NEW HAIRCUT

Here's Chase before his new haircut.....

And (Boo-hoo!, Sniff, sniff!) afterward....

What can I say, HE loves it!! At least he'll be cooler for Florida's hot weather!

*****

Totally unaffected by the whole thing is his big sister, Caylie....
(showing off her jewelry & her pretty nails!)

Aren't these two of the cutest kids you've ever seen?

S: )

TUNE MY HEART TO SING THY GRACE

This is a wonderful old hymn, written so long ago, but the words really speak to me! My prayer is that God will keep my heart in tune to sing His grace!

 Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy redeeming love.

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

*Verses 1 & 4 of original text of the hymn "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing",(written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson,who penned the words at age 22 in the year 1757.
Melody is by John Wyeth.

*****

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
--Colossians 3:15-17

ATTITUDE

Attitude

There once was a woman

who woke up one morning,

looked in the mirror,

And noticed she had

only three hairs on her head.

'Well,' she said,

'I think I'll braid my hair today.'

So she did

and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up,

looked in the mirror

And saw that she had

only two hairs on her head.

'Hmmm,' she said,

'I think I'll part my hair
down the middle today.'

So she did

and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up,

looked in the mirror and
noticed that she had

only one hair on her head.

'Well,' she said,

'today I'm going to
wear my hair in a pony tail.'

So she did,

and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up,

looked in the mirror and

noticed that there wasn't
a single hair on her head.

'YAY!' she exclaimed.

'I don't have to fix my hair today!'

Attitude is everything.

(Well, maybe not EVERYTHING,

but it sure helps!)

S: )

Be kinder than necessary,

For everyone you meet

is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly,

And pray continually.

*****

Life isn't about
waiting for the storm to pass...

It's about learning to dance in the rain.

Have a great weekend!!

A SONG FOR YOU

I LOVE this song, performed on piano by Jim Chappell. I love the melody, & the way it stops and starts again, changes mood, etc. Hope you enjoy it too!
You can sit back and listen to it while you're relaxing from all of that 'spring cleaning' that's probably going on at your house! S: )

 (Please remember to mute Playlist before listening).

*****

This pic has nothing to do

with the video.

It's just a capture of one of the

last daffodils of the season.

It's still so pretty,

even though the edges

are wilting away.

WELCOME, SPRING!

All three of our tulip trees are in full bloom!

There are no leaves on the trees until after the blooms have dropped off, & it is such a pretty sight to see the fragile bare branches with their many pale pink flowers waving back and forth when there's a breeze.

*****

We have two trees in our backyard that are covered with these gorgeous bright pink blooms! They do have thorns, though, as I quickly found out when picking a few stems to put in a vase. Can anyone tell me what they are?
The closest thing I could find pictured anywhere is something called 'Chaenomeles', a non-fruit-bearing member of the quince family.

*****

I'm happy to report that it's now been a little over 3 weeks since my husband's surgery, & he is walking everyday....almost up to the one mile at a time mark.

Yea, Bill!

We go back to Atlanta this Thursday for his one-month check-up with the surgeon.

*****

Now to him who is able

to do immeasurably more 
than all we ask or imagine,
according to His power
that is at work within us,
to Him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations,
for ever and ever!
Amen.
-Ephesians 3:20-21

IRISH BLESSINGS

Top O' the Mornin' to ya!

Whether you're Irish, or not,
it's fun to read these Irish Blessings!
Here are a few I'm passing on to YOU................

May you always have work
for your hands to do

May your pockets hold always
a coin or two

May the sun shine bright
on your windowpane

May the rainbow be certain
to follow each rain

May the hand of a friend
always be near you

And may God fill your heart

with gladness to cheer you.

- Irish Blessing

 Wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

CLOSE CALL!

I'm afraid my few bloggy friends have given up on me, but this break was unscheduled.
On Friday, Feb. 25th, my husband underwent emergency open-heart surgery in Atlanta. A real shocker for both of us, as his only symptoms had been shortness of breath & a painful 'crink in his neck'. (No history of heart trouble at all!) Our alert GP sent him right away to a cardiologist, who scheduled a heart cath. We were anticipating a possible stent; maybe even two.
As it turned out, his main artery was 90% blocked right up against his heart (a scary sight on the x-ray, to say the least!), & he needed a triple bi-pass also. They inserted a balloon thingy in his leg to help take the stress off his heart until he was on the operating table, & removed veins from both calves.
I won't go into the gruesome, but amazing specifics of open-heart surgery, but I shiver everytime I think of it! (Dallas, you can probably relate!)

Ouch!!

Every heart surgery patient receives one of these special pillows

to hold onto in case you have to cough.

It was designed by Dr. David Dean, of Piedmont Heart Institute 

(Bill's surgeon).

Let's just say that I've told Bill if I ever need to have this done, SHOOT ME! S: (

It's now been 2 1/2 weeks, & his progress to date has been phenonomal!
We have God to thank! Healing is a slow process, but everyday, he notices a slight improvement.
Family & friends have been SUCH a tremendous help! A special thanks to our daughter, Lisa, who left at 4am & drove from Florida by herself to spend 3 days helping me navigate that big hospital, &  to just 'be there'!
 Jami, Toni & Johnny offered to come too, & we thank you for your willingness & for your love & prayers!
Thanks to all of you who came to the hospital, or by the house later, called, sent cards, emails, etc., etc. The list is long...I can't begin to name everyone here, but you know who you are, & you are much appreciated!!

