Tuesday 4~ On Holiday

 

On Holiday

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...
Summertime means travel time for many people.
Let's talk about travel and holidays.

1. Will you be traveling this summer at all?

Not that I am currently aware of.  We prefer to do our traveling in the fall, but I am not too sure that we will even be doing that this year.  Everything has gotten too expensive and we really don't feel like traveling that much anyway. However, I never say never.  If the opportunity arises, and it's something we really want to do, then I suppose we might just do something spontaneous. (But I'm not holding my breath on that idea)

2. Will there be day trips in store for you? visits to the beach, evenings out:?

We do plan to go meet up with my hubby's brother and wife (and kids? not sure) for lunch one day this month. Our "kids", Benton and Rose, will go with us, and we will travel about an hour or so south to meet them at a restaurant that we always enjoy.   Other than that, I don't know of anything else at this moment.

We don't do "evenings out" now that we are old retired people. If we go anywhere,it is normally in the day time, and preferably for lunch.  We already did a visit to the beach for my mother's day treat, and I don't foresee us going again anytime soon. Too hot and crowded. (and too much traffic between here and there). Let's face it, we are homebodies these days.  We may take short rides here and there just to get out of the house, but that's about it.
3. Do you eat out more in summer... do you go for ice cream or treats more?

I wouldn't say that we eat out any more in the summer than we do in the rest of the year. We may average going out to eat once or twice a month year round.  Re: ice cream...if we want ice cream we buy it at the store and bring it home to eat. We can't justify spending so much for an ice cream cone as a whole carton of ice cream! Sorry to be a kill-joy, but we are retired and on a fixed income! LOL!

4. What is your favorite place to visit and what is the most exotic place you've been to?

Well, our favorite place to visit would probably be the mountains..north Georgia in particular, and that would be in the fall if at all.  Most exotic place I've ever been?  I'm not sure I could classify any place we've been as exotic. We live in Florida...isn't that exotic enough? LOL.  Never been to an island or on a cruise, and don't have any plans to do so. When we were younger we would sometimes go spend a night or two at the beach in a nice hotel, just the two of us. That was pretty exotic to us. Sometimes we talk about doing that again. I'd love to go just to wake up and see the sunrise on the beach and take a walk on the beach early in the morning before the crowds arrive. That's my idea of paradise. LOL. 

Sorry I wasn't more exciting on this week's meme.  We just aren't travelers anymore, and we are on a tight budget, so we are careful about what we do. And to be honest, "there's no place like home."  You can make your home as exotic as you like. It can be your own little hideaway if you need it to be...and since we are retired and no one else lives here with us, that's pretty easy to do. 

Now on another note, Let'swalk around my "exotic" yard and see what we can see...Oh, this is the first yellow squash to get big enough to eat...

And because our "boys" were going to be here for Sunday dinner yesterday, I picked the squash and cut it up to put in our tossed salad...

It was perfect!  We did add tomatoes from our garden also, but I keep them separate and let everyone add their own tomatoes since not everyone wants them.  

We also had hamburgers cooked on the grill by son Scott. However I didn't take any pictures of that or of us eating. DIL Rose is still in Minnesota, so son Benton came over and brought the 'pups' with him. I've told him he can plan to eat supper with us all week while she is gone if he wants to.  I always cook too much food anyway, so he might as well come and help us eat it. And so he did come again tonight, and I expect he will come tomorrow, etc. as well. It's good for us and good for him too, as I know he really doesn't enjoy cooking and eating alone all that much.

Finally we also have a zucchini squash growing. I will probably pick it before it gets too big and we will most likely put it in a salad too.  There aren't enough squash yet to cook up at batch, so I'd just as soon eat them in a salad.

Some of my wildflowers are starting to bloom that I planted:

And my blueberry bush is really loaded with berries, and they are finally starting to ripen!

Who is that hiding under the bush in my shadow?

Ah Ha! Caught you Blackie!!  He was right there under my feet, and sniffing at the blueberries. I hope he doesn't decide that it's something he wants to eat!! I have other plans for those blueberries!!

Now, talk about "exotic"...or maybe just strange and unusual...

