. It was being afraid to step out & act on something. It was being too lazy to act on something. It was getting my thoughts together. It was communicating & trusting. It was wallowing in situations, that I just did not have the will to overcome. All of it was entwined in the word “Courage”. Since I picked my word, I have never looked back.

Just this past week, I made a commitment to myself that I would have the courage to make some of my relationships better. I started by talking to my Daddy for about 30 minutes on the phone. For he & I that is like 3 hours to someone else! He is retired & doing his own thing. My mother passed away in 2002. Since then, he has enjoyed being able to be on his own, without responsibilities. Sometimes I resent that just a teeny bit. Probably because I think he should be over at my house, seeing what I need, doing things with my family, hanging around, seeing what I need, telling me everywhere he is going & what he is doing, seeing what I need, etc.,.(Do you see a pattern here?) He is more of the “if you need me call me” type. When I need him, I call him & he comes. HOWEVER, I thought, you know, I should be less selfish about this. Not having my feelings hurt because I don’t know what he’s doing every day. So, I am planning to call him more, visit him more, & then just leave him alone (like he likes  ) Then, I talked to my brother & emailed him & text him multiple times. He is another that I want to make more time with. He & his family live 4 hours away. So, that does not always give the best circumstances. We did say we were visiting each other VERY SOON. I love him so much. It’s just when you have your own family & live 200 miles apart, you kinda get in your own routine & forget to call & email & text- not to mention visit. It takes courage to keep relationships going. I can’t get my feelings hurt about the relationships with them not being all that I want them to be, when I am not making an effort. I am using my courage to help be more involved in my Daddy & brother’s lives. Hopefully, next month I can tell you about some great memories we’ve made !

Thank you, Melanie for having this wonderful link up to tell about our one word. I have been so inspired by Courage this year. It has helped me make some really simple decisions . I already feel better about where this year has been taking me. I appreciate you stopping by my blog. It’s always great to have company! I have to be going now, because I should be washing clothes.