and she flies through the air

with the greatest of ease.

Taken at Tybee just a few minutes ago.

Ya'll,

Bubba and I had the most amazing little getaway.

After a very hard week,

he literally picked me up,

put me in the car,

and whisked me away.

All I can say is,

I've never needed it more....

I've never been more grateful.

Thank you Bubba, you know me so well.

As the days get shorter and shorter,

the late in the day trips to the beach will have to end.

This afternoon was beautiful,

cool,

lit by the golden sun.

The kite got up super high and we all took turns.

flying.

The only downer was that Lucy got one of those stickers in her foot.

Remember those from your childhood?

They hurt like crazy.

There were tears,

and the van briefly became a medical triage center,

but all ended well.

The ride home was enhanced with a beautiful sunset

and reminisces of a lovely weekend.

sunset at harbour town

Just so you will have a new picture to look at !

Hopefully,

I will write this afternoon or tonight.

Thank you for reading my blog.

cathy

Puerto Rico

One of the most fun places that we visited

 on our very long travel itinerary was

Puerto Rico.

One day we got on a plane and flew down there from Atlanta.

David and Erika joined us.

We stayed for a week in Old Town and had an

 absolutely amazing time.

You know me,

there is no place I would rather be than on or very near

a beach.

Well, Puerto Rico is surrounded by beautiful beaches.

It is truly a tropical paradise.

Every morning, 

bright and early without fail, 

we climbed out of bed and trudged up a huge hill to get to

La Bombonera..

the best little coffee shop in town.  

Above you will see a picture of the shop and

 THE COFFEE MAKER!

When this thing cranked up,

what a noise it made 

and what an extraordinary cup of coffee it produced.

It was served in tiny little cups 

and I tell you the truth, it was worth the trudge.

We lived to get back to that place every day.

They also had a soft pastry,

 unique to them,

that was delicious as well.

This was our second time to visit this

enchanted land.

and yes....

we fly kites wherever we go!

pecan pie (pea can)

I made this pecan pie for our guests tonight....

the first of the fall season. 

It was a huge success,

delicious with our after dinner coffee.

Darkness is coming quickly now,

soon it will be too dark to have evenings on the beach.....

Always makes me so sad to lose the daylight.

I love the way the sunlight comes into

this house in the late afternoon.

We face west

and it's golden beams shimmer through the trees 

and make the house glow.

So beautiful!

Take the time to let the people you love hear from you

every now and then.

So often it becomes hard to remember their faces

and the light fades away from their beautiful eyes,

and you forget, you just forget.

fullness of joy

Tonight I share with you this most amazing picture.....

The Cockspur Lighthouse

with the Harvest Moon from last week rising behind it.

Our condo is to the left of the lighthouse.

This picture was taken by

Don Teuton.

Notice how high the tide was.

Can you even imagine what the beauty of heaven will be like?

Keeping my promise from last night....

(You need to read last night's blog before you read this one)

this is what God wanted me to learn....

from

Life in Christ by Martyn Lloyd Jones.

"Christian people in this world are meant to be full of joy.

This is what we are called to."

{Most of the time,

when something rocks my boat,

I am filled with anger and anxiety,

not joy.}

"Joy is something very deep and profound,

something that affects the whole and entire personality.

In other words, it comes to this....

there is only one thing that can give true joy,

and that is the contemplation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He satisfies my mind,

He satisfies my emotions,

He satisfies my every desire,

and in Him I am complete.

And this full joy is true of us not only when we are

together worshipping God and singing His praises,

but also,

should war come,

should atomic bombs descend,

should I be thrown in a concentration camp,

my joy must remain full.

I have not fully attained to the joy of the Lord,

if it is going to be variant and dependent upon circumstances 

and accidents

 and things that may happen to me.

It is a deep, profound, dynamic thing

that enables me to stand

whatever may be happening to me,

whatever may be taking place in the world,

because I know Him,

because I see Him,

and because I know that

nothing can separate me from Him and His love."

That's where God took me last night.

That's what He wants me to learn.

I am not there yet,

but now I know what I need to be working on.

out of the blue

Sometimes,

very unexpectedly,

something comes at me completely out of the blue 

and knocks me down on my face.

Lying there in the puddle of my befuddlement,

I seek my own devices for a while....

Anger,

sadness,

a feeling of helplessness.

Finally,

about halfway through this dilemma,

I am drawn to God's word .

Why does it always take me a while to get there?

God's word talks sense to my soul

and drives me to my knees

to ask Him for forgiveness and wisdom.

