One incredible lady....

There are certain things in life that tend to wake us up to the reality of what is....and one of those things is the expiration of a physical body.  Somehow it makes you realize just how precious and yet how short our earthly life really is.  The thought makes some people flinch, makes others shed a tear or two as they think about those who have passed on.

 

You never really realize the impact somebody has on you until they are no longer there.  We have this egotistical view in this world where we think about the impact that we have on others -- but the true measure comes when somebody has passed on and learning just how much of an impact they had on you -- and you hear the countless lives they have touched by just being who they are.

 

My heart is saddened by the loss of an incredible lady, who lived an incredible life, and used her life to touch others.  She faced many hurdles in life but was determined to not let that hold her back in life.  She truly lived life to the fullest.  She was somebody who enthusiastically served wherever and whenever she could.  When I think about Mrs. Lisa I think determination and perseverance, I think kindness and gentleness, I think of a lady who spoke few words - but they were full of wisdom.  That wisdom that she shared with us, will live on as a legacy in the hearts of each of us. 

 

For me I am constantly reminded by some wisdom she shared with us in the last bible study that we all did together -- I don't remember the physical spot in the study or the specific page number, but I remember the question Mrs. Lisa asked, and I will always remember it.  That is the moment in time that her wisdom softened my heart and opened my eyes.  The study for that particular week dealt with times when we cry out to God and ask where he is....when we feel like He has abandoned us....and this is what Mrs. Lisa shared -- "When it feels like God is far away, you have to stop and ask yourself who moved?  Because God is always with us."  This was so  p-a-i-n-f-u-l-l-y convicting, but perfectly timed and so right on for what I was going through in life.  Then when I sit back and think about that statement and what it means to me and what I was struggling with, I am also humbled by the reality that she was sharing this wisdom while battling cancer and having been blind since birth.....I never heard her complain.  She always had a smile on her face.

 

When we return to our little room for our Thursday morning bible study, I know it will be hard for me - not seeing her where she always sat will be difficult and not having her physical presence will be ever present at that moment in time.  I am grateful for the time that she was with us and the time that was spent in our group, we learned so much from her.  I find comfort in what Pastor Tom had to say at the funeral today and the knowledge that one day I will see Mrs. Lisa again...

 

 

I took this picture (candidly) the day that she shared the wisdom that opened my eyes...this is her reading her braille notes to us....

 

 

Blogging

I just spent the last two hours almost reading through old blog entries...my writing isn't too bad...I think I'm going to start blogging again...

Learning is fun!

Today I spent some time reflecting on all that I have to be grateful for.

1.  I have the oppurtunity to stay home with my boys.

2.  My husband loves me.

3.  My husband works hard to support us and doesn't complain about it.

4.  All of our needs are met and we live a very comfortable life.

5.  We have NO credit card debt!!!

6.  We are 25 and 26 and are working towards owning our own home...been here just over 2 years!

7.  Our car is almost payed off.

8.  We are healthy.

9.  We don't smoke and we don't drink...setting the example for our boys.

10.  I live right down the road from my parents...somehow I knew I would 'never' leave home...3 doors

       down is far enough away for me!!

11.  My boys love me.

12.  My Seth loves to learn....

And that brings me to what we did today....

Ivan has been getting up around 7 in the morning and staying awake and playing and eating until about noon and then he sleeps for a good three hours, wakes up and stays awake until about 8 when they both go down for the night.  So we came home this morning after taking Dennis to work and our daily Target trip to check for deals...and we played with Ivan and had a snack and watched Sesame Street.  I fixed some lunch for Seth and put Ivan to sleep and then Seth and I turned to...and enjoyed a couple hours of learning as we listened to the pouring rain.

My boys...Seth looks so much like Dennis and Ivan looks so much like me!

