March 21 Came and Went...

... and I was struck with this thought, it never once occurred to me that it was the first day of Spring! And then in reading Proverbs 22 today, I read verse 2. “The rich and the poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.”

I know it is a stretch, but it made me realize that God is good to us all, wise and foolish, rich and poor, and some things he gives freely whether he is acknowledged or not. 

There are people all over this world that wake up with evil spirits, thoughts and intentions, and yet it is God that gives them life and breath. People every day get good jobs and never thank God for the intelligence he has given them. People have children, buy houses, eat food... HAVE A PULSE!... and never once give even a blip of thought to God, let alone THANK HIM for these gifts! 

Then there are others who wake up with grateful hearts and a burning desire to follow God, and they are riddled with cancer and cannot even get out of their bed for the pain and exhaustion. We all know people who are suffering with illness, job loss, car problems and really big struggles, who are trying to follow God. It seems like there is an imbalance, an unfairness in it all, but verse 2 tells me it is God who made them all.  

It is not up to me to decide who gets what- either blessing or apparent trial. God is over all, and I have to KNOW to the core of my being that God Loves his children! II Corinthians 8: 8 “...and to prove the sincerity of your love.:” and 11 “Now therefore perform the doing of it; ...” What is it if I say I love God, and then complain if I have trials? Do I only love if it is easy? Do I believe that God loves me with a perfect love, and anything I go through is a direct action of that towards me? It certainly makes the things I go through much easier to bare keeping that in the forefront of my mind. 

Life is not easy, but every day I am learning more and more of what The Lord means when he said, “Take my yoke upon you, and LEARN of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:29-30. 

Total Fluff and Fonts...

I Love Fonts! I know... some of you are wondering what I could possibly mean, and why Do I Care about them?! But many years ago, I was turned on to fonts by my lovely daughter Olivia and her bud K8. I have googled them ever since and found some great sites that offer free fonts in every shape and size. I wish I could show them all to you, but that would not be possible!

So I have tried to take my most favorite ones, and put them here for you... with the name of the font for you to google and get the file should you love it too!   Maybe not as easy to read but at least you will get an idea of them...! You can click the image and it will let you magnify it if you want!  

Like I said, all of these have been FREE on the web. Just download and install in your system font file. Super easy on a mac, maybe a little trickier on a pc but IT CAN BE DONE! I have done it! So you know it is possible for even the most basic user! :)

I just love this font though. Whenever I do any graphics it is one of my first GOTO choices. If you look around at graphics, it is actually pretty popular out there as well. 

But just by switching up the font choice, I think the mood of the message actually changes. Like you would have a very HARD time believing me if I told you I was struggling with depression if I wrote it in this font! 

Maybe you would be more likely to believe me in this one though!! 

And I could say just about any mean thing to you with this font, and you would leave feeling happy inside just because! 

This is perfect for that party invitation for the kiddo's birthday party, don'tcha think?!

And this is just a cool casual note on a little post it for that special someone just to say Hey! Been thinking of you!! 

Merry Christmas looks all the more dreamy and magical with stars surrounding it! Used this one on my card this year! :) 

If I could get myself to write like this all the time, I think I would write notes more often. You?

Or I would even if my penmanship resembled this one. Neat, a definite righty slant... I like it! 

this one is just crazy. Fun, but Crazy! \

I LOVE THE Scrolls And Grunge Of This Font. Whenever I have Used It, I Often Erase Alot Of the Craziness Around the Letters To Clean It Up A Little. Only The CAPITOLS HAVE ALL OF THE SCROLLS THOUGH> COOL HUH? 

This is perfect if you digitally scrapbook. Think of all the hours saved!! If only we could get paid for saved time! 

And I also appreciate a good chisel font. It is perhaps the most difficult thing to get really right by hand, so THIS is perfecto! 

So now you know what I do in my spare time! I love a blog called Kevin and Amanda, and they have a bunch of FREE FONTS here...   http://www.kevinandamanda.com/fonts/

They will even make a submitted selection of handwriting into a font if you think it os "font worthy"! I know someone whom I would like to get to submit her handwriting to them. Perhaps I will suggest she do just that! 

Another really cool site...   

http://www.waldenfont.com/default.asp?sc=30&gclid=COv9kLLU3qcCFRUq2godfQw3_Q

Just google free fonts and search away! Warning... make sure you don't have dinner cooking... it might get burned because you will be so distracted! 

Sunset... Sunrise...

We are thoroughly enjoying our time while in Florida. The churches we have been a part of are wonderful and welcoming! The weather has been stellar... especially taking into consideration our alternative if we were home!

We also are a family that loves the outdoors, and when that includes sun, sand and surf... all the better!

Before we left Largo we went to Madeira Beach and were treated to a beautiful sunset. We were meeting wonderful new friends (Joel and Kim and their guys) at The Candy Kitchen so we went a little early to catch the setting sun on the beach. It was BrIsK this particular evening, but we managed Just Fine!

