Pink Saturday

Happy 234th Birthday,

America!

It is an honor to fly our beautiful America flag... whether in support of our valiant troops who serve our nation, or in celebration of our various National holidays...
This week we've been flying the colors inside our home as well!

This is my seasonal tree that I deck out in festive apparel throughout the year... situated in the sunroom it always hosts my collection of birds in recognition of the beautiful birds we attempt to attract to our yard each season and enjoy watching so much from every vantage point in this room.
This week this decor helped to welcome my wonderful Wednesday morning Bible Study ladies in our home.. It was fun preparing patriotic refreshments for my dear friends...

One of my favorite magazines provided the inspiration !

I purchased a lemon pound cake from Krogers and cut the top off of it... then whipped 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, and 1/4 cup of lemoncello until soft peaks formed... and piled it on the top of the cake.. then layered fresh blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries on top...


Skewered melon slices,toasted Allouette cheese (spinach and artichoke) topped potato/ lavendar bread slices served with a slice of fresh garden tomato and mixed nuts completed the savories I served...
To quinch our thirst I mixed up delectable blueberry pomegranate spritzer, using lemon lime soda, cranberry pomegranate juice and a dash of blueberry syrup...served over ice! Yummy!

It was a lovely occasion to celebrate our freedom in our nation, more importantly our freedom in Christ... with a dash of pinkness in our spirit!!


For more Pink Saturday visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound!!!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your PINKNESS today!!

Happy Birthday, USA

I have never sensed in my spirit such a deep feeliing of concern for our country as I do as we move ever closer to this 234th birthday of our nation.... it hardly seems possible that it has been 34 years since our national bicentenial celebration... such a marvelous patriotic experience.... the parades, the genuine love of country and pride in our national heritage.....
However, today, there is a sense of loss.... that our national fabric is fading... the tapestry of America is unraveling, our identity is becoming more and more blurred....Does anyone else feel this sense of loss?
It isnt just the state of our economy that makes me feel this unease....I feel that it is a spiritual problem.... whenever a nation tries to exclude God from the society,,, then the door is open for evil to pervade and consume it.... we have heard our leaders say we are not a Christian nation.... that rips my heart apart to hear those in power say such things.... for our nation was founded on Godly principles...and so now little by little society, through our education system,, the media, and our goverment has extracted and shut out everything that has to do with the divine... therefore our protective covering has been shattered.... and the enemy has infiltrated every level and institution that once made this country great. Even our churches are compromising truth about God by delivering watered down teaching... tickling the ears of the congregations. People are lulled into thinking that they are ok..... whatever they believe... they've bought into the lie that false prophets on tv and the media have perpetrated on them... so that they have created their own theology based on what their limited, finite understanding can grasp.... they have created a friendly little god of love and mercy. They dont want to hear anything about the Blood, or redemption, about judgement, or hell....
they think it is great that their young children are reading Harry Potter and their young teenage daughters are reading vampire love stories... they see their kids reading.... how wonderful.... all the while the enemy is drawing our youth into the clutches of the demonic by the droves..... has anyone even stopped to conider with the way things are continuing to go down hill could this possibly be the last birthday celebration for the USA... how soon will it be that the North American Union takes hold and we conpletely lose our nation....
I am taking a time to reflect on who we are, from where we have come, and where we are going this July 4th... Im going to really enjoy this weekend.... I want to really treasure the patriotic music, the fried chicken and potato salad.... the fireworks and the parades and hide this love of country deep into my heart.... for I believe it is a treasure that may not be available to us much longer....

Word Filled Wednesday

Pray that we never forget that this country was founded on Christian principles "under God" .... and our founding Fathers sought to protect our religious freedoms...

Click here for more WFW!

Three or More Tuesday

Visit Tam at The Gypsy's Corner for more TOMT..

Today for my Three or More Tuesday I would like to share from my collection of days album...

I'll begin with yesterday...usually on Monday I meet at the church with the Body Builder's group as we study God's Word and apply it to our spiritual, physical, and emotional maturity with the hope that in doing so we will have better health and lose some weight..... yesterday we had come to the end of a 12 week session and it was time to celebrate ....so we met at Emmajean's gorgeous home to celebrate how God is alive in us.....It would have been lovely if we could have visited on Emmajean's gorgeous patio amid her flowering bowers...




But alas it was just too hot...

