Yard Sale Memories

Mr. Marvelous and I had a marvelous time on our annual trek to the World's Longest Yard Sale.  We did not find as many items this year as we have in the past, but we weren't looking for as many this year.  It's a good thing, too!  This year's sale was a little less hopping than usual due to the weather.  We set off Friday morning with our envelope and our list. 

Usually Mr. Marvelous prefers to bypass Gadsden.  It can get a little crazy from the Gadsden exit up to Dogtown, so our normal route is to stay on I-59 to Ft. Payne and cut up the mountain coming to the highway at Dogtown and missing the traffic.  This year Mr. Marvelous surprised me by getting off at Noccalula Falls and heading over to the very start of the sale.  We were a little surprised by the lack of traffic and the lack of vendors.  We had not known about the strong storms that whipped through that area Thursday evening.  We stopped at one place with a large number of vendors and started wandering through.  I had realized half-way to Gadsden that I had forgotten to bring a hat (I'm a red-head; I burn) and Mr. Marvelous wanted to find me something to shade my delicate nose.  We found some hats and started looking through them, visiting with the vendor as we did.  Turns out he had a tree fall slap down on his house the evening before.  He wasn't fussing; he was expressing praise and thanksgiving to God for preserving his family!  After talking with him a bit I could not resist this

I wore it all day!

We wandered through another area where we usually find lots of great items and I found this, which I snatched up pretty quickly

Of course I know that you know what this is, but in case your children don't know, it is what you use to remove the peas from the boiling water after you have blanched them and before you put them in the freezer.  Right?  Right!

This book is in lousy shape, but I couldn't pass it by.  I'm a sucker for old readers!

As we were making the turn from DeSoto Falls State Park (one of my favorite places in Alabama) I caught sight of one of the items I most wanted to find.  Mr. Marvelous, being marvelous, did not fuss, he just turned the van around (not easy in that area!), went back, talked to the man and loaded me up.

Isn't it beautiful??!!

No, not the feet, the step-stool!

And it is the right height.













Mr. Marvelous Jr. was particularly relieved that I found this.  He HATES coming home from work to find me perched on this to clean the top cabinets in the kitchen.

"Mother, that is a shower chair.  It is NOT a step-stool!"

Bless his heart.

This vendor also had this, which I had been wanting for several years, so I was glad to find it and he gave me a good deal on the two items together.

It had started pouring by this time, and it was getting a little late, so the vendors were giving up, packing up, and going home for the evening by this point.  We drove on to Tennessee, found our hotel, had supper and visited one of our all-time favorite places in the world.

McKay's Used Book Store.  Oh, McKay's, you make me so happy!  I begged the lady to let me just spend the night.  I promised her that I would not make a mess, and tried to convince her that having me there would beef up security.  She didn't fall for that.  She was nice enough, but she would not let me spend the night.  Sigh.  However, in our time there I did manage to find the following (Mr. Marvelous also found several gardening books).  

When we got up the next morning the weather was a little iffy, so we decided to go up the mountain first and see what we could find.  It was a mess!  The traffic was backed up on the main road for miles and there were not nearly as many sales as we remembered from when we lived there.  We did stop at one place and I found these

We got off the main road after that to get out of traffic and I found some familiar and pretty places that I shared with you last week.  After that we drove back down the mountain and decided to browse around the Flea Market we used to enjoy.  Good thing we did; I found more items on my list there!

What might this be? 

A hat rack, of course!








 

I discovered that using a safety pin to attach a piece of ribbon helps keep hats on the rack.

We did swing through Mentone on the way home.  We saw a few items but again, the vendors seemed a little discouraged by the weather.  We did see this amazing creation

That is one talented craftsman!

After that we headed down the mountain and drove back home.  

And now it is only 43 days until the 411 sale!

Monday

I have promised that I would post pictures of what Mr. Marvelous and I found at THE Yardsale last weekend.  I will get to that tomorrow.  I was impressed today that the following is so important that it needs to come first.  Pictures tomorrow, I promise!