It is only then that I can see clearly what to do next.

I went to my bookshelf.....

it is makeshift right now,

actually it is in our closet on Bubba's side.

(He raised his eyebrows when he first saw my books there.)

It was dark...

my hand reached for a book.

Tomorrow,

sometime,

(the shutters are supposed to be put in tomorrow),

I will write what He led me to read.

We don't grow in Christ when things are easy.

We grow and mature in Him

when life throws you to the ground

and you have to seek Him to stand up again.

Thankful tonight for troubles

that teach me 

what I desperately need to know.

lets go fly a kite

It really did have a happy ending.

The kite got up high in the sky

and flew proudly on the wind currents

to our heart's delight.

I love September at the beach...

most of the crowds are gone,

the humidity goes away,

and the beach becomes pristine and beautiful.

Thanks for bearing with me in these last few months.

We have moved Estelle,

Helped Amanda and Mark to be able to move in three weeks flat,

and then ourselves....

back to back to back 

with no time in between.

It has been a trying, tiring, tumultuous time.

It got to the point,

after we moved in,

that I just needed some time to work quietly,

to gather my thoughts about how we wanted this house to be,

and to recuperate from a physically hard stressful time.

We are starting to feel better,

although Bubba's headaches worry me a little,

and, of course,

 the normal trials of life continue.

Just this and I will close...

"And we know that all things work together for good 

to those who love God, 

to those who are the called according to His purpose." 

 Romans 8:28

What a promise!

The good times and the bad times and the easy times and the hard times

all work together for good for those who love God,

for those who are the called

according to His purpose.

With love & thanksgiving,

cathy

a picture of grammy.....

....taken by Lucy

on the beach just a little while ago.

The tide was coming in fast...

a 9.4 one tonight,

predicted to cover the Tybee Road.

The ocean was choppy as you can see in the pic.

The wind was driving it right on in.

The sunset was turning everything golden when we left.

I took the second picture.

I may have it put on a canvas for over the fireplace.

That would be something,

using my own work as art for my home.

I wish I never had to leave the beach..,

I love it so.

Tonight the moon is gorgeous,

just go outside and take a peek.....

God hung it there you know.

Sweet dreams ~

"the grace which was given"

Our son David 

is the pastor of a small church here in 

Savannah, Georgia.

He has just started preaching through the book

of I Corinthians....

not an easy task in and of itself.

Paul is preaching to a church

 that is filled with all kinds of problems, 

but yet in the first few verses

 he says this.....

"I thank my God always concerning you 

for the grace of God 

which was given to you by 

Christ Jesus."

I Corinthians 1:4

Believers,

Do we know what we have?

Do we realize the grace which has been given to us?

Are we bowing down before Him with thanksgiving on our lips?

Even though we were vile sinners,

lost and separated from God because of our sin,

God provided a way

 for us to be reconciled to Him.

He knew that His Son Jesus would come to this earth 

and die a horrible death 

taking all of our sins upon Himself

 thus paying for our righteousness before God.

Not only that, 

but He wrote a book

telling us everything we need to know about

"life and godliness."

In His book He has made all kinds of wonderful promises

and he keeps them all without fail.

Believer...

If you desire to know God's word more deeply,

come join us this Sunday.

Get excited with us as we seek the truth of the scriptures together.

Leave amazed at what God has shown us in His word.

Cornerstone Church of Savannah

Mercy Blvd.

Across from St. Josephs Hospital

10:30 am

first nail

We've been moved in over three weeks

and just today was I able to put the first nail in the wall.

Somehow it seems a desecration

but really,

the walls do need some decorations.

Appropriately,

this flying blue heron was the first to go up. 

It soars above the windows

in our bedroom painted gray.

There will be more nails,

but this was the first.

I think he looks really good up there.

Eye report....

Three years ago,

at a very traumatic time in my life,

I almost lost the sight in my left eye.

I had a vein occlusion

which led to a shot in the eye

which led to my eye getting infected 

which led to eye surgery

which led to a very scary three or four weeks 

of not seeing at all out of my left eye.

Today I went for an exam,

there have been many of them between then and now.

I have some sight,

but I cannot see to read at all

out of the left eye.

I had always held out hope that my eyesight would be restored.

Today,

the doctor told me that it was stable, 

but it would never get any better.

I am so thankful that I can see perfectly out of my right eye....

don't even need prescription glasses.

Think I'll go sit on the back porch 

and watch this storm blow in...

so thankful that I can.

happy birthday harry b

Today is Harry's sixth birthday.

