A New Adventure for Lily and for our family!

We took a little ride today to someplace special.  Mommie said she knew we were getting close when she saw the lighthouse in the distance!

Some of you may recognize this lighthouse as the one in St. Augustine, Florida.

Isn't it beautiful?

When we stopped the car at our destination, there it was right over my shoulder!

And then we walked up to the door of this place, this store, and guess who was there to greet us?

My big brother Benton!

I asked him, "How did you get here too?"  And he said, "Because this is our store now!!"

"What???," I said.  "How did that happen?"

He said "Because when God closes a door, He opens a window!"  (Well, he didn't really say that, but Mommie just thought of it now and thought it would go well here because that's the name of her other blog, "Closed Doors, Open Windows".  She said sometimes God closes one door to open up another door or "window" of opportunity that is even better than before.)

And so we went inside to look around and see what my big brother and my big sister (Auntie Rose) have done!  Actually, the store was already in existence, but another lady owned it and had to move away and so because my brother and Auntie Rose already were selling some of their specially made items in that store and doing very well there, they decided to take over the store when it came available.

Mommie said God made it possible for them to do this through a series of miracles and blessings and it is all very exciting.

So here are some of the beautiful things they sell in their store, which by the way is named

"Dixie Cottage". (If you have a Facebook account, you can click on that link and see more about their store there).

My brother Ben and Auntie Rose refurbish old furniture and also build some custom pieces of furniture to sell in this store.  (Refurbish is a big word Mommie told me, which means to make something like new again, to restore it and give it a new life and purpose.  Mommie said that's what Jesus does for us when we let Him come into our heart and make us brand new.)

 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

They find these old things and they look really old and ugly, but then they sand off the old scratches and bumps and stains, and cover it with new paint and make it look beautiful again.

They also sell paints there so you can paint you own old furniture if you want.

They also have pretty knicknacks and things to make your house look pretty.

You could also come and sit on 

"The Porch" and "Sit, Relax, and Gossip", although Mommie said gossip is not a good idea...just talk and visit and laugh.  LOL.

"Be Our Guest"

Oh, look who I found working in the storage room!  Auntie Sherrie came today to help clean and get things better organized.  Auntie Rose is still working part time at her other job, so she couldn't come today, but she will be there every day she can be and hopefully full time sometime soon.

Looky at this neat pillow.  I like what it says:

"Family is everything"

This looks like a nice little spot to sit down and have a cup of tea...

This neat old "Butler's Desk" is behind the counter. I don't know if they want to sell it or not because they use it and it is an antique, but isn't it neat?

This little sign sits on top of it, and I think it is a good message to anyone thinking about making a change or doing something special...instead of being afraid to try something new...

"be afraid not to try"

My brother Benton and sister Auntie Rose were kind of afraid to try and do this, but they prayed to God and asked Him to guide them, and He showed them the way.  And so far He has been blessing this new adventure very wonderfully.  Mommie said that sometimes we might miss out on special blessings because we are too afraid to even try.  But when we put our faith in God, He will not lead us astray, and He will show us the way.  That doesn't mean you won't have to work hard or that everything will be easy, but He will help you and give you the wisdom and strength you need to do what needs to be done.

I think those are "oyster shells" on those plates, although Mommie said they are replicas made out of ceramics.  She said oyster shells are kind of ugly in the wild, but when you find one, you might be blessed to discover a beautiful and valuable pearl inside. But first you have search for it and have faith to believe and also to open the shell and see what God may have in store for you. 

Matthew7:7-11

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

This little sign says

"It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder".

Perhaps good things happen through the gentle rain of God's grace and blessings.

Yes, I think my brother Benton and my Auntie Rose feel like what this verse says:

Oh, and by the way, that cute little birdie above came from their store! Isn't it cute? She's wearing her spring bonnet.

It was a very fun visit to Dixie Cottage today. And afterwards Mommie and Daddy and I went to eat lunch at this place:

It was yummy!

Yes, I'd would say 

"The Lord has done great things for ALL of US, 

and we are filled with joy!"

Until next time,

God bless you all and be filled with joy!

Love,

Lily Grace

Oh, Mommie wanted me to show you how all of the amaryllis flowers are blooming now!

Aren't they beautiful???

God is so good!!

 

Small Blessings

Hello to all my special friends!  I hope you are having a happy Saturday! I love Saturdays. It's kind of a "free day", when many big people don't usually have to go to work, unless they have a special job that needs them to work on Saturday, and kids don't have to go to school, and it's a day when sometimes families get together to have parties or just play together.  Mommie says it's a day to catch up on working in the yard or cleaning the house or just doing something you like to do for fun.

