the roses now

Thanksgiving is over,

and so are these roses almost.

From carrying them out of the shop

as a big bouquet in my arms,

until tonight on our candlelit table,

they have been gorgeous,

making me smile.

(Bubba is busy making fresh crab stew for our dinner. :)

I read this Psalm this morning.

If you want to praise God, use this....

"Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

Praise Him in the heights!

Praise Him all His angels;

Praise Him all His hosts!

Praise Him sun and moon;

Praise Him all stars of light!

Praise Him highest heavens,

and the waters that are above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

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.

Praise the Lord from the earth,

Sea monsters and all deeps;

Fire and hail,

Snow and clouds;

Stormy wind, fulfilling His word.

Mountains and all 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.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

For His name alone is exalted;

His glory is above earth and heaven.

Praise the Lord all His godly ones!

Psalm 148: 1 ~ 14

Thank you David for the sermon today.

God's name is above all.

He alone is worthy of praise, and honor, and glory.

Let us remember to

 never use His holy name vainly

 or in a worthless way.

thanksgiving day....

....was wonderful,

cold and a bit breezy,

filled with amazing smells,

and lots of love and fellowship.

Here is the table all set,

and there are the orange roses.

The orange tablecloth was just perfect.

The food was delicious...

thank you to all who prepared dishes 

and brought them.

We couldn't have done it without you!

Jake & Cam & Eli

had their own table with several spills.

Not to worry though,

Its Thanksgiving!!

The grown-ups stuffed and happy,

 lingered long at the table,

laughing and reminiscing.

Some of us had more on our plates than others....:)

There was some sleeping....

......and some game playing.

There was a baseball game in the backyard.

And lastly...

Bubba's improvised shelter

for frying the turkey out in the driveway.

He also fried up a bunch of sausage

and none of the men were hungry for the feast

because they ate some much out in the garage while 

frying the turkey.

Of course the ladies held back (or not).

I love Thanksgiving!

The pictures explain why.

thank you God for these little boys

It was a most lovely day here with my little guys.

The sun came out and blessed us

with a beautiful day.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving 

and we are almost ready to put on the feast.

Just thought we would say Hi

before falling into bed for some life giving sleep.

Everyone have a wonderful day tomorrow!

With love & thanksgiving in my heart,

Cathy

thanksgiving day roses

Nothing says beautiful

like a big bouquet of roses.

Only God can make a flower...

That from a tiny seed placed deep in the earth,

such a masterpiece can come,

is truly a miracle.

These will be gracing our table on Thursday

when we gather together.

I have such thanks ~ giving in my heart this day!

My house is clean,

All of the food that we need for the big day is here,

Amanda & Mark & Jake & Eli are on their way.

We have had three days of much needed rain,

God has abundantly answered our prayers.

The only sad thing is that little Gus is very sick.

David and his family are having Thanksgiving with

Erika's family in North Carolina.

We will surely miss them. :(

Thankfulness is an attitude.

God's word tells us to

"give thanks in all things."

Thankfulness is a daily habit to cultivate,

a striving to remember how much God has done

to give us life and set us free.

So...

once again I will strive to make the dressing

as good as our moms could,

make the table setting exquisitely beautiful,

and make our guests feel 

special & loved.

But....

most of all,

I have been praying for everyone that will come.

"In everything give thanks:

for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

I Thessalonians 5:18

my first race....

Come on everybody!

I just signed up for my first race ever.

A lovely couple in our church,

Sarah and Jay Donaldson,

are adopting a little boy named Max from China.

The Savannah Jingle Jog

is a benefit to help bring this child home to his

forever family.

This sounds like it will be so much fun.

All of the runners/walkers

will pass through the beautiful Festival of Lights

over on Hutchinson Island.

The timing is perfect...

two days after Christmas!

There will still be plenty of holiday excitement and it is

A great way to burn some of those holiday calories.

So sign up now....

Let's all have fun together.

Here is Max....

Help bring him home!

as long as I am near the sea

One of our favorite things to do is tour the A1A,

Florida's Scenic Highway.

This highway meanders along the East Coast of Florida.

It is sometimes there,

sometimes not.

It beckons by being a ribbon of road

right next to the ocean

which, of course,

intrigues me to the utmost.

Driving along, 

catching glimpses of the ocean

 between the sometimes thick vegetation,

takes my breath away every time.

