Daddy's Empty Chair

Old Chair

A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed. The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me, he said. "No, who are you?" said the father. The minister told him his name and then remarked, "I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up." "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the minister shut the door. "I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head." I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me, "Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest. "Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, 'I will be with you always'. "Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now." "So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm." The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon. Did he die in peace?" he asked. Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?" The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."

Author Unknown

An Unexpected Visitor...

First the birds, then THE BEE, and now THE BEAR. My sister had a party at her home yesterday up in north Jersey. Some of us were on the deck out front when we noticed this visitor across the street. I know it's hard to tell from the picture above (I didn't want to get too close), but that black thing in the middle is a bear standing upright, having a little snack at a bird feeder in my sister's neighbor's yard.

In this next photo, I'm a bit closer and THE BEAR is moving as you can tell from the blurred image (or could it be because I'm trembling a bit?). Meanwhile, the people who live in this home are pulling into their driveway which is on the opposite side of the house. My brother-in-law walked over there to inform them about their "guest". And my sister is yelling, "Lynne, how fast can you run in that long skirt you're wearing?" And do you know what I was thinking this whole time-"Wow, I need to get some pictures of this to post in my blog!"



Here he or she is, heading back into the woods. My brother-in- law and his neighbor frightened it away by banging pans together and firing a paintball gun. Both THE BEAR and the blogger escaped without a scratch. He wasn't seen again for the rest of the evening, and here I am, safely home again , to tell the tale.
Have a blessed Sunday everyone.

Show and Tell

My show and tell for this week is my lilac bush. Spring has FINALLY arrived here in NJ in a big way and there are so many beautiful trees and shrubs in bloom right now. It's really true-April showers DO bring May flowers. We have been blessed with perfect spring weather lately and I hope everyone else is enjoying the same. How I wish I could upload the fragrance of these flowers to share with you, but as far as I know the technology to do that does not yet exist. I planted this lilac bush about 13 years ago when I first moved into my home. It was just a tiny little twig of a plant I found at Wal- Mart for $5.00 and I can't believe how much it has grown since then. It didn't bloom for the first few years, but it's sure making up for it now. Every May it puts on quite a show. Lilacs have always been one of my favorite flowers. I just wish I had the room to plant more of them.
Once again, thank you Kelli for hosting this Show and Tell.

The Story of the Dogwood Tree

Dogwood Blossom


As a child I heard this tale,
Long ago during the days that Jesus
was here on earth in the form of man
there were many dogwood trees.
The dogwood was comparable in
size to the oak tree and other
monarchs of the forest. Because of its
firmness and strength it was
selected as the timber for the cross,
but to be put to such a cruel use
greatly distressed the tree.

Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in his gentle
pity for the sorrow and suffering of
all said to it: "Because of your
sorrow and pity for My sufferings,
never again will the dogwood tree
grow large enough to be used as a cross
. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted
and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross
two long and two short petals
.
In the center of the outer edge of
each petal there will be nail prints
brown with rust and stained with red
and in the center of the flower
will be a crown of thorns, and all who see
this will remember."

~ Author Unknown

The Bee and Me

Buzzy Bee

Since I posted about birds the other day, I thought it would be only fair to give bees equal time, after all it is Spring.
We've had some heavy rain here recently which caused a little bit of water to enter our basement. I was home most of the weekend, so I left the basement door and windows open to help speed up the drying process. Anyway, Sunday night I went down there to close the windows and I saw what I thought was a dead bee, a BIG, furry, dead bee, anchored to the window screen. So I took a piece of paper from the trash and tried to remove this bee from the screen and it started to move and it sounded off a warning BZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Nope, not quite dead yet! Turned out the fuzzy little buzzer was only sleeping. (Bees sleep???) Anyway, I quickly shut the window, leaving the bee between screen and glass, thinking I'll deal with this tomorrow.
The next day, while I'm walking around the yard doing my daily poop scoop patrol, I remember THE BEE. So I checked the window fom the outside-yep still there. I rattled the screen a little-BZZZZZZZZZZ! Yep-still very much alive. I slide the screen open a few inches, thinking bees have like a thousand little eyes so he'll see the opening and fly away. Nope, that doesn't happen. I find a small stick, slide it between the window and screen and gently poke at the bee in his business end, trying to coax him towards the opening. THE BEE does not like this and moves further inside.
After violating THE BEE a few more times, he finally finds his way outside. He buzzes angrily past me, probably swearing at me in a way that only a bee can. I watch him as he flies into my neighbor's yard and, uh oh- makes a beeline to his open back door.
And like THE BEE, I also buzz off, for I do not want to know what happens next.

I Am Midnight-What Time of Day Are You?

You Are Midnight

You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends.

What Time Of Day Are You?

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

Make Yourself at Home

I've been attempting to do some much needed spring cleaning, but being a bit of a packrat and also domestically challenged, I'm not making too much progress. And apparently, it's long overdue. Here's just a few of the treasures I've unearthed so far: (WARNING-IF YOU ARE A CLEAN, NEAT, ORGANIZED, PERSON DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER)
1. A pocket calendar from 2003.
2. A phone book from 1997.
3. Enough cat hair under the bed to make a clone of my kitty.
4. The remote control for the bedroom tv (yay!)
5. Christmas gifts that my husband bought and wrapped for his family at least five years ago (ho ho ho!)
6. Assorted squeaky dog toys.
7. A few dead house plants (please don't ask)
8. And other stuff that is just too GROSS to mention.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in the master bedroom-I haven't even looked in the closet yet!
I'm sure that's a real treasure trove of trash. Maybe I'll be finished by NEXT spring!
Oh, and an honorable mention goes to the jar of pickles in the fridge that expired in 1998!