We had a good break and I was able to accomplish quite a few things on my "To Do" list. I was able to work in the garden a couple days when it was warm and sunny. It was mostly weeding, turning the soil, separating the Purple Cone flowers, Black-eyed Susans, Strawberry and herb plants to put into pots for transplanting. I did sow some seeds in the little garden spot by the sand box (Russian Giant Mammoth Sunflowers, Zinnias, Hollyhocks) and started some herb seeds in cell packs. Other things on my list I was able to get done were making some telephone calls for both my dear mother-in-law and mother about their health insurance plans and senior citizen services, returned some books to our library bookshelves and re-organized them, bought graduation and wedding cards and I also a did work on re-organizing in the living room. On one of the sunny days the girls and I took a road trip to the Gene Stratton-Porter Historical Site. I hope to post more about this.

There's still more on my list that I didn't get to: cleaning the front porch and getting the front porch furniture out and cleaned, hemming some slacks and jeans, sorting through garage sale items, sewing my felt snowmen, find my Anne of Green Gables books, find and wash the training potty, and plant my Tomato, Impatiens and Begonia plants. It's been too chilly yet for them with one night getting down to 38 degrees so I've held off on planting them. They stay in the garage at night and I set them in the sun during the day. Yet I am satisfied that I did accomplish what I did. The holiday week-end and my wedding anniversary is coming up so I'm looking forward to the next few days. We're getting together with our mothers and family for the Memorial Day holiday and with little extra time I'll able to do some more things on my list. With summer just a few weeks away we're beginning to make some plans but already they're changing to include unexpected circumstances with my husband's mother. The weather is even getting warmer and daylight is getting longer. It will all work out.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday even though it was cool and rainy. My husband loves to give my daughters and me a bouquet of flowers on special occasions. I always love receiving them and I especially love seeing the different bouquets he chooses. Each time it's different -- I love just about any and all flowers. Each mother at church got a carnation and I added it to his bouquet, along with Tulips and Lilacs from our garden. We also spent some time with my dear mother-in-law and got to see the flowers he picked out for her. I could only call and talk with my own mother because my sister was sick with a throat infection and we couldn't visit them. We hope to see them both some time this week though.

Orangeblossom, my youngest daughter, gave me a Grapefruit Pomegranate scented candle which we lit and used last night. Her hand written note was especially meaningful to me. I keep all their notes. Daisy, my oldest daughter, gave me a yellow Lily to plant in the garden and hopefully the weather will become warmer and dryer to work in the garden this week.

My family and neighbors know I'm coming out of my hibernation. From living in the same neighborhood, with the same neighbors for some 20+ years, they have come to know me and my joke that I hibernate for four to five months of the year: January, February, March, July, and August and come out of hibernation the rest of the year. The older I get I really do not like the extreme hot, humidity of summer and the extreme cold of winter. This is a special week, more my kind of weather. We're taking a break, a week of vacation and hoping for a few sunny spring days to work in the garden and take some road trips. The sky has cleared and the sun is shining ... it's become a beautiful day after all ... I want to get outside.

Luke 6:40
"A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher."

By God's grace may they follow Christ and be like Him.

Hat Tip: Bound By Grace

I mentioned attending a Ron Paul Freedom Rally and my daughter's account of it here in a previous post. Ron Paul spoke for an hour in a beautiful, full auditorium -- some one said it held around 1500 people and there were even a few standing. Our seats were past the middle and closer to the top but we could see and hear very well. After hearing Ron Paul talk, many people stayed to meet him. We waited in line almost forty-five minutes to have him sign our books. There wasn't enough time to talk or pose for pictures but we were thrilled just to meet him and shake his hand and thank him for all he is doing. We were allowed to stay around the signing table afterwards and take more pictures as other people were going through the line. It was a wonderful rally and I wish I could go to another. As we were going out to our car, my oldest daughter was taking pictures of vehicles with their Ron Paul bumper stickers. When she took a picture of a van, a couple came out right away and introduced themselves. We found out we had more than Ron Paul in common -- they were also homeschoolers. They had Ron Paul yard signs they no longer needed and asked us if we wanted any. We eagerly said "Yes!" and we now have signs in each of our four lower level windows and one huge sign in our front yard. We are the only ones in our area to display Ron Paul signs. A few of our pics:

