Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 

 
A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.  

 

 

 

The Children's Sunday School program in our church is called Primary.  I have served as a member of the Primary Presidency for many years during my time in the church and also as a teacher.  I love the children.  Once a year, towards the end of the year, the whole of one Sacrament Meeting (after the passing of the Sacrament) the time is given over to the children in our Ward and they put on a special presentation for the Ward/Congregation in which they show us all that they have been learning throughout the year.  They sing the songs they have learned and sung, present any talks they might have given, tell us about the lessons they have learned. etc.  Yesterday was our Ward Primary Presentation and it was just lovely.  It always is.  The children were so well behaved and did such a wonderful job in showing us all that they have learned. They sang their little hearts out!  We have a huge Primary  of over 40+ children.  It was very heart warming to see them all up there.  In a lot of churches today the pews are filled with old people. I love that our church is a happy mix of old and young. I think it is pretty special, and yes, I am a bit biased, lol. Todd and I enjoyed their presentation very much!  Its one of our favourite sacrament meetings of the year!

 

 

Last evening as the European Area of the church we had an opportunity to go to our chapels and see a special Area Broadcast just for us.  It was being broadcast from Frankfurt Germany and Elder Russell M Ballard, one of the Apostles was speaking along with Elder Quentin L Cook, another apostle.  There were some other leaders and their wives also.  It was only an hour and a half long, and the broadcast for us in our chapel was fraught with wifi issues.  The signal kept breaking up.  There was only about 25 or so of us there and Todd kept making I want to go home noises (he is not the most patient person at times, and incredibly patient at others) but we persevered and stayed to hear most of it. There was a beautiful spirit in attendance.  I enjoyed all the talks and I was especially moved by Elder Ballards talk.  These men and their wives are amazing. I could happily have listened to them for hours and hours. I took notes!  But then I always do.  It is easy to forget what has been said afterwards, but I find if I take notes then I can remember things much more easily.  A lot of the focus of the talks last night was on keeping the Sabbath Day holy and with reverence, and for every generation . . .  if you are parents of young children, or single adults, or older people.  There was something to be learned and of inspiration for everyone.

 

 

We were talking in the car on our way home.  The sun was just setting and there was tons of traffic on the road, the red backlights stretching on for miles seemingly in front of us, and somehow the topic got around to how do we know if God is real, and the thought came to me  . . . 

 

I know that God is real.  Throughout my life He has manifested His

presence to me in real, tangible and meaningful ways. In ways that I know were

meant just for me to see, and to feel, and I know that He will do the same for You if you allow Him.

All that is required is a tiny smidgen of faith on your part, a mustard seed of faith as it were.

If you apply that mustard seed of faith into your days,  

you will witness the miracle of God's presence

in your life also, and I guarantee that you will discover that He is there, 

and that He is real, and that He loves you very much.

 

 

Apple Pie.  It had been a long time since I had had any and I had forgotten just how good it was. My mom made the best apple pies.  I think everyone's mom makes the best apple pies.  Sometimes we would have it with a slice of cheese and it was soooooo good.  I picked up an Apple Pie at Costco the other day because Todd was wanting one and I didn't feel like making one.  I had a tiny sliver and I was in heaven.  Not as good as mom's for sure, but still really good!  Now I am going to have to make one.  I used to make a really good one, Apple, Cream and Crumb Pie.  Maybe I will make that . . . . or maybe I won't because that one is SOOOO good I will be far too tempted to imbibe! I literally have no will-power when it comes to dessert. I know I should, but I don't. Its better for me to just not have it around. 

 

 

 

Hurricane Ophelia is supposed to hit landfall today.  There is an amber warning out for Northern Ireland and a red warning out for the Republic of Ireland, it will also be pretty dicey for North Wales and the West of England, Cumbria, Scotland, etc.  I think we may be at the very edges of it so we can expect plenty of rain and high winds also, but hopefully not as damaging as in other areas.  Right now it is really calm out there.  You would never know a bad storm was in the offing.  My oldest daughter Eileen is really afraid for me, but I kept reassuring her last night that we would be okay.  She watches the weather channel and she takes it all to heart. We are in a safe area and we have plenty of water and food in the house and we have no need to go out anywhere.   We are actually pretty protected here in Chester.  We hardly get any adverse weather.  We do get a lot of rain, but all told we are pretty safe here.  We are very blessed! 

 

 

 

A few of the snaps I have taken recently of Mitzie to show our Eileen when we are chatting on Facebook.  As you can see she is always by my side.  What a wonderful companion she has been for these past seven and some years.  I don't know what I would do without her. 

 

 

My friend Valerie who always posts the most amazing things on her facebook page.  She always makes me smile or think.  Happy thoughts. In a sea of negativity in this world, she is a bright spark.

 

 

This is totally 100% true.   

 

My friend Warren also posts the most amazing things.  He was my homeroom teacher in Grade Seven, and is now my friend on facebook.  How crazy is that!  He is also a spark of light in a sea of negativity.  He is also a distant relation sort of. My mother had an Aunt that died when she was young and left behind some children.  Her Uncle remarried and had more children, and Warren is from that line of children.  

  

Autumn which just keeps giving.  We don't get as many bright colours over here as they do in Eastern Canada, because we don't have all the maples, but we do get colour and I am very grateful for that! 

 

What she said!

And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day . . . 

.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.°Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance, 

you need to keep moving.

~Albert Einstein   •。★★ 。* 。 

Spiritual Enlightenment

 

 

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  a Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake.  Seriously tasty!

Have a great day.  May your week ahead be filled with a multitude of small and wonderful things.  Don't forget!

 

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and I do too!