bye bye june

this is #2 in the

"i've always loved summer and laughing series."

(someone had just cracked me up)

Note...

the transistor radio

and the starfish and sand dollars.

Can't hardly find them anymore.

Hilton Head ~ 1980's

Summer

by cathy cleland

Summer is the stuff of dreams....

what we wait for through the

long,

dark,

winter.

The days seem to last forever....

the nights ~ just a time to sleep.

Hot days (like today)

are

summer.

Not to be complained about

or

wished away.

Perfect days

to swim in the ocean,

ride the waves,

lay on the hot, dry sand.

Summer is over

way too soon.

That is true of all things

wonderful,

they are always too short.

I love you summer!

More summer pictures to follow

during the rest of the summer.

view from the top....

......of the Tybee lighthouse.

This is looking northwest.

Our condo is on around the bend a little bit.

Here you can see clearly

what I like to call the

convergence.....

the place where the ocean and the sound meet.

The waves

 are always kicking up a bit there.

Love to just stand and watch.

God has given us a good rain

and mild temperatures

so far

this summer.

Everything is very green and beautiful.

I love to see God in nature....

His creativity is on display for all of us to see.

No doubt

that we have a divine Creator

who carefully planned

and thought out all of this loveliness.....

the colors,

textures,

trees, grass, sky, clouds, flowers.

all is a testimony to Him

who made

heaven and earth.

"The Spirit of God has made me,

 and the breath

 of the Almighty gives me life."

Job 33:4

(picture borrowed from tybee island, ga on facebook)

sometimes...

when I sit here to write,

this is what happens.

Not very often,

just

sometimes.

Let's see what happens tonight.....

I think much about our souls.

Every one of us is born with a

 body and a soul.

We take such good care of our bodies,

but we oftentimes neglect our

soul. 

The soul is the part of us that will

 live forever.

One day our body will

die

and decay

 and be gone,

but not our soul.

How should we take care of our soul you may ask?

Recognize that God made us for Himself.

We will never be satisfied apart from Him

Seek Him.

Agree with him that we are sinful creatures.

Repent.

Turn from the sinful way.

Begin following Christ.

Read your Bible.

Pray.

Read books that teach you the good things of God.

Try to find a church that preaches the absolute truth of God's word.

They are very hard to find.

(I know of a really good one.)

(see below)

Accept nothing less.

Be with other believers who love God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Stop feeling sorry for yourself

and realize

how blessed you are.

Get busy with God's work!

Do for others and forget about yourself.

Praise God

and thank Him continually.

Cornerstone Church of Savannah!

Across from St. Joseph's Hospital in Savannah.

come...

you won't be disappointed!

seeing them all again

Today.

Dobbins ARB.

Atlanta, Georgia.

Reunion of all of the living

USPFO's

for the state of Georgia.

That would be

United States Property and Fiscal Officers.

Financial wizards who keep the military going smoothly.

Great men.

All Colonels in either the Army or the Air Force.

We toured the new facility at Dobbins.....

state of the art it was.

I heard it called by several

the Pentagon of the South.

Just the

"situation room"

was amazing.

We had a great time

fellowshipping and eating

 with old friends.

That's Bubba up there with his gift.

I have never seen so many

"goodies"

stuffed into one bag.

The people we work with for all of those years

 become dear to us in so many ways....

42 years for Bubba's career

.

Today was good and special.

Bubba can't stop talking about it.

promises

"How precious are the promises

which the Bible contains

 for the use of those who love God! 

There is hardly any possible emergency or condition

for which it does not have a word

 of hope

and encouragement.

And it tells people

that God loves to be put in remembrance of these promises,

 and that if He has said He will do something, 

His promise will surely be fulfilled.

