Mile Long Yard Sale

Old Suit Cases at the mile long yard sale in Water-town 

Yard sale shopping.

The challenge of finding once in a lifetime offers and treasures. Not much can beat the feeling of coming home the trunk of your car filled with treasures (that you couldn't live without) to bring home.

This is how my day began... well sort of.

This is our family tradition, I mean since we were around two years old our parents would pack us up in the van and head to yard sale.  I remember the year dad bought a wagon and put it together and it kept falling apart the ENTIRE time we were there.  We got to where we were afraid to sit on it because the tires kept falling off.  LOL!  Finally, one of the people having a yard sale had mercy and tried to rig the wagon as best that he could with a paper clip on the tire so we wouldn't die or lose any of our goodies.  :)

We would mostly go to look for great old books.  That was our favorite find and boy did we find them.  Every time my dad would spot a box of books our caravan would screech to a halt (hopefully tires still on) and we would rush breathlessly to that box of treasure.  We would hover around it and peer over the box and watch our dad mine for the precious jewel of a really great story.  When he would hand us that wonderful treat we would clutch it to our chest so it would not get away from us.  Such great memories...

Treasures at the mile long yard sale 

Welcome to Watertown, TN, and the mile long yard sale (at least that is what it is called) in truth it is about 14 miles when you count all of the yard sales all along the route to get to this small town .

 Watertown is a great little town in middle Tennessee that hosts many events during the year.  You can take a train from Nashville, TN for any number of town events including this yard sale.  They have excursion trains that feature Train Robberies and Murder Mysteries several times a year, Easter trips that have the old bunny himself, Santa trains, Valentine events, The 4th of July event with the town parade and fireworks.

Some of the buildings in Water-town 

The town boasts Jim's Antique shop, an ice cream parlor, a laundry, restaurants and  several other shops and businesses.

The town has been used in several Movies and Music Videos

Down in the Boondocks by Little Big Town 

Dr. Pepper Commercial by Garth Brooks

Our parents were actually asked if we could be in this one when we were there for the Music Festival this year.  :) 

Would you go with me by Josh Turner 

One Less Lonley Girl by Justin Bieber

Not That Far Away by Jenette McCurdy

Safe And Sound by Taylor Swift

Red High Heels by Kellie Pickler

Movies

American Pickers was at the White Elephant Emporium

Pure Country II

Charlies War

Dark Harvest III

Churches in Water-town

This is a town with many historic churches and other buildings.  It was first a fort in the 1700's where people could go on the Holstein trail for protection.  Later the when the man running the fort left the land was part of the land grant system for Revolutionary War Veterans.  It this area was obtained by brothers that served the country.

Later a man by the name of Waters purchased a farm here and where that farm once was is now the town of Watertown.  It appears a tight-knit community of families and hipster artists.

For these yard sales, the entire mile-long strip leading to town square becomes a market place where every yard boasts goods for the masses.
This at one time was the main act but as the years go by the main road leading from the highway is also heavily peppered with yard sales.  It takes forever to get down that road but it is fun.
When you get to the actual town of Watertown proper, you just park and walk and pray you have good walking shoes and good eyes to see the not so good sidewalk system in the town.  

You will see some Avon, and cast iron pots side by side.  Don't forget Aunt Bertha's wig and Uncle Bill's old tool set.  There is a Victorian sitting room set and an old vacuum cleaner sitting out on the lawn with some of Pawpaw's home canned spicy stuff that no doubt Maw Maw is selling because Pawpaw is nowhere in sight as we pass.  There are vendors getting in on the business with fried pickles, fried Oreos, and hot dogs as well.  It is a sight!  We had a good time, as usual, and found some fun stuff,  We ran into friends from the Nested Willow Boutique that were searching for treasures.  We got some hugs and chatted before we went our separate ways.  By the end of the day, we were sunburned, hungry and exhausted.  Here is a little picture of what we came home with.  Lots of frames for my photography, some props for taking pictures and other goodies. 

Looking Back...

It's funny, how when you look back from day to day it looks like nothing changes but looking back over a year you see that everything has.

It's this time; when you look back over the time you spent and wonder if it was worth it.

Did I love enough?

Did I act like Christ enough to make people notice?

Did I live every moment to its fullest?

Did I forgive fast enough?

Did I listen long enough?

Did I say the right words?

This year nothing, yet everything has changed.

This makes the first year of Rosevine Cottage Girls Blog. The second year that my friends are so far away in Africa. It has marked so many lessons.

I've learned who my friends are, and what makes a great friend.

 I've learned that not everyone is going to be nice.

And that sometimes the words that are the hardest to hear are the ones I need to hear the most.

