This Is The Day The Lord Hath Made...We Shall Rejoice And Be Glad

This Is The Day The Lord Hath Made…We Shall Rejoice And Be Glad!

When the morning breaks and the world awakes…we shall rejoice and be glad
When the birds take flight after resting at night…we shall rejoice and be glad

When the stars fade away in the light of the day…we shall rejoice and be glad
And the moon takes a bow to the sun shining now…we shall rejoice and be glad

For this is the day the Lord hath made and it holds many mercies anew
And this is the day the Lord hath made to give many blessings to you

Are you ready to explore your blessings galore, or are you too busy to see
All the wonderful things that the Lord has in store, blessings so full and so free

The air that you breathe, the food that you eat, the vision you seem to ignore
Those kids in your lap, the joy of a nap, the job that you hate more and more

If He took them away in the span of a day I think you would treasure these things
The flowers, the rain, the snow on the plain, the music, the voices that sing

The flag flying high on the pole in the sky, symbolizing the freedom it gives
This nation is one, still enormously blessed... are we thankful for how good we live?

Yes, this is the day for our nation to pray, and give thanks to the Father above
Who looks down on our land, and gives gifts from His hand, to the children He continues to love

This is the day the Lord hath made, yet we act like it’s some simple task
And we take it for granted, and don’t give Him thanks, and don’t do the things that He asks

The Psalms are like poems, and praises, and songs to our Lord from the heart of a king
Yet we peasants below never, sing, bow, or show our allegiance to Jesus, our King

Take a break from the tasks, look around while it lasts and be thankful, rejoice…don’t be sad
Pray a prayer , read a Psalm, stand in awe, give an alm… for this is the day to be glad

Yes, this is the day to be glad my friends…this is the day to be glad
This is the day the Lord hath made…we shall rejoice and be glad!!!

Linda Hogeland…March 2010


So, for Six Word Saturday...My 6 words are:

We Shall Rejoice And Be Glad!

Click on the button and link up your six words today!

Wednesday's Walk and Yesterday Was Bradford's Birthday

Yesterday was our son-in-law Brad's birthday and I posted a blog about it...(See the post below). So today for Wednesday's Walk I thought I would share how Brad came to be a part of our family. (If you would like to link your post to Jenilee's Wednesday's Walk, just click on the button above)

I think every mother who has a daughter wants her to find a wonderful husband and to live "Happily Ever After", and I was praying for my oldest daughter to find her special man. Well, as Lisa started college and joined a sorority and later moved into the dorm, it wasn't too long until she met Brad. Lisa's sorority and Brad's fraternity were involved in Hippodrome and did a song and dance routine together. That was the first time I caught a glimpse of my future son-in-law.

Lisa was the president of her sorority, and Brad was the president of his fraternity, so they had that in common, and had certain activities that brought them into the same place. I think the spark was there and so I kept praying for them. As they started dating and growing closer, I really liked Brad, and I wanted to know if Brad was a Christian and so I prayed that God would show me if he was. Then one day after he asked her to marry him and she accepted, he came over to take her to church with him and she wasn't quite ready so I engaged him in conversation and then I asked him if he had accepted the Lord and he preceeded to tell me of his conversion experience when he was in his teens. It was so good to know that he loved the Lord...and it made me rest assured that he was indeed the one for her.

They were engaged for a year and then married, and it will be 22 years this July that they shared their vows.

They wanted children and for about 5 years that didn't happen. I had been praying that God would bless them with a baby, but He did it in His timing and in His way, through adoption. And that little blessing that came to them is now 17 years old and her name is Bailey Elisabeth. God had it all planned from the beginning, and I praise Him for all He has done. Brad and Bailey are both great blessings to Lisa and to the rest of our family.









