favorite things ~ favorite spaces

Last Friday evening the ladies of Hope Bible Church met together for a "social."

It was beautifully done with candles 🕯 and flowers 🎕 on the tables,

Greek roll-up sandwiches, salads, and homemade goodies for dessert.

All the ladies brought a gift 🎁,

one of their very favorite things,

beautifully wrapped and laid out on the steps at the front of the church.

We could choose whichever gift we wanted.

It was such a special time,

a way to get to know the newest ladies a little better.

I brought a bouquet of my favorite roses and a bar of my favorite body soap.

I chose as my gift some exotic hot chocolate.

So much fun ~ 

so good to spend time with my sisters in Christ.

I was watching the sun flood my favorite place in the house this afternoon.

It took my breath away.

That's my spot early in the morning before the sun comes up.

It's quiet and still, with no distractions.

I read and study God's Word there before the day gets going.

I get recharged to meet the new challenges.

I search for what God has for me to know.

Lucy gave me this miniature plant last year.

It doesn't grow and spread out,

 but it produces beautiful little roses.

It sits by my nighttime chair where I read and sometimes watch a home improvement show.

This plant is one of my favorite things.

because it gives and gives and doesn't require much care.

Find beauty.

It is all around us.

Make beauty in your home.

Share beauty with others.

Share Jesus.

He is beautiful.

💗

 

"what can man do to you?"

Who else can say this but God?

"Let your character be free from the love of money,

being content with what you have;

for He Himself has said,

'I will never desert you,

nor will I ever forsake you,'

so that we confidently say,

'The Lord is my Helper, 

I will not be afraid,

what shall man do to me?'"

Hebrews 13: 5&6

💗

 

just a quick reminder

I've always kept up with the news,

all of it.

The world and what's going on,

especially politics.

Sadly,

I am thinking of giving it up.

It does not honor what God's Word tells us to think about.

There is nothing good or honorable in the worldly news sources.

What is reported there brings only anxiety and despair.

There is no hope, no peace, no rest for the soul.

The Bible makes it clear what we should think about...

"Whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is of good repute,

if there is any excellence,

and if anything worthy of praise,

let your mind dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:8

Where can we find these wonderful things to let our minds dwell on and bring peace to our souls?

Why in God's Word of course.

Feast on the Bible daily!

"But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law, he meditates day and night."

Psalm 1:2

The Bible tells us everything we need to know about this life and eternity.

Drink it in!

Think about it all day and when you can't sleep at night.

 Let it permeate your mind and your soul.

Jesus said,

"I am the way the truth and the life.

No one comes to God except by me."

John 14:6

Jesus is our Good News.

💗

 

can you find Cathy?

A long time ago.

Same half-lidded eyes.

Same dark circles.

Kind of melancholy.

What an eclectic bunch we were.

 

the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe

Last Friday night I got to see Harry perform at the Tybee Post Theatre.

He was one of Aslan's army from the much-loved children's series Tales of Narnia,

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

The main characters...

Susan, Lucy, Aslan, Edmund, and Peter...

just before the final curtain went down and the lights went dim.

Harry played one of the men in Aslan's army.

He maintained his beard very well.

I love at the end of the play when all of the characters come out and take a bow.

Loud applause and whistles greeted them all. 

This group of homeschoolers gave it their best effort. 

Lots of talent here.

🦁

I love my nights at the theatre.

 

Happy Birthday Archie ~ #16

We had another birthday last week.

Willian Archibald Cleland turned 16.

I 💗 so many things about this young man.

He is kind and thankful.

He has a desire to help others.

He can fix just about anything that's broken.

He changes my batteries and sets my clocks when the time changes.

He loves every meal I cook.

Archie loves cars.

He knows all about every make and model.

He has his learner's permit and has been practicing driving for a while.

Practice makes perfect and that's what he is aiming for.

He will be able to drive by himself in July.

He is saving for a car.

I know he has saved almost every penny he has ever been given.

He is a good steward of his cash.

💲💲💲💲

We partied Tuesday night.

We had Hot Dogs and Hamburgers,

Baked Beans,

Grammy's famous and much loved Potato Salad with a secret ingredient,

and Chips and my homemade Onion Dip.

For dessert,

Archie requested an ice cream sundae bar with all the fixings.

🍨

After dinner, we went out back for a rousing game of Lawn Darts.

Amanda was here and that made everything funnier.

Amanda is always the "life of the party!

🎉

These kids are growing up so fast!

I want to savor every minute!

 

 

total eclipse of the sun

I wish I could have been where I could have seen this happen.

🌞🌑

"The heavens declare the glory of God

 and the firmament showeth His handiwork."

 Psalm 19:1

 

54 years ago today...

