Wednesday Treasures and Special Memories

 Dear Friends...I can't believe it's Wednesday already! This has been a very busy week so far, and I really haven't had time to do much reading or writing, so I know I am way behind in saying hello to everyone.  I missed the Tuesday 4 meme yesterday altogether...so very sorry...but like I said, it's been a busy week.

Sometimes I think I would like to be like this Cicada...leaving my shell behind and flying about taking care of things and singing as I go...Maybe that's what it will be like when we die...we leave this old body behind...and our soul/spirit breaks free and flies away!!! I expect there will be a lot of singing on that day...

Cicada Exoskeleton (click the link for more info).

Speaking of flying, our Sand Hill Crane family occasionally flies in for a visit...yes, all four of them fly in for a landing on the pond out there on that green island...and they often spend the night there. In the morning, just after sunrise, they take off into the air again , calling loudly as they fly over the house to go exploring in other places for the day.  On this particular day they flew over to our shore and came up and visited a while before they took off again.  It's such fun to see them still all together...Mom and Dad and "colts" Pat and Val...

Sunday morning was really sweet at our church. We took in a lovely group of new members! So exciting to see our little church growing. 

And then to see the littlest "members" of our children's church standing up and singing "This is my Father's World" (every verse!) was really sweet.  They did a super job!

On Monday hubby, son Benton and I drove a couple of hours away for the funeral of our "Cousin Jane".

Obituary for Cousin Jane Driver

I didn't take any pictures at the funeral except for this one, after the service was over.  This lady and my hubby are distant cousins, and she was the flower girl in Jane's wedding and my hubby was the ring bearer. They were both about 5 or 6 years old at the time.  I don't believe they had seen each other since that wedding so many years ago!  Somewhere there is a picture of them at the wedding. I don't have it, but I've asked for a copy to be sent to us if anyone finds it.

After the funeral we went to a little restaurant in The Villages, "Culvers", for those of you who know it, and had some supper with hubby's brother and wife, Billy and Peggy.

Billy's birthday was last week and we had not had a chance to celebrate together, so we took this opportunity to spend a little extra time together before heading back to our respective homes in different directions. 

This is Benton and "The Birthday Boy".  

Three Steiner men.

You just never know what you're going to get when you start taking pictures. LOL.

Yesterday hubby and I had to go out of town for a medical appointment, so that kind of took up all of that day.  Today was our monthly "United Women in Faith" meeting,

We honored our outgoing Treasurer after five years of service...but then she said she would continue until the end of this year to help train another lady to do the job, but she still gets to keep the plant. LOL.

Here We are finishing up our business meeting before we had lunch. I didn't take any pictures of that, but it was good!!

Oh, and then I left a little early as I had a mammogram appointment this afternoon.  Of course you all know how much fun that was! LOL.  Just a routine annual check up. Praying that's all it will be!

Today would be my father's 105th birthday! He's been spending his birthdays in heaven for the past 12 years. Just couldn't let the day go by without remembering him.

This was my sister, Daddy, and I taking a walk together after a Thanksgiving dinner many moons ago. Such a sweet picture, right?

Then, when the person who was taking the picture told us to turn around, this is what we did:

The true personalities come out. LOL.

I love this picture of my Dad in his workshop. I borrowed this one from my sister. I hope she doesn't mind:   He was always building something special. A true craftsman.

Of course, this is one of my favorite photos of Daddy and me, taking a little snooze on a Sunday afternoon:

 

And here he is, walking me down the aisle to give me away many years later:

This was our family when I was about 3 years old....

And here we are again, many years later. This would be the last family picture taken together the year before my mother passed away...

Sweet memories.  Yes, precious treasures.

Exodus 20:12

12 “Honor your father and your mother, 

that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you."

Another favorite photo...My Dad, "The Champ", after winning a game of horseshoes!

I think I will leave it there.

Have a wonderful evening my friends. I hope to get back around to "visit" with you soon. Hopefully tomorrow will be a calmer day.

