All I did was stand in awe and take pics of this amazing, beautiful blooming baby shower! Love to decorate, plan out parties, cook, bake and write calligraphy, but this time I was able to enter the party as a happily invited guest, blown away by all the creative sights at this sweet gathering. This post is mostly photos, so enjoy! Large strawberries dipped in white icing and then beautifully decorated with peach flowers. Sweet Petites Bakery supplied all these elegantly designed tasty treats and the gorgeous center piece cake. Whimsical white lattice, decorated up top with lights and real flowers, made for a wonderful photo backdrop. The impressive cake was dressed with colorful flowers, while lush greenery surrounded the base of it's stand. Lavishly decorated mini cupcakes and cheesecakes! Floral centerpieces of stunning beauty! Words of wisdom and truth written and displayed on the walls. Love to see that, beaming with sunshine, baby glow! Chocolate cake pops covered in white icing with decorative peach flowers. Yum! Above view of mini cupcakes along with cheesecakes! Creative way to display the sonogram pics. Love this patch work quilt and the verses stitched on the light pink squares! This dear precious couple knows in their hearts that . . . children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3-5 New Living Translation (NLT) Love how they surrounded themselves with scriptures as they celebrated the upcoming arrival of their newest addition! Jennifer's fabulous friends, Judith and Amy, who decorated and arranged this spectacular shower for her and her husband! Such amazing talents! Not pictured was her friend, Evelyn, who provided the amazing desserts from her Sweet Petites Bakery. Well this is the end of my pics from a most beautiful blooming baby shower. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by humble & bold! With Love,
Christina Stay humble & BOLD! "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105 To check out my testimony click here To like my facebook page click here Find me on twitter @humble_bold On Pinterest at humble&BOLD by Christina
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I woke up early yesterday morning thankful to be alive after Tuesday’s dangerous encounter in the water, and relieved that I had actually slept and was rested. The Monday night before our boating incident had been utterly miserable, I couldn’t sleep at all and was dealing with a pain issue that had me on my knees sobbing out loud, begging God to heal me and give me relief. The colonoscopy I had a week earlier, along with a set of X-rays, because of pain in my right hip, looked normal, however my doctor did find that the hemorrhoids, along with an anal fissure, had not healed after several months. A probable cause was a severe vitamin D deficiency, symptoms which included wounds taking longer to heal and bone pain. When the two pain issues joined forces and then teamed up with my hip pain, I wanted to literally come out of my body. I soaked in a tub of hot water, used ice, and when the cream with lidocaine burned instead of numbing the area, I got dressed while trying to see through my tears to make it outside and go for a walk. Once outside, I struggled to walk without passing out. The pain started to finally ease up - but after no sleep, I struggled to keep myself awake and to walk without stumbling. Walking at least helped get my mind off the pain. It was strange, I could feel normal, like I was on the mend and then have an episode come over me with little to no warning that had me begging for relief. That sudden, unexpected shift was eerily similar to how our relaxing outing on Tuesday turned frightening within seconds. It was strange, I could feel normal, like I was on the mend and then have an episode come over me with little to no warning that had me begging for relief from the pain. That sudden, unexpected shift was eerily similar to how our relaxing outing on Tuesday turned frightening within seconds. The plan, our plan, was to ride in smooth waters and to test out the boat after my father had some work done on it. I was feeling refreshed after a nap, where relief from my exhaustion and pain had finally arrived. Even though it was just a short outing, for some reason I felt an urge to take some small cards with verses on them in my pack, along with my phone. I didn’t know what the verses said, just quickly picked three out of a stack that I had brought from home. To explain the back story behind the cards, I had placed the verses in plastic eggs to go over with my youngest after he found them. He stacked them up and left them by his found eggs. Realizing I had forgotten to go over them with him because of our busy schedule (and this is where I struggle with temptation as Martha did in worrying about many things, when only one is really necessary) I finally took the stack with us to the beach looking for an opportunity to share them once things settled down and we were able to relax. We wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather before the storm was to arrive much later that evening. I followed my father, step mother and oldest son, as we walked the pier to the boat that could hold five to seven comfortably. I heard a big splash behind me and smiled when I saw, Romar, the dock owner’s big black dog, in the water going after a prized tennis ball. It was a nice sight as we climbed aboard the boat. The waters were calm and so smooth that we did not put on our life preservers, this could have proved fatal less than an hour later. We passed Cobalt’s bustling seafood restaurant and the tantalizing smells made their way to our noses, which prompted our taste buds to salivate as we imagined what was cooking. The view all around us was relaxing and stunning. The seagulls coasting in the air, while peligans dove their heads in the cool waters to satisfy their hunger. Waving to friendly fellow boaters as we passed each other, noticing the uniqueness of each boat, we heard the sounds of music flowing from balconies and other boats with some familiar and never before heard tunes. It was a beautiful day! "God is with thee in all that thou doest." - Genesis 21:22 (KJV) My son snapped a sweet pic of my dad and me. At the time, I never could have imagined how serious our expressions would become just minutes later. Afterwards, my husband said he was glad this photo wasn't one of those posted, "last pic before tragedy strikes!" It looked calm, so my dad asked if I wanted to go out to the ocean since my youngest wasn't with us and didn't like going through rough waters. I replied, "Sure!" thinking all would be well. We headed out, passing under the bridge, and started to increase our speed. "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." - Joshua 1:9 (KJV) The clouds had just started to roll in, but according to reports the storms