Family Tidbits

Tidbit Tuesday

Mother’s Day 2013

Enjoying Mother’s Day with Kathy and Alan

Loved the gift of these gorgeous pink tulips!

I’ll never get enough of being around these two!  ♥ They turned out so great in spite of me and I’ll always be thankful to God for them in my life!

Happy Mother’s Day 2013

This is for all of you Moms out there and for all of us whose Moms have already left this world.

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The Lord took my Mom home six years ago but this is how I often remember her:

When I was growing up, one of the houses we lived in had built-in brick planters that bordered the front porch. Every year Mom would plant bright red geraniums in those planters—just like the ones in this photo. They made the entrance to our home look so pretty! I wish I had a photo of her standing next to those gorgeous geraniums but I guess that doesn’t matter because I’ll always have the memories in my mind and in my heart.

Beloved, whether your Mom is still here with you or dancing in heaven, what memory is your favorite about her?

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I love and miss you Mom!

Fireproof

Tidbit Tuesday

When the movie “Fireproof” first came out in 2008, I wanted to see it because my son is a firefighter. Simple, huh?

Actually, not so much. Seeing this movie greatly impacted Rick’s and my marriage and we decided to buy the DVD as well as the “Fireproof Your Marriage” Couple’s Kit Bible study. And I also bought the paperback Fireproof to read. If I like something a lot, I want to know as much as I can about it! That’s how I roll.

Our 10-year anniversary was in 2008 so we decided to have a private ceremony—just Rick and me—in which we renewed our covenant vows and exchanged new, matching wedding bands that have three etched crosses on them. Now, please understand that our marriage was not in peril but seeing this movie reinforced in both of us the need to tend to our relationship in a new, special way. Every. Single. Day.

It is so easy to let things slide in order to avoid conflict, but that just causes the little things to pile up into a huge mountain and then watch out! Here’s where a full-on blow-up can happen. One of the things we have learned is to let go of what doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things and yet make sure we talk over what does make a difference in our marriage. We make sure to be constantly and consistently vigilant to not let the embers of our love die out because of something we said or didn’t say. Or did or didn’t do.

I shared that I would be writing about “enough” this year, but let me clearly state that our marriages are not to be taken for granted. We need to nurture our marriages and our marriage partners every day. This is a case where “enough” is NOT enough!

Here’s a video trailer of “Fireproof” to whet your appetite in case you haven’t seen it. And if you have seen it, I’d like to challenge you to watch it again with a new frame of mind for how much more your marriage can be… even if—as was the case for Rick and me—you think your marriage is already the best it can be.

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You Will Rejoice

Therefore you too have grief now;

but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice,

and no one will take your joy away from you.

—John 16:22

This year has had its ups and downs, but then when doesn’t it? That’s life here on earth!

Rick and I still love living here in northern Arizona and are thankful for our 14 years of marriage, which we just recently celebrated. Every year we see God at work in us, bringing us closer together as we mutually rejoice at His presence in our lives. No matter what is happening, we have grateful hearts for the One Who leads us in life and in our marriage.

Christmas is a time of great joy as we meditate on the birth of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, and what His humble birth means to us. We’re surrounded by sights and sounds of the season everywhere we look.

Are we able to feel and express that joy? Or are we despondent in spite of seeing Christmas trees bedecked with lights and ornaments, surrounded by holiday aromas of pine, vanilla and cinnamon?

We may happily look forward to being surrounded by family and friends, but that happiness may give way to discontentment because illness will not allow us to decorate as much as we used to, or bake Christmas cookies, or wrap gifts, or cook up a fabulous Christmas feast. Maybe this year has been filled with financial problems and there is very little to make a Christmas for our family.

Too many of us may be stuck dwelling on past Christmases when everything seemed perfect. We had enough money to buy gifts for family and friends. Our health was good. Perhaps we were whirlwinds of activity as we prepared that “perfect” Christmas for our families to treasure.

However, our true joy is not in the trappings of the Christmas season, but on what this season represents. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a human being in order to experience everything we do so that He could completely understand what we go through. He knows our sorrows and burdens. He appreciates how difficult it is to live on this earth.

And He is with us every single step of the way.

Beloved, Jesus did not lead a trouble-free life. It cannot have been easy to know that He was born to die such a horrible death on the cross. But he willingly did so as the punishment for our sins so that we can have the chance to live with Him forever.