If you follow my blog you know that my cousin Danny Carlton died last week.  Thursday evening I posted the following statement:    

I got a call this afternoon that my cousin Dan Carlton died this afternoon.  Danny is finally, completely and eternally healed.  He is in the presence of our Glorious God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  He is reunited with his parents, our grandparents, and many other family members and close friends.  Most importantly, God who began a good work in him was faithful to bring it to completion.  This afternoon Danny got to feel the arms of our God wrap around him, and heard His voice telling him, "Well done, my son!"

I want to be sure that you understand why I said what I said.  There are a lot of misconceptions in the world today about death and about heaven.  There are a lot of people who believe ~ and sadly who teach ~ that heaven is someplace for the "nice" or "good" or "deserving" people after death.  That is a lie and it is a dangerous lie that keeps people from the Truth.  NO ONE is nice enough, or good enough, or deserving of heaven.  NO ONE.  My cousin Danny was a good man.  He was kind, he was loving, he was giving.  We have all known people like him.  Our grandparents were exceptional people.  Granny would do anything for anyone.  My parents are amazing people who would sacrifice anything to help others out.  Again, we have all known people about whom it might be said, "If anyone deserved heaven, it was that person; they were a good person!".  Let me make this as clear as I can:  That is a lie.

There is only one way in which any person has the hope of heaven and that is through the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah.  Please don't roll your eyes, sigh and say to yourself, "Oh.  She's one of those people".  Yes, I am but please read on through to the end.  Other than Jesus, no one has ever been born perfect.  Other than Jesus, no one has ever lived a sinless life.  Mother Theresa freely admitted that she was not perfect.  So did Billy Graham, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, John Calvin, Martin Luther, St. Augustine, The Apostles, King David, Moses.....are you getting the picture here?  All these "spiritual giants" were very clear about the fact that they were sinners.

Here is more bad news.

God is so perfectly holy that He absolutely can not tolerate sin in His presence.

Heaven is the place where God lives.

Uh-oh.  Now what?  If that is really true (and it is), then that would mean there is no hope for us??!!  Is there any good news?

As a matter of fact, there is!

Jesus Christ ~ who is Himself God ~ became a man and lived a perfect life.  No sin ever.  When you look at the fact that He himself said that sins of the mind and heart are just as bad as sins of the flesh, that is even more amazing.  Not only did he not do sin, he did not even think sinful thoughts.  Let that sink in for a minute.

After thirty-three years of being perfect and sinless and living with sinful people (can you imagine how hard that must have been?!), He allowed Himself to be further robbed of His glory by going through a mock trial.  He was beaten, shamed, despised, lied about, and then murdered in an incredibly painful and unpleasant way.  He did not deserve any of that punishment.  Why in the world would anyone do that?  He did it for me.  He did it for you.  And ultimately He did it for the glory of God.

After He was murdered, He was buried.  He was dead.  His dead body laid in a tomb that was sealed.  Creation held it's collective breath.  And then came Sunday morning when He rose again.  Get that?  He conquered sin through His death, and then He conquered death.  If the history of Jesus Christ is True ~ and it is! ~ then that turns everything upside down and inside out.  He lived, worked, died and then beat death and came back to life to pay the price of sin.

"Wait a minute" you might ask, "wasn't He sinless?"

YES!

"So why did He pay the price of sin?"

He was paying the price of our sin.

What are you going to do with this Truth?  A cognitive acknowledgement of this Truth is not sufficient.  This Truth is acknowledged by the demons and they are still condemned to hell.  This Truth is so profound that it requires a profound response.  It requires surrender to Jesus as the ultimate authority.  When you consider ~ really consider in the core of your being ~ just exactly what He did, you either toss it aside as absurd, or you realize that because of what Jesus has done He has the right to be the boss of every facet of your life.  Total and complete surrender to Him.  That changes everything about your life.  Your life is suddenly a lot less about you and a lot more about HIM.  My pastor refers to it as a life that is "making much of Jesus".

This was the life that Danny lived.  Danny was surrendered completely to Jesus.  His life was all about giving glory to God.  Danny was not trusting in his own goodness, niceness or worthiness to get him into heaven.  Danny's trust was ONLY in Jesus and the work that Jesus accomplished for him.  That is why I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Danny is in heaven.

Being surrendered to Jesus does not mean that we are owed anything.  It does not mean that God gives us riches or health or "good things".  It is not about what we have.  It is about us giving glory to God in every part of our lives.  Danny understood that.

