MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE TAKEN UP BIKING...LOVE IT!!!!

So....have not blogged in a long time....here I go again with something different this time: Not too long ago, I called my sister Martha; visited on the phone for almost an hour and found out that her and her husband Chuck were still bike riding and had retired. Now, that sounded like a winner to me (other than retirement).

Let me tell you the joys we are having now and it all started by that phone call to my sister. So, I put my feet in gear and started walking in the right direction of purchasing me a bicycle at "Ride-A-Bike"; (my husband already had one) so needless to say, we were in business of riding together with them (family, whom I love to be with).

It all started by putting one foot in front of the other....and away we went; laughter brought us from the couch to riding the trails from North Carolina and Virginia. Literally having a ball and I mean that! I do have to confess one thing though....you can dress me up, but don't take me out anywhere...let me explain:

Our first trip was the Virginia Creeper Trail...had gone about 5 miles down-hill when we decided to stop for photos and more photos. There's always these nice little "creeks" that run beside the trails (go figure), yea right! Well, after stopping for photos, we all decided to tip-toe into the water very carefully and capture beauty of God's earth on these "hugh rocks" in the water. Oh my, down I went....slipped on the rocks and landed on my left hand. At that point, I thought I had broke my wrist. By just pure luck I could move my wrist and hands, but looked into the palm of my hand and all I saw was blood. My diamond had cut me right between my pinky finger and ring finger. My husband thought it best that I seek treatment (and glad I did). Had two sutures put in and that healed up nicely.

So, we finished the trail of about 12 miles left and all ended well with that trip. I can honestly say this....I LOVED BEING WITH MY SISTER, MARTHA AND HER HUSBAND CHUCK. They are so much fun to be around. Love them!!!

We took so many pictures that day on the bike trip. I mean, after all - all we have are the memories and what would we do without the pictures, right? I would rather ride bikes with family and friends than do any other type of physical activity.

Here we are, Bruce and I stealing a quick kiss on this "cute cycle bridge". I had so much fun that day...why, it was like a kid at Christmas time.

Here we are the four of us...from left to right (Chuck, Martha, Veronica and Bruce). Now, everybody has heard of those terrible "hair days" and look at me...just look at me. That dreadful "hair day" I had going on! No matter what I did, those bangs were flipping and a flopping. ha,ha. Looked like something out of the scary ghost books. But, my husband said the pictures weren't that bad and for me to STOP about the bangs...so I did. Love my family!!! Love my family!!

Here's a picture of my brother-in-law and hubby.

And, last but not least...here is the van that shuttled us to the top of the mountain with our bikes. Little did we know when we reached the top that we had 17 miles to go back down the mountain. But, truly the last 5 miles was all we had to peddle...everything else was down-hill. Now, tell me that's not a bad deal!!! We did have a wonderful time and have been on other trips riding as well.

My First Grand-Daughter; "Addison Grace"

So, now my little grand-daughter is five (5) months old now and time is moving right along and we are now into the month of October, Wow! Her mommy and daddy tells us she has moved right along with her age bracket of things she should be doing at her sweet little age thus far....

Funny how time goes - especially in a little one's eyes. There is absolutely nothing she can do on her own. She depends solely on her mommy and daddy to take care of her. She cannot feed herself; she cannot change her wet diapers; she cannot take her own baths and how marvelous can things be for our grown up minds to realize her dependency upon her parents to help her thrive in this world.

Now, here she is in her early months of age (around 1 month old) and her mommy and daddy agreed to raise her up in church and to be sure to teach her about Jesus. In fact; I was speaking to Brian (who is my son) not too long ago and he shared with me on Sunday mornings; Sunday nights and Wednesday nights - he will look at her with those big blue eyes and tells her......"princess, let's go see Jesus". Is that not the sweetest thing a mother can hear from her son? Only brings back fond memories of when we promised to keep our son in church and to teach him the values and principals of family and what God expected from christian parents; because you see, that's what God tells us to do in His word. I meditate many days upon my grand-daugher and the love I have for her. I am so thankful to God because I never had a daughter - but I do have my daughter-in-law and I have always looked at as the daughter I never had. I pray that God will always protect and bless them.

"She's beautiful"....I look at her deep blue eyes and wonder in my mind what she is going to grow up to be and how she is going to serve God. I wonder how she's going to look as she gets older; just assuming she will look like she does now; but her baby face will be gone. I better cherish those days now because at the rate time is going now, she will be one year old before we can say good-bye.

I'm with her - whether I'm feeding her or changing her diaper; I always smile at her and say...."grand-mommy loves your darlin" and she just smiles so BIG for me. Then she gets excited and frails her feet and arms with excitement. I just can hardly put her down for her naps during the day - that's the love I have for her.


