Cactus Flower

Was thinking about all the pets in my life.  Seems old Blackie is getting a little slow these days.  Pets on the mission field are important to family health in my opinion.  Furloughs are often rough though and I've been hoping that dear old black dog goes on to doggy heaven peacefully before our next big trip to the States. Dogs for us provide friendship and true protection in a world full of petty and big crime.  We are thankful for our good dogs.  Below is a repost from a few years back... Tippy was the name of one of my uncles dog's when I was a girl. Tippy was a good old dog. She seemed to live a good life. I remember as a little city girl thinking that some day I could have a dog, too. That day came after we moved from the big city to the country hillsides of Virginia. Daddy went to see a man about a dog and came home with Star. She was a pretty black dog with a small white patch that earned her the name of Star. She was an outside dog and a good one....

In February I had a toothache during a retreat out on the island.  Got home on a Tuesday...   On Thursday I went to the twice-a-week-comes-from- the-big-city dentist.  She was nice and took an x-ray but said that it looked complicated and root canal-ish.  Told me to go to the "root canal" dentist that only comes on Thursdays and Fridays.  She told me to take the name of a good pain killer.  It was too late to go right then...   On Friday morning I called the "root canal" dentist only to be told that their schedule was full with no available appointments until March.  My husband called them back and convinced the secretary to see me quickly for an evaluation in the late afternoon.  I took my x-ray from the day before.  The dentist saw me after an hour and a half wait for five minutes only to tell me that she could only do any work in March.   On Saturday I called a friend in the big city, who called his family's dentist.  ...

Just a few of the smiling faces of our church's own retreat this past weekend.  Last night at our weekly prayer meeting people were still smiling and many gave thanks for the great messages, wonderful communion and just plain old good time. Sometimes our work sees little immediate reward and satisfaction.  I'm so happy for the success of this retreat and for all the smiling faces!

 The Lord is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! The year is 2005.  My boys loved to hunt for their big, Brazilian, chocolate Easter Eggs.    I don't remember if we had a retreat out on the island that year.  I imagine that we did as we usually do.   I'm getting ready for one this morning.  Crazy me hid boxes of chocolate for the boys to find this morning and forgot to tell them! Guess we'll do that before we head out for the island. Wishing all of you a wonderful Easter weekend!

"Wow, is this American?"     "Is this how it comes in the States?"   "I thought it came in a little can you put in the microwave."           "Where did this come from anyway?"   "How much does it cost in America?"   "We could live on this stuff after we go to the States to live!"   "May I have some more, please!" This past week our dear "big city" missionary friend sent us some much needed tea (we were out), 4 boxes of Walmart macaroni and cheese she found at the big city grocery store and a giant bottle of real Hershey's chocolate syrup she found on a recent trip.  Woo hoo!  Hog Heaven! The chocolate syrup deserved some ice cream to go along with it which we enjoyed one evening.  The mac & cheese went with pork chops and green beans for lunch one day.   The boys talked and talked about it.  Had it been that long since they'd had some good mac & cheese.  Apparently ...

The Joyful Mother recently posted this set of artful prints on her Flickr account.  I just loved each one and laughed and laughed.  The images are not Creative Commons, so click on the link to enjoy for yourself.  My fav was "Stop that! You can't build a fort in church!"   Things I've Said to My Children What's the craziest thing you've  ever said to your kids? Here are a few of mine:   No, you can't use the bathroom again!  (On William's first airplane ride in 1998, he loved to hear the big swoosh.) Get your brother out of that barrel right now! Get that dog off of the washing machine! Don't ride him anymore, he's not a horse. (Talking about Big John.) Don't make him pull you again, he's not a donkey. (Talking about Big John, he was strong!) Who hid my wooden spoon? Go find my wooden spoon, or else! (You know what wooden spoons are for, right?) Where's the rest of that worm? Do you know what this belt is...