Little Hands

I love baby toes and hands. I always have and when the baby is my grandson, well I'm off the deep end.

It seems like our family and friends are in a baby boom. In the past year there have been at least eight little ones born. It reminds me of the year our son was born. There were four cousins born with in six months.

Anyway I babysat for our grandson one evening last week and managed to get a few pictures. One of them was of his sweet little hands. I love how those little pudgy fingers.



I hope everyone has a wonderful time with their family and friends during the Christmas season.















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And then there is this:


I do love that boy.

The Rock

Last Saturday, we dropped by a Bluegrass Festival in Rockmart, GA. It was held at a place called "The Rock"

It was a very interesting place. It was also very cold so I didn't spend as much time outside as I normal. I thought I'd share a few pictures of this place. If you get a chance it is a cool place to visit.













We had a very good time and look forward to the next event that is held there.

Later
D

One Of My Favorite Things

It doesn't have to be Christmas season to think about my favorite things, but because it is December that song also comes to mind.







One of my favorite things is to spend time with our darling grandson. I am amazed how fast he is growing and learning. I love that little guy so much.

He is very inquisitive and loves paper






He is trying to talk and says mama and dada, but also seems to have his own language which he uses all the time.  It is so amusing to hear him chatter and try to determine what he is talking about.


He loves to explore his new toys and is perhaps already a budding musician.


His grandparents love him very much.



We have a busy day and I have to get going, but I wanted to share a few recent pictures.

Later
D

Thankful? Yes I am!

Wow, this month has flown by.

I had fully intended to get back into blogging on a regular basis, but sometimes things don't work out as planned.

There were more lay-offs at work.  I still have a job and that makes me glad while being very sad for my co-workers that are facing an uncertain future of hunting for a job in this economy.  Needless to say my work days have been longer for these changes.

But God is good, and we have been able to spend time with our family over Thanksgiving and for this I am truly thankful. 

When I feel down and start seeing the dark side of life, I've found it is always helpful for me to make a list of the things for which I am thankful.  That always puts things back into prospective.

My "I Am Thankful" list today is:

• I have a job.
• My health - while I have a few ailments I am able to work every day.
• Freedom to attend the church of my choice and worship God freely.  I am feeling this is a very fragile right and pray that our nation doesn't loose sight of why America was founded.
• The love of my husband of 35 years.  I look at our mothers, each living alone now, and cherish having my husband at my side.
• A loving son, daughter-in-law and grandson.  I see families that don't get along and am thankful that we have a close loving relationship.
• And I am most thankful for our darling grandson.  This is a year of many "firsts."  His first Thanksgiving. Soon it will be his first Christmas and shortly after that will be his first birthday.   I never understood how someone could say having grandchildren was better than having your own children.  Yet now I understand.  I know I love my son with all my heart, but that little grandson has found a place so deep inside my heart it amazes me.  I can't wait to begin the adventure of having the second grandchild next spring.

Yes, I am fortunate and thankful.  God has truly blessed me and I pray I stay aware of how precious these blessings are.

Thank you Lord, for all your many blessings.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I know we did.

Later
D

Fire in the Sky!

When I was a child, and I happened to be up early enough to see the sunrise I rarely recall the colors of the sunrise being very colorful.  As I recall, most of the time the colors were beautiful but pale, soft and muted.  I well remember the saying "Red in the morning sailor take warning.  Red at night sailor's delight."  A bright red sunrise foretold of bad weather in the near future.

 

However, a side effect of the pollution is vivid colors in the sunrise.  They frequently rival sunset colors.


Sunset:


This makes me think. Just like the first time Christ came, He was a baby, soft, tender and gentle. When He returns it will be very different. Read Revelation 14 for an account of the second coming of Christ. There is nothing soft or cute about it.  Red in the morning...

October Sunrise:


Is this change a sign of things to come? I can't honestly say. But I know it serves as a reminder to me that I need to be prepared "for the day is nigh."


Later
D

In His Beautiful Eyes

I know every grandparent thinks their grandchildren are the best, most beautiful on earth. I am no different.

