January 27, 2012

Every Friday, Becki over at The Rusted Chain hosts Fingerprint Friday. This is how it works:

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know its true
You’re a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you’re covered with the fingerprints of God
So look around you and see where YOU can see God’s fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them?

1. Blog with your interpretation of God’s fingerprints. Be sure to link back over at Becki’s blog, so others can find the entire list of participants.
2. After you’ve posted your blog, sign the MckLinky in her comments section of the current Fingerprint Friday Post. Have fun exploring the other links as well!

This week I had to show you three photos so I could post pictures of all four of my nieces – just the ones from my bestie, Sarah. These pics were taken at our farewell lunch we had as they are moving to Utah this week.

These girls have brought so much joy to my life. How could I not see God’s fingerprints in them? God made each one of these girls special and gave each of them a beautiful countenance. I will miss them dearly.

Love you Patino Family. Best wishes on your new adventure!

Jamee over at A New Kind of Normal is hosting a blog challenge this month, just for fun. I’ve yet to participate but have been following along. Today I am managing to actually post along with the challenge. And today’s blog is 20 Random Facts about myself. I felt like there wasn’t really a point to this since I have my “Diane’s 100″ on here, but figure that was from years ago now and that I may be able to come up with some new ones. So here we go….

 

1. I am not a morning person.

2. Textures of food bother me, and what is acceptable changes on a whim.

3. I have a birth mark on my right leg and my cousin has the same one.

4. My favorite colors are purple, green and pink…but Purple ranks the absolute highest!

5. I dream of adopting children someday.

6. I plan to publish a book.

7. I am a Daisy Girl Scout leader and have been a member of Girl Scouts for 18 years.

8. I’d like to learn to play the guitar.

9. I like to sew and would like to be better at the craft.

10. I enjoy blogging and have made friends along the way through it.

11. My favorite kind of ice cream currently is Samoa by Dreyers. Love Girl Scout cookie time!

12. I love to bake. Chocolate Chip cookies are my favorite.

13. I love to wear yoga pants for pajamas. I can’t stand sleeping in pants that are not stretchy.

14. The first thing I do when I get home from anywhere is wash my hands. I am kind of a germaphobe.

15. I put lotion on my hands several times a day

16. I also put Blistex – Silky and Smooth on my lips several times each day.

17. I am allergic to Cherries.

18. I am an extreme couponer!

19. I’ve recently become a hair product snob…Thank you Samantha.

20. I used to keep my hair short all the time, but currently am enjoying having long hair.

 

See, I am not super exciting…just a bit quirky! What is random about your life? Tell me in my comments.

Every Friday, Becki over at The Rusted Chain hosts Fingerprint Friday. This is how it works:

There is a song by Steven Curtis Chapman that says:
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know its true
You’re a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you’re covered with the fingerprints of God
So look around you and see where YOU can see God’s fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Where do you see them?

1. Blog with your interpretation of God’s fingerprints. Be sure to link back over at Becki’s blog, so others can find the entire list of participants.
2. After you’ve posted your blog, sign the MckLinky in her comments section of the current Fingerprint Friday Post. Have fun exploring the other links as well!

This week’s photo is of the Sun Dial bridge in Redding CA. I had to go up to Redding for some business so I made the most of my day and went to see the bridge while I was there. It was a beautiful day even though it was morning time so the sun hadn’t decided to shine yet. I had never seen the bridge before and I thought it was an amazing piece of architecture.

I see God’s fingerprints in it because I see the talent he gave the people who designed it – both on paper and in structure. It is an amazing piece of art.

What have you seen God’s fingerprints in this week? Comment me and let me know. If you’re a blogger, link up to Becki’s blog with a post of your photograph!

Have a great weekend everyone.

January 18, 2012

I am such a horrible blogger – having not gotten a “New Year” post up yet. What is up with that? I find myself backed into a box. Like somehow I can’t blog about other things until I have my first post of the New Year up, focusing on just that – the new year! How many times can I possibly say “New Year” in one paragraph? Too funny.

Anyhow, we all know by now that 2012 is upon us. It is so weird to me that we are in 2012 already. I graduated in the year 2000 and remember growing up thinking that date sounded so far away…and here I sit twelve years after that marveling at how weird it seems to be living in the days that once seemed like an aion away. I also sit here in the year 2012 realizing that life is no where near what I imagined it would be all those years ago.

I’ve often felt boxed in given my current situation – which if you know me or have followed my blog you know that I am referring the challanges I faced these past few years – failed relationships and less than perfect health. I’ve struggled to come to terms with where life is at. I’ve struggled to make peace with it. And most of all I’ve struggled to really find anything to strive for given my current state of life. Until recently….

