The weekend was glorious here in the Capital Region of NYS.
God really blessed us with perfect autumn weather. Friday- Sunday had perfect blue skies...no clouds at all! Sun, warm temps but not hot. The perfect hiking, biking, playing outdoors kind of weather.
So...to answer some of my friends who are wondering if Dave and I hiked?
No! He is still struggling with a deep cough from a raging headcold he acquired during the youth group retreat he chaperoned a week ago. So....rather than tramping through the woods, he decided to rest here at home and get some paperwork/computer stuff done. I, however, did yard work, and light housework. My oldest daughter was in rare form and decided to spend most of Saturday re-organizing and cleaning her bedroom. I was a little saddened to see in her trash basket, some items from her childhood. Things like an old journal, old posters, old American Girl memorabilia, tickets from youth group events from when she was in junior high, old magazines she has outgrown.....you know....all the trinkets that pre-teen girls acquire.....I guess this means she is moving on to more "teenage" stuff. sigh. She did pass down a set of novels to her little sister who is now a "tween'. That was nice of her. So....Claire is enjoying the Young Mandie series (Christian fiction for preteen girls). And my teen's room is dusted, re-arranged in a more "teen style" and clutter has been tossed away. My husband remarked that she is definitely my daughter!
On Saturday evening, my teen went off to her Youth Group events; my husband watched a ballgame and my youngest and I went biking. I took Claire out of our development (which she is not allowed to do unless with a parent) and down our country road to the local cemetary to ride on the roads there. The colors of the trees are at peak here in our region and Saturday evening was just breath-taking. I was wishing we had a camera with us on our ride.
We enjoyed a fire in the firepit after our ride.
Now that it gets darker earlier, we can have the fire going by 7 pm and enjoy it until it's time for her to get ready for her shower, reading, bed. Once she was showered I went back out to the fire for my own quiet time. It was the perfect ending to a great day. It reminded me of this quote: "let creation remind us of God's beauty and let it also remind us of God's power and judgment. Finally let nature bring us closer to God's peace by learning to rest in Him." (Sacred Pathways, pg. 41, c.1996.
Sunday found us in church for the early service. Again, a quote from the book Sacred Pathways, lodged in my mind during the church service: "Where we worship can have a profound impact on the quality of our worship." (pg.36) Yes, I prefer to have my quiet times with the Lord outside in His creation. However, I also love my church! For years, I had trouble focusing on worshipping God in the sanctuary because our former church was a little too informal for me. There was a lack of respect (in my opinion..and my husband felt this way too at times) for the house of God. There were children running around, noise, chatting in the backrows and sometimes even in the front rows, and just general distractions. I am now able to worship the Lord fully in our new church because EVERYONE is worshipping or least showing respect for the house of God. I am the type of person who can get easily distracted so to be in a church where worship is taken very seriously has really improved my own worship time in the corporate body and has shown my children what it really means to praise and worship the Lord. The early service has a slightly different atmosphere, for me, at Grace Fellowship. There are fewer people and the worship time seems to be a little more "formal" although it is the exact same format as the 11 a.m. service. I prefer the 11 a.m. service as it tends to be a little more vibrant (for lack of a better word). It's hard to explain. But, in actuality, I can worship on a deep level at either service because the people around me are taking it very seriously. It is expected and modeled from leadership right on down to the young.
My oldest decided to stay for both services. Meanwhile, I dashed home with Dave and Claire to get ready for my day away with my sister Joy and to make Claire an early lunch as she had a 3 hour dance rehearsal back at the church. So while Dave played taxi-driver all afternoon and managed the home, my sister and I enjoyed a beautiful drive down to the Cooperstown area (about 1 hour southwest of Albany) to attend the Cider Mill Festival at Fly Creek Cider Mill and Marketplace.
The colors were just at peak so it was simply gorgeous. And my sister and I had great conversation in the car. She is a single mom (my nephew Luke is turning 16 in Dec.) so we hardly ever get to spend time away from the kids.....this was nice. When we arrived, the place was packed! We had some lunch at the deli and then stood in line for about 25 minutes just to get into the marketplace. Once inside, I spent some $$. But I was good. I kept it just under $50.00. I bought stuff for Xmas gifts, and some salad dressings and jam for us to enjoy this season.
This vidalia onion-peppercorn dressing is the best! I bought 2 bottles to get me through the winter and spring.
You can shop there as well by just going here!
Sunday evening was a time to just eat a light supper and do some reading.
Today, my husband is back at work and the girls and I are home for Columbus Day which we have off from school. We plan on just doing some light housework, and then I am trekking over to Shaker Shed to get some apples and cider because.....the line was so long at Fly Creek that I decided not to wait yet another 20 min just to buy apples. So...I will buy apples that are grown here and not have to wait in a long line! And maybe I'll be brave and bake an apple pie next weekend. (I don't normally bake pies...I tend to buy them from the Shaker Shed bakery)
Around our house, we will enjoy one last day of relaxing and tomorrow we will get back into our normal routine.
As for hiking?? Well, if I was like my pastor I would trek out by my self....but...it has been ingrained in me to always have a partner...so...maybe next weekend I can talk my husband into it.
Monday meditation: Psalm 96: 1-6
"Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols.
But the Lord made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."
I hope you all enjoyed some beautiful weather this past weekend and that you have a blessed week.
God really blessed us with perfect autumn weather. Friday- Sunday had perfect blue skies...no clouds at all! Sun, warm temps but not hot. The perfect hiking, biking, playing outdoors kind of weather.
