My husband lost his job.
I've lost my job.
We've lost our church family.
We've lost our home.
If something miraculous doesn't happen we will all lose our friends, our town, and our lives as we've known it for six+ years. What has happened? We've been struck by hurricane Church Politics.

Let me thank everyone for their continued prayers on behalf of Raymond and me. It is 6:02 PM. We've been home about 45 minutes. Raymond had restful night's sleep due to a sleeping pill. (I didn't get a sleeping pill, so my sleep left lots to be desired.) He went for a stress test at 11:25. He made it through the test fine. We had to wait several hours to receive news that the test was normal. Then we waited a little longer for the doctor to come see us. What he said is this: "The stress test was normal which means we will discharge you as low risk, not "no risk" for a heart attack. Just because it is normal doesn't mean all your arteries are clear. There could be the beginnings of blockage. I want you to see a cardiologist within the week." Raymond is experience some minor pains, but nothing close to the severity of Saturday night. While I'm extremely grateful to know he didn't have a heart attack and that his tests look good, both of us are still wondering what happened Saturday night and what caused it. Pain like that just isn't normal. So, I'd like to ask you to ask God to lead us to the doctor(s) Raymond needs to see and to give wisdom so we can get to the root of this. God bless! Drewe Llyn

Here's the latest....Raymond's last blood work was good except for his tryglicerides - forgive the spelling -which were 800. Supposed to be less than 100 I think. That could be because he had two hamburgers and a milkshake yesterday evening. They are keeping him in the observation room today and will do a stress test tomorrow. He says he is still having some minor pains, but nothing like yesterday. My mother-in-law is with him now. I am heading for a nap as soon as I'm finished updating. I'll stay with him tonight. (I WILL take my own pillow with me. LOL!) Thank you again for your prayers. I'm asking God to give the doctors and nurses wisdom to know and find out exactly what is wrong. Severe chest pains just aren't normal. I'll update again when I have something new. Thank you for your prayers! In Him, Drewe Llyn

This guy is a little acrobat! He will tilt forward and swing all the way around until he's upright again. Sometimes he just likes to hang upside down to eat. The link says "The Brown-headed Nuthatch is one of only a few bird species in the world known to use tools. By holding a small piece of bark in its bill, they pry open bark on trees to expose insects." They are also fond of sunflower seeds. (I could have told you that!) Hop over to the link and see what a group of Brown-headed Nuthatches is called.

Raymond was traveling north from Collins, MS. Road crews were sweeping the road creating a dust storm. Raymond didn't even see the truck in front of him until after Raymond hit his bumper. The car behind Raymond was obviously having the same problem since that lady hit Raymond's bumper. Our friend Kevin took Candace and I to Collins to pick Raymond up and take him to the ER at Baptist Hospital. Even though Raymond's arm hurt like crazy, the ER personnel said it wasn't broken. He's very banged up and sore, but thank God he will survive. We would appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery and wisdom in obtaining another vehicle for me. Until then I guess I'm stranded. (Unless someone's insurance will provide me a rental.)

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!

Cut out various strips of fabric.

 

 

 

 

Keep sewing on strips until your patchwork piece is large enough for your heart.

 Turn your fabric to the seam side and trace your heart onto the back using an ink pen.

Turn back to seam side and baste down about 1/4 inch seam.

I cut my fabric to the desired size before sewing my heart on. If you do this, center your heart on the fabric and pin it. You also just pin it to some fabric and cut it out later.

Place in a hoop and sew on with a button-hole stitch.

 

Then use a stem stitch to embroidery your word.

 

 

 

"...your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Before I knew I needed new shoes, my Heavenly Father knew and had them waiting even two years in advance.

Why do I worry about so many things when I'm in His loving hands?

• My husband bought a generator.
• All our cars and gas cans are filled.
• We froze a gallon of tea and lots of two liter water bottles.
• My mother-in-law brought 48 Diet Cokes (her drink of choice) and 36 Dr. Peppers (my husband and kids' drink of choice).
• We have 48 frozen bottles of water.
• The ice chests are full of sandwich meat, hot dogs, milk, and already cooked ground beef. (We have a grill with an eye.)
• My cabinets are full of canned soup, vienna sausage, chips, cookies, trail mix, and home-made granola.

