Many Thanks. . .

to those who have served and who are now serving our country. We appreciate the sacrifice you - and your families - have made for us. May you be blessed on this day we set aside to honor you.

Flower Power

One of the activities I am part of and that I enjoy a lot is Friend To Friend, a monthly event for women on the second Saturday of each month. It is part of the ministry of a very dear friend of mine. She is a Hospice chaplain and a grief counselor and several years ago she realized she was consistently hearing women say, 'I don't have a friend.' Out of her concern she started this once-a-month dessert fellowship to give women a place to meet other women. It has touched the lives of hundreds of women over the past few years. Friend To Friend is open to women from all around the Portland, Oregon area. We meet in the beautiful dining room at a retirement living apartment center not too far from my home. Each meeting features a yummy dessert, time to get acquainted and visit around our tables, music (which I lead), an opportunity to give to someone in need of a little help, hugs and laughs, an inspirational speaker and the chance to pray for each other. Last Saturday was our November meeting. I had looked forward to this one a lot. Our guest speaker was a regular member of our group - a florist who shared some ideas for holiday decorating and preparation. She brought a lot of special things to share with us. There is too much to share today so I'll feature her Thanksgiving flower arrangement that she put together as she spoke. When she finished with the arrangement it was given to one of the ladies in the audience. The arrangement started with a darling pilgrim couple set into place, ready for greens and flowers to be added.Then she began to build the arrangement, one piece at a time. First she added a variety of greens to cover the edge of the container.As she talked she described each plant or flower, told us something about it and where she got it. Next, she added the most gorgeous leaves and berries from the Snowberry Bush in her own yard. This amazing beauty had teeny, tiny white berries and these gorgeous big, red berries.
She kept adding a variety of greens, including more things from her yard and some she had purchased for her business.
Color was added with springs of Sedum Autumn Joy from her yard. I was excited to see how she used it because I have several plants of Autumn Joy in my yard. It opened a world of possibilities for fall decorating.
Next she added some gorgeous orange-y rosebuds. Now the arrangement began to 'pop' with color.Some pretty little yellow flowers were added here and there. And then. . .would you believe the next thing she added was apples? Real apples. Just the right touch.Bits of dried purple statice were added and then the final touch. Yellow cabbage roses with touches of orange on them! Oh, I thought I couldn't contain myself!Then she held it up for all of to see. And a name was drawn. Someone would take this gorgeous arrangement home. P-l-e-a-s-e let it be me!!! But it wasn't me and that was OK. The lady who won said she has never won anything before. I felt good that she could have this wonderful prize. I was happy for her.Isn't it gorgeous? And look how perfect it was on the table by the window of the room where we meet. See the fall colors through the window? I hope the lady who took this lovely arrangement home has a view of fall leaves through her window.This was just the first part of what she shared with us. Soon I'll share the Christmas pretties she brought and glimpses of the little tree she decorated. I think you'll like what she did. Lots of neat ideas! If you live in the Portland area and would like more information about Friend To Friend, you can find it on the website here.

Called By Name

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1

The shepherd knows his sheep. He calls them by name.

When we see a crowd, we see exactly that, a crowd. . . We see people, not persons, but people. A herd of humans. A flock of faces. That's what we see.

But not so with the Shepherd. To Him every face is different. Every face is a story. Every face is a child. Every child has a name. . .

The shepherd knows his sheep. He knows each one by name. The Shepherd knows you. He knows your name. And He will never forget it.

I, the LORD, created you. . .
Don't be afraid.
I have rescued you.
I have called you by name;
Now you belong to me.

Isaiah 43:1

From 'When God Whispers Your Name'
Written by Max Lucado

Photo: 'Shepherd Leading Flock of Sheep'

Photographer: Wayne Walton

compliments of allposter.com

Family Time

While my dear cousin and her husband were here for a visit we had a wonderful evening together with my son and daughter and their families. There was lots of talking and laughter, food and fun. Most of all it was just a special time to be together. It was hard to capture everyone in my photos but a few moments were 'caught' to help us remember the evening. Shortly after everyone arrived the boys found their way to our back yard with a football. There's always time for a game or two! Mr. G. and Mr. C. helped each other on one end. . .While Mr. R. handled things on the other end of the game.Mealtime together was great! My sweetheart grilled venison steak (fresh from this year's hunt!) and chicken. Everyone brought a variety of things to share. There was no shortage of food at my house! And it was all SO good. There were too many of us to sit around my big table so we set up a little table in the living room for a few adults. My dear little mother, my cousin, Mrs. C., her husband, Mr. V., and I had the privilege of dining there. (Don't tell my dear mother that I showed you this picture! I'll be in b-i-g trouble!!) I kept the table decor to a minimum because the children were having too much fun!And our littlest grandson didn't need to be tempted to pull the tablecloth and everything on it.After dinner we had such fun together - catching up with the news since we last saw each other, reminiscing and laughing. A lot! The 'big' boys had fun playing together with teeny, tiny cars from my toybox.Mr. H. spent a lot of time 'working' with the tools from my Home Depot toy toolbox.It didn't take him long to discover that the tool-shaped buttons on the front of the lid made sounds. Oh, what fun! He spent most of the evening working and playing and enjoying having his family close by. His mama, Mrs. K., and his aunt, Mrs. M. (our daughter), enjoyed watching him work. His big brother, Mr. G., joined him for awhile.The best part of the evening was the pleasure we had just being together. It meant a lot to my sweetheart to see his family having such good time.And he wasn't the only one who was happy!

