The Beautiful Garden of Prayer ~ Hymn

 

The Beautiful Garden of Prayer

There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting,
There’s a place that is wondrously fair,
For it glows with the light of His presence.
’Tis the beautiful garden of prayer.

Refrain

Oh, the beautiful garden, the garden of prayer!
Oh, the beautiful garden of prayer!
There my Savior awaits, and He opens the gates
To the beautiful garden of prayer.

There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting,
And I go with my burden and care,
Just to learn from His lips words of comfort
In the beautiful garden of prayer.

Refrain

There’s a garden where Jesus is waiting,
And He bids you to come, meet Him there;
Just to bow and receive a new blessing
In the beautiful garden of prayer.

Refrain

Words: Elea­nor All­en Schroll, in Hymns for To­day (Fill­more Bros. Co., 1920).

10-20-30 ~ Meme

 It’s another carefree Saturday meme post.

I stole this little gem of a meme from Mary at Relevantblog…

10-20-30! Let the Virus Begin!

Quick: What were you doing ten, twenty and thirty years ago?

10 Years Ago ~ 1997

We were getting ready to move to our 2nd rental home after a huge landslide had forced us out of our lst home in Washington State. Our oldest Son was away in his freshman year of college at Westmont in Santa Barbara. Our 2nd son was in his Junior year of high school. I was homeschooling our daughter who was in 6th grade. Dear was working in downtown Seattle for a Biotec Company. This was an emotionally tough time with the loss of our home and the beginnings of letting our children go…

20 Years Ago ~ 1987

We were living in Ventura, California and had made the decision to move to Washington State so that Dear could complete his education at the University of Washington and apply to Pharmacy School there. Josh and Dan were in Elementary school and Katie was almost 2. Greg’s mother Verna was living with us after Rex’s death in 1985.  Lots of packing, planning and emotions going on. The photo below is taken in 1988 when we stopped in Yuba City at Dear’s Aunt and Uncle’s on our way to Washington State to start our new life….

Aunt Carol, Dan, Josh, and Katie (July 1988)

30 Years Ago ~ 1977

Married for almost 3 years. We were living in Huntington Beach, California in our second home. We didn’t have any children yet (Josh arrived in 1979) I was teaching 2nd grade in Bell Gardens, California. Dear and his brother worked together in their own house painting business. We were active with our church young marrieds group and on our 2nd ski trip to Mammoth, California decided we were going to move there and live the life of bliss skiing our life away. At this time there was a building moratorium going on in Mammoth because of lack of snow and other issues in the city. We bought a beautiful lot for a great price because of the moratorium. We were dreaming big! Within the next year I got pregnant with Josh and the practical reality of not being able to make a great living in Mammoth set in. Just before Josh was born we sold our lot for double what we paid for it (biggest snow fall in years and the moratorium had lifted) We really could use the extra money since I was going to quit my teaching job to be a full time stay at home mom!

Well there you have it. I’m sure there are bigger things I forgot to mention but there will be another meme in the future that will bring out more lost memories for sure.

If you decide to steal this meme like I did and play along, let me know. I’d love to read about your decades….

Show & Tell Friday ~ Russian Immigrants in the Early 50’s

Show and Tell

From the late 1940’s thru the early 1950’s many of my parents’ family and friends immigrated to the U.S.A. from Iran and settled in the Los Angeles area. Because they were in a new country and didn’t know the English language they spent much of their free time together. There was fun, fellowship, and comfort in socializing with these old friends in a new country.

My dad is sitting on the floor in front with the tie on. My Uncle Paul is standing on the left in the back. I’m going to have to get my family to fill in some of the names of these men. I don’t know who the two standing next to my Uncle are.  2nd row Hamzieff, V. Katkov, A. Menn (the one American born in the group who married a Russian Katkov girl in Iran while serving for the U.S. in WWII) , N. Katkov, C. Titov, ??, A. Katkov.  Who is sitting next to pop? Mr. Law on the arm of the chair. The guy in the back with the funny expression?

Some of the ladies… My mom in the back on the left, Z. Katkov, O. Hamzieff, Aunt Nina, Aunt Anna, P. Katkov, L. Titov

I love the hairdo’s.

For more Show and Tell head on over to There’s No Place Like Home….

Choose Joy! ~ Carnival of Beauty

This Friday Vicki at Windows to My Soul is hosting the Carnival of Beauty with the Beauty of Joy as the theme.

I am so pleased that the theme of Carnival of Beauty is the Beauty of Joy!!

I have a dear friend Jody who has always given her children and friends the encouragement to “Choose Joy”!  Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have every reason under heaven to be filled with JOY!

Nehemiah 8:10, “…And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Psalm 4:7, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.”

Habakkuk 3:18, “yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”

Luke 2:10, “And the angel of the Lord said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Our Savior is the author of our Joy. He is the one that has put joy in our hearts by redeeming us with His blood. We have every reason to shout for joy to our Lord. The good news was for us and we need to choose joy! Even in the midst of struggles and defeat the joy of the Lord is our strength. We look ahead to the Hope that is set before us with joy for what has already been done for us and for what is being prepared for us in Heaven. This kind of joy will make us beautiful on this earth. When we reflect the joy of the Lord to those around us they will have joy, too!

So dear friends in Christ “choose joy”!

On Friday you’ll be able to click here and see more entries on this theme…

Friday’s Feast ~ #5

Appetizer
When was the last time you were surprised?

When my over 40 year old brother and his over 40 year old wife told us they were expecting a baby. They’ve been married for a year and this is the first marriage for each of them. The baby is due in January. Very surprised and filled with joy for them…

Soup
Fill in the blanks: My eyes are Hazel, but I wish they were more green.

Salad
If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be?

I would be a brown and black Hedgehog and my name would be Tiggy!

Main Course
Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits.

Reading my Bible and eating High Fiber Cereal with a banana in the morning.

Dessert
What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Do you like it? Why or why not?

Crest Paste not gel and not the one that tastes like pepto bismol. (yuck)

For more Friday Feasts go here.

Thankful Thursday ~

 

 

Psalm 79:13, “But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Psalm 145:10, “All your works shall give thanks to you O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!”

I Chronicles 16:8, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!”

I give thanks today to my LORD for saving me and for his work of sanctification in me and my family all these years. Our God is good and He has been so good to me. Thank you LORD!

To read more Thankful Thursday Posts to to Sting My Heart…

 

Josh and Laura ~

Some encouragement from the Bible and John Piper ~

God pledges to Carry Our Burdens ~

Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.”

The word for “burden” here is lot. What is your lot in life today? What has providence brought you? In the end, this is of the Lord. And He will carry it for you. It is not meant to crush you or carry you away. It is meant to test your trust in God to carry it for you.”

Psalm 16:5, “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.”

Psalm 63:8, “My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”

God Pledges to Carry You – All Your Life

Isaiah 46: 3-4, “Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”

 

It was wonderful to spend an extra day with you this weekend. Blessings on both of you!

ht: Pierced by the Word ~ by John Piper