We kept noticing some buzzards landing on our still very dry "Still Waters Pond", and it appeared they were guarding something and also kind of fighting over something laying there on the surface of the dry pond. These pictures are kind of bright because it was a bright sunny day, and also because my photo editor program is not cooperating with me on pictures from my "real camera", and so I am not able to edit pictures very well right now. I've got to figure out what's wrong, but it's a frustrating process, so what you see is what you get for now...

I tried to zoom in on what they are looking at, and because it was at a great distance, and also because of the bright sun, I wasn't too sure, but it sure looked like a fish!  Now, where on earth would a fish come from on top of our very dry pond????

A little later my curiosity got the better of me, and the buzzards had flown away, so I decided to try and venture forth across the dry pond, and I actually made it! Thankfully this was only as far as the island, and not all the way across, but still, it was a journey frought with a bit of trepidation because I was afraid the crust of the pond would break through and I would be in the muck beneath. But apparently the ground is SO dry, that wasn't a problem.  Anyway...YES, it was a FISH!!!! Amazing!  The only thing we can figure out is that most likely a big bird like an Osprey or maybe even an Eagle could have been flying over with the fish in its mouth, flying from the bigger lake nearby, and the fish fell out of its mouth and landed here on the pond. That's the only explanation we can figure out.

Oh, and to answer a question from the comments on my last post, someone asked me how deep our pond was before, and the best answer I can give is that when I was able to paddle the kayak around the pond, I had a long walking stick that I took with me, and I stuck it down into the water as far as I could at one point, and I would say that it was about 3-4 feet deep. There may be some other deeper pockets here and there, but that would be the average depth out in the middle of the pond when it is full. It's hard to believe it now when we see how extremely dry it is. And I do wonder where all the fish, frogs,  and turtles went when the pon dried up...and will they come back whenever the pond is full again? Time will tell. Keep praying for rain. We are supposed to get some starting this Thursday through next week.  

Here'a another unusual sight: the clouds this morning at sunrise:

Now on a very sad note...I learned this morning that our dear sweet friend Maura had passed away. She was 87 years old. This picture was taken in April, and I wrote about it HERE.

When we last were together in April, Maura had just recently lost her husband of 70 years, "Woody". He was 91.  After 70 years of marriage, you can well imagine she was feeling very much alone, even though her granddaughter and great-grandson had moved in with her to help out. But sadly she became very ill recently, and one thing led to another and she was placed in Hospice care over the weekend, and passed away peacefully this morning. 

I am still in shock. Maura was always such a lively and happy person, so full of the joy of the Lord. I know she is rejoicing in the Lord's Presence tonight, and also I know she is so happy to see her precious Woody and their son Mark again. Mark had passed away a couple of years ago after a very long illness.  So she is with the ones she loves and her pain and sorrow is over.  

One of my favorite pictures of Maura, taken at our previous home, where we were "neighbors" and spent a lot of happy times together.

Maura and her husband Woody. This was taken at our son Benton and Rose's wedding in 2017.  Such a dear sweet couple.  May they both rest in peace and in the joy of the Lord.  

"Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning."

Psalm 30:5b

John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 

26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die..."

John 14:1-3

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God,  believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

And with that I will close for the night.  Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers .

Thursday Thankfulness ~ "The King is Coming!"

 
Hello Friends...It's Thursday, and today I'd like to share some things I am thankful for with you.  So come on in to my "Home Sweet Home" and "Stay Awhile" and we can visit and talk about some special things and memories...

Today I went to the eye doctor for my annual check up, and I am so thankful that my eyes really haven't changed much since last year, and the doctor said he really didn't think I needed to change my glasses yet. But  he did say that probably next year I will have to have cataract surgery.  He thinks I'll be okay to wait until then. So I am very thankful for that good report!

Isn't this Coral Vine beautiful?  This is on an old dead palm tree where we go walking...

Everytime we walk past this big old palm tree there is something new blooming on it!  (Not to mention now there is a CROSS on it, made from some of the palm branches that fell down from the top and landed like that!)

Not long ago the purple wisteria was blooming:

And shortly after that it was this Cat's Claw Creeper vine mixed with some Trailing Lantana

It's really amazing how so many beautiful different flowers can climb up and grow and bloom on that old dead tree!

Looking at it here you'd never imagine that it could hold such beauty!

