Riverbend Ramblings

Country Church

Labels: Thought for the Day

I think my last post was a little misleading. Just a wee bit. Several of you guessed that my big news has something to do with a baby. Well, it does. :)

Today for Kelli's Show and Tell I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of our family.


This is Sassy. She's an adorable 9-week-old Manx. We had to wait until after our vacation to bring her home with us. We've had her almost 24 hours, and so far she and the litter box are getting along just fine.

The kids can't keep their hands off of Sassy, but she doesn't seem to mind. The only problem is that she doesn't seem to care for our dog at all. She makes the most ferocious hissing noises at Buddy everytime she sees him. I guess they'll get used to each other eventually.

If you've got any tips on how we can help Sassy adjust to her new home, please feel free to share. :)

Labels: Family Life, Pets, Show n Tell

I've important news to share.

Is anyone just a little bit curious?


Image from here

Labels: Fun Stuff

We're home again after a 10 day whirlwind vacation. The days leading up to our vacation were filled with so many activities that I didn't even have a chance to post about my impending absence from blog-land. I appreciate the thoughtful emails I received wondering about where I've been.

On June 17th, we celebrated Father's Day as well as Anniversary Sunday at our church: 20 years since our church was organized and Mr. C's 2nd anniversary as the pastor. We had a covered dish lunch after the morning preaching service. The ladies at our church sure do know how to put on a feast with great Southern cookin'! After the meal all of the children headed outside to play on some of those huge inflatable jumping things. Evangelist Kurt LaBouve and his sweet wife Dale joined us on our special day. We look forward to the LaBouve's visit each year. I never tire of hearing Bro. LaBouve sing! He has a new CD that will be out in just a couple of months-- I can't wait to get it! He preached a great message during the evening service.


That night right after church we hit the road for the start of our vacation. We spent the week with Pastor Rick Sowell and the folks at Hope Baptist Church in Toledo, Ohio, at the Heartland Bible Conference. We enjoyed fellowshipping with some of our dear friends that served with us in the ministry for a few years at our home church in Florida. Mickey Mouse had a chance to catch up with his best buddy in the whole world, John. They hadn't seen each other since they were 4 years old, so it was cute watching them interact together as grown up 7-year-olds.

After our week in Ohio was over, we headed to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This was my first visit to the area, and Mr. C hadn't been there since he was a boy. I had envisioned a sleepy little town; boy, was I wrong! The traffic was bumper to bumper, and people were everywhere. We took in several tourist sites, and Mr. C had a chance to play a round of golf on a beautiful course. We received free tickets to go here. We had a blast in spite of the rain. The wooden roller coaster was the best one I've ever ridden on. We caught up with more friends from Florida and had a great time with them. After spending a few days in TN, we took in the scenery of the Great Smokey Mountains on the way home.

God provided for us in so many ways during our vacation. We were blessed with safety on the roads. God took care of us in other ways, too. We only ended up having to pay for our hotel accommodations for 3 nights of our vacation. All of our other nights were unexpectedly taken care of by others. Serveral of our meals were provided, too. God is so good! Saving a ton of money sure did help us enjoy our trip a whole lot more. :)

We arrived home yesterday afternoon just in time to pick up Buddy from the doggy-sitter and prepare for our mid-week prayer meeting at church. I have a pile of laundry that will take me forever to catch up on and a couple hundred photos to load on the computer. I'll be posting pictures from our trip when I get a chance. Do you think I have enough to keep me busy for the next few days???

Labels: Family Life

Hopefully I'll have some new blooms to share in the coming weeks. :)

Labels: Favorite Things, In the Garden, Show n Tell

Aren't these flowers pretty? One of the little boys in our church brought them to me. They came from his mommy's garden. I'm thankful for the opportunity to work with the children of our church, and I'm glad this little boy's mommy is teaching him how to honor others.

There was a time not so very long ago when families were much more in tune with the needs of those around them. Unfortunately, we've seen this sensitivity slip away for the most part. This is particularly evident with young people in our society. Can we blame their selfishness on the media, technology, the church, or even the public school system? I don't think so. The heart of the matter lies in the home.

Where do children learn that their needs are not paramount? Where do they learn to place the desires of others before their own? Humility begins in the heart and in the home.

I have four young children. I would like to say that they all get along harmoniously and never squabble or scream at one another or are never unkind, but I wouldn't be telling the truth. Because of the fall of man, they were all born with a sin nature. In their flesh they desire to please themselves above all others. This selfishness is sin. It is the job of my husband and me, using the Bible as our guide, to instill in our children a genuine love for the needs of others and a desire to serve. I cannot remove pride from my children's hearts, nor can I force them to love others above themselves. These are things that will come as they develop their own personal relationships with the Lord Jesus Christ. I can, however, demonstrate a giving heart and teach them what the Bible says about honoring others.

Why should we be kind to others? Because of the great love and kindness God has shown to us.

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32 KJV

How do we show honor? We put the needs and wants of others before our own needs and wants.

"Be ye kindly affectioned to one another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another..." Romans 12:10 KJV

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." Luke 6:31 KJV

Jesus Christ is our greatest example of love, compassion, and humility. His sacrifice on the cross of Calvary should be our motivation for showing love and honor to others.

"Let nothing be done through stife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:3-8 KJV

I cannot expect my children to show love and honor to others if I am not demonstrating these things myself. It is my prayer that the Lord would convict me regarding my own selfishness and give me a heart of compassion for others.

