Friday Foto Friends-A Very Present Help

Dear Friday Foto Friends...
As most of you are aware this is a very busy week for our family...and we've had lots of things going on in addition to what was planned.  First of all, I want to say THANK YOU to friends for your thoughts and prayers...as well as a big Praise the LORD for His healing and strength.  I started the week out with a tummy virus which rather knocked me for a loop for a couple of days. Our son, the bridegroom, also had a "bug" and had to spend a day at home resting.  We are so very thankful that no one else has gotten "the bug", and the wedding is set to take place this Saturday as planned.  I will be posting more about that next week I am certain.

For now I will just post a few pictures of things that I've been doing this week in addition to recuperating.  I don't have a picture of this, but in addition to the "bug", somehow our car had a very flat tire...actually a big gash in it, rendering it totally unfixable. So, on that particular day (Monday), we were forced to stay home and rest and recuperate and wait for our son to come home from work to help us get the flat tire off and take it 25 miles away to be replaced. I want to give our youngest son a BIG THANK YOU for doing exactly that after working hard all day; he never stopped to eat supper or anything. He just took care of that tire and had it back home and back on the car (in the dark) in a couple of hours...and then he was able to eat, take a shower and "crash" for the night. Praise God for our wonderful children.

 Now I feel like this bee...busily gathering and preparing food for our family and for the wedding rehearsal dinner/wedding reception.  The wedding is not going to be really large (about 60 people), but to keep costs down for the bride and groom both families are contributing/preparing the food for the luncheon reception.

 I've been busily making my lists and checking them twice to be sure nothing important is being left out...

Oh, another praise...as I mentioned last week (HERE), my computer had died, and I thought I had lost everything in it.  We ordered a new (refurbished) computer online, which thankfully arrived earlier than expected.  It took me the better part of a day to get everything set up and running. We also ordered a special cable adapter that is used to transfer data from the old hard drive to the new, as long as the old hard drive wasn't corrupted by virus, etc. That arrived a few days later, and I was able to transfer all of our documents and pictures that were on the old computer, including my Picasa photo editing program! So now I can continue editing my pictures in the manner in which I am accustomed.  I give credit and thanks to my hubby for learning about this adapter in a YouTube video online.  It only cost us about $10.00, and it saved us a bundle!  It pays to "google" these things and learn how to do stuff!  (I can tell you one thing...my brain hasn't had this big of a workout since I retired exactly two years ago.  So thankful to know that it still works...)

Yesterday was my day to iron the wedding shirts for the men of the household.  My hubby will be co-officiating, our younger son and our grandson will be groomsmen...and actually, our grandson, who is flying in all the way from Maine, is going to be the Best Man. He is standing in for his daddy, who would have been the Best Man had God not needed him in heaven already...so that will be a poignant moment to see our fine, tall, handsome 18 year old grandson doing the honors that his father would have done. I know his daddy will be watching and smiling down from heaven.

 As I ironed my son's shirt (The Groom), I prayed with every motion across the bright white fabric.  I prayed that the Lord would be with him and bless him and his sweet little bride with many years of happiness, health and joy.  While ironing the sleeves I asked the Lord to wrap His loving arms around him to protect, strengthen and provide in the good times and the difficult.

That was a precious time of prayer and communing with the Lord, which made the task of ironing go much sweeter and smoother.

Early this morning at the crack of dawn I looked out the front window and saw this deer enjoying her breakfast on our lawn.  The picture is a little fuzzy because there was so little daylight.

 She stood there quietly eating for quite a few minutes, totally unaware of my watching (from inside the house).

 Then she walked across the driveway and yard and on down the road...

Isn't she lovely?  What a peaceful, beautiful way to start my busy day of cooking and ironing and checking things off my lists...

How fitting that the scripture passage we read this morning in  our devotions was from Psalm 46...

1.  "God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble..."

7.  "The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge."

10.  "Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

11.  "The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge."

