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."

Wednesday Blessings

 Well, here it is Wednesday evening, and this week is half over already.  I'm trying to keep up with everyone and everything, and it seems like I keep falling behind.  Hard to believe the month of August is almost half over already too!  Time just keeps flying by...and sometimes I wish I could be like Blackie sitting on the back porch, just watching the birds and not a care in the world...(oh, and it was raining lightly at this time...praise the Lord!)

Oh, for the Blackie fans...here he was sitting on my desk in the  morning while I was trying to "work" at my computer (reading blogs and trying to write),  and I introduced him to a new little friend to distract him from trying to bite my hand every time I tried to use the mouse on the computer...

It's just a funny little ink pen we got somewhere, and Blackie rather liked it, and thankfully it was a good way to distract him from my hand for a few minutes, and then he got bored and got back down and went to find daddy for a while. Whew! Finally I could get some work done! It's like having a toddler!

So, here's some things to be happy about for the August Happiness Challenge...I may have mentioned that Sunday (Aug. 16th) will be our 57th wedding anniversary.  And since it is on a Sunday, we won't try to go out to eat or anything special on that day because the restaurants are too busy usually after church. (Although I may pick up some food on the way home so I don't have to cook! That's always a plus!).

So today we decided to go out to lunch with our "kids" Benton and Rose, since they were off from work.  My first choice was our usual spot, "Corky Bells" on the St. John's River. But because we have been under another heat advisory the past couple of days, we really didn't want to go there and sit down by the riverside since it would just be too hot to enjoy. Even though they do have a nice dining room inside,  I decided I'd rather save that for September for my birthday, and we could try another seafood restaurant in town that none of us had ever been to before, named "Musselwhites".  

Here we are outside the restaurant...I am VERY happy to be standing beside my dear hubby of 57 years. God has been so very kind to us and we are very thankful and blessed. I am also happy that his eye is doing better each day since his cataract surgery last week. He does go back to the surgeon on Friday to have it checked again, but we don't anticipate any issues.

And here we are inside... I am happy to be sitting beside Rose with my sweatshirt on (when it's almost 100 degrees outside), but the AC vent inside was blowing directly on my neck and head and it was way too cold, so my sweet son Benton went out to the car and brought in my sweater, and then because the air was still blowing on me, I switched places with him at the table and sat beside Rose ... (I have become my mother and must carry a sweater in the car for when we go into places that may be too cold. LOL.  How many of you do that???)

And Benton sat in my old seat next to John.  He said it was kind of chilly and his food got cold, but he's tougher (& younger) than I am and it didn't bother him as much as it did me. LOL.

We admired the scenery/decor while we ate our coleslaw and waited for our dinner:

The decor was nice...and the coleslaw was good, but when our food came I was so shocked by the very small portions of seafood (even if it WAS the lunch menu...it was a very small portion!) that I forgot to take any pictures of our food.

All four of us were extremely disappointed in the scanty portions of seafood (I had 3 very small broiled shrimp and 4 extremely small scallops, and they were all rather tough and rubbery) along with the hush puppies and sweet potato fries ...which were good...but the seafood was very very disappointing. We debated on complaining to the waitress and/or manager, but decided to just eat our food and vowed never to go back again. We still left a good tip for the waitress, because it wasn't her fault the food was not what we expected. And for the first time in my life I wrote a rather unhappy review (nicely of course) on their website, and noticed that we were not the only ones who had been disappointed in their portions. We probably should have read the reviews before we went there, but we live and learn.  

But even though the dinner did not turn out quite as good as we hoped it would be, we were all thankful to be together and I consider myself to be very blessed indeed.  Even when things don't turn out the way we hoped they would, there is always something to be thankful for.

Psalm 103:1-5   A Psalm of David.

