1st John 1:8-9 says: “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right.”

This morning we are meeting with AEP to find the cheapest way to get electric to the Quarry that we purchased from my parents...Tim is in love with the Quarry :) Wish us luck!

This evening we are going with Mom and Dad to some sort of a free dinner if we listen to someone talk about healthcare? We will see! Tim is bemoaning the fact that he will miss the season premiere of "The Big Bang"......I told him he could stay home but I think he feels guilty not going with me since I will be spending all day Saturday sitting in a booth at another of his trade shows....Hehehe

Tomorrow I am meeting my daughter and granddaughter in Chillicothe for an early lunch and some shopping.....fun!!

Have a blessed day!

~Max Lucado

Grace goes beyond mercy.  Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance.  Grace threw him a party.  Mercy prompted the Samaritan to bandage the wounds of the victim.  Grace prompted him to leave his credit card as payment for the victim’s care. Mercy forgave the thief on the cross.  Grace escorted him into paradise.

Mercy pardons us.  Grace woos and weds us. Grace does this.  God does this.  Grace is God walking into your world with a sparkle in his eye and an offer that’s hard to resist!

“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5″

iPad fun!

I just finished talking to and seeing my daughter and the babies with Facetime on my iPad.......I love it!! With the update you just use your phone number and it rings in with the call sooooo easy peasy!

If they can handle seeing Nana in the morning they can handle anything....what a nice way to start the day! Her house reminds me of mine when the four of them were little! Good memories...

Have a love filled day my friends :)

Happy Birthday Jamey...

Mommy loves you!

It was a wonderful weekend!

Friday night Cait spent the night and on Saturday, while I had was at Applebee's having lunch with 2 dear friends (one I hadn't seen for 20 years) Pooh took her to pick pumpkins. They so enjoyed it that when I returned, we went to pick pumpkins, and swing on a crane swing...you heard me right a crane! Cait has such a dry sense of humor, a trait she shares with Pooh,  we have a lot of fun together!

Saturday evening we returned Cait and we spent some time with the boys, Carrig is growing like a little flower and now Cael seems soooo much older!

Sunday after church we went to an auction in Williamsburg to scout for chairs to use at the Quarry....OMGoodness! I picked up 8 Longaberger baskets some with liners at a steal. As if I needed more baskets :)

I am working on a basket for Kristyl to raffle off at Octoberfest for their school. Maybe a basket is just what I needed!

Have a wonderful blessed day!

Hebrews 12:15 asks us to, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

I know, I know...easier said than done....but with God all things are possible :)

In God we trust :)

Hebrews 13:9 tells us, “Your hearts should be strengthened by God’s grace, not by obeying rules.”

What a beautiful day we had yesterday to drive to Belpre and visit my Mom's sister. It was good to see another of her sons' and his wife that I had not seen for almost 9 years, since Jamey.  I am thankful for family!

My Aunt's only daughter is coming to Ohio for Thanksgiving and so are both of my sisters.... we are planning a get together while they are here....something to look forward too :)

September is hard for me and the girls but God in His mercy lets time heal the rawness of reality and allows the good memories to remain. Childhood memories are becoming more important to me as I age and this family is included in a lot of them. I am so thankful for photos and scrapbook pages that will remind me of those times in the years to come when recalling them may get a little harder!

Ephesians 2:8 says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”

God loves us so :)

Today my parents and 2 of my aunts are going to visit their sister (her son and daughter in law in the picture above) and I get to tag along ......wow, family is such a blessing don't you think?

Christ died for me!

Precious as it is to proclaim, “Christ died for the world,” even sweeter it is to whisper, “Christ died for me!”

For my sins he died. He took my place on the cross. He felt my shame and spoke my name. 

Thank God for the day Jesus took your place, for the day Grace happened to you!

~Max Lucado

Romans 3: “God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”

...sacrificing His life for all of us. He is an equal opportunity God loving all of us period. We must choose to accept His gift of grace and mercy but He will love us equally even if we choose not to love Him in return.

Wednesday I am going with Mom, Dad and my Aunts to Belpre to visit their sister we had not see for about 20 years until her return to Ohio. This past two months we have visited with her and with 2 of her sons and their families that we had lost contact with......I missed them and her. We were all very close as children. My parents are making up for lost time and I am thankful that they are. Life is too short!

Caitie (grandaughter) wanted me to go on a field trip to Indian Village with her class the next day but I have a prior appointment and I HATE letting her down :( Hopefully an overnight that next day will make up for it!

Have a wonderful day!

Colossians 3:3 “your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Not all guilt is bad.  God uses appropriate doses of guilt to awaken us to sin!

God’s guilt brings enough regret to change us! Satan’s guilt brings enough regret to enslave us.  Don’t let him lock his shackles on you.

