Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum Summertime!

Okay....this is where I am NOT. But, this is where I  would LOVE to be right now!!  A girl can dream can't she?

Well, I know that it has been pretty quiet around here lately, but I have every intention of getting cranked back up on blogging here in the next few days.  I have be SUPER busy at work in the last couple of months....so much so that by the time that I get home, my brain is FRIED beyond belief--too fried to even bring myself to sit down to the computer!    But, in the midst of all of this, I have tried to stay up on all of my favorite blogs when I have had the time.  I have really missed the interaction with so many of the precious sisters in Christ that I have had the great opportunity of meeting in the "blogosphere".  But...no worries!  I have had some thoughts spinning lately that I need to write about.  Actually, they're so backlogged that I've got to finish sorting them out so that I will know what to write first!  

I hope that this post finds everyone doing very well and having a great summer.  Stay tuned....I definitely have more to come! 

Quiet....For A Couple Of Reasons

I know that it has been quiet for the last few days here at A Pair of Bartletts....but for two very good reasons.  The first reason (and the most important) is that I have been spending a fabulous four day weekend with my resident Sugar Pie AND Honey Bun, Rob.  This four day weekend was actually brought to us by way of a very Pagan "holiday" called Mardi Gras...one in which we choose not to participate.  However, the only "perk" of Mardi Gras to us is that we get these last two days of "revelry" as holidays...although we have not been active "revelers", as the rest of our city has been.  Instead, we have spent this four day weekend with each other...resting and relaxing.  It has been SO nice and I really hate to see it come to an end.  I actually got to sit in Barnes and Noble with Rob for about two hours today...sipping a Venti Earl Grey hot tea and reading....sheer Heaven, I tell you. 

The other reason for being so quiet is that I wanted to get a jump start on a project that I have really wanted to work on for quite some time now.  I have started working on both of our family trees through Ancestry(dot)com.  MERCY.....It's been SO much fun, not to mention interesting!  I LOVE history and have had the most fun finding out where we really "came from".  It's so neat to know that we had relatives back in the 1400's stomping around in England, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Russia, and New Zealand...just to name a few countries.  At any rate, it's been SO neat to see our family histories.  I have also had the BEST time reading some of the old names!  I have so many favorites, I would not even know where to start!  Well, I'm about to head back out to my little genealogy project for the evening.  I'll be revving back up to blogging in the next couple of days, so stay tuned!  Once very special post coming up will be "Marriage Monday", which will be the first Monday in March...so please come back and visit!! 

Oh...and for those of you who are in our families (both me and Rob)...please watch for an email from me either tonight or tomorrow (if you haven't already gotten one).  I have sent some out already directing you to the family tree online.  The ones that I have not sent yet are those who I had not gotten as much info entered for.  But, I'm just about "there"...so check your email! 

Still Here

I am in Huntsville, AL right now with my Mom and we're visiting my brother and his family. I have taken the last few days off from serious blogging, but will be back up and running when we get home (we'll be in Monday night). I intended to bring more of my nephew's (Matthew, Moorhead City, NC)poetry with me so that I could work on more posts for "Matthew's Corner", but walked out and left them at home. So, I'll make sure to have the next one posted on Tuesday for sure. I'll also be back to "Memory Monday"...I missed it this week, but there was just SO much going on. For those of you who have been faithful to check on and pray for Rob's Dad during his recent hospitalization, I would like you to know that we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts....he is at home now! The Lord was so faithful to us and had given him enough relief that he could get out of the hospital and come home...we are SO thankful! Well, I am about to turn in. I am so excited that I get to be able to hear my brother preach in the morning. Since we live five hours apart, I don't get to be in his church as much as I would like to. So, when we are here, it's SO great to hear his messages. I know that God will have a very special word for us tomorrow that He has prepared Paul with to deliver to us. Blessings to everyone...have a wonderful weekend.

Closed For Worship

Talk About Tuesday-- Matthew's Corner

While Rob and I were in North Carolina for Christmas, we got the opportunity to spend a lot of time with our twelve year old nephew, Matthew. As it turns out, Matthew has taken up a new hobby of writing poetry. As we were talking with Matthew about his writing, he asked if I would "publish" him, since I have an active blog. Well....how in the world could I say no to that sweet face and that brilliant poetry? So, Matthew turned over all of his precious writings for me to post to my blog...and I am quite honored to do so. Matthew is a very smart young man and it is my pleasure to pass on some of his writings to you for your reading pleasure! With that said, I give you the first installment of "Matthew's Corner"!!

