Thursday Thankfulness and Dolly Parton

 I woke up on Tuesday morning and put out the flag as the sun was rising as per my normal routine. I always like to look at the skies and see what interesting cloud formations appear at that time. Every morning is different...some are ordinary and not too interesting, but so often there is something to take my breath away.  This was one of those mornings. I saw this cloud in the sky that to me looked like a child praying over our country and our American Flag.  It was one of those goose-bumply moments, and I shared it on Facebook.

A little later in the morning I started seeing notices on Facebook that Dolly Parton had died that morning. I don't know about you, but even my sister commented to me when she saw this cloud, "Maybe it was Dolly!". Yes, I had actually thought the same thing! I didn't want to say it out loud because people would think I was a little crazy, but since my sister went ahead and said it on Facebook...I knew that I could say it too. Let people think what they want. They've certainly been coming out of the woodwork to say all kinds of things...some beautiful and positive and some, well, downright ugly, even from some "Christians". That really disturbs me that people who call themselves Christians are so quick to judge and act like they are God and they express their opinions as if they have an inside track to God's heart. What I would like to say is this: No one knows the heart of any person EXCEPT for God. What has transpired between the heart of any man or woman and Jesus Christ is strictly between them. 

I love to think about that thief on the cross...the story is found in Luke chapter 23:38-43

38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 

41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 

42 Then he said o Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Even though that thief had lived a life of enslavement to sin, when he was dying, he recognized Who Jesus was, and called him "LORD", and asked Him to remember him when he came into His kingdom...and Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

There was no time to do any great works or make up for all of his misdeeds. He was literally dying right then. But Jesus saw his faith and knew his heart that he was sincere, and He granted him pardon right then and there.  

That's what I love about Jesus. He looks at the heart of man, not on the outward appearance.

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. 

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

When it comes to Dolly Parton, I see a woman whom God blessed abundantly, and she knew that and expressed it often. She was also a person who did not hoard her wealth, but shared it freely with so many less fortunate ones. She used her talents and gifts  and blessings to bless others.  Was she perfect? No. But then, neither am I, or you, or anyone else out there. Did I agree with everything she said and/or did? Probably not on some issues. But what I see is a woman with a big heart who loved God and loved people and wanted to make things better for those who were less fortunate.  I believe she expressed her faith in God through her works.  

I love this song that Dolly sang at the Christian Music Association Dove Awards back in 1990 .  And as I watched her singing this once again, I believe I could hear Dolly singing it from heaven as she met Jesus face to face:  "He's Alive! He's Alive! He's Alive and I'm forgiven, heaven's gates are opened wide! He's Alive! He's Alive! He's Alive! Sweet Jesus, He's Alive!!!!"

Dolly Parton singing "He's Alive"

Right after I saw that unusual cloud, I saw these two Sand Hill Cranes fly over together...and again, at the time I didn't know the significance of what was happening because I hadn't heard the news, but afterwards I thought, well maybe that was the angel escorting Dolly into heaven...

Who knows? God knows. And that's good enough for me.

RIP Dolly Parton

I know this is a little different from my usual kind of Thursday Thankfulness post, but it was on my mind and I just wanted to share these thoughts. You may feel differently about this than I do, but that's okay. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts...but these are mine and I am thankfuly that through Jesus Christ, we all have this hope of eternal life.  It's best to make that decision now and not wait until we are on our deathbed, because life is so much better when we know Jesus.  

Amen, and have a blessed day.

Tuesday 4~Rainy Days and Mondays

 Rainy Days and Mondays

Welcome to Tuesday 4
Many seem to have trouble with Mister Linky but, I don't so sign up below!
We've had a lot of rain recently and it got me wondering about some things.


Could we discuss it please?


1.Do rainy days and/or Mondays really get you down? If so why?

No, not really. I actually enjoy rainy days, when we have them. We just haven't had enough of them this year to even begin to get tired of.  And Monday's don't get me down either, especially now that I am retired. I actually enjoy them as a day to begin a new week with a fresh clean slate.


