Project 365 - Day 243

Project 365 - Day 242

Project 365 - Day 241

We never know Sunday to Sunday who will be climbing in the backseat for a ride to church and we were delighted to have Victoria, Corey, Corell and Chriscianna join us today! After church they all came over for lunch which is a really fun time. Our house is so quiet and orderly most of its days and it's great to hear children laughing, staging puppet shows, banging on the piano, and asking Mr. Dale if they can help him grill :-) Love it! We have the kids help set the table and they lead in opening and closing devotions. Everyone helps clear the table and then we play their favorite game - UNO! They love playing games of all kinds! In the car we're either playing the Alphabet Game from road signs or name that state - I give them the state's initials and they guess the state.

Restoration......that's always the word that comes to mind on a day like this. BC...Before Cancer.... almost every Sunday was like this - a pew full of children and then a table full of children! So thankful to be able to do this again even though we need to do it on a smaller scale without the help of Joe, Dan & Brea! Thank you, Lord, for restoration!

Project 365 - Day 240

I know hibernating usually refers to a period of time in the winter but with this summer being so beastly, torridly hot I feel like I've been doing just that - only peeking my head outside when I have to - going from A/C to A/C as quickly as I could. What a gift it is to start feeling just a subtle subtle hint of Fall in the air these past few days. The temperature is still in the low 90's but there's less humidity, a slight breeze, a few more clouds covering the sun, that makes being outside so much more appealing!

Started my Saturday by having breakfast to go from Rembrandts and taking it up to my favorite spot on the Bluff near the bocce ball court, spending time with my new friend Melissa who I am growing to love more each time we're together. After we parted ways I took the short walk around the Sculpture Garden and the sweet little area around it and took a few pictures. I haven't been feeling well these past few days and still feeling a little shaky so all of this love and peace and beauty was a balm to my body and my soul.

When I came home and settled in to blog and check Facebook my dear little friend Katie had posted a question of "where have you seen God today?" I answered by telling her a little bit about my lovely morning. Right after that she messaged me and said I had been on her mind with my love for theophanies and that's why she posted that question at that particular moment which in itself is a theophany.

This moment of time....2:07 PM on 08-28-10....is a very good moment of time here on Planet Earth.

Project 365 - Day 239

Sometimes an idea comes into my head that I cannot shake! Today I acted on one of those ideas with such neat results!

Every once in awhile I have to take a mailing to the Business Mail Unit of the post office. There are very specific guidelines, forms to fill out, etc., and the folks that work there take their job pretty seriously - to the point it can make me so nervous and intimidated.

So today, before I got there I picked up a dozen assorted donuts from KK and after I was finished with getting the mail processed I told the three postal workers I had a surprise for them. I went out to the car and brought in the donuts and thanked them for their patience and help. They were all smiles and laughter :-) I asked them if they were allowed to accept gifts from grateful customers and they said "if they're disposable and these are definitely disposable!"

It brought tears to my eyes watching the transformation from stern to happy over a "random act of kindness" - what fun!

Project 365 - Day 238

Ah, Young Life staff! After a great dinner of BBQ at one of our committee member's houses Jonathan had a go at mattress sledding down their staircase:-)

Project 365 - Day 237

So thankful for cooler weather so we can resume our evening walks! Enjoyed the Walnut Street bridge tonight and saw this big ol' barge and tug boat going under it. I love to see those things go down the river!

Resting

As we were driving down to the Raccoon Mtn. boat dock Dale mentioned that he had recently noticed a sign for a cemetery off from the main road. Because our boat ride date was aborted early due to a broken boat we had time to check it out. The mosquitos chased us out before we were ready to leave but we stayed as long as we could. Exploring old cemeteries is a favorite hobby of mine as I reflect on the lives of those who lie there. What are their stories?

When I googled the name of the cemetery one of the websites has a list of everyone who's buried there and some of the graves go back as far as the late 18oo's. In some places there were just pieces of rock set in a particular pattern of a row with no name or anything on it though there might have been years ago.

It was such a hodge podge of tributes to the dead - from a bare rock to a Harley flag to artificial flowers......

