Happy 9th Anniversary Heather and Mike

On this day, nine years ago, my beautiful daughter, Heather, married the love of her life, Mike.

I wanted to post this tomorrow before work, but just did by accident. Tues, March 30 is their anniversary!

I loved the attendants flowers all around her wedding gown, don't you?

Mr and Mrs Danks

On this day, I gained another son who I love dearly.

Happy Anniversary!

You are an awesome couple, awesome parents and Terry and I wish you a lifetime of  love, health and happiness.

Blessings,

Mom

Blessings On Palm Sunday

Thorncrown Chapel

Eureka Springs, AR

Look to the left and you will see boxes on the wall, Do you see them?

Each box has a cut out cross, illuminated by light.

The Chapel is the dream of Jim Reed who  God inspired to build a glass chapel

on the side of the hill in the mountains away from the busy highway of U.S. 62.

He wanted to give "wayfarers an opportunity to relax in an inspiring and peaceful way".

As he moved to make his dream reality, he became very fearful as he knew nothing about chapels.

As the Lord will do, when we are following Him, Jim was soon introduced to Mr E Fay Jones of

Fayetteville, a nationally honored and recognized architect.  Mr Jones was very interested in this project.

18 months later after much effort by Mr Jones and Associates and many, many others, Thorncrown Chapel stands reaching 48 feet into the sky.  Thornecrown Chapel opened it's doors in 1980.

Why  the name Thorncrown?

"Then the soldiers of the Roman governor took Jesus into the common hall..

And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head"

Matthew 27: 27-29

AND NOW

"We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the agnels (in becoming a man) for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man" 

Hebrews 2:9

Jesus is The Way, the only way to Eternal LIfe.

Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23, 10:9, 10, 13

 

Those of you who follow my blog know of my passion for photographing natural beauty.

My husband and I wanted to renew our wedding vows for our 10th anniversary but no celebration ever seem "right".  Life "speaks" to my heart and nothing did in regard to saying our vows again.

A little after our anniversary we were in Eureka Springs on vacation and heard about the Chapel.

My photos don't do justice to the beauty, the serentity, the feeling of being surrounded by the love of the Lord.

As I walked in, I knew this was where I wanted to say our wedding vows to each other,  again.

However, many, many people visit this beautiful chapel  so I did not think we would have a chance. Bu,t as we sat in that Chapel, I realized everyone has left and Terry and I sat there

and said our vows again to each other.

You see, when I married him I was deaf (lost my hearing at 39) so I never heard our wedding vows, as Terry spoke and signed them to me. But now I had a cochlear implant and could hear very well one to one.

I will always remember sitting in the beautiful chapel and saying and HEARING my husband's words to me and mine to him.

I truly cannot explain the feeling that chapel gave both of us.

The best way I can describe it would be to say, we felt, "one with nature and with the Lord".

If you are ever in Eureka Springs, please visit Thorncrown Chapel.

You will come away renewed and so very blessed.

On this blessed Palm Sunday may each of you experience the beauty of the Lord.

May each of you reach out for all HE has to give to you as you follow Him.

May each of you be so blessed on this week as we move toward Easter and our RISEN LORD.

Have a beautiful Palm Sunday.

Lynn

An Urgent Prayer Request For My Friend

UPDATE: Anita;s surgery has been changed to Wed, March 31st

Good Morning,

 I have a very dear friend, Anita, who was hospitalized in Feb for congestive heart failure, after a week in the hospital she was released to await bypass surgery and value replacement.

Her surgery is Monday, March 29. Please pray for complete healing in his body. 

Those of you who have read my blog this past two months already know I believe and trust in HIM for miracles.  You have read about my husband.  When I received my friend's letter yesterday, my heart wanted to jump on a plane and go to her.  In lieu of that, I simply placed my hand on her letter and in the name of Jesus, asked for complete healing of her heart and body.  I could do nothing less because I believe there is no limit or expiration date on miracles and healing. Praise the Lord!

Thank you for your wonderful, supporting prayers.

Have a beautiful blessed day,

Lynn

Happy Birthday Jo-Anne!

This is Easter, 1953.

My next door neighbor Jo-Anne and me in front of my house.

It was tradition back then that our dad's gave us corsages for Easter.

Then we always had our pictures taken in front of my house.

Through all the years since, Jo-Anne and I have remained friends.

She still lives in New York State while I moved to Florida.

As life and friends go, sometime huge spaces of time passed before we were in contact with each other.

Yet, each time we did, it was like no time passed at all.

Last year both our mom's passed away two weeks to the day of each other.

My mom actually passed away on this day.

