Congratulations Mr and Mrs. Turley!!

A few weekends ago we had the great joy of witnessing the wedding vows of Justin Turley and Melissa Keen, in Birmingham, Alabama!

What a blessing the day was~we enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Tim S. family that morning, Saturday night and Sunday morning~What a precious family they are!! {Oh, and thanks to Abbi S. for the beautiful picture!} We also got to renew some acquaintances, and see and visit with old friends at the beautiful reception...The ceremony was exquisite, and Mr. Keen's touching analogy of a woman's protection under her father, and now her husband, as a coat, fitted perfectly by the Tailor just for her, and how she had delighted and rejoiced in it, instead of trying to stretch it out when the world told her it was too tight. He shared how that, now, he was giving her to another man, and she would wear another coat, that was made just for her by the Tailor, as well. The analogy of the taking off of the first coat, and the putting on of another was a precious, and heart touching moment...the vows were solemn, joyful...what an amazing honor, joy and privilege to see two people vow before God and man the following...

"I, Justin David Turley, do covenant before God and man to thee, Melissa Lauren Keen, to be thy faithful and loyal husband, loving thee and giving myself for thee even as Christ loves His bride the Church and gave Himself for her.[1] I vow to nourish thee and cherish thee[2], to defend thy honor, to fight for thee and our household and protect thee[3], and to dwell with thee according to knowledge, giving honor unto thee as unto the weaker vessel, and as coheir of the grace of life.[4] I vow to thee patience and kindness, gentleness[5] and tenderness, and all my love and affection. delighting only in thee, the wife of my youth, mindful that it is thou who hast authority over my body, and not I.[6] Should the Lord so choose to bless us[7], I will be the happy father to our children, bringing them up, with thee as my helpmeet[8], in the nurture and admonition of the Lord[9]. I vow to cleanse thee with the washing of water by the Word[10], and to tenderly lead thee as thy earthly head[11]. I shall be faithfully thine whether we be abounding or abased[12], laughing or mourning, in good health or poor, and nothing but death shall part me from thee."

Bride’s Vows

"I, Melissa Lauren Keen, do covenant before God and Man, to thee, Justin David Turley, to be thy faithful and loyal wife, loving thee and serving thee as a helpmeet suitable for thee[13], for the man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man[14]. I vow to honor and obey thee, placing myself in submission and subjection unto thee in all things, with respect and reverence, as befits the honour due thee as my earthly lord and head[15,16]. I shall be thy discreet, chaste keeper at home, obedient unto thee, that the Word of God be not blasphemed[17]. I vow to diligently, industriously, and faithfully care for the affairs of thine household so that thy heart may always safely trust in me[18]. I vow to thee patience and kindness, gentleness[19], and tenderness, and all my love and affection, delighting only in thee, my beloved husband, mindful that it is thou who hast authority over my body and not I[20]. Should the Lord so choose to bless us[21], it will be my delight to be thy fruitful vine[22], raising our children with thee, as thy helpmeet, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord[23]. I shall be faithfully thine whether we be abounding or abased,[24], laughing or mourning, in good health or in poor, and nothing but death shall part me from thee."

{[1] Ephesians 5:25[2] Ephesians 5:29[3] Nehemiah 4:14[4] I Peter 3:7[5] Galatians 5:22-23[6]I Corinthians 7:4[7] Psalm 127:3-5, Deuteronomy 28:4[8] Genesis 2:18[9] Ephesians 6:4[10] Ephesians 5:26[11] Ephesians 5:23[12] Philippians 4:12[13] Genesis 2:18, 21-24[14] I Corinthians 11:7-9[15] Ephesians 5:22-24, 33[16] I Peter 3:1-6[17] Titus 2:4,5 [18] Proverbs 31:11, 13-27[19] Galatians 5:22-23[20] I Corinthians 7:4[21] Psalm 127:3-5, Deuteronomy 28:4[22] Psalm 128:3[23] Ephesians 6:4[24] Philippians 4:12}

Wow, what a day...blessed be the name of the Lord!

Expressions....

The other day we three girls were having a ball out in the field together, and Dorothy was so kind to sit still and let me get a few shoots of her...Martha was my assistant, acting as comic relief and 'natural posing' expert 101, hence that sweet one of Dorothy's true laughing smile, and the one of her telling a joke!!! I love it!! ;) I thought she looked so [as always] cute, witty and gorgeous that I would post a few.
Enjoy!!
~Adeline

A quick note from Mom

My heart is full of thanksgiving to the Lord . I wanted to jot a quick note in between Adelines's wonderful posts......

