Sacred Influence

Thank all of you who have signed my guest book. It’s so fun to get to see your beautiful faces! Let me share a little bit about the book “Sacred Influence by Gary Thomas.” The subtitle is “How God Uses Wives to Shape the Souls of Their Husbands” which was revised in a more recent printing to “What a Man Needs From His Wife To Be The Husband She Wants.”
Here is an excerpt from Gary’s introduction:

I believe God has heard your prayers, and I know he sees your pain. I further believe that, since he designed marriage, you should look first to him about how you can best encourage inspire, challenge, and appropriately influence the man you married. God wants you to feel loved, to be noticed, and to be cherished. He didn’t create you and cast you adrift on a sea of happenstance, catching the tear you might be shedding this very moment at the thought of a God so involved in your life that he put your thoughts on paper for you to read.
But be forewarned! Your husband isn’t the only imperfect person in your relationship. You also contribute sin every day. We are all sinners, and you can be sure that God desires to work on your own heart every bit as much as he desires to have greater influence in your husband’s life. In keeping with this perspective, this book will present some serious challenges for you to be moved as well – closer to God and closer to your husband.

I recently completed a seventeen week study of this book with seven young women and I believe all of our lives were impacted in some way by the Biblical Truth Gary Thomas brought to us.

I know all of you can’t win a copy so if you don’t win the drawing, be sure to get the book and read it anyway. You will be challenged. I will share more about how the book challenged me personally very soon at Grace-Works (elainerusso.blogspot.com). Don’t forget to sign my guest book so I can enter your name in the drawing on June 22!

Making Memories, Maime


Here are a few pictures from the Bar-B-Q we had with our families at the end of our book study!

Drawing

Be a star in my show, and sign my guest book. If you put your picture on the big screen before June 22nd I will enter your name in a drawing for the book " Sacred Influence" by Gary Thomas. I will blog later about the book.
Making Memories Maime

Experiences

I had two first time experiences today:
My first was a Mountain Dew. Yes, that's right, I don't remember ever drinking an entire Mountain Dew before (I don't really care for the taste) and boy, have I missed out! I realize now why some people sip on them constantly. I felt like someone hooked me up to an electrical outlet and I just couldn't find the off switch! That's why I'm still up this evening. I had more energy today than the energizer bunny! It was great because I got quite a bit done but honestly I don't think me or my family could handle this energy level on a regular basis. If I ever decide to drink one of those energy drinks that I see people downing all the time, I bet I would just fly right on up to Jesus!

My second new experience was the sweetest, tightest hug from Julia when she awoke from her nap. Today was the first time that I really knew that I was special to her. The timing was perfect. When Tim and I kept her for Benj and Mary's date night this week, she cried when Tim left the room. I thought it was a coincidence so I made him leave again and she cried again until he came back. Well, she hasn't ever cried when I left the room. Anyway, I was feeling a bit of competition. The whole "she loves me best" kind of stuff. Well, needless to say, Julia has enough love for all of us. Yesterday, I was at her house when she awoke from her nap and when I went in the room and picked her up out of her crib, she gave me the biggest smile that said "I love you Maime" and the longest tightest hug that said " I'm so glad you are here". Now that was a first for me and boy did it make my day! And don't you think for one minute that I imagined it because I was under the influence of Mountain Dew.
Making Memories,
Maime


Don't you just want to kiss those chubby cheeks?

Annual Family Camping (Cabining)Trip

May has been an exceptionally busy month and somehow we managed to squeeze in a family vacation. I read years ago that if you want to bond with your family, you should spend time camping. Tim and I started camping with our girls when they were very young. Some of our first camping adventures have left indelible marks in my memory. Truly, each trip holds its own when it comes to memories. There are myriad choices when planning a family vacation but by far camping has been the most restful and memory making experience for our family. This year Tim and I chose Lake Brownwood State Park as our destination. Though most of our camping has either been by tent or RV, this year we chose the Fisherman’s Lodge. Ironically, it was available (It books up a year in advance). The reason we chose a lodge was because of our new granddaughter, Julia. The West Texas heat would not be a pleasant experience for an eight month old with out a cool place to retreat to. I might add that her Maime loved using her as an excuse to stay inside. You would not believe the chore it is to get the schedules of eight adults synchronized! Once that is out of the way, everything else is a breeze. During our respite, when one of my daughters thanked me for all the hard work that went into the weekend, I realized that it wasn’t hard at all. My mind reeled back to the days of packing camping gear, linens, food, clothes and everything else for a family of six for three or four days away from home. I remember being exhausted by the time we got where we were going, only to be faced with setting up camp and preparing meals for everyone. Camping trips for me in those days were quite the chore. I would arrive home after our “vacation” really needing a vacation. Everything has changed so much! My family has grown to the point where everyone packs for themselves and pitches in with everything else. I am only responsible for communicating the details to everyone; the menu and whatever goes along with preparing meals including grocery shopping; a few fun activities; and of course getting a “Happy” for everyone.” This year we all took turns preparing meals and cleaning up after. There is much to be said about adding son-in-laws to the mix. Benjamin and our soon to be son-in-law John Ryan sure did make things a lot easier for Tim. It’s so nice that he doesn’t have to do all the blue jobs alone anymore. I would have to say that this particular camping trip was by far one of my favorites. I’m not sure why, but I have speculated that having adult children who take so much responsibility for what goes on around them has made my role much easier and less motherly. I enjoyed so much having conversation with the girls in the morning, in my pajamas, while drinking coffee on the porch; the sweet smile of Julia as she greets the new day; doing whatever, whenever; laughing my head off at the male humor and male sounds in such large doses; and just being with my family without interruption.Camping (or cabining as we have decided to call it) is definitely a bonding experience.


