Come along with Lily Grace as she explores her new world with her new family in Florida. Lily has an Aunt Debbi and an identical twin cousin Tracie living in Charleston, SC, to whom she will be writing letters to tell all about her new friends and family and adventures. Come along and join in the fun!
Today is Good Friday. I asked Mommie to explain it to me, because I don't understand why we call today "Good Friday" if it is the day that Jesus died on the cross. We have this cross in our front yard that my brother Benton built for Mommie last year:
I asked Mommie, "Why does it have that crown of thorns on it, and what does the purple cloth stand for?"
Mommie said that when the angry people wanted Jesus to be hung on that cross they did very mean things to Him. This is what she read to me from the Bible, from the book of John chapter 19:1-3
"1. So Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged. 2. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head, and put a purple cloak on Him; 3. and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and slapped Him in the face again and again."
That made me feel very sad. I don't understand why the same people who were waving palm branches and crying "Hosanna!" to Jesus on Sunday are now yelling and screaming for Him to be crucified and are doing such mean and terrible things to Him.
Mommie said that it was because of the sins of all people that Jesus had to die. He was the only perfect Man who never sinned, because He is God's Son.
"But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed."
(Isaiah 53:5)
Mommie said that the Bible tells us that all of us have sinned.
(Romans 3:23)
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We've been selfish and have wanted to only have our own way, and not God's way. And no matter how hard we try, we cannot be perfectly good and sinless.
"All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
(Isaiah 53:6)
And so, because God loves us so much, He had to send His own Son to die in our place and take away our sins so that one day we can live in heaven with Him forever.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
I am so glad that Jesus loves us enough that He was willing to suffer so much and die so that one day we can live with Him in heaven. Mommie said that is our great hope and promise. Today may be a sad day, but she said we shouldn't forget that "Easter is coming!"
Dear Friends, I am sorry I haven't been sharing too many new adventures the last couple of days. It's been kind of busy around here and Mommie just didn't have a lot of time to help me here at the 'puter writing my stories. She had to do her taxes and some other business stuff and so we had to wait to do our "adventures".
The good news is, while I was waiting for Mommie to get done with her business, the Bluebirds came back to the birdhouse again! We hadn't seen them for several days and we thought maybe they decided to go somewhere else to build their nest. But then all of a sudden here they are again!
Mommie thinks that maybe the Mama bluebird has been inside all the while, sitting on her nest, and maybe the Papa Bluebird has been bringing her food and we just never saw him at the right time:
But here he is,
And she sure seems happy to see him! So Mommie says we just have to "wait and see what develops".
Meanwhile, the Canada Geese have also been busy on Still Waters Pond. This picture Mommie says is kind of blurry because she had to snap it really fast. She said that goose that is flying down on the water had just done something really strange. A few minutes before this, Mommie was sitting in her "Room With a View", and she was looking out the window to see the geese because they were making a lot of noise. And then this goose flew right up out of the water right in front of Mommie and landed on the roof of our back porch!!! It was as if he couldn't get up any higher because he started his flight too late, and had to make an emergency landing on the porch roof with a big clunking sound. So Mommie stepped outside on the porch to see what she could see, and just as she did that the goose flew right back down off the roof and into the water:
His mate was sitting there in the water watching the whole thing. Maybe he was showing off for her.
His mate quickly swam over to where he had landed as if to say, "Are you okay?"
And then they both swam off together to the other side of the pond. It just seemed really strange to Mommie and me, but it was fun to see.
So guess what else we've been doing?
Well, yesterday was Daddy's birthday. And so Mommie said we needed to bake a cake for him. I asked if I could help, and she said yes, of course!
Mommie said she prefers to use a cake mix for a birthday cake, because it turns out moist and good.
And then after the cake was done and cool, Mommie said I could help her frost the cake. She said Daddy likes chocolate icing and so do my big brothers. So we decided to make that kind since they would be here to help eat it.
