Gosh I am so bad at keeping resolutions, hence the reason I try not to make any New Years Resolutions. I think in my entire life, the only one I have ever kept was to read my entire bible in one year, I did it!!! Twice now :) There are so many other things I want to do, but never get done. Am I lazy? hmmm Maybe.... Tired... Always... Busy... more so lately. So why the heck cant I keep a simple promise to myself to blog on a daily or semi-daily basis?

Anyways, in this time of Thanksgiving I need to be more Thankful!!!! So here are todays gifts.

36. I am excited about my Realtor Career.. its going fairly well, I love meeting new people, and looking at peoples homes. How better to marry the two, than to be a Realtor?? Even though the market is slow, I have hope that it will pick up. I appreciate the company I work for, and their Integrity. So I am happy in my career life.

37. I went to visit my Auntie Lois, last week, and realized that I really need to do it more often. She is my mommas baby sister, and Its so much like visiting with my momma when I talk to her. I love her dearly, and Uncle Cliff too, I heard stories from him that I had never heard before. He was in a nostalgic mood about things that happened in his life, and he told me stories about how God took care of him, many times over when he was in the war. His words weren teaching me a lesson that I thought I knew, but sometimes overlook... God knows what is happening in your life.. he has a time for you, and until then he will take care of you... He will be there for you, even when you think he isnt. Everything happens for a reason, we may not realize at the moment what it is, but there is a reason for all that God lets come our way. I appreciated the words from this 86 year old man who really inspired me with his stories of war, and loss, hope and love. It was a wonderful visit, and I will make it happen more often.

Picture Perfect World

Today was a good day.. Tiff and Brady and I went for a drive out through the country... came upon a little pond with a weeping willow tree.. how lovely ;)I love the country, driving down old roads in the backwoods is so relaxing, you just never know what you will see! We just wandered and stopped to take a few pictures here and there, I love pictures.. sometimes the things that we fail to notice can be the most beautiful gifts God gives us, and we let them pass us by....I am trying hard to really pay attention to the earth and all its goodness...
So Today I am thankful for...these Gifts from God.

28. Living in the country..so that I can really enjoy the Goodness of God's Green Earth,

29. For God creating the Weeping willow tree, something so magical about its warm embrace... it feels like your always welcome under a willow tree, it covers you in its shade, and hides you from the troubles of life...if only for a moment or two...






30. For the fields of wheat almost ready for harvest...how beautiful the countryside...






31. For the portraits that God himself paints upon the water...





32. For Lovely Country Roads...








33. For the trees that shade us, and stand guard ore the earth...





34. For ponds and trees, lakes and seas..abundant life lives in these...











35. For grace and love and all the above!!

Screaming Jets!

Thursday Evening... ok really its Friday morning... Gosh I am such a night owl.. I actually tried going to bed earlier last night.. but only slept two hours then was up for two more.. reading, doing sudoku.. which I love, and trying to talk Brady into actually going to sleep. Thats a joke, the kid dont know what daylight is. He is lucky we homeschool, I would never get him up in the mornings!! Then I was woke up to the scream of fighter jets flying low over our house, doing flips, and flops, and amazing me and Brady with their fearless piloting! The airshow is the weekend at Scott Air Force Base, and tommorrow will be even heavier with air traffic as the base sets up for the weekend. I love the Airshow:)
Anyway,

Just thinking on my gifts today...

24. Thank God for old movies, they are such a refreshing gift.. old, clean, family oriented movies, no trash talk, no obscene sexual inuendo.. Tiffany and I watched, Mine, Yours and Ours, with Henry Fonda, and Lucille Ball, what a lovely movie:)

25. It was a fibro free day, I actually enjoyed the day, except for the hour or so, I was frustrated and crabby, but it was quickly over and Me and the kids ran errands, found bargains, and bought a few groceries from Wally world.

26. I talked to my brother last night, and he is doing really well after his cancer surgery, I thank God for his healing touch in Kennys life, he really is a miracle.

27. The moon is beautiful tonite, even though its not full, the night is clear and bright, and the air is crisp..I am ready for a bonfire!!

28. I thank God for his mercy, and his love, and the beauty of the Earth.. he gave us so much to enjoy, we really need to learn to enjoy it more.

Small but Great!

I am tired and have a headache.. but still I must take time to Thank God for his Gifts..

19. A beautiful day of sunshine..thank God he knew just how far away from the Sun to set the Earth.. not a degree to close, nor a degree to far...He is the Great Creator.

20. A beautiful night, stars are shining, the sky is clear, and the few minutes I was outside tonite reminded me again how I love this fall weather.

21. I Thank God for a wonderful daughter who even when she doesnt feel good, helps me so much around the house. She is wonderful.