And there was this very unique statue.....

I definitely want to go back and explore some more when there's more time and less mosquitos!!

Project 365 - Day 236

We went for a trial run boat ride tonight to see if the ailing Sea Nymph was miraculously healed for only $89 but alas it is still ailing! We were able to slowly cruise along the shoreline but we didn't dare go too far out. And that was such a shame because it was a perfect evening to be out on the beautiful TN River! The air was soft and warm, not hot and muggy at all. The mountains were majestic and the water was like a mirror. Loved it!

Project 365 - Day 235

I spent a lovely few hours with my friend Barbara this afternoon in her beautiful new house! She was the general contractor for the project and she did a great job! I always enjoy my time with Barbara so much! It's a wonderful drive through the countryside of North Georgia to get to her house and it sits on a hill surrounded by trees. So peaceful! Time just flies when we're together! Her husband David came home from work and we were so surprised it was that late already :-)

FAITH ~ FAMILY ~ FRIENDS ~ FLOWERS ~ FOOD......these seem to be my recurring themes in Project 365 - what fun this has been!

Project 365 - Day 234

Corell and Corey both wanted to be picture of the day but Rell won out cuz I wanted to show off his stylin' new glasses! Their mom said that usually Corey is known as Smarty and Corell as Party at school but now Rell at least looks like a Smarty :-)

We were so happy that the boys and their mom and dad, their grandma, and their aunt Victoria joined us at New City today for morning worship! Sweet Corey is pictured below - really love these little guys!

Project 365 - Day 232

Favorite quote about blackberries.......

"Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes -

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Project 365 - Day 231

Love the colors in this picture! It's in front of the antique store which is next to my little neighborhood used bookstore. The whole front yard is a hodge podge of items and inside is crammed full of junk and treasures! Fun place!

Project 365 - Day 230

The funny thing is.....at the staff retreat there was a whole book of church signs similar to this one that we were chuckling over. When we went past this one I had to take a picture of it. It HAS been a HOT summer!

Project 365 - Day 229

Had morning devotions sitting on the dock at the Riverhouse - loved it! So pretty and peaceful! I would LOVE to live on the water - well, I better clarify that statement since D.A. reads this blog and he'll start looking for houseboats for us! I meant I would love to live in a house alongside the river :-)

Project 365 - Day 228

Every year before the school season starts we have a Staff Retreat for a few days to catch everyone up on our summer's adventures and to plan the year ahead. This year we stayed at this beautiful riverhouse! It was absolutely perfect for our time! Chatt YL staff retreats are an "interesting" time as you try to get a whole roomful of ADHD folks to sit still and focus long enough to plan a semester's worth of activities - pretty crazy! We did accomplish quite a bit and it looks like another great year of ministry ahead!!

Project 365 - Day 227

When I drive into SharpTop Cove it makes me feel happy and peaceful :-) I really do love Family Camp so much! Besides all the different ages represented by campers the Work Crew is filled with our YL leaders and their high school friends. This weekend pretty much everyone involved in making camp run was from our staff or former staff members - God has blessed Chatt. YL with some gifted folks and I'm so thankful to be part of this story! Who knew?! God knew! And I love to imagine His delight at my reaction when I caught up to this part of the tale!

Project 365 - Day 226

He looks so cute and innocent but he's getting ready to launch that water balloon at an opposing team's tank during the Gauntlet at Family Camp!

Project 365 - Day 225

Love this picture of my little friend, Anna, taken after the carnival at YL Family Camp on Friday night! Family Camp is soooo much fun! I love seeing everyone from infants to grandparents enjoying beautiful SharpTop Cove!

the answer

I remember standing in the middle of a huge bathroom I was cleaning for a living when we lived in MI , looking in that big ol' mirror praying....."Lord, I really don't want to do this for the rest of my life. I want to be part of something bigger! I want an adventure with You! Please?"

And many prayers and years later He said "O.K."

And the Father of my Future knew the O.K. would include

breast cancer
losing mom and dad
financial struggles

But He also knew it would include

Trips to Indianapolis and St. Francisville
Family Camp weekends at SharpTop Cove
Young Life
Cross cultural surprises

And so much more.....

