One of our gifts was a BIG surprise! Our granddaughter, Caitlin, had written a book for us. She is now eight, not still that little girl on the cover of her book....she is a third grader who is an avid reader. She has earned 50 Accelerated Reader Points so far this year; the most of any third grader in her school. I started the Accelerated Reader program in the county where I was a school media specialist many long years ago; so it makes me especially happy to see her love books and reading like I do. Caitlin's book proves what many authors will tell you; the more you read....the better you write!
And when they returned home a few days after Christmas, she left me this little reminder.
I love you Caity and look forward to another book in your series..... A Five Dog Christmas, perhaps.
This is our oldest living Granddog, Libby, who of course came to Nana and Pop Pop's for Christmas.
This is me, Caitlin, my wonderful Grandaughter, and Princess, Her Royal Highness, Rita's dog.
In the foreground, is the lovely purple flower pin cushion Caitlin and I had just completed.
This is my daughter, Ashli, Libby and Caitlin's mother, with our dog Scout.
This is Charlie Chapman, being held by his new owner, Granddaughter Hannah. Charlie is a Bis honFri she puppy. Hannah's parents, are seated beside her. Our son Wayne and wife Niki.
This is Cooper, The Big Red Dog. Ashli and Marty's "puppy". He is a Vizsla.....the same breed as Clifford, The Big Red Dog......for all you picture book readers out there in blog land.
Cooper was very excited about Christmas.....especially Scout, Princess and Charlie. He has had a hard time deciding between Scout and Princess as a girl friend. They however resist his advances to put it mildly. He just cannot understand why these little dogs find him frightening.
I however enjoy waltzing with him; he is just the right height for me AND he has already had dance lessons from Caitlin. He excels at waltzing. He also likes joining me one the commode. The nickname for this breed is THE VELCRO DOG. I understand that name completely.
If you haven't had a "Five Dog Christmas" you just don't know what you are missing!
Yesterday I listened to my favorite radio program......Chris Fabry on Moody Radio. He interviewed a friend's Mom, Lenora.
Lenora grew up a sharecropper's daughter in Arkansas during the 1930's. She told of finding and saving the tinfoil in cigarette packs to cover gum balls as tree decorations. Their were eight children, she was the youngest. Like my mother-in-law, the usual Christmas gift was an orange, a banana, a few pieces of hard candy, and some nuts. This lady was not bemoaning those Christmas' she was celebrating, still today.
Then a listener called in to tell about her childhood Christmas. She grew up on a farm in Iowa; town too small to have a traffic light. One year they went into Des Moines and ogled at the store decorations and toy departments. She saw a bride doll that took her breath. She looked at the price tag; that took her breath, too. She knew her parents would never have that amount to spend on a doll so when her Mother asked her if she saw anything she liked she said "No, not really."
On Christmas morning that year there were two bride dolls under the tree. One for her sister and one for her. Her Mom had washed their old dolls and styled their hair and made a bride dress and a whole wardrobe for each doll out of the scraps she had been given by a wealthy lady. Not only that.....Dad had made a wardrobe and hangars for the doll clothes to hang in. Talk about an Unexpected Gift.
I can't help think....I have never given such a sacrificial gift and I doubt many of us have.
Then today I read the post on Belle Mitchell's blog. Belle is a two year old little girl. Her Dad is the youth minister at my daughter's church. She has brain cancer. She and her mother have been living at the Target house in Memphis while Belle has chemo treatments. They have been there two months now.
The latest scan shows the tumor has not grown......but it has not shrunk. Doctors prescribe at least four more months of chemo there at St. Jude's. Dad will continue being Father and Mother to three boys while Mom and Belle stay in Memphis. Talk about a sacrificial gift.
Material gifts just can't hold a candle to those of sacrifice. God knows that.....He sacrificed His son for us......and we hardly notice.
Lord, help me be more like you, more like the mothers in these stories, more like Mary, more like JESUS. Amen
Sunday, December 20, 2009
This morning as Hubs and I were dressing for church; I had an idea.
"Let's go to Wayne's church today since I don't have to teach Sunday School and we are going to our church tonight for the Cantata."
