Beautiful Love.......

Rebekah and Isaac

Today, I want to share the beautiful love story of Isaac and Rebekah found in Genesis 24 in the Bible.  

In our lives, when we look, we see how God desires to express His loving~kindness to us.  Psalm 25:10 declares, "all the paths of the Lord are loving-kindness."  All does not mean just the easy ones but ALL means everyone, even the difficult and painful paths.  There is wonderful joy to be led in ways that are not of our own choosing!  It is very good to be "ordered" by our beloved Lord!

In a way, this is the story of Isaac and Rebekah and the way that God ordered their two very different paths guiding them to their meeting and ultimately to their marriage.  Isaac was the son of promise born to Sarah and Abraham in their old age.  As the years passed, Abraham knew that the time had come for his son to find a wife.  Abraham, being a servant of the Most High God, prayerfully called in his eldest servant and gave him detailed instructions of how and where to search for Isaac's wife and the path he should take to find her.  In our western culture, this seems strange, but it was an accepted practice of their culture and time.  "But you shall go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac." Genesis 24:4.  Then, Abraham boldly asked God to send an angel before him for preparation.  How precious to "see" the heart of pure love this father had for his son and his bride...... that he would ask for an angel to guide the path ahead.  He also gave specific instructions on how the servant would know "which maiden" would be the one for Isaac.  According to Scripture. this beautiful girl was "very fair to look upon, a virgin, and would stoop down to fill her water~pots."  Genesis 24;16  The beauty and kindness of Rebekah assured the servant that this woman was to be the wife of his master's son.  So as the story unfolds Isaac and Rebekah meet and as their eyes meet and it was LOVE!  Verse 67 of the passage tells us "she became his wife and he loved her."  

The tenderness and sweetness of this special love story reminds us that love ordained and blessed by God leads a couple on a path of blessing!  Thankfully we have true love stories like this one that remind us that it is worth waiting for the person God has chosen for us and that it will be BLISS!!!!  Romance is in the air...........soon it will be Valentines Day!!!

America's Queen

~ Jacqueline  Bouvier Kennedy~

~September 12, 1953~

~Jackie's Billowing White Veil~

~Her veil  of rosepoint lace belonged to her maternal grandmother~

~Reception at Hammersmith Farm, Newport, Rhode Island~

~On the Shore of Beautiful Narragansett Bay~

In our country, the Kennedy Family is about as close to royalty as we have.  Oh, I realize that not everyone would agree with me but over the past sixteen years, I have been collecting books on the Presidents of the United States and President and Mrs. Kennedy, for me, always rise to the top.  Many of these books on the Presidents,  I have found inexpensively at antique shops  and also some were given as gifts or  I've purchased a few than were meaningful.  Our family truly enjoys history!  When our children were growing up in our home, our vacations every other year, were centered around places of history and importance to our nation, The United States.  We traveled to Washington, D.C. on several occasions and always stopped at historical homes, parks, museums, and even on our wedding anniversary one year, we took everyone to Williamsburg, Virginia.  

During this time, we visited Newport, Rhode Island for a convention and part of the trip included a tour and dinner at Hammersmith Farm in Newport.  This was one of the childhood homes of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and so began my journey collecting books about the Kennedy's and over the years, it is evident to me, even though difficulties may have been a part of their marriage their love story is special and sweet and a part of our nation's wonderful legacy.  For sure, Jackie was beautiful and one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century.  She was a devoted wife and mother, First Lady, preservationist, and accomplished editor. As a couple they shared a love of history and the arts and a devotion to their children.  She was a profoundly private person yet acting as a generous patron of the arts and she touched all our lives during that time. Many beautiful furnishings in The White House mansion today  are there because she was particularly concerned with authentic restoration of the White House to reflect the times and tastes of the families who have lived there.  She established a Fine Arts Committee to acquire historical furnishings and works of art, and sponsored the creation of the White House Historical Association.