Sunday Evening Spring Stroll

Good Sunday Evening, Friends! I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying a peaceful evening.

I've been enjoying some lovely evenings out by Still Waters Pond, watching the sun go down. 

Also enjoying the spring flowers that are starting to really bloom...namely, the Azaleas!

This particular azalea bush was a gift from my sister last year, but we got it planted too late for the blooming season last year.  Thankfully, it has grown and developed into a lovely bush full of blossoms this year!  It's still small, but you can see it is loaded with buds. It's making me smile for sure!

Something else that makes me smile is this patch of wild Sky Blue Lupines that is growing where we take our daily walks. I wish I could transplant it to my yard, but I'm not sure it would grow there. So hopefully it will continue to grow in this area where we walk and I can enjoy seeing it there.

And bring some home to enjoy as well:

I'm also enjoying these little wild purple "fairy flowers" (that's what I call them). They are a weed, but they are so delicate and sweet and I love to see them  growing.

In case you've missed me, I've been a little bit busy. Thank you all for your comments on my previous post, as well as those of you who have been visiting over at The Adventures of Lily Grace and left such sweet comments there. I apologize that I haven't done much answering of your comments, but I do appreciate each and every one.

Anyway, if you visited Lily Grace on Friday, then you know that I went to help out at our son and daughter in law's store on Friday, "Dixie Cottage".  They've been so busy trying to keep up with all the orders they have for painting furniture as well as custom orders, etc., and it's difficult to work on projects and keep up with the customers in the store at the same time.  So, since I was feeling a lot better I said I would love to try and spend one day a week helping them out at the store. Not sure if I will actually be able to do it every week due to other commitments, but I will do my best. The store is an hour away from where we live...in St. Augustine, and so it isn't that easy to just run in and help out for a while and go home.  It's an all day commitment.  But I do enjoy talking to people who come browsing around, and hopefully encourage them to buy something at the same time! 

Here's a few pictures I took of a few of the current items in the store:

Isn't that a lovely little desk, with all the interesting decor around it?

"Be Our Guest", won't you please?

I love the upholstery on these dining room chairs. My daughter in law selects the fabrics and does the re-upholstering of the dining chairs that they refurbish.  She does a great job!

Here's another cozy and lovely dining room setting. I wish I had a place for this:

Here's a cute little drop-leaf table and chairs, plus many other interesting items surrounding it.  They do custom painting of furnishings...you can pick your own colors.  But all that refurbishing, painting, and finding good solid used furniture to refurbish takes a lot of time and energy.  Thankfully they are young and able.  I wish I could do more to help out, but I'm afraid my painting and refinishing of furniture days are pretty well over. But I can ring up the sales! That's the fun part! Praise God!

It was a fun day...but I was glad to get back home to my own recliner (and bed!) that evening! "The old gray mare she ain't what she used to be..." LOL.

Today it was wonderful to able to be back in Sunday School and Church, after missing last Sunday due to a bout with vertigo.  If you would like to come along with me, here is the pre-recorded video of our choir singing an old favorite hymn, "Tell Me The Story of Jesus",  followed by a wonderful message from our pastor from Psalm 51, "Create In Me A Clean Heart, O God", click on this video link below.

Here are the words to this familiar song so you can sing along:

"Tell Me The Story of Jesus"

"Tell me the story of Jesus; write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

Tell how the angels in chorus sang as they welcomed His birth

God in the highest! Peace and good tidings to earth.

Chorus:

Tell me the story of Jesus; write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

Fasting alone in the desert, tell of the days that are past.

How for our sins He was tempted, yet was triumphant at last.

Tell of the years of His labor; tell of the sorrow He bore.

He was despised and afflicted, homeless, rejected and poor.

Chorus:

Tell me the story of Jesus; write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

Tell of the cross where they; nailed Him, writhing in anguish and pain.

Tell of the grave where they laid Him, tell how He liveth again.

Love in that story so tender, clearer than ever I see.

Stay, let me weep while you whisper, love paid the ransom for me.

Chorus:

Tell me the story of Jesus; write on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard."

