Of An Evening

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How was your Halloween evening? Here is some of ours. Our friends came over, the Knight twins and their parents. This picture is how their mom had made up her eyes, I thought it was very cool. Our granddaughter Anne Marie and her mom and dad also came over for the evening. And this is what I made for everyone. Bat, witch, and ghost cupcakes. A good time was had by all. I've had a long and busy day, and have also been indulging in quite a few Halloween trests to keep me going. O.K., not to keep me going, just because I love them and wanted to! So now I am tired and feel a major sugar coma coming on. Good night to all and I leave you with something that is just as sweet as candy and will give anyone a quick energy boost.

"Gracious speech is like clover honey - good taste to the soul, quick energy for the body."

The Message - Proverbs 16:24

Nameless

"He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:36

If you go to certain graveyards on some nights, and listen very closely, can you hear the babies crying? Why are they crying? Is it to be fed, maybe to be changed? Perhaps none of these things, maybe they are crying for a name... Babies born in the 17th and 18th century did not fare very well. One out of every four babies died. It did not matter if the family was rich or poor. One in four. Babies were not encouraged to walk early, since there was no childproofing equipment, and walking made their lives even more dangerous. Many frontier moms would allow their babies to be burned slightly from the fire to discourage a more serious burn later. Because of the high infant mortality, many mothers would not name their babies for a long time, hoping that not having a name would lessen the maternal bond, thus causing them less grief if the baby died. So there are many headstones from that era that only say "Infant Baby". But stop and listen even more closely now. It is not the babies crying at all, only the wind in the trees. This is because these babies really had a name all along. God gave them a name and called them as his. And he knows each and every one of them. No one needs to cry for these babies, because they have avoided much pain and are with the most loving Father there is. Now that the wind has died down, can you hear them laughing?

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast andd have no compassion on the child she has born? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands..." Isaiah 49:15

A Ghost Story

This evening we were on our way to dinner with friends, and we were delayed. Traffic was backed up and there were several policemen directing. Downtown was having their yearly trick-or-treat festival, and I had forgotten. This is where the stores stay open late and the kids can dress up in their costumes and go from store to store getting treats. The store windows have special decorations, there are smoke pots and scary music is played. It is a safe way to celebrate rather than going from house to house. I am not really into Halloween, but I must say I found the delay interesting as I looked at all the costumes and snapped away. There were many ghosts tonight, which makes me think of the one who did come back from the dead. But I wouldn't call him a ghost.

"Jesus himself stood among them and said to them "Peace be with you." They were startled and frightened, thinkng they saw a ghost. He said to them "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. Luke 24

An Orderly Love

The Cosmos are all blooming now! So nice to see some colorful flowers in the midst of fall, with the leaves falling and the sun sinking earlier every night. But the cosmos don't care. They laugh at the sun as if it were summer, not such a bad example for all of us to follow. The word Cosmos comes from the Greek, meaning a balanced universe. It stands for all things orderly, and love. I see love as being from the heart and not orderly at all. But there is one who has ordered everything in the universe and has a love that forgives daily and constantly. Order and love both, who knew?

"Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven. Can his forces be numbered? Upon whom does his light not rise? Job 25:2

Meeting Of The Minds

A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked - Unknown

Today was a special day, because I got to meet another of my blog friends who I had never met before! We met at Starbucks this morning, and I snapped these fall pictures on the way there. My blogging friend Beverly, from LACHOOCHEE KID, is in town for awhile, so we both went to meet Bonnie, FROM A WRITER'S KITCHEN. These two ladies have great blogs! And what a wonderful meeting it was! Whenever I meet a new blog friend, it seems like we are old friends and have known each other forever. I guess that's because we get an almost daily peek into each other's lives, thoughts, and photos. And Bonnie was no exception. She was even sweeter than I expected. She is so full of joy about blogging, and she has a wonderful dry wit and sense of humor that kept me laughing! Here are the three of us: me on the left, Bonnie in the middle, and Beverly on the right. And look what is in this pretty package! She gave us each this beautiful vase from a special pottery place! It will always be special to me because it was chosen by a good friend, who knows my taste even though we live so far away from each other! Isn't it beautiful? And it matches my green, brown and creme colored living room perfectly! We talked about lots of things, because good friends just do that. And Jesus found his friends no exception.

"You are my friends if you do what I command...I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did ot choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." John 15

So Late

How did it get so late so soon?

It's night before it's afternoon

December is here before it's June

My goodness how the time has flewn!

How did it get so late so soon?

Dr. Seuss

Here are some pictures of our small southern town in the fall. And speaking of the seasons changing, we have a record breaking storm of historic proportions on the way, and are under a tornado watch for the next five or six hours. Apparently this storm is worse than the one that wrecked The Edmund Fitzgerald ship in that Gordon Lightfoot song! So if you do not hear from me in awhile, you will know we have been storm victims, keep us in your prayers!

"Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons...He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him." Daniel 2:20

Their Shining Faces

Here are the two sweet four year old girls in our lives. The first picture is our granddaughter, Anne Marie. And the second is Ella, who we consider our "second granddaughter", because we have helped care for her almost since she was born. They both live just a few blocks away, and we love being with them. The girls love to decorate our kitchen window with these clings! We always have many kinds for every different season. You can take take them on and off and move them around endlessly. To me, the faces of these girls is the sun that illuminates the clings. They light up our house even on the darkest day. Speaking of clings, King David knew quite a bit about clinging.

"I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." Psalm 63:6,8

The Watchers

In yesterday's post, I promised that I would tell you who was watching us while we were watching that spectacular sunset. We thought we were alone, but not really. First these two dogs came into the field. They let us know that the field was their place to romp and play and we were intruding. So we drove away. But on the way out, these two deer appeared from out of the corn, like wraiths. They stood on the path in front of our car and silently watched us. Then they turned and went back into the corn just as silently and gracefully as they had come. The rows of corn were so tightly packed, I don't know how they ever walked into it. The pictures are so bad because the sun had just set and it was getting dark. Had I really even seen them at all? But the pictures prove it, don't they? What only Phil and I knew was that while we were all watching each other, someone else was watching all of us. None of us were ever alone at all.

"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth - he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do."

Psalm 33:13

Golden Slumbers

Golden slumbers fill your eyes

Smiles awake you when you rise

Sleep pretty darling, do not cry

And I will sing a lullabye

Once there was a way to get back homeward

Once there was a way to get back home

Sleep pretty darling, do not cry

And will sing a lullabye

Sir Paul McCartney

Yesterday I gave you the moon, today I give you the sun, and I wish I could give you the stars, my dear followers. I will have golden slumbers indeed, after we drove through this golden sunset and sat in a field watching it this evening. What we didn't know was that while we were watching it, a few other things were watching us. But that is for my next post. I hope Sir Paul knows that there is, indeed, a way to get back home.

"Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." 2 Cor. 5:1