My How She's Grown

It was only a few months ago when Abbey started preschool.
She was so tiny and fragile I was so reluctant to let her go.
Despite my reservations she did well and had a great year.
I was looking at these pictures today and WOW has she grow.

Trim the Limbs

The trees were drooping and it was getting very difficult to duck under them while I mowed so Abbey and I got to work and corrected the problem. She's quite a worker, but take a look at Bryant (at the bottom of this post) It seems he can stare at hard work for hours and is not bothered.(but he sure is cute.)
When I would pass by the small insignificant dangly limbs I would have to lower my head and close my eyes to keep myself from injury. Do you realize how hard it is to stay on track with your head down and your eyes closed. The limbs had to go!
Removing the limbs from the tree I began to think about the dangling annoyances that constantly trouble me in my spiritual journey. Millions of things cause constant distraction or aggravation maybe even sin. All this stuff can hinder me from worshiping God in spirit and truth. I think we should all take a close look at the dark corners of our hearts. Perhaps there are some "limbs" that need to be trimmed. It would be wonderful if I could say it will be easy to get rid of this stuff. That is not always the case. As a matter of it is impossible for you to accomplish by yourself, but the good news is that God's grace will assist us with the clean up/out. Our sins and short comings are against God and Him alone. I think we should "trim the limbs" open our eyes and get on track. Remember: "worship is not an event it is a lifestyle" Let's be faithful to our King.

Count Your Blessings

How often do you count your blessings? I'm ashamed to say that I don't do it often enough. Someone told me once that when you want to complain or pout you should instead praise. Isn't that good advice? It is very difficut to be critical when you are thanking God for your blessings. When someone wrongs you or displeases you think of the disgust and hatred that was projected toward our Savior and it doesn't take long for things to get into perspective. I am so blessed. I have a family that loves me. I have dear friends that I can totally depend on. These two things alone are more than I "deserve" but my blessings do not stop there. The greatest thing in all my life, to borrow a line from the hymn, is knowing Jesus. Sometimes it is hard to say this, because I dont want to be cliche', but how can I dare not brag on the One that has saved me, raised me there is no way I can or should stop. So this week let's count our blessings beginning with the greatest blessing Jesus which is the sourceof all good and perfect things.

My Sweet "Perfect Angel"

Abbey was awarded the "perfect angel" award for assisting her teachers in clean up and helping her friends finish their puzzles....
I took these next few shots of her after church Isn't she beautiful...