Circle of Life

A couple of weeks ago, there was a senior adult banquet at the church.  These are held once a month during the school year.  As you have seen in the past, usually there are a few flowers on the tables for decorations.

The above pic is a cart of individual small vases.  Not all the ribbon was yellow.  Some of them were brown with white polka dots.

Speaking of senior adults, a funeral was held for a mom of one of our co-workers on Friday.

The next morning found me at a baby shower for the daughter of a friend.  Look at the card I bought from a 4-H friend.  She makes them.  The envelope and card are from cardstock and decorated with scrapbooking paper.  She does many different seasonal designs.  We sell them for her in our church library.

 

Isn't the table beautiful?  The overlay is pink gingham.  The fruit salad in that bowl was scrumptious.  Actually it was all yummy.

After the celebration of new life to be born in January, it was time to say farewell again to another senior citizen - - so I made another trip to the funeral home to pay my respects to the widow of a man who contributed a lot to our community and our country.

Then - - -time for fun with friends who invited us and another couple over for a delicious dinner during halftime of the UTK game.  They are huge fans of this school.  The husband of the host home bought these sandals for his wife.  She likes them a lot because she is very short.  The shoes are comfortable and give her added height in the kitchen.

This morning took us back to young life again.  Benjamin's baby dedication was today.  We worship in Southern Baptist Churches.  Basically the service is a commitment by the parents and the church to nurture the child in the ways of the Lord through Biblical teaching.  Benjamin slept in his Pop Pop's (my husband) arms during all the singing and greeting.  He woke up just before it was time to go forward with his parents.  He was so cute - - - looking out at everyone.  He seemed to enjoy seeing the congregation from a new perspective.

Our other daughter invited ten of us over for lunch to celebrate the occasion.  (For those who are counting, three of us were at a separate table.)  So sorry that I did not take a photos of the food because it was DELICIOUS!

And that is the story of my busier than originally planned weekend - - - the two baby events were the only things on the calendar at the beginning of the week - - but God coordinated it all together.  It's a blessing to be able to participate in the celebrations - - from the beginning of life to the home-going of HIS saints.

4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.    Deuteronomy 6

 

Food Fellowships

This was taken a week and a half ago outside a "superstore".  On that Saturday, my husband was in Knoxville at the VOLS football game against Florida.  I was on my way to an extended family reunion with my younger daughter's in-laws.  We had a great day with delicious food and fellowship!

Bill's birthday was two days later on Monday - - but on Sunday, we went with our older daughter to Outback for a lunch celebration.  (Notice Bill still looks a bit tired from getting home after midnight the night before.  However he still got up early and did his volunteer job at the church library with me!)  We did not coordinate our outfits ahead of time.   He is still asleep (for about 20 more minutes) when I leave to open the library on Sunday morning.   Neither of us knew what the other had chosen until he walked in the door of the library at 9:30 a.m.
 

Outback has recently been offering BOGO coupons in the paper.  I don't know if that's a sign of needing to boost business - - - or it's a reward for their good sales.  We aren't complaining.  Their food is always delicious!

This Saturday found us at Covenant Presbyterian for the wedding of a friend.  Don't you love the ceiling over the pulpit/choir area?

The reception food was abundant, beautiful, and delicious.  One thing many liked was the mini wienies wrapped in bacon, then rolled in brown sugar AND chili powder. (Not pictured.)

Of course the bride was beautiful but we mostly had eyes for our precious grandson who is now two months old.  He looked quite handsome in his sweater vest thanks to his mom's wardrobe coordination.  She has many pictures of him on her blog.  She will probably have pictures this week, too, of Bill's joint birthday celebration with Joshua at Josh's Mamaw's.

As you know by now, our church does many food ministry events.  These are not limited to church members but groups from the community can have our staff cater their functions at our facility.  When our church was built, it was with the vision of being versatile.

Don't you love the simplicity and elegance of these settings?

Groups are served on these beautiful plates that have Scripture on them.  It is a subtle way of sharing God's Word with those in attendance.  I don't know how many different verses we have but here are a few.

By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You.  Psalm 71:6

Library Learning & Celebration

Today six of our library staff attended our Tennessee Baptist Convention's Regional Library Conference.  It was also a celebration of their fifty years of library ministry in our state.

For the past four weeks, our FBC Library's Wednesday workers made party favor bags for the TBC attendees to take home.  Inside each were these treats attached to some slogans that could be duplicated for their home church library's promotion.

These are about postcard size.

Our favorite class was internet promotional tools.

I now am understanding why people fall in love with Pinterest!

When I got home, I made a recipe new to us (but had found it last week before discovering Pinterest today).  It is  

Baked Chicken with Apples. 

We really liked it.  However I will do two things differently the next time I cook it.  The juice or water should increase by 1/4 cup.  Cooking time needs to be longer.  Next time, I will cook it covered at 400 degrees for thirty minutes; then reduce the heat to 350 degrees; and uncover it 10 minutes later to cook until the rice and chicken are done - - - probably about 20 more minutes to give a total cooking time of one hour.

 Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye.  Proverbs 7:2

Food Fun

These pics were taken different weeks last month.  Above you can see The Commons area of our church set up for a cooking demonstration.   The event is called Tasty Blessings and meets once a month during the school year.  Generally about 100 people attend.  Not only do they get some new recipes but their entry fee entitles them to sample every dish - which fills you up nicely by the evening's end.

 

The theme was Mexican food.  Our Food Ministry Coordinator decorated a theme display table.  This woman has a great "eye" for design elements that look beautiful and festive together.  The candles (can be seen well in the first pic) and this cactus were all surrounded by different kinds of dried beans.  The plates were hand-painted.  Each set of flatware was tied together with a ribbon that drew a color from the tablecloth.  Great fun is always had by the attendees.  I have not gone to one in a while - - - just because I don't stay out that late much on work nights.

However, I did attend this one shown below.  It was a birthday party for three friends who celebrated birthdays within a month of each other.

 Our hostess also has a great eye for decorating tastefully.   She hung just the couple of things you see in these pictures.

 She had flowers in her beautiful kitchen on the island with the food - - which was Mexican.  Nacho salads - - - yum!!!

The table had a cream-colored tablecloth with these festive place mats.

Cute little hats were at each setting, too.

The food was delicious and the fellowship fantastic.  We all have known each other about fifteen years now.  It is fun to be together but walking in the door and seeing the decorations enhances the time from the start!  It makes it extra special and memorable.

But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.  Proverbs 15:15b

8,000 Steps!

I am discovering new apps for my phone - - either through recommendations or in magazines.  One was a free pedometer so I downloaded it.  It was easy enough to figure out - - or so I thought.  It showed a map and took my location.  I thought it would show how far I traveled across the United States because it showed that map first.  What a great incentive to see how long it would take to go to the west coast!

The phone was in my pocket as I was getting ready for work.  Before I got in the car, it showed I had taken 500 steps.  That seemed a decent start for the day.  Work is 5.9 miles away.  Walking from the parking lot to the inside of the building is a short distance.  When I got to my desk, I decided to look at the pedometer again and it said I had walked over eight thousand steps!!!

My first thought was the pedometer was broken but then I discovered it was measuring my steps by the distance I traveled - - - using the GPS!  Naturally I had to tell everyone what had happened.  We laughed about it.

After turning the GPS off, I discovered the device only counted steps when my phone was unlocked which meant the screen was always lit - - - and running down the battery quicker.  End result - - that app has been deleted!

However Life*IQ by Reader's Digest is a fun game that has some very helpful information and it's free!

And totally unrelated to anything else, have you tried this?

It's really good.  We will probably use it frequently.

Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?  Mark 9:50a

A Couple of Links

I follow the blogs of two very creative people who are also great assets to their communities.  They just happen to be mother and daughter.  Both just bought new cameras.

 I love the pictures of light the daughter took.  Here is the link:

http://dahlenje.blogspot.com/2012/08/painting-with-light.html 

On her mom's link, the pictures of the flowers on the fence are stunning.  I have never seen sidewalk landscaping like that before.

http://farsideoffifty.blogspot.com/2012/08/flowers-on-main.html  

In other news, I am trying to play catch-up with your blogs - - - will not get comments on all but will read them.  It has been a busy month!

Presently, my knee is doing fairly okay!  I don't have pain.  Swelling has gone down.  Now the trick will be for me not to overdo because I feel better.  It could be a definite set-back.  But it feels so good to feel good!

In old age, your body no longer serves you so well. Muscles slacken, grip weakens, joints stiffen.  Ecclesiastes 12:3a  The Message

(Yes, I know it's not the cheeriest of verses - - but it's the truth, isn't it?)

 

Saturday!

Last Saturday we went to our public library to learn how to check-out books electronically to our phones.  We can get audio or books with text.  We are more interested in the audio books because we like to listen to them in the car during our commutes about town.

 

Afterwards we went to one of our favorite places to eat - - Ocoee Dam Deli - - - located near TVA Dam #1 in the Ocoee Region.  If you haven't been there, definitely try a wrap.  They are delicious.  Their plate meals are great, too and their hamburgers are the best we have ever eaten.

Many of you know we didn't head down to that restaurant just to eat - - - or to go Whitewater Rafting.  Rather - - - we were on our way to see Benjamin Thomas!!!

He and Pop Pop both enjoyed their time together!

"Pop Pop - - the sun is in my eyes!"

 

Of course, Grammy had to have her time with him, too.  This is the better picture of him while I was holding him.

 This is one of the better pics of me.   This boy is so precious - - - just seems contented most of the time.  He is very strong already - - can lift that head up and hold it there a few seconds.

My friends predicted it - - - that I would become a bragging grandmother more than the rest of them!  Keep in mind, the boy is only one month old so he is still new to us but we are so in love that I almost cry thinking about him.  God is so good to us!!!!!

And I know you have probably seen enough pictures, but just one more time, hop over to my daughter's blog and see the photos she took of him on his bearskin rug. 

Your servant has killed both lion and bear  I Samuel 17:36a