Sunday, November 29, 2009

1st Sunday of Advent


Then Isaiah said, "Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:13, 14

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Ponderings

I've had a lot going on in my head lately so I thought I'd write some of it down. I have so much to be thankful for.
1. Jesus Christ- my Lord and Saviour. My new freedom in Christ as written in My Growth Story.
2. Mother and Dad. Dad is gone now and I miss him so much I can't even tell you how much. Mother is doing so well it's incredible. At 95 1/2 years her mind is so good, she even recognizes my voice on the phone!
3. Jerry. My husband of 50 years! How he could live with me all these years is beyond me...
4. Pam, Ted, Tim, Christy, Rob. My wonderful children and their spouses.
5. Andrew, Matthew, Kaleb, Tyler, Annie, Max, Megan, Haleigh, Miller, Sydney, Isabella, Mason, Maddie, and soon to be Elmise and Armon and Katie! My wonderful, delightful grandchildren!
6. Richard, Lorraine, Bill. My interesting, loving siblings.
7. Extended family. Including: sisters-in-law, cousins, nieces, nephews, anyone else who claims to be related!
8. Friends. Small group friends; friends & neighbors, old & new, elderly & young.
9. Health. My wonderful doctor.
10. My home. Our dream house we've lived in for 12 years already!
11. My church. My place of worshiping God with a body of believers.
12. My country. Where we have the freedom to worship as we believe according to the Word of God.

I love to decorate for Christmas but I'm not young any more! It's such a job to get everything out of our store room, bring it downstairs, take down the regular decorations, (international doll collection, precious knick-knacks that only mean something special to me), put them all away. My granddaughter's are a life saver! They worked so hard yesterday taking things down and putting Christmas (mainly Nativity sets, I have many.) things up. (I'm having to put the old things away today and tomorrow, oh to be young again.)
(I'm sitting here crying now! Jerry asked what I'm writing so I read what I've written so far and couldn't read it out loud with getting emotional! He said it's okay. What a guy!)
Lord, I do praise You. You are Sovereign, All Knowing, In Control, Love, Peace, Joy, Mercy, Grace, Creator and Saviour. Thank You for saving me. Having Jesus as my own personal Saviour is so undeserving and yet, so true to Your Word. Thank You for all Your blessings to me. I don't deserve them or You. But thank You. Please help me to live my life in such a way to show Jesus in my life. Help others to see Him in my every day living.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Granddaughter's

7:30 AM I woke up and decided to sneak downstairs for a cup of coffee before the girls woke up...wrong! Looking down from the loft, here is what I saw! Three sleepy girls on the sofa waiting for Grandma to wake up! They should have still been sleeping. Well, maybe not Isabella, she went to sleep early but Haleigh and Sydney were awake til a little past midnight!

Here is Bella, sound asleep. Haleigh and Sydney wanted me to take her picture.

Haleigh and Sydney posing for the camera! This is my chair in the loft, where I spend many night time hours.

Haleigh and Sydney watching the movie on Hallmark channel. Grandpa asked how come they took over Grandma's chair!
Dear Lord, thank You for Haleigh, Sydney, and Isabella. They are precious granddaughters. I love them and You love them even more!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had nine at our Thanksgiving table this year. Here is Bella, Sydney, Ted, Jerry, and Me.
In this picture is Haleigh, Jessica, Tyler, and Rob. Next year Armon and Elmise will be here too! In fact, they may be here in a couple of months! We have so much to be thankful for. We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner like we always do: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, salad, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie or apple pie. A couple of items were missing this year, due to my neglect. Candied sweet potatoes and cranberries.
The sweet potatoes we'll have tomorrow, but skip the cranberries. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Both of our daughters called.
Lord, thank You for families, for our bountiful food, for good times.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Happy Birthday!


Happy Birthday, Annie! Sweet sixteen! I can't believe it! The years are just zooming by! I'm very proud to be your grandma. You're very sweet and very pretty! I wish we could be closer to you. You're growing up in spite of the miles between us. Thank goodness with blogging and facebook we're able to keep in touch on an almost daily basis. Have a wonderful day today. I love you and wish for you a very happy birthday!

Lord, thank You for Annie. She's a delightful granddaughter. Please watch over her, protect her, and guide her. Please help her to allow You to fulfill the plan You have for her life. I love her and You love her even more.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Senior Luncheon





Today was our November Senior Luncheon at church. We had our biggest turnout ever! Two of us counted 59! So that's a pretty close count. It was just a plain old fashioned pot luck and boy, did we ever have lots of food! We even had some party crashers! Aren't they cute? Two of our pastor's and families stayed to eat with us today. These three children belong to Pastor Scott and Emma and Pastor Eric and Susie.


