On the road again...

Yes we are on the road again as of tomorrow. Headed to Arkansas for almost 2 weeks. We are having our Thanksgiving Dinner, Sunday, November 22nd at my daughter’s house. Looking forward to good food, good fellowship and good times. Nothing like spending the holidays with people you love and care about. My brother James and sister-in-law Carole are joining us for dinner, as well as Jan’s dad and mom #2 and her kids.

This year I am thankful that I am married to a dear man who loves and understands me unconditionally. He understands all of my wants and needs. He is ready to go when I say I need an Arkansas fix. He doesn’t mind Jan’s dad, Doc and his wife Gina sharing holidays with us at Jan’s. I am so lucky to have him in my life. I love him more than words can say!

So… I guess I will see you in 2 weeks!

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I Thessalonians 5:18

VETERAN'S DAY...

The Webster’s Dictionary defines Veteran’s Day as: November 11, a legal holiday in the U.S. in commemoration of the end of World War I and in honor of veterans of the Armed Forces, formerly Armistice Day.

But it goes so much deeper than that. Where would we be without our veterans? We as Americans take so much for granted. I would like to take this time to THANK ALL OF OUR VETERANS whoever and wherever you are.

I also would like to honor my Dad. He served as a Private First Class in the Army during WWII in Germany. He was a quiet man, did not talk of the war at all. He was not a hero in the Army, but he was my hero… And I still miss him.

MY DAD
He stood about five feet four
A fairly good size man
But oh, he was so much more
I was his biggest fan!

We always had a roof over our head
And plenty of food to eat
It could go without being said
Family needs he always did meet.

There was always love in his eyes
Even tho it was not always spoken
He seemed so friendly and so wise
That was one of his greatest tokens.

He was as calm as he could be
Unless you crossed his path
Then he would talk till you could see
The road you were on would lead to wrath.

I never remember him raising a hand
Or speakin’ an unkind word
He was actually as gentle as a lamb
And almost as quiet as a bird.

I was always Daddy’s little girl,
the only one he ever had.
Until time passed by in a whirl
I had my little girl, He was so glad.

His heart she did capture
Papa this, and Papa that.
he did listen to her that’s for sure
So much love, imagine that.

I could go on and on and on
And tell you about my Dad!
There are so many memories to think upon
They tend to make me sad.

But Dad is in Heaven now
At times I miss him so much.
But I will make it thru somehow
Till I too feel the Father’s touch.

- Nel Curtis

IN MEMORY: Olan Beavers January 3, 1918 – January 2, 1998

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,” Philippians 1:3

Are You Ready...

It has been quiet around Willard this week. The tragedy at Ft. Hood touched my heart as I read about it and watched clips on the Internet gently wiping tears as they rolled down my cheeks. When the base was in lock-down, with mommas on one side of the base and their babies in daycare lock-down. I could feel their pain, they knew their babies were ok, but they just needed to hold them. Just to be reassured that all was well. Family calling to check on their enlisted members, wondering but not knowing what the answer was going to be. I could only imagine what they might be going through. The pain, the anxiety, the wondering, and why, for what reason? We may never know why this happened, but one day it won’t matter. There will be no more tears, or hurting, or devastation. What a day that will be! Are you ready?

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." Revelation 21: 3 - 5

BOOK REVIEW: take Your Best Shot

Book Review: take Your Best Shot by Austin Gutwein (with Todd Hillard).

This is a story of 9-year-old Austin who steps out on faith and realizes God can use him and you. A short movie by World Vision about a girl named Maggie who was the same age as Austin changed his world forever. And instead of sitting back and doing nothing like a lot of us adults, he listened to God’s call, and Hoops of Hope was born.

Austin realized he could use something that he loved to do and make a difference in the world. This book takes you to Africa where you can see through Austin’s eyes what motivated him. It is a very moving book that has you wiping tears as you cheer him on. It shows you what God has accomplished through the free throws of a young boy. It challenges you to find something you are good at and make a difference in this world. Austin helped raise enough money for international Aids relief to build a school and a medical clinic. What can you do?

This book was wonderful. If I were still a youth leader, every one of my teens would be reading it. Every adult should read the book and figure out what God is calling you to do…

Love This Time Of Year…

I so enjoy this time of year. I like the cooler weather, where long sleeves or a sweatshirt feels good, or sitting by a campfire watching the flames dancing. One of the things I love the most is the changing color of the leaves. It amazes me how many different colors a leaf can go through. And I know a lot of people have a scientific explanation for it, but I refer to it as God’s Handiwork. He is amazing! No one can do it like Him!

