3 ~ 11 ~ 2/29/2020

A memory.

Bubba and I with some of our grandchildren.

This thought came to me the other day.

Bubba went to be with Jesus just before he would have turned 76 in May of 2020.

I turn 76 in February.

I have now lived longer on this earth than he did.

Bubba left us when he was relatively young for an old person.

I have often wondered through the years why I take so many pictures.

Now I know.

When I started writing my blog back in 2007,

I had no idea of the treasure trove of memories it would become.

I often find myself looking back through the posts,

enjoying seeing all of the amazing things we did together.

It's my personal journal,

my journey of a life well lived.

A snapshot of the grace and mercy of God bestowed on His beloved.

Rejoice always!

Jesus made it possible for me to see Bubba again in heaven.

💗

 

speak the truth

Yes, I know that my YouTube music didn't post to my blog yesterday. 

I took the first one down,

thought I had solved the problem, and reposted it to no avail.

It works on my desktop but not on my phone.

Nothing works perfectly every time!

Love this quote!

For me it says everything.

Don't let fear take away your desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He came to die on the cross, 

forgive our sins,

and reconcile us to a right relationship with God our heavenly Father.

By His power, He rose from the dead,

walked among us, and was seen by many eyewitnesses.

He ascended back to heaven where He is now,

preparing a place for us.

Soon He will come back again to gather His people to be with Him forever.

Jesus' story needs to be told,

over and over,

far and wide to the ends of the earth.

So may we not let fear keep us from speaking the truth.

 

the ones we lost on the way

I heard this tune when I was driving the other day.

Had never heard it before.

I just loved the melody and the beat.

I rushed home and found it on YouTube.

Memories by Maroon 5

It is totally secular.

Not theologically correct.

The drinks in the toasts have to be sweet tea and lemonade.

But it struck a chord with me.

Listen!

Bubba.

Memories

💗

 

fifty is nifty

Just a few pictures from David's party yesterday.

Fifty is a special birthday.

Half a century.

Well into middle age.

Life is busy and fast-paced and very, very sweet.

You have a house full of boys and a girl named Lu...

AND a lovely wife who is your soul mate and best friend in this beautiful life.

God has richly blessed you with His good and perfect gifts.

So thankful for you and all you do.

He wanted a new pair of golf shoes and a lot of books.

Those are his favorite pastimes.

Going golfing with friends and reading good books are his relaxation techniques.

Birthdays are huge celebrations around here.

The honoree is lifted up and loved on and made to feel special.

David got the royal treatment yesterday.

We all love him very much!

💙

"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift 

is from above, 

coming down from the Father of Lights, 

with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." 

James 1:17

 

Happy Birthday David ~ #50

January 23, 1974

Two years later.

Thank You, Lord, for this child and the man He has become.

We celebrate 50 years with David today.

 🎂

 

update on my honda

I met David last Friday afternoon at 12:45.

I left my old van (the tank) at the church and rode with him to the Honda dealership.

We looked at different vehicles and haggled prices for the longest time.

I finally made up my mind on what I wanted.

Then there were hours (seemingly) of actually purchasing the SUV.

Finally, the white CRV that God had for me was mine,

I drove it home,

pulled it up in my driveway, and turned it off.

I had a shower to go to.

I needed to grab my gifts and the made-from-scratch chocolate chip cookies and be on my way.

I hadn't even gotten out of the car when I realized I had no way to enter my house.

The garage door opener was in the van that I left at the church.

I tried all of the keys on my key chain and none of them worked.

I had to call David,

(he had just gotten home from our harrowing afternoon of purchasing my car).

(he has one of my garage door openers.)

He came to take me and the gifts and cookies to get my old van.

He saved the day and I made it to the shower on time.

Saturday morning I went out in the freezing cold to get to know my new car.

It wouldn't start.

It was stone-cold dead with no power.

I called David again and he and Erika came over to jump it back to life for me.

That didn't work,

It wouldn't stay charged.

Later that evening when they came for dinner they tried again,

Still dead as a doornail.

My brand new-to-me white Honda CRV had a dead battery.

There was nothing I could do but wait for Monday.

This morning the guy who sold it to me came to my house with a new battery.

It works now AND it fits in my garage.

Very thankful...

For David and the car salesman who came to my house!

 

my new (to me) car

Yesterday I bought a new car.

It was time.

I had put it off for way too long.

It is a white Honda CR-V.

It feels like I've come home.

I  have always loved my Hondas.

We started looking last Monday.

I test-drove some cars and got a sense of what I wanted

then came home and started praying for wisdom from God.

The car in the picture above is not what I had decided on.

God had this car waiting for me.

It had just recently come into the dealership.

It is a 2021 with 25,000 miles.

My main desire is to be able to put this new car in my garage.

I drove it home scared to death...

so much new technology that I'm not familiar with.

Somehow I inadvertently turned the windshield wipers on.

There was no rain.

I couldn't get them turned off.

 Decided to not worry about turning off the wipers,

needed to put all of my attention on my driving.