Rolling through quirky little beach towns, we see a mixture of

 grand and  funky beach houses,

surf shops, 

tourist houses,

along with glorious hotels,

and the regular "run of the mill" motels.

There are restaurants and bars,

"hole in the wall"beach shacks selling conch meat

and who knows what else,

surfers and bicyclists,

every type of "beach people" that you could ever imagine

scantily dressed, or dressed up like cowboys,

unconcerned about anything

 but the turn of the tides.

Two of our most favorite restaurants are along this route.

Our trip along A1A always enables us to take the 

Ferry over the St John River in Jacksonville.

The smells of the sea,

the pelicans,

the dolphins, following after....

it all makes for a leisurely trip experience that never fails to satisfy.

Bubba and are are just back from a little getaway

that included a short hop on this highway.

*Doesn't take much to thrill me,

as long as I am near the sea and not "too far" from home

eli is squanto

I love this little boy.

Today in his schoolroom

there were a lot of little Indians

running around.

I am so excited that Eli and Jake

and their mom and dad

will be joining us for our Thanksgiving feast.

Today I started gathering supplies from the grocery store.

Just me and my list 

and all of the wonderful dishes we will have

swimming around in my head.

Here is the menu....

Turkey

Ham

Dressing

Fresh Green Beans

Sweet Potato Casserole

Squash Casserole

Turnips cooked by Bubba

Hash Brown Potato Casserole

Red Rice

Pineapple Bake

Macaroni and Cheese

Okra and Tomatos

and Rolls

Celery Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Nuts

Mark's Pumpkin Pie

Amanda's Derby Pie

Coconut Cake

etc.

A feast fit for a King!

I love Thanksgiving best of all!!!

old barns and falling leaves

This morning, 

with a cup of coffee in my hand,

 I stood at the window watching the leaves fall from the trees

 into the yard.

I love to watch the seasons change.

How God takes a tree through the cycle of abundant life in the spring,

and then in the fall,

 those very leaves that were so green and plentiful,

 die and fall to the ground.  

But the tree is not dead. 

 In the spring it will produce new growth

 and then it will thrive again.

Reminds me of our life in Christ.

We live and thrive

and then we ebb and die....

returning to the ground from whence we came.

But we do not die.

Those in Christ will live again on through Eternity 

because Jesus died on the cross so that we could be reconciled to God.

 Jesus paid the price for our sins that we could never pay. 

 His blood cleansed us from our sin 

and made us holy and righteous before God.

Thankful tonight

 for what Jesus did on the cross.

I decided right there this morning 

looking out that window.....

One, I'm not going to rake those leaves until the last one falls.

Two, I think a yard covered with beautiful leaves

will be a perfect backdrop to our 

Thanksgiving feast.

I love old barns!!!

how God knew me before i was born

Written by my mother's hand

"For You have formed my inward parts;

You have covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are Your works,

and that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,

when I was made in secret,

and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed,

and in Your book they were all written,

the days fashioned for me,

when as yet there were none of them.."

Psalm 139: 13~ 16

To me,

 no more beautiful or profound truths 

were ever written down than these....

The words that describe how much God loved us

 while yet we were still unborn.

That the number of our days were written down

"when as yet there were none of them."

how God knows me....

"Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know my sitting down 

and my rising up.

You understand my thought afar off.

You comprehend my path and my lying down..

and are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,

but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

You have hedged me behind and before,

and laid Your hand upon me."

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me:

It is high,

I cannot attain it."

Psalm 139: 1 ~ 6

an orange tablecloth

This year for Thanksgiving

there will be an orange tablecloth

on the farm table.

That is it up there in the picture.^

The farm table will have all of its leaves in

and will be as long as a football field

with happy people all around.

Why do I love Thanksgiving so much?

That is the question.

The answer is "for many reasons."

Thanksgiving is a time to

 "gather together."

Yes, a big feast is prepared by many hands.

The food is consistently delicious....

(I always stress over the dressing.)

That was my mother's job, 

not mine.

How did making the dressing fall to me anyhow?

But more than the feast and the gathering,

it is a time to focus on the goodness of the Lord

to us in the land of the living.

A time to relish in the abundance of His provision.

God made us,

He sustains us.

He gives us everything we have.

We would not take the next breath without Him.

He "daily loads us up with benefits."

He blesses us with such bounty 

that we literally have to fall before Him

in Thanksgiving.

