A Penny

This is a great story sent to me by Cait. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

A PENNY


You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about. Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home... My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely. As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up? Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value. A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this? "Look at it" He said. "Read what it says." She read the words " United States of America ""No, not that; read further.""One cent?" "No, keep reading.""In God we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?""And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful! When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient...

Lazy Saturday

It has been a very lazy day for me. I worked a little on orders, but just couldn't get in the mood for much. Spent way too much time on the computer looking at web sites and blogs. ( I never, ever do this) It was actually quite fun. Wish I knew how to do more with my BLOG. Some folks have the cutest little graphics and sayings and have the most interesting articles. I'm gonna try harder to learn how to do more with it! LOL !

Would love folks to leave comments about what you think of my blog or maybe what you would like to see more of, or just helpful hints for me. The guestbook at the bottom of the page has been signed several times and I thank you so much for that. I keep pluggin' away at this and having a great time doing it. Trying to get in the habit of posting everyday & sometimes it's a little hard to do.

Going back to some projects for now~~but will be back soon!

Hugs,
Shari

Friday Favorite Finds

It's been a cool, rainy day in K-ville today! The perfect day to stay home, have a cup of your favorite tea & curl up with a good book. Unfortunately, I didn't get to do that. I had to work on orders. And tried to "brainstorm" with a friend to come up with new goodies. A few good ideas came up-maybe you'll see them here sometime next week.

Friday Favorite Finds this week is my very tall set of Shaker boxes (I painted and sponged them to look old) along with my Yarn Winder?????(I'm not even sure what it is called, but I have always wanted one & found this one not too long ago in Walnut Cove). I put together the huge bunch of flowers that is a combination of drieds, preserved & silk. This is the perfect little prim corner in my dining room.

I hope to get my window treatments done for my bay window this weekend. I'll post pics when I get them finished.

Until next time.

Hugs,

Shari

Busy, busy Thursday!

Meant to do this on Thursday, but was just too darn tired. Started out not feeling the greatest, but had so much to do that it really didn't matter. I knew the kids were coming over in the afternoon to bring Mums from a school fundraiser and my Mom & Dad were coming over to pick up their flowers and to see Alex and Elle. About 11:30 I decided that I needed to see my Dr. so I kinda dropped everything and left for Winson-Salem. Long story short, I came home to my parents, my daughter and her kids sitting in my driveway. A short time later, Cait shows up for lunch. And then the bestest thing of all~~~~~~~my friend Retha calls and wants to come by with one of my long time friends from the internet. Diane came all the way from Indiana with her husband and grandson. I think her hubby had business down here & she decided to come along. What a fabulous Surprise!! I enjoyed meeting her so much. She is one of the sweetest people that you could ever meet and just like I thought she would be. Wish that I would have been more prepared, but it didn't matter to either of us.~~~ We had a really nice visit together and I hope to see her again! Check out her site at: http://www.aprimitivejourney.com/.

Until next time.

Hugs,
Shari

Wednesday Evening

First of all, the patterns and books that I had planned to sell have all been spoken for. Yipee! A couple of ladies took ALL that I had decided to part with.

I am very excited about the new Fall season for network shows. So far, I haven't been disappointed with what I've seen. One of my favorites is Criminal Minds and tonite there will be a new episode! I just love the way the characters interact with each other & do the profiles. Sometimes, I think it's a little scary, cause most of the "stuff" on this show could actually happen.

Today, was a little different than the past several days. I had to get back to some serious work. Didn't have time for much cleaning today. I did however, make a wreath for my foyer. I'm not much of a floral designer, but I do know what I like. It turned out just the way I wanted. The colors are so rich & vibrant, just perfect to greet my guests!

More pictures of what I have been working on will be coming soon.

Until next time.

Hugs,
Shari

Tuesday

Another beautiful day in K-ville! Still cleaning my house a little bit at a time, from top to bottom.


Today, I was cleaning in my Dining Room and found all kinds of treasures! One of the most unique (old) pieces that we own is shown here. This handpainted picher set came from Bill's grandmother, Cynthie. She passed away several years ago and we have a few things that belonged to her. This is one of my personal favorites. It is so different!

I ended up touching up the walls and re-arranging the furniture. I hope to get new window treatments done this week and I'll post more pics. There's a lot of old treasured pieces I would like to share.

Thank goodness I didn't have to cook today! We had the leftover dumplings and I honestly think they were better than before!
Until next time.
Hugs,
Shari

Monday Evening

This was supposed to post on Monday, but I got busy and started watching CSI Miami and never got back to the computer. So................

For the beginning of Fall, it was a beautiful day in K-ville today! Though, I spent most of it working on orders inside and doing some more cleaning. This whole cleaning jag started the other day when I was looking for my Mom's recipe for chicken n'dumplings. I couldn't find it any where and decided it was time to do something drastic!! So, every day since Friday, I have been cleaning a little at a time. It's not nearly as overwhelming as tackling it all at once. (Little goals add up fast, working every day from a list) I'm very pleased with what I have accomplished so far.

I never found my recipe, but finally called my Mom and got it. We're having dumplings tonight. LOL!! They smell wonderful!
Actually, the dumplings tasted better than they smelled! We thoroughly enjoyed them. And there's enough left over for another meal.

Lots left to do, so until next time.
Hugs,
Shari