Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday cuz Wendy!!

Have a great day!

Abundant Friday

Friday's verse:

"We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death."

What the pastor was talking about last Sunday was choosing life instead of death. Right here and now. So these verses were to help us live each day abundantly---live in Him--through him. I hope they meant something to those who read them.

Thursday's Abundance

1Timothy 6:17-19
"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good words, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

It takes me awhile to really read and understand scripture. Sometimes it seems like the words are obvious, but there is really more meaning to them than what we first think or see.

Halfway Through Abundant Living for the Week....

How's the abundant life coming so far? It's Wednesday. I hope you've been blessed by the things God is working in your life. Because if we look, God is around all the time. Everyday He shows up somewhere. I know there are days I don't see it.....But it's because I'm not looking.

Yesterday was inauguration day. Lots of coverage. History being made. It's truly amazing.

I'll post the other two verses Thursday and Friday.

Living Abundantly Day Two.....

The verses for day two are kind of long. We had really intersting discussions on these verses in church. A couple of different groups of people came up with something similar in talking about them.

Colossians 1:9-10 "For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

We talked about how the journey is always continuing. That as you increase your knowledge of God, you grow and this is such a continuous aspect of the walk with Christ.


Happy Birthday Melanie!!!

Living Life Abundantly This Week......

Almost a year ago my husband and I started attending a new church. I mean a brand new church. It's called The Quest and the mission/vision statement is "refusing to give up on God's dream for the world."

We (the church)are true to the vision/mission. My husband and I can't hardly put into words the difference this church has made in our lives. The best way I can describe it is like this. If you've ever thought about going on a mission trip, or doing some sort of mission work for your community...well that is this church. It's like living on some sort of a mission trip all the time. It's totally different from any church we've been to in the past. We have grown and been blessed and learned from the minute we started attending. It truly is amazing.

After the first of the year our pastor started a sermon series title "Unwritten." It's about faith and how you can't live that through somebody else. You have to experience faith and God and all that goes with it individually. No one else can have your experiences.

So this week he had us talking about 4 verses from the Bible and how living them out daily will cause you to live abundantly.

I will post these verses each day. Let me know what you think living these verses abundantly means to you. There are no right/wrong answers. I'm simply going to keep them in mind and see what happens.

The first verse is from the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 4:1 "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." NKJV Nelson Study Bible.

Ta Da---Introducing our Newest Addition.......

Titan



I work at a Nissan dealership and we had a mama cat hanging around. She had babies and they were living under a car. One of the ladies in service helped to feed mama while she was pregnant and helped to take care of the kittens. They were finally old enough to go to homes and well, I mean, how could I resist?
Our cat Jasper wished I would of resisted. He's not liking the family right now. He's basically hiding out, but all tell me that won't last long. I hope not. I love my kitty Jasper and I've grown quite fond of the new little one, too.
My hubby named him. Very appropriately I think! Don't you?

Titan is learning the lay of the house. He's also quit hissing.
He loves to play and jump. He's very fun to watch.

So what do you think? I mean really, how could you resist this face?

Fun Today Before The Big Reveal

Monday you learned we had a mccaw.
Tuesday you learend we had a cat.
Wednesday you learned we had a Lilac Crown Amazon.
Before I introduce you to our newest addition tomorrow I thought we'd have a little fun today.
Can anyone guess what our new addition is? With hubbys pet store background it could be anything. Or it could be another common household pet.
What's your guess?

Introducing....

Lila!


We've only had Lila about 2 years. Her owner became ill and couldn't take care of her anymore, so someone who knew we had birds asked if we could take her. So we did.
Lila is a Lilac Crown Amazon. She LOVES my hubby. We have her in our bedroom. When I walk in the room. Nothing. When Lenny walks in...whoo...does she get started. She makes all kinds of noise! She is thrilled.
Lila also loves peanuts. I mean really loves them.
She is a good bird, but one that stays in the cage. We don't handle her and I think she likes it that way. She's content for all of us to just talk and look at each other.

Any more bird stories out there? Or what about stories where people knew you were kind hearted and asked to you take in a pet that you hadn't planned on. Did it work out? Or not!
Check in tomorrow. We're going to have a little fun!

Now Introducing......

Our second longest running roommate is:
Jasper--(Quite the popular name now because of Twilight--although Jasper in Twilight is a little odd!)



We've had Jasper going on 13 years. He was dropped off at the pet store when hubby owned it. Jasper got along great with Shadow so we brought him home. He's my sweet, sweet kitty. He follows me everywhere, sits on my lap in the morning as I write. He sleeps with me every night. He purrs so loudly!!! He is a happy, lovable cat.
We can tell Japser misses Shadow. He's extra lovey-dovey since Shadow hasn't been here.
Jasper has taken to sleeping in my closet during the day. He climbs up on the highest rack and lays on my clothes. So if we ever can't find him we just look in the closet.

Any cat stories you'd like to share? Or just tell about your cat. We'd love to hear.

Check back tomorrow for the third in the brood.

Meet The Petersons

My hubby used to own a pet store. Before I met him the only pet I'd ever had was a cat. And I never had a pet when I lived on my own. There are just certain parts of pet ownership I can't handle.
So, when I my kids and I invaded Lenny's house many years ago we inherited quite a brood of characters. We had a dog, birds, goats, horses, and donkeys. Over the years we added and lost to the group. We raised a goat in the bathtub for a while because it was so cold outside. Sammy (the goat) grew up thinking he was a dog. We've had some fun times.
Last month we had to put Shadow to sleep. It was a very sad time for us. We miss her. I'm not sure if we'll get another dog. I'm leaving that up to my hubby. Whatever he decides will be okay by me.
But we did get a new addition to our household. Before I introduce you to him, (yes this addition is a boy) I thought I'd let everyone know who we already live with.
So this week I'm going to post each day our roommates (for lack of better terms). You can meet them one by one and at the end of the week I'll introduce to our new addition. (And let you know how they are all getting along!)

We are going in order of how long we've had these pets. The longest running Peterson Pet is Chiquita.


Chiquita is 18 years old was Lenny's before I met him. He raised her from a baby and she's quite the character. She has phrases and words she says quite often:
Here kitty, kitty.
What?
Uh huh.
Hello.
She also talks to herself in bird lingo with different voices and has quite a good time. She also screams when we leave the house. We cover our ears and run out the door. (I would say this is an exaggeration. It is for us but not our guests---sorry!)

Having a mccaw makes life interesting to say the least. I can't watch a you-tube video in the living room without getting her all riled up. She doesn't talk when people are around unless you're around a lot. She dumps her whole bowl of food out into the bottom of her cage.

Any bird stories out there? We'd love to hear.

Check back tomorrow for the second in our brood.

One More Day To Post

Just a reminder. There's one more day to post for the Jazzin' Up January contest on the F.A.I.T.H. blog. Go do it!

Jazzin January at F.A.I.T.H.

The Jazzin' Up January Contest is in full swing over at the F.A.I.T.H. blog. If you haven't checked it out, come on over. Add your paragraph to the mix and let's see where Katie Sue-Ann McCall is heading next week.

Getting Ready For January......

If you visit here, make sure you visit the F.A.I.T.H. blog every Monday in January. (Of course we'd like to see you there everyday!!)
But I am holding a month long contest in January on Mondays. What kind of contest?

Check it out this Monday, January 5th for all the details and part one of the Jazzin' January Contest.