Monday, December 12, 2016

Snowstorm, St. Lucia, and an Anniversary

 Star of Wonder, Star of Light

Hi friends,
I hope you all had a good weekend. We got a snowstorm that came in on Saturday and left us with quite a bit of snow, and still snowing Sunday morning as we made our way to church. I can't even tell you how blessed I was by the Christmas program/play put on by the children and young people of our church. And then I found out that the script was written by our pastor. It was all about Jesus, our rescuer - who frees us not only from death and hell, but from ourselves - our pride and self-righteousness, and our fear and guilt - in spite of the constant voices of condemnation we hear in our own heads - so that at last we can have peace with God.

Jesus is King. He is Lord of all creation. He is our Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. We look to him, not ourselves, for our Hope. Hope in this life and in the life to come.

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The photo below is in B&W simply because after I made the collage, I realized that the only color was in the lights on the tree. Everything else was gray or shades thereof, so the photos of the tree on the porch looked out of place. Hence, they were turned to B&W as well.


December 13 (tomorrow) is not only Mr. C.'s and my wedding anniversary, but also the date of the Battle of Fredericksburg in America's Civil War (and I'll resist the strong temptation to turn this into a post about General James Longstreet, (General Lee's senior subordinate officer), BUT, it is also St. Lucia's Day.

 My St. Lucia doll
from Cousin Bobby


'Around Christmas time in Sweden, one of the biggest celebrations is St. Lucia's Day (or St. Lucy's Day) on December 13th. The celebration comes from stories that were told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden.

'St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means 'light' so this is a very appropriate name.'

P.S. The story goes that my paternal grandfather Nelson was born on the ship on the way to the United States, as his parents emigrated from Sweden.

 The darling little granddaughter above is now 18 years old.
I took this photo in 2005, during a St. Lucia program.

 And the sweetie in the pink PJs above actually is named Lucia,
our littlest granddaughter, photo taken by her mama this month.
The happy boy (bottom left)  is her cousin, whom she adores, kneeling beside
the Christmas tree in their home - photo sent to me by his dad.

Fortunately, we will get to see both of these kids and their families during the next month. I am so looking forward to that! And did you notice those sweet kitties??

 Mr. C. and his wife
Passport photos from 1989. And we'd already been married for eons!
Happy Anniversary, Mr. C.
I'd still rather spend time with you than with anyone else! 

One year we actually had plans to celebrate our anniversary on the battlefield at Fredericksburg, but plans fell through due to one of the kids getting sick. Doesn't everyone celebrate their wedding anniversary on a battlefield? I was greatly disappointed. (Happy to say that yes, the child recovered, but still...)


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***
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Judy

33 comments:

  1. Hello Judy, Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby! Your grandchildren are so cute!
    Happy Monday, enjoy your day and new week ahead!

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  2. Hi Judy,
    Happy Anniversary to you and Mr C.
    I like your moody black and white winter mosaic - very stylish and the colourful one just brimming with the excitement of children at Christmas.
    Happy Mosaic Monday and a very Merry Christmas to you and all your family from Normandy.

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  3. Judy, I want to wish you and Mr. C a happy anniversary. Your photos are so nice , your beautiful people. I loved the collages, especially with the children and their trees. Blessings to all of you, be safe in the snows. xoxo, Susie

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  4. Happy Anniversary Judy!! And one of my great great great grandfathers was born on the boat coming to America from Ireland. I have to tell you that my husband, Marvin, is the 11th cousin of Robert E Lee. That is something to brag about in the South.lol I love fall's passport pics...good looking !! Marriage must have agreed with you!:)

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  5. I'm enjoying all your Christmas photos and words. So much 'cuteness' here. :) "Happy Anniversary" to you both. Wishing you many, many more.

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  6. So glad you included the late eighties photo of the two of you I love looking back in time. The black and white is beautiful I love all the things and the grandchildren collages really cute so happy looking. The play at church sounds wonderful. Happy anniversary tomorrow in case I forget

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  7. Happy Anniversary! No snow here but possibility in the next week. Feeling like Christmas though.

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  8. Very happy Anniversary to you both.
    I remember teaching the different ways countries celebrated Christmas. The girls loved St Lucia day!

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  9. Happy Anniversary...time really flies by, doesn't it? I hope you still had a nice celebration! Love your pretty doll. Hugs, Diane

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  10. The now looks so beautiful. Happy Anniversary!

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  11. Happy Anniversary . . .
    Loved the black/white collage . . .
    St Lucia message . . .
    Granddaughter Lucia . . .
    And that adorable couple . . .
    Happy Day Judy . . .

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  12. Happy anniversary, you two!! Amazing what 27 years can do to a body! Ha!! Praise God!! Love your photos - always, and those kiddos are precious. Of course my eye went right to the kitties in your collage. Enjoy your snow! Happy Monday!