Where Do We Go From Here?

On this morning after Election Day here in the United States my heart is filled with reminders that God is STILL in control. No matter how you voted and how you view the results today, we must always be confident that God will never fail. He has promised to those who follow Him that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

We woke today with the knowledge that Mr. Obama will soon be our President. Whether you like that thought or not, God has given us clear directions in His Word. We are to pray for him and for those who were elected to places of leadership and authority.

I urge, then, first of all,

that requests, prayers, intercession

and thanksgiving be made for everyone—

for kings and all those in authority,

that we may live peaceful and quiet lives

in all godliness and holiness.

This is good, and pleases God our Savior,

who wants all men to be saved

and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

I Timothy 2:1-4

The challenge comes to me that while I am praying for our new president I am to live a peaceful and quiet life in all Godliness and holiness. What a challenge for me! And I am reminded that God wants Mr. Obama to seek His face as he steps into the responsibilities he will soon take on. I believe when that time comes he will find the load of responsibilities are much heavier to carry than ever imagined. I pray he will turn to God as His source of strength and that he will come to know the Truth - Jesus who is the only Way, the Truth and the Life.

These things I know - no matter what changes are made in this country I love dearly: God is still on the throne and HE is 'the blessed controller of all things'. If you want to be encouraged and filled with praise read Mimi's post 'Top Ten Predictions for 2009'. You will be blessed!

Responsibility and Rejoicing

I am back after a time away to be with my out-of-state family. Oh, what a time we had!

First, I want to urge you to vote today if you haven't already voted. This is such a special privilege - the freedom to vote. And I urge you to pray. No matter the outcome of the elections across our nation we need God's intervention in the affairs of our land.

My heart is full of things to share with you. Most of all, my heart is filled with gratitude and praise for the way I have seen God work over the last week. My dear cousin and her husband arrived just about ten days ago. We have not seen each other for a few years but have been in almost constant contact by email, phone and letters. They have walked through the most difficult places and gone through many heartbreaking situations. One after another. At times they wondered if they would make it. Their story is almost unreal but they have continued to be confident that God had not abandoned them. Their relationship with Him and with each other has grown closer and deeper through the process. Their lives have been completely changed - you might say turned upside down - by a serious, life-threatening medical situation. Yet they go on praising God and seeking His face. Over the past months they have felt that God might be leading them to make a major move. Perhaps a new beginning. Maybe to a place where the needed medical treatment and procedure would bring relief and restore normalcy to their life. In order for a move to happen there were many - MANY - details to be worked out. Details that none of us could arrange. And we all knew if God directed them to move to another location He would put all the plans in place. He is a God of order and He knew what order to work it out and reveal it to them.

Over the past week and a half we have kept long hours each day. Hours spent on the phone, driving, looking, checking into many things and at the end of the day time to sit together to reflect and to get a sense of what we had seen and heard. Slowly we began to see a pattern - God was putting the needed things in place. We watched as He directed them to places and people who were part of His plan. The medical needs fell into place first - extremely good news along the way, people with caring hearts with more information and facilities that seemed to call out my dear one's names. They found such caring, loving medical people who wanted them to come, people who wanted to be part of their lives and care for them. Both of them. The patient and the caregiver. So many details were in place but the last one - the important one for a move to happen - was still not ready. They prepared to go home and plans were made that I would continue to look and find for housing for them. Saturday morning I woke early with the thought that I should check Craigslist for housing. I found several possibilities but nothing that just jumped out and said 'this one meets all their needs'. A short time later I checked for new listings and there it was - the one that seemed perfect for them. The right price, the right location and even more than that. It had some things that they had hoped for. Extras that were not on their 'needs' list but on their 'wish' list in their hearts. Arrangements were made to see the little home and Sunday afternoon, in just a short amount time, God worked out the most incredible details and the darling, little place was rented to them right on the spot! We are so excited to know that soon they will live here in a neighboring community, just minutes away from our home.

This is my cousin but she is so much more - she is my dearest friend, my soulmate, a kindred spirit. We grew up nearly as sisters together. We've walked through life together - nearly always in separate states although there have been very short times when our families lived in the same community. We were in each other's weddings. I was her Maid of Honor, she was my Matron of Honor. We have shared the births and the lives of our children together - our dear husbands became good friends and they love to spend time together. When I was young my family drove many long hours every year to spend Christmas together with her family. It has been many years since we've had Christmas together - before either of us were married. Every year we have talked about how we wished we could be together again for Christmas. Now - this year - they will be here! Moved just in time to spend Christmas together.

Yesterday afternoon as I hugged them goodbye at the airport I was able to say words I never dreamed possible. I didn't have to just say goodbye. This time I could add - 'I'll see you back here real soon!'

Our hearts are filled with awe. We know we serve a big and mighty God but over the past few days we have seen Him work in what seemed an impossible situation. The part that amazes me the most? He is the God of the universe, the Creator, the Almighty God - yet He loves us more than we can imagine. And He cares about all the details, the biggest and the smallest. And He does it with such gentle love and care. Because He loves us - His children. How can we miss that?

Trust In The Lord

'The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.' St. Therese

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Photo compliments of allposters.com