It was much more cosy to enjoy out luncheon in the beautiful dining room... of course, anyone who knows me knows that I was completely enthralled with her amazing red toile cornices....


We spent the morning sharing what we had gotten out of our 12 weeks together, we shared funny stories about our lives, and shared about our personal lives our homes and families and really were building authenicity in our relationships.

What dear friends these gals are... that I get to meet with, grow with, and share about life's joys and trials with.....

Our luncheon was a cornucopia of delicious low-cal delights....



Our hostess Emmajean wrote the following poem and shared it with us to close our lovely day...


God's Earth

The beauty and glory of the earth
Show in so many ways
A baby's cry at birth
Upon our hearts forever stays

A robin's song early in spring
Gives music to the dewy morn
A church bell tolls its ring
Upon the soul a prayer is born

The rippling creek runs so clear
Over pebbles glistening in the sun
Butterflies flutter around so near
Delighting the eye 'til day is done

Trees bending low heavy with snow
Covers the ground, a blanket of white
Countless snowflakes who can know
Upon the snow sunbeams crystal bright.

God's world is wonderful to behold:
A magnificent creation from above
His mercy and grace more precious than gold,
And the greatest of His gifts is LOVE!

~~Emmajean Bowman~~

Another day Id love to share about was Sunday....because it was such a Red letter day for us...

Th Lord is so active in my dear husband's life.... he is growing by leaps and bounds in his spiritual maturity.... our Sunday School teacher of several years has decided to stop teaching for a while and he is actively trying to find a replacement..... when he asked Lynn if he'd like to give it a try.... I just held my breath in anticipation of his answer.... and suddenly there was was....

Yes, he was nervous, but he got such a huge blessing from it... he's considering teaching more regularly.... praise God!!

One last day Id like to share about was last Thursday when we had a special luncheon at my mom's. Mom worked so hard to prepare the house for this fun time because special guests were coming.... my dad will be 91 this July and he has 2 cousins he hadnt seen in probably 50 years.... it was wonderful to get together.... we had a glory time sharing old stories, singing old songs and getting to reconnect...

This is Kate Ella giving us a real concert of great gospel tunes.... wow can she make those notes sing!
Today I really enjoyed pulling together a bit of treasure from my day collection... treasures that have been stored in my heart... treasures of love, memories, sharing, giving..treasure we're storing in heaven!

Mosiac Monday

Visit Mary at the Little Red House for more Mosaic Monday!!

Our home pleases me at the spiritual level... I find peace and solace here....so many places where I can sit and commune with God, rest, play, and entertain... what more could anyone ask!!??

Pink Saturday

This year our prolific petunias are this radiant shade of pink!! So showy, they appear to be singing in exultation!!! Petunias are known as "Mary's Praises" in Germany due to their uplifting flowers. Symbolizing the Virgin Mary in Christianity, they are often planted in gardens dedicated to the Mother of Christ. My petunias stand sentinel at our back entrance speaking welcome to one and all who enter into our home....and now knowing that they herald praise to our loving Father,,, they now occupy a much higher place of preeminence in my estimation....

Read more: What Is the Meaning of Petunias? eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5348992_meaning-petunias.html#ixzz0rvCX3Q

For more Pink Saturday visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound!!!

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your PINKNESS today!!

Wedding Blog Party

I am so happy I happened upon the 2010 Wedding Blog Party hosted by Angelic Accents!You will definitely want to stop in there to enjoy all of her beautiful wedding paraphenalia! I just happened to be looking through some photos at my mother's for luncheon today and ran across a couple I didnt remember so I revel at being given the opportunity to share them here today!!!First off, I'll share my wedding portrait taken in 1971... that year Romeo and Juliet had been a box office hit and one of my favorite films... thus the medieval veil with the lace mantilla which reminded me of that era....


We opted for the portrait over still shots at the wedding at that time so my live photos are simple snapshots that a relative took that day..
Then in 2005 our beautiful daughter, Amanda married her one and only sweetheart, Joshua in the chapel of their university... Virginia Tech!








Her gorgeous cascading phaleanopsis orchids are preserved under glass for posterity along witha Brides'maid fan and her something old... a lovely lace hanky!


I love this photo of the father/daughter dance... Lynn looks so debonaire!!!



So today our daughter and son inl aw live in Boston... they both have marvelous job and they are serving in their church and live in a beautiful new home.... being professional violinists in their pastimes,, they make lovely music together!!!