I've learned that the words that hardest to speak are the one most needing to be heard.

I've learned that the things that mean the most are the small things.

I've learned that even when life knocks me down I can get back up.

That words sting but the wounds will heal.

That sometimes family is chosen.

That memories are made all the time.

That being surrounded by special people is one of the best places to be.

That like the trees, our lives are always there, but like their leaves, they are always changing.

That not all of the people that enter my life are meant to stay, but they all will change you.

That even an animal can teach important lessons.

That dreams can come true.

That time moves on but sometimes you never fully heal.

That words can be used as weapons but also as tools of healing.

That being wrong can be a good thing.

That letting people see all of your heart may lead to injury or joy.

That hatred and bitterness only hurt me.

That life is meant to be lived now.

That a brief moment of time can be the most beautiful.

That the only person that I should be try to be better than is me yesterday.

That seasons come and seasons go.

That there will always be a lesson to learn from someone else who has already learned it.

That life is too short to hold a grudge.

So if when you are offering your gift at the altar you there remember that your brother has any [grievance] against you,  Leave your gift at the altar and go. First, make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your gift. Matthew 5:23-24 

A- a is for Abundant blessings 

B- b is for Bearing One    
        Another Burdens

C- c is for Change not
promised by the government or the Change in your pocket but the kind found only in your heart
D- d is for Devotion 
E- e is for Eternity 
F- f is for Family, Faith & Forgiveness 
G & H- is for Grace, Hope & Happiness 
I- i is for Integrity 
J- j is for the Journey
K- k is for Kisses 
L- l is for Lessons Learned, Love & Laughter
M- m is for Memories which will stay with us for a lifetime - n is for  loving your Neighbor

O- o is for Owning your short comings & Opportunities 

P-p is for making People a Priority & Prayer  

Q- q is for Quiet moments 

R- r is for Redemption, Remembering, Revival & Relationships matter to God 

S- s is for Saved by grace, Sorrow & Smiles 

T- t is for Time cut too short & Tears

U- u is for Us, a family, indivisible   

V- v is for Vision, Victory & Valor

W- w is for Wishes & Wisdom 

X- x is for being an eXample to the next generation 

Y- y is for Yesterday, & for You because it begins with you

and Z- z is for LaZy days & living life with Zeal

Reminiscing, hard times, stronger, faith, love, friendship, loss, mourning, growing, changes, tears, hope, 

The Other Side Of The Waiting Room

Yesterday my dad and I rushed to the hospital three hours away to meet a cousin who had broken all of  the doctor's expectations. We got to the hospital moments after Carter Lee was born. He was the tiniest baby I have ever seen, being just two pounds four ounces and was 15.8 inches long. Everyone said it was like holding a baby doll. I spent the day with my aunt helping her photograph his beautiful but all too short life. You see, my little cousin Carter lived only an hour and twenty minutes outside of his mother's womb.  

Later in the waiting room, I sat there watching the other families laughing and smiling and then I looked at the other side of the waiting room where a sister silently sobbed, an aunt stared off at nothing at all. A Grandparent sat with tears in their eyes instead of a smile. And I look at the others caught up in their own little world and it seems almost cruel that time can go on. I wonder how you ever can heal. I wonder how broken hearts can ever be put back together?  Who's hands can find all the tiny pieces like a jigsaw puzzle and craft them back together again? 
Who can make it look beautiful again?

Psalm 139:13  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Isaiah 61:3 To all who mourn... he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair...

How a mother can ever move on? 
How can a photograph of a foot knit together your memories? 
How after so many tears and so much pain you can ever be whole?
 It amazes me how different our story was compared to those so happy around us. How tears and happy laughter could mix. How life could change you forever in a blink of an eye. 

Psalms 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Today, it seems as if it is cruel that everyone else's life goes on while someone else could be so shattered. Today, I sit and I edit the photos I took yesterday and I cry and I pray that one day there will be beauty from all of this pain. 

Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

And yet in the midst of the pain and heartbreak, I saw overwhelming love.
I saw why God gave us family.
I saw my dad kneel at the foot of my cousin's bed as she held her baby and I saw him pray.

I will never be the same. None of us will. So for now, we will grieve. We  will smile at the memories and we will wait for joy to come in the morning. 

I will not say goodbye sweet cousin because I know that you wait for us in heaven.  I know that my siblings must have met you at the gates and you all wait for us with our Savior.  I long to be together with them and you.  Until that day... we send our love.

