Dec 22, 2015

A "Slow Fade" into sin

Every believer should take 5 minutes and listen to Mark Hall of Casting Crowns expound on Psalm 1 and his song "Slow Fade". Then take 5 more minutes to pray and think about it. I'm preaching to
myself too.



Be careful little eyes what you see
Its the second glance that ties your hands
As darkness pulls the strings
 
Be careful little feet where you go
For its the little feet behind you
That are sure to follow
 
Its a slow fade
When you give yourself away
Its a slow fade
When black and white are turned to gray
And thoughts invade, choices are made
A price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Its a slow fade
Its a slow fade
 
Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattering leads to compromises
The end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises
Leave broken hearts astray
 
Its a slow fade
When you give yourself away
Its a slow fade
When black and white are turned to gray
And thoughts invade, choices are made
A price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
 
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than youre thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking
 
Its a slow fade
When you give yourself away
Its a slow fade
When black and white are turned to gray
And thoughts invade, choices are made
A price will be paid
When you give yourself away
 
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
 
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
 
Songwriters
HALL, JOHN MARK
Published by
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Nov 14, 2015

Life

On October 30 my doctor added a new migraine preventive to my meds. This past Tuesday was the last day I had a migraine until last night. I know what triggered this one and won't be eating that again but right now my migraine and nausea are bad and I could really use your prayers. It's so bad that I laid down at 11 a.m. to try to sleep it off and didn't wake up until 4 p.m. and I wouldn't have then if Clara hadn't started meowing for attention.

I had so much I had planne...d to get done today while Sarah and David were gone for her engineering class and now the only thing I will manage is getting dinner ready so they can eat when they get home. 
 
I mentally hold my breath on the good days wondering when the next one will hit. I'm tired of having almost constant migraines and nausea. That Tuesday through Friday migraine-free period was the longest one I've had in quite a while.

Stress is adding to it I'm sure, but I don't see how I can eliminate any of it. David's now been out of work for 14 months. We've managed to hang on but I don't know how much longer that will be possible. Sarah is working about 24 hours a week on top of all her classes in her senior year. Daniel has started a new job and is in the process of moving out.

I just needed to vent a little and get my thoughts down. Thanks for reading

Oct 24, 2015

Clara the Ninja Kitty

I am seriously afraid that Clara has developed an odd affinity for the bathroom. First it was her fascination with watching the toilet flushing, then it was her love for water in the sink, but today has topped it all. She discovered the toilet paper and the joy of unrolling it. On the other hand she jumped up on the washer as I was treating a stain and put her paw in the detergent which resulted in her suffering the indignity of having her paw washed with wet water! Oh the torture of it all!




Claras gotcha day 8/16/15


That is not a bald spot on her side.  It is a bad hair day!

She loves the printer and is currently trying to work out how to turn it on herself.


Yes she really sleeps this way.

Oct 3, 2015

General Update

David is still waiting for a job.  Hopefully on the 16th he will go back to Corning for the final phase of their hiring process.  Please pray that his BP will not be elevated this time.  It is normally in the good range but he had fought traffic when he went in last month and his BP was elevated enough that they would not test him.

I am doing repair work at home for one of the hotels in the area.  It pays well and the items are brought to me so I only have to go out to pick up good thread and machine needles to do the work.  I will also, hopefully, be making from scratch an item they need.   I may check with some other hotels that are close and see if they have a need for this type of work.

Daniel is working 40+ hours most weeks.  Some nights he doesn't get home until midnight or later.  He has his own car up and running but with all the rain this week we had him drive Davids car today.  It is newer, has better wipers and tires and we felt the risk was really too great to drive his car today.  He has become a good driver and took a driver course 2 week ends ago that was sponsored by Bridgestone called "Teens Drive Smart".  There is another event called B.R.A.K.E.S that we want him to take as well.

Sarah is busy.  This is her senior year and if I remember right she is taking 11 classes.  She is working as well and averages about 30 hours a month.  She is happiest when she has something productive to do.  She has also become an instructables judge and she contributes projects there.  She has entered several contests and has placed as high as 3rd so far.  She is currently in a "yarn" competition for which she designed and knitted a hat.  She had a couple of friends from her outside classes model for her and at least 1 of them has asked if she would make them a hat. 