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

3 Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

4 Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

And so I will end this day's saga with those words from King David above, reminding us to Bless the Lord (Praise the Lord), and never forget all His benefits to us.  Yes, He does forgive our sins (iniquities), and thankfully He has healed us of more illnesses and sicknesses throughout our lives than we can even count.  I do believe He has saved us from "destruction" many times, perhaps even times we weren't aware of...and in spite of our lack of obedience or thankfulness or repentance of sins from time to time...He loves us and blesses us and "crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies"...perhaps when we really don't deserve them.  And yes, He does satisfy our mouths with good things much more often than we've ever been disappointed in a meal at a restaurant or anywhere else. He gives us plenty of food to eat and we should never complain, because there are so many people out there who would beg for the crumbs from our tables...  And this psalm says that our "youth is renewed like the eagle's".  At this stage in my life I would love to have a bit of youth renewal, but I am thankful that I am still in pretty good shape (for the shape I'm in), and I truly can't complain. 

So all in all I will say thank YOU Lord, for so many blessings.

Current view over Still Waters Pond.

Good Night!

Tuesday 4~ The "Ber" Months

 

The "Ber" Months

There are just 3 weeks left until the "ber" months begin. September, October, November and
December. Fall/Autumn begins in September and ends in December.


Autumn begins in September and it is called that until leaves begin to fall and then it's called "fall".
Sept means 7, Octo means 8, Novo is 9 and Deca is 10 but the numbers are off since the calendar was changed long ago from 10 months to 12.
Ber is an adjectival suffix from latin meaning month.
Let's discuss it.

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask just 4 questions each week to encourage blogging and enjoying the ideas and work of fellow bloggers.


1. What foods make you think of the autumn months ahead?

Mostly things like chili and soups and stews, and apple pie and pumpkin pie, and s'mores cooked on a campfire outside.

Hot dogs are always better cooked on an outdoor campfire too, especially with family or friend gathered around.

I tend to do more baking in the fall as well, because it makes the house smell so good and feel so cozy. (And in the summertime baking heats up the house too much).

2. Are there any songs you associate with the fall month?

"Shine on, shine on Harvest Moon, up in the sky!" I remember my Dad and Mom singing that song to each other.  I wrote about this in THIS POST HERE several years ago. Many of you may have already seen that before, but it's a fun trip down memory lane.  Also "See You In September".   Remember?

3. Are you looking forward to the ber months at all? Why?

Oh yes! When you live in Florida, all summer long the only thing that keeps you going is looking forward to the cooler days of fall! Our fall is not as dramatic as it is up north, but it is such a blessed reprieve from the high humidity and ultra hot days that we celebrate every day that the temperatures don't rise above 80 degrees! LOL. Fall is my favorite season, not only because I was born in September, but because I just seem to come alive again after the long hot summer. 

 

Normally we take a trip to the mountains in the fall and stay in a Airbnb cabin with our kids. But this year I don't think we are going to be able to go. I am disappointed in a way, but then again, sometimes traveling and being away for a week can be exhausting, not to mention expensive. So for now, we have decided not to take our annual trip. But you never know. Sometimes we change our minds at the last minute. Time will tell.  I will miss having views like this...

I guess I'll just have to be content with these views here from my own backyard:

That's really not so bad! Even if the pond is still dry! LOL.

Philippians 4:11 NKJV

11 "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content..."

4. School in New Jersey always begins after Labor Day and before that I would have dreams of going to school in my pajamas! Did anything simiar happen to you? Did you dread going back to school or were you happy and excited?

I don't remember being overly anxious about going back to school. Mostly I couldn't wait to get back to seeing my friends every day, and the beginning of football season and all of the fun fall activities.  The only anxiety I remember having was trying to find some new clothes and shoes that fit to start out the new school year.  I was the youngest of four children, and we didn't have a lot of money and so we really didn't get a lot of new stuff, but usually we tried to have at least one new outfit to wear the first day of school. After that I either had to sew my own new clothes or wear my sister's hand me downs, but she ended up being much shorter than me and so once I began growing taller I could no longer wear any of her clothes,  so I had to have some new things.  And of course, back then, girls wore dresses to school...no slacks or t-shirts. We had to dress nicely. To answer the question, I was usually happy and excited to get back to school. 

HERE's a link to a former post I wrote about 'the ber months".

And HERE's a fun post about autumn from Pamela's Victorian Cottage.