See part two Long Road Home 

Infant loss, death of a child, Trisomy 13, holoprosencephaly, HPE, infant mortality, miscarriage support, child loss, death of an infant, spina bifida, alobar holoprosencephaly, prognosis, survivors, diagnosis, infant death, infant funeral, grieve, prayer, faith, hope, love, empty, arms, childless, infertility, brain division, cephalic disorder, forebrain development, semi-lobar,  Syntelencephaly, stillbirth, middle interhemispheric variant of holoprosencephaly, proboscis, cyclopia, seizures, gestational diabetes,  chromosomal abnormalities, pax 2, Pax 6, malformation, meiosis, patau syndrome, Aneuploidy, Karyotype, Monosomy, extra chromosome, visual cortex.

What Would Happen...

What would happen?

What would happen if we prayed?

What would happen if instead of listening to people talk about others, we prayed...

                                                           for those on my street?

What if we all prayed for our neighbors?

How much different would our country be?

This week we are studying the Great Awakenings, and it has made me wonder...

The great awakenings were brought on by Christians (real Christians not just people saying with there chest puffed out "Well I am a Christian" I mean people who lived it to the fullest extent) got on their knees and prayed.

So I wonder; what would happen?

What stops us?

Why do we complain about how bad it's gotten and yet do nothing?

Why?

How many would it take praying to make a change? One? Two? Five? How many? How many are willing to go against the flow? How many would be willing to change them selves to change the world? Am I?

Hmmm..... I wonder...  Are you willing to give it a try with me?

Wild At Heart

Yesterday was just one of those days I have taken to calling "Wild at Heart". The morning started out with me slashing through the mud (It had rained all night and had finally reached a lull around 7)  to the chicken coops. One of my young bantams had not taken so well to all the rain and mud and for the most part looked half drowned. I get it to the house and hand it over to mom so that I can check the other pens.

When I finally get back inside nice and wet, OK and muddy. My mom has already begun to dry the bird off. and it has begun to look a lot better. Then guess who wants to go outside. Yep, the dog. When I get her out there she will not leave the sidewalk and go into the wet grass. So while we're struggling to get the dog out into the grass (gee... a border collie is stronger than I thought) my mom notices something on the sticky trap we had forgotten to throw away (yeah that was me that forgot).

Related Post: When The World Says No

It turned out to be a very stuck little bird. So I hand the leash to my mom put on my "Vet" hat and rush it right along to the clinic err kitchen. Where I begin attempting to unstick its feathers and my fingers. After getting my fingers and hands stuck to many times to count I decide to get the flour.  You can imagine the mess. After some maneuvering, I managed to remove it from the trap.

About this time, my bantam (Angel) decided it was time to explore the living room just as the little bird flies out of my hand. So I'm running around trying to catch them before our poor dog gets back inside (who is scared to death of birds). I finally manage to catch bird and chicken and somewhat get them back under control. Ok, not so much!

So, yes my house sometimes feels like a zoo with wet dogs, half drowned chickens, and stuck little birds but I wouldn't change it for the world. They never cease to teach me something. Last night, I picked up on the lesson. How much different are we? We, who are half drowned in our troubles, stuck in the pain and the darkness When God comes and finds us picks us up dries us off.

When bad things happen to Christians

Let's just start off by saying being a Christan does not mean all the bad things in life won't touch us. Quite the contrary. Let me introduce you to several people, Job and Ruth.

In the land of Uz, there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. Job 1:1 NIV

Job lost everything as a test. His family, home, wealth, animals, even his health. It got to the point that his wife told him to "Curse God and die" but he didn't and, in the end, the Lord blessed him.

 Job 42: 12-13 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters... NIV


 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man's name was Elimelek, his wife's name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. Now Elimelek, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband. Ruth 1:1-5 NIV

Naomi had a time of it didn't she? She too lost her home and her family. She lived in a strange land away from her people with two daughters-in-law. Finally, she decided to return to her home. On the road back to Judah told both of her daughters back to their families. Opal left and returned to her people and most likely their religion. Ruth, on the other hand, stayed with Naomi.

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely if even death separates you and me. Ruth 1:16-17 NIV

If Ruth had chosen to follow her sister-in-law and the "easy route" A: We would be a book short in the bible B: The blessings would not have followed the pain. (Matthew 1:5-6 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,and Jesse the father of King David) And later Jesus. NIV

Being a Christian doesn't mean bad things aren't going to happen. It doesn't mean there is some kind of magic shield that keeps us from getting hurt. We're going to get hurt just like everyone else.  But it's when we get hurt that gives us the opening to share why it does not defeat us.We may not understand now why the pain was necessary (Ruth didn't know what would happen neither did Job) but you will eventually.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers,whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 
 James 1:1-5 NIV