Saying Goodbye to a Friend

I stood in ICU yesterday telling a friend goodbye. I have known her for over 30 years, raised our children together, went to 2 different churches together, spent evenings together playing cards and visiting when kids were young, and lived by each other for 20 years. Alot of memories.
I stood there alone with her. Not sure she knew I was there or heard me. They were taking the ventilator off last night so I don't know if she made the night.
But I talked to her. Told her she had been a good friend. Told her that her family was going to be okay. Prayed for her. And told her I loved her.
She had fought a hard fight and her body was tired. The most important she was a Christian. She will have eternal rest with Jesus. No more battles.
I was at her house one day and she had me repeatedly listen to Josh Groban song "You Raise Me Up". I heard it yesterday and reminded me of the day.

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,

Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;

Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;

But when you come and I am filled with wonder,

Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up: To more than I can be.

Rest my friend I will see you again and maybe our mansions will be beside each other again.

What Goes UP...

Bittersweet memories. What is this you ask? An invention of my husband or just label it "how to get my mother in law up the stairs."

And now the rest of the story....My parents were building their new home so they moved in our empty upstairs rooms until it was finished. It worked out wonderfully and we have some sweet memories of the times we shared.

But the first morning they were here, Mom fell on our stairs and broke her ankle. She had to have pins put in and it bothered her the rest of her life. But didn't slow her down much. She could still work circles around me.

So we needed to offer her the downstairs master bedroom. And we did for about one night. Then my inventor husband came up with a plan (we tease--most of his inventions involve duct tape, or velcro). How can I get her safely up and down? The answer is above. He built a ramp, make a box seat and used a wrench motor to bring the seat up and down. Did it work? Like a charm. Dad said you will never get her on it but she was a trooper. She would ride it up and down till the cast came off. Never a complaint.

Junior Popsicle

I had taken so many of my neighbor's horses that I had to discard some. I was looking at them and had a good laugh at one...

Zoom in on the gray horse

A ponysicle...and the right height too.

Heeee....now that's funny!

Green will Come again

Hang in there Preacher.

You are still in Tennessee and you will see green again--right there.

More green @ Sunday Stills

The Only Road

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor. 5:17

The Wilderness

Faith begins in the wilderness-When you are alone and afraid, when things don't make sense..in the wilderness of loneliness we are terribly vulnerable..but we may be missing the fact that it is here....here where we may learn to love Him...Here where it seems He is not at work, where His will seems obscure or frightening..where He is not doing what we expected Him to do..if faith does not go to work here, it will not go to work at all. God answers are always "Trust Me". Elisabeth Elliot

Remember this, God may not do what you want, but He will do what is right and best. Trust Him. He will get you home. And the trials of the trip will be lost in the joys of the feast. Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want, faith is the belief that God will do what is right.

"These trials are only to test your faith" I Peter 1:7a

All the Pretty Horses

These are pictures of my neighbor's horses and some of the best shots. I have theory about that. I was trying to take some of my two black horses and with the white snow it is hard to get balance right. But on these I think the sorrel (red) horse named Lily provided the right tones to set the picture. Those taken with her are my favorite because of the sharpness and color.

 This is one of my favorite pictures I have ever taken. I love the combination of the bridge, snow and horses.

THE END

What a fun day taking pictures!

Black and White Pony

Our neighbor's beautiful horse

For more black and whites pictures go to Black and White Weekend

Snow and Horses

Memphis and snow. Means different things to different people. School is out. Kroger had long lines and bread was sold out. One northerner said she had never heard of canceling church because of snow. We all act like we would be snowed in for weeks. But this is Tennessee. It is nine degrees today and predicted to be fifties by the weekend. I look for buttercups any day.
So what does it mean to me? It means I can't wait to take pictures of the horses and our lake in snow. Some of the pictures are starting to look just like the snow pictures from last year.

I love taking pictures of my horses but it so hard to get the focus and white balance with black horses and white snow. Back to reading about camera settings.

I love it when they run and act like wild horses. (It helped that I was waving my arms and making noises. My husband asked from the house "Were you chasing those horses?" I told him I was waving at a horsefly but I don't think it bought it.)

They always came back to me like saying, "That was fun!"

I took some of the neighbors horses that I post next.

Cold Ride in a Field Trial

We rode yesterday in a field trial at the Ames Plantation and had such a good time. It was 14 degrees when we got there but warmed up to 44. I had 6 layers on top so I was fine. (couldn't bring my arm up to scratch my nose but I was fine) My husband and I rode with 3 of our friends.   Two of us stood out with our helmets but we didn't care.  Here is one of our friends getting ready to scout. He will run along the fields as we ride in the gallery and will try to keep the dog in line of vision of the judges. We rode 3 hours with each having one hour braces that 2 different dogs will run. Here they are letting two dogs go. I was hoping this picture would show the steam coming off this horse. He just scouted the last brace. Notice how they all ground tie their horses when they jump off. The horses just stand there. Here my husband riding Preacher. He was beaming he was so proud of him. Both of our horses did great. The ditches can be intimidating with the crowd going down and they did fine. Both would hit into a singlefoot or lope if a dog had a find. You start off in a gait and they never walk in the entire 3 hours.  Gracie still had so much go in her even at the last hour. Deb and I usually let them go singlefooting when the dogs are taken up and that is the most fun because they are flying. I could see the horses watching and waiting for this.  There were at least 10 or more bird points (whatever language they use) and that is so pretty to watch. The dog isn't suppose to move as the handler walks through the grass flushing the birds out. I missed a great shot by not having my camera out--one flush the covey flew straight at me like fighter bombers.  It was such a good day. You came home tired but smiling.

Protected

While taking a walk in the woods, I noticed these discarded jars with plants growing in them. The plants were protected from the elements  and flourishing, when all around them everything else was dead.

As I start the New Year begins,  I am reminded that because I have Christ in me, I am protected and have life while around me there is lost and dying world. May I not stop there, but be always inviting others to come to Him also.

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." Luke 12:27

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19

No power of hell

No scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand

Til He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power

of Christ I'll stand.

For more post like this go to Spiritual Sundays