We have a son-in-law named Bradford Scott who is having a birthday, and I thought it would be fun to post a blog in his honor.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD

Brad is married to our oldest daughter Lisa LaRee, and they have been married for almost 22 years now. Over these years Brad has been a lot of fun to have around. The grand kids are especially fond of him. And he and my other son-in-law Kyle, (who is married to our middle daughter Lynnette) , get along very well. And we are thankful for each of our sons-in-law, and so glad they are brothers (in Christ) and friends.

Brad lost his mother not too long ago, and so I count it a great privilege to fill in for Barb, and love her sweet son.

Brad and Lisa have one 17 yr. old daughter, Bailey Elisabeth, and she brings them much joy and laughter. Bailey loves to hang out with her dad...and so do the kids at their church, where Brad is a Youth Pastor.

Brad is always happy to help us out when we need him, and it is nice they only live about a mile away. He and Bailey have mowed our yard when we are out of town, and they come to check on the house etc. And when we moved into our new house 3 years ago he was there to help and also to hang window coverings and hardware, as well as pictures and wrought iron wall ornaments. He is handy to have around! (:>)

This was his 46th Birthday and we wish him many, many, more wonderful years ahead! We will have a party for him soon and we will also add our granddaughter Cecily to the celebration as she will turn 14 on April 10th. (I will post about her as the day approaches).

God Bless You Bradford!
Love, Mom/Linda

I Was A See's Candies Girl

This week on Jenilee's Wednesday's Walk I thought I would share about the time in my life when I worked at See's Candies in Southern California. It was really one of my first jobs, and I loved working there. I took a tour of the factory and was amazed at the sparkling clean facilities and all of the equipment and special processes it took to make so many different kinds of candy.

If you have ever eaten See's Candy you know it is the best! And they have such a variety to choose from. Back in those days some of my favorites were the Butterscotch Squares, Scotch Kisses, Bordeaux, Chocolate Buttercreams, Mocha's, Light and Dark Chocolate Truffles, California Brittle...oh I could go on and on and on! I loved it all. Even the crisp little Molasses Chips that come in every pre-packed box. They are very unique tasting, and kind of grow on you. (:>)

I weighed 118 pounds back then and I ate that candy all of the time and never gained weight! Boy those were the days! Now days everything I eat makes the scales go up and up it seems. But my metabolism was higher in those days I guess...plus I was young and way more active. (And yes I was sort of a blonde back then...my dark hair was frosted).

Holidays were always a very busy time at See's. People would crowd into the little shop and we would personally pack 1, 2, 3 or 5 pound boxes as the people picked out all of their favorites. Then we would weigh the boxes and then wrap them in festive paper for the current holiday, or on regular days we'd use the standard white paper and put our little seals on each end. The paper is pre-cut to the size of the boxes and we could wrap those babies in no time! People would usually be in a good mood in our little shop while they waited in line to pick their candy, but just to make sure we would give them a sample or two to satisfy them.

In the summertime they would add some of their white chocolate coated candies and summer collections that didn't melt as easily. And also some colorful bonbons. At Easter they would have these wonderful fruit and nut eggs and various other specialties.

All of the time they carried their world famous lollipops. I loved those too. They came in butterscotch, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and peanut butter.

People send See's Candies for special occasions like Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's, Christmas, Easter, Halloween...you name it...everyone loves to receive candy...especially See's Candy!

The uniform was a white dress with a black sweater and a big bow pin that had our name tags. I still have my bow and name tag. My brother bought me a Barbie Doll that they made especially for See's Candies and my husband keeps it downstairs with my bow, and some other See's collectibles. He is sentimental because I was a See's girl when he met me back in 1975.

It was such a happy place, and I have very fond memories from my years of working there.

Join in the fun today and take a memory walk! Just click on the button and add your post to Jenilee's link.

Wednesday's Walk ...Memories Of My White Steepled Church From My Childhood

First of all I would like to thank Jenilee for taking over Wednesday's Walk. I have missed walking down Memory Lane with my blog friends as we share our memories together. I look forward to the weeks ahead as we get back into it.