I had lunch with friend, a former pastor of mine, who really helped me see my life from a slightly different perspective. He helped me to see that I need to be able to make peace with my life where it is currently at and be okay with what God is using my life for at this moment. It may not be what I envisioned, or what I had planned – but we serve a God who is so much greater than that. My God is not boxed in and can’t be put in a box! He may use me more at the place I am currently at than when I was able to serve in ministry so fervently. And I have to be okay with that.

God sees my broken heart and doesn’t want me to be broken. But life may never be what I envisioned. Perhaps what I always thought God had for me may not really be in His plan at all. It is my job to trust and obey. And it is my job to seek him and find him. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

And so my goal for 2012 is to find peace with this place I find myself at in life. It is my goal to seek God first and trust Him with the path for my life. I feel like I’ve always sought God and trusted Him, but somehow I have always hung on to my own dreams and ideas. I need to seek God and really pray about His plans for my life. Maybe I thought I knew what they were, but God meets us where we are at and His path for my life may be a little different from what I envisioned. I just want to have peace with where God has me and strive to serve Him and glorify Him through it.

So there ya have it – my “New Year” post. Now hopefully I can get back to blogging now that I feel like I’ve met the “blogging etiquette” of a New Year’s Post. How is your new year going? Tell me about it my comments! I’d love to hear from you.

I spent Christmas in Michigan at my brother’s home with he and his wife. My mom also flew out and joined us. My dad and his wife, Jeanne, drove out a few days before Christmas to join us for the weekend as well. This Christmas was very special for my brother and I because for the first time in fifteen years we had both of our parents under the same roof. It was also the first Christmas I have spent with my dad since I was Fifteen.

We went to Christmas Eve service and then came home and had Elika’s traditional dinner of Swedish Meatballs.

Later in the evening we opened a few gifts and played some games. Jeanne and dad had a “family package” for all of us to open. Inside was one-piece Jammies for us all to wear. They were matching black jumpers with penguins on them! We all thought it was hilarious and Jeanne loved that we all are fun enough to wear them!

Christmas day we stayed home and did stockings. We all chose not to exchange gifts this year. We figured we would rather just enjoy family time and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We read the Christmas Story and also finished reading On That Night – the book I gave away on this blog a few weeks ago. It was very special to me to get to read the book with my dad once again.

We’ve had a very nice holiday together. Thank you Danny and Elika for hosting the Fisher Festivities 2011. I love you!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Tell me about in the comments!

Because brothers and little sisters just can’t resist the fun…

My family went to a restaurant called Dublin’s last night for dinner. The pic above is what happens after a full belly as the food coma sets in.

Michigan always gives me so much joy. Thank you brother! Life would be dull without you!

Over the weekend I awoke to snow here in Michigan. I hadn’t been feeling real wonderful and awoke fairly late in the morning. I peeled my eyes open to find this sight as I rounded the corner to the kitchen and saw out the window.

God does know how to make me smile. There is something magical about waking up to a fresh powdered snow. It is even better if you know you can stay in your comfy clothes all day and not emerge out into the cold!

Yes, my Jesus loves me. I’m happy to be right where he wants me right now – with family for the holidays.

I’m hoping for a White Christmas!

I’m at my brother’s for the holidays. For now I’m the only family here. But soon my mom will arrive an thereafter my dad and his wife will arrive.

The three of us – myself and brother and sis-in-love spent our Saturday getting some of the holiday baking completed. We made chocolate chip mint cookies and chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter blossoms and peanut butter fudge. We have cookie dough left in the fridge to make fresh batches as more family arrives.

We ate way too many goodies and then made some dinner. We ended the evening with a game and a Christmas movie – Miracle on 34th Street. My sis had never seen it! We had a wonderful evening. Now it is time for sleep.

Dear friends,

This morning I am going in for an upper GI endoscopy. They are looking for answers to my stomach trouble and trying to put all the pieces together.

I’m scheduled for several tests in the next month and then being referred to the GI doctor in San Francisco who saw me while I was hospitalized there.

Your prayers are appreciated. Thank you. I will post an update when I am up to it. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Here was my random.org sequence generator:

4
6
7
2
8
5
3
10
1
9

This means that #4 is the winner. Congratulations Jenny Reed! I need your address. I know you are moving before long but I can mail it out this week and it should get to you quickly. So let me know where to send it. You can private message me on FB!

Hard to believe that out of 100 views I had on my post only ten people entered! Someone has to win people. I wish I had the money to buy you all copies because this book is so dear to my heart. For any of you who would still be interested in procuring a copy for themselves, you can search on Amazon and find a copy for under five dollars including shipping. I highly recommend it!

Merry Christmas friends. Remember to celebrate the birth of our Savior. He is Christ the Lord!