2. Does thunder and lightning frighten you at all?
How about your dog or cat and what do you do to help them out?

I have a healthy respect for thunder and lightning. Here in Florida we are the lightning capital of the country, I believe, and lightning is quite dangerous and should be treated as such. This was on Facebook a few days ago:

 I do love to watch it from a distance, however, and I even took some pictures this past week that I already shared on my last post, but just in case you missed this one, here it is again...   I took this picture from our front porch, but be assured the lightning was quite far away from us. However, they say it can strike up to 10 miles away, so we still have to be careful.

Regarding my cat Blackie, he does not like thunder and lightning, and I've noticed that he will find a place to hide his face and head when there's a lot of thunder going on.  I may have shared this photo before, but it's been a while. This was Blackie hiding his head under the couch when we had a lot of thunder and lightning...

3. If you are at home on a dark, rainy day what do you do with your time? Some find it a good day to cuddle up with a cuppa and read or watch TV.. what is your preference?

Oh yes, I love to spend a dark rainy day reading if I have a good book to read. If not, sometimes I like to bake cookies on a rainy day (or something else that smells really good).

If you click on this link, I think it will take you to a lot of old posts for things to do on a Rainy Afternoon.  Apparently I've thought a lot about this over the years, because there are quite a few different posts there! LOL.I'd forgotten about a few of them, so I was glad I went back and checked them out!! Some sweet memories there.


4.Ever been caught in a downpour or has rain ever ruined your plans?

Oh, yes, I've been caught in plenty of downpours over the years. Living in Florida, that can be quite often throughout the summer months, but sadly, not this summer.  I'm sure rain may have ruined some plans sometime or other, but right now I can't think of anything in particular that's worth writing about!

Update...I just remembered a time when I was caught in a downpour. I was only about 7 or 8 years old. I had been at our Summer Recreation program at our school and I was waiting for a neighbor lady to pick me up to take me home. I waited and waited and she didn't show up, so I thought I could just walk home. We lived about 3 miles from the school, out a very long country road, but I had to pass through a less desirable part of town to get to the highway that led to our long country road. All of a sudden it started to pour down rain in a bad thunderstorm. The only shelter I could see was a little overhang over the door of a saloon.  I knew I shouldn't go there, but it was the only shelter I could see, so I stood under that covering for a minute, and a man stepped outside and asked me if I wanted to come inside. I knew I couldn't do that or I would be in big trouble, so I yelled, "NO!" and I started running away in the rain. I kept running and probably had gotten about a mile when the lady who was supposed to pick me up pulled up on the highway beside me and told me to get in the car. I was soaken wet and scared and crying by that time.  She took me home, and I don't remember much after that because I'm sure my mother was at work so I don't know if the neighbor left me alone at my house or took me to her house to dry off. That's all a blur. I just know my parents were very unhappy with me for leaving the school before the neighbor picked me up, but they were all very thankful that I was safe, even though very wet and scared. I didn't know it then, but I know now that God was certainly watching over me even when I was being disobedient and foolhardy. I am very thankful for His guardian angels who certainly had a difficult job in guarding me! LOL. 

Bonus question: Why do Mondays seem to be so unpopular with so many?

I suppose Mondays are unpopular for people who hate to see the weekend come to an end and to have to go back to work or school and get back to the "grind". There have been times in my life when I hated to see Monday come because I didn't particularly like my work or else I just was enjoying the weekend so much I hated to see it end.  But for the most part, I've been thankful to have a job to go to and/or I also enjoyed being at school back in the day so I could be with my friends. I guess it's all about attitude and perspective.  I am mostly a happy person, so I make the most of whereever I am.  

I cheated a bit and asked the computer to give me some Bible verses about rain, and here's the results:

Top Bible Verses About Refreshing Rain

Psalm 68:9
"You sent abundant rain, O God, to refresh the weary land."
Psalm 72:6
"May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth."
Hosea 6:3
"He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rains that water the earth."
Acts 3:19
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
Deuteronomy 32:2

"Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech distill like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants."
 

