Monday, a Bloggy Mood and All That Goodness. What's on my Mind...

Hi Di Ho Everybody! Yep, it's Monday. Monday - Monday... : )

I've done my flylady things and I'm treating myself to some blogging time. Just some creative heart release time with my typing fingers to friends and the Father. I've got a soup going in the kitchen so that's set. I smell onions and garlic I just sauteed...Becs is doing a photo shoot with Li Li, props everywhere...Those are good things.

What's on my mind? Oh that song by Sara Groves, 'What I thought I Wanted' yep, that's a playin' these days on the turntable of my mind. It's been an intense time in the Italiana home. A time of praying for our girls on the other side of the world and a time of seeing someone who said they cared deeply for one of our girls...Seeing that very person quickly melt into the world especially in the ways of other girls... at a drop of a hat. I have no idea why. We saw glimpses but prayed for the best, I wanted to believe the best. I did know in my heart that if something like this were to happen it would probably happen during this time of our daughter being away.

I just knew this was a possibility... I'm the same person who could tell at the age of six that my first grade teacher was expecting by the way she said the spelling word, baby.

It's a hard thing for a mom to see. We love people, we care for people we so want the best for them...so much we did. Oh sooooo much! So much potential. God only knows. But sometimes people go for the cheap, ugly, temporal, losing sight of what is real and what is true what is beautiful in the Lord. We should never apologize for holiness or sweetness by the way.

I crawl into bed much like a little girl one night after seeing some tell-tale things on the pc. Li Li had told me... Mom you should just get off now, it's upsetting you too much. I was clearly broken hearted for more than the second time in a week over some rather overly friendly exchanges with said person and other girls. I said to Lea ..How can he do this to her? Why?

I tell hubby:

Hurt my feelings? Insult me in the worst possible way? Show me disrespect? It stings, it makes me cry. Sometimes it makes me cry hard, I lose my appetite. It makes me walk around like a zombie. But mess with my girls? I can't let that happen. That's the ultimate.

Hubby tells me...

Don't worry because I'm not going to let anyone mess with them.

I so want to love people, I want to love them to Christ and then they do this stuff.


It's okay, this is the one thing I know. God is the Revealer and like Li Li said the other day trying to quote some famous person...in the kitchen, the place where all problems of the world are solved...

If we knew what God knew we would go right along with Him.

That sure sums it up.



Sometimes I think these things happen to us so we won't be prideful. If all courtships went so perfectly? Like the front of those homeschool magazines from the 90s? We would be the most prideful people ever. There is no easy formula 1,2, 3. No, with the Lord it just isn't that way. He is the formula. Period.

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The other day Hubs took me out to eat at one of our favorite little places in smalltown...I love that place. This neat mexican restaurant is situated in an old airplane hanger. We've eaten at this place for 20 years. It's so wonderful, so very very wonderful to be a part of smalltown USA.

On the way out? Remember our piano teacher? From Midtown? The one who had moved to smalltown with her coach husband? The beauty who looked like Greer Garson in her younger years? My precious friend who has gone to be with the Lord? As I'm sliding out of my booth I hear two separate tables talking about her little home. They were talking of her home like a landmark. I turned to get a good look at them and I thought to go join them...I wanted to tell them...

Yes, I knew mrs. blount, she was my friend. She was my dear friend. She was lovely and content in smalltown even though she had the best music teachers in Midtown. She would so get me in this season of life, she had cried with me before. I know she would cry with me again or at least give me words of wisdom. You see my family has been turned every which way with all of this. Up and down.

How about some pleasant pics now???? : )

Here's some pics of that evening:

Tis I. I have my hair pulled back, and yes I know my shirt is hanging in the shower. Who cares. This is a very real blog, so who cares. : ) Maybe others will get the hint too to get real on these things we call blogs. I'm thinking...I had better hurry and get going!


Okay out the door! An unfinished walkway...


Look up at the trees, the evening sun shines and reflects. Here we are having cooler than normal weather. I actually had to put the bathroom heater on one night, can you imagine?


Bye, Bye, house! See ya in a bit! : )


On the way down the beautiful road to smalltown...A message? I think so. It always is.

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Yesterday? A Happy Sunday for the mostpart. : )


With just two of our girls, Hubby & I figured going to the old downtown church would be best. We felt it in our hearts. It started getting so overcast and dark!



I look down. Hubby's hand and my hand. This says multitudes. Trust. Care. Companionship of 32 years. A care and love for each other that improves over years, that's the way the Lord intended.