Our son Wayne is the church pianist at his church in Darlington and we rarely get to hear him play the piano during worship.
When we entered the sanctuary we ran into him, giving out bulletins, and then into Hannah and Cathleen. Hannah was surprised we were there and pleased because she and Cathleen were singing a duet this morning. I tell you that is one of those God Winks we have talked about here before. A time when you just know God was giving you a pleasant experience because He loves us and loves to see us happy.
The girls did a great job and we sat together as a family (Wayne, too) to listen to the sermon. So nice!
Tim Coker, the minister, looks a lot different this Christmas. Last year he had just begun treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and no one was sure what the out come would be. He was bald and very thin. This year he is his handsome, healthy looking self. Somehow all he has been through gives him a bit more credibility than he had 18 months or 2 years ago....BC before cancer.
Today he spoke on the Joy of Christmas. He talked about Luke 2 and The Polar Express. He brought bells for everyone. He decided not to give them out before the sermon because he was afraid the congregation would ring them when they were ready to dismiss to go to Sunday dinner. (We baptists can be mean when it comes to food.)
He said Joy is a good barometer of how we are doing spiritually. I think he is right! My husband has been singing all around the house, in the car, in the yard......I love it (especially because he knows all the wrong words to the songs :) Little Gates can whistle now and he goes around whistling. (I can't whistle the way he does so I go around blowing my bottom lip trying to learn how.)
I think the reason we are joyful at Christmas is because we are thinking about the right things for a change. What to get others. Who might need a visit or a call because they are in a trying situation. What a glum situation Mary and Joseph faced heading into Bethlehem and their lack of complaint.
Remember that old acrostic?
J=Jesus O=Others Y= Yourself
If we get those in the right order, we have joy! Which is what I wish for you this Christmas Season.
Princess Tompkins has arrived for an extended visit while her MaMa (short a's like the British please) goes to visit her human children in West Virginia and Washington, DC.
How do you like her snappy little padded pink carrier. Tres chic n'est pas?
Being a rather high maintenance, dare I say pooch, the lady-in-waiting packed all Princess might possibly need for her sojourn in the country. A hunting coat and a dress coat, three types of shampoo, two leashes, hair brush to use when blowing dry her beauteous long flowing hair, nail clippers in case of a split or chipped toe nail, two dozen packs of filletMignon wet food, and five pounds of dry food for snacks. She also brought a larger more spacious carrier should she feel the need a few moments to herself.
Our rather mundane dog, Scout, is very fascinated with Princess' accouterments. She perhaps wonders why we don't pack her coat and some Dawn lest she need a shampoo while visiting her city cousins in Darlington.
We have three more dogs coming for Christmas so it should be a jolly holiday for all. Especially my mother-in-law, she LOVES dogs.....especially those who jump up on her in a friendly greeting. She will be estatic! Me, too!
Last night hubs and I went to see Blind Side. Several people had told us it was GREAT! It did not disappoint.
For those of you living under a rock, it is the true story of a white upper middle class family in Memphis, Tenn who notice a homeless black boy and eventually adopt him.
Our local Cinema was packed....I mean I think every seat was taken.
And it seemed as though, we the audience, black and white, became family while watching this flick.
Things....they are a changin' here in the South. Not only are we watching movies together; no more balcony for the blacks, thank God; but the hostility and misunderstanding and distrust of the past seems to be lessening...and that is a good thing.
When my daughter-in-law, Niki, family began the Billie Hardee Home for Boys twenty-five years ago, they had to have South Carolina Law Enforcement officers living with them to protect the boys and the family from the ire of segregationists who didn't approve of black and white boys living with a white family. Things are a changing....its a new day....its about time.
If you haven't seen the movie....go....go see it in a theater with a racially mixed audience.... It is PG-13 but the only objectional language I heard was "pissed off". I hope my older grand children see it....its a good example of Christian love in action.
Last night was the Christmas play at our son Wayne's church. We've gone every year since Hannah was three. This is the last year she can be in it. She had a lovely solo part and did a good job.
Gates also had a speaking part. He quoted scripture. He said, "Fear Not" loud and clear. He was also a Wise Man (not to be confused with a king) in the nativity. His great grandmother, Edith told him; (You were a great king, Gates!" Response....."I not no king; I Wise Man!"