"And of some have compassion, making a difference..." Jude 22 KJV

Labels: My Thoughts

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

My favorite little boy in the whole wide world is home again after four weeks of vacation with his grandparents in Florida. Does the kid have it made or what? I think he grew an inch and put on 5 pounds. That's what Grandma's cookin' (and endless banana splits) will do to you.

Labels: Family Life

I want to thank all of you who left such sweet comments about my blogging anniversary. I feel blessed to have made so many wonderful new friends through blogging, as well as keep up with family and friends both far and near.

Okay, so here's what you've been waiting for. The winner will receive a sampling of my favorite things including: Bath & Body Works Sparkling Peach hand soap and hand gel; Aromatique bath gel and body soak; Tyler Candle Cinnabuns votive; Yankee Candle Fruit Smoothie and Cucumber & Cantaloupe votives; Burt's Bees body lotion; a pretty scripture bookmark; and the book What Every Mother Must Teach Her Children by Dr. Clarence Sexton.


Congratulations to Christina! I'll be contacting you soon about your package. Thanks again to all of you who participated and helped me celebrate. :)

Labels: Bloggity News, Favorite Things

Labels: Bloggity News

The older I get, the more I enjoy spending time in the kitchen. I'm always finding new recipes to try or whipping up some fresh-baked goodies for our family. Cooking is even more fun when you have the right kitchen tools to help you work more efficiently. Today for Kelli's Show and Tell I thought I'd share my favorite mixing bowls.


A couple of years ago I became very interested in vintage Pyrex bowls and serving dishes. Whenever I'm at a thrift store or yard sale, I'm always on the lookout for unusual pieces.

This particular set of nesting bowls is from the American Heritage collection made in the 1950's. The print is also known as Autumn Harvest. It features roosters, stalks of corn and wheat, and an Amish couple. It's very folksy and quite cute. I especially like how the handle also functions as a spout to make pouring batter or liquid very easy. They're ovenproof, but I haven't ever used them in the oven because they are in near-mint condition. Maybe one of these days I'll be brave and give it a try.

When I was a teenager I would have thought that anything vintage just looked old. I guess my perspective is changing as I age. :)

Labels: Favorite Things, In the Kitchen, Show n Tell

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Mom's Car

Labels: Family, Prayer Requests

Happy Tuesday! This week has started off to be a busy one! Our church is hosting 25 young ladies from the New Beginnings Girls Academy through Wednesday, so I've been busy cooking and running (not literally) back and forth to the church property. Last night we had a church-wide supper and enjoyed fellowshipping with the New Beginnings girls. They all have such sweet spirits and were happy to help with kitchen duty. We had a fantastic meal, and I think I consumed my weekly sugar allowance by indulging in the delicious desserts. My contributions were roast beef, green beans, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, cranberry jello salad, and Chocolate Dream Cake. Tonight we'll be having a special youth meeting with the group from New Beginnings. They'll be sharing their testimonies and ministering with special music. There will be some great preachin', too! I don't have to cook tonight; we're ordering pizza! On a completely different topic, I would like to request prayer for my mom. She was involved in a head-on collision last night. She only has cuts and bruises and a lot of soreness; praise the Lord for airbags! We live 7 hours away from her, so I'm not able to be with her right now. Mickey Mouse has been visiting her for a couple of weeks, but thankfully he was with his other grandmother when the accident occured.

Labels: Church Family, Daily Life, Prayer Requests

Yesterday Mr. C decided to take the girls (Brother is still vacationing with his grandparents) on a fun outing. I was tempted to stay home and tackle a mountain of ironing but decided that I'd rather have some fun with the family instead.

We went to the home of one of our church families. Mr. C had called ahead of time to see if we could visit Mama Cat Sally and her four little kittens. Bookworm and Curly Girl had both visited the kittens previously and were surprised to see that they have grown quite a bit over the last couple of weeks and are now the most playful little critters.

The two black kittens are males, and the striped kittens are females. They are Manx kittens, so two of them have little stubs instead of tails.

Mama Sally playing with her babies.

No kitten was safe in the arms of Lil' Nut. Poor kittens!

Bookworm got this little one to fall asleep.

Curly Girl would hold a kitten for about 2 seconds, then put it down and find another one to hold for 2 seconds. My impulsive child. :)

The girls had a wonderful time playing with the kittens. All of the kids (especially the girls) have been begging for a kitten for, well, forever. Mr. C really like these Manx cats, and he's had his dibs on one since the litter was born.

The plan, of course, is that the kitten will be the kids' responsibility.

Let me interpret that for you:

MOM will be asking, "Has anyone fed the cat?"

MOM will be breaking up fights between the cat and Buddy, our Schnauzer.

MOM will be pulling her nylons from the claws of cute kitty.

MOM will be brushing cat hair off of every garment she owns.

MOM will be scooping out the litter box.

MOM will be shooing the cat off of the leather couch.

MOM will be saying, "Don't pull the cat's tail!" Oh, I forgot--this cat doesn't have a tail.

So, what do you think? Should I throw up my hands in surrender with a smile on my face? Probably, because...

MOM will..........enjoy seeing the delight on her husband's and children's faces when THIS kitty comes home to live with us.

Labels: Family Life, Pets

Labels: Contests, Fun Stuff

Labels: Favorite Things, Fun Stuff, Show n Tell