A stroll down memory lane...

 

Well, it's been a good long while, so I thought I'd come by and say hello even though I don't have my camera back yet. I have so many photos tucked away that I've hoped to share one day, that I also thought, that I'd just go right on ahead and do so, now. A few special memories, recorded just shortly after I had closed the blog for a time, now over a year ago.  My, how time flies, yes? My, how children grow and change, right before our very eyes. The barely discernible of the day-by-day, becomes strikingly evident when viewed in light of seasons; as I stand looking back on the all-too-quickly-fleeting-days, gone by. And, deep inside my heart whispers, where did they go? How thankful I am for the wonder of photographs for putting memories by. How immeasurably grateful I am for the priceless gift of family and friends to share life and love and magical-memory-making-moments, with.

I actually have a second reason for writing. Special news to share. God has blessed Claire with a precious new life, secreted away and growing, in her womb. She and Wesley are so happy. We all are. Though Claire, Wesley, Josie, and Bug were away spending a wonderful time of Thanksgiving with Jim and Linda--Claire's mama and papa, they called to share the news over the phone, hot off the press. And, needless to say, it was the highlight of our Thanksgiving Day, too :o)

As long as I live, I'll never get over the fact that God chooses to give gifts, in the form of children. Hmmm, to think that each and every one of us, made our way into this world being gifted to someone/s. I do hope that each one of you not only see your children as gifts to you, but you also see you, yourself (uniquely, fearfully, wonderfully made) as a gift to each one that your precious life touches. There isn't, never was, and never will be, anyone, just like you. You're inconceivably special. No one could ever take your place. Your life didn't come to be, nor does it continue on to touch those around it, by chance. These thoughts have invariably flooded my heart and mind each time I myself have been blessed with new life. What a joy to share in the wonder of it all--both Linda, and myself--through the fruit of our own wombs. Simply amazing.

Behold Children are a gift of the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.    

*~*~*Psalm 127:3                                                                             

    

 

 

 

  

O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

*~*~*Psalm 139:1-18

The month of November passed quietly by. Our little corner of the world is, and has been for some time, an endless wonderland of white, with freshly-new-fallen-snow to greet us each morning and carry us intermittently throughout each day. The sun shines, not warm, but bright, and speads a happy cheer over our full and busy days. I told a close friend, yesterday, "The sun is shining down on us especially beautifully today, on-again-off-again in brilliance and intensity (as a succession of-so-wanting-to-snow-or-rain clouds, pass it by).....like it's *feeling*. You know how it does that? Love it. Just love it" :o) It certainly does have it's own singular charm--the shining of the winter's sun. It works extra hard, and we appreciate it especially much.

It's so different, here, from winters past in the area that we moved from--there just down the road from the ocean. Makes my heart sing to see the children so delightedly content, drinking in every drop of childhood's simplest pleasures held out to them for the taking, in winter; sledding, cross country skiing, snowfort and people and animal building and creating, and soon enough ice skating. Outside, rosy-cheeked and red-nosed, every free moment of every day. Then, by-and-by they come tumbling back inside, leaving puddles, puddles, everywhere, as they shed their coats and boots, gloves, mittens, scarves, and hats, and head on over to the welcoming warmth of the woodstove, hot cocoa, popcorn or cookies, picture and story books, board games, baby dolls, drawing, playdough, knitting, sewing, reading, singing and/or playing the guitars (and maybe, one day, the piano, again :o).

Suppertime is oh-so-nice in winter-like late autumn, it seems. The main living-being-and-doing area of the house wrapped in the soul-giving warmth of the snapping, crackling, burning fire--it's smells, sights and sounds...music, and candles and oil lamp light, as the days grow shorter, and darkness ushers us in long before they draw to a close. The big old wooden table, heavy-ladened with good food and drink that's had the house smelling deliciously like a home all through the afternoon. That loud and lively chatter that immeasurably matters, running out and in, over, around and through, intricately weaving together each and every treasured one--once again, gathered around--for today and for always, come what may.