Maybe there's a story there for us!  Something like "don't judge a book by its cover!" There may be more to this "person" than meets the eyes. And the when the time is right, your true beauty will shine from within.

Here's some "food" for thought about this from the Bible...

1 Peter 3:3-4 NKJV

3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold,

 or putting on fine apparel— 

4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

Proverbs 31:30-31

30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

John 15:5-7

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Maybe you can think of some other verses that would be appropriate there.  How about this one:

John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Remember this?

Yes, that's the empty tomb and cross that our son Benton created for Easter.  Well, I was so surprised when a special person we haven't seen in probably 46 years contacted me and said that she wanted one of these to put in their church for Easter next year.  What was significant about this is this woman is from the very first church that my husband pastored, way back in the late 1970's.  We have recently reconnected via Facebook, and it has been really special to us to hear from this person and her husband, because they are the first couple that my hubby ever "married" as a Pastor.  Here he is on the left, and I'm not sure who the man is in the middle, but the man on the far right was the retired pastor from that church who had been there probably for all of this young couple's early lives.   

Now this couple has been married for about 47 years! That in itself is a blessing!

I've already shared a little about this church before HERE, which is where my hubby was ordained as a minister.  It was really exciting to us that she wanted to have our son's special Easter Empty Tomb decoration to put in this church.  When we were there so many years ago, Benton was in 2nd grade, Matthew was in kindergarten, and Scott was just a baby!   However, I think this couple is probably the only people left in that church who would still remember us. Most everyone else who was there when we were there has either already died or moved away.  Most everyone was retired, and I remember that we were the youngest couple and had the youngest children when we first went there. 

Our friend also sent this picture to us...yes, that's me, and I don't remember the fellow playing the guitar, but I was the soloist for the wedding.  I had to ask her what I sang, because I didn't remember! (It's been a LONG time, people!!)   Anyway, she said I sang "The Wedding Song", hence that is why it was best accompanied with a guitar.    

I bet many of you remember this song by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary:

The Wedding Song

Sung here by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary

"He is now to be among you

at the calling of your hearts.

Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.

The union of your spirits here has caused Him to remain

for whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name

There is love

There is love

Well a man shall leave his mother

and a woman leave her home

They shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.

As it was in the beginning, is now until the end.

Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.

(And) There is love

There is love

Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife

Is it love that brings you here, or love that brings you life.

For if loving is the answer then who's the giving for.

Do you believe in something that you've never seen before

There is love

(Oh) There's love

(Hum)

(Oh) The marriage of your spirits here has caused him to remain

For whenever two or more of you are gathered in his name

There is love

(Ah) There's love

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Paul Stookey

Wedding Song (There Is Love) lyrics © Music & Media Magic, Inc.

I wonder how many of you had that song sung at your wedding?  Did that bring back memories?  

Just for laughs, she also sent me this picture...LOL. Yes, that's hubby and yours truly...we were having a "Hobo Party" (instead of Halloween)  and here we either had just bobbed for this apple,  or it was on that string and we were supposed to do some game with it...either way, you can see we were having fun! Yes, Pastors and wives can have fun too.  LOL. And no, I wasn't pregnant...my shirt was stuffed with a pillow as I had been dressed up like an old hobo before dunking my head in a bucket of water to bob for that apple.

HERE's a link to a previous old post written about this time in our lives.

It was wonderful to walk down memory lane for a few minutes there. Such special memories.  When I was looking through some of my own pictures for back in the day, I came across this one, which really doesn't have anything to do with that church, but it was probably about the same time, and this picture was taken at my parents' home. That is my Dad, me, my sister Doris, and my hubby, and we were practicing to sing at my Mom and Dad's church on Sunday.  We used to do that every so often when we could all be together at the same time.  It was so wonderful.  My mother didn't sing with us, but she was always a good alto and she could have if she'd wanted to. But I think she was actually the choir director for their church at this time, so she had plenty to do.  

We were known as "The Mursch Family Singers" singing

Victory in Jesus!  Wish we had recorded it!

  

But in case you don't know the song, here's the Gaither Homecoming Family singing it:

Victory in Jesus

Verse 1

I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory,

How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning,

Then I repented of my sins and won the victory

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

Verse 2

I heard about His healing, of His cleansing pow’r revealing

How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see;

And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit,”

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

Verse 3

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory,

And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;

About the angels singing and the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!

