They Laughed

I was reading in the Bible today about Jesus raising the little girl from the dead. (Mark 5 35:41)
I've read the story many times and this time two words jumped off of the page......they laughed...(v. 48).
Here was the Lord God Almighty, making an amazing declaration - in his calm, quiet way - that the child was only sleeping.....and they laughed. Two seconds before they had been mourning.....and wailing.....and saying... "Oh, woe is me!" (My version.) then an impossible- to believe- statement is made and their tears turned to laughter.
I was so mad at those people!! How could they laugh at MY Jesus???
Then that still small voice said....."Beloved, you laughed, too."
At first I was stunned....then my memory went to work. ..... A friend saying, "God has a plan" when I was mourning, and inside I said, "Yeah, right!" ....Then there was the time(s) when I decided to 'do it my way' instead of giving it to Him.....And so many more instances that I can't even count. While I may not have physically 'laughed' at Jesus....I did worse....I dismissed Him.
I've had times when I didn't think He was big enough to help. And times when I thought that my 'stuff'' was too small for Him.
How ashamed I was at this realization! I prayed for forgiveness and asked Him to never let me forget that I was in that house, also ...... I was laughing, too ..... and I was dismissing Him.
And I also prayed that if you have ever felt the same.... that you would go back with me to that day, stand in that crowd and instead of laughing....say to the Lord God Almighty....."Yes, Lord, she is only sleeping!"

Cadie Elizabeth O'Hern

My first and only granddaughter turned 10 Sunday. I can remember like it was yesterday ... the day she was born. Amy had labored all day and the doctor decided that a C-section was in order. James and I huddled in the waiting room praying that all would be well.....then Dr. Damrich came out and told us our little girl had given birth to a 10lb. 2 oz baby girl! Joy took on a new meaning and love took on a new depth.

Cadie lived in Alabama the first 2 years of her life before they moved so far away. She was in love with "Barney" then......now the cast from "High School Musical" has taken his place......but one thing has not changed since that first day 10 years ago.......our love for this precious gift named Cadie Elizabeth!! Happy birthday, angel!!! God bless and keep you!!

End Of Summer

It's not official yet ...... but summer is starting to fade. Now to many people that's a good thing.....to kids and students.....not so much. But as for myself........I bid it a FOND farewell!

This summer brought with it a summer cold (as 'opined' in previous chirps) -that turned into a summer plague -that kept me away from too many things to count!

But I have not lost heart!! I can almost smell the odor of burning leaves in the air! And is that a slightly golden leaf on a tree in my back-yard? .....It won't be long until the sound of the Hayden High School Band will come drifting through the window on Friday nights! And the little signs that show the way to the 'Pumpkin Patch' will be out on the road very soon!

You know, my favorite place to stand...... is on God's promises..... and He's promised us a change of seasons......how awesome a God is that!?!?!

Summer Colds

Even the term 'summer cold' is an oxymoron. Well I've been visited by this particular, 'moron'....and now that my temp is no longer 101 ......and since I can sit up without feeling dizzy, nauseous or otherwise 'yucky'.......I thought I'd chirp about this subject.

First a question or two..... How are you supposed to get under the covers and ward off the chills when it's 100 degrees outside? How are you supposed to force down chicken noodle soup when you are drenched with sweat ....not from fever....but from 'summer'?

I mean, come on, flannel gowns, thick socks and down comforts do not WORK in August in Alabama!!! At least Gatorade heps.........

O.K. ...... Enough belly-aching (ugh! don't even mention THAT word) ..time to make lemonade..... here goes...... The Olympics are starting! And football!! And I think I hear the whisper of autumn on it's way! God's so good!!!( and Tylenol is such a wonderful equalizer!)

Edna

There's an antique store near my home that is going out of business. A friend and I stopped by to check it out. Now it's been a while since I've been in an antique store.....mainly because I love them so much and want to buy nearly everything.... that my pocketbook (now THERE's an antique word!!!) won't allow me to go inside the store. ( And most of you know....I carry a BIG pocketbook!)

However, we did go into this one......and I was amazed at the loveliness of old craftsmanship! I was automatically sent back to a time when life was slow......where letters where the way to communicate.....where diaries and scrapbooks where kept and cherished. I could smell the lemon oil from ages ago and imagined a mother showing her daughter how to correctly take care of the furniture that had been handed down for generations. I touched the hand-embroidried pillow slips that took hours of love and perfection to stitch (and were now 1/2 price.)
There was a magnificent, large, detailed, framed painting of angels around the cross. Inserted was a perfectly hand-written card that said .....in long forgotten caligraphy..." In loving memory of our beloved daughter Edna...." and then, the rest was too faded to read. On the price tag was written "Mourning card...circa 1900". My heart was moved. Did that family ever imagine that someone in the 21st century .....would be standing in a little shop ....feeling - fresh -the loss that created such beautiful art?
I didn't buy it....(my pocketbook again!) ....but I, too mourned the loss of Edna. And not just Edna ....but a part of me mourned the time in which she lived. The closeness of family. The sweetness of tradition. It's almost gone from this world and the fast pace of living is to blame. But being the 'lemonade' kind of person that I am..... I grasped a ray of hope! For I realized that even though we don't keep diaries or scrapbooks or mourning cards anymore.....our spirits have found other ways to keep the old ways .....new!!!! We blog (or chirp!) and email and have pictures of those we love (and mourn) on our "blogspots". So. you see, INSIDE we aren't that different from Edna's family. God created us to love and while we've lost some of the details of life......we refuse to lose each other!!!