She awakes from her naps in such good moods. I love Christ more than anything in the world and want to serve Him with my whole heart. I love my husband second and my own son whom I love dearly...but, let me tell you - Addison Grace falls right in line behind them. I heard many grand-mothers tell me..."just wait until you have grand-children". It's the life you have never imagined. Well, I'm there now and let me tell you - Addison Grace is my sweet little princess - for sure!







This is funny; her mommy started her on a pacifier in her one month/two month years of age and would have nothing to do with them. She chose her little fingers to suck on. See this sweet little picture of her!!!! ~ Her mommy tucked the pacifiers away for now and said okay..it will be your fingers. I put her up on my shoulders and before long - she's sucking on her two fingers and soon she will be fast asleep. God loves my little Addison Grace and so do I.


Now, do you honestly think I as just a bit biased in my love for her? Every grand-mother out there feels the exact same way as I do with their grand-children...

We all think the sun rises and sits on them. She so has the joy of my life and I enjoy so much being around her because she brings joy to my life. I love to see her happy and smile. Why?, because it makes me happy!

She's my first grand-daughter from a son that I love dearly! "Brian Nicholas and Addison Grace"....you both will always have a special place in my heart and I thank God for allowing me the priviledge of being a Mother and Grand-Mother to the both of you! Nothing can ever erase the love I have for either one of you! I'm always here for you...

Love,

Mom and "grand-mommy"

"The Cross Born ~ And Life Goes On"

My name is Veronica Arnold ~ I have not blogged in a while...but kinda felt like writing something that's close to my heart and that would be; The Cross Born (Jesus was born; died and rose again for me), and my "Life Goes On".

Many times up until now, I have felt like many others, (friends and family) throwing my hands up in the air; try to forget about difficulties in my life and the things that made the difference in my life; so, on a few ocassions I had this strange feeling that I never did matter to anyone....where I went and when I was coming back home; outside of my lovely husband "Bruce" who has truly been my best friend in life.

Well, evenings would come and mornings would rise up and that made the difference in my life and life worth living.

God wanted me to have a joyful heart; sing out praises to Him because He is worthy to be praised. In fact; several mornings, I would open my kitchen window shade and (out-loud) I would say..."Good Morning Sunshine" and that's me "As Life Goes On". Just being myself...God is so good to me and everyday I thank Him for what He has done for me in my life. I sing praises to my Heavenly Father :O) ~ That makes me smile!!

Like everyone else; I get caught up in everyday life issues of coming and going; the day is gone - hours have passed so quickly and think to myself, what did I do today that would count for anything...what did I do for my Lord today. As gracious as God is, I think to myself again; well, "Life does go on" but I need to observe more of what people's needs are; after all - it's not about me, but about others...that's what God is happy about. - God, please help me to always gives thanks to you for everything in my life!

About three (3) years ago; I took a trip down to Disney in Florida - spent one week with family and enjoyed the trip. Down there; truly, "Life Goes On". While there, people were going up and down the streets of Disney; so I decided to sit down on a park bench to watch people passing by.

My goodness, I really don't think any of those people had much on their minds other than how much money they could spend that day and what amusement they were going to next. This above little note from "Walt Disney" is true...."Guess they figure their dreams would come true if they had the courage to pursue them".

With my hand under my chin and sipping on a soda; I just wonder what most of those folks were thinking in their minds on that lovely day at Disney. As I sat there in the breeze of the spring winds...I could not help but think to myself "wonder how many of these people know Jesus Christ as their personal savior?, because I know what He has done for me and my best is nothing to the Great Redeemer". So, amidst the hustle and bustle of these folks passing by this park bench that I was sitting on; I didn't forget to stop and pray this prayer: God pursues hearts for His glory, even in a theme park like Disney.

So, this small little picture just sums up all that I think a person should do to make them happy as "Life Goes On"!!! Always count blessings instead of grumbling...golly, learn from our mistakes - haha ~ people change and things do go wrong; love what you got; take chances and give everything you have to help others....laugh when I can and apologize to others when I know I've done wrong. I promise to let go of things I cannot change because life is to short to be unhappy.

So God promises to keep me from harm; He is faithful to always look after me. Does not matter...day or night - ya see, God is so wonderful to keep us as "Life Goes On".

Veronica

"Family Reunions As Time Goes Along" ~ Memories Are Shattered

Memories are shattered....year after year! I wanted to share with my readers about the large family I come from and why reunions are important; but it's important that I say; memories are shattered by:

"Bitterness" is an emotional cancer that consumes many a person who once had the bloom of eternal springtime in his heart. Where does it come from? Usually from being hurt. Perhaps you were abused as a child, rejected by someone, fired from a job, or even bypassed at church. Bitterness sets in when the hurt goes unresolved. There is a solution.