I finally got it safely in my driveway.

Just now I went out in the cold to see if it was going to fit in the garage.

I couldn't even get the engine to turn on.

I grabbed the Owner's Manual out of the glove compartment.

I'm going to read it now...

need to know how to get it started.

At least I still have the tank if I need to go anywhere.

 

Christmas Day (after breakfast)

The order of opening was youngest to oldest.

Walter went first.

Harry loves Starbucks.

Not so much their coffee but their exotic frothy drinks.

Jake never removes his Santa hat.

Lucy loves cats!

It was a Peter Millar golf shirt Christmas.

Walt got his first one ever.

Archie got one too.

Mark got his last year.

They decided to model their gifts and pose for a picture.

Gus got eight new books from the Cat Warrior collection and a new hoodie.

He loves to read.

I was showered with gifts too.

At this point,

I am beginning to look like a very tired zombie.

Thankfully,

we broke for a rest time and then gathered back for an afternoon session.

Amanda and I had to prepare for  Christmas dinner.

I chose steak tenderloins cooked on the grill,

Hash Brown Potato casserole,

and a Ceasar Salad.

What a day!

Thank You, Lord, for this family.

Every one of these people are cherished and adored by this Mom and Grammy.

Thank You, Jesus, for coming to this earth.

You became flesh and dwelt among us.

You went willingly to the cross to redeem us so that we can be reconciled to God.

You took our sins upon Yourself and bore them for us.

If we believe that what the Bible says about Jesus is true,

we have been forgiven and can look forward to eternal life with God.

"All to You I owe!"

💗

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift."

II Corinthians 9:15

 

mostly Christmas morning

Coffee bar Christmas Eve.

A more comprehensive shot of the game grid.

The Coke can is sitting in the $50.00 slot.

I found another $50.00 bill and we played again on Christmas Day.

Archie won that one.

Snacks and things were here.

Christmas morning breakfast table.

This breakfast is a big deal.

Candle worthy.

Lots of green and red linens

I've stopped with cloth napkins.

They just don't know how to use them.

The night before Amanda made a huge sausage and egg casserole.

Lucy made homemade sweet bread with liberal icing.

I set out a big bowl of blueberries.

We have orange juice and lots of coffee.

Keep it simple and delicious.

Great way to start the most wonderful day of the year.

Some randon shots...

Erika and Amanda deep in conversation in their pajamas.

David putting the finishing touches on the sweet bread.

Amanda is waiting to serve the Orange juice.

Come and get it while it's hot!

I took some pictures of the kids while breakfast was cooking.

This is the crazy version of the one I shared earlier.

Harry likes for all of his photos to be stoic.

No expression at all.

He works hard at this.

I've stopped trying to make him smile.

I thought this one was cute!

After breakfast, we opened presents.

 

oops!

I should have learned...

never make a pronouncement about what I'm going to do "tomorrow"

as I did yesterday on my blog.

I did go out today.

All of these things that needed to be done 

came at me in a rush when I opened my eyes this morning.

I had to get gas for the tank in case the weather gets really bad.

I had to go to the store to buy milk and bread.

Or just maybe I would need to escape to sunny and warm Florida.

I had to pick up my bedside table lamp that blew up a bulb last week.

It was in the shop for a week for repair.

When the lady called and said it was ready,

I needed to go get it.

I needed to return a Christmas gift at the mall.

I needed to buy a baby shower gift.

By that time I needed lunch so I stopped at the Chick-fil-A.

Then I came home and rested.

Then I decided to wrap three gifts for the upcoming shower.

Hope Bible Church is brimming with new babies and babies on the way.

Then I had to go outside to drip the facets so that my pipes won't freeze tonight.

After all that, I was going to edit my Christmas pictures and post them this afternoon.

But it's 4:00 and I'm hungry and not up to editing pictures.

So I wrote this epistle instead.

I did get these two pics done.

It was Christmas morning right before we started opening our gifts.

We had just finished eating Christmas breakfast.

Everyone looks sleepy.

Kinda out of it.

Maybe not enough coffee?

Maybe too much partying the day before?  

Maybe I'll edit some more pictures tomorrow but I make no promises.

 

Christmas morning ~ 2023

Some come in their pajamas. some don't.

It used to be a tradition ~ not so much anymore.

It's almost gift-opening time.

Everybody is excited with anticipation.

So many teenagers ~ so many boys.

So many unique personalities ~ so many joys.

So thankful that God chose me to be their Gram.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💗

I'm planning to be home all day tomorrow

 and will share the rest of my Christmas pictures.

 

comfort food, a good book, freezing temps

After the holidays it just seems right to go back to the basics.

I prepped for the broccoli chicken casserole yesterday.

Today I put it together and made a pecan pie.

Tonight we will gather for good food and even better fellowship.

The David Cleland family comes hungry and ready to eat.

My snowman decor is back out after a year in my attic.

It is so good to see them again.

I am reading Becoming Elizabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn.

I borrowed it from Erika.

