Saturday, April 16, 2016
Juanita's Enchanted Gardens
The winding gravel road to Gran-Nan's house is lined with romantic Bradford Pear Trees and rocks!
These aren't your everyday, run-of-the-mill rocks, more like boulders. My parents hauled these giant stones one-by-one to their nesting place under the trees lining their driveway with a tractor, a 3-point hitch and some really strong chain! I remember it like it was yesterday, but it 25 years ago.
The rewards are always worth the effort!
My mom LOVES flowers and my dad enjoys helping her. Together, they give us beautiful scenery to enjoy almost year round.
Seven foot tall Blooming Bushes!
She loves clematis!
Purple Iris and another clematis
Mom loves garden statues
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| Do you see Peachie, her Pom? Not a statue. |
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And....everything has a place.The Walk!
Mom laid this concrete path, all by herself, using a 2 x 2 form from Lowe's and Sakrete! This picture makes it difficult to tell just how long it is. The sidewalk winds up to the porch and all the way around her house. Good job Nano!
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We are so thankful for her and her beauty!
We kid her a lot about her flowers, harass her even at times but oh the blossoms. I can't imagine home without her gardens.
Loving on the scenery... and .... MOM AND DAD,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Wanna Trade Seats?
I saw this truth on a church sign in Florida yesterday. For years, folks used bumper stickers to communicate the thought "God is my copilot". In all sincerity, this is the correct thought "God is my pilot". Any idea how things have gotten turned upside down in our country? We must allow God to be the driver in our life, not a passenger along for the ride.
Job 5:6-8 -
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground. Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks FLY upward. I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:....
Life is like an airplane ride.
1. You take off. / I equate this to spiritual morality and understanding you're a sinner.
2. Reach the perfect flying altitude. / Spiritually when you accept Christ.
3. Land safely when your journey is over. / Enter into perfect rest in heaven.
The "flight" is your life journey. Some flights are long, some are short. Your flight may be turbulent and even smooth at times. If the cabin loses pressure, you'll need oxygen to survive. Just like when you sin against God, you need forgiveness to survive! During your flight, you have no control other than to trust your pilot. This example shows how we should trust Jesus, completely, relinquishing our life to him.
"We are now boarding rows 17-34." "Boarding all rows all seats." You have an assigned seat. Be sure you're in it!
1. You take off. / I equate this to spiritual morality and understanding you're a sinner.
2. Reach the perfect flying altitude. / Spiritually when you accept Christ.
3. Land safely when your journey is over. / Enter into perfect rest in heaven.
The "flight" is your life journey. Some flights are long, some are short. Your flight may be turbulent and even smooth at times. If the cabin loses pressure, you'll need oxygen to survive. Just like when you sin against God, you need forgiveness to survive! During your flight, you have no control other than to trust your pilot. This example shows how we should trust Jesus, completely, relinquishing our life to him.
"We are now boarding rows 17-34." "Boarding all rows all seats." You have an assigned seat. Be sure you're in it!
Only a co-pilot,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Saturday, April 9, 2016
I Got a Grill Crush
I got a grill crush, hate to admit it
I got a heated rush, flame ain't going down
I got it real bad, love everything it sears
Yeah, I got a grill crush.
THIS IS MY GRILL.
An OLD model Jacuzzi my husband won from a band raffle vintage 1986ish
I.Love.Her!
My husband has had his hands on her more than a few times!
New handles
New Grates and Rocks
I don’t get no sleep, I don’t get no peace
Thinkin’ about her under the palms of your hands
The way that she’s steamin’, the way that she’s pullin’ you in
Lord knows I’ve tried, I can’t get her off my mind
Thinkin’ about her under the palms of your hands
The way that she’s steamin’, the way that she’s pullin’ you in
Lord knows I’ve tried, I can’t get her off my mind
I wanna taste her burgers, yeah, ‘cause they taste like you
I wanna drown myself in a bottle of her smoky fumes
I want her rusty knobs, I want her magic touch
Yeah, ‘cause maybe then you’d want me just as much
I got a grill crush
Obviously I'm joking but I'm not joking about how much I love this grill. What I love more than the grill are the hours my loving husband has spent preserving it for me the last 30 years! I've had new grills but I always come back to her. The other grills never cook as well, heat as even or make our food taste as delicious.
Thank you my sweet husband, Steven G. Stafford for loving things, especially me, when they've become rusty with age and not much to look at, for never giving up when other's see despair, you see promise! It's not what is on the surface but the substance of the whole. I've got a grill crush because you've shown me what love can do! I love you....
Admitting it,
Tammy
The Happy Handicap
Monday, March 28, 2016
Religious Liberties or Snobbery?
On March 8, 2016, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board (GBMB) issued a public affairs alert stating "Georgia Religious Liberty is "Being Held in the Balance". There is much controversy surrounding Georgia House Bill 757 addressing this issue. The biggest disagreement seems to be the potential discrimination of the GLBT community by a person's religious beliefs. Should a business owner be allowed, by the State of Georgia, to withhold services to homosexuals based upon their own religious conviction without fear of legal recourse?
"Being different", born with a disability, I understand the feeling of simply desiring to be accepted. My challenge is a mutated DNA problem and so may be some of the GLBT community. The Bible states homosexuality is sin right alongside divorce, fornication, babies out of wedlock, drunkenness, jealousy, stealing, murder, cursing and many of the abominable acts that are rampant in our current culture. I'm glad Jesus overcomes ALL and gives us victorious life over sin!
Can you imagine a society where you have to answer a questionnaire before being served? Have you ever been divorced or committed adultery? Have you ever cheated on a test? Are you illegitimate? What is your sexual preference? If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, according to the laws of the State of Georgia, we choose not to serve you at this establishment. Ridiculous, yes? But, I'm afraid the sexual preference question is included in GA HB757 as reported by the AJC. I wonder how Christian Business Owners intend to make the determination and differentiation? Will it be all GLBT or just same sex couples?
I agree with Governor Deal's comment about his religious faith:
“What the New Testament teaches us is that Jesus reached out to those who were considered the outcasts, the ones that did not conform to the religious societies’ view of the world. … We do not have a belief, in my way of looking at religion, that says we have to discriminate against anybody,” he said. “If you were to apply those standards to the teaching of Jesus, I don’t think they fit.”
Jesus showed his love, forgiveness and acceptance of humanity by dying on the cross as the only worthy sacrifice for human sin. He also practiced many non-discriminatory acts including taking water from the woman at the well (John 4) and eating dinner with Zacchaeus (Luke 19). Jesus dining at the house of the sinful tax collector got people talking. Luke 19:7 "And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner."
The following phrase from the GBMB alert particularly snagged my attention. The plea to Christians was the next to last sentence on the bulletin:
Remember: Be respectful and polite when contacting your elected officials.
The request reminded me of the TV show Hill Street Blues. After the police chief gave daily instructions to his unit, he always started their shift with the endearing words "Be careful out there". Having to ask Christians to be polite is akin to God needing to instruct Jesus "Be kind out there."
Update: According to the AJC Governor Deal vetoed HB757 today, Monday, March 28, 2016.
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