​I checked my blog today and saw that  a fall picture was still up.  I texted Jason and said "it's winter and you still have a fall picture up!"  He wrote back "picky picky picky"!  About 10 minutes later this wonderful picture appeared!  I am SO glad Jason hosts my blog!  He finds much neater pictures than I could ever find.

Next I looked at the very first blog underneath the picture of the Three Wise Men (and of course we aren't sure there were just three.  We go by the three gifts and ASSUME there were three.)

Anyway back to the first blog.  It was "What would Buffy Do" with a picture of Buffy and a vampire.  I didn't think that went too well with a picture of the wise men, so decided to write another blog.

Winter is here.  I could skip it, except for maybe one good snowfall on Christmas Eve.  (And yet again.)... Jesus was probably born in the spring rather than winter, since I can't really picture the shepherds watching their sheep outside in the cold.  Maybe they did..  I need to study that subject.

When I think of cold winters though, I always go back to when we lived in NYC.  I just thought it got cold in Tennessee.  We almost froze until we got proper clothing.  The Norwegians say "there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing".  I tend to agree.  One of the great things about NYC is that you spend very little time indoors, so you should have good clothing, especially in cold weather! ( we had a Norwegian landlady when we lived in New York)

So, cuddle down in front of a fire, if you have one.  Pick up a good book, put on comfy clothing (again..proper attire) and settle in for a "long winter's night."  Maybe I'll see you in the spring.  If you have proper clothing, stop by.  I don't have a fireplace but maybe someday I will!  Happy Winter and a blessed Christmas!

​One of our favorite shows was Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  John boy and I started a devotional book once based on the show.  We never finished it, but hope to do so one day.

This morning, Tommy asked me if I wanted to do the exercises we have been doing each morning.  I had kind of a rough day yesterday, so he wondered what I wanted to do.  I said,"let me think about it."

About that time, a card I had taped to the back of the door fell onto the floor.  When Tommy picked it up, it said "WHAT WOULD BUFFY DO?"

I had my answer!

​We were with a group of friends hiking on Roan Mountain, a favorite place to hike close to our house.
 
I was walking with Bobby, a good friend I have known for many years.  I was telling him of an incident that had happened that was really funny when it happened.

As he always does when you tell him something funny, Bobby threw his head back and proceeded to give a long and loud belly laugh.

Sometimes when someone tells something funny, it never seems to be as funny second hand.  Bobby always laughs as if he were there the first time!

After he wiped the laugh tears from his eye, he turned to me and said something so wonderful and profound, that I will never forget it.  He said,  "You know the good thing about us Pat?  You didn't have to be there!"

That's the way it is with good friends.

Introduction:  To my blog readers.  Some of you may not remember a little newspaper called "The Grit".  I don't think it is being published anymore.  This is a story I wrote many years ago about "The Grit".

​It's cold, and his fingers and toes are numb, but he still has one more Grit to sell.  The last one seems to take longer than the others did!  Each week he stands outside the drug store, summer and winter, rain or snow.  He smiles and opens the door as the customers come and go.

Each time the question is the same..."would you like to buy a Grit sir/mam?"  

No matter what the answer, he always smiles and says thank you.

My hat goes off to the Grit buyers of America.  When you buy a Grit, you are buying more than a newspaper.  You are investing in the lives and future of a Grit boy or girl.  Each week these boys and girls go door to door, or station themselves in one place, or both, selling the Grit.

If they are asked what the paper contains, they are always eager and able to give glowing reports of it's contents.  They become very apt bookkeepers and stewards at a very early age.  They learn perseverance and kindness.  They also have the satisfaction that comes from earning their own money and from a job well done.  You help them to accomplish all of this,

I will never be able to pass up a Grit boy or girl, because first of al, I know I am buying a quality newspaper.  Secondly, the Grit boy I described in the beginning is my older son, who was a Grit boy, and my younger son, who is a Grit boy.

Hats off to the Grit buyers of America. You are helping to shape the future of our great land!

