I've Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day!

Goodness . . . it has been forever since I blogged!  My last blog post was two days before Christmas.  I had determined to have a great Christmas . . . despite the fact that my husband was working through all of it.  And I had really gotten the right mind set and was feeling quite happy and content.  And then on Christmas morning I woke up sick!  I mean dog sick . . . that horrible flu that is haunting all of the country.  I tried to talk myself into being well . . . put the delicious pork tenderloin in the roaster, made our traditional breakfast of cinnamon rolls, cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon and tried to be cheery . . . but then the body aches, fever and chills quickly rolled in.  I finally had to call my parents and tell them not to come, as I did not want to expose them.  I managed to make mashed potatoes and gravy for the boys to go with the pork roast.  And then, after lots of apologizing to my very kind and understanding boys, went to bed for several hours. 

When Ron came home after 7 pm that night,  I got up long enough to do the gifts with the boys.  I tried very hard to be cheerful and upbeat.  But I truly was feeling awful.  The boys were so patient and never seemed to mind that their day did not go the way I am sure they would have wished. 

So when it was all said and done, I finally just decided to stop evaluating and trying to make it be a great day.  For whatever reason, this year was not "our year" . . . but God was still God . . . His gift of salvation was still brought to us when He came to earth as a baby over 2000 years ago and Christmas still mattered, regardless of my circumstances.  I am not sure why this was such a tough year for us, but perhaps those times are what make us learn to "roll with the punches" and not let circumstances affect our inner joy and peace.

I was still feeling poorly on our anniversary 4 days later and once again Ron was working.  Finally, about a week later, I was "back amongst the living" . . . but only for a few days.  For those of you that have been following my blog for any length of time, you know I have had chronic sinus issues for many years.  I have had two sinus surgeries and countless rhino-scope-procedure-thingies along with way too many rounds of antibiotics and sprays and rinses that seem to not do much.   Anyway, I was hit with a terrible sinus infection . . . the kind of infection that leaves you almost praying for someone to offer to shoot you and take you out of your misery.  I am finally on the mend but realize I have lost almost a month.  So now I am excited to get back to living life and hopefully blessing those I love as I go through my day to day busyness.

Here I am with the love of my life . . .
my amazing husband, Ron. 
Can't believe it has been 22 years already! 

This last week I was still not really up to running around much physically, so I spent some time designing some original signs for Past Blessings.  Below is one I just finished.  These signs are original designs I create (finally using my graphic design degree again after all these years!)  I then mount them on wood boards and treat them with my own unique antiquing and distressing treatment I have developed.  This one was fun for me to do as it is kind of sentimental . . . I used to sing this song to my boys when they were little.  And, after showing it on facebook, I realized that this song has sentimental meaning to so many people . . . I have been getting messages and emails from so many people wanting the sign and telling me of their own memories of that song.

This sign measures 16" tall by 10 1/2" wide and is 1/2" thick.  It is available for $25, plus $10 shipping (unless you happen to live in the Spokane area and want to pay us a visit here at the farm . . .)  If you are interested in ordering, you can contact me at PastBlessings@gmail.com.  I will also be adding a page to our blog that I will post all of our signs that are available.  I will let you know once that is up and running.  Also, if you would like to keep up on our sales, our Pickin' on the Prairie Antique Show and our new signs and products, you might want to follow us on facebook. Click here to find our facebook page: Past Blessings Farm.

 So enough with the commercials!  This year I am really focusing on being a blessing to others.  I have always thought it was important . . . in fact, so much so that I named my business Past Blessings 9 years ago . . . before all the "craze" came about with the word "blessings" . . . I named it that because I thought it was important to remember and try to carry on the blessings of the past . . . when serving God, loving your family and valuing life mattered.  I still hold fast to that today.  But I am really trying to personalize the word blessings . . . how I will bless my family, my friends, the cashier at the store or whoever I may come in contact with.

On Monday, I flew down to Arizona to spend 10 days visiting my big sister.  Before I left, however, I wanted to make sure I blessed my family . . . blessed them with a clean and orderly house, blessed them with  food in the frig and simple instructions for keeping themselves well fed, the laundry caught up and all the details of life taken care of so that while I am gone, their lives could still run smoothly.  I am not sure that I left without any loose ends, but I did my best to make my trip not be a burden for them.  I did my best instead to bless them before I left.  

My sister and I are on an exciting journey these days . . . growing up we were like oil and water . . . and for lots of reasons bigger than I can cover here, we grew into adult women who were not close and quite honestly, didn't even really like each other most of the time.  But God is so much bigger than our circumstances that brought us to that point . . . and now He is doing an amazing work of restoration.  We are excited to finally be becoming the sisters I believe were were always meant to be.  I hope to become a blessing to her and I know she is already becoming a blessing to me.  Sad that we went so many years without sharing these blessings with each other, but I am looking forward to the years of coming blessings . . . instead of Past Blessings, these will be Future Blessings!  God is good and is choosing to bless us both after all these years.

I am hoping while I am in Arizona during the early mornings I can do a blog post or two here and also on my new blog The Right Woman.  Sometimes the day to day work of being a wife, Mama and running my business here at Past Blessings Farm makes finding time for blogging rather difficult, so being a woman of leisure for 10 days is a nice change and should make it easier to keep in touch with you.

So how are you doing this week . . . are you focusing on blessing your family?  Is your home a mess or a haven?  Is the laundry done?  Are meals planned?  I am not asking you all this because I have it all together . . . quite the opposite in fact . . .  My desire is to always be a blessing . . . but that being said I am not always a blessing.  I fail a lot . . . my house gets messy . . . I get bored cooking . . . the laundry stacks up.  But God knows my heart and I simply need to keep giving Him my heart . . . and He will continue to feed my desires and help me to be the woman He has created me to be. I am choosing to be a blessing and through God's help I will be.

So put on your apron . . . get cleaning . . . but above all else . . . keep giving your heart to God . . . so He can keep filling it up with His love and blessings and help you to be the woman you were meant to be!