storms

Amanda and Mark and Jake and Eli are here.

Last night just when I lay down to sleep,

a massive thunderstorm rolled in.

It was loud and crazy,

raucous!

Just before I close my eyes every night,

I praise God for all of the answered prayers from the day.

that's how I drift off to sleep,

thanking Him.

I was definitely praising Him in the storm last night!

"The greater your knowledge of the goodness and grace of God on your life, 

the more likely you are to praise Him in the storm."

Matt chandler

 

3 ~ 5 ~ 2/29

I went to Dicks Sporting Goods a couple of days ago.

I was looking for a new bathing suit and a floating chair.

It was pouring down rain and I got soaked.

Bubba used to take the boys there because it is filled to the brim with things men love.

Sometimes I went with him.

I hadn't been back since Bubba went to be with Jesus.

When I walked into the store,

Out of the blue,

 I was overwhelmed with grief.

Grief never completely leaves a heart that has loved deeply.

It subsides.

It surprises you,

unexpectedly.

You think you've gotten to the other side...

but bam...

It comes on swiftly and it takes you down hard.

I took my wet hair and my drenched clothes back outside,

(it was still raining)

I turned on the heat,

(it was 90 degrees outside)

got into the tank,

went to Chick Fil A,

and got a peach milkshake.

(comfort food)

You gotta keep living,

You gotta keep moving,

You gotta keep rejoicing always.

You dry yourself off and you get back on track and you smile.

All praise goes to God that His Spirit guides me to believe the promises.

It's what enables me to keep going.

So grateful for the life we made and the time we had together!

💙💗

Picture...Bubba and our first grandson Jake at our beach condo.

 

it's raining today ~ i think i'll cook

The food that God provides for us is beautiful, isn't it?

David and Erika and all five kids are on their way home from a week of camp.

I decided to make their favorite...

A yummy, soul-satisfying broccoli ~ chicken casserole.

It takes me all day to make this.

A rainy day is perfect!

I can't wait to hear about Hope Heals.

All of my crew were volunteers.

They minister to kids with special needs and their families.

It is a time of respite for the caretakers and a time of service for our people.

Everybody loves this camp.

The love of God shines brightly in this place.

It is located in Nauvoo, Alabama, out in the middle of nowhere.

I just tucked this lovely dish in the fridge.

We will eat it tomorrow evening.

Thank you, Lord,

 for Your mercy and grace that is new every morning

and for Your great faithfulness.

Thank You for the rain,

For traveling mercy,

For Your Word.

You are our good, good God.

 

same picture ~ different story

This is my very slight nod to Barbie.

I grew up with her but never had a Barbie doll.

She was a part of my culture but never made her way into my heart.

 I had no desire to play with a teenage doll ever.

I much preferred my "Baby Dolls" 

and my real life-sized doll house that my Daddy built for me in our backyard.

My friend Loucinda,

who lived four doors down from me on 35th Street,

and I would wield away our summer days caring for our babies that we thought were real. 

This went on until school started back.

Schoolwork took precedence over our little ones.

They would now have to somehow take care of themselves.

My baby's name was Lynn.

Loucinda named her's Lindy Lou.

She still has Lindy Lou.

I have no idea what happened to Lynn.

Maybe when I went back to school she left to find another caretaker.

Those days were idyllic.

The memories are so vivid in my mind.

Summer days were the best.

 

seeing hearts & going to church

This was my lunch today.

I love it when I see a 💗

They show up in the oddest places.

They always make me feel loved.

I know that God loves me and that is the best of all.

I love Him too and am so thankful for all that He does for me.

Do you ever see hearts?

I took this picture on the way out of the door to church yesterday.

Everything seems very white in my bedroom.

The sun spreads its rays profusely in there.

That makes me happy.

I go to bed before the sun leaves my room every evening.

🌞

This is my heart collection from Lucy.

I cherish each one of them.

The two smallest hearts were found on the shore of the ocean.

They are stones that had been sculpted by the waves.

 

 

lucy's flower gift to her Gram

Another beautiful gift from my Lu.

This one I will plant outside.

All of the shells were found by me except the conch.

That was a check-in gift when Bubba and I stayed at Ponte Vedre Inn down south of Jacksonville.

We did a lot of those short getaways to paradise back then.

I have come to the book of Romans in my quest to read through the Bible this year.

I have done this many times before.

Each time I read it straight through it makes more and more sense to me.

I guess you would call that progressive revelation.

That we have God's Word in written form is a miracle.

That it has survived all of these years intact and unchanged is also a miracle.

That the Holy Spirit teaches me and admonishes me is another miracle.

That I can understand His teaching is definitely a miracle.

I have to share this gospel message today.

May someone read this and believe.

May someone's heart be changed.

May someone be encouraged.

"Therefore having been justified by faith,

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Through whom also we have attained our introduction by faith 

Into this grace with which we stand; 

And we exult in hope of the glory of God.

A good definition of exult...

Feel or show triumphant elation or jubilation

And not only this, 

But we also exult in our tribulations,

 Knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance,

 And perseverance proven character,  

And proven character hope; 

And hope does not disappoint 

Because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts 

Through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

For while we were still helpless, 

At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

For one would hardly die for a righteous man;

Though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us;

In that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,

We shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."

Romans 5: 1-9

Wow just Wow!

Let's meditate on that truth for a while.

 

you got gray hair?

I found this verse today to be just what we old folks need.

God has us from the beginning of our life to the end.

Here is the expanded version from my old faithful word.

"You who have been borne by Me from birth,

And have been carried from the womb

Even to your old age, 

I shall be the same,

And even to your graying years,

 I shall bear you!

