Wednesday, August 27, 2014

In The Garden

Some of my favorite pics from the last couple of weeks, and a beloved hymn:
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses


And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.



 
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,


And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,



But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling
 
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;

And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.


And He tells me I am His own


(P.S. I can't take credit for the photos, as I only took one of them.  Thanks family for all of the wonderful pics!)

Monday, August 04, 2014

It Is Well

It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.


Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.


Truthfully,
Joanne

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:6-8

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Promises

All who are thirsty
All who are weak
Come to the fountain
Dip your heart in the stream of life
Let the pain and the sorrow
Be washed away
In the waves of his mercy
As deep cries out to deep 

Come Lord Jesus
Come



Truthfully,
Joanne
 (Song by Kutless)

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Rev. 21:4)

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Counting My Blessings

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
 For His mercy endures forever.
Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
  Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
 I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
You pushed me violently, that I might fall,

But the Lord helped me.  The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.

 You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Happiest Of Birthdays Ethan

Dear Ethan,

Twelve years ago today, I first laid eyes on you and fell in love. I was so excited to be your Gramma.

Your first year, your hair became curly and your blues eyes sparkled.
By year two, your happiness and laughter filled our hearts with such joy.


You were curious about everything, and loved anything of your Aunties, including shoes and purses.
Long before you turned 3, your love of dogs was apparent.
You and your mom made a great team in everything you did. At 4, the two of you had moved 90 minutes away and we missed you so much.

Thankfully, you visited often and your favorite thing to do was mow the lawn with Grandpa.
It didn't take you long to move from lawn mowers to fast cars.  I still am not sure how you got your car seat into the driver's seat of my car, but if you could have, I'm sure you would have found a way to drive.
First it was Power Rangers and Spiderman, but once you found out about Transformers, you and I spent a lot of time shopping. No matter what store we went into, you knew exactly where to find Transformers.
Your great grandparents took you on your first trip to Disneyland when you were 7.  I am so thankful I got to be a part of it.  Not having any expectations, your genuine surprise and excitement was priceless at seeing the characters and riding the rides. Your favorite part was watching the kids be Storm Troopers and fight against Darth Vader with Light Sabers.  You practiced for years afterwards, no doubt awaiting a turn to do the same.

You and your mom continued to be best buds.
You loved baseball,
And we continued our quest to try to buy every Transformer ever made.
 And then it wasn't just you and your mom.  You had a new dad.

But still loved your Aunties & Uncle very much.

 You became a big brother.
 
At 12, you are the best big brother ever!

And you still love Transformers!
Happy 12th Birthday, buddy! 

Love,
Gramma


"Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!" (Ps. 66:1)





Thursday, July 10, 2014

Color Or Not Color

A good friend of mine, now that she has her first grandchild, has decided to rock her natural hair color. Because the two of us share a grand daughter, I wondered how I would look with naturally white hair. The time, hassle, and cost of continually coloring my hair is annoying. This led me to hours of searching through pics of my hair.
2001-2002 
In the top left photo, I am 39 years old. Believe it or not, I was still highlighting my hair. As you can see from the middle picture, it was definitely gray. By the third, I had quit bleaching and was instead applying temporary color.
 2003
After turning 40, I decided to grow my hair out. I'd never had long hair in my entire life. I truly mean never. While my sisters were sporting ponytails, I had pixie cuts.
 2004
2004
A dear friend, who happens to be a hairdresser, pulled me aside and convinced me to go red and cut my hair.  It took a few tries to get the right color, but Michael fell in love with this ginger.
 2005
Red fades more than any other color, so I began going darker in an attempt to keep it from fading so fast.
2006 
I added blonde highlights,
2007
and continued to play with the color.
 2008
I couldn't decide about the cut.
2009
I experienced more than one bad haircut.
2010
A bad haircut results in a bad hair day,
2011
which can ruin my week,
2012
and can last for months.
2013
After I turned 50, I noticed my hair had also aged.
2014
Then I got busy and haven't had time to get my hair professionally done.
 What do I do??? Cut? Color? Go gray and return to my childhood pixie cut? I have an appointment with the hairdresser. Yikes!

Truthfully,
Joanne


 "The glory of youths is their strength, but the beauty of the aged is their gray hair." (Prov. 20:29)