Easter......and the Power of Love

There are so many wondrous aspects of Easter that it can be truly hard to take in and get our hearts and heads around it all.

Here is one thing that I always find myself in awe of - He had the POWER to stop it but the LOVE to let it happen.

This concept is just so contrary to my thought process.  I am just at a loss when I think about it.  I don't want anything bad to happen - no hurt, no loss, no nothing.  I mean I get angry at injustice.  I get overwhelmed when dealing with physical pain and suffering.  Oh and don't even mention name calling and bullying.....those are too much for my heart to even witness....it breaks me.

Yet all this happened to Someone Who had the POWER to stop it -  with His words, a raise of His hand - He could have stopped it

But

He had so much LOVE for us that He walked through an unthinkable night, hung on a cross and died for us.

Breathtaking isn't it?

Where are we exercising our POWER rather than our LOVE?
- we may have the POWER to talk down to a waitress
- we may have the POWER to exercise control over someone and their situation
- we may have the POWER to decide who is included and who is excluded
- we may have the POWER to make someone's day or cause havoc
- we may have the POWER to point to someone else's faults
- we may have the POWER to ruin reputations and tear down

But what if we exercised our LOVE instead and we
- gave grace to that waitress
- gave sincere consideration to the needs of others
- were inclusive of others
- were peacemakers
- owned our faults in situations
- encouraged and built others up

Here is why all of this is doable, my friends

Christ Lives! It is His Resurrection that we will celebrate this weekend.

Tap into the POWERful LOVE of Christ and we too can exercise our LOVE even when we have the power to do otherwise.

Wishing you a blessed Easter Holiday where you recognize the POWER of LOVE.

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,  equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21

Target and Publix

Just two quick reminders today:

First, Target has the items from the Hunter collaboration on line now.  You can't purchase them yet but you can browse......and you know what I like about as much as shopping - browsing!

Click here to see the whole collection that is coming.

But here are a couple of things that look good to me

Hunter Tall Boots for only $40





At this price you can afford a solid and a print......but if you don't want tall, the short boot is only $35 and how cute is it


The fanny pack got an update and is called a Bum Bag $20


Or a cute backpack $35


And the unisex rain coat $40


And remember if you have a Target Red Card there will be items exclusive for you and early access to the sale begins on April 7th.

Lastly, if you are local the new Publix near Providence has its big Opening today.  I do love a new grocery store.  Maybe I will see you there.

Talk to you on Friday!

Bible Study Fellowship

So today I want to share wih you a Bible Study I have been attending for over 16 years.  It is Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) a phenomenal study of the Word of God that is non-denominational and strictly Bible based.  The classes are held for men, women and  young adults.  Children (grades 1-12) are offered with the adult evening classes and for younger kids with the adult day classes. Bible Study Fellowship is described like this on the website

Whether new to the Bible, a seasoned reader, child or adult, we explore Scripture together.  

Each year there is a special study topic.  Currently BSF has the following offerings

Genesis

The Life of Moses

People of the Promised Land I

People of the Promised Land II

Isaiah

Matthew

John

Acts of the Apostles

Romans
and

Revelations

Generally, the studies rotate between Old Testament and New Testament.  The class runs the school year starting in September and ending in May.  There's always  planned holidays, spring breaks and Christmas breaks.  We meet one time a week for an hour and half.

When I first went to BSF and registered they asked on the form what would I rate my Bible knowledge.  The options were something like none, little, moderate or advanced. Having grown up in Church and studying God's word my whole life I think I selected "advanced".  The next year when it was time to register I selected "little to moderate".  Here's the thing - this is the most in depth study I have ever done.  We cover books of the Bible that you just don't hear a lot of sermons preached from......no matter how often you attend church.  I learned in BSF that I still have so much to learn.

This year we are doing the Romans Study.  Next year we will be doing a new study for BSF - People of the Promised Land I.  If you have been to BSF before, you might remember there was a well loved study entitled The Minor Prophets.  Well this new study is similar to that one but adds in some new Books of the Bible that BSF has never studied before.

Want to read how the class is formatted click here.

Want to find a class in your area for you, your husband and/or kids click here.

If you can, come join us in BSF.  If you want to register for next year's study most classes will be holding sign ups on their first class of the month in April.

There is no better investment than the one that grows you and your family closer to God.  I hope you will prayerfully consider joining a class.

Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

And don't forget you have 5 days left to honor  your service provider this month.  Don't miss this opportunity.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

Waco - Part 3....what we bought

I  hope you have enjoyed reading about our trip to Waco.  If you are just tuning in, no worries you can read Part 1 by clicking here and Part 2 by clicking here.

Now as promised I want to tell you a little about what was in these boxes

So you will remember our first stop when we landed in Dallas was the North Park Nordstrom.  As usual we had our most success in the shoe department.  I featured this one on the blog last week in the navy and white stripe.  After I had a chance to try it on I purchased this color

Oak Platform Wedge Espadrille

I really liked this shoe.  I liked all the colors.  Of course, I went with the most basic because I thought it would go with everything.  But this is one I will watch to go on sale and I may get another if that happens.

Now this next shoe I had not found on line but in person, I loved it.  Here is the on line photo

Caslon Darcie Slide

And here we are trying it on in the store

It is called a Morrocan print.  I think it will be cute with little jeans and even skirts and dresses this summer.  It comes in a bright yellow, black, red and walnut color if you prefer a solid.  It is flat but has a very flexible bottom and is really comfortable.

Then we snagged this neutral Sofft Sandal

It was comfortable right out of the box.  It comes in a black and also a sand/gold combo.

We also really liked this Birkenstock

Platform Birkenstock

We are fans of Birkenstocks and the platform and ankle strap really push these over the top.  There is another color option but we liked this one the best

And then we popped by this little guy

Jeffrey Campbell Fling

I got the black because 98% of my clothes are black.  But it also comes in this gold, a silver and a clear.  It is a rubber slide sandal so it would be a great beach or pool shoe, but I plan on just wearing it out and about.  It has 140 five-star ratings.  And at only $39.95.......why not.

As far as clothes, we picked up this 

Madewell Embroidered Top  It also comes in a really pretty blue, but if you have been around here a while you know we are partial to white shirts.

This little t-shirt came in several colors.  It is lightweight and just a good go to top.  





It is a linen t-shirt that is super comfortable.


Also, this little BP scalloped asymmetrical dress came home with us.

I assume this model is pretty tall because it just above the knee on those of us in the 5'4 height range.

Lastly, we picked up this little wrap skirt.

BP Wrap Skirt

We got a few more small things like the best no-show socks, Stance Brand which we also wore on the trip. And on that subject here is something else we wore on the trip

Levis Jet Set Comfy Pant

These are a cute little pull-on pant with zippers at the ankles.  They also come in a camo pattern but be warned the picture on-line is not good.  I don't think I would ever have ordered them from that picture alone.  Fortunately, we saw them in the store and loved them.  The black is great, but if you need camo go ahead and place the order, trust me they are cute in person.

Ok, that is it Waco wrapped up.  Thanks for coming along and reading.

Before you go, let me remind you that you have one week left if you are participating in our Great Things in '18 challenge. Remember this month is all about service providers.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Talk to you on Monday!!!

Waco Trip - Part 2

Today we are continuing the Waco Trip Report.  If you missed part one, click here to read about the first two days of the trip.  Now for days 3, 4 and 5.

On our third day we decided to get up early and get to the bakery.  The Silo Bakery opens at 6 am.  We arrived around 7:30 and had to wait in line about 10 minutes to get in.  If you don't go early, you will find the line stretches to the end of the block and you will be in line for a really long time.

We had a beautiful morning but it was so cold.

They give you this little order form to have ready when it is your time to enter the bakery.

The pretty inside of the store

For breakfast we got the cheddar bacon biscuit, the cranberry orange biscuit and the cinnamon roll.

All were very good but I vote the cranberry orange the best.  

Then in this box 

we got CUPCAKES!

We tried the strawberry, the lemon lavender, the Shiplap (which was vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing) and the Nuts and Bolts (which has pecans and walnuts).  

Again, all were delightful.  Believe it or not we even carried some all the way back home. The TSA guy gave me a strange look but we made it through security with the cupcakes.

We wanted one more round through the store so we got in line and waited an hour for them to open.  It was worth it though because we got these items

A great smelling candle

Some wooden flower pots

A recipe clip

Some wooden candle holders

After we shipped these items home, we went to some other shopping areas in Waco.  We spent the most time in Spice Village

There's everything here - clothing, jewelry, bath products, home decor, purses, shoes......you name it.   We managed to pick up a few fun items here. This is the only picture I could find, but don't worry it is right in Waco only 5 minutes from the Silos......just ignore the whole '41 miles ahead thing'.