Toward the end of his life, speech was very challenging for Danny.  One night at dinner his dear Jody heard him say the following:  "Dear Lord, thank You for the process that tests me in every way to remember You.  Amen"  

Please think about this today.  Please, if there are things I have written that are hard for you to understand, ask me questions.  Read what God has to say about Himself in His word, the Bible.  Ask someone you know who professes to be a Christian.  Please know that I am praying that God will use these words I have written to help you see Him more clearly.

May His grace, mercy and peace fill your heart and your home.

Cousins.

I got a call this afternoon that my cousin Dan Carlton died this afternoon.  Danny is finally, completely and eternally healed.  He is in the presence of our Glorious God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  He is reunited with his parents, our grandparents, and many other family members and close friends.  Most importantly, God who began a good work in him was faithful to bring it to completion.  This afternoon Danny got to feel the arms of our God wrap around him, and heard his voice telling him, "Well done, my son!"

In honor of Danny.

Not everyone is blessed with cousins.  Some folks don't even have any cousins.  My son's generation in our family has an abundance of cousins, and in general they are pretty close both physically and emotionally.  My son is an only child, so for him to have "big brother" cousins has been a huge blessing in his life.

In my generation of my family we have four cousins on my Mom's side, and twelve on my Dad's side.  My Mom's sister and her children lived in New England, so we spent very little time with them.  My Dad's family on the other hand, mostly lived close and extended family get-togethers were frequent.  We would usually all meet in Weaverville, NC (a wonderful Mayberry-like town when we were growing up).  Grandaddy and Granny lived just down the street and around the corner from Uncle Glen and Aunt Janet and their amazing Victorian house with a REAL stained-glass window ~ and later a REAL swimming pool (!), so we would take over the houses and porches and streets and sidewalks and spend time with each other.  One of my cousin Scott's favorite past-times was scaring the girls with his pet boa constrictor.  Sometimes we would go to Dillingham and converge on Uncle Dan and Aunt Virginia's beautiful stone house.  They lived next door to Uncle Dan's church and there was lots of room to play. 

We stayed in contact through our college years.  My sister Nancy shared a dorm suite with our cousin Janet Lee when they were at Furman together.  I'll never forget my cousin Danny's adventure.  He and a friend decided to ride their bikes from North Carolina to Key West, Florida!  Quite the adventure, and they had some interesting tales to tell about it.  Since we were living in Miami at that time, they came and stayed with us for a night or two.  We did all learn that the police down there did not really appreciate having bikes on the old 7-mile bridge!

We've tried to be there for each other during the hard times.  Car wrecks, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer have all taken their toll on our extended family in both my Dad's generation and in mine.

Right now there is a cancer battle going on, and that brings me to the point of this post.  My cousin Danny has been battling brain cancer for some time now.  He had a resurgence of it in June of this year.  Danny is a man of God.  His faith is solid.  I'll never forget his conversation with my Dad right after his father's unexpected death of a heart attack on Christmas Eve.  His words as he and Dad talked on the phone that night before we all left to drive to North Carolina were, "Uncle Gordon, isn't it great that Dad gets to spend Christmas in Heaven this year?!"

Danny is celebrating today.  Please remember his dear wife Jody and his sisters Elizabeth, Janet and Gigi as they gather to celebrate his life. 

Thank you.

Photo by Mystuart Flickr

Proverbial Gleanings

I have gotten back to the habit of reading a chapter of Proverbs each day.  It's fun how it works out to go through and match the chapter to the day of the month; chapter 31 gets saved as a special treat for long months.

I was reading the seventh chapter and thinking about some things.  It is easy to get to verses 10-20 and think "Well I am not like that!"  But there are some interesting and important contrasts that deserve a little attention.  The woman who is described is the woman we are not to be.  That woman does not bring glory and honor to her Creator.  However just thinking to oneself "Thank God I am not like her!" (see Luke 18:13 and following) is not enough.  If you really think about it, if we are not to be like that, how are we to be as women? 

Perhaps we are to be quiet, rather than loud.
 
We are to be attentive to the path of righteousness, rather than wayward (how much time and energy did I really give to righteousness today as compared to the television, the radio, that book I couldn't put down, that Facebook account, etc.)