When Ivan was sleeping this is what Seth and I did ---

For Science we did a little lesson on osmosis and water transfer with permeable membranes.  He measured the marble pebbles...they were 2/10 of a centimeter when we first started....we added water and then they were about 7/10 of a centimeter.  We then counted them and sorted them according to color where we discovered that all of the blue marbles were considerably smaller than the purple, yellow, green and clear colors.  He recorded his observations in his Science journal.

We talked about the weather outside...mostly just to calm him down.  He is not crazy about thunder and lightening ... both of which were happening while we were 'working'!  We got out construction paper and cut out black rain clouds, yellow lightening, grass and rain drops and we glued it all in place where we thought it should go.  We recorded the date and the type of weather we had for today! 

We also got out the wiki sticks that Grandma just gave to Seth!  We did a dot to dot activity of the United States where he counted from 1 to 37, while using wiki sticks to make the line instead of a pencil!  He really enjoyed tearing these aparts and mashing them down on the paper.  Once complete we marked where we live - Seth will tell you he lives in Jacksonville, "Flor-a-da" with a very heavy southern accent.  He also marked Colorado which is where his Great Grandparents on Dennis' side live!  We are probably going to send this map to his Great Grandma Bonnie for her upcoming birthday - she will be 81 years old!  He also traced the letters U S A!!!

Our next activity is basically a VERY early SAT prep activity!  The analogies totally killed my SAT score.  To prepare Seth for this ... starting now...we did a worksheet that had a picture of something on the left side of the paper and he had to find what it went with from the right side of the paper...shirt goes with pants, goggles with swim flippers, bucket with shovel....so maybe had I started this line of thinking at such an early age then my SAT scores might have been better?!?!  (just kidding) 

After that worksheet I let him reach into a ziploc bag of foam pieces and he took out a handful.  We then sorted them by shape and size...big hearts, little hearts, triangles, squares, big circles, little circles...and we took it a step further and graphed them!  He enjoyed counting them and sorting them and of course using the ruler to get those straight edges for his graph!



We finished our "learning time" with some 'art' and 'music'...we cut up pieces of brown and green paper to make a tree and then colored the sun and the birds and the grass.  I found some beans in the cupboard that I wasn't going to use and a paper towel roll...we cut the paper towel roll in half, grabbed the teal duck tape and the beans and made noise makers...

I do believe we covered everything today except physical education...thats not to say we sat still.....  We swept the house - Seth helps with this now! We carried laundry baskets and washed dishes.  Hard to get outdoors with it being so rainy...plus we had our morning jog from clearance rack to clearance rack at 8:30 this morning at Target! 

At the end of the day I can sit back and reflect on how incredible the day was...with no real worries on my mind!  Seth's saying nowadays seems to be... 'oh my gosh'....with a lot of emphasis added when he says it!  Sometimes when I sit back and think of the day that is what I think ' oh my gosh' ...how did I get all that done and keep up with two amazing little boys....???  I very rarely find the answer to that question but understand completly why when 11 pm comes and my head hits the pillow, it doesn't take long for me to fall asleep.

Thanks for reading about my day....how was yours?

The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible

The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible

Book Description

Discover the life-enriching biblical application you're searching for in The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible. With more than 1,000 "Life Lessons" offering insights straight from Max, the message of God's Word will be more meaningful and impactful than ever. This beautifully designed Bible, available in hardcover and Leathersoft cover options, contains practical application drawn from Max Lucado's entire career—from his first book to his latest release, Outlive Your Life. For the first time, all the devotional material in this fully-revised edition of The Inspirational Study Bible is from Max Lucado and uses the popular and reliable New King James Version® (NKJV) translation! Features include:
•Two-color design throughout
•More than 1,000 insightful Life Lessons
•Christ Through the Bible sidebars
•Topical Index
•New King James Version text

Being that I love Max Lucado's words...it comes as no surprise that I throughly enjoyed this reading.  It is one that I will keep near the front of the book shelf for quick reference and continued study.  I loved the life lessons because it really made me fell that I could relate on a more personal level rather than viewing it as a surreal experience.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Publishing company for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review.

