I miss my blog!  I miss coming here to share my heart.  

I miss the encouragement the Lord gives me when I share my heart - my thoughts.

My photos say it all today so well.  Love never fails.  God never fails.  Love never fails!

When I opened my photos to blog this one above showed up first.  

It made me smile - it made me smile BIGTIME!

Anthony was out and about with his day program at Bass Pro and was surprised to run into his cousin Justin who works there.  Justin snapped this pic and sent it to me.

Anthony, you have always been known for your smile 

and it continues to be true.  

Your Momma loves you Sunshine!

Joy and Blessings,

Mèmére

This past week found me delightfully happy to put a big check mark on one of my heart desires.  

I often have seen pictures on FaceBook of butterfly gardens or butterfly sanctuaries where the gentle delicate little fairies fly by the hundreds.  Being such a butterfly lover I wanted to experience being in their presence as I had seen in photos.

Along with some friends we went to the Arizona Botanical Gardens.  In my 45 years of residence in Arizona I must admit to never having been there.  I know, tsk tsk but it is true.  Amazing things in our own state.  

On our walking tour we saw some butterflies in the part of the garden that was butterfly friendly.  BUT then we came around the corner to find a butterfly pavillion filled with my favorite creations in all their glory.  Oh, be still my heart.  Such a treat.  Such beauty.  Such a blessing to walk among the butterflies and enter their world.

See and feel the flutter of butterfly wings? Yes, seen it and done it -- thank You Jesus.

So next morning as I take Daisy outside for her morning ritual I find this:

Beautiful morning glories shining in the morning sunshine.

A couple butterflies were enjoying the cool morning too flitting among the lantana flowers but I couldn't snap my camera quickly enough to capture them.

I am reminded that you can travel many miles in search of beauty and inspiration but if you look closely you will find beauty and inspiration in your own home and your own backyard.

Blessings & Hugs,

🦋❤️🦋Mèmére🦋❤️🦋

Rise and shine and give God the glory!

Maricopa, Arizona

From my reading this morning I want to share

 a line that ministered to my heart.  

Mildred Stamm writes in Be Still and Know, 

"My joy is not in the day but in the Lord, who made the day!"

Today I choose to praise the Lord and to trust the Lord for what He has in store.  He is the creator of heaven and earth and nothing will take place today that is too difficult for Him.  Through His loving hands will be sifted everything that touches my life today.  Such encouragement!  TYJ

This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 1211-2

Love and Blessings,

💕Mèmére💕

Beauty

My geranium is thriving in its Arizona element.

Love and Blessings,

💕Mèmére💕

Celebrate and Eat Cake!

It came via a text message including a photo of a letter.  Our daughter Michelle in Kentucky, photographed a letter from the President of Eastern Kentucky University congratulating our oldest grandson, Tristan on making the Presidents List.  According to the letter only a very few excel to this point of perfection in a semester earning a perfect grade point average.

Of course we are so proud of our grandson and it was only fitting that we celebrate his achievement. So I made a cake!  It would have been a perfect celebration if we could have shared the cake with Tristan and his family but alas, they are 1800 miles away.

So Precious Husband and I ate cake!  Here is to you Tristan!  Thanks for a reason to celebrate.  You make your grandparents proud every day and you always have.

Tristan (age 6)

Tristan's High School Graduation 2015

The cake by the way is a keeper!  Need a good recipe? Go here.


Love and Blessings,

💕Mèmére💕

Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalm 46:10

Max Lucado writes, "Nothing occurs beyond the reach of God's power.  Awareness of God's power provides rest and encouragement to Christians."

Note from my study Bible

NOTHING occurs beyond the reach of God's power.  Nothing.  Another thing that brings me comfort and encouragement is that EVERYTHING that comes into my life as a believer is filtered through God's loving hands.

AWARENESS, Webster says is knowledge and understanding that something is happening or exists. 

As I begin this new year my desire is to so know God that I will see and hear Him clearly and grow in my faith trusting His heart, His love for me!  

God promises me He will be exalted.  He will be known.  He commands me to BE STILL.  Commands with promise.

Be still, and know that I am God

Psalm 46:10a

Hugs and Blessings,

💕Mèmére💕

Trust

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding.  

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

This verse has ministered to my heart many times through the years.  It is a verse given me when I adopted my first son over 46 years ago as a single woman.  Everyone thought I was crazy BUT God had a better thought.

Now 2018 and the verse is being put to the test again.  Fresh reasons to trust God and fresh faith to know He will prove Himself faithful again.

What do you need to trust God for today?

Hugs and Blessings,

💕Mèmére💕

Wordless Wednesday

Hugs and Blessings,

💕Mèmére💕

 

What Makes You Smile?

Simple!

It's what makes me smile.

Hugs & Blessings

Mèmére

In ALL things!

Does this pattern look familiar to you?  It is Hall's China and often called Jewel Tea dishes because it was sold on the Jewel Tea trucks that sold household products from a truck and drove through neighborhoods meeting the needs of the homemakers.

My favorite aunt on my mother's side of the family, Aunt Virgina, collected these dishes and they lined the shelf around her kitchen in her old farm house.  They bring back such fond memories.  Aunt Virginia had 3 boys - no girls so when I visited I had lots of fun with her and got to make lots of cookies.

What you see in the picture above is a portion of the water pitcher made by Hall's China.  A couple of weeks ago I found the pitcher at a local auction and bought it for $20.  Such a steal.  When I looked at my pitcher I thought of Aunt Virginia.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and my prize pitcher met its demise.  Being the creative woman I am I can still use it but it sure won't be holding ice-tea or lemonade again.  

