where is the state of Georgia?

Helene,

 what are you up to?

It seems like you've already been here.

It poured rain all morning.

The sky was dark with heavy-laden clouds.

There was lightning and thunder.

The air was heavy with humidity.

But,

 interestingly,

there was no wind.

That's probably because you didn't come through Savannah this morning.

You are still in the Gulf of Mexico.

It seems as if you are headed to Atlanta,

a former home of mine.

I have a lot of friends and family up there.

I pray you will be kind and not do much damage.

I am really afraid for the people who live in the Big Bend of Florida.

A direct hit would be devastating.

Helene is a huge storm that popped out of nowhere,

intensified,

became a category 3 Hurricane,

and is now poised to make landfall very soon.

Such chaos!

It seems like there is chaos everywhere right now.

Jesus brings peace.

"Be anxious for nothing.

In everything give thanks.

For this is God's will for you."

Trust Him completely,

💗

Remember,

Jesus calmed the storms

He still does that.

 

tulips ~ pink and green

I 💗 Tulips!

Tulips are a rather fragile flower.

When I buy them the blooms are covered up by the long leaves.

Gradually, one by one, they peek out and then open up to their full glory.

The leaves begin to droop,

the tulips open wide,

and then they are gone.

It's a fast cycle.

But oh wow, it is glorious.

I love the flowers at Whole Foods.

They are always fresh and usually available at a good price.

God gives us so many things to cherish and enjoy.

His beauty can be spotted everywhere...

even amid the chaos.

Our God is faithful and loving and kind.

He is worthy to be given praise and honor, and glory.

This is a good way to choose not to sin.

That thought,

that unkind word,

that anger,

that depression, 

that temptation that comes out of the blue,

all manner of evil that we are capable of and carry out.

If we just stop and ask ourselves this question...

"Will this that I'm about to do glorify Jesus?"

Think of all the sins we wouldn't commit.

"Do all for the glory of God."

💗

 

tybee beach ~ last Friday evening

The tide was as low as I've ever seen it.

So much beach to explore.

Lots of rivulets and ripples where the water usually is.

Bright blue skies.

Beautiful cloud formations.

Delightful and picturesque.

Still hot with a soft breeze.

Harry and Gus caught a blue crab with their bare hands.

They went ahead and pulled his big claws off to diminish any danger.

They threw him back in the water but,

I doubt he had any chance of surviving.

Erika walking in the bulrushes by a small stream of water.

She couldn't find baby Moses in his basket,

She looked everywhere.

David in his Hope Bible Church T-shirt

taking in all of God's wonderful things that He made.

Looks like it is raining over there in South Carolina.

There were many shrimp boats but we didn't see any dolphins.

Gussie found a shell with a critter inside.

Those critters come out and bite the hand that holds it.

I found out the hard way a little earlier.

🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚

Right after I took these photos my camera broke.

I have to take it to be repaired.

My garage doors won't open automatically either.

Will be calling the garage door technician in the morning.

Life is beautiful but things break!

 

what happens when you take your grandson to hobby lobby

Walter is a good little shopper

. He helps me find what I'm looking for.

He is very patient when I am slow to make my choices.

He points out interesting things.

He is especially drawn to various shapes and sizes of decorative alphabet letters.

These ones were lightweight corrugated metal trimmed with real wood.

He always looks for the letters to spell out GRAM.

We took them from the display to a bench and made this picture place.

This one was taken back in August.

I had forgotten about it.

While skimming through my photo gallery,

I spotted it and wanted to get it on my blog which is the story of my life.

Yesterday I went to consult with a swallowing therapist.

The ravages of the radiation I underwent 6.5 years ago are manifesting.

I am having trouble eating...

getting food down.

I have lots of pain with this in so many ways.

I'm hoping they can help me.

Despite this, God is good all the time.

He gives me everything I need for life and godliness.

He is always very near.

He comforts me.

He sustains my life.

He daily loads me with benefits.

He keeps me otherwise healthy and strong.

God, teach me the truth you want me to learn from this trial.

Help me to glorify You in my life.

Thank You!

 

happy birthday Harry

Harry turned 17 on Sunday.

Hard to believe.

I asked him to smile for my picture.

Even better,

I caught him in a full-on laugh.

This is his handsome face with just a hint of a smile.

David looks like he is still jet-lagged from his recent trip to Greece.

Since it's Harry's birthday, 

I chose to pick his best picture in this family shot.

Lucy had to work and missed the party.

Harry is obsessed with running

When he sent me his birthday list it contained only running clothes.

He did really well in his last race and beat his best time.

