Good Day for Marrying You ...Blessings on Vev and Eli!!!

This is my new favorite song.  

It played at Vev and Eli's wedding among happy tears and much joy and happiness.  And it was a good day, a very good day!

I pray blessings and love and happiness on this beautiful couple, on our "other" daughter Vevila Covington!  and Her Prince Charming Eli!  

May God grant you years and years of love, laughter, and fun like this song embraces.  May the soundtrack for your life be beautiful and varied and filled with songs that your hearts can dance to!!!  
May sorrow stay far from your door but joy be a welcomed guest!
May your hearts stay turned toward each other as they were on this your first day as 
Mr. and Mrs.
May you always remember the one who placed you together and may you run to Him when troubles come a knockin'. 
God bless and keep this marriage, in Jesus name!

Here are the words...
Good Day for Marrying You

Baby, the sun is shinin'
Dogwoods are comin' in bloom
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you
I'll call my mama and daddy
Baby, you call yours too
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you

I know you by now, which means I know what you're thinking 'bout
Your friends (they keep askin')
About us (with everyday passin')
It's time this fairy tale came true

Baby, the sun is shining
Dogwoods are comin' in bloom
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you
I'll call my mama and daddy
Baby, you call yours too
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you

We got all we need
I'll find a ring if you'll find a shaded tree
My friends (they're all buzzin')
Word's out (everyone's comin')
Better tell 'em to bring a picture too

Baby, the sun is shining
Dogwoods are comin' in bloom
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you
I'll call my mama and daddy
Baby, you call yours too
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you

It's good day, it's about to get better
Every dream is about to come true
No reason to wait, we got the weather
We just need our "do's"

Baby, the sun is shining
Dogwoods are comin' in bloom
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you
I'll call my mama and daddy
Baby, you call yours too
Put on your white dress
Yeah 'cause, oh baby, it's a good day for marrying you

Notebook, Tape and Scissors

My granddaughter was over and she got out a notebook I had bought at the beginning of the school season.  Her momma and her aunties are long past school age but I still can't resist the bargain prices for notebooks at that time of year.   There is nothing like a fresh blank page.  It just calls to me.  This one was the last one left, orange in color.  It was left last because I don't really like orange. So I had used the others colors first. Like red, who doesn't like red.  Or soothing blue.  So peaceful  You can write in a blue notebook.  

But I digress.  Bekki had gotten the notebook cause she needed paper.  I almost didn't let her use it.  Last one and all.  I sometimes battle with a mentality I don't fully understand.  I wasn't brought up in the Depression  Era but I worry we won't have enough.  But I caught myself and let her have it easily.  Before I knew it she wanted tape, and then scissors.  She quietly played and talked to herself most of the day.  She cut and assembled  long stripes of paper to put across the doorway.  Not sure why she did but I had to explain that blocking the bathroom doorway was a bad idea when your grandparents both take diuretics for high blood pressure.  She relented.  She made Valentine scenes to go with the big Valentine posters we had up.  There were little people holding hands in love and lots of hearts.  Next she said the notebook was her journal and instead of writing in it, she drew about 10 pages of pictures.  She carefully described what each one was to me.  In case I didn't understand.  

But my favorite was the bird.  She showed me how to make it.  You fold the page accordion style then unfold and crunch it up real good, then you shape and mold it into a bird shape.  And it really looks like a bird. So seriously she explained it all to me.  She had an exotic whimsical name she had grabbed out of her fertile imagination.  Then of course, since the bird  was a house bird, she needed a bird cage.  More long stripes of paper where assembled.  After a few minutes voila!  She had a home worthy of any majestic canary or parrot.  I'm not sure just which kind of house bird she was.  But she did sit on your finger.  And she flew and danced about the room, helping Bekki with some story she had in her head.  Then we needed a friend for her and the whole process was repeated.  The second bird took flight and we lost her but we still have the other sweet bird resting in her cage. Tired I imagine from her day's activities. 

By the end of the day a good time was had by all.  Well, except maybe Poppa who wanted peace and quiet.  Sometimes you have to jump a little on the couch to fly your bird or get up on the love seat to attach her cage to the hanging picture thingy.  And just like a bird, our Bekki sure can chatter.  But all and all a fun time was had.  And just to think it was with just a thirty cent notebook, a roll of tape, a pair of scissors and an imagination straight from God.   



