Thursday Thankfulness and More

 

A Foggy Sunrise morning

Good Morning Everyone!  This week is flying by in some ways, and creeping along in others.  For those of you who have followed things recently here, you may have wondered if my hubby had his scheduled appointment with our PCP yesterday (Wednesday).  Well, no, he didn't. They called us on Tuesday to reschedule it for Thursday, today, at 11:00.  That was frustrating, after waiting for two weeks to get the results of his lab work, and also to see the doctor (actually a PA) that we had met with previously. He wasn't available for the Wednesday appointment, and wouldn't be available the rest of the week, so we will be meeting with another member of the staff, (again, a PA), today, instead.  I am taking time to get this post started now before we leave for the appointment, and will update it when we get back home.  

Meanwhile, on Sunday we went to church, and it was wonderful to be there with our family and friends. Our kids (Benton and Rose) were there sitting in the pew with us, and they also actually participated in serving Communion, and it was such a blessing to my heart to see them both standing there administering the bread and the cup to each person as they came forth to receive it. I wanted to take their picture, but thought it might be irreverent to do so, so I refrained.  But I think every parent understands what a blessing it is to see our adult children taking part in the worship service in any way, whether it be singing, ushering or taking up the offering, reading the Scriptures or lighting the candles during the Advent season, or just showing up! That is a comfort and joy to our hearts for certain.  We are very thankful for the precious, godly adults they have become.

And speaking of our church, our new church sign installation is finally complete and made its "debut" to the community last night:

"Sunday Service 10am"

I haven't actually been there to see it working in person yet, so I'm not sure how quickly these messages scroll by.  My thought would be that you'd have to be driving rather slowly to see/read them all as they scroll, but hopefully people will notice and get the message that they are welcome at our church!

Just a note...I believe the plan now is also to add some flowers or other plants around the base of the sign so it doesn't look so bare.

And then I guess it ends up with the current time. I wonder if it has the temperature too? I will have to check that out!

Anyway, it is our prayer that this sign will help people who are looking for a place to worship to take notice of our little church and come and visit and maybe decide they feel welcome enough to want to stay!  They will definitely find a warm welcome there and will hear the Word of God being taught and preached. That's what it's all about.

This morning I noticed something red over in the "Secret/Memorial Garden".

As you all know, if you've been with me for a while, I get excited when I see something blooming there...

Yes! The Memorial Rose bush is blooming again!  This rosebush has a "history", and lately it only seems to bloom a couple of times a year, so it is always a cause for celebration when it does!

Of course I cut the rosebud and brought it inside where I can enjoy watching it open and bloom. I added it to the vase with the other roses from the beautiful rosebush our dil Rose gave me for Mother's Day. It's the little things like this that brighten our days and give us a reason to "stop and smell the roses" and be thankful for what God has given us.

Here's a couple of other reasons to smile each day...

Sunshine and Blackie had a little visitor come outside to help me feed them this morning...

Yes, that's Lily Grace, and you can see that at least Blackie was happy to see her! Sunshine was more interested in his food to acknowledge her presence, but Lily Grace was just happy to be able to see them and enjoyed watching them eat.

On a fun note, yesterday I was enjoying reading many of our friends' blogging posts, and one in particular made me giggle and think about what I guess, others like me, tend to do during the day...

If you didn't read our friend Myra's "Respice, Prospice, A Cheerful Herald" post yesterday, then you can click on that link and read it so you'll know what I'm talking about.  I'm going to take the liberty of copying the internet photo she shared  here, because it just made me chuckle out loud when I saw it...

Why? Well, because it's just so true! LOL.  Especially this week.  Myra asked at the end of her post, "What interactions, if any, do you enjoy with your neighbors?"   Well, Myra, it's not so much the "interactions", but the actions of things going on outside our windows...It seems like this week I've been checking the windows frequently to see what's been going on out there. 

 

For one, the house next door to us that has been for sale for so long has finally been sold, and early last week we saw a few people coming and going to check out the house most likely after they had their closing.  We saw vehicles coming and going and I kept running to the windows to try and get a glimpse of what kind of people they were.  I'd already been told by the person who sold the house that it was "an elderly man and his son and grandson" who bought the house. No mention of any wife or mother or woman. Natually I was a little disappointed by that news since I'd been hoping for some nice neighbor to get acquainted with and perhaps become friends.  I really couldn't tell by who I saw coming and going just who was who, but it does look like that's the case...an older man, a middle aged man and a younger boy.  Of course I've been watching every day for them to pull up with U-Haul truck and move in, but so far that hasn't happend.  I did see someone with a pick up truck and some lumber in the back yard, which looks like they may be going to put up a deck or porch, *so that's nice.  Time will tell as to what kind of neighbors they will be, but for now I am still praying that they will be friendly and pleasant and that WE will be good neighbors to them. *I just took another look, and it appears they are putting up a fence in the backyard, so most likely they have a dog. Praying it's a friendly, non-barking dog! LOL.

Meanwhile, across the street there is another little house for sale, and this week there has been some activity over there every day. 

