Memorial Day celebrated at Myrtle Beach

Life leads us down so many pathes. As I sat in church this morning at First Baptist Church North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I was reminded of the sacrifices made by so many that I could attend this very service. How grateful to them and especially to God I am for this freedom we take so for granted.

As I sat in church with dear friends from our seven years spent in Illinois, my thoughts were on a dear friend from our time now spent in Lima, Ohio. She is a precious lady who continues to be one who challenges me daily to "remember" the things of God and the pathes He guides us down. The pastor this morning spoke on "Stones of Remembrance". I know he was taking that subject because of Memorial Day but it is a topic I have been pondering this past couple of weeks because of my sweet friend Kathy's blog. She has reminded me lately of the many times the Bible speaks of remembrances.

Memorials were set up to recall divine visitations so that others might learn about God when they would ask, 'What do these stones mean?' (Joshua 4:6 - The Bible Knowledge Commentary) Divine visitations - isn't that a great thought? That the Creator of this grand universe would set up a time to meet with me? Wow!!

But the most prevalent use of "remembrance" in the Bible is the command to remember the Lord and His mighty deeds. As I spent the afternoon gazing out on the beautiful ocean and the amazing beauty, the precision of the tides, the wonderful sun, how could I not remember the God who made it all and who takes the time to meet me where I am and to love me unconditionally through it all. I stand amazed!!

(Photo not mine. It was taken from tripadvisor.com website. Hopefully, some of mine will follow soon.)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Mother's Day

My heart is so full this weekend. So full it keeps leaking out of my tear ducts. I'm not sure if it's because of Mother's Day or not but I will put the blame there, nonetheless. My kids are all now grown. That is really bittersweet to me right now. I love being a mom. It has been the joy of my life!

I have never been one to set goals for myself. I have always struggled with that when made to put goals on paper. I know it's said if you aim at nothing that is what you will hit. BUT, I can tell you that my one and only stated life goal was to be a wife and mom. Thankfully, I have had the privilege of achieving that goal for the past 25 years. I consider it a privilege to have been able to stay at home raising our children. I know we did without many things for that to happen but what a blessing it was.

So many changes have come in the past few years and, I know, many more are yet to come. In July, we take our baby off to Washington state for college. We will then officially be empty nesters with children from coast to coast and one right in the middle of this large country. Something tells me that my frequent flyer miles are going to go up far more quickly in the months to come.

I do love the fact, however, that later this year I will also become a mother-in-law. I'll be sharing a lot more about that as the date draws nearer. It is going to be a real fun time.

But before I close, I would be remiss if I didn't mention what a great mother I have. She has been such an encourager to me. She is such a strong woman and I love the fact that we are so close. I just wish we lived closer to each other. Here she is just a couple of weeks ago on a trail ride with some of her friends. I love you, Mom!! Happy Mother's Day!!!

And to Michael, Adam and Hannah....You mean the world to me!! I am so proud of who you are and who you are becoming. I love you with all that I am.

One More Try

This little plot of land has been sitting idle the three years we have lived here. I'm sure it's where the previous owner's had grown a very prolific garden. We have talked about using the space since we got here but, you see, we have never had very good luck with gardens.

In fact, you could very honestly say, we have had very bad luck with gardening. The first time we tried we were still living in Houston and had a draught you would not believe. Of course, everything died no matter how much we watered. The next year, still in Houston, we had floods and AGAIN everything died. So we gave up.

We even tried again after we had moved to another house in Houston but had no luck again. We decided it was much easier to buy vegetables at the grocery store!!

If you blow this picture up you will see that my sweet hubby is sticking his tongue out at me. I guess he didn't like me standing around taking pictures while he was working so hard. Go figure!!

Well, we are going to give it one more try!! We are hoping that this nice Ohio weather will be better for garden novices. We (that would be HE) tilled up the rich dark soil that looks very fertile (at least to us). He has gotten the rows all ready for the planting. And now, I'm off for the easy part.....the garden center to buy the plants.

So, if you would, say a prayer for our gardening efforts and come back soon to check in on our new adventure!!

Sweet Sunshine

The past two days have been really beautiful here. We won't mention the vicious lightning storm we had last night!! Such sweet sunshine and temps in the low 70's. I have been sitting out on the back deck reading and getting some much needed sun.

I just love these little johnny jump-ups. I'm so glad they come back every spring. The colors are just beautiful. Wouldn't that combination of purple and yellow make a gorgeous quilt? Hmm, I might just have to think about that. As if I need another project!!! I have so many WIPs (Works in Progress - for all you non-quilters). They have been weighing heavy on my mind lately. Just not heavy enough to get me back into my sewing room and get them finished up.

Now, where did I lay my book?????