...Bubba💙 and Cathy💗 got married.

So much has changed since that April day in 1970.

A whole lifetime has happened.

Some of these friends and relatives have passed on,

styles have changed,

 but I still wear my hair the same way.

After the service and the reception,

Bubba took my hand in his,

 and in a flurry of rice thrown by those who came to cheer us on,

  we made a dash for his car 

and never looked back.

I just spent some time browsing through my blog.

So much of our life is recorded there.

God blessed us abundantly.

I am now living the fruit that Bubba provided for me,

basking in the memories we made together.

 

We had a rich, full, fun life filled with the blessings of the Lord.

💗💗💗💗💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

April 11, 1970

 

grief lingers

We who have lost the love of their life💕 know the above quote to be true.

As time passes,

you begin to live your life again.

Your heart starts to heal,

you can actually be happy and have good times.

But,

 there are those moments of grief that still sneak in and bring tears.

The loss is so great.

Grief lingers and will never leave completely.

It stays hidden in the corners of my heart to appear at random moments.,,

and I cry.

😢

 Amanda is driving up the 95 to see me today.

Good times rolling in for a few.

Easter ~ 2024

Beautiful Easter flowers from Lucy. 

Delivered to me last Saturday.

Still just as beautiful today.

🎕

The Menu...

Honey Baked Ham

Savannah Red Rice

Macaroni & Cheese

Broccoli Salad

Green Beans

Pineapple Bake

Homemade Sourdough Bread

(made by Anna)

Fresh Strawberries and Real Whipped Cream

For dessert, Lucy made these delicious

Carrot Cake Cupcakes.

🥕 

The egg hunters.

They traveled in a pack.

No one could find the golden eggs.

🥚🥚

I couldn't resist.

I hid the small golden egg under the dumpster at the construction site.

(I don't think this unsightly mess is ever going away)

Walter went off on his own and found it.

He got $10.00.

That took the wind out of their sails momentarily, but there was still another egg to find...

The Golden Egg.

I had to practically show it to them.

                         It was inside the freezer in the garage in a Pepperidge Farm Coconut Cake Box.

                            David found it and left $20.00 richer.

Our group fell apart at the end because of the gnats.

David and Lucy went into the house and Erika and I took the picture.

We had such a wonderful afternoon celebrating together and having fun.

That's Ivan and Grace,  Anna, Robert, and six weeks old Sadie and my grandsons.

💕

 

picture in a dirt pile as seen by me

At first, I texted Harry to see if he would make me an "Old Rugged Cross."

(He loves to build things)

He texted me back and said,

"Sorry, I can't do that, we don't have enough wood."

(Punctuation was added by Grammy.)

The real reason he couldn't do it was that he had to work all day at CFA.

I told Lucy about my dilemma when she came to help me hide eggs.

She said,

"I can do that."

She took a much simpler approach.

She found two fairly straight tree branches in the back forty.

You can see the finished product in the pic above.

So, that is a big pile of dirt from the construction site across from my house.

It is almost on my property but not quite.

Yesterday she planted the cross on top of the dirt pile and I was well-pleased.

It is leaning a little but that just adds to its beauty

I took this picture early this morning.

The cross was still standing.

There is so much to see...

I love the simple cross she made.

Jesus had been taken down from the cross and buried in a newly-hewn tomb.

We hid an egg in the hole in the ground you can see.

The stone was on top of the egg.

Someone removed the egg and put it in his basket leaving the stone to the side.

To me, this was such a clear depiction of what happened on Resurrection Sunday.

The stone had been set aside.

The tomb the stone had been covering was empty.

Our Savior was not there.

He had risen just as he said.

I see the shape of the bottom of a heart on that stone in the dirt pile.

The love of God sent Jesus to the cross to die for our sins.

@seeing 💗s

There is an abandoned palm branch thrown off to the side of the dirt pile.

All palm branches that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem had been cast aside.

This photo had not been staged.

Only the cross was placed on the pile by my Lu.

I didn't notice any of these things yesterday when we were outside hunting eggs.

He is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!

Hope Bible Church

Resurrection Sunday

3/31/24

 

Happy Resurrection Day

He is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

💗

It's all grace!

 

3:00

It is finished!

I've been thinking about Christ's crucifixion all throughout the day. 

He did that for us.

I am overwhelmed with His love.

💗

 

nothing but the blood

💗

Thank you Jesus 

for shedding Your blood on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

God requires blood.

You willingly provided.

What a Saviour!

 

at the beach

The water was like glass at the beach on Saturday afternoon.

It had rained on and off all day.

A storm had moved through just before we got there.

The sand was swept clean.

The ocean is one of those things I stand before in awe.