Clara continues to grow and make us laugh.  she has her routine down pat.  In the morning David feeds her then plays with her.  Once I'm up she trails me around the house.  She loves to follow me to the potty and then watch the toilet water swirling around.  If she wants me to comb her she has to be on my desk.  I tried to get her to let me comb her in the LR today and she would have none of it.  She sleeps on the bed at night but will not during the day.  She has a preference for fish over all other sources of protein so I've been saving the water from any tuna we use and adding that to her meal if she has no fish.


Financially things are very tight but we still have a roof over our heads and all our utilities.  I do wish I could find a cheaper ISP but so far have not been able too.

Thank you for all your prayers and when you think of us would you please add 3 families to your list?  All 3 have a family member who is very ill.  They are the Brian Family, the McClamrock Family & the Schladensky Family.








Sep 2, 2015

Happy Birthday Daniel

19 years ago our lives changed for ever.  At 5:36 a.m., on Monday September 2, Labor Day, Daniel Weldon Gibson made his entrance. 

I never was able to understand the love the Father has for us in sending Jesus to earth until I met my first born child.  Then I knew an inkling, just an inkling of that great love.

Having a child changes you forever.  I remember the early days of sleepless nights, learning to nurse and care for him,  The feeling of helplessness with his first ear infection.  I remember thinking, "our lives will get back to normal soon".  Guess what?  Normal is just a setting on the dryer.  Your life changes completely and forever.  A new "norm" is established.

With the birth of Daniel came our introduction to home education.  If you think about it, the minute your child is born you start teaching him.  A child turning 5 doesn't mean that you have to give up your right to educate your child to the state.  And so when he was 5 we started formally schooling him, (and Sarah who was 3) at home.

As I told him at graduation, it has not always been easy.  But the journey has been so worth it. 

I have a 19 year old son who is my friend.  I don't think we would have this relationship if he had been gone for hours every day.  

Anyway, I feel I'm rambling but want to say one more time, "Happy birthday Daniel.  I love you".






Clara eats MEAT!

I just did a price comparison for a good quality wet cat food and found that it would cost about $2.50 per day with commercial wet food versus about 80 cents per day homemade raw.  Just like eating a pre-made meal is more expensive for humans, and worse for our health, so it is with feeding our pets.  Of course if I was feeding a great Dane the cost would be much more, BUT I'm not feeding them prime rib and lobster, I'm feeding them cheap, human grade meats and organs.



Aug 19, 2015

Meet Clara

 
Clara the Ninja has joined our family as of Sunday. She is very affectionate and energetic.  She likes running laps through the house, playing with everything she can get her paws on, eating  plenty of tuna and assorted raw meats, sleeping with Mom and Dad and staring out the windows.  Her dislikes include being told "No" and a dirty litter box.

Aug 3, 2015

Yummy, made from scratch, Pico de Gallo

 
 
Sometimes when we go to visit David's parents his mom treats us to lunch at her, and our, favorite Mexican restaurant.
 
They serve the most delicious Pico de Gallo.
 
Last week Sarah, David and I went to visit, Daniel was at work, and she treated us to lunch.  Of course we were all enjoying the Pico and I finally had the presence of mind to ask if we could buy a pint to bring home.  So we did and Sarah and I ate most of it the next day.
 
I looked some recipes up online to get the gist of how it was seasoned then made it myself.  It came out so tasty!  Here is what I did:
 
about 2 c diced white cabbage
1 sm shallot diced
1 lg jalapeno diced, seeds removed
6 plum tomatoes diced, seeds removed
cilantro leaves finely chopped
about 1 tbsp. lime juice
about 1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
 
Mix it all up and let it sit for an hour or 2 before serving.
 
I think this is something I will keep on hand as I can eat it in place of coleslaw.
 

Aug 1, 2015

As Followers of Christ, we are called to forgive!



What good does holding a grudge toward someone do?  Not. One. Thing!


But you know what?  It hurts YOU, the grudge holder.  It festers in your soul and you become bitter and hateful and spiteful.  Certainly not something I, as a follower of Christ, want to have in my life.


So what do you do? Someone has done or said something to hurt you.  Maybe it was intentional.  Maybe not.  But you still feel hurt, offended, angry, bitter.


