Okay looks like I've been tagged by Dana over at Filled with Laughter. I'm thrilled that she tagged me but dread writing 6 random things about myself.



These are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you

2) Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading)

3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below)

4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them (This is only a game)

5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog

6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up



Here are the six random things about me:

1. I adore being a grandmother. It feels like a do over for my lack of parenting skills when I was raising my own kids. I thought they needed to be perfect to reflect how perfect I was. Now I just want to love my grandkids unconditionally and show them how imperfect I am but how special God still thinks I am.


2. I love walking on the beach. Its where I feel the very closest to God. When I lived in Florida I used to walk beside the gulf pretending it was the Sea of Galilee and Jesus was at my side. He's a pretty playful kind of guy. Every once in a while he'd dip his foot in the ocean and splash water at me. Can't you just picture him doing that to Peter every so often.


3. I have wanted to be an actress since I was 3 years old. I used to iceskate on a frozen pond (okay it was actually an oversized mud puddle where the flowing well drained out into the farm pasture). There I would make up plays and skits etc. My favorite enactment was pretending that the Blessed Virgin appeared to me like the 3 children in Fatima. I finally got my nerve up my senior year to try out for the high school play. I had to talk my best friend in to trying out with me. She got a part and I didn't. She felt so bad knowing how bad I wanted it, that she gave up her part thinking the director would give it to me. The director gave the part to someone else, and the worst part was that my boyfiend (future husband) didn't even try out for the play but the director gave him a part anyway. Duh....Do you think God was trying to tell me show biz wasn't what he was callin me to do?


4. I have an active imagination (see # 2 and #3)


5. I had my first baby induced so I could go to the Orange Bowl game with my husband. My husband was playing in the game, so the doctor agreed to induce labor a week before my due date so I could go. Football is a big deal in Nebraska!


6. If I could have one super power I would chose to fly. Seriously, I have dreams all the time that I fly. All I do in my dreams is start to lay back and suddenly I'm levitating and floating gently in the breeze of my dreams. See #4 above for further comment.

Thanks Dana. I was actually dreading doing this but I guess I did have lots of radom nothingness to write about.

Now for the people I'm tagging - I'm not sure I can do six people. Most of the blogs I frequent have already been tagged but here goes.

The first three people are widows like me and I consider them soul sisters.

The first is Janine. I happened to be sitting at her table at the She Speaks conference when we found out we had this unfortunate thing in common. In her 7th month of widowhood, I find her blog to be so down to earth and gut wrenching at times and I remember being right where she is. She's been gracious enough to let me follow along as she bears a pain none of us would wish on our worst enemy. You can find her at One Breath at a Time

Next is LeAnn from Proverbs 31 Ministries. She hasn't been blogging long, but she certainly writes like a pro. Read A Widows Might

Linds at Rocking Chair Reflections just found out she's going to be a Grandmother. I just found her blog a few days ago and haven't even left her a comment. Wont she be surprised to hear from me?

I'm tagging another woman I met at She Speaks her name is Dee Dee and we sat together often. You'll find DeeDee at No Greater Joy

I'm tagging Jenny over at Standing at the waters edge but it may take a while for her to post since she's in the middle of a move.

And finally my blog bible study, and fellow Husker wife Lelia at Write From the Heart. I'm usually hanging on every word she writes.

Hope those of you I have tagged won't be upset with me. I'm only following directions.

Crazy Days of Summer

Hi All,

Just checking in. Nothing tooexciting to write about but just trying to keep writing.



Yesterday was a full of unexpected happenings. Oldest grandson was scheduled to have an extended family birthday party. It couldn't be done last weekend because of baseball tournaments so yesterday was the scheduled shindig.



Thursday darling daughter got a call from the twins coach asking if they could play in yet another tournament. She agreed. And wouldn't you know it they ended up playing on Sunday for the championship.



So at the last minute the party got shifted to my house. All the party paraphernalia, food, plates, silverware, lawn chairs etc was delivered in shifts. A party that was supposed to start at 1:00 didn't truly get underway until 2:00. Darling daughter left to take the boys back for the last game, and then hurried back to continue hostessing the party.



I think the party may have gone on longer but I had told dd (darling daughter) to wrap things up because I had plans for the evening and I would be leaving at 6p.m.



You would have thought EF Hutton had just spoken because everyone turned an ear to find out what my plans were. I guess they all assumed that since I was going out at night that I must have a date.



Nope-no date. It was just the Sunday night outdoor concert and I'd made plans to go hear a tribute to the BeeGee's. Great show. Great music. Wonderful tribute from a band called "Stayin' Alive.



