Tonja's Gatherings - A Christian Blogger from Dothan, AL
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Tonja's Gatherings - A Christian Blogger from Dothan, AL
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Faith, Friends, General

FALL? REALLY?

September 11, 2010 by tonja 4 Comments

Summer. Where did it go? It just got started and now…it’s over. Well, over in spirit…here in my town, we could very well be wearing shorts and going barefoot on Christmas Day! But, summer. Those ‘Lazy, Hazy’ days are over. I feel as if it sort of passed me by this year. Sort of a strange feeling, but I kept thinking I was going to get into the summer mood. Now, the chance for that is gone, and I’m looking to find the Autumn Feeling. And, I’m gonna get it…even if I have to go out and roll around in the leaves…not now…when they fall…and turn colors. No. No, you can NOT watch!

What does that word ‘Autumn‘ say to you. OK, I’m going to try an ABC list…

A…apples*****B…barn*****C…corn*****D…dinners*****E…eerie*****F…fairs*****G…ghosts*****H…hay rides

I…Indians*****J…jack-o-lantern*****K…kettles*****L…leaves*****M…mums*****N…nuts*****O…owls*****

P…peanuts*****Q…sQuash*****R…red*****S…squirrel*****T…turkey*****U…under (the harvest moon)*****

V… vines*****W…wheelbarrow*****X…eXcitement*****Y…yams*****Z…Zip (up your jacket to stay warm)

That was not as easy as I thought it would be! I had to really think about some of these. So here’s a challenge…can you think of a word for each letter of the alphabet…..that is DIFFERENT than the one I chose? I kinda ‘fudged’ on some of mine…you can surely do better! Come on, now…let’s play a little. I’m not going to do the ‘tagging’ thing…just write a ‘ Welcome to Autumn’ post on your blog and include the letters and words! Be a sport…play along! And, you friends without a blog…just put your answers in the comments! See? Easy Peasy! Now, go! I’m waiting to hear from YOU!

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22

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Faith, Family, General, HUMOR

OVERWHELMED……..part 2

August 31, 2010 by tonja 13 Comments

Some of you got it…some of you didn’t…So…..wipe off your glasses

Look! This is me!

Come on, friends, join me…..

We’re getting a gift………………

No, not that kind……this kind…….

YES!!!!!!!!! It’s TRUE!!!!!

After a long struggle, disappointments, tears, hopes, fears, anticipation…..these two are expecting…

And we all are ‘over the moon’………

And…I am going to be a Grandmother….but, I haven’t decided on my ‘real name’ yet…..suggestions welcomed!

All our thanks go to the Lord, who hears our prayers, and answers our prayers. We praise Him for His goodness and grace toward us.

Now…Go back to the last post. Pink Fower/Blue Flower “Children are a gift from God”. Psalm127:3 Now you get it!

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Faith, Family, General

OVERWHELMED

August 30, 2010 by tonja 4 Comments

PSALM 127:3

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Faith, Family, General, HUMOR

STRANGE HAPPENINGS ROUND HERE

August 18, 2010 by tonja 6 Comments

I can not tell all the details…now don’t ask me, cause I promised. But, I think I can walk all the way around the last 2 days without breaking any promise I have given.

Yesterday, I felt bad…all day. Achy and Yucky. I was still on Finn Duty, and I took him out several times. He would pee every time…but only once did I convince him that we were going to stay outside till Jesus comes if he doesn’t poop! So he did. The other times he conveniently waited until we got back into Al’s room, and he stopped right in front of me and ‘did the deed’. And, once I did not see him stop there, and I tripped on him right in the midst of the action. The dog went yelping one way…and I went sliding the other…poop following him as he went. It really didn’t matter to him at all, but I was trying to sidestep poop as I slid so gracefully across the floor! I landed on my ‘you-know’, and that puppy, who probably thought I was after him for not obeying my explicit instructions, came whining slowly towards me, with fear and trepidation, and climbed up in my lap and licked my face. Being as I can’t hop up from a fall like I once could… we sat there awhile and talked about how we should always obey our Mommy if we want to grow up and be a happy, well adjusted boy dog.

Then I got some bad news, and I was sad…very sad. And, I was mad…very mad. And, I wasn’t thinking about all those sweet, uplifting things I say to people when they are disappointed about something. I just whined and fussed and said it wasn’t fair and nothing ever works out for me and I’m the saddest girl in the world and why doesn’t God hear my prayers. Unfortunately, I said some of these things out loud. And, someone who lives in the house with me and is older than me heard . He gave me a most disapproving look…but I ran out before he could start the lecture series on “How to Be Happy When You’re Not”….. a series of 14 one hour sessions. I’ve heard them all…and heard them all…and heard them all. Thing is, I knew what I said wasn’t true, just sometimes it helps me to go ahead and say it…get it out of my mind and soul…and then just get on with living. I am not saying that is the right thing to do…it’s just what I do..at times. And, besides, I was in my own studio…and NOBODY should be listening to what I say in there.

Not less than15 minutes later, the bad news got taken back and good news came in its place. Oh, I was a happy girl! The sky turned blue with fluffy white clouds, and the sun shone right through my window, and 2 little blue birds came swooping out of the skies carrying a banner I embroidered myself that stated…”All’s Well With The World”. And, I revelled in that blissful moment. Why I think 10 pounds just fell off me for good measure! I was thinking about all the’ happy’ that the good news would mean, and I could have set there the rest of the night thinking and then gone to sleep and dreamed sweet dreams all night.