And then we were ready for lunch.  We chose a cute little local eatery, Sironia

You will have to take my word for it because they have signs posted that you cannot take pictures inside which is a shame because their food was pretty and good.  We had chicken salad, pasta salad and some carrot raisin muffins.  The little cafe sits right in the middle of several little shops so, yes, we shopped some more.

Then we hit a few of the surrounding antique and gift shops.

We went home and rested a moment before we popped out for BBQ and brought it back to the house for dinner.  We had to get to bed early because the next morning we were up bright and early for breakfast at Chip and Joanna's new restaurant

It is very Joanna'ish

We had eggs benedict

The farmhouse breakfast

French Toast

And pancakes

The restaurant is only open 6am-3pm so you have to get there early.  We only waited about 15 minutes for a table.  This was definitely one of our better meals.  After this meal we packed up and drove an hour and forty minutes to McKinney, TX.  They have quite the square - lots of shops and restaurants and unlike a lot of downtown areas this one was super busy and hopping.

Here's a couple of our favorite stores there in case you are ever in the area

Homeology has some gorgeous home decor items.

I may be waiting for something I ordered to be delivered.....I will show you in a future post.

Sharla's was too much fun.  We actually went into it twice.  This is the kind of store that I would visit every weekend if it were near me.  I loved it.

I wish I could show you what I bought in here but it was Christmas presents so I can't spoil the surprise.....

But here are a couple of things I didn't buy.......yet.  But I am still thinking about them so there is a good chance I may circle back

The prettiest laundry line

And these morse code necklaces by Dot & Dash are necklaces that use little beads to spell out a particular word or saying in morse code

They had several necklaces in stock.  Standard necklaces that say things like Blessed, Sister, Strength, Believe, etc.  But the neat thing is you can custom order the necklace to say anything you want.  I think having a necklace with a special message in morse code would be kind of fun. She does not have this stuff on line but I am sure a phone call to the store could get you what you need.

We had lunch at a cute little place called Spoons where we pretty much had soups and sandwiches and it was all good.

We made a quick run to Trader Joe's to get a few necessities and then if you can imagine we still had a little retail energy, we went back to Allen, TX which has an outstanding outlet mall.  In fact, it is one of the best outlet centers I have been to.  They had Tory Burch, Kate Spade, Cabi, Loft, Nike, Chicos.....and so much more.  If you are in the area, go there but remember your suitcase has a 50 pound limit......so there's that.  But our philosophy was don't leave any pounds on the table so we went back to our hotel in Allen and stuffed our suitcases with all our new goodies and prepared to fly home the next day.

So remember this picture?

Well come back on Friday and I am showing you what we found at Nordstrom and had delivered home.

Before I go, let me just say Chip and Joanna are like the Disney World of Waco.  You know how everything is clean, shiny and happy at Disney well that is what everything they touch is like.  Everyone who works in their businesses was polished, happy and friendly.  They obviously have a very good employee training program.  We had a really great time and so glad we had a chance to visit there.

See you on Friday!!!!

Waco Trip Review - Part 1

Happy Monday, girls.  Today I am going to start sharing with you our little trip to Waco, TX.  There are lots of pictures so just brace yourself.

The best flight we could find was out of Nashville on Southwest Airline.  They had a direct flight into the Dallas Love Airport so we left home last Sunday at about 5:30am to drive to Nashville.  It did not help that it happen to be the Sunday we lost an hour of sleep but we pushed through.....barely.

When we arrived in Dallas we got a rental car and drove straight to

Since we don't have a Nordstrom, we are always excited to go to a place that has one.  And we had heard wonderful things about this Northpark location.  It was less than 15 minutes from the airport which made it a no brainer.  Here is the thing - you can shop all you want and then just ask Nordstrom to ship your items home......and they ship it for FREE. So this was the front porch when we got home.

The stack on right is from Nordstrom.  I will share with you the contents a little later.  The FedEx box on the left......well I will get to that a little later too.

Now onto the trip....

