On Eagle's Wings

On Eagle's Wings
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

Followers

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Trunk or Treat

Lots of fun last night at our church with Trunk or Treat!
The neon sign in front proclaimed that everyone was welcome!

Hot dogs and lions and Spiderman?? Ninjas??
 Oh Dorothy!! This calls for some chocolate!!

 I do see a Hershey bar on the left!


Who are these crazy guys? 
Did somebody say they are a few of our PASTORS??!!



I assisted my friends, Victoria, Liz and Cindy, with the Three Bears' Cottage!

Three Bears' Cottage

Three Bears' Beds

Goldilocks must have eaten ALL the porridge!

The guilty Goldilocks skipping around and
having a lollipop after the porridge!

These kiddos in Preschool were very excited as they came dressed in their costumes 
and ready for all the fun and prospect of loading up on SUGAR!!!!! 








They LOVE this guy!



Singing Gonna Hide God's Word in my heart!

So happy for them to get to dress up in costumes, 
and have a fun time in a safe and loving environment
and hear Jesus loves the little children!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 196

Jolly good (as the English hunters would say) questions from Joyce. Here are my answers to the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back over to Joyce at From This Side of the Pond to share answers and add your link to the party...see you there!



1. My hubs spent last weekend pheasant hunting. Are there hunters in your family? If so, what do they hunt? Which of the following have you tasted-pheasant, rabbit, venison, duck, goose? Which of those would you most like to taste, or be most willing to taste?

My husband has never been a hunter, so I don't know where our son got his love for it. My Dad and Grandpa hunted squirrel and rabbit for food. Our son-in-law has been taking our grandsons with him since they were about 3 years old. I think what they really enjoy is the male camaraderie out on the lease and bringing home a trophy or two (they also stock the freezers with some great food). I'm not crazy about the idea of our grandsons being in an atmosphere where guns are, but I believe they are being taught gun safety with their Dad. I trust him. 

My Great-Grandma played a nasty little trick on us once by serving "fried chicken" and it turned out to be rabbit! It was upsetting to me as a child, not because I was a great lover of the cute little bunnies, it just seemed sneaky to me. I've tasted rabbit, venison and goose. Of the three, I think the venison as it was prepared was the tastiest. Pheasant sounds exotic and maybe that would be good to try. Since I'm not crazy about dark meat, duck and goose are both off my list. And no more rabbit, please! 

Vegetarians keep calm and Hodgepodge on.

2. What high spot have you visited that gave you a wonderful 'bird's eye view' of something below?

We have visited many high spots that offered a great "bird's eye view" and here is a photo of us with The Matterhorn behind us in Switzerland. 



This photo is of two mountain goats we saw from our fantastic bird's eye view.



The bird's eye view wasn't that great the day we visited The Eagle's Nest, the home and headquarters of Hitler. It was raining cats and dogs when we were there, which made the place seem even more chilling than it was to me. 


Photo credit

3. Do you have any birds in your home? These could be either real live pets or decorative, as in bird prints, knickknacks, fabric or pottery.

In my upstairs bath, I have a framed print of sweet little bluebirds splashing about and, in the same bathroom, I have a knickknack given me by a friend who loved birds. She was one of the sweetest ladies I have ever known and she and her husband were somewhat like Mom and Dad to my husband and I.



4. Tell about a time you 'killed two birds with one stone'?

I actually did that yesterday. Today my Bible Study Fellowship group will be getting together for lunch afterwards. It was my plan to make tuna salad and take my lunch rather than stopping to grab something on the way to the home where we are meeting. DH wasn't interested in a big dinner last night, so when he heard me mention the tuna salad, he asked if we could have sandwiches. So voila!  Dinner last night and lunch today. 

5. Your favorite song with a bird in its title?

I guess it would have to be Snowbird by Anne Murray, although I'm tempted to be silly and say "Well, everybody's talking about the bird. A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird's the word." 

Weren't those some great lyrics? 

6. What most recently gave you goose bumps?

I can't think of anything recently that has unless it's the news.

7. Halloween is this Friday...any plans? Did you trick or treat as a child? Carve pumpkins? Share your most memorable costume.

We will hand out candy to the children who come to our house. We get a lot of trick or treaters in our neighborhood and mostly they are all under the age of 10. Occasionally, there are older ones, but they come later in the evening and we usually have run out of candy by then and turned off the lights. Our church will have a Trunk or Treat event tomorrow night and cars will be decorated and the trunks filled with candy. They said last year we had about 700 kids come by, although I don't know how that is tracked.

