Merry Christmas!!

Many blessings to you and your family as we celebrate His first coming!

Thou didst leave thy throne 
And thy kingly crown 
ManyWhen thou camest to earth for me, 
But in Bethlehem's home 
Was there found no room 
For Thy holy nativity: 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
There is room in my heart for thee! 

Heaven's arches rang 
When the angels sang 
Proclaiming Thy royal degree; 
But of lowly birth 
Cam'st Thou, Lord, on earth, 
And in great humility; 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
There is room in my heart for thee! 

The foxes found rest 
And the bird its nest 
In the shade of the forest tree; 
But Thy couch was the sod, 
O Thou Son of God, 
In the deserts of Galilee: 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
There is room in my heart for thee! 

Thou camest, O Lord, 
With the living word, 
That should set Thy people free; 
But, with mocking scorn, 
And with crown of thorn, 
They bore Thee to Calvary: 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
Thy Cross is my only plea! 

When heaven's arches shall ring, 
And her choirs shall sing 
At Thy coming to victory, 
Let they voice call me home, 
Saying, 'Yet there is room- 
There is room at My side for thee!' 
And my heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus, 
When Thou camest and callest for me.

For Waltons Lovers

Giving Thanks

If these darling creatures can give thanks for God's provisions, then surely we can. Hope you are all well and your families blessed of the Lord. We are doing fine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cooler Corn

Photograph by Scott DeSimon This is one of those forwards I like to pass on from time to time, so here it is: Am I the only person who hasn't heard of "cooler corn"? As an obsessive food nerd, you'd expect that I would have at least heard of it, but over the weekend I was blindsided by the simple genius of this method for cooking loads of corn on the cob perfectly. I was hepped to it while visiting my family in Maine. Short story: We like corn on the cob. And with eight adults at the table, that means a couple of dozen ears. We would have used the lobster pot to cook them all, but the lobster pot was busy steaming lobster.Then my sister, a capable Maine cook with years of camping experience says "let's do cooler corn!" Before I can ask "what is cooler corn?" a Coleman cooler appears from the garage, is wiped clean, then filled with the shucked ears. Next, two kettles-full of boiling water are poured over the corn and the top closed. Then nothing. When we sat down to dinner 30 minutes later and opened it, the corn was perfectly cooked. My mind was blown. And I'm told that the corn will remain at the perfect level of doneness for a couple of hours. Turns out, Cooler Corn is pretty well known among the outdoorsy set But for those of us who avoid tents as much as possible, it's perfect for large barbecues and way less of mess than grilling. In fact, I may even buy another cooler just so I'm ready for next summer. Now that I'm in the know.

__._,_.___

Three Year Old Shana!

Well you can see early autumn is grandchildren birthday time in our family, and today it's Shana's time to shine. Three years old!! 

Shana, you are our sweet little cuddly girl. Always ready and willing to snuggle with the people you love. You make us happy when you look at us with those eyes and give us those hugs and kisses. You're a big girl. now!! For almost three years you've been the baby girl and the little sister, but now you're also a big sister. You really surprised some of us. Being the baby for all your life, I was thinking MAYBE you'd be just a little envious of the new baby that was coming to your house, But almost a month ago, your new little sister arrived and NOBODY loves her more than you do. I remember how you warmed our hearts the way you kept saying "Awwwww, look at her. Look at the little baby. Look at her little hands. Awww." Well you've always been one who loves baby dolls and now you have one who's living and breathing right in your house. And you're still as sweet to her as the first day, giving her lots of kisses. Someday, I think you're going to be a good mommy and your children will love you as much as you love your own mommy. 

Someday, we all hope you will be as accepting and loving to Jesus as you are to the people you care about. Someday, we all hope you'll live up to the Proverbs 31:30 verse your mommy and daddy have given you to live by, and that you will be a woman who fears the Lord, and that will make you beautiful.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Hugs and Kisses,

Nanna

Another Girlie!!

God in His kind mercies has added another girlie to our family. My husband and I are rejoicing to see yet another granddaughter added to the number. Now there are three!!! Sariah Grace arrived on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, weighing in at seven pounds, two ounces, 20 inches long, and adorable as all get out!

If you will look closely, you will see the loving hands of her big sister, Shana, who was the last arrival almost three years ago. (How time has flown.) Big sister, Selena, now five, was somewhere around too. I don't know which one adores her more! 

All you grandmoms are sure to know the excitement we're feeling right now. We are richly blessed.

Five Years Old!