Julia, put in some lovely instrumental Christmas music a couple of weeks ago and we've been listening to it nearly each day since. Special, secret, let's-keep-it-a-surprise, gifts are being made and ferreted away, in preparation for Christmas, which we hope (and pray) will be beautiful and meaningful in it's simplicity, as have been Christmases past.

Big Papa, just called to let me know that he'll be heading out right from work to go and pick up my camera. That's so great. I've  missed it more than I thought I could have. I'll be most thankful to have it back. You know, I was also very blessed through the mishap with my camera. It seems that this time of year there is money going out in so many ways, for so many things unique to preparation for the colder months of late autumn/and winter, and it's various calls for celebration, that I just knew without thinking that I was going to need to settle into the facts and understanding, that my camera wasn't anywhere up near the critical region on the list of needs, and getting it fixed was going to mean a good bit of a wait. Well, God saw fit to graciously provide for me outside of the box, and did so through the gift of a very dear, kind friend (thank-you so very much dear, Raquel) and another gift from James and Joseph--my sons. Remember those two hooligans? (thank-you, too, dear boys). Thoughtful surprises that so touched my heart. Thank-You, God. Truth is, as glad as I'll no doubt be to see it, I think, initially, I'm going to be equally afraid to use it, for fear that I'll break it again!  We'll see :o)

The photos above are of last mid-autumn, in New England, 2007. Hiking and biking. Gathering in and hunkering down. Storytelling and imagining. Facts and figures. Mama and papa, sons and daughters and grandbaby girls. Uncles and aunties and nieces. Sisters and brothers. Littlest mamas and their beloved baby dolls. And, of course, Miss Maggie, when she was but a wee bug, being newly welcomed into our world. That last photo, is of Maggie's (then) tiny tootsies snuggled into the sweet, soft and warm gift of booties, hand knit by the lovely, kind, thoughtful and giving (not to mention talented and *c-u-t-e*, to boot(ie). Yes, hear, hear!, Stephen really got the *big fish*, didn't he!) little jenny wren. Haven't seen these in a good while, have you, JAM? Wish you'd make me a pair. I mean with all this snow and cold weather and all.

I hope that each one of you and your families had a lovely day of Thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for throughout every day, isn't there. Thank-you (so much) for your encouraging, kind, caring, loving notes in the comments and emails--again, for sharing your lives and hearts with me and mine. I/and we, so enjoy and appreciate every single one. It's a joy and a privilege, bit-by-bit, getting to know many of you, through your sweet sharing in your notes and your blogs.

With love, care, and friendship, sincerely, Jewels

Congratulations to Rebecca, on the swift and beautiful birth of her littlest, Bunkin. She's so chubby-cheeked and adorable. Lots of very lovely photos of sweet baby girl, and, there's the birth story. We all love those :o) Rejoicing with you. Rest well, little mama.

Comments

[Kelly Rae]

Oh Jewels,
How exciting for you all!! And especially the happy couple. What a wonderful gift. I am so glad I got to see the grands at my visit and your special daughter-in-love. I hope the snow holds off for a while so you can post a few more times before the year ends :) Love to you all. Your Friend, Kel

[melissa]

Dearest Jewels,
Your words speak to my very soul. Thankyou so much.
A huge congratulations to Claire & Wesley on their wonderful news. Hopefully next year the Lord will entrust us to have another baby. Our little girl is nearly 3 now and I can't believe how fast the time goes.
It seems strange to think you have snow at the moment. Here in Australia it is getting hotter each day. I would love to see a white christmas.
Thankyou once again for your beautiful words and photo's.
Take care & God bless
Melissa

[Kelley]

I was so thrilled to see that you had posted! I have missed you so very much!
This year has passed so quickly...
Thank you for reminding me that I too am a gift to my family...
I pray that I live that out each day!
Looking forward to seeing pictures and more posts!

[Marqueta]

Dear Jewels,

How wonderful to see another post from you and your corner of the world, and how very nice to have your camera back (Your pictures and your Playlist music make magic together!).
Oh yes, and congratulations on (and lots of prayers for) the new addition! How truly splendid.

