Wrapped in Love.....

My title Wrapped in Love which has become my logo  (thank you Lynn Tullock for the name)... it started as I began a fundraiser for my daughter and her family who decided over 4 years ago to adopt from Bulgaria....   It all came about from ongoing nudges from God that they needed to do this.  They have 3 biological children, but for a period of time everywhere they turned adoption was in their face, some were soft nudges others were downright  pointed....  They felt the call from God to adopt from overseas and specifically Bulgaria.  Their theme became "One Less"  one less orphan, one less child who didn't have a home, one less child who didn't have a family to call their own..   

In that time I wanted to do something... so I started a Facebook Page called "Wrapped in Love"  and I knitted my little fingers to the bone, making scarves, hats, jar cozies and what have you to help raise funds to defray the cost of the adoption. THANK YOU TO MY FRIENDS WHO PURCHASED ITEMS FROM ME!   I donated my time and supplies and every penny I made went to the Adoption Fund for my Bulgarian Grandson... With all of that being said I am happy to say that they finally got "the phone call" that there is a little boy in Bulgaria just for them!  

Let me just say,  I laughed and I cried with joy when they called me to let me know... Now that does not mean this journey is over yet... They will have to travel over to Bulgaria very soon to meet the little guy and get all the paper work started and then within the following months they will travel yet again to bring him home to his forever family!  So in a sense their journey is just truly beginning!  So, if you have been praying for this all to take place please continue to pray for my new grandson, and for my daughter and her family who are very anxious for all of this to happen!  God is so faithful to meet our needs, if we just humble ourselves before him.  Thanking God for all of our many Blessings!  

Isaiah 1:17New International Version (NIV)

17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
    Defend the oppressed.[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
    plead the case of the widow.

This verse has been on their "One Less" shirts.......  

So please join me in continuing to pray for good health for my new grandson, safe travels for my daughter and son in law... for an easy adjustment for this little guy in his new surroundings in the next several months.....

Nancy

Howdy Friends!

Howdy to all of my friends sorry I have been absent without anyone's permission!  You know life happens and sometimes I just either a) don't have anything exciting to post or b) I am in the middle of a mess and just cannot stop to post something that might actually bore the socks of you!

Right now we will talk about a pressing issue.... gray hair!  I scrunch my nose when I say those words, but since I decided the end of the  year that I would try going gray and give up my glorious color....  I am at the point right now that my hairdresser assures me that one possibly two more haircuts will take care of it.... somedays I am ok with it and other days not so much.... the one thing is, I will stick it out and at least give it a chance it has certainly been a process.  What I do not like it the two tone of the faded colored hair and what my now natural is which really there is a lot of dark left, but around the front is more gray....

Will I make it and like it???  I will keep you posted....

This was in early January when I was just beginning the process

And this was last week at my Mom's 90th birthday party... bless her heart she had just gotten out of the hospital and was not feeling well at all.  

I have been looking around this past year at women's hair and seeing some who seem to embrace the gray and others who I know they have gray hair but still color it!  It is certainly a personal preference for each person to decide!  I will give it a chance once the faded color is all gone and I give my hair a chance to grow back into my hair style!  

So how about you... are you brave?

 Here is what the Bible has to say about gray hair....

Proverbs 16:31.....Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

So there you have it..... (The Bible has it all and God sure knew women well to include this in his scriptures!)

Nancy

I lost a dear friend.....

I lost a dear friend yesterday.... Crystal was an extraordinary friend.... she had a heart of gold, even though her physical heart was weak!  She had to have to the world's record for the most stints that I have ever heard of 29 at the last count!  She went in for a knee replacement surgery on Monday the 12th and came through the surgery and passed away!  Crystal was only 52 and leaves behind a loving husband and a son, two brothers, a sister in law and several nieces and nephews and an aunt... and many friends!  Crystal was an amazing women who reached out to everyone!  She was loved by all who knew her!

Crystal and I met on the internet!  ( I seem to have a habit of that ;~)  )  Our common bond in the beginning was we were both Stampin Up! demonstrators and were on a chat board called Sisters in Stamping... when in late 1999 I found that my husband was being transferred for his job to the Quad Cities... she responded saying that she lived there and I told her I was looking for a Baptist Church and she said "well my husband is an associate pastor at a Baptist church and I think you might like it"!  While we were living at the Radisson waiting for our belongings to be moved, she called me several times and we did visit her church!  Ron was a little skeptical of our friendship in the beginning since we had met on the internet I believe he thought I might of been an ax murderer but Crystal assured him that we were ok, my husband was a Warden and we were Baptist! :)

While we were preparing for our move to our new home, I was painting and she called me and she and Ron brought supper over to us...  Well to say the least the four of us hit it off and became friends...  I cannot even begin to say what their friendships meant to both of us, we were in a new place far away from family and friends, but we didn't have anything to worry about they were steadfast and true.  We faced some very difficult days in the next three and half years... six months after moving to this foreign land Gary and I lost our fathers six days apart and six months later found out my sweet husband had renal cancer!  Ron and Crystal were with my family through some of the darkest days of our lives and I honestly don't know what I would of done without their friendship.  Through Crystal getting us to go to Wildwood we made many friends.  We continued to share our love of stamping.  When I moved away we still stayed in contact and I was glad that I had the chance to come back and be able to see her more the last couple of years.  While now I have many regrets that I didn't get to see her as much as I had liked,  You can't go back!  Wouldn't it be nice if we could...

