In honor of my sister, Sally, who always dressed to the hilt for every holiday, I bought a sparkling shamrock necklace today. Happy St. Pat’s Day, Sis!!
My necklace has a sparkling light – – – Sally would love this! She’s in a nursing home in Pennsylvania, and like all nursing homes in the USA now, they are on “lock down” for their own safety. Coronavirus is keeping a lot of folks away from the corned beef and cabbage fun they usually enjoy with family and friends on this day. I hope the Masonic Home serves it for her dinner.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, dear friends. I hope your day is a blessed one – even if you are quarantined and unable to get out. Just let the leprechauns come to you!
In her devotional this morning, Cynthia Ruchti reminded me it’s Ash Wednesday. She wrote (on this Feb. 20 devotional in Daily Guideposts), “… my sins have been incinerated, a fine layer of ash is all that remains – and that layer has been blown away by the breath of Jesus’ mercy.”
What a wonderful image that is! She reminded us of the devastation of the 2019 California fires that left whole neighborhoods (in fact major parts of whole cities, like Paradise, CA) incinerated. She mourned, “The ash was so fine it left only a dusting over the footprint of each lost home.”
Cynthia reminded me that Ash Wednesday is “a time of reflection, self-sacrifice, spiritual discipline, and fasting to prepare the heart for Easter.” Her “Faith Step” at the conclusion of the message was: “Our humanity and our sinfulness have been conquered in Jesus and we are free. Ashes to joy. Dust to life. Live victoriously.”
At http://www.Christianity.com the author wrote: “Each year, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is always 46 days before Easter Sunday. Lent is a 40-day season (not counting Sundays) marked by repentance, fasting, reflection, and ultimately celebration. The 40-day period represents Christ’s time of temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted and where Satan tempted him. Lent asks believers to set aside a time each year for similar fasting, marking an intentional season of focus on Christ’s life, ministry, sacrifice, and resurrection.”
My niece, Jodie
I am ready to embrace this season. I am ready to “live victoriously.” I am ready for “Dust to dust” to become “Dust to Life.”
I am ready for “Ashes to ashes” to become “Ashes to Joy.“
Our Valentine Friends Treated us to a dinner At Blue Moon Cafe
Driving to Cameron, The setting sun was gorgeous Happy Valentine
Loved meeting long-time friends in Cameron.
Bob & Richard had a lot of catching up to do.
So did Pam and I. Good friends are such a blessing, aren’t they?
We were grateful for clear roads to and from.
How did you spend your Valentine’s Day? Did you go out to eat? Did you meet up with long-time friends or share the day/evening with family? Tell me about it!
After 5 weeks of vacationing with friends and family in California, and two days of sorting through 5 weeks of piled-up mail, I am back in the routine (sort of). Missed my sanctuary time this morning… am headed up there now (as soon as I post this).
As you can see, looking beyond into the living room, my Christmas decorations still are up. That was today’s job – along with bill paying. Had to get right on it after breakfast cuz I had a friend coming over.
That’s only a portion of the mail we accumulated at the post office while we were gone. Most of it was junk. That went into another pile to be thrown away.
Bob’s busy sorting and responding to mail, too.
After lunch we took a break and I did some of my usual: checked at the P.O. for more mail, visited my “Senior Friend” who lives alone, and visited friends in the Manor Nursing Home. It was good to see them after all this time away.
As I was leaving the house, headed to the P.O. and Manor, our neighborhood “pets” greeted me. They were out in the field, and then crossed the driveway in front of me. They stopped in the sunshine over in the neighbor’s field and looked at me. “Welcome Home!” they seemed to say!
That’s the snow-peaked Madison Range beyond our valley over there. Big Sky Ski Resort is in those mountains. The sun shone brightly these last two days since we’ve been home, I told friends I brought it with me from California!
Not to be outdone, my friend, Jacquie, sent me a photo of her neighborhood “pets.” They were walking along her driveway… a mama moose and her youngin’ – so adorable!
Approaching my friend, Ray’s house, his neighborhood “pets” were lounging in his yard. Ah, it is so good to be back in the place where the deer and the antelope roam (and the moose too)!!
Back home, I helped my friend with the Christmas tree and other remnants of the holidays. They needed to be taken down and put away. And my house needed tidying. Thank God for Tracy. I couldn’t have done it without her!
Ah yes, January 30th… time to put the tree away for another year.
How did you spend your day?
No place like home! Blue skies, puffy clouds,… We are grateful to God for this place. We feel so blessed!
Thanks for dropping by. Leave a comment for JanBeek, will ya?
Ever wanted to Wear your angel wings right now? Why wait for heaven?
Here I am in wings Before my heavenly home How did that happen?
Sadly, fifty-eight Beautiful souls were gunned down; But their souls live on.
Riverside City Has many wings on display For would-be angels.
They’re just waiting for Angelic folks like I’m not – Ready to pose there.
Doesn’t it look fun To pretend you’ve earned your wings Long before you do?
Keep working at it! You, too, can look angelic… Now – try acting it!!
After our angel tour in Riverside, we went with Janet and Charley to the Mission Inn. The Christmas decorations all still were up – only of course, the outdoor light display was not twinkling. We could see all the light bulbs, though. Must have been a million of them.
I hope you had a happy Saturday, too. You can see mine was quite enjoyable. I think I already see some feathers growing …