even though we haven't got very far in our official study of the Principle Approach and the Constitution. I don't even have my daughters keep a note book yet. My "Seeds of Liberty" for our "lessons" come from my scribbled notes from my own reading which carry over to our informal conversations about the current ideas floating around in our society and in the political speeches and debates. Last night was a very eventful evening for both my daughters and myself -- a real life lesson. We got to hear Dr. Ron Paul talk and meet him personally. Some 1500 people attended and many of us stood in line to meet him and have him sign his new book. I feel very privileged and proud to be a part of his humble message of freedom and liberty. My oldest daughter does too -- she wrote this:

I'm concerned for America. We no longer have the amazing blessing of freedom to the degree with which we began. The government has increasingly ignored the boundaries set for it by the Constitution and entered criminally into our everyday lives. I'm also concerned for Americans. Americans who want the government to give things to them, things that not so long ago a man took pride in being able to earn for himself. The government never "gives" the American people anything. We pay for it dearly, through our tax dollars, and, even worse, with our freedom. Every time the government "gives" something to us it lays down a new set of rules and regulations that further inhibit us. How much more freedom can we afford to loose? How much longer can we afford to toy with the dangers of totalitarianism? You cannot make just a few holes in a dam - before long the dam will break and water will be everywhere.

It is not the government's job to feed us, educate us, clothe us, medicate us, and it is most certainly not the government's job to moralize us. If you look in the Bible, you will see that Jesus said the church is to be the salt of the earth, not the government. Everyone seems to want the government to do all the work for them so they can have a carefree life. However, we will not truly have a life left to live much longer if we continue down the path of "change". Already the government has crept into our personal lives, making laws telling us where we can smoke, how many signs we can put in our yard, when we can put up a new fence or a hot tub. How much longer before we are told which books we can't read, which web sites we can't visit, what we can't spend our money on, where we can't educate our children? How long before we become a communist nation?

Some may accuse me of being too extreme, exaggerating our danger. Freedom is not something to be lukewarm about. Once you loose it, it is nearly impossible to get back. Freedom must be guarded passionately. The things that truly chip away surreptitiously at our freedom are not things that can be bombed in a foreign land. They are things that are much closer to home. We The People are attacking our own freedom by not diligently seeking government leaders who adhere to the Constitution.

This is why I support Dr. & Congressman Ron Paul, someone who is as deeply concerned with the state of our nation as I am. Already the fire under this movement is growing. It has caught flame so quickly as more and more Americans are waking up to the disgraceful state of our nation. I was proud to attend a joyful and peaceful Freedom Rally with nearly 1500 others to hear Ron Paul speak on May 5th, 2008. To see people come together like that, people from all walks of life, united for the same cause, was mind blowing.

I believe that America can turn around and be saved from destruction. I believe that God will stir people's hearts and guide us back to freedom again. And I can hardly wait.

"... James and John asked him, 'Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?' but He turned and rebuked them and said, 'You do not know what kind of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.' The Gospel of peace is being distorted. Christianity cannot be spread through the barrel of a gun nor by civil government. The Bible teaches that the limited role of civil government is to protect the life and liberty of the people it serves. So when did the religion of 'turn the other cheek' become the religion of 'do unto others before they do unto you'? ..."

My youngest daughter, her friend and I have been on the road the past few week-ends at some of their favorite Christian rock concerts. This week-end is no different we're headed for Indianapolis -- one of the last road trips for a while. But Monday is another exciting day. Both of my daughters and I are going to see Dr. Ron Paul in person! I was able to purchase three copies of his new book, The Revolution, A Manifesto so we'll be taking them along to have him sign. These are busy and very exciting times!