Unfortunately, his wise man crown was too big so he spent a lot of time on stage taking it off from where it fell around his neck and putting it back on (usually upside down). This was one time he needed Hubs ears to keep the thing on his head. Hubs took the pictures and totally missed all those photo opportunities.
Santa came to the party afterwards and Gates told him: "I want Wowboy boots, a Wowboy hat, and a Wowboy gun!" His parents were quite surprised because he had told them he wanted an electric Police Car he could drive around his yard. Good thing Santa and parents aren't the same people!
I am reading a small book a student gave me in 2001 called Jesus in the Reason for the Season. I always put it out as a decoration and never read it until this year. :( Here are a couple of quotes.
"Blesses is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love" Hamilton Mabie
"Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." Oren Arnold
Saturday, December 12, 2009
This is our friend Jon Cook. Jon was wounded in Viet Nam and became a paraplegic when he was 26 years old. He is now seventy. He and my husband played opposing teams in high school football and ended up at Coker College together. Their birthdays are 7 days apart; a celebration Jon never forgets to remember. He also always sends us a live flower arrangement at Christmas.
A few months ago a college friend who dated Jon back in the day notified me she hadn't gotten any emails from Jon in a while and was concerned. Hubs called around Kershaw, Jon's home town, til he found out Jon was in the Veteran's Hospital in Augusta and we were able to call him.
He has now been there six months. He went for pneumonia but due to nursing neglect he got a bedsore that has been V E R Y slow to heal. All he wants from Christmas is to go home. He is hoping for Easter. How about pray for Jon and the other Vets who are there. Most of them do not get visitors a caregiver told me.
This is a lounge in the hospital...the people lounging by the tree were workers.
Granddaughter, Hannah gave her first performance as a flautist. She is the beautiful girl in red. We were asked not to take pictures during the performance which explains why she is not playing in the picture :)
This is Charli Moore the Artistic Director at Hannah's school, King's Academy. We met Charli when she returned to Hartsville in the 80's and met and married Frank Moore. C even assisted in their wedding.
Charli has a gorgeous soprano voice (and a lovely spirit and personality) and she sang from Phantom of the Opera at our son Wayne's wedding. Now she is his daughter's music teacher. God is Good.....All the Time!
So those are a few things we have been up to this week. What have you folks been doing?
I made a new flag for outside my door. I monogrammed the grand kids names on the mittens.
This is the new Christmas quilt I am working on.
This is my front door. If you think it is over the top, wait til you see inside.
The foyer.
All of you know this isn't my house......but I like it!
Have you ever ordered something over the phone and gotten a person of another nationality?
Whew! I just ordered flowers sent to a friend. I think I could have grown them faster. But I tried to remember to be patient and hopefully the flowers will get to her and I will be charged what he said.
I just don't understand why American companies insist on outsourcing these jobs to Dubai when we have Americans who speak English out of work. If you know the answer....please tell me.
Our minister urges us to "tell our story" to our neighbors, friends, strangers, and church members. I think y'all, dear blog readers, fall somewhere in there, don't you? So here goes.
Thirty-eight years ago this December 12, I made a life changing decision. I decided to trust Jesus with my life. Now I grew up in Metropolitan Memorial Methodist Church in Washington, DC. Christened, Baptized, went through Confirmation Classes where you learn the tenets of the church, was a member of the MYF, went to Sunday School, Lenten Lectures, etc...
When C. and I married and I moved here, we joined Bethlehem United Methodist Church and raised our family there. December of 1971 our pastor invited a team of Lay Witnesses to come to our church and tell their stories. Lay Witnesses are ordinary Christians who are willing to go spend a weekend with a church that invites them and stay in the homes of its members.
One couple, Joe and Louise McBride stayed at our home.
As I heard the Lay Witnesses tell their stories, I was entranced. They told of prayers answered. Peace and joy in their hearts. Forgiveness for sins. WOW!
But I had my doubts. Was this for real?
Finally, my husband said, "Donna, if these people are crazy, they are a lot happier than we are!"
Point well taken.
So we stepped over the line together. We asked Jesus to take control of our lives and help us make God the main thing in our lives.
