Oh yes, I have been doing a lot of remembering and reminiscing this morning..... all to do with cousins, and how much I love each and every one of them. We had so much fun growing up together. And there were a lot of us from both sides of the family....
On the Clifford side I was the oldest... I think I got spoiled a little more than all the rest, you know being first and all. We had so much fun... I can remember fondly the flag football games on Great Grampa Berry's front lawn with the Sturgeon clan.. Gramp and Aunt Mina sitting on their screened porch watching, fretting that someone might get hurt... We did get our share of bumps and bruises, but almost every weekend we were out there... and that wasn't all we did... we would climb into the cherry trees filling brown lunch bags of those delicious cherries and then go hide down over the pit bank and eat until we couldn't eat any more... climbing the apple tree on the front lawn and all of us picking one green apple and biting into it just to see what funny faces would be made from the sour apple... and mini bikes down the bank to the pit below and through the woods. Yes we had a lot of fun... and the Clifford clan, well 5 of them, babysitting them in the house behind Murphy's at the corner... drinking coke and eating popcorn, wrestling and being silly, and when Kelly was born oh how I loved to hold and cuddle with her... playing on the front porch of the Nedeau house on Lower Ladd Hill Road... I loved that porch and it's slanted floor... Aunt Rosie keeping a close eye on the goings on out there.... running around the house at the Wallace's, playing hide and seek under the kitchen table... feasting on brook trout... Aunt Sylvia knew how to cook those up real good... babysitting the Melancen and Paul girls... they always kept me on my toes especially Theresa, Carol and Angela. Dolores was a cuddler, and Laura was always so quiet. Working in the office at uncle Steve's having Stacy and Deidra come in and say hello and give hugs and I love you's, staying after work so that Steve and Linda could go out for dinner... They were so sweet! And the Baker boys well, I didn't see them that much, thankful I did get to spend a bit of time with Danielle at the soap box derby races on School House Hill, and we had a few one on one days one being at the Moultonborough Airport where we saw stunt planes and parachuters, and I running beside her when she was learning to ride her two wheeler... And then there was "little" Ed. I got to know him quite well as he spent a lot of time at our house as Mumsie took care of him. He was a scallywag, but really a sweet kid. He used to like to ride in the back of my Subaru Brat, sometimes hanging on for dear life... :) And for all us older Clifford cousins... remember those hikes up Red Hill and Mount Washington boat rides with Unky? What fun those trips were!
On the Avery side I think I am more in the middle of all the cousins... Thanksgiving dinner was always a treat for us cousins... we would gather at Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Jerry's and have the whole family together... The adults would sit around the dining room table, and all the kids would sit around banquet tables in the living room... It was so much fun and there was never a dull moment. Tom would come and stay with us weekends sometimes... I remember him with his sleeping bag in the middle of the living room floor, he was the oldest of the Avery clan, and I would sneak out of my room and bring my blanket and lay down with him, and on Saturday mornings we would watch cartoons together. He was really cool to let me do that. The McCormack clan was where we hung out quite often. Mumsie and Aunt Norma would visit and we would just take over the house and yard. So much to explore in the sand pit, and those winter days sliding down the pit bank.. I wonder if Kathy remembers getting her tongue stuck on the metal part of the sled as much as I do. Our visits with Sam, Rich and David on Ames Road and later on at their home on 40 Acre Field. I remember the 40 Acre Field home best, with family cookouts for birthdays, playing basketball of which I never won... and the family gatherings at the Avery homestead on the Neck Road when Le and Lyndon were so small... sitting around with the grills going, Uncle Lauris' dog Hard Rock sitting next to him and the boys just climbing all over him...
And then we all grew up, and we are all doing our own thing.... thankfully I am able to stay in touch with some on Facebook, and some don't live too far away that I can see from time to time... I think a cousin reunion should happen.... what do you think?
Yeah, I've been doing some reminiscing... I do this from time to time... always brings a smile to my face and my heart ...
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Hmmmm.....
I've been doing a lot of reading, listening, women of faith DVD viewing, more reading.... This is what I read this morning... I really felt the need to share it...
