Thanksgiving 2021

Journaling reads: Thanksgiving 2021. The fifth Thanksgiving that was just ... different.
Thanksgiving 2017. We gathered at Jessica and Terry's ... without Tim.
Thanksgiving 2018. We gathered at Jessica and Terry's ... without Tim, but with Mark.
Thanksgiving 2019. Mark and I stayed in NC and shared the meal with Mark's daughter, Jenifer, and family.
Thanksgiving 2020. We gathered at Jessica and Terry's ... COVID-19 surging all around.
Thanksgiving 2021. Mark and I stayed in NC and shared the meal with Mark's daughter, Jenifer, and family. Jenifer was sick with pneumonia after COVID.
And, yet, we are blessed above measure...more than we deserve.
I love your happy smiles. It shows your joy of the life you have been given! I thank God for your smiles. I pray the Lord's blessings on your lives! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

Credits list

Newsletter Templates by Vicki Robinson

  

Thanksgiving 2021

This was our year to stay in NC and share Thanksgiving with Mark's daughter, Jenifer.  She was so looking forward to having the meal at her new home.  She tested positive for covid week before last and it turned into double pneumonia for her.  She has been feeling pretty rotten.  She had to go to the hospital for an antibiotic infusion where the nurse told her she would feel worse for the next 24-48 hours and then she would begin to feel better.  I told her that we would not be offended if she didn't feel like having company today.  She said the food was already ordered from Cracker Barrel and she still had to eat.  She told me what she had ordered and I added a few things to the menu, including a sugar free cake, brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and cranberry sauce.  Mark ordered a pork shoulder.  It all was delicious!  We didn't stay very long after cleaning up the meal because of Jenifer not feeling great!

Here are the pictures I got from today:

It looks like the planes were playing tic tac toe in the sky!

The horses and mule are expecting food!

The tablecloths were able to be colored.

Adam worked in the kitchen.

And that was our Thanksgiving celebration.  Thank You, LORD, for Your many blessing through another year!

2022 Calendar

For those of you who don't see my scrapbooking blog, I have been working feverishly on a special project for the last couple of weeks.

I got a "Field Guide 2021 Calendar" because I loved the artwork by Susan Winget.  You can see one HERE.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it this year!  So much so that I decided to try my hand at creating one from the kits I receive from the O'Scraps designers while doing scrapbooking "work" for them. 

I get emails from Target and a couple of months ago I got an email offering a free calendar if you pay shipping of $9.99.  I decided to make one for 2022 for Mark's office at work.  I collected some photos taken this year and last year and created my "Personalized" calendar.  It turned out really nice!  And was cheaper and nicer than I could have done on my printer!

Well, a couple of weeks ago I got the same offer again!  So I began working on a calendar for myself!  But, I ran out of time before that promotion expired!  But I kept working on the calendar in hopes that the promotion would be offered again, and it was!  I still had 5 or 6 pages to make, however, and only a couple of days to get them done!  I finished the pages last night around 11:30 p.m. and got them uploaded to Target and ordered the calendar just before midnight!  (And today on their website they have the promotion ending on the 25th!)  Oh well!  Mine is done and ordered.

Anyway, I said all of that to give you the background of why I created this calendar in the first place.  And now I want to share with you the finished pages.  (If you happen to be interested in the credits for all of the pieces of artwork I used for these, go HERE and scroll through the last several posts.)

Enjoy!

Cover

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Have You Ever Asked Why? or It Happened in Paradise

We have a dear friend who is an evangelist.  Sometimes he gives two titles to the messages he preaches…..different titles, but leading to the same truth.  That is why I titled my post with two titles today.  They are different, but it all boils down to the same truth.  Let me explain.

My Paradise is Cursed

I began my day in the usual way,  generally speaking.  I got up (which is obvious and the only way you can begin your day…..that is considered a Bobbyism to our church folks), grabbed my phone, went to the kitchen, turned on my Bible-reading podcast and started cleaning up the kitchen.  Have I mentioned before that I H.A.T.E. doing  dishes?!  Sorry, I mean, I STRONGLY DISLIKE doing dishes!  In fact, I STRONGLY DISLIKE being in the kitchen…..PERIOD…..but listening to the podcast makes the chore tolerable!  But I haven’t always hated being in the kitchen!  I remember when the kids were growing up that I LOVED searching out new recipes to try!  (The kids didn’t like it, particularly, but Tim sure did!  And being the good wife that I was, I fixed lots of new dishes!)  And, I also remember that I had 4 sets of dish washers, if you know what I mean! ;-)  But I have digressed….. 