My husband made me cry tonight....

My husband made me cry tonight........

How many of you came to read this blog post simply because of my title? 

It amazes me how much people are drawn to the negative. It is actually kind of sad to me. We flock to news headlines filled with shootings or burglaries or sex crimes.  Sometimes I wish there was a newspaper alternative/news aleternative that was nothing but the good.  The stories about volunteer workers and good deeds and unexplained happiness. 

For the past two years, well now three Dennis has surprised me with a custom made glass ornament of a frog.  Those of you who know me, know that I love frogs!  I wasn't sure if he was going to do it again this year and then tonight when we got home he was taking the stuff out of my Bath & Body Works bag and was smelling all my new smelly hand stuff that I got (which should be another blog altogether since I am not into the Bath & Body Works scene but this stuff is amazing!)  when he pulled out what looked like a nicely folded wad of tissue paper.  I unwrapped it and ... once again it brought tears to my eyes.

His thoughtfulness is amazing!  I love the fact that not only does he work hard to support us and provide for us everything we need and want, but he is thoughtful on top of that and has had a custom made Christmas present made for me each year! 

So....curious as to what it looks like?

A Century Turns

A Century Turns  By: William J. Bennett

Book Description

"Author, historian, and educator William J. Bennett examines America’s last two decades.
Twenty years ago, John McCain was serving his second year in the Senate, and Colin Powell had just been promoted to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There was no Fox News Channel, no American Idol. Saddam Hussein and the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeni ruled Iraq and Iran, respectively. George W. Bush was the fairly unnoticeable son of the then-president. If you asked someone to “email me,” you would have received a blank stare, and “Amazon” was a forest in South America. Finally, 20 years ago a young man named Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. The two decades from 1988 to 2008 have proved to be some of the most pivotal in America’s history. Based on a lifetime of experience in government and education, William J. Bennett defines the events that shaped American history during the final years of the century."

I found this book extremely difficult to get into.  Let me also say that I am not a big history fan.  I enjoy reading and when I read the description of this book I mistakingly assumed that the entire book would be layed out in interesting facts not all the facts! If you were somebody who liked to read about history then you would enjoy this book, otherwise there isn't enough of the 'interesting tid bits' to keep you interested if that is the only reason you are reading it. 

Thomas Nelson Publishers gave this book to me in exchange for an honest review through there program - booksneeze!

Week 34 Beach Fun Photo Challenge

Week 34 Beach Fun Photo Challenge

This was one of those 'spur of the moment' pictures...I said "Becca!" and then I snapped the camera!  I love the lighting and the background...this is one of my favorite pictures of my sister!

Check out the other entries here.

How are you using the gifts you've been given?

I love taking pictures.

I honestly can't think of any better combination than a beautiful 80° day, a light breeze, and my camera. Especially this time of the year. Flowers are in bloom, the butterflies dance along your paths, everything seems so fresh.

Ever since June of 2007 I really have taken a liking to photography. When my son was born in June of 2007 I couldn't quit thinking about all the cute ways I could photograph him. I started with a Sony Cybershot 3.2 mega pixels camera....and my pictures still looked good! I determined that real skill in the photography realm isn't totally dependent on the equipment alone.

From there I got an Olympus Point and Shoot camera that could be frozen, thrown in water, dropped, and still work. It was Olympus’ latest in practically indestructible cameras. I enjoyed the jump – I went from 3.2 to 10 megapixels and found that I had so much more room to play with pictures in the photo editing sense without taking too much away from the picture itself, quality wise.

Today I am shooting with an Olympus DSLR and love it!

I have thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures of my little man, and most of the other ones have been family members or nature. I love taking pictures of flowers along a nature trail…or birds or turtles, or butterflies, or whatever else we might happen upon along life’s path.