The pictures above are beautiful and unforgettable of a hopeful bride!  "When one is chosen by destiny, the path ahead is often fraught with challenges and complexities almost mythic in nature and size."  Jean Mills

She first met John Kennedy at a party in Washington D.C. in May of 1951, but it wasn't until the summer of 1952 when they met again that their romance began.  Their wedding took place on September 12, 1953  at St. Mary's Church in Newport, Rhode Island and became an extremely important social occasion and many felt it was "The Wedding of the Year."  I'm sure it was!!!  In the book, America's Queen by Sarah Bradford, she says that "Jackie was romantically in love with her husband" and wrote a poem expressing this love in detail and gave it to him on their honeymoon.Their love and marriage produced two beautiful children and the rest is history!  

I have a deep admiration for Caroline Kennedy and her endeavors to continue to write, with integrity and purpose about the lives of her parents.  A legacy is something all of us will leave one day to our children, grandchildren, and those we are blessed to know and share our lives with while on this earth.  Prayer is a good way to begin each day because it takes the focus off of our own life and places our focus on our Creator who has given us this day to live and to make a difference in history, even in small ways.  It is exciting to know and understand that only God knows our destiny!  Let us begin today to live our lives in such a way that the ones behind us will be blessed because of the way in which we choose to live our lives!  

Books on the Kennedy's

America's Queen by Sarah Bradford

Moments with Jackie by Jean Mills

JFK Remembered by Jacques Lowe

Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years

First Mothers by Bonnie Angelo

A Family Christmas by Caroline Kennedy

The White House by The White House Historical Association

Romance and The Young Victoria

 Wedding Scene from The Young Victoria

~ Beautiful interior of Osterley Park

One of the locations for filming of The Young Victoria

in Southwest London~

 ~The Queens Bedroom~

Osterley Park is "a magnificent neo-classical house

with fine Adam interiors, landscape park and 18th century gardens.~

Most everyone enjoys a beautiful love story, especially when it is true!  One of my very favorite films is "The Young Victoria".  It is the beautifully detailed love story of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of England.  The film captures their love story perfectly!  Each time that I have viewed the film, the decor of the rooms are mesmerizing!  The English have a way of detailing these stately homes and gardens while evoking comfort and warmth.  


The week before Valentines is just the perfect week for me to capture some of the most beautiful love stories!  I hope to cover a few of them this week for you!  If you are fortunate enough to have fallen in love, I hope you realize what a special gift you've been given! Sometimes, this love is brief and other times it last longer, perhaps  even throughout a life~time.  As for Victoria and Albert, their story is sweet and innocent and strengthened and binding throughout their courtship and marriage. Most of the film captures this beauty, in their story,  not only of their love,  but also of the scenery of the countryside and gardens that are magnificent in England.  


Romance keeps a dating relationship alive and hopefully if a person is blessed enough to find that true love the romance continues in the marriage!  "When we surrender to love, we lose our self-centeredness and surge toward those we love."  Alexandra Stoddard   In the Bible in I Corinthians 13:4~8 the words proclaim, "Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong.........Love never fails."  Beautiful words to begin the week!  Enjoy your day!!!!

At Home......

~A Beautiful and Fun Home~

When it comes to window treatments, paneled wooden shutters painted to match the walls and woodwork inject splendor!  Add some colorful lamps, and adorable pillows and you've got a beautiful and comfortable room to call "Home"!

 A fun pillow for a POP of color lightens up the mood in your home!

 Investing in good quality lighting is something I always recommend!  Find something you really like and save for it and then, more than likely you will enjoy the investment for years!

Once you begin collecting a few items that are similar, often people who know this begin giving you pieces to add to your collection.  This is exactly the good fortune of this home owner with her collection of milk glass.  She has received many beautiful pieces and has clustered them in groupings which are very tastefully displayed!

