My Mother's JOY is Mine!

My JOY over this poppy plant producing over eight flowers this Spring has been over the top!

I purchased this plant over a few years ago in memory of my sweet mother. Each year it did not do well and eventually it would shrivel up in the summer heat no matter how I would shelter it and water it.

This year stands out as a normal Spring with cool temperatures and plenty of rains - so maybe this plant needs this kind of weather to prosper.

My mother always had her poppies in bloom right outside the front door. It was her joy. I never inquired if there was a reason why she loved them so. (Memorial day? Her own Mother?...)

You can imagine my joy this Spring as each day came. I would see another and another bud... and now each bloom!

Here I am in 1961 with one poppy peeking out at the upper left side.  

My mother probably sat me out there on our little person rocker for my father to include me AND the poppies. Back then you could not check your photo out before developing it.

At least I KNOW the poppies are there :o) plus my precious calico, Fluffy, and my curly hair!  Ready for church.

*Happy Memories*

Children of all ages, Honor your Parents

"It is so injurious to society when children 

stop honoring their parents that this is the 

only one of the Ten Commandments that 

states a reward for obeying it: 

...“that you may long endure, and that you 

may fare well, in the land the Lord your 

God is assigning to you.” 

The warning is clear: 

if children in your society stop honoring 

their parents, you will not fare well, and 

your society will not long endure."

~Dennis Prager, The Rational Bible, Deuteronomy: God, Blessings, and Curses, pg.98

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Exodus 20:12

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Honor Your Mother and Father is for real

~From another mom 

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Exodus 20:12

..."“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.`"...

And the one after that is pretty good also...

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Grieving for the mother who sent this to us.

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A Wonderful Union Like no Other

 ~MALLARD

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Romans 12:9-13

..."Let love be without hypocrisy. 

Abhor what is evil; 

cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; 

give preference to one another in honor; 

not lagging behind in diligence, 

fervent in spirit, 

serving the Lord; 

rejoicing in hope, 

persevering in tribulation, 

devoted to prayer, 

contributing to the needs of the saints, 

practicing hospitality."...

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Ephesians 5:25-33

..."Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. 

He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."

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Hebrews 13:4

..."Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge."...

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What the World Needs now....are Great Fathers

 --Thank you Patriot Post

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A Legacy: Family

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, 

king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction,


To discern the sayings of understanding,

To receive instruction in wise behavior,


Righteousness, justice and equity;

To give prudence to the naive,


To the youth knowledge and discretion,

 

A wise man will hear and increase in learning,


And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

 

To understand a proverb and a figure,


The words of the wise and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;


Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction


And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;

 

Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head


And ornaments about your neck."...

Proverbs 1:1-9

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Mothers who are Cherished

* Snoopy!  

It is an honor to remember mothers! 

A Mother's Day Memory

Memories

My father would have my mother choose all her annuals for Mother's Day.

What joy it was to see all the colors!  She was always so happy to pot them up.

Those shopping trips also had a few new perennials purchased to fill her perennial gardens which surrounded the house.

One of her joys were the Red Poppies right at the front door. They returned every year in their glory...(until there was too much shade in her later years). 

1961 Me at 5 posing at the poppies with dearly loved kitty, Fluffy.

     *notice the red poppy "peeking out" on the upper left*

I remember my mother wanted me with the poppies...but my father only took me at the poppies  :o).

 

Mother's Day Flowers

My mother loved flowers. She loved perennials and annuals.  :o)

I did not know until later in her life that she loved Purple Cone Flowers so very much.

My yard is full of perennials, some of which came from her yard, and now all these years later I'm blessed with all my memories of her.

I remember her laugh, her smile, her hugs, her tears, her love for all of her family. 

Her tenderness is my treasure.

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1951: brother #1

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Mother's Day Everyday

Exodus 20

...“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you."...

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The Greatest Privilege

 

"The Opposite of Love is Indifference."

 Psalm 11

In the Lord I take refuge;


How can you say to my soul, 

“Flee as a bird to your mountain;

For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,


They make ready their arrow upon the string


To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

If the foundations are destroyed,


What can the righteous do?”

