Life is always up and down.  But one thing stays the same.  Thank you Lord that you never change.  You are always faithful and your love never fails.  Even in the midst of trials and tragedy you have the victory.

This past week brought bad news with the workplace shooting in Minneapolis.  It is always sad when someone dies so tragically like what happened on Thursday.  But when it is someone you know it can be hard to deal with.  Sadly, the UPS worker that was killed is Keith, the man that comes to the building I work at every day delivering or picking up packages.  I saw him on a daily bases and he was always so kind and friendly.  When I heard that he died I became so sad and prayed "Lord I hope he knows you".  I found out later from Vince, the security guard in my building, that he was a member at my church.  My sadness turned to joy knowing that the worst day of Keith's life turned into his best day when he stepped into eternity and saw the face of Jesus.  Knowing that he is walking with the Lord, no more fear, no more sadness, just fullness in Christ, makes me happy for Keith.  How sad for his family to go through this and be separated from their loved one.  I pray they would be comforted during this time and the Lord would provide for all of their needs.

I also received some bad news this past week.  For a week now I had a strange rash on my back that I mostly ignored.  Some people told me they thought it was a spider bite or poison ivy.  After a few days it still had not gone away so I did what any smart person would do... get answers from webmd.  Obviously, I am just kidding, that website is horrible.  Also, no one should ever search for images on google what they think they might have; gross!  So after coming to the conclusion from webmd that I had scarlet fever, I decided I should contact my doctor the next day.  Of course I forgot until my mysterious rash started itching.  The nurse I talked to told me to go into urgent care right away.  I quickly finished these arrangements I was working on at work:

Then I raced over to urgent care, saw the doctor and found out I have.... wait for it... wait for it... the suspense is killing you I know it... Shingles!!!  What the heck!  Everybody keeps saying, "I thought only old people get that", well obviously not.  And my reaction to finding this out? I laughed.  That is right, I thought it was funny.  And, it was even funnier when I had to pay $86 for a prescription.  I'm not kidding, when the pharmacist told me how much my pills cost I chuckled and said, "you're kidding right?".  No he was not.  But really, I do think this is all a little bit funny.  I really do believe that once in a while God likes to remind me who is lord of my life.  I get a little test like this every so often where for some reason or another I need to fork over a good chunk of my well saved up change.  It is a nice reminder that money is not my god and does not rule my life.  So thank you Lord, lesson learned :)  These sorts of "trials" are also a good reminder for me to be thankful.  So here it goes...
Lord I am thankful that I do not have scarlet fever, that my shingles has not spread to any other part of my body, that I do have the money to take care of this and even if I didn't you would provide, I thank you that there are doctors and medicine to help me with this, and I am thankful that you are still Lord of my life.

My friend Christine so kindly reminded me recently that she likes to look at blogs with pictures, so here ya go.

Christine with their new kitty, and the beautiful Marsha.  I can't believe how tall she is getting!

 Last weekend was Wisteria's largest wedding of the season.  We had to make all of these huge orchid arrangements at the Lafayette Club.  The result was amazing.

Yesterday, Snezhana and I spent the whole day enjoying the beautiful fall weather and colors at lake Como.

Trying to climb a tree, this is as far as I made it.



Taking a moment to rest



This is what I found when I drove down to Shakopee and found something special.  It is a spoon ring and I wear it as a reminder that the Lord is my husband, and eternity is my home.  I am my beloved's and he is mine.  His banner over me is love.