The Day After

These creaking bones are moving slow today. I blame the damp weather but it could be just plain laziness. The rain started last night at the party, then temperatures began to drop and now it's gloomy. Today has been as quiet as the tomb. Somehow after coming down off the sugar debauchery of last night, Hubby and I have managed to stay busy most of the day.

It just dawned on me I hadn't shared the pics from last night. I do apologize for the sorry picture quality. I'm still trying to get accustomed to the smartphone camera. Apparently, there's a trick to getting good photos from this thing. Wish now I had taken the Olympus.

Our long time friend and host, Daniel, cooking the roast beast.

He's a master with the smoker.

My plate of smoked pork, pork & beans, cole slaw, beef steak tomato.

There was much, much more and I made certain to sample it all.

My husband's homemade Banana Pudding was a big hit!

Hubby enjoying his meal with me next to Kawasaki Mule.

Now, you know I'd be near the machinery.

This is just a small view of the building Daniel built for

his parents last year. He's quite the master craftsman!

I added a star on the little girl's face. Since she is a minor,

I don't have the parents permission to put her face in

cyberspace. Just want to protect all the little ones.

We're being 'good' tonight, having a strictly vegetable supper (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it). *lol*

Thank you for stopping by. Hope your day was blessed.

Happy New Years

Even though I am not usually a very social person, we have plans to be at a friends house tonight celebrating the New Year. This will entail consuming mass quantities of sugar that is sure to induce a few comas, eating the roast beast, playing with guns and riding 4 wheeler's. Yeah, everything that is, I hope, politically incorrect. *grin*

I hope your New Year's is happy, bright, and safe. See ya next year my friends!

Happy Christmas Everyone!

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[comments turned off ... spend time with the loved ones!]

The Guest Bedroom Is Completed

We are finally 'finished' with the house remodeling! Here's the photos below. Please forgive the brevity. We are both so whipped that the mental processes are completely gone. And I'm sure normal people are more concerned with getting everything just right for The Big Day.

Before the stinky old carpeting was removed.

Preparations made, the first board goes in place.

I know that 'almost' only counts in horseshoes and grenades,

but we are truly Almost There. *grin*

Ta Da! The floor is finished!

This is the Guest Bedroom all put back together

and we are both long necking a Blue Moon.

It might end up being two ... *giggle*

I know everyone is super busy so I appreciate your taking time to stop by. And if you're really bored, the complete home remodel is here. I should have taken a picture of the money as it disappeared too. *lol* 

Have a blessed rest of the week folks.

A Monday Hodgepodge

Pearls Before Swine

It just dawned on me, that it has been days since I visited blogs or posted here. Y'all must have thought I fell off the face of the earth.

The cartoon above reminds me of our family. It will just be the two of us this year (their choice, not ours). What are your plans?

First some news, I think we have finally found a church in which to feel comfortable in. Sundays usually find us in the First Baptist Church. Being a "grace believer" I will not be "joining" (i.e. submitting to water baptism) but it's a pleasant diversion every Sunday morning. I spoke to the Pastor briefly about it, and he said it's not a problem. Without "joining" one just can not hold office or vote in the business part of their church. Thankfully, I'm not interested in any of that anyway. But the natives are friendly and there is a motorcycle club called F.A.I.T.H. Riders in which we are members. That should pacify even my persnickety side.

We have started on, hopefully, the final remodeling project in our 23+ year old stick built home. It's taken over a year to accomplish all the necessary interior projects but it's been well worth the financial and physical pain. The current project is the guest bedroom. It still has 23+ year old carpeting. First Hubby removed the smelly carpeting in the closet and placed nice easy to clean floor tiles. Today, we've removed everything from the bedroom except the ceiling tall bookcase out into the hallway. The bookcase needs another coat of white paint before moving on. Then we'll started pulling up carpeting and replacing it with the floating Pergo flooring.

And something else good came from all this work.

Experience is a wonderful teacher. For most who know me they know that one of my absolute favorite hobbies is genealogy / family research. I've been following people's migrations and habits for years. It's become second nature to figure out why an ancestor moved or did whatever they did during their lives. I also study a lot of old photos. This leads me to I keep all our photo albums in this closet that's being renovated. This week, whilst everything was in a disarray, I began thumbing through an old homemade photo album that belonged to my adopted mother, Helen, who had died in 1966 when I was 10 years old.  I have few memories of my mother. The reason being that like a monkey in a cage, my father was good at flinging obscenities or threats in my direction whenever I even so much as spoke to him, so, I quit asking him anything at a young age. Anyway, I happened on a couple of old Polaroid photos in the album that I'm sure I must have looked at a million times two and wondered "Who are these people?" since there was no writing on the photos. Well, I was sitting on the bed casually looking through the album and I had one photo of Mom in one hand, and this one below in the other, and I finally realized, this is my Mom at a very early age! She always had that serious look on her face. My Mom and her brother, Richard, where the only children of Richard Darrell Koethe, I, and Edna Margaretta Strain. This has to be her in that very treasured photo album. That was such a very joyful moment to discover a photo of my Mom for the 'first' time. It's a nice Christmas gift.