How blessed are the hopes

which the Bible holds out

to the believer in Christ Jesus.....

peace in the hour of death~

rest and happiness on the other side of the grave~

a glorious body in the morning of the resurrection~

a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of judgement~

an everlasting reward in the Kingdom of Christ~

a joyful meeting with the Lord's people in the day of gathering together~

these~

these are the future prospects of every true Christian.

They are all written in the book~

in the book which is all true."

jcryle

Happy Sunday Morning.

If that doesn't fill you with joy,

nothing will!!!!

ever have one of these days...

....where every

song on the radio

is one of your

favorites?

Where every time

you look at the sky

it is so blue

it takes your breath away?

Where it seems

that every verse you read in the Bible

was written just for you?

Where the

pink peonys

are so beautiful

 they almost make you cry?

Where the

plain weave cotton

soft as silk

baby blue skirt

with the white gros-grain ribbon

fits like a dream?

Where you get a

written message

from a friend

that brings them close

in your mind and your heart?

Where everybody that you love,

loves you back?

It's been that kind of day for me.

*Meet you

 by the water spouts

 in downtown Savannah

in just a few.....

cathy

our calling

Tonight I give you words of truth....

"For the grace of God

that brings salvation

has appeared to all men,

teaching us that,

denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,

we should live soberly,

 righteously,

 and godly

in this present age,

looking for the blessed hope

and glorious appearing

of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for us,

that He might redeem us from every lawless deed

and purify for Himself

His own special people,

 zealous for good works."

Titus 2:11~14

 In one long sentence

we are given a synopsis

 of how to live as Christians

in this world.

Thank you God

for not leaving us here in this world

with no instructions!

Thank you for calling us to be

"Your own special people."

Help us to live our lives worthy of your calling!

Hibiscus

Harbor Town

Hilton Head, SC

happy birthday daughter of mine

It was the summer of the bicentennial.

We had just moved

into our brand new home on Donna Road.

I was so excited to have a new house

and a baby on the way.

The bambino was due to arrive on

June 10, 1976.

We had endured my

ballooning pregnancy,

the excruciating ups and downs of building the house,

and the hardships of living in a tiny one bedroom apartment with

our toddler, David.

I was ready to deliver without any delays on the tenth.

The timing was right and I was huge.

The little one

needed to come on out

or I was going to have to lay down and die from exhaustion.

Well, no baby on the tenth,

or the eleventh,

or the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, or 18th.

The nineteenth was a Saturday.

I got up and set to scrubbing and sanitizing the house.

I worked all day!!!

Sunday was to be Father's Day

and we planned the big one, a feast that is.

A spread...all the food that we could cook

 would be on that table.

Labor started in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

She came @ 1:30 pm...

right smack in the middle

of our feast.

No one worried about eating food that day.

We had Amanda...

the best Father's Day gift Bubba ever got!

kayaks sunning by the sound

Read your Bible!

From time to time you will see me quoting

 JC Ryle.

He reaches that deep spot in my heart....

I share his words

and hope

that he blesses your heart as well.

"Read the Bible daily,

make it part of your everyday business

to read and meditate

on some part of God's word.

Gather your manna fresh every morning.

Choose your own

 seasons & hours.

Do not scramble over and hurry your reading.

Give the Bible

the best

and not the worst part of your time.

But whatever plan you pursue,

let it be a rule of your life

to visit

the throne of grace

and the

Bible

everyday."

Picture above taken at

Harbor Town in South Carolina.

I think it's pretty!

happy father's day

Before you consider taking it on,

you should know this.....

The job of

being a father

 is not to be taken lightly.

I can think of no greater joy or honor

 than to be a father.

 A child is a gift from God.

God expects you to

provide for,

 love,

and take care of  His gift to you always.

Special instructions to fathers from the Bible....

"And you, fathers,

do not provoke your children to wrath,

but bring them up

in the training

and admonition of the Lord." 

Ephesians 6:4

There you go.....

Once you have the gift of a child from the Lord,

open up His book and

He will explain to you what you need to do.

Be a man...

But most importantly,

be a godly man.

