Blog Time at the O.K. Coral (AKA: Jan's Behind in Blogging!!)

Hi Everyone! Sorry to take so long to post any blogs.  Life has been wild lately, but also lots of fun too, so no complaints here.  To catch up, I'm just going to put out pictures I've been taking and comment on each one.  Sorry there's no rhyme or reason to them.  Can you handle it out there?  Now.....if only I can handle it! Ha Ha  Okay, so I'm a bit of a control freak!  Can't help it!  But here goes - flying into the Wild Blue Yonder!!

Dundee the Marmalade Cat - Being His Usual BUM Self!!  In other words, NAP like you MEAN it!!

Oh no!!! He had to move!!! Better not take any more photos.  It might traumatize him!! Gotta LUV cats!!

Isabel (my granddaughter) made this "flower" out of cut up magazines pages wrapped, then taped, around a stick. She then taped on real leaves.  She did this without telling me until after she'd completed it, and without any kind of instructions!! I'm impressed!!  I'm also a VERY PROUD grandmother, in case you hadn't realized that yet.  If not, then read on.  Here's another photo, with a little more detail of the flower itself.

Cool, huh?  My little darling!!! Okay...okay......I'll get to the other photos!!

Hearts are showing up everywhere!  Did you ever realize how many hearts God puts in our daily path?

Here are three I found that I wanted to share with you.

Nigel (my dearest husband) said he didn't really see a "heart shape".  Who asked him, anyway?!?!?!  All who see a heart shape, let me know!  We'll show him, won't we? Ha Ha

My last one for this post!  Sweet and small!  Poor Nigel - he's way too pragmatic!!

Now - on to a small "tutorial" of how to save candles that have been made "less than lovely" by having colored candles bleed onto them.  This is what I mean:

Ugly, yes?  And keep in mind, this will work for tapers or any other sized candles.

Here are the supplies you'll need - very low tech.  I even used paper scrap!  Any kind of paper will do, or you might try a fabric of your choice!  You could even use netting from bagged fruits.  Get creative!!

What do you think? 

Here's how you do it:

1.  Cut out a piece of decorative paper that fits the height of the candle, and overlaps slightly (1/2 inch) when wrapped around the candle.

2.  Cut with decorative scissors if you have them.  I have pinking shears which made a nice edge.

3.  Wrap the paper around the candle just tight enough to hold it, then tape it.  Magic tape works best if you're using tape.  It's less visible.  If you want to get "higher tech", you can glue the paper closed, although that takes longer cause it has to dry. This is just fast and easy and it works!

4.  Wrap coordinating ribbon of your choice around the paper and tie into a bow.

Voila!!  

Place your candle in a larger container to display.  It would also look lovely placed on a decorative plate with other wrapped candles, or any other container of your choice!  When the candle burns down, just slide the paper down and either tuck underneath or trim off.  If necessary, remove the bow if it gets in the way! 

So.........what do you think?  

That's it for now! On to another post AFTER I check the laundry!  Having WAY too much fun for a Monday night! Take care and May God Bless.

Jan

God's Miracles at Work

I received this photo today from a dear friend I work with, whose parents and aunt lost their homes to the tornadoes.  I believe she got the photo from the media because I believe I've seen this same photo in the newspaper.  And remember - this is only an extremely small portion of all the damage in this area, not to mention the remainder of Alabama.

If you look at the bottom center, my friend's parent's house is the second house from the bottom (above the house with the blue tarp on the roof).  Looks pretty good, but what you don't see is the destruction on the inside, underneath the roof, which is only being held up by a 2x4!!  It's basically only a shell standing and it was officially condemned this morning.  Now look on the bottom right and count up 3 houses; what looks like a white mound of rubble is my friend's aunt's house!!

Now - here's the miracle.  Everyone was at home when the tornadoes struck, and everyone got out alive, with only minor injuries!!

Here's another miracle.  Take a close look at the photo, including the white areas where houses once stood.  Not a single person was killed on these particular streets, yet people were in every one of the homes!  Many were trapped and dialed 911 to call for help, but none of them had serious injuries!  Now THAT is a miracle!!

Don't tell me God doesn't exist!  And yet I realize there are many who are asking questions like "Why could God ever allow this to happen in the first place?"  I don't have all the answers and I don't think it's something we can ever truly understand in this world.  But I heard something the other day on television that helped me put it into somewhat of a better perspective and I thought I'd share it with you.  I'll try my best to explain it and relate it as it was told.

Someone had made a comment to a minister, asking where God was in all this.  And the response was, as close as I can remember it, that God was in the very same place here as He was when His Son was being humiliated, tortured and murdered in a terrifyingly slow and horrific process more than 2,000 years ago.  He gave Man free will, to live in this world however we see fit.  But He will give us His promise of Eternal life if we so chose.

And here's where my own thoughts come in.  Yes, God gave us free will, and part of that free will set us up to live in this world, a world we know is full of contradictions:  ugliness and beauty, happiness and sadness, joy and sorrow, etc.  But if we honestly and truly believe that Jesus Christ is our personal savior, God will grant us Eternal Life in God's perfect kingdom.  As an aside, I've often wondered what would happen if this world were perfect. Think about it.  If it were, who would want to go to Heaven and be with our Creator?

I know this doesn't answer questions.  I admit to always having far more questions which, as I grow older, I realize may never be answered - at least in this life.  But perhaps it will help in some small way.  Regardless, I only share it with you out of love.

May God Bless, Jan