And I'm still enjoying, and learning about, my new Smartphone. I feel so modern. *lol*

If I don't get to post again before the Holiday, I hope everyone has a very happy, prosperous and safe CHRISTmas season.

Smartphone

Guess who finally joined the 21st Century? And this was after I swore up and down that I would never, not ever, no way, cross my heart and hope to die, nuh uh, ever have a Smartphone and be able to text! So much for swearing.

Crow sure is tasty. *lol*

My husband has one too. So this afternoon we camped out on the couch (as if we have nothing else to do ... NOT!), he in his corner and me in mine, and we proceeded to learn how to use the newly purchased toys. Even though Technically Challenged, I still managed to download two very cool ring tones: Stairway To Heaven and Santa Baby.

Anyone in the market for two well used flip phones? *grin*

And, happy news, it's raining! Finally. Thank you LORD for your mercy. It has been dangerously dry in SE Georgia. Now that our one mile of shifting sand road will be ride able again, I picture a ride in our very near future, with the new smartphone to show us the route.

Now, how cool is that.

Got Questions: Did Jesus Go To Hell?

www.GotQuestions.org

Question: "Did Jesus go to hell between His death and resurrection?"

Answer: There is a great deal of confusion in regards to this question. The concept that Jesus went to hell after His death on the cross comes primarily from the Apostles’ Creed, which states, “He descended into hell.” There are also a few Scriptures which, depending on how they are translated, describe Jesus going to “hell.” In studying this issue, it is important to first understand what the Bible teaches about the realm of the dead.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word used to describe the realm of the dead is sheol. It simply means “the place of the dead” or “the place of departed souls/spirits.” The New Testament Greek equivalent of sheol is hades, which also refers to “the place of the dead.” Other Scriptures in the New Testament indicate that sheol/hades is a temporary place, where souls are kept as they await the final resurrection and judgment. Revelation 20:11–15 gives a clear distinction between hades and the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the permanent and final place of judgment for the lost. Hades, then, is a temporary place. Many people refer to both hades and the lake of fire as “hell,” and this causes confusion. Jesus did not go to a place of torment after His death, but He did go to hades.

Sheol/hades was a realm with two divisions—a place of blessing and a place of judgment (Matthew 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23; Acts 2:27–31). The abodes of the saved and the lost are both generally called “hades” in the Bible. The abode of the saved is also called “Abraham’s bosom” (KJV) or “Abraham’s side” (NIV) in Luke 16:22 and “paradise” in Luke 23:43. The abode of the unsaved is called “hell” (KJV) or “Hades” (NIV) in Luke 16:23. The abodes of the saved and the lost are separated by a “great chasm” (Luke 16:26). When Jesus died, He went to the blessed side of sheol and, from there, took the believers with Him to heaven (Ephesians 4:8–10). The judgment side of sheol/hades has remained unchanged. All unbelieving dead go there awaiting their final judgment in the future. Did Jesus go to sheol/hades? Yes, according to Ephesians 4:8–10 and 1 Peter 3:18–20.

Some of the confusion has arisen from such passages as Psalm 16:10–11 as translated in the King James Version: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption . . . . Thou wilt show me the path of life.” “Hell” is not a correct translation in this verse. A correct reading would be “the grave” or “sheol.” Jesus said to the thief beside Him, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43); He did not say, “I will see you in hell.” Jesus’ body was in the tomb; His soul/spirit went to be with the blessed in sheol/hades. Unfortunately, in many versions of the Bible, translators are not consistent, or correct, in how they translate the Hebrew and Greek words for “sheol,” “hades,” and “hell.”

Some have the viewpoint that Jesus went to “hell” or the suffering side of sheol/hades in order to further be punished for our sins. This idea is completely unbiblical. It was the death of Jesus on the cross that sufficiently provided for our redemption. It was His shed blood that effected our own cleansing from sin (1 John 1:7–9). As He hung there on the cross, He took the sin burden of the whole human race upon Himself. He became sin for us: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This imputation of sin helps us understand Christ’s struggle in the garden of Gethsemane with the cup of sin which would be poured out upon Him on the cross.

As Jesus neared death, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). His suffering in our place was completed. His soul/spirit went to hades (the place of the dead). Jesus did not go to “hell” or the suffering side of hades; He went to “Abraham’s side” or the blessed side of hades. Jesus’ suffering ended the moment He died. The payment for sin was paid. He then awaited the resurrection of His body and His return to glory in His ascension. Did Jesus go to hell? No. Did Jesus go to sheol/hades? Yes.

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