Cartoon Song...

It is time for Then Sings My Soul Saturdays. If you would like to join in you can by stopping by to see Amy at Signs Miracles and Wonders. I really did not have a song on my heart this week, then this one popped in. And yes it is different, but I like different. This is an old song that was on a Chris Rice CD. When I was youth leader years ago we listened to Chris Rice. The teens loved him. He is a very talented young man. Just thought we needed something a little different this week.

My prayer is that each person reading this post will be blessed in a special way this week!

until next time... nel

Church Memories...

It is time to join Linda at Mocha With Linda for Flashback Friday. She has the prompt listed on her site. And after you write about your flashback remember to link up so we can all enjoy it, but first you need to read mine. It is a great way to learn more about people and meet some wonderful blogging buddies!

This week we are remembering church activities and Vacation Bible School.

I did not grow up in a Christian home. I was lucky though, it was a good life, and there was no drinking or fighting. My mom and I did attend church for a few years. It was a small Tabernacle Baptist; we met in one of the rooms at the local high school. One of my older cousins and her family had started going there and she invited us.


I do remember attending VBS one summer. My cousin took her younger sisters and me. By this time the church had bought a house and had converted it into a church. They remodeled the garage and made classrooms out there. I remember our VBS classroom was in the garage in the loft area. It was a real small room with no windows or air conditioning. It was so hot up there. We had cookies and kool aid for our snack and I remember getting sick. So not real good memories of VBS.

I remember I had a couple of friends that I worked with after I had moved to Arkansas. One of the girls was a Christian, and I and the other one was not. We were teasing her about not having any fun, never drinking, never partying. And I remember one day we were having a conversation and she did not know what me and the other girl were talking about. I made the remark, “Jeesh what rock did you crawl our from under?” And without hesitation or a blink of her eye she replied, “The biggest one there is, Jesus Christ!” I was speechless; for once I did not have something to say. Her remark stayed with me, it was not something I forgot.

When Janice was born, I started taking her to church once in awhile. Then I accepted the Lord in my life in 1988. My dad was in the hospital and they did not think he was going to make it. I knew I was going to need help that I could not get through this without Him. Dad lived 10 years longer, Praise the Lord! And before he went to the nursing home he started going to church with Janice and me.

My daughter and I were at church every time the doors were open. Her dad started going with us also. I was the youth leader for about 13 years, the young ones first, then the teens. Worked with VBS during that time, part of the time as a teacher and other times as the coordinator. It was a good time, good memories and a lot of fun. There were times we would have 100 kids a night, which was awesome for a rural area. Good Memories!


Hope you enjoyed your visit. Now it's your turn! We're waiting...



until next time... nel

Skating Through Life...

It is kind of quiet in the Fastenau home this week. Looking forward to visitors next weekend. Stan’s daughter Debbie and her 3 grown kids will be spending a couple of nights with us. They live in Utah and Idaho and the youngest is in northern Missouri. He does not get to spend a lot of time with his kids so this weekend will be special.

We are still recovering from our trip to Arkansas. Clint’s birthday was the 10th, Jan’s the 11th and Eden’s the 14th. She turned 4 this year, a happy go lucky little girl.

It was a very busy week. I got to spend one day with Kathy, my partner in crime, my cousin, my best friend, the sister I never had. We had such a good time! We didn’t do anything special, just sat around. We laughed and cried and talked, something we had not done in a long time, Quality time!

It amazes me sometimes how the Lord works things out. Clint’s dad was still in the hospital when we got into town, in fact they had called hospice in. I was so glad we were there to help with the kids so Janice could focus on Clint’s needs. He needed her support, her love, and she was able to devote the time to Clint. His dad passed the morning of Eden’s birthday. Clint and Janice had spent the night at the hospital with other members of the family.

I was very glad that Eden’s party was the week before, more about that later. Eden had a hard time understanding how her papa’s body was here but he was in Heaven. She was sad that she did not get to go to the hospital and say bye to him, and asked if she could write him a note. I told her of course, so she proceeded with paper and marker (gotta love those washable markers) in hand to sit for 45 minutes composing a note to her papa. She had lots of letters and a few pictures and lots of hearts covering the page. On the night of the visitation, her mommy helped her place the note in the casket; needless to say several were wiping tears. At the funeral we sat at the back of the family section with Eden and her other grandparents. Sometimes we do not think children are listening or grasping on to what we are saying but they are. The preacher mentioned about Jim being in Heaven and able to walk and talk again, and Eden whirled around towards me with the biggest grin on her face and said: “Granny did you hear that, he said Papa could walk and talk now in Heaven just like you did.” “That makes me happy!” Out of the mouths of babes… we could learn a lot from children!

Now on to the PARTY! Jan decided to have Eden a skating party this year. What a fun time. She was so funny, in the beginning she was holding on for dear life, scared that she would fall, but by the end of the party she was skating all over the place.


This reminded me of how we are when we are faced with a problem or a trial. We hold on to it with all we got, trying to figure it out, find a solution. If we would only let it go, place it at the foot of the cross, He would take care of it for us, and we could enjoy life again. But we have to have faith, and believe, and stop picking it up again.

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6

until next time... nel

Food For Thought...

It is once again time for Flashback Friday. I have missed the last two weeks, but glad to be back today.
This week we are thinking of food. We all like to think about food, unfortunately I think about it too much! lol. If you would like to join in hop over to Linda’s at Mocha with Linda and read the flashback questions, then write your memories and share them with us. Remember to link back up at Linda’s.
Here we go…

When I was growing up we always ate at the table that of course changed, as I grew older because we were all going in different directions. However, we still always ate Sunday Dinner at the table together. Mom usually made fried chicken, mashed taters, gravy and biscuits. Mmmm they were the best!