So, I am mindlessly cleaning up the kitchen by unloading the dishwasher and reloading it while listening to Matthew 22 and Mark 12 where the chief priests and Pharisees are trying to find some way to kill Jesus.  Jesus knows this and tells a parable.  A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  Jesus used lots of parables in His teachings.  This particular parable was about the wedding of a king (the Lord) and the guests who were invited (chief priests and Pharisees) yet turned their noses up at the invitation!  Who in their right minds would turn down an invitation by the king?  This parable is sooooo rich and full of meaning, but I won’t get into that today!  Anyway, as I am pondering all of this and the great love God has shown to sinners, I am finishing up the dishes when I realize I’m stepping in water with my bare feet. 

For the last 5 – 10 minutes I have been running water to clean some of the bigger pots and pans that won’t easily go into the dishwasher.  When my feet started getting wet, I noticed water dripping from under the sink.  So I opened the doors under the sink to discover water, water everywhere!  As I am dragging everything out, for the second time in about a week, I noticed the drain pipe to the right half of the sink was no longer attached to the sink drain!  OY VEY!  That may be where the mess I discovered last week came from, but it was not the quantity of water I had today.  So, the pipe must have just been starting it’s leaking before last week’s discovery!  Why?

The Truth of the Matter 

I know we ALL ask God, “Why?” during our lifetime.  And I also know that at some point in time we have all probably felt like we were living in Paradise (“AHHH!  This is the life!”).  And we all know Paradise, aka Eden, started out perfectly.  But when you add human beings with minds of their own, and throw a devilish serpent into the mix…..well, we all know where this is going to end…..the humans were cursed, the devil was cursed, the earth was cursed…..and everyone was kicked out of Paradise…..and the humans began to die (Genesis 2:17).  I’m sure they asked God, “Why?” and God had to remind them that He had warned them what would happen if they sinned. 

What was their sin?  Disobedience.  God had given them explicit instructions to NOT eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden (Genesis 2:9; 17; 3:3).  As soon as they ate from the tree their eyes were opened and they knew they had disobeyed and they ran away from God….they didn’t go looking for Him!  But God came looking for them (Genesis 3:7 – 9) and God’s plan to redeem them (and those He had chosen BEFORE the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:18-20) began with the killing of a lamb (the Bible doesn’t specifically say He killed a lamb, but that is the theme throughout the whole Bible, so it stands to reason, IMHO).  This lamb was “without blemish and without spot” which is how He had just created them, but follows the theme carried throughout the whole Bible of Jesus being the spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19) and, no, I don’t know how much time passed between the actual creation and the fall of man.  He killed the innocent lamb to cover their nakedness……picturing the covering of their sin and shame before a holy God!  So, the blood sacrifices began.  “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission” – Hebrews 9:22. 

Mark and I have been experiencing our share of a cursed Paradise lately.  The car needed repairs recently.  The tires needed replacing earlier this year.  His truck is sitting idle because it needs repairs.  We have had problems with the AC in the house the last couple of months.  Mark has had to fix the basement because of rain water getting in and it isn’t totally fixed yet.  He has had to make repairs to the bush hog.  On and on it goes, including today’s mess.  Who do you blame?  I can blame Adam and Eve for bringing the curse upon us all.  But, ultimately, I have to blame myself because if I had been the one in the Garden of Eden I would have done the same thing as Adam and Eve…..I would have disobeyed God and brought the whole human race under condemnation! 

Can I just say that this is another example of things not getting better and better but is an example that things decline…..the opposite of what evolutionists claim.  Other examples, to name just a few…..as soon as that car is driven off the lot (actually even before that) it begins to decline and sooner or later you are going to have repairs to make or oil to change or tires to replace.  Your body begins to die as soon as you are born.  Your home needs repairs…..need I say more?  The weeds will grow up and take over in your yard, garden or flower beds if you don’t take care of them.  This is all part of the curse after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.  Paradise is cursed!

So, at the end of the day, when I ask God, “Why?” I remember the fall of man and the curse.  But, I also remember that, for reasons unknown and unfathomable to me, God in His mercy and Grace chose to save me from the curse of sin.  He sent His only begotten Son to this sin-cursed earth so He could live a sinless life, then die on the cross for my sins, and then rise from the dead to go back to heaven to prepare a place for me to live with Him eternally!  I can only shed tears of thanksgiving when I think of this fact.  Thank You, LORD, for changing my destination.  I don’t know why You picked me, but I’m so glad You did!

 

There is so much more that I could say.  I could write my own book.  But I’ll end this post with these words that express just a bit of the gratitude I can have in the midst of the trials of life…..

(Click on the image above to read more Thanksgiving prayers and poems by Linda Palmer at Heart Hunger blog.)

Or this prayer:

Thank heaven for dirty dishes; they have a tale to tell.
While other folks go hungry, we’re eating very well.
With home and health and happiness we shouldn’t want to fuss.
And by this stack of evidence God’s been very good to us!