That gives us some more "food for thought" on the subject of rain.  I hope you are having a blessed and refreshing day wherever you are, rainy or not! It's hot and dry here right now (Monday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.), but upon looking at my phone weather app, it says we are expecting rainy conditions around 6:00 p.m., so I will wait and see if I can get any new pictures at that time before publishing this post.

A little later:

Well, Glad I waited! We did indeed get quite a powerful thunderstorm around 5:30 p.m.  It was quite windy in addition to the heavy rain and thunder and lightning.  We had just put Blackie back out on the porch after he finished his supper, and then there was the rumble of thunder, and he was right back at the glass doors looking in the window to the living room with a big eyes and his ears back, which said to me "Please let me in quick! I heard a big noise out here!! A storm is coming! Hurry up! Let me in!"

I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of that, but I was too busy opening the door and letting him inside.  Just in time, too. The storm really broke loose with a lot of rain and wind.  

And look where he was...if you can't tell, he's in my lap! And just as I was talking to our son on the phone (he called us to ask if it was raining at our house...he lives about a mile away), the power went out!  Yep! The lights went out, the TV went off, and of course the computer shut off as did the air conditioner. Thankfully it wasn't dark yet, but we had no idea how long it would be off.  And so we just sat there and watched the rain and prayed the power wouldn't be off for too long or we'd be getting hot.

Thankfully after about 45 minutes the power came back on and so did everything else. The rain died down and the wind stopped blowing and there was no more thunder or lightning. We survived the big storm, and after a little while Blackie went back to the door and said he was ready to go back outside, and so that's where he is now.  All's well that ends well, and so I will bring this little story about "Rainy Days and Mondays" to an end. It was quite appropriate that it did in fact rain for us on this Monday evening!  Good Night, and see you in the morning when this Tuesday 4 post will go live!!

Thanks Annie, for another great meme for this week!

Weekend Reflections

 It's a lazy Sunday afternoon after a busy week.  Blackie has the right idea...find a comfy spot and take a nap.  He likes to be near me while I do my "work" here in my little "Room with a View". I enjoy his peaceful companionship, especially when he decides to sleep on a chair away from my desk and keyboard and mouse, where he often likes to perch himself and stop me from using either of the above tools.  This is a much better compromise.  We'll see how long it lasts. LOL.

So today has actually been more of a day of rest for me. I woke up not feeling too great and having my persistent chronic tummy issues that I tend to have after enjoying too much good food.  So we decided it was best for us to stay at home rather than go to church where the restrooms are difficult to get to in a hurry, and especially without interrupting the service and drawing too much attention to oneself. TMI.  Sometimes "discretion is the better part of valor".  (which means it is often smarter to be careful and avoid danger than to take foolish or unnecessary risks. [1, 2]) Maybe that's overstating the situation a bit, but perhaps you get the idea.  LOL.  I'm sure God understands why I chose to stay home from church and doesn't blame me a bit.  

Anyway, being able to go visit our family yesterday and enjoy a wonderful time together makes having tummy issues today worth it all.  Yes, we traveled about an hour and a half away to meet up with our extended family for lunch at a fun restaurant where we have met many times before because it is very accommodating to our rather large and noisy group:

This is a gathering of both sides of our family, including my sister and her family and hubby's brother and his family, and our son Benton and sweet Rose. Scott was not able to make it as he lives a bit too far to make that trip back and forth.

Our waitress was very kind to take these pictures for us from both ends of the table.

It was wonderful to catch up with each other and find out all the latest "news" from each family. There was some exciting news, and some I am not permitted to divulge just yet. LOL.  We each shared our joys and hopes and even some of our aches and pains. And we celebrated several August birthdays and three August anniversaries.  Birthdays ranged from 21, 24 (updated! I left that one out before! Sorry Nicholaus!), to 55, to 60 and 72.  Anniversaries ranged from 21 to 28 to 57! (Guess who?)  It was all good fun and a wonderful time of celebration. God has been very gracious to our families and we are very thankful.