​Many years ago, Tommy and I always went up to the top of our road to climb over a barbed wire fence to look for Bittersweet berries. It was always cold, and sometimes, it was "spitting" snow.  This morning when I awoke to find the ground covered with snow, I remembered those days.

Sometimes the sun was shining through the red and gold leaves and sometimes it was overcast.  It would not have been the same had it been warm!

After we crossed the barbed wire fence we were in the woods. Our steep climb started almost immediately.  There was no let up until we reached the top.  The leaves were slick and the "saw briars" grabbed and tore at our clothes, face and hands.  The day after, I always found scratches and red spots all over my legs where the briars found their way through my clothing.

When we reached the top of the mountain, we had to find the fence row again, which we had lost in our wandering and weaving in and out of the fallen trees and vines which blocked our way.  When we found the fence, we followed it to the crest of the mountain where tall straight cedar trees reached for the sunlight. There were also dogwoods and evergreens in abundance.

Before looking up into the tall trees to find the Bittersweet, we paused to look at the incredible view below us.

Finally we began looking up into the very tops of the trees where the Bittersweet vine climbs.. The berries are orange and beautiful.  We  got excited when we finally spotted some berries in the very tops of two trees.  One, however, was much too high, and of course the berries were thick and lush in that tree!

Tommy thought he could reach the berries in the other tree, so he started to climb.  He stepped on the rickety fence post and on up into the tree.  As he began to climb upward, the tree began to sway and bend.  I had several anxious moments when I just knew he was going to crash to the ground.  He kept to the task before him and finally reached the berries.

The job wasn't done though.  He had to cut the vine, pull it out and somehow throw it through the branches of the tree to the ground below. He had to do this while maintaining a foothold and holding on with one hand.

We never got a lot of the beautiful Bittersweet berries, because, again, the prettiest berries were too high.  We were content with what we did get, and he began his descent.  After he reached the ground, we headed for home, another successful Bittersweet Berry Hunting Year.

​Last night we paid for a movie.  This morning it went on Amazon for free!
John thomas had misplaced a music book he needed for a project.  He looked on E Bay  and it was $460!  He looked some more and found it for $30.  Right after he ordered the $30 copy, he found his copy! The music book incident happened right after the movie incident.

Some people might chafe at that.  They might even agonize over not waiting.

I agree that often we are told to wait.  Many times we rush into something without waiting and listening for the voice of the Lord.  His timing is often different from our timing.

However, there are times, when if we wait, we miss out on a blessing. 

The Lord tells you to call someone.  You are busy so you put it off.
He tells you to bless someone.  Funds are low right now, but payday is coming in a few days.
You know you need to get off the couch and go outside and walk, but you have had a rough few days, and after all, didn't you walk inside the house all day long?
A friend is in a nursing home, but her family moved her so far out of town, that it will take awhile to get there.  She will still be there another day when you aren't as busy.  Maybe.

Today, if there is something you want to do or somewhere you want to go, and it isn't something that you feel strongly that the Lord is telling you to wait, go ahead.  Tomorrow may not come.  (idea for this blog came from John boy and Tommy!  Thank you!)

​When I was a little girl, often my family would go for Sunday afternoon drives.  I have talked to others who did the same thing. 

Tommy told me a story this morning, that tops ALL Sunday afternoon drive stories.

His Mother told him of a family where he grew up, that would dress up in their Sunday best and drive around town with their windows rolled up...in the summertime!  Of course they were wet with sweat when they returned home but to them, it was worth it!  

They wanted everyone to think they had air conditioning, when, in fact, they did not!  And...everyone knew they did not!

Draw your own conclusions!

This has been a monumental week at the Oaks barn.  Jason came up from Knoxville to work on an addition for the barn.  Our friend Greg came up from Atlanta, and our friend Tony came from right here in Elizabethton,  Yesterday they got the insulation and flooring in and one wall up.  Today the other walls are going up.

