Patty is Singing At Jesus' Feet

On July 15, our Exalt Ministry Celebration Choir, experienced one of the most meaningful Spirit-filled times of our lives. Patty Foster, one of our choir members, was seemingly knocking on heaven's door with cancer. Patty's desire was to as she said, "sing with the choir one more time." Our worship leader, ever seeking to honor God and listening to the Spirit's leading, dismissed us at 7:30 p.m. from rehearsal to go to Patty's house and sing in her yard. Patty was able to be out on the porch with her family. We stood under the canopy of the trees and a weeping heaven and worshipped with Patty one last time. Patty died Tuesday, July 21 and is now in heaven's choir worshipping her Savior...until we're there with her to sing again.

See you soon, Patty.

Photos Coming Soon

WOW! Last night I went to World Market and Tim asked if I'd drop him off at Best Buy to look around. Well, of course, I would cause I could spend some leisure time in World Market checking out all the CLEARANCE aisles without being rushed. I looked around in WM, checked out all the CLEARANCE, bought a couple of things and went back to the car. I moved the car to the lot in front of Best Buy and called his cell to let him know I was out there. As I sat, I realized that it was taking him an awful long time in Best Buy so after bout 30 minutes, I phoned again. He said 2-3 minutes more :-(. I moved the car in front of the store since it was almost closing time and there weren't many cars in the lot. After about 10 minutes, here comes Tim carrying a huge Best Buy bag. He has wanted a surround sound system so that was my first thought; however, it didn't look like one box...it looked like SEVERAL small boxes, not surround sound. He got in the car and I said, "what have you done?" He smiled the biggest smile and told me "happy anniversary" which is in November. He said, "what do you want most of all?" I still couldn't think and he said "Nikon!" I nearly went through the ceiling ecstatic. He'd bought a Nikon D60 camera, my dream camera. I've wanted one for years but never thought I could take the $$ to get one. WOW! I can't stop saying WOW! I am so excited. I'm sure my blog will be the recipient of the fruits of the Nikon, good or bad. WOW! I'm so excited. (can you tell I'm excited?)

WORDFUL Wednesday

WORDLESS Wednesday

Ruby Tuesday

I'm trying to fervently get back into blogging so thought today I'd try this meme that is hosted each week on Mary's blog, "Work of the Poet." Each week she looks for photos with the color ruby. Since that's once of my favorite colors, I thought I'd do the same. I didn't find many with ruby but you can bet from here on out, I will be taking pics of anything ruby.

When we were in Brazil, we quickly developed a taste for açaí. Small berries harvested in the rainforests of Brazil, açaí tastes like a vibrant blend of berries and chocolate. Hidden within its royal purple pigment is the magic that makes it nature's perfect energy fruit. Açaí is packed full of antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Although açaí may not be available in your local supermarket, you can find it in several health food (Earth Fare has it) and gourmet stores (often in juice form). A new product featuring the unsweetened pulp is now also available, and I highly recommend that you choose this form of açaí.

In Brazil, açaí is sold as a bowl of frozen smashed-up berries with sliced bananas and/or granola. It is yummy. After cultivating the taste in Brazil, we came home to find that açaí has become a food fad even being named as a Super Food.

Açaí pulp contains a remarkable concentration of antioxidants that help combat premature aging, with 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes and 10 to 30 times the anthocyanins of red wine. A synergy of monounsaturated (healthy) fats, dietary fiber and phytosterols to help promote cardiovascular and digestive health. An almost perfect essential amino acid complex in conjunction with valuable trace minerals, vital to proper muscle contraction and regeneration. The fatty acid content in açaí resembles that of olive oil, and is rich in monounsaturated oleic acid. Oleic acid is important for a number of reasons. It helps omega-3 fish oils penetrate the cell membrane; together they help make cell membranes more supple. By keeping the cell membrane supple, all hormones, neurotransmitter and insulin receptors function more efficiently. This is particularly important because high insulin levels create an inflammatory state, and we know, inflammation causes aging. (http://www.oprah.com/article/health/nutrition/life_acai)

Wow, who knew that something so YUMMY could be so good for you. As you can see, the grandchildren LOVE açaí. Totally appropriate Ruby Tuesday post :-).

Mosaic Monday: At the Beach

Each Monday, Mary at her Little Red House blog hosts Mosaic Monday. This week's Mosaic Monday highlights summer vacation beach photos. Check it out at her blog. You'll love it each week. Be sure to create your own mosaic also. Mary's blog of July 17, gives instructions. It's lots of fun.

Best Wednesday of My Life

Most of you will know that I work at a university. One of our professors, when asked "how are you" will often respond with "best Wednesday (or Monday, Tuesday, etc.) of my life." He's been going through some pretty bad stuff lately but this continues to be his response to the everyday "how are you's?"

Today as I was looking online for a quote to use for my status updates on facebook, I ran across one by Ralph Waldo Emerson; "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Why is it that we look for our happiness in whatever lies ahead rather than looking at today and calling it "the best day of my life?" We often "can't wait for the weekend" or "look forward to vacation" or "when the holidays get here..." Who knows what that little change in attitude might do to brighten our day and our life. If we say that today is the best day of the year or of our life then it just might be. Wouldn't that be great!