22. I thank God for three days of peace from the hubby ;), no gripping, God is Good!!

23. Tommorrow is Payday!!! I love Paydays, and grocery shopping.. even though I have this frugal new approach to buying groceries. :)

Reminising

While cleaning the basement I ran across a old bag that came from my parents house after they had passed, it contained old papers, and part of the story of their life...I stood and opened up paper after paper, my daddys old pay stubs from 1966, he cleared 147.76 a week to feed a family of 7...and we think we have it bad today.. I ran across old rent checks from when we lived on the farm..$64 dollars a month.. wow... a income tax return for 1966..he made all of $7,800. There were old utility bills, insurance premiums, part of a letter from my brother to my momma when he was in the philipines telling her how much he loved writing to her, because he knew she would always be there for him..he talked of his car, and how he wanted my daddy to save his money for him when he sent it home, it just kind of grabbed me in the soul, and brought me to tears, those little remnants of their lives, little bits of their history, little bits of their love...my daddy worked so hard for what little we had, we didnt have much money, but I never can remember doing without or going hungry. Momma was a stay at home mom, who never worked a day in her life in the professional field yet she was the hardest working woman I have ever known..\
She raised five good kids, and I loved the life she and my daddy gave to me, they gave me love and family, and a home... I have so many memories of the good old days... I miss them so much....And tonite I miss my parents, and their love so very much....
But even through the tears I find my gifts..

11. My childhood on the farm, it was so wonderful!

12. The downy softness of the baby chickens as I cuddles them close.

13. The old farmhouse that holds so many memories in my heart...

14. The love of my Bo-Bo, my constant companion, except when he was out chasing the foxes :)

15. The many hours of enjoyment spent swinging in my old tire swing in the backyard, under the old Oak Tree.

16. The noise of the country when I would close my eyes.. the horses nickering in their stalls, the pigs eating their supper, the owls talking in the darkness, the crickets and locusts, and the symphony of insects singing in the night...the creaking of the old house in the winter wind..the lonesome sound of the two oclock train as it rumbled down the railroad track..the sweet singing of the birds, the crowing of the rooster, the sound of daddys truck coming up the gravel road after a long day at work... they were all gifts.. gifts that I am so grateful I had..

17. The smells that came from my mommas country kitchen, apple pies, blackberry dumplings, peach cobblers, pumkin pies, chicken and dumplings, fried chicken and country gravy, Thanksgiving dinner, bacon frying in the morning, coffee brewing on the stove,..so many scents bring me back to that most wonderful time of my life.. Thank you God for all those smells.

18. Im so grateful for the love I had as a child.. for the best momma and daddy in the world.. and for the memories they gave me...

Organizing, Cleaning, and Purging my Home!

A boring day in the Glander Household, didnt get much done, but trying hard to organize and throw away a bunch of stuff from the basement.. I just know the Trash Man loves me.. :), I get in these moods sometimes where I just need to purge, clean, and part with some things. It is so hard for me to let go of things. I hate to throw stuff away, but If I truly am going to simplify my life, I must learn to let go! So for today I am thanking God for....

7. The cool night air, and the sounds of nature coming through my screen door.

8. The beauty of the full moon, knowing that God had it all perfected before he even created it.

9. The fact that fall does come around and we dont have to run the air conditioner for a while!

10. For creating grass to feed the cows, that give the milk, that is used to make my string cheese :)

1000 Gifts

I read this little exerpt from another blog I have been following.. I think its a wonderful Idea, and I accept the challenge too!!

I am accepting a challenge - a 1000 part challenge - and passing that challenge along to you. This is a passage that I read last night from a deeply moving blog, Holy Experience...

"A List of a Thousand Things, beginning with #1. I am daily jotting down items on my Thousand Gifts List, working, one-by-one, up to a thousand gifts. Not of gifts I want. But of gifts I have. As the moments slip down the hour glass of time, I am scratching down the gifts---just as they happen, as they arrive, as they are unwrapped---that He has given that make my life grace, the daily graces that He gives in an infinite number of ways, that stir me. "...windmills lazying in twilight's last breeze.... soft wool sweaters with turtle neck collars.... the faint smell of cattle and straw...." I am seeing things I have never seen before, atuned and aware of this constant, endless stream of gifts from His hand. I am one waking from slumber....from the stupor of indifference and ignorance. I have sight, fresh and keen---the world is new and full of His gifts. Too often I miss Him, oblivious, blind. I don't see all the good things that He is giving me, gracing me with, brushing my life with. True, He is everywhere, always. But maybe, before The Gift List, I thought of Him as further off, not so close. When I started to see all the things that I love bestowed upon me, I started to see Him as near, present, everywhere, showering me with good things. Seeing the things I love all around me gives me eyes to see that I am loved, that He loves me."