Greg said something this morning that I am sure will stick with me.  He said that when he visited Notre Dame, he had the sense that it wasn't just timber and mortar but that the people who worked on it, were building it for God's glory and for it to bless generations to come. He said he had the same sense whenever he worked on anything, including our place here. 

I love the verse in the Bible that says "whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus".  (Col.3:17) I felt like that is exactly what Jason, Tony and Greg were doing this week.  I pray I will be faithful to use it for His glory.

We recently had a day of prayer at the camp in Unicoi.  Tommy told us to draw an ear on our paper with a capital L in the middle...indicating not only talking to God but listening. This is what I felt like God was telling me.

Don't get discouraged if God doesn't seem to be answering your prayers. like you think He should.

My Mother said NO to slumber parties. (She let me have them at my house, but I couldn't go to someone else's house.)  She said NO to drive in movies.  She said NO to me going to the drug store after school when I was in High School.  Kids gathered at the drug store to hang out.  I wasn't allowed. For PETE'S sake!  I lusted to hang out at the drug store!  How unfair of my Mother!

I have a long list of NO's from my Mother, but I won't bore you with it.  You get the picture.

When I went to Milligan College, suddenly I was on my own.  My Mother wasn't there to say no.  I was tested my Freshman year...almost as soon as school started!  My roommate came in one day and told me we had been invited to eat supper with a married couple who went to school with us.  We had been there long enough to relish cooking other than cafeteria food. 

I borrowed my brother in law's car and off we went.  When we got there, there was no supper cooking and no wife present.  What we DID find were 3 guys sitting in the living room watching tv and smoking and drinking.  I immediately heard my Mother's voice saying NO.  I told Judy, my roommate, that we were leaving.  She tried to talk me out of it but I remained firm.  We left and went back to the dorm.  She didn't speak to me for a week.  

Audrey (the camp manager's daughter) was at our prayer day, so I addressed my thinking to her.  She is headed to Milligan College this fall.  I told her that for all my growing up years, I did or did not do certain things because of my Mother's voice in my ear.  After the incident I just described, I suddenly realized that it was another voice I was hearing and obeying.  The voice of the Holy Spirit.  If we listen, He is always speaking.  Sometimes He says NO.  Sometimes HE says YES. 

Around 70 years ago I was in Girl Scouts.  Our troop was the coveted troop because of our leader...Marty Marsh. We had another leader before she took over, but our first leader, while a nice person, was not very conscientious about being sure we eared our badges. 

When Marty took over and started quizzing us about our badges she realized we had told our former leader we had "earned" them when indeed we had not.  Immediately Marty cracked down on us.  We could not wear our badge sashes until we eared every single badge on there.

My favorite badge is the hiking badge.  You can see it in the picture.  It's the one with the little footprints on it.  In order to earn that badge we had to hike 100 miles.  We didn't have to hike it all at once, but it had to add up to 100.  

So, as soon as school was out for the summer, Marty planned our hikes.  Her Mother was also a scout leader, so she often went with us. 

What a summer we had!  We hiked all over the Smoky Mountains, and had so many wonderful adventures!  One day, Marty's Mother said, "ok girls...today we are going to plow the brush."  With that warning echoing in our brains, Mrs. Frisbie took off up the side of the mountain, off the beaten path!  We spent the next few hours literally plowing the brush.  We went under laurel bushes, over fallen trees, into the midst of thorn bushes...all the while begging her to get us back onto the trail.  She wouldn't have it though, so we plowed all the way to the top of Mt. LeConte!  What an experience!

That summer was a glorious summer for me.  At one point, Marty decided we would all camp in the wilderness for a week.  We even built our own leantos and hogans to sleep in.  We buried food in the ground to keep it cool and we camped and cooked over an open fire.  Some of the troop became disillusioned after about 2 days of this and wanted to go home.  Marty said we would put it to a vote and if anyone voted against it, even if it was just one person, we would stay. 

My best friend Polly and I voted to stay.  We were the only ones, but we stayed!  

Am I glad that Marty made me actually earn the badges that I was proudly wearing on my sash?  You better believe it!