Colossians 3:3 reminds us, “your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

When he looks at you, he sees Jesus first.  In the Chinese language the word for “righteousness” is a combination of two characters, the figure of a lamb and a person.  The lamb is on top, covering the person.  Whenever God looks down at you, this is what he sees:  The perfect Lamb of God covering you.

It boils down to this choice:  Do you trust your Advocate—God or your Accuser—Satan?  Give no heed to Satan’s voice. 

 You have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous!

~Max

Satan's condemnation

Satan’s condemnation brings no repentance or resolve, just regret!

Satan has one aim:  steal your peace, kill your dreams, and destroy your future.

He’s deputized people to peddle his poison.  Friends dredge up your past. Preachers proclaim all guilt and no grace.  And parents, oh, your parents.  They own a travel agency that specializes in guilt trips.  “Why can’t you grow up?”  

“When are you going to make me proud?”

But he will not have the last word!  Jesus has acted on your behalf.  Jesus Christ rises to your defense.

Hebrews 10:21 urges:  “. . .let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience.”

Not just for our past mistakes but also for our future ones.  Behold the fruit of grace: saved by God, raised by God, seated with God!

Gifted, equipped, and commissioned!

~Max Lucado

Jesus stood in our place of judgement so that we could be set free

Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

A person who convinces himself that he does not need forgiveness from the Holy One has already condemned himself.

1st John 4:15 says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

We are blessed beyond measure to be able to choose life  in the grace of Jesus Christ....hold onto it with everything that you have!

A Celebration of life

Sunday my parents, my brother and I went to my sisters house and out to dinner to celebrate her 50th birthday...........how the heck did that happen?

 In my heart she will always be the little girl who crept into my room thinking that I could keep the monsters of the dark at bay. She will always be the "Little One"to me :)

Overnight @ the Crosby's

Yesterday after dinner @STS Peter and Paul for Grandparents Day we brought all 3 of the babies :) home for an overnight. They are now watching Power Rangers and Kaeden is playing with the iPad. We have a lot of fun with the jeep, and watering the flowers (a favorite with Kami and Kollier) and just hanging out tormenting Jordan....she loves the Fulton Babies!!

We had a thunder storm about 2:30 AM and we all woke up with a start...Kollier was frightened to death and the wind on our hill whistled like zombies (according to Kaeden). It is a good thing that Nana can sleep at the foot of the bed! She keeps the monsters at bay you know!

Love my babies!

Grandparents Day @ STS Peter and Paul

Tomorrow is Grandparents Day at the Catholic School that 3 of my grandchildren attend...it is always such fun to meet the teachers and eat lunch with them.

There is a festival going on the small town where the school is located and hopefully the rain stays away so that we can stay and enjoy the afternoon with them!

Ezekiel 36:26a- “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”

Grace is God’s best idea.   Rather than tell us to change, he creates the change.  Do we clean up so he can accept us?  No, he accepts us and begins cleaning us up.  What a difference this makes.

Can’t forgive your past?  Christ can, and he is on the move, aggressively budging you from graceless to grace-shaped living.  Forgiven people forgiving people.  Deep sighs of relief.

Grace is everything Jesus!

~Max Lucado

As Paul said in Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

  You might call it a spiritual heart transplant!

~compliments of Max Lucado!

Yesterday!

Yesterday was a fun  day with "Marla and family" at Easton. We went to Build-A-Bear where Rainbow the bear and Brownie the dog were born... complements of Aunt Kristyl.

We did window shopping at Legoland. Caitlyn has decided that  R2D2 is her choice (1045 Pieces... yikes).

Marla used the gift certificate that I had given her for her birthday at her favorite tea shop.

We ended our adventure with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.....Marla first took me there in her medical school days, a long time ago. We still shared Bam Bam Chicken and this time with Mikey.

I love my little family..  they are even willing to meet me in Canal Winchester so I don't have to drive on the outer belt :)

Later in the evening we played cards with Mom and Dad....we won one and they won one...a win win situation!

Life is good @the Crosby's...

Grace comes after you!

God’s grace!  It has a wildness about it.  A white-water, rip-tide, turn-you-upside-downess about it. Grace comes after you!

Some years ago I underwent a heart procedure.  I asked the surgeon,

“You’re burning the interior of my heart, right?”

“Correct.”

“You intend to kill the misbehaving cells, yes?”

“That’s my plan.”

“As long as you’re in there, could you take your little blowtorch to some of my greed, selfishness, superiority, and guilt?”

He smiled, “Sorry, that’s out of my pay grade!”

But it’s not out of God’s!  We’d be wrong to think this change happens overnight. We’d be equally wrong to assume change never happens at all. It may be in fits and spurts—but it comes!

Titus 2:11 says, “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared.”

The floodgates are open, and the water’s out. You just never know when grace will seep in.  Could you use some?

~Max Lucado