It always takes my breath away.

Harry likes it too.

Our condo was not rented so we took the opportunity to survey the premises.

"The Season" is starting and we always like to see if anything needs to be seen too.

It looked great!

I'm thinking about redoing the kitchen next January.

Erika and I are excited about that.

I also need to replace a chair and some bedding and get new beach chairs.

But other than that it is ready to receive guests.

I took my camera, of course.

There's a mirror on the porch.

The parting shot.

I think Lu took this one.

Still lots of rain clouds with some sun underneath and above.

God's creation...

Tainted by sin but still so beautiful.

Can you even imagine what heaven will be like?

We finished the evening at Chamacos Tacos & Surf.

You gotta try their shrimp tacos.

Delish!

 

happiness is...

...sitting in church by your 8-year-old grandchild

who is drawing a picture of the sermon the preacher is preaching 

who just happens to be his Daddy.

Hope your Palm Sunday has been amazing.

 

curious children

"Do not grow old,

no matter how long you live.

Never cease to stand like curious children 

before the great mystery into which we were born."

Albert Einstein

All of the great mysteries into which we were born 

have been revealed in Jesus Christ, God's Son.

Jesus is the way, the truth, the life.

💗

 

and then there's this...

That one Christmas item that you keep ignoring because you don't want to deal with it.

The Christmas 🎄 stand that weighs a ton and is impossible to carry.

Last Fall as I was attempting to bring it downstairs,

It fell into my shin and made a huge knot that discolored my whole leg.

Only recently has it healed.

Someone put it on my back patio after we took down the tree to dry out.

Very sensible move for sure.

Carrying that thing up to the attic wet would be a possible fatal move for me.

So there it sits in all of its glory right where it landed after Christmas.

I have lots of help.

I just keep forgetting to add it to my "To Do" for the help to see when they are here.

Now it is on my list. 

Hopefully, it will be in the attic by Easter. 

Look at the green grass.

Overnight, it seems, everything is green.

Yesterday I was out back trimming up my palmetto bushes.

That's my small pile of debris over by the dirt pile.

I love to work in the yard.

I am thinking about calling a landscaper

 to clean up this natural area behind my house.

It is beautiful like it is too.

I can't decide.

Another view.

Another palmetto bush that I worked on yesterday.

I may go out now and work on another one that is very large.

Spring just pulls me outside and I love it!

He's new this year.

Everybody loves him.

💗

 

Easter decor is on display

My life has been crazy busy since the end of September 2023.

I hosted a church-wide baby shower that kicked everything off.

Now I'm trying to bring order and organization to my space.

I finally got all the Christmas decorations up the stairs and into the attic.

Last week I got everything in bins and stacked against the walls.

In the meantime,

 I was bringing down spring and Easter decor,

making all the rooms downstairs look beautiful.

Even I don't know how I do it.

It's what keeps me going strong.

I still love my new home.

I've been here a little over two years now.

So hard to believe.

Time really passes quickly the older one gets,

Easter Sunday is two weeks from today.

At this point, 

I am hosting 12 people.

I've already been looking at recipes and thinking about seating arrangements.

Of course, there will be an Easter egg hunt.

I 💗 Easter Sunday!

These are my Easter bunny plates ready to be filled with delicious food.

💗 As long as I can decorate I will be fine!

 

through Christ

This Sunday David will be finishing up preaching through the book of Philippians.

It has meant so much to me.

Thank you so much 

for all of your hard work 

to study and bring God's word to us clearly

 and in a way that we can easily understand.

Thank you for encouraging us to put each verse into practice in our lives.

Thank you for living an example before us.

Thank you for loving the flock and watching out for us.

Thank you to all of the true men of God who labor in His service.

Thank you that the true church of God is alive and well and thriving in this world

and will be until Jesus comes to take us home at the Rapture.

I love you, Lord!

Your will is being done on this earth as it is in heaven.

God is sovereign.

He is in control of everything that is happening.

His ultimate plan cannot be thwarted.

Thank You!

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:13

💓

 

almost done

This is the house that is under construction across from my side windows.

It is one-half of a duplex.

It has taken a while for this one to be built.

This is the last house in Herb River Bluff to be completed.

I have enjoyed watching the progress.

I wonder who will live here?

Hope they are nice.

I have not enjoyed the mess or the porta-potty.

They are giving me some ideas for the golden Easter eggs to possibly be hidden though.

Shh...don't tell anybody.

Notice the young green leaves on the trees.

Spring is very near.

The weather is warm and gorgeous,

The flowers are blooming.

🌹🌹🌹

Everything is bursting forth in new life.

Temperatures are high seventies in the day and high forties at night.

Thank you, God, 

for our new life in Christ.