Q & A & OTHER SILLY STUFF

Q & A from AARP......

Q: How can I avoid that terrible curse of unsightly wrinkles?
A: Take off your glasses.

Q: Why should people over 60 use valet parking?
A: Valets don't forget where they park your car.

Q: Is it common for 60+ year olds to have problems with
short term memory storage?
A: Storing memory is not a problem, Retrieving it is the problem.

Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly?
A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.

Q: Where should seniors look for eye glasses?
A: On their foreheads.

Q: What is the most common remark made by 60+ year olds
when they enter antique stores?
A: "Gosh, I remember all these!"

The Senility Prayer

God, grant me the Senility

to forget the people

I never liked anyway,

the good fortune

to run into the ones that I do,

and the eyesight

to tell the difference.

Now that I'm older,

here's what I've discovered:

I started out with nothing,

and I still have most of it...

***

Everyone needs to enjoy

a little light-hearted humor

now & then!

(Thanks, Marsha,

So funny!!)

SCRIPTURE for SUNDAY

..AND THE WINNER IS...

**ANNOUNCING**

***

 the 'LAZY BLOGGER' Award

winner:

ME!!

To what do I attribute this great honor?

hmmmm......

1. Lack of organization

2. Too much time on Facebook

3. Preoccupied with other things

4. LAZINESS!

***

But, now that I'm here,

let me wish everyone

a

HAPPY

VALENTINE's

DAY!

Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests and is never shaken.

It is the star to every wandering bark,

whose worth's unknown,

although his height be taken.

--William Shakespeare 

***

*Couple in heart, from

Harrison Fisher's 'American Beauties',

1909

Hope you have an extra SWEET Valentine's Day!!

NICE THOUGHT

The world is but a canvas to the imagination.
--Henry David Thoreau

An Artist at his Easel

T. Worthington Whittredge

1820-1910

YOUTH IS A STATE OF MIND

Both of my daughters know I love the daily flip calendars of Bible verses or of quotes, and I received one of each type for Christmas. Here are a few humorous thoughts on aging from the Barbara Johnson
'I Don't Suffer From Insanity...I enjoy every minute of it' calendar:

Inside every older person
There's a younger person,
Wondering what happened.
--Ashleigh Brilliant

***

No matter how incongrously our
youthful minds fit into our aging bodies,
we can refuse to be old.
We can celebrate our youth--
no matter how many decades
we've been youthful!

***

You know you're getting old
when you yearn for those
blessed old hymns
of days gone by,

*"Go Tell it on the Mountain--
and SPEAK UP!"

*"Nobody knows the Trouble
I Have Seeing"

*"Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
(I've Forgotten Where I Parked)"
***

Thanks, Jami! I'm enjoying this calendar!

AND SINCE WE'VE NO PLACE TO GO....

For those of you who aren't on Facebook, here's what our yard looks like this week.
9" of snow...even more than we had last week & the week before. It's quite unusual for us to have more than an inch or two.
I think it's a beautiful sight, but our friends, who have indoor pets aren't so happy about having to take their pets out for a walk with all this snow & ice.

Wishes for everyone, but especially for you, Jami!! S: )

MONDAY MUSINGS

Here's what Maxine thought of my

'clean slate' idea....

If you made any New Year's resolutions,

here's hoping you have better luck than Maxine!

Perhaps Ziggy has a better approach....

It's worth a try, don't you think?

A NEW YEAR

Here we are at the beginning of a new year! I came across this wonderful poem written around one hundred years ago.

The Land of Beginning Again

I wish that there were
some wonderful place
In the Land of Beginning Again;
Where all our mistakes
and all our heartaches
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a
shabby old coat at the door
And never put on again.

I wish we could come on it
all unaware,
Like the hunter
who finds a lost trail,
And I wish that the one
whom our blindness had done
The greatest injustice of all
Could be there at the gates
like an old friend that waits
For the comrade
he's gladdest to hail.

We would find all the things
we intended to do
But forgot, and
remembered too late,
Little praises unspoken,
little promises broken,
And all of the
thousand and one
Little duties neglected
that might have perfected
The day for one
less fortunate.

It wouldn't be possible
not to be kind
In the Land of Beginning Again,
And the ones we misjudged
and the ones whom we grudged
Their moments of
victory here,
Would find in the grasp
of our loving hand-clasp
More than penitent lips
could explain.

For what had been hardest
we'd know had been best,
And what had seemed loss
would be gain;
For there isn't a sting
that will not take wing
When we've faced it
and laughed it away
And I think that the laughter
is most what we're after
In the Land of Beginning Again.

So I wish that there were
some wonderful place
Called the
Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes
and all our heartaches,
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a
shabby old coat at the door
And never put on again.

--Louise Fletcher Tarkington

There is such a land. It is called Regeneration. We enter that land spiritually when we are born again, and all who are thus born again shall enter that land eternally when Jesus comes again. In the eternal Regeneration of Christ's Kingdom, earthly things shall "be dropped, like an old shabby coat at the door, and never put on again." --Duane V. Maxey

Wishing you many blessings in the New Year!!