He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.

He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

So keeping in "tune" with this muscial theme...Here's a song that I'm sure most of you will remember, also from the Gaithers.  You may want to listen to it first and then I will tell you why this is "ringing a bell" with me today as I think about the music we've done in the past.

The King is Coming, with the Gaither Homecoming Family:

Fast forward quite a few years from those early ministry days, and many years later in actually the very last place where we served in the ministry, our church was blessed to host the Gaither's pianist, Anthony Burger, in a special concert.  Our church was a small country church, and I'm really not sure how we managed to have him come and do this concert, but I know we had to rent a Grand Piano and build a special platform to hold it so that he could play.  The concert was free, so many people came from miles around and filled our little church to overflowing.  Well, at that time I was actually the choir director for our church. (that was actually my first and last experience of being the choir director! LOL, but I enjoyed every minute and song!)  Anyway,  Anthony Burger was an extremely accomplished pianist, as you can imagine, since he played for the Gaithers. (And yes, that is him playing in the video of them singing above).   Anyway, his grand finale song was "The King is Coming".  He was to play through the song without anyone singing until the very end, where the choir was to stand up and sing the final chorus.  My job was to cue them in and direct them to sing it with him as he played.  Well, I was sitting on the front row watching him play, and I was so enthralled by watching him play this song that I nearly forgot about directing the choir to sing.  All of a sudden I realized Anthony Burger was looking at me as he was playing and nodding his head to remind me it was time to have the choir join in!  I literally had to JUMP up from my seat and direct the choir to stand and start singing "The King is Coming, the King is coming, I just heard the trumpet sounding, and now His face I see!  Oh, the King is coming, the King is coming, Praise God! Praise God! He's Coming for Me!!!"   

Wow! I know my face was a bit red that I'd almost missed this great ending! If I had've missed it, I would've pretty much said "Jesus, just come on and take me now!"  LOL. But Praise God! We made it, and it was truly a wonderful ending to an amazing experience!

The King is Coming piano solo by Anthony Burger:

If you don't know the story of Anthony Burger, you might appreciate hearing his testimony. This is also what he shared with us that night at the concert.  It's an amazing story, well worth listening to:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBhY1k_DWU4  You may have to click on that link because the video may not show up here.

This video is so magnificent: "The Best Compilation of Anthony Burger"

I think you will really enjoy this one. I'm still listening to it while I write. Amazing gift from God. 

Here's a link to his whole life story on Wikipedia.  This is the sad part:  

"On February 22, 2006, at the age of 44, Burger died of a massive heart attack after performing aboard the MS Zuiderdam, a cruise ship chartered for a Gaither Gospel Cruise. According to eyewitnesses, Burger was accompanying Bill and Gloria Gaither and Guy Penrod when fans in the audience noticed Burger had ceased moving, his hands clenched into fists over the keyboard. Several fellow artists carried him backstage, where the cruise ship's emergency response team performed CPR for about 45 minutes, to no avail."

Yes, he passed away all too soon, and actually he died just 2 or 3 years after we had met him.  We were greatly saddened that the world lost such an amazingly gifted man, but God had a need for him to join heaven's concert hall.  I expect he's playing some truly heavenly music today.  Maybe when I get to heaven someday I'll have another chance to direct the heavenly choir singing "The King is Coming" while Anthony Burger plays on the Grand Piano of Heaven.  Wouldn't that be something?  Well, I can dream. LOL.  

I am so thankful to God for these life experiences. And most of all I am thankful that we have that hope..."The KING IS COMING!"  Are you ready?   I know I am, and I can hardly wait, but I guess we will all have to wait until everything is ready in the halls of heaven for us to enter.  Until that day, let's keep singing and praising God for His goodness to us. Amen?  Amen. 

 

Good Night my friends. I hope you enjoyed this little different  post.  You never know where we will end up when you come visiting here in my "Home Sweet Home".   Thank you for "staying awhile!".

Wednesday Wanderings or Wonderings?