That was a fun way to end a crazy weekend.

Pictures of Ice Cream Crunch

For pictures of yesterday's award winning recipes, please hop over to First Tea.

What Is Your Quiet Time Routine

This is my "morning quiet time" material.

I usually start my time with God between 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. In the winter I like to stay in my bedroom snuggled under my comforter, but in the summer I like to watch the sun come up from my living room chair.

I start with my prayer journal. Next I read the daily scriptures that my church outlines, followed by "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. After that I read the daily reading in "The Word for You Today" and I try and spend time meditating between each reading. It's one of the benefits of being single and retired.

With the remaining time I work on whatever bible study I'm doing. Right now I'm reading "The Cup of Our Life" by Joyce Rupp and "What Happens When Women Walk in Faith" by Lysa TerKeurst.

When I'm finished reading I try and journal something God has shown me through one of the readings. Sometimes, I find myself getting so excited over something God has shown me that I want to go right to my blog and start sharing it. But usually by the time I interrupt my thought process to turn on the computer and get a second cup of coffee, I loose the momentum. Usually, I've completely lost the awesome revelation by the time my fingers are ready to type.

I get so frustrated when I try and recall the way God spoke and the way the words came so eloquently into my mind. When I try to repeat them in writing or in speaking they are gone and just the concrete knowledge remains. My conversation with God will usually go something like this: "Okay God that was an astounding piece of information. How come you revealed this to me and now I can't even remember your words as I try to share with everyone else?

I can usually hear God whispering "That's because that piece of knowledge is for you alone. I will reveal it to others in my own time and way."

Does that ever happen to you?

The other morning as I was surfing the blogs I came across a post asking "What kind of a soil are you? I was excited because God had just shown me something on Sunday that surprised me and I'd been wondering whether or not to share it.

I mentioned above that one of the things I do each morning is read the daily scriptures my church has outlined. Each week they list those Scriptures in our church bulletin. It was only about a year ago I finally started adding these readings to my morning quiet time. There is an old testament reading, a Psalm reading, and a Gospel reading, and on Sunday there is an additional reading from one of the Epistles.

What I like about the Sundays readings is that they are the same readings that will be read in every Catholic church throughout the world that day. I like that so many people are being fed the exact words that day because it helps me feel even more a part of the "Body of Christ".

Last Sundays Gospel Reading was "The Parable of the Four Soils".

Whenever I have read that scripture in the past, I imagined each soil to represent a different kind of person, and I was always bothered hearing Jesus tells the disciples that anyone who hears the word and does not understand it will have it plucked away by the evil one, then Jesus talks in parables so only a few understand him?

That just didn't make a lot of sense to me because I believe God wants us all to be saved and how can we believe if we can't understand that we need to be saved in the first place.

Sunday, God gave me the revelation to begin looking at the soil differently.

Each soil doesn't represent a kind of person. Each soil is manifested in me.

"Some seed fell along the path": A path is where we walk as we journey to God. If we get off our path and take a different course thinking we know a better way, or by letting sin lure us away, then we leave the path where God sprinkled his Word, unprotected, and Satan is able to come and take away everything God has scattered for us.

"Some seed fell on rocky places": Jesus tells us this is the seed that we recieve eagerly but it can't take root and dies off.

How often do I get fired up to make a change in my life? Like losing weight. Every morning I get up and say "today's the day".

My body is a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells, but I don't take care of it like I should. Why is that important? I learned a few years ago that when I exercise, my mind seems to have more of a capacity for clearer thinking. If I think more clearly, I am more likely to comprehend what God is saying to me. If you haven't reached age 50 yet that statement may not ring true. But those of you who have had brain cells go south will understand that statement much better.

Also, eating the wrong kind of food zaps the energy I should have to move around and to stay alert enough to hear and see God working in my life.

My rocky soil also consists of areas of unforgiveness or perhaps an area of greed. Sometimes all I need to do is toss out some of the rocks that are cluttering my soil. But other times a jack hammer is need to chop through the strongholds in order to find more soil that can be cultivated and prepared for planting.

"Other seed fell among the thorns and choked the plants": Jesus tells us this is the seed fails to take root because of worry. The thorns grow up and choke the fruit in areas where I have failed to respond to God's leading. How many times have I failed to step out in faith because I was worried of looking like a fool. How many times have I missed an opportunity to minister to someone because I was too lazy or because it would take me out of my comfort zone. How many times have I robbed God with my tithes because of my own lack of trust.

Jesus tells us "Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him"

I don't want to sound greedy but I really don't have nearly enough knowledge of God and his plan for my life. I would certainly hate to have him take away what little amount I do have.

