Prayer

I'm a believer in the power of prayer.  I've seen what it can accomplish.  It is truly amazing and inspiring.

But as much as I believe, sometimes I don't remember.  Or I think I don't have the time.  I needed something to get me focused and on track.

Now I'm not a Catholic or Anglican (two churches that have structured prayer beads) but the idea of beads for prayer is an attraction for me.  So with the help of the internet I did a little searching to see if there were prayer beads in my church (Lutheran) too.  And I found just that.

Not structured but free style prayer beads that you can create yourself and assign their own prayer or meaning to each bead as fits your wants and needs.

Just what I needed.

And this is what I made.  

I got out our hymnal and found prayers that have meaning for me and then I went shopping for beads.  What I bought was mainly for feel, not appearance, because I hope to memorize all the prayers and be able to do this by feel alone.

 

Each bead has a prayer or person associated with it.

 

 

 

And so, if I have told you that I'll pray for you, you are one of these purple beads.

 

 

 

   

 

Always wear your seatbelt.

Late Saturday we got a phone call from 2nd DS. A late night call always makes me a little nervous but our kids know we stay up late so I wasn't overly concerned. And I had just texted his wife, 2nd DDIL, about a 1/2 hour earlier.

But...they had been in an accident. Hit a patch of ice, rolled the pickup once and landed on a guard rail. And after that they walked away. Banged up yes, but no need for an ambulance. They were wearing their seatbelts.

Their dog, Aida, was in the backseat and was thrown out of the vehicle. She left claw marks on the roofliner of the cab as she was going out the window. She survived. She's walking on 3 legs right now but doesn't seem to be in any pain. She's a trooper.

I hate to think what could have happened with no seatbelts or if things had gone just slightly differently.

Everyone, please wear your seatbelts. They might not be the total answer but they are what we have so please make use of them...

Staying off the coke

I've been off the diet coke for approx. 2 1/2 months now. I think I feel better. I think I sleep better and I know I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. Iced tea is a great substitute.

I started the baby sweater on Sunday. It's coming along nicely although I'm not thrilled with the color. I wish it wasn't as dusky and was more of a clear pink. The hazards of internet shopping and computer monitors. I did get a totally cute pattern for a little hat with flowers that I'm going to make to match the sweater. It'll make an adorable set.

It's cold. It's damp. It's very much like fall instead of spring. Uff.

Diet Coke

So. I've been trying to cut back drastically or completely eliminate diet Coke from my life. A little over a month ago was when I made this decision. It's going along okay, but on Saturday and Sunday mornings it is especially difficult. During the week I would just grab a can from the fridge and head to work. But on the weekend, it was...the diet Coke, ice, my special mug, the fizzing, the clinking ice, even the pop of opening the can seemed to give extra expectation. It's was all so alluring. The iced tea just doesn't come close and is such a disappointment in comparison. I'm going to keep on but the weekends it's just so hard trying to break those old habits.