I LOVE YOU MONTH... LEARNING

I love learning!

    I love learning new things. Over the years, I've learned to quilt, bake bread, can, sew, crochet, knit, cross-stitch, embroider, and many other things. 

    Currently, I'm learning Spanish with Duolingo, Western Heritage from the Book of Genesis to John Locke with a free online course from Hillsdale College, rug twining using YouTube videos, and I'm using The Bible Recap on the Bible.com app, too.

    Monday, the 16th, I'm adding something new. I've resigned from the school district. I enjoyed four years of substitute teaching; but, God's moving me into a new phase and a new position. I've accepted an office position in a pediatrics office just three minutes from my home. It will be a learning experience in a couple of ways. 

    First, I've got to learn the computer system and the job. At 60, that will be a challenge. ~smile~ I'm a reader and a learner, so I'll be able to do it. Second, it's been 35 years since I've worked full-time outside the home. That, too, will be a challenge. ~God's plan—not mine!~ His plans are always good, though, aren't they? I'll tell y'all about it sometime. 

    A third challenge will be that I've been having bad headaches three or four days a week for a long time. The doctors haven't been able to help yet. 

    

    Will you please pray for me?

• That I'll comprehend and grasp all the details of the position
• That I'll have the energy and ability to fulfill my duties at work and home
• That headaches will not interfere with my ability to focus and be pleasant

    Please be patient with me as I learn to balance all the areas of my life including this blog. I do not want to let any part of my creativity go. I'm not sure how I'll do it all, but I choose the abundant life. That means husband, family, friends, work, creative outlets like writing and learning, hospitality, and most importantly, growing closer and closer to God. 

    

    This is a new assignment. This is a new era of my life. This is the way that I shall serve Jesus until he moves me into a new era. 

    Don't give up on me if I don't write as much for awhile. Y'all are an important part of my life; and, many of you have been for a long while. 

    Have a wonderful week! 

Laura

Happily serving God in a new way

My new badge photo

*Image by ChatGPT

Wordless Wednesday

 

I LOVE YOU MONTH... Get to Know Me

    One of my favorite bloggers is Billie Jo from Afternoon Coffee and Evening Tea. Billie Jo encourages me so much. I love the way she celebrates everything. Yes. Everything. She has great style, but it is her enthusiasm, love of home, family, her doggies, and candles that makes me feel appreciation for her and for my home and family. She's so positive, and Jesus just seeps through her in her zest for life. 

    She just posted a "Things I Like and Things I Don't" list. She asked us to share, too. So, here's my list in abbreviated form as I think of them this morning.

A Few Things I like:

~ Old-fashioned phone calls from friends and family

~ Learning! I'm taking a free online course from Hillsdale College: Western Heritage from the Book of Genesis to John Locke. It's been challenging, but good.

~ Homemade from scratch cocoa 

~ A good balance of time with people and by myself

~ Giving gifts

~ A new type of relaxing music that I've found on YouTube. It has storybook style animals and ambient music. Here's one I listened to yesterday. I find it very nice to play in the background as I'm doing other things.

~ Black and white movies

~ Cozy fall and winter times

~ Knitting— especially socks

~ Candles, candles and more candles

~ Making things from what I have on hand

~ Sewing

~ Cozy mystery books

~ Learning new skills ~ I'm learning to twine weave a rug.

Things I don't like:

Mustard on or in anything but a Schlotzky sandwich

Tight clothes or excess skin showing on anyone

Raspberries and blackberries

Dirty words

Acrylic clothes or yarn

Horror movies

True crime books or movies

So, that's just a few of my likes and dislikes. I'd love you to share some of yours with me as well.

Be blessed,

Laura

I Love sharing my life with you 

and...

JESUS

MOMMA

LOWELL 

MY KIDS 

MY GRANDSON

I LOVE YOU MONTH... My Grandson

 

A Storybook Christmas*

    Oh me oh my! 

So many friends told me, "Just wait 'til you have grandkids. 

They're the best." 

Well, my friends were right!

    My grandson is the source of so much joy! Gibby is the name I use for my grandson on my blog. Gibby is short for grandbaby. I want to keep his little face and name private as do Mommy and Daddy.

    He's 2 1/2 now. He's so much fun to be with. We play cars most of all. Boppop (his name for grandpa) has his old Hot Wheels. We play with them on the coffee table for long stretches. He likes to feed the birds, blow bubbles, and play outside. We also have blocks, spools, Don't Spill the Beans, and dominoes. We don't play the games the right way, but who cares? I got out the dominoes a few weeks ago. He handed one to me, and picked one up himself. He put it to his ear and talked into it like a phone. Oh the times we live in! By the time we finished playing, he was calling me and saying, "Hi Gammy!" I finally had a name! There's nothing sweeter!