I can remember singing that hymn as a little girl, especially the chorus. I loved to hear the stories of Jesus then, and they have stayed with me all these years. I am very thankful to have been brought up in a Christian family that took us to Sunday School and church every week. But you know, it's never too late to start if you didn't get to go as a child.  Find a good Bible believing church and start going right now!  I was so excited to see that we accepted eleven new members into our little church today! That was really a blessing! 

 God is working in our midst, even in the midst of so much turmoil in our world today...perhaps even as a result of the turmoil in our world.  People's eyes are being opened to the truth that this world is not our final home, and we need to be ready for our eternal home.  Actually, today was also an amazing day in the life of one of our oldest members of the church, as she passed from this life into her eternal home at 6:00 a.m. this morning, following a brief illness. I believe she had just turned 92 in January. She was very ready to go and anxious to see Jesus face to face.  I couldn't help but think about her this morning as we were singing praises to the Lord...she was right there with Him in person, and I am sure she was rejoicing as she bowed before His presence.   

"We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body 

and to be present with the Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:8

Well, I guess it is time to close this for the night. I look forward to hearing from  you and also to try to get caught up with you and your events. May God bless each of you and give you peace...Amen.

 

"You Ain't Seen the Last of Jesus"

 

What a great day in the Lord today!  Although it has been a rainy day all day long, it did not dampen our spirits as we went to church and worshiped the Lord and had fellowship one with another in God's house.

Here is the song our choir sang today, followed by the Pastor's sermon from Luke 24:13-49, about Jesus on the Road to Emmaus, which I previously shared with you last week, but you will enjoy this sermon about that special walk on a country road...

But first, I hope you enjoy the song, "You Ain't Seen the Last of Jesus, I know He is Alive!"

"One early Sunday morning Mary went to the garden tomb

Surprised to find the body of her Savior had been moved.

An angel stood before her and said, “Jesus is not here!

Three days He laid in the mortal grave, but Mary don’t you fear!”

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, I know He is alive.

He shattered Satan’s victory when death He did survive.

You will see Him in His glory right before your very eyes,

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, He’s alive!

On the day of His ascension Jesus went to complete His plan

And you may say that I’m foolish to believe He’ll come again.

But I’ll still hold to the promise that He’ll return some day.

Go on and doubt but I’m gonna shout, He is on His way!

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, I know He is alive.

He shattered Satan’s victory when death He did survive.

You will see Him in His glory right before your very eyes,

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, He’s alive!

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, I know He is alive.

He shattered Satan’s victory when death He did survive.

You will see Him in His glory right before your very eyes,

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, He’s alive!

He’s alive! He’s alive!"

And also during this service today we had the great joy and privilege of seeing our kids Benton and Rose become members of our church:

And then we extended the right hand of Christian fellowship to them and the other gentleman who also joined today.

Well, actually, because of Covid restrictions, we couldn't do the normal routine of having everyone come and shake their hands, but as you can see it is hard for us to stop ourselves from doing what is in our hearts to do. This is our dear friend "Norma", who I told you about once before.  As you can see, Norma still exemplifies Christ to us.  I told you in that previous post back in December that I wanted to be more like Norma, who is more like Jesus...and now you can see what I mean. She just can't stop reaching out to share her love of Jesus with everyone.  

It's as if she really believes what the song said that the choir sang today:

"On the day of His ascension Jesus went to complete His plan

And you may say that I’m foolish to believe He’ll come again.

But I’ll still hold to the promise that He’ll return some day.

Go on and doubt but I’m gonna shout, He is on His way!

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, I know He is alive.

He shattered Satan’s victory when death He did survive.

You will see Him in His glory right before your very eyes,

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus

You ain’t seen the last of Jesus, He’s alive!"

And guess what?  I really believe that too!

  

"Go on and doubt, but I'm gonna shout,

He is on His way!

You ain't seen the last of Jesus,

I know He is alive!!"

I hope you believe that too!!

Have a blessed and wonderful Sunday!! He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!! Amen!