Recently someone said to me, "I want God in my life, I need God but I'm not a spiritual person, what do I do?"

Hmmm... 

I have taken some time to ponder the question that was presented to me.  It is funny because I have always said that my relationship with God has come easy because "I am a spiritual person."  I have longed to connect with God as far back as I can remember.  But what makes me spiritual and someone not spiritual?

Now that I am really thinking about it, I truly think we are all spiritual people.  I think anyone can love God as much as I do, and that the love for Him can come as easy as it does for me.  I think it is a DESIRE. 

I think I desire to connect with God above anything else in the world.  I seek ways to connect with God, I think of Him all the time.  I sing to Him, I think Him, I praise Him, I talk to Him, I ponder Him, I read about Him, my life is consumed my Him.  And I love it.  I choose to do these...

Hello! 

Thank you so much to those of you who have been contacting me with your answers to these 36 questions.  I have really been enjoying reading them and discussing them with you. 

I have been noticing as we move further down the list, the questions are more difficult to answer.  Some of them can get personal.  But, I guess if we want to fall in love, we want to know the person - well, personally!

Q 7: Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

A 7:  I don't.  I used to think that I was going to die young from breast cancer, but I am creeping into old!

Q 8: Name three things you and your partner have in common.  

A 8:  My partner and I have four things in common. Zack, Nick, Beau, and Cainan.  After that, not much!!  We are two completely different people.  But, let me think...1. We like to watch the birds. 2. We like classical music. 3. Okay, I just can't think of anything else.  We do a lot of things...

Thank you to all who answered the first three questions!  I truly enjoy getting to know you as I read your answers.  

Let's get right into it.

Q 4:  What would constitute a "perfect" day for you?

A 4:  A perfect day for me would have bright sunshine with a few white fluffy clouds in the sky, about 82 degrees.  I would see my children and their families, maybe play yard games or sit around a pic nic table laughing about old times and talking about new times.  I would hug a cow.  I would do art with friends.   After eating pizza from Ilianos and chocolate cake from McQuades I would snuggle on the couch with my husband and dog watching the 2009 BBC version of Emma.  Or perhaps our family would watch Home Alone 1&2 and laugh histerically.  That would be my favorite day. 

Q 5: When did you last sing to yourself? Someone else?

A 5: I often sing to myself as I cook or clean the kitchen.  I sing a little chorus that I...

Recently I was looking for ideas on how to strengthen my marriage when I came across an article with 36 questions that supposidly will make you fall in love with anyone, fast. I am not sure about that, because depending on the answer, you might find that you do not like the person at all, but I thought it was interesting.  I decided to try it out in my own marriage to see if it would help with communication and just getting to know each other again after almost 29 years of marriage.  

As we just started this the other night, I can't give you much insight yet, but it has been nice to get our minds working and also looking deep within to come up with just the right answer.  It has been refreshing to have something to talk about other than, "How was work?  How did you sleep?  What do you want to watch on TV tonight?  Look at the bird on the feeder." ...

I also thought that I would share them with you.  I will ask the questions and you can answer...

Hello!!

While I was contemplating our move from RI to TN, I was thinking about all of the things that I used to love to do that I would be able to do again. Things like playing my violin, relearning about wild crafting, making salves, tinctures, remedies, learning about plants and birds and so much more!

So, I decided to make this silly video for you about a great natural cold remedy. The original recipe comes from a wonderful and very knowledgeable herbalist, Rosemary Gladstar. It's one that I've used in the past and it's SO simple that anyone can do it. 

All you need is 2-4 large onions and honey enough to cover the onions. 

The directions are: - slice onions in a half moon shape and put into a tall pan.  - just cover the onions with the honey.  - put on low heat for a few hours, until the onions are very limp.  - strain out the onions and put into a glass jar. Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.   That's it!!

Rosemary suggests taking a...

So, many of you know that I have recently moved from the beautiful state of RI to my new home in TN.  It is beautiful here and I am over-the-top amazed at how friendly the people are here, but right now, I feel like I will always be missing our Little Rhody.

I have the personalitly that tells me to just sit in my screened porch and look at the lake all day.  Perhaps go into my new art shed and do a bit of art, but not get out into the community.  This could be because I feel like I would be cheating on RI, it could be due to the fact that I am just scared.  Although I like myself and feel that I can offer great things to any community, I am not naturally outgoing. I don't want to interfere with people's lives...which sounds pretty stupid as I am writing this. 

I am though, forcing myself out of my comfort zone.  As I write this I am sitting in a really great coffee shop called, "The Grinder House".  It is way more than coffee and has a great...

Have you ever been lost before? 

I remember as a little girl getting lost in a department store because I used to think that I had a secret club with the mannequins.  That actually happened more than once!! I remember getting lost while hiking with my Girl Scout Troup and ending up in some man's yard while he was sitting by his pool in a speedo. But what I'm talking about is lost... like your being is lost. 

That's how I feel right now. My husband and I packed up and sold our beloved home in RI and moved to a rural town in TN where we know no one. We haven't even been here a week and he's decided to move out into his own apartment. 

When we got married 27 years ago, I had two boys from a previous marriage. Then we had two more boys of our own. We never experienced life with just the two of us and we were SO looking forward to it. But it seems that we will never experience all of the fun things that we so eagerly talked about.

So what am I doing to try to find my...

I have really been enjoying pondering some things in nature that point us to Jesus Christ.  It opens my mind to look around me and see Him everywhere!

Today's post is about the dogwood tree.  There is a legend that says that the dogwood tree used to be big and tall and living in the forest among the oaks and other stately trees.  The legend says that the dogwood tree was chosen to be used as the cross for Christ's crucifixion and that the tree was sad.  Jesus knew that the tree was sad so he promised the tree that it would never be used in that way again and changed it from being a tall stately tree into a shrub like tree with a twisted trunk and branches that we see on our dogwood trees today.   

The legend goes further to say that the tree burst into bloom in celebration on the day of Christ's resurrection, which it still does to this day each Easter season.  

My favorite part of the dogwood tree doesn't have anything to do with legend, but...

I am truly blessed to live only six miles from the Atlantic Ocean.  The sound of the water is so calming and mesmerizing.  (I have a theory about why...look for that in a future blog post!) The cool breeze is always welcome on a hot summers day.  We can actually feel it at our home. 

The sand is made of all different sizes of granite and there are an abundance of Common Atlantic Slipper shells.  I remember one winter day, about 30 years ago, when my aunt called me to tell me that hundreds of starfish had washed ashore on a certain part of the shoreline that we call, "The Rocks".  They had all sadly died, so we brought some home.  I actually still have some of those amazing shells.  One thing that I rarely see here on our shores are sand dollars. 

When I travel to FL I am always so excited to find a peice of a sand dollar.  A few times I have actually found whole ones!  When I was at Cannon Beach in OR, I found many! I...

The sound of the water...I don't think there is anything more beautiful.   Nothing more peaceful, inviting or intriging.  Even as a little girl my favorite place to be was sitting on the grassy bank of a babbling brook.  I could sit there for hours mesmerized by the sound, the movement, the way the water jumps over the rocks and lands then rushing off to find it's way down stream.  

I have always been drawn to the water, as many of you probably have also.  I love to hear waterfalls and the ocean waves crashing in, but also gently lapping onto the shore.  I love the sound of rain on tin roof or the way heavy rain sounds as it crashes to the ground.  I even love the way it sounds as cars rush past my house after a good rain.  

I have had many dreams about water as well.  Dreams of the ocean, lakes and rivers.  At times I saw water rising up in a house.  In one of my dreams I saw a horse coming down a river and...