Good Old Days

Painting by H Hargrove

This painting hangs in my living room.  I love its reminder of days gone by.  I remember seeing a gas pump like this outside of the town where I grew up--certainly different from today's multi pump stations.
No doubt the driver of this snazzy car, has gone inside the general store, to pick up some goods for the missus.

Cook stove similar to the
one Mom used

Looking from outhouse to our home
growing up.

We often yearn for the good old days, but in reality they were the hard old days--no modern conveniences, no convection ovens, no indoor plumbing, and no TV. 


 I enjoy the nostalgia of times gone by, but I am thankful for the here and now, especially when I think of the cold walks to the outhouse in winter.

Thankful Harvest

Every harvest time I think of my mom.  We lived on a ranch in the mountains of Wyoming, but each year she planted a large garden.  There were rows of beans, peas, carrots, and beets.  (Also a few rows of bachelor buttons, zinnias, and marigolds.)  We visited my grandma in Utah and brought back bushels of fruit from her orchard for canning.  When fall came, mom and all us kids would pick the bounty, and she would let us help prepare them for canning.  First of all, they were rinsed in a large, round laundry tub, Peas were shucked, corn cut off the cob. Beans were snapped, except for a few of the very best, which she would carefully place in jars--all straight and proper like a row of soldiers, to be used when company came for supper. 

Then after the jars were full, into the pressure cooker they went, for 20 minutes or so of processing, all on a coal/wood burning cook stove.  By the end of the season she had "put up" 100 quarts of beans, many pints of peas, and countless quarts of other vegetables, along with many quarts of peaches, pears, apricots and applesauce.  We would have enough fruits and vegetables to last til the next harvest.  Looking back it must have been a huge task, but she was always sang through the whole job, thankful that God again had given a good harvest.

Open the Doors, see all the People

I am thankful for my church. The Mission of North Phoenix Baptist Church is to

challenge people to discover and live a Christ-centered life.

My church, although considered a mega-church, has small fellowship groups and classes, to encourage friendship and fellowship. It has a mission of service to the community and encourages everyone to put their faith into action. 

That's me in the red sweater, behind the sound booth.

"Loving God and Loving People are core characteristics of a Christ-centered life and reflect the essence of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Living God's love in the heart of our city and around the world is our vision and preferred future. We believe the best is yet to come!"  Having this premise makes this a wonderful place to worship. 

Worth a Look

Just a quick note, Lynn at Trash to Treasure Art is having a giveaway, featuring some of her wonderful work.  Pop over to check it out.

Another great site with a giveaway is My Gramas Soul Check her out also.

Almost Mine

My girl and her family

Today, I'm thankful for my "kind-a-kid".  A daughter not by birth, or adoption, but by love. She was the child of a substance abuser--a nice woman, but with a problem she couldn't handle.When the baby was ten days old, through a friend's referral, I baby sat her for the evening while her mom went out.  Three days later, mom came to pick her up.  That was the beginning of my motherhood with her. The pattern repeated itself again and again. Sometimes I would have her for a week or a year. (Now child protective services in Arizona is terrible, so the thought of turning her over was never an option).  I loved that little girl. She truly brought joy into my life.  She was funny, loved being clean, inquisitive, obedient. She did love to shop, though.  If she found a penny on the sidewalk, she would come running and tell me "lets go shopping". Through the years she grew into a wonderful women, with a good profession, now with two children of her own.  She is a loving, thoughtful person.  Her house is shiny clean and yes, she still loves to go shopping.






Also I give thanks today for my son.  Today is his birthday.  He is a loving dad, a faithful husband, trustworthy employee, and a child of God.