Thanks Be To God!

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I ran across this poem in an inspirational book someone left in the ICU waiting room and it spoke to my heart about what we have been going through.  With Joe being in the ICU Burn Unit in Augusta, GA for one month, we have been reminded that the words of this poem are so true!  Jeep liked the poem, too, and when he ran across it, he asked us to stop what we were doing and he read it to us.

What God Has Promised

God hath not promised

Skies always blue

Flower-strewn pathways

All our lives through.

God hath not promised

Sun without rain

Joy without sorrow

Peace without pain.

But God hath promise

Strength for the day

Rest for the labor

Light for the way;

Grace for the trials

Help from above

Unfailing sympathy

Undying love.

by Annie Johnson Flint

Hebrews 13:5 ... he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Today we are thankful for this precious promise!

G is for GrandMomma Hodge's Tea Cakes

Is that stretching it a bit?? That's the name of a cookie recipe I found in the local county newspaper a few years ago. I've made these several times and never had a failure. They are crisp and delicate and always get compliments. Visit Jen at Unglazed to see other A to Z Food post for the letter G.

GrandMomma Hodge's Tea Cakes

1 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 cup Canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
4 cups all purpose flour

Cream butter, oil, and granulated sugar.  Add powdered sugar, vanilla and beaten eggs.  Mix well.  Sift together flour, soda, and cream of tartar. Add to other ingredients gradually and mix well.  The recipe says drop by tsp. onto greased cookie sheet and flatten with a fork. ( I chill the dough a little until I can handle it and roll a walnut-sized piece into a ball and then flatten it with a glass that has a design on the bottom.)  You may sprinkle extra sugar on top if desired.   Bake at 350 degrees until the edges are lightly browned, about 12 minutes.  These keep well in a sealed container.  Makes about 8 dozen melt-in-your-mouth cookies.  Enjoy!

Today I'm so very thankful that God has blessed me by bringing Jeep into my life! 

I'm Watching You!

Today I am thankful for the beautiful birds that God created!

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much valuable than they?  Matthew 6:26 NIV

Thank You!

♫  Praise God from whom all Blessings flow,  Praise Him, all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye Heavenly host, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost! ♪

This bouquet is for YOU!
Thanks to all my wonderful blogger friends who took time to say a prayer for me!
All went well and I should be seeing better than ever real soon.

Today I'm thankful to God for giving doctors, nurses and technicians the knowledge

and skill needed to do delicate eye surgeries.

Watch the Birdies

The male Cardinal ~ the king of the birds

Pine Warbler ~ Singing for his supper

Killdeer ~ by the road side

Another Pine Warbler ~ a frequent visitor

The female Cardinal ~ always willing to pose

Today I'm thankful for the beautiful birds that brighten my world!

Counting My Blessings

It's early morning and after the sun burns off the morning fog, the clouds seem to be floating very high in the beautiful blue sky. I often come out here on the back porch, or as some southerners would say, the varanda, to meditate, read, or just to drink in the sights and sounds of Nature. I got this simple wooden rocker from home when Mama had to give up housekeeping and it makes a comfortable place to sit.


There is a light breeze swaying the lush green trees at the edge of the woods that are behind our house. Bees and butterflies flutter in and out of the Petunias, gathering a little nectar or pollen for their breakfast. A beautiful Red Spotted Purple butterfly lights on the porch floor just long enough for me to get a picture.

Several Hummingbirds cautiously visit the feeders, always sipping from the back side of the feeder as if to hide from me. They've seen me out here with my camera before.

Just over the fence, our neighbor's horse and mule are rolling in the dirt and swishing their tails to chase away the horseflies.

A brave House Finch or two comes to the feeder and grabs a few seeds while keeping an eye on me.

Even a wary, male Cardinal stops by to check out the seeds. I'm hearing a bird loudly calling, Ree-ba, Ree-ba! I think it is a Cardinal. I have found out that they have several different calls. Now, I'm hearing more birds singing and I'm wishing that I could identify all of them by their calls.

And so begins another day in our 'neck of the woods' as I thank God for all the many ways He blesses our lives!

Happy Sunday!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Click on picture for a larger view.

This is a Happy Sunday for me and I hope you are having one, as well. Our Internet stopped working last Thursday and I have really missed you! I'm Counting my Blessings today:

1. I'm alive and well and able to get up and go to Sunday School, Worship and Communion services, in spite of my of sore muscles.

2. We got a couple of small projects done this week. My grandson came over and helped us build a mortared brick border along the side of a flower bed. (This is what caused the sore muscles.)
The other project was to get some gutter work done on the back side of the house.

3. I'm married to the sweetest and most loving husband in the whole wide world!

4. Did I mention that I'm thankful that the Internet is working again?????

I have so many, many more things, too numereous to mention, for which I am thankful!!!!!

Happy New Year!

On the last day of 2008, I just want to say "Thank You" for your friendship during this year! Some of the nicest people you could ever get to know are right here on blogspot. Thanks for sharing your corner of the world and the beauty that you see there. Thanks for being open and honest enough to share your joys, your sorrows and your prayer requests. Thanks for your help in putting my blog together, for your suggestions and insights. Thanks be to God for creating this beautiful world for us! May we all be good stewards of what He has given us. Lord give us eyes to see beauty in all of your people and all of Nature!

I'm Thankful For.........

I try to be thankful every day, but at this time of the year, I think I am more focused on all the things I should be thankful for.

I am thankful that God loved us enough to send Jesus to the world to teach us how to live, to die for our sins, to be raised from the dead. I am thankful for all the many blessings that God gives me every day!

I am thankful for my lot of being born in the USA, land of the free and home of the brave.

I am thankful for family...... for the unconditional love and Christian guidance of my parents and grandparents who did their best to teach me how to live....for sisters I love and rely on.....for lots of uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews who have loved me through the years.

I am thankful for the many school teachers and Sunday school teachers who gave unselfishly of their time and energy to guide me in the straight and narrow path.

I'm thankful for having had a long and happy marriage and a beautiful, healthy baby. I'm thankful that he grew up, married and gave me two grandchildren to bless my life. I'm thankful that they have always lived nearby, so I could see them often.

I'm thankful for the way that God took care of me, through His people, after the death of my husband. I could not have gotten through that valley without His help and guidance.

Praise God! He is so good and He still answers prayers! He has greatly blessed me again by bringing Jeep into my life! Jeep is not only my childhood sweetheart, but a good friend, a wonderful husband, and a comfortable companion. Then God decided to give us one more blessing......a zany, crazy, exciting 'teen-age' love for each other!