As I was telling this story it reminded me of something I heard.   If we open our hand, God will fill it. Like the story in the Bible of Elijah and the raven.   Don't remember it?  Elijah was a prophet and he was told by God to tell King Ahab that because of his worshiping idols there wouldn't be any rain.  Ahab got very angry so God told Elijah to go hide by the Brook Cherith.  He had water to drink.  But what to do about food?  Well, God told him ravens would bring him food morning and night.  He raised his hand and the raven would drop meat in his hand.  God provided for him.



Also the story of David and the slingshot comes to mind.  ( I listened in Sunday School)  There young David was facing a giant that all the mighty warriors were afraid of and what did he have?  A mere slingshot.  But him and God overcame the giant.  

Do you have a need?  Open your hand, will not our God provide? Have faith. Rest in God.  He has all the answers you need.  He is right there with you.  Be still and listen.  Learn to let Him guide you.   Be filled with His Spirit and He will show you that often you already have what you need to finish your journey.  We run here and there, to and fro.  Searching.  Searching.  Missing that He is right there with us.  And we forget or don't really grasp that  with Him nothing is impossible.  

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Phillippians  4:13


So like Bekki, what do you have in your hands, your home, your mind, your heart, your life that can make this a good day, even a beautiful day? Shine out and live well today.  Open your heart and mind and BELIEVE for your need to be supplied!!!

My Grands

Grands are the best!  I have two right now.  Bekki and Jack.  Bekki comes to visit every Saturday and spends the night. I look forward to it every week.  If I could wish a wonderful thing for you I would wish you would have grands as grand as mine.







 Of course, this Nonna thinks mine are the grandest of them all.

Springbreak

Springbreak

 

Lovely, lovely springbreak!!!  It is at these times I love my

job.  Most people don't get 2 weeks off in the spring.  I DO!  Yay me!  

Hey the Bible says to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Right?  So rejoice with me today.  And I will rejoice with you some time.  

Random Loveliness

My friend Jeanie was sharing random thoughts on her blog and at the end she asked what random loveliness had her readers been enjoying.  This prompted the following response from me. (I did add a few more for here)  These are some of the loveliness I've enjoyed lately.  

Our middle daughter Carla moved back in and I’m so enjoying her cause I know it won’t last long.  I’m enjoying her sweetness and her presence.  She is such a beautiful person inside as well as outside. She is creative, funny, did I mention beautiful?  I love this season while it's here.  

Bekki, who is 5, and I made a diaper cake for a cousin’s little one. Bekki decided what it needed was the orange feather she had drawn. That sounded okay but it also had brown monkey stickers with red hearts on them and a touch of purple on it. So the color scheme was a challenge. We used multi-colored cupcake ribbons and dotted ribbons with orange netting to cover all. Colors were out of my comfort zone but my sweet Bekki loved it. Hope the cousin's mom does too.

We had a snow day! Who doesn’t love a snow day? Pay without having to go to work and time to play.. Carla and Bekki being here  were the icing on the cake or snow on the roof? lol  Of course a snow day in Tennessee requires a lot less snow than I imagine Colorado does. What a fun day!

And Jack's cooing when Mandi calls.  Wish I could capture these days.  I'm storing up the memories of him at this age.

I’m reading through the Bible too but after umpteen times of only getting through the first books. I started last summer with Deuteronomy and in the NT, Acts.  I read Acts than read chronologically the rest of the NT circling back to Matthew. I’m now in I Chronicles. Goodness the Kings and Chronicles were like drudging through mud. Blood, wars, killings etc. Sorry Lord but Yuck! But what I've loved is that right in the midst of the gore there will be a bright spot of the Lord’s faithfulness or a person will be a follower of God after maybe 3 generations of his family were truly terrible unfaithful people. I’m enjoying it overall.

There is a free magazine box at the allergist office. This week there was some lovely magazines and some very neat catalogs. I love that there are catalogs of clothes or home products that I would never have seen if some sweet soul hadn't left them there. I do need to bring some of them back though. So easy to accumulate too many.