It is such a joy to enter a home that is full of fun and love!  You feel it when you walk in the door~ a sense of "I am so glad you came.......I have been waiting for you!"  Those are the words to describe the home above!  Just beautiful, warm, and full of the spiritual blessings of the ones who live there.  It was a pleasure for me to assist in helping to select her lovely new lamps.  She waited and invested wisely.  She found the adorable pillow to complete the look she was hoping to achieve!   Yes, it is such a fun and happy home!

If you want to add a pop of color......check out  Anthropologie!  They have such fun items!

The Miracle of Love........

Most Physicians will tell a young woman that the nine months of a baby's development in a mother's womb are the most important of their lives!  Research shows that a baby develops at a rapid speed the first weeks in the womb. By the end of the first month the baby is around 6-7 mm (1/4 inch) long~about the size of a grain of rice.  Soon the baby's facial features continue to develop and tiny buds will be growing into arms and legs.  Fingers, toes, and eyes also form in the second month.  The brain, spinal cord, and other neural tissue of the central nervous system are well formed.  By week six, the baby's tiny heart is pumping blood!  Even more amazing to me is that by the end of the third month of pregnancy, a baby is full formed.  All of this happens sometimes before a mother even realizes that she is carrying this precious life!  A miracle!  


Mothering is a hot topic and has been since the beginning of time.  We all know there is no perfect way to mother a child.  Each family lovingly chooses what will work best for them and  so........as an advocate of early childhood, it thrills my heart when children are loved and cherished as they should and can be.  The intense connection  between a mother and child at birth is a wonderful opportunity for bonding and many psychologist believe will lay the foundation for solid family relationships.  Also this statement is amazing........" An area of the brain, situated in the lower part of the frontal lobes, is an area containing receptors for oxytocin, the neurotransmitter that's involved in the mother-infant bond."   so says Jordan Grafman, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke.  So it seems a baby and mother are wired by God's grand design to be together as soon as possible after birth.  The precious gift of a child is strengthened by the tender touches of a mother, father, siblings, and loving grandparents.  Dr. Marshall H. Klaus and John H. Kennell explored the concept of bonding in their classic book Maternal~Infant Bonding.  They speak of giving your entire self as a mother.   There is nothing quiet like a mother's love and the legacy and encouragement she is able to leave on a child's life.  


When my youngest daughter, Kara, was five years old and home from kindergarten covered in chickenpox~ I asked her, "What is Love?"  Clearly she looked at me and said....."Love is taking care of people!"  Her words were so touching that I wrote them down that day and have treasured the wisdom of that definition many times.  If you've been allowed this precious gift of a child the pages are being written for them each day~and for countless others yet unborn to women who hope to be a mother one day!  God is a God of hope and of miracles!!!


The month of February is a month I truly enjoy!  February  is all about expressing love directed toward others. Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays!  It is good for us to love others and we can express our love in countless ways.  It might be something as simple as a tone of voice when we speak to our children or our spouse or "friend".  Perhaps there is someone that God has placed on your heart, time and time again to reach out to and give......giving is good for all of us!!!


The pictures below speak volumes to me of hope and promise and yes, love.  The first picture shows a house neglected and unloved for many, many years but in a moment of provision and delight someone found this house (bones still there) and poured their love, time, and devotion into each and every corner!  Look at the beauty in the next picture.  So, dear one, I hope you have been loved and cherished by your mother but  if you have not, it's okay, I promise ........God has promised that HE  loves you and has a plan for your life and it's a good  and beautiful plan. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."  Jeremiah 29:11  Yes....you are loved with an everlasting love!  He welcomes you into His love and His arms are open wide.  His mercy and love for you are endless!!!  Blessings to you precious one!!!

~ Truly beautiful but unloved for a long while~

~Loved dearly and brought back to original intentions!~

Do Good.......always!

~Beautiful Room~

~Beautiful Rest~

~Beautiful Dreams~

~Beautiful Morning~

Once, while visiting Washington, DC, my sister and I stayed at a bed and breakfast and there was a little card placed on our pillow when we returned for the evening.  It was simply an all white card with the following saying inscribed in purple!  I have saved it always and carry it with me as a reminder each day!

Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as you ever can.

John Wesley

Prayer Time

 The Seaside Chapel

~The Beautiful CROSS on the Altar inside the Chapel at Seaside~

Prayer

Prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus.  Prayer is the natural outgushing of a soul in communion with Jesus.  As the leaf and fruit come out of the vine branch without any conscious effort and simply because of its living union with the stem, so prayer buds and blossoms and fruits out of souls abiding in Jesus.  As stars shine, so do abiders pray.                   Charles Spurgeon

Prayer is trusting God will answer according to His perfect will.  There will be times when you receive an answer right away but often we wait for God to answer.  The Bible often speaks of "waiting" for God:  "We wait in hope for the Lord: He is our help and shield."

Psalm 33:20  "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait."

1. Wait through earnest specific prayer.

2. Listen for His Voice-pray you will hear that still small Voice.

3. Develop a love for God's Word.

4. Ask the Lord to be steadfast.

5. Read His Word, meditate upon it.

6. Memorize His Word.

7. Words of the Bible are living.

8. Obey God's Word.

9. Overcome fear and trust in Him.  Expect intense struggle.

10. When you know you are in God's will, leave the results to Him.  Give Him Glory and 

      Honor.

11. When waiting,  wait expectantly, ultimately it will be good.

God is HOLY:  Spiritually perfect or pure; deserving awe, reverence, adoration!

Exodus 15:11                                        Luke 1:49

I Samuel 2:2                                         Acts 3:13-15

Psalm 77:13                                          I Peter 1:15-16

Psalm 99                                              Revelation 4:8

Psalm 111:9                                          Revelation 19:11

Isaiah 5:16                                            Isaiah 57:15-16

Prayer refreshes and renews our perspective and brings us into the Presence of the Living God! Time spent in the Presence of the Lord touches our souls in profound ways.  When we spend time in His Presence this living union that we have with God enables us to go out and live our lives with joy and purpose!  The beautiful photos above are of the Seaside Chapel in Seaside, Florida where Kacie and Josh were married almost six years ago!  It's such a beautiful place for reverence and a place to touch and heal the soul.  When you walk inside, and anyone who visits there should, a peace and calmness fill your spirit!  It's a special place.  Our places of prayer, where we meet our Savior, will and can do the same.......calm our spirit and restore our soul, while giving us clarity in our daily lives.  A dear and precious friend who has now gone to Heaven to be in the Lord's Eternal Presence, Betty Gaddy, gave me the 11 points above one day just in sharing.  I am so thankful I wrote them down as she shared them with me because they have ministered to me in my prayer times over the years.  I hope they will bless your times of prayer and Bible study also.  God always stands ready to do great and mighty things in our lives and throughout the world!  Have a blessed and beautiful weekend!!!!

Happy Birthday Shelly!

Happy Birthday today to our beautiful daughter, Shelly!  She was born on a beautiful January morning in Chattanooga, Tennessee where we were living at the time!  She was always a good and happy baby, bringing us joy~ always.  We called her Shelly bird sometimes because she would make sweet sounds, even as a baby.  As she grew, the artist in her soul began to emerge early in her life.  She has a gift, a very special gift!  Truly she has many gifts to admire but her artistic skills and talents are a part of everything she touches.  I look around in my home and see so many paintings or photographs that she has given to us. Her love to travel and see the world have inspired us all. Shelly is loving and kind,  and a generous and loyal  friend to those she loves and cares about.  She has more spirit in one finger than most people have in their entire body! She loves to laugh and have fun! She has always loved nature, the outdoors, and appreciated the beauty of the world.  One of the sweetest Mother's Day I have ever experienced was while Shelly was living in New York City, she planned the day so that we would have time to go to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  It was  a glorious  day for all of us and most people who visit her wherever she lives receives a fun time!   Happy Birthday to our Shelly!!!! Such joy and love she has given us! May God bless her life and accomplish the plans that He has for her.  May He look upon her life with favor and blessing each and every day!  May her life be a Glory to His Name!