Okay, we're here! Not bad, we made it pretty quick! There goes the LightRail...









Watch out for the LightRails! They aren't too light if you get hit by one!


The service at the big beautiful majestic church was so good. There was a beautiful testimony of a middle aged man born in the 50s, he grew up being taught little boys weren't men if they didn't drink beer and drive trucks. Poor little guy. He ended up at Star of Hope mission and found Jesus. He now is studying in social science to be a counselor to help people. This testimony made me cry, it was such a neat thing. Now days you don't hear many testimonies at many churches. When they played the doxology I put my head on hubby's shoulder and closed my eyes as I sang. I opened up my eyes and the camera man was turned around smiling sweetly at us amused. He amused me that he was amused. : )

A beautiful service.

Afterwards in the bathroom I heard women talking and I was able to converse with one, she looked very down to earth and was very talkative talking about coffee in Sunday school and it's effects. ; ) I told her coffee was a vegetable because it was a bean! She liked that. I saw a Joyce Meyer books under the stall. A Sunday school lesson book. Sure enough I later heard ladies speaking of lessons from a Joyce Meyers book. I think that's pretty good, I'm not one hundred percent Joyce but I think she helps people. The pastor also spoke of a Jeanette Clift George book about feeling as if God is on the other side of Heaven. My dad went to college with Jeanette Clift George, my dad enjoyed drama. I sure would like to get that book.

After church? It was getting darker and darker, I am a people watcher and I notice people from all walks of life. Older men in ties and bow ties. Women, some in hats. Some people look middle class and some perhaps from a mission. Some old money? Who knows. It's interesting to watch though. They also have a Stephen ministry that I thought sounded wonderful for people.


Let's stand and hear the church bells?



Dh? Could you record the church bells? That would be so great!


Thunder?


Let's hurry and get in the car!



Yes, stormy weather. Neat.



We drive by this downtown coffee shop...loved the cozy lighting...love the effect here...


Me and Becs! We are happy, we're heading to the Mediterranean grocery to eat at their restaurant. A treat indeed.


We're HERE! Love the name of this salad...This place is HUGE. It has garage parking and contains two stories of neatness.



A very small portion of the goodies and bakery.


Outstanding made to order sandwiches? I'm not sure if they are really called sandwiches. In the front are pizzas. My "sandwich" was made with Zataar bread. So good!


You pick what ya want... nifty Zataar thingies. Fresh veggies! Yummo!


One little cubby hole, and one entrance to the neat restaurant part where we bring our sandwich thingies. (Around the corner is gelato...If I could have sugar I would order the pistachio orange blossom).



The other entrance around the other side...Becs and I march down to a table as we approach a darkened dimly lit stage at the end...A bass player, a piano and later a female vocalist with polka-dot heels singing like Ella Fitzgerald. Luverly on a rainy afternoon.



I've looked at life from both sides now...

Me from Becs view,


Becs, from my view through the glasses and aftermath of our delightful little lunch.


How could we go home without this shot? Ha! : D

That's the wrap...A long blog. Lots of pics. Hope you enjoyed your weekend with us!

Please pray for our two girls away at this time serving and teaching in China.

Something sooo cute a little child in China, a student, wrote to our daughter:

You are more beautiful than any actress and your eyes are big. : )

Something I like to hear:

My 82 year old mom calling on a Saturday eve as I bathe our doglets:

Amelia, Lawrence Welch is on t.v. it's a black and white one.

She says it like welch's grape juice. funny. I'm so glad that is what was needed. Yes, I'll be glad to turn Lawrence welch on!

I did and we enjoyed it. One of the very first ones. Our family enjoys those old shows.

God is good.

We can trust Him, He knows all about it.

We can run to Him and sit on His lap!

Love to All, Prayers are coveted friends, Mommies? Please pray over that situation above. It's icky. Could be painful. So much to write, but I will show restraint and wisdom and shutteth uppeth at this point.

~Amelia
P.S. One last thing...Why not? : )

Source: youtube.com via Amelia on Pinterest

Joan Chandler and John Garfield in "Humoresque" (1946) She is so sweet & he becomes so deceived by the love of the world. Real life lessons here for sure.

The Smell of Rain...A Beautiful Sunday, Coffee Filter Countdown

...Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace.
~Frederick Buechner



Yesterday turned out to be such a grace-filled day. It was one of those Sundays where we decided to venture out a bit. We had all decided a couple of days before that we would be venturing to church elsewhere instead of our sweet homechurch. Sometimes we do that little thing. : ) Dh and I felt our girls would enjoy either the homeschool church (a long drive) or one of our very favorites, the old, old, old, Methodist church in downtown.