This was what I had to eat...the "Seabreeze Salad" , with Mandarin oranges, grilled chicken, dried cranberries and candied pecans over a bed of lettuce greens, with Zinfandel Viniagrette dressing. It was supposed to have bleu cheese crumbles, but I don't like those so had cheddar cheese instead. It was very good and quite a large salad.  I almost ate the whole thing. 

Regarding the weather here in our neck of the woods...it is still hot and steamy, but no rain today or yesterday. Some of you may have already seen my cloud and lightning pictures from Friday evening on Facebook.  Here's one of the most unusual looking cloud out in front of our house:

And here's a video of some of the lightning in that cloud:

And this video is of the same clouds a little while later, and much more lightning! Be sure to watch for it!

We had all those clouds and lightning and not one drop of rain at our house. It was all to the southeast of us.

All in all it was a good weekend, even if I haven't felt that well today. Oh, and the dear man with cancer that we were visiting and took food for his family on Thursday night did pass away early Saturday morning. Although my heart breaks for his family, we rejoice for this dear one because we know he is present with the Lord and that he is no longer suffering and he is fully healed in heaven.  

This is the hope and promise for every believer in Jesus Christ:

2 Corinthians 5:1-8 NKJV

Assurance of the Resurrection

1 For we know that if our earthly [a]house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our [b]habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as [c]a guarantee.

6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Amen! Yes! What a glorious day that will be!!!!

And so with that wonderful thought in mind I will bid you all good night. I pray you have a blessed and beautiful week.

Friday Foto Friends and Happy Thoughts

 I can't believe Friday is almost over and I haven't posted any new photos today!  I've been a bit behind in a lot of things this week, but I'm trying to get caught up.  Thankfully I do feel much better, and also hubby is feeling better too. He had a bit of a scare with his eye that just had cataract surgery two weeks ago. It was hurting a bit and he was having a lot of difficulty with bright lights, so had to wear dark glasses most of the time, even in the house. He did go see our local eye doctor to check it and make sure there wasn't anything really wrong with it, and he couldn't find anything, but assured him that sometimes it takes longer for some eyes to heal than others, and his symptoms seemed to be normal for some.  Thankfully as the week as progressed, his eye has gradually gotten better, and he's not having to wear the dark glasses in the house quite as much now. However we are keeping the blinds closed most of the day and using very minimal lighting, which tends to make me get a bit claustrophic, but thankfully this is only temporary. Whew!! And Praise God!

With that all being said, between the two of us, we haven't really ventured very far this week, except for a trip to Walmart yesterday because we were getting desperate for some things that we couldn't buy here locally. Thankfully we made it there and back (I drove) without incident.  

So what else is happening? Nothing much.  Here's what few photos I have managed to take...

The marigolds are still blooming...

And I took this picture looking out the back door at the pond, and there's Blackie in his favorite blue chair.  It's funny that this chair suddenly appeared in our front yard one day out of nowhere.  At first we left it there thinking it must've fallen off the back of someone's truck and that they'd come back looking for it, but after a couple of days no one came, so we decided it was a "gift" to us...in perfect condition, so we put it on the back porch, and immediately Blackie claimed it for his own personal chair. He doesn't like it when I sit in it either. LOL.  

Anyway, I noticed that the bottlebrush bush was really blooming again...

So I went outside this afternoon and tried to get a close up of the blossoms:

However, if you look closely, you will notice that the blossoms have a lot of honey bees on them...there were a lot more than what you see here.  I decided not to get too much closer and be happy with what I got before they decided to "get me". LOL.

By the way, I am still doing the "Happiness challenge" for August, and all these things make me happy. I'm happy I didn't get stung by the bees! LOL.  And I was happy to see this interesting cloud pattern when I put the flag out this morning.  I just love looking at clouds and sunrises and sunsets, don't you? No two are ever the same, because our Mastor Creator is always creating more and more beauties for us to enjoy. We are blessed by such an "Awesome God".  

Remember when I told you about this strange insect HERE in this post?

Anisomorpha Buprestoides...Southern Two Striped Walking Stick

Well, yesterday poor Blackie had a scary experience with this creature that was not too pleasant. If you read the information about this insect, you will note that it is "particularly well known for its very potent chemical defense spray which it deploys from a pair of glands which open at the front of its thorax."