I love how the Psalmist repeats the phrase "The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge."  How comforting it is to know that no matter what we are going through, whether it be sickness, a busy schedule with limited strength, broken equipment and vehicles, preparing for a big change in our lives (even when it is a happy change...it is still a major adjustment), conflicting emotions...the bittersweet reminders with the joyous answers to prayer..."The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge."  Praise God for this refuge...and for His strength and very present help in all circumstances!  I am thankful that He caused me to "Be still, and know that I am God"...for just a few moments before starting a very busy day.

Now let us glide over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have been up to this week! Have a blessed and glorious weekend...take some time to "Be still, and know" the Presence of God in your midst!!

Friday Foto Friends: A Step Back in Time

Dear Friday Foto Friends...I am working under a "handicap" this week...as most of you may already know my desktop computer died the other day, and it will be at least a week before I can get another computer...so hubby has graciously given me some free time on his laptop when he's not using it...
I am very grateful...but of course it just isn't the same as my computer with all my favorite things bookmarked and easily accessible.  Especially my photo editor.  I used Picasa, and I tried to download it on his computer only to find out that you can no longer download that program.  So now I must figure out a new photo editor program. All you great photographers please give me some ideas...what program do you use?

Anyway, before the great computer disaster hit we took a lovely ride out into the country so I could take some pictures for this week's edition of Friday Foto Friends.  We journeyed to the little town where our son will be married NEXT WEEKEND! (Yikes!!! Can that really be happening so soon??)
Anywho...we visited the little church where the wedding will take place and had a tour of the sanctuary and fellowship hall. (No pictures taken inside yet...I will save that for the wedding day).  I thought you would enjoy seeing this lovely historic Methodist Church where the wedding will take place.  Our son and his bride to be have been attending there when they can and enjoy the close knit body of believers there...most of whom are old enough to be their parents or older...but they love the people and fellowship as well as the fact that the associate pastor is a friend of our son, so that helps.

This little church is well over 100 years old and has such a quaint antique architecture.

So many older churches like this have disappeared from our communities, replaced by huge modern buildings that hardly resemble a church building at all.  Of course, I know, the church is not the building...it is the people...the Body of Christ...but I still like the old fashioned churches and warm fellowship of these country churches.

Here's the church...Here's the Steeple...

Open the Door and see all the people!!!

Don't you just love this red door?? I do...

This unique log building is actually made from palm tree logs, and is very old...again, more than 100 years old. It currently is just used for storage, but back in the day it was a Boy Scout hut as well as other kinds of classrooms, etc.

After leaving the church we wound around the old downtown and found this old two story store building. It doesn't appear to be currently in use (except for those Jammin Nites?)...but it sure takes me back to a different era. Wish I had the money to fix this old place up...  "PEACE" brother...

This building has been refurbished and restored and is used for meetings, activities and houses a museum.  I hope to go back and explore someday.

And this old train car caboose is in the downtown park.  The only sad thing is it had "no trespassing" signs on it...and of course I was itching to explore...

So this pretty much sums up the old downtown of Interlachen, Florida. There are other lovely old homes scattered throughout the downtown area, but it is primarily a community that is being bypassed by busier roads and businesses away from the downtown.  I hope they will continue to try to preserve their history and keep it alive for future generations.

I hope you've enjoyed this little step back in time with me.  I will post more pictures from this little town after the wedding...and since our son will soon be living there we will have plenty more opportunities to go "explore".

I just wanted to add some thoughts of praise from Psalm 108:1-4

"O God, my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and give praise,

even with my glory.

Awake, lute and harp!

I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise You, O Lord,

among the peoples,

and I will sing praises to You among the nations.

For Your mercy is great above the heavens,

and Your truth reaches to the clouds."

Now let's go explore what our other Friday Foto Friends have been up to this past week over at Deb's place, "Breathing in Grace."   Have a blessed weekend!