Mommie said we should always be thankful for the "small blessings" that come into our lives, as well as the BIG blessings.  She said sometimes the best things come in small packages and that we should never overlook the little ways that God chooses to bring a blessing into our lives. 

 

Mommie says that something (or someone), no matter how big or small, if it makes you smile and brings joy to your heart, it is a blessing and we should thank the Lord for it.

She said that's how she feels about ME!

 

Mommie says that I am one of those "small blessings" that came into her life unexpectedly, and that God used Aunt Debbi and my identical cousin Tracie to send her some special love in a package that was meant to be shared with everyone!

Wow! That's pretty wonderful!

So yesterday afternoon Mommie said that Daddy needed some more cookies!  And she said that every little girl needs to learn how to bake cookies for her family.  (Actually she said little boys can learn to do this too, because she taught my big brother Scott how to bake cookies when he was little and he still likes to do it today to make people happy!)

(Recipe for Coconut Pecan Cookies can be found on this post)

Mommie also said it was okay for me to lick the beater a little bit. She said every child  she ever knew has licked a beater and grew up healthy and happy to tell about it.  Not sure why she said that, but she mumbled something about big people out there saying it was bad to lick the beaters, but they probably just never had the opportunity to do so and so they didn't want anyone else to do it either...

We had so much fun baking these cookies together.  Mommie said I could have this little tiny mixer for my very own. (She said to tell you, No, she didn't go out and buy this mixer to spoil me...it was a gift to her a long time ago and it was just sitting in her cupboard...waiting for me to come along I guess!)

After we finished baking our cookies Mommie said we should have a little tea party to celebrate and sample our cookies!  After a very cold morning, the sun came out and warmed it up enough for us to go out on the porch for our tea party:

We are using a cute little teapot and teacups that a special friend gave Mommie for her birthday! The tea cups are small enough for me to use.  Mommie said again that special blessings come in small packages!

 Mommie says that is kind of like what God did for all of us when He sent His Son Jesus to us in a tiny package...a little baby born in a manger, and that He was sent to the world as a very special gift to bless the whole world with His love and salvation. But she said Jesus didn't stay as a little baby in the manger. No, He grew up to be a man who never did anything wrong, and He taught us all about how to live and love one another, and then people turned against Him and they crucified Him on a cross. But those people were wrong. They didn't understand who He was...the Son of God. And they missed the wonderful gift that could have blessed them and given them eternal life if they had only believed.

Mommie says that we need to always remember that, and never forget that sometimes God wants to get our attention through "small blessings.

Thank you again for being one of my special friends and visiting me here.  I do hope you will come back again.  Mommie says that we may have another special adventure to share later, so be sure to stay tuned.

Oh, and also be sure to look for those "small blessings" that God may be sending to you every day! Sometimes they come in unexpected packages that you don't recognize at first...but when you ask God to show you, He opens your eyes to see the treasure that is right there before your eyes!

Jeremiah 33:3

 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

The Adventures of Lily Grace

Hi! My name is Lily!  Well, if you want to be proper about it, by full name is 

Lillian Grace, but  most people just call me Lily.

This is my very first picture when I arrived at my new home with all of my baggage...

As you can see, I am a very modern girl, with my very own guitar, karaoke machine, microphone, and boots! I wear boots, with my tie-dyed t-shirt, long lacy jacket and daisies in my hair!

I love to sing and laugh and make people smile, and so that is what I hope to do for you!

I just met my new Mommie and Daddy when I arrived at their home in a special box, delivered by the very friendly but hurried mail lady! I say she was "hurried" because when she arrived at my new Mommie and Daddy's house, she stopped right in front of their house and honked the horn! Can you imagine how startled I was to hear that horn honking? I mean, I had been closed up in a very secure box for several days while I traveled over 300 miles from my identical cousin Tracie's house to my new home.

But then I could hear my Mommie's excited voice as she came running to the mail lady's car and said, "Oh is that a package for me? I bet I know what it is!"  And the nice mail lady slowed down long enough to say, "It must be something special!"  And my Mommie said, "Oh, yes it is!" But she didn't take any more of the mail lady's time...she just whisked the box out of her hands and ran back into the house yelling "She's here! She's here!"  I could hear a nice man saying, Oh! It must be our special package!! And I wondered to myself if that might be my new Daddy! Then I heard another voice saying, "Oh, what is it? What is it?" And my new Mommie was so excited she could hardly talk as she was hurriedly looking for something to remove my protective box so she could take me out of that place right away! I was getting so excited because I knew that any minute I was going to be able to get out of my special box and finally see my new Mommie and Daddy and breathe the fresh air and see the pond and meet all my new friends and family!