We decided on the Methodist. We also decided that a fun lunch would be in order for our girls holding down the fort as two other of our sweeties are on a trip in China teaching children English. Dd27 wrote me quickly to tell me among other very most poignant things that she taught the children to say Y'ALL like the Texans do! She shared that one of the sweet Chinese children wrote that she looked more beautiful than a movie star and her eyes were big. Isn't that darling? She shared she was moved to tears as they so sweetly recited the reading lesson as a group for the first time after she read it to them.

This is my advent calendar of sorts. Yes, it's a stack of coffee filters. One for every day til my girls come home. : ) Mar-Mar is the coffee angel at our house and usually makes the coffee the night before; timed and ready to go...So. This is my little countdown calendar. : )



On the way to church it started storming up a storm! I thought of our poor little Muffie at home. That little guy is extremely terrified of rain and thunder. Strange looking tornadic looking clouds were appearing, it was a storm! But it was so neat as we approached the exit it was as if a halo of clearing was over the church downtown area. A little rain, but almost a pleasant rain. Just enough to give it a neat romantic mood of sorts. Sorry about the cross ways photo. This time I wasn't given the chance to turn the pics around. Becs doesn't know how either so I don''t feel so bad. Sorry! I figure, better posted sideways than not. Perfectionism is out!




I love this place. It's where my parents were married, it's only blocks away from where both dh and I were born. Delivered by the same Italian doctor. How could it not strum my heartstrings?



Can you imagine during WWII, relatives who prayed and wept in this church? Can you imagine the blackouts in the area? One of my sweetest friends in the whole world is from the middle of town and she remembered the blackouts, her parents were the drill leaders for the neighborhood black-outs. I miss her so much, she went to be with the Lord several years ago...She was my mother's age. Why did ya have to go? I ask vocally when I go into the little town nearby where she was from. She wound up close by here in the little town as her husband was a teacher and taught as a coach. She looked like Greer Garson in her younger year and was probably the most talented pianist I've ever seen. Our family was so blessed to call her friend and as a piano teacher. I miss her too so much. My girls miss her too. For those of you have read this already on my friend, please oblige.



We park and cross but not before dh kindly places a little note on the windshield of a car with a rather liberal political bumper sticker. ; ) That's my man! I hung back with Becs as I got this shot...Li Li and Dh. Don't worry Dh doesn't normally leave me behind. ; ) We normally even hold hands by George! He calls me Glamor Girl and i call him Handsome Guy.



Li Li and Dh


We get inside and of course the first stop is lady's room. Yes, I did take a pic. I'm telling you, I even love the bathroom, soooo old. You can feel it in your bones...I thought once again of my mom and dad getting married in this place. oooh so neat. Marble and old tile. I helped a sweet lady with a walker, she tells me Honey I was at the hospital visiting, and my back went out and I left in a wheelchair! Poor thing. I shared how my back went out one morning in my kitchen un-announced. I talked with her later and I was so surprised to see she is still wearing high heels! Nooooooo... She was a sweetheart. I wear ballet flats myself and love them. I also wondered if my mom didn't get dressed in this very bathroom years ago?





This caught my eye when we were waiting on everyone to exit the ladies room...


This is the view from where we usually sit...Beautiful. The choir was a melodic chorus this Sunday, a bit like the sweet choruses you may hear in an old Shirley Temple movie? The song? Come and Get Your Happiness. But of course they were singing hymns...So. Gorgeous. So. Sweet. It was starting to thunder..and that always adds to the drama of downtown, you could see glimpses of it through the stained glass. Neat.



When we were on our way out Dh saw this sign at the end of the high-up walkway we were on. This was at the end. "Cry Room". Dh nudged me jokingly, he had been so sweet on how I was feeling but he was joking...Maybe you should go in there. ; )



After the service we were leaving, So Becs, Li Li and I were waiting here. It was raining...I was able to help a sweet elderly lady make it to the sidewalk. So darling. I also overheard two ladies talking about a Bible study.



There goes my Handsome Guy to get the car for his girls!



Well, I think that's the wrap for a Rainy-Sunday yesterday.

After the service? We went to a charming cozy Turkish grill. Fun!

A very neat Sunday. Thank you Jesus.

God loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain, without caution or regret. ~Brennan Manning


Better run, I have noooo idea why in the world my pc is underlining things at random times! Li Li can't figure it out so it's not just me!