But, no-ooo-ooooo! Someone had to rain on my parade. Some one had to burst my bubble. Some one had to take their sticky lollipop and rub it in my hair. Someone had to intrude into my ‘happy’…because I needed to hear session 12 and 13 of ‘How To Be Happy When You’re Not’. Lesson 12 entitled: Don’t react to bad news…just accept it! Lesson 13 entitled: Are you setting a GOOD EXAMPLE or a BAD EXAMPLE ? I had to sit through 2 sessions, people, with no intermission and no popcorn and fountain drink. And, yes, there was a test…with ‘fill-in-the-blank’ answers!

Then this morning, still feeling happy, I got up and went to take my shower and get dressed. Some workmen had come to repaint our ceiling under the porch. We have a dumb pool cleaner that rolls all over the whole pool and when it comes to the one spot on the whole trip that it could do damage…it rears its ugly head up and shoots water up onto the porch. Well, it used to spray it onto the ceiling and it ruined the stain. Now it shoots it onto the furniture and ruins the cushions…but we’re moving in the right direction…so someone told me. Now the porch is waaaaaay over there, next to the far left column of this blog…and that’s the general vicinity the workers would be working in. Waaaaaaaaay over there…on the far right column is the small window up near the roof line that brings lovely light into my warm and inviting shower. And, there I was…in my warm and inviting shower…doing all those things you should be doing while you are in there. When all of a sudden, a thought came to me…”I feel some one’s eyes on me.” And, then this is exactly the thought process that followed…”Isn’t that funny for me to think that? I have always heard people say they could feel when someone was looking at them, but I just don’t think I would ever know. But, it’s funny that I had that thought right now. Wonder why I had that thought just now? I think I used too much shampoo…I can’t seem to get it all out. GREAT! Now it’s in my eyes…I hate to get shampoo in my eyes. Well, if some one’s eyes were on me right now, I afraid they’d be a mite disappointed . I wonder what made me think of that?” And, with my sweet little face lifted towards the ceiling, so as to get ALL the shampoo out of my hair, I opened my eyes. And, RIGHT. THERE. RIGHT. IN.THAT. TINY. LITTLE. WINDOW.AT. THE TOP. OF MY. SHOWER. was the head of one worker, and the rear end of another. IN. MY. WINDOW. Faaaaaaaaar from where the work was supposed to be done on the roof.

In case you’ve never had this situation come up before, it is nigh unto impossible to hide thy self in thine shower. Even if thy take thyself into a corner, there is no hiding there. And, if thy should embark on a foolish attempt to hide thine nakedness with thy hands and arms and legs…thy will surely find out that there is way more to cover than what thy hast to cover with! I’m just telling it like it is!

So, there I stood, in the corner that I felt gave me the most coverage for my money…..and waited…..and waited. Occasionally I stepped out carefully to see if I still saw head and rear. Then I would go back to my corner. FINALLY!!! There was nothing in the window but sky…and I high-tailed it out of there…so to speak! 🙂

I dressed…I came into the studio…and I started reading an article on FB. And, I got a phone call…not at all related to the one I got last night.

But, this one stopped me in my tracks…and this one made my heart sink. And, thankful that I had already gotten ready, I did what needed to be done. And saw what needed to be seen. And, hugged who needed to be hugged. And though the waters are quite rough at the moment…up ahead we see calm, smooth waters.

When I read this recently, I thought the words were beautiful…and very comforting.

Psalm 89

1 -4 Your love, God, is my song, and I’ll sing it! I’m forever telling everyone how faithful you are.
I’ll never quit telling the story of your love‚Äî
how you built the cosmos
and guaranteed everything in it.
Your love has always been our lives’ foundation,
your fidelity has been the roof over our world.

5 -7 God! Let the cosmos praise your wonderful ways,
the choir of holy angels sing anthems to your faithful ways!
Search high and low, scan skies and land,
you’ll find nothing and no one quite like God.
The holy angels are in awe before him;
he looms immense and august over everyone around him.

And, this is what I stake my life on…this is what my husband and I taught our boys…this is what we stand on. This is our Truth. And, no matter whether the phone call is good…or bad…or scary…or sad, God is who He says He is…God will do what He says He will do…And, when things happen so quickly that we don’t even have time to pray and ask for help…He’s got us covered. And, nothing is a surprise to Him. And, that, my friends, brings such peace to this mother’s heart.

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Faith, Family, General

GOD’S WORD TODAY

August 4, 2010 by tonja 5 Comments

Suzanne and Adam are in Birmingham today. She had a procedure done at 8:30, and Adam is having the 10th surgery on his eye. I talked to Suze yesterday, and told her I would be on my knees in prayer. Well, I tried, really I did. But, I could only stay on my knees for about 20 minutes…but I continued praying and reading the Bible quite a while longer…from the couch! You understand. While I was reading, I read again this chapter from Psalms and it is so beautiful. It fills my heart with joy and confidence and trust in God. I felt quite compelled to share it with you today.

Psalm 139…New Living Translation

A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!…..

……. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life

EDIT: Just talked to Suzanne and all is well with her….Adam is in surgery now.

EDIT, 2: Adam is out of surgery, and the doctor is pleased with the way everything looks.

Thank you, God

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About Me

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I am a Christian woman who has survived many years on the planet. God has blessed me with a wonderful family: husband, 3 sons, a dear DIL, and a precious grandson. I also have dear friends to keep me inspired. I am an artist of sorts and am finding my way through the great blessing of retirement. I recently retired after 20 years as a music teacher. Life is good!

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"All your sons will be taught by the Lord; and great will be their peace." Isaiah 54:13
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