twinkle twinkle little star

... that would be the song I can't get out of my head after having the little boys here most of last week!  That song and the "Clean up. Clean up. It is time to clean up" song.  Linda and the boys went home last Thursday. But they were back yesterday.  The boys spent the day with me while John & Linda had a day to themselves. 

We played with cars on our street poster ...  and Jacob hung out with his buddy Fargo ...

We made cookies.  Anthony rolled the dough, cut the shapes, painted the tops and added sprinkles.  Jacob "supervised".

The cookie cutters needed to be washed, and stripping down seemed the best way to stay dry.

After lunch, Jacob napped while Anthony and I created with Play Doh.

We are so blessed to live close and be able to spend so much time with our grandchildren.  (And as an added bonus, Jacob can now say "Oma"!)

and then there were 5 ...

This is going to be a fun week!  John left for Phoenix AZ today for work.  He'll be gone for a week.  So ... Linda and the boys are moving in on Tuesday for a few days.  We're planning all sorts of fun things, mostly to keep A distracted because he's totally a Daddy's boy right now.  And the weather outlook is good so we can maybe do some outdoor stuff, too!

But that means I have to get the bulk of this week's work done tomorrow.  Yikes!  At least it's not a payroll week, so my workload is a bit lighter. Yay!  But I've got some church obligations  (meetings, elder visits to do, etc.) that I'll just fit in between everything else.  I'm looking forward to a fun week.

Here's a cool song.  We sang this in church today and I like it. Sorry about the occasionally cheesy visuals!

When reality hits you right between the eyes ...

Faith alert: this post considers faith issues. Those of you who have “opted out” of a faith life will probably find this “preachy”. It’s not intended to be.

Last Wednesday was Epiphany – the day in which we celebrate the manifestation of the divine nature of Christ as presented by the Magi – the moment of sudden insight that they were in the presence of God. From time to time we, too, experience epiphany – moments of sudden insight or revelation.

How often do we sit in church and sing the songs but not really consider the impact of the words? It happens. You KNOW it happens. Tunes and words that we can sing without the book; songs so familiar we can think about other things while we sing them, or concentrate on singing a harmony line, etc.

Yesterday at the end of the service we sang such a song. Prior to singing it however, the worship leader challenged us to consider the statements we would be singing. As we sang the song I found myself wondering, “Is this really what I’m prepared to do, is this a way I’m willing to live? It’s all-encompassing!.” It was one of those “epiphany” moments.

The song was “Take My Life and Let it Be”, written in 1874 by Francis R. Havergal. It was based on Romans 12:1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship.”


Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
(Take my life and let it be dedicated for divine purpose) 
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee;
(Take my hands and feet and put them to work as a response to God’s love.)

Take my voice and let me sing, always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee;
(Take my voice and lips and let me always and only praise and proclaim the love of God.)

Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.
(Take my money and use it for benevolent purposes.)

Take my moments and my days, let them flow in endless praise;
(Take my time here and let it be dedicated to a life of praising God.)

Take my intellect and use every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
(Take my intellect and use it for the glory of God.)

Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine;
(Take my will and make is serve God’s purposes, not mine own selfish ones.)

Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store;
(Take my heart and my love and give them over wholly to God.)

Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.


I don’t know about you, but it was a rather humbling moment for me. I fail miserably to live up to the words of this song.