Sunday, August 31, 2014

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

In the Pines

Pine trees soar towards the sky here in Florida.


Monday, August 25, 2014

Kensington Blue

This teacup was given to me by my sweet daughter one year for Christmas. She brought it with her all the way from the windy city.

Isn't it beautiful? I love the dainty blue picture. And what really sends me is the words surrounding the saucer.

It says "May the Lord bless you and keep you, and give you peace." Number 6:24-26

This cup and saucer is called Kensington Blue.

My dear daughter knows how much I really like blue and white china. So she also gave me the teapot to go along with it.

Sigh, I wish you could join me for a spot of tea and a cream scone.

Have a most tealightful day!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Acceptance



There are certain things in life that can sometimes leave you wasted and torn.  Acceptance is one of those issues.  I sometimes wonder if having survived the ravages of a dysfunctional childhood has left it's ugly imprint on my soul and spirit.  Too many times there have been feelings of rejection which have ushered in a sense of lack of self worth.  I've never been particularly smart, or pretty or talented in any specific way. Yet God tells us the we all have a purpose in living.

As a child I never had a family life like I would see on TV.  No happy ever after, fairy tale endings.  Yet when I married, I felt the Lord leading me to a man who was raised in a whole family.  He was raised to be honest, sincere, a man of integrity and honorable.  So many of the values that I never learned were radiated in this man's temperament.

One of our children recently married.  I had always hoped that I would be able to establish a good relationship with my children's spouses.  When I first married, I never felt that I was fully accepted into my in laws circle, but in the long run, I think eventually my husbands parents learned to love me.

Today I was informed that there would be no informality in what we would be called as the parents of our child.  I was told that the new in law did not know us well enough.  They did not want to hurt us, but in a sense, it felt like another rejection.  When I married into my hubbys family, it was a formal acknowledgment until one day I started calling them by their first name.  It was not rejected, yet I knew that my own mother in law had called her own mother in law "Mom".  That was not approved of in my situation.

Perhaps when we are accepted into God's family we should call Him Mr. God.  No, He would never allow that.  We are adopted as sons and daughters of the most High.  He is to be my eternal heavenly Father, and I can call on Him anywhere and anytime.  There are times when I would love to crawl up into his lap and cry like a baby.  I know He hears my voice and sees my tears.

Perhaps I am expecting too much too soon.  I am just thankful that MY Father in heaven has accepted me as I am.  I am thankful that, even when everything else is taken away, I can always rely on Him.

"Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being shaken by suffering is to make our faith more unshakable.
Faith is like muscle tissue: if you stress it to the limit, it gets stronger, not weaker. That’s what James means here. When your faith is threatened and tested and stretched to the breaking point, the result is greater capacity to endure.
God loves faith so much that he will test it to the breaking point so as to keep it pure and strong. For example, he did this to Paul according to 2 Corinthians 1:8–9,
We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not in ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
The words “but that was to” show that there was a purpose in this extreme suffering: it was in order that Paul would not rely on himself and his resources, but on God — specifically the future grace of God in raising the dead.
God so values our wholehearted faith that he will, graciously, take away everything else in the world that we might be tempted to rely on — even life itself. His aim is that we grow deeper and stronger in our confidence that he himself will be all we need.
He wants us to be able to say with the psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25–26)."  Quote by John Piper

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Beware of Yard Sales

Recently, my dear daughter joined in with some of her friends to have a yard sale. She gathered up things that have been waiting to be re-homed, and set up for a selling spree with 3 other families.

Not too long after she set up at the host house, I get a phone call.

"Mom, there is a dresser here that I want you to come see. It is really neat, but I need you to take a look at it."

Okay, I sez......

So I got myself together, drove out to the said house, and looked at the dresser. It was an old dresser, that had some very lovely detailing. It smelled though, which is usually a put off for me. But my daughter really wanted it, to house the mountain of clothes that has invaded her room.

The price was right, and I told her to do a google search on how to take the smell out of the furniture. I was sure there was a way to take the moth ball smell out, as most good antique stores have odorless very old pieces of furniture.

So this is what came to our house that afternoon.

It has the little wheels at the end of the legs, and little scrolly design on the top corners.

My daughter found out that kitty litter is good for taking out the odor, so she bought some kind of cat product and spread newspaper in each drawer, and let it sit for a couple of days. She used Murphy Soap oil, and then a furniture oil to give it a nice finish.

And now it is sitting nicely in her room, adjusting well to the influx of clothing that were being orphaned in a laundry basket. They are much happier now.

So the moral of this story is, when you have a yard sale with other people, you are most certainly going to do some cross-shopping. I don't think my daughter actually made any profit at this sale, but she did profit by finding a nice piece of furniture. What is the saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure. In this case, it was one girls :-)

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Paradise found


Have you ever been to a place called Paradise?? I am so fortunate to live in a place of balmy days and enduring sunshine.

Many friends that visit from the north expect to see only sand, seashore, flamingos and palm trees.



Here is a little bit of My Florida..........




























I never tire of the beauty that surrounds me. There are certainly some places that fall short, but when we look for the good, we will almost always find some ray of sunshine.

Have a wonder filled week!
Outdoor Wednesday

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

The Beauty of a Rose








~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we meet and touch, each day,
The many travellers on our way,
Let every such brief contact be
A glorious, helpful ministry;
The contact of the soil and seed,
Each giving to the other's need,
Each helping on the other's best,
And blessing, each, as well as blest.
~ S. Coolidge

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Swirling Sky

A few years ago I took a picture like this one


And followed someone's instructions on a blog and did this -


It was absolutely so cool.  But alas I cannot remember where I found the directions and how I did it before.  Anyone familiar this technique??

Monday, August 4, 2014

Summertime........

......dining on the back porch

I love this time of year when we can set a table on the back porch and enjoy the beauty of the out of doors.  We have a screened in porch, so that makes for a no bug experience.


Sunday, August 3, 2014