Birthday Loot

One of the main reasons we still celebrate birthdays after the age of 39, is all the loot, am I right folks? Or as Brother Bill (our pastor) would say, "Can I hear an Amen?" This birthday was no exception.

First gift was from a fellow genealogist and good friend, Jerry. He gifted me an entire set of "Pioneers Of Wiregrass Georgia"!!

I have been pining for this collection since I first learned about it, oh, like, a million years ago! *lol* Nah, just feels like that long. Contrary to popular belief, I was not present during the time of the dinosaurs. What a sweet guy, huh? Volume 4 is on my desk and being carefully studied. I grew up in Central Florida in an adopted family with sparse familial connections. I married, moved to Jacksonville, Florida. Then we moved one last time to this area. Shortly after moving here to Southeast Georgia in 1993, I started researching my known birth-family names. That's when I learned that I'm related to at least half of the folks that call themselves residents. "Pioneers Of Wiregrass Georgia" profiles most of my birth-family. It's such a thrill to learn about all my "new" cousins, to meet many of them and share these findings on-line.

Next gift was from my nearest, dearest friend, Vicki, who also blessed me with a now much treasured book by Max Lucado, "He Chose The Nails".

I dare any Bible believing Christian to read his writings without crying through the entire book. It's wonderfully edifying and I am praying it will help me in witnessing to others to also bring them to Christ so they may be saved. It's His love that brings us to salvation, you know. Oh, sure, God is wrath but Jesus is much, much more than that and we need to mirror His love so that others will want to know Him more. May it be so LORD.

Of course, my dear loving Hubby fed me three spectacular meals yesterday. Breakfast was fried eggs on English muffins with a side of thick sliced bacon. Lunch was his mouthwatering homemade cornbread topped with melted butter and fresh decaf coffee. Supper was grilled Rib Eye steaks, baked potatoes lathered in butter and sour cream, and grilled fresh squash and zucchini from the garden, topped off with homemade apple pie. Then we and the dogs piled into the pickup and went to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. (Our local DQ gives tiny vanilla low sugar treats in cups for pets with every Blizzard purchase. Jack especially l-o-v-e-s these things!) Oh my word! What a feast it all was. I can hardly move today from all the treats. But, you know, just being with Hubby made it a special day. I'm so blessed to be married to a man that puts God first and is also kindhearted, resourceful, and loving.

Ok, mushy time over.

And as an extra little treat, even Google got into the act for my birthday. I clicked on the Google search screen this morning to search for something, and this little number appeared.

When I put the cursor over the birthday cake images, it says "Happy Birthday Sparky". Clicking on the link took me to my Google+ profile. Cute ... cute ... but now I'm a little creeped out ... and I thought the black helicopters where something to worry about .... *grin*

Thank you for visiting and for the birthday wishes. Hope your day is also blessed my friends. Go with God.

From Pain To Gain

Ziggy

Something wonderful has happened. The crippling pain in my hands, and subsequently my wrists, seems to be subsiding. But let me back up a bit. Last  April 22nd, I dutifully visited the Orthopedic doctor to address this problem. He listened to the ailments. Then after many more questions, and hmmm’s and uh huh’s, Doc diagnosed the pain as “Lesion of left ulnar nerve with trigger finger”. Fancy words, huh? This resulted in two very freakin' painful cortisone shots in the palm of said left hand though! Which resulted in me whimpering quietly out of the office with both wrists encased in large black braces, trying to act like an adult and therefore keep what’s left of my dignity intact. Also, on the advice of a former blogging colleague who is a retired Nurse, I’ve also began taking an over-the-counter vitamin called Turmeric (i.e. Saffron pills). Well, it’s taken several weeks of rest but I think there’s a breakthrough. I’m actually typing this missive without having to stop and hold the left wrist in agony. And that includes using this goofy laptop with the broken “s” key that slows me down to a crawl. Who knew so many words have an “s” in them?! Oy.

Hey, look, there's a cute elf weeding

in the garden so I don't have to!

Thanks to seasonal rains, the vegetable garden and the flower areas are prospering. So far we’ve already enjoyed many meals of Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Bell Peppers and Red Potatoes. The Tomatoes are a disappointment, but, I can live with it. Oh, and we now have a herb garden consisting of Basil, Cilantro, Dill, and Rosemary. I didn't realize that fresh herbs truly are a tasty accompaniment to a meal. We’re not financially rich but, doggone it, we sure eat good.

Image From Insurance Journal

(Doesn't this little guy look like our Sam III?)

There’s a lot of birthdays in our small circle of friends and family in May. Today is my 60th. Our plans this year are to stay home and have a cookout. Hubby plans to grill juicy Rib Eyes from the local IGA topped with cooked buttered mushrooms. We will also dine on baked Idaho potatoes (gotta smother them in butter and sour cream, don’t ya know) and eat more of those scrumptious fresh squash. He’s also baking a homemade apple pie. *picture me dreamy eyed and drooling* Oh yeah … that’s one of my favorite sweets! I’ll share the loot gifts next post.