(As we should do every day of our lives)

It is a time to be home,

with family,

quietly, without a lot of hustle and bustle,

enjoying the fun and fellowship

of those we love the most in this world.

So, two weeks from today,

that orange tablecloth 

will be at the center of our celebration.

Thank you Lord!!

"i would wish that she could live forever!"

When Lucy was almost nine,

she answered some questions about her

Grammie.

One question she answered was this.....

If you could wish any wish for your Grammie,

what would you wish for her?

Her answer gave me quite a pause.

Here it is....

"I wish that she could live forever."

I stopped here on the sheet and remembered...

just the other day she had told me,

"Grammy, I'm going to miss you when you die."

Oh my sweet precious Lucy...

your wish for me has already come true.

I will live forever,

but not because I found a magic potion.

I will live forever because Jesus our Savior

died on the cross and rose again,

victorious over death.

He has gone back to heaven to prepare a place for me,

and has promised to come and get me

when the time is right,

I have put my complete faith and trust in Jesus for my salvation,

as I pray every day that you will too.

Then my love,

even when I die and am not here with all of you anymore

to have fun together,

I know that I will see you one day in heaven too.

God has promised that to us,

and as your Daddy said in his sermon today,

"We've got to hold on tightly to God's promises."

I love you so much Lucy....

Gram

*For those who are reading,

As far as I know tonight I am well and healthy.

grandparents day....

at Veritas Academy.

A day to honor grandparents!

What a very special time this was for us.

We got to go into Lucy and Harry's classrooms

to see what they do every day,

to meet and greet their teachers,

and also, 

to see their friends.

Nonnie, Erika's mom, came from North Carolina too.

We finished the morning 

by having a picnic in the park.

I am so thankful for days like these.

Lucy had a few questions to answer about Bubba and I.

# 1 is look for deer

and # 5 is play Uno.

I think you can read the rest.

I love that she is sending me to Hawaii

for a vacation.

For her grandaddy,

# 1 is play Uno

# 7 is checkers

I love that for #3 

her wish is that granddaddy will not have another wreck.

Love these sheets of her answers.

Will put them in my treasure box for sure.

I am including this picture

because I love how her teacher is peeking around 

with that huge smile on her face.

*I know I said that I was cutting back on writing my blog,

but, maybe not entirely,  :)

pop on because of sweetness

Lucy wrote this poem for me and sent it in the mail.

The mail lost her letter,

so she delivered it by her own hand.

Seasons

Winter 

is cold and freezes my nose.

Spring 

brings bunnies and flowers.

In Summer I swim till I wrinkle my toes,

and in Fall

I read by the fire's warm glow.

by

Lucy Cleland

I think this poem is very good.

I am putting in my memory book for when I am old and gray.

When I was a young teenager,

I loved to read poetry.

This is another way that Lu and I are very much alike.

thank you for reading......

.....all of these many years.

I will be stepping back for a while

to recharge and rejuvenate.

The blog will stay in place for when I want to pop on

occasionally

and share a thought or a Bible verse or some pictures.

# giving it a rest

#hoping to be back soon.

Your friend,

cathy

a doll named cathy

I am tearing as I write this post tonight.

Today,

after Sunday School was over,

Lucy came into the nursery with a gift in her hands.

Inside was this little doll

 that she had made

 for me.

Pink satin,

blond braids, 

blue eyes,

all hand sewn by my precious 

granddaughter Lucy.

She had a gold necklace around her neck,

but that needs to be repaired.

She worked all day yesterday 

and finished her up this morning.

This note came with,

explaining everything.....

Love that she made her corrections in red.

My heart is so full of love for this child.

God blessed me real good

when He allowed her to be my

granddaughter.

Lucy,

you make my heart sing with joy.

You made an absolutely perfect Hermione....

I love you!

last night.....

.....was perfect for trick or treating,

just cool enough to be comfortable for all of that

 riding around from house to house 

on a golf cart.

Don't know where Gus is,

probably doing what cowboys do,

but he did make the ride with us,

Very early this morning,

I heard the wind howling outside the window.

What it brought with it was not at all to my liking.

November 1,

blew in cold, and blustery,

reminding us that winter is right around the corner.

And tonight,

we lose Daylight Savings Time too.

What a double whammy!

Seems as if Halloween now ushers in

"the holiday season."

Hang on and here we go,

can't wait for Thanksgiving!

One more picture...

David & Erika as you rarely see them......

....doing the "phone thing."