Glorious Designs

 From Elle Decor~ Townhouse in London

 Restored and Refinished in Savannah!

Life is full of wonderful surprises each and every day!  Honestly, we do not have to look far to find something unexpected if our eyes are open to see!  The roads that we take in life can lead us in new and exciting places.  I love the quote on a card that I received once with an inscription by Mary Engelbreit.  It read....."Don't look back, you're not going that way!"  I do love history and things of the past but that is much different from dwelling on events of the past.  We have to begin new and fresh everyday.  We are invited to look toward our Creator with a fresh heart and new eyes to see and behold what He has in store for our day!

One of the beautiful traits of a child is their ability to break into song or dance at a moments notice!  I love it!  Also, I have know adults who are the same way!  They never loose that child~like quality of singing and dancing no matter what life throws their way.   There is a pureness of heart and a happiness that comes from being around children and these wonderful people with child~like qualities.  They bring a freshness to our days and being with them is like a breath of fresh air in our midst.  In Zephaniah 3:17 the Word says, "The Lord your God is in your midst, The Mighty One, He will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."  Zephaniah describes God's victory and admiration of His redeemed people.  He will be a Hero who is also The Helper (The Mighty One will save).  His love will be seen as deeply felt thoughtfulness and admiration as He quiets you with His love.  His love is expressed through singing over you!  May we try and remember this deep truth the next time we hear a child break into song or dance!  There are steps sometime that we must take in order to pursue this joyful spirit and attitude.  We have to be in a place of seeing God for who He truly is and come before Him in reverence and awe for WHO HE IS!  Repentance is changing, it is admitting that we need to be forgiven for sin, for places in our lives that stopped us from becoming all that God has for us.  Yes, it's a worthy place to be......before the Lord!  He loves you, He is right now rejoicing over you, He is thinking of all the plans that He has for you and all of them are good.  It is that simple!  What one may see as a cast off, God sees as Glory!!!!  Psalm 30:11~12 says, "Thou has turned for me my mourning into dancing, Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever."

Two beautiful photos above, one perfectly placed in an expensive renovation with a mid century base for the sinks.  Lovely for sure and expensive for sure.  The second picture is lovely as well, very similar lines in the piece of furniture. It was found discarded, ready to be thrown away but someone found it,  restored it and made it BLOSSOM!  This someone was my daughter, Shelly!   She brought the life and glory back into a cast off ! Yes, she is amazing with her vision and eye for color.  She can break out into song and dance in an instant with her ideas!  What a beautiful reminder of how life can change suddenly for good.  God watches over all of creation~ with  His vision and singing~ each and every day!  Let us be found watching and ready!  Blessings to you for a good and glorious day!

Happy Birthday.......Kara and Brian!

Happy Birthday Sweet Kara!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Kara......Happy Birthday to you!

Tomorrow, January 16th, is a very special day for two members of our family.  

For Kara:
Only God could fashion and create a person as beautiful as a daughter is to her own mother! If you are a mother or have been the recipient of a mother's love then you know exactly what I mean!!! I remember so vividly the day that I found out that we were going to be blessed with another baby!  We lived in southern California and were raising our four little ones~Kristen, Shelly, Kacie, and Steven.  Life was fun and full to the brim.  In the day, it was before the accuracy of the home pregnancy test and you could go in to the office for a quick answer.  So....I did!    After a few minutes the nurse came back with a big smile and asked me "How many children did you say you had?"  I quietly said, "Four".  Her smiled was even bigger when she said....."Congratulations, you are going to have five now!"  I don't remember much after that.  I do remember waiting for Steve to come home and I was in the kitchen about to prepare dinner and I started to cry as I shared with him our news. Immediately, he got this huge smile on his face, grabbed me, hugged me, and with confident assurance said we're going to love this one like we love all of them!  From that moment on......joy and gladness continued to flood our home!  It was one of the sweetest times in our lives and always continued to be.  She had her place.....my hip for several years.  She went everywhere with us!  Guess that is why she loves to travel now!

