Happy Friday, Friends!
How was your week? Mine has been lovely so far. It's been quiet and peaceful, and I was able to take two classes this week: my regular weekly art class and a Bible study class at church.
What have you been up to? We know what sweet Rita has been doing this week. Here's to praying for a very speedy recovery!
I enjoyed this week's lesson so, so much. Actually, Psalm 103 was part of my personal Bible study this week. Whenever I encounter a repetition of God's word within the space of a day or two, I pay attention!
The visuals for this lesson can be summed up like this:
This cross is in our foyer. I think it's a nice visual for this week's lesson.
Below is the scripture from this week's lesson.
Prayer Requests
- Carla requests that we pray for the Wisconsin Guard troops that are stationed in Kuwait that are slowly returning home. All should be back on Wisconsin soil by August. Prayers for safety as they come home and transition back into civilian life.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they decide where to live when they retire. Pray for Terry because he was mistreated by the union and sent on his way before the end of August. Pray that God will provide him with a job (part time, maybe) that will be both challenging and rewarding.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- Molly’s contract fell through on the barndominium (Kitty's daughter). Pray that God will lead the right buyer to purchase her home.
- Pray for Rita's daughter Megan. Also pray for the purchase and closing of her home.
- Let's pray for all of our health, and for the health of our families.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they help settle Terry's mother's estate. It's hard work, and having to deal with so many people can be difficult.
- Pray for Carla's son Sam and his fiancée, Cate, who will be married on August 29th. Pray for their plans, wedding, and marriage.
- Pray for the two families affected by suicides in Carla's community.
- Travel mercies for Carla and family as they travel next week for their annual family trip.
- Praise for Kris as she received good results from medical testing yesterday. Also, her Grandson Edmund will be a Big Brother in March! God is so good! Let's lift both mother and baby up in prayer.
- Please lift up Rita in your prayers! Not only is she trying to recover from cyclospora, she also fell and broker her wrist. She had surgery on Wednesday. Pray that she will get the needed rest for her body to heal.
- Pray for Rita's brother's companion Betty who will have a lung biopsy next Friday after a PET scan showed several hot spots. She had breast cancer 5 years ago.
- Kitty's brother is home from the skilled nursing care. Please pray that he can manage.
- Travel mercies for me and my family. Shanley Belle, Christopher, and our little Starling will be flying down to the beach, and we will be joining them.
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Friday, Sweet Friends!
Wow, it has been a mixed bag of emotions for our little group! Lovely highs with vacations and wedding plans, and a couple of lows with health concerns.
So the little greeting card, above, is for us all. Right now, I want to lift-up our group, and pray for our health collectively, and pray for Rita and Kris in particular.
We also need to celebrate Sam and Cate because the enemy hates it when we are joyful in the midst of trials. We can multitask because we're women, right?!?!?!
And can you believe that I had workmen in my home yesterday because I was taking a shower and I noticed this:
We literally just moved back into to our bathroom. The lone tile does not even have the same texture not to mention color of the rest of them. So they had to come out and replace it and caulk where the tile meets the tub deck because they had failed to do that, too. I keep thinking that this time will be the last time any of the workers will be in our home.
:/
Have you heard the phrase that God is in the details, or maybe it's the devil is in the details?
At this point, I'm not sure which is the appropriate aphorism.
Compared to most problems, this is nothing. However, we've had so, so many issues like this, both big and small. We are paying a lot of money for their services, and I have spent so much time managing them. I'm tired. Now I understand the phrase "a death of a thousand cuts."
I've also wondered if maybe we're being punked!
I enjoyed the lesson because I liked the guided narrative of approaching and entering His Gates via the temple King Solomon built. I was curious about what a Sinai rosefinch looks like, and you can see one below.
Also, this little guy was in my inbox this morning from the Graphics Fairy. He's a European Robin.
As lovely as the guided narrative was, our prayer reminds us that we (our bodies) are now God's temple thanks to Jesus's gift of the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful truth to grasp and cherish!