Yes, my big brothers were here, and they both wore their special t-shirts again so Mommie could get a picture of all of us wearing our "I'm Mom's Favorite" t-shirt. They still think this is kind of crazy I think...
But anyway, my brothers are really funny and good sports...and Mommie said that she loves all of us all the same...we are ALL her favorites!!!
Next everyone sang happy birthday to Daddy and he let me help him blow out the candles. Actually, I blew them out before he could...
So Mommie had to light them again so he could blow them out and make a wish!
I wonder what he was wishing? He said you can't tell or it won't come true.
Mommie said Daddy is a good sport too, because he let me help read his birthday cards and open his presents.
I helped Mommie wrap that present above, and I picked out the paper from Paw Patrol. It was a new pair of shoes for Daddy. He was very happy.
While I was reading the cards, my brother Benton was acting like we were all kind of crazy or something and he was embarrassed...but I noticed he didn't go home until he got some birthday cake to eat! Ha Ha!! My Auntie Rose couldn't come 'cause she had to work but we sent home some birthday cake for her.
We sure had a lot of fun at Daddy's birthday party. This was my very first birthday party! I hope we have a lot more!
Oh, guess what else? The other day I got to help Mommie bake some more cookies!! And guess what else? My new little dolly friend helped me! First we had to think up a name for my dolly.
She was a good helper and I wanted to name her something special. Daddy seems to like helping name us special little people, because if you remember he named me Lily after his grandmother Lillian! So he said he thought my little dolly should be named "Dottie". I asked who she was, and my Mommie said that her mother's name was Dorothea, and "Dottie" could be a nickname for her name. (Although she said her mother would never let anyone call her "Dottie"...she always wanted to be called Dorothea!) But Mommie said that her mother Dorothea loved to bake cookies and pies and all kinds of good things to eat, and so it would be very nice to name my new little friend Dottie after my Mommie's Mommy Dorothea...who would actually be my Grandma!!!!
So Dottie it is!! I sat down and sang some little songs to Dottie and played my guitar for her. She likes to sing too, so I know we will have lots of fun together.
Oh, Mommie's tea bag tag above says "Never quench your THIRST FOR ADVENTURE"
I like that idea! I hope we can have lots of new adventures every day.
By the way, the plum tree blossoms are all changing, and there are lots of green leaves on the tree now, and Mommie says that soon there will be tiny green plums to watch grow!! That is so exciting.
Mommie said that we heard some very sad news last night and that was another reason she wasn't feeling like having any new adventures today. We heard that our special friend Miss Terri from Your Friend in Floridahad some very very sad news. Her very nice hubby Mr. Joe got very sick last week and then he passed away yesterday. This made me very sad too, because Miss Terri has been so nice to write to me every day with such nice comments, and Mommie and I have been praying for Mr. Joe every day. I asked Mommie why did Mr. Joe have to die? Mommie said that some things we just don't always understand, but that apparently Mr. Joe was so sick and it was his time to go and meet Jesus in heaven and live there with Him forever. She said that Mr. Joe knew Jesus and that he wanted to go to heaven someday, and so Jesus sent His angels to come and take him "home" to heaven.
I said, "But won't Miss Terri miss Mr. Joe an awful lot?" Mommie said that yes, she would miss him terribly, and so would his sons and family and friends. But Mommie said the good news is that if we all love Jesus like Mr. Joe loved Jesus, someday we will all go to heaven too and be there with Mr. Joe and Jesus and everyone forever and ever. And you know what else? She said that Mr. Joe isn't sick anymore! She said that Jesus will give him a brand new body that won't ever get sick or hurt ever again!!
I asked Mommie how can we get that new body like Mr. Joe?
Mommie said that when we believe in Jesus like Mr. Joe did, we believe that Jesus died on the cross and took away all our sins, and then three days later, on EASTER Sunday morning, Jesus woke up from the dead and was alive!!! And He had a brand new body too, that was "resurrected" from the old dead body...and she said that Jesus will give us a brand new "resurrected" body someday too in heaven and that we will live forever and ever!