How to Talk to God Before You Talk to Others
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” ~ John Bunyan
When I was in college in the 1980s, I came across a pamphlet entitled “How to Spend an Hour in Prayer.” I had been a Christian for just a couple of years, and I was intrigued. I knew about people called prayer warriors who placed great emphasis on conversing with God, and prayer seemed to come to them as naturally as breathing. Maybe you know some prayer warriors too. They constantly want to know your prayer requests. They habitually intercede for others. For them, spending an hour in prayer is no big thing.
I myself have never been known as a prayer warrior. Ever. In fact, I am more like a prayer wimp. I find it difficult to keep my thoughts from wandering when I pray. They ricochet all over the place as I try to focus on communicating with God.
Way back in the eighties when I came across that pamphlet, I decided that things were going to change. So I took off to a park one sunny, autumn afternoon with my Bible in hand and a resolve in my heart to follow the step-by-step guide. I felt like a spiritual giant.
I settled myself on a quaint park bench near some pine trees and a lovely flower garden. I opened my Bible and looked down at my pamphlet and began to do what it suggested: “Spend five minutes thanking God for the blessings in your life. Spend five minutes praising God for his character qualities,” and so on. Apparently, breaking down the various categories into five-minute increments was supposed to help. But it didn’t help me.
Five minutes seemed like an eternity.
Pretty soon a jogger happened by. He was carrying a small portable radio — without headphones — and the blaring music distracted me. I couldn’t really get into worshiping the Lord with Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” blaring in my ears. (Hmm... maybe in retrospect I should have joined along, singing that tune out loud to the devil!) Two hyper squirrels decided to chase each other up and down a tree and around and around my bench. I laughed at their antics but again lost my place. A family having a picnic nearby decided to engage in a rousing game of Frisbee. The Frisbee got away from one of the children and soared past me, barely missing my head. Even when the animals and humans quieted down, still I had trouble concentrating. I couldn’t focus.
I kept thinking of all the things I had to do back at the dorm. And I got distracted looking around at nature, even though it wasn’t making a sound. I gave up after twenty-three minutes and concluded I just wasn’t cut out to be a prayer warrior.
My prayer wimp status makes me feel spiritually inferior to those for whom prayer comes naturally, but it doesn’t stop there — a lack of prayer affects another area of my life.
When I don’t pray, I am more likely to say things I later regret. Or to say something that needs to be said but I say it in the wrong way or at the wrong time. And there are even times that I say nothing at all when I should really be speaking up. Yes, when I don’t make it a habit to talk to God, I sometimes speak (or fail to speak) to others in a way I later regret.
Talking to God helps me know how to talk to others.
More Prayer=Less Gossip
In addition to the fact that prayer warriors take communicating with God seriously, I have also noticed something else about them. They are not generally known for gossiping, using harsh words, or talking too much. In fact, just the opposite is true.
Could there be a correlation between the time and effort spent talking with God and the quality of our conversations with others?
I think so.
Take my friend Kelly. She and I became close friends over thirty years ago when we were fresh out of high school and both landed on the same floor in our tiny midwestern Christian college dorm. She was on the cheerleading squad. I was on the dance team. She had only sisters. I had only a brother. Her favorite color is lavender. Mine is peach. But the greatest difference between Kelly and me? My mouth has often gotten me into trouble. However, in the thirty years I have known Kelly, I am certain I have never once heard her gossip. Seriously! While she seemed to spend a lot of time talking to the Lord, she did not spend time talking about others. Or talking in an angry way. Or saying the wrong thing. Or talking too much. I don’t ever recall her having to remove her foot from her mouth, something I seemed to have to do often during my college days.
As I got to know her, I noticed right away that she took her relationship with Christ very seriously. Oh, she wasn’t one to do acts of righteousness before others so that she could be thought of as super spiritual. I just noticed things. Like the fact that she often had her Bible open on her dorm bed, where she had highlighted passages (with a lavender highlighter, of course!). Or I would spot her writing in her prayer journal, recording requests from family and friends that she had promised to pray for. She often sent me a note in the campus mail, telling me she was praying specifically for me. The more I got to know her, the more I realized just how important prayer was to my friend Kelly.
Watching Kelly’s life over the years has convinced me that there is a direct correlation between our prayer life and our conversations.
Perhaps if we spent more time and energy on our prayer life, we would use our tongues more wisely.