Prayer Requests
- Carla requests that we pray for the Wisconsin Guard troops that are stationed in Kuwait that are slowly returning home. All should be back on Wisconsin soil by August. Prayers for safety as they come home and transition back into civilian life.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they decide where to live when they retire. Pray for Terry because he was mistreated by the union and sent on his way before the end of August. Pray that God will provide him with a job (part time, maybe) that will be both challenging and rewarding.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- Molly’s contract fell through on the barndominium (Kitty's daughter). Pray that God will lead the right buyer to purchase her home.
- Pray for Rita's daughter Megan. Also pray for the purchase and closing of her home.
- Let's pray for all of our health, and for the health of our families.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they help settle Terry's mother's estate. It's hard work, and having to deal with so many people can be difficult.
- Pray for Carla's son Sam and his fiancée, Cate, who will be married on August 29th. Pray for their plans, wedding, and marriage.
- Pray for the two families affected by suicides in Carla's community.
- Travel mercies for Carla and family as they travel next week for their annual family trip.
- Praise for Kris as she received good results from medical testing yesterday. Also, her Grandson Edmund will be a Big Brother in March! God is so good! Let's lift both mother and baby up in prayer.
- Please lift up Rita in your prayers! Not only is she trying to recover from cyclospora, she also fell and broker her wrist. Pray that she will only need a permanent cast for six weeks, and that she will be able to function left-handed. Pray that she will get the needed rest for her body to heal.
- Pray for Rita's brother's companion Betty who will have a lung biopsy next Friday after a PET scan showed several hot spots. She had breast cancer 5 years ago.
- Kitty's brother is home from the skilled nursing care. Please pray that he can manage.
- Lift Kitty up in prayer on Sunday as it's the 13th anniversary of her husband's going home to heaven.
I am so excited because after an early morning appointment to get my hair cut, I have absolutely no plans! I have very few chores, too, so I'm hoping to create a little art this weekend.
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Friday, Friends!
How was your week? Mine was busy, and I plan to rest this weekend. The good news is we have moved everything back into our bathroom. All that's left to do is replace a diverter faucet on our bathtub; touch-up paint; replace a window; and hang a window shade. One day soon, though, there will be no more workers in our house for this renovation, I am sure of it (ha ha).
I love the visualizations in our lessons. In this week's lesson we are tasked to visualize our loving God sitting in his temple and "never taking his eyes off of [us]." I am so comforted knowing that our omniscient Father :
....observes your life through the lens of his Son--the lens of love and mercy.
Yesterday was rough because we realized that yet again our plumber made a mistake, and there was not a "hard stop" on our shower faucet. He came to fix it first thing in the morning, but he really should have checked his work before leaving when he installed it. I was not happy, and I did not show him any mercy. I am tired. I am frustrated. I could've shown him God's love through me, but I didn't. It was definitely a missed opportunity.
And God saw me. Yet he loves me and forgives me, still....
Below is our Psalm of the week and a couple other Bibles verses mentioned in the lesson.
Prayer Requests
- Carla requests that we pray for the Wisconsin Guard troops that are stationed in Kuwait that are slowly returning home. All should be back on Wisconsin soil by August. Prayers for safety as they come home and transition back into civilian life.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they decide where to live when they retire. Pray for Terry because he was mistreated by the union and sent on his way before the end of August. Pray that God will provide him with a job (part time, maybe) that will be both challenging and rewarding.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- Praise: Kitty's daughter has a contract on her home. Let's pray that the closing happens without a hitch.
- Pray for Rita's daughter Megan. Also pray for the purchase and closing of her home.
- Let's pray for all of our health, and for the health of our families.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they help settle Terry's mother's estate. It's hard work, and having to deal with so many people can be difficult.
- Pray for Carla's son Sam and his fiancée, Cate, who will be married on August 29th. Pray for their plans, wedding, and marriage.
- Pray for the two families affected by suicides in Carla's community.
- Travel mercies for Carla and family as they travel next week for their annual family trip.
