Can You Believe It . . .

Samuel

is

ELEVEN ! 

He celebrated

with a really cool

LEGO

Birthday Party!

From the scavenger hunt

to the edible LEGOS ...

it was a fun evening.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention

the red, green, yellow and blue

licorice and M and M's.

Sam loves animals.  All animals.

And he knows a ton

about dinosaurs!

He takes very good care of the

two dogs and four cats

that roam around our neighborhood.

He's pretty quick to lend a helping

hand to gran'pa too when

he sees him working outside.






My prayer for Sam ....


"How can a young man keep

his way pure?

By guarding it according 

to your word.

With my whole heart

I seek you; let me not

wander from your commandments!

I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you."

--Psalm 119:9-11




I love you Samuel!

Happy Birthday JoAnna!!

Another

girl night.


To celebrate

JoAnna's Birthday!

I've heard some talk

of combining the

fall birthdays...

but ...

I

don't 

think

so ! ! !




JoAnna picked

Johnny Carino's

for our dining pleasure.




We have so much

fun together

eating,

talking,

laughing,

remembering !



Lucy and Philemon

joined us too !

It is sooo fun to get

them to smile ...

they just love looking

into your eyes!


JoAnna is a busy mom

these days.


I pray these verses for her ...

"Trust in the LORD ...

Delight yourself in the LORD ...

Commit your way to the LORD ...

Be still before the LORD ...

Fret not yourself ...

Wait for the LORD and keep his way ..."

      --from Psalm 37

and from Proverbs 4:23 ...

So thankful for JoAnna

 who is not only 

my daughter ...

but always  my friend.

I Love You JoAnna ! !

The Law ... Righteousness

Reading in Exodus ....

Whew .... the law was an amazing 

set of regulations to guide every

aspect of the growing Hebrew nation.


There were 613 of them.

Some think Christians today are bound

to obey these Old Testaments laws as a

standard for their righteousness.

How thankful I am  that today I am 

righteous before God, 

not because of ANY of my own

righteousness BUT because the sacrificial death of the LORD Jesus on the cross

has made me righteous before my God. "For he hath made him to be sin for us,

who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

A much better plan!  I am counted righteous in Christ ! !

Keeping track of ALL those laws 

would be far too difficult. 

 At least for me!!

Shower .... of blessings !!

When little Lucy was 

still just a wee girl,

we had a shower for 

her at the chapel.

Samantha lovingly 

wrapped all those 


letters in yarn.



This cute cake is made

from a base of diapers.  

There were 60 some diapers

in it and enough toys

to keep a baby happy for months!







We enjoyed soup and

Olive Garden bread sticks together.


And

yummy fall desserts like

Apple Crisp and Pumpkin Bars.

Elaine and Linh were 

super fast at 

dressing the baby!

Lucy slept peacefully through

most of the evening.










I shared from 

my heart to Julia's heart

some thoughts on

what "mothering" is.








Julia expresses her 

thanks to all

who came and

shared in the special evening.

Here we are ...

FOUR

GENERATIONS !! 



And here are ...

 Jeshanah,

Julia,

JoAnna 

and

Lucy.









So thankful

for the memories of

the evening and


for all those

who shared

them with us.

 

Finding joy today ...

Ringing the Salvation Army Bell

with Anna, Elly and Gramma!

Those two little smiling faces get

a lot of attention from people!

Never ... Never ... Never

Given through Moses to the children of Israel:

Deuteronomy 31:6

"Be strong and courageous. 

Do not fear or be in dread of them,

for it is the LORD your God 

who goes with you.

He will not leave you or forsake you."

Given to Joshua:

Deuteronomy 31:8

".... He will be with you; 

He will not leave you or forsake you. 

 Do not fear or be dismayed."

Joshua 1:5

"I will not leave you or forsake you."

To Jacob:

Genesis 28:15

"Behold, I am with you and will keep you

wherever you go ... for I will not leave you until 

I have done what I have promised you."

David passes on the promise to Solomon:

1 Chronicles 28:20

" ... He will not leave you or forsake you,

 until all the work for the service of the house is finished"

To faithful Israelites:

Isaiah 41:17

"I the God of Israel will not forsake them."

To believers in the LORD Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 13:5-6

"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

This last verse actually has 5 negatives in the Greek language.

It could be read something like this:

I will never, never leave the,

and never, never, never forsake thee."

Now if that's not an exceeding 

GREAT and PRECIOUS

promise .... I don't know what is !!