http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother recent pleonast.com entries by user themother en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=613514 This time we're planning to leave for Alabama on Monday morning and stay till Thursday or Friday. This is becoming an annual event as we visit dear friends Harriet and Steve McKay and share holiday treats and finish off the year together. New Year's Day is Harriet's birthday so we enjoy being with her that day especially. Anyhow, that means this will be my last post for 2008. Thanks to all of you for the laughs, insight, guidance and friendship you've provided for me during the year. I'm looking forward to more of the same in 2009! Till then, enjoy what's left of 2008 -- and may God bless you all richly in 2009! 2008-12-28 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=610973 ....that I watch anxiously for other people to change their posts but wait forever to change mine? Guess other folks are like me -- either there's nothing to write about or I'm too busy to tell it! Anyhow, I do appreciate you folks who keep my friends list highlighted from time to time! It's great to hear from you, even if it's just a line or two! 2008-12-19 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=604260 Back from Colorado -- and back from Tennessee as well -- after returning from a truly wonderful Colorado visit on Monday the 17th, we left early Tuesday morning for a quick visit with John's two brothers, one of whom lives in College Grove and the other of whom was visiting from Seattle with his daughter. The three brothers had a great time together and Sherron and I enjoyed a rare visit with our niece. Got home Friday evening and hit the ground running trying to catch up from the time away and start getting ready for the holiday. Sister Holly and her family came up on Tuesday and son John and his Jenny made it in on the morning of Thanksgiving, leaving again that afternoon (Thank you, AirTran!). Now -- time to start planning for the December rush -- HOW did November get away so quickly? Enjoying catching up -- or trying to -- on all your posts -- thankful for all of you and the joy, fun, and insights you bring to me. Hope each of you had a Thanksgiving to be remembered with joy. 2008-11-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=596012 The Lord willing, John and I will roll out of town early in the morning (as in, while it's still dark in hopes of beating Atlanta traffic to the other side of town) on our way to Colorado and a visit with the daughter and our favorite son-in-law, not to mention the noble hound. John has packed the back of the Jeep so tightly -- he's even done practice packing with our empty suitcases so he can be sure of getting the maximum load. Luckily, he has left room in the front for me! We're hoping to get out there sometime Saturday evening and we'll fly back when we get done (temporarily) sightseeing and AirTran has room for us! Can you tell I'm looking forward to this? :) (It takes something really momentous to get me up and going while it's still dark!) Now, I've got to run -- still have a few errands and some laundry to do, not to mention a Bible lesson for tonight! See you later! 2008-11-05 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=590751 Once again, I'm borrowing for my post -- this was printed in Daily Guideposts, 2006, and was written by Carol Knapp. Hope you find it as uplifting as I did and do. "Today I am helped by Jesus' 'Be of good cheer' words. Just before His crucifixion, Jesus said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.' (John 16:3). When He healed a paralytic man, He reassured him: 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee' (Matt.9:2). Jesus calmed His terrified disciples by saying, 'Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid' (Mark 6:50). And the risen Jesus stood beside Paul in prison and encouraged, 'Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome' (Acts 23:11). These accounts give me four reasons to 'be of good cheer.' First, Jesus has power that transcends every heart-wrenching situation. Second, nothing is beyond His forgiveness when I put my trust in Him. Third, ... 2008-10-23 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=588937 I wish I could claim credit for the following article, but it was written by David Maxson, one of the evangelists at Embry Hills, and he has given me permission to post it on my blog. I felt it was very well written and extremely timely. My Thoughts in an Election Year - Meditations on the book of Acts McCain. Obama. Palin. Biden. Many questions are being asked about these individuals. What do they believe? Where do they stand? Will they help the helpless? Will they aid the poor? Will they protect the innocent? Will they defend the unborn? Who can you trust? Who really knows? It is not our purpose to answer these questions, or, much less, to recommend whom you should vote for in November. Rather, our aim is simply to give you peace of mind. Reading through Acts this week, it was impressive to me what an important role government (both Jewish and Roman) played in the book. It is found in over half the chapters (16 of 28). There are ten trials, seven arrests and impri... 2008-10-18 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=584304 One of the things we love about our home is that we have a thickly wooded area behind our house. We often see wildlife through the trees and even up in our yard. Right now we have a flock of wild turkeys -- two adults and four babies. We've had deer stroll calmly through the yard -- stags, does and even fawns. I've seen what I think may have been a bobcat slinking along the edge of the wood and John has even seen a coyote trotting down the street. But my mom and dad experienced our wildlife up close and personal last Thursday night. They'd been at our house for a Bible study and on the way home, about 3 blocks from our house, a deer crashed into their car. Thankfully no one was hurt but the car is in the shop because Dad can't open the driver's door. The excitement never ends! 2008-10-06 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=576967 but it was special. It was handmade by my daughter several years ago -- she had clay, molded the teapot and baked it in our oven, then painted it and gave it to me. It was about an inch high and about 2 inches long. I had some tiny flowers in it and also used it as a "hideout" for a very special necklace when I wasn't wearing it. It sat on a shelf on my bedroom wall and each time I saw it, I was reminded of the pride and joy with which it was presented. Alas -- I was taking it down to put the necklace in it and it slipped out of my hands -- broke into two large pieces and lots of little chips. Even my fix-it genius of a husband is doubtful that it can be re-glued. You're probably thinking -- I can't BELIEVE she's blogging about something this trivial when so many people have lost so much more! You're right -- this little teapot was VERY insignificant in light of the recent storm -- but the sorrow I feel over my little teapot makes me ache for the thousands of people wh... 2008-09-18 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=574910 Tonight, I've been watching the Weather Channel as so many of you have and wondering what kind of pictures the morning will bring. I'm even more involved than usual, because we just returned from a trip to Brazoria, Texas, on Wednesday. Now I have the maps out, trying to correlate what they're showing with where my daughter-in-law's parents are holed up in the Brazoria City Hall (her dad is the fire chief there). They were already having a rough week, as her dad's mother passed away on Saturday. Now they're having to deal with Ike. I know that lots of other Christians are also having to leave their homes, not knowing what they will find when they return. I'm praying for safety and for minimal damage for all. But most of all, I'm praying for the faith of those who may suffer property damage and/or physical hurt. And maybe, just maybe, they will be able to show the world that God's people handle crises differently because their citizenship is in Heaven and their faith is in a mig... 2008-09-13 http://www.pleonast.com/user/themother?l=5&entryID=570161 More thoughts from our trip.... While going through Kansas, we spotted a number of windmills that were being used to produce power. They weren't the traditional kind you see in pictures of Holland; they were very sleek, modern-looking ones. Some were turning fairly quickly, some slowly, some not at all. Kansas is known as the Sunflower State and we did see more there than I've ever seen. There were fields and fields of them and then there were the ones sprinkled along the roadside, as well as some twice as tall as I was at one of the rest areas. So what? Well, with plenty of time to think as we drove, the sights produced the following meditations, which I'll share for what they may be worth. The windmills brought to mind the theme verse which our elders proposed for this year ... "be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine...." The windmills were dependent on whatever wind blew through. Sometimes I feel as though my life were ... 2008-09-02