True joy is based on the fact that Jesus did indeed die on that cross for us. The blood He shed there paid the price for our sins. And three days later, His resurrection from the dead proved that death no longer has a hold on us… if we only believe on Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

Without Jesus in our lives, happiness comes from our circumstances. Any negative experience, however minor, can shatter that happiness as quickly as snapping our fingers.

On the other hand, we can possess true joy regardless of our trying or seemingly hopeless situations—as long as we keep focused on the Reason for this season. Life may be difficult now, but take heart! Someday God will turn our “mourning into joy and will comfort [us] and give [us] joy for [our] sorrow” (Jeremiah 31:13).

Look up, Beloved! Trust in the only Way to a truly joyful heart: Jesus!

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

—Philippians 2:5-11

Much love and blessings from Anna & Rick

To Those Hurting This Christmas

So many of us are hurting, mostly in ways not easily understood by our friends and family because we put on a good front. We don’t want to bother our loved ones with the details of how much pain we endure each day. Or we’re so busy caring for others in dire physical circumstances that we don’t have the time or inclination to think about how much we go through as we care for these dear ones. Perhaps we don’t know how we’ll pay the bills this month. When or how will we get our next paycheck—or meal?

Oh, we may have a deep and abiding faith in God because we know He loves us and cares about every single little detail of our lives…but these days we are clinging to that faith by our fingernails.

We are understandably so focused on our own pain and suffering or that of our loved ones that we’re afraid to confront our frustrations about a situation that never seems to end. How do we get through this Christmas season of joy when everything around us is in shambles?

Beloved, I’ll be writing more about this in the next days before Christmas, but today I want to share something with you that arrived in my inbox this morning. I pray you will be blessed by this as much as I am, and I will be praying for each and every hurting heart who reads this.

by John Knight | December 9, 2012

I know some of you are praying you’ll make it through Christmas—just make it through—not anticipating anything good will come from gathering with extended family and friends. It has become a cliche—right next to the article on what second-graders are excited about for Christmas is the article on the rise in depression during this last month of the year.

You know the sadness is real. While you change the diaper of a teenager, or administer complicated medications, or prevent your non-verbal ten-year-old from hurting himself again, or explain yet again the complicated life of your five-year-old without a diagnosis for her disability, your nieces and nephews and young friends are playing and running and eating, happily talking about the toys they want or travel they’re excited about or things they are doing in school. They easily do things your child will never do, no matter how many therapies or medications or prayers are offered.

Or maybe the disability in your family member means you can’t gather with other loved ones, and the heartache is almost more than you can stand.

Jesus knows.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15, italics added)

More than that, he endured and is victorious!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2, italics added)

And there are some of you who can’t see it. There is still hope!

From Pastor John’s book, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy,

It is utterly crucial that in our darkness we affirm the wise, strong hand of God to hold us, even when we have no strength to hold him. This is the way Paul thought of his own strivings. He said, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Philippians 3:12). The key thing to see in this verse is that all Paul’s efforts to grasp the fullness of joy in Christ are secured by Christ’s grasp of him. Never forget that your security rests on Christ’s faithfulness first.

Our faith rises and falls. It has degrees. But our security does not rise and fall. It has no degrees. We must persevere in faith. That’s true. But there are times when our faith is the size of a mustard seed and barely visible. In fact, the darkest experience for the child of God is when his faith sinks out of his own sight. Not out of God’s sight, but his. Yes, it is possible to be so overwhelmed with darkness that you do not know if you are a Christian — and yet still be one. (216, italics added)

Jesus understands. Jesus is victorious. Jesus is the answer. May you find him, and in finding him, find hope and peace in these hard days.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

John Knight is Director of Development at Desiring God. He is married to Dianne and together they parent their four children: Paul, Hannah, Daniel, and Johnny. Paul lives with multiple disabilities including blindness, autism, cognitive impairments and a seizure disorder. John blogs on issues of disability, the Bible, and the church at The Works of God.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/to-those-hurting-this-christmas

13 Days of Being Thankful

Day 6:

13 Days of Being Thankful

Day 5: Happy Thanksgiving!

Last year I posted this for Thanksgiving and as I read it over again, I was struck by how many things I wrote are still in the same pattern. So here I am to share it with you once again. Enjoy and be blessed!

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Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.

—Psalm 95:1-3, ESV

This year has been one of ups and downs for me, but the ups far outweigh the downs. The best thing that happened in my life this year concerns my son. After praying diligently for him for many years, he came back to the Lord and was baptized in September. And the day after that, he was on a plane to Albania where he was part of a medical mission team. To say that this mother’s heart was full of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord is a gross understatement!

