Hope for the Sweet Morning

Borrowed from the Simple Woman's Blog

~ ~ ~ Hope For The Sweet Morning ~ ~ ~

"For Christians, the beginning of the day should not be burdened and haunted by various kinds of concerns that they face during the day. The Lord stands above the new day, for God has made it. All restlessness, all impurity, all worry and anxiety flee before him. Therefore, in the early morning hours of the day, may our many thoughts and our many idle words be silent and may the first word and the first thought belong to the one to whom our whole life belongs "
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Outside my window...  ~ The beautiful sun is SHINING!

I am thinking...  ~ I just feel great this morning...that isnt always the case lol

I am thankful for...  ~all of the little things in life

I am wearing...  ~my jammies and a hoodie

I am remembering...  ~being a kid, growing up playing out in the country, with lots of family surrounding me ♥

I am going...  ~to be doing laundry most of the day, but hope to get outside for a nice long walk today

I am currently reading...  ~My Medical -Surgical Book for Nursing

I am hoping...  ~ To get past this semester!

On my mind...  ~A local family who lost their father 3 months ago, and then their mother just recently, this was an amazing family, they have some adopted children that are younger, and some older children too, they have been in my heart for the past week ♥

Noticing that...   ~My husband and I have actually been having FUN together the last couple of days...how nice!

Pondering these words... 

We all grow up with the weight of history on us.  Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.  ~Shirley Abbott
 

From the kitchen...  ~Coffee soon, and the beginning of many healthy changes to come for my family starting tonight!

Around the house...  ~Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and I am still looking for something springy to stick on y front door...

One of my favorite things  ~ To just be outside, in the woods hiking, or near the water, and just sitting in awe of creation...really, I love nature, and there is nothing like just sitting quietly taking it al in, and just being.

Im Sorry....

So a couple of weeks ago I was shopping at Kroger, I was in no particular hurry, and my mood was good,  I was in the cereal isle heading toward the end of the isle into the next and a couple turned into the middle of the isle and just stopped, so I too stopped and just waited for a second, hoping they just hadnt seen me, and then move their cart to one side, well that wasnt the case, so I got a little frustrated and said "excuse me", my tone may have been a little irritated. The guy looked at me like I had 3 heads, and said well cant you go around, and I said no not really, you are right in the middle of the isle. So he said something, and I said something snarky back, and then I proceeded on to the next isle, thinking geesh what a jerk! Well as luck would have it, we ended up crossing paths a couple more times in the store, and each time we just ignored each other, but it was uncomfortable. On the way out, they were still glaring at me like how dare you. Now I did not feel particularly good about the encounter, and I didnt like how I snapped back with a rude comment, and it bothered me.
Well if anyone knows me, they know I am a Kroger-a holic, I dont know why but I just like Kroger, and know where just about everything is, so that is were I mainly shop.

I have been to Kroger a couple times since this little incident happened, and by golly each time I am there, so is this couple! My conscious started to kick in though, and I felt guilty for the way I acted each time I saw this couple, but I just pretended not to see them, and avoided the isles they were in, and on the way home the last time, I think God was sending me a little reminder, that, that is not how a Christian should act, so I told myself if I saw this couple again, I would apologize.

So today I went shopping, and again, this couple was there shopping, our first encounter was by the produce, were again I said nothing and neither did they, but the Lord was speaking to my heart, and I knew what  had to do, so by chance again, I went down the cereal isle ( I had a rockin coupon I couldnt wait to use!) and there was the man toward the end, almost exactly were our first encounter took place. He saw me and quickly looked away, and I said "Excuse me sir" and he made a grand gesture with his hands, and an overly dramatic move to get out of my way (LOL it was actually comical in his sarcastic way, that I of course appreciated!) I said no, I dont need to get through, but I would like to apologize for being rude, his face was like wow, I said I felt horrible for making a big deal out of having to wait and then I wasnt proud of our exchange, I told him I had been thinking about it since it had happened and that I was very sorry. He said I forgive you, and gave me the biggest hand shake ever. I said I would also like to apologize to your wife, he just said, dont say another word, it is ok, we forgive you, and thank you so much for having the courage to say Im sorry. I can not tell you how much peace, and humility washed over me, I knew it is what I had to do, and I was feeling stubborn about it the 1st few times I saw that couple, but God just kept tapping me saying, you know what you need to do.

So today I learned a beautiful lesson, and received a wonderful blessing, it made me happy that that man took my hand at shook it, and there was peace in the Kroger isle once again. Im sorry is often hard to say, but it feels so good when you do say it, admit you were wrong, and receive forgiveness ♥

The Gift of Life

The Gift of Life

One of my best friends Dana, had a son Kylan who had a liver transplant in May of 2004 when he was only 6 years old due to a rare virus. Sadly he waited to long for the liver, and became gravely ill, and did not survive the surgery. Kylan's mom Dana honors her son with a parade float that travels across Michigan informing the public about the vital need for more organ & tissue donors. Dana partners with the Gift of Life of Michigan, and the Donate Life Coalition of Michigan to encourage Michigan residents to sign up on the Michigan  Organ Donor Registery.  You can see the Make a Difference Float at several parades and events through out Michigan.
Please help! You can register to be an organ donor, it is quick and easy.
I want to sign up to be an organ donor, Click here! 

