i like.....

to hear the church bells ringing in downtown Savannah,

footprints in the sand,

early mornings,

rainy days,

decorating my new home,

hearing David preach,

the intense green of early spring,

red geraniums,

the blue, blue sky,

a little one seeing me and running for a hug,

snowy white sheets and towels,

being creative,

the low country boil that Bubba fixed for us tonight.

i like....

the ways of God in the heart of a believer.

cathy

(that's my bedroom window up there)

2 of our grandboys

Jake & Eli

on Easter Sunday morning.

I love these guys beyond measure.

In just about three weeks

we will be traveling to Lanexa

to watch Eli graduate from preschool

and celebrate Jake's

7th birthday.

No one could have prepared me for the

wonderfulness of grandchildren.

I know that the Bible

says that "they are the crown of old men."

That's for sure a true statement!

I am humbled,

thankful,

given much grace,

because of these guys.

by the way....

they are the crown of old women too!

That verse would be Proverbs 17:6

can you identify with this?

The hardest area of my spiritual life is my

prayer time.

It is also the most important.

We as believers

have the privilege to communicate

with the maker and creator of the universe. 

God covets our prayers...

He emphasizes their importance all through His word. 

Even Jesus,

when He was here on this earth,

 spent most of His time alone in prayer

because that was where

His strength and power came from.

When I pray I am often interrupted...

many times I feel an urgency to get up and do something else.

It is hard for me to focus and not be distracted.

It is at this point that I am most susceptible.

Why is this?

Satan does not want us praying.

He does not want us

to let God be in control of our lives....

He does not want us

 to have the strength to overcome sin,

 because that is how he defeats us.....

how he makes us weak

 and useless in our Christian life.

We must be ever the more diligent in our prayer life.

We must practice sticking with it...

We are talking with our loving heavenly Father.

It should be that kind of relationship.....

every morning,

noon,

and night

we cannot wait to commune with Him.

I read this today and I love it...

"Give ear to my words,

 O Lord,

consider my groaning. 

Heed the sound of my cry for help,

 my King and My God.

For to Thee do I pray.

In the morning,

O Lord,

Thou wilt hear my voice;

In the morning

I will order my prayer to Thee and

eagerly watch."

Psalm 5: 1~3

Pray and eagerly watch...

What a privilege!

that's what porches are for

Quite by happenstance

we acquired some rather antiquey

outdoor furniture.

The seats had rotted out

and we were

contemplating getting rid of them.

Ross, our friend,

who is the absolute best upholsterer in Savannah,

maybe even the world,

advised that they were very worth keeping.

He offered to make

new bottoms and cushions

and he sent me off to the fabric store this morning

to find something I liked.

Well you know me and

brown and aqua.

I just think these stripes

will make my porch look exquisite.

 Bubba and Robbie and me

sat out there for a long time last evening,

way past when the sun went away and darkness came,

drinking coffee (some of us)

and talking

and laughing.

That's what porches are for I think.

lucy's bed at grammy's new house

My Auntie J called me today and said...

"I haven't seen anything on your blog lately 

about how the new house is coming."

It is coming....

slowly but surely.

I unpacked the last of the boxes

in the children's room

and got Lucy's bed set up

so that she can come and spend the night.

Bubba's brother Robbie

 came on Monday

to help Bub get moved out of the office/storage house

and his presence here and help have been a

 true gift from God.

It wouldn't have gotten done without him.

The house is looking great.

I will have a big party

soon so that everyone can come have a look .

Family....

the most important thing.

Very thankful for this week!

who should praise God?

"Praise the Lord!

Praise Him from the

heavens;

in the heights!

all His angels;

all His hosts!

sun and moon;

all stars of light!

highest heavens;

waters that are above the heavens!

sea monsters and all deeps;

fire and hail,

snow and clouds;

stormy wind fulfilling His word;

mountains and hills;

fruit trees and all cedars;

beasts and all cattle;

creeping things and winged fowl;

kings of the earth

and all peoples;

princes;

and all judges of the earth;

both young men and virgins;

old men and children,

Let them praise the name of the Lord!"