Memories Of My White Steepled Church From My Childhood!



I now attend a large church just around the corner and up the street from our house, and it is less than a mile away. It has a large white steeple on it's very tall roof and my husband can see it from the golf course and it is seen from quite a distance. It holds about 750 or 800 people. But when I grew up in Southern California I went to a tiny church called "Silver Acres Community Church" and it held about 75 people I suppose...maybe even less than that. It had a bell tower and a tall white steeple.

One year I had a Sunday School class up in that bell tower room and we girls got to take turns pulling the rope and ringing the bell when church was about to start. Yes, it was a big old fashioned bell just like you see on Little House On The Prairie, or the church on Dr. Quinn. And that bell was really loud in that little room when we would ring it. But we all loved taking our turns ringing it. And people in the neighborhood would surely know it was time to get to church when they heard it ringing.

The church was called "Silver Acres" because the street it was on was Silver Drive. It was just a few miles away from our house, but when I was a girl, it seemed like it was far away. I went to that church from when I was a small child until I got married, and I have so many happy memories of it.

When I was little we loved summertime and part of that was because we would have Vacation Bible School at our little church. My brother and I would invite our neighborhood and school friends, and several of them attended with us over the years. We would first meet in the sanctuary each morning and have opening prayer and songs and then we would go to our separate classrooms according to our ages. My mom would be a teacher or a helper every year, but never in our classes. (She needed a break from us) Ha! Or she would sometimes work in the nursery.

I loved the Bible stories, the crafts, the games, the snack times, and learning all of the fun little songs we would perform on the last night of Bible School when we did a program for the parents. One of my favorite little songs we sang with a little book of colors and it went like this:

My heart was black with sin till Jesus came within...
His precious blood I know,
Has washed me white as snow...
And in God's Word I'm told,
We'll walk the streets of gold...
Oh wonderful, wonderful day,
He washed my sins away!

And with each color we sang about we would turn our pages to that color.

I also loved the times when our pastor, Reverend John Utterback, would do fun little exercises each day with us, like the day he held up a dollar bill and let the kids hold up a finger and a thumb and try to catch the dollar as he released it. (Not too many would ever be fast enough to catch it, but all of us kids thought we would be the ones that could do it...and I'm not sure what that little lesson taught us...but as I said, it was fun). He also blindfolded some of us and told us to sit down in a chair he had placed by the pulpit...it was a lesson on faith and trust.

That is also where I learned the books of the Bible which have benefited me my entire life when it comes to looking up scripture. But back then it was a fun challenge to see if we could say all 66 books in order...and in one big breath! I could do that...and I was pretty proud of myself...(In a humble way of course)!

One year we had a Chalk Artist come and he told us stories each day as he drew a lovely picture with chalk, and when he was finished he would turn on the black light and a hidden image would appear. It was a picture of Jesus on the cross and then the black light would show him ascending up to heaven...or something awesome like that. I still love chalk drawings to this day, and we have a lovely lady at our church here in town who travels around and does those for different groups of people. She plays Christian music while she draws. Have you ever seen a chalk artist?

When I was a teen, my mom and I used to sing in our choir at our little church..and there were maybe 10 to 15 people in the choir. One Easter I had a solo in our youth choir and I was so nervous...but God gave me grace and I somehow got through it. I was extremely shy back then...and I still am when it comes to doing anything in front of a group of people. I still prefer relating to people one on one.

My part was:

Blessed is the King of Israel~ that cometh in the name of the Lord...
Blessed is the King of Israel~ that cometh in the name of the Lord...

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna... in the Highest!

Blessed is the King of Israel~ that cometh in the name of the Lord!!!!!!

So you can see it was easy to remember the words. ((smile))

As we teens sang each song they showed a film with the birth, life and crucifixion...and then the resurrection, and it was a very moving presentation. Every Easter I remember that time and think back to those days. Isn't Easter a wonderful time when you are Christians?

