Author Archives: Ellen

Abide With Me ~ Hymn

Abide With Me

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1847.

Lyte was in­spired to write this hymn as he was dy­ing of tu­ber­cu­lo­sis; he fin­ished it the Sun­day he gave his fare­well ser­mon in the par­ish he served so ma­ny years. The next day, he left for Ita­ly to re­gain his health. He didn’t make it, though—he died in Nice, France, three weeks af­ter writ­ing these words. Here is an ex­cerpt from his fare­well ser­mon:

O breth­ren, I stand here among you to­day, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to im­press it upon you, and in­duce you to pre­pare for that sol­emn hour which must come to all, by a time­ly ac­quaint­ance with the death of Christ.

For over a cen­tu­ry, the bells of his church at All Saints in Low­er Brix­ham, De­von­shire, have rung out “Abide with Me” daily. The hymn was sung at the wed­ding of King George VI, at the wed­ding of his daugh­ter, the fu­ture Queen Eliz­a­beth II, and at the funeral of Nobel peace prize winner Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1997.

Spur One Another On…

…in love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching. Hebrews 10: 24-25 (NIV)

Cousins enjoying breakfast together the day after the funeral.

While many of our extended family gathered in southern California for our Pop’s funeral we took every advantage to enjoy each other’s company at restaurants, in homes and at the beach.

Cousins, aunts and uncles at Huntington Beach.

These two had to leave shortly after this photo was taken.

After the beach we gathered at our niece’s home in Huntington Beach and my siblings and I were captured having a laugh out loud till we cried moment.

Addy with her cousin once removed reading to her. Breakfast, Beach, airport, dinner all on Saturday July 21st.

Our pop’s famous greeting and benediction.

Newport Beach, Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula on Sunday July 22nd.

Newport Beach at our nephew and niece’s home. We are enjoying pizza and salad here for dinner. Earlier in the day we walked over to Balboa Island and enjoyed hot dogs from Crocker’s , the well dressed frank! Oh yum I forgot to take a photo of the best Chicago Dog that I’ve ever had!

Many of us out of towners left after this get together on Sunday July 22nd. The rest of the family enjoyed more special times together after we left.

Sunday July 29th was a birthday celebration at Golden Skewers in Montebello for our brother Leonard who is twins with our sister Lana. (She was gone for this celebration). Next door to Golden Skewers is a bakery we’ve enjoyed for over 50 years, Amy’s. The birthday cake in the next photo was purchased there.

Birthday brother with my two older sisters getting ready to enjoy the cake at my sister Kathy’s home.

With our parents gone from this earth the baton is in our court to keep our families connected and accountable to carry on in the good faith of our fathers.

Back here in Washington State we continue to tie up loose ends on this side of the mountains. We are making progress in emptying out our shop and making plans to find a spot to store that stuff in Colville or Kettle Falls. It’s been quite hot on both sides of the mountains and we are looking forward to cooler days to work in. Some new possibilities for homes have come on the market. We have a comfortable space here at our son and daughter in law’s in the meantime. God bless them. I’ve also had some quiet times in the morning to spend in the Word and then to even visit blogs. I don’t feel as displaced these days. Thank you for your visits and comments and prayers during this time of our lives. You are an encouragement to me.

Tuesdays with Moisi

I have a lot I want to share on my blog about my dear old Pop and his story. He was known as…Moisey (Moses/Moisi/Morris) Timofeyovich Bagdanov. For a time I will post part of my Pop’s story on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday was my day to call Pop and touch bases with him. For this first Tuesday I’m starting with our goodbyes to him on this earth. This was his viewing at Rose Hills on Thursday evening July 19, 2018.

Many friends and family were able to come and go over a 4 hour period. It was good to see and catch up with those we haven’t seen  since our mom’s funeral.

The casual service ended up being a hymn sing with requests from the friends and family who came. Our brother in law, Len, led the singing. It was so good to sing those great old hymns with true words that resonate today.

Some of our girls and nieces.

My sister Lana read this portion from the Bible that was referenced on this puzzle our Pop put together in his last years. These are his hands.

Exodus 15:2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God and I will exalt him.”

Next Tuesday will be a photo overload from the funeral service, graveside service and reception.

Back in the Big City

Before we headed west again over the Cascade mountains we enjoyed a lovely casual outdoor wedding in Kettle Falls, Washington. Beautiful weather, beautiful views and great food and friends gathering together in a plush yard overlooking the Columbia River.

These are the bride’s great granddaughters who include our granddaughter, Addy.

We have not been successful in finding a home yet but we are not losing hope. We are tired and hope to regroup soon.

We miss this kind of traffic already…

Hope you are all enjoying your environs!