Matthew, On Cheer

The amazing feeling of a great accomplishment that you have made can put another brick on the foundation of something you can call an ego.

But this is not a good thing, although accomplishing something is a good thing, an ego can cause several problems in your life, especially in the life of your cheer.

Cheer is a wonderful thing, it is also what keeps us happy, and even healthy. Being very cheerful can really help you accomplish things, and it will even help get rid of an ego.

So, in all you do, be cheerful in what you do, live, say and feel, so that you, even you, can stay happy, healthy and ego-free.

by Matthew R.
"Matthew, On Cheer" copyright A Pair of Bartletts, 2009 All Rights Reserved, Cannot be reproduced without approval of A Pair of Bartletts

For more great "Talk About Tuesday" posts, visit Lara Gallagher's The Lazy Organizer.

Memory Monday (a little tardy) and A Christmas Blessing

Well, I'm a day late again, but I believe it was for a good cause. Rob and I left Monday night at about 11:00pm and drove for 14 hours to North Carolina for a VERY special Christmas.  We received the greatest Christmas present that we ever could have received this year.  We actually got this present a couple of months ago, but I purposely haven't shared with all of you yet because I wanted it to be a big Christmas surprise. 

Rob was recently reunited with his Dad after 36 years of being apart.  Rob had not see him since he was about 5 years old.  I will be posting more about the journey that we have all made over the last 2 months during this most GLORIOUS reunion. Even better, Rob's newly found fmaily are also Believers, which has made everything even that much sweeter.  And even more, we have gained a step mother who is SO very special and a step brother and sister that we are THRILLED about (and even little Izzy, the dog!) 

The verses that I was able to complete this week are especially meaningful this week, considering the reunion and everything that it has encompassed on both sides.  Psalm 37:5-6 says "Commit your way to the Lord and HE WILL DO THIS.  He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your causes like the noonday sun."  I didn't finish verses 7-9, but will finish them this week.  The Verses for this week are also quite meaningful right now as well.  They simply say (5-9): 

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.  Refrain from anger and turn away from wrath;  do not fret--it only leads to evil.  For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land."

I hope that all of my friends in the blogosphere are enjoying a very meaningful and special time with your families...just as we are now.  What a VERY special Christmas this has been for us already...and the week isn't even over yet!  Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks...I will be sharing our story from this year and pray that it will give hope to many people in circumstances like ours and even in other circumstances that appear "hopeless".  This is definitely a season of HOPE.....I hope that you will all enjoy the bounty of the Lord in your lives as we have. 

Merry CHRISTmas!!  Jesus is the ONE AND ONLY reason for THIS season!

Happy Birthday SueBee--My Bestest Girlfriend on the Planet!

Seaworld, San Antonio Texas,  October 2005

Happy Birthday to my best Girlfriend on the Planet--SueBee!!  I love you....it's ya birthday, it's ya birthday, it's ya birthday!!!!!  My dark headed princess sistah from anothah mistah!!!  You know that I thank God for you each day.  I'm so thankful for what you mean to me and Rob and to our family....you ROCK OUR WORLD!   You are the best and I hope that we will be celebrating birthdays until we're over 90!  "LOVE YOU BYE!"

I love you....love from Rob too!

Saturday's Cafe Chat

Well, today's Internet Cafe Chat question is "If money were no option, what gift would you give to who and why?"  The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that "The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord".  In light of this scripture, I would have to say that I would want the "free gift of God" to be spread to everyone within my personal reach.  This question brings with it a reminder that we should not have to speak in the hypathetical, but that we should be spreading the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone and everyone.  I am the chief of sinners and am preaching to myself.  I believe that this provocative question today should be all the reminder that I need to always be prepared to share my faith.

Nothing Says Love Like......

Man....they were good!! Wish you could have had one!!  For a split second, my double ear ache, stuffy nose and nagging cough didn't seem so bad. There's nothing like a HOT Krispy Kreme on a cold night (temperature cold and sniffle sniffle cold)!!!

Friends for Life

Me and these two little guys are headed to bed.  Hack hack, sniffle sniffle, snuffle snuffle.....not sure where Rob and the dog are sleeping, but me and the Vicks-laced-Puffs and the Vapo-Rub will be in the bed......

