Good Samaritan/s

One of my girls and her husband have four sons. The oldest son is away at University and the other three boys are in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades in high school.

They are a fine family, but as most of us do, they struggle financially. They live in a small town where sports can be a ticket to being able to go to University or not. All of their boys are fine athletes and play every sport there is to play. However, where they live it's quite costly.

My daughter and her sweetheart are good parents and try to give their sons every opportunity to participate in every athletic event that takes place. Sometimes this is done at great cost.

I want to share a letter my girl posted on her blog.As I read the letter I immediately thought of the Good Samaritan, or perhaps in this case there was more than one, and it touched my heart.

We hear so much of evil in the world today that we might not realize there are acts, just like this one, going on unnoticed, except to those who are the receipient of it, all over the world. I'm so grateful to this person or persons and their tremendous act of kindness and love.
Looks like the pure love of Christ to me, doesn't it to you?

I have changed names and put in __'s to protect identity. I hope you will feel inspired to do something kind for someone else after reading this story.

Kindness isn't always counted in $'s but in many many ways. Find one this holiday season and apply the principle of the pure love of Christ and see how wonderful it feels to serve our brothers and sisters and our Lord and Redeemer even Jesus Christ. This principle is not one limited to the Christmas season only. We are our brother's keepers....

The story begins:
This is the letter dated December 3, 2008 that was put inside our door.

"Dear Jones,
A few years ago I found myself and my family in some circumstances that were more difficult than I seemed to the the power to overcome. Someone stepped in to help and whether they knew it or not, were an answer to the prayers we needed answers to.

I haven't had a revelation and I'm not specifically aware of your circumstances but when I awoke this morning, I felt a need---a strong need---to do something for your boys. I hope that you'll allow me to pass on to your family a small token of the blessings that have come the way of my family and myself from parties who cared enough to reach out and touch our lives.

Today I anonymously sent some cash to the Attention of ___ and/or ___ at ___ in ___ and asked them to open an account with it in the name of the Jones Family.

In that account is a balance large enough to accommodate the purchase of a pair of any of the basketball shoes they have in stock or can order for each of your 3 sons to use in their season with the ___ this year.

There isn't a limit on the price of the shoes they may want to buy---I've ensured there is more than sufficient funds to cover whatever they need, and have asked ___ to give what remains in the account to charity after the boys have made their purchases.

My family remains moved today by the blessings of what we were given when we were in need. Though it was difficult to understand at the time, we now comprehend with certainty that the people caring for us were angels who understood our Heavenly Father's love for us and were acting on His behalf.

I'm not an angel, but I am gathering a more distinct and complete understanding of how my Heavenly Father loves me. I know He loves you too and I pray, with this tiny little act, that you'll allow me to reflect the love and care our Heavenly Father has for all of us.

Would you please do me the great favor of taking your boys shopping sometime in the next few days and getting them some basketball shoes to play in as we watch them make us proud of the (school team)___s this season? If you'll do this for me, somewhere down the line when you're able and inclined to do the same, you'll get some kind of idea of the joy I'll feel every time I see them running like only those Jones boys can and, with hard work and some good luck, laying a licking on everyone they play this season!!!!!

Have a merry, merry Christmas!!!"

My daughter goes on to say:
Pride is a hard thing to swallow. The story does not end here.

I received a phone call from the Principal's secretary at the high school saying that she had a private matter she had to speak to me about.
A person or persons had made an anonymous donation to our family...they paid all three of the boys basketball fees and the remainder of their school fees.For those of you south of the border that was about $700-$800 dollars!

What a blessing. The Lord knows when no one else does. Our hearts are full for the friends we have made and love here in ___.

We are thankful for our boys and the way they present themselves in public, their kindness, their sportsmanship, their love of where they live and for the (school team)the ___s...Someone noticed, someone is always watching!

I-C-E !

B-r-r-r-r, we woke up to snow over ice this morning. I don't know what the weatherman said the temp was but at 9:10 a.m. it was 4* and my thermometer is in the sun. The wind is blowing pretty good so I think our real feel temp is somewhere below zero. This photo is of my backdoor window which is totally ice. My apple tree has ice hanging off the branches. Sweet man trimmed it back hard this fall and now I'm glad he did.

Try clicking on the photo to see if it will enlarge. You should be able to see all the sparklies.

I love sparklies, don't you?

It's Saturday

It's dark, dreary, windy and rainy here in the Heartland today. My Sweet Man is still on the road...day #12. He drops his load in PA. on Monday and hopefully he will be heading west. He was in ME on Friday morning, NJ in the afternoon and PA on Friday night. It's amazing how many miles he covers in a day. I have a hard time driving to the market. I think it's a mindset thingy.

