A Time To Make A Mess and a Time To Clean Up

Solomon tells us in Ecc. 3 that there is a time to every purpose under Heaven. I don’t see a time to pick up messes in his list. I suppose he had more than enough servants to pick up after him; So maybe it’s not that surprising that housecleaning never made the docket.

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While we do have church janitors here at Cornerstone, their job is not to pick up our junk. The poor young lady assigned to vaccum my office couldn’t even get the machine in the door on Sunday.

100_5739I suppose one of the first orders of business for me during this “season of rest” is to finish putting away all the stuff I took out from my “season of harvest.”

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Holy cow I think I could use another day off!

 

Share Your World 2014 Week 46

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It is time to share a bit of my world again. To see how others responded to Cee’s sharing questions go to

Share Your World – 2014 Week 46

Here are my answers:

On a vacation what you would require in any place that you sleep? 

I need a comfy bed, a clean room, and quiet. Nice views and a deep tub are an added bonus but not completely necessary.

Music or silence while working?

It seems I work faster or at least more focused when I have instrumental music playing.

If you were to move and your home came fully furnished with everything you ever wanted, list at least three things from your old house you wish to retain?

I think I would want my pictures, my wood stove and my book collection. I don’t have any family heirlooms or anything like that.

What’s your least favorite mode of transportation?

Camel?

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I was grateful to get a little rest last week. This week I am looking forward to settling down to writing the new book. Oh and I am looking forward to having lunch with Mr. and Mrs. James Franklin.

My daughter Melanie married the man of her dreams last Saturday

My daughter Melanie married the man of her dreams last Saturday

Share Your World 2014- Week 45

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It’s that time again! Here we are sharing our world five questions at a time. Find out what the blogosphere is revealing about Cee’s other contributors at

Share Your World – 2014 Week 45

Meanwhile here are the questions and my answers:

What is your favorite color?  

I really like the color green. My current house is green. My last house was green. My office is green. My bedroom is green. My favorite season is green (I mean spring) and I recently took a whole lot of green pictures in Ireland.

The bark at Torc

The bark at Torc

In what do you find the simplest of joys?

I really like to just sit with a cup of coffee in hand and watch the world go by. I don’t have a lot of time to do this but even a few minutes a day of just drinking coffee in silence as a bunch of strangers walk, drive, jog or bike past me totally unaware that I even exist is the greatest relaxation I can find.

Would you prefer a reading nook or an art, craft, photography studio?

Oh, a reading nook please, but it has to have insulated windows and a window seat with really comfy cushions.

What is at least one of your favorite quotes?

“Make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud.” author unknown 

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

It was a HUUUUGE week. My daughter Melanie got married and then our church hosted the band Cloverton all in the same weekend. It was awesome and wonderfully tiring. Now I am looking forward to a season of relative quiet. This week is about napping! 🙂

Incredible Season Of Harvest

Through my long years of Christian service I have learned that God generally speaking works seasonally in our lives. Ecclesiastes chapter 3:1 says, “For everything there is a season,    a time for every activity under heaven.”

This has been a season of great harvest and as I sit back this morning on the last day of my harvesting I can see that God has given me abundance through this time.

In September I was honored to lead worship and do personal care-giving at the Special Touch New England Getaway. I was honored with the privilege of baptizing six new converts into the faith!100_4726 Besides that incredible week we held our regular C.cada meeting and hosted the monthly communion meeting at the Gardner Visiting Nurses Center for a congregation of nearly forty people. The month culminated with the Winchendon Enhancement Committee’s Toy Town Fall Fest where almost two thousand people came to examine the site for a potential makerspace.

The pie-baking contest

The pie-baking contest

Four days after the Fall Fest my daughter Amanda and I departed for a two week stay in Ireland while our teams continued planning for the upcoming art show, Cloverton concert, Double service launch, oh yeah and Melanie’s wedding.