Two weeks ago the fellowship here is South Georgia/North Florida hosted a weekend retreat from Thursday - Sunday. It was a weekend of fellowship and full hearts. The men were focusing on vision and practical aspects of that topic. Oh, to hear these men of God share their perspectives and hopes and thoughts and to see their families joyfully supporting the
unique vision of each father was an experience to hear and see. One man was reading a Scripture and he said " I am standing before you reading this , but I feel like I should be on my knees." The Lord has done a marvelous work in these families and what a privilege the Morton clan has, to be in fellowship with them.

So, I am praising God for the wonderful weekend we had here at Calathora, with a full house and RV's everywhere - we really take a deep delight in having these events here - we are so edified - and yes, tired ! - when it is all over, but we can't wait until the next time!!

Then, this weekend, we went to the wedding of Melissa Keen and Justin Turley. Now, we love weddings. The music was beautiful - harps and then this great , swelling organ - magnificent!! All was lovely and it was a delight to attend. ( We especially liked the precious flower girls, coming down the aisle, ringing small bells). We saw old friends and met some new ones. The bride was lovely and the groom's eyes were all aglow. ( The chowder at the reception was surely someone's secret recipe - worth bribing someone over!!)
( Paul, my 4 year-old, wanted to speak to the bride, so I took him up to their table during the reception and she very graciously spoke with him - and I do believe , made his day!! )

So, a wedding has filled our hearts with joy.

Then , Sunday morning, we attended church with the Tim S. family in Auburn. The sermon was refreshing for its Biblical accuracy and the gentleman who delivered it was refreshing in his humility. What a feast for the heart. What a challenging sermon - that we are not slaves to sin.

Our hearts are filled from being with the Body of Christ.

When we got home, we rested and then watched a movie together, which is a favorite Mortonclan thing to do. Not too many movies are worth watching,though, so it's a treat when it all comes together.

Time with family is dear and precious.

And then this morning, a dear friend called to check on me. What a joy and comfort to know that Michael and I have brethren to walk shoulder to shoulder with. Brethren to hold us accountable and to lift us up .

Praise the Lord!

I am encouraged. I hope you will be encouraged today. Like I tell my children some mornings when I wake them up - This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!!

Our little Mama!!

See how the baby's growing!!!?? We are so excited over here! We are all eagerly looking forward to June...May God bless this little darling, and Wesley and Rachel!!

An Afternoon Out...

Today we {Mama, Katie, Dorothy, Martha and I} had the great joy of all going out to lunch and spending the afternoon together!!! What precious memories were made, and have been made, in the past, on trips like this one....God is so good to give one such a dear mother and sweet sisters to spend the days with!!First we stopped by a little nursery here in town to pick up a few flowers and herbs for D's garden before heading to lunch~we stayed there forever looking at fountians and pots, and frightening the staff by taking pictures of the strangest little things...LOL, poor folks... Using the readily available flowers as photo backdrops...Here's to Martha and geraniums!!A cunning little fountain... Mother dearest...Some lovely hanging stuff...Some more flowers...Oh. These were so precious. Tiny little pot, there. Goodness knows what you would plant in the thing, though. A pea, maybe. Yours truly...Lush perfection...The Lord's creations are such a delight to look at!! The colors, textures, shapes~wow. Each a masterwork. The mouth taping didn't work, honey. This one's still at large. What a beautiful Flower...the lady, that is... Aren't these fruit things cool? I thought so.

Fountain detail...

Marigolds, any one?

I'm so proud of Dorothy~She has this really spectacular garden growing, and works it with such diligence and skill~today she got a flat or two of delightful plants, the fruit of which we are all looking forward to in the coming months! Three cheers, dearest!!"Wow. Man. It's Dude Crush." {Little movie line~Also, notice the helpless rabbits behind their scoffing dictator}

Inside the delightful establishment, we found two entire shelves dedicated to pest control~take your pick, friend.Our loot. Looks like we've wreaked enough havoc on the place for one day. Not to mention, the next time we go there, it's probable they may have a "WARNING: NO PHOTOGRAPH SESSIONS" sign up. Just for us. Because we are special.

"Now it's off to the museum!!" Err, restaurant, actually. Little movie line there. On the way in...thanks, Katie , for taking the pic

And on the way out... {many thanks to the waitress who took this picture}

And the delights within...

