I've Been Drafted!

Today, we went to our local park pavilion to see some of the Christmas activities planned for the evening. You can see in my pictures that it had started to snow heavily, so a lot of people didn't show up, and many things were cancelled. But something that did show up were these beautiful Belgian Draft Horses! Their names were Sonny and Cher, and they were so sweet! They were there to give people rides around downtown in this charming carriage. Draft horses are huge, have lots of brute strength, and hold the record for the tallest and largest horses in the world. They were bred to be hard workers and drag heavy things like plows. They are the direct decendants of the horses of medieval times, who carried knights onto battlefields. But despite their huge size and strength, they are very docile and have a lot of patience. Isn't life full of lovely little unexpeccted moments? Last night, I never thought I'd be spending this afternoon in the snow with Sonny and Cher!

"His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." Psalm 147:10

God Remembered Noah

This is Noah's Ark. Or probably as close as anyone can duplicate it. And that is me with my friends in front of it. My husband took the picture. Now here's the story. Perhaps you remember the movie "Evan Almighty". A lot of it was filmed here. The movie featured Noah and the Ark, and the movie company picked this location. The ark in the movie was not a special effect, nor was it created by a computer. They built the real thing. They used the actual measurements that God gave Noah and built it the origional size that it was in the Bible. We went to see it several times, and took different friends with us. Notice that they didn't finish making the back of the ark. They didn't have to because only one side would be filmed. There were always a lot of police cars there to guard the movie set. Sometimes they would let you through, and sometimes not. The movie crew went to our local bike shop and bought almost all the bikes, which they rode to get around the set quickly. You can see the bikes in the first two pictures. When they were done making the movie, our locals wanted them to leave the ark here. Many people here had dreams of making it the centerpiece of a Biblical theme park of some kind. It would have brought lots of jobs, fun, and Christian inspiration to this area. But that didn't happen. Instead, they dismantled it and took it apart. Then they packed it up and took it with them. After they left, there were rumors around town for months that they were going to rent or sell it to Disney. I don't know what happened to it. I wish I did. Does it exist somewhere now, or did they use the wood to build a different project for another movie? Perhaps, just like it's predecessor, no one will ever know what happened to it. But then, what is life without a little mystery?

"So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out...put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle, and upper decks...Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth and Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood...and rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights." Genesis 6 & 7

Santa Didn't Do Anything

Our granddaughter, Anne, is three years old. Ever since she was a baby, she has read and been told the story of Noah and the ark. She also had a toy Noah and the ark playset. And when she was one year old, she was helping her mom decorate the Christmas tree and they were hanging the ornaments in these pictures. One ornament is Noah and the ark and the other is Santa. She then said that Santa was Noah. As a matter of fact, she thought all the Santas that year were Noah! This is because Santa had a long white beard like Noah in the pictures. Now that she's three, she still calls some of the Santas Noah. The other night we were driving her around to look at Christmas lights, and half of the Santas she called Noah. So I asked her "What's the difference between Santa and Noah?" And here's what she said "Noah built an ark and Santa didn't do anything." On my next post, I will show you pictures of me with the real (?) ark!! No kidding!!

"Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord... Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God" Genesis 6

Eat Mor Chikin

Are you familiar with my title's slogan? It's the slogan for Chick-fil-A. Have you ever eaten at a Chick-fil-A? We did just a few hours ago. This is a fast food restaraunt that has chicken breast sandwiches for a speciality instead of hamburgers. There are over 1,000 restaraunts in this country. I recently read in a consumers magazine that it is the healthiest fast food place to eat at. I believe they use mostly peanut oil, or some other healthy kind. They sold the first boneless chicken breast sandwich ever, many years ago. Their ads show lots of cows who are afraid for their lives, and also bad spellers, and they hold up signs saying "Eat Mor Chikin". Their food is quite good, and better for you than a burger joint.This is the Christmas tree in our local Chick-fil-A. I just love it, and so had to snap it to show you. There have been many Sundays when we are on the run and stop into a Chick-fil-A to grab a bite. But we are always dissapointed and unable to. This is because they are always closed on Sunday. The restaraunt founder and owner, S. Truett Cathy, is an amazing man, and also a Christian. So he will keep the Sabbath for all his employees. Principles and helping others mean more to this man than money. He has written a biography, which is the story of his sucess, called "Eat Mor Chikin Inspire more People: Doing business the Chick-fil-a Way." A good book. And he lives by another good book which says this:"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maid servant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates."

Melting Away

What started in the minds of eager children became real for awhile, but is now fast becoming a ghost; to remain only in stories and books until the next snowfall.

"He lifts His voice, the earth melts.

The Lord almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress." Psalm 46

A Drinkers Delight

Have you been stressed out over the holidays? Are your nerves in a knot? Do you have the baking blues? Perhaps you've been imbibing quite a bit to get you through the rush. Having a bit of wine to stop the whine. Are you trying to figure out something clever to do with the empty wine and champagne bottles? Then this is the tree for you! Well, to get serious, yesterday we happened across this Christmas tree. And since I just love odd and wacky things like this, I grabbed my camera. If you take a good look at this tree, you'll notice it has a wine or champagne bottle on top instead of a star. And every decoration is made with corks from alcohol bottles! I must say it was kind of woodsy looking, and quite lovely. It was weird and inventive. If I do what my cardiologist told me, I would have enough decorating supplies to make this tree in a year or two. He told me to drink some wine every day. In Bible times, getting good water was no easy task, so they drank a lot of wine. I wonder why they weren't drunk all the time? My husband says that they may have had some non-alcholic wine, but that would seem to defeat the purpose, because I imagine it wouldn't keep very well. Perhaps this tree was a reminder for me to obey my doctor? Or maybe it had no meaning other than to bring a smile to my face and give me this blog post.

"Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." 1 timothy 5:23

Have I Been Naughty Or Nice?

What to Santa's wondering eyes should appear?

Us seniors! But bravely he showed no fear.

One on each knee, we were comfy for sure

But I feared we'd knock old Santa clear to the floor

And then with a twinkle he said "Take the pic!"

But please bring some aspirin for jolly St. Nick

Our pictures were great, we were pleased as could be

And not only that, we got them for free.

But as we turned back to thank the old gent

Quick as a wink, up the chimney he went!

And I heard him reply as he flew up with a flap

"The elves won't believe seniors were on my lap!!"

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11