I love this picture of our grandson. It was taken outside and you can see the trees, the light and even me as I took the picture, reflected in his eyes. It reminds me of the responsibility we have with children to live a life that can be reflected in theirs.




Later
D

The Days Are Long

My son and daughter-in-law are the parents of a nine month old son with all the sleep deprived nights that brings.

Our grandson has a cold and is clingy and not sleeping well. I can see the lack of sleep in their faces.

As all parents know, this makes for very long days. Our son is 24 now, but I can still recall being so sleep deprived that I fell asleep waiting with him in the doctor's office.

I was reading The Pioneer Woman's blog the other day, when I read a comment by a woman named Sue Ellen Sullivan. In her comment [#353] she mentioned a quote "The days are long, but the years are short." That hit me right between the eyes. How very true!

It seems like just yesterday, my son was the age of my grandson. How did he get from being a baby to 24 years old over night?


So young parent, while you don't feel like you have time, stop and hug your child. Play silly games, laugh and make faces at each other. Because it is so very true: the days are long but the years are so very short!

Later
D




I also found the phrase in this blog entry by Scott Osterfeld Close Your Eyes ...and Remember

The Maker's Mark!

I love watching Antiques Roadshow. Over the years I've learned how to check for the Maker's Mark on dishes and pottery to determine the manufacturer. Each manufacturer has their own mark to designate the pieces that were made in their factories.

It occurred to me that as a Christian, we also have a Maker's Mark. If we are truly living the Christian life it should be seen by others.

[1 Corinthians 6:20 "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

A very dear price was paid for us as believers. If I claim to be a Christian yet, others can not see that in my daily life, I am dishonoring Christ.

[1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?]

The mark on my life shouldn't say "Debbie" it should say "Jesus Christ".

I hope when someone that doesn't know me, looks at my life, they notice a difference. That they notice that mark and my life shows Christ in me.



Whose Maker's Mark is on your life?


Later
D

Recovery

Well it's been two weeks since the flood. People are working feverishly to put their lives back together.

Our neighbor's huge oak tree fell across the road, phone and power lines on our street, blocking the road for a week before crews were able to get it removed. Our problem was so very minor compared to some just a short distance from our home. We didn't even loose power or cable.


(Some of the pictures do not fit in the column. Please click on them to open in Flickr to see the complete picture.)

We had numerous traffic jams on our little street due to travelers trying to navigate around all the road closures and not realizing our road wasn't open. The biggest problem was the fully loaded semi that pulled down our street then had to back up until he could turn around. I couldn't get by the truck to get home so I spent the time picking up some items we needed from the nearby Rite-Aid, until the semi had found its way back to the main road.

I am amazed when I drive by homes that have been completely gutted due to flooding. The windows had to be removed and all that remains of the original home is the exterior walls and the framing. So very sad.

These next pictures are from co-workers. They were very lucky. Neither of them had much flooding in their homes, but their neighbors weren't so lucky. However, these houses weren't flooded to their roofs which did happen to so many homes in the area.







There is a church that was flooded five years ago but this time, I'm afraid they are going to have to tear it down. The bricks were falling off the building and there is mold on the material behind the brick wall.



When driving through the areas that had been flooded I can still see the mud line on the trees. It is heart wrenching to be sitting my my car and have to look up to see the water line.


What may look like sunlight on the trees is actually the mud line.





Large trash containers are everywhere. Yards are filled with furniture, personal belongings and cabinets, ruined wall board, carpet and appliances.

The flood brought out the best and the worst in people. Some of the local churches were on scene before the Red Cross teams arrived. A Baptist group came in and cleared out in one day more than families had been able to do in almost a week.



There have been some problems with looting. The police are stepping up patrols and arrests have been made.

We are recovering. The wounds are healing, but there is a long way to go. Literally there are homes that are now exterior walls and framework. So much is yet to be done. But each day a little more is done. Recovery is a little bit closer.

It's been said before, but it is so true. Life can change in an instant.

Later
D