You can't tell it from that picture above, but there have been guys over there every day building that new porch railing. I felt rather sorry for them, because just when they'd get going real good, it would start to rain really hard and they would have to pack up and leave and come back the next day and try to get it finished. I think it took them three days to get it done finally. I told my hubby that I hoped they weren't being paid by the hour, because this was the slowest porch railing job I've ever seen! LOL.

And in the middle of that going on, one day the county road department sent out a truck load of prisoners from the state prison to do tree trimming up an down the streets.  They were cutting back tree limbs that hang over the right of way alongside the road, and they left little piles of branches in everyone's yards for the trash men to come pick up sometime.  Hopefully they won't wait too long so that they blow away and get scattered.  Anyway, you can imagine me standing at the windows peeking through the blinds and trying not to be too noticeable while the prisoners were in our yard trimming our big oak trees!  We are thankful for the work being done, and I'm glad we didn't have to pay for it!  

And now for the news we've all been waiting for...yes, we went to the doctor's office this morning as expected.  The P.A. very carefully went over the report of the blood work that had been done on hubby, and he read through every category rather quickly, saying,  "this one's good, that one's good, this is good, that's good, that's good, this one is good, that one is good," etc., etc. etc., all the way down the list of all the tests that had been performed. There was only one test that showed any numbers out of line to what they should've been, and that was for a virus, but he said that was something that could've been there for years and will always show up when tested, and not something to be too concerned about.

So after all these weeks/months of waiting for results of MRI, blood work, etc., we want to give thanks to the Lord for this news. I am praying that hubby will start feeling better  and want to do more now that he knows he's not in any major danger. You know, when you get to be our age, every little thing can become a much bigger thing in our minds, and it is easy to become fearful of what "could be".  

Philippians 4:6-7 says the following:

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

And now this is what I say:

Psalm 34:1-7

"I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;

The humble shall hear of it and be glad.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him,

And delivers them."

Amen.

I pray each of you has a blessed and beautiful rest of your week, and may God be with you always!!!

Friday Foto Friends, Praise, Prayer, and Answers Already!

Here it is Friday morning already, and I really don't have much new to share with you.

However, I thought it was nice of this Great Blue Heron to show up last evening to our Still Waters Pond for supper...

Now you see why I like this t-shirt so much that I already told you about.  The Herons come and go here frequently...and it is always a treat to watch them as they silently stalk their prey.

Before I go any further, I would like to request prayer for our niece Shannon. She is having some surgery today to remove the rod that was placed in her hip/pelvis last year after she had a serious car accident that crushed her pelvis and hip area.  The rod seems to be causing some pain and the doctor felt she should be healed well enough to remove it, but it is still a very risky surgery as nerves and arteries could be affected...so any prayers and good thoughts for her are greatly appreciated. I will let you know when we are updated with her condition. Thank you.

I've enjoyed the full moon this week, when I was up at a good time to see it.  This was yesterday morning around 6 a.m.  I was happy to see it as it was slipping down behind the trees on Still Waters Pond.

And at the same time, in the front yard, the sun was rising up over the horizon. The beginning of another beautiful day.

Here's some comforting thoughts for today:

Psalm 121

1 "I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore."

Amen.

So, as this morning has progressed, we took a little ride over to see how things are going for our kids, who have taken today off from working at their current store in St. Augustine so they can get some things done here to help get ready for their grand opening of the new store here. Thankfully they have some helpers to cover the store over there for them.  

They've printed up some fliers to be placed around town wherever there are public bulletin boards...and that's a little job that hubby and I are going to try to help with over the next week.

Our son gave us the grand tour of their home workshop operation that is going on today to help get more items ready for the new store:

Here's Ben in the storage building where they store the items that are ready to be painted and/or just freshly painted:

They obtain good used furniture and refurbish/repurpose/paint it so that it is ready for today's market and style of furnishings...whether it be coastal,  farmhouse, or traditional...it all takes a lot of work to get it just right:

Some items need repairs before they can be painted...

Some just have to wait their turn...

And here's our sweet DIL Rose, painting some of the many shelving units that they also create and sell in their online Etsy business: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BRCoastalRusticDecor .  This is in addition to their Dixie Cottage store business and also keeps them quite busy...

Next stop in the tour is the actual woodworking shop:

And today they have some more wonderful helpers...Rose's sister Tina and her son Charles are becoming a very valuable addition to the team...Here they are painting one of the many custom tables that Ben builds to sell at Dixie Cottage:

Always something being either built,  painted or made ready for sale...

And these are the two supervisors, Sugar and Spice, our beloved grand-puppies.  They keep everyone on their toes, and if you don't get it with the program, they will bark out their orders and let you know about it! LOL.

So that's the tour of some behind the scenes work going on getting ready for the big Grand Opening that is coming sooner than we realize!

Thank you for coming along on the tour!

Oh, perfect timing, I just got a text message from Shannon's mother, and

Shannon is out of surgery in recovery and is doing well!

Praise God!! He's already answered our prayers before you even knew about it.

God is good, and we are so very very thankful.  However, your prayers are still needed as she does recover and resumes her active life of an 18 year old getting ready for college.