My Everything Quilt

Another November has come to an end. I tried this year to think of something every day for which I am thankful. I know we should be thankful every day all year, but people seem to concentrate more on thankfulness during November. So, as the month comes to its end, I want to try to express some of the things/people I am most thankful for, now and all through the year. First, of course, is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am thankful He chose me to be His child and offered me the gift of salvation. I am forever awed by the sacrifice He made to redeem mankind. I am extremely thankful for my husband, David. After 31 years of marriage I still find it hard to believe sometimes that he loves me and chose me for his wife. The man is amazing. He is the most intelligent person I know, and he is spending life with me! Shocking!  My children: Our Rebekah is unique. She loves helping people. I guess that is why she wants to be a nurse. I am thankful for her and the way God has given h...

As I was cleaning out my filing cabinet today, I came across this from years ago. Enjoy! POSITION: Mom, Mother, Mommy, Mommie, Mama, Ma, MOM JOB DESCRIPTION: Long-term team player needed for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. RESPONSIBILITIES: For the rest of your life, you must be willing to be hated at least temporarily, until someone needs money to do something they want.  Must be willing to bite your tongue repeatedly.  Must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 609 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.  Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. M...

It was election day in the US this week. President Obama was re-elected. The race for President was a very close one this year. The day after the election most of my Facebook friends were posting their disappointment and a resurgence of faith in our sovereign God. No, we don't know what the next 4 years hold, but God is still on His throne and He still reigns. I am in the process of reading the book Two From Galilee about Mary and Joseph, the unexpected pregnancy of the virgin, and their trip to Bethlehem for the census and the birth of Jesus. They lived in a time of great governmental oppression. They did not have the opportunity to choose their leaders. Their rulers could do whatever they so desired. Herod even killed his own children and wife! The people of that time had no voice whatever in the way their laws were made and carried out. They paid taxes or they could lose their life. Poverty was the way of life for most people. Fear of the government was normal. After Jesus...

Autumn, autumn, autumn! A season Full of great things A season that brings Happiness to people And animals Autumn, autumn, autumn! Birds singing Their morning songs Praising the lord For the fruits Provided in the wild Autumn, autumn, autumn! Butterflies flying All over the gardens Enjoying the scent From the flowers Autumn, autumn, autumn! Bees buzzing From flower to flower Collecting pollen And making honey Autumn, autumn, autumn! Cows mooing In the forest Enjoying The green and fresh grass Autumn, autumn, autumn! Children sitting Around the fire Eating corn, watermelons, Sweet reeds and squashes Autumn, autumn, autumn A season that is fruitful.  Gomotsegang Sebadieta

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood- Touch of manner, hint of mood; And my heart is like a rhyme, With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time. The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry Of bugles going by. And my lonely spirit thrills To see the frosty asters like smoke upon the hills. There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir; We must rise and follow her, When from every hill of flame  She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

Psalm 19: 7-14 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

This is our house at St. George Island this week. View from the top balcony.

To be in the dark, altogether in the dark, is a great thing for faith. Then you are sure that what you see is not seen of the flesh but is in very deed a vision of spiritual faith. To be under a cloud is a trial, but not one-half so much a trial as it is to always have the light of this world. We are so likely to mistake the light of carnal comfort for the light of God that it is well to see how we do without it.~ Beside Still Waters

Our 2nd granddaughter was born Thursday, June 28, 2012. She weighed 5 lbs. and 15 oz. She measured 20 inches long. In other words, long and skinny. But my goodness, she is adorable!

Once again I am in Savannah to visit my parents and try to help clean out the old house. Mom thinks it will be cleaned out and ready to be placed on the market in just a few months. Unfortunately, that is not the case. No where near reality! Mom is having trouble "letting go" of her possessions. And she has a LOT of them. There are some items my sisters and I are interested in having for one reason or another. But the vast majority of things in this house are just stuff Mom has accumulated over the past 45 years; in other words most of it holds no sentimental value to us at all.  The problem arises when we go to the house Mom must be there. She is afraid, and rightly so, that my sisters and I will throw away something she does not want thrown away. So, we attempt to clean out by boxing up and bagging and she comes along behind us and takes out. She will ask if you want a particular item occasionally. Sometimes you can ask if you can take something that you actually want. ...

It is church camp week for Hannah and Moriah. The kids of Faith Community Church look forward to this week all year long. Sometimes I think the volunteers (kids and adults) get more excited about the week than the actual campers! In the past when the girls would be off at camp, I would spend the days scrap booking. I would look forward to those days with as much excitement as the girls would camp. This year has been different though. One reason I think is because I am without a car at the moment and I feel helpless. But I think Hannah expressed it more to the point; I am alone more these days because the girls are older and gone a lot. Therefore this week of camp is nothing unusual, they just will not be coming home in the evening for a few days. As the song goes, "Growing up is hard to do" is especially hard on a mom who has spent so much time with her children for all of their growing up years. Homeschooling has been my life for the past 20 plus years. Now Moriah only h...

"Real success is doing the will of God regardless of the consequences."~ Ashamed of the Gospel  by James MacArthur

Here it is June 2 and I haven't posted since April. I guess you could say that is a sign that I have been really busy. And I have been busy, but I could take the time to post on here. I think about it often during the day when I come across something I want to remember; but I don't seem to get it on here. So, I am going to make a mental challenge for myself to post at least something once a week. A little catch up here: In April we went to Savannah to celebrate Mom's birthday. Our schedule would not allow us to be there for her actual birthday, so we celebrated early. We were able to do some clean out at the house. There is still so much to be done. Mom allowed me to take her wedding china that she wanted me to have. We used it on Mother's Day! May is recital month. This year was the first time the girls were allowed to wear real tutus. Moriah's pointe class had the privilege of borrowing some and the girls were absolutely beautiful! Rebekah traveled to Abu D...

Well, it's definitely warm outside. The trees are budding; the flowers are beginning to bloom. The birds are singing and the bees are buzzing. I like the newness and freshness of spring. I just do not exactly enjoy the thought that warm weather leads to hot weather. The Atlanta temperatures lately have been breaking records with these 80+ degree temperatures. I like the cool temperatures. This is one of those areas where my husband and I are opposites. His definition of winter is anything below 70 degrees! He actually likes to be hot. These days I carry around my own source of heat so when the temperature is warm - well, let's just say it can be really hot. One thing about the spring that I do enjoy is the flowers. There seems to be color everywhere! I would really like to be one of those people that enjoys working outside in a garden/flower bed. I would plant lots of beautiful flowers of various colors and sizes and varieties. I would watch them impatiently until they were in ...

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever." Notice everything the LORD is and will do in this Psalm? With help like this what is there to fear?

So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, "Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone."

I am really enjoying this book. The title of this chapter is "Anxiety and Frustration." This should be very interesting, to say the least! I deal with these two things on a constant basis for one reason or another. So, here goes. I have a feeling this is going to hurt! ANXIETY Pg. 64 When Jesus (or Paul or Peter, who were writing under divine inspiration) says to us, "Don't be anxious," it has the force of a moral command. In other words, it is the moral will of God that we not be anxious. Or to say it more explicitly, anxiety is sin. First, anxiety is a distrust of God. When I give way to anxiety, I am, in effect, believing that God does not care for me and that He will not take care of me in the particular circumstance that triggers my anxiety of the moment. Anxiety is a sin also because it is a lack of acceptance of God's providence in our lives. Pg. 67 It is appropriate to pray for relief and for deliverance from whatever circumstance is triggering our a...