And last Saturday Paul and I had to go down to the charming little town where we pay our property taxes and had a sweet relaxing day. The best part it was unplanned it just kind of unfolded.  A gift from God after 2 hard weeks.  We went to a down home, small town cafe/diner. We had never been there since the current owners had started running it.  All the people were looking at us like “who is that?” We live on the edge of our county and go to the main city in the next county for most of our living so we were strangers. Than we went thrifting at a perfectly delightful little shop. i bought 3 journals for $2.  And afterward ice cream at the pharmacy.They have a whole little old fashioned place with little stools to sit on.  It was the girls second day.  She had never made a sundae.  They used what they called wet walnuts.  I had never heard of them.  Very delicious.   It is such a pretty 
little town. Gainesboro

Oh one more. Carla and Paul’s impromptu tiny concert. Okay, one or two songs. Carla on guitar and Paul on harmonica. So pretty. Thrilled my soul. See Carla is very shy about her guitar playing. She doesn't know I sometimes listen in the hallway to her singing and playing. I’m praying God removes this shyness and her gifts will make room for her. So the concert was so lovely.

Those were some of the random loveliness's  I have had this week.  What about you?  What random loveliness has come to you lately?  

Love of Boxes and a side trip into my thoughts.

Boxes. I have this love of boxes. Don't know why. But I love them. Cute little ones, shoe boxes, paper mache boxes, those photo boxes in the stores, Mary Englbrett boxes, plain brown boxes, fancy boxes, refrigerator boxes (do you know the things you can make from one of those babies?  Keeps the little ones busy for hours).  Any and all boxes. Every kind. The lovely one my sister in law gave me with the beautiful music box in it.  Boxes, lovely boxes.

 I wonder if there is some deep psychological reason for this.  Some drama from my childhood?  Some need to have things in order?  Which I surely don't.   Some strange need to put everything in a box?  in a category?  What darkness lies behind it?

Nope... I'm not going there.  I am just leaving that alone for now.  Maybe sometime I will exam it. But for now  I'm going to just continue to love my boxes and the sweet joy I find in them.

Do you have a love of something particular?  Tell me about it.  I don't want to be the only one.

Stories, Everyone has one

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.  Lemoney  Snicket.

I have always loved stories.  I remember sitting in a big chair with my Mom reading from the Bible Story book. It had exquisite pictures. I remember my Dad and Uncles telling stories of how fast they drove to get back home to Tennessee.  And arguing over who drove there the quickest without getting a ticket.  But that's another post.  I loved hearing their stories and other's stories.  Every Sunday we were at one of my Uncles houses and there were stories of what happened since last week and what the neighbors were doing. What funny thing each had seen or done that week.   We were a loud, happy group always with a story.

And as a child I met many a friend in a book.  Huck Finn. The Happy Hollisters.  Nancy Drew.  The Little Red Hen.  Peter Pan.  The Cat in the Hat before the movie ruined him.  I joined in with them in their adventures.  I loved them truly with all my little girl heart.  Then there was those people on TV like Caption Kangaroo who told stories and had cartoons with stories.  I loved Davey and Goliath on the TV show.  I could go on an on.  

As I grew older I remember reading in the Detroit News the story Black Like Me.  It opened my eyes to a different point of view.  I read Dave Wilkerson's  The Cross and the Switchblade.   I saw there were problems in the world but God could help.  Autobiographies, biographies..stories lovely stories.  

As I said I LOVE them.  They make life better.  They teach truths without nagging.  They give your mind something worthwhile to think about so you won't be one of those people that gets BORED.  How can you be bored if you can remember a story that captivates you every time?

Also our stories, our families' stories, are important.  We are not really telling these stories.  For all the neatness of the internet, we are not talking with each other.  We aren't telling how Uncle Arnold's brother's cut down a tree with him in it.  (True story..haha)  We aren't telling what it was like to move to Detroit city from rural Tennessee or why we moved there.  We need to share our stories with each other.  How did you come to be a Christian?  How did you meet your husband or wife?  What did I look like as a baby?  I guess we need to become storytellers again.  And teach children to be curious and ask questions again.  We need to slow down and talk more.

So draw up a chair, grab some sweet tea or lemonade, put up your feet.  Let's sit together on His porch in the warm sunshine and share our hearts.  Let's share our stories.  Heart to heart.  What's new with you?  What's He done for you?  What other stories have you heard?  Let me tell you my story.  Let me tell you a story I've read.  Come with me on an adventure......  When I was a little girl.  I had a bike.  Her name was Cindy.  She was teal blue and Daddy got her from the Sears store when I was 7.  I had so many adventures on her.  She was like a story....a way to have adventures.  You just had to hop on and ride.  I hope you will hop on the storytelling vehicle and see where the adventure takes you.