Dear Lord, thank You for our wonderful friends. Thank You for for wonderful food and fellowship we had today.

Bell Choir


This year's bell choir! They do so well! It's just a real treat to have them play for us! It's hard to see them in this picture and I wish you could hear them. Their bells are colored and their director, Emma, holds cards with the colored bells on them so when they see their color they really ring their bell or bells. The older kids hold two bells. It's really sweet. They'll be playing two or three more times before Christmas.
Heavenly Father, how I praise You for the sound of ringing bells! Thank You for these precious children as they make a joyful sound for You.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Last Day

This is our last day with Plaid. He's very much at home in our home. Here he's sitting on the back of our sofa so he can watch out the living room window. Yesterday he was in the sun room sitting on the ottoman looking out and growling and barking at something. I looked out and couldn't see anything out there. He kept it up but I never did see what he was seeing. Anyway, he was being a good watch dog! When he wants or needs to go outside he comes to me and puts his paw on my arm, if I'm sitting, or wines at me if I busy doing something. So we go for lots of walks, and that's good for me. It's great living in the country and in the middle of a woods because I don't have to get dressed early. I just go out in my house coat and only Plaid and I know! Well, now you know too!
Lord, thank You for Plaid. Thank You for letting us take care of him while Rob & Jessica are in Haiti. Please give them a safe trip back home today and tonight.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Happy Birthday!


Happy Birthday Ted! You're a great son and a great father to your girls. You are so creative with your metal works projects. I love my candle holders and my latest---advent candle holder wreathe. I'll be using it soon. We love it when you come to visit for weekends. Sydney and Bella are growing so quickly, which reminds me---that's also how quickly you grew. I wish for you a very happy birthday. I love you and wish we could be with you today.
Lord, bless Ted especially today, his birthday. Life is hard sometimes but Ted loves You and trusts You to guide him. Bless him as a father, as a son, as a friend, as a worker, as a man. I love him so much and You love him even more.

Monday, November 02, 2009

Happy Anniversary


Happy Anniversary Pam and Gene. But I did it again. I blew it again. I forgot your anniversary! I've been planning on using this picture from our trip to Malaysia to put on as your anniversary picture because I love it and...I missed the day. It was last Friday. October 30. What was I doing that I forgot it? I don't know. Please forgive me. I love you and I'm so sorry.
Lord, bless Pam and Gene in their marriage. They have done well. They've raised their family. They love You and that's the most important of all. Please continue to bless them.

Small Group

Our small group ate supper together yesterday before our discussion time. It was so fun and such good food! Everyone brought something so it wasn't a lot of work for me. It's the first time we eaten supper together before our discussion time.
Here is Larry, myself, Jerry, and John.

Laura, Diane, & Donna are laughing...that's something we do a lot of!

Vera, Linda & Rose. We're a good mix of folks. Three married couples, 1 widow, 1 married-her husband may join us at a later time, & two divorcees. Another couple is hoping to join us. It's almost time to split and that's going to be hard.
We are a very good small group and are bonding together in a meaningful way. After we ate supper we had an interesting discussion of Pastor Dave's sermons from last Sunday and this Sunday. His main text for both sermons was Ezekial 2:7. We're growing spiritually through being open and honest with each other. We take time for prayer requests and then have a prayer time.
Lord, how can I thank You for this small group and what it has come to mean to each one of us?

Merry Christmas or Happy Birthday?

This gang of family and friends came through the woods in the dark to sing...We Wish You A Merry Christmas... It was fun anyway! Tom, Angel, Kelby, Rob, & Jessica! What fun!!!

Thanks, Lord, for fun times with family and friends!

SURPRISE!

This is not a new picture of Sydney but it's one of my favorite pictures of her. She's very special.

I took this picture of Bella yesterday. Isn't she sweet?
Ted, Sydney, and Bella surprised me by coming for my birthday! Jerry had taken me out for supper to Applebee's, one of our favorite restaurants. We were home in time for trick/treaters, and were just relaxing...waiting. Ted, Bella, and Sydney had all talked to me on the phone in the morning to wish me a happy birthday. Sydney made it very clear that they were NOT coming to our house. They were going trick or treating with their dad! ...well, finally, someone came up on the porch, but instead of knocking, she just came right in! I was very surprised, but not as surprised as I was when I saw that it was Sydney! Ted had even parked the car over by our pole barn so I wouldn't see it! What a wonderful surprise! They drove three hours on Saturday to get here and then had to drive three hours on Sunday to go back home...all just to surprise me!
Lord, thank You for birthdays, surprises, and granddaughters!