Happy Blogging Sisters Day!

 If you read my last post HERE, you will know that today was a special day in "blogland" for some of us very blessed bloggers!  Today I went to meet up with three other dear blogging friends for lunch, and discovered that we had a bonus blessing of one more precious blogger added to our group!  Many of you may not know Cheryl, from Sunlit Pathway, because she hasn't been doing quite as much blogging lately due to having had some major health concerns in the past year or so, but what a surprise to find her there at Bob Evans with Terri and the rest of the ladies when I arrived!  Cheryl had just recently arrived in Florida to visit family, who just happen to live not too far from Terri, and so Terri made arrangements for Cheryl to join us today! What a blessing indeed!  And so here we are:

Our waitress was very kind to take our picture!  We are l to r front row: Cheryl, Terri, (Your Friend From Florida), back row: Yours truly, Linda, (Just Simply Linda), and Barbara, (My Journal Memories).  While we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bob Evans, we shared with each other why we ever decided to write a blog anyway.  We each had different reasons and beginnings. Some have been  blogging for over 20 years! I think I had the most recent beginning, in 2010!  I'd never even heard of a blog before then! 

I don't think any of us had any clue how far reaching our blogs would ever be, but God knew, and He had a plan for each of us in doing this...maybe not the same plan for each of us, but a plan that would bless us and teach us and make us a blessing to others in the process. I believe He has accomplished that for each one of us...

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV tells us:

11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

HERE is a link to my very first blog post, written in February of 2010.  My blog has gone through a lot of metamorphosis over these past 15 years...moving with the ebb and flow of my life experiences...the joys and sorrows, highs and lows, and even through three different home locations! Thankfully the blog is portable and goes with you wherever you go, as long as you have access to the internet and don't make any false moves that accidentally delete the blog. I know some have done that, and had to start all over. I pray that never happens to me...there are too many precious memories tucked inside these pages. I've tried to save them over the years, but that has become too cumbersome for me to keep up with, so I just pray nothing happens. Maybe someday I will get busy and try to back up more of them and print them off, but it takes a lot of work to do it. 

The best part about blogging to me is all the wonderful friends I've made along the way, like these lovely ladies. I wish I could meet each and everyone of my blogging friends in person. There are so many that we have shared so much of our lives with each other...and some I would just love to give a big hug to in person someday.  If you are ever passing through Florida please let me know and if there is any way possible to arrange it, it would be so wonderful to meet you. Not too many people pass through the little town where I live...we are kind of off the beaten path of where most people like to go in Florida...and I am limited in how far I can travel away from home, but if there's a way, we will try to make it happen.  Anyway, meeting up with these wonderful women today was truly a blessing for each of us! I thank each one for going the "extra mile" to be there! It was a lot of fun and good fellowship too!

When I got back home I noticed that the bird feeder favored by most of our birds was empty, so I refilled it, and soon the Cardinals and Titmice and Chickadees were having a feast and waving their wings to say thank you. I only managed to get pictures of the Cardinals, but here's what I saw:

Mrs. Cardinal was waiting her turn in the Holly Tree:

They are storing up food for another night with a freeze warning!

And thankfully, I also noticed when I got home that all of the Christmas boxes were finally put away, and the house is back to its normal self...

(hmmm, I should probably turn that blanket around so the bear and moose and elk aren't standing upside down! LOL. It is correct on the other side that we look at on the front of the couch, but not on the back where you walk in the door and see it! Oh well...this isn't a magazine photo shoot! Just my blog, tellin' it like it is! We aren't striving for perfection here...just comfy and cozy!

And the Christmas totes are all safely stacked away in the shed until next year! Yay! Thank you to our son Benton and Hubby for taking care of this today before they went out to lunch and had a good hamburger at our local "True Grits" restaurant.

And so I close this today with a thankful heart, full of joy and blessing...letting the memories of the day and the smiles on the faces flood my heart. It was a wonderful time, and I am so thankful that God made it possible for me to participate.

Time to close for today friends. 

Some words of wisdom from God's Word...

2 Samuel 22:29-31

“29 For You are my lamp, O Lord;

The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.

30 For by You I can run against a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

31 As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him."

Amen.