I cannot begin to express what our fifth child means to our family.  She has brought each one of us more love and sweetness than any of us deserve.  Her quiet, unassuming ways make her a beautiful young woman, inside and out.  Her love for her new husband, her intelligence, her passion for travel and art, her love of books and reading, collection of magazines, Steven's choices of music,  her love of old movies, her cooking skills, her laughter, and her love  for her family, and her love and growth in the Lord are evident in her life.  May God continue to bless our dear Kara with light on her path in the direction that He has for her.  Birthday blessings for her.

Kara in Savannah, Georgia

On her last birthday~

Hope this one tops it.......Girl!!!!

For Brian:

Also our very special son- in- law, Brian shares the same birthday with Kara.   Brian has been such a part of our family now for fifteen years.   I could not imagine our life without him!  He is a wonderful husband to Kristen and a fantastic and loving father to Clayton, Ava, and Olivia! Brian has such a sense of humor!  He enjoys life to the full and is fun to be around.  I pray God's richest blessings upon Brian all the days of his life!  May God continue to guide Him and bless him!

Brian is right in the center!
~Bocce Club~

A Beautiful Refuge.......

~  Beautiful Images from Lonny Magazine ~

How often in conflict, when pressed by the foe,

I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe;

How often, when trials like sea-billows roll,

have I hidden in THEE, O Thou Rock of my soul.

From the Hymn...".Hiding in Thee"

What a gracious and powerful blessing as Believers we can know when we come to a place of trust and refuge in our God.  We can turn to Him in times of trial or times of need.  Where do you go first in times of need or even in times of great joy?  Where do you seek your shelter?  God has promised to be both shelter, offering protection, and shadow, offering refreshment.  He offers to be our dwelling-place and makes us His protected guests, safe, because it is His desire to make us safe. "For my eyes are turned toward Thee, O God, the Lord: In Thee I take refuge." Psalm 141:8  When we turn to the shelter that He offers, we are enclosed in a haven or sanctuary, a place where one may go for help, relief, or escape.  A place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God.  He truly offers us that peace and quiet rest each day.  Rest is important in our lives.  Most of us are not given the amount of hours in our day to accomplish all of our tasks or the needs of our families, especially if you are a young mother or work outside of your home.  Allow me to encourage you to try and find the time for even a little rest from ordinary tasks.  Not to long ago, Sundays were considered a day of rest and worship and afternoons at home in our own shelter!  Sometimes, we have to deliberately rearrange so that we can claim that rest and time needed to refresh!  

I hope you will enjoy the beautiful ideas that someone sent me....someone very special!  These ideas came from Lonny Magazine....... its pages are new to me but I LOVED the ideas and the softness that fills the bedrooms....a place of rest after a day of labor whether we work from home or outside the walls of our homes.  I leave you with a beautiful thought and promise  from Jesus found in Matthew 11:28~30  "Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your soul.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Amen!

Kindness.....

Glory to God!

  

Glory to God in the Highest!

A Glorious Breakfast filled with Morning Glory Muffins!

Kindness is a beautiful quality when someone possesses it and also when we've been the recipient of someone's kindness toward us.  You just know it and feel it when someone has been kind to you.  It works wonders and perhaps that is one of the reasons that God speaks lovingly of being kind to others.  A kind person is always ready to help others and do good.  They are friendly, gentle, generous, sympathetic and usually are always showing goodness and generosity through the deeds that they do or the words they speak.  Our God is full of grace and mercy and His kindness is unending.  The Bible says in I Corinthians 13:4 that love suffers long, and is kind.   Jesus also said that we should love those who are not kind to us, difficult for most, but he says we should be kind and, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again, and He promises that our reward shall be great, and that we shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto all, even the unkind. Such a wonderful reminder!  He encourages us in Ephesians 4:32 to "Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."  When a person is kind there is a sweetness in their presence that lingers long after they are gone.   We are better people for the moments and hours that we spend with them.  My husband is one of those kind people.  He has always been kind to me~always.  It's just his nature and he bubbles with kindness.  