The most memorable thing to me about trick or treats as a child was going door to door with a paper sack collecting candy and then getting under the covers at home with a light to binge on candy. I don't know why we never carved a pumpkin.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of pumpkins (as we were above), our youngest grandson, Jack, got a pumpkin which he carried around with him for three days. He even carried it with him on a three hour road trip to visit his great-grandma. It was there that his Nana cut open the pumpkin and made a pie for him. I heard he had four pieces of that pie. (I also heard a rumor that the pie wasn't really made from Jack's beloved pumpkin!)



My really random thought (not so random since we are talking about Halloween) right this minute is that popcorn balls used to be an item that we liked seeing in our sack of candy and I sure would enjoy having one right now! Those were really good, but these days that kind of treat just won't fly. Halloween has become a little too much for me. Many in our neighborhood go all out to decorate their homes with orange lights, and all kinds of house and yard decorations. Enough said here because it isn't my intention to rant on. It just seems wasteful to me. Is there a bah humbug word to apply here? :-)

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Crossing the Line

Siblings riding in the back seat of the car for any length of time past 15 minutes or so can begin with fun and laughter, but usually end up with some kind of little disagreement. You will hear the sounds of playful teasing back and forth until one or the other offends in some way. You know the routine that ends with:

"He's not sharing!"
"She took it from me!"
"That's not fair!"
"She's kicking me!"
"Make him stop it!"

So I turned around, held out my arm and drew the invisible line between the two of them.
"Nobody touching, keep your hands and feet on your side of the line."

They both give me the "pouty" look.
The next thing I hear?

"Nonnie, can I just fling my hair over the line?"

I turned around to reply "what?" and see Kate is tossing her head around and saying again,

"Nonnie, is it okay if I just fling my hair over the line?"

Gotta love the way her mind works.

Here, her hair is doing a little of its own "fling!"


Monday, October 27, 2014

Monday Memories - My First Date

Come join in sharing a few memories with Retired not tired Memory Monday, then link your memories to share the memory of your first date with everyone.



It won't take much space to tell the memory of my first date! First of all, the rule for first dates in our house were no dates until we reached that magic age of sixteen!

Up until that time, I was permitted to attend group activities only (usually involving church activity), and, if there was a boy in the car, I was not allowed to go. I led a very sheltered life, but believed when I reached sixteen, that would all change. It would be magical!! Anyway, I was hoping very much it would change because I was so insecure about myself. From age 13 until I married at 21, I was greatly lacking in confidence and didn't believe any boy would ever really like me. I was tall, wore glasses, and could have used some braces on my teeth. And too often, I sported a zit or two on my face.

There was a boy I had a crush on as a sophomore and thought he was "it!" When I turned sixteen, we went out occasionally, very informal, and almost always with another couple, so I'm not even sure those times constitute what you call a "real" date. We didn't do anything special except ride around, go to the lake, and drink Cokes. Since he was related to one of my close "church" friends, and my parents knew his parents, this was acceptable to my parents.

At 17, a boy I had known since 7th grade called me and invited me to "dinner" and a movie. He was cute, smart, and played in sports at school. This was my first real date and I was so excited! That is, until I told my parents. My Dad didn't like it one bit that I had planned a date with someone he did not know and informed me that I could only go after he met the boy and approved. I was very embarrassed, but agreed, and before the big date, everything was a go.

The night arrived. Our dinner/movie date was really nothing fancy. A meal at the local Tastee Freeze and then a drive-in movie. So I dressed very casual in shorts and a top. (I guess I need to explain at this point that wearing shorts anywhere other than when playing sports was frowned upon.) My parents were getting ready for my brother's baseball game and caught up in that, but when my Dad saw the way I was dressed, it stopped him in his tracks. He told me I could not go out with a boy dressed like that and furthermore, my curfew for the night would be 10:00! Say what??!! At that, I angrily spun on my heels, headed back to the room I shared with my sister, and declared I wouldn't be going since it would be positively mortifying to be treated like such a child at 17! (And, of course, in retrospect, I can see clearly how childish I was!)

My parents left for the baseball game and I was left to figure out how I was going to get out of this mess I had gotten myself in.

About 15 minutes later, my Dad pulled up in the driveway alone. On the short drive to the baseball field, apparently he and my Mom had a quick little talk and his heart had softened toward my evening. He told me I could go and stay out until 11:30. My heart flooded with relief at the compromise and I thanked him. He stayed and met the young man before returning to the baseball game.

My first "real" date was interesting in that I can't remember what movie we saw, because we got involved in such a great conversation. This was my first encounter with someone who did not believe in God. It was a shocking revelation to me as we talked. It had never occurred to me in those days to find out beforehand because everyone in my circle of friends were Christians. We spent the entire evening discussing and I very passionately shared my beliefs and he told me his. He was interested ... but sadly, not convinced.