Wife of Rob

The BIGGEST little verse

As I was reading my devotion this morning, on patience (which I confess, I possess very little when it comes to certain things), a verse in Habakkuk 2:3 just jumped out.  It's a very "user friendly verse".  It small, tiny, compact and will fit even in the smallest of pockets or purses.  But small as it may be in size, it's GI-NORMOUS the message that it packs.  It's got a message that is applicable to almost anything that I may run across in my daily struggle to gain more patients patience (sorry, I work in the Healthcare industry...can you see where I sometimes have to ask for patience??) At any rate, this very useful morsel that God has given to us in Habakkuk simply says this: "Though it tarry, WAIT for it."
How great is that verse I ask you?  I hope that you will glean from it as much as I did.  And even though some of us are working hard on our commitments to Memory Monday and Joanne Heim's site "The Simple Wife", this one is a "gimme".  We can all commit this verse to memory instantaneously.  See how easy that was....now we are armed with another morsel of God's instruction to us that is ready and available when you go to reach........ah but wait......."Though it tarry, WAIT for it!".

Wife of Rob

Taste? What is Taste?

So why is it that you get sick and BAM....nothing has a taste, you can't hear for the gunk in your ears and you walk around with a Puffs with Vicks hanging out of one nostril and Vicks inhaler hanging out of the other one. Well....I'm there. Cough Cough, Sniffle Sniffle, AAAATTTTCCCHHOOOOOOOOO! Excuse me.

At any rate, if you couldn't tell already, I'm sick. And not only am I sick, but el-hubbo is sick now also...thanks to el-wifo. I hope to be much better towards the weekend, now that I have "good stuff" that my doctor's office gave me (I'm ditching the Over the Counter stuff--this is an official sickness people...no Nyquil is going to handle this bad boy cold!)

I hope to have some bloggy things all typed up between now and then. I had quite a few thoughts going on the last few days, until they all got muddled up with that cold swimming around in my head. Once I get them sorted back out and can breathe on my own for more than 30 seconds without coughing or sneezing, I'll be back in the blogosphere!

Well...I have to go now....before I fall asleEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Wife of Rob

You Gotta Love a Good List

I love great lists....here are two good ones from The Simple Mom.  I love the the grocery list but I especially love the daily docket.  And, in case you are wondering, "MIT" (on the daily docket) stands for "most important things".  She has some other great downloads, but these were my faves....enjoy!

Wife of Rob

Pumpkin Pie

My precious little niece, Maggie, and her tiny little sweet smile and a "pumpkin pose" just makes me take a step back from this busy day and realize how thankful I am. God has abundantly blessed me....with salvation, with my Bible, with the most wonderful husband on the planet and with the best family. We have truly been blessed this year.....praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another." (John 1:16)

Wife of Rob

A Hymn of Thanksgiving

With the election approaching and being in the midst of very uncertain times, we can still be thankful. Thankful to God for salvation through Jesus Christ, thankful for freedom of worship of the one true Living God, thankful for the infallible and unchanged Word of God--our Bible, thankful for our families, thankful for precious friends.....just thankful. "Let us come before Him with thanksgiving, and song and extol Him with music and song." Psalm 95:2 COME, YE THANKFUL PEOPLE, COME Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home; All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin. God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied; Come to God's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God's own field, fruit unto His praise to yield; Wheat and tares together sown unto joy or sorrow grown. First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear; Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take His harvest home; From His field shall in that day all offenses purge away, Giving angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast; But the fruitful ears to store in His garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come, bring Thy final harvest home; Gather Thou Thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin, There, forever purified, in Thy garner to abide; Come, with all Thine angels come, raise the glorious harvest home.

Words: Henry Alford (1844) Music: George J. Elvey (1858) http://www.cyberhymnal.org/

Prayers of Peace

Prayers of peace, direction and petition were offered up on Sunday for a situation that Rob is dealing with.  God has a great promise for us in James 5:16 that says:

 

"Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."

 

God truly heard our prayers on Sunday and they were answered.  We will be able to share more at a later date with the details of this answered prayer.  But for now, suffice it to say, God was faithful to us.

 

Jen

Hurricane on the Bayou - A MacGillivray Freeman Film

I have been meaning to post this lately, but just haven't gotten around to it. In light of "Fay's" presence in the weather realm right now, I figured now must be the time to post this. Having been through many hurricanes in my lifetime, my heart goes out to those who have been affected by any of these storms. But, If you like the IMAX, and especially if you are from the South, you need to check out this film. Not only was the movie great, but the music was outstanding. I had not heard Tab Benoit's music before, but really enjoyed getting to know him in the film....I have even since added some of his music to the trusty iPod since then. Enjoy, jen Hurricane on the Bayou - A MacGillivray Freeman Film