So...to answer some of my friends who are wondering if Dave and I hiked?
No! He is still struggling with a deep cough from a raging headcold he acquired during the youth group retreat he chaperoned a week ago. So....rather than tramping through the woods, he decided to rest here at home and get some paperwork/computer stuff done. I, however, did yard work, and light housework. My oldest daughter was in rare form and decided to spend most of Saturday re-organizing and cleaning her bedroom. I was a little saddened to see in her trash basket, some items from her childhood. Things like an old journal, old posters, old American Girl memorabilia, tickets from youth group events from when she was in junior high, old magazines she has outgrown.....you know....all the trinkets that pre-teen girls acquire.....I guess this means she is moving on to more "teenage" stuff. sigh. She did pass down a set of novels to her little sister who is now a "tween'. That was nice of her. So....Claire is enjoying the Young Mandie series (Christian fiction for preteen girls). And my teen's room is dusted, re-arranged in a more "teen style" and clutter has been tossed away. My husband remarked that she is definitely my daughter!
On Saturday evening, my teen went off to her Youth Group events; my husband watched a ballgame and my youngest and I went biking. I took Claire out of our development (which she is not allowed to do unless with a parent) and down our country road to the local cemetary to ride on the roads there. The colors of the trees are at peak here in our region and Saturday evening was just breath-taking. I was wishing we had a camera with us on our ride.
We enjoyed a fire in the firepit after our ride.
Now that it gets darker earlier, we can have the fire going by 7 pm and enjoy it until it's time for her to get ready for her shower, reading, bed. Once she was showered I went back out to the fire for my own quiet time. It was the perfect ending to a great day. It reminded me of this quote: "let creation remind us of God's beauty and let it also remind us of God's power and judgment. Finally let nature bring us closer to God's peace by learning to rest in Him." (Sacred Pathways, pg. 41, c.1996.Sunday found us in church for the early service. Again, a quote from the book Sacred Pathways, lodged in my mind during the church service: "Where we worship can have a profound impact on the quality of our worship." (pg.36) Yes, I prefer to have my quiet times with the Lord outside in His creation. However, I also love my church! For years, I had trouble focusing on worshipping God in the sanctuary because our former church was a little too informal for me. There was a lack of respect (in my opinion..and my husband felt this way too at times) for the house of God. There were children running around, noise, chatting in the backrows and sometimes even in the front rows, and just general distractions. I am now able to worship the Lord fully in our new church because EVERYONE is worshipping or least showing respect for the house of God. I am the type of person who can get easily distracted so to be in a church where worship is taken very seriously has really improved my own worship time in the corporate body and has shown my children what it really means to praise and worship the Lord. The early service has a slightly different atmosphere, for me, at Grace Fellowship. There are fewer people and the worship time seems to be a little more "formal" although it is the exact same format as the 11 a.m. service. I prefer the 11 a.m. service as it tends to be a little more vibrant (for lack of a better word). It's hard to explain. But, in actuality, I can worship on a deep level at either service because the people around me are taking it very seriously. It is expected and modeled from leadership right on down to the young.
My oldest decided to stay for both services. Meanwhile, I dashed home with Dave and Claire to get ready for my day away with my sister Joy and to make Claire an early lunch as she had a 3 hour dance rehearsal back at the church. So while Dave played taxi-driver all afternoon and managed the home, my sister and I enjoyed a beautiful drive down to the Cooperstown area (about 1 hour southwest of Albany) to attend the Cider Mill Festival at Fly Creek Cider Mill and Marketplace.
The colors were just at peak so it was simply gorgeous. And my sister and I had great conversation in the car. She is a single mom (my nephew Luke is turning 16 in Dec.) so we hardly ever get to spend time away from the kids.....this was nice. When we arrived, the place was packed! We had some lunch at the deli and then stood in line for about 25 minutes just to get into the marketplace. Once inside, I spent some $$. But I was good. I kept it just under $50.00. I bought stuff for Xmas gifts, and some salad dressings and jam for us to enjoy this season.This vidalia onion-peppercorn dressing is the best! I bought 2 bottles to get me through the winter and spring.You can shop there as well by just going here!
Sunday evening was a time to just eat a light supper and do some reading.
Today, my husband is back at work and the girls and I are home for Columbus Day which we have off from school. We plan on just doing some light housework, and then I am trekking over to Shaker Shed to get some apples and cider because.....the line was so long at Fly Creek that I decided not to wait yet another 20 min just to buy apples. So...I will buy apples that are grown here and not have to wait in a long line! And maybe I'll be brave and bake an apple pie next weekend. (I don't normally bake pies...I tend to buy them from the Shaker Shed bakery)
Around our house, we will enjoy one last day of relaxing and tomorrow we will get back into our normal routine.
As for hiking?? Well, if I was like my pastor I would trek out by my self....but...it has been ingrained in me to always have a partner...so...maybe next weekend I can talk my husband into it.
Monday meditation: Psalm 96: 1-6
"Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols.
But the Lord made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary."
I hope you all enjoyed some beautiful weather this past weekend and that you have a blessed week.
2 comments:
I have been by Fly Creek, but have never stopped. I bet it was a fun place to be this weekend. I think it's great that you got some alone time with your sister. Sounds like a good weekend. Oh and I forgot about those Mandie books, I may have to get a few for my daughter.
Have a good day back to school tomorrow.
Sandy
Sounds like a lovely weekend, Faith. It's always a little nostaligic when the kids pass up and on some of their childhood things. My oldest is pretty non-sentimental so I was the one boo hooing when some stuff got put out of her room. LOL.
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