Blessings and Praises!

Mother's Day Lilies in the Secret Garden

I trust that you all had a blessed and beautiful Mother's Day yesterday!  I realize for some that Mother's Day can be a difficult day.  I totally understand that as I have had my own share of sorrows regarding motherhood, but without lingering there, I am thankful to have learned to enjoy the day because of what God has done for me...for the blessings I do have, and not dwell on the sorrows of that which I do not have. I am very thankful that He has helped me greatly in that regard.  And so now I would like to share with you some of the blessings and praises of the past 24 hours!

Our family had decided to have a cookout here at our house in the evening since our daughter in love had to work all day and by the time she got off we knew finding a decent restaurant would be difficult on Mother's Day.  So our son Scott grilled the chicken, and I kept it simple by boiling corn on the cob and making a salad and some red potatoes and deviled eggs.   Around 4:00 p.m. we noticed that the house was suddenly feeling very warm.  It was 90 degrees  and very humid outside and rising to 85 degrees inside very rapidly.  The central air unit was definitely malfunctioning. Of course, on a Sunday there is no one to call.  So we just had to turn off the AC and turn on every fan we could find.  Wouldn't help to open the windows, that's for sure!  But we didn't want to cancel our dinner, so we just all sweated together and kept the fans blowing!

First thing this morning we called AC repairman. He said he'd be over around 1:00 p.m., and to their credit, they were here right on time!  After checking things out, he determined it was NOT the AC unit itself, but the thermostat!  Praise God! A new AC unit would have cost $5,000.00!  The thermostat was only $225.00, labor included! So here is the new one...just installed, and the temperature is going down, down, down as we speak....81 is much better than 88, where it was earlier! What a blessing and answer to prayer!

You would have to live in Florida to fully appreciate what a miracle and blessing this is!!

So, let's see, what other good things happened?  Well, if you are a Facebook friend you've most likely already seen my pictures that I posted last night.  Some of them may need more clarification as to their significance.  Like this video:

And these pictures:

Here is a link to a previous post of when I first got these pillowcases from my mother-in-law's home.

I thought I had written about the fact that when we moved here in August of 2019, I could not find these pillowcases anywhere. But I can't find any post about that, so it must have been on Facebook that I talked about it.  I thought I had packed them with the other bed linens that I took off the bed in the guest room before we moved. I really thought I had taken the cases off of the pillows, and put them either in a dresser drawer, or in a bag with the other linens.  But after much careful (more like obsessive) searching and re-searching, taking out dresser drawers, emptying their contents, going through boxes and bags and anything remotely possible, they were nowhere to be found. My worst fear was that somehow they had gotten left in a bag that went out with the trash.

I had asked our son if they could've been mixed in with any of his things in his room or closet, but he hadn't seen them. I asked our other son and his wife if they were mixed in with some things I had given them for yard sales back when we were moving, but they had not seen them.  So after racking my brain over this issue for almost two years, I had finally given up hope of ever seeing these lovely vintage pillow cases ever again!  Until yesterday, when my son Scott presented me with a large TV box saying he got me a new TV. I knew that couldn't be true, but what on earth could be in that box?  So, if you watched the video and my reaction to finding these pillows and pillowcases in that box, which had been "buried" in his closet in a black trash bag that he thought had some old clothes or something else in it and had not looked inside all this time, you will maybe understand why I was so thrilled almost to tears to finally have this mystery solved!

And now they are back where they belong in the guest room:

(In case you missed it the other day, Lily Grace had a fun post from the guest room HERE.

Just wondering, does anyone else ever get obsessed over not being able to find something that was special?  These may not seem all that valuable to you, but to me they were a link to our family's past and they had brought a smile to our faces when we saw them...and that made them valuable.

Kind of reminds me of this story in the Bible:

Luke 15:8-10

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

In addition to the hilarity of finding the lost pillowcases, I did get some other nice things from the rest of the family:

The best gift was just being together...

Benton and Rose gave me these sweet gifts...

This beautiful pitcher and bowl is something that came from their store, Dixie Cottage. (Sorry, one of a kind...there aren't any more of them!)

Now the guest room really is ready!  If the bathroom is in use, you can always "bathe" in your room!

And this wonderful framed plaque from my sweet daughter in love Rose really touched my heart:

Since Rose's own dear mother passed away not too long after Benton and Rose were married, I have felt quite honored and blessed to be her "other mother". 

After supper and before it got dark, Scott got up on the roof to clean out the gutters, as they were full of the oak leaves from the big live oaks in our front yard.   

He disrupted this poor frog from his sleeping quarters! I believe this is the same frog I accidentally grabbed onto when I was opening the porch umbrella one morning. I don't know who jumped higher or screamed louder...me or this frog!  I'm glad to see he is still jumping around! 

So all's well that ends well. We are finally cooled down to a lovely 76 degrees and we should be able to sleep cool and peacefully tonight!

I know that I am truly blessed, and I give thanks and praise to the Lord for all His blessings.

Oh, in case you missed a good Mother's Day message yesterday, here is our pastor's message on Proverbs 31...and a song by the choir entitled

"My Mother's Bible".

Have a wonderful week my friends!