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1

This year the maple trees are absolutely beautiful. There are so many colors and they are so bright! There is a cemetery here in Springfield that is full of maples. It is a yearly stop for us and yesterday afternoon we caught it at its peak. Stan let me out of the car at the entrance and I proceeded to walk and enjoy the colors, taking pictures as I went, and talking to the Lord. I took over 300 pictures between 2 locations. I know, but I just can’t help myself.

Amongst the beautiful trees there were a few that were not as pretty. As you can see from the pictures below they had lost a lot of their leaves, the branches were bare, or just had leaves right on the end, and it made me wonder… Is that how Jesus sees us? When we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we were so excited. It seemed we were hungry for His word; we couldn’t do enough to satisfy our thirst, our hunger. But then the excitement tends to die down, we tend to get back into our daily routine, hopefully we do not fall back into our daily ruts, or the sinful life we were living. But are we doing enough? Or are we like this tree, bare limbs with leaves just on the end. Are we just Sunday Christians?

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16

I hope and pray that Jesus finds us thinking about Him all through the week. I am sure we all have areas we could improve in. I know I for one need to read my Bible more. I need to fill my mind with His written word every day! How bout you? Are there areas you can improve in?

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit with me.” Psalm 51:10

If you would like to view any of my other Autumn photos just click on the link on the sidebar and it will take you to my webshots page.

Until next time...

Technology...You Gotta Love It!

I am so excited. I got a new toy and it totally blew me away! Pretty obvious I don’t get out much…lol.

I have been on a mission, trying to free up some space on my hard drive. Pictures take up so much space…try 10 GB. Hmmm a few pictures, what can I say. So I started putting them on CD’s, which I was not thrilled about, because when you want one then you have to find the CD it is on. And when you have that many CD’s…

I had a return at Staples, so while we were there I took a look at their storage devices. Of course the flash drives would work, but I found the coolest thing. It is a portable hard drive. And yes a lot of you may have already known about these, but I thought I was in heaven. These are the cutest little things. It is 3” x 5” x ¾” with unlimited capacity, with a USB port. This was the answer to my problems. Free Space here we come. The one I chose holds 250gb. They are so easy to use. I just dragged and dropped my folders of pictures onto it using “My Computer”. Now I can share my pictures with my daughter when we go to Arkansas. I have to make a confession though; I am still making a copy of my pictures on CD’s and will put them in storage for safekeeping. Just in case…

I have to tell you I was excited and still am, but while writing this post, I questioned myself. If this feels like heaven, what is heaven going to feel like? If I am this excited about material things, do I get this excited about Jesus and about eternal life? I feel I fall short at times, as a lot of people do. We get so caught up in our every day lives, but that’s just it…Jesus should be with us in our every day lives. He promised when we accepted him as our Lord and Savior, He would walk with us, as long as we want Him too. He does not force Himself on us; we have to be willing vessels. Lord, I pray that I can be a willing vessel for you and that my light shines so others may see.

"Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

Where is the blanket...

It is beginning to look a lot like fall…but it sure is feeling like winter! We are in a freeze warning tonight and tomorrow night. What is up with that? We have had a rainy, gloomy week here in Willard. The sun did shine for a little while today, late afternoon. Almost did not know what it was… Below are a few pictures of the sunset, definitely worth waiting for!

I am ready to get out and take some pictures of the changing colors. We are so lucky and take so much for granted. There are some fabulous parks in the Springfield area. Last Saturday, hubby and I did some exploring. We stopped at a favorite spot, which is Xeriscape Gardens. Unfortunately, the flowers are about done for this season. I did capture a few good pictures though. From there we happened on to Phelps Rose Garden. We definitely put that on our keeper list. I can only imagine how pretty it was in the peak season.

After Phelps we ventured over to Scenic Avenue and stopped at the Nathaniel Greene/Close Park. I was very impressed. There were so many different areas to look at. It sits on 60 acres. And it is beautiful. It definitely is on our keeper list. There are several different garden areas. Drummond Lake is a very pretty area with all the hungry ducks and geese. There is a rose garden that was still in bloom. A Japanese Stroll Garden was very pretty, very relaxing. And the Gray/Campbell Farmstead is in the park area. There is a lot to do and see, a perfect way to spend a great day relaxing. If you would like to see pictures, click on the picture link on the sidebar and it will take you to my webshots page where they are posted.

"Neverless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." Acts 14:17