I think it's God whispering for me to get off now!

Love to All, Underlines and All! ~Amelia

The Journey, An Update for Future Generations

As some of you may know two of our daughters flew into China to teach English to highschoolers there...It's been a strange week or two as you may imagine.

Day before yesterday was the dreaded airport day. A very emotional day. I know this; I was not alone in my feelings from hearing about other parents, and spouses as well. The airport scene was interesting...I have a chipper shell of sorts -at times...Maybe I'm delirious who knows? I'm also exhausted emotionally. I hear of another mom realizing the temporary absence from her two young people as she bought only one bag of bread buns instead of two at the store chatting with the understanding lady next to her on the bakery aisle of this most shocking change in her household... I can see myself doing the same! : )


Things like this immobilize me at times, all the packing and preparing etc. Fear of the unknown. Some of you get me on this...in these times I feel an instinct to freeze. I must freeze and pray. My energies are poured into prayers at times like this. Sometimes I'm not that strong...I can be a real case. I'm cautious by nature but my trust in God is childlike and that carries me through life. It does. The older I get the more I need Christ's strength. Many things at play here of course.


A song that keeps before me is "How Beautiful" by Twila Paris. You can see it on my Pinterest if you wish under favorite music. It so adequately frames the entire scenario here. Perfect. God has allowed it to play over the radio that day too....He sure knows what He is doing.

As my husband and I left the airport yesterday, we looked at each other...We agree... This is what it's all about. Other things said too I'll try to share at another time.

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Yesterday morning the phone rings...
Ring-a-dinga ...... Ring -a -dinga.....


It's my dad!

Me: Hey Daddy.

Daddy: Hey, I can't get in touch with your mom.

Me: She's okay, I talked to her yesterday evening. Do you have her number right? (He can't see well)

Daddy: Oh Okay. Tell her to call me. How are the GIRLS? I'm trying to track their plane route!

It was so cute, he used to love-love-love to fly. Really love to fly, it was his hobby and he was what you could call a gifted pilot. He was also a practical joker in his flying as well. (another blog) He was also asked to do a secret mission in the 60s back when which he refused. (yet another blog!).

It was a special blessing this particular morning. He amazed me. My dad is 82 and you don't know how refreshing it is for me to hear him talking about the different flight routes to China and the special names for the routes. He tells me how the norm is to stop in Hawaii for fuel. Visions of the 60s and my handsome daddy. So very Americana. So thankful my dad is still sharp as a tack.

He tells me he's firing his yardman because he's a nut. (an understatement).

He tells me he's upset about Judge Roberts. (me too!) We ALL are! And we agree on Herman Caine being OUTSTANDING on Hannity the other day.

He tells me before he hangs up: Hey, say the Psalms 91 for those girls.

Yes Daddy I will. Always.

Always.


Following are some pics I will share with you that tell the mood:




A beautiful old church on the way home from the airport in Midtown. This is right smack dab in an affluent part of the city. Beautiful grounds surrounded by trees. This was taken in a moving car.





One of my favorite skirts I've made, a go-to skirt for sure. I pair it with a black belted t. Works great for days like this.



The sky fit the mood. (I reiterate, these are all taken as we were moving in the car)






A sight for sore eyes... Our little friend above.



The moooooon..... As said by Donna Reed to Jimmy Stewart...



Had to get out and get this shot while dh was filling up so you could see how large the moon really was.



The moon over our home as we pull up...lovely reflection in the pond.

That day:


Before we left...Noticing the cross.


Mar telling Muffie goodbye...She rescued him from a busy street several years ago...He is our smallest wee lil doglet baby. He was so nervous upon seeing the suitcases (he knows what suitcases mean) and became ill that day. These animals are very sensitive little creatures from God.



The aftermath of packing and weighing etc. Even my little Victorian lady looks a little woeful here...




Our girls. Becs. Li Li, Delle & Mar - A recent shot. Pray for our girls, Mar & Delle in China, Li Li and Becs are holding down the fort.

And that's the wrap til the next update...

Love to All, ~amelia

P.S. Dh told Byron that the girls were leaving to teach overseas for a bit. He says if they pull any funny business with our girls over there he'd go get'em. Byron's a tough senior soldier from the 60s. I believe him. : )

P.S.S. We watched "Pride of the Marines" with John Garfield. Oh what a fantastic old 40s movie! You must see it! They show a beautiful scene of his fiance praying. Hope to put a blog up on thats-italian soon about it... Great-great patriotic WWII movie.