Apparently Blackie got too curious about this creature while it was under a chair on the back porch.  When I went out to call him in for his supper, he came running into the house and was acting rather strangely, and started drooling on the floor, and then went and hid under one of the bar stools in the kitchen. He didn't want me to pet him or touch him, and he kept drooling. That's when I went back outside to see what he might have encountered (praying it wasn't a snake) and I saw this critter on the porch.  That's when I figured Blackie must've been sprayed by it.  I looked it up and it said that it could cause excessive drooling, among other unpleasant and possibly dangerous problems for cats, especially if it got in his eyes.  Blackie didn't want me to mess with him, but he finally calmed down and stopped the drooling. He wasn't interested in his water, so I put out a little bowl of milk and he lapped that up.  Then he seemed fine and went on to eat his supper and didn't show any other symptoms of trouble. Thankfully I think the spray missed his eyes and he probably didn't get too much in the mouth or face or things might have been worse. He seemed fine for the rest of the evening.  Before we let him back outside I went and took a broom to that creature and knocked him off the porch. However, I did notice a very strong chemical odor when I did that. Thankfully it didn't hit me on my face or body. SO, now we know not to mess around with these "Devil Riders", as they are also called...and from now on when I see one I will make sure it is "removed" from the premises as safely as possible.  I am happy that this story had a happy ending and that Blackie is just fine today.

I am also thankful that yesterday we had an opportunity to do something special for someone else. I am not telling you about this to bring any kind of "glory" to myself, but to share how meaningful it is to help someone else.  We have a dear man in our church who has been battling cancer for several years, and he is now nearing the end of his battle and we expect he will soon be entering heaven's gates.  Although he is under hospice care, he is at home and his daughter and wife are caring for him. Actually, his wife is not in real good health herself, and the daughter is the one trying to manage everything along with having her own husband and other family concerns to take care of.  So our church has been trying to help out by bringing meals to them this past week. And yesterday was our turn. It was such a blessing to be able to bring some comfort and share some love with this dear family. It reminded me of when our son was in his last stages of his battle with cancer, and we went up to Maine to be with him, and their friends were bringing meals every night for our family...and it was such a blessing to not have to worry about stopping to think about what to cook or if we had enough food in the house to even make anything. We were just so thankful and blessed by the gifts of others during such a difficult time.  I was happy that we were able to give back to this dear family and show them some love in Jesus' Name. 

We never realize just how much such a simple thing as a meal can mean to someone who is going through such a difficult time until we experience it for ourselves.  We can never repay those who do something special for us, but we can pay it forward and help someone else along the way. 

And so with that I will say good night. Tomorrow we travel about an hour and a half away to meet up with our extended family to celebrate the August birthdays and anniversaries together at a restaurant. It will be a fun time just being together.  

Philippians 4:12-13 NIV

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, 

whether living in plenty or in want. 

13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Wednesday Treasures

 It's about time I moved away from anniversary stories and posts to something new! However, we did have a wonderful anniversary, and I am so thankful that we lived to see another year together. I don't believe in waiting for the big ones, like 50 and 60, to celebrate. No one is promised tomorrow, so let's be sure to celebrate each day and give God thanks for His many blessings and mercies. Amen?

As I am continuing in the "Happiness Challenge" for the month of August, here's some things I am happy about...

Waking up to a brand new day, with the sun shining brightly as I put out the flag this morning...

Especially after the way the skies looked last night...our son Benton took this picture as he was leaving work around 6:00 p.m. not far from here...

Also, his wife Rose was driving home from her job at Home Depot 15 miles away in that storm. She literally had to pull off the road for a few minutes because she couldn't see to drive! 

And yes, those clouds brought in a humdinger of a thunderstorm at our house that lasted well over an hour, bringing us almost 2 inches of rain! Praise God!  

However, I was not too happy about the very frequent and powerful lightning and thunder that was relentless all during that time.  This picture was taken out our front door during the storm...I was trying to get a picture of the lightning flashes...