Mom always did the cooking except during the winter. Dad worked on construction and was usually laid off during the winter, so since mom worked out of the house, he did the cooking. He was a good cook too.

I pretty much learned to cook on my own; she was always in a hurry, after working all day and really did not have time to show me anything. I did learn how to make her biscuits, only because I made her show me after I got married. She never measured anything, so when she would put it in the bowl, I took it out and measured it. So with a few tweaks here and there they turn out pretty good.

When I was growing up we had breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I moved to Arkansas, I had met this guy and invited him over to my apartment for dinner. It was on a Saturday, so I was picking up the apartment and cleaning when I hear a knock at the door. I might add I had not dressed yet, nor taken a shower, nor combed my hair, kind of scruffy looking. I thought to myself, who in the world is at my door, boy was I surprised when I looked out the peephole. It was him, I went ahead and opened the door, cause I knew he could hear my music and I preceded to ask him what he was doing there. He got the funniest look on his face and said well you did invite me to dinner, and I proclaimed yes dinner not lunch. He started laughing and said dear you have to remember you are in the south; we have breakfast, dinner and supper. Boy was I embarrassed, so he took me out for dinner and I fixed supper for him on Sunday. Memories…

Mom and Dad were both raised in Arkansas, so they were real big on any kind of greens and everything fried. I remember polk salad, turnip greens, mustard greens, and there were a couple of others. Then there were fried okra, squash, and potatoes. Now I can handle these once in awhile but not all the time. And green peas, what is it about peas that parents think you have to eat them all the time. I like the black-eyed peas or purple hull peas but not green peas. I promised myself I would not make my kids eat Martian turds, unless they liked them.

I remember when I was younger not only did mom fry everything she fried it in LARD. We finally convinced her that Crisco shortening would be better for them than lard, or at least we thought we had. A few years later I was helping her clean out her cabinets and I found the hidden lard bucket. She was actually putting it over in the Crisco can, hoping that we would not notice. And my husband wonders why I am so stubborn and hard headed at times… I come by it honest! lolol

I love memories! And we would love to read yours, don’t forget to link up over at Mocha with Linda!

until next time… nel

We're Back...

Just wanted to let everyone know I am still in the land of the living. We made it back yesterday, trying to get through the mounds of dirty clothes today. We had a wonderful time considering all the events that took place.

My son-in-law, Clint, lost his dad while we were there. He knew it was just a matter of time, he had been in the nursing home for about 6 years, and was in the hospital the last month. I am so glad we were there to help with the kids, so Jan could focus on Clint and help with arrangements. I thank God for answered prayer!

I have several pictures to share later in the week. We did have fun, but it is good to be back home, even though I miss my second home. And yes, I did miss all my blogging buddies, but it was a nice break away from the computer. I plan on spending the next few days trying to catch up on reading everyone's posts.

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20

until next time... nel

Off and Running...

Willie Nelson is not one of my favorite artists, but I enjoy some of his music, as long as I do not have to watch him perform. I know, strange, what can I say? It seems like this song has become our theme song!

Hope all of you have a wonderful week, I have to go get some spoiling time in. My son-in-law's birthday is the 10th, my daughter's is the 11th and Eden Jade's is the 14th. Eden will be 4 this year, hard to believe she is the same little baby that had such a rough start. Janice will be 28 this year, where has the time gone?

Happy Birthday Eden Jade, Janice and Clint! I will catch up on blogs when I return.

until next time... nel

Independence Flashback...

It is time to join Linda at Mocha With Linda for Flashback Friday. She has the prompt listed on her site. And after you write about your flashback remember to link up so we can all enjoy it. It is a great way to learn more about people and meet some wonderful blogging buddies!

This week we are going to flashback to Independence Day Celebrations. What a fun time. I remember when I was a kid we always went to Arkansas for the first two weeks of July. The plant where mom worked closed their doors every year during this time.

It was always a fun time for the Fourth! You could shoot fireworks down there anytime. We always loaded up on them on our way through Missouri, because they were so much cheaper. It was really fun when I got old enough to shoot some of them off. I remember one particular year we were at my Uncle Deb’s. Uncle Deb and Aunt Alta had the prettiest garden. Her nephew Sambo (not sure what his real name was) was there and we were lighting firecrackers. We were sticking them down in the mud, and getting a charge out of them blowing up the dirt. Then we, not sure which one of us, got the brilliant idea of sticking them down by the tomatoes or in the tomato. Talk about fun…lolol. It really blew them up. Uncle Deb laughed at us, but Aunt Alta did not think it was very much fun. Imagine that? lol The families usually all got together and had a potluck, food everywhere!

After I was in my teens we did not go to Arkansas as often. We stayed around home. In Northlake they always had a big celebration, with a parade and fireworks at night. I have a 2nd cousin who is about 12 years younger than me and her birthday is on the Fourth. Her mom, my cousin Gail started having birthday parties for her every year. It was always a fun time. They lived in Northlake also. For along time Ginger thought the parade and fireworks were to celebrate her birthday.

Fourth of July was always a special holiday! I can’t ever remember having a flag, but after I got out on my own I always put one up. And to this day if I have my camera, and see a flag I am usually taking a picture. And it bothers me that people do not show the flag respect like we were taught growing up. It is sad!

until next time... nel