Where Am I Working From Today??

Wow! That is all I can say. I am SUPER sleepy & I am just getting started on the blog today, at 1:27pm. Where did the day go? I feel like I have wasted a gorgeous 64 degree day & now I am trying to salvage it the best way that I can. So, I decided to clean off the table on the porch, that I told myself I would drink coffee at or eat lunch at every day, four months ago. It was pretty crummy & needed to be cleaned twice. Yuck! What is with this cleaning mood that I am in? I hate cleaning. Anywho. I cleaned the table, fluffed the pillow, reheated my coffee & here I sit. The sun is shining on my screen, which makes it a little hard to type, but the wonderful breeze is just what I need. Here are a few pictures of my "new" office. 

Here is my desk for the day. Cozy!

Here is my view from my office chair. Don't mind the Christmas lights, they are coming down this weekend. Adam did an amazing job & I hate to remove them. Maybe we should leave them up as "party lights". Our house looked like an enchanted castle with them on. It was beautiful!

If I stand on the second recliner chair in the previous photo & zoom in a little, this is my view. Ahhhh. On a good day, we can hear the waves. I think that we need to cut these trees lower so that I don't have to stand on the chair to see the ocean. I think I will talk to the local handyman when he comes back outside. 

Ok, after uploading those photos, I feel like I just want to go walk on the beach. Hmmm. Maybe in an hour when I am done. Maybe I will take a nap on the porch. Too many ideas & I am running out of daylight.

I was so excited yesterday when I received a special comment on my blog. It was from Carla over at So This Is Holland? She gave me the Lemonade Stand Award! Yay! My very first award. I am so excited, blessed, & grateful. This award is given to people that you feel have a great attitude or gratitude through their blogs. I have posted the award on our main page. I am also supposed to pass this award on to 10 others that I feel deserve to receive it. I will put my list together over the weekend & post the results on Monday. This is going to be a tough one because there are WAY more than 10. Thank you Carla for considering me to be a worthy recipient.

I know that I am behind the times, but I work from home, am not around people outside of my family on most days, do not watch the news, & I haven't had the TV on in about a week. Last night, yes, last night I became engrossed in the news about the earthquake in Haiti. Within a few minutes, I found an attachment. A very distant attachment, but an attachment no less. I visited Kelly's Korner, which I do several times a week. She (her blog) was one of the first places that I learned about Compassion International, where we sponsored Neema from. Kelly went on a Compassion trip not too long ago. On that trip was a man named Dan Woolley. Well, to make a long story short, Dan was at the Hotel Montana when the earthquake hit. He was just rescued ALIVE a short time ago. Praise God.

I have been keeping up to date on a Facebook page that many of the friends & family of the missing are using as a life line to information. Warning - it is emotional, gut wrenching, & exciting all at the same time. With posts of survivals & post of deaths. You can feel the desperation of these loved ones.

Kelly had a button posted to make it easier for people to donate to helping the relief efforts in Haiti. I am posting that information as well. Adam & I will be making a small donation, but we wish that we could do more. Fortunately, every little bit adds up. For us, this donation will probably be our weekly tithe that would normally go to our church. We can't imagine what the people in Haiti are going through. Many of these photos have been absolutely horrifying. We are so blessed to be home safe, in our comforts of life, with our families, with power, food, water, etc. How can we NOT give?

Just click on the button to be taken to Compassion's donation page.

Day Thirty - (The last day)

"...This is my beloved, & this is my friend..." (Song of Solomon 5:16b)

Friends can be completely honest with each other, but friendships are strained when truth is not spoken in love. How are you speaking to your beloved? Are you so "used" to him that you don't appreciate the wonder of his friendship? That is your challenge today.

Is your sweetheart your best friend? Does he know this? Have you told him, or do you assume that he "just knows"?

Friendship is something that is cultivated through the good times & the bad. Friends can share their hearts, but they don't step on each other's hearts. 

The way to have & to be a good friend is to cultivate & celebrate the relationship. As you end this 30 Day Challenge, celebrate your friendship with your husband. Get alone & reflect on your beloved friend. Write him a letter, listing the qualities that you admire & appreciate about him. If you are creative with words, write & frame a poem about him. 

Perhaps you can prepare a special meal, just for the two of you, & read the letter or poem to him. Ask if you can pray for him, & if he is willing, thank God for your love & friendship, asking for His blessing on your home. 

Encouragement, as you have seen in the past 30 days, is a synonym for love in action. 

Day Thirty Prayer - 

Pray that your husband will choose his friends wisely. Pray that God will bring men who will encourage his accountability before God, & will not lead him into sin. (Proverbs 13:20, 27:17)

PS - It is 3:01 pm, do you think I got a little distracted? LOL