He is running for The Habersham School.

As far as driving goes, he has no interest.

He says, "Why drive when I can run anywhere I need to go?"

I 💗 Harry.

He makes me laugh out loud.

He is a dear, sweet boy with lots of passion in his heart.

Oh God,

make him a man after Your own heart.

Make him a seeker of truth,

always seeing wonder in the world You made.

Give him wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

May He love You with all of His heart!

Bring him good gifts O Lord...

A wife, children, and grandchildren.

Fit him for a job that he loves.

Make him brave, not afraid to speak for you.

Thank You for putting Harry in my life.

What a blessing.

Happy Birthday, Harry.

Your granddaddy loved you SO much.

He can't wait to see you again in heaven.

 

wildlife up close

When Bubba and I lived at Southbridge we were plagued with herds of deer.

They would come in the late evening and eat all the blooms off our plants.

They were relentless.

They came every night.

We tried everything we knew of to stop them...

to no avail.

Bubba hated the deer.

I had more of a love/ hate relationship with them.

I spotted these two in my backyard a few weeks ago.

Along with their Moma,

These don't bother the plants on my patio or front porch.

But they have ravaged my blueberry bush.

  I enjoy watching them but wish they would leave my BB Bush alone.

Amanda came for a visit last week.

She keeps me very busy.

We eat out a lot.

But mostly we talk and laugh.

I am so thankful for her,

The Cleland part of the family is coming for pizza and salad this evening.

I made brownies...

to be topped with ice cream and cherries.

David has just returned from his tour of Greece.

There will be some great stories.

🦌

 

why does God make us wait?

"God makes us wait because 

He has things to do in our souls

 that we are not interested in."

I keep coming back to this quote.

I've read it over and over.

God is doing soul work inside of me.

He is fitting me out for who I'll be in heaven.

For me,

awful sinner that I am,

He has lots of soul work yet to do.

I am thankful!

Waiting is hard though.

Couldn't do it without God's Spirit in me,

Lucy brought me this bouquet Saturday night.

She is the most genuinely thoughtful person I have met.

I 💗 Lucy!

 

oyster shell treasure from the ocean

Walter is always looking for beautiful things in nature to give me.

He is diligent with my "seeing hearts" obsession."

Monday afternoon while beach combing he brought me this oyster shell.

He was looking for shells at the water's edge.

I thought,

 "Oh no, another broken shell."

After a closer inspection,

I realized he had found a treasure.

This oyster shell had been shaped by the sea into a perfect heart.

This must have taken years as oyster shells are hard and strong.

It will go to a special place in my home.

💗 seeing hearts!

Remember "Twinkle" my old phone case?

Well, it up and fell off the other day.

I ordered this new one from Amazon,

and Lucy installed it for me.

I have the same old phone but it looks brand new.

I will see this heart every time I use my phone.

💛

Making spaghetti for dinner tonight.

🍝🍝🍝

It's been raining since this time yesterday.

I 💗 rainy days and nights and days,

⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆⛆

 

labor day at the beach

My beach condo faces out to the Savannah River, 

a bustling route to the port of Savannah.

It looks like they have put up danger signs warning us humans to be on guard for large waves from the container ships that pass the beach. 

They have also installed a seabird to keep watch.

Clever!

Such a beautiful, bright sunny day,

Most all of the tourists had already left for home.

The beach was almost deserted.

Erika and Walt are having a race to the white post.

The convergence.

The place where the Savannah River meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Always stirred up.

People love to fish there.

I love to stand on the point and take it all in.

It was a perfectly calm day.

No breeze to speak of.

The sea was like glass

You can see the choppiness and the wave tops in that area.

Sand, sea grass, and green scrub-brush.

Gorgeous!

Long afternoon shadows.

Archie and Ericka.

My condo.

 

instant gratification

After Sunday worship and fellowship, 

everyone is hungry.

"Where do you want to grab lunch?"

Yesterday we chose

Cancun Mexican Restaurant.

It is super close...

and provides

"Instant Gratification."

 Bubba used this phrase quite frequently.

Big bowls of warm chips and smaller bowls of salsa provide

"Instant Gratification."

According to him, this phrase means

"Get something in your stomach as fast as you can."

Of course one of the boys asked what"Instant Gratification" means.

I had to launch into a rather long explanation.

It drew much laughter 

and brought forth lots of memories of meals eaten together with granddaddy.

Notice the picture of Harry.

He already has a chip hanging from his mouth.

He couldn't wait for us to take this selfie and thank the Lord.

He really needed "Instant Gratification."

😋