Thursday Thankfulness~The Blessing of Friends

 Good Thursday Morning!  The days of June of are spinning faster than a merry-go-round on a school playground!

Internet Photo-Remember When we used to do this as a child? 

I much preferred THIS kind of Merry Go Round ride (below)...yes, that's me when I was about 2 years old, with my Mother standing close by to make sure I didn't fall off that big horse!  Oh such a sweet memory, although I don't think I can actually remember this, but it's somewhere back there in the recesses of my mind...

I must have been having a good time...can you see my tongue hanging out?  That either meant I was happy, or I had been running really fast! LOL.

I am thankful to have such pleasant memories from my childhood. Even if I can't remember the actual event, I'm thankful for the pictures that show that it happened, and it was a happy time. I was blessed as a child, and I am still blessed as a much older adult. God has been very good to me.

This week has been a difficult one for me. But it has also been a blessed week, with sweet memories and kindness extended toward me that I feel unworthy of, but am so grateful for...

I received the above devotional book in the mail this week...a gift from a new friend. I met this dear lady at our Ladies' May Fellowship Day at our church, where we had invited women from many area churches to come and fellowship with us. This particular lady stood out to me, because I was very surprised to see her there! It's a long story, but I think a remarkable one. You see, I had actually noticed this woman's picture on Facebook for a little while as "someone you might know". The fact is, she is married to one of my best friends from childhood's cousin, and the interesting part is I had actually dated her husband when I was a teenager. It had been a kind of "long distance" "friendship" with him, because he lived over an hour away and I only saw him when he came to visit his cousin...and as young teenagers we "hit it off" and became friends, and we probably saw each other maybe once a year from then on, and he actually escorted me to "The Holly Ball" when I was a senior. But after that we never saw each other again until one chance meeting some 40 years later. Click HERE to see more about THAT story.  

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw this lady at our "Ladies' May Fellowship".  She came with our guest speaker, and they are from another church in a nearby city. Thanks to wearing name tags, I knew it was her as soon as I saw her, so I introduced myself to her, somewhat timidly, because how do you introduce yourself to someone whose husband you once "liked as a teenager"?   I think she was just as surprised to meet me as I was her, but she was so very kind and friendly, and we hit it off right away. I was very pleased to know that my former "friend" was married to such a lovely Christian woman.  And so she and I became friends on Facebook and have determined that we might get together sometime for lunch...but she is busy with her family and I am busy with mine, and we live maybe 45 minutes apart, so who knows when it will happen ...but in the meantime, she sent me this beautiful devotional book in the mail this week!  It was written by a friend of hers, and she thought I would enjoy it. Would I!?!! Oh yes! What a blessing indeed!  This first chapter in the book starts like this:

"Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 18:3

"I guess even in Bible times adults needed to be reminded to simplify and look at life through the eyes of a child. It's morning, and the mountain may already be staring you in the face. The list is longer than your arm, and it feels like the impossibles are stacking higher than the laundry..." 

(Jennifer Cremer, This Moment Matters)

OH yes, that resonated with me this week! I've already shared with you the deep sorrow and shock of losing a dear friend earlier this week HERE in this post.... That sudden loss has thrown me for a bit of a loop, and I am still having to work through the grief process.  Her granddaughter contacted me and asked if I could send her any pictures that I have of her and also with her husband.  I had many pictures as we spent so much time together in the 7 years that we lived in Salt Springs.

Maura, celebrating her birthday with us several years ago at our house in Salt Springs.

Actually, this is the complete picture. We celebrated her birthday with our son Benton's birthday, because they were both born in August.  Our mutual friend Marian on the left, and my DIL Rose on the right, both adding some fun to the picture.

I think we flipped the candles around as well. I'm quite sure Benton wasn't 80, and neither was Maura 47. LOL.  This is just a sample of the fun we used to have together.

Here's another picture of Maura with her hubby Woody, at a 4th of July celebration at our house. I just realized that the person Maura is smiling at across the table was our dear dear friend Sharon, who was undergoing chemo at that time for cancer, and sadly, she passed away about a year later, in 2019. Sometimes it seems like I have more friends now residing in heaven than I do here on earth...I know my Daddy used to say (when he was almost 90), that it seemed the only time he ever got to see his friends was when he went to their funerals.  Sad, but true, the older we get.

This picture actually was one that the granddaughter has shared, as she took it of her grandparents on their 70th anniversary, a few months prior to her grandfather's death in March, and Maura's passing now in June.  There will be a Celebration of Life for both of them this Saturday, as they never did have any kind of service yet for Woody because Maura was struggling with her own health issues and just wasn't ready to do any thing. So now there will be a joint "celebration" for them, which is fitting. They lived 70+ years together on this earth, so it is only fitting that they should be celebrated together.  I do plan to be there on Saturday.

