"Jesus, God Made Visible"

 

O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those
who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire,
Salvation and Hope of all sinners,
Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire
than to be among men, even assuming human nature
at the fullness of time for the love of men...

****
Christmas blessings to you!

  

*This is an excerpt from the First Prayer
of The Fifteen Prayers
of Saint Bridget of Sweden*

"Birthday Blessings"

"The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!"
Psalm 129:8
 

Grandmother and Pappa both celebrated
their 80th birthday this year...
they have raised two amazing children and have
 five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren
with one on the way (Benjamin Brett).
We all love them very much and
wish them many blessings as they celebrate
80 years of birthdays!

"The Light of Peace"

"May the Lord of peace Himself give you
peace at all times and in every way."
2 Thessalonians 3:16

"God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."
1 John 1:5

 



*For Jo, Savannah and Alex*
Remembering Dan

"Christening Baby Therese"

  

"I will sprinkle clean water upon you, 

and you shall be clean..."

Ezekiel 36:25

Dear Ezzie,

We pray that God's grace, love, and blessings

will follow you all the days of your life.

We love you as high as the sky!

Love,

gigi and jabo

*Therese was Baptized on November 9, 2013
by Father Patrick Egan
at Sacred Heart Catholic Church
in Cullman, Alabama

Chris and Angela Ascherman are your Godparents

"Delight in the Lord"

"...and let us run with perseverance

the race that is set before us..."

Hebrews 12:1

"The wind blows where it chooses,

you hear the sound of it,

but you do not know where it comes from

or where it goes."

John 3:8

 

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord..."

Psalms 100:2

 

 

"...He assigned to the sea its limit..."

Proverbs 8:29

 

 

"...and my springs of water

will guide them."

Isaiah 49:10

 

 

"You have made the moon to mark the seasons;

the sun knows its time for setting.

You make darkness, and it is night,

when all the animals of the forest

come creeping out."

Psalms 104:19-20

 

 

  
"...every perfect gift, is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation
or shadow due to change."
James 1:17
 



"O Lord, how manifold

are your works!

In wisdom

you have made them all..."

Psalms 104:24

 

 

"...yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on
on the palms of my hands..."
Isaiah 49:15-16

 

""Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you
the desires of your heart."
Psalms 37:4

**These pictures are some precious moments
I captured from our October 2013
 trip to the beach**

"Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace"

Therese Rose Whatley

We are so excited to welcome little Ezzie
into the world!
She is the sixth precious addition
to the "Wha-key" family and the twenty-second
great-grandchild for Nanny and Papa!
We are truly smitten with this little girl!

Ezzie, we pray that God's blessings, grace, and protection

will be with you each and every day of your life!
<3gigi and jabo

   

"Just Think"

Just think,

you are not here by chance,

but by God's choosing.

                 His hand formed you                       

and made you the person you are.

He compares you to no one else --

you are one of a kind.

You lack nothing that His grace can't give you.

He has allowed you 

to be here at this time in history 

to fulfill His special purpose

for this generation.

-Roy Lessin-

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

   

"Flickering Mind"

Lord, not you,

it is I who am absent.

At first

belief was a joy I kept in secret,

stealing alone

into sacred places:

a quick glance, and away -- and back,

circling.

I have long since uttered your name

but now

I elude your presence.

I stop

to think about you, and my mind

at once

like a minnow darts away,

darts

into the shadows, into gleams that fret

unceasing over

the river's purling and passing.

Not for one second

will my self hold still, but wanders

anywhere,

everywhere it can. Not you,

it is I who am absent.

You are the stream, the fish, the light,

the pulsing shadow,

you the unchanging presence, in whom all

moves and changes.

How can I focus my flickering, perceive

at the fountain's heart

the sapphire I know is there?

--Denise Levertov

--Bishop Foley gave a beautiful homily and shared this poem with our Parish recently. He spoke of how we don't notice God in the precious moments commenting on the fact that the Lord is always present but our minds are often busy with many things and we miss opportunities to recognize Him in our daily lives. So true!

So here I recognize a most precious moment...

This is a picture of Andrew's sweet hand. Andrew was busy playing

in Uncle Billy's sand box when this butterfly decided to

spend a little time with him. It would light on his hand then

fly away and come right back to Andrew.

It was an opportunity to be still and be in the present...
a time that I will always treasure.

   

"Happy Birthday Clay!"

"Thursday's Child has far to go."

Dear Clay,

It was SO much fun celebrating your 25th birthday

with you...such an extraordinary day for us...

realizing blessings upon blessings upon blessings!

You are surrounded by our love

and prayers and as always, your dad and I

will always love you as high as the sky!

<3mom

   

You then, my child, be strong in grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:1

P.S. "Clay and the Snowball" is one of my favorite
 pictures of Clay and was taken in

our backyard during the big Alabama snow in 2010.