WHY?

For He commanded

and they were

created.

He has also established them

forever and ever;

He has made a decree which will not pass away!

Psalm 148

This is our God...

The God who causes beleivers to spill forth this kind of praise

because we can do nothing less!

Blessed be the name of the Lord! 

~

Liberty Falls....Greenville, SC

my birthday money.....

....was burning a hole in my pocket.

I relieved myself of all of it on the trip last weekend.

Here are a few of the pretty things that I bought....

At the top of the chair

is a bath mat

in the shape of a fish. 

I liked it so much I bought two.

I bought two more of my grey Vietre' plates.

Found these at

Star Provisions in Atlanta.

Now I can set a table for six.

Yay!

I found the most adorable

Vietre' red pitcher.

The handle is in the shape of a rooster.

I had the perfect place in mind for it.

You remember the linen runner that I bought a few months ago?

Well.

I found the matching linen napkins.

I cannot wait to set that table.

Most likely,

I will not let anyone wipe their mouth on them though.

The aqua pieces are for accent.

I love that color.

Looks good sprinkled in with my

reds, greens, and yellows.

Still deciding where those will go.

I found that jar with the red lid at my favorite,

Anthropology.

That black in the front is a little chalkboard.

I can write what I want to say on there.

Over to the left is the only piece of clothing I bought...

a little off white shrug.

Perfect for cool evenings with summer things.

Oh,

and those red linen place mats.

Don't you think my grey dishes will look great on them?

I had so much fun

spending

my birthday money.

Can you believe I saved it for over two months?

cathy

eight still standing

Had the privilege these past few days

of visiting

with these eight soldiers...

veterans of the

Tenth Mountain Division ~ World War II

who fought

 in the hills of northern Italy.

They are delightful!

They are our heros!

Their tales are many and varied.

They speak of the battles at Riva Ridge and Bellvedere,

but they also speak of the people of Italy

who opened

their hearts and homes

 to these brave young boys

willing to fight and die for freedom.

They speak of what might have been...

a shell

that hit the exact place

 that one of them had just vacated....

decimating everything around.

Four mules that died in the night right by where they were sleeping.

A "duck" boat

 that went down on a lake

with 27 men

into the deep cold waters....

and the one called back from boarding at the very last minute. 

(That would be my dad)

They speak the big old feather mattress in an abandoned farmhouse,

the scarcity of food,

and the little children

with buckets

begging for one last crumb.

They speak of friends

that were there by their side one minute

 and gone the next.

They tell of taking a helmet

from a dead German,

and of finding a picture

of a beautiful girl

in a dead soldier's pocket.

What an honor to spend time with these men and their wives,

just listening,

and thanking them for risking their lives 

for what we have today.

twinkle twinkle

This is the Pleiades.

I like to be outside gazing up at the stars.

They are all so beauitiful  twinkling in the night sky.

The magnitute of their sheer numbers

overwhelm my finite brain. 

I see God's power

 on display 

up there in the things

He made to adorn the heavens.

I was reading my Bible just now and found this....

"The Lord counts the number of the stars,

He gives names to all of them."

Psalm 147:4

I could never count the stars,

but He knows their number percisely.

Not only does He number them,

but He names each one.

When I get to heaven,

I will want to talk with Him about the names he gave the stars.

Won't that be an interesting evening!

The eloquence

of this

Word of God

is for me to marvel at.

His ways.....are truly only spiritually discerned,

and even then we can only know Him in part.

Abiding now and waiting....

cathy

i often think longingly of heaven....

maybe this is why.....

"There shall be no weariness in heaven;

There shall be no earthly labors to distract our attention.

Here,

on this present earth,

the cares of the world are constantly breaking in,

and these poor,

frail bodies of ours

do often bind us down to the earth by their weakness,

even when the spirit is willing.