Anyway, as my heart and mind and body have been dealing with that emotional shock, I knew I had to get busy and take care of some other things already scheduled this week.  Yesterday was our monthly Women in Faith meeting, and I was scheduled to be the co-host with another lady. We meet at our church Parsonage, which is the house that we ladies have taken over for our Bible Studies and Women in Faith meetings, because our Pastor and wife do not live in the Parsonage since they have their own home.  It's a lovely big house and is perfect for our women's meetings. Each month different ladies sign up to be the hostesses for the little light luncheon we have following our meeting. There are usually anywhere from 15-20 ladies present. Yesterday there were 15.  

Anyway, my co-host and I had already planned to do a variety of little sandwiches in mini croissants, some chicken salad, chips, and fresh fruit salad and dessert.  My co-host ordered the trays of sandwiches and chicken salad from Publix, and she baked a delicious cake. I was going to get the fresh fruit already cut up at Publix and make a big bowl of it, but the already cut fruit was SO expensive that I decided to buy the fruits whole and cut them up myself.  I cut up  a small seedless watermelon, cantelope, pineapple, and added some blueberries to a large beautiful cut glass punch bowl that we have at the Parsonage. It made a beautiful display, but I forgot to take any pictures of it. I also had fresh grapes, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries on a separate platter so they could eat them separately or add them to their own fruit bowls.  

This wasn't my bowl of fruit, but you get the idea.  

(Pinterest)

It may not have seemed like much, but when your mind is already dealing with other things like grief and shock, having to do something like this project seemed monumental to me and I didn't sleep well the night before.  But I prayed my way through it, and once I got started on cutting up the fruit and putting it all together, it was actually good therapy for my mind. And the ladies all loved it and raved about having the fresh fruit, so it was a win-win.

This morning as I was thinking about writing this post, I was also thinking about some of the sweet memories I have with my friend Maura, and that led me to think about some of the little gifts she gave me over the years.

She knew that I loved to collect china creamers...and she gave this one to me. It is so delicate and sweet. I love it, and I will always think of Maura when I use it.

Also, Maura had taken a trip to London with her Step-Mother, (who wasn't too many years older than Maura and they had not always had a good relationship, but she considered the fact that her Step-Mother wanted to take her to London with her to be a real blessing and answer to prayer.) Anyway, while there, Maura thought of me as she knew how much I loved tea, so she brought me this cute little British teapot and tin of English Breakfast tea, which is in a tiny tin that looks like an English Telephone booth:

Isn't it cute?  It was so sweet of her to remember me while she was traveling abroad....

And then one year she gave me this beautiful tea pot for Christmas...and I love to use it and display it at Christmas time. Now all of these items will take on even more meaning to me ...

This is a picture of the two of us...

This was our sunrise here the morning after Maura passed away, and I wondered to myself what the sunrise must be like in heaven. Can you imagine how beautiful every morning must be in heaven, with Jesus as the LIGHT that shines forever and ever?  

Revelation 21, verses 2-5, and 23 give us a glimpse of what "the New Jerusalem" in heaven shall be like:  (Read the whole chapter for a complete and beautiful description of this)

"2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."

I Can Only Imagine

Song by MercyMe

Lyrics

I can only imagine

What it will be like

When I walk by Your side

I can only imagine

What my eyes will see

When Your face is before me

I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory

What will my heart feel?

Will I dance for You, Jesus

Or in awe of You, be still?

Will I stand in Your presence

Or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing, "Hallelujah!"?

Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

When that day comes

And I find myself standing in the Son

I can only imagine

When all I will do

Is forever, forever worship You

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory

What will my heart feel?

Will I dance for you, Jesus

Or in awe of You, be still?

Will I stand in Your presence

Or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing "Hallelujah!"?

Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine

I can only imagine!

Oh-oh, surrounded by Your glory

What will my heart feel?

Will I dance for you, Jesus

Or in awe of You, be still?

Will I stand in Your presence

Or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing "Hallelujah!"?

Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine

I can only imagine

I can only imagine, oh, yeah

I can only imagine

I can only imagine, yeah

I can only imagine

And I can only imagine

When all I will do

Is forever, forever worship You

I can only imagine

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Christopher Maurice Brown / Dwayne Carter / David Guetta / Jacob Elisha Luttrell / Frederic Jean Riesterer / Giorgio H. Tuinfort / Nasri Tony Atweh

I can only imagine Maura with this kind of joy and delight on her face when she saw Jesus face to face! And then to see her beloved Woody again...I'm sure he was surprised to see her arrive so soon after he got there! But maybe not. Woody was probably helping Jesus get Maura's "Mansion" ready from the day he arrived.  

Yes, they will both be greatly missed.  Rest in Peace Maura and Woody