- Pray for Kris as she is having medical testing on Thursday. Pray for a good outcome for her.
- Please lift up Rita in your prayers! Not only is she trying to recover from cyclospora, she also fell and broker her wrist. Pray that she will only need a permanent cast for six weeks, and that she will be able to function left-handed. Pray that she will get the needed rest for her body to heal.
I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend.
Try to find a little joy!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
Happy Saturday and August, Friends! Wow, I can't believe it's August already, and I can't believe that our house renovation is still going on! I'm hopeful that they will finish Monday, but who knows? I've been told that story before. Once the bathtub panel is installed and the mirrors hung, it should be done. The only thing outstanding will be a replacement window, but that will be installed from the outside, and then our pretty window shade can be hung.
It's my plan to clean out our bathroom today (it is one filthy mess) and move everything back in.
I also want to apologize again about posting a day late. A tree in our backyard was struck by lightning Monday morning. It took out all our exterior lighting, stereo equipment, and TV. It also took out our interior stereo and internet modem and routers. Our internet equipment was replaced on Monday, but the tech had to come back to make sure that we had the highest speed available from our provider and do another check on our cables. That and Shelley's birthday celebration prevented me from posting yesterday.
I really felt for Shelley because she took her paid vacation time for Independence Day and her birthday. When I went into the hospital, all of our plans and most of hers (except those with her friends) were cancelled. I told her we would have a do-over at the end of the month, and we did! I took her to the grand opening of LoveShackFancy and we had the best time! We also went to a couple other shops Shelley likes, and then went out for lunch.
Now on to our lesson...
I think it is timely that our lesson this week is about God's plan for our lives. Many of us and several of our family members in this group are facing tough decisions and difficult situations. But God has a plan, and it is up to us to pray to him for guidance. I really enjoyed the prayer this week, too.
Speaking of prayer, lately I've been reading about how we need to be very specific when we pray. Be bold in your prayers, Friends, because we don't want God to say to us one day that he didn't give something to us because we never asked for it! We know that God knows our needs better than we do, but if we are bold, specific, and include "thy will be done," God will answer us!
Here is the scripture from the lesson, and I included another graphic from Psalm 90.
Prayer Requests
- Carla requests that we pray for the Wisconsin Guard troops that are stationed in Kuwait that are slowly returning home. All should be back on Wisconsin soil by August. Prayers for safety as they come home and transition back into civilian life.
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they decide where to live when they retire. Pray for Terry because he was mistreated by the union and sent on his way before the end of August.
- Continue praying for Kitty's son Mike as he continues on his journey of no pain meds. Mike is off of pain meds for several weeks and is weaning off several other prescriptions. Mike is requesting that we pray for his mental health.
- Kitty would like for you to pray that her daughter sells her barndominium and can find a home closer so that she’s not driving two hours a day.
- Rita requests we pray for her brother who had a stroke last June. Pray that he remains strong and stable as he and her SIL navigate changes of selling their home in WV and building a new home near their daughter in TX.
- Pray for Kitty's brother because he has been very ill. He's out of the hospital and currently in a skilled nursing facility. Let's pray that he will continue to improve.
- Travel mercies for Kitty and her family as they travel the next couple of weeks.
- Pray for Rita's daughter Megan. Also continue to pray as Rita recovers from clorospora. Pray that God will continue to heal her and strengthen her as her system acclimates to food again.
- Let's pray for all of our health, and for the health of our families.
- Praise! Little Starling is two months old now, and is thriving! She is blessed with two very devoted parents, and grandparents who are totally in love with her!
- Please pray that these workers will be out of our home this week. It has been very stressful for all of us, and I think it has stressed our our Westies the most!
- Pray for Kris and Terry as they help settle Terry's mother's estate. It's hard work, and having to deal with so many people can be difficult. (It took me months to settle my mom's estate.)
As I work this weekend putting our house back together, I will take breaks, drink coffee, and pray for us all.
Have a peaceful weekend!
Until next time...
Blessings!
Ricki Jill
Ricki Jill
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