Friday Foto Friends: Let There Be Lights!

Yesterday afternoon and evening we had a real treat! We spent the afternoon with my hubby's brother and wife and their son and our son and his wife in St. Augustine!  Actually, this was our "Christmas get-together" with the "in-laws" since we can't actually be together with them on Christmas.

So I will proceed with the last pictures first and then move on to the first pictures last, because I know you want to see "the Lights" of St. Augustine!

These pictures were taken actually as we were leaving downtown St. Augustine.  We had already walked all around town before dark...it was such a lovely, perfect evening...

But we wanted to get out of town before the real crowds started pouring in for this festival of lights. 

Sorry this is a little blurred as I was taking the pictures as we drove past these places...

"Nights of Lights"...they certainly were beautiful!

We had discussed the possibility of getting on the trolley and taking the tour around town to see all of the lights, but when we found out the cost, somewhere around $80.00 PER PERSON, we decided we could see all we wanted to see from our cars just fine!

This was taken as we went over the bridge...there were many boats in the intracoastal waters there, but we were moving too fast to get any good pictures

We finally made it back to our kids' store parking lot, where they had left their vehicle, and this is what we could see from there...the almost full moon and the St. Augustine Lighthouse lighting the way:

Now, here's a few pictures from our walkabout in downtown St. Augustine before dark:

Blimey! I think I see a Pirate!!!

Pretty trees and decorations everywhere

And these folks even took their monkey out for a stroll...they did give us permission to take these pictures...

It's not every day you see a monkey in a stroller, now is it???

Our son "Ben" thought perhaps he had another new business he didn't know about...and it even had a Rose at the top of the sign...it must be "a sign"....LOL.

While the Steiner women (excluding me) were doing a little shopping, the Steiner men sat down for a rest, and of course I couldn't resist this wonderful photo op:

Aren't they a handsome group of men? We were sorry our son Scott couldn't join us, but he had to work. This is our nephew Nicholaus, my hubby John, our son Benton, and my BIL, BILL!

Then they took a picture of me with my two guys.  I was being squeezed on that bench between two big handsome guys!

Next we walked around to the "Plaza de Constitucion", "The Oldest Public Space in America"! How's that for you history buffs? You do know that St. Augustine is the oldest city in America, don't you???

It was a beautiful park, and a perfect evening to enjoy it.

Here are some sights around the park:

They call this "The Treasury" building...I didn't get close enough to read the plaque telling the history, so I guess we should look it up. Here's the LINK.  I guess we should have had a looksy inside. I must be gorgeous!

And of course there are these lovely horse drawn carriages everywhere, if you'd like to do the tour that way:

And HERE, for your listening pleasure, are the church bells ringing at Trinity Parish, which has been there for nearly 200 years...

I wish Lily Grace had been with us to hear these church bells ringing...Did you read her post about "Christmas Bells Are Ringing Ringing yesterday?  She would have loved this!! 

Here's Nicholaus and Benton, discussing the history of this cannon.  Oh, btw, these two "First Cousins" were born on the exact same day, just 31 years apart!!

Benton and Rose were enjoying this lovely night out on the town, away from work for a while!

And here's my BIL  Billy and his lovely wife Peggy, and Nicholaus again. Their daughter Shannon wasn't able to come, and we certainly missed her.  You might remember that we prayed for Shannon a few months ago after a serious car accident...she is doing very well now...walking again without the aid of a walker and also back to swimming again. She has a scholarship pending for swimming at a college in Georgia, but she still has a ways to go to get back to swimming that well...so please continue to pray for her. Thank you.

And as we were leaving the plaza, here were the towers at Flagler College in the waning sun:

Really beautiful scene...

Oh, here's a little bit of Florida scenery that you really need to see:

And this gorgeous balcony porch with the baskets of flowers hanging all over:

Well, I think I will close with this photo of the Lighthouse and the moon again...

A fitting reminder that at Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,

"The Light of the World".

 "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, 

but have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Merry Christmas!

 

"It Is No Secret!" - Reposted

This is a repost of a blog that I wrote about this same time last year.  Somehow, it seems good to repeat it again this year.


Original Post written 10/24/2015:
I'm not alluding to the song, "It Is No Secret What God can do..."  even though that is a wonderful old song and certainly true.  But what has been impressed on my mind lately has to do with darkness and light...hidden and revealed. Read on~

Luke 12:2-3

"For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops."

Luke 8:16-17

"No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light."

Proverbs 28:13

 "He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy."