And although you can't see the actual flash of lightning, look at the difference in the color of the skies between the picture above and this one below, which was taken during an actual flash of lightning:

Yes, it lit up the skies like it was daylight! There was one flash so bright and so close I thought for sure it hit our house, but thankfully there is no sign of damage today.

Oh, but HERE'S something I was very happy about during the rainstorm...if you look out there beyond the tree, you can see an actual PUDDLE ON TOP of STILL WATERS POND!  Yes! The water actually puddled on top of the pond for while, which is a sign that the pond "bottom" is starting to get saturated with water, and if we had a few more days of rain like what we had last night, we just might begin to have our pond fill up again...(it's going to take more than a few days, but you get the idea...progress is being made finally!!)

However, here is how it looks this morning...there's no puddle...it's all soaked in, but if you look really closely there are some Doves out there on the pond having some breakfast of many some worms or other kinds of creatures that came to the surface during that storm!  And I bet there's more water back there where all that green vegetation is...so I'm very hopeful that little by little our pond is coming back.

As I walked around the back yard this morning, I noticed that my zinnias that I planted are getting taller and hopefully will bloom soon. These are new ones that I planted after the other garden bed of zinnias all died from the intense heat and dryness and a fungus of some kind. Hopefully these will do better.

And finally my Rose of Sharon bush has decided to bloom! I've been waiting all summer for it to bloom! It just needed more rain to help it.

And there's even more buds for more flowers! Hooray! It's little things like that that make me happy!!

And speaking of "little things" that make me happy...Having a lap full of my kitty makes me smile, even though he inhibits my progress on working on the computer...he doesn't like me to move my arms above his head and will often grab them and sometimes bite them, not too hard, but enough to let me know he doesn't like that. So that's when  I tell him that I don't like that and down he goes!  

I saw where the other day was National Black Cat day, and people were all showing their pictures of their black cats on Facebook. I may have shared a picture or two in one of the posts. I had no idea black cats were so popular!  Here's Blackie, enjoying playing footsie with me:

He loves my shoes and spends a lot of time grabbing them and biting them, thankfully not enough to reach my toes...He is a character and he definitely keeps us hopping. 

And here's one last Happy thing...I just got this copy of "The Little Squirrel"  on Amazon, written by my friend Katheryn Masterson.  I may have mentioned that I am saving them to send to a little friend for Christmas.  These books are so very well written and such delightful stories. I am so proud of Katheryn for embarking on this journey in her life.  She is the granddaughter of my friends Maura and Woody who passed away recently.  I know they would both be so proud of Katheryn's endeavors as an author.

Well, folks, I need to run along. To be honest, I haven't felt well the past few days...let's just say that all that good food I was eating to celebrate our anniversary finally caught up with me and my tendency to have IBS...and so this week my body is trying to recalibrate and recuperate before we go on Saturday to meet our extended family at a restaurant to celebrate all the August birthdays and anniversaries together...and then hopefully we will be done "celebrating" for a little while so I can get back to "normal", whatever that is...LOL.  But it's all good, and I am extremely thankful to have something to celebrate!

1. Great is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;

As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is thy faithfulness,

Great is thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hast provided;

Great is thy faithfulness,

Lord unto me.

2. Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. [Refrain]

3. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside. [Refrain]

(Based on Lamentations 3:22-23)

Lamentations 3:22–23 (KJV): "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."

Amen...and have a blessed and beautiful day.

The Day That Changed My Name

I started to write this yesterday, on August 16th, but the day kind of got away from me and I never got back to it.  It was a wonderful day, with lots of congratulatory messages on Facebook, and some other special blessings.  So now that it is Monday morning, I will pick up where I left off yesterday and try to get caught up!!

