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!