Today began by attending “Cowboy Church” held at a local horse ranch. Thank you, Dave and Dolly, for organizing this “alternative” Sunday worship which brought us together in a humble setting – a horse barn.
Tag Archives: Faith
The Worst Day.
The flag I immediately hung outside my front door. You can tell it was there quite a long time – ragged and bleached.
The day began like any other and ended with confusion, fear and…a sense of being united.
9/11/01 will forever be a memory in my brain. A day in which the events will never be questioned by what I was doing and where I was at.
Just Another Day in the Zeorian Camp
I’m almost embarrassed to sit here tonight and say again that NOTHING has gone on in this camp. One more day of staring at each other and wondering what we could do next. Its days like this you wish there was a little more to do than that! We’ve now completed our 12th day of not being in the field. Our farmer has completed the dry land wheat. He wants us to cut the irrigated because he has a “stripper” head and doesn’t want that much straw left on the field. The Deerfield stop is not going to be one to write home about! Ah…but look at all this great family time! I’ve learned a long time ago that no two summers are EVER the same and weather is not reliable…EVER!
THE day to Honor Mom!
One day? I guess one is better than none 🙂
Because I don’t have any of my chillun’s to do anything with, or make me breakfast in bed or even pick a dandelion, I thought I’d sit down here and share with you a few thoughts…and my flowers.
The Storm of the Century
Yes, that was the way they were describing the storms that were moving into Eastern Nebraska on Saturday night…”The Storm of the Century”.
This particular tornado watch was being referred to as a PDS watch. Meteorologists define a PDS watch as follows:
“When the threat for damage caused by severe convection is unusually high, the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) enhances the wording of its convective watch product with the following statement: THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION Such watches are known as “PDS” watches. PDS tornado (TOR) watches are issued when the forecaster has high confidence that multiple strong (F2-F3 on the Fujita Scale) or violent tornadoes (F4-F5 on the Fujita Scale) will occur in the watch area. PDS TOR watches are rare; of 3058 TOR watches issued during the period 1996-2005, only 7% (216) were PDS watches, When compared with regular TOR watches, PDS TOR watches should ideally be associated with a greater risk of strong or violent tornadoes.”
Spring? or Summer?
It’s 2 degrees short of being HOT today in Eastern NE. The past three days the temp has reached at or near 90 degrees. Although I am loving this heat, the flowers that I have waited for a year to return are not. When it’s spring, the flowers like the cool weather so much better. With the past three days of heat and wind, the flowers are suffering. The crabapple trees, cherry tree, apple tree and the redbuds are nearly done gracing us with their beauty. There’s been previous years where the flowers last quite some time before drying up and blowing away.
A few of my most favorite flowers are beginning to “pop” – the iris. The miniature guys are first to show their beauty and the intermediate are beginning to sprout their bloom stocks.
When Community Comes Together
Last night was THE social event of our area and was due to the love of one person by so many!
On November 19, 2011, Jim and I attended Marcy and Eric’s wedding. It was a beautiful evening and attended by many of their family and friends. Exactly two months to the day, Marcy found out she was about to begin a battle with stage 4 cancer. Tests revealed malignant masses in her colon and a spot on her liver. Marcy will celebrate her 36th birthday on April 2. Through all that she’s been through, Marcy has remained positive and her outlook on life is simply amazing and something we could all learn from. Marcy’s journey has been recorded through her Caringbridge.org website (marcyjamesonplautz) which allows the reader to keep up with her progress.
Last night, I was honored to be a part of an event that was organized by Mark and Candi Rathe and several of Marcy’s and Eric’s friends. The many hours they lovingly poured into this fundraiser paid off! The Weeping Water and surrounding communities came together to help support one of their own and I was blown away by the number of attendees! There were more members of our surrounding communities together in one place than I have ever experienced – EVER! (The pictures will tell the story) The food was amazing, the bands outstanding (and local), and the raffle, silent auction and live auction were eagerly participated by all. The result? Approximately $50,000 was donated to Marcy and Eric to help cover some of the huge medical expenses they’ll be staring at before Marcy WINS this battle! This example of small town living and community is THE BEST reason to live in the Midwest!