He got his Yoda cake and his corn-on-the-cob.

He got a tent for outside

and some spy gear from grammy & granddaddy.

At six, little boy,

you are the perfect gentleman.

You waited patiently to open your gifts,

and you enjoyed every minute of your party.

Your thanksgiving was genuine,

your delight,

 pure.

You, little man,

get prayed for all the time.

As you grow,

you become more and more dear to us.

I love your ways,

the things you say,

the expressions on your handsome face.

I love that you still love for me to read to you,

how excited you get to

"spend the night"

 here at our new house.

I am amazed at how well you know your numbers,

and that you spotted the word "God" in the Bible

this morning 

when we were reading it together during church.

You are smart little guy...

you know a lot more than most in more ways than one.

You are sweet and funny and O so dear.

One of my most treasured blessings,

a gift from God.

Happy birthday baby boy,

I love you,

grammy

God's bounty

Bubba and I will be cranking up the new

Viking stove tomorrow

for the first big feed in the new house.

I drove down to the island this morning 

to get some fresh veggies to cook.

The occasion is Harry's sixth birthday 

and we are all very excited to celebrate with him.

When I asked him last week 

what he wanted to eat for his big day, 

he said promptly,

"corn-on-the-cob."

He will not be disappointed!

Just over my shoulder and out of the window,

God has sent 

a wonderful rain for us to enjoy.

I wonder how many of us take the time to thank God

for all of the provisions that He gives to us

each and every day.

Look above at His creativity

even in making our food so beautiful and appealing.

"Then God said,

Let the earth bring forth grass,

the herb that yields seed,

and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind,

whose seed is in itself,

on the earth; and it was so.

And the earth brought forth grass,

the herb that yields seed according to its kind,

and the tree that yields fruit,

whose seed is in itself according to its kind,

and God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:11&12

All things come from God our Father

who made heaven and earth and all that there is therein.

Praise to His holy name......

and....thank You!!!!

storm over the marsh

I really like this painting....

It is by James Way.

I want to hang it in our bedroom on the gray walls.

This would be for the me that loves 

storms, 

and clouds,

 and thunder and lightning, 

and most of all rain.

I want it to be big, like my barn picture.

When we drive to the beach (like last evening)

and I can look at the rivers and creeks snaking through the marsh,

it always takes my breath away.

I would love to see this view from above....

one day in a helicopter maybe?

Question...

How can we follow our conscience, Pope Francis?

The Bible tells us that our heart is

"deceitful above all things and desperately wicked;"

"Who can know it?"

Jeremiah 17:9

This wicked heart can surely deceive and convince us

 that anything it desires is okay....

any path we choose to traverse is good and right

if only it makes us feel happy.

What nonsense!

What a cop out and a denial of the truth.

Shocking?

yes

Hard to believe?

No

This world is already far down that pathway...

"If it feels right, do it."

For believers

truth is found in God's word,

not our deceitful and wicked heart.

We trust His word....not our conscience.

the wedding night....

.....from Les-Mis.

I will pass this book on to Erika.

Before I do,

this passage is written for my remembrance.

This is beautiful upon beautiful.

"There must be glimmers above houses like this one.

The joy they contain

must escape through the stones of the walls

as light,

and dimly streak the darkness.

This sacred and fateful celebration

is simply bound to send

a celestial shimmer into infinity.

Love is the sublime crucible

in which a man and a woman melt together,

the one being, the triple being,

the final being

the human trinity result.

This birth of two souls into one must move deep night.

Something of this joy travels up to God.

Wherever there is a real marriage,

meaning where there is love,

the ideal is involved.

If it were given to our eye of flesh and blood

to see the fearsome and lovely sights of the higher life,

we would probably see the forms of the night,

winged strangers,

the blue bystanders of the invisible,

bend down,

a throng of dark heads, 

over the luminous house

satisfied,

blessing,

pointing out to each other,

sweetly alarmed,

the virgin bride,

and wearing the reflection of human bliss on their divine faces.

If at that supreme moment,

the newlyweds,

dazed with sensual rapture and believing themselves alone,

were to listen,

they would hear in their room the muted sounds of fluttering wings.

Perfect happiness implies the solidarity of angels.

This little dark nook

is overhung by the whole heavens.

When two mouths, sanctified by love,

come together to create,

that ineffable kiss is simply bound to set

the mysterious stars

shuddering throughout immensity.

This is real bliss.

There is no joy beyond these joys."

Oh my,

the powerful stirring of my soul

by this author's words.

update on the house

So...thanks to Lucy,

the children's room is all decked out.

