13?...An excellent number!!!!

d

13. To be 13 was, to me, many years ago, like owning the keys  that would open as many doors as I wanted to.

                                                                  WRONG!!!!!

"I don't want ANY  teenage tantrums from you just because you are a teenager today." Those were the first words out of my mothers mouth before she wished me happy birthday. She could have said it yesterday it is that clear in my mind.

I used the same line on my children when they turned 13 but they did what they wanted to do anyway, however, they joined the human race around 20.

What a downer it was to me though.  Rebellion. (Sorry mom) That set the essence of my relationships with EVERYONE until I was 19 and engaged. By then I had realised that those keys I coveted at 13 were only mine to use when I turned 21, and despite the fact that I was soon to be a wife, I  STILL did not have them.

I did, however, feel very grown up, and that young girl is lurking in the recesses of my mind today as my first grandchild, Victoria-Leigh, turned 13 two days ago. I remember her clearly as she was in the first photo you see above, In the next picture, my favourite one of all, she is super gorgeous, and in the 3rd picture she has about a week to go before the big 13, and she has started her new life with her family in England. Spring over there, and we are going into winter!

I wish for her only good and wonderful things, I pray she will be wise and happy and make good choices in life, and that one day the story of her life with be like a beautiful tapestry, one fit for a King!!

Happy birthday my Angel, you are always in my heart and you are a blessing in our lives.

                              

AMAZING LOVE

"Your FACES - and HANDS...... don't touch ANYTHING!!!

Three sets of eyes look up at me. My children have turned into sticky chocolate brownies.

"Oh my" - I try to sound delighted and surprised, "You found all the Easter bunnies chocolate eggs hidden all over the garden!" Three chocolate brownies smile at me, I see 3 sets of snowy white teeth fighting their way through the chocolate (I think of Colgate) they are well pleased with their cleverness and the obvious approval they have from me. I think to myself "It is so easy to make them smile and give them joy, as the years go by it will be a lot harder, as they experience life's hardships,  to experience such  joyful spontaneous pleasure. But for today, let us enjoy the chocolate, the bunnies, the egg hunts and the hot cross buns that we know will be served with tea."

In the photo above, they are 1, 2 and 3, almost 4 and it is Easter of 1979. They are sitting on the lawn of my mothers house in Salisbury. Gran has made them each a little basket full of lovely treats, sweets, and chocs.  As I look at this picture I think of her amazing love as she has lovingly put each one together, with each child in mind, to bring them joy.

That was HER joy, giving, but more especially creating what she gave. She gave projects like this her time, thought, and planning. She invested in the children greatly and passed on her love of creating unique gifts from the heart.

Easter is a time of rebirth and the most important on the Christian calendar. So, despite the fact that they believed in Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs as small children, they grew to learn of Jesus amazing love, and the sacrifice he made for them on the cross of calvary.

Have a blessed Easter.

GOLDEN OLDIES ............

I have loved John Denver's music all my life, so when my daughter Shirley uploaded a video clip from You Tube I was DELIGHTED, and what lovely footage too. 

Great taste she has, she was paying attention during her childhood! Another one of my many favourites is Country Roads, you might see that too sometime soon!

I stole this clip from Shirley's blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

After listening to it you can, if you feel like a musical evening with John Denver, just go to the bottom and choose your songs!

May the sun shine on your life.

OTHER LIFE STYLES

My daughter and her family emigrated to England earlier this year. Shirley put this on her blog as she was so interested in the Amish lifestyle. I was fascinated and thought you would like to see a snippet. I delved a bit and this is what I found. This is only l episode.

The Amish people in America are an old religious sect, direct descendants of the Anabaptists of sixteenth-century Europe. Not to be confused with the term anti-Baptist, these Anabaptist Christians challenged the reforms of Martin Luther and others during the Protestant Reformation, rejecting infant baptism in favor of baptism (or re-baptism) as believing adults. They also taught separation of church and state, something unheard of in the 16th century. Later known as the Mennonites, after the Dutch Anabaptist leader Menno Simons (1496-1561), a large group of Anabaptists fled to Switzerland and other remote areas of Europe to escape religious persecution.