He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)
Many evenings when JT strolls into the family room, he sees me curled up on the couch, balancing a laptop across my legs, and typing furiously. This familiar scene came to a screeching halt two weeks ago when my laptop died. Perhaps you heard my shrieks, wails, and moans in your neighborhood.
Neither JT nor I was surprised by the loss of the laptop. Over the past few months, the laptop had been waging a strong fight for life but its frozen screens, unchargeable battery, eternal boot up time, and perplexing series of blips, buzzes, and hums indicated the end was near. One afternoon, the laptop went into sleep mode and never awakened. Thankfully I had listened to JT when he advised me to backup my files!
Though I was upset about the laptop’s demise, I think JT was probably more saddened than I was. He knew we’d have to buy another laptop and to make matters worse, in the meantime, he’d have to share the other computer with his wife, a real computer hog. It didn’t take long for JT to decide to order a new laptop for me.
Christmas has come early! The new laptop is here, all the bells and whistles have been installed, and I love it! I’m now blissfully blogging and surfing with satisfaction via my new MacBook Pro. Yet another crisis in the Thorpe household has been averted!
On a much more serious computer note, I’d like you to join me as I pray for a fellow blogger named Jenny. She maintains a FANTASTIC homeschool blog that has been a tremendous source of information to moms homeschooling young children. This week Jenny’s blog was accidentally deleted and she is devastated! Thankfully, she has been able to retrieve the content of her posts via RSS feeds, but it’s going to take her a while to restore the blog. Please keep her in prayer.
“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:18
Today, BJ over at A Blessed Homemaker, surprised me with an award! Thank you BJ. I’m so happy that you’re enjoying your visits here at Embracing Him. This award was a such a pleasant surprise. It’s raining here and your award brightened my day! What a bloggy blessing!
Now that I’ve received the award, BJ has instructed me to list 5 things I am addicted to and then pass the award onto five other fabulous female bloggers.
My addictions:
- My family: God has certainly showered His finest blessings upon me! I have a fantastic husband (who deserves to hear more words of appreciation from his wife) and two darling daughters who mean the world to me! They make my life worth living to the fullest.
- Lip balm: I’m hooked. I have tiny tubes and little lip pots stashed in a variety of locations.
- eBay: I’ve been blessed with bargains galore through eBay, but our wonderful mailman, George, has not been blessed by my addiction. Just yesterday, he sweetly reprimanded me forcing him to lug such cumbersome boxes to my porch on a regular basis!
- Cooking: I love to eat so it’s probably good that I’m addicted to cooking. Cooking is one way I show love to my friends and family, so it’s perfectly acceptable for me to continue fueling my addiction by via cookbooks, food magazines, recipe websites, and food blogs.
- Charm bracelets: What can I say? I’m a girly girl! I love the jingling, jangling, and tinkling of these bracelets and I love that the charms represent many of the things that are important to me.
Five Fabulous Female Bloggers Who’ll Receive This Award From Me:
- Kathy over at Bona Vita: If you’re looking to make your home a wonderfully welcoming place for family and friends you must visit Kathy. She’s a homeschooling mother of nine (yes, NINE!) and still finds time to write encouraging posts full of inspiration and awesome photography. I found her blog earlier this year and have been hooked ever since! I so wish I lived near her!
- Amydeanne over at The 160 Acre Woods: Amydeanne always has terrific book recommendations. She’s an avid reader and she always posts reviews of the most fascinating books. In addition, her Word Filled Wednesday meme is a great place to find Christian encouragement.
- Jules over at The Roost: Whenever I visit Jules, I always laugh. Her posts are hysterical! She and her family have such fun adventures. I especially enjoy reading about her adorable grandson, Mr. Wonderful!
- e-Mom over at Chrysalis: When I began reading blogs, Chrysalis was one of the first I found. I continue to visit Chrysalis because e-Mom’s posts provide me with thought provoking topics, valuable information regarding Christian marriage, and some humor as well. When I decided to join her Marriage Monday meme, e-Mom happily welcomed me and even gave me the opportunity to serve as Marriage Monday hostess.
- Jenny over at Life Is Not a Cereal: I found Jenny’s blog while looking for early childhood activities for my Sweet Pea. Her heartfelt blog is full of Christian inspiration, recipes, and homemaking tips. If you’re a homeschooling little ones, I highly recommend visiting her other blog, Little Acorns Treehouse.
When you have a moment, do stop by and say hello to these wonderful women. I’m sure you’ll want to embrace their blogs too. When you get there, make yourself at home and stay a while. Oh, and don’t forget to let them know that Andrea sent you over!
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1)
My blogging buddy, Kathy over at Bona Vita, is launching a new meme today. Today is her first Photographic Friday and I’m happy to be a participant.
It’s obvious that photography is close to Kathy’s heart as her posts feature some of the most gorgeous photographs I’ve seen. Even before I read her posts, the photos let me know I’m in for a treat!
This week’s Photographic Friday theme is Just Outside My Door so I’m offering a glimpse of my front porch. My front porch is one of my favorite parts of our house. In fact, when the realtor led us up the steps and I set foot on the porch, I knew this was the house for us. The porch was crisp, clean, long and welcoming and within seconds I had already imagined myself sitting there reading stories to the children while sipping a refreshing glass of iced tea.
Since the air was not too cold (and because I was inspired by all that Blessed With 4 was accomplishing today), Sweet Pea and I gave the porch a good sweep and sprucing up today while Sugar Plum napped. After all our work was done, I snapped this photo. I love how the photo shows the waning moments of one season and eve of yet another. In the foreground, our porch still displays a few fall cornstalks and our tree is still shedding its last few leaves, while in the background and over in our neighbor’s yard a few Christmas reindeer mingle with a bright pumpkin.
If you’d like to see more beautiful photographs, please visit Kathy over at Bona Vita. She always makes visitors feel welcome and she’s always cooking up something delicious!