All around us things are happening that make life a challenge. My daily battle with migraines continues but the pattern has changed somewhat. I still wake up with a migraine every morning and go to bed with one every night. The difference now is that on many days I am migraine-free for about four hours so I can at least feel somewhat human and get a few things done around the house.

The other day a close friend who has been estranged from her son for several years received the sweetest note from him as the first step in a joyful reconciliation. In this note, he asked for forgiveness and told her that God had been doing a work in his heart.

My husband and I were saddened to hear of the recent sudden death of a dear friend we knew when we lived in California. We shared many a Saturday morning over coffee, discussing many things including Biblical matters. We don’t know if he ever came to know the healing power of Jesus Christ, but our heavy hearts are comforted by the fact that God knows, and that is enough for us.

Read or watch the news and it is easy to see that all over the country people are struggling with health and financial issues, family and personal relationships, extreme weather devastation, and job problems. Our cost of living is constantly on the rise in direct contrast to most people’s income staying the same or going down.

And yet, in spite of all this, God is always with us and ever in control.

Is life getting you down? Are you wondering when—or if—your suffering will ever end? Why not do something completely different than what our normal human tendency dictates? I’m talking about a radical approach to everyday life, a way of lifting ourselves up before we get mired down in the muck of life as we know it. Here it is:

thank God for each and every thing in your life, the bad as well as the good.

Wow… really? Yes, really! It is understandably difficult to thank God for illness, questionable finances, family problems…and on and on. But—and here it comes—how we will be blessed!

Huh?

This is more than the power of positive thinking. It is an inner calm and a peace that “surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7), not in spite of your circumstances but because of them. See what I mean? Radical, right?

Beloved, our thanks to God ought to be because of who He is, not for what He does or does not do for us. We need to be thankful for every single thing in our lives, whether good or bad, because these are what He uses to shape us into who He wants us to be. And the first and best thing we should thank Him for is the ultimate gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, Who died in our place, for our sins. How awesome is that?

I wonder if changing our thought process this way would change our outlook on life. I mean, if we remember to thank God first for everything in our lives, wouldn’t that change our view of our circumstances?

Since I am a visual person, I like to picture this: place your arms out wide—this is how much we think we need; now place your hands about six to eight inches apart—this is how much we actually need.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive us for not always acknowledging who You are and how much You have given us. Thank You for sending Your Son to die on our behalf so that we can spend eternity loving and worshiping You on Your throne. Help us to always remember that You want the best for us, even when we can’t see or understand it. We love You, Lord, thank You for being our All in All!

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“I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.” —Helen Keller

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“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” —Henry Ward Beecher

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“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” —1 Thessalonians 5:15-18

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My Treasures, Part 6

On May 8th I posted about the treasures in my life and decided to expand on each of those treasures for the next few Treasure Tuesdays. This week I want to share the next of the treasures on my list:

My four wacky and wonderful sisters

Left to right (youngest to oldest): Maria, Julie, Palma, Nancy and me!

In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips. –Author Unknown

To the outside world we all grow old.  But not to brothers and sisters.  We know each other as we always were.  We know each other’s hearts.  We share private family jokes.  We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys.  We live outside the touch of time. –Clara Ortega

Can I just say right now that I have the greatest sisters? There we are, all five of us together. Can you see the family resemblance? There were only us girls growing up—no boys. I think that’s why Dad’s hair turned gray at such a young age. I mean, can you imagine being the only male in the household? Six women, including Mom… yikes!

Growing up together was mostly fun although we did have our crabby times once in a while. Of course we shared bedrooms because there were so many of us. There are 10 years between Julie and Maria, so for a long time it was just four of us. Nancy and I shared a bedroom; Palma and Julie shared another.

We shared a lot more than just our bedrooms but mostly I remember sharing clothes when we hit the teen years. It was like having a never-ending wardrobe!

In our first house, our bedrooms were right off the kitchen. My aunt and uncle and their family lived in the flat above ours, and many’s the time I can recall falling asleep to the sound of my parents talking with my aunt and uncle late into the night.

My parents were both born outside of Naples, Italy, and came to the United States in the late 40′s. They knew each other in Italy but married here in the U.S. They learned to speak English right along with us as we grew up. I remember us girls in bed for the night calling back and forth between the two bedrooms different Italian words and the corresponding English word. Sounds silly, I know, but it was fun for us!