I can hardly believe it was five years ago today. I heard your first cries from the other side of the curtain in the delivery room and waited so your daddy and mommy could have a few minutes with just the three of you. When I first saw you, you were only about three minutes old and I loved you right from the start. Actually even before that. There was a lot of excitement that day and there were many people who came to see you and they all fell in love with you as soon as they saw you. Of course for me, PopPop and Auntie Nee, our love for you has only grown as these five years have gone by. But that's because you're so easy to love. You have such a bright and happy spirit. You're so helpful and friendly and excited about learning new things. The Lord has given you a mind that likes learning new things which you are very good at. You are a blessing to all of us and we thank the Lord for bringing you into our lives.

Our biggest prayer for you is not so much that you be smarter than anybody else or that you can run faster or jump higher than anybody else, but that you will love Jesus with all your heart and that he helps you to be the kind of person that pleases Him. We kind of think we see  Him already working in your heart and that makes all of us very happy.

Thanks for wanting to share your big day with us. We had a wonderful time with you and Shae-Shae this weekend. 

God bless you, dear Selena, and may heaven smile on you this coming year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Kisses and Hugs, 

Nanna

Beautiful Savior

Please forgive me my dear friends for my gross neglect of this blog and of you. Please be blessed by this reminder of the beauty of our Savior, which I posted before. He is worthy of all our praise.

To Kill an American

(Received in a forwarded email recently)

You probably missed this in the rush of news, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper, an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)
'An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish , Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.
An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian , or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan . The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion.. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence , which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous.. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!


As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan .. The national symbol of America , The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11 , 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists. So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo , and Stalin , and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world.. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself . Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Are You Up for This?

THIS IS GREAT for wordsmiths! Read all the way to the end. This took a lot of work to put together. You think English is easy??? Read to the end ... a new twist 1) The bandage was wound around the wound. 2) The farm was used to produce produce. 3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. 4) We must polish the Polish furniture. 5) He could lead if he would get the lead out. 6) The peasant decided to desert his dessert in the desert. 7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. 8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. 9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. 10) I did not object to the object. 11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid. 12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row. 13) They were too close to the door to close it. 14) The buck does funny things when the does are present. 15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line. 16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow. 17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail. 18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear. 19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. 20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on. English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ? You lovers of the English language might enjoy this: here is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.' It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ? We call UP our frie nds. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polishUP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP!

So True

Such as, "What must I do to be saved?" You will probably get the wrong answer at Google, unless it takes you to Bible.com., Bible Gateway.com or the like. The right answer is only in the Bible!

Try Acts 16:31, for the answer, but it's all over the Bible, especially the New Testament.

Girlie Friendship

I remember when I was in my late teens how important friends were. Above is a picture of my younger daughter (middle) with her two good friends from church. This is such an important time in their lives and I'm so thankful she has had them to share all the "girlie" things with. They all want to please God in their lives and are at various stages of schooling, etc. and each comes from a different culture. But they have unity in Christ.

However, my biggest prayer for them is that one day God will give to each of them a godly and honorable husband. I'm sure that He is the One who must do that and I'm praying they'll all be patiently waiting on Him until that time comes. I pray they'll keep themselves unto Him and for that day when He provides for them as only He can. I'm sure many of you will be praying the same prayer with me for our daughters and granddaughters.

By the way, my newest grandchild due in September is another girl. For whatever His reasons, the Lord has wanted our family to raise daughters for the kingdom. :)

Happy Mother's Day

To all mothers and those who have a mother's heart. Be blessed. May Christ be honored in your life and the lives of your children through your example.

I am thankful to the Lord for His gift of children. I remember my own dear mother today who has been in heaven now for 16 years.

The End

It's difficult to rejoice over the death of someone who undoubtedly has just entered a Christless eternity with all the suffering that entails, but I, along with most Americans, am thankful to God for His mercies to us for the end of this decade of tracking down this one person who has been responsible for so much horror and terror. I am proud of our country, and though I've never been a fan of our current President, I felt a sense of oneness with him last night as he delivered his speech telling us of the events of yesterday. I particularly felt immense pride when hearing about that courageous group of people who carried out this mission with success and efficiency. God bless America.

Sweeties

I hope your Easter was as blessed as mine. We had a nice day at church and as a family. Here are a few of my sweeties. We're having fantastic weather right now. In the seventies to eighties. Perfect. Talk to you soon.

Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed

I received this in a e-newsletter today, and wanted to share it during this Passion week. I always reflect on these beautiful words by Isaac Watts this time of year.

Topsy-Turvy

In the midst of finishing up the income taxes and scrambling to get our third quarter school work in, we had to take hubby to the ER Monday afternoon whereupon they kept him overnight and took forever releasing him late yesterday. (He was feeling some discomfort in the chest for a week or so, and the doctor didn't want to play around with that. However, all tests revealed that it's not his heart, but probably a digestive issue, so we're thankful for that.) So, we hopefully also have some car issues straightened out as well and life is going on? A bit on the topsy-turvy side, but going on anyway.