If you are a part of my community and weren’t able to participate in last night’s event or would simply like to help with Marcy’s expenses, please email me at jz45239@windstream.net I’ll make sure you’re pointed in the right direction as to how to make it happen. With that, I will leave you with a few pictures of the evening:
Some of the many donated desserts.
The Roger Roberts’ Three Piece Blue Grass band. LOVED them!!
Hours of usage for a brand new New Holland tractor was auctioned during the live auction.
Selling raffle tickets.
The food lines.
The busy workers in the kitchen!
Jillian helping draw numbers for the raffle.
Taylor and Evan.
Dave and Dolly Crandall during the live auction.
Nick & Taylor.
Callie, Jamie and Curt.
Brooklyn and her friend dancing the night away to the music of “The Legends” – the same band that played at Curt and Jamie’s party in October. Gee it’s nice having great local music!
Being a mom to many at #D2S2012
“Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.” (Psalm 22:30, 31 NLT)
This was the fifth year I’ve been to the Dare2Share event in Lincoln, NE. The first year I went, Cindy and I took approximately ten kids. The year before, she only took three. This year…we took nearly 30 kids and 6 adult sponsors. OUTSTANDING! Especially if you knew how small our church is. However, the kids of the community are HUNGRY for what Greg Stier and the people of Dare2Share are offering them – the GOSPEL. It’s pretty straight forward and blunt but it’s the TRUTH spoken with a great amount of passion and love for the next generation.
I’ve seen it before in years past…the ones who have never participated in the event will hold back and take it all in with some hesitation and quite a bit of intimidation. By the time Saturday night rolls around, these same kids are on fire! They are on fire for the Lord and are ready to take Him into their world. Don’t you dare tell them they CAN’T do something! It does my heart good to see them pumped and ready to take THE cause (to multiply disciples globally) to their mission field – their schools. According to what I learned from Greg, Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakeable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of society. – Science Daily, July 26, 2011. The auditorium held 5,000+ jr. and sr. high students ready to fight the good fight. These kids come from all parts of the midwest and from different churches to worship the ONE true God. They learned it’s not about a religion…it’s about a relationship. Know what’s interesting? The kids that went this year represents 10% of the number of kids in our jr./sr. high school. God is good!
Can I just say…these kids got it! Thank you, Greg Stier, and all the others that make this event work. They teach and equip our children with the tools they need to fight as they head into a world waiting to gobble them up! My one prayer for all the kids who attended would be they could remain on that mountain top long enough to make the difference in their world. “God will gain a maximum of armies by using NOBODYS.” Greg Stier
When the end came on Saturday night, I was the one who was blessed! It’s one thing to be a youth leader and talk and talk and talk. It’s another when you get to witness something so powerful and so good. I was able to see the fire that was lit in each of those kids in our group. I would be willing to bet they will take what they learned and will share it with SOMEONE in their school this week. They’ll surely suffer rejection and be made fun of, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12 My prayer for them is they do not quit…not now…not ever!
I feel like such a proud mamma!
What’s this? I. Am. Honored!
So, I sat down this afternoon to share with you the picture that I have been so anxious to share (and I still will). However, when I logged into my WordPress account, I realized that I’d been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award.
We have Versatile Blogger Award rules to follow:
- In a post on your, blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.
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In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.
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In the same post, share seven completely random pieces of information about yourself.
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In the same post, include this set of rules.
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Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs. (Or post to Twitter.)
