Twas the Birthday of a King

In the little village of Bethlehem
There lay a child one day
And the sky was bright
With a holy light
O'er the place where Jesus lay.

Alleluia
O how the angels sang!
Alleluia
How it rang!
And the sky was bright
With a holy light
'Twas the birthday of a King.

Humble birthplace
But O
How much God gave to us that day!
From the manger bed what a path has led
What a perfect holy way.

Alleluia
O how the angels sang!
Alleluia
How it rang!
And the sky was bright
With a Holy light
'Twas the birthday of a King
- William Harold Neidlinger

My watercolor was inspired by the artwork of Geninne Zlatkis.

Happy Birthday C.S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898. He died just shy of his 65th birthday on November 22, 1963. He began his adult life as an atheist and then, as only God can do, he became a believer in Christ. To me, Lewis was a master of description that allowed the reader not only to visualize what he was trying to portray but also to FEEL the emotions of the depiction. I have learned so much about God and myself through Lewis' writings. Lewis was also an avid letter writer to his friends and fans. Through these writings you see a man whose kindness and compassion clearly protray the grace of God in his life. I close this post with one of my favorite quotes from The Last Battle that describes his and our hope of Heaven: ""There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are--as you used to call it in the Shadow-Lands--dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." And as he spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

illustration is watercolor and collage by myself

Happy 21st Birthday!

What a lovely dinner we had with you and your charming young man.

May God continue to bless you dear daughter.

Celebrate

A card made for my son's 17th birhtday.

Shred!
for 17 years you have tread!
Happy Birthday!

(Definition of shred-the act of playing fast complicated passages on an electric guitar-something my son loves to do)

May 18, 1993 Was A Good Day!

Happy, happy birthday! We love getting together with you! We always have so much fun.

Today is a special birthday.

We're honored to be related to you. Love you, Chris!

Was William Shakespeare born on this day?

"My heart unto yours is knit so that but one heart we can make of it..."
-A Midsummer Night's Dream".
This lovely quote was written by William Shakespeare.

Today is the day that it is said William Shakespeare was born. No one really knows for sure. Historians do know he was christened on April 26, 1564. At that time babies were usually christened one or two days after being born therefore April 23 has been chosen as the day of his birth. So much of our everyday English language has been influenced by him and many of us are not even aware of it. How many of us have heard or said, "love is blind", "what's mine is yours","forgive and forget","Friends, Romans, countrymen", "It was Greek to me", "neither a borrower nor lender be" (ha -everyone would do well to remember that at this time), "parting is such sweet sorrow". Those are just a few examples. There are many quotes we say, as well as beautiful descriptive language that Shakespeare penned. Google "William Shakespeare's quotes" if you'd like to see more.

Happy Birthday West Virginia!

Yesterday evening my husband and I sat on the back deck watching my tall, burly 16 year old son, and his equally sized friend, toss the football back and forth, wrestle, and joke with each other. We were all enjoying the cool, clear evening. My son's friend, A., was wearing dress clothes left on from an appointment earlier in the day. His dress shirt was unbuttoned displaying a WVU Mountaineer t-shirt. A. has been known to proudly proclaim, "My family has lived in WV for generations." As the evening wore on, and my son and A. became tired, they proceeded to sit on the back swing filling up the entire seat with not an inch to spare. They rocked as if in a huge rocking chair, quietly talking. As they talked, A. turned up his I-pod for all to hear the song he was listening to ...."Almost Heaven, West Virginia....." West Virginians love their state -- all generations of them. Being a transplant, this is novel to me even after 20+ years. The loyalty and simplicity shown by A. was refreshing. So, West Virginia, have a wonderful birthday.