Over the weekend, and since it's still the beginning of a new year, I have been preparing healthier meals as I stated in my last post.  I decided to surprise Steve with Morning Glory Muffins that I found in the LEON cookbook that I mentioned previously. So..... after we finished with our breakfast, he told me  he had a surprise for me!  We took a short drive west of us  to a beautiful little town, Covington, Louisiana, which is north of New Orleans.   It is full of beautiful old homes, street after street, where  the homes have been restored. We just went for fun, not really planning what we would do.  That is the best kind of surprise!  I also snapped these two photos above of two beautiful churches that are still used each Sunday!  

Life has its way of returning to you much more than you ever give away when you do something kind!!!

I hope you enjoy a day filled with kindness, especially for others!

Ingredients and Recipes......for the Good Life!

In the immense colors of the world God created a beautiful array of fruits and plants that are powerful!  They are delicious to eat at mealtime and also beautiful to look at as a symbol of His gifts of the earth to us!  One of my favorite verses in the Bible is "He brought me to the banqueting table, And His banner over me was love."  Song of Solomon 2:4  It isn't realistic to think that every meal can be a banquet but if we plan wisely, we can prepare colorful meals full of vitamins and nutrition for our families. We can bring our loved ones to a banqueting table that we've prepared in love.  We are given many opportunities to serve our families and to do it cheerfully and one of these opportunities involves meal preparation.  As I look back on our life as a family, meal time has always been a special family time.

All of my daughters and my son are excellent cooks. I enjoy the fellowship when they are visiting with us and the meal preparation, the laughter, the jokes, the sharing.....it is all good!   They  also enjoy fitness, as do I, and in choosing wisely the food they eat.  We are always amazed at some of the recipes that are shared between us.  Our daughter, Kacie is planning to create a family cookbook for us and maybe it will be one she can even publish!  So.......it was with much love that I was given a beautiful new cookbook as a gift from our daughter, Kara and her husband Phil, who lives in England.  The name of the cookbook is LEON by Allegra McEvedy.  On the side in small letters are the words:  FULL OF GOODNESS!  Leon is a restaurant in Great Britain on Carnaby Street in the city of  London.  It was founded on the principle that food can be both lovely and good for you!  Amen!  I totally agree with this concept and if we were more conscious as consumers, the health of our nation and our world would be  incredibly better.  Actually in her cookbook she stresses the importance of ingredients being nature's finest at the right time of the year.  Seasonal eating is important in our diets.  "Sunshine is essential for Life~both for us and our ingredients." says the author.  I chose to prepare as my first meal from the cookbook a salad called Chicken Superfood Salad.  It was delicious!  I added extra lemon juice with the dressing and added a creamy Italian drizzle to make it pretty!  Perhaps you can make this for your family!  Enjoy!  Exercise and proper nutrients are essential for a healthy mind, spirit, and body!  Everyday we are alive is a wonderful gift!  Enjoy your day!

Chicken Superfood Salad

Serves 2

1/2 cup couscous

1/2 head of broccoli

2 roasted chicken breast

(Marinate these in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice, and 1 -2 cloves of garlic, chopped)

2 handfuls of fresh baby field greens

2 hand fulls of baby spinach

2 vine-riped tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/2 package of frozen peas ~thawed

Juice of 1 lemon (I added another half)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

a light sprinkling of alfalfa sprouts

2 tablespoons of toasted seeds of your choice

a hefty sprinkling of chopped mint and parsley

salt and pepper

Cook the couscous and let it cool while building your salad.

(I like her wording~makes it sound like I am doing wonderful work)

ENJOY!

The Written Words

Ideas for Just The Right Paper, Pen, and Desk!