Mommie said this is what Jesus taught us:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
I told Mommie that I hoped everyone we know believes in Jesus like Mr. Joe did, so that we can ALL go to heaven someday and have a brand new body that won't get sick anymore too. Mommie said she hopes so too, and that is why we like to share this special news with everyone, so maybe they will want to know Jesus too. Mommie said that we celebrate Easter every year to remember what Jesus did for us, and that Easter is coming soon. She said right now we are beginning a special time called Lent, which is the 40 days leading up to Easter, and that we should be praying and thinking about ways we can serve God better during this time and preparing our own hearts for Easter. I said maybe I can do some nice things for other people instead of just for myself during Lent. Mommie agreed that would be a nice thing for both of us to do.
So, I guess we'd better close this for tonight, but Mommie said one nice thing we can do right now is to remember to pray for Miss Terri and her family as they have a lot of things to take care of and they are so very sad. I hope you will all be praying for Miss Terri too, and for others who are also having a difficult time and may be sick or sad too.
Thank you for being my special friends. Mommie said you are all very special to us just like Miss Terri. Thank you for visiting us.
Happy Sunday Morning to all my wonderful new friends!
Psalm 118:24
"This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it."
We woke up bright and early, and Mommie had her cup of hot tea in a different mug today! It says:
"The whole world is a series of miracles,
but we're so used to them we call them
ordinary things."
She said that today we will enjoy a lot of those "ordinary things" that are really miracles all around us.
Oh, Aunt Debbi and Cousin Tracie...look at what was out in the "Big Pond" first thing this morning! The geese were right there to greet me...and it was even raining, but they didn't even care! And they didn't fly away when we came out on the porch to say good morning! Oh, by the way, Mommie says to tell you that the real name for the "big pond" is "Still Waters Pond". Mommie calls it that because she says that God brought them here to live "beside the still waters", just like in that special Psalm 23 the Bible talks about...
I really loved seeing the geese out there this morning. I think that was one of those "miracles" that some people think is just an ordinary thing. What do YOU think, Aunt Debbi?
After de-vo-shuns (where we read about Jonah and the big fish and God giving Jonah a second chance to obey His commands and go preach to the people of Ninevah after the big fish spit him out on the shore...boy! I bet Jonah smelled and looked funny after being in the belly of that big old fish for three days! No wonder the people listened to him! Hey! That's another miracle, isn't it?)
Anyway, as I was saying, after de-vo-shuns and breakfast, Mommie and Daddy got ready for church. I wanted to go with them but they said that right now they aren't able to have any Sunday School for the children because of something bad called "Covid", and everyone has to wear a mask and stay far away from each other, and they can't even hug...and they thought it might be better for me to stay home and watch the church service online with my friends here. So that is what I did, but Mommie set up the computer for us so we could watch the service and sing along with the choir. Mommie is singing in the choir with the other people. Can you see her, Aunt Debbi and Tracie? My mommie is way over on the far left, and she sings something called "alto". Mommie said that means she sings with a lower voice than the other ladies, who sing something called "soprano". Those are big words, but I love music and I want to learn everything I can. So Mommie taught me this song so I could sing along:
She said if you click on that arrow on the picture below you can hear them singing and sing along too! And then, if you want to stay and listen a while, you can hear the preacher preach a sermon.
Mommie said a sermon is a nice story that the preacher tells from the Bible, and that we should listen very carefully because the Bible is God's Word, and God wants to teach us all about His Son Jesus and how to live here on earth, and how to get "saved" so we can go to heaven someday. I know I want to be saved so I can go to heaven. Mommie said we can talk more about that soon. I am so excited to know all about Jesus!!
These are the words to the song the choir is singing. It's kind of a happy song about going to heaven! I really loved singing along with them!
