1-2-3 and counting!

This is the last weekend that will feel like a weekend for me perhaps for quite awhile. I don't want to rub it in or anything, but weekends from here on out will be just like most other days! I'm looking forward to that! Throughout the years, I tried to practice rejoicing in each and every day like David said, "This is the day the LORD has made -- we will rejoice and be glad in it!" but always found it easier to accomplish being joyful on Friday more than on Monday ...

There wasn't much going on at The Jones Junction this weekend, so today I decided to sleep in just a bit, catch up on some housecleaning, enjoy some reading, and most definitely work out in the yard. We've had a real rainy spell the past ten days or so and a pretty intense electrical storm Wednesday night caused us to lose power at about 8:30 p.m. We were 32 hours without power! A pioneer I am NOT! I was glad when the lights flickered at 4:28 a.m. yesterday morning so that I didn't have to dress for work by candlelight again. I did find, however, that I can get totally ready for work in 15 minutes when I can't see myself ... something about looking in a mirror that slows the process down!

A butterfly on Grandpa's zinnia's
I wanted so badly to get a really good picture!

Isn't it beautiful?

"The grass withers, and the flowers fade

beneath the breath of the LORD ...

but the word of our God stands forever."

ISAIAH 40:7-8

I've been doing a lot of counting lately, and not just days until retirement. Now that Jesse's deployment has happened, I'm counting GOOD days instead of SAD days. These are some of the things I'm looking forward to --

• Six days until I retire
• Ten until we leave on our road trip
• Twelve until we arrive in Houston to meet baby Nia and to see Nathan, Rachel and Nick
• Twenty until we go to Austin to see wee Karis, Jackson, Olivia, Sabrina and Andrew
• Twenty-six until we arrive at Fort Bliss to see Matthew, Chris, Emma and Diana
• Thirty-four until we see Adam and Emily in the Twin Cities

And then I suppose we have to come home! October is going to be dedicated to getting organized around the house, and then November and December I'm going to ready the place for the holidays and really enjoy doing it! But by the first of the year, I hope to have a better idea about how the Lord wants me to serve Him. I am enjoying counting down to all of these good things ahead!