Love Lifted Me ~ Hymn

Matthew 14: 30-33 (NASB)  But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

Rowe and Smith wrote this song in Saug­a­tuck, Con­nec­ti­cut. Ac­cord­ing to Rowe’s daugh­ter:

“How­ard E. Smith was a lit­tle man whose hands were so knot­ted with arth­ri­tis that you would won­der how he could use them at all, much less play the pi­a­no…I can see them now, my fa­ther strid­ing up and down hum­ming a bar or two and How­ard E. play­ing it and jot­ting it down.”

Love Lifted Me

I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.

Refrain

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!

All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I’ll cling
In His blessèd presence live, ever His praises sing,
Love so mighty and so true, merits my soul’s best songs,
Faithful, loving service too, to Him belongs.

Refrain

Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves,
He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves.
He’s the Master of the sea, billows His will obey,
He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.

Refrain

Ht: Cyberhymnal

Onward…

Our third container made it’s way to the yard on Monday morning. The sign was taken down Monday afternoon. We spent the night at our kids’ home north west from us. Drove over to the old house to empty out the freezer and hand over the keys on Tuesday. Our agent brought us some nice gifts and we said our goodbyes to the house. We still have exclusive access to our 44′ x 24′ shop till the end of August which is a blessing to us for sure. The heat wasn’t as bad today as yesterday which was a relief. Tomorrow we head to Colville to look at 7 houses. Maybe we’ll be able to put an offer on one of them. Time will tell. Hopefully cooler days will prevail over there, too.

This was a fun photo that popped up on Facebook from my niece Michelle taken at our Pop’s viewing.

My grandniece Avery, our grand Addy and our youngest niece, Hope. Addy really bonded with Hope. When Hope was around I was chopped liver. 🙂 It’s fun to see how little ones light up and enjoy the younger set.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for all your prayers and thoughts and encouragement during this season of upheaval in our day to day life.

For a Day or a Lifetime…

Besides our mattress (no box springs) these are the only furnishings left in our home for us to sit on. No TV but we still have internet. Today, Sunday, we went to church and said our goodbyes. We went out for breakfast after church since we have packed up all our dishes, etc. After breakfast we put our trailer on “offer up” and immediately got several inquiries on it and sold it within 2 hours. The couple who came to pick up the trailer also took two large “free” items we had on the curb, win win. Less items to take to the dump. We gave a few potted plants and patio decor to our neighbors. Then we made a trip to son #1’s to sit on a couch and watch the Sounders game. We also transported our two top hat blueberry bushes to their patio. We left one of our cars there and came back home via a new hamburger joint in Bothell. We’ll have one more sleep at this old house and then we’ll transfer our temporary residence to son #1’s home.

This was the classic Bothell sign we stopped on the side of the road to climb up to in the 90’s and take this shot for our Christmas photo. Since then a new college has been built on part of this site and the sign was removed.

A new sign has been added recently to replace the old one. I like the old one better. When we moved to Washington in 1988 our first home was in Bothell. Our current home had a Bothell address until the city of Kenmore incorporated in 1998, the year we moved to this old house. We’ve lived in Bothell and Kenmore more than a day but less than a lifetime.

This will be my last post from this old house.

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Savior, like a shepherd lead us,
Much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us,
For our use Thy folds prepare.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.

We are Thine, Thou dost befriend us,
Be the guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us,
Seek us when we go astray.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
Hear, O hear us when we pray.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
Hear, O hear us when we pray.

Thou hast promised to receive us,
Poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us,
Grace to cleanse and power to free.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
We will early turn to Thee.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
We will early turn to Thee.

Early let us seek Thy favor,
Early let us do Thy will;
Blessèd Lord and only Savior,
With Thy love our bosoms fill.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
Thou hast loved us, love us still.
Blessèd Jesus, blessèd Jesus!
Thou hast loved us, love us still.

Words: Dorothy A. Thrupp, 1836.

Camping at Home…

We are down to a two person section of our couch and a mattress on our basement floor at this old house. We still have our patio furniture on the deck so we have a table to eat at. It’s like camping around here with just a few essentials for everyday living. Once the TV and mattress are loaded we will move into son #1’s home.

From there we will make trips to son #2 for house hunting.

While we are here daughter and son in law are helping us prepare for our move along with son #1 and daughter in law.

The plus side of our mattress being moved down to the basement is how nice and cool it is down there compared to our upstairs bedroom. Cooler, darker and quieter. We’ve had several days of hot hot weather here in the Seattle area. The hottest day is suppose to be on Sunday. So thankful and grateful for our kids and how helpful they are and for our friends who have helped us out, too. Looking forward to cooler days next week!