I am so grateful for it all - for the then and now - I am grateful for the question and the answer.

Project 365 - Day 224

This is my beautiful friend, Sheerlina! For the past several years she's been the secretary for our landlord who's in the office beneath us at work. Sheer has been the one who has to gently reprimand us Young Life folks when we get out of line regarding the use of the building - which is often! But she always did it in such a sweet way :-) She just got her masters from Bryan College and now she's moving back to her home country of Trinidad to continue her education and work in her church there. I will miss her so much! I went to a going away party for her tonight - lots of folks were there to say goodbye and wish her well!

Project 365 - Day 223

I love this statue/fountain outside our downtown library! I have been on a big kick of getting fiction from the library this summer. The trouble is it's so hard for me to put a good book down - makes me very unproductive! But maybe I've reached that stage of life - a.k.a. old - that I can just relax and read without a pile of guilt.

Libraries make me really really happy when I walk inside them. All those BOOKS!! And I can take home a bunch of them for FREE as long as I promise to return them. What a concept! What a wonder! I always find myself smiling as I tuck my new treasures under my arm and walk out the door ready to cozy in to the GTCA and lose myself in another time, another place.

The downtown library is wonderful with lots of choices but I also love my little East Ridge library with its very ancient, very Southern, very friendly librarians! I appreciate their time for small talk about the weather and other every day things.

Tonight we were browsing at Sam's Club and I looked at the electronic books - my librarian friend Melissa's bane!! And I concur! There's nothing quite like the feel and smell of a good book in your hands. What a sad day it would be if real books became obsolete!

Today I am thankful for a mom who read to me! For the Bookmobiles that used to come to our small town! For Literature classes in school !For Book Fairs! For libraries! For the gift of words!

Project 365 - Day 222

Time to revisit the idea of learning to play the accordion ~ it's just so much harder than it looks! You have to squeeze it in and out, press down the chord button, and play the keyboard all at the same time!! But I'm so intrigued by the possibility of having a portable instrument......

Project 365 - Day 221

I really love that I can go out to my own yard and pick flowers for sweet little bouquets :-)

Indianapolis Weekend!

Just got home a little while ago from a great weekend in Indy with Mark and Tara and Crew and Sohee! We were able to leave Chatt around noon and made it up there in time for supper and play time!



One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing all of Sohee's SMILES :-) She's come such a long way!! Thank you, Lord!




We went to the Indiana State Fair on Saturday - what a great fair! We all loved it!




The John Deere tractor display was a huge hit with the kids! They could have stayed in that area all day! Climbed on lots and lots of tractors!

What a cute tractor driver!

Mini Golf in the FFA building was another big hit!

Some kids never grow up - this was a flashback for me :-) Mark said a little guy in the play area asked him to fill up his dump truck and he gladly obliged!

He licked every bit of caramel off from his apple before chomping it down to the core!

Crew has always LOVED vegetables and this building full of them was like heaven to him! Here he's doing a Crew happy dance in celebration of Veggies! He was so cute! He'd go from veggie to veggie testing me to see if I knew the name of it!

Love the look of JOY on his little face!

After the kids had a rest we headed out for downtown. We rented a bike that held all 6 of us and rode around the canal - beautiful area! This is a sculpture that was near the canal - so pretty!!

Here we are - ready for takeoff! Mark was in control of the steering and brakes and all of us pedaled - so fun! Tara was a little nervous being that out of control but Mark kept us out of the drink!

Love this! One happy family - the beautiful skyline of Indianapolis!

Crew loves rolling down the big green grassy hill! He is such a fun loving kid - full of smiles and questions and energy! Being grandparents to him and Sohee is such a wonderful gift!!

Project 365 - Day 220

There wasn't time for a Farkel Party with M & T but Crew enjoyed the multiple, colorful dice :-)

Project 365 - Day 219

On Saturday we went to the Indiana State Fair! The fairgrounds are just a short drive from Mark & Tara's house and we had a great time - more pics to follow in a seperate post! Loved this big ol' sunflower! One of my favorite flowers!