What does our ultimate authority, God's Word, say about this?


Ephesians 4:31-5:2

English Standard Version


31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.


5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.


How do we "put away" something like bitterness or anger?  What does this look like in our daily lives?


I had a pastor once tell me to pray for a person that I had confessed to him had done something that bothered me.  It wasn't anything sinful but it was really bothering me and causing me to have hard feelings.  He gave me very simple advice.  Pray.  Every time this person enters your mind pray for her.


Over the next 2 weeks I found myself praying for her several times a day.  She didn't know that what she had done had bothered me.  She didn't know that I was harboring bitter feelings toward her.  But I did and I knew it was sin on my part.   So I prayed for her.  At first it was hard but over time I found myself really and truly praying for her out of true Christian love for her as a sister in Christ.


So that is my advice when someone angers you.  Pray for them and as you do Christ will soften and change your heart to be more like his.





Jul 29, 2015

What is worse? Killing a beloved lion or selling parts from aborted babies?

Why do people care more about this story of the wrong lion being killed than they do about the news that Planned Parenthood is selling body parts from the babies they killed?

I don't think it's right to hunt for the sake of killing an animal to add to your trophy room. But it's not something I'm going to get all upset over.
One the other hand I do believe it is MURDER to abort these "fetuses". It is also morally wrong to sell their body parts.

No matter what your political stance can you see the difference between hunting and animal and Murdering a baby, a tiny person, a child made in the image of God?

Moms and Dads, what is someone wanted to "abort" your 12 year old?, your 12 month old?, your 12 day old? Would you be okay with that? No?
Then why are you okay with aborting a 12 week old baby in the womb?

Would you grieve a miscarried child? Then how can an abortion be different.

I have a 3rd child. A child that I miscarried in June 1997. To this day I grieve for her. I don't even know if it was a girl but that is how I think of it. And I named her. If I feel this way about a child I lost to miscarriage how do women really feel about a child they aborted?

Just some thoughts as I see FB blow up over the lion


 

Jul 4, 2015

Cooking session

Cooking up a storm! Days like this I am so, so thankful for our gas grill which is on the carport so I can cook in all kinds weather. Pictures when I get them all compiled. But here's a run down: Boston Butt, Asparagus, Grilled Pineapple, Boiled Peanuts, Potato Salad, Collard Greens, so far.


Jun 30, 2015

Plants & Back Strain

Repotted my huge aloe plant and her babies yesterday. I think I have 12 pots to sell if they all live. After I finished I cleaned up and took some Motrin because I knew I would be sore. By 8 last night I was crying in pain. Had a very painful and restless night and was convinced I was having another kidney stone attack.
Went to the Doc today still in terrible pain. She did the usual checks and said what did you do yesterday Anything unusual? I told her about the repotting of the aloe and she said this isn't kidney stones. This is a severe muscle strain.
What a relief. I still hurt but at least it's not kidney stones.


My aloe family.  That's a celery plant hiding in there too.

The rest of the aloe brood.

Hybrid Tea Rose that we moved and cut back.  Lots of new growth.

Jun 28, 2015

Daniels Gradutaion Party

After the graduation ceremony we had several friends over for dinner and to hang out.  We had kids here until close to 11 which isn't really late unless you're me and fighting a migraine and exhaustion!

Daniel at the sound board


David speaking
Me speaking
Presenting the diploma

Daniel ran his own sound
 


Some of his friends before we went to our house

Video games are always a part of the day

We had kids in every room except ours

Balloons added to the festivities

.
This is our gardenia bush.  Very fragrant.  Daniel is showing its size


some of the kids jumped rope
 
We had ages 4 - 54





Sarah hula-hooping while walking on the spool.  Hard to do and hard to photograph.

Daniel taking his turn.

 

Congratulations!! Daniel 2015 Graduate

Friday, June 19, 2015 our 1st and oldest child graduated from high school.  It has at times been a rocky road, but we ALL persevered and he did it.  He actually finished several days early and at times he felt like it would never happen.

We invited friends and family to join us for a short but meaningful ceremony.   Daniel chose songs that were meaningful to him, Dead Man, and pertinent, Schools Out.  The poem "If" has long been a favorite of Davids and one we as a family have heard and discussed many times.



