the company you keep...

I received the following email from my friend "C" today. The amazing thing is that these words reflect the desire of her heart ALL.THE.TIME. When you surround yourself with people like C, you find yourself standing very close in hopes that all that fabulousness will rub off on you!

Hope you will join me in praise...

May our lives reflect Christ. May worship and praise of our precious Lord never cease and may we always be grateful and praise Him for His salvation and His completed work on the cross. Praise Him for the life that He gives us and every test and trial that He knows will make us stronger in Him and more useable for Kingdom work. Praise Him for His tender mercies that endure forever. Praise Him that He has given one more day to shine His glory into the darkness.
Praise Him for the privilege of prayer and for you all - His body -- who stand faithfully in the gap for the weak, the weary and the wounded every single day. Thank you for the light that shines so brightly in and through each and every one of you. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

And praise God for friends who direct my eyes to Him!

surrounded by beauty...and chocolate!

Last Friday I invited 5 lovely women to my house for an evening of fun. We had homemade salsa, smoked peppercorn cheese, crab dip, Pioneer Woman's yogurt cream and berries , and ooey gooey brownies.

We also had a chocolate taste test. I purchased ALL milk chocolate bars so we could compare apples to apples:









The winning chocolate bar was Ghiardelli's. Yes, the food was great...but the best part of the evening was the fellowship...hearing what God is doing in each of my friends' lives. As they spoke of their love for God and desire to know Him more, my home filled with beauty and joy...like the wafting fragrance from a bouquet of fresh spring flowers.

Here is M helping make the brownies:

Painting Party!

We bought a new home with much more wall space then our last. I'm not gifted in interior design...I know what I like & don't like, but I can't walk into an room and picture it fully decorated. It's like I have two left eyes or something. And I have trouble committing to art on my walls...it has to mean something to me or I get bored with it quickly. At my friend's suggestion, I bought blank canvases, acrylic paints, and invited a few friends over for a "painting party." After I filled their stomachs with goodies, we sat down to create our masterpieces. It was such a fun way for everyone to tap into their creative side...each gal's piece really reflects her personality! Now I have art on my wall that is original AND very special to me.

One of the friends is actually an artist...a beautiful person and a beautiful artist. We have sheep (that we LOVE) in the field next to our backyard, and she willingly took on the assignment to paint them for us. I have also included a painting she did of her dog. If anyone is looking fro a unique gift, you may consider having her paint an original for you!

So here are photos from the party and of my friend's work.