We may be on the mount for a

short season

some times ~

but our powers are soon exhausted.

But there we shall have no

wandering thoughts,

no distractions,

no bodily wants,

we shall never faint."

jcryle

Off and away

from here in the morning

for a brief few days of repose from the ceaseless

cares of the last four weeks.

for now,

cathy

amanda and her boys

God's blessings

fall down on me in so many ways.

"She opens her mouth

with wisdom,

and on her tongue

is the law of kindness. 

She watches

over the ways of her household,

and does not eat the bread of

 idleness.

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

her husband also,

and he praises her."

Proverbs 31: 26 ~ 28 

see ya later alligator

So...

this eight footer

was relocated last week

 from a lagoon on a golf course

here in our new neighborhood. 

This is why I am afraid of lizards...

same shape,

smaller size.

Will look forward to animals in heaven,

tame animals,

out from under the curse of sin.

Until then,

Beware!

i have a friend...

who i know needs a laugh tonight.

Tomorrow is her birthday.....

but tonight she needs to laugh.

Sandra,

I found this picture the other day and it just cracked me up.

I don't know what we were doing,

it most have had something to do with the hem of your skirt.

(always proper, you know)

Looks like I might have been trying to help.

I think we are at your mom's house.

It just set me to remembering

all of the fun we had while we were dating

Robert and Bubba.

Hardly a night went by

that we weren't out doing something together.

I miss those days.....

and on theses days i sometimes wish

the four of us could go out and have fun again.

So much laughter,

so many good, good times! 

You are a cherished friend....

one who will grow old with me.

Happy Birthday to you!

love,

cathy

could it really be ten years

He asked her to marry him at the

Haunted Mansion

in Disneyland

out in

sunny Southern California.

She said yes.

They knew it would last forever because

"we will never run out of things to talk about."

They haven't.

This marriage is beautiful.

Ten years later we have

Lucy, & Harry,

& Gus.

"He who finds a wife

finds a good thing,

and obtains favor from the Lord."

Proverbs 18:22

"do good to souls"

"Look forward,

look onward and forward to the end!

Your best things are yet to come.

Time is short.

The end is drawing near.

The latter days of the world are upon us.

Fight the good fight.

Labor on.

Work on.

Strive on.

Read on.

Labor hard for your own soul's prosperity.

Labor hard for the prosperity of the souls of others.

Strive to bring a few more with you to heaven,

and by all means to save some.

Do something,

by God's help,

to make heaven more full

and hell more empty.

Speak to that young man by your side,

and that old person who lives near to your house.

Speak to that neighbor who nevers goes to a house of worship.

Speak to that relative who never reads the Bible in private,

and makes a mockery of serious religion.

Entreat them all to think about their souls.

Beg them

 to go and hear something on Sundays

which will be for their good unto

everlasting life.

Great is your reward in heaven,

if you try to do good to souls.

Great is the reward of all who confess Christ before others."

jc ryle

I absolutely love this quote!!!

"you're still the one"

"we've been together since way back when,

sometimes i never want to see you again,

but i want you to know

after all these years,

you're still the one i want whispering in my ear,

you're still the one i want to talk to in bed,

still the one that turns my head,

we're still having fun,

and you're still the one."

42 years today!

I love you,

cathy

ps....I heard this song playing in Home Depot today

and I knew I had my blog.

the porch is taking shape

It's not finished yet,

I want to get a rug and hang those ferns

and add some low lights,

but I'm loving it.

Bubba and I were so thankful for a phone call he got yesterday.

His doctor called with the results of his first

PSA test after the course of radiation

and thye were at a perfect zero.

Much elation resulted from this good news.

I was up very early this morning

reading this....

Psalm 139

O Lord,

Thou hast searched me and know me.

Thou dost know when I sit down

and when I rise up; 

Thou dost understand my thought from afar.

Thou dost scrutinize my path

and my lying down,

and art imtimately acquainted

with all my ways.