We are to be attentive to our home rather than a woman whose feet do not stay at home ~ please note that the word used is "home" rather than "house".  There is a big difference between a woman who makes a home for her family and a woman who is all about her house!

We are not to be bold in evil.

We are to be loyal to our husband, whether that is a man, or whether as a single woman that is Christ.

We are not to tempt others to sin whether that is through flaunting our bodies and sexuality or whether that is standing around with other women "sharing concerns" ~ which is a pitiful euphemism for gossip.

Think this doesn't apply to you, men?  I would suggest that if you are single and looking for a wife, this needs to be on your list of attributes!  And if you are a father this is something that you might want to teach your sons to look for and your daughters to emulate.

There are many more gleanings from this chapter ~ which I why I keep going back to it every month! ~ but those are just a few of the jump-out-and-smack-me ones.

The View From My Kitchen Window August 11, 2014

This view is starting to change.

I am beginning to see just a hint of color

I am sure that this is partly because it has been dry.  I did not realize how dry it has been until I really looked at this

The light is starting to change too

Things like this make me thank God for my kitchen window all over again!

And thank Him that this one is leaning away from the kitchen!

Monday Morning Memories Yard Sale!

Because I write my posts in the evenings and schedule them to run later, it is late and I am tired and lazy.  Too lazy to get up and go take pictures of my "stuff" that was found on the yard sale.  I did find a lot of things that were on my list, and I will post pictures of them later.  However for the moment, I thought I would share some of the pictures along the way.

Mr. Marvelous and I had a great time over the weekend.  It was nice to have a vacation day and not be on call for work over the weekend.  We made the most of the time, even using some hotel points to spend the night along the way Friday evening.

The southern-most parts of this sale were hit Thursday evening by a some unexpected and severe storms, wreaking havoc upon those with tables full of glass tchotchkes, books and clothing (which means most of the small dealers and a number of the larger ones).  One gentleman whom we met early on had some large tree branches fall on top of his house.  He was thankful that no one was injured and that he was going to be able to repair the damage himself (he is a contractor).  He was so thankful that in the time we visited with him he could not stop praising God for His goodness and mercy!

We saw some curious sights along the way.

We followed this car for several miles in Tennessee and laughed about meeting "home-folks" in unexpected places (that 59 means that they are from the same county as us).

 We drove by here

 Which is the exact same place that this picture was made over 60 years ago!












 And where this plaque is located, which has some special significance to a few people I know!

I had hoped to take a picture of the old Jr. High building for my Aunt who went to school there, but I bet she will remember this building.

 We drove home in the rain on Saturday and saw a sign that we could not resist.  It said, "Yard Sale in Castle".  In CASTLE??!!  We drove a little way down a very muddy drive and to another sign that said:

 Beware

Call 911

Aim M-16

When we see that kind of sign, we have to explore further 

(we should have been in Second Hand Lions).

                           This is what we found.

I appreciated the walkway, but our feet still got pretty wet and muddy.  It was not finished on the inside; I would have loved to take pictures of all the builder has done, but he discourages that.

I wrote on Friday that I was hoping to meet someone to whom I might introduce Jesus.  I did not meet that person.  However I did meet two gentlemen who were struggling in their faith and trying to work through a deeper understanding of how to apply their faith in their daily life.  We had a good conversation about  that.  I met a young lady who was desperate for prayer for her parents.  We had a good visit together as well. 

So that was our weekend.  I will post pictures of our finds later. 

What did you do this weekend?

Friday!

Mr. Marvelous and I are off and running early this morning.  He has a doctor's appointment and then we are headed north to the World's Longest Yard Sale!  I can't wait to show you pictures on Monday, but in the meantime, here is a fun Friday picture.

Someone really had this set up along the way last year.  Oh how I wish I were small enough to fit in one!

It's That Time Again!

Yippee!!  It is August.  Do you know what that means? 

Well besides being hot and humid in Alabama.

It's time for The World's Longest Yard Sale!! 

This has become a tradition for Mr. Marvelous and I.  Every December when we sit down to go over the year and figure out what days he is going to request off for the upcoming year, we inevitably say to each other "Don't forget Yard Sale weekend in August!"