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  13. Happy Anniversary to you and your sweetheart, Judy. I adore the photos of you two. You must visit my town one day and we'll go to the battlefield of which you share the date. It was a dark time for Fredericksburg and our country indeed.
    Your grands are so sweet in your photos. The St. Lucia grand is just beautiful. I also like the black and white collage from your porch.
    Have a lovely afternoon. ♥

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  14. Happy happy anniversary, dear Judy!!! You haven't changed a bit! Love all your pics and your story of St. Lucy. Love the pics of your beautiful grandchildren. I wish you many happy, healthy years ahead with your Mister.

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  15. Judy, I am wowed by the photo of you and Mr. C. What a beautiful couple you are!! Anniversary blessings to you both!

    Love your pictures! (Feeling a little cold after seeing your snowy mosaic...but warm after seeing the sweet grands!)

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  16. I wrote and directed the Christmas play at church one year when the girls were little. It was so much fun! And exhausting and I've never done it again. LOL I love how gorgeous all that snow it but I know I wouldn't be able to go outside if I lived there. Wait, is it colder when the snow stops? I think I heard something about that during one of the football games this weekend. See? Football is educational. LOL Love the picture of y'all! Happy night before your anniversary!

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  17. Hello, Happy Anniversary to you both! So glad you were able to see the Christmas production from your church! The black and white photos were great, love the snow, its the frigid temps I am not crazy about! Thank God for our wood stove!
    Merry Christmas!
    Hugs, Roxy

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  18. Happy Anniversary, Judy, and Happy St. Lucia Day. It's also my sister's birthday - lots to celebrate this week.

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  19. Lovely shots! I love Lucia and its symbolism of bringing light into darkness. My daughter has two Lucia concerts today. She goes to a music school, so everyone carries real candles with flames.

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  20. thanks for the little lesson on st lucia. I always knew that it was a special day but never knew why! sweet photos! Im having fun this morning blog hopping and checking out everyones christmas decorations!
    have a great day
    xoxo
    vivian

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  21. Hahahahaha...I was wondering if there would be any comparisons between battles and marriage...phew! So glad that you assured us and Mr. C. that you still enjoy his company. So you are at least a quarter "Sveedish" as John would say. His paternal grandparents came to the U.S. as a young couple way back at the turn of the last century. They tried to return in the late 50s, but soon realized that Sweden was not the same country that they had left by a long shot. So little Lucy is a Lucia...that is sweet. I know that she is a bright light for your family. Merry on!

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  22. My Friend, I LOVE this post so much! Beautiful photos all around. Happy anniversary to you and Mr. C. Mike and I were just talking about our very close anniversaries' and how we all have been married a long, long time! :) I absolutely love the 'earlier in life' photo of the two of you. That is about how I remember you when we first met...so pretty and such a good friend. You are still beautiful my friend inside and out and still my best friend!! Hey, we have been friends almost as long as you and Mr. C have been married! We will have to celebrate that the next time we go out for coffee. Love you! <3

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  23. Happy Anniversary ... you two still have plenty of time to celebrate one ON the battlefield, now that your kidlets are all grown up. But however you celebrate, I love what you said about who you'd rather spend your time with! That would be us too.

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  24. Our Swedish friends used to gather us to celebrate St. Lucia Day and their daughter would dress up with candles on her head and parade into the room. Sweet memories. Wishing you a very happy birthday. I'm trying to figure out the vintage of your passport photos, they don't look as old as ours … I understand exactly what you say about who you would rather spend time with you. Isn't it wonderful after all these years. And the kittys are just so adorable. And amazing the black and white photos of the storm that are really in color. :-)

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  25. Love the first picture..Very simple and rustic..Happy Anniversary..Do you think you'll ever get to that battlefield..?? Great collages..Darling picture of "Lucia". Enjoy your day..

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  26. Wishing you a very happy belated wedding anniversary. I love your snow photos and glad you could attend church and enjoy the wonderful Christmas program. I love your photos and this posting very much.

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  27. Happy Anniversary Judy and Mr. C ~ thank you for the sweet card in the mail for my birthday. :-) Now it just needs to warm up so I can go ski. ;-) Crazy - temperatures.

    Love you both!
    Carla

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  28. Wonderful words of truth in your post! A very happy belated anniversary to the two of you! Dear and I were married in December, also, on the 6th. Have a good week!

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  29. A belated happy anniversary Judy, doesn't time fly! Hmm, celebrating one year on the battlefield could be a momentous occasion - will make for a good photo op.

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  30. Just love this Judy!! And Happy belated Anniversary!! My Hubby and I are December lovebirds too. ;)
    I love those black and white photos -stunning!!

    Loving that we have some snow - especially as a buffer with these freezing temps!

    Thanks for the history on St. Lucia. So cool!
    Blessings HOn. xoxo

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  31. Judy, love all the photos, but especially your and Mr C's old passport photos! Happy anniversary to you both. Wishing you many more happy anniversaries!

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  32. So fun...wishing you a very belated anniversary!

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