That Christmas was magical. Every hymn and carol was new to me. Why they are all about Jesus, and salvation! Who knew!
And so dear friend, if you haven't already taken that "leap of faith" to ask Jesus to come into your heart and help you live for God.... I strongly encourage you to do it.....I PROMISE it will be the best decision you will ever make and you will NEVER regret putting your trust in THEM.
Oh, and do not be afraid. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us: "God knows the plans He has for us; plans for good and not for evil, plans to give YOU a future and a hope." It doesn't get any better than that.
We kept number 3 grandson, Gates, over the weekend. He sure brings out the silly in Pop Pop and me. Some how our red table napkins inspired PP to turn into Red Riding Hood.
Which of course inspired Gates to do the same. I wish you could here Gates' dialog.
"What big eyes you have, dearie!"
Here is The evil Dr. Gates giving his PP a shot in the mouth. (I think his recent trip to the dentist inspired this!)
Of course, our multi talented Grand son, is also a vet. So He had to listen to Scouts, uh heart.
Nana comes up with another winning idea. Play football with the players who came from his Daddy's and his birthday cakes. We had to improvise with play dough to make the goal posts stand up.
I've asked Santa to bring a real goal post to our house for the boys to play with like their Daddies had. We'll see, he said.
If you need a huge dose of laughter, I'll just come over with Gates and we'll get you goin'.
One of my favorite Christian radio programs, Chris Fabry Live, did a broadcast a week or so ago about invisible people. No it wasn't sci fi. It's about those people around us who may have become invisible to the rest of us because they aren't on our radar screen.
Like maybe, a single Mom, who is struggling with doing all she needs to do and feeling like it isn't enough.
Or a man with a wife with Alzheimer's that has gone on so long that people have forgotten what they are going through.
Or a person, who lost their mate or child or parent in the last couple of years making holidays a hard time.
Or a veteran with injuries from Viet Nam or Iraq who has been forgotten.
I want to encourage you to ask the Lord who are the invisible people you know and then give them a call, send them a card, or drop by for a visit.....so they will know, you remember them and you care.
Yesterday, while standing in line at the post office, there was a cute little white boy behind me holding the hand of the black lady with him.
There were also two men with about a dozen boxes marked "birds" slapping express delivery stickers on the bird boxes. I joked with the little boy, "those must be the turkeys that didn't get eaten for thanksgiving". He laughed! Then I told him, "You must be a silly boy, are you?" He nodded. "I am a silly woman!" He nodded.
As we exited the post office, I talked to the black lady. She said, "He is autistic." I was shocked. As I told her, we had an autistic class at the school where I was principal and he was very high functioning compared to them.
She is his foster mother. She said, no one is sure of his age because the birth certificate the mother gave them said he is three. The doctors and dentists say he is more like five or six. The mother didn't want him for Thanksgiving. She is bipolar and has two other kids who are ADHD.
The foster mother assured me he wasn't always this calm. I congratulated her on taking him and tried to encourage her there would be a crown in heaven for her. "I've been in this since 1998," she replied.
I saw his behavior change for myself a little while later at Walmart. I heard this "keening" kind of noise and I knew.....it was him. They were in the check out line and he was screeching. The man next to me in the deli line said to me, "my mother would have whipped me if I carried on like that."
"He's autistic," I told him.
I can't get this little fellow out of my mind.
Last night, hubs and I watched The Dog, Christmas. The main character is a retarded boy of 20. He gets lots of love and support from his parents, older siblings, and towns people.
I wish this little fellow had that.
Please pray for him, and his foster mother.
PS The birds being mailed were "fighting chickens" (I asked the men). Of course, that is illegal in SC but evidently it is fine to mail them. Who knew!
One of our gifts was a BIG surprise! Our granddaughter, Caitlin, had written a book for us. She is now eight, not still that little girl on the cover of her book....she is a third grader who is an avid reader. She has earned 50 Accelerated Reader Points so far this year; the most of any third grader in her school. I started the Accelerated Reader program in the county where I was a school media specialist many long years ago; so it makes me especially happy to see her love books and reading like I do. Caitlin's book proves what many authors will tell you; the more you read....the better you write!