We are now living in different areas of the country: Julie still lives in Schenectady, NY where we grew up; Palma lives outside of Boston, MA; Nancy and Maria live in suburbs of Tampa, FL (Dad lives down there too); and I’m waaay on the other side of the country in northern AZ.

As of this writing, I haven’t seen my sisters in almost three years. I have chronic migraines that only get worse when traveling by air because of the pressurized cabin. But when we do all get together, we have a blast. Since we are Italian, we not only talk with our hands but our voices can get quite loud. I think anyone who sees us together can tell we are sisters (and how many times have they asked, “Are you all sisters?”) who love each other and have tons of fun together.

Here are some photos of special times spent together:

We’re pretty in pink here!

Our family back in 1995

Some of us seesters in one of our hotel rooms

Dad’s 80th birthday celebration at Disney World

Dad and a few of us having coffee

Staying dry at Universal Studios in FL

One of the photo captions uses the word “seesters.” This is just part of our sister lingo, a special way we refer to our special bond.

These days we seesters keep in touch via email, texts sometimes, and one of my seesters is even on Facebook. Our relationship over the years has had its high and low points, but one thing always keeps us together:

We absolutely love and cherish each other!

So, to Nancy, Palma, Julie and Maria: you are all true treasures to me and I am always thankful for each and every one of you in my life.

Love you all!

My Treasures, Part 5

On May 8th I posted about the treasures in my life and decided to expand on each of those treasures for the next few Treasure Tuesdays. This week I want to share the fourth of the treasures on my list:

My Mother and Father

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. –Exodus 20:12

MOM

I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. —Abraham Lincoln

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. —Tenneva Jordan

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. —Sophia Loren

I no longer have my Mom because the Lord took her home five years ago, but I always love sharing this favorite photo of her. This version is “enhanced” with my image so you can see the resemblance:

Don’t you just love Mom’s fabulous smile? Here are some other photos of her:

Our family waaaay back in 1995

Mom relaxing after dinner

Mom and grandson Daniel

A couple of years before the Lord took Mom home

I miss my Mom but she is in a much better place, probably dancing and laughing joyfully with Jesus.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

DAD

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope. —Bill Cosby

There are three stages of a man’s life: he believes in Santa Clause, he doesn’t believe in Santa Clause, he is Santa Clause. —Unknown

To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter. —Euripides

Dad worked hard to provide for our family and I’ll always be grateful for that. We didn’t have many luxuries but we had the necessities and a few things more. I don’t ever remember feeling deprived, but that’s probably because there was so much love to go around.

Dad lives in Florida and is flying here to visit Rick and me next month. Because of health problems on my end, I haven’t seen him since Son Alan’s wedding in 2010, so we’re really looking forward to his visit.

Here are more photos of Dad:

Me & Dad at the Grand Canyon

Dad hamming it up on the Grand Canyon excursion

Dad & Rick geared up for a ride

Relaxing after dinner

As I said before, Dad worked hard to provide for our family but now he gets to relax and spend time with each of us. As you can see from the photos, he loves having fun so I’m wondering what fun things we’ll do on his next visit here.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Parents have a huge role in shaping our lives. We alternately look to them for guidance while seeking to assert our independence. We want their approval and blessing at the same time we think we know better or more than they ever could. I am ever thankful for the treasures of my Mom and Dad. They taught me the value of a solid work ethic, patterned the “waste not want not” attitude that still guides me today, and showed me what family togetherness is all about.

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. —Proverbs 1:8-9

Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. —Proverbs 23:22

Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. —Proverbs 23:25

 

Pot Shelves Mishmash

MISHMASH MONDAY

When Rick and I first moved here, I immediately loved all the pot shelves in the great room. However, I could not visualize how I could decorate them. Enter Daughter Kathy, who is blessed with artistic foresight and decorating ability far beyond my capabilities. I spread out all the items for her to see, and she came up with the greatest mishmash decorating scheme ever!

I haven’t changed a thing in the almost-8 years we’ve lived here because I can’t imagine them any other way. So here’s a peek into my kitchen.

As you can see, Rick and I love cobalt blue and have collected these pieces for years. The pedestal dish shown in the bottom left photo was Rick’s Mom’s and kind of started us on our quest for more cobalt glass. When we lived in California, we used to camp at the coast at least once a month. And on each of those trips we visited a thrift or antique store in search of even more cobalt glass items. Fun and precious times…