Good bye Steve - see you in heaven!

This was a very sad weekend for our family.  Last Friday we went to visit our brother in law Steve at Virginia Mason where he has been for over 2 months now.  The chemo did not do it's job to fight off that dreadful leukemia unfortunately.  It was good seeing him, of course we could hardly recognize him because of how much weight he had lost.  But, all in all he knew who we were and even commented on how funny we looked wearing the yellow gowns we had to wear in order to see him. He was in good spirits considering all he has been through.  When we said good bye we basically knew in our hearts that was our last good bye and so it was.  The Drs. had already told Marsha what was happening.

Steve passed away peacefully Saturday evening.  We will miss him dearly and pray for Marsha who now has to pick up the pieces and move forward without him.  She needs a lot of strength right now and comfort during this very hard time.  I will forever remember Steve with his funny sense of humor always making us laugh.  See you in heaven Steve - you are in the best of hands now.  Love you!

This was Steve's 60th Birthday party only a few months ago - he got a gag gift of a walker with all the bells and whistles!!!!

My Beautiful Wooden Crosses now for sale!!!!

Hello everyone,
I hope you are having a fantastic summer out there wherever home is for you.  We are having some pretty warm days here on Whidbey, it's so nice.

I wanted to take a few moments and share my newest craft, which is the wooden cross.  The cross symbolizes our Lord and Savior and what he did for us, so displaying it in our home or office brings such a blessing.  It shows we are not ashamed of Christ and that we believe in a higher power Almighty God.  So, I have made a few some have been orders from my family,  and I have to say they are amazing.  The wooden crosses are approximately 15" high by 9.5" at the widest tip.  I have different themes and colors of course and my newest one is a "Patriotic Cross" with an eagle photo in the center and lots of red white and blue stars.  Here are a few photos of the crosses, and remember you can go to my Etsy shop to purchase some of these and other cross stitch items.  Some of these will not appear on Etsy, because I have not made them yet, so please email me if you are interested in a cross.  They are selling for $20.00 so what a deal, just email me at: gainesmary@hotmail.com if you would like a custom cross made to your specifications. Some can have your initials in the center like in the two zebra stripped crosses......:, or any inspirational phrase or words of scripture, totally up to you! Get your order in now to have your cross by Christmas.

Enjoy the photos and happy summer!

God will give you double for your trouble!

I am often awakened in the middle of the night thinking of the things that have been done to me and I realize there is nothing I can do about them now.  I have forgiven and have moved past those pains and trials, but there is something that I also think about and that is - God is going to give me double for my trouble.  In other words whatever you have been through in life that was unfair, unjust and hurtful, if you stay in an attitude of faith God will give those years back in double portion.  What others meant for your harm, God can turn around for your good - to me that is awesome news!

There are also things that I wished that I had done with my kids, spent more time with them, took them to church more, etc. Also relationships that have gone by the wayside because of one reason or another, not enough time spent on keeping them alive. In reading Joel Osteen's new book "It's Your Time", he explains that is the enemy trying to make me feel guilty for those things in my past.  But instead of giving in to the guilt, I need to do something far more constructive, which is to ask God for another chance, which I have.  I have prayed for God to restore the relationships, for me to put more into the time and effort and feelings required to heal it.  That if there was anything that I missed out on, he would allow me to make up for in lost time.  If we are bold enough to ask that God will restore the time we have lost.  So today I want to encourage you to do those things, pray bold prayers and your faith will be released and move God, because when we release our faith that is what moves God to act in our behalf.

Well it's a beautiful day here on Whidbey Island, it's supposed to be in the 90's - that is very warm for our area so gotta go and get my work done so I can enjoy the afternoon in the sun. Blessings to you!!!!

Why you should choose Faith and not Fear!

Greetings everyone! Today I want to remind each and every one of you to make a decision when you get up each morning to choose "faith" and not "fear" to control you in your everyday life.  I had a terrible time when my children were younger and to this day I look back at all the time that I wasted being afraid where I could have been releasing faith into my life instead of fear. 

See when my kids were younger I was very insecure in my marriage and did the best that I could to raise them, but I was always worried and afraid they would do the wrong thing, grow up with issues that I caused, etc.  I think you get the picture.  Having said that, I want to remind you that if you will speak words of "faith" over your children each day before they leave your home to go to school or any other activity, you will be surprised to see God's blessings come alive in their lives.  Instead of expecting them to misbehave, say "God I know my children are blessed and they will make good choices in everything they do".  But if you expect them to give you trouble, or cause you headaches your allowing those negative things to come to pass.  You are putting faith in those fears.