Not each and every one of them is necessarily spiritual. These are just two of her "gifts" mentioned in her blog:
860. Leaning into the small of his back as we ride fields, wind in our hair;
868. Cherries ripening out in the orchard
Although, as you go, you'll find that each and every one, no matter what they are, really and truly are spiritual. (James 1:17 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.)

~~~~ Sunday September 14

Today I woke to the roar of the wind outside, limbs hitting our roof, and the pouring rain pounding against the windows... I realized above the roar of the wind that the house itself was quiet and dark, no radio playing in Brandons room, No TV in the family room, that I know had been on earlier.. and no lights anywhere.. funny how quiet the house is with no electricity, even in a windstorm! My yard was cluttered with limbs blown from their perches in the beautiful trees of my front yard.
My first thoughts upon looking out were "oh lord, I have not seen wind like this in years, the trees were bowing down before God.. pushed to their limits by the verocity of the leftovers of Hurricane IKE. Here in Illinois, hundreds of miles from Texas, Ike was still taking its toll on Nature. How powerful the winds that blow from the heavens.. 61 miles a hour winds tore through my town. Flooding was evident everywhere in the area, being the cause of two more deaths we can attribute to IKE... levies broke, water flooded homes, people had to be rescued, and we sit how far from Houston????? Amazing....
I love storms.. watching the storm clouds roll in, the light show the lighting provides, the rolling sound of thunder.. I remember being so scared of storms when I was a child.. and now I love them.. I am just thankful that all we had was a taste of Ike, and not the power of that Hurricane as it hit the Texas shores.. I cant imagine.

So for today I thank God for these Gifts...
1. My children, who were all three safe and tucked in bed when these winds came through.

2. The Love I have for my kids, and the love they have for me...

3. The beauty of the sky as clouds rolled across it today, bringing purple clouds to the evening sky.




4. The sight of 400 American Flags flying at Southwestern Illinois College
for their Healing Field, the air was crisp and damp, but the flags flew high, in honor of our heroes in the military and abused children. There is just something beautiful about the american flag flowing in the breeze.

5. The wonderful taste of this cup of hot tea, I am enjoying at the moment.. Thank God for Tea!

6. Wonderful blogs that give me inspiration!



4

Making a Right Turn on to Simplicity Lane

So, I am determined to stop traveling the "go nowhere" road I am on, and make a right turn on the road to simplicity.. I want a simple life, a quiet life full of simple pleasures. And they are here for the finding. I am inspired by a young lady who seems to find pleasure in the smallest of things... How ironic that she is only 18, yet she is so tuned into life. I am 47, and have let alot of simple things pass me by without truly appreciating them. So I am setting goals, and will by the grace of God, make memories of simple moments that last a lifetime, and become a better steward with what little money I do have!

Things I shall do... ( I will add to this list as I commit to more )

**Read the Bible again.. every day!**

1. Take time each day to notice one thing I havent noticed before about Gods beautiful world...

2. Take a extra moment to enjoy that first cup of morning coffee, the smell, the taste, the delightful warmth of it on a cool autumn morning.

3. Make a effort to step outside and enjoy the autumn smells, sounds, and sights, each day, no matter how bad I am feeling, or how low my fibromyalgia has taken me.

4. Take a moment each day to hug and kiss each one of my children, and remind them how much I love them.. (I am pretty good about this one :) )

5. Smile and greet at a least 2 strangers each time I go shopping, some people never get a smile at home, and I know I bask in a smile from a total stranger.

6. Put at Least 5 dollars ( cost of a good latte) into a savings stash for every day I don't spend a penny... wow think how much I could save if i did that!

7. Try to use whats in my pantry for supper instead of buying so much groceries.

8. Start shopping with lists

9. Make a weekly menu, and shop for whats on sale.

10. Become better at turning off lights in the house.

11. Get up earlier.. boy this is hard for me because I can never go to sleep until wee hours of the morning.!!

12. Take a walk twice a week.

13. Take up a craft ... I have so much scrapbooking stuff, and never take the time to do it.. even though with me not working I have LOTS of time!

14. Tell at least one person, each day how special they are just by calling or sending a note... myspace friends, family etc.

15. Find or take a picture of something that brings me Simple Joy each day... post it here for reminders when I need it, that God has given us so much to enjoy.. we dont have to pay for it, we dont have to build it, or create it, its here for our pleasure.. already, . Gods Simple Joys...

16. Do away with clutter in my life.. both real, and emotional clutter.. clean out my house, and my heart.

17. Work on using my time wisely, every moment wasted is a moment lost.