I also remember Christmas plays as a child and other fun times with our little church family. Oh, and there was that time when we forgot to change our clocks when the time changed and we showed up to church an hour early! Ha! Our pastor who lived next door to the church, came out laughing and said "did you forget to change your clocks?"...then he invited us into his house for donuts! Oh how I loved that pastor! I am sure he is in heaven now since I haven't seen him for over 30 years and he was older when I was a child. I will love seeing him again when I go to heaven someday. When I think of him I think of the song..."Thank You for giving to the Lord..I am a life that was changed..."
It was my mom and Pastor Utterback that taught me so much about the Lord when I was growing up. My Mom is up there too, and it goes without saying that I long to see her again, in heaven where we will spend eternity with Jesus.

Did you go to a little white steepled church when you grew up? Do you have memories like I am sharing today? I would love to hear about them. Isn't it wonderful to love the Lord and to be able to share Him with others no matter where we are?

Abigail's Blog Parade!

Click on the button above and read about my granddaughter Abigail's fun Blog Parade and then link up and join in the fun.

Here are my answers to Abigail's questions:

1. What's your favorite time of the day, and why?
I love morning sunrises. I get up before my husband and have some alone time on the computer. Sometimes I write poems or stories or I catch up on Facebook and reading blogs, or I write a blog post while I enjoy my coffee and breakfast. I pray for the blog friends as I read. Then when my hubby gets up we do our devotion time together and pray for people. I love our time together with the Lord.

2. If health wasn't an issue, what food could you live off of?
I can't eat chocolate, eggs, poultry or nuts, because of allergies, so I'd eat those...But I also could live off of Italian food... I love it...especially spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. And for desert I would have lemon yogurt and shortbread cookies and decaf coffee with milk....or cheesecake would be good too, because I really do miss being able to eat that.

3. If you could have one wish granted (besides wishing for more wishes), what would it be?
That all of my kids and grandkids would be protected, and greatly blessed by the Lord and walk close to Him. (This is my daily prayer).

4. What's one thing that you get teased about a lot?
I get teased a lot because I am overly protective and concerned about everyone's safety. I am always telling the kids and grandkids to "be careful". And they always say "it's ok mom/grandma...don't worry!" (I just love them all sooo much!)

(My 11 Grandkids...and we have 3 more in heaven)


5. If you could choose one movie, book, or TV show to spend your life in, which would you pick? What type of character would you be?
Maybe I'd like to be the Grandma in a Janette Oke book where life was a slower pace and Grandpa and I could have all of our family close by...maybe living on the same property, and I could sit and rock babies and play with the kids all the time, and help out and be a bigger part of their lives...and feel needed! (:>)


(I Love Being A Grandma!)

6. If you could have one talent that you don't already have, what would it be?
I'd like to be able to play the piano really well like my grandson Jared.

7.If money were no object, where would you go on vacation?
I would go to Italy...I love all things Tuscan.

8. If you were an awesome singer, which genre would you sing?
Christian Music...Like Amy Grant.

9. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, what would it be?
Nebraska Furniture Mart...(I like the one in Kansas City and they have EVERYTHING in that store) (:>)

10. If you could live in any point in time, when would it be?
Well I really do like living nowadays, with all of the conveniences...but I do wish that America was still a Godly nation and that there wasn't so much evil influence everywhere.

11. If every outfit in your wardrobe had to be one color, what would it be?
Browns. (I love Taupes and Browns and I add interest with colorful scarves and jewelry).











12. If you were one of the seven dwarfs, which one would you be?
(Doc, Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Bashful, Happy, or Dopey)
Happy of course!


13. What's the last album you listened to?
Leeland's...Love Is On The Move (I listened to it yesterday while I was relaxing in the bathtub).

14. What's something we'd be surprised to know about you?
I do a good monkey imitation!!!!!

Well thanks Abigail...this will be fun to read everyone's answers.