Finally Mommie was able to cut away all the special things that were holding me safely in my pretty box, and she was able to pull me out and into her arms...What a happy, happy moment!

At first I was a little dazed from the bright sunshine and the happy smiles all around me. I wasn't prepared for so many people all at once....my new Mommie explained that she had a friend visiting her and guess what? You'll never guess this...but My New Mommie's name is Pamela...and guess what else? Her friend who was visiting was also named Pamela!! I was a little confused as to who was my Mommie if they were both named Pamela, and they were both so excited over my arrival that I think they both would have loved to have claimed me...but my real New Mommie held me in her arms and looked into my face and smiled SO big and looked SO happy, that I knew she must be the right "Pamela" that was to be my new Mommie.

(Please excuse me a moment, because actually I am writing all of this in a letter to my sweet Aunt Debbi and identical twin cousin Tracie, because they are the ones who sent me to my new Mommie, and I know they are anxiously waiting to hear all about my arrival).  

Mommie held me and looked at all of my special things that came with me...oh, Thank you, Aunt Debbi, for the wonderful toys that you sent along with me. My new Mommie was so excited to discover the Dancing Barbie and the beautiful Horse, and the lovely ladies' fan, and oh yes, the telephone and the cute pink teapot! Also she was excited about the nice unicorn ribbon that she says we will do something special with to decorate my special place. Oh, and she and the other Pamela oohed and aahed about the cute outfit I was wearing, and the boots, and the guitar and karaoke machine, and well, just everything was so perfect they both exclaimed.


All this time my new Daddy was taking lots of pictures. He didn't want to have his picture taken, but he was happy to take lots of pictures to capture these happy first moments together. And then, well Aunt Debbi, this is the most exciting part of all...My new Mommie and Daddy and that nice lady named Pamela all talked about what they should name me. I heard them saying several different names that they had been thinking about, but they were all in agreement that they should just think about it for a few minutes and that my name would come to them as they got to know me a little better.

Well...I sat there looking around and thinking about what a wonderful new home this was going to be and I was getting more and more anxious to start checking things out...but somehow the need for a name seemed to be pretty important to everyone. While I listened to the ladies talking about how cute I was and how much they loved my hair and eyes and cute daisies in my hair, and the pretty lacy coat and boots and tie-dyed shirt...all of a sudden I heard my Daddy's strong deep voice say from somewhere on the other side of the room that he thought they should name me "Lily". "Lily!", my Mommie said and the other Pamela said! They both looked at me and said, "Lily! That's a perfect name for you!" Then I heard my Mommie say that "Lily" would be a shorter name for someone they knew named "Lillian"...Oh, they told me that Lillian was my new Daddy's grandmother's name! That made my name extra special...to be named after my Daddy's grandmother...and then my new Mommie said that she really loved the name "Lillian Grace", and that would be my complete name, but that they would call me "Lily", because it just seemed to suit me best!

Mommie said that the name "Grace" stands for "unmerited favor", which came to us from Jesus when He loved us so much that He was willing to die for us even though we didn't deserve such a blessing. But she also said that Grace was an unexpected blessing, and that is what I am to them...an "unexpected blessing". I like my new name...Lily is a beautiful flower and that makes me happy to know that they think I am beautiful, and also that I am special enough to be named after someone so special as a grandmother!! Wow! They must really love me, Aunt Debbi!!

Oh, and then, after a little while my Mommie took me outside to show me the big pond! It is so beautiful, Aunt Debbi! Just like you said it would be!

I can't wait to go exploring a little more, but it looks like it might rain and my Mommie was wanting to come back inside and write to you and tell you all the good news!

I am so excited, Aunt Debbi!! I think I am going to love my new home. My Mommie said that we will take it easy today and not try to do too much my first day here, as I am going to be living here for a long time and we will have many more happy days to have our tea party and get acquainted with everyone. So right now I am standing right here beside my Mommie and watching her write to you as she tells you all about our day so far!! There will be more to come I am sure, but for now my Mommie says to tell you that she loves me very much and that she will be sending you something in the mail soon. I hope you and Tracie aren't too lonely without me! Maybe someday we can all get together again and have a wonderful party! Thank you so much for sending me to my new home.
I think I am going to be very happy here.


Love always,
Lily
"Lillian Grace "...doesn't that sound nice?


Bye for now!! I love you too, Aunt Debbi and Tracie!