"Chariot's Comin'"
I’ve got a home waitin’ in the heavenly kingdom
Up where the streets are paved with gold.
And someday I know I’ll be headin’ for the heavenly kingdom
With a chariot to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
Looked over Jordan, and what did I see
Comin’ for to carry me, carry me home.
A shiny golden chariot waitin’ there for me.
It’s gonna carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
My day is comin’ as sure as can be
Comin’ for to carry me, carry me home
I hear a band of angels callin’ out to me
They’re gonna carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
Chariot’s comin’ to carry me home! YEAH!!!
After church Mommie and Daddy came home and Mommie wanted to have a cup of tea and eat a grapefruit, so we went out on the porch so we could listen to the birds while she enjoyed her snack.
When Mommie looked at the tag on her tea bag, she laughed and clapped her hands because of what it said:
"Why not brew up a little ray of sunshine?"
She said that I was her "little ray of sunshine", and it made her really happy to see that sweet little message on her teabag just then! I am so glad that I can help make my Mommie smile. That really makes me happy too!
After she finished her cup of tea she took me for a walk around the back yard. The first thing we noticed was this sweet little fairy flower! That's what Mommie called it, and I thought about your little "Fairy Granddaughter", Aunt Debbi! And she has one of my special identical cousins, "Daisy". I wish they could come see these sweet little fairy flowers! I know they would love them just like I do.
Mommie said we could pick some for a bouquet before we go back inside the house, but first she wanted to show me some special places in the the yard.
I was so excited to see this darling little girl sitting in the garden, holding a flower in her hand. Mommie says we might need to clean her up a bit this spring as she is looking a little weary from sitting outside in the weather so long. I said I would love to help make her look prettier and happier.
And look, Aunt Debbie and Tracie! There are little bunnies everywhere!
And there is another cute little boy and girl standing in the garden. They are just about my size, and I hope we will become good friends!
Oh Aunt Debbi and Tracie, wait until you see where we went next!
Look at this little sign! Do you know what it says?
It says, "Wel-come to my se-cret gar-den"
A Secret Garden!!! Oh! I was so excited!!
My Mommie has her very own secret garden!!!
And look at this other sign that is hanging on the gate into the Secret Garden:
That is something really special, don't you think? The "Secret Garden" is a place where we can rest our minds and soften our hearts! I like that idea, don't you?
Oh, Aunt Debbi and Tracie, this next sign kind of made me very sad. I had to ask Mommie to read it to me and to tell me what it meant. Mommie told me that I have another big brother that I haven't gotten to meet yet, because he is already in heaven. She said his name is Matthew, and that he went to heaven almost seven years ago, because he was very very sick and Jesus took him home to live with Him. Oh, I am so sad to learn about this, but Mommie said the good news is that because Matthew believed in Jesus as his personal Savior, he was saved and went to heaven to live forever. And also she said that he isn't sick anymore and never will be sick again! And then she said that if we believe in Jesus as our personal Savior, we can also go to heaven and live forever some day. Mommie told me another special Bible verse called "John 3:16". And this is what it says:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
Mommie said that Jesus is God's "only begotten Son", and so if we BELIEVE in Him, we can go to heaven someday and live forever, just like my big brother Matthew.
That made me feel a little better to know that if I believe in Jesus I will get to go to heaven someday and see Jesus and also get to meet my big brother. But it still makes me kind of sad that he can't be here now so I can see him. Mommie said that he also has a wife and a son who live in another state far away from here, and that maybe someday I will get to meet them. I hope so, because I just know I will love them already!
Here's a picture of my Mommie and Daddy, their grandson Noah, and his Daddy Matthew and mother Nicole. This picture was taken a little while before Matthew went to heaven:
Mommie showed me this funny little Froggy sitting in a flower pot. She said that Matthew sometimes called himself Froggy, and so this cute little froggy is there to remind them of him.
That made me smile after feeling so sad.
