Dear COURTNEY RAE ~ what a brave young girl you are; and there is so much going on in your life right now. We are lifting your Grandmother and you and your family up in prayer often; have also prayed about the car issue and your Aunt's water pipe problem (no fun either). Take good care of yourself too.

TURQUOISE and BARGOO ~ prayers are going up daily, for both of you during this time.

"Be strong and of a good courage, FEAR NOT, nor be afraid ... for the Lord thy GOD, He goes with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Deut 31: 6 & 8


ROSEBUD

Hi all - prayers continuing for everyone. So many chickies and their loved ones needing prayers these days. Good thing our God is an AWESOME God that can answer each and every one of them.

Ronni - you can come help with my windows - I really, really hate washing windows. I try attachments to the hose and the power washer, just to prolong having to go up that ladder!

Courtney - wow - 3 funerals! Your grandmother and your family are in my prayers. How brave of you to put your grandmother first and yourself second. That was a loving thing to say and I'm betting she was touched!

Shy - good to see you back to your old self! I'm betting the weight starts falling off again too

Turqoise - prayers continuing - let us know the results next week!

Rosebud - how exciting! I'm glad things seem to be working out for you. Prayers ascending for your DH! Mine would have behaved in a similar fashion!

We are taking off for a long weekend tomorrow morning. I won't have my computer, so I will check in with everyone on Sunday.

I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed weekend!

Counting
Thanks so far so good have lost 3 pounds since last wednesday. A ton of the weight is fluids.

Candy
I am so sorry you have had so much going on in your life. Sure hope things calm down for you and get better.


ronni
It isn't the day to day things that burn much for us. It is the extra. Have to wonder how much washing windows and walls do me since I do them all the time lol. My legs feel like Jello lol after all the apples everyday and all the yard work.

WOWIE ~ HELLO EVERYBODY ... Nobody has posted in this thread since Thursday; I hope this means that everyone is very busy and doing great!!! I put my legs up tonight to do a crossword at 8 pm and promptly fell asleep, then didn't wake up until the middle of the night; hence, why I am in here posting so late.

We had another fabulous sunny fall-spring day; it's cooler than normal, but the sunshine sure makes up for it. I hope it stays this way; this reminds me of the falls we had a lot when I was younger. We went to town today to pick up some more boxes becuz we were running out of them and I want to start packing my extra dishes next. We are also putting some stuff in storage for now too and that takes a lot of time and trips.

I took a tie-dying 4-H class when I was young and I decided to give some of my towels and linens new life. Have any of you tried this neat trick? Last week, I did one batch of towels a nice medium, country green and they look like new again. This week, I did a smaller bunch a lovely plum pink, and they all look great, and match my shower set nicely. I just did them in my washing machine; it is so handy for that.

Well, I hope all our friends here have a lovely, restful Sunday; and do take good care of yourselves, your fellow encourager ROSEBUD ^^PRAYERS^^ continue for you and yours ...

Hi all - a quick fly-in to say that we made it home safe and sound. We did lots of hiking (8 miles) and about 5 miles of walking as well

Rosebud - I haven't dyed/tie-dyed in years. Sounds like fun!

Prayers continuing for everyone. Hope you had a blessed Sunday!

HI THERE ~ Hope everyone is having a blessed and peaceful Sunday. We had another glorious sunny, fall day. Picked some veggies from our garden to have with our Roast Chicken dinner tonight; and it was yummy!

Take good care everyone ROSEBUD ^^PRAYERS^^ are ascending for you and yours ...

Hi, You all!

We had a really nice weather weekend-even got the pickup washed and waxed (which is quite a project because DH is somewhat a perfectionist-the job took us about 6 hours!). Still have to clean the inside-somehow a bottle of 5w30 got spilled on the carpet and I need to find something to clean it up. Any suggestions?

Church was really nice yesterday. Started going to Sunday school and the class I'm in is excellent. We're using "Downpour" with James Macdonald video series. Mom has been coming also, so it's kind of neat to sit with her in Sunday school after all these years. We have some great musicians in our church too and a couple who have been writing music and sharing it with the church. Their songs are fantastic! Songwriting is something I've always wanted to do-words anyway. I can play piano, but can't put tunes together, but I'm thinking about writing down some of my ideas and asking our songwriters to put them to music. It would be a big stretch for me confidence-wise to do that, but I'm starting to have a little more faith in myself, as well as God.

Had a really good week last week too. Down 4+ pounds since last Monday, which was probably mostly water, but it feels sooooo good to leave that plateau! I can't say it was a wasted year in my weight-loss plan, because I learned a lot about eating healthy even when I wasn't losing pounds (like, just because I can count the calories in a can of Coke doesn't mean I should actually drink it!). I'm really grateful for the help here at 3fc. I never would have thought I could actually stick with calorie counting for a week, but you friends here gave me the inspiration and tools to stay with it and I found it's not nearly as hard to do as it used to be.

Back to our come-and-go routine this week, but at least no doctor visits for a couple weeks. I think DS3 is getting a little tired of being poked, but he's learning that many of these tests don't hurt near as much as thinking about them does!

Counting - Glad you had a nice weekend! Welcome back!

Rosebud - your roast chicken sounds wonderful. I'm going to have to make one myself this week!

Have a great day everyone! Hugs to all!

Ronnie - WOW - fantastic loss this week!

Rosebud - veggies from the garden is something I miss. Maybe when I retire, I will grow veggies again. They always are ready for picking when school gets busy and I just don't have time to deal with harvesting.

To everything, there is a season, and this must be my season to support my farmer's markets!


Glorious day here in MI! Hope you all had a nice Monday!

Prayers continuing for all!

Hello!