So, today begin to believe all through your day because you have that choice.  Begin believing that God is in control, and He is taking care of you and your children,  and He has good things in store for your family.  I do this all the time now, and when I take care of my grandchildren I speak faith into them as well.  I speak God's blessings on them and know all will be well for those who believe and love our Heavenly Father. 

Gotta go now but see you soon - blessings to you and yours!

God is amazing - don't you agree?

Hello friends, just wanted to stop by and give you an update on my family.  My brother Marcel is home now - Yahoo - Praise God.  He is recovering slowly and unfortunately had a fall a few days ago, but no serious damage thank goodness.  I just spoke to him this weekend and he sounded great.  He is so grateful to our Heavenly Father for being alive and healing from this unfortunate accident.  I know God has plan for his life - even a greater one than before and he knows that too.  Thank you Jesus.

As for my niece Audrey, she is doing good, waiting to get another scan in a few weeks to see what is going in with the tumor and with God's amazing healing power we are praying it has shrunk to nothing.  Praying for a miracle here and for good news all the way around.  Keep her in your prayers please.

Then an update on my brother in law Steve, he is still at Virginia Mason having chemo, but developed an abcess in the back of his throat.  So they are giving him antibiotics and they may have to do a needle procedure for that into his throat, hopefully not.  Pray for complete healing and that the chemo has worked to rid his body of the leukemia.

Thank you in advance for all your prayers, I know you are out there because God's amazing grace is in this blog through my words he is reaching out to others.  I can sense his spirit going into each of your homes to pray - more than ever.

May God's face shine upon you and may his blessings overwhelm you each and every day.  Until next time.  

Summer time is here - why not visit Whidbey Island

Mt. Baker with the sailboats in the foreground - simply awesome!

Summer time on beautiful Whidbey Island in Washington has to be the best!  I guess I am bias because I have called Whidbey Island my home for over 26 years.  Whidbey Island is the largest Island in the continental United States and is approximately 50 miles in length.  I live on the north end of Whidbey in a quaint Dutch town called Oak Harbor. It is the best place to raise children, enjoy nature and take life easy and slow.  When you visit be sure to prepare yourself for Island time, which is more relaxed and less stressful than from the big city - just an FYI!. We are so close to so many amazing parks, recreation areas, boating and Canada.  We are surrounded by Mt. Baker, the Olympic mountains and the cascades, it just doesn't get any better than this.  Seattle is only 2-1/2 hours drive and Canada about 1-1/2 hours, we are so blessed!

The reason I wanted to write this post today is to introduce you to my hub on hubpages where I share some very awesome RV and camping parks to visit while you are here.  If you love RVing or camping, this should be on your bucket list.  I know after reading the hub and seeing all the beauty - you will definately want to visit! 

So enjoy the hub and all the information, which includes google maps showing you where these parks are located, etc.  There is tons of info on this hub so do take your time and enjoy.

I look forward to my next post - and until then God Bless and have fun this summer - you deserve it.

My hub link!

Updates on my family

Greetings and welcome once again for a quick update on my family.  My brother Marcell has left Tyler Texas and is now at Spohn Rehab Center in Corpus Christi, Texas near my family - Praise God.  He is over the infection which is another bit of good news, so now it's a lot of hard work in getting stronger again.  Our prayers are with him.

As for my neice Audrey, round three of chemo this week but reports from my sister are that she is taking it much better this time, which is amazing news.  I do hope all goes well this week and that tumor begins to shrink and she doesn't have to get any more treatments. 

The newest family member who is going through some rough times is my brother in law Steve.  He has sceloderma and leukemia, is at Virginia Mason in Seattle for chemo treatments.  That is a fantastic hospital and they are treating him really great.  He is not very strong right now so our prayers for him are also welcome.  The Drs. advised him he will more than likely be there for a month so - keep those prayers and positive thoughts coming - he can certainly use them and so can his wife Marsha.  She needs a lot of strength right now too, but God is good and nothing is impossible with him - Amen.

Until next time - may your days be filled with sunshine and hope and never take your health for granted - we certainly don't.  Blessings!