Lots of Big Stuff, Progress, and Beautiful Skies

Hello Everyone!  I'm sorry I haven't written in a day or two. Mommie has been kind of busy with other stuff and so we haven't had much time for too many "adventures".  Oh, but today was Sunday, and Mommie and Daddy went to church this morning.  Mommie said I could share with you their church service and the pretty song the choir sang, so here it is:

Mommie said to be sure to start at the beginning to hear the choir singing 

"We'll Soon Be Done With Troubles and Trials"

"Some of these days I’m going home

Where no sorrows ever come

We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials.

Safe from heartache, pain and care, We shall all that glory share

And I’m gonna sit down beside my Jesus

Sit down and rest a little while.

We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials.

Yes, in that home on the other side

And I’m a gonna shake glad hands with the elders

Tell my kindred good morning

Then I’m gonna sit down beside my Jesus

Sit down and rest a little while.

I shall behold His blessed face, I shall feel His matchless grace

We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials

O what peace and joy sublime in that home of love divine

And I’m gonna sit down beside my Jesus

Sit down and rest a little while.

We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials.

Yes, in that home on the other side

And I’m a gonna shake glad hand with the elders

Tell my kindred good morning

Then I’m gonna sit down beside my Jesus

Sit down and rest a little while.

We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials.

Yes, in that home on the other side

And I’m a gonna shake glad hand with the elders

Tell my kindred good morning

Then I’m gonna sit down beside my Jesus

Sit down beside my Jesus

Sit down beside my Jesus, and rest a little while, little while.

Sit down and rest a little while. Little while."

After the music you can listen to the Pastor preach from the book of James 3:13-4:3.  She said it was a good sermon and you will like it!  I hope so!!

So now, what else have we been doing lately? Well, one day  this past week we took a little ride to see how the new road construction was coming along.  Here are some pictures Mommie took of the big road equipment:

I think it would be fun to ride on one of those big things!  Maybe they would even let me drive it! Do you think so?  Well, Mommie said probably not. They are very very big and expensive, and it takes a lot of experience to know how to work these things, but maybe someday they might let me sit inside one and see what it's like. That would be fun.

Mommie said they are adding two more lanes to this highway so it will have 4 lanes all the way from where we live to another city far away. She said that might make more people want to move to our neighborhood because then they could "commute" to better jobs in the cities on this road. Mommie said they call that "progress", but she hopes it doesn't change the quiet little town we live in. We like it just fine the way it is.

One of the little towns along this road is called "Hawthorne". We drove through the old downtown area and saw this painting on the side of one of the buildings.

Mommie said that's the way it used to be in this little town...lots of big bass fishing in the lakes, the railroad train came right through town, there were lots of orange groves and wildlife and old hotels. "Progress" made the big highway bypass this little town, and now it  has lots of empty buildings like this:

However, Mommie said somebody she knows actually just bought this building and they are going to put a pizza place and a couple of stores in it. So maybe something good is going to happen in this little town after all! Maybe that is progress!

After leaving here we drove back toward home, and we stopped at my big brother Benton's house because they had some big stuff and "progress" going on too!

This funny looking machine was going around to their back yard because they had someone cutting down some trees and this thing was going to haul away the debris:

It looks like some kind of monster with big teeth if you ask me:

Speaking of "monsters with big teeth":

Sugar...

And Spice were happy to see me. Spice didn't even bark at me this time! I think she likes me now!!

And they really aren't monsters with big teeth. They like to lick me and tickle me!! LOL.

Then we went around to the back yard and saw this going on:

And after that man in that bucket thingy was done trimming some more trees, he went way way up in the sky:

UP

UP

And WAY UP in the sky!!! I was getting a little nervous for him...

But Mommie said he would soon come down and be just fine.  They got that old dead tree cut down and some branches on some other trees and then they were done.

Mommie said they made good progress!!

While we were there Mommie said we needed to stop and "smell the roses", or in this case, Auntie Rose's Camellias, and they don't really have much of a smell, but they are very pretty!

And then we said good-bye to my big brother Benton and we headed back home.

I'd say we made good progress that day!

And now for the "grand finale".

Mommie and I sat outside this evening and watched the sunset.

Isn't it bea-U-ti-ful?

I just had to lift my hands and Praise the Lord. Mommie did too.

And then we sang this song that Mommie said they sing in church. It's called the "Doxology":

"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him all creatures here below;

Praise Him above ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

Amen.

 I hope you enjoyed this little ride with me today.  It's nice to make "progress" in good ways, but it is always good to remember Who makes all the blessings "flow", and to give Him the praise.  