A Celtic Cross in the cemetery atop the Rock of Cashel

A Celtic Cross in the cemetery atop the Rock of Cashel

We touched down on American soil again on the 14th of  October and were back in office on the 15th catching up with all the plans. Cornerstone launched its double services on the 19th and as of this date it looks like the church has grown by about forty people!

C.cada’s fourth annual art show was the largest ever. We hung over 250 pieces and almost every artist sold at least one piece. To top it off connections were made with another area art association for a possible project collaboration.

Three concerts later I stood at an altar giving away my youngest daughter as a bride to my new son-in-law James Franklin II.

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Then last night just two days after my daughter’s wedding Cornerstone hosted Cloverton to a nearly packed house.

The band singing Patterns

The band singing Patterns

God has given me a season of much fruit! Now the harvest has been brought in. It is time for the land and this laborer to rest a bit and get back to a quieter schedule. Cornerstone isn’t stopping but the next big projects are not mine; They belong to other harvesters. Aside from a carolling event and Christmas Eve I have nothing to prepare for outside of my ordinary duties between now and Easter. While I am sure something is bound to pop up I think I am going to take a month or so and just try to be quiet(er).

Maybe now is a good time to hide myself away a bit and finish the new book!

Seven Word Weekend

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Normally these posts come out on Sunday but the weekend was so HUGE I didn’t have a moment to post.

My Youngest Is Now Mrs. James Franklin!

Share Your World 2014 Week 44

It’s time once again for…

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Check it all out at

Share Your World – 2014 Week 44

Here are this week’s questions from Cee and my answers:

What is your most vivid memory of the kitchen in your childhood?

The most vivid memory I have of our kitchen is the red and black indoor outdoor carpeting that covered the floor wall to wall when we first moved into the house. My mother decided to remove it herself and I remember it took us almost seven years to get  all the glue scraped off those floors.

As a child, who was your favorite relative?

Oh gosh that’s a hard one! I am assuming we are talking extended family, so I would have to say my father’s mother. She was probably the one I felt closest too. I remember being by her bedside the night she died and singing her the old hymns of the faith as she prepared to meet Jesus. She was the first person to quote John 3:16 to me.

What did you or did not like about the first apartment you ever rented?

Now that’s much easier than the last question. Our first apartment was rented sight unseen from the Bible College I was attending. The walls were bright blue and the carpet was orange. You could literally sit on the toilet and put your feet in the shower because the bathroom was so small and we could not control the heat so it stayed around 85 all winter long (which is better than the alternative I suppose).

What kind of TV commercial would you like to make? Describe it.

TV commercial? Oh wait! I know! I know! It would be a commercial lauding the value of eating peanut butter and spaghetti sauce sandwiches!!!

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful last week is over….’nuff said. I am soooooooooo looking forward to my daughter’s wedding on Nov. 8th!

Share Your World- 2014 Week 43

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Week 43! Can you believe it? That means at this point we have all answered 215 questions about ourselves here on Cee’s forum!

Check out the sharing at:

http://ceenphotography.com/2014/10/27/share-your-world-2014-week-43/

Now here are this week’s questions…

What is your favorite time of day?

My favorite time of day is early morning. I think I shared  last week that it has been years since I have had the luxury of sleeping until noon. The truth is it has been years since I have slept much past dawn. I kind of like those dark quiet hours of the morning when the world is just waking up. It is so peaceful.

What’s your favorite charitable cause and why?

The church is my favorite charitable cause for a couple of reasons: 1. It is a charity that has stood the test of time and will stand through to the end of time. God will always have His church.

2. The church has done so much for me and my family. It is a part of my family.

How do you like to spend a rainy day?

Usually I work through the rainy days but if I should happen to have a rainy day free of work, then I love to sit and read or nap or maybe catch up on some  TV watching (which I haven’t had ANY time for at all lately).

When writing by hand do you prefer to use a pencil or pen?

Pen definitely! I am always afraid pencil is going to eventually fade to nothing and my words will cease to exist.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for a successful art show this last weekend. Crowds were a little down but sales were up for our artists so that was good. This week I am looking forward to buying the new suit for my daughter’s wedding. It’s coming up fast!!!!