 I just kept taking a picture every minute... it is shocking how quickly it just disappears once it has hit the horizon!

 The gulls and sand pipers were getting their last meal of the evening...

 I love the double glare off the sun and the bit of water on the shore.

 Here is Siah braving the cold wind and brisk water. The sun is a ball of glowing gold... so pretty!

The last peek of the night. It was actually quite hazy which made it quite etherial. 

Then we went to Daytona, which meant if we wanted to catch the sun on the waters edge... we had to get up early! Thankful for the time change to standard time, which meant sunrise at 7:31. Whew! Not TOO early! 

We went to 5th Avenue public beach access... not very romantic sounding but free parking! 

 We actually got there at 7:15 so we had several minutes to wait for this bitty sliver to show up...

 Dan had his devo all planned out for the fam. He is good like that! :)

 The guys doing... I don't know... what guys do! Muscles are always involved though.

Lookin, lookin, lookin...

 I should have done my hair... who knew the guys would be so thoughtful to take a picture of us :) 

 You know I dont see the sunrise alot... especially over water. I am still amazed at how quickly it just moves up the sky. 

 Daddy snuggling Vannah... she was very cold even with the blanket wrapped around her :)

 Almost ready to light the whole sky...

And it is up! It is neat to be on a peninsula where we can see the Sunrise and Sunset in just a few days! Quite a gift of beauty we are treated to... twice a day! 

If we were doing Deputation in the 50's...

This would surely be my vehicle of choice!! I am not even sure they DID deputation in the 50's! 

While we were at New Testament BC there was a car show held in the church parking lot. There were over 40 cars from the area all ranging from a new 2011 California something or other Mustang. It was pretty and rare etc. Blah blah blah. Then there was a car I had never heard of called a Noble. It was cute. 

But this 'Ol Suburban was amazing! There was three of them there like this one; two brown and cream, and then this one. They also had a Suburban panel truck! Talk about one of the first SUV's ever. I had fun with some PW actions on it. This one was called "fresh and colorful". 

This is "PDub's B&W". Looks quite a bit more appropriate in black and white considering it is nearly 70 years old.

And this is called "Vintage" action. SO COOL! I will post some pictures of the cars all my boys were drooling over and coveting. They were crazy horse power and such. One truck was over 100 hp, and the owner had never even gotten close to the potential of it. There were others that had OVER $70,000 in MODIFICATIONS!!! That is unbelievable! And crazy thing... that was not their only vehicle like it! Wow! Talk about not knowing what to do with your money! I guess if it makes them happy.

Sadly, they will surely regret it one millisecond after death. Oh that we will all live to lay up treasure in Heaven! May I live that way each day!

A "Bit 'O Home-y"

We were thrilled to learn that the B's were going to be in Tampa! We were only 30 minutes or so away, so we made plans to join them at Fowler Ave. Baptist Church to help with an afternoon kids camp called "Backlot". A tremendous outreach to kids from nearby homes. Many are from less than advantageous situations which could be read on many of their faces. Many of these kids were facing two strikes against them the day they were born. So SAD!! Every one of them needs Jesus, and many of them would have never heard if not for the vision of this church to reach them. 

 It is a weekly activity and they take two vans out to get the kids from wherever they can find them... truly not a hard search as right across the street there are thousands of low income houses and apartments on hundreds of acres of land. Literally a mission field full of people.

 The church is blessed with a HUGE back yard, hence the name of the program, "Backlot". They organize the kids as best as possible and play games and share the Love of Christ with them. There is a devotional time where they are carefully presented with the Gospel. I say carefully, for as many know the world is filled with people who "said a prayer" when they were young for whatever the motivation, and truly have never understood the Good News unto Salvation. People who errantly rely on a few spoken words and then live life however they want believing they will be kept from hell by a "safety net" made of dust.

Oh! that the Gospel would go forth in TRUTH and that people would accept it carefully, with true repentance and sadness at their lost and fallen state without Christ! Those that receive it with gladness are quite possibly sold a gospel that sounds much like the prosperity preachers... "Just believe God and all your troubles will melt away and Life will be great!" There is truth in that, but only in the fact that our troubles are no different, just our response to them! They melt away in the light of the fact that truly we know in whom we have believed and that though in this flesh there dwelleth no good thing, our HOPE is in Christ!

In the only two hours we were there, surely our influence will not go very far.  Truly they impacted us far more than we impacted them! The Pastor, however is there every day, every week, praying for them and loving on them, and available to be a hand in the stead of Christ. The church is a beacon of Light Spreading the Gospel - shining in a dark corner of Tampa. I know the Lord is honored in that place! 

We were truly blessed to be able to share in the day's events. Beyond that we were able to sped some quality time with some of our dearest friends, and that was certainly the icing on the proverbial cake! Even Savannah remarked at how nice it was to be with "people we really know".  Sentiment shared by All I will tell you!