A Family Affair- RAK

Last February I entered my sister in a Random Acts Of Kindness contest on Linda's blog!
My sister had just lost her husband and I thought this would lift her spirits.
Linda gave her the most beautiful wall hanging and it was such a blessing.
Anyway so I thought that I would pass this blessing
 on by doing a Random act of kindness for 3 people.

My 3 daughters picked the winners from all the comments.
My daughter Mandy picked..........



Glenda said: I would like to nominate my daughter. Two and half years ago she gave birth to a beautiful little girl. As the months unfolded, we discovered the baby was severely disabled. My daughter has been a beautiful example to all around her as she's handled her grief and cared for this precious little child. Each day is filled with siezures, tube feedings, and doctor visits, yet Mendy handles it all with grace, through her strong faith in the Lord.


Click Here to visit her daughters web site.

My daughter Maranda picked.........


Lori said: I would like to nominate my sister. My sister, Pam, had breast cancer in 2000 and has been in remission since until last week. Her cancer is back. We aren't sure to what extent yet. She has a CAT and bone scan next Friday and gets the results on the 15th.


On of the sad part of all of this, is Pam never married so outside of calling my other sister or myself, she goes home to an empty house to deal with all of this alone. I couldn't have imagined getting my cancer diagnosis and not having my husband to go home to.

My daughter Shannon picked..........


AmyW said: I'd like to nominate Krista. She found out right before Christmas that she has breast cancer. She is currently recovering from a double mastectomy and starts chemo this Tuesday. She is the mother of three kids (the same ages as mine), the wife of our youth minister, and a special education teacher (we teach at the same school).


A couple of years ago, she watched a very close friend of hers die of brain cancer. Krista was such a prayer warrior for the young mother. Unfortunately, she passed away and left behind a two year old daughter. Then about a year later, her own mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Krista brought her mother home to live with her. Within a year or so, her mom was gone. Throughout her diagnosis, she has been in good spirits and is constantly blessing others. She is fighting cancer with every ounce of her being while holding on tight to God's daily provisions. She and her family are so precious to us. We've served alongside of them on mission trips and we've watched our kids grow up together. I want her to live to see her great-grandchildren! She and I have made a secret goal that she will be well enough to return to New Orleans on this summer's youth mission trip. (It's a secret because her husband would freak out if he knew she was planning to return to New Orleans so soon after her last chemo treatment) Her blog address is www.kristas-journey.blogspot.com
I love this gal to pieces!

As you can see my Grands helped me get all this together and ready to mail.
It took me almost a year to do this and I want to tell you why it took me so long.
All along I had in my head that I would buy 3 quilts from Granny and send them to these 3 special people.
Then Granny passed away on April 13th. 
It took me a while to even think of this but I was at a loss what to do.
So I put it on the back burner for a while.  Almost a year.

So I started working on something else to give them all
but I felt in my heart that I was suppose to give them a quilt.
As I worked on other gifts for their package it just didn't feel right.
Then Daddy called and asked me to come and see his quilts that he had made.
Up until now, Daddy had not quilted since his Mother passed away.
I told him that I wanted to buy 3 of them and he was so thrilled.
I knew then that it was a quilt that I was suppose to send for this
random acts of kindness.

What would I do without my Grands?
They picked out the quilts according to each story,
 addressed the packages and helped me package them.
As always, I try to teach my Grands good things.
So I read the comments to them and they were so touched.
I told them that it doesn't have to cost anything to give someone a gift.
A gift of a smile or a hello doesn't costs a dime.
I love teaching moments.

So this was a family affair and such a blessing for us all.
My daughters picked the winners after thinking and reading all of the comments.
They took this very serious and so did I. They shed tears over all of the stories.
Then my Grands worked hard getting it all ready with me.

I was so happy to see the pictures that Glenda posted on her blog and sent me showing her daughter and her Grands receiving their quilt.
It meant the world to me.  Click on her name and you can see her precious family receiving their Random Act Of Kindness. Thank you Glenda for posting this for me and my family to see. 
*******************
And if you want to be blessed visit here.

I have learned several things by doing this Random Act of Kindness.
1. My plans are not God's plans.
2. I wanted to do this to bless someone else and my family was blessed more.
3. When Granny passed away and I was at a loss what to do for these 3 women, I learned to WAIT because God had another plan.
4. Everyone has a story.
5. Pass it on.
6. It really is better to give than receive.

