Battle Hymn of the Republic ~ Hymn

Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

We sang at Katie and Andrew’s wedding. This song was Andrew’s choice and it really set our feet to tapping. Katie’s choice was “Come Thou Fount” . The third song we sang was one of our favorite songs in Russian. It was so much fun to have everyone singing at the reception.

Blessings on your Sunday!

The Reveal & Ceremony

She stepped out of the dressing room and stood, waiting for him to see her for the first time in her wedding gown.

Her father walked his little girl down the aisle to “Together” by Hagood Hardy from the original music score from the Sullivan Films “Anne of Green Gables”.

Her Uncle Steve performed the wedding ceremony and without Katie knowing found a beautiful quote from Anne’s House of Dreams to read to them. “…The Bird sang until the ceremony was ended and then it wound up with one mad little, glad little trill. Never had the old gray-green house among it’s enfolding orchards known a blither, merrier afternoon.” It was a service that honored God and exhorted the young couple to listen to God’s instructions for their marriage.

My father, Katie’s Dzeda, prayed a blessing over them in Russian. Passionate words of God’s protection and blessing on their union.

The kiss, the pronouncement and the recessional. Walking out to This Will Be (An Everlasting Love).

The flower girl and the ring “barrel” as my niece Hope calls it. Hope was the flower girl and Jackson was the ring barrel. I have a post coming dedicated to just the two of them.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Today We Celebrate…

…the Mother of the Bride.

It’s my birthday and I’m being taken out to brunch and dinner today. My sister, niece, my grand nephew, and my grand niece are still here from California so my Daughter in law is bringing them to join in for brunch together before she takes them to the airport. Tonight Josh, Laura, Dear and I are going out to dinner.

Meanwhile back to the wedding. My friend and hairdresser Sherri came to the venue on Sunday to attend to our hair. What a treat that was. She does a beautiful job on Katie’s hair and always makes my hair behave.

Since all the sisters were together we had to make sure and get plenty of photos. This one is from oldest to youngest starting from the left. Kathy, Vera, Ellen and Lana.

Right to left oldest to youngest.

Me and my sister Lana. Partners in crime and tablescaping…

Love this photo of the Father of the Bride walking our daughter down the aisle. Thanks to Harv and Bev for this one and the next few photos.

The wedding party walked in to the theme from Anne of Green Gables and I really had a hard time keeping it together.

Dear and I really were blessed with our daughter and son-in-laws day and we were filled with joy for them and us.

We were surprised when the guests applauded as we walked out after the ceremony.

Dear thanked all our friends and family for coming to the wedding and prayed a prayer of blessing over our food and time together.

I had to add this photo my niece posted on Facebook today. Me and my brother Leonard cutting the rug!

There are plenty more posts coming with all the Bride and Groom’s special moments and more family shots, too.

Thank you to all of you who have held us up with your prayers over these last few weeks as we prepared for this day. Those prayers were answered and we felt the peace and joy we prayed for. Truly a day that love was poured down on. Katie and Andrew traveled back to North Carolina last night and should be home by now.

Blessings…

Their Story Continues…

Just wanted to let you all know that all our wedding joy is complete and went off without any noteworthy hitches! God is good. I will share a lot more soon but I’m in recovery mode from all the fun and excitement we’ve been having over the last 5 days! Yesterday the majority of our guests flew home so there were at least 5 trips to the airport and back. Thank you to Steve and Lana for being our transportation leaders!

Thank you to Bev and Harv who took the photos I’m sharing today with y’all.

Bev’s birthday is the day before mine so that means today is her day. Oh dear, Bev’s birthday is actually the day after my birthday so Happy early Birthday Bev and thank you for coming to Katie and Andrew’s wedding and sharing your photos with me! Blessings! Now you have good proof that I need some more time before I post intelligently again.

The MGCC March birthday girls!

Stay tuned for lots and lots of wedding family and friend photos coming soon!

Give Me Oil in My Lamp ~ Hymn

Give Me Oil in My Lamp Keep Me Burning

Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning
Give me oil in my lamp, I pray,
Give my oil in my lamp, keep me burning,
Keep me burning ’till the end of day.

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King!

Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting,
Give me peace in my heart, I pray.
Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting,
Keep me resting ’till the end of day.

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King!

Praying that God will fill us all today with His peace, love, and joy as we celebrate the wedding ceremony for Andrew and Katie.

A Treat For You…

Head over to MGCC Blog to get the recipe for these date balls. They can be made gluten free if you use the new Gluten Free Rice Krispies. Enjoy!

We are busy doing the last minute fresh food shopping for our all day event before the Wedding. Andrew is flying in tonight and Katie is more excited about seeing him than she is for the wedding on Sunday! Life is rich!

2 more days!

Excitement Mounts!

Today might be our last day of real sunshine and we might reach 60 degrees! Woohoo! We are not expecting to see too much sunshine on Sunday, the day of the wedding. We will roll with the weather. That’s something you have to learn to do in the Great Northwest.

The photos above are from the wedding venue. It will be fun to see it all decorated for Katie and Andrew’s wedding. Our first guests arrive this morning.

3 more days!

Moving Ever Forward…

The Lenten Season is one of my favorite times of the year. Looking forward to celebrating Easter, contemplating all that Jesus has done for us and seeing everything new. I showed you my Lenten Rose buds a while back and wanted to make sure not to forget to show you the blooms.

My girlfriend Beth gave me this plant for my birthday a few years ago and I’m so glad it has survived despite my brown thumb. It really is a wonderful sight for sore Winter eyes! Thanks Beth!

My Ladies Bible Study group has been praying for me during this “Wedding Season Countdown Crunch” to be able to have some “Mary” moments instead of all “Martha” moments. You can read that story in the Bible in Luke and a longer version in John.

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

Today we are headed to the Venue to drop off items for the day of the wedding like cake toppers, guest book, menu cards, a Celtic Cross, some Marine insignia chargers for the head table, etc. We are also making 4 other stops on the way home. Tomorrow the flower girl arrives from Texas. She’s bringing her parents, too. We are excited to see them all. Another brother and his wife arrive tomorrow. My ring leader sister comes back to her home here in Washington. Our son from Eastern Washington will be traveling over the Cascades to join in all the hoopla. Things are going to get noisy around here! This is only the first small wave…

4 Days till the wedding, 3 days till our all day Clubhouse event on Saturday for friends and family that have traveled from hither and yon.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods and that you can have some “Mary” moments during this Lenten Season…