happy birthday gus # 14

If anyone had told me when I was young that I would be this boy's grandmother,

I would not have been able to imagine it.

Gus has brought so much joy into our lives.

What a privilege and honor God bestowed on us,

 when He picked him to be a part of our family.

One of my cherished Happy Birthday plates.

Gus was served his birthday dessert on this plate.

Early yesterday morning I made an angel food cake.

After it cooked to perfection I removed it from the oven,

placed it on a drying rack,

and it promptly fell into several large pieces on the kitchen counter.

After I mumbled,

"Why?"

I went to work retrieving the broken cake and placing it on its pedestal stand

until time to cover it with strawberries and fresh whipped cream.

Maybe nobody would see how bad it looked.

Just to make sure I covered it up with a napkin.

No one batted an eye.

No one cared how silly it looked.

It tasted great and that's all that matters.

Gus asked for money for his birthday this year.

He is saving up for his class trip in the spring of 2025.

He also won both prizes in our game of lawn darts.

He went home with a lot to add to his savings.

I never know what I will get in these photo shoots.

We were singing Happy Birthday to Gus.

All four shots I took had Harry looking like a zombie

Where was Erika?

Gus lives life with a passion in his soul.

It's fun to watch him come into his own!

I 💗 Gus!

 

memories of hurricane helene

One of the things I missed the most during the long power outage was hot water.

Hot water is definitely something we take for granted.

Actually, I was very thankful to have water running through the faucets.

But I truly missed hot water.

Thankfully, I have a natural gas stove.

When I remembered how to light the burners I was in business. 

I boiled water to make coffee,

to wash dishes,

to wash myself.

All of my family were jumping in a cold shower.

I couldn't bring myself to do that.

The picture is of my laundry room

I found another use for it...my hair-washing station.

I gathered all my supplies and got it done.

It was a bit laborious.

I made a mess...

but the wonderfulness of fresh clean hair was worth it all.

There was no electricity for my hair dryer.

I let it dry naturally.

It became a frizzy mess,

but it was clean.

I'm so thankful that God didn't bring me into this world in pioneer times.

I can't even imagine how those poor women survived.

 

milton the hurricane

Milton, 

the ferocious hurricane that we have watched and dreaded for days,

brushed past Savannah this morning with merely a sigh.

He was exhausted from all of the damage he caused in Florida overnight.

I woke up to misty rain and gusty wind,

but when I saw the red lights on my clock I knew he had spared us.

We all thought we would have round two, two weeks later,

but thankfully, God kept him away from our fair city.

The Hollingsworth family did not suffer any damage,

but they were surrounded by tornados that devastated neighborhoods very close to them.

So scary!

At 2:00 in the afternoon after Milton passed this morning,

 the winds are breezy in a bright blue, sun-filled sky.

Temperatures have cooled off a bit.

Could we be done with hot and humid for a while?

Could Fall be right around the corner?

Most of all,

could we be done with hurricanes for a while?

God in heaven, thank You.

You control the wind.

 I't goes where You command.

Be with those people who in the last two weeks have lost everything. 

May they find You in the process of recovery.

"And they

 (Jesus' disciples)

 became very much afraid and said to one another,

'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?' "

Mark 4:41

It is Jesus who made heaven and earth.

Put your faith and trust in Him.

 

discombobulated

Discombobulated is the perfect word to describe my condition

 the morning after Hurricane Helene hit Savannah.

First of all, I slept through the storm.

We had no warning or watches.

School was not canceled.

Needless to say,

we were not prepared for what had happened while we were sleeping.

I knew immediately that the power was off.

The first thing I do when I wake up is look for the red numbers on my clock.

They were not there.

Black as the Ace of Spades.

There was no light anywhere.

Evidently,

 overnight,

 The city of Savannah was turned off by some master switch somewhere.

I always fix my coffee the night before.

It was ready to plug in but there was no power.

There would be no coffee.

I gathered some candles and flashlights,

got them going,

and went to sit down and think.

It was only a short time before David called.

He came quickly to my aid.

His home was powerless also.

Seems as if we lost it between midnight and 1:30 AM.

He showed me how to make coffee in the French Press Erika had given me.

He also showed me how to light my gas stove with a firestick.

Soon I had breakfast!

I cooked my bagel in the frying pan.

Thus started five days with no power.

More to come.

☕

 

God will accomplish all of His purposes

It has been a hard week for so many people.

So much suffering.

So much death and destruction.

But through all of the chaos and confusion

God will accomplish His purposes.

Please pray!

*I used this quote once before on May 2, 2024,

but thought it bore repeating.

It's a reminder for those who believe.

We can trust the One who gave us His written Word,

the One who made all of those promises.

This is how we can remain calm amid chaos.

Everything will work out for our good in the end.

 

power restored

 My power just came back on.

I can't even believe it!

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Your new mercies every morning.

Thank you for Your great faithfulness.

David and family moving in until their power comes.

A sweet friend is bringing us dinner.

Lots of wild and crazy rejoicing here this evening.

A happy ending to quite the ordeal.

Thanks for all the prayers.

Love,

Cathy

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.