Playing Horseshoes, I wonder who won?



Just taking it easy....



Julia sitting on Aunt Beka in her swimsuit without a diaper. Oops! What happened?



Keeping the little Boogie Bear out of the sun!



Bringing home the fish!



Bethany and John Ryan preparing a delicious meal!



Mary and her preoccupation with smores



Rusky and Ju-G fighting over the hat guess who won?


And the winner is.........



Cooking up the cakes!



Movie under the stars! WE ARE MARSHAL



The winning picture for Julia's funny faces!

I thought it might be beneficial to some of you younger moms to have copies of my schedule, menu, and fun activities. Why reinvent the wheel? If you are interested just email me and I will be happy to share all the details with you.
Making Memories, Maime

Fun In The Sun

I am working on sprucing up the back yard. I don’t have the luxury of all the wonderful colorful flowers that are found in the south and with water being a valuable commodity here in the west I decided to add some splashes of color to the back yard with paint. This is only a sneak preview! You will have to wait for the finished project to see it all. See if you can guess what the theme of my back yard will be. I will give you a hint. Where do people go to relax and have fun? If you think you might know the answer, please join my followers and leave me a comment. I will disclose the theme when the project is completed and is posted.

Before

After

Before

After
I found the flowers and butterfly at a thrift store my last visit to the South.

Before

After
I have had these metal candle holders forever! What an improvement!
Remember, send me a comment if you can guess the theme. Making Memories, Maime

Mother's Day

I hope all of you wonderful Mothers had a great day on Sunday! It was a special day for me! First, because I got to share my daughter Mary’s first mother’s day with her, and secondly, because all of my daughters really made me feel honored. They all pitched in with their Dad and made one of my favorite meals. In fact I think it should become a Mother’s Day tradition! We had homemade grilled hamburgers. Yes, I said hamburgers. I have come to embrace the fact that a good old fashioned hamburger is one of my favorite things to eat. Along with the burgers and all the trimmings we had Mary’s wonderful twice baked potatoes! Of course let’s not forget the great chocolate cake with chocolate icing that Rachel made, add Rebekah’s sweet tea,Bethany’s finishing touches on the table setting and I’ll just say it was wonderful! Oh, I must not forget to mention the beautiful fresh flowers that Tim contributed! Those girls and their Dad sure know what makes me feel special!
 

My granddaughter Julia was feeling a bit feverish due to teething so all she wanted to do was lay on Maime (I might add that her mommy wasn’t available and that’s the only reason I would do). It was a dream come true! Julia and I literally laid on the sofa all afternoon, drifting in an out of a nap while everyone else was busy in the kitchen. Cuddling with Julia is another one of those special moments that words can’t define.

What more could a mother/grandmother desire? Well, there is only one more thing I would have wanted; my son-in-law being with us! Benjamin had to work on Sunday and boy did we all miss him. He adds so much life to our family and has become a fixture that we all love and appreciate. Though he couldn’t be there he made my day by calling and wishing me a happy Mother’s day. What a great guy!
I almost forgot to mention that my children all put together and got me rocking chairs for my front porch.
 
 

I am looking forward to the many memories that will be made in those chairs. Making Memories, Maime

John Ryan's Graduation

Most of our family spent Saturday in Brownwood enjoying family and friends as we celebrated John Ryan's graduation from university. We are so proud of him for all that he has accomplished!

Beth, Mary, Benj, and Julia

Bethany and John Ryan

One big happy family!

Flower Pot Centerpiece

Thought I would share a little craft I did for a couple of events recently. There are many modifications you can make to this as far as color, height, and flowers go.
Supplies Needed:
Six inch terracotta pot
Eight to nine inch dowel
Small cat food or tuna can
Square foam
Your choice of greenery and silk flowers
Hurricane globe
Your choice of votive or tea candle
Your color choice of spray paint
One screw


Spray paint the tuna can, dowel, and flower pot the color of your choice and let dry thoroughly. Then insert the foam into the pot. Connect the tuna can to the dowel with a screw and press the dowel into the foam.




Add greenery and flowers of your choice.



Put a votive or tea light inside the tuna can. Add a hurricane globe and voila, you have a nifty centerpiece.



I have used these for many years for many different occasions, and they have been many different colors. It’s almost time for me to throw them out and start over with new ones.

Make a Memory, Maime

Trip To The South

I recently made a trip to visit my family and friends in the south. It was so nice to come from the dry west and see all the vibrant colors of Spring in the south. Here are a few pics from my Mom's yard. I did not inherit her green thumb. I take that back, in reference to a previous post, I can grow things in my frig like her. She wouldn't let me take pictures of those fuzzy multicolored plants.