great mercy

I went to Whole Foods on Friday.

Not to shop, of course!

Way too snobby and overpriced for me.

I had to do an Amazon return.

Whole Foods does have an incredible fresh flower assortment

making the stop so worth it.

I didn't buy any this time.

Just spent a little while examining all of the beauty.

I'm loving my study of the book of 1 John in the Bible.

I am also studying Martyn Lloyd Jones' book

Life in Christ.

He examines the tests of our faith contained in 1 John.

I've read both of these before.

But God in His great mercy, 

is revealing things to me that were previously hidden from my sight.

Sin is a big deal to God.

It's why His Son Jesus had to die on the cross.

He is daily convicting me of things in my life that I still need to repent of.

Thank you, Jesus, for what you did on the cross for us sinners.

💗

 

fullness of joy

Flowers from my Lu!

💛

Training your mind to hold onto joy

 Is one of the most powerful forms of spiritual warfare.

(author unknown)

I'm studying the book of 1 John in the New Testament.

This verse started my quest to find "true joy."

"These things wrote we unto you,

that your joy may be full."

1 John 1:4

 

saturday things

I am cooking for my family today.

There are four pork tenderloins in my mother's vintage Corningware cooker.

I was up early this morning

(I'm always up early)

preparing these to marinate all day.

Tasty morsels with plenty of leftovers.

(Maybe)

This dish has come to be known as Grammy's Red Rice.

Everybody loves it.

It has bacon, sautéed onion, and lots of hot sauce.

They all go crazy when I announce what I'm cooking.

Yes, I have a cheering section and a lot of big eaters who really enjoy their food.

I am also serving fresh green beans, corn on the cob, and yeast rolls.

There will be strawberry shortcake for dessert.

This is my butter station on my kitchen counter.

A cute little whale keeps it for me.

💗

P.S. I have a baby deer in my backyard.

I haven't been able to get his picture yet.

He is so adorable!

I have to work so hard to keep his family away from my rose bushes.

Most of the time, I am just annoyed with them.

But it is always thrilling to see them

 when they stop by with the baby.

🦌

P.S.S. My house is completely infused with the smell of the rosemary that I laid on top of the pork tenderloins.

 

sweet memories ~

A couple of July 4th memories popped up on my computer.

I just had to share. 

It was back when the grandkids were little, and we went all out.

We decorated a rented golf cart, and all piled on for the ride to see the fireworks.

Those were some of the best of times.

Bubba loved to run the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Ga.

He never won, of course, but that wasn't the point.

He ran for the fun of it,

 and we all met him at the finish line with praise and adoration.

Somewhere, I have a box full of the shirts he received after the race was over.

As I get older, I spend a lot of time remembering all the fun times we had together.

Sometimes I long to go back there.

But when I think those thoughts, I have to remember God's Word.

This place is not our home.

It wasn't designed to be forever.

We have been promised eternal life on a new earth with God and all who have believed in

Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We are destined for a better place.

A place with no more sin, Satan, and death.

No more tears, sorrow, or pain.

Praise God for what You have planned for us in eternity,

Oh, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

 

 

Happy Independence Day!

My prayer for our nation this morning...

"Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your Kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Matthew 6: 9&10

In the chaos of this evil world,

In times of doubt and confusion,

fear and darkness,

I can think of no better prayer than that 

God's will be done on this earth as it is in heaven.

Even so, Lord Jesus, come.

💗

 

my little baby girl turned 50

This was the big one,

The "Over the hill" birthday,

The one where you realize that you can't hold on to your 40's another day.

When we went to the hospital to deliver her,

I was firmly convinced I was having another boy.

It took me a while after delivery,

because of the drugs in my body,

to believe my dream had come true.

God had sent me the girl that I wanted so badly.

She didn't disappoint!

I clothed her in smocked dresses and taped tiny little bows in her nonexistent hair.

She became a little ballerina, but she played basketball too.

I have loved being Amanda's mom.

Now she watches out for me.

We are so close sometimes I think she can read my mind.

She, Mark, Jake, and Eli spent her big day down in the Florida Keys.

I'm hardly ever with her on her birthday anymore.

They went on a summer stay at a resort with lots of peel-and-eat shrimp.

Such happy faces all around.

I was close, though,

remembering those 50 years and how grateful I am to have her...

The special, loving girl that is my daughter, Amanda.

💗

 

Hope Bible Church ~ VBS ~ 2026

Every summer, we do a thing.

Hope Bible Church puts on an absolutely amazing Bible school for our kids.

It's for nursery-age through fifth grade.

Our older kids are the volunteers along with the adults.

We invite others to come as well.

This year, we had a cowboy theme.

Lots of colorful bandanas, guns and holsters, and cowboy hats.

We all wore the same T-shirt.

Our Bible Study was the Life of Christ.

I'm praying that many seeds were planted and hearts were strengthened.

The glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ went out.

Praise God!

He is Risen!

He is able to save us to the utmost!

💗