There is nothing more beautiful than a sincere hand written note.  Truly, it is a mark of class and good taste.  A lovely way to spend a few minutes telling someone, with gratitude, how much you appreciate their gift or their time spent with you.  It is personal.  In our culture of the masses and the media, it is rare to find someone who personally takes the time to make another feel loved and special.  Our thoughts go into written words so in essence we share a part of ourselves when we write a personal note.  As in speaking, we should think before we write, making sure our words are the right words and sincere.  Then, we should address the envelope carefully.  When our children were young, we encouraged them  to write thank you notes for nice things that had been done for them.  All of them, to my knowledge, carry this beautiful expression of thanksgiving on to others.

Years ago someone shared with me a  lovely book called, Silver Boxes.  It was a book written about words and how our words should be like little silver boxes tied up with silver bows......a special GIFT to others.  Those words have always remained with me because our words should be full of encouragement and grace.  We must choose wisely what we allow to enter our hearts because out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.  Psalm 19:14 says to us...."Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer."  Many of the notes that I have received, I enjoy keeping because they serve as little silver boxes of encouragement.

Once on vacation in Newport, Rhode Island, we found a beautiful little shop, called Papers.  The name told exactly what we found inside the quaint little storefront~papers!  All kinds of writing papers were found..... to buy, to order, to customize and for me, since I love paper, it was like....... Heaven!  Selecting the paper one chooses to write on and the pen with which one writes can be an expression of oneself also.  It doesn't have to be expensive to express how you feel and what you would like to say.  To someone like my husband who has a large pen collection, selecting the pen he will write his note with is the most important part.  He is gifted with a beautiful ability to script words.  His handwriting is beautiful.  There is another store in New Orleans, Louisiana called Scriptura and it also is filled of with papers, cards, stationary, and a vast array of books to select and customize one's stationary.

My most favorite letter is the letter that God inspired and wrote to all of us.....The Holy Bible, His written words to us.  "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to may path."  Psalm 119:105  and "The unfolding of Thy words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple."  Psalm 119:130  God's love letter to us is available to us everyday and in this new year, I pray that you can begin each day with the most special WORDS ever written.  It's simple......"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."  James 4:8  Bless you dear one as you write and as you read your notes!!!  Have a blessed and happy day!!!

Happy New Year!

~ Martha Stewart~

Happy New Year!!!  New Year's Eve has always been such a special time of celebration for our family!  When the children were little, my husband came up with the neat idea that we would each wear a hat of our own design and it's a tradition that we've carried on almost every single year!  So much fun!  Some of my best memories were when we lived in Birmingham, Alabama and all of my Tennessee relatives would come!  The children danced and partied the night away and rang in the New Year with fireworks and the banging of pots and pans, a tradition that has carried itself over into adulthood on more than one occasion.  In Arkansas, it developed into a larger party inviting our friends and their children!  We truly have had some creative friends over the years to make it such a special time!  I hope that you enjoy the final day of 2010 and I hope that your year has been filled with much joy and many blessings.  We rejoice in the goodness of God!  We were blessed with the wedding of Kara and Phil Board and we were so happy to meet his family and have him join ours.  Our children and grandchildren are happy and healthy.

I have learned a great deal this year.  I have learned that God has a timetable and often, His is not at all like mine. He is Wise and All Knowing!  I am not at all. The first day of the new year will begin, sadly, with our son, Steven, attending the funeral of one of his very dear and special friends.  These young men seem to young to learn this. I know that Steven is learning about the brevity of life in a way that I would have not chosen.  But I know that none of us are promised tomorrow~only today.  So..... I do rejoice in the goodness of God, as I said, and I rejoice in the peace that He gives that is through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  I wish you a vital, happy, healthy New Year!  Fill the moment and each day you are given with many graces of love and kindness (it will return to you) and may all be well with you my friend in 2011!  God bless you and keep you and may HIS GLORIOUS face shine upon you!!!