Your Turn
Do you have a friend like Kelly who encourages you by example to spend your words wisely? Do you have a habit of saying things you later regret. (I do!) Of gossipping? (Guilty.) Of using harsh words (Yep!) In my journey towards being a prayer warrior, those are still struggles! This Psalm is a constant prayer of mine. Today, let's pause and ask the Holy Spirit to "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." (Psalm 141:3).
How to Talk to God Before You Talk to Others
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” ~ John Bunyan
When I was in college in the 1980s, I came across a pamphlet entitled “How to Spend an Hour in Prayer.” I had been a Christian for just a couple of years, and I was intrigued. I knew about people called prayer warriors who placed great emphasis on conversing with God, and prayer seemed to come to them as naturally as breathing. Maybe you know some prayer warriors too. They constantly want to know your prayer requests. They habitually intercede for others. For them, spending an hour in prayer is no big thing.
I myself have never been known as a prayer warrior. Ever. In fact, I am more like a prayer wimp. I find it difficult to keep my thoughts from wandering when I pray. They ricochet all over the place as I try to focus on communicating with God.
Way back in the eighties when I came across that pamphlet, I decided that things were going to change. So I took off to a park one sunny, autumn afternoon with my Bible in hand and a resolve in my heart to follow the step-by-step guide. I felt like a spiritual giant.
I settled myself on a quaint park bench near some pine trees and a lovely flower garden. I opened my Bible and looked down at my pamphlet and began to do what it suggested: “Spend five minutes thanking God for the blessings in your life. Spend five minutes praising God for his character qualities,” and so on. Apparently, breaking down the various categories into five-minute increments was supposed to help. But it didn’t help me.
Five minutes seemed like an eternity.
Pretty soon a jogger happened by. He was carrying a small portable radio — without headphones — and the blaring music distracted me. I couldn’t really get into worshiping the Lord with Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” blaring in my ears. (Hmm... maybe in retrospect I should have joined along, singing that tune out loud to the devil!) Two hyper squirrels decided to chase each other up and down a tree and around and around my bench. I laughed at their antics but again lost my place. A family having a picnic nearby decided to engage in a rousing game of Frisbee. The Frisbee got away from one of the children and soared past me, barely missing my head. Even when the animals and humans quieted down, still I had trouble concentrating. I couldn’t focus.
I kept thinking of all the things I had to do back at the dorm. And I got distracted looking around at nature, even though it wasn’t making a sound. I gave up after twenty-three minutes and concluded I just wasn’t cut out to be a prayer warrior.
My prayer wimp status makes me feel spiritually inferior to those for whom prayer comes naturally, but it doesn’t stop there — a lack of prayer affects another area of my life.
When I don’t pray, I am more likely to say things I later regret. Or to say something that needs to be said but I say it in the wrong way or at the wrong time. And there are even times that I say nothing at all when I should really be speaking up. Yes, when I don’t make it a habit to talk to God, I sometimes speak (or fail to speak) to others in a way I later regret.
Talking to God helps me know how to talk to others.
More Prayer=Less Gossip
In addition to the fact that prayer warriors take communicating with God seriously, I have also noticed something else about them. They are not generally known for gossiping, using harsh words, or talking too much. In fact, just the opposite is true.
Could there be a correlation between the time and effort spent talking with God and the quality of our conversations with others?
I think so.
Take my friend Kelly. She and I became close friends over thirty years ago when we were fresh out of high school and both landed on the same floor in our tiny midwestern Christian college dorm. She was on the cheerleading squad. I was on the dance team. She had only sisters. I had only a brother. Her favorite color is lavender. Mine is peach. But the greatest difference between Kelly and me? My mouth has often gotten me into trouble. However, in the thirty years I have known Kelly, I am certain I have never once heard her gossip. Seriously! While she seemed to spend a lot of time talking to the Lord, she did not spend time talking about others. Or talking in an angry way. Or saying the wrong thing. Or talking too much. I don’t ever recall her having to remove her foot from her mouth, something I seemed to have to do often during my college days.
As I got to know her, I noticed right away that she took her relationship with Christ very seriously. Oh, she wasn’t one to do acts of righteousness before others so that she could be thought of as super spiritual. I just noticed things. Like the fact that she often had her Bible open on her dorm bed, where she had highlighted passages (with a lavender highlighter, of course!). Or I would spot her writing in her prayer journal, recording requests from family and friends that she had promised to pray for. She often sent me a note in the campus mail, telling me she was praying specifically for me. The more I got to know her, the more I realized just how important prayer was to my friend Kelly.