I couldn't stay in the house today so after my morning phone calls I did my chores and headed out the door. I went to the library and checked out the Beatrix Potter series from the children's section, 3 CD's, and a picture book about a prominent Midwest river. When I get done with this I'm going to make a pot of soup, shower, get my jammies on, warm up my rice bags, snuggle into my quillow and read all afternoon. Tomorrow is church and I like to get myself prepared mentally and spiritually for the feast I'll receive ahead of time. Do you do that? It makes the Sabbath so much sweeter for me.

I hope you're having a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Cards

I've received many cards over the years and some I've enjoyed so much I framed them or kept them on my magnet board which is an old meat tray from a market.

The photo of the boy and girl kissing is from my Sweet Man. It reminds me so much of him.
My friend of 43 years gives me the neatest cards. The two girls above and the girl and her dog on the dock below are just a few. I have packets of cards tied with ribbon in an old suitcase and every once in a while I sit on the attic room steps, open them up and reminisce. I have cards that my children sent to my parents with pennies still attached inside. I love rummaging through the packets and seeing my mother's, father's or sister's handwriting. They've all been gone for such a long time it feels good to have that physical connection if only for a few moments.The colors in this card are so soft and soothing. I love the camaraderie of the girl and her dog.
I know these cards mean nothing to you who look at this blog but they are so sweet to me I wanted to share....

Christmas Tree

This is our Christmas tree. It is a hodge podge of 'junque' and occupies the northwest corner of the parlor. I put this tree up ten years ago and never took it down. It didn't start out looking like this it has 'evolved' through the years. The train that is around the base was given to my Sweet Man by my bosom buddy and her then hubby. The nativity sitting on the bottom shelf of the table is never taken down either. It reminds me daily of why I'm on earth. I don't know if you can see the gold dress on a tiny dress form by the bottom left of the tree but my youngest-red-headed daughter gave that to me several years ago. I had no where to put it so by the tree it went. Close to the top of the tree on the left is a gold box with a bird's nest in it. Don't let anyone ever tell you that Mickey D's french fry boxes are not good for something other than fries.

I have the lights on in all seasons. I love sitting in the parlor on a summer's evening with the lights twinkling and the lace curtains blowing softly in the breeze. It makes me feel good.

Tiny Nativity

I don't remember where I found this tiny nativity but it fits perfectly in the branches of our tree.

Pretties On The Tree

I made this little cutey at Enrichment Night and had no where to put her so she now occupies a branch on the tree. Can you spot the Harry Potter glasses? The same little girl who gave me the doll in the blue dress further down left these here after spending the night and when I told her she forgot them she told me, 'Hang'em on your tree." The pink boot is from Avon I think, does anyone know what came in it? There's a lavender glove on the tree somewhere too and it's from Avon.A friend gave me the little yellow jingle bell and another one gave me the horse. The horse is an old celluloid. The boxes to the right were from another friend who thought they would look pretty sitting by the tree.
The little blue doll was given to me by a little girl from church. After she saw the tree she wanted something from her to be on it.

The little Santa on the right is made from a shotgun shell, it was given to me by the daughter of the people who's estate we bought our house from. The tiny Santa in the gold box is an antique Christmas light I found in the trash. Yes folks, it pays to dumpster dive.

The snowman is an old candy container. Some of the handkerchiefs were my Mothers.

S-N-O-W ! !

Our first snow of the season . . . I left for church at 8:37, it was snowing. I came home at 12:10 and it was still snowing. It's 1.33 right now and it's STILL SNOWING! YIPPEE !

I love to watch snow falling and the silence it creates.

I took the above photo early this a.m. There's quite a bit more snow on the ground now.

I hope it continues all day.

Update

Happy Thanksgiving.....a day late. We hope you had a lovely day wherever and however you spent it.

I wanted to update you on Sweet Man's condition and catch up on a few 'Life' questions.

First, we received a phone call from the cardiologist this a.m. and Sweet Man has a clean bill of health. He had a nuclear stress test done on Friday last and all is G-O-O-D! He has no problems anywhere in his heart. He will have scar tissue from the stent placement but that will be no problem.

He is feeling really good and says he didn't know how bad he felt before until he got 'fixed' and now he feels so much better. He is on several meds for a while but will be weaned off them in a bit. His BP is doing great too.

Thank you for your prayers we appreciate them very much.

Here are a couple Life questions so we can get on with our journals.

17. What pets have you had?
18. Who was your favorite school teacher and why?
19. Where were you when President Kennedy was assassinated?

A Close Call

A week ago today, early in the morning, I received a telephone call from Sweet Man's boss. He told me Sweet Man had had a heart attack and was on the way to the hospital, he didn't know where. The boss gave me the destination of the drop so I got on the PC and looked up the town he would have gone through to make the drop. I found it and talked with a nurse in the ER who informed me there was a male heart attack on the way. ETA, approximately 2 minutes, she called me back in 5. Sweet Man was air-lifed into Madison, WI. He survived the heart attack with no residual effects, at least non manifested as of yet. The cardiologist placed a stent in a coronary artery and he is doing well.

