3 Gifts Flat

360. Much of Oklahoma!

361. My Kindle. It's flat, handy to stick in my purse and carries as many books as I need!

362. Canvas. I've started a new craft of Media Art and to have an empty, white canvas to create anything that comes to mind is a gift.

3 Gifts Orange

357. A beautiful sunset. 

358. When I think "orange" I always think of one of my grands because he is such an OSU fan!! And I'm always blessed when I think of my grands!

359. I don't really like orange juice or even oranges but I have learned to really enjoy "cuties." They aren't as big and seem to be sweeter.

3 Gifts Tasted

354. Delicious food at our Summer Kick-off at Church on June 1st. 

355. My favorite from the Farmer's Market:

356. Fresh iced tea. - And I will admit, being a farm girl, my favorite is Sweetened Iced Tea... and I do still drink it once in a while but mostly drink it w/o sugar or I use sweetener. - blah..... :)

A Gift Given, Made, Sacrificed

351. A Gift Given:  When we go sale-ing, we often see things that we know others may like and if the price is cheap right we will buy the items for friends and family. Like this tutu for a grand.

Or books for my friends in Life Group. Or playing cards for our friend Ron. Or puzzle books for my Mom. Or... well, you get the picture. We enjoy giving.

352. A Gift Made:  Well, I used to sew. But I've tired of it but still had a yearning to "express" myself!! So, my step-daughter, Michelle and I took a few Media Art classes. I realize it's not my "gift" but it is fun!! So I've been making a few pictures for friends. Here is one for my friend Linda.

353. A Gift Sacrificed: Before I married Randy we decided I would move here to Kansas. So, even though it doesn't seem like a sacrifice because I'm so happy - it was an adjustment for me to leave my home in Oklahoma. And I often miss it. - Especially the people and my 2 sons that are still in Oklahoma.

3 Gifts in Dirt

348.  

Our flowers

349.  

All that this picture depicts.

Being raised as an Oklahoma farm girl I have an

understanding of the oil under the ground. 

"In the dirt."

The crops in the fields.

The hay, the wheat, the corn

and on and on.

God has been so good to me, to my family.

God has been good to our country.

350. 

My Grandma Elsie gave me these Hen and Chicks about

20 years ago. - Which is a blessing.

But the next chapter of that blessing is that I 

got to share some of these with a cousin this weekend 

that I hadn't seen since the early '70's.

Now that is a blessing!

3 Gifts Ugly - Beautiful

342. The tornadoes in Oklahoma are about as ugly as you can get. The help that shows up is beautiful in it's unselfishness. "What Satan intends for evil, God uses for good." 

343. Sometimes my thoughts are very ugly. Through the grace of God, He brings me around to think pure and good thoughts and makes them beautiful.

344. I'm a conservative but first of all, I am a Christian. The direction I see our country headed is ugly. Being Republican or Democrat has nothing to do with this - I'm talking about the Godless direction our country is heading. "Woe to you who turn against God." The beautiful part of this? I know the ending of the story and my faith is in this. God wins.

3 Gifts Morning

339. A true gift - for a mother of 4 :) in my experience - is to get to sleep in once in a while. Now that I'm retired, I can almost sleep in any morning! Even when we are going sale-ing, I usually don't h.a.v.e. to get up until 7:00 or 7:30.

340. Every other Wednesday morning, I get up and moving a little quicker than usual because I make a trip to Oklahoma to see my parents. When I first moved to Kansas, I went once a month. When Mom broke her hip, I went every week. Now, I go every other week. (my parent's know the day I'm coming because it's the day their Schwan's man comes!!)

341. Every morning, my husband (who is an early riser) brings me a cup of coffee and puts it on a warmer on my nightstand. I know, I know, I am spoiled rotten. HOWEVER - I prefer to look at it as being loved very much! :)