Photo via Internet

I started this post a couple of weeks ago, and then just let it sit on the back burner and simmer a while. Not sure if I am ready to tackle it again or not.  It is a deep subject. Maybe I should just let God's Word speak for itself. I certainly cannot do it any better than that.  God's Word encourages me to press on:

Isaiah 58:1

"Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."

Isaiah 55:6-7:

"Seek the Lord while He may be found,

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon." 

Isaiah 58:6-9

"Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the heavy burdens,

to let the oppressed go free,

And that you break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;

When you see the naked, that you cover him,

and not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning,

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

And your righteousness shall go before you;  

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard, 

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; 

You shall cry, 

and He will say, 'Here I am.'" 

Isaiah 55:10-11

"For as the rain comes down,

and the snow from heaven,

and do not return there,

but water the earth,

and make it bring forth and bud,

that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:12~

"For you shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall break forth into singing before you..."

So be it, Lord, I pray, even as You have spoken.

Amen.

Home Again, Home Again jiggety jig...

How do you feel when you have traveled far and return home again? Happy? A little sad? Tired? Wishing you never had to come back? Wishing you'd never gone?  I guess it depends on the circumstances of the journey...but I'm certain we have all experienced each of the above emotions at one time or another in our life's travels. 

We just returned home from a trip to visit our son and his family in Maine.  We live in Florida, so it was a long trip...even though we flew...thankfully! Flying certainly has its "ups and downs"...and I am so grateful that this trip got us UP and DOWN again safely and pleasantly. Praise God!

Our Grandson Noah-a new teen-ager!

Noah and his Dad and Mom

But the traveling part was only the means to get us from here to there, and from there to here again.  It's what was in between the Up and Down that mattered most.  We went to celebrate the 13th birthday of our only grandchild, Noah...and to watch him morph over night from a "little boy" into a "young man".  I'm not sure I want to call him a "teen-ager" yet...that has such a negative connotation, and Noah is not a negative young person.  He is a very normal young man, with all the usual dreams and schemes of experiencing life to the fullest.  He enjoys school, tae kwon do, his church and youth activities, his friends, but most of all his family.

I am certain that Noah has a bright future ahead...and I believe that God has His hand upon him.  However, there are some uncertainties looming in the foreground...you see, Noah's Daddy, our son Matthew, has cancer: Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor.  It is a rare and agressive form of cancer, which usually strikes children.  Matthew is 39 years old, and is in the third year of this battle for his life. He is currently undergoing his second round of chemotherapy, after a break from it for about a year.  There are no guarantees of a cure...this cancer is still too new, too rare, too unheard of to get much attention for the researchers.  I believe this picture tells how we all feel about it:



Noah and his Daddy, Our Son Matthew, who has cancer

 That may not be the nicest choice of words, but cancer is not a nice disease.  It truly can suck the life out of the victim, the parents, the spouse, the children, the friends...but it doesn't take away the JOY of life from those who have faith to believe that God is with us even in the bad times...even in the difficult moments, the sickness, the sorrow, the pain, the disappointments.  We are people like that.  We believe that God is present with us, "Emmanuel", God with us...no matter what.  And He has promised to NEVER leave us nor forsake us.  Hebrews 13:5 tells us:

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'  So we may boldly say: 'The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?'" 

We may say, "The LORD is my helper, I will not fear.  What can CANCER do to me?"  Yes, it can rob us of many things...our very existence on this earth...but it can't take away the joy of knowing that God is at work in and through us, even in these difficult times.  He has a plan...He may choose to bring healing and take this curse away.  He may not choose to bring physical healing in this life, but He WILL take the curse away...He already has. 

"So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory!"  O Death, where is your sting?  O Hades, where is your victory?  The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  But THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!"   I Corinthians 15:54-57

I think it is fitting that we spent one of our days together at this lighthouse, Nubble Light, in York Beach, Maine.  The Lighthouse represents the "Rescuer" our Savior, Jesus Christ, standing along the shore, sending out His message of Love, Hope and Eternal Life with Him.  We have this hope in our Savior.  We do not need to fear the dread diseases and storms and dire predictions of this life.  Our grandson, Noah, has a bright future, no matter what happens to his precious Daddy. Of course we want healing for our son. Of course we pray for a cure...a miracle...a future for him with his dear wife Nicole and son Noah. But no matter what happens...we have hope. We have peace. We have love. And we will all be home again, home again, jiggety jig...together forever someday. Praise God.