Love,

Marqueta

[Ophelia Darcy]

I love those booties too; the wool is so beautiful. So glad for you to be getting your camera back soon :)

[Tania]

Hello Jewels,

Firstly congratulations on the newly expected grandbaby. I can feel your excitement.

Thankyou for another inspiring post. I look forward to reading about your lovely life. Your family is beautiful and you Jewels are the kind of mother I aspire to be.

May God Bless you and your family always,

Tania

[elizabeth]

ohhhh, congrats to claire and wesley. so exciting. i love to be pregnant in the winter. such a cozy and complete feeling. and when i saw those booties i thought the same thing, "wish i had some in my size." my needles are taken up with christmas gifts- so maybe in january...glad to have you back jewels- and patiently awaiting your pics.

[Connie]

Thank you Jewels for once again sharing of your life with us...you minister to my soul everytime you write and share photos...I guess it's God using you to speak to me...bless you for that...we will also be in prayer for Susan who has lost her father..thank you for the prayer request.

And finally, a BIG, BIG congratulations to all of you on the wonderful, wonderful news of a new addition to the family...who is nicely tucked away and safe within her mothers womb...I will be praying that God will protect that baby and that mom and baby stay healthy until it's time to make his or her appearance into your family.

Blessings,
Connie

[Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks&Me]

How wonderful to check my computer before going to bed and find "You" there.

A delicious and wonderful way to spend the last few minutes before dropping off to sleep tonight. :)

[Heather]

Tell Wesley and Clair CONGRATULATIONS on their new little blessing! (Congrats to the rest of the excited family, too!) Glad you are able to get your camera back... I would feel lost without mine... Pictures are such a special thing. I was just looking through pictures with my youngest two this afternoon. They love to look at pictures of themselves as babies.
Heather

[Heather]

Tell Wesley and Clair CONGRATULATIONS on their new little blessing! (Congrats to the rest of the excited family, too!) Glad you are able to get your camera back... I would feel lost without mine... Pictures are such a special thing. I was just looking through pictures with my youngest two this afternoon. They love to look at pictures of themselves as babies.
Heather

[Becky Lane]

I'm so glad to see you back again. I missed my nightly routine of visiting your blog just before I turn in for the night - it leaves such lovely music and images floating around in my head as I drift off to sleep. First your blog inspired me to make Amy Butler tote bags for Christmas, though I hadn't sewn in years. Then it made me wish I knew how to knit. When my sister-in-law and niece both brought along precious baby caps to knit at Thanksgiving, that clinched it - I finally let them start teaching me. You are a muse to many.

Becky (aka Hill Country Hippie)
http://hillcountryliving.blogspot.com

[Ann Voskamp @ Holy Experience]

Every blessing to Claire and Wesley... Thank you, Father.

And sometimes, don't you find, our mama hearts memorize moments better than a camera sensor can capture it?

Beautiful, God-graced days, these...

I thank Him for you....
All's grace,
Ann

[Amy]

I'm so glad you are back, I've been praying that all was well, it's been so long :) Always a welcome part of my day. Thank you. Hope you are feeling well, have a blessed week dear Sister.

[Prairie Chick]

Dear Jewels, I wept through most of this post. Knowing the gift that my 5 children are to me, and the half dozen gifts that await me with Him... but also knowing the pain of not being considered a gift myself. But God is faithful, he blesses and restores love to the destitute. He has filled my heart with joy in His presence and with the gift of so many to love and be loved by in my life. You are blessed, and you bless me.

[Julia]

Dear Jewels,
Thank-you for posting!
I always so enjoy reading them!
That it so exciting that Claire is *baking* another sweet little one! I'll be praying she has a good pregnancy. :o)
I'm glad for you that you got your camera fixed. Hopefully that means more pictures! Right? ;o)
God bless and keep you all,
Julia in Oklahoma
(where it was warm enough for short sleeves today!!)