 Yay! It's Wednesday! Some call it "Hump Day"...middle of the week, getting up and over that mid-week hump and down to the weekend! I feel like we are finally "over the hump" with this bug we've been fighting for the past two weeks and hopefully we are on the downhill slide to feeling good again!  We did take a nice walk yesterday morning, wandering around the woods in between rain showers.   This is the only picture I took, which shows that the wild plum trees are still blooming. That little cold snap the other morning of 26 degrees didn't seem to hurt them one bit!  

I hope they can withstand the upcoming frigid weather we are expecting this weekend, starting Saturday morning we will be back down to 27, and then a walloping 21 on Sunday morning, and back to 27 again on Monday! That's pretty doggone cold for us folks here in Florida! I think someone must have let the barn door open up north!  We'd appreciate it if you would please close that door!! LOL!

This weekend might be a good time for hubby to try out this new coffee that our sweet DIL and son brought us the other day as a "get well gift"

It sure smells good.  They also brought me a package of some very good tea: (because they know I don't drink coffee)

And I've already sampled it and found it to be very good indeed! It does taste like a cup of Florida sunshine...perfect thing for a cloudy chilly winter day!

They also brought us some very delicious quiche that Rose made, but I forgot to take a picture of that. We just ate it right up...it was so good! It was loaded with all kinds of good stuff...spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, bacon, sausage, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, eggs, and I don't know what else, but it sure was good! We are SO blessed and thankful for our "kids".  

Here's something that brings some sunshine into our days:

This Amaryllis is getting closer and closer to bursting open with

more beautiful blossoms.  Above was a couple of days ago,

and below is this morning:

Speaking of "Sunshine", for those of you who may or may not follow my little friend in The Adventures of Lily Grace, you may have seen that Lily got a new friend for her big birthday surprise.

Her name is "Bailey", and Lily Grace is having to learn all about the responsibility of taking care of a pet, no matter what the weather may be!  That might become challenging this weekend when it is so cold!

Bailey is a very good puppy and is already doing quite well with her "training". LOL.

Yes, we do have fun here...and you may say or think what you want...

I've already shared this little quote before, but it bears repeating here for those of you who may be "wondering"...

On a more somber note, this past week has also brought us some sad news from several different places. There's an old saying that death comes in threes...and I am not superstitious, but it does seem to happen that way sometimes for whatever reason I don't know.  But anyway, it was with great sorrow that we learned of the passing of three different people within this past week.  First was my dear Aunt Joan Tedlie, who was the wife of my mother's older brother Truman. She was 95 years old, and had lived a long and wonderful life and had raised a beautiful family of six children.  I had not seen Aunt Joan in quite a few years, but we stayed in touch through Facebook.   This is a perfect picture of Aunt Joan and her family in Hawaii,  (2006), where they all went to celebrate her 80th birthday

And this picture was recently discovered in a batch of old photos, which shows my Aunt Joan on the far right, my Uncle Truman in the middle, and my Aunt Margie on the left. The two kids are my nephew David and niece Debbie (my sister Doris' kids) This was taken at my parents' home quite a few years ago. 

Then next we heard of the very sad and untimely death of the daughter of some dear friends of ours. I don't have any pictures as I never met the young woman, but it was very sad as our friends had just buried their older son one year ago after his battle with cancer, and they had two remaining daughters, twins.  While they were spending a winter break in  Florida, this particular daughter remained in Ohio, where she had moved to be near her folks to help care for them as they got older. But sadly, when she did not show up for work, her co-workers discovered that she had died very unexpectedly in her home, and our friends received the tragic news  and had to drive back to Ohio to attend to her affairs. Thankfully their remaining daughter met them there to assist with the arrangements...but such a very sad situation for them all.  This young woman also left behind two daughters and several grandchildren who will greatly miss her.

And then yesterday we learned of the tragic death of our former neighbor in our last home. I told you about him recently in this post, about the Turkey Cranberry dish.  Just a few weeks ago our friend was in the hospital up here near us, but we were unable to visit him due to the covid situation and plus we were in the midst of our own issues. But I did call him on the phone and had a nice conversation with him. He was released from the hospital,  and seemed to be doing quite well. According to some mutual friends, he was feeling good enough to travel over to a town along the coast to take care of his late mother's estate issues.  However, he did not make it. Somehow, we do not know exactly why yet, he lost control of his vehicle and drove headlong into a tree, killing him instantly. They do not know yet if there was mechanical failure of the vehicle, as witnesses said it was weaving very erratically before the crash, or if our friend suffered a heart attack and then crashed. I tend to believe the latter, as he had definite heart issues, but they won't know for sure until an autopsy is completed. Either way, our friend was ushered immediately into the presence of God, on a day when he felt well enough to travel.