    He's going to come for a sleep over Saturday evening so Mommy and Daddy can go to a movie and dinner. Boppop and Gammy are going to have lots of fun, but we'll sleep well!

    Thank you, Jesus, that you allowed me to live long enough to enjoy my grandson. Life is an incredible gift that I don't take for granted. Thank you for healing me from cancer, Jesus, my LORD and savior!

I LOVE MY GRANDSON! 

and...

JESUS

MOMMA

LOWELL 

MY KIDS 

MY GRANDSON

   

*AI generated from a photo

I LOVE YOU MONTH! I Love My Kids!

 

This is a very old photo from long ago!

    I am a very blessed woman in so many ways. God gave me and my husband four babies to love and raise the best we could for Him. We did the best we could. 

    

    I had the privilege of homeschooling them all. It was fun. It was hard. It was wonderful. I wouldn't change those years for anything.

    They're all grown up. The little one, Amy, has a toddler of her own. The others have all flown the nest as well. They all live within an hour of our hometown. I'm so thankful for that. I love it when we can all be together. 

    I thank God for each one of them. I pray for each one of them, for my son-in-love, and for my grandson.

I LOVE MY KIDS! 

and...

JESUS

MOMMA

LOWELL 

MY KIDS

   

I LOVE YOU MONTH! I LOVE MY HUSBAND!

 

I love my Lowell.

He's been my Lowell since November 23, 1981.

That's when he asked me to go steady with him.

That boy had no idea what he was asking!

I had no idea what yes meant!

It's been quite a wild and curving ride together.

~ ♥♥♥~

True committed love always... 

even through 

4 years going steady,

1 year of engagement, 

39 years of marriage,

26 jobs, 
4 businesses,

14 deaths, 

4 children, 

26 years of homeschooling, 

19 chickens, 

4 cats, 

3 dogs, 

1 goat, 

11 churches, 

9 homes, 

17 surgeries, 

cancer, 

chemo, 

radiation,

and a knee replacement.

Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Lane 

until death parts us. 

THIS is marriage...

never wondering if you will face tomorrow alone...

until one of you steps into eternity.

I LOVE YOU LOWELL! 

Thank you!

Love,

Laura

HAPPY I LOVE YOU MONTH!

JESUS

MOMMA

LOWELL

I LOVE MY MOM... and I Miss Her, Too!

Barbara Kay
Ramsbottom Conklin Hall
1947-1999
May her name be blessed forever!

I was blessed to have a young mother. She and Dad married when she was sixteen, and I came along just shy of a year later when she was seventeen. She was energetic and full of life and fun. In a way, we grew up together. ~smile~ She loved it when someone thought I was her little sister! She moved to Heaven many years ago. I look forward to our reunion. I really miss her and what might have been.

Do you have a loved one who's moved to Heaven? Isn't it a wonderful comfort knowing that if we both love Jesus and have accepted Him as our savior, that we can see each other again?

I believe that Jesus is coming back soon. We'll be caught up with Him, and there will be quite a reunion. Yes. I'm looking forward to that. If you're not absolutely sure that you've given your heart and your life to Jesus, and trusted Him for salvation, please don't wait. Click here to learn more.

Oh how I miss her. It's so good to know I'll see her again, and we'll sing praises and worship together. 

~ Music was a big part of my life because of my mom's love of music. She sang a lot! You saw how much music reminds me of her. She sang, she played music in the car, we watched musicals. We bought magazines that had the lyrics to the latest country songs and sat at the table and sang them together. Sometimes we'd record ourselves on a cassette tape player.

~ The song I was named after, Tell Laura I Love Her, always makes me cry. I was also named after the elderly lady, Lori Morrow, from whom my father rented a room in college. I called her Grandma Lori and her husband Grandpa Leland when I was little. Diane was from my mom's best friend in high school.

Jesus, please tell Momma I love her. Tell Momma I need her. Tell Momma not to cry.  I know her love for me will never die. Mine will not die for her. I know she's crying no tears in Heaven, but I've cried more than a few tears missing her these past 26 years. 

Barbara Kay Ramsbottom Conklin Hall may her name be blessed forever.

Thank you, Jesus, for my momma.
Amen.


Note: My dad is James (Jim) Conklin, her first husband. The photo above is with my step-dad, her second husband, Richard (Rick) Hall. I love them both.

HAPPY I LOVE YOU MONTH!

JESUS

MOMMA