You can click on the Gift Of Life Link at the top of the page and find out an answer to just about any question you may have. If you have already signed up to be a donor, make sure you have the ♥ sticker on the front of your drivers license, the old system of having a sticker with your name on the back is being remodeled. If you need a heart sticker you can get one by clicking the above link that say I want to sign up to be an organ donor!

If you are not in Michigan but still in the United States you can still use the above Michigan links, you will still be registered  and receive your ♥ sticker that goes above your photo on the front of your license.
♥ YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ♥

Did you know?

• Each organ donor can save up to eight lives. Each tissue donor can improve the lives of up to 50 people.
• Nearly 10,000 Michigan patients have received a life-saving organ transplant in the last 10 years.
• Cornea transplants have been successful for over 100 years and organ transplants have worked for more than 50.
• On average, 17 Michigan patients receive an organ transplant each week.
• There is no age limit for donation.
• Donation doesn't cost the donor or the donor's family anything.
• In 2008, a record 327 organ donors provided 922 organs to waiting recipients in Michigan. More than 800 people became tissue donors and 1,199 corneas were transplanted.

Michigan residents waiting for organs

In 2009, the generosity of Michigan organ donors resulted in 862 transplants and saved hundreds of lives. Transplants so far in 2010 total 189. Michigan patients waiting for a transplant as of April 1, 2010.

Kidney	2,381
Liver	322
Lung	44
Kidney/Pancreas	43
Heart	88
Pancreas	12
Kidney/Liver	27
Kidney/Heart	2
TOTAL	2,936

I need your Vote!

I entered in a contest that Kroger is having right now to design a new reusable shopping bag. You can see my design by clicking on this link Vote for my Design here! I am excited because  I love reusable shopping bags, and I think it is neat that you can express your style in such a simple, earth friendly way.

These are the Prizes:

Prizes

The top 10 designs will be featured on the website, and every Shopper's Card or Rewards Card holder who submits a design will receive a free reusable shopping bag.*

• 5 runners-up will receive a $100 Kroger Co. gift card.
• 4 finalists will receive a $250 Kroger Co. gift card.
• 1 grand-prize winner will receive a $1,000 Kroger Co. gift card and could see his or her bag in stores.

I would love to get a free months supply of Groceries! If you would like to design a bag yourself you can go to  design-a-bag. Good Luck to you , but please in the mean time would you Vote for me! ♥

Thanks a Bunch, Kelly

I am horrible about being a consistent blogger, having said that, I am going to just blog about some random things, as there really is no method to my madness.

School is going well although I didnt do as good on my last test as I would have liked too (BUMMER) I am still passing, and grateful for that! The thing  that gets me about tests, is that when our instructor hands them back and we get to look over them, usually the questions I get wrong are ones that I know, and when I see them, I am like DOH! Why did I choose that answer, I knew it was this one....Yadda Yadda.... So I was at a 92% and after that last test I went down to a 88 %, and it kind of hurt a little BLAAAAAAAAH, BUT I am stil passing, so that is really all that matters. Oh and I figured out that on my final I need to get 65 right, and can get 35 wrong to pass LOL

Yesterday my mom and I went out to Romeo, because we like the Salvation Army 2nd hand store out there, we always find a good treasure or 2, it gives us something to do that is inexpensive and we get to spend some time together. My youngest Brianna was with us, so I couldnt look around as much as I would have liked, I was more less trying to keep her entertained, but I did end up with a couple cool things.

This book that just caught my attention. It is called The Rest of My Life by Laura Russell Hunter it is a true story written by an 80 year old widow, recovered from the shock of having to move into a nursing home, she began regaling her family with stories about her life among the "ancient, Infirm, and odd" people at the Nursing home. At her daughter's suggestion, Laura started this journal, which grew into a sensitive, colorful, and revealing chronicle of this dauntless woman's life in the "Hopmeadow Home".  I read some of it last night, and I just really enjoyed it, cant wait to read more tonight. It is an old book, I couldnt find another copy of it online anywhere, but if you want to borrow it let me know. I think I like it so much because I love hearing older people tell stories, about times when life was different, I have worked with the elderly population many times through out the years , and I have always loved to hear about thier lives, and how they grew up. Old people are fascinating!

I shopped at SAMS club on Monday, and I came to the realization that I do NOT like goat cheese, the sample looked delightful, but ACK, goat cheese is not something I will try again.....

I did a little bit of looking into my Family tree. There is a reality show called Who do you think you are, and it helps celebrities trace their heritage back as far as they possibly can, I have always found genealogy to be pretty interesting anyway, and my sister has traced our family's History back to Germany. I went on Ancestry.com  and started just  A couple branches on my Family Tree I hope to spend more time on this someday, but as for right now, I am mostly spending time on school and studying, taking care of my family, and home.

This past weekend one of my very good friends got married, Congrats to you Sue Ann & Richie, You had a beautiful wedding, and I hope you two both enjoy many blessed years together ♥

My Best friend Danielle also celebrated her 32nd birthday, and she looks better than ever, I am glad God blessed me with her friendship, Love you Yellie Pooh!

Ok that is all for now..... Enjoy this beautiful Spring weather ya'll!

~Kelly