These three stories are all very sad in each situation, but for my Aunt Joan it was a happy reunion with her husband and one son and other loved ones who had gone on before. She had lived a full life and was quite ready to head home to heaven.  Yes, her family here will miss her, but when one is 95, it is more expected and accepted.  The other two people were much younger, with their lives still stretched out before them, and yet death came knocking very tragically and unexpectedly, cutting their earthly lives short,  leaving friends and family bewildered and heart broken.  

I guess the thing is we have to all realize that death does not always discriminate. It doesn't just claim the old and those who are quite ready to go.  It also comes calling on the younger ones who may still have their lives ahead of them...things to do, people to take care of, goals waiting to be met. When that happens we are left with questions, doubts, great sorrow and often times anger and fear.  These responses are normal and to be expected because it isn't so easy to just say, "Well, I guess it was his/her time to go..."    The point is that we must each be ready to go to meet Jesus face to face at any time, because none of us knows when it will be our "time to go".  We need to be, first of all, assured of our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and next, make sure we have done and said the things that need to be said...the "I'm sorry" and "please forgive me" to the ones we may have hurt or wronged...the "I love you" words and expressions to those we love and to those who need to know it. Don't let things be left unsaid or undone that we have the ability to say or do now. Relationships with others are more important than things or places or our agenda of things to do. Let others know that they are also forgiven for the ways they may have hurt us. Even if they don't deserve it in the world's eyes...let it go. Forgive...and move forward with life. Don't let anything hinder your relationship with God...because He's the One we will be spending eternity with.

Okay...I guess this post kind of wandered into a different path than when it originally began.  I apologize for going down that trail, and yet, I felt led to go there. Perhaps someone needed to hear this today. I don't know...I'm just the messenger. 

I will close with this Bible verse that speaks to me:

John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

A very good question to ask ourselves today.

Okay, now I am going to get ready to go for a walk with my hubby, as he is very patiently waiting on me to finish this post.

Have a blessed and beautiful day my friends.

Wacky Wednesday

God Bless America! (The view from my front porch this morning)

Some of my blogging friends do a Wednesday Hodgepodge, and some also do a "Whimsical Wednesday", which usually displays a lovely evening or wedding gown with choices of shoes to match for you to decide...and I love all of the above reading and entertaining posts for the middle of the week.  Not to detract or distract from these wonderful posts, but I thought I would do  my own version of all of the above, and have a "Wacky Wednesday", for today only (maybe). 

Our friend Debbie from "Breathing in Grace" is currently somewhat inactive on her blog, but she stays pretty active on her Facebook Page "Breathing In His Grace, Breathing Out His Praise", and today she posted something pretty funny.  See the lovely ladies below:

Now, I just love this picture...as a matter of fact, I loved it so much that I wanted to join in the fun.  I hope this will inspire you to consider the same idea and share your new "Easter Dress" for online church this year. I think in light of the fact that we are all having to sacrifice being able to attend church services on Easter (and the rest of the month), it's quite all right to have a little fun with this. We could all use a few good laughs, don't you think?

Little did I know when I was preparing for my hospital visit last month (one month ago tomorrow! Wow!), that the lovely aqua blue duster with the pretty pink roses on it would actually become my new Easter dress!

  Just needed to add an Easter bonnet and my lovely white gloves...

Oh, and my matching socks, and I am all ready for our Easter Sunday online service!! 

So how about you?  I hope you will be bold and daring enough to share your Easter outfit for this year. Let's have a little fun in the midst of the craziness of this current situation.