Once again I am reminded of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

Wordless Wednesday

Love & Hugs,

Mèmére

Smile!

Give me a S

Give me a M

Give me a I

Give me a L

Give me a E

What does it spell?

SMILE!

I always remind Precious Husband that it doesn't take much to make me smile.  Personally I think this is a good thing.  Precious Husband smiles when he sees me get excited picking out inexpensive little yellow dancing flowers that will make us both smile (hopefully a long time) as we travel down the highway.

My prayer in life is that I always will be satisfied and content with the small little daily blessings that come our way.  God does give us daily blessings if we just keep our eyes and heart open.

I will sing to the Lord all my life; 

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Psalm 104:33

Praise the Lord. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; 

his love endures forever.

Psalm 106:1

I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

Psalm 13:6

I like this quote from A.W. Tower:

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. 

My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Psalm 28:7

Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.

Psalm 89:52

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

Thankful Be!

(A little cabin we spotted in Missouri)

I had to come back today to give praise to God for a beautiful day on Thursday.  Every day should be Thanksgiving but often we get caught up in our own little world and forget to give praise.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday too.   I love seeing the family and loved ones gather around the table and fill their plates with traditional favorite dishes and one by one share what they are thankful for.  

This was the year we passed on the baton to the next generation as far as hosting and cooking our dinner.  We gathered at our youngest daughter's home here in Arizona.  There were 13 of us around the table.  It was wonderful!

At the end of the day I praised God for special blessings He alone had done in my life this particular Thanksgiving Day and I was reminded of the verse in 2 Corinthians 9:8 that says 

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

In the Message it says, "God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done."

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. 

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. 

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. 

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

— Melody Beattie

Love and Hugs,
Mèmére

We Are Off Like A Turtle!

.

Well, we are getting down to the nitty gritty.  We have "practiced" the RV life for nearly 3 months now here in Mesa and this Sunday we will pull out for the first maiden voyage in Miss Adie.

What an experience going from a two story 3700 square foot house to a 40 foot motor home.  Deciding what to take and keep and what to pass on.  Oh, the emotional pain it has brought a few times.  In the scheme of things what we are doing to live this adventure will be well worth it though.

Mom gave me the little turtle you see above years ago.  It is a poor picture but she is holding a planter with flowers on it and it is filled with mint from my yard.  Once upon a time I collected (among many other things) turtles.

The RV life demands that you carry only that which is necessary but in my case also that makes me smile and this little turtle makes me smile.  

Next week we start out headed to Ogden, Utah where we will visit Precious Husband's brother and his family.  From there we go to Kentucky via South Dakota where we will take up residency with driver's licenses and license plates.  Oh my, who would have thunk it :-)

Before I close I want to remind you that one of my main reasons for blogging is to communicate to my family and with that in mind I want to tell my children something today.  My precious husband, your father,  is the most generous and most kind man in the whole world and you children are blessed to be able to call him "dad"!

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

God's Amazing Handiwork

I wish you could see the size of the flowers on this cactus!  They were amazing.  Last night as Precious Husband and I walked through the RV park we came across the blooms in front of a park model.  The residents have left for the summer so I felt free to snap away at these short lived beauties.  At first sight I actually thought they were artificial because they were so large.  God's creativity and handiwork never cease to amaze me!

Love and Hugs,

Mèmére

Moving On!

Precious Husband in front of "Addie"

After a month of drama, excitement, a little fear (yes, I admit to that) and a whole lot of emotional roller coaster riding I can give you our news.

We are becoming RVers.  Our new home is going to be on 6 wheels.  I have named her "Addie" because when we shared our plans to buy a motor home with our 11 year old grandson, Trent, he said, "Oh, Mèmére's Great Adventure Bus!"  So Addie she is.  Hope you can see how I came up with that name because in all honesty Precious Husband doesn't get it.

We began thinking about this months ago and then Mom moved in with us and our dream was shelved for 5 months.  At times we thought it a foolish dream too and would not think any more about it.  But hey we decided, we aren't getting any younger and if we are going to live this dream we better get moving.

We will keep our home until we have tested the waters to see if we really can live full time in Addie.  We plan to move to Mesa this week and live in a lovely RV park till May.   In May we will take Addie on her maiden voyage to Kentucky and see our oldest grandson, Tristan graduate from high school.

So you can stop wondering what in the world is going on.  We are moving on to the next chapter of our lives and we are so excited and yes, a little scarred.  Sometimes fear can be a healthy thing, right?

Love and Hugs,
Mèmére

Blessed!

I try very hard to never take my life for granted.  I am blessed beyond measure by a wonderful husband, amazing children and even more amazing grandchildren.  Some days the normal and routine comes and goes and yes I fail to let my blessings encourage my heart as they should.  That is when I am glad for gentle reminders.  

Yesterday I met a gentleman and after a short visit he turned to me and said, "You are married to a very good man.  He loves you a lot."

Yes, truly I am married a a good man that loves me a lot.  I am thankful to a stranger for being so bold in reminding me of those facts.

Counting my blessings and reminding myself to never take my blessings and life for granted.

Blessings and Hugs,
Mèmére

Afternoon Light

The weekend is upon us and we are looking forward to spending time with family.  Our boys will come for the weekend and then on Sunday the TLC's and their parents will join us for bbq.  Saturday hope to Skype with daughter and her precious family in Kentucky.  

October is birthday month for two sons, two son-in-loves and 1 daughter!

Hope you enjoy your weekend and make it special too.