August 16, 1969

The Pastor announced to the congregation: "I now introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. John F. Steiner"

(Written yesterday) So, today is the REAL anniversary day...57 years ago today, August 16, 2026, at 3:00 p.m., and on that day in 1969, my name was changed. I don't know about you, but it took me a while to get used to being called "Mrs. Steiner". It seemed as though my whole identity was changed in a moment, with the reciting of our wedding vows and saying "I Do", I was no longer the girl I used to be for the first 18 years (going on 19 in a few weeks) of my life, Pam Mursch. I was now Mrs. John F. Steiner, Pamela Anne Mursch Steiner, or later I changed it to Pamela Mursch Steiner, which made my initials "PMS", before that was a well-known thing. LOL. I've gotten some looks over my initials throughout the years since. I think the initials have caused some people to give me a wide berth. LOL.

 I still basically go by the name "Pam", although Pamela is kind of my alter ego name...the more mature, elegant and kind of Victorian lady that I picture myself to be...hence the name of my dollhouse is "Pamela's Victorian Cottage", and the actual website name of my blog Closed Doors, Open Windows, is pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com. But in reality, I am still just plain old Pam, a girl who enjoys being outside in the woods and trees and looking at nature more than staying indoors and doing housework or having hobbies that require things like sewing or needlework or other types of hand crafts. Truly, my main hobby is writing this blog and taking pictures of most everything and everyone I see.  And loving my hubby and my family and most all , my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  And I especially love that when I met Jesus, He also gave me a new name...and even though I don't know what it is yet, it is written down in heaven in His book...and some sweet day He will call me by that name and welcome me home to heaven to be with Him forever.

Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’

But until then, I will gladly and proudly still be called by my current name, the one bestowed upon me on our wedding day 57 years ago.  And I am extremely thankful that nothing has happened to cause me to change it, Praise God!!

And so now, I am back to writing on today, Monday...and here's what we did yesterday after going to church.  We knew that our son Scott was coming to the house as per his usual Sunday habit to do his laundry and have lunch with us and then head back to his home in Jacksonville. It's a long drive, almost 2 hours, so we do appreciate the time he spends with us so much.  

Since Benton and Rose both had to work yesterday afternoon, it was just going to be the three of us for lunch. So we stopped by the new location of the Hog Wild Country cafe' and picked up some of their delicious BBQ ribs and a few sides.

This is my plate...and actually, I couldn't eat the whole thing, so I gave Scott one of my ribs, which he gladly devoured!

You will notice that I set the table with our wedding china for the occasion! We don't use it very often, but I thought this was a worthy occasion.  If you wish, you can click on THIS post from the past to see more about our wedding china and other wedding events and memories from the past.

I used our original wedding cake topper as our centerpiece....it's a little worse for the wear after 57 years and many many moves, but it's still standing!  The bell on top used to be white, but I think it's made of some kind of sugar and it turned brown over the years.  I'm just amazed it's still intact!

Here"we" are, from on top of our cake:

Here we are cutting the cake:

And here we are "having our cake and eating it too!" LOL.  You can see that my hubby was a gentleman even then. LOL.  

And here is "the Great Escape" after the reception under a hail of rice being thrown at us...look at my short little dress! LOL. Well, it was 1969, and my navy blue dress was actually quite modest for the times when mini-skirts were all the rage...

Here we are now...same couple 57 years later, but instead of being able to run through the crowd to our car, it looks like hubby is holding me up! LOL.  And my Navy Blue and white dress is a tad bit longer! 

This song keeps coming back into my head as I think about the past 57 years...and I believe the lyrics to this song by Andre' Crouch tell the story pretty well...

"I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there've been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

Chorus:
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own

Chorus:
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.

Chorus:
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word."

Yes, that chorus says it all. We've been through a lot over the past 57 years, but truly, through it all, we have learned to trust in Jesus and we have definitely learned to depend upon His Word to sustain us and teach us in the way we should go.  We are so very thankful for that faith that has carried us through some pretty difficult timess, and  that has given us the hope that only God can give us, for eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ.  

Hebrews 12:1-2 says it well:

"1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Without this faith, our story might have been very different. 

"I thank God for the mountains,and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do."

Amen.

Friday Foto Friends & Happy Things!