 

The Lord is in His holy temple; 

the Lord’s throne is in heaven;


His eyes behold, 

His eyelids test the sons of men.

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,


And the one who loves violence His soul hates.

Upon the wicked He will rain snares;


Fire and brimstone and burning wind 

will be the portion of their cup.

For the Lord is righteous, 

He loves righteousness;


The upright will behold His face.

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What gift should you give?

"The best gift you can give your grandchildren is to take their parents to church."

~God's Little Answer Book

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Psalm 12:6-7

..."The words of the Lord are pure words;

As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

You, O Lord, will keep them;

You will preserve him from this generation forever."...

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This one is for my father:

My precious father not only had his Ham radio license, N8AEG, since he was young by building his own radio, but he also raised homing pigeons until long after I left the "nest".

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Compassion: Almost a Lost Art

 -Wizard of Id

This comic has so touched my heart. Compassion exudes from it.

Fewer people these days ever show kindness or compassion to others. And as time marches on these precious people will be gone. 

So many human beings, even when brought up in loving homes, are turning away from their parents, their families who love them to seek out malevolence among the peoples of the world.

Their hardness of heart connects them to mean, covetous people, and so...these grown children quickly become mirror images of their new friends. They will even proudly call these mean, evil people "their family", "their mother and their father..." when nothing can be farther from the truth.

How does this happen? 

Tickled ears? 

Jealousy?

Covetousness?

Control Freaks?

..."But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron"...

1 Timothy 4:1-2 NAS    -NIV translates this: ..."in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron."...

How else can we explain the trend to hate your own family?

Gentle readers...make sure you do not allow yourself to close down the part of you which expresses kindness and compassion.  These are traits of our Heavenly Father!  He taught us these, He put them in us. He will NEVER  abandon kindness or compassion for His children.  

Don't give up on your family who have abandoned you, though. Those who have chosen to hurt you terribly by their words or deeds.  The LORD hears your cries and He constantly works on your wayward people.  

It will be their choice to listen to the King of kings....but for you, dear mothers and sisters...you choose to listen and learn from the One who is able to save even the wayward!

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2 Timothy 3 NIV

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. 

Have nothing to do with such people.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,  always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. 

They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 

But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. 

Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

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The Watcher

 MEngelbreit

Mother, Now I Understand

 MEngelbreit

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The Light of Home

MEngelbreit

Tell your mother you love her

I recently spoke with two different ladies in their nineties who shared with me that they had been thinking a lot about their dear mothers. They longed to be able to talk with them again. Both said they so wished that had told her how much they appreciated her and loved her before she had died.

"But I can't do it now," they lamented.

I often think of my own precious mother. I loved her, I told her, I shared with her how I felt, just as these women probably did, but now I lament with them. I wish I could talk with her and love on her more.

Instead, we praised the LORD for our mothers, and look forward to seeing them again!

Both of these precious ladies love Jesus as their Savior so we spoke of seeing all of our mothers in glory!

Proverbs 1:7-9

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;


Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction


And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;

Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head


And ornaments about your neck."

 I had a mother who read to me

Ephesians 6:2-3

"Honor your father and mother 

(which is the first commandment with a promise), 

so that it may be well with you, 

and that you may live long on the earth."

Proverbs 31:25-29"

"Strength and dignity are her clothing,

And she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom,

And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

“Many daughters have done nobly,

But you excel them all.”

Mother 'O Mine

by Rudyard Kipling

Light of Home

My son, thou wilt dream the world is fair, 

and thou spirit will sigh to roam,

'And thou must go; but never, when there,

Forget the light of home!

by Sarah Josepha Hale

Mother O' Mine

by Mary Engelbreit

Precious Memories of our Fathers

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A sweet friend thought of me with this lovely Blue Bird picture.  

We discovered over time that we had similar happy, precious memories of our fathers. One of these memories is of birds in which Blue Birds were my father's favorites

 although he loved all birds!

Our fathers: what a treasure! and so is this sweet gift!

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