Family Traditions and Happy Days

Hello Dear Friends...
I feel like I need to write and let you know that all is well...I've just been "recuperating" from a very delightful, but busy weekend (and days of preparation prior to the weekend).  Yes, we had the bridal shower for my sweet daughter in law (to be) on this past Saturday...and I'd say it was a huge success!  I want to give a shout out to my dear friends and family members who came alongside and helped me with food, serving, and party games/favors...and also stayed to help clean up afterward...I am so blessed and thankful for these dear ones, without whom I could not have accomplished this party so pleasantly.  If you are one of my Facebook friends, you have probably already seen these pictures, so just bear with me. I will just give some of the highlights here:

To begin our party we gathered around the tables for a luncheon of chicken salad, broccoli salad, croissants, and other delights such as fresh pineapple, grapes, various crackers and cheeses, etc., capped off with a compote dish of strawberries in jello with a delicious marshmallow/sour cream topping.  My close friends and family members each contributed something for the luncheon, which was a very big help to me.

At this table were "the younger generation"...Rose at the head of the table, and some of her sisters, her niece, and my sister in law,  and nieces...They had a good time getting acquainted and chatting about young women stuff...

At this table was the "more mature generation"...and we enjoyed visiting and chatting about things that we like to do...All was wonderful...

After lunch we moved to the living room, where my sister in law Peggy had set up an array of different games to challenge our brains and make us think.  We all had a good time playing 'the price is right", and guess the number of candy kisses in the jar and other memory challenges.  I was proud that some of us "more mature ladies" did better than some of the younger generation on that game! (I think it was skewed to our generation purposely...maybe)

Then began the gift opening...and I won't post all of the pictures of all of the gifts, but suffice it to say that Rose was blessed with a wonderful array of many useful and beautiful things to set up their household.

 Next we moved back to the dining room for dessert and our tea party.  Each lady had a different tea cup, and there was a variety of teas to choose from.  We had a choice of pumpkin pie, apple crisp or pineapple cream cheese flan cake for dessert. (Again thanks to the help of my dear friends/relatives!)

Pinkies up, ladies!!

Here is our lovely Rose, holding up a rosebud tea cup, and enjoying the beauty of two lovely red roses that bloomed especially for her in my garden!!!

 Here we were enjoying a moment of sharing some family history with Rose. Below is Rose, my sister Doris, yours truly, and my sister's daughter Debbie.

We were sharing with Rose the story of this necklace that she is holding up below...This is an antique diamond and seed-pearl lavalier, which belonged to my maternal grandmother. When my grandmother passed away, my mother inherited this special necklace, and from then on it became a special tradition for each girl getting married in our family, whether being married into the family, or already a family member, to wear this lavalier on her wedding day.  After my mother passed away, my sister inherited the necklace, and so she is the guardian of the tradition to be sure each girl wears it on her special day.  So Rose was excited to know that she will be carrying on this family tradition as she wears this "something old" on her wedding day.

Here is a picture of my mother wearing the lavalier after she received it from her mother's estate:

And this is a picture of my Grandma Tedlie.  I don't think we have one of her wearing the lavalier, but I wanted you to see this dear beautiful lady.

So I've been resting up a bit since Saturday...and enjoying the special moments of reflection on the events of the day...giving thanks to the Lord for each and every one...and especially for the precious woman that is to become my son's wife...and a daughter "in love" to me.  I feel so blessed as I will not be losing a son, but gaining a daughter. When you've raised three sons and buried one of them...and yes, I do have another precious daughter in law who was a faithful and wonderful wife to our son who has passed on...and is also a blessing to us as the mother of our only grandchild...but one can never have too many daughters (in law or by birth), can you?

Now we are getting things ready for the big event, the WEDDING, which will take place in just about one month! So please continue to pray for me as we work through all of the details of family traveling in from out of state, wedding clothing, rehearsal dinner, and myriad of other activities.  All exciting...but sometimes tiring...so prayers are appreciated!!

That's all for now, folks. I am ready for bed!!  Blessings to all of you!!!