The more pictures I took, the more I wanted to take…our weekends became time for exploring state parks that were close to us so that I could take lots of pictures! I never seem to tire when it comes to taking pictures. Just the other night I had my camera out at 11:15 at night taking a picture of a lady bug that had managed to get inside our home….There are days that I wish I could just spend the whole day taking pictures.

My love of taking pictures, and seeing how people reacted to the pictures that I took…I got to thinking that maybe it would be a way to make some extra money…so I began taking steps to ‘get my name out there’ so to speak. I did some photo finishing work in creating a calendar for a local high school in exchange for my add being placed in the calendar. I took pictures of little ones free of charge. I took pictures at a birthday party and provided a print to everybody who attended with my watermark on it. In the midst of doing this, time flew by, like it always seems to do.

Before I knew it December 2009 was quickly approaching.

I learned of a movement by photographers all around the world known as Help Portrait. It was the idea that you use your time, expertise and equipment to give back to somebody less fortunate. For me the family that I did this for had recently lost their husband/father to cancer. Left behind were his wife and son and daughter. They were relocating here because there was family here. A lot of their belongings were left behind because they couldn’t afford to send them all here. They were starting out with the bare minimum but doing what they needed to get from one day to the next. The mother wanted to have a family picture done for the holidays but knew that there was no way she could afford it. The target had been located! I took pictures of them, and she brought along a picture of her husband, hoping that in some way I could incorporate a picture of him into the picture. The task before me was huge. I had never done anything like this. Yet my one wish for Christmas was to find a way to give it away. I had heard the song by Matthew West, “Give this Christmas away” and was just waiting for my opportunity to do just that. This is what the picture looked like upon completion…actually this is a compilation of all the pictures that I came up with…but you can see where I took his picture and the picture of the three of them and combined them.

Needless to say the woman and her children were moved to tears. They loved the way that it looked like he was just part of the picture. I was satisfied with the finished product, very rarely am I ever ‘happy’ with the finished product – I look at it and see so much room for improvement and things I should have/could have done differently. I did feel a since of accomplishment. It was the first time taking pictures for somebody else that it made me feel so good about doing it. I mean this feeling went straight to my heart…it was amazing how good it felt to use the gift that God has given me to make somebody else happy, to give them hope, and to give Christmas away.

Time goes on, life goes on, I get back in school. I continue to take pictures but quit doing so much to ‘get my name out there’…Then Relay For Life comes along…and again I am in the unique position of having three good pictures of a woman who my mom knew personally is currently fighting cancer. She and her family came out to Relay and thoroughly enjoyed the event. I was the only one that my mom knew of that had pictures of she and her family walking together. I took the pictures that I had managed to get and made a collage for her. She too, was very pleased with the finished result. And again, it felt like my heart and spirit were being lifted. Yet again, by doing something good for somebody else I felt like I was benefiting more from it than they were. I was so motivated and felt so good about the finished product.

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks…it is amazing how when His message gets to you, when you hear His message – the impact that it can have on you is astounding. The question that remained in my head upon completing Relay for Life was this one – What are you doing to further God’s kingdom? I couldn’t understand why that question would be placed in my head upon completing the picture. And finally it got through my thick skull – my photography abilities are not meant to provide any monetary gains at this time in my life. The purpose of my photography is to honor God…I dug out the first watermark that I made – it had a VP in the middle of it and around the outside, in the form of a heart it read, “Honoring God, one click at a time. Van Deusen Photography.” My photography is only meant to benefit me when it is in the form of hope for somebody else.

The purpose of my photography is to provide hope. It just so happens that each time I have provided hope and felt so great about what I did – it was for people involved in church and Christians. I am thinking that somehow I am to use the gift that God has given me to honor and provide hope for others who are less fortunate than I am…be it family situation, or health situation. I think I am to use my photography to further God’s Kingdom by providing hope for those who are struggling….at least this is the message I feel that I have received thus far!