5 

I am also thinking about how nice it will be when we get back to our normal routines at church for the fall and winter.  Choir practice will start back up the week after Labor Day, and so will our Ladies' Bible Study. I have missed those activities and gatherings with others over the summer. Although it's nice to have a little break from it for a while, it's just like when I looked forward to getting back to school to see all my friends, I kind of feel the same way about these activities.  Yes, I do see all the same people at our regular church services on Sunday, but it's just not quite the same as being together in a smaller group. There are some different groups that meet over the summer, but I have not been able to participate in them due to circumstances beyond my control.   I truly miss the more personal connection with other ladies in particular that we have at Bible Study...and I also miss singing in the choir and helping to lead the congregation in worship with our music. It will be nice to get back together again.

Psalm 37:3-5 NKJV

"3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass."

Meanwhile, since we are still in August...we have some things to look forward to this month.  This coming Sunday (16th) will be our 57th wedding anniversary!  We don't have any specific plans yet to celebrate, but we usually try to go out to lunch at a favorite restaurant sometime the week of our anniversary.  And then our son Benton will celebrate his 55th birthday later this month! That's pretty hard for me to believe...I will soon have a son who qualifies as a "senior citizen". LOL. Where did the time go?   We do have plans to meet up with our extended Florida family on August 22nd at a restaurant that is mutually convenient in distance for all of us for lunch. We have a LOT of family birthdays and anniversaries in August, so we usually try to get together sometime during the month to celebrate everyone together. That's always a fun time to look forward to.

I didn't specify anything in particular today that I am "happy" about for my August happiness challenge, but suffice it to say, I am happy about all of the above that I've written. I thank the Lord for so many wonderful blessings...and especially the gift of family and friends. God has been very gracious and kind and I am truly grateful.  Amen. 

Happy Sunday Morning

I keep this old postcard as a marker in my Bible. You can see it is getting rather worn with age, but it reminds me that Jesus tenderly cares for His sheep...and we are "the sheep of His pasture".

Psalm 100 KJV

100 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; 

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: 

be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; 

and his truth endureth to all generations.

And furthermore:

Psalm 122 KJV

 1 "I was glad when they said unto me, 

Let us go into the house of the Lord.

2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, 

to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.

5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.

8 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.

9 Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good."

This is a good way to start our Sunday morning...being happy about going to "the House of the Lord", and also praying "for the peace of Jerusalem..."  In these turbulent times, Jerusalem (Israel) definitely needs our prayers, as does our own nation and other places in the world.  And may we never forget the part of verse 6 that says, "They shall prosper that love thee."   May our nation always remember that and not forget to pray for the peace of the people of Israel. Amen.

I am still continuing to remember things to be happy about during this month of August "happiness" challenge.  There are so many things, I may forget to count them all. But at least I will give it a try!

This morning I am happy that my wayward kitty Blackie came back home. Yesterday he got a bit scared when we had a fellow here power washing the outside of the house. He didn't want to stay indoors with all that noise going on outside, so we let him out so he could go wherever he wanted to go. Well, not too long after there developed a very loud thunderstorm with some extremely heavy downpours of rain in addition to the exceedingly loud thunderbooms and flashes of lightning.  Our power washer fellow had to stop working and will finish the job later. But Blackie apparently was so scared he took off for parts unkown, and when he didn't show up for his dinner around 3:30 in the afternoon, I began to get concerned, because he NEVER misses a meal! I called and called, and checked the places where I thought he might be hiding (he likes to go under the shed), but to no avail.  I continued calling for him long after dark, thinking he'd show up when it got dark and he could run back home under cover of darkness and not feel threatened by someone seeing him. That's what he'd done before when he got scared away because of some big dogs running loose in the neighborhood. But by the time we were ready for bed he still had not shown up. As you can imagine, I was rather worried. I know we are not supposed to worry...but alas! I am still human, and I do worry sometimes!  Hubby kept reassuring me that Blackie would be back in the morning in time for his breakfast, and so we said our prayers and prayed for our wandering kitty and went to sleep.  I did wake up a few times in the night and wondered if he was out there, but I decided not to worry and prayed again and went back to sleep.