6. Copy this picture to your blog.
I’m a little unsure what this exactly means BUT it’s always fun to be nominated for any kind of award…right? I’m not athletic and I wasn’t much involved in anything in High School – except FBLA. As I grew up and got married and started having babies, being awarded for anything other than “the worstest mommy I’ve ever had” award was never imagined. So I’m honored to think that I’ve “met” enough other wonderful bloggers out there who would even CONSIDER me for this award. I have been nominated by my new friend, Joy. The very first posting I read from her blog “My Universe is Still Coming Together” was “My Universe Came Together, While It Was Falling Apart” . See, I’m still so new at this blogging thing, I don’t even know how to change the font color for my links (maybe someone can fill me in). I related to how she felt with the death of her Grandma. My “harvest” Grandma meant the world to me and my universe fell apart when she died. I also relate to her desire to write and be a published writer. Thus began my newfound friendship with Joy. THANK YOU, JOY! for nominating me for this award! 🙂
Now, as part of the rules for the nomination, I’m supposed to nominate 15 more bloggers. So, here goes:
- My daughter, Jenna’s blog – Yensyphotos
14. suehealy
The final part of the rules is to give you seven random facts about me:
- I procrastinate. I work better under the pressure of a deadline.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.
My two least enjoyed household chores are folding clothes and dusting. I think that’s because those were the two chores my mom hated…someone had to do them.
Some day I want to visit Alaska. Mostly because that’s a trip my grandma always wanted to take and never did.
New things scare me. As soon as they become familiar and I know what I’m doing – watch out!
Once I set my mind on doing something, it takes a lot to get me to quit. I’m very persistent.
The word IMPOSSIBLE does not fit in my vocabulary.
I know I’m only supposed to do seven but I wanted to throw #8 in because I wanted you to know (unless you’ve already got it figured out) that God is important to me. I constantly look and listen for Him each day. When you watch for Him, you can see how He fits each piece of your life puzzle together creating a beautiful picture! I hope the people I come in contact with can see Him through me.
And finally, the pictures I wanted to share with you (you know what this means)
And finally, Callie made a cake for me – complete with homemade fondant frosting – while I was gone Sunday afternoon watching Taylor’s UNO honor choir. What a kid!
Goodbye 40’s…HELLO 50’s!
Tomorrow, I will be 18,261 days old…or 50 years old…or half a century old. WHOA! How can this be? Life really does happen in the blink of an eye! Am I feeling a little crummy about it, YES! Will I get over it the very next day, YES! I know we never know how long we have on this crazy earth and how long we have with our loved ones but by being 50, I know I’m closer to death than I am to birth. For the heck of it, I went searching for some fun “being fifty facts” and the following are the ones I found that I liked:
“Turning 50 heralds a decade of transition, many of them involving bodily changes. Menopause ends the childbearing years. Gray hairs supplant natural color, forcing one of three decisions: let nature take its course, cover the gray or try a completely different shade. (Unlike men, women haven’t embraced head shaving as midlife sexy.) Changes in vision require reading glasses. Gravity takes its toll as our necks sag, stomachs bulge, breasts droop, faces wrinkle, underarms swing like fish bellies. Waists thicken and knees and back ache. Skin loses its elasticity, causing some of us to try and turn the clocks back by means of all sorts of chemical and medical interventions — moisturizers, ointments to reduce age spots, wrinkle creams, Botox injections, plastic surgery, face and eye lifts.” (About.com Turning 50 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Turning Fifty for Women)
” Women over 50 are president, CEO, and the star of their own lives. If you have the attitude that life is precious, that life is grandiose, that you don’t want to waste any time, you will make this quality time.” — S. Mitchell (WebMD 50 Great Things About Women Over 50)
“It is not unusual for someone to feel a lot of anxiety about turning 50 years old, but once you reach your 50s and beyond, you are going to wonder what exactly it was you were so worried about.”
Tonight, the sunset was spectacular! It was almost as though God was giving my 40’s a grand farewell and it made me smile! I look forward to what the 50’s have in store for me. I do know I’m not going to stop living life to the fullest, I will still view the word “impossible” as a bad word, and I will continue to look for God in every part of my day! Here’s to the next 50!