 Hi Y'all!  (Using my southern drawl here). LOL.  I really don't have much of a true southern drawl, at least I don't think I do. Even though I grew up here in Florida, we moved around so much in our adult years that I think I lost a bit of the drawl. But I remember one time when I was about 10 or 11 we went up north to Ohio to visit my grandparents and other relatives, and we got there early enough in the summer that my cousin, who was the same age as me, was actually having her last day of school.  (We got out earlier here in Florida).  And so I went to school with her that day since it was the last day and they were basically just having a party day.  I remember that her friends were so amazed at the way I said things, that to me, were just normal.  They kept asking me to say "I", yes, just a simple "I", like "I am so happy to be here", and then they'd laugh and laugh at the way I said it.  I think I then said, "Y'all are just so crazy!" And then they'd really laugh!  

This is a picture of my cousin Cheryl and me, but this may have been a year or two later than the time I was thinking about. This was taken in the summer before we both turned 12, me in September, and Cheryl in November.  She's a lot more petite than I am...everyone was a lot more petite than I was. LOL. She's holding her little puppy.  

We were all dressed up because I believe this was the time our mothers took us downtown Columbus, Ohio, to the Lazarus Department Store to shop and to have lunch in their dining room while ladies came around and modeled outfits for us while we ate. And what did we eat? Would you believe we had their lunch special of "Turkey Dressing and Gravy"? (without the turkey). 

 I just realized I wrote all about this a few years ago HERE, with more detail.  That's what happens when you get to be my age...you start repeating all your old stories. LOL.  And that old post has early pictures of a young Blackie on our back porch, before Blackie was our cat, and I still thought "he" was a "she".  I guess he won out and is now the ruler of that porch and our house too.

Which brings me to this picture of our back porch  (except Blackie isn't on there at the moment), and my "happiness challenge events for today".  The fellow finally finished the pressure washing of our house, after several issues with his equipment malfunctioning and having to delay the process several days...Anyway, I LOVE how nice and clean the porch looks now, like brand new again!  

The whole house all the way around is clean again and looks so nice! Oh, if you look hard enough, you will see Blackie in the grass in front of the steps.  He came out from under the front porch to greet me when I came outside.  I guess he was staying under there to keep cool. As I've said before, he is still an indoor/outdoor cat, and he spends a good part of the day outside, but we bring him in to feed him in the morning and he stays inside for a few hours in the morning and during the hottest part of the day in the afternoon and evening. But he loves to be outside where he can watch the birds and enjoy exploring whatever is going on in the yard. It works for him and for us too, and he normally stays close to the house, unless something frightens him and he has a hidey hole somewhere that he runs to. I'm sure eventually he will become a full time indoor cat, but for now this works for all concerned.  

So this morning we drove the hour + away for hubby's follow up to his cataract surgery from last week. Thankfully everything was really good and the doctor was very pleased!  He doesn't want to see him again for 6 months!  Praise the Lord!  And since it was lunch time by the time we got back closer to home, we decided to stop in Palatka at Chili's for lunch. After all, we are still celebrating our 57th anniversary, which isn't until Sunday, and you already heard what a disappointing lunch we had the other day. so we decided we needed to celebrate his good news at the eye doctor as well as our anniversary today! Hey! You only live once...and 57 years is a long time to be together, and we are so happy that God has allowed us these many years together, so we are going to keep celebrating! Besides, Chili's has great lunch specials for $10.99, which includes your beverage, an appetizer and entree'.  It really is a great deal!

Here's hubby with his hamburger and fries... (and look at those pretty eyes!)  He already ate his soup appetizer...

And here I am, with my side salad, soup and hamburger. (no fries for me!)  They actually gave me a huge salad instead of the normal side salad...not sure why, but I ended up having to bring home half of my hamburger and half of hubby's fries.  We certainly couldn't complain about the amount of food today! It was literally more than we could eat! And for a much better price too! And it was really GOOD!   So all's well that ends well!

I guess that brings me to the end of this post for today. I hope this Friday finds you all doing well and that you have a blessed and beautiful weekend.

I love this benediction from Ephesians 3:16-21, and so I want to share it with you, and I hope it will bless you as it does me...

"16 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 

17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 

18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 

19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 

21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."