I hope you have a wonderful night, and I'll see you later alligator!  After while crocodile!  (My Mommie and Daddy say that sometimes and I think it's funny, don't you?)

Love always,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxoxo

Friday Foto Friends with Lily Grace

Yesterday was a very special day.  Mommie has already written about it over at Closed Doors, Open Windows today, so you can go over there and read all about it after you enjoy looking at my pictures...or you can go look at Mommie's pictures first if you want.  Just be sure to come back and visit me too, 'cause I love to have visitors too!

This picture ought to make you wonder what I was doing, but I will 'splain later.  I just thought this picture would be a good one to get your attention! 

So, Mommie already explained that yesterday was my brother Matthew's birthday, but he's up in heaven and we couldn't celebrate with him, but we wanted to still "celebrate" his birthday and remember him in a special way.  So Mommie and Daddy

 and my big brother Benton and Auntie Rose (who is really my sweet sister in love, but it's easier to say Auntie Rose) 

decided to take a nice ride and go out to lunch at an interesting place called the Florida Cracker Kitchen.

After they finished their lunch Mommie showed me this fun miniature golf place next door that has all kinds of fun animals that represent the early Florida Cracker cattle ranchers in some way.

So Mommie took my pictures while I was sitting on these fun animals:

This was a "wild pony"

And a BIG BLACK BEAR!   I was a little nervous, but he was very friendly and didn't mind me sitting on his bear paws at all:

These two monkeys were funny, and I guess monkeys used to be wild in the forests of Florida too:

This wasn't a "wild pig", but just a nice farm piggie.  

But this one was a Wild Boar, and they still run wild in the woods here in Florida today. They can be quite mean, so you don't want to get in their way. Thankfully, this one was pretty tame:

After I got to see and sit on all the animals, we took a ride to another special place.  Mommie said she has shared more pictures of this place for you before:  HERE and then again Here .  If you read those two posts, you will know why this place is so special.  Yesterday, because we had my big brother Benton and Auntie Rose with us, Mommie and Daddy especially wanted them to see it.  You see, my big brother Benton attended church camp here at Lake Swan Camp many many years ago when he was a young boy, and so did my big brother Matthew and my big brother Scotty.  Mommie tells the story all about that in the link above. 

Knowing that my big brother Matthew attended camp at this special place really made us all feel a little closer to him as we saw all the places that he saw, and heard about some of the stories of that week as my brother Benton recalled it.

I was wishing I could go jump in that pretty lake and go swimming, but Mommie said maybe on another day.

Then I wanted to go up on this giant slide and slide down into the water:

So now you know where THAT picture came from!

But I didn't slide. It was a LONG way down there and there was no one to catch me at the bottom. But I bet it would have been a lot of fun!!

So then I decided I wanted to be a lifeguard, and help save people's lives if they had trouble swimming!

Did you know that my Daddy used to be a lifeguard at the ocean?  I didn't know it either, until he told me about it!! He worked at one of the beaches one summer as a lifeguard, and had a lot of interesting stories to tell about the people whose lives he did save who were in deep water and struggling to swim. It was very scary, but he knew God was with him and helped him to do his job. 

It sure was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was warm! I wondered what it was like in heaven where my big brother Matthew is.  Mommie said it is always beautiful and perfect in heaven. There is no need for the sun or the moon there, because Jesus is the Light of heaven.

"The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light."

Revelation 21:23

Back at home Mommie wanted to see if anything was happening in the "Secret Garden", which is also a kind of memorial garden for my big brother Matthew.  Mommie said that oftentimes the climbing Don Juan Rose bush will bloom on or near special dates. This rose bush was originally planted in the memorial garden at our old house, and Mommie brought it with them when they moved here. It needs to be planted because it is still in a pot, but that is a spring project. The bush is getting new growth, which Mommie said it will be blooming again soon. Yay!!

Mommie said that also that plant that looks like it is dead in front of this sign was also from the Memorial Garden, and it is a "Rose of Sharon" bush. It is actually getting new leaves on it, so it is coming back to life again! Yay again!

We are having fun watching the bluebirds...another sign of new life, Mommie says...

And these Carolina Jessamine flowers are really blooming a lot now...

So I picked some along with some more fairy flowers, and we made a bigger bouquet in memory of my brother Matthew for his birthday.

I think he will like that, don't you?

Thank you for joining us for this special time of celebration in memory of my brother Matthew.

Mommie said this was one of her favorite pictures of him. I wish I could have met him. 

Happy Heavenly Birthday Matthew!!

Bye bye everyone,

Love,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxo

 

Being A Good Brownie is Fun and Work!