So I guess its up to me to start conserving my soil. I need to quite planting the soil of my mind with useless knowledge like, what happened on the latest episode of Desperate Housewives, so there will be more fertile ground for God to plant his wisdom.

I need to stay on the path and protect what God sows. I need to get rid of the rocks in my life so there is more area for God's word to take root. I need to fertilize, and water the seed that lands on my soil not just so it takes root but so it produces fruit. And I need to trust God more so weeds cannot grow up and choke to death the crop God is trying to produce through me.

So this is a sample of what God reveals to me in my quiet time. How about you? What's your quiet time routine and what has God shown you?

Happy Birthday To My Special Angel

Dear Oldest Grandson,




Twelve years ago a very special boy came into this world. He was born into a broken family still grieving from the loss of someone who was also very special, but his birth helped heal many hearts.





That special boy is you and today I celebrate your birth.




I remember rocking you the night you came home from the hospital, and holding you close I softly sang "You are my special angel" to you for the first time.









It wasn't long before you went from a baby to a big brother and you had to learn to share with your brothers.











Sometimes, you didn't like sharing me with your brothers, and you acted less than angelic.















And as the oldest you've always wanted to be Captain of the Ship.















You're a serious student, with just a minimal amount of clowning around.











You're willing to help me out, and you aren't afraid to be different from the crowd.







So Happy 12th Birthday Oldest Grandson.









You Rock!

Just me n' the boys

A Hundred years from now it will not matter, what my bank account was, what kind of house I lived in or what kind of car I drove....but the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a CHILD! Dr. Forest E Witcraft


This summer I'm spending time with my grandsons while their mom is at work.


Its not exactly where I thought the Lord was leading last year when he was told me it was time to leave my job.

I must admit, after having just returned from the 2007 She Speaks conference a few months before I was hoping it meant the publishers would love my proposal and want publish my book. Nope that wasn't what he had in mind.


So this year I signed up for the Speaker tract. Nope I don't feel the tug along those lines either.


But he's presented me with the opportunity to make a difference in 3 boys lives this summer. We're having fun and I hope were making memories that will last a lifetime.


We're going to parades







We're making Rainbow Jell-o



We have exercise toys-

Back yard games

Indoor games

Quiet activities


Rainy day fun

And even Wednesday morning Mass.
But today, instead of coming to my house to have fun, they were supposed to be staying home cleaning bedrooms for an upcoming birthday party.

After an appointment, I decided to surprise them and lend a helping hand. On my way over I stopped at Walmart and picked up some platic tubs so we could sort the clothes they'd outgrown.



They were surprised all right! Oh my, I thought a tornado had hit the house! I mean there wasn't a place to walk without stepping on something. I began folding clothes and they began picking up about a gazillion football and baseball cards that were laying on the ground.



One of the twins had to call his mom for something. "Don't tell her I'm here."


How come Grandma? Do you want her to think we cleanned this by ourselves?


No, I want her to be surprised that it looks nice, but if she knows I'm here helping, she might think it will look better than it does, and she'll be disappointed. (I don't have the cleanning capacity I used to have. )


Grandma, do we have to tell Mom you helped us?



Before I could say "would that be the honest thing to do?, oldest grandson said

"I don't think we should do that."


I was just about to go into an, aww I'm so proud of my grandson for being honest, mode, when he said, "If she thinks we got it this clean by ourselves, she'll expect us to always do this good of a job!"



4 hours later I bid the boys farewell and loaded a trunk full of clothes for the Rescue Mission.



I'm exhausted.

And oh by the way, dear daughter if your reading this, there was one little problem. Umm, You may want to stop and pick up a new vaccuum on your way home.

Female Warrior

I'm jumping ahead. Tomorrow begins week 2 of the bible study Lelia Chealey is hosting on Lysa TerKeursts book "What Happens When Women Walk in Faith". But God has put something on my heart that just can't wait until tomorrow.



At the end of chapter two Lysa asks us to research the meaning of our names. I'd already done it a few years ago when I began reading The Yada Yada Prayer Group series. Jody Baxter the main character in the books researches the meaning of her students as well as her prayer group's name. It piqued an interest to find out the meaning of my name.



I discovered the name Luanne means "Female Warrior".(click here to find the meaning of your name)

I had to laugh when I read it because the name was so fitting to my character. I've been told more than once that I love playing the devil's advocate. I never consider it to be the devil I'm advocating for. I usually fight for the underdog.