Beginning of Wisdom Homeschool

Class of 2015

Friday, June 19, 2015

3 o'clock p.m.

Daniel Weldon Gibson


Prelude                                                             Dead Man by Wolves at the Gate

Invocation                                                        Evelyn Bickley, Gavel Club Instructor

If by Rudyard Kipling                                    David Gibson

Letter to Daniel                                               Susan Gibson

Letter to Daniel                                               David Gibson

Presentation of Diploma                               David & Susan Gibson

Benediction                                                     David Gibson
Postlude                                                           Schools Out by Alice Cooper

                                                                                  Dead Man

by Wolves at the Gate


I was once a dead man A stranger with no home
I stood opposed to God himself And yet He pardoned me


With all my heart and the fiercest will Desired not but to thieve and kill
I hadn't a thought of peace, but war Surrender was not what I'd endure


I was a murderer filled with lies and deceit Faced with my list of crimes that I would always repeat

Deliver me! Wake me up from this damning sleep

I'm surrendering! Pull me out from this wickedness In this thieving heart of stone

I realized all these sins I could not atone


I was a murderer filled with lies and deceit
Faced with my list of crimes that I would always repeat


I was once a dead man A stranger with no home
I stood opposed to God himself And yet He pardoned me


So just at the right time when we were dead in our sins

You took this heart of mine and gave me life again

You gave me life again This is where I begin


So far apart and a debt to fulfill This purchase bought on redemption's hill
An ailing disease I couldn't cure Oh this grace! How rich and pure!


Abide in me, my God! I am found in You Pardon me, my God! You know my deepest thoughts
Deliver me from sin! I am made anew
I'm surrendering this heart! For which your blood it bought


The mob they yelled and screamed for justice That wrath was ours we are to blame
You made a spectacle of rulers Denying You of a king's fame
Having crushed the written cannon That wrote of all our guilt and shame
Displayed upon the tree it was nailed The saving power of Your name


For I was once a dead man
A stranger with no home
You saw this wretch
And You gave him life
Forever I'll praise You!
I will praise You!



    IF
by Rudyard Kipling


IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!


Jun 17, 2015

Day 19 of Migraine

Today is day 19 of a level 8+ migraine.  I saw my doctor last Thursday and she gave me a shot of Demerol and Phenergan and a prescription of codeine and Phenergan.

 On Friday I called her back and she gave me a prescription for Percocet and a new nausea med.
Nothing is giving much relief.

 It is so hot here, in the high 90's with no relief in sight. 

I'm so tired of the pain.

My son's graduation party is this Friday and this is not something that can be changed. 
Please pray that I will get relief from this migraine


Jun 8, 2015

Brief Update

Right now it feels like everything is very negative and discouraging.

Nothing on a job for David.

Denied Medicaid because it took too long to get them the info so I have to start over.

Constant, level 8+ migraine for the last 11 days.

Daniel and David fighting.

Daniel thinking that since he is 18 he shouldn't have to have any rules.

Stressing over the financial situation.
 
Getting my pinched nerve in my neck fully healed.

On a more positive note, Sarah and I visited my parents church yesterday and the youth pastor preached a very good sermon about keeping the gospel of Chr1sts crucifixion and resurrection at the forefront of our f@ith.  Mom is going to get me a cd of the sermon. He was preaching to the graduates but it was a message we all needed to hear.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  It means so much to me,

May 18, 2015

Sarah's 17th Birthday

Sarah loves rock climbing and bouldering.  Unfortunately, Inner Peaks is the only indoor facility that we now of and they are 35-45 minutes away.  But it has become a birthday tradition for of to some extent.  So yesterday we took her along with Daniel and Steven, a friend from Gavel Club an Engineering this year.  Sarah had a free climbing and gear since it was her bday and the boys paid their own way so it was really inexpensive in the long run.  All we did was drive them and feed them.

17 years ago, on a Sunday much like yesterday, a little after the morning church services were over, Sarah Katherine Gibson made her debut.    She has been such a joy to raise.  Yes we have had our difficulties like all parents do but all in all we have been so blessed to have the privilege of raising her. 

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Here are some photos of the day.


 At Lunch

Daniel

Steven & Daniel





Steven & Sarah


Daniel at lunch

Steven at lunch