I am thankful for............my family.

Random Acts Of Kindness Winners

Because I never have been able to think of things on my own, I wanted to share the reason that I wanted to do a "Random Act Of Kindness". A few weeks ago Linda wanted to do something for someone that needed a "hug". I commented on that post and nominated my sister Brenda to be a recipient of Linda's Random Acts of Kindness. I was amazed that someone would do this for someone that they didn't even know. My sister had lost her husband and was having a very tough time handling everything. I shared her story and Brenda won! She received this gift shown above made my Linda. I just thought this was so awesome and a true gift from the heart. My sister received it and just loves it. Isn't it beautiful? But as beautiful as it is (and I could never make anything to compare) I thought the thought of giving this was so special and that is why I am doing this. I want to pass this random act of kindness on.

************

I asked my 3 adult daughters to pick the winners of this RAK. They took this very serious. They never cease to amaze me. The stories we read about were so sad. It really made us all thankful. I received an email this morning from Cathy and at the bottom of her email it says:

Good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another person up.

Phillipians 1:6

I loved this and that is what I want to do so through this RAK, I hope to lift someone up.

The stories touched our hearts.

*****************

O.K. here goes:

I will post the comments of the people who nominated the winners below.

The winners are:

**********

My daughter Mandy picked..........

GLENDA said: I would like to nominate my daughter. Two and half years ago she gave birth to a beautiful little girl. As the months unfolded, we discovered the baby was severely disabled. My daughter has been a beautiful example to all around her as she's handled her grief and cared for this precious little child. Each day is filled with siezures, tube feedings, and doctor visits, yet Mendy handles it all with grace, through her strong faith in the Lord.

http://www.lillyrucker.com/ is her daughters web site.

**************

My daughter Maranda picked.........

LORI said: I would like to nominate my sister. My sister, Pam, had breast cancer in 2000 and has been in remission since until last week. Her cancer is back. We aren't sure to what extent yet. She has a CAT and bone scan next Friday and gets the results on the 15th.
On of the sad part of all of this, is Pam never married so outside of calling my other sister or myself, she goes home to an empty house to deal with all of this alone. I couldn't have imagined getting my cancer diagnosis and not having my husband to go home to.
******************

My daughter Shannon picked..........

AmyW said: I'd like to nominate Krista. She found out right before Christmas that she has breast cancer. She is currently recovering from a double mastectomy and starts chemo this Tuesday. She is the mother of three kids (the same ages as mine), the wife of our youth minister, and a special education teacher (we teach at the same school).
A couple of years ago, she watched a very close friend of hers die of brain cancer. Krista was such a prayer warrior for the young mother. Unfortunately, she passed away and left behind a two year old daughter. Then about a year later, her own mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. Krista brought her mother home to live with her. Within a year or so, her mom was gone. Throughout her diagnosis, she has been in good spirits and is constantly blessing others. She is fighting cancer with every ounce of her being while holding on tight to God's daily provisions. She and her family are so precious to us. We've served alongside of them on mission trips and we've watched our kids grow up together. I want her to live to see her great-grandchildren! She and I have made a secret goal that she will be well enough to return to New Orleans on this summer's youth mission trip. (It's a secret because her husband would freak out if he knew she was planning to return to New Orleans so soon after her last chemo treatment) Her blog address is www.kristas-journey.blogspot.com
I love this gal to pieces!!
***************

As my family is dealing with a trial, reading these comments and having the goal to bless someone has helped me more than you will ever know. The Lord just knows what to do at the right time. Amazing. Thank you to everyone who left comments. I would love to send a card of encouragement to all of the ones who didn't win. Please send me their addresses if you would like for me to do this. It would be my honor. Now for the winners, please know that there is not a time limit on sending these gifts. It may take me a while to find the perfect gift for your loved one. I will let you know when I have it ready to send. I will also need their names and addresses. Thank you for letting me do this. You all have blessed my heart.

Lord Jesus, I pray for each and everyone of these people. I pray for the ones who nominated someone and I pray for the nominees. I also pray for my family. You already know all of our stories. I pray for peace and strength to get us all through. I pray for health. I pray for miracles. I thank you for letting me see others who are hurting and dealing with things that I don't know anything about. Thank you Lord for all my blogging friends. I just praise you and thank you for all your blessings and even all of the trials. Jesus, please help us all to reach up for the next rung on the ladder. Help us to keep on going even when we don't feel like it. Please give us a home in heaven when you are through with us. Amen.