This picture has a very dear meaning to me and my dear Mama and sisters~LOL, it may sound sort of silly, but used to, when we were all still at home, before anybody was blessed in marriage, on every saturday, Daddy would have all eight of his sons with him on the job, having a daddy 'spend time' and all we girls would go out for the day. We always went to the same restaurant and always ordered four teas and a sprite! :) So now it's sort of an endeared term amongst us... :)

We sat around our little table for hours, Mama speaking into our lives, mentoring us in her loving way. She told us stories, gave us instructions about things to do in the future when/if certain things happen...we talked a lot about our dear late Grandmama, remembering things, laughing a lot, and occasionally tearing up over a memory....it was one of those times when you look around and think "Wow. Thank You, Lord, for what you have given me in my family..." One of those huge moments in life that are so huge beacause they are so small, and precious. Those 'everyday' times together are and will be some of my dearest memories... Now it's to Durhams!! {a jolly old feed 'n seed store that's as quaint and down home as this town is small...love it...} D. needed a few other ditties for her garden, so off we go! Yours truly pocketing the plant stakes for artistic uses back home.... ;) No, I'm kidding~here, I am smelling lavender. Really. A classic pair we saw picking out tomatoes...We thought they looked so rustic...I'm sure they would appreciate that.

"What do you think about this?"

Martha's feet....

Finished with plants!!

Lady Cream Pea seeds inside...

"The method of determination"...Cute old scale, that.

After we left Durhams, we all went over to the cemetary where GrandMama dearest is buried.

We just stayed there a while... Talking about her, laughing over stuff...What a peace there is when you know you will spend eternity with her and the Lord in heaven, by the grace of God. It was neat, all sitting by her stone, wondering if she and the 'cloud of witnesses' could hear us laughing and talking, and if she was laughing, too...

It's amazing how short life is...To us, the day she died, it was sad, we cried, we had a funeral, tended to the details, but life still goes on ...there are many thing we have to do~but for her, she died. She finished up, closed her book. She will never be on this earth again, will never be able to live here, speak to people, walk around, be with her children when they are still alive, or tell others about the Lord. Whatever you want to do, you'd better have done it already, because, when you die, you die. If eternity is a thousand miles, you have 1/4 inch to determine how the other thousand miles will be.
We all need to number our days, and turn our hearts toward wisdom, because all you've got is a little '--' between two dates.

And I'm so grateful I got to spend this day with my mama and the girls, and for days in the past that we've spent with Grandmama, too...I am so grateful for the life and legacy that she left us to carry on, by the grace of God!

Catherine Esther {Katie}

Ah! Here we are at Katie, the oldest child in the Morton family! There is so much to be said about this special member of the family!

Katie is just~really, really wonderful.
And I know that the reason she is so grand, is beacause she has totally submitted every part of her life to Jesus Christ. Absolutely, completely, everything. That is why she is [one of } the most amazing, kind, loving, selfess, witty, tender, personable, humble and caring persons you will ever meet. I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing her to be my older sister, and also for her being the oldest in our family, as she has been, and is, such a tremendous example to the rest of us young'ins. She is a joyful wife to Alan and a loving mother to babies Bret and Ron, and Lord willing, to many more.

That's an attempt at putting Kate in a nutshell. She is perfect in Jesus Christ's rightousness, and reflects Him in her face. Glory to God!!! We are blessed in her. And now a little more specifically - Kate is a genius with decorating a home, and is great with organization. She's one of those "artsy" people you hear about. She has a gift with painting, using the medium of water color, and has a stunning collection of paintings that have been a joy. Another thing that makes me think of Katie is giving. She always has a little "happy" as she sweetly calls it, whenever you come or go... Kate is one who will, instead of, say, making pancakes for breakfast, she will do the little one's initials to make it special, and bring a smile to their little faces...As I think back on a whole ocean of memories, it just makes me want to tear up with thanksgiving to the Lord for her. So many times she layed down her life for her siblings, in little and big things, and her taking the time to "make things special" sure helped to make my own childhood one of happy, sunny days...
A better "oldest sister" is not to be found...
Kate also reads alound delightfully. "The Cat of Bubastes " and "By the Great Horn Spoon!" were my two favorites that she read aloud to the family~her accents are spectacular, and she keeps us all spell bound! Her greatest culinary delight is her famous baked chicken with sauteed apples and cream sauce, which is almost worth dying for, LOL...

Her dear husband Alan has been a delightful 'older brother' for these two years, and he and Cleveland always come up with hilarious adventures to take us all on!! He can do a perfectly scary impersonation of all three of his brothers in law, ;) and he makes wonderful 'camp eggs"!! Love you, Alan!!