Even before there is a word on my tongue, 

Behold, O Lord,

Thou dost know it all.

Thou hast enclosed me behind and before,

and laid Thy hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;  

it is too high,

I cannot attain to it.

Just these six verses

 set my heart in motion for all day.

If you just know this about God

and nothing else,

 it is enough.

God knows my words before they are even on my tongue.

Yes, this knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is too high,

I cannot attain to it.

my new view

This is out of my bedroom window.

The guy who came to do some work today said this....

"You know,

even though Southbridge has been here for thirty years,

you are in the middle of the woods.

When you sit on your deck

you will see deer, rabbits, foxes, and possums

grazing and playing out there.

Oh,

and by the way,

there are copperheads everywhere."

Whoa....

That explains the

strong smell

of mothballs

that I've been trying to overcome in this place.

Evidently,

the previous tenant

 heard that mothballs chase away the snakes.

Well, they nauseate me.

I think I would rather deal with the sankes.

If anyone knows

how to get rid of

the smell of mothballs,

please contact me immmediately!

So......

 I got myself to the doctor today.

He took one look at my

red, swollen eyes

and said...

"You don't feel so well, do you?

Oh, good doctor,

you have no idea.

Got a shot,

and a dose of prednisone on the spot.

Two prescriptions

and that crazy nasal stuff.

Now I'm wired....

Oh well,

He promised I'd feel better very soon.

a little bit of easter

We had a very lovely day!

Most importantly.....

He is Risen!

i got the "big one" this year

In spite of the fact that we moved....

in spite of that fact that everything is in total disarray,

in spite of every possible obstacle,

he found me.

I got the "professor" this year....

bigger and better than ever!

Nothing like those "Palmer" milk chocolate Easter bunnies.

The move is going well.

Only a few things broken....

of course,

two of my favorite things....

but hey,

hold everything loosely, right?

This Easter cool snap has been wonderful today.

The windows at this home open wide too.

Haven't gotten to enjoy the

screened porch yet,

but that will come.

Soon it will be resurrection morning.

Can't wait to worship our

Risen Lord!

true love demonstrated

"Here we commemorate

the greatest and deepest

demonstration of

true love

the world has ever known. 

 For God

looked down upon

sorrowing,

suffering,

struggling,

sinning humanity

 and was moved to compassion

 for the contrary,

sheep-like creatures

He had made.

In spite of

the tremendous personal cost

it would entail to Himself to deliver them from their dilemma,

 He chose deliberately

to descend and live amonst them

that He might deliever them.

This meant laying aside His splendor,

His position,

His preogatives as the perfect and faultless One.

It entailed losing His reputation.

It would involve physical suffering,

mental anguish,

and spiritual agony.

In short,

His coming to earth as the Christ,

was a straightforward case of

utter self-sacrifice

that culminated in the cross of Calvary. 

The laid down life,

the poured out blood,

 were the supreme symbols of total selflessness. 

This was love.

This was God.

This was divinity in action,

delivering men (and women) from

 their own utter selfishness,

 their own stupidity,

their own suicidal instincts

as lost sheep unable to help themselves." 

Phillip Keller

A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23

goodbye 104

Tomorrow we move to

1104.....

always trying to keep things consistent.

It's been a good run here...

I have loved

every minute

but it is time to move on....

I think I have

pneumonia,

but Erika doesn't think so.

I'm going with Erika on this one.

She knows, because she has the same malady I have.

So,

tomorrow at 9:00am the movers come.

As soon as they get here

 I will exit...

out to the new place

to get the kitchen set up

and the bed made

so that we can stay there tomorrow night.

Here,

we have no phone,

and last night they took away the television.

For some reason

I still have the internet

so that I can write this

farewell blog.

Signing off for now...

cathyc

growing

Little Gus...

the light of our lives.

Healthy boy...

strong legs,

a smile that takes you in.

Still  afraid of the vacuum cleaner,

and strangers he is wary of.

He leans in to love you....

Thank you God

for this amazing gift.