Seek God in His word

and live that out in front of your children.

That's me up there with my dad when I was about two.

He and I are still together.

Thankful,

cathy

                                                                      

i am a certifiable....

Titanic Fanatic!!!!!

While enduring a long sit

 at Monkey Joes

 a couple of weeks ago,

I was thrilled out of my mind to find this

 National Geographic Magazine

with a cover story about the Titanic.

With children bouncing and yelling all around me,

I quickly became engrossed

in the story about the ship's final moments. 

 I am blessed with the

 inate ability

 to read anywhere and in any situation. 

Noise,

low lights,

automobiles,

the beach,

eating,

walking,

 nothing deters me from getting lost in the written words.

I wrote two quotes to share with you....

"The Titanic,

a vessel with too much pride in her name,

sprinting smartly to a new world,

only to be mortally nicked

by something

 as old and slow as ice."

I just love that quote by author

Hampson Sides

in the article

The Lights are finally On.

and then this question....

What happened to all the people still on board when she sank?

again I quote....

"Most of the 1,496 victims died of

hypothermia

at the surface bobbing in a patch of cork life-perservers.

But hundreds of people

may still have been alive inside ~

most of them immigrant families in steerage class

 looking forward to a new life in America.

How did they,

during their last moments,

 experience the colossal

wrenching and shuddering of metal

as the ship

sank down into the depths

and broke apart?

What would they have heard and felt?

It is,

even a hundred years later,

 to awful

to contemplate."

This still stuns me every time I read it.

praying for them

Referring back to last night's blog....

in Ethiopia,

Gus was saved physically.

He has not been saved spiritually yet.

That will happen for him

 as well as the other children

when it pleases God

to call them

and open their hearts to believe.

That is why we pray diligently,

trusting that God

will call them at an early age

to be His in Christ Jesus.

That is why we teach them to love God

and to obey

because it pleases Him.

That these sweet, tender children,

will be used by Him

to accomplish the work of His kingdom here on earth.

Yes, that is why we pray for them.

saved....

Our little grandson Gus

is my perfect picture of salvation.

Soon after he was born,

he was abandoned on the streets of Ethiopia.

He could have stayed right there to starve

and possibly die,

but someone found him,

someone lifted him up in their arms,

and brought him to a place of safety.

He was adopted.

He has a home,

a mother and a father,

a sister and a brother.

He was saved!

When we are born,

 we are lost in our sins,

 we are separated from our Father in heaven.

Left in that state without God

we would one day die

and be separated from Him forever.

But God reached down to lift us up.

He offered

His Son Jesus Christ

to be the sacrifice for our sin.

He put our sin debt on Jesus

when He died on the cross,

and accepted what He did on our behalf.

                                                              We have been adopted.

God is our Father.

True believers are our sisters and brothers.

We have a home in heaven waiting for us.

We are saved.

O heavenly Father,

thank you for saving us,

for giving us a safe place to land.

I love you!!!!!

ring around the rosie.....

One example of how dirty they got.

It has rained here for two days

I love it,

I absolutely love rainy days.

The excitement of a coming storm,

dark skies,

sudden gusts of wind,

lightning,

thunder,

culminating in a downpour of rain.

From yesterday's blog.....

To talk with,

be with,

share with,

a like-minded believer

is a little bit of heaven on earth.

What a rare find....

someone you can share

the wonders

of your relationship with Christ with.

Someone you can say this too...

"Look what I just found in God's word."

"Look at this nugget of truth."

To sit and talk with a

soulmate

about what is going on in the innnermost parts of your soul......

to praise the God of our life with.

Nothing compares with the fellowship of

 a like-minded believer.

sweet, sweet, fellowship

Finally,

someone put this in words for me.....

"Sheep love to be together;

they do not like being alone;

there are no animals which take such pleasure in being in a flock,

and cling to each other's company so faithfully.

