Birthday Blessings

 Dear Friends,

This Wednesday I celebrated another trip around the sun. It was a drizzly, gray day, but being home with my family made it bright.

We made a cake with sugar-free marzipan mushrooms, some with dark chocolate-covered ginger caps. It was our first time attempting marzipan, and was a fun experiment!

I have never had a water garden before and thought it would be fun to try using a big pot to grow a water lily and a few fish. This fake lily pad came with the plant I bought, which is just starting to grow down in the bottom. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll be able to add some fish soon, as well as a little fountain.

AnnaMarie and I went to a local Asian store and bought some groceries and decorations for our little birthday party (poor Mr. Graham was sick that day, alas!).

This honeycomb decoration is a bit of sunshine in a dark room!

This sweet tea canister followed us home as well. We named her "Sakura" for obvious reasons (Sakura means "cherry blossom" in Japanese).

The sun rose bright and shiny on the day after my birthday, making magic with the dewdrops on the lawn~

We harvested our first "French Breakfast" radish then, and were grateful for the little things, once again.

 Sleeping bees in a cold, wet flower~

 
A snail partaking of nature's bounty (and not my lettuces!)~

 Flowers in pots to fill in spaces while the perennials are still sleeping~

 

These things and many more make me feel extremely blessed to be alive. May I make this the best year ever!

Love,

Marqueta 

 

"A visitor was being shown around a leper colony in India. At noon a gong sounded for the midday meal. People came from all parts of the compound to the dining hall. All at once peals of laughter filled the air. Two young men, one riding on the other's back, were pretending to be a horse and a rider and were having loads of fun.

As the visitor watched, he was told that the man who carried his friend was blind, and the man being carried was lame. The one who couldn't see used his feet; the one who couldn't walk used his eyes. Together they helped each other, and they found great joy in doing it.

Imagine a church like that—each member using his or her strength to make up for another's weakness. That's what should be happening in every congregation of believers. Paul likened spiritual gifts to various parts of the human body. Eyes see. Ears hear. Hands work. Feet move the body forward. All are essential. And when each fulfills its function, the whole body benefits. All of us have weaknesses, but we also have strengths. We are all different, but God has given each of us at least one spiritual gift to use for the good of the church. We need one another. In Christ's body there are no nobodies." —Dennis De Haan