Katie also sews beautifully, and lately sweet little baby clothes have been her interest...she wears a hat, as you can see, with great style, and often does~She has a delightful taste in clothing~classic, with a little 'umph' to it. {If you live in the South and are a female, you will know what this "umph"means... To get the real meaning of this word, you must see a southern woman do it. She will breathe in deeply, bringing up her shoulders in an elegent fashion, fold out one hand, squint her eyes as if she is trying to find the right word, pauses her breath, and then says, "that outfit just has that 'umph' to it, dear"~then, friend, you will know what it means...}Y'all know we can never just say right out what we mean exactly using plain english words. We like to add a little......um........ "umph" to our conversation.....

So, dear friends, this is the little tid~bit on Katie and her little family. She is now chronicled forever.
God bless you, honey. We love you.

Thoughts from a Remorseful Actress

“I act for money, no other reason. Since I made my first picture in 1941, I haven’t done a thing worthwhile. I have never enjoyed making films, and I don’t like being a so-called film star. I haven’t the emotional make-up for it, nor the love of exhibitionism. I am much too shy. [I’d rather find] one good man I could love and marry and cook for and make a home for, who would stick around for the rest of my life. I never found him. If I had, I would have traded my career in a minute.”
~Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner, considered [the most talented} and "most beautiful actress in Hollywood history"

Ladies huddled on the front porch watching the eclipse

You will have to imagine this scene, for alas, there is no pic.

We ladies - Dorothy, Adeline , Martha and Jeanine - are huddled on the steps of the front porch, wrapped in an assortment of shawls and throws grabbed off of chairs, gazing heavenward. Poog has made some cinnamon rolls - oh, do they smell good in that chilly air - and we are talking of the heavens and God's glory. The bright moon slips into shadow and we are all amazed that He keeps it all in order. Flint, the dog, walks about rather nervously , whether from the unusual light or the unusual sight of his mistresses on the front porch, at night, eating rolls in the dark, I cannot tell. An occasional wisp of cloud only adds to the drama of the sight. The big dipper is to our left, all upside down and huge. Here's to fun memories of night watches on chilly nights and warm, fragrant cinnamon rolls and the heavens declaring the Glory of God.

Morton Clan Introductions!

Hello, All!
I've been thinking about introducing each member of
the mortonclan individually to all the folks out in bloggie world. Even though
we post about what we're doing and thinking , I thought I'd give each a little
personal intro!! - a little bio tid bit and maybe a few pictures~ Bear with me,
folks, and hope you enjoy!
Have a blessed evening!!
~Adeline

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Looking for Ndala

Miss Ndala, are you out there? I'm so very sorry, but our computer crashed, and we lost your email~please email us at calathora@alltel.net ~Daddy has the answer for that question...
With love in Christ, and looking forward to hearing from you,
Adeline

On Women's Rights

"I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of 'Women's Rights', with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feelings and propriety. Feminists ought to get a good whipping. Were women to 'unsex' themselves by claiming equality with men, they would become the most hateful, heathen and disgusting of beings and would surely perish without male protection.

I love peace and quiet. I hate politics and turmoil. We women are not made for governing, and if we are good women, we must dislike these masculine occupations."

~Queen Victoria, 1870

Church Pictures

Hey, Y'all!!
Rachel took a ton of pictures last Sunday at the meeting, and I thought I'd share them with you! God has blessed us tremendously with the most precious group of brothers and sisters in Christ to meet with every Sunday, and fellowship with through out the week~God is so good.
We meet from "house to house" and this particular week we met at Marc & Laura D.'s home~always a delightful place to be.

Hope you enjoy them!

Over and Out,

Adeline Our photogenic Specimen #3 in the 5Mallory cuddles little Ronald Michael...aww... Kress and Aubry having a ball, as always, chatting away the afternoon...

Auntie Laura and Kate catching up on each other... THE HALL, a favorite gathering spot, LOL... Apples to Apples, anyone? [I love this one of Norma~too cute.] In the garage, waiting for the masses to arrive... And they're here!! Let the good times begin... Inside, folks visit, play instruments, talk, and just have a generally relaxing time, maybe kick up thire feet or hold a baby...with a cup of Gano...ah, that's nice... Ah, the joys of grand babies...

What a cutie pie, my goodness!! mother daughter duo... Cleveland dear, with his newest nephew and little cousin!

Love those faces...

The happy boy!

Pretty girl... I shall end with this lovely picture of sweet Gabriella and Ron. Ah, how pretty.

Hope y'all enjoyed a peek at our Sundays!! Praise the Lord for such precious people to grow with...

Have a blessed day!

Love in Jesus,

Adeline, for all