Hello Everyone!  If you've been keeping up with me lately, you will know that I am now a little "Brownie Scout".  What I didn't know was being a Brownie can be a lot of work in addition to being a lot of fun.  Mommie said that Brownies want to learn all about helping in the home and so she said I ought to learn all about doing the laundry!   So here I am, putting the dirty laundry in the washing machine!

And then Mommie said I have to make sure the controls are all set to the right setting and then we close the lid and it starts washing!

Another thing a Brownie does is learn about proper care of our American flag. Mommie and Daddy put our flag out front every day, and they bring it back inside if it is raining or at night. 

The Brownie handbook says that I should stand at attention when the flag is raised or lowered, and if I am in my uniform, like today, I am supposed to salute the flag! So that is what I am doing:

After breakfast it was time to put the clean clothes in the dryer to dry. We don't have a clothesline here, so we have to dry them in the dryer. I like helping put them in.

Oh, and then Mommie says we have to be sure to clean the filter before we start the next load. If it gets too much lint on it it could start a fire. Wow! So many things to learn and remember!

Then we turn the dials to the right temperature and time and push the button to start:

Shew! I'm glad that's done! Now we can go for our walk!

Oh! Guess what?  In my Brownie handbook it gives some ideas for things to do in nature. One thing is to look for animal tracks when we go for our walks:  This was what we saw yesterday morning:

Mommie said these are DEER tracks!! Oh! I wish I could see the pretty deer!

We think these are squirrel tracks above and below:

And then there were lots and lots of deer tracks! There must have been a whole bunch of deer!

And now looky here at these tracks!

They look like little hands! Mommie said they are raccoon tracks.

It sure would be fun to see the raccoon too!! Maybe sometime I will get to see them all! Wouldn't that be fun?

So then we came back home, and the clothes were done in the dryer, so Mommie said we needed to get them out and fold them and put them away so they don't get all wrinkled:

It was fun folding the shirts and underwear and socks...

And even the washcloths and towels too! Mommie had to help me with the towels, because they were so big!

Mommie said I did a very good job for my first time helping with the laundry! It was fun! I like to be a good helper!

Mommie said I am also doing a good job at fulfilling the Brownie Promise.  We wanted to know if it had changed since Mommie was a Brownie so many years ago (she's still not telling how many years ago).  So we looked it up on the 'puter.   This is what it is today:

"On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law."

We didn't know for sure what the "Girl Scout Law" was, so we looked it up and this is what it is:

Mommie said the Girl Scout Law is very similar to something  we learn in the Bible in Galatians 5:22-23 called "The Fruit of the Spirit"

Mommie said if we practice those "fruits of the Spirit", we will be very good little Brownies as well as very good little children of God.  I want to be a good child of God most of all!!

Today was a very pretty and sunny day and so we took another walk this morning.

Look at this beautiful wild plum tree! This one is still blooming! Isn't it so pretty?

The only tracks we saw today was this funny one:

We think  it is a wild turkey track, but it could also be a Sand Hill Crane track. We aren't sure which, because there are both kinds of birds in that area.  We may have to look for some more tracks to figure it out for sure.  

When we came home Mommie and Daddy said they needed to do some yard work since it was such a pretty and warm morning.  I asked if I could help, and Mommie said I could help her mow the grass!

I was all set to drive the tractor mower, but it had a dead battery! So Daddy said he'd have to get that fixed before we could use it. It's been sitting still too long.  I sure would love to drive this big tractor! Wouldn't that be fun? Have YOU ever driven a tractor?

So Mommie said I could help her drive the push mower because Daddy was going to be gathering up lots and lots of tree branches that have been falling down in the wind lately.

So here we are, getting ready to mow!

Mommie said it was really nice to have a little helper like me to help hold the  handle in place to make it go!

It was a lot of fun, but it was very tiring and after a while we came inside and cooled down and relaxed for the rest of the day.

It was nice to just kick back and have a nice cold glass of iced tea, strum on my guitar and play with my toys and just be me!  It's fun being a Brownie and helping my family and learning all sorts of neat things, but it's also important to rest and take time to play.  Even Jesus had to take time from His busy work of healing people and teaching His disciples so that He could rest awhile. 

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-29 

28. "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

29. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Mommie said we all need to learn to rest like Jesus said. When we have a lot of burdens and hard things we are going through, He wants to help carry our heavy loads and give us comfort and rest.  I am happy that Jesus loves us so much that He wants to help us when we are tired, sad, or worried about things.  

Thank you for visiting me here today. I love having so many special friends like you. And I hope you know all about how Jesus wants to give you rest too.  

Bye bye for now!

Love,

Lily Grace

xoxoxo