We traveled together many times to SU conventions and events.. She was my first flying partner, I had a  horrible fear of heights!  She was always so much fun to be with!  Crystal was the finest example of how a christian should live their lives she truly walked the walk!  I know she is now basking in God's Glory and singing with the angels!

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  John 14:2

Why I am still Blogging....

I have several times lately wondered why I am still blogging!  In the beginning I actually started blogging so the kids could see the progress we were making on "This Old House" ..... but I also felt like it was more than that.....

I know I will lose some of you about now!  I prayed and hoped that maybe somehow "my story" might touch someone and even if it had an influence on just one person it was well worth it!  Well low and behold this week I received the following email that affirmed that yes, someone saw my life, that I had survived by the Grace of God losing my dear sweet husband.. and that yes my life has gone on.   Yes, I have had many rough days, weeks, months and years and I was always thankful for the awesome support I received from family and some awesome friends!  It is hard losing your spouse/best friend to say the very least!    I really never imagined that I would remarry! It doesn't mean that Mark and I don't miss our late spouses because we do, we are so thankful that we have found someone else to love and to share our lives with!  We serve an awesome God who knows our beginning and our end and we know that he is sovereign over our lives!

I do enjoy blogging and have made some friends in doing so!  Alright I stalk their blogs and think they are my friends!!  :~)

I know I probably bore some of you at times, so thank you Linda for your sweet email!!!

Dear Nancy,

I don't recall how I came across your blog but I check it often.  I have been reading it for a while.  We have many of the same interests and hobbies and I am thinking of starting and etsy store too.

My husband of 36 years died in January 2010.  I found you at a time when I needed encouragement and reassurance.  Through sharing of yourself, you have been a great help to me.  I am sure that God led me to you.  Thank you for helping me see that life can go on.

Linda 

Today was a very windy day outside, so we got some "outside work" done today!!!  I put together a pot of Pumpkin Soup for supper!!! mmmmm if you have never had it you should try it!!!

Here is the recipe just in case you might like to try it!
: 
Sautee 1- 1/2 Cups of mushrooms & approx 3/4 C of Onions together with 4 T of Butter till softened, then add in 2 1/2 T flour and gradually add 4 cups of Chicken Broth, cook over medium heat until it becomes somewhat thickened.. Add in 1 (15 oz) can of Pumpkin, 2 T honey, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t ground nutmeg, 1/4 t pepper and 2 cups of milk (or 1 can of evaporated milk) ENJOY!!! 

Have a Blessed Weekend!

Nancy

Embedded in my mind forever

Yes, some days are just like that, embedded in your mind forever!!  37 years ago today I married Gary Wyant.... God blessed us so richly with an awesome marriage and two beautiful daughters!  I often think of what we would be doing now if God had not called him home 8 years ago!  I am so thankful that I have the memories!  I know that some people go a lifetime and don't experience the awesome relationship that we had!

Don't you just love the Bell Bottoms?  No this is not our wedding picture it is a picture of us at a family gathering a month or two before we got married!

I am also thankful that God has blessed me again!

Nancy

Friday...

It is Friday,  I remember when my girls were little and I would be driving them to school on my way to work and we would be singing the Friday Song F.F..F .....R..I..... , D...D...D ...A...Y,   F- R- I ..... D-A-Y  .... FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY....   Well it is Friday and it has been quite a sad week, sweet friends at church lost their dear son... while they know they will see him in Heaven, it is so sad to know the pain of grief and suffering that these dear souls will be facing in the days, weeks, months, years ahead....  Thanking God for his saving Grace, thankful that we have a hope in Jesus Christ!  Let not your hearts be troubled you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In my Father's House are many mansions, if it were not so, I would of told you, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.  John 14:1-3  This young man loved the Lord and had wanted to be a missionary since he was a young child, and the very thing he loved took his young life... he had taken a drug for Malaria to go on a mission trip and had a horrible reaction and had suffered for 2 1/2 years... but even in his death he is such a witness for God!  He was also an organ donar and more than five people received life saving donations this week!  David loved Jesus and loved people too!  While working in a homeless shelter a few years back, he came across a man who had no shoes, David gave this man his new pair of name brand sneakers and walked home barefoot!  Jesus has another angel in his midst!  If we could all love others like David did we would all be better for it!

This really was not what I was going to post about tonight I was going to post about my hairbows I just made but somehow they don't seem so important right now.

                                                         May you Rest in Peace David!

Nancy

Remembering Gary Day!

Word of Warning... post may bring some to tears......