We were trying to get off to church but before we
could leave Clay made sure to take some time to
 play in the snow and taunt his father! 

"Happy Birthday June!"

June Elizabeth Whatley is One!

To Sweet Baby June:

"Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear June!

Happy Birthday to You!"

Dear June,

We you wish all the happiest wishes in the world;

from the highest star, all the way to the moon, and back again!

gigi and jabo will always love you, 

Baby June, 

as high as the sky!

<3

   

"Rainbows and Sunshine"

 We pretended to be wind-up dolls on the front

porch the other night and Kate seemed

to love it! She especially loved "Wind-up jabo!"

Fast forward to prayer time:

My prayer went something like this:

"Dear Lord. thank you for happy hearts,

for Wind-up jabo and Wind-up Kate.

And bless all of our family where ever they may be."

Amen.

Then it was Kate's turn:

Dear Lord, thank you for Wind-up gigi,

and Wind-up jabo, and Wind-up Kate.

Bless everyone in the whole world."

Amen.

And finally it was jabo's turn to pray 

and it went something like this:

Dear Lord, bless Kelly, and Brett, 

and Kate, and Luke, and Baby Aldridge,

and all of our family. And Lord bless everyone who is

hurting and the elderly and those who take care of them

and bless the poor and the hungry...etc.

In the midst of his prayer Kate turned to me with

her hand cupped around her mouth and whispered,

"Wow! jabo is doing a really good job!"

"Peace"

 

 "Now may the Lord of peace himself

give you peace at all times

in all ways."

2 Thessalonians 3:16

For Jo with much love!

"Did you hear the one about..."

Two airline mechanics get off work at

New York's Kennedy airport,

and one says to the other,

"Let's go have a beer."

The other says,

"Why don't we try jet fuel? I hear

it tastes like whiskey and won't 

cause a hangover."

So they each drink a quart.

The next morning, one of them calls

the other:

"How do you feel?"

"Great!"

"Me too. No hangover!

Just one thing...

have you passed gas yet?"

"No."

"Well, don't...

I am calling from Phoenix!"

   

Good Morning!

So this is a bit off the beaten trail but I thought 

this was one of the funniest jokes ever!

Hope it gave you a laugh too!

"The Peace of God"

The Lord is near.

"Do not worry about anything,

but in everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving 

let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, 

which surpasses all understanding,  

will guard your hearts and your minds

in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:5-7

 

P.S. This picture was taken in 2009 by Todd Whatley. 

He captured this moment using his camera.

"Namaste"

 Lord, be in my mind and in my understanding;

In my eyes and in my looking;

In my mouth and in my speaking;

In my heart and in my thinking;

In my meeting and in my parting;

In my day and in my evening.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

  

   

**When everyone was home for Easter the girls and I took

a "time-out" for an hour of peaceful, relaxing yoga.

Thanks to the guys for watching all the little ones!

**Also, the prayer above is an adaption of the prayer that

Nancy, our yoga instructor, recites in her classes.

"God is Love"

Every move I make, I make in You.

Every breath I take, I breathe in You.

Your Love has captured me.

***

I found this beautiful quote in my notes from a 

retreat that I attended several years ago. 

I am not sure if it is a portion of a song

or from a prayer I heard or maybe it's a 

quote from our retreat  leader. Unfortunately, 

I cannot place the credit where it is due, but I knew 

I should share it with you today.

   

P.S. These are the precious hands of my 

twin nieces, Abbie and Grace!

"Come Holy Spirit"

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,

that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit,

that my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,

that I may love what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,

to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,

that I may always be holy.

Amen.

-St. Augustine's Prayer to the Holy Spirit-

  

"Mercy"

God is Mercy

Within Mercy
Within Mercy

-Thomas Merton-

 

One of my favorite explanations of
mercy is this definition:
"Mercy is not getting what you do deserve."
****
P.S. This picture was taken on the grounds of the
Benedictine Sisters, Sacred Heart Monastery
 in Cullman, Alabama
August 2011
That weekend marked the beginning of my blog series.
xoxoxoxoxo

"Hershey Kisses"

"gigi, do you know what this says?"

"It says 'CHAUK-LAT !' "

******   

Wednesday morning we had the opportunity to

Face Time with Daniel and the boys.

Andrew was sporting his HERSHEY t-shirt.

He was telling me all about it as he was sliding 

little his finger across the familiar letters that make

 all of us think about chocolate...

and then he tells me that the word is 'chocolate' 

 (think "Charlie bit me!")

well, it was just too cute!

It was absolutely precious and hilarious! 

Such a sweet boy!

There is nothing like Face Timing with

our little grand ones to put a little spring in my step!

xoxoxoxo