I read about the slaughtering of her husband Jim this afternoon.

Her responses to his death touched so many buried areas in my heart.

She was a very wise woman devoted to her God and so eager to glorify Him.

I love how she returned to the ones who killed her husband determined to bring Christ to them.

I can't put it down.

Really cold weather is coming to the deep south next week.

You can bet I will run my outdoor faucets,

Last year I had no hot water for days with a house full of people right at Christmas

because I didn't remember what can happen when one's water pipes freeze.

🥶

 

Christmas Eve was on Sunday this year

Hope Bible Church hosted breakfast before the service on Christmas Eve morning.

Everyone took a dish or two.

We put them all together and had a feast.

Being in a festive mood and loving the fellowship of other believers,

we ate and talked and relished the gift that God gave us.

To celebrate the birth of Jesus together is one of life's greatest pleasures.

Our worship time was heavenly.

The music, the sermon, and the taking of the Lord's Supper were transporting.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Afterwards, 

we hurried home to rest and get ready for our family Christmas Eve party.

I finally got the house decorated.

It takes me so much longer now that I've gotten so old,

but I love every minute of decorating so I slowly persevere.

The result is absolutely magical.

That's what Moms and Grams do...create the magic of Christmas.

My tree was a real source of stress this year.

As stated in a previous post, 

Erika and Archie got it lit back up when they came for our party.

We called it the miracle of Christmas Eve.

Because we had already done the grazing thing at the church party,

I decided to shake things up a bit.

We had David and Erika's delicious tortellini soup and cornbread,

a big pot of Swedish meatballs,

and a large portion of Macaroni and Cheese.

For dessert, I served leftover sweets from the party.

All were well-fed and very happy with the good food.

Below is my tablescape.

Partaking!

Here are two of the guys I feed quite often.

They were quite impressed.

Oh, and I had the lime sherbert punch table set up with Doritos and Cheetos.

Always a huge hit!

On Christmas Eve we always play a game involving a huge cash prize.

We introduced this one last year and brought it back again.

Mark taped off a large grid on the floor with different boxes.

Each box was for a different amount of money.

There were ones, a five, a ten, a twenty, and a fifty.

Each person had to roll a can of Coke and try to hit the desired prize.

This year the grand prize winner was Eli.

What can I say?

What a grand and glorious day it was!

Time to let Santa come.

We all fell into bed exhausted.

🎅

 

 

i've waited all morning for the storm

It finally made it.

The storm did not live up to all the hype.

They never do!

For that I am thankful.

David's lights are flickering.

So far no power loss for Hope Lane.

I am acutely aware that it could happen though. 

I may not be able to finish this post.

I thought I would share my Christmas gifts this afternoon.

Lucy's tree is at the top.

She gives a new one every year.

Two new very cute ruffled dish towels.

I love anything to do with ruffles and bows.

A book to help me get better at praying using Scripture.

A Roku streaming stick so that I can watch shows on my TV.

Season three of The Chosen.

Very thoughtful, useful gifts from my family.

I also received a long black cashmere turtleneck sweater that I wore to church on Sunday.

It is so warm and cozy on these very cold days.

For all of these gifts, I am so thankful.

I am also thankful that I made it through this blog without losing power,

It is very dark and gloomy outside.

I have all of my tiny lights on to cheer me up!

 

and now back to Christmas

The Christmas parties started on Friday night, December 22, 2023

with a Hope Bible church-wide drop-in at David and Erika's home.

It was a finger food kind of party...

no forks needed.

The charcuterie board is Amanda's masterpiece.

It is in the shape of a Christmas tree 

Lots of deli meats, cheese, and fruit.

This was a huge hit.

So sorry about the fuzziness of the picture.

I made my famous and often asked for Hot Pecan Dip.

There were over 65 people who dropped by to enjoy the fun and fellowship.

I didn't get a picture of any of them.

Well, I did get a picture of Anna and Amanda.

The lull before the storm got there.

These two along with myself were the food runners,

the ones who put out the food and then restocked it as it was eaten.

That was a wild and crazy job but we loved every minute.

Lots of laughing took place.

At every Christmas party,

 there has to be a LARGE Chick-fil-A nugget tray.

That tray of nuggets was gone in 30 minutes.

Side by side you will notice the Sausage cheese balls made by David,

and the Pigs in Blankets made by me.

Here is the other end of the main table.

Another charcuterie board and a vegetable tray

I brought pickled okra, beets, and mushrooms.

 Here is another shot of Amanda's Charcuterie Board.

We had lots of special dips,

  cheese and crackers,

cheese straws, 

and sweet potato chips.

Lots of coffee and hot cider.

And for those craving a little something sweet...

Christmas Crack.

Amanda's peanut butter and  chocolate kiss cookies,

brownies cut into little pieces

homemade fudge,

and of course, candy canes for the little ones.

This party was a great way to kick off Christmas weekend.

Amazing food ~ amazing fellowship.

🎄

Oh no, 

I just saw this weather forecast.

This is what we can expect tomorrow...