After shopping we went to lunch at Torchy's (thanks for the recommendation Susan). We started with Chips and Queso

And had brisket, chicken and catfish tacos

All of it was super good and really lived up to the name Torchy's.....it was super hot and spicy but very good.  While our mouths healed we decided to make the hour and half drive to Waco.  For a Sunday afternoon there was a lot of traffic but we made it just fine.

We rented a little 3 bedroom/2.5 bath house from Airbnb.  It was not a Fixer Upper house but definitely had the same feel.  Here is our little house

It was very cute and it was walking distance to the Silos.  Parking is a bit of a challenge there so if you are going at a busy time, definitely worth staying somewhere like this.  Want to see inside? Great - because I took a few pictures for you....

They had it decorated so lovely and welcoming.  I mean what says come on in a sit a spell more than cookies and flowers

Here is the Master Bedroom and Bath

The second bedroom had a queen bed

The third bedroom had cute twin beds

These two bedrooms shared a jack-n-jill bathroom

Here is the living room and the kitchen area.

It had a completely fenced in backyard and lots of room for parking.  The owners obviously take great care of the place.  The linens were nice.  There was coffee, tea and even water in the fridge for us.  We really enjoyed the place and would definitely stay there again.

The one thing I would warn you of is there are a lot of trains that go through Waco.  And yes we could hear them in the house, but we could also hear them everywhere else we went in Waco.  If you are a light sleeper you just might want a sound machine or some ear plugs.

We got settled in and had a good night's rest and then we go up early and went to meet our tour

We almost didn't do this.  We almost missed the biggest treat of the trip.  The tour is $79 per person but if you buy 4 or more tickets the price is $60 per person.  It was a 3 hour tour and they took us all around Waco.  We got to see so much and learn so much but most of all it was super fun.  The guides were phenomenal.  We had David and Paul.  They were funny, entertaining and knowledgeable.  I don't want to ruin it for you in case you plan to go, but let me assure you it is more than worth the time and the money.  I will say it included a stop to a great coffee shop and Harp Designs where you get to buy yourself a little something.  I got this wooden letter.

Make sure you schedule this into your visit.  We made it the first thing we did so we could go back and visit any particular places of interest.  I highly recommend that approach as well.

After the tour we walked to the Silos where there was a huge crowd.  We had lunch at one of the food trucks called the Cheddar Box.  They served gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese.

We tried the Lemon Rosemary mac and cheese

and a bacon, gouda and basil on sour dough grilled cheese sandwich

Both good but we liked the sandwich the best.

Here are a few shots from around the Silos

Then we stood in line to get in the Silo Store.  Although the line was wrapped completely around the grounds it only took us about 25 minutes to get in.  And then......we SHOPPED.  So there are two levels in the store.  Here are a few general pictures

By the way, the lady in the green sweater there with her back to us is Joanna's mom.  She helps out around the store and even prays for people.

And just so you know you don't have to worry about how to get your bounty home.  Once you spend $100 (like in the first 20 minutes you are there) you get free shipping through Fed Ex, but you do have to pay for the packaging. We shipped home a couple of planters, about 6 t-shirts, some kitchen items and a few pottery trinkets for $13.  I thought that was super reasonable and worth it.  Plus FedEx has a counter right there in the store so you don't have to go anywhere additional.  You pay for your items at the checkout then walk them to the Fed Ex counter and that is all it takes.

Here is the Fed Ex counter

Remember that box on the left of the porch.....well here is a little peek at what was inside

Yep those are little Silo salt and pepper shakers.....cute, right?!

For Dinner that night we went to a popular local spot called George's.  Let me just pause here for a minute - Food was a struggle in Waco.  There are plenty of chain fast food places if that is your speed.  But when I am out of town I like to eat somewhere new and different that I can't get at home.  Unfortunately, so many places were only open Tues- Saturday and the ones that were open closed at the strangest earliest hours.  It was odd.  Very odd.  But George's was recommended highly so we went.

We had catfish, chicken fingers and chicken fried chicken.  

It was edible.  It was ok.  Nothing about the place left me desiring to return. I don't ever like to speak poorly of something but all I can say is we were fed and the waitress was very nice.

Ok, that sums up Sunday and Monday.  On Wednesday's post I will try to cover what we did Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Then on Friday, I will share with you some our best shopping finds.  Hang with me, girls, it is a full week of Waco reporting but there is still a lot to come.

See you Wednesday!