Three books...stories of my life.

Memories of joy, laughter & sadness.

Wouldn't change a moment.

Thousands of churches

will pause for a moment of silence

today before offering

a prayer of reflection.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted

for the sake of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:10 NASB

---

21 Egyptian Christian Martyrs

Milad Makeen Zaky
Abanub Ayad Atiya
Maged Solaiman Shehata
Yusuf Shukry Yunan
Kirollos Shokry Fawzy
Bishoy Astafanus Kamel
Somaily Astafanus Kamel
Malak Ibrahim Sinweet
Tawadros Yusuf Tawadros
Girgis Milad Sinweet
Mina Fayez Aziz
Hany Abdelmesih Salib
Bishoy Adel Khalaf
Samuel Alham Wilson
Worker from Awr village
Ezat Bishri Naseef
Loqa Nagaty
Gaber Munir Adly
Esam Badir Samir
Malak Farag Abram
Sameh Salah Faruq

And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and

because of the word of their testimony, and

they did not love their life even when faced with death.

Revelation 12:11 NASB

May their sacrifice lead our hearts to repentance.

May the blood of the martyrs,

be the seed for a revived church.

my heart.

21martyrs.com

Radiant in White

As I read the devotion to mom this morning, I immediately thought of a dear friend Winkie McLaurin who passed away yesterday. "...wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7"

Our devotion talked about wearing white clothing and how hard it is to keep them white. How our white compared to snow is no comparison. God's love for us and His decision to provide for us a purity is something we could never attain ourselves. Our sins washed in His blood appear as "white as snow" in the eyes of God. No human detergent works this white or pure.

Winkie was the epitome of Southern Charm...friendly, courteous, respectful, family, traditions, manners, heart and so much more. I always remember the saying about the wearing of white clothing... "Not before Memorial Day or After Labor Day." This was Winkie.

I know that yesterday as she joined Heaven's Angels, she donned the fine white linens so bright & clean that were laid out just for her. She can now wear white all year long..."Radiant in White".

Tuesday Bridge Ladies

Becky Armstrong, Elise Goodwin, Sylvia Dudley, Winkie 

ref. Billy Graham Unto the Hills, A Daily Devotional

AU Oak Tree Love

Love, love is in the air this Valentine's Day at Auburn University. After almost four years, preparation was made today for the new pair of oak trees to be planted on Toomer's Corner. The oak trees were chosen last June from over 9,000 trees at the MeadWestvaco nursery in Ehrhardt, South Carolina.

Our beloved trees were poisoned in 2010.

loading up in SC for their ride to Auburn

There was hundreds of fans cheering and chanting as the new, 35-foot oak trees arrived on flatbeds. The first one arrived around 8 a.m. with a police escort thru town. The second one arrived a couple of hours later.

arriving at Auburn University

Lifting, In the Air, Filling the Hole, Checking Hole Size

Another love gift will happen next February (2016) when thirty 15-ft. oak trees, grown from acorns of the original Toomer Oaks, will be planted along a brick walkway construction.

Auburn University's game day tradition of "Rolling the Oaks" will be allowed Season 2016..... War Eagle!

My Bville Week

2.2.15.....

Rainy, rainy & a long, lay "in the bed" morning...oh how wonderful!

I took a little road trip today with my sister to NC to check out some stores. Another trip to Ollie's and some more great little finds. As we were driving back home, we noticed strong winds & dark  skies. All afternoon the winds howled & blew but we never got any bad weather.

My Aunt Willie came over to the house. It was nice to see her, and we had a good visit. She loves to read just as much as I do so we exchange books from time to time. She is my dad's sister.

Hunkered down for the night at moms and it looks like a "homemade popcorn & Coke Zero night"

2.3.15.....

Today I met with a high school friend, Betty Samuels, for lunch at River's Edge. Since our high school graduation we have only seen each other once. We had the best time chatting about everything...just trying to "catch up" with each other's family news. We spent over 2 hours together... so much fun. Lots of memories!