So, really, I’m thankful for…..
dirty dishes because it means I have food to eat
dirty laundry because it means I have clothes to wear
dirty sheets because it means I have a place to sleep at night
dirty floors because it means I have a home to live in
car repairs because it means I have transportation
Mark’s job because it means we can pay for all of the above most of the time and the Lord provides as we need more at other times.

Thank You, LORD, for Your blessings on me!

  

Hidding in Thee

Hiding in Me

We went back to Damascus Baptist Church tonight to hear Brother David Morris again.  He is preaching a series on the 7 churches in the first few chapters of Revelation.  He used a 4-point outline for each church:  

• Identification (of the Lord)
• Inventory (of the works of the church)
• Instruction (from the Lord to the church)
• Invitation (to the church)

Very interesting messages!

One hymn we sang tonight (I loved all of the hymns we sang) touched my heart:

 "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah". Psalms 32:7. 

 "Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word."  Psalms 119:114. 

Hiding in Thee
by William O. Cushing (1823-1902)

1.     O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,
My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;
Alone I would perish, undone would I be;
Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee.
Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee. 

2.     In the calm of the noontide, in sorrow's lone hour,
In times when temptation casts o'er me its pow'r;
In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,
Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee.
Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee. 

3.     How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,
I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe;
How often, when trials like sea billows roll,
Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.
Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest "Rock of Ages," I'm hiding in Thee.

Isn't it wonderful to know that the God of the universe is watching over you?  And that nothing that happens to us slips by Him?  He sees and knows every circumstance of our lives and He is working all things for our good and His glory.  He is THE Rock in my life.  Without Him I would be walking through life on sinking sand.....quick sand!  But I don't have to worry, I don't have to fret.  No matter what happens I can hide in Him!  Thank You, LORD, for loving me with an everlasting love!

On the Home Front

Ilene and I made a trip to COSTCO today.  We needed dog food and a few other items ($150 + worth of a few items!).  Ilene picked up a few items, too.

After COSTCO we stopped at Randy's for a late lunch.  I ordered some for Mark, too, who was home working on his truck.

After I dropped her off I headed home.

Mark heads back to work tomorrow!  I've got paperwork to do first and then I have to make a run to Walmart for some things.  Afterwards I may go to my dear friend, Carolyn's house to play Rummikub with her and Ilene.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

A Surprising Day

I got up this morning ready for a normal Monday.  I listened to my daily Bible reading, checked and deleted emails, worked in the checkbook, made some calls, cleaned up the kitchen.  I got ready to change my clothes to head out to the store when Mark came in the door.  He didn't have much work so he took the rest of the day and tomorrow off.  He said he thought we could go to see the leaves in the mountains.  We had talked about it a couple of weeks ago.  So we got ready and headed to Boone and stopped in Wilkesboro on the way to eat lunch at Olive Garden.

We went to the Bible Camp in Boone.  On the way up to the camp we noticed a creek running alongside the road and determined to make a stop on the way out.  

Brother Dale and Juanita were at the camp closing down their cabin for the winter.  They told us about a nice, scenic road to take on the way back.  We got some pictures and left.

We stopped along the road on the way out.  I crossed the road and climbed all over the bank trying to get some good pictures of the creek.  Then I crossed the road again to get in the car.  There was a ditch next to the car on the passenger side.  I slipped right in as I was getting into the car.  I landed on my backside right in the muddy water!  OH!  GOOD GRAVY!  That ended our trip to the scenic route!  Now I had to get home and out of those yucky wet clothes!  We had plans to go to a meeting at Brother Dale's church, so we really needed to head home anyway!

I scared Mark when I fell in the ditch.  He jumped out of the car and ran to help.  I was more worried about my camera than me!  It got a bit wet, but not enough to hurt it.  He was trying to get me up.  I told him to take my camera.  I pulled myself up (with Mark's help) by holding onto the car door handle.  I broke a blood vessel in my index finger when I did that.  And other than a sore spot on my hip where I landed I was OK.  We laughed and laughed!  Wouldn't you know something like that would happen when I had on white pants?!  HA!

In spite of it all, we had a nice day and I did get some pretty pictures!  Thank You, LORD, for the beauty of the changing season!

The trees around here still have a lot of green on them.

The trip to Boone takes a couple of hours.

Coming to the top of the hill where the camp is.

This is a house I zoomed in on across the way on another hill.  I can see the spot where it is on the hill in the distance in the picture above.

A lot of the leaves have disappeared from the trees in the last couple of days!

This is the chapel at the camp.

I love the names on this pole.  Very appropriate!

And, this is the creek I wanted to take pictures of.

And, here's the mess I made as I fell into the ditch!  OY VEY!

On our way to Damascus tonight the sunset was beautiful!  But I couldn't get a very good picture of it.