I drove up to Madison to be with him and brought him home the third day. We know it was through the intervention of our Heavenly Father and the skills He gave to those who worked on him that he is here today. Everybody was in the right place at the right time and to me that is not a coincidence.

We don't know when he will be going back to work. He sees the local cardiologist tomorrow, hopefully we will know more then. Please keep us in your prayers. Our names aren't important, Heavenly Father knows who we are. Thank you so much, we appreciate it.

I will include the next two questions for our Life History Project:

15. What is your favorite food and why?
16. If you have a spouse what do you love about him/her?

Cindy Louise

Cindy,
I was looking back on older posts and just found a response you gave about your surgery. I assume by this time you have totally healed and back on your feet.

Yes, your boys are growing, they'll be men before you know. (I'm sure they probably think they are...smile)

I have never received an invite to your blog. Please send me one, I would love to have a look-see.

Did you folks get to see up close and personal the Telly extravaganza in your area? I watched it a couple of times on the news.

If you don't have my e address call me and I'll give it to you. #'s in the book.

Nan

Life Questions 13 and 14

13. Write about receiving a long awaited letter. If not long awaited, how you feel about receiving snailmail in the height of the electronic mailing generation.

14. Tell about the day you were baptized.

Christmas Cactus, Fall Color and a Coopers Hawk

We spied this Coopers Hawk atop a pole surveying the farm fields in search of 'lunch'. There are a lot of these birds in our area and it's always exciting to see them doing their thing.

Leaves I've picked up and saved under the oilcloth on the kitchen table. Makes an interesting piece of art. The leaves represented here are from Maple, Oak, and Tulip trees. The small red leaves are from a Burning Bush. Handsome, eh?

I call this my 'Christmas' Cactus but I should rename it my October Cactus. I have no clue why but it blooms every October. I can force it to bloom again if I keep it in the dark but it seems to take a toll on the plant. I bought this as a spindly little piece nearly dead at the end of the season a few years back uncertain of it's future but here she. Pretty, isn't she? I've started other plants from her and they bloom later than this one but never in December unless forced. Anyone know why they're called Christmas Cactus?

It's Tuesday

'Tis Tuesday and election day. I hope everyone who has the privilege to vote will get out today and exercise that right.

Here are life questions 11 & 12:
11. Tell a frustrating experience you've had with a car.
12. What was your very first job?

Yesterday was my bosom buddy's birthday celebration. Her birthday was Saturday but Sweet Man was home so we celebrated Monday. We've been the best of friends for 12 years, we've hung out, cried, played detective, done genealogy, visit taught, taught each other, libraried, junqued, templed, movied, shopped all night at Wal-Mart, rode all over, oohed and aahed at nature, been through good times and bad together.

The Birthday Girl and I have a tradition. It is, we take who ever's birthday it is to lunch and then open our gift/gifts at the restaurant. We don't spend a lot of money, which is not important anyway, but the gifts are thoughtful. Yesterday after lunch I took her to the Big City and we cruised that French Boutique, you know the one, Target. (pronounce that in French, emphasis on the last syllable, so you get the full effect...Tarche) and then to Barnes and Noble where we perused a few volumes. We then headed back to the country and to our library to pick up movies and for me books on tape. We had a lovely day Mother Nature cooperated blessing us with a temperature of 72, unbelievable for this time of year. I hope 'Mother' doesn't go ballistic on us by the end of the week.

Sweet Man just called me, he is headed for North Carolina this morning. He's made 3 drops since Monday morning, this should be his final before heading home. (I hope)

After stripping the bed this a.m. I've washed and hung the bed linens on the line and am off to vote. Have a lovely day and be happy.

Funeral Week

We had bad news this past week....two members who previously belonged to our branch, passed away within 3 days of each other. They were mother and daughter, the daughter passed first which was a surprise and then the mother. Other members of their family are buried here as were they. Our branch did the first dinner on Wednesday and the second on Friday.

It really touched me to see how everyone came together and made these two dinners happen for the family. The mom and daughter lived about 85 miles from here and were members of a large ward. For the second funeral the RS President sent up food which was really nice, her first counselor also helped out. Both dinners turned out very well with food left over to send home with the family.

I have a great Compassionate Service Leader who takes direction well and knows how to delegate. She makes my job easier and I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

Today is Fast and Testimony meeting. I was spiritually uplifted by all who bore their testimonies. Relief Society was realllllly great. Sister T. taught us about the Second Coming and the Millennium. My spirit was fed for the week with that meeting I'll tell you. We have some amazing sisters in our branch.

I hope y'all survived Halloween and the ghosts and goblins. Won't be long until Thanksgiving and then Christmas. I don't know where the time goes. Remember when everyone was making a big ta-do over the year 2000? Here we are nearly 9 years past it.

Signing off for now, I hope you have a wonderful and productive week.