If you are unfamiliar with this event here is a link to the website explaining it.

If you have missed my previous posts about it they are here and here.  I thought I had been more consistent in writing about this but it looks like I was wrong.  Oopsie.

Mr. Marvelous has an appointment with the doctor first thing Friday morning and then we will head out and have fun.  There will be lots of pictures taken and posted.  It will be really hot.  He will have his Pepsi and I will have my Diet Mtn. Dew (I'm a real southern girl!).  We will find some wonderful bargains around Mentone and Fort Payne Alabama.  Every year we say we are going to go further than that.  This year we just might do it.  We will see quirky.  We will see bargains.  We will see over-priced.  We WILL stay within our modest budget.  We mostly just go to have fun.  We know our favorite spots on the way.  We will find ideas to try.  And on  the way home we just might find a Dairy Queen and have a dipped cone! 

It doesn't get much better than that.

The one thing I want to do this year is find someone who needs to know Jesus.  Someone to whom I may perhaps make an introduction.  Each year God puts people in my path who need prayer.  Each year I find a number of family members I did not know about.  This year I want to find someone who is ready to hear about Jesus.

I hope to have pictures on Monday but until then, here are a few from years gone by.

Apple Boxes and a copy of Dante's Divine Comedy.

My treasured rocking chair.  All wood. And comfy!

Someone actually sold me their old Lodge skillet.  People are crazy sometimes!

We LOVE our coffee pot!

This is no ordinary double-boiler; this is a SIX-CUP double-boiler!

These cake pans make the best Orange Marmalade Layer Cake!

Another crazy person actually wanted to get rid of a Calvin and Hobbes book.  Good grief!

Yes, I will be wearing my happy hat and doing the dance of joy.

No, I will not be wearing a woolen sweater.

That's all.

Walkabout Wednesday

Meanwhile, out in the Pacific Ocean....

In the month of July I totaled one hundred nineteen and seventy-six one hundredths miles.  That's 119.76.  This gives me a trip grand total of two thousand six hundred forty-one and forty-two one hundredths miles.  Or 2641.42. I am now over three hundred miles off the coast of California.  I have left the islands of Catalina and San Nicolas and am making my way over to Hawaii.  Hurray; I'm making progress!

If you have been following my trip for very long you probably know that I am a map-fanatic.  I pulled up the Google map of the Pacific Ocean and found that on the satellite view I can see all the underwater mountains.  Fascinating!  It makes me wonder what it all looked like before ~ and during ~ the events of Genesis 6-9. 

I'll be sure to post pictures of any whales I happen to see.  I'm sure I will see some; I do speak whale!

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia and Creative Commons

The View From My Kitchen Window, August 4, 2014

I'm starting to see a little color!

Monday Morning Memories

I am sure I have mentioned that when I was growing up our family went to the same beach every single summer.  Except the year my oldest brother got married; that year we let him take his bride to the beach.

Anyway, we grew up going to Mexico Beach, Florida, which is where my parents spent their honeymoon.  We would go into Port St. Joe several times during the week.  There is a story about me and the unpleasant affect that the paper mill always had on me (even if I was asleep), and the unpleasant affect that this had on sibling outfits.  Let's just pretend that isn't a story though, alright?  Thanks.

However, there are some great memories of Port St. Joe; they had a Dairy Queen with dipped cones, a grocery store, a drawbridge (which was sadly close to the 'melling paper plant), AND a library with a wonderful children's room (yes, we are that family who believes that it is not a vacation without a load of books!).

Just before the drawbridge on Highway 98, there was a sign for a local Baptist Church.  

Straight out into the bay.

Now THAT's a baptistry!

Friday!

I will be busy today; it is Friday!

That means cleaning house,

and doing the banking and the shopping and running other errands. 

You see, Sunday is coming

and I like to be as ready as possible to enjoy a day of worship and of rest.  

A day to reflect on who exactly it is that I serve

"Creation" from The Bible In Pictures For Little Eyes

and to savor the grace, mercy and peace that He gives me so abundantly.

So I will be working hard today, and Mr. Marvelous and I will work hard together tomorrow.  The busy-ness of life will be dealt with.  That way on Sunday, we will be able to focus on worship, on fellowship, and on rest.

God's peace to your homes!