Speaking of dogs, the Boys, the Jack Russell Terriorists Jack and Sam III, are both healthy. They’re still actively ‘protecting’ the property from those nefarious bushy tailed intruders. I feel so safe now. *giggle* That first year I thought I'd got run away from home trying to discipline those two cuties but now they've finally turned into two really fine dogs.

For Wrent

Hubby has started making Blue Bird houses. He’s given some away to fellow Sunday School attendees. The nest boxes have become so popular, he’s having a hard time keeping up with requests. I think he’s on a one man quest to reestablish this lovely bird back into our area. Works for me. (As long as he doesn't start tilting at windmills, I won't worry.) They’re one of my favorite local winged creatures, alongside the Carolina Wren (their song sounds so sweet to me). We have several nesting on the property every year. I see God in nature, don’t you?

Preparing for the 200 mile ride to

Valdosta and back.

Now that my wrists have improved, I’m even back to riding more often. The F.A.I.T.H. Riders sponsored a local ride over to the Smoke ‘N Pig again. Their BBQ is worth the trip folks. Afterwards, I was so physically drained, that the whole next day all I wanted to do was rest, but, gosh, it felt good to be back in the saddle.

God is indeed good to honor me with so much answered prayer. He answers ALL prayers, of course, but being able to ride and type again is especially sweet. Anyway, even if the pain returns making surgery necessary, I know He loves me and cares. All He wants in return is our FAITH. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

I’m truly blessed all around. It is indeed good to be back on-line! Whole hearted thank yous for the prayers, kind words, and patiently waiting for my return. May the LORD bless and keep you too.

Mount up! LET'S RIDE!

Just Briefly ..

As most of y'all know, I've been suffering from almost crippling hand and wrist pain for months. I now have an appointment for a hand specialist to address this issue on April 22nd.

And in spite of it taking so long to see the doctor, and the ongoing great discomfort, I still feel ...


How can one not be joyful when we know that Christ Jesus loves us more than anything else in the world and because of Him we are saved for all eternity?! Such joy is like being surrounded by cute puppies all the time. Now that's One Giant Warm Fuzzy.

The Tomb Is Empty. We Serve A Risen Saviour!

Jesus loves us with a pure undying agape love. HE demonstrated His eternal love over 2,000 years ago at Golgotha, suffering in our stead, then rose again on the third day that all who believe in Him may know eternal salvation.

Have a blessed Sunday.

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) II Cor. 6:2

Two Minutes With The Bible ~ What's Good About This Friday

I do apologize for not writing or commenting much of late. My wrists and hands ache almost without ceasing, making computer work painful. But for today, I would like to post what is below. I am truly blessed that y'all follow and comment on this humble blog. Hope your day is blessed too by a deeper understanding of what our LORD did for all mankind.

"To God be the glory, great things He hath done, so loved He the world that He gave us His Son." [YouTube]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two Minutes With The Bible
Good Friday

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

Printer Friendly Version

There has been much debate among theologians as to whether the Lord Jesus Christ was actually crucified on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Traditionally, of course, it is supposed to have taken place on Friday, but this writer has never been able to get very excited about such details. What matters is that Christ, the Creator, God in flesh, died in shame and disgrace and agony for sins He had never committed — for your sins and mine.

But have you ever considered that this in itself is not necessarily good news? Many an innocent person has died in the place of some guilty criminal who has gone free through some miscarriage of justice. We didn’t see anything good about this. When St. Peter addressed his kinsmen he blamed them for the crucifixion of Christ, saying: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you… as ye yourselves also know… ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:22, 23), and later he faced the Supreme Court of his nation and charged them with His death (Acts 4:5-11).

What then, was “good” about the death of Christ? Well, we come to this when we reach the Epistles of Paul in our Bibles. There the chief of sinners, saved by grace (I Tim.1:15), exclaims: “He gave Himself for me” (Gal.2:20). He says: “God hath made Him to be sin for us… that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Cor.5:21). He does not blame us for Christ’s death — though our sins helped to nail Him to that cross — but proclaims the glad news that, “We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” (Eph.1:7). And why did He do this for us? “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”(Eph.2:7).

So, for us who have trusted Christ as our Savior, the death of Christ at Calvary is indeed good news. We rejoice in it, sing about it, preach about it and all it has accomplished for a lost humanity. Little wonder Paul declared:

“God forbid that I should boast,” except in one thing: “the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14).

To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that many of them first appeared as newspaper articles. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Funny Friday: English Can Be Weird

Wordless Wednesday: Flying Squirrel