[littlejennywren]

At last I see the booties on the little tootsies.I'm so glad they will be used again so soon. Congratulations to Claire and Wesley and the proud Grandies. I was just about to write to tell you all my news when I saw you had a new post. I'll write soon dear JAR.

[Kimberly]

So good to have you pop in again!
It's so wonderful to discover a new post from you.
Psalm 139 is one of my absolute favorite portions of Scripture.
"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."
This was probably the verse that has comforted me the most, especially with the loss of our little one this summer. His due date was this week.
It is a hard thing, isn't it? Like you've highlighted: new lives and lives now living on in heaven.
And yet, He knows, He plans, and He is always here even when those we love are not.
I rejoice in the news of your newest member of the family--Claire and I had our little ones last fall within a week of one another I believe.
It is amazing how quickly that year has gone, isn't it?
Many blessings to you and your family in the season of rejoicing in His birth.

[Mrs. B]

Thank you so much for this very timely post. You will never know how much it has ministered to my heart. I've always cherrished my own children as generous gifts from our Lord. However, my own childhood full of abandonment and abuse caused me to never think of myself as a gift to anyone. Although I've read Psalms 139 many times, it's never sunk into my heart the way it did this evening.

Thank you so much for writing as the Lord has prompted you.

I pray God's comfort and peace for Susan and her family.

Again, Thank you

[Tami]

Hi there my sweet friend, so good to hear from you. I love seeing all of the photos from last fall. Blessings to Claire and family. What a gift. You take care and I can't wait to see all the new photos. Love to you this blessed season, XO, Tami

[Vicki]

Morning Jewels, it was lovely to awake this morning and find you had posted again. The children and I gathered around the computer together to read.
Congratulations to you all on Clare's wonderful news, children really are such a blessing.
Much love
Vicki

[Kathryn]

Dear Jewel, another post that makes my heart sing. Congratulations to Claire & Wesley!! God bless you all.
Kathryn
Kathryn inthe Loft
Australia

[Mrs. Anna T]

Jewels, dear, congratulations on the wonderful, wonderful news - another precious little soul being knitted in the womb, and you're about to become grandma to a third grandbaby. How lovely. May Claire's pregnancy be abundantly blessed; I hope she enjoys the upcoming exciting months. Any idea on when to expect the arrival of the little one?

We have been preparing for the arrival of a little one ourselves. I'm almost 8 months along, which means we're expecting our darling in a little over a month (though it can also be a bit sooner or later, as you know babies often don't pay attention to our schedules and timelines :o)).

What a blessed time the past months have been! With a kind, loving husband, and a pampering family, I've been nursed through every minor discomfort, and receive so much attention and sweet encouragement that I feel like a queen.

Anyway, if I go on, I'll end up writing a book. It was lovely to read an update from you. God bless!

[gail]

Hello Jewels,

For me too, like many others it was a real blessing to see that you had written again on your blog. I have been checking every day. Its so lovely to hear your news about the new little baby. I pray that all will go well as Claire awaits her due date. What a wonderful Father we all share. Here in Sydney Australia it has been very warm today. I too love the cooler weather.Thankyou for sharing your lovely family with us. I feel as though I know you all so well, you are often in my thoughts and I wonder what you are doing as I go about my daily life. It will be wonderful when we all meet up one day in heaven and what fun we'll all have. Looking forward to your next post. May God Bless You and Yours
Gail

[Angela]

((hug)) Always in my thoughts and prayers. Early yesterday morning I was talking to the Lord concerning you. Praying that you and your's were safe, that you were blessed with a thankful Thanksgiving, basking in His love and provisions. This morning I wake up to a post...thank You Jesus...

Thank you for your words that again, minister to my heart, touch places that need His healing touch, His truths,,"I do hope that each one of you not only see your children as gifts to you, but you also see you, yourself (uniquely, fearfully, wonderfully made) as a gift to each one that your precious life touches."
Thank you Jewels..I sit here now and will listen to I Belong,,and will cry in love for Jesus!