Now this picture brings back some memories!!! This was taken in 1974 right before we got married!

Saturday, April 26, 2003 11:40 am  the moment my life changed forever.... the day my dear sweet Gary died, my husband of  28 1/2 years, the father of my daughters, the grandfather my grandbabies would never know.  I can go back to that time in a blink of an eye, I have a video in my mind I can replay from the day we learned he had cancer, till the very day he died...  I loved him with all of my being,  he was a good, kind and loving husband and father....  With each grandchild that has been born I have wept, because they would never know him,  with each milestone made in each of my daughters lives because he was not here!  Yes, Life does go on (and by the way do not tell a grieving person, life goes on or it will get better, they do not want to hear that, trust me)  .... but it is never the same when you lose someone so very dear to you!  Oh... YES I also have a video that I can replay of all the wonderful memories we made together, how proud he was of his daughters, how he delighted in hearing their voices and sometimes giving them lectures on the phone (even though he sometimes knew they really were not listening he kept talking anyway!)

Since I have remarried...  some may think I do not care anymore.. but that is the farthest thing from the truth!  There is not a day goes by that I do not think of Gary!

Lonliness is a horrible thing to endure.... So just let me say this... if you have someone in your life that has lost their mate and they are alone... take them to lunch now and then... take them to a movie, take them to Sunday Dinner....Call them!  See if they need help with something they would not of ordinarily have done...  And still while you are doing all of this with them and for them they still feel ALONE in the world....  I am so thankful for my family and friends who walked through the valley with me.  I am thankful I have a Savior who Loves me and Comforted me when no one on this earth could!  I HAVE A HOPE in Christ that I will see Gary one day in Heaven!

Nancy

Thankfullness

There is always so much to be thankful for!  I am thankful for my family, for good health and a warm home!  I am thankful that Jala's gall bladder surgery went so well, I called it a drive by surgery!  My granddog CoCo was spade the same day and they kept the dog longer than the hospital kept Jala!  Now something is wrong with that picture!  I am thankful that she is doing so well and pray she heals quickly (with 3 little ones under the age of 3, she has a demanding life!)  but thankfully she has a helpful husband!

I am thankful for God putting Mark into my life!  I am thankful that our kids and grandkids are healthy, thankful for the new additions to our families this year.... Megan married Kevin.... Amber and Dan had their 3rd child but first son, John and Jala had their third child and second son... So I am ever grateful for our families near and far away! I am Thankful for God's Amazing Grace and for sending his Son Jesus....

Thanksgiving to me is a state of mind and heart, not just a day!

Have a blessed day tomorrow with your family and friends!

Seeing the big picture....

When it comes to remodeling, making something less attractive into something beautiful it is just something that I love to do.....  have done so to a number of houses my family has lived in over the years.... I have always been able to see a house,  sometimes in all of it's ugliness (girls remember the one house we bought in Van?) Gold Shag Carpeting, ugly, ugly ugly, paneling on every wall..... but somehow I looked past all of that and could envision what with a little handiwork, paint and love what could be done.   Don't you think God looks at each of us in the same way?  He looks into our hearts, no matter what we have done and can see past all of the ugliness and HE our Lord and Savior can envision what he can mold us into?

The Life's that God can change and has changed is more amazing than any paint, new floor or any cabinet that I can make!!!

All the time, money and effort we put into remodeling will not last forever, neither will our life here on earth!   Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” A “heart renovation” is an eternal renovation.

Do you know, that you know, that you know?

How this all began.....

This story begins when two people namely Mark and Nancy were widowed found each other through some crazy internet dating site and fell in love and got married!  Mark was happily married to Robbin for 38 years and Nancy was happily married to Gary for almost 30 years.... We are who we are because of whom we have loved!   It all happened pretty quickly we met online in early November and were married on Valentine's day 2010.... and don't regret it one bit!!!  We were both lonely and felt like God put us together for a reason!  I am so thankful that God put Mark into my life!  In saying all that Nancy left her home in Southeastern Illinois and moved to "this Old House"!  Funny that used to be one of my favorite television shows before HGTV was born!  "This Old House" is over 100 years old!  In redoing old houses you always run into problems and sometimes open a can of worms!  I love redoing and making things beautiful so here goes our makeover!  On this makeover quest we are trying to make this home beautiful and not spend a fortune!  So there will be lots of paint used!  Did I mention we not only blended our lives (our children are grown so it is not like they were all thrown together under one roof to live) but our dogs, they are a challenge.... anyone want a dog?  Let me know!  Mark had 3 pomeranians (Gizmo, Bella and Bear) and Nancy had 1 Boston Terrier (Dude).... now Nancy was already struggling just having one dog in the house now she has 4 oops did I mention Bella had a puppy (CoCo) while we were on our honeymoon?  So that makes 5 yes 5 dogs... CoCo the newest member is leaving soon for a new life in KC so that will put us down to 4... still too many for one house no matter how big it is.... So the dogs have been a challenge! 

Nancy