Watching Kelly’s life over the years has convinced me that there is a direct correlation between our prayer life and our conversations.
Perhaps if we spent more time and energy on our prayer life, we would use our tongues more wisely.
Your Turn
Do you have a friend like Kelly who encourages you by example to spend your words wisely? Do you have a habit of saying things you later regret. (I do!) Of gossipping? (Guilty.) Of using harsh words (Yep!) In my journey towards being a prayer warrior, those are still struggles! This Psalm is a constant prayer of mine. Today, let's pause and ask the Holy Spirit to "Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips." (Psalm 141:3).
Monday, December 1, 2014
Round and round she goes....
3:30am.... yeah, that's right... that is the time I woke this morning... tossing and turning. The head was so full of stuff... everything was going round and round...
My thoughts went from person to person, thing to thing, my heart was hurting, my eyes were watering, deep sighs... all I could do was say a name quietly, and sigh...
Then roll over and close my eyes hoping for a little more sleep... but the eyelids would pop open and another name would be whispered, and another sigh...
I didn't know how to pray for these that I love, I could only whisper their name, and sigh... but God knows everything... and I know He heard my heart this morning...
Finally peace... I rolled over, and got very comfortable... and the alarm clock sounded that it was time to get up... 5:30am did you come quickly.
My thoughts went from person to person, thing to thing, my heart was hurting, my eyes were watering, deep sighs... all I could do was say a name quietly, and sigh...
Then roll over and close my eyes hoping for a little more sleep... but the eyelids would pop open and another name would be whispered, and another sigh...
I didn't know how to pray for these that I love, I could only whisper their name, and sigh... but God knows everything... and I know He heard my heart this morning...
Finally peace... I rolled over, and got very comfortable... and the alarm clock sounded that it was time to get up... 5:30am did you come quickly.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
This is the day.... starting over part 2
YES!!! Starting over was a good thing. Better eating and a little more exercising... 3 less than last week... the plateau is no longer. :)
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Mmmm... missing him.
It all started with a green plain jacket that David found in the basement. He used it because it was soft to gather pears from the trees in the back yard. When he came in with the basket, filled with green and pears, I asked what he had. "I found this in the basement, I think it might have been your Dads. I used it to protect the pears."
I carefully unwrapped the pears from the green plaid whatever it was, and pulled it out of the basket. Indeed it was a jacket of my Dad's. I remember it well. When Dad wasn't wearing it, Mom was.
You know what my first reaction to the jacket was? I brought it up to my face, rubbed my cheek with it, and smelled it hoping for a little scent of my Dad. Just hoping for a little bit... maybe I did, and maybe I didn't... I put it around my shoulders, and the warmth I felt from it was so soothing. I wonder if when Mom wore it that she felt that too. I wonder if she felt a little more secure with it wrapped around her shoulders.
Oh how I miss him. The first man I ever loved. Grateful for the memories, and the love that will forever live on.
I carefully unwrapped the pears from the green plaid whatever it was, and pulled it out of the basket. Indeed it was a jacket of my Dad's. I remember it well. When Dad wasn't wearing it, Mom was.
You know what my first reaction to the jacket was? I brought it up to my face, rubbed my cheek with it, and smelled it hoping for a little scent of my Dad. Just hoping for a little bit... maybe I did, and maybe I didn't... I put it around my shoulders, and the warmth I felt from it was so soothing. I wonder if when Mom wore it that she felt that too. I wonder if she felt a little more secure with it wrapped around her shoulders.
Oh how I miss him. The first man I ever loved. Grateful for the memories, and the love that will forever live on.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
This is the day.... starting over
Okay, so this plateau thing is really getting on my nerves. another two months and nothing is happening... so today, I am starting over... going back to the basics... measuring, counting, weighing... going to try to get this weight loss going again. Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased with what I have been able to lose, and the ability to do more... but I am ready to kick it up a notch... so here I go.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
A Momma's perspective....
Yes, I have been sitting here pondering. Smiling. Giggling. Crying happy tears. Looking at family pictures. Heart overflowing with love. Mmmm.... just taking in all the blessings of this God given life.
