A Few Pictures And Notes

Current summer table-scape.

    It is summer. Only 58 degrees doesn't qualify today as a summer day though. I did the calculations this morning, and figured out that from now through the end of August we only have three free Saturdays. Busyness!! But we are glad to have friends and busy summer schedules. I asked Clark when we are going fishing....he sighed and said he didn't know. On our "free" Saturdays perhaps?
    The peonies in the above picture are from my flower garden. I planted them two years ago, and have lots of big beautiful blossoms this year. I didn't know peonies smelled so fragrant. Makes me happy to begin reaping some rewards for the time I've put into that bed.

Cutest kid in the world, of course!

     Benny is more little boy then baby. Sigh! I was one of these good moms and plugged off my electrical outlets so he couldn't hurt himself. Well, he's figured out how to dig the plugs out. Hmm. Wonder what the experts would say about that! The other day I walked into the kitchen and discovered he had somehow managed to take the lid off of the large, new jug of olive oil. Fortunately  I hadn't opened it yet, so the foil seal was preventing disaster. But, yeah, we still love him to bits. We have also discovered he has a talent for "singing" on key with whatever music happens to be playing at the moment. We're looking forward to when he's older and we can cultivate that.
     Recently heard the song "Holy Art Thou, Lord God Almighty", from Handel's Largo.  I'd love to sing that with a choir. One of my dreams is to sing in a choir someday. I have good memories of chorus at SMBI.
     And now I must finish supper preparations. Chuck roast, oven fries, and sauteed broccoli (I get the broccoli to myself). Yummy!

"Roman Soldier" or a "Simon"

Hello All,

        I have this thought rolling around in my head and I want to put it out there to see if I am taking something out of context.
        I think we know how roughly Jesus was handled by the Soldiers at His crucifixion. They beat, mocked, and whipped him. There is another detail that we often overlook and I can't help but think there is a reason it is noted.
         
          (Mark 15:21)  And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
      
          Now my question is this: Is there a modern day application for this? Think about it, each one of us has a cross to bear and occasionally we catch glimpses of the crosses of others around us.
           
        (Luke 9:23)  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

          Are you following my train of thought? How often do we mistake some ones cross for a fault? I am not talking about sin, but a perceived fault. We see this "problem" that this other brother or sister is having and we have some choices to make. Do we pick up a whip and go to work or do we get in beside him and help him out? Reverse the situation. Do we make it more accommodating for the whip to be used on us or do we make it easy for another to step in beside us and help? Do you get a vision of a mass of people headed up the road with arms linked and a cross over every shoulder?
What do you think, is this a legitimate comparison?

Just thinking!!