18.Watch less tv.

19. Bake from scratch more often.

Beneath the Giant Oak Tree

Beneath the Giant Oak Tree

Under the limbs of a giant oak tree resides....

a small park bench...

silently inviting those weary passerbys...

to stop and take a small little rest ...

to breath in deep the fresh sweet scent..

of life...

to forget their worries, and their fearful thoughts...

to close their eyes, and let the soft breeze carry them away...

to days gone by...

to memories of long ago..

when life was so sweet and simple...

when and someone else carried the heavy load ...

It gently holds them it its embrace...

and lets them simply dream....

and enjoy the warmth of the summer day...

or the little nip of old jack frost on a winters eve...

The old park bench just waits there....

for someone who needs to rest...

it listens to the weary heart...

and passes the trusting test...

it never reveals its secrets...

it never tells a soul...

its there for all to sit upon...

beckoning from beneath the giant oak tree.

@pamglander

In the Midst of the Darkness...

The night sounds echo through the darkness...

the soft breathing of my youngest son...

the distant rumble and horn of the two oclock train..

the ticking of the clock on the wall..reminding me that time goes on..

In the stillness I hear so much...

the soft purring of the cat..

the steady hum of the furnace bringing warmth to my chilled bones...

the sounds of cars on the streets.. telling me that life goes on...

even after midnight.....

In the darkness.. I hear.. In the darkness I listen...

and above the soft night noises of the earth...

the sweet voice of God whispers to my heart...

Rest in me.. lay upon your bed in peace.. I will sustain thee...

In the stillness of the midnight hour... I listen..and he speaks...

in the night sounds of the earth.. I hear his footsteps...

He walks among us.. ever present...ever watching... the Loving Shepard keeping

watch over his flock by night...

And his sheep rest.. knowing that the sounds echoing through the darkness are

nothing to fear.. for he is here.. beside us.. around us.. giving us peace...

whispering "Rest my Child in me.....Close your eyes and dream.. let your heart be still... I am here with thee...

The Eleventh of September

I wrote this two years ago, but i decided to post it here in honor of those who died on that awful day.

The Eleventh of September

The eleventh of September...

The eleventh of September..

Dawned bright, a brand new morn...

We could not know...

before days end, America would be torn...

From the blue sky came our sorrow...

the planes that brought our tears...

we watch in gasping horror...

and tried to still our fears..

Our people were there dying ...

right before our very eyes...

as the planes of sorrow brought sure death...

from the clear blue New York skies....

Fire rained down from heaven...

Death was all around...

In a farm field in Pennsylvania...

A plane crashed to the ground...

Hatred was the enemy...

Planes the weapon choice...

America had been attacked...

and now would raise her voice...

Her people gathered together...

All in one accord...

Prayers resounded to heaven...

Pleading help from our Dear Lord..

Brother helped a mother...

a neighbor lent a hand...

A sister helped a father...

United we would stand...

We gathered up our courage...

and held our flag up high...

We would not let them win this war...

no matter how they try...

We stand United to this day...

our hearts they glow with pride...

for the hero's who on that day...

September 11, died.....

May their memories last forever...

May we remember all who died...

May we never forget those precious souls...

And the day America cried...

@pamglander 2006

20 Things about me

20. I am scared of water...you know rivers, oceans, lakes...not bath water mind you ;)
19. I love the Country...fresh air, cornfields, animals...barns...ahhhh
18. I lived on a farm, that had a outhouse we had to use for a bathroom for awhile, when I was a child.
17. My favorite color is purple...its so relaxing
16. My first car was a 1976 White Monte Carlo... the "white rose"
15. My first job was a cashier at K-Mart.
14. I am claustrophobic...terribly!
13. I love sleep!
12. I love my first cup of coffee for the day!
11. My favorite food is chicken..any kind of chicken.. chicken...
10. I need to change some things about ME!
9. I dont have much patience with some people.
8. I helped form our local neighborhood watch..(First Vice President)
7. I helped form our County Madd Group..(First Vice President)
6. I held a elected position (Township Supervisor)
5 I had a wonderful childhood, ..miss those days...
4. I love my family!
3. I need to get a life!!
2. I have three wonderful Kids!!
2. I Love God!
1. I am a christian!

Beginning

I really need a place to talk to friends and God, Guess this is as good a place as any...
I have so much on my mind, memories, and thoughts, worries, and fears, reasons to be thankful, reasons to be sad, reasons to give up, reasons to carry on. Maybe putting them down will help me find the answers.. so many questions..... I will search for answers, and wait for a whisper in my ear..soft as the summer breeze to show me where to turn... my own inner GPS.. God speaking to my soul..