Who's Sending Me Flowers?

When I saw the flower delivery truck pull into my driveway, my first thought was who would be sending me pretty flowers?  My husband used to surprise me with flowers often, but once we got married, he realized I'd rather not spend our money on flowers that only last about a week.  Plus, Spunky Doodle, our cat used to chew on the leaves all the time and then throw up.  I didn't really think they were from him, but would have never been able to guess who they were from.  Want to take a guess?  They were from Sarah at Chewy!  Here is what the card said:

Losing such a big part of your family is never easy.  We're thinking of you in this difficult time.

                              Sending you love, Sarah and Your Chewy Family 

Spunky Doodle

It was a very nice gesture but even more of a surprise since we didn't have any pet death recently.  Spunky Doodle had to be put down almost two years ago, September of 2021.  I don't know why they thought we recently lost a pet.  It had my name and address on it, so it wasn't just delivered to the wrong place.  But, thank you, Chewy anyway!  It was a nice surprise.  

Bear

Bear, our current cat, just sniffed at them a little bit and then walked away and left them alone.  I had them on the dining room table to get some morning sun while we were at church on Sunday, and then moved them up to my den for afternoon sun and closed the door just in case Bear jumped up on the table.  He generally doesn't go in there unless I am in there though.  He's such a good cat!

Other similar posts you might like:

Spunky Doodle Crosses Rainbow Bridge at 17

Why We Don't Have Flowers on Our Table

God in the Thunderstorm

source:  google.com/free lightning images

 I was awaken this morning by thunder and lightning which always reminds me of God's power!  Then for my devotions this morning, I read Psalm 29 which is about God in the thunderstorm.  It talks about how powerful God is and why He should be praised.  I want to share it with you:

1 Praise the Lord; you angels.  Praise the Lord's glory and power.  2 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name.  Worship the Lord because he is holy.  3 The Lord's voice is heard over the sea.  The glorious God thunders.  The Lord thunders over the great ocean.  4 The Lord's voice is powerful.  The Lord's voice is majestic.  5 The Lord's voice breaks the trees.  The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.  6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf.  7 The Lord's voice makes the lightning flash. 8 The Lord's voice shakes the desert.  The Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.  9 The Lord's voice shakes the oaks.  The leaves fall off the trees.  In his Temple everyone says, "Glory to God!" 10 The Lord controls the flood.  The Lord will be King forever. 11 The Lord gives strength to his people.  The Lord blesses his people with peace.   (Int'l Children's Bible)

I honestly do not know how anyone could read this and not praise the Lord.  We have such an awesome, amazing, wonderful and powerful God.  But He wants to be more than just a God out there.  He wants a relationship with us so He sent Jesus into the world to reconcile us to God himself.  I hope you know Him!  The next time you hear thunder or see lighting, think of God's greatness and power and love for you!

Cornhole--Not My Game!

Although I am not good at Cornhole, I went ahead and signed up with Lucille in the Cornhole tournament at the church picnic Saturday because she wanted to play and needed a partner.  At least it was something to do.  I sort of knew her from the Sr. Center so knew she wasn't very good either.  I was doing pretty good when we were practicing before the tournament started; but then I couldn't seem to even keep any on the board!  Neither of us could even get one in the hole.  I figured we wouldn't win, but didn't think we would get shut out 21-0 which is exactly what happened.  We were the first team eliminated.  Our game went very quickly!  The food was delicious and I would have played volleyball but not enough wanted to play.

Getting Ready for Fantasy Football

Bear wanting some attention while I try to read.

I started reading my Fantasy Football magazines this morning and taking notes on what players I want to draft by position in order.  I try to stay away from picking players from teams in the Browns division because it's hard for me to root for them, but I will make an exception for JaMar Chase.  If I have an opportunity to take him, I will if there's no other player available I want that is as good (in my mind).  Last year I had Mark Andrews on Baltimore, but he turned out to be kind of a bust for me.  I wanted Travis Kelce, but he got picked by someone else earlier than I thought he would!  This happened several times when my next pick got picked before my turn came around.  

I am determined to get at least two elite players this year.  The QB's always get picked really early in the league I'm in so last year I wound up with Russell Wilson who turned out to be a big bust.  He wasn't terrible, but there were quite a few better than him.  I dumped him pretty early for Gino Smith.  I must remember to pick my QB earlier this year!

There are so many really good players, it's hard to decide who my first pick will be!

Day 5 of Kids Summer Shake Up 2023 at Parma Heights Baptist

small group devotions

Today was the last day of Summer Shake Up for this year.  Last night we had a big storm so the grass was all soaked as well as it being much cooler, only 69 degrees at the start, but thank God is wasn't raining!  We did some minor modifications such as playing kids vs. the leaders in a kickball game instead of the water games we originally had planned, and moving our devotional groups to the blacktop at the edge of the parking lot instead of on the grass.  The kids won the kickball game, but being fair to the leaders, we ran out of time before they all got to kick.  I forgot to get a picture of kickball because I was playing!

We were pleased to surpass our goal of $1500 for bedding for the Chain of Love orphanage in Brazil with over $1800!  The verse of the day was I am the vine, and you are the branches.  If a person remains in Me and I remain in him, then he produces much fruit.  But without Me he can do nothing. (John 15:5 Int'l Children's Bible)

game in back parking lot

Our second activity was playing grab the chicken where teams stand across from each other and number off.  One or numbers are called and those numbered kids run to the middle to try to grab the chicken and get back across their line without getting tagged.  Everyone got a turn.  

I only had to make one first-aid trip and one restroom trip today.  At the end, all the kids received a New Testament and a fanny pack.  Those with perfect attendance got to pick a couple snacks to go too.  They were very particular about what to pick.  There was plenty for the leaders to get some too.  I took the peanut butter crackers and Chips Ahoy.

It was a good week!