Our mom's used to talk over my parents white picket fence.

I believe they are looking down on us today and smiling for the women we have become.

Each of us has overcome some huge obstacles and are better for it.

Happy, Happy Birthday Jo-Anne.

Hope Al has something very special for your celebration today.

You so deserve it!

Love,

Lynn

Signs of Spring

Beautiful flowers outside  Barnes and Noble on Saturday.

Close up view to show their stunning beauty.

                          

My adorable grandsons, Kevin 4 and Dylan 14 months.We were at big brother Jacob's basebase ball game on Saturday.

My daugher, Heather, with 2 of her three sons.

Have a happy Monday.

Blessings,

Lynn

How Great Thou Art

"No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied - its speaks in silence to the very core of your soul".        Ansel Adams

"I like to think of Nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us, every hour, if we only tune in".       George Washington Carver

Be it the grandeur of the mountains or the fragility of Nature,

How Great Thou Art!

Blessings,

Lynn

I Have Not Been Blogging Because........

Good Morning dear followers and friends,

Just wanted to touch base and thank you all for your patience when I have not posted on a regular basis in a long time.

Those of you who read my blog know that my husband went through a health crisis and received a miracle and as a result, I officially set Sept 30, this year, to retire and enjoy life with my hubby and family.

If you have read my blog , you will also know that the crisis with my husband and the miracle he received ignited the flame of love I have for my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I have been saved since 1977 and never lost my love for Him. Sadly, too many responsibilities, too little time and He was the priority I juggled most, taking time away from Him to fit other aspects into a busy life.

Since I officially advised my boss of my retirement date, I have been thinking about many aspects of my life.

Most of you know, I had a computer with Vista, which was totally frustrating and did not allow me to

enjoy my photos the way I love.  On any given day, Vista would not "recognize" my discs, or my cable/card to download or the ability to scan to file. Finally I just knew I could use that computer a minute longer.

I know how a wonderful laptop with Windows 7 which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!  Thank you honey for finding the perfect laptop for me and my photography.

Going back and seeing photos I have taken over the years has made me smile. So much so that  I have been thinking of the direction I want my blog to go from here.

While I will always be the "romantic cottage dreamer" my closer walk with the Lord has also brought me back to my "roots", if you will, of capturing the simple beauty in the world we live in.

What I capture through the lens of my camera are "moods", primarily.

This photo is an  early morning shot at a rest area on one of our road trips.

To me, it speaks of the beauty of each new day.

When I look at this photo I can hear the rustle of fall leaves blowing gently in the wind. I can hear the gentle rush of the stream below.  Tranquility of Fall.

So I believe in the days to come, I am going to blog more about the world I love, through my camera's lens. Sometimes it will be my romantic cottage, sometimes family, others the beautiful world we live in. 

I choose to see the beauty because there is far to much "in your face" ugliness at every turn.  From the moment I saw the first "smart bomb" go off in the Gulf War, the world took a turn for the worst, in my opinion.  I do know there is ugliness in the world, suffering, devastation, wars and such. Perhaps that is why the pull of simple beauty speaks so deeply to my heart.

Please let me know what you think in the day and weeks to come. Either leave me a comment here on my blog or email me at dercottagegirl@gmail.com and tell me which you like better, the romantic cottage or the simply beauty of life blog.  I look forward to hearing from each of you as I cherish your friendships.

Blessings,

Lynn

French Furniture and Retirement

In the past year or so, I have been drawn to French style furniture like this lovely table

we bought a few months ago for, I think $45, at Somewhere In Time.

Last week I officially set Sept. 30, 2010 as my last day of work.

I am excited by the possiblity, for the first time in 14 years, of having "time" to be more creative.

Thrift shops are going to be my best friends as I hunt for French furniture I can paint to add to my already

romantic cottage.

This was around Valentine's Day. If not notice, my silverware has snowflakes.

We bought the silverware at Target before Christmas. We both  loved the pattern, the feel of this silverware so much that we just keep using them.  Florida has had the most unusual winter this year so it never seemed weird to still have "snowflakes".

Don't you just love the napkins?

So even though my retirement is about 6 1/2 months away, I am making my list of all the wonderful possibilities of having "time".

I know so many of you have beautiful blogs and work full time. My hat goes off to you.

Between work and my husband, family, grandchildren, I never have the time to visit on a regular basis.

I am looking so forward to doing that after I retire.

Tonight my husband has a monthly meeting with his Amateur Radio club.

I am going blog hopping for sure.

I have missed all of you in the past 6 weeks so much!

It will be so good to see you all again.

Blessings,

Lynn