Beautiful and Special Weekend

My sister of the heart came to visit this weekend.

Shelley.

Shelley and I have

been friends since before we were each married.

We raised our kids side by side as neighbors.

I don't have any sisters so I claim Shelley.
I do have a sister in law whom I love dearly....this is not to exclude her in any way and
Shelley has a sister.... but she adds me in the sister of the heart category.

We talked until ....late...on Friday night/Saturday morning.

Then I got up early and made candles while everyone else in the house

slept in.  Crazy people!  Wasting daylight.

But when they did wake up it was a mad rush because at the last minute we were able

to get tickets to see Samson at 11 am.

Off we went.

I hadn't seen it since the employee premiere.

I didn't remember all there was to the show because of the big-ness of that night

and the many thoughts of "will this work" and "hope that stays up there".

When one's husband is in the technical area and a son is a rigger

you just kind of get caught up in those things the first time

you see the show.

So yesterday the message hit me a lot harder.

It's ALL about the grace.

God's Grace.

I seriously cried.

You can see that my eyes are still "messed up" in this photo.

Puffy face even.

Ick.

But I just have to show you Shelley and Warren's mom, Georgia.

You know we are going through very hard times around here

and it was so very, very good to be reminded that grace 

is still a real thing.

Oh do we need it.

Every day....

After seeing the show we returned back to our house where Shelley and I spent the remainder of

the afternoon chilling, reading, napping and chatting.

Warren did something productive.

Couldn't tell you what it was...oh, wait!  He worked on a car.

That's what he did.

And then Shelley and I headed for the grocery store with hopes that an idea

for dinner would just jump out at us.

It didn't.

Well, not in the way we had hoped.

An idea of going out to eat jumped into our heads.

Both of our heads.

Felt it must have been meant to be.

So we got a few items and headed home to share the brilliance with Warren.

He agreed.

And so we went to C.R. Lapps.

It's a local place with great food and a pretty dining room.

It was the right thing to do.

In fact it was so right that after eating great meals

we left with two $5 pies and 5 quarts of free Chicken Pot Pie.

Yep!!  

That's what happens when you listen to that little voice in your head 

at the grocery store!

Try it....or not. 

It might help if you are regulars there AND it is Saturday night AND

there is stuff they don't want to throw away.

Tee-hee!!

Today was a good day at church.

Challenging but beautiful music....a good sermon.

A great time of prayer.

Then we met up with Chelsea and Chadd at Olive Garden.

The photos in this post were taken on our drive over.

I like it when Warren drives so I can snap pictures of the beauty

around us.  I don't like that he doesn't read my mind and slow down 

for every perfect shot. :-)

It is always wonderful to spend time with our kids.

Michael had popped in Friday evening 

so I got time with each of our three kids at some point

over the weekend.

Happy me.

This evening we headed over to Creekside Cottage for time around the fire.

With the storm chasing us home early last Sunday there were lots of hot dogs left.

The weather this evening was perfect for snuggling up to a campfire.

It was nippy!

But no rain....like last week.

Long time friends are pretty special.

So this weekend's theme was kind of about that.

First with Shelley.

A friendship of nearly 30 years.

With the Rabes and Pastor Mike.

Both Friendships of 15 -16 years.

Much changes and much stays the same.

There were some more recent friends there as well.

That's always nice!

Can one have too many friends?

I don't think so!

And besides, one of those friends, Jen, is so dear to me.

She is easy to like and full of wisdom.

Some of the newest and younger friends had their guitars 

with them tonight at the campfire.

We sang a bit.

And then the sleepy's started to set in.

I'm pretty sure they took longer than usual to set in because I had two glasses

of peach tea at Olive Garden.

I've been avoiding caffeine since the whole racing heart thing over the Summer.

But, man, I got a boost this afternoon.

Woo-hoo!

I missed having that energy surge.

However, I'll still be very sparing when it comes to caffeine.

Driving around this weekend has been just so enjoyable....

with all of the color showing in the trees and bushes around.

It is more subtle around this one room schoolhouse but still so pretty.

Wouldn't you love to drive up that lane to your home?

I guess it depends on the home....but I'm imagining

something pretty special at the end of that driveway.

I asked Warren to go slowly so I could capture this tree without the 

telephone pole but there was someone behind us.

So....we got the pole.

Back to this evening.

It was still light when we arrived at Creekside Cottage.

Lindsay met us, on Sandy.

What a life, right?

Sandy was much more interested in the grass than she was in me.

But that's kind of to be expected.

Lindsay was kind enough to help Sandy "pose".

Beautiful young lady and her horse.

There are many things in this world to spend time thinking about.

Even worrying about when we allow it.

I wake up early with a lot of concerns on my mind.

But I refuse to just lay there and think about them.

It doesn't benefit anyone.

I get up and get busy.

At least I get my mind busy with a book or something.

And then there is prayer.

It changes things.

And so...the election is in that category.

Our children and their concerns are there too.

The health of those we love....yep, you guessed it.

And in the end it has to start and end in PRAISE!

Who am I to fear?

When HE has shown Himself to be so very faithful all through

these hard days, weeks, months and years.

I praise God for knowing and loving us...

for blessing us with friends.

And for people with talent to write shows such as Samson

that remind us that the author of Grace is still at work today.

Grace, Grace...God's Grace.

Grace that is Greater than all our sin!