Having Fun in Branson with Friends

Life is busy, busy, busy 

here at 

and we do know how to have some fun.

After a very busy day:

Ron changed all the 

out of the upper & lower restrooms along with the cabin

and then put in new 

 

that is new smoke alarms, not a new doggie, in the cabin and the upper & lower restrooms.

Cleaned the 

 

along with the regular chores of picking up garbage and other little things

while Ali 

 

Fretted over the printer not working

 

and made new office forms

 

Checked in guests

and finally remembered to 

 

eat an apple

We went to see 

Miss Barbara Fairchild

and her wonderful hubby, Roy Morris

and enjoy seeing our friends Mike & Elaine dancing on stage to celebrate their anniversary

along with Barbara's sweet grand-daughter

Elaine & Ali~ so fun to be with friends!!!

A great, fun and busy day was had by all!!!

Saturday's Thoughts

My view this morning...so beautiful and peaceful and what a great place to spend time with my Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

This verse reminds me that God calls me to be 

Faithful

Committed

Say What I Mean

Let my YES be YES and my NO be NO

in every area of my life

~ spending time with the Lord each day

~ in eating healthy

~ in getting physical exercise

~ following through on things I commit to.

 

And then 

 

Psalm 51: 1-4

 

 

In the devotion that went with this scripture it stated 

"Divine pardon feels like a thorough cleansing in a warm and wonderful bubble bath.

And those who know me, know I love to step into

 

 

and know I can stay in there for a long, long time.

And then I pictured a little girl, Ali sitting in the bathtub and my Abba Father cleaning me, scrubbing me and washing away all the dirt and grime and making me all clean again.  And I realized He does that each and every day that I go to him, confess my sins and seek his forgiveness.

 

 

Thank you Jesus for loving me, cleansing me and giving me a new day to start over with you!!

Have a great day!!!

Little Snippets from the Lord

Good morning on this beautiful sunny day here in Branson.

 

Woke feeling super rested after a busy, busy day yesterday to the sound of birds singing in the trees...what a sweet sound that we hadn't heard in awhile.

Yesterday was busy, busy, busy!!!  Was on the run from 7:00 a.m. and didn't stop till it was time to sit and watch the fireworks over Chateau on the Lake.  So fun to spend time with our friends, Mike & Elaine while watching some amazing fireworks.

Lots of little snippets from the Lord this morning!

James 4:6

 

If we are to be proud of anything it should be of the love of Jesus that he so freely gives us!!  I kept thinking as I was reading, Lord help me to be humble and thankful for all the many blessings you give us and to shout loudly about your love for me!!

James 4:7

 

One thing I have noticed is that the more time I spend with the Lord, listening to praise music and focusing on the many blessings of the Lord the more time I want to do those very things.  Just like drinking water...the more water I drink the more I want to drink.  Both of which are really good for me!

James 4:10

 goes well with

 

And then I am reminded in 

James 4:11-12

 

That I need to be careful not to judge others as I don't want to be judged by anyone.  I heard some comments that have been said of me and they stung and was reminded that I too need to not make comments/judge others...that that is not my place but God's place.  

And then I remembered what

And then in James 4:13-14

 

Which goes along with 

 

And ends with

 

 

All good things to ponder today!!

What are you pondering about today?

Arrived in Branson and Hit the Ground Running!!

Sure hope everyone had a great 

 

We had a great day here in Branson!!!

Just to catch you up a little ~ 

We arrived here at 

around 11:45 on Wednesday, July 3rd.  

After getting the motor home parked back in Site 3 (it felt like we arrived home after a long trip) the phone/internet man arrived so I jumped right into work.  While John was working on the phone lines/internet for the campground I started cleaning the office and getting things organized.  And the next thing I knew it was almost 6:00 p.m. ~ where had the day gone.

While I was working in the office Ron got the RVSunShades on the rig...so thankful we have them as they really do cut down the heat inside.  And he also was helping with lots of things like getting the computer into the office and helping hook up stuff...he was a busy guy!!!

Woke up on July 4th at 5:30 a.m. and didn't stop moving till we went to dinner with friends Mike & Elaine Losher (our first guests into the campground today!!!) to Golden Corral and then over to Chateau on the Lake to watch fireworks.  Sorry no pictures, forgot the camera :(  Enjoyed visiting and watching the beautiful display.  Crashed about 10:45 p.m.

So now that you know where we are, give us a shout and come for a visit!!!

We know a great campground with a beautiful view of the city of Branson and the managers aren't half bad either.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Freedom

 

As you celebrate the 4th of July think of the many freedoms you have and why you have them.

Thank you to all the men & women who have served our country in so many different ways: in the military, as a firefighter (Lord be with the families of those 19 men who were killed earlier this week near Prescott, AZ), as a police officer, border patrol officer, for the doctors & nurses who give so much to help others in their time of need.  Thank you to our friends and family who have loved us, supported us and blessed us over the past 38 years...we are free today to live the life we choose, to share our love for each other and to surround us with people in any way we choose.