I have done it, and I shall carry you;

And I shall bear you, 

and I shall deliver you."

Isaiah 46:3 & 4

What a precious promise from God to those of us who are getting old and gray,

approaching the end of our earthly lives

and even for those who are young and just starting out.

Every step of our life He carries us.

from our mother's womb till we draw our last breath.

In the end,

 He will deliver us into the arms of Jesus.

Thank You Father!

 

sunshine

Anna and I had brunch yesterday at Cohen's Retreat.

Anna is my niece.

She lives here in Savannah now.

It was an exceptional day.

We talked non-stop because there is always so much to say.

We had breakfast for lunch in a beautiful, historic setting.

We shopped in their lovely boutique.

We got our waitress to take this picture in the lobby on the way out.

I came away with this quote in my head...

Anna makes me feel like 🌞shine!

 

lighthouses are houses too

I mentioned in my last post how much I like gazing at houses of all shapes and sorts.

When I saw this lighthouse on my Facebook page this morning

I realized that they are houses too.

The above is the Tybee light.

I think it is beautiful and quite charming.

Its grounds are gorgeous and just look at the ocean view.

This is the Cockspur Island lighthouse.

It can be seen just before you go over the bridge to the beach.

It sits on an islet of oyster shells and marsh grass.

Its precarious position to open water and storms leave it always vulnerable to disrepair.

But, built in the mid-eighteen hundreds,

 it is a testament to its own survival.

Both of these lighthouses are beautiful to me.

My beach condo is to the right over on Tybee Island.

I have always thought that I would love to live in a lighthouse,

but Bubba never agreed that it would be a good idea.

My propensity to stay home and read and look at the ocean constantly

did not agree with his need to get to work and be a normal part of society.

Maybe my home in heaven will be a lighthouse.

⛯

(map symbol for a lighthouse)

 

neighborhood almost finished

There are no more empty lots in Herb River Bluff.

The last few houses are in various stages of construction.

All of the noisy action is now on my end of Hope Lane.

These are roof trusses being placed on top of a house

This process is done very quickly and with utmost precision.

The delivery truck unloads them on the street temporarily blocking all traffic.

One by One they are lifted up and quickly put in place.

The construction of a house from foundation to roof is an amazing process.

The workers noticed that I was taking pictures.

It didn't bother them one bit.

It seems so long ago that I was designing my house and watching it being built.

I loved every minute of that and sometimes I wish I could do it again.

I wouldn't want all of the hassle of moving again though.

This is what my view is from my front porch.

So much activity,

so many workers,

porta potties,

loud Mexican music.

so much hammering,

so much noise,

but it doesn't bother me.

 I have always loved everything about houses.

I love to ride down the street and look at the designs and architectural features.

💗🏡

 s

miracles

The whole world is a series of miracles 

but we're so used to them 

that we call them ordinary things.

Hans Christian Anderson

 

God's Will

Over three years into my widowhood.

I never pictured myself here.

Living alone,

eating alone,

sleeping alone.

driving alone.

It's just starting to dawn on me...

This is God's will for me.

I'm exactly where He wants me to be.

In my mind,

I am a hard nut to crack.

God has so much to teach about those ways of His.

I am a slow learner.

He has given me this time alone to be with Him.

These days since I've regained my senses, 

these days after Bubba's death, 

have been filled with much time alone with God.

I'm eager to wake up early every morning to get to His word.

It's filled with everything I need to learn.

It takes me years of study before His truth becomes real to me.

I read and reread and all of a sudden I get "IT."

Prayer is essential in these days.

God delights in my prayers.

He wants to hear from me.

He listens attentively.

There is a real connection between my Heavenly Father and me.

I believe that where I am now is God's will for me

even though it's not exactly what I thought it would be.

I am so thankful for His patience.

He has been so merciful and kind to give me this time to grow in Him.

The truth is I am never alone.

God is always here with me.

His Spirit is in my heart and my mind.

His presence continually fills my senses.

I am amazingly blessed.

💗

 

The C-130 Hercules

This picture popped up on my Facebook page recently.

It brought back a lot of memories.

Before we moved to Atlanta,

Bubba worked at the 165th Airlift Wing in Savannah, Georgia...

home of the great and mighty C-130 Hercules.

It was a huge part of his life.

He didn't fly it,

He worked in accounting and finance,

but he traveled in it a lot and he loved the whole idea of it.

I rode in it once and became deathly ill.

We were having family day and they offered rides to spouses and kids.

We took off and went out over the ocean,

but I never saw a thing.

Humiliating!

The C-130 Hercules may be just an aircraft,

but it has many critical roles.

When troops and equipment need to go into hostile territory

or supplies need to be delivered to national disaster sights,

this aircraft gets it done.

It can airdrop loads up to 42,000 pounds

or use its high-flotation landing gear to deliver cargo on rough dirt strips.

From utility helicopters to armored vehicles to military personnel this aircraft can perform a wide range of airlift missions in both peace and wartime situations.

(The previous paragraph is taken from the 165th Airlift website.)

The C-130 Hercules is truly a magnificent aircraft.

Bubba was so proud to be a part of the 165th Airlift Wing and this amazing airplane.

(The one pictured by a friend is from Florida)

 

happy fourth of July

Aren't you glad we can still celebrate this day?

Tybee lighthouse.

Tybee Island.

2023!

 

and it's already july

I was doing a little Fourth of July decorating this afternoon.

This picture has been packed away for a while.

Look how little my grandkids were,

and we didn't even have Walt yet.

They grow so fast.

I love my country.

I'm excited to celebrate freedom and better times ahead.

Keep praying Christians.

God hears our prayers.

We are the land of the free and the home of the brave.

May we never lose hope!