Please forgive me for not checking in on all of you more often, but I'll try to get by later today. No matter what's going on in our lives, Jesus reigns.

Be Still

Hope this is a blessing to all. I'm posting it on all my blogs today. Beautiful images of God's creation throughout. Have a very blessed Lord's Day tomorrow.

Installation Delay

INSTALLING SPRING...
████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
33% DONE. Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again.

(Saw this on a friend's Facebook status and couldn't resist copying. Problem is it's so true here.)

God Will Take Care of You

I thought now is a good time to post this, which I once posted on Facebook. Not altogether sure of their nationality, but I do have all people in mind with this, and especially the Japanese people. Enjoy. I'm sure you'll like it.

Pray for Japan!

Checking In

I don't know if you feel this way or not, but when I hear about a horrible disaster in another part of the world it usually seems funny that our lives go on as usual. Coming home today from some ordinary daily life things, I said to my daughter "Here we are going on with life as always and somewhere on this earth people are suffering from the effects of something that has completely devastated their entire well-being."

Well, I came to check in after my break and Japan, Hawaii, and those in the Pacific are fresh on my mind. I'm sure the same is true of you. Top of our prayer list for sure.

I am doing my income taxes again (as always this time of year), working on finishing up homeschool here in our house and prepare for graduation, doing little writing projects, looking at movies and dvds/videos of my new favorite TV program which I wrote about a couple of entries ago (love it), enjoying the grandchildren, teaching Sunday school, etc. etc. Nothing new. Somehow it's not that important anyway.

I notice quite a few of my blogging friends aren't posting as much either. I'm sure we'll all do it when we can and will all visit each other as time and circumstances allow.

Love you all. God bless.

Nearer My God to Thee

Taking a quick break from my two weak break to post this. Couldn't resist.

Little Bean

Can you see the little bean there? That's our third grandchild. Isn't he/she cute?

Listen, I'm going to be taking a couple weeks break. I will probably be keeping up posts for my other blogs which all have a specific purpose, but I'll break from the personal goings on unless there is something I'm just itching to say.

Be by to visit here and there. See you in a couple of weeks, Lord willing!

Arthur and Gwen

I can't believe myself. I am not one who likes fantasy at all as a choice for reading or entertainment, but for some strange reason, I've been enjoying the BBC TV Merlin series dvd's given to Neesie by a friend. At first, I just sat on the couch doing something else while it was on, but then found myself getting interested in the stories. I always appreciate quality acting and good story development and I saw that first, even though there were strange looking creatures and all that crazy stuff which I usually hate. The long and short of it is, I'm finding it very engaging.

This series is a very loose adaptation of the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table legend, which I never got into. In many ways, they're not sticking to the legend, which I could care less about. I don't want to go on too much about it, but do want to say what I like best. That is, even as old as I am, I still like fairy tales. I still like to dream a little about such things. And this series very much has a fairy tale woven in.

The time setting is before Arthur became king. He's crown prince and a brave warrior, etc. etc. There is this servant girl named Guinevere. Well, cutting out a lot of detail on the reasons why, in Season 2, Episode 2, the prince goes undercover, hiding out in the home of the servant girl for a couple of days. (He already knew her well, by the way.) She lives alone and was helping out in the particular situation. Well, this and that happened, she had to serve him, of course, and there was much that was amusing, but there was a point at which the young lady became so irritated with her guest that she "boiled over" and told him, in no uncertain terms, a few things about himself. She also told him of the importance of humility in a king, if he's to be a good one. The best part is that he listened. You could tell he did. You could also tell throughout the entire episode that this young future king was falling in love with this servant girl. Oh my. His father would have a heart attack if he knew that.

But here is what I really liked. This was the perfect setting for, at the very least, innuendoes about some sort of "hanky-panky" between the two. There was not the least hint of that. Somehow, in this day and age, they kept it clean. Even when Arthur assumed the only bed was his, not even considering that she would only have one, the focus was on his thinking only of self. Nothing else.

On this day on which romantic love is celebrated, I was thinking about this, and I'm glad the focus was on love, not on, well you know. A later episode confirmed that what had developed between the two of them was true love. I don't know what they'll do in the future with these lovers; I suppose I should expect that passion is coming. In the legend she is the queen (but she had never been a servant). There are many indications it may end up that way here, but the prince and maid will surely have to go through a lot for that to happen! It would be nice if they would keep the focus on love and that it would indeed lead to marriage. That's a lot to expect these days. (No spoilers if you know future happenings!)