I have wondered often where he was and how he was doing ... even had dreams of him a few times. He never has shown up at our class reunions and I don't know whether he is alive or not. My hope is that at some point in his life, he had a change of heart.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wednesday's Warblings

Photo credit
These past two weeks or so have been filled with many good things.

Lunch with a few special 
Ladies of Grace!



We have been enjoying good times these past few weeks with our friends from Florida, but finally had to bid them farewell last week. The bad was having to say good-bye. The good was that our little group was able to gather one last time (until the next time) for breakfast at La Madeleine for some going away fun!



Now I realize a mammogram doesn't sound like a "good" thing, however, I don't mind having them since I know they are for "my own good." So I go willingly for the annual smash 'em up and then take the pics to my breast surgeon. When I saw her last week, her assessment of the films was that "everything looks good" and I'm "good to go!"

Shout happy and thankful! I'm nine years out now and so thankful that the mammogram I had nine years ago detected the cancer in its earlier stages and it was easily treatable.


He is good, but I have to say even when things don't go my way or the way I thought they should, He is still good!

Kate and Jack came for a visit on Friday. Time spent with them is always fast and furious in the sense that I am furiously trying to keep up with them.

Jack riding his bike on the trail.



Kate made it across the monkey bars at the park for the first time (first time that is, that I saw her do it.) Good job!



Jack met her as she was making the last couple of rungs.



Butterflies have been everywhere in the back yard. I always knew the little weeds in the yard with the purple daisy-like flowers had to be "good for something." Now I know. Butterflies love them! They ignore the Hibiscus, the Mandevilla, and Lantanas for those little flowers. The kids had a great time chasing the butterflies all over the back yard.



Love notes from Kate
On Saturday, DH and I went (I got him off the recliner) to a Bloomin' Bluegrass festival. What a beautiful day it was. We rented a chair, had a little lunch, and sat in the sunshine enjoying some great pickin' and singin'. We sat in the sunshine for all of ten minutes before we had to find ourselves some shade!


This man was sitting in front of us. My first guess was that he was a lawyer flaunting his trade (no offense to lawyers - the ones I worked for were people of integrity). They do have a reputation, you know. I am hoping his name was Cheatham.


We don't really see this in our neck of the woods,



but the Hibiscus are still pretty,


and so is this scarlet sage.



Yesterday I had an ultrasound and an endoscopy to check for the possible gallstones, and to follow-up the healing of my surgery in July!

Hallelujah! I am pleased to present still yet another "good report!" Negative on the gallstones and everything else in there looks good!! Thanks be to God for His goodness! He is good and His mercy endures forever.

And not just good, but FABULOUS news, my nephew Chase made it back to the states from some really bad parts of the world. I know his bride was dee-lighted to see him since he had been deployed a couple of weeks after they were married.


So many answers to prayer! 



Monday, October 20, 2014

Monday Memories: My First School

I'm laughing at myself because I got carried away with this memory. You will be thankful I didn't write in everything I remembered about my first school! If no time to read, at least scroll down to read the last paragraph! Come join in sharing a few memories with Retired not tired Memory Monday, then link your memories to share with everyone.





Mark Twain Elementary in Tulsa, Oklahoma was a very large and imposing two-story red brick building with steps going up to the main entrances, slick tile floors and hallways that echoed when you walked down them. It was built in 1925 and rebuilt in 2002. This was the best pic of the original I could find.



My memories of this school and my experiences there are good. However, it wasn't without its moments!

I don't remember whether I was excited about going to school or not, but the first time I was inside was for a physical examination at a clinic being held for kindergarten enrollees. Now I am sure I went along willingly with my Mother, and remember standing in line for my turn. But when my turn actually came up, vividly I remember throwing a FIT and I mean such a big temper tantrum that my Mom had to give up and take me home. The fit was?? Because I had to remove my shirt for the doctor. A doctor I had never seen before! My Mom was upset, extremely upset with me because now she would have the added expense of an appointment with our doctor for something that would have been free. On top of that, she did not know how to drive which meant she would have to walk two little girls to the trolley stop to travel downtown for the exam. Oh well. Of course none of that meant anything to me. Poor Mom. She told me that when I first began kindergarten, each day I would be crying because I had to leave, and my little sister would be crying because she had to stay!

Kindergarten was fun with Mrs. Crews and one of the things that stands out about assignments was being told one day we were to draw a picture of a cat! Imagine that? I didn't want to draw a cat. Never had a problem with turkeys at Thanksgiving, paper chains at Christmas or Valentines in February. I remember the large room, construction paper, the smell of the white paste, crayons, taking naps and spinning around on the floor until I wore holes in my panties! I'm sure we learned something in kindergarten (how to tie our shoes) but these days, our grand kids already knew how to read and print and do simple arithmetic before beginning kindergarten.

