Afterglow from Christmas

We're excited to have Molly Jane visit her Great-Grandmother in Franklin, Tn. Her uncles, Evan and Eric came along too for a big Johnson get together at the Morrisons.

We had a great Christmas, loved seeing our granddaughter play with the wrapping paper!

Merry Christmas

God blessed us with a visit from a newborn, Josiah St. Pierre, this Christmas season.
Here he is with his new mother and father, Misti and Jerry and brother, Joshua.
It is exciting to see a family grow by adoption!
Jesus' father, Joseph was an adoptive father, too!

Jesus' Birthday

It's time to celebrate the birthday of Emmanuel, God with us.
It has been comforting to light the Advent candles at dinner time each evening.
As the sun was setting and the sky became dark, the round wreath of boxwood greens and the four candles shining reminded us of many eternal truths.
Jesus came and He is coming again!
Jesus came from Glory to sleep on hay in a humble manager to dwell with us.
Like the wreath that has no beginning or end, the eternal God became man and was given the name Jesus by the angel.
The angels sang to worship the baby and we can sing too!
When the baby became a man, He said, "I AM the Light of the World..."(John 9:5).
His disciple, John also wrote, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."(John 1:4-5)

It is the beautiful season when we sing, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come!"
We have a Savior, that is Christ the LORD, we do have much to celebrate this holy Christmas eve, He lights our way out of the darkness of sin and death, to eternal Life.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Millie, our great niece was visiting our house with her grandmother, Henry's sister, Betty.
Henry and I had our granddaughter, Molly visiting too, with her mother, Tacy. We had fun,
we put the ornaments on the tree and Millie enjoyed putting the silver bells on the branches. Molly enjoyed undecorating since she is only 11 months, we are thrilled to have so many helpers and the tree turned out beautiful!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Our family has a 30 plus year tradition of Turkey Bowl at Maranook Camp in Alabama.
It is a marvelous time of celebrating the Bowillie Family gathering. There's breakfast granola and scorpa, with devotions and hymn singing. Then a grand touch football game, a wonderful feast and time of worship. Also we have a couple of favorite old songs about moonshine and Blue Christmas and Do Whack a Do. The love and support of a family is a grand thing to be thankful for at Thanksgiving time.

Tacy, Stephen and Miss Molly Jane Beck

Here's our East Coast daughter and husband and baby daughter. Kira and Peter Hopkins live by the Pacific ocean and the Becks live near the Atlantic. Tacy and Stephen also live in an old apartment with a big bay window. Stephen is attending St. John's College graduate school, Tacy is a great mommy and teaches English and Molly is working on being a toddler soon! Here she is enjoying being part of the family conversation.

Granny B

Having tea with Henry's sister Margaret Stewart and his mom, Jane Bowers.

Circle Tour

Henry and I took off driving through the gorgeous fall foliage of east Tennessee and Virginia on Nov.6. We stayed in Roanoke, then Friday we headed into D.C. and toured the new Native American Museum and shared a Navajo taco for lunch!
After a scenic tour of Highway 450, we arrived in Annapolis. Our granddaughter, Molly Jane had grown and changed..it was so much fun to see her sit up and crawl!Tacy, Henry and I took her to a farm to see the barnyard animals. Then we had delicious pot roast at Stephen and Tacy's apt. in the historic district near city dock. What a blessing to be together!
On Saturday we went over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and ate Maryland crabs, it was wonderful to see the water and spend family time.
Sunday we attended church, saw old friends from Chattanooga who are now the Becks' pastor, Bob and Jan Borger. We had a great brunch, then said a sweet goodbye and drove down through Richmond to Charlotte, N.C. There we stayed with our niece, Dottie and husband Rob and six children. We were eager to meet the two newest members, babies Beau and Ann Randolph, both very beautiful little ones.
Monday morning we headed to Gainesville, Georgia where we had afternoon tea with Henry's mother,Jane and sister, Margaret. Then we headed home to Tennessee driving through the beauty of the autumn north Georgia mountains, praising God for good weather, lower gas prices, safety and marvelous visits with dear ones!(more photos on facebook)

GIRLS LUNCH AT LILLIE BELLE'S

Nov. 1, 2008
My three sisters and my mother met at a tea room in a Victorian mansion in downtown Franklin, Tennessee for lunch on Saturday. It was a glorious, autumn afternoon with a bright blue sky and glowing reds, yellows, golds and browns in all the trees. Mom and her 4 daughters.."the little women" together for a girly lunch. I am so thankful to the Lord for sisters and a mother! And that we live close enough to get together. It was a wonderful time of catching up and celebrating family!

Marley joins the fam

We have a new kitty... or Eric does. His friend's cat had a litter... so Eric brought home Marley. He is very active, scampers all around the den. He keeps us laughing as he tries to catch his tail or rolls a golf ball round and round with his tiny paws.