Ladies, enjoy and be thankful for your prince today, if you have one. Mine has gotten gray and quite thick around the middle, but he's still my prince! And remember, prince or no prince, God's love is best.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. Their first kiss near the end of the episode: (Many young ladies wait until marriage for that first kiss and that's so nice when that happens! May the Lord lead each girl to do what is best and right in her situation.)

Epitaph

An epitaph written in a cemetery in England:

Remember man, as you walk by,
As you are now, so once was I,
As I am now, so shall you be,
Remember this and follow me.

To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone:

To follow you I'll not consent,
Until I know which way you went.

Wow. I found this in humorous stories at GatewayToJesus.com, but I hope it makes you think. Do you know where you will be when you leave this world? Do you know the one way to God? Do you know what is awaiting if you go the other way? In the Bible you'll see that the only way to spend an eternity with God is by repenting of your sins and turning to Jesus, the only Savior. And if you die without Him, it will be to a Christless eternity in a horrible place called hell.

Which way will you be going? Actually, this is not a laughing matter.

Is it Spring Yet?

I don't care what he claims when he makes his prediction today, spring is just around the corner. I think even I'll be glad when it comes.

Today we were spared. A storm came through and the second half is coming through during the night (early hours of Feb.2), but they say it will be hard rains with some freezing rains. Many of you other folks got lots of snow, I hear. Hope you're enjoying it; we've had our share. Somehow the Lord will see us all through.

I made turkey soup today and it really hit the spot. I saved the bones from Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I had lots of them. I simmer them for three to four hours in 10 to 12 cups water, with lots of celery and a little onion. I throw in a couple of bay leaves and peppercorns. Smells great cooking. Then I take out the bones (takes forever), bay leaves, and try to find the peppercorns (always miss a couple which my daughter Neesie always gets in her bowl as she hates pepper the most), after which I add mixed veggies and noodles. I prefer noodles but some folks like potatoes I hear. It's best to make the broth the day before so you can skim off the fat, but I never seem to get around to doing it. I can't wait once I have the broth. It felt so good going down and was most tasty, I must say. I've had a scratchy throat and chills much of the day, but feel much better after eating that soup! Also, I've been overdosing on liquids all day. I think it's working!

With all this bitter cold and snow, my little birdies outside are giving my feeding station quite a workout. A hawk has been hanging around and I keep hoping he won't get one of my patrons, but I guess it's just a matter of time. Well, hawks have to eat too, as they say. I just don't want to see it.

Well, that's all that I have to say for today. Blessings to you all. Stay warm. We'll get through this.

Lovely Weather

It's been a while since I posted a picture of my two girlies, so here it is. I think they're the only ones in the family who are enjoying this weather. It's been unbelievable. The photo above was a couple of weeks ago. We have had much more snow since then.

I think I better remind myself of some reasons why I dislike summer. I don't want to forget it while we're going through this particularly difficult winter. . .

Mosquitoes
Sticky humidity
Mosquitoes
Thunderstorms
Mosquitoes
heat
Mosquitoes

Well. Now I feel better. I'll not start pining away for July.

And about the granddaughters. I just saw the sweetest prayer at a friend's blog. Go here to read Karen's prayer, because I echo the sentiments.

A Secret Work

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Psalm 139:15

" 'My substance was not hid from thee.' The substantial part of my being was before thine all-seeing eye; the bones which make my frame were put together by thine hand. The essential materials of my being before they were arranged were all within the range of thine eye. I was hidden from all human knowledge, but not from thee: thou hast ever been intimately acquainted with me. 'When I was made in secret.' Most chastely and beautifully is here described the formation of our being before the time of our birth. A great artist will often labour alone in his studio, and not suffer his work to be seen until it is finished; even so did the Lord fashion us where no eye beheld us, and the veil was not lifted till every member was complete . . . 'And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.' 'Embroidered with great skill,' is an accurate poetical description of the creation of veins, sinews, muscles, nerves, etc. What tapestry can equal the human fabric? . . ." ~ Charles H. Spurgeon, from The Treasury of David


How dare we dispense with this marvelous work of God as if it were nothing but a "choice" belonging to us, the creatures? How dare we take it upon ourselves to even think we can make a determination whether this secret work of the Creator should or should not live? I wonder what Mr. Spurgeon would have thought if what would be happening in this day had been foretold? If God withholds judgment on our nation, it is purely a display of His long suffering and mercy!

Fellow saints, let's continue to pray that in the face of mercy, the time will soon come that this darkness prevailing over us will begin to be lifted. Let's do all we can to see that it happens, even if what we do seems small compared to the big picture. Who knows how even our littlest efforts can be used by the great Artist, who certainly recoils at seeing His works destroyed.

(Posting on both my personal and devotional blogs to recognize Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, 2011.)