First grade was wonderful! Learning how to read all about the adventures of Dick and Jane, how to write, and arithmetic. Laddie pencils, pink erasers, fat crayons and wide ruled tablets. Reading was my favorite subject and our teacher divided the children into groups according to skill and assigned names to our groups. Since I was such a good reader, I was in the top group called The Blue Racers!! I thought I was pretty hot stuff.


I loved and adored my teacher. Mrs. Brown was especially kind to me and it was a treat to stay after school with her to help clap out erasers and little chores like that which gave me a chance to have special time with her. One day as we talked, I was feeling a little full of myself and I guess wanting to impress her, so I told her about riding my bicycle to school. That was a big fat lie, er uh, story. Apparently this upset Mrs. Brown to think that a six year old girl was riding a bicycle so far to school and so she contacted my parents about her concern. I don't remember getting a spanking or any punishment for this, but it was a little embarrassing to have my Mom refute my story and have my hero find out I had fibbed. I told quite a few stories in my younger days, and guess I wasn't very good at it, because I always was found out. A verse my Mom told me many times was, "Be sure your sins will find you out."

On my first bike in front of our house
One other thing I learned in first grade was that if you told the teacher you had a tummy ache, she would send you to the office to see the nurse. If you were really in a lot of discomfort (or at least acted as though you were) the nurse would, of course, call your Mom to come take you home. Again, my poor Mom. As I previously mentioned, she couldn't drive, and oh yeah, we had no telephone, so a neighbor had to be called to run next door to get Mom and then drive her to the school to bring me home. Yes, I learned that little trick and my Mom caught onto it right away and kind of clued the nurse onto it.

Really and truly, I was a good little girl and a good student, but gee, these little things don't sound much like it when I see it here in writing, do they?

I kept Mom on the run. We always walked to and from school, no matter the weather. We walked with a group of children in the neighborhood, always together. As an adult, I have driven our route from our house to that school, and I can tell you it was a "pretty fer piece" for such young children to walk. Now there were a couple of times I had a tendency to want to go home with a friend after school -- so I did. I just did without asking permission. Mom had to leave my sister with the neighbor to come searching for me ... on foot. It's a mystery to me as to how she found me since I had gone off the beaten path. Do I need to mention that was only repeated a couple of times, because I recall there was a nice skinny branch off one of our trees that wrapped very nicely around my legs. Jumping and hopping, I learned that lesson well.

One of the nicest things I remember about Mark Twain Elementary was that once a week in the last period of the day, our class would walk in line single file to the church across the street to listen to a Bible story, do a craft of some kind, and color a picture of whatever we had studied that day! Do you find that simply an amazing thing? A public school being allowed to coordinate special sessions with a church for us to hear about the Bible and God? I have never thought to ask anybody else whether this was something unique to Mark Twain Elementary or if it was something standard for schools in the 1950's.


Second grade at Mark Twain was a delight as well and I progressed and adjusted to school and everything about it. My teacher, Nancy Olmsted was young and pretty with ivory skin and she wore bright red lipstick and tied small silk scarves around her neck. I can still hear her voice as she read Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr aloud to us. She was the only teacher I ever enjoyed listening to read a book as I have always preferred reading to myself.


Just before I was to enter third grade, my parents bought a new home across town. Although it was exciting to find out our family would be moving (to a house with a swing set), it was a great disappointment to me to learn in 1957 that I wouldn't be able to continue at my first school with my friends and beloved teachers.

Ah, the memories of your early years of school days. Mark Twain was in a poorer section of town and my understanding is that it is even more so now. We did not know we were poor then. We had everything we needed.

But what I discovered in my little search for a pic of my first school was a very cool story involving children at Mark Twain of second grade and below. There is an annual coloring contest for which the prize is a new bicycle for the winners. All the children were gathered together to hear the names of the winners. Each child was instructed to stand as their name was read. Now, imagine the surprise of a child hearing their name called and then to hear the name of EVERY child read and ALL children standing as they learn they would each have a new bicycle. That story brought tears to my eyes.

The Tulsa World would not give permission to share the photo, but here is a link to the story about the bicycles and who gets credit for the gift of the bikes.


Sunday, October 19, 2014

Happy Birthday Wishes!

Happy birthday wishes for my little sister, Roberta Sue.









Through all the years, 
the good and the bad,
happy or sad,
Thanks for being there for me during some of the hardest times of my life.

I love you.