Meanwhile, of course we are not forgetting the true meaning of Easter, and that it is the very foundation of our faith.  What Jesus did for us on Calvary, when He sacrificed His very life so that we might be set free from our sins and have eternal life forever with Him in heaven...well, that is the most amazing and wonderful gift we could ever receive.  Regardless of where we are, Easter is a time for celebration.  As Christians, we celebrate the resurrected life every day we live.  The whole idea of having a new "Easter dress" originated from this celebration of new life...all things new, because in Christ we are a new creation:

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

17. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

So wherever you are, my prayer for you today is that first of all you are well...and that you are safely protected in your home (as much as possible), and that even in the midst of all this enforced isolation from the world, you are spending time with the Lord and celebrating the blessing of freedom from sin and death...yes...death. In Christ, we have eternal life...we may have to cross through death's door from this life to the next...but because of Jesus, we have the hope of everlasting life with Him...no more sickness, no more sorrow...no more isolation!  We will be set free from the cares of this world forever.  

John 11:25-26 says:

25 "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 

26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. 

Do you believe this?”

Jesus may have been talking to Martha, the sister of Lazarus, in this particular passage, but the question is still there for you and me today:  "Do YOU believe this?"  That is possibly the most important question you will ever be asked in life.  My prayer is that each and every one of us can strongly say, "Yes, Lord, I believe".  

Have a blessed and holy and happy Easter season, my friends. 

Now, let's see those Easter dresses! Come on...be a sport!! 

You have from now until Easter to decide and share!!  

Post Easter Thoughts and Notes

Happy Easter Monday...can you imagine what a glorious day this was back in Jesus' day?  The day AFTER the Resurrection?  Can you imagine the excitement rippling through the disciples' community network...they didn't have social media back then, but they sure had ways of getting the message around...and look what we have today...God's Word The Bible and the New Testament...we would not have The New Testament if Easter had never happened!  We would not have our churches and Christian schools, ministers, missionaries...we would still be lost in our sins...Oh, my goodness! What a difference Three Days Make! 

I do not have any sermon notes from our church service yesterday, as our "sermon" was in song...our choir performed the Easter Cantata, "I Will Embrace the Cross".  I cannot find any videos of these wonderful songs, but here is a link to the publisher and there is an "audio preview" on this site where you can actually listen to the songs.  If you want to sit and listen to the songs, there it is. (You have to click on each song to hear it).  I wish someone would have recorded our program, as it was so meaningful and each song is a part of the story of Jesus' journey through Jerusalem and to the cross.  Here is a picture of our choir singing. (Actually listening to the narrator at that point, hence we are not looking at the director!) 

After our Easter services we went home to prepare dinner for our family. Our daughter in law unfortunately had to work all day, and so we waited until supper time to have our Easter dinner. Thankfully, that gave me more time to cook after church.  We had a great time together...
 (I apologize if you've already seen all these pictures on my facebook page, but not everyone is a "fan" of facebook, so here we go...)

I also had time to bake this "Happy Face Easter Cake"...it turned out pretty good for not knowing what I was doing but just kind of "winging it".  Green dyed coconut makes pretty good Easter Grass for the Jelly Beans on top of the cream cheese frosting on a delicious lemon cake!

  We are not wearing our Easter finery here...this was later in the day we were very relaxed and casual...

 We enjoyed ham, deviled eggs, scalloped potatoes, broccoli, and corn on the cob, which was still cooking when this picture was taken...oh, and of course, "Hawaiian Rolls"...

And yes, our family has a tradition of finding the hidden Easter Baskets somewhere in the house...we are running out of good hiding places...they are finding them too quickly...well at least Scott did...he found his right off and I thought it was so well hidden...

Rose and Benton had to search a little longer, but they finally found theirs too.

It was a lovely evening.  So very thankful for our family and our church family too.

Again, I think..what would our lives be like without Jesus in our lives? There would be no "church family"...no Easter music...no Christmas...no salvation from our sins...none of the wonderful sacred music that we enjoy so much every week at church and in between...no Christian charity, ministries, hospitals...wow...if Jesus had never come to earth...if Jesus had never died on Calvary...where would we be? Have you ever thought of this?  I supposed we'd all be like the rest of the heathen world...following after false religions and gods...or not knowing any kind of god at all. We'd be lost. Our lives would be dark and sad and filled with sorrows with no hope.

Thanks to Calvary...we have hope of life eternal...we have salvation from our sins...we have life and love and faith to carry us through all of life's trials.

Jesus said to Martha in John 11:25-26

"I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die...."

Hallelujah for this hope that we have in Christ Jesus, all because of Easter!