Changes Are a-Comin'!!!!

Stay tuned-after 3 YEARS of no (major) changes to my blog........changes are coming! I am sooo excited!

They will be begin by Monday, for sure!!!

FFF??? No, not really. I DO like these pics, though!

Guatemalan Textiles are some of the most beautiful in the world......
& I am not baised! (Wink)

But, if you look at the back of one of these works of art,

most likely, you will see something like this:

It reminded me of a short poem that has meant much to me at different points in my life:


The Weaver

My Life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.

Not 'til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares,
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives His very best to those
Who leave the choice with Him.

(Grant Colfax Tullar)

So much sorrow in your life & mine.......will we trust that HE sees, HE loves, He cares?

Thursdays Before the Throne

I took this picture one early morning last week. It was the last flame of one of my favorite Christmas Candles.....the end of the season. But, as I reviewed the pics, I couldn't help but think of the words to this hymn. I am so thankful that, unlike a candle, Jesus is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD-that never flickers, grows dim, or goes out.

"The Light of the World is Jesus"

The whole world was lost
In the darkness of sin,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Like sunshine at noonday,
His glory shone in.
The Light of the world is Jesus!

Refrain

No darkness have we
Who in Jesus abide;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
We walk in the light
When we follow our Guide!
The Light of the world is Jesus!

Refrain

Ye dwellers in darkness
With sin blinded eyes,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Go, wash, at His bidding,
And light will arise.
The Light of the world is Jesus!

Refrain

No need of the sunlight
In Heaven we’re told;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
The Lamb is the Light
In the city of gold,
The Light of the world is Jesus!

Refrain

Come to the light, ’tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see:
The Light of the world is Jesus!

Wordless Wednesday....."Servant In Training" (wink!)

P.S. Stay tuned becuase changes are coming here at "Dillon Days & Doings!"

Lest You Think We're All About Pretty Hair Around Here.......

Sometimes......if we aren't leaving the house all day.......this is what someone who dropped by might see. Ha!

I'm Not a Big Fan Of "New Year's Resolutions".....

But, each new year, I look forward to a chance to start afresh.

This year, I decided to try & live more intentionally. To enjoy each moment.

My kids are growing so fast-I don’t want to look back & say, “My house was clean……but my kids were not hugged/loved/prayed for/cared for.”

I don’t want to wake up the morning after the last kid leaves home for good & say, “Who is that guy sleeping on the other side of the bed?”

So, each new day, I am trying to live the moments (yes, even the less than glorious ones) to their fullest.

I started another blog where I ask myself a bunch of questions at the end of each day & try to answer them as honestly as possible. Feel free to go over there if you want, to see what it’s like, but I really only started it for myself, so it’s bare-bones!

But, one of the questions I am asking myself each day is, “Did I say ‘YES’ as often as possible today?”

You know, when the kids ask to get out art supplies, or when they want you to read “just one more book, Mommy,” or when they want to play a game with you…….the requests they make can seem never-ending!

I used to automatically say “no” if it was going to require too much work for myself.

Now, though, I no longer am allowing *that* to be my excuse.

Long story short-the girls have been BEGGING to sleep in the same bed & have a “slumber party” for months. They share a room, but this has, apparently, not been enough “togetherness.”

I have continued to say “no,” because of my own laziness! How terrible!

So, last week, when they asked again, I realized-right before my always ready, on the tip of my tongue, “no,” that this needed to be a “yes.”

And Friday night, they got to do it!

& you know what? It didn’t even turn out to be that much work for me!

(Who knew parenting would be such a learning experience for the PARENTS? I thought we were the ones that were supposed to be teaching, but it turns out, we are the ones doing *most* of the learning/growing!)

*I completed this blog post in about 20 minutes, for Steady Mom's 30 Minutes or Less Challenge. Many thanks to Jamie over there for the idea of my Intentional Living blog! Shout out for her book, too, which I ordered as sooon as it became available & I can hardly put it down- it is so chock-full of good ideas!

& I Got Nothin'! ;)

I spent several minutes trying to come up with excuses about not having any favorite animal pics-but, the truth is, we don’t do *live* animals.

(Now, like any red-blooded American family, we have *stuffed* animals coming out the wazoo, but we have no live ones.)

Because I am trying to ignore the PILE of stuffed animals we have, & because my children have no true favorites when it comes to their collections, I haven’t taken any pics of them with their stuffed animals!

But, I digress….
Here are my reasons that we don’t do live ones…….(*cough, cough*- ok, I guess they sound a lot like excuses!)

1. I am raising children, which is a big enough challenge for me-ha! I don’t need the responsibility of making sure an animal is well taken care of & loved. Some days, I wonder if my kids will make it to adulthood (just kidding!), so I’m pretty sure an animal won’t survive in our house!

2. I am allergic to most “pet-type” animals.


3. We travel too much.

4. I still have nightmares about how my brother tortured me w/ various reptiles (yeah, that would be snakes, among other things) & other pets.


5. I guess, in all honesty, I am mostly scared of dogs-not sure why exactly-maybe I had a bad experience with one when I was a child & have memory regression or something! Ha!


Lest any of you out there think I dislike all animals-I have two favorites-
1. anyone else’s pet(s) & 2. anything that lives at the zoo!!!

But, regardless, we do love (*Ahem*-I guess I tolerate & my kiddos love) my sister’s dog Moses, but we don’t have any recent pics of them together.

Here are some recent pics of my favorite little monkeys, though!