Mom: Hey, Cassie, why are you up so early?

Cassie: I'm not sure if I'm imagining things or not, but I think I just saw a mouse run from behind my desk to under my Michael Box. (That's the beautiful box her boyfriend made for her.) Come look.

(Come look???? How can there be a mouse in the house when we have two cats????)

We creep into her room. She jumps on the bed. I gently move the "Michael Box" which causes a brown streak to flash across the floor finding refuge under Cassie's hope chest. (Which is closer to the bed.) We both scream, and Candace comes running.

In spite of Candace's protests (I think she's becoming an animal rights activist.) We bring in the cats. They have no interest whatsoever in ridding the house of rodents. (I think we feed them too much.) We eventually located the mouse behind Cassie's bed. Since we don't have any mouse traps I googled "live mouse traps" online and promptly made one using a paper towel tube, a trash can, and a piece of cheese. We left it for an hour. It didn't work. The mouse was still behind Cassie's bed. Candace's battle cry was still, "Don't hurt it." So, using a box and a yard stick we managed to maneuver the poor frightened creature into the box. We closed the box, drove down the road, and set it free.

(This is the "Michael Box". Can you guess her boyfriend's name?)

(This is her hope chest, which started out as a toy box. My dad built it and my mom painted it.)

And this is the MOUSE!

(Isn't he/she cute?)

But that isn't all......

While Cassie and I were on our morning walk our yellow lab (Sam) began barking ferociously at someone's trash bin. (A large wooden crate they put trash bags in for collection.) We paid him little attention deciding there must be a mouse in there somewhere. Before long Sam came along as we continued our walk. On the return trip Sam once again began barking ferociously at the trash bin. Our curiosity got the best of us, so Cassie and I raised the heavy lid to peer in. Imagine our surprise when we literally came face to face with a full grown raccoon! (It was clinging to the underside of the lid!) We both screamed and dropped the lid. A discussion ensued as to what our next course of action should be. We decided to free it. This time I was using a large stick. It took some effort, but I opened the lid long enough to see the 'coon (as we say in Mississippi) and drop the lid again. On the next try I noticed the critter was no longer attached to the lid. (Probably was experiencing heart failure.) I lifted the lid carefully with my hand and slowly peered in. (Cassie was keeping her distance.) Inside was not one, not two, but THREE raccoons huddled in the bottom corner! One was growling. Cassie came closer and took some pictures with my camera phone. (Which I will post as soon as I figure out how to get them off the phone and onto the web.)

We just couldn't wait for Candace to ask her customary, "Did you see anything interesting on your walk this morning?"

What will the rest of the day hold????

The sun is out now. I've...

...made the muffins.

...decided what to make for supper. (It still needs making.)

...washed and dried a load of clothes. (They still need folding.)

...posted the previous blog AND this one.

...and finished Cassie's quilt top!!!!!!!!!!! (Can I hear a hurray!)

...I still have to sort shirts and be lazy. *grin*

It's raining outside. I'm not complaining; we need it.

On this rainy day I plan to...

...make banana muffins out of freshly ground whole wheat. (My friend, Dawn, ground it for me.)

...sew Cassie's quilt top together.

...figure out what to cook for supper. (And perhaps cook it. LOL!)

...wash and dry clothes. (I'll let my girls fold them. *hee hee hee*)

...sort out the new choir shirts.

...post this blog.

If I have time I'll be lazy.

4. When I learned the Hogwarts students took a class in divination I immediately became concerned, wondering how it would be treated. I was relieved to find that few people in Potter's "wizarding world" took divination seriously. There were cases of "prophecy" that came true, but anything having to do with fortune telling, palm or tea leaf reading, etc. was actually made sport of.

Well, those are my thoughts on Harry Potter, even if they are a bit late. Taking into consideration all the good and the bad, I would (and hope to) read the Harry Potter series again. Right or wrong, I really, really enjoyed it.