Thrift Store Finds & 500 Posts!!

When I saw this I just could not believe it. 1.50?? Wow.

I love what it says. Crosstitch. Do you think I could ever do this.

The year says 1983. Can you imagine doing all this work just for it to end up in a thrift store?

I bought these for my Mom. She has trouble with her wrists so I thought these might help.
I came home and put batteries in it and it works but just on a single layer of fabric.
Anyway, 1.00???? Its worth that!

I bought this for 1.00 to hang in our little hunting cabin!
Did I tell you that my hubby and his hunting buddy Rog loves their wives so much that they want us hunting with them............................I think they just want food when they come in from hunting! Ha!

My sweet hubby found this deal. I could not believe it.
He found the lamp without the shade for $2.50 and then he found the shade for 1.00!!!!
He even found the light bulb that fits it for 19 cents!!!
He did good! He wants to use this in our cabin.

Then I found this for 1.00. I didn't need it,
but I need to have this to remind me of what it says. Boy do I need reminding.
This is so true.
Can I request prayer again for me?
Have you ever had something in your life that you are waiting on the answer and it just seems like it never comes but yet there is nothing you can do about it. I just need strength to get through a trial.
Thank you all.

Well my hubby had the best deal of the day with the lamp until I heard a lady
talking on her cell phone and I heard her talking about 2 quilts that were just donated and how pretty that they were. My ears perked up and I was on the hunt to find these!
Well I found them alright!!! I grabbed them both. They are handmade, hand quilted. This is a twin size vintage quilt in great condition. I have already been offered double what I paid for it. Before I tell you what I paid you have got to see the one below.

Is this not gorgeous? Believe me the pictures do not do them justice. This one looks like a full size quilt. I paid 30.00 each for these!!! When I went to pay for them, the girl said that they had not been out but 5 minutes until I grabbed them. She said that they were meant for me! I think I found the best deal of the day now...........I still do love his lamp though. It will look great in our little cabin. Below is a close up picture of the quilt. I just love it.

Now for my surprise for you all!

I am proud to say that this is my 500th post. I would give anything if I could have all of my memories in this blog printed out just for me so when I am older I could look back on it and remember.

I started this blog because I asked my Mom to blog some of her memories for the family. She said she would if I would. I never ever thought that I would enjoy this journey like I have.

I have met so many sweet friends through this blog. I would not take anything for these friendships. I have many friends in my life but because we all get busy it seems to get in the way of time together as friends. I remember one time some relatives moved up on the hill from us. They used to live about an hour away and we made a point to visit but when they moved close to us--we knew they were there and they knew we were here. It changed. We never saw each other. That is kind of the way it is in real life friendships. We know each other are there but life gets in the way. So blogging has filled that void for me. I never ever thought that there would be so many that would care for me, laugh with me, cry with me, share with me, give to me, listen to me, encourage me, teach me, stand with me, & pray for me. I cannot say thank you enough. So here is my deal. I want to give back so this is how I want to do this. I want to give someone a hug. I want to do a Random Act of Kindness for someone. Don't think that I thought of this myself. I didn't. I saw this and experienced it on Lindas blog! I submitted my sister who had lost her husband last year and Linda is sending her a gift that she made from her heart. So precious. A gift of love.

So here are my rules:

If you know of or have a loved one that has been through a trial and needs a hug or encouragement, please submit their story to me in your comment. I would like to do something for someone that YOU care about. I don't need their names right now. I do need a way to contact you through email. You do not have to have a blog to participate in this but I love my blogging friends. I am not advertising this because I want this to be for my followers, visitors, commenters. If you have blessed Granny by purchasing a quilt and have only contacted me through email you are also eligible to submit a friend or loved one. I will be picking 3 people to do a random act of kindness for(if we have enough entries. I have no time limit on when this will be done because I am very slow. The gift may be bought or made by me. I just want to bless YOU through blessing someone you care about. This post will close on Monday. I will announce the winners sometime next week. I am going to ask my 3 daughters to look at the stories and pick 3 people for us to bless. Then when the gifts are sent out I will contact you and post about them here on my blog.

This is my way of saying thank you all for your friendship.