She is a box-opening

unpacking

bookshelf-setter-upper

ball of fire!

She was the first

(other than Bubba and I)

to have the honor

 of sleeping in this house.

This picture is the new shelf in the kid's domain.

We are still waiting for the shutters.

They were custom made and came in wrong.

We are having to wait until they fix their mistake.

Still living with sheets tied with bows

and lots of exposed windows.

The neighbors are probably having a hey-day.

Our gas is provided by 

a propane tank 

that is the size of a small car.

Late last week the back-hoe came,

dug a hole to China,

buried the tank, 

and left the yard a mess.

Today we find out that the tank was buried,

too close to the house,

too close to the air-conditioning unit,

both possible potentials for 

a huge explosion.

Who knows when the exhumation of the buried tank will happen.

Other than that....

things are going just fine and dandy.

Today,

Bubba brought his babies home.

These crowns of  thorns

are the loves of his life.

Sandy,

 these are the ones that Robert gave him so many years ago.

He has stood all afternoon and just gazed at them.

Working on the guest room now.

I wonder who our first guest(s) will be?

at the end of another great sunday

Just back from downtown Savannah

on this absolutely beautiful

Sunday afternoon.

Sitting around a table with people we love

remembering the wonderful 

worship service

encouraging each other

planning the week and weeks to come,

rejoicing in the truth of God's amazing provision.....

I tell you there is nothing like

being in the presence of other believers.

Definitely fellowship is one of God's grace gifts to us.

Never miss a chance to be with the people

you love.

The water spouts....

Ellis Square

Downtown Savannah

Sunday evening

Gorgeous afternoon

Much to be thankful for.

shopping with lucy

She says we have a lot in common.

We both love to read more than anything else,

someone said that we have the same smile,

and we both love ice cream

to name just a few.

She is the best granddaughter

my only granddaughter

and a constant source of joy.

Yesterday we went shopping.

We went to the beach 

looking for a picture of the ocean 

to hang over the fireplace.

Now,

 at the beach,

 the shops are quirky and expensive.

A lot of junk with high price tags.

I did find a picture,

an original Rex Duggar,

hanging out in a junk shop.

I love it,

but am having trouble spending that much money 

in an otherwise

 "hole in the wall."

But anyway, back to Lucy.

She had $4.00.

Instead of looking for something for herself,

she insisted on shopping for me.

She made me leave the store 

so that she could make her purchase and surprise me.

I waited and waited,

finally she emerged, grief stricken....

no one would come to help her pay.

My little love is a giver.

She gives out of her beautiful heart.

I want to be more like Lucy in my soul.

Here is the picture.

It would have to be reframed.

I just love it.

this whale....

....was sitting lonely on the shelf of a store

a couple of weeks ago.

I liked him on the spot

and just knew 

that he would look great on the glass shelves 

in our new home.

The fun part is starting now...

I get to commence with decorating,

my favorite thing to do.

Oops,

I see a spot I missed.

Hmmm...

what shall I put there?

Starting to hear thunder in the distance.

It has been so hot here.

The summer waited until September

to really start boiling.

Let me tell you one incredible thing about our God this evening...

  "He bows down His ear to hear my prayer."

Psalm 86:1

The rest of the verse says He does this because we are

"poor and needy."

This paints such a beautiful word picture for us....

 God,

the Creator and sustainer of life,

inclining His ear toward us to hear our prayers.

I am overwhelmed with this thought.

I love You so much O my God

for caring about me

and desiring to hear my feeble attempt 

to communicate with You.

a walk on the beach

Sometimes,

when its been a tough day,

Bubba will take me down to the beach.

He knows it will soothe my soul

and bring my sanity back.

The picture I share tonight

was taken just a little while ago

 on the very southernmost tip of Tybee Island.

We walked for a while

 and watched a little tern 

stick his long beak down into the sand,

looking for treasures for supper.

He followed us along 

as we walked and talked and refreshed our spirits.

The tide was high,

clouds filled the sky, and it had rained a little.

The ocean was dark and choppy.

Little Tybee Island 

was mostly covered over with the gray, 

tumultuous sea.

This scene always reminds me of how big God is 

and how very small I am.

He who created the vast ocean

"inclines His ear" to hear my prayer.

He who is sovereign over the sea,

calms my fears

and brings everything back into perspective again.

Tonight...

My thankfulness is that I live near the ocean,

close enough to get there

when I need to breathe it in 

and remember who I am and who controls my life.

I LOVE the ocean!!!!!