Imagine a Miracle Conference- October 25,2008

Ann Caldwell and I were invited to an excellent pro-life conference in Kansas City last weekend. We were humbled to represent the National Memorial for the Unborn. We shared the incredible David and Goliath story when the pro-life coalition outbids the abortionist and closed down the former clinic that is celebrated in our book, Empty Arms.
Thank you to the planning committee for a wonderful event!!

Kira and Peter - our daughter & son-in-law in Seattle

This is our second born- Kira Elizabeth and her handsome husband Peter Jack. They reside in a great, old apartment building on Queen Anne Hill. She is our West Coast daughter. Their apartment has 3 bay windows and they have a million dollar view of the real bay! Every 30 minutes you can see the ferry to Bainbridge Island pass by. At night, when it is twinkling with all the windows ablaze, it floats by on the dark water with a magical flair that deserves a flute and cello to accompany the grand procession.
We try to ride a different ferry each time we visit..this time it was the one to Whidbey Island..it was beautiful!

Perennial plants

When we moved in our home, it was like the Promise Land! We enjoy beautiful gardens we did not plant, but thoroughly delight in the peonies, hosta, daylilies,azaleas,tiger lilies,etc...In September the pink perennial begonias and bright showy lavender blue hardy ageratum(also known as mist flowers) cheerfully bloom in front and in back of our house making a beautiful statement of God's glory.

Seeing Sylvie

This weekend, Henry and I went to a Bethany picnic to celebrate adoption. We are so thankful for the men and women God has brought to run the office in Chattanooga. It has been a blessing every year to see many children who had been placed in as infants waiting adoption into Christian families. Seeing Sylvie who we had the privilege of loving and caring for in our home is now 4 years old. Having her give "Miss Wendy" a hug is worth more than many earthly treasures people might desire. To witness Sylvie, now Chenoah, with her older sister Cheyenne, running and laughing, is to see God's faithfulness in action. We prayed for a family and God answered in a marvelous way. She has loving parents and a big sister and they both have Indian names because her dad is part black and part Native American. Her mom reports that Sylvie is still strong willed, just as I wrote about in our book, Empty Arms...even bossing her big sister around. Thank you, Lord, that Jesus is our elder brother and that we are adopted into your forever family!

sunrise and sunset

Today I walked in Cummings Cove with my friend, Terry at 7 a.m. We saw the sun rise over the mountains and break through the fog turning the clouds golden.
Henry and I walked on the mountain with our dogs just as the last red rays of sunset faded away. Henry looked like he was water skiing walking behind Samson, our huge chocolate lab on one leash and Celeste, our border collie on the other leash.

Dancing in the Moonlight

The moon is full tonight, lighting up the front yard. My favorite sweetheart went out to gaze at the silver beauty with me. We ended up dancing in the moonlight on our driveway, casting snuggling moon shadows behind us. I'm thankful to God for a loving husband who not only plays the mandolin but is a good dancer, too.

Cotton quilt

Restoring Old Quilts

I love to see old quilt tops or squares be restored. Turning a cheerful applique into a cozy blanket is a rewarding hobby. I just finished quilting one that had a pattern of with white cotton boles on green stems and in between there are squares with green polka dots. I found a copy of a vintage 1940's fabric for the backing. It's sky blue... and reminds me of the Minnesota slogan..Land of sky blue waters. That's two things I definitely like...Quilts and Minnesota!

Ringing the bell - Church in the Wildwood

My husband Henry

family photos

The Beck Family

Little Brown Church in the Wildwood

The Little Brown Church is a little, wooden church in the woods on the back of Signal Mountain. It is located just around the corner from where Henry grew up in Summertown, Tennessee.
Next Sunday is Homecoming Sunday, when the church will celebrate it's 100th Anniversary!!This small chapel has taught the Word of God since Henry's grandfather and grandmother helped start it in the early 1900's.
Henry has been honored with the privilege of delivering the sermon. Please pray for him and the worship time with Ben and Sally Clark leading old time gospel hymns with the banjo and guitar, that it would all be honoring to the Lord!

Lovell Sisters Band

Henry and I went to a concert by the Lovell Sisters. They are a very talented trio of sisters who play fiddle, dobro and mandolin. They are on their way to Norway for a concert tour..check them out. We first saw them play together over 4 years ago.. they are amazing!!!

memorial for the unborn

Memorial for the Unborn

My Granddaughter's Baptism

Pastor Frank Baptizes Molly

Sweet Baby Mine

Family Support

A Place For My Passions

This blog is intended as an outlet for my passions.  I am a new grandmother, with a passion for my granddaughter, and many other things. This will be a place where I can post photos and thoughts.