I am so very proud of my girls. Both unique individuals. Both full time learners. Doing what they know God has for them. Both of them loving the Lord, and relying on Him to make it through the toughest days.
Michelle, our farmer. Studying hard to learn the ins and outs of gardening, chickens, cows, and homesteading. And as she puts it, using her math and science skills in everything, even backing up a horse trailer.
Melissa, our professor to be. She has always wanted to be a "full time learner"... and with what she is studying... I think it's better her than me. She is "loving" her apartment, studies hard, and really enjoys teaching.
We joke around a lot about who they take after. If they didn't look so much like us, we would think they were switched at birth.
Michelle is so much like her Daddy, she looks like the Haire family for sure. She is a deep thinker, and a hands on learner, determined. She is slow to make comments, thinking about what she should say and not blurting it out. She would do anything for her little family. Yes, she is so very much like her Daddy.
Melissa, as some have said, is a carbon copy of her Momma, and has a combination of the Clifford/Avery families. She is determined (stubborn), she knows what she wants and goes for it. She is independent, and likes to have quiet times alone. She is compassionate. Her emotions sometimes run rampant. She loves her friends. She loves her family, and just adores her nephews.
Yes this Momma has been pondering about her daughters, and my heart is overflowing with pride for who they have become, the beautiful young women they are. God gave me the desire of my heart, to have a family. You see, I was having some abdominal issues and went in for a physical and was told at doctors visit in the late 70's that I would most likely never have children. Never? That was filed in the deep part of my brain, until I met David in 1987. The man of my dreams. And then that memory flashed back of the doctors appointment. We had talked about having a family with up to 6 children, so this was something he needed to know. We talked about it, if we couldn't have children there could be adoption, or maybe we would just serve the Lord together, just the two of us. Well, God granted me the desire of my heart. That minimal chance of having my own children, became a reality. 2 beautiful daughters. Blessed beyond my expectations. I had my family.
So there you have it... my ponderings... from this Momma's perspective... my heart is overflowing with love... with joy... with happiness... and my eyes are overflowing with tears... happy tears...
I am sure that there will be more ponderings in the future... but for now...
I am so very proud of my girls. Both unique individuals. Both full time learners. Doing what they know God has for them. Both of them loving the Lord, and relying on Him to make it through the toughest days.
Michelle, our farmer. Studying hard to learn the ins and outs of gardening, chickens, cows, and homesteading. And as she puts it, using her math and science skills in everything, even backing up a horse trailer.
Melissa, our professor to be. She has always wanted to be a "full time learner"... and with what she is studying... I think it's better her than me. She is "loving" her apartment, studies hard, and really enjoys teaching.
We joke around a lot about who they take after. If they didn't look so much like us, we would think they were switched at birth.
Michelle is so much like her Daddy, she looks like the Haire family for sure. She is a deep thinker, and a hands on learner, determined. She is slow to make comments, thinking about what she should say and not blurting it out. She would do anything for her little family. Yes, she is so very much like her Daddy.
Melissa, as some have said, is a carbon copy of her Momma, and has a combination of the Clifford/Avery families. She is determined (stubborn), she knows what she wants and goes for it. She is independent, and likes to have quiet times alone. She is compassionate. Her emotions sometimes run rampant. She loves her friends. She loves her family, and just adores her nephews.
Yes this Momma has been pondering about her daughters, and my heart is overflowing with pride for who they have become, the beautiful young women they are. God gave me the desire of my heart, to have a family. You see, I was having some abdominal issues and went in for a physical and was told at doctors visit in the late 70's that I would most likely never have children. Never? That was filed in the deep part of my brain, until I met David in 1987. The man of my dreams. And then that memory flashed back of the doctors appointment. We had talked about having a family with up to 6 children, so this was something he needed to know. We talked about it, if we couldn't have children there could be adoption, or maybe we would just serve the Lord together, just the two of us. Well, God granted me the desire of my heart. That minimal chance of having my own children, became a reality. 2 beautiful daughters. Blessed beyond my expectations. I had my family.
So there you have it... my ponderings... from this Momma's perspective... my heart is overflowing with love... with joy... with happiness... and my eyes are overflowing with tears... happy tears...
I am sure that there will be more ponderings in the future... but for now...
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