Then look what I found! This is a very BIG BENCH in the Secret Garden, and it says:
"Mom's Secret Garden".
Mommie told me that my big brother Scott put this beautiful bench together for her one year for Christmas, and then my other big brother Benton painted the words on it to make it extra special.
I thought that was really really nice.
And so we sat down on Mommie's bench and listened to the birdies in the treetops singing.
And we sat really quietly, hoping they would come down and eat from the bird feeder, but Mommie said they probably were a little afraid of us sitting there so close, and so we decided to get up and go do some more exploring in the yard.
Mommie showed me this cute Bluebird house on the tree. She said that one time some Bluebirds were in the yard and she hoped they would come there and live, but they never did. However, she said a different bird called a "Tufted Titmouse" did come and make a next in there and had some baby birds there last spring. Oh! I do hope they will come back and have more babies in that cute birdhouse this spring! Wouldn't that be a lot of fun to see?
Next we walked around to a place beside "Still Waters Pond", and just enjoyed seeing the trees and water and places where Mommie said some wildflowers will be growing and blooming in the spring.
Springtime must be really special here. I can't wait to see it!
We went back and picked my little bouquet of fairy flowers, and then Mommie introduced me to "Bobbie the Squirrel", who lives in the birdbath. She apologized for the uncleanliness of the birdbath and said that we are going to have to come out and do some work in our garden and yard soon.
But anyway, "Bobbie the Squirrel" used to sit in my Daddy's Mommy's birdbath at her house. Her name was "Nanny", and she's gone to heaven now too, but we are taking good care of "Bobby the Squirrel" for her.
We finally went back up on the porch and Mommie told me about this beautiful wind chime that is hanging there. She said that it was made especially in memory of my big brother Matthew after he went to heaven. She said that he loved to fish and also he one time went on a "moose hunt" with his son Noah, and they really liked mooses up where he used to live way up north. There is also a dove of peace on this and a sunshine at the bottom. Mommie says that every time she hears the chimes in the wind she thinks of Matthew. I think that is very special, don't you, Aunt Debbie and Tracie? Now I will be listening for those chimes to ring in the wind and I will think of my big brother up in heaven.
It seems like there must be a lot of special people up in heaven.
I am named for one of them..."Lillian", and Baby Elva is named for one of them, and Mommie tells me there are many more wonderful people waiting for us there someday. She said it will be a wonderful day when we all get to heaven, but in the meantime we have to live our very best life right here and be very kind and good to other people.
Oh look! Another little bunny rabbit! There are so many fun things to see here. Even with the sad stories, there is a lot to be happy about too.
So back inside the house Mommie found this cute little tiny teapot to put our little bouquet of fairy flowers in:
And guess what, Aunt Debbi and Tracie? She told me that the little flowers that are painted on the side of this little teapot are called "Lily of the Valley"!! Oh! Can you believe it? These pretty little white flowers have my name? That made this even MORE special. Oh, and one more thing...Mommie told me that someone very special gave that little teapot to her for her birthday. She said that I have another special Auntie! Her name is "Aunt Doris", and she is my Mommie's big sister!! She said that she knows Aunt Doris is going to be very excited to meet me some day!! Oh! I can't wait to meet her! I hope it will be really really soon!!
Well, Aunt Debbi and Tracie, Mommie says it is soon going to be time for supper and that we should try to finish this letter. But it is so hard to stop, because it's just been such a wonderful day! And Mommie was right...what her tea cup said this morning was true:
"The whole world is a series of miracles,
but we're so used to them we call them
ordinary things."
(Hans Christian Anderson)
I think all these things we've seen today are really lots of miracles! And it is also a miracle that you thought to send me here, Aunt Debbi, because you wanted to do something nice for my Mommie...and you also did something so nice for me too! And you know what? I think sharing this story with everyone is something really nice and special too. I do hope we will make lots of new friends here and that they will write something nice back to us to let us know if they are enjoying this story as much as we are!!