Thank you Lord for the choice of free will and being able to choose to follow You.  Thank you for sending your Son to give his life for us, for me, for doing something for me that I so do not deserve.  Thank you for loving me through the good times and bad, the easy times and hard times, for the blessings of my children and grandchildren.

Thank you Abba Father!!!

This past month I have been struggling with making time for God.  Last night I could just not shut my brain off to go to sleep.  I was in bed shortly after 9 p.m. but my eyes were wide open after midnight.   I prayed, I read, I wrote out lists and I prayed again.  My final prayer shortly after midnight was "Lord forgive me for not doing my part in our relationship.  Lord I know myself...I need the quiet of the early morning to spend time with You...there is just something about sitting on the couch in the early morning with no distractions or the light of day so I ask Lord for you to wake me before the alarm goes off at 6 a.m. so I can have time with you."  

And  He did. 

I woke at 5:27.  

It would have been so easy to go back to sleep for another half hour and then I remembered my prayer so I got out of bed and came into the living room and gathered my things for a time with God.

And once again He met me right where I am, right where I have been struggling.  And encouraged me right here, right now.

 

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

And the first six words jumped out at me: 

Therefore we do not lose heart.

Therefore, just because do not lose heart, do not give up, if you have stumbled, just get up and start again!!

Moving on: the them in my daily devotions for July is

 

and immediately I heard this little voice 'You need to forgive yourself for failing this past month in your relationship with the Lord.  Yep, I messed up, yep I was lazy, yep I let other things get in the way of my relationship with God...But inspite of my failing, GOD LOVES ME!!!

And so I spent some time asking God to forgive me for my selfish behavior and thanked him for this new day, to start fresh again in my relationship with him and for answering my prayer to wake me a little earlier today.

And because I know I can be a little stubborn, yes me!!  God continued talking to me by telling me in 2 Corinthians 7:12-18

If I can humble myself, pray, stop sinning and do what I know I need to do ~ do my part then God will do his part.

God's word tells me to seek him, build my relationship with me and he will never leave me.  I just need to show up!!  And He will meet my every need, hear my every cry, rejoice with me during the good times.

And the same is true with getting healthy:  IF I make good food choices, IF I take 20 to 30 minutes each day and exercise...going for a nice walk, swimming laps in the pool  THEN my body will do its part...lose weight and get healthier.

Pretty simple right...I do my part and God will do his part.

I do my part and my body will respond in a healthy manner.

Simple as that!!!

And then my mind screams...

why is it so dang hard to do what is right???

Definitely something to think about.

Lock...hmm what does that mean? ~ Originally Published June 3, 2013

Today's Prompt word is LOCK. Think about it, read the definitions below, then sit for ten minutes (minimum) and write. 

lock ¹  (lk) n.

1. A device operated by a key, combination, or keycard and used, as on a door, for holding, closing, or securing.

2. A section of a waterway, such as a canal, closed off with gates, in which vessels in transit are raised or lowered by raising or lowering the water level of that section.

3. A mechanism in a firearm for exploding the charge.

This one of many kinds of locks I used as a kid like this

and praying that my bike would never get stolen even though it was locked up.

And telling our boys to always lock the bike when they went somewhere and how one day the boys went to the library and we saw the bike there and it was not locked.  So being the wonderful parents that we are, we picked up the bike and took it home.  First stopping at the local police station (a nice benefit living in a small town) and telling them we found our son's bike not locked and to teach them a lesson we "stole" the bike.  And the boys would probably come slinking to the police station, hoping upon hope that someone actually turned their bike in and not actually stole it.  We asked the nice policeman if he would really lay it on the boys about "not locking" their bike and asking them how they were going to tell their parents the bike was gone.  And he said "no problem."  He knew just what he was going to do.  We went on our merry way back to our home and put the bike along the backside of the house where it could not be seen.

About an hour later, the nice policeman gave our boys a ride home.  Can you say

?

Hubby and I walked out the door to meet the policeman and two very sad boys, who looked like they wanted to be anywhere but where they were.  Hubby said, "what's going on?"  The boys started stuttering and finally mumbled something about the bike being stolen from the library and they went to the police department and the police officer drove them around a few streets looking for their stolen bike but alas no bike was to be found.

We let them stammer, stumble and mumble for about a minute.  I am sure the boys thought it was more like a lifetime.  Hubby said something to the effect "well, it looks like you boys will need to buy a new bike (it was mom's bike) for mom...you know that's close to $50 and they both groaned.  We told the nice policeman that we would handle it from here and thank you for bringing the boys home.  He walked towards his car as Ron led the boys towards the backyard...when yells of "you tricked us!"  "you are so mean." and then the policeman came around the back and said "Boys you should be thankful your parents 'tricked' you...you still have the bike.  What lesson did you learn from all this?"  And in unison they both shouted "LOCK the dang bike!!!"

Do you have a lock story?  If so, feel free to write your own blog post or comment below.