And so it is with true Christians:

it is their delight to meet each other and be together,

if possible.

It is their continual sorrow

that far too often

 they have to journey on alone,

without any who are

like-minded

to commune with

about the things that

 their souls love most.

(This is what I long for more than anything)

Friends and relations

may be kind and affectionate,

they may have everything to make this world enjoyable~

but what Christ's sheep sigh and crave after

is to have with them

people who can enter into their secret feelings,

who understand the unseen workings of the inward man,

who can comprehend the hidden warfare which goes on in their hearts ~

People with whom they can take sweet counsel

about their souls' health and souls' trials,

with whom they can converse freely and unreserveably

 about their Lord and Master

and their hopes of forgiveness through His name."

JC RYLE

Above...

Whitfield Chapel

Bethesda Orphange

Established in

1740.

My grandfather,

George Henry Hodges

was raised there.

high scool ~ fifty years later

To Bubba....

This weekend marks

fifty years

since you graduated from

Savannah High School. 

Last night

we attended round one of the reunion.

After seeing your excitment

to be there with people you haven't seen in 50 years,

I did what every curious wife would do... 

I found your yearbook

 and started looking through it intently.

Some thoughts that were written in your book......

"It really has been a pleasure knowing you."

"Lots of luck and happiness to you in the future."

"And may you find a good wife."

"I know you will do good in whatever you do."

"You have a real nice personality."

"You have been a most excellent friend."

"You are a sweet and nice boy and I will remember you always."

"If you need a good friend, you will always have me."

and last but not least......"I hope you have a wild summer."

Your whole future was ahead of you.

Now looking back,

it doesn't really seem that long ago.

Your friends look different

because they are fifty years older,

but the essence of their personalities are the same.

It was good to see them and remember

those good old carefree days at

SHS

before you all started on the journeys of your lives.

One question....

Did you have a wild summer that year?

Your good wife that you found.

an ode about taking pictures

Yesterday afternoon

we tried to take pictures of the children in their

Easter clothes.

It had been raining for the last two days.

The grass was soggy

and the clouds hung very low.

A new burst was expected at anytime.

It turned into chaos very quickly.

By the end of about 15 minutes

every beautiful linen shirt,

 dress,

 and pants

were covered with mud and wet grass.

I've never seen them be badder.

We called an ending when

one of them

sustained a non life-threating

head and eye injury.

 Wails could be heard in

Richmond Hill.

They didn't get to have their

ice cream treat

because of bad behavior.

The pictures above

 were snapped

within five seconds of each other.

Talk about loading cats on a flat-bed truck!!!

best buds

These guys are best buds...

bicycle riding buddies.

Spent some time down at the river

this afternoon

taking some pictures

and enjoying the breeze. 

God has given us so many wonderful things to enjoy.

All is well

here in this home

 at the end of this glorious

Lord's day.

The word was well preached this morning.

Loving going verse by verse through Joshua.

Thank you David

for studying

and pulling out the truth of these passages.

For reminding us all of God's faithfulness and provision.

"...the children of Israel

 no longer had manna,

but they ate the food of the land of Canaan

that year."

Joshua 5:12

Christ's Glorious Return

What will you see

when the great event of

Christ's return

takes place? 

You will see the eternal

Son of God

return in the clouds of heaven

with great power and glory.

He will come to raise the dead saints

and to change the living ones,

 to punish the wicked

and to reward the godly,

to summon everyone before His bar,

 and to give to everyone according to his works.

He will come to bind Satan,

and to deprive him of his usurped domain,

to deliver the earth from the curse,

and to purify it

as the eternal dwelling place of a holy nation;

to cast out sin, and all its accursed consequences....

disease,

death,

sorrow,

wars,

poverty,

injustice,

and oppression.

You see the world defiled now by the presence of evil.

You will see it at length restored to its former state,

and the days of paradise before the fall

brought back again.

jc ryle

I cannot wait for this!