(forgot to take a picture...talking so much

so I swiped her pic from her FB page)

Mom & I were planning to eat at the new restaurant over in R'ham tonight. She was having her telephone lines checked today, and during the check he discovered that mom had a leak under the house. No eat out tonight.

My cousin came & took care of the leak problem, and we dined on "refrig foods".

2.4.15.....

Fairmont...here we come! My aunt loves QVC, and there were two outlet stores where we went to shop. We left & traveled to Lumberston to shop at the WPP Outlet and to eat lunch at Cracker Barrell.

After lunch we traveled towards L'burg to stop at ReStore. Each of us found new items. I was excited to find two framed golf pictures for Glenn's office at home.

-leaving L'burg ReStore-

Home again, settled down eating a sandwich, watching the news...before sleep. It's been a long day.

2.5.15.....

Hangin' around the house & doing a little exploring. Mom knew of a box of hats in one of the eaves upstairs. We found the box as well as other boxes that she had forgotten about. We had packed items years & years ago. One with items from the beach house, one with glass/decorative items and four boxes of books. Mom was styling the hats for me.

Tonight we are going to R'ham to try the new seafood restaurant. My aunt joined us, and we had a great time. Our food was delicious & the service was good...we'll be back. We even made a few side trips to Ollie's (yes, my third trip so far) & WM.

2.6.15.....

Another lazy morning...then we were off to run a few errands, gas up the car & get to mother's hair appt before the afternoon was gone.gone.gone.

My sister & brother with their spouses came over tonight to eat dinner with mom & me. We grilled burgers & hot dogs and had fried & banana pudding. Yum!!!

From the exploring in the eaves yesterday morning mom wanted all the items left out for each of us to look & choose what we wanted. It was kinda fun as we looked & talked about what we remembered about some of the items.

2.7.15.....

I mentioned last night that I might ride over to R'ham to their ReStore today & also to our town's library book sale. After waking up this morning I choose to hang around the house. My brother called & asked if I wanted to ride to Aberdeen so we drove up to the ReStore to look around. I found a beautiful framed Palmetto Tree...to remind me of my home state. Also found a small angel wearing a cap & holding a golf club...Saint Birdie. Someone's junk is another's treasure. 

My cousin John took mom & me out for dinner tonight. Each of us choose something different at Pizza Time. I love pizza so you know my choice of eats. It was so good. We enjoyed ourselves and had a very  nice time.

2.8.15.....

Left this morning around 7:30 EST for AL. Sure had a good time seeing family, long lost friends & my Bville church family. Stopped by Joe's house to leave a basket of goodies & then headed toward ATL where I was hoping to see my nieces & to give them a few surprise gifts. My timing was completely off today as I missed Joe & the girls. Anyway...left their surprises for them.

Home Sweet Home...and really happy to see my hubby.

Freedom & Christian Fun

I love worshiping at SUMC and the members of this sweet little country church. Today I sang the song My Chains Are Gone. I love this statement....."Its refrain bursts forth with the triumphant declaration that God, through mercy, love, grace and the salvation of Christ, has removed our chains and set us free". Thank you Heavenly Father that you love me...this sinner...and have set me free.

Recently I posted that I was a "Coke Zero" addict. My drink consumption was reaching 6-9 drinks a day...way too many for any individual. So I declared "No Soft Drinks" for the month of January. I also decided to cut out my chocolates too. Now I didn't start until the 5th because we were still celebrating the New Year at the beach.

YAY ME!!! I reached my goal for January so at lunch today I enjoyed a Coke Zero. Amazingly the drink was not as good as I thought it would be. For the next month beginning Monday the 9th, my goal will be one Coke Zero per week, and I don't think the month will be that bad. I'm also adding just a little bit of chocolate for the month.

One of SUMC members was having a Super Bowl get-together tonight at their home. (Shiloh doesn't have evening services.) Mom said that she'd like to go to their party so we went. There was lots of good food & conversation. It was such a fun night!