God Gives The Song

 The holidays can be a bit melancholy for me at times. 3 years ago my mother died 2 days before Thanksgiving. Though it has been over two decades, my father died on the 5th of December. My husband's brother also died in 2018 in December. 

A piece of music I heard today on one of the blogs I read touched my heart. It reminded me that despite feeling down, God does reach out to us, He hears our sighs. He gives us strength to keep going.

Listen to God Gives The Song. See if it draws you closer to the Father as it did me.

Has All The Pieces

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with 5 family members at the dining room of our retirement community. Afterwards they came to our condo to converse, watch football games, and work on a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle, and eat some evening snacks.

The puzzle is one that I bought at a Goodwill store in Illinois when we went to Starved Rock. You take a chance that it will be complete. This one was!

 We went to bed last night with snow on our rooftops. This puzzle set the tone for Christmas. My husband and I had to finish it this morning by ourselves. Next week I will get out my Christmas decorations and tree and transition to the next holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving

Finished Mandalas

I did meet my goal of coloring 5 mandalas. I have them taped to my patio door. They brighten the view up since I now have a bare tree out the window. I will take them down the week after Thanksgiving in order to put up Christmas decorations.

Today I attended Winona Literary Club. Part of the centerpieces were "cookies" made to look like turkeys. We each were given a small plastic bag so we could bring a turkey home. 

Almost too cute to eat. 

Our speaker was from Ryan's Case for Smiles. These are volunteers who make colorful pillow cases for hospitalized children trying to cheer them and their parents/families. Ryan's mother did this for him and others on his ward. The group has mushroomed so now it is in several states and in Canada. After 5 years of battling cancer (including an amputation of his right leg), Ryan died. To honor him, his parents continued making the cases and word spread.

A chapter of this group meets once a month at Grace Village as well as other places in nearby South Bend. The pillow cases go to many hospitals in the northern Indiana area. The nurses love having them to put on the pillows as they do elicit smiles.