Standing above beautiful items that wash up on the beach.

Gullah Geechee culture on display during the Penn Center Heritage Days Celebration on St. Helena Island, SC.

“The Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor is home to the Gullah people in the Carolinas, and the Geechee in Georgia and Florida – cultural groups descended from enslaved peoples from West and Central Africa. The Gullah and Geechee share similar linguistic, artistic and societal traits that have remained relatively intact for several centuries due to the geographic isolation of the region. The cultures represent the many ways that Africans in the Americas maintained their homeland roots while simultaneously assimilating aspects of new cultures they encountered during and after enslavement.”1

“One of the most notable historic places to visit within the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is the Penn School Historic District on St. Helena Island in South Carolina. The district is a National Historic Landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 47-acre area contains 18 historic buildings dating from the mid 1800s. Brick Church, the oldest building still standing, was constructed in 1855 by by slaves for early Baptist planters in St. Helena. It was later used as a church, community center and school for both black and white abolitionists during the Reconstruction Era and is one of the earliest schools for the newly freed slaves. Missionaries constructed the other buildings on the island when they came there to assist former Gullah slaves with their newfound freedom after their owners abandoned the island during the Civil War. In addition to the early school and missionary buildings, the district also includes Gantt Cottage where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Leadership Conference often met during the African American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.”2

Cited from: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/cultural_diversity/Gullah_Geechee_Cultural_Heritage_Corridor.html

     

    

Tony has done a huge amount of planting and keeping the rows looking good. For a few days last week he worked in the field after visiting with Candace, David and baby Isabel in Charleston.  Lots of good looking plants out there.

Just over a week ago we thanked God and  celebrated the birth of our first grandchild, Isabel Gabriella.  Now we continue thanking God for revealing to Candace that Isabel needed urgent attention while at an appt related to lactation. Thank God for alerting a staff person during that session that Isabel should be checked out before Candace left the hospital. Extol the Lord for arranging for the excellent care and quick lab results that allowed doctors to make decisions regarding her treatment. God is to be praised for the work of the staff who tirelessly attended to Isabel, her parents, and extended family.

Verses from previous Good News CLubs came to mind today and gave me comfort. The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble; He cares for those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7 Today, God has been my strength and my song, and He as become my salvation. Exodus 15:2 Casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7. There are many others but for now these stand out.

Candace, David, and Isabel left Greenville Memorial Hospital Tues. and are at MUSC, Charleston. Candace flew with Isabel in plane, David drove down. Tony is with them and for the time being they have lodging in an apt at Charleston Air Force Base. They are on the waiting list for housing at the Ronald McDonald House. Isabel of course is at the hospital in ICU. In a few days when she is stronger, she will undergo surgery. More updates as they arise. I’m still in GVL now but heading down to Charleston by Thursday at the latest.

 

 

 

Looking Up at the Palmetto Palm trees on the beach at Hunting Island State Park.  The Sabal Palmetto Palm is our state tree.

 

 

This weekend, in the wee hours of Saturday morning I moved from being married 27 years to 28 years. Also on that special day, in addition to being the mother of five wonderful children, I moved into the wonderful world of being a grandmother. In one day many transitions occurred and I thank God for each of them. A fabulous husband now of 28 years and our first grandchild. My husband and I celebrated our anniversary with our family at the hospital as we met our granddaughter Isabel.

Genesis 1:18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Psalm 127: 3-4 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.

Well, I’m feeling very inspired today and decided to share this poem too.  It was inspired by where I live, the joy of family outings, my first trip to the beach with my parents and now I live only a few miles from that same beach.  In family photo, my mother was very close to her due date, and my oldest daughter is very near her due date now.  Great Expectations!!!!

The Beach
tide
comes in
goes out
brings cycles
brings life
full moon
pulls tide
higher
reflects
gives light
sandy beaches
hold shells
traces of life
drift wood
resides

Generations

The family grows, it continues and flows from one generation into another, who knows
how much longer we have to make additions, repeat renditions of genetic codes and DNA
two became one, that’s how it begun
he left father and mother, to be joined to his wife;
and they shall become one flesh, for as long as they have life
from her womb fruit came forth, children, a blessing, reward
to be brought up and nurtured in the Light of his Word
as the cycle continues the blessing will flow
children, grandchildren, great –grandchildren follow
as fore parents leave legacies, heritage on family trees
branches bear more fruit and the linage succeeds
in the quest to leave godly offspring
generations who know and honor God
who seek where the good way is, that our ancestors trod
we instruct them and show the way they should go
pray for endurance, for they will lead others by the light they must show
an ancestor is not only of flesh and of blood
but also of the Spirit born again from above
so the footprints we leave for the ones left behind
may lead them to believe ‘cause we let our light shine
passing the torch from one hand to another
so they may be in the family a sister or brother

Every season brings with it different jobs on a homestead

that need to be done before you get that new book read

plowing and tilling, seed packets spilling contents into fertile ground

and you trust that new growth will soon abound

with a bounty of vegetables and fruit after their kind

to bring nourishment and satisfaction sublime

to the home of the family who toiled in the field

now enjoying the fruit of their labor, the yield

the harvest extends from  homestead to community

to customers who prefer produce grown with sustainability

the coops are remodeled, new fencing gets done

rabbit hutch built, new chicks are hatching that’s just half of the fun

flower beds need planting, there’s mowing to do

mulching and composting are on the list too

the work just continues, it’s never completed

but the benefits of homesteading cannot be defeated

it’s our way  of life wouldn’t trade or evade

we relish its rewards of husbandry, soil and the spade