Well, you can well imagine my relief and joy this morning at 5:30 a.m. when I went to the back door to let him in to feed him like we normally do (yes, he does normally stay out at night and that seems to work best for his routines and habits), and yes! There he was,  waiting at the back door to come in for breakfast just like nothing was any different than usual!

Of course I told him he gave me quite a fright and that I really didn't like that, but I was so happy to see him I couldn't stay too upset with him.  He just looked at me with those big yellow eyes like Mr. Innocent and he really didn't know what all the fuss was about. "After all", he seemed to be saying, "I AM a Cat! What did you expect???"   

So, I am relieved this morning that Blackie is back home again safe and sound and back to his old tricks. And yes, he is still an indoor/outdoor cat, which seems to work for him just fine. I just wish he'd tell me when he's not coming home for dinner! LOL.  I suppose he picked up a lizard or some other little creature to tide him over until breakfast.  After all, he IS a cat!!! He knows how to survive on his own...but I do think God watches over him as well.

Speaking of creatures...I discovered THIS creature(s) on our deck railing yesterday afternoon.

This strange looking critter is actually TWO different creatures "together"...(as in mating).  It is a "Southern Two-striped Walkingstick", also known as a "Anisomorpha buprestoides".

"This species, and another in the same genus (Anisomorpha ferruginea, whose range is more west and north, but may overlap with A. buprestoides) 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. The "Devil rider" name for this insect likely comes from this defense, as well as the fact that they are most frequently encountered in the late summer and fall when they are active adults at a time when almost all of them are found in mating pairs, with the smaller male riding on the back of the larger female." (Wikipedia)

Thankfully they did not spray it's "very potent chemical defense spray" on me when I took its picture! Shew! That was a close one! LOL.  I am happy about that!

Some other things I am happy about...fresh peaches on cereal!

(hubby's breakfast)

Or mixed with my peach yogurt....I did add some organic granola to this after I took the picture, It was SO good!!

And I promised a  picture from when the kids came over on Friday night to make home-made pizza! Here it is after it sat and cooled. I forgot to take a picture when it was fresh out of the oven or when we were making it. It was SO good!  This was all that was left of two pizzas.

And we are always happy when our two grandpuppies come to visit:

This is Spice

And this is Sugar.  They the sweetest things! (But don't let Blackie cross their path! Oh no! That would be disastrous!)

Something else I am happy about...My friend Katheryn Masterson has written another book (actually there are more than this) and I just received this one from Amazon. Again, Katheryn has written such a sweet story about one of our favorite little creatures, the Ladybug! I am collecting these little books to send to a special little friend for Christmas.  I don't have any little grand or great grandchildren in my life to read these books to, but the stories are so good I want to share them with those who do.  They are well worth the money because the stories are so engaging and entertaining as well as educational.  I'm so proud of my friend Katheryn for embarking on this adventure in her own life!

One more thing...Today would be my Daddy's 108th birthday! He's been celebrating in heaven since 2011, and there's hardly a day that I don't think about him or am reminded of him in some way every day. Here's a family portrait of my family. I'm the little redhead on the front right end,  holding onto (or he's holding onto me) my Daddy's hand.  This was on our farm in Pennsylvania, many moons ago.

And here's my Daddy when he was a little fella, probably close in age to what I was in the above picture (give or take a year). He's standing there with his big sister, my Aunt Marion. You can't tell it in the picture, but my daddy was also a redhead. That's where I got it from.

And here is a four generation picture...My Daddy, "Grandpa Choo-Choo", in his train room, showing off his trains to his Great Grandchild and my grandchild Noah. Our son Matthew is holdling Noah, and I am looking on. I wonder if Matthew and Grandpa are playing with trains in heaven?  

Anyway, I couldn't let the day go by without remembering what a special and wonderful man, Daddy, and Grandpa he was. I was truly blessed to have such a good father.  He helped me to understand just how good our Heavenly Father is, by setting such a good and godly example. I am very thankful for that blessing.

And so, now it is evening. Sunday morning came and went...we went to church, came home and had lunch and a nice visit with our son Scott. It has been a very happy day.

Good Night and God bless you all!