wouldn't be coming in till much later. After we passed under the bridge, we started to feel the waters become rougher, but this was expected. Suddenly, as we were just making it out, the waves changed in a betraying manner. They no longer looked like regular waves. It was a unreal feeling as I saw the first large wave coming toward us. My first thought was, this looks like a scene from the Perfect Storm movie, yet it was still sunny and we weren't even out on the Gulf yet! The nose of our boat went up so high that I lost sight of the horizon. As we came down hard, real hard, water splashed over the front and sides of the boat, we held on tightly and had little time to check on each other because the next big wave was right there upon us. I quickly glanced at the life vests inside the boat and mentally yelled at myself for not having made sure my teenage son was wearing his. The door needed to be secured and closed, so I moved it by pressing my feet against the door, which also kept me lodged in my seat. I glanced back to check on my son and Gammie. She yelled, "It's too rough! We can't do this!" To which my father shouted, "We can't turn around! The boat will flip over!" My father knew he had to go straight into the waves and not panic. From the trough to the crest, the waves were easily seven feet high, My heart sank as I realized how much danger we were in. My son and stepmother were sitting in sturdy chairs behind us, however, they were not bolted down. "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." - Psalm 34:7 (KJV) Now, at this moment in time, I started to flash back to when we watched the Gospel of John, three days earlier, and the disciples were caught up in a storm, when Jesus appeared to them on the water. This story became very relatable all of the sudden, as I began to call out to God saying aloud, "Jesus! Please help us!" Suddenly my father yells out, "Look at the dolphins!" It was a reassuring sight and pleasant split second distraction seeing them swim towards us over the waves, just before disappearing underwater. Then I said to the waves, "In the name of Jesus, be still." and kept saying it till they finally eased up a bit. Jesus had given His followers the authority to say such seemingly crazy things, and I knew I had to speak it in faith. Another dozen waves came before finally abating. As we made it to the one mile buoy, it became possible for my experienced father to turn the boat around. I felt like I could breath again for a moment, thanking God for saving us and keeping us from severe injuries. However, we still had to stay focused and it was hard to see ahead because the windshield was covered in water and the nose of the boat seemed pointed up as my dad rode our boat on a large wave, like a surfer, back towards the bridge. He carefully avoided going too fast or too slow, finding the perfect spot to maintain our safe return. Seeing the wall of rocks on our left side, I remembered my father sending me a picture of a boat that had crashed upon those very rocks years ago, during the night (pictured in top photo above), and it was a sobering sight - I thought about those people and how suddenly tragedy can strike. There was no opportunity to take a pic of the unbelievable waves we had passed through, I could only describe how they sharply imprinted my memory. (Before sharing this story, I asked my father to read through this post and see if my memory of the event was accurate. He surprised me when he said after reading it, that I shouldn't minimize what happened. What! Okay! That confirmed that what we went through was as bad as I had originally thought. So what happened? After fifty plus years of total boating experience and fourteen years of going out in the ocean, my father thought the tide was going out of the bay as the waves, from the coming storm in the Gulf, were riding high over that body of water into Perdido Bay. The mouth of the bay opening was only 100 yards wide, so a great surge was forced into that small contained area. As we were coming in, I saw another boat with children on board struggling to come out as well. They were awfully close to the rocks and I prayed earnestly for them to make it out safely. I wanted to yell out, but they couldn't turn around, they had to go through the waves head on as well. Gammie and my son were soaking wet, but safe and uninjured. Later my son said his chair lifted up off the floor of the boat several times as we came down off the waves. My father said that was the worst he had ever encountered, and he knew he couldn't panic. I had wondered, despite his steady actions, if he was afraid and suspected he had to be. When we got back to the dock, I treasured every moment of seeing us all upright and conscious, thinking on how things could have turned out so differently. I pulled the verses out of my pack and read all three of them over and over again in amazement. They were perfectly tailored to what we just went through and reassured me that with God there are no coincidences. Here are the verses. "God is with thee in all that thou doest." - Genesis 21:22 (KJV) "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." - Joshua 1:9 (KJV) "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." - Psalm 34:7 (KJV) Whether facing sudden shifts and waves of fear in physical pain or in literal waves that take your breath away, God was with us, and He confirmed it with those verses. I know we all go through different kinds of severe pain, hardships and eventually death, but there is great comfort and strength in knowing that He takes care of those who put their trust in Him, especially when our bodies give out or are destroyed. Death does not care if we are ready, but God has laid Himself down for us to be redeemed, reconciled, restored and renewed. Oh! And yes, I sat down with both of my sons that evening and shared the three verses that I took on the boat that day. All three had a common theme, even though they came from three different books. Only God! Yes, Jesus was right, He always is, so choose what is better, like Mary, and it will not be taken from you. With Love, Christina Stay humble & BOLD! "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105 To check out my testimony click here To like my facebook page click here Find me on twitter @humble_bold On Pinterest at humble&BOLD by Christina Youtube Humble & Bold |
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About ChristinaChristina is an ![]() There are some links on my humble & BOLD site that are affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation if you purchase the product or service. The compensation will in no way influence the content, posts or topics made on this blog. I only link to products that are highly rated and that I feel would be of benefit to my readers.
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