Just last week on our "up north girls only vacation" we began a discussion on what clothes you should never wear without nylons. From there we began looking at pictures of years past and we were cracking up at outfits that we thought were so cool and now looked so dorky. We had teased one of our friends for years about the time she wore black nylons with white pants. She's taken it well all these years but I'm sure she gets sick of hearing about it.


A few months ago I was watching Good Morning America and noticed that Diane Sawyer was wearing black nylons with a white skirt. Even though it was only 7:30 in the morning, I called my friend to have her turn on the TV.



When the fashion topic came up this year she felt quite vindicated knowing she was in the company of Diane Sawyer. But the whole discussion has made me realize how hurtful our opinions on what should be socially acceptable can be. I couldn't help but think about Lysa's story of wearing white shoes out of season to a country club engagement.



I opened my big mouth and gave my opinion about giving our opinions, and one of my friends pointed out that sometimes voicing our opinion is necessary in order to create change. Her comment silenced me. I'd have to give it some thought.


Since then I've begun to wonder how many of our opinions that we give in the name of righteousness would probably be self righteous in the eyes of Jesus'. Ouch, Ouch and Ouch again.

The Pharisees and Sadducee's had the law correct and Jesus never condemed them for following the law. He condemed them for looking down their nose at someone who wasn't.


I want to share a story with you of something similar that happened to my grandson.

Several weeks ago, my oldest grandson came to my house after school. I overheard him talking to his mother on the phone. She was questioning him about something that had gone on at school the day before.

My grandson attends public school and over lunch one of his good friends stood up and announced that he was moving to a different table and he wanted everyone who loved Jesus to move to the table with him. My grandson stayed at the table where he was, along with twin brothers who were his good friends also.

Needless to say that for the next few days the talk of his peer group was that he (oldest grandson) doesn't love Jesus. My daughter had learned of this from the mother of one of the boys who had moved to the other table.



When oldest grandson told me the story my first reaction was to clutch my chest as I waited for the lightening to come down from above and strike him dead. But the Holy Spirit prompted me to use restraint and so I quietly I asked, "Why didn't you move to the other table?"

He answered "Grama, it just didn't feel like the right thing to do, because A and B would have been sitting there alone and I didn't want them to feel embarrased because their parents don't take them to church."

My heart wanted to burst with pride for his compassion.

I replied "I believe that is the way Jesus would have handled it too!

If that should ever happen again I hope you will remember and be brave enough to say "I love Jesus, but I prefer to stay right here.

Maybe that will show your friends who don't know about Jesus, that you are proud to love Jesus, but also that you aren't judging themI believe that is what living your faith means and it just may attract them to God more then seperating yourself from them will." I related it to Tom Sawyer having so much fun painting the fence that his friends wanted to paint too. Okay I know that you shouldn't pretend you love Jesus but in theory it's kind of the same idea. Lead by example.

My heart wanted to break that already at 11 years old he is having to make hard decisions. And yet how much I rejoiced for the reminder that God is already deeply involved in my grandsons life.

I would love it if you would help me pray for my grandson. Pray that he will never be afraid to admit his love for Jesus, and that his compassion would love others to Christ.

Now for the main thing: After being at the She Speaks conference and now going through this bible study, I've been getting a little antsy for God to hurry up and show me where exactly he is leading.

I have some ideas but I'm trying to be open and not rush ahead like I've done so many times in the past.

Today God prompted me take a baby step in the direction of something I feel passionate about. Since my name means female warrior I've decided to war against the sexual promiscuity that is causing an STD epidemic among our teenage population today. I've been up in arms ever since I heard pediatrician, Dr. Meg Meeker, on the radio. Please take the time to listen to this 3 part series .

Part 1

Part 2 (be patient, this one skips at the beginning)

Part 3

I get so frustrated when I listen to Dr Meeker talk about young teens having sex because they feel it will make them more cool, it will help them fit in, or because they are trying to fix a bigger problem , a need to feel loved.

I just wantted to shake every teenager I knew into right thinking but then I remember all of the mistakes that I, as a woman of 50, made for one of the same reasons.

If you've been following my blog First Tea you've been reading about some of those mistakes. I've been posting them so maybe just one person will read it and identify and let God change their thinking as he did for me.

After listening to Dr Meeker I hope you will join me in fighting the war that Satan is waging against our children and be a voice that can point them to the One that thinks they are way cooler than they could ever imagine.

God Bless The USA

Happy 4th of July Everyone

This week I've been posting over at my other blog. Please hop over and check it out.

I hope today will be more than just a day to picnic and watch parades. I hope you will remember what this day is all about and take time to praise God for our freedom. A freedom that came with a price and an obligation.

No matter what state we hail from or what political party we prefer we are ONE NATION UNDER GOD.
GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.