Counting-thanks for the encouragement. I have to say I really like to see that number on the scale go down! But, I know not to rely on seeing it move every day because there are bound to be days that are just not good weight loss days

Yesterday turned out much busier than expected and today I'm really tired. Even thinking about going back to bed now that DH is off to work, but I won't. Too much laundry and housecleaning to do. Plus, left the mower at mom's because we couldn't fit it in with the groceries yesterday and must go get it before it rains! Ended up taking DS3 to lab at hospital for blood work that's to be sent to docs at mayo. He's such a trouper. He barely even cringes when they poke him with the needles anymore. Maybe it's just a little maturity (he is 12 now-had b'day last week) or maybe he just getting used to people poking him

Fortunately, we get to have a more quiet day today and focus on schoolwork and house stuff.

Hope you all are having a great day! Prayers for you all (including and especially the MIA's).

HI EVERYONE ~ Remember this one important thing ... that GOD LOVES YOU, and HE CARES FOR YOU !!! See I John 4:10/11 and I Peter 5:7.

COUNTING ~ you are so right; most veggies are ready here in August and September; we still have carrots, turnips, and onions in the garden, but the hard frosts last week nicked what little of anything else was there. I picked a lot of beans this year, and put some in the freezer, so we can have them for a while. I know that it's a lot of work, so we just do the things we like the most.

RONNI ~ glad your DS3 is handling all the tests and needles OK; I went through some things when I was young that were not pleasant; but thankfully today, they do things very differently and they are much more considerate of children's feelings.

Congrats to you that you are continuing to lose; I have been on a long plateau, but I am still eating in a healthy manner, and that is what matters most I think. We are going through a stressful time right now, so I think I am doing well considering. I know that I tend to munch when I'm stressed or sad, so it will be an accomplishment to improve myself during this time.

HOME UPDATE ~ well, I spent the morning making phone calls about housing becuz I was wondering why people weren't getting back to me. One place in the country wanted way too much and I had told the lady that I thought her place was way too big. The heating bills are $300-$400 EACH month; ... and she wanted $600 for rent + plus there was a hydro bill on top of that of at least $150+ PER month; and the place is up for sale!

We really liked the other one ~ a small house in the country, but turns out that it is also for sale, but we weren't told that before. They have a tentative offer on it right now, so we won't hear back til the end of the month; but DH isn't happy to hear that becuz that is why we have to leave this place ... it is also for sale supposedly becuz of the high heating costs.

and more ... I think that is going to be my first question when looking at any more places ~ IS THIS PLACE UP FOR SALE??? This may be why we are having such a hard time finding a place: since we last last moved, rents have doubled, hydro had tripled, and heating costs have quadrupled!!!

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING FOR US for a home ... becuz we sure need it! Thanks so much.

HI TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND MIA's ... take good care, your fellow encourager ROSEBUD ^^ PRAYERS ^^ are continuing for you and yours ...

Ronni - prayers for you and your family - particularly your son. What a blessing to have you posting here regularly. LOL - my weekends are like yours - so many, many things to get done - and I never seem to get them ALL finished! Know that these stessful and busy times are important ones for your family. Your strength is soooo very important in shaping who they are! And - it is totally anecdotal - but when I am stressed, I never lose, and often gain. I really think stress (and even that stress hormone cortisol) has an incredibly important role in weight loss. Maintaining while under stress is really being successful - and
Rosebud - that goes for you too! With all the stress you are going through - maintaining is really, really admirable!
I hope that you find the perfect house for you and your DH. And - I really believe that you will. God WILL provide!

Blessings to all, and prayers ascending!

HI FOLKS ~ we had another lovely fall day right up until about ten minutes ago, when some clouds rolled in and DH got poured on ~ lol! I spent the day packing dishes and am taking a small break before starting dinner.

COUNTING ~ thanks for your words of encouragement; right now, I am just trying not to gain anything as this has been a tuff year for us. At least I am getting some exercise with the packing: each night my feet and legs are throbbing from walking back and forth, so I have to rest them earlier now.

We still have one offer of a small house that we'll go see in the first week of October, so we still have some hope yet. Plus many people are praying for us and sending out the word for us too. I even asked GOD to send out 'Searching Angels' for us to find the most suitable place possible. We must believe and trust GOD that he will provide, like He promised us in His Word ... someone reminded me to keep our focus on GOD and He will get us a home!

HELLO TO EVERYONE AND ALL OUR MIA's ~ hope you are all feeling well today and are having nice fall weather like us!

"MY HELP COMETH FROM THE LORD, WHICH MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH." ... Psalm 121:2

Take good care, your fellow encourager ROSEBUD Remember that ^^PRAYERS^^ are ascending for you and yours ...

A quick fly-by to say hello. I hope you had a great day! Prayers continuing for everyone.

The weather was glorious here today! I can't believe that fall is here already. I gotta take advantage of this unseasonably warm weather and get some work done outside.

Blessings to all!

Laurie

Hi and Good Morning to you all!

Not much going on here-again very tired today because of much running around last afternoon and evening-kids' activities and grocery shopping (man, I hate that!).

Thought I might share a passage God led me to today (really, I was trying to look up something in 1Cor., but was in 2 Cor, by 'accident'-)

We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again. 2 Cor. 4:7-9

God gives us what we need to get through anything that comes our way. But, sometimes we just need a reminder. The last month has brought a lot of trials for all of us here, from cancer to weight issues, housing issues, family members ill, and lots of "busy"! Know that you are all in God's heart and He is in your needs. Prayers for all! Have a really nice day!

ronni, thank you fpr sharing that scripture, I am leaning on scripture and prayer a lot as I continue cancer treatment. I am lurking a lot or posting in lighthearted game forums, since my main preoccupation is my health, I realize it can be a downer for others to read.