Well, this chirp was different!!!!! Hope your day is blessed and full of laughter!!

The Scooter Commercial Revisited

In response to my musings on the Scooter......A freind sent me the following:

(Now I know where I am on the 'wheel'!!!)

The Scooter Commercial

You know you are getting old when everything you watch on TV has the 'Scooter' commercial in it! I bet I saw that man say "you need to order the Scooter......" 20 times this morning! And the bad thing is......that Scooter is starting to look pretty good! Don't be surprised if you see me zipping around Hwy 160 on my new bright red scooter!!

Anyway..... I thought I'd share that with you.....

The summer is getting hotter so it must be time for the kids to be getting ready to go back to school....Wasn't it just last week when they were getting out??

Remember when summer lasted a full 3 months and the first day you went back you wore your new plaid wool jumper with the red sweater to match??? I have pictures of me on the first day of school with my jacket on OVER the sweater......now I KNOW I'm getting old......next I'll be saying....:When I was a kid.....we walked to school four miles in three feet of snow on the first day of school!!! ' My mother would be so proud!!!!

Gotta go.....Game Show Network might be showing my favorite commercial.................

The Pot Show

I added a new element to my Chirp today....It's a slideshow and the theme is flower pots.....I hope you enjoy it and as you look at the various and sundry pots...think of the Potter and the joy He had in making YOU!!! I love each crack and bump and beautiful decoration! And don't forget that even the plainest pot can hold magnificent beauty!!!! :)

O.K. ...so I haven't 'chirped' for a while.....and this one will be short (hard to believe, right?)

Crossrads VBS was awesome....over 100 kids everyday....6 professions of faith....and everyone did such an amazing job in Cosmo City!!!

And the Earthen Vessel SSC party was awesome Sunday evening! What an amazing sisterhood! (More on that later).

Today..... I feel so privileged to serve such an awesome God....He moves in ways we could never imagine and loves, loves, loves us no mater the who, where, what or why's we are.....now Who else do you know that feels that way about you????

I have to scoot right now......I'm using the word awesome WAY too much....gotta go think of another word!!!
Chirp at you later!

It's been several days since I've 'blogged'....(that is such a weird word!...sounds like the way you feel after eating bad seafood!) but the green and purple moster (Mr. Migrain) kept me hostage for a while and then I got busy.......I thought today would be a good day to 'blog'...(O.K. ...here's that word again.....I'm gonna change the word blog to....let me think.....wait a minute....I got it! Blog will from hereafter be called....YAK....no not yak...that sounds just as bad!!! How about this: Blog is now changed to CHIRP!! Chirp! ....a bird chirps when they are happy or sad or need to send news to the other birds or just want to vent because the cat is trying to break into their nest.... or just for the sake of chirping...and so it is with me....) I proclaim that this no longer a blog.....it's a chirp!

Now, on to other things....VBS starts today at Crossroads Baptist Church!!! We need to pray for the workers and every soul that attends. this is an exciting time for our church family and neighborhood!

Also you Earthen Vessels out there....Sunday night at 5 at the church is our very first SSClass Social! Dinner will be provided ..just bring your thinking caps with you....we want to make our SSC better than ever!

Chirp to ya later....see.....that sounds so much nicer!!!!N

So it's thundering and making all kinds of noise outside and my 'friend' the migraine is taping on my head again. You would think that the same folks that can make a monkey's heart work in a human could figure out a way to stop these horrible monsters! I imagine my migraines as green and purple monsters with huge fists.....to beat on your head with.......and smelling breath......to make you nauseous.......and loud screaming voices......to make your ears ring!!! Not to mention they won't go away...(just like the green stuff in my refidge that I'm scared to throw out....I think it's alive!!)
Well.....I thought I'd just share that with you since the green and purple monster will probably put me out of commission for a while! You know, you have to have a sense of humor about it or you'd go nuts!!!

Before I take the med-that-makes-me-goofy (er) I thought I'd bring up another thought to the Earthen Vessels.......you know how we were talking about how important the time 3 AM and 3 PM is in the Bible?.....well I did some research and it is VERY interesting... I plan on bringing it Sunday....if the monster goes away today. Anyway, I thought about how important the NUMBER 3 is to God. .....The trinity......on the third day.....etc. And then I realized it's been an important number in my life as well.....I'm the 3rd kid.......I was pregnant 3 times and I have 3 PRECIOUS grandkids.........And you will never believe this.....I just looked at the time on my computer and guess what time it is????? 3PM......Wow....we have so much to ponder about our amazing Father, don't we??? Love you all.......N

O.K. As many of you know....I'm always writing a book....actually a series of books and can't seem to feel right about them to send them off.......well.....I took a first step and sent a rough draft to a friend to look over. It's not the WHOLE book because the WHOLE book is a saga which won't be ready in forever......But this is a first step....yea!! I just hope I get brave enough to take the next step...pray for confidence!!

Those of you that are Earthen Vessels......hope you can come to the SS class get-together July 20 at 5PM. Maybe we can get some new ministries up and running

I'll leave you with a funny story...........A little boy was crying after he and his family were leaving church following the dedication of his baby brother. "Why are you upset, son?', His father asked.
The boy wiped his tears and sobbed,"The preacher said he wanted the baby to grow up in a good Christian home......but I want him to stay with US!!!" Blog ya later.............

As you might can tell, I deleted some of my previous posts because they were mostly for my grandkids. (I've moved them to another place). The reason you may ask??? I thought this blog would be a great way for we - Earthen Vessels- to use this page as the 'lighter side' of our journey with Christ......and WOW my journey is filled with comedy....how about yours????