If you've been wronged and bitterness has become so strong that you can almost taste its bile within your mouth, then it's time to pursue it with a holy vengeance. With the Spirit's spade, root it out. Draw a circle that takes in those who have wronged you. Forgive them for Christ's sake!

ACTION POINT: Bow before the Lord this morning and ask for grace and power to uproot the bitterness that has taken hold in your heart and is robbing you of the joy you desire. In the book of Isaiah 38:15..."What shall I say?; He has both spoken to me, and He Himself has done it..I shall walk carefully all my years in the bitterness of my soul".

So, when a member of our family removes their bitterness for one - then we can move out of this "memories are shattered" and have happy day reunions.

Here you see a picture that my oldest brother "Vernon and his wife Geri" purchased on a mountain top in West Virginia...built them a home up there and you guessed it...that's where the reunions take place year after year...sad and breaks my heart though because we went there this past May, 2010 and only a hand-full of "family" was there! I put much blame on myself because of the "wearing that bitterness on my shoulders and hurt feelings". I must say God is not happy with a family of 15 brothers and sisters who just can not get along because of "bitterness". But, someday ....we will all answer for the things we have said and done to offend family members and with that...I include myself.

So, what in the world would you do with a large family who just cannot get along. I suggest that we pray for one another and make every attempt to get to that mountain-top called "Mt Vernon" and share our memories with our love ones!!!! Then God would move in a mighty way in our family and we would see more contentment with one another.

When I take time out of my busy schedule to look at older "reunion pictures" up on that mountain top...I pray for God to remove any bitterness in my heart from any brother or sister I have wronged. When we have broken fellowship with our brothers and sisters on earth..."how are we going to have fellowship with our Father in Heaven"? Let's grow up and move beyond....

Lastly, here is another picture of the oldest brother Vernon and his wife Geri on the mountain (named by another sister, Becky Shaeffer) which is Mt. Vernon and I truly believe they both built this home with love; for our family to gather there every year in May to unite, come together and celebrate years gone and to hear stories about what each are doing and what they are doing now!!! Every year - there is just a hand-full of family who shows up in May...and I know it breaks his heart when he looks around and only sees "that few" who took the time out of their busy schedules to re-unite with brothers and sisters they have not seen in a long, long time.

Like I say, we went this past May, 2010 and because of unconfessed sin; bad attitudes and forgiveness from members of my family - I felt "out of place". I truly can say in my "blog" I have done my part in sending out letters of forgiveness; made phone calls (and did not take my call) for what ever reason...but, I pray that each one of them will find it in their heart to lay aside all bitterness and malice and come together this next May, 2011 and have a HAPPY RUDD REUNION...that is, if God chooses to bless us another year and He doesn't call one of us home with Him. I can without reservation; honestly say I do love my family and I will pray for all daily!

God speed until we meet again...

Veronica Celeste Rudd Arnold

~ Running Through Fields of Daisies ~

I want my readers to meet my son, Brian and his wife, Tracy and their new recent addition, their daughter, Addison Grace. Bruce and I are very proud of these "three" and might add "the love we have for all three of them". Our son serves as a Youth Pastor and Campus Director for the University where they both met and our daughter-in-law serves a Clinical Nurse Manager. We are very proud of our family.


Goodness, it won't be long and some sweet day; my precious grand-daughter "Addison Grace" will be able to walk and run through the "fields of daisies" with her parents and grandparents. We all know how quick all babies grow and learn to do things on their own. She is almost 2 months old now and we see her changing week by week. She's starting to adapt her own sweet personality and I love to put her in my arms and talk to her. She looks and listens so intently, while flinging her arms and legs; and smiles at her "Gran-ma and Pops". Of course; we just soak in the warmth of her love...oh, let me tell you; our hearts just melts for the love of our granddaughter.

So, as some years go by; I anticipate that right age of her "picking daisies" for the ones she loves and are special in her life! I truly can picture this in my mind; ...with her little hands; reaching down and picking those flowers; running through the fields of daisies...again, I see her hair blowing in the wind and her eyes as bright as the noon-day! She'll have a smile that melts the heart of every grandparent when she gives her freshly picked daisies to them!!!!!! We have so much to look forward to with the family we have grown to love.

Who knows what the future holds; but, maybe "Addison Grace" will grow up to be an artist that can paint pictures of this liking. My mother was an artist who painted all the time and she enjoyed what she did and I truly believe it was a joy for her daily and lasted until this carried her into the arms of Jesus. One never knows what talents God will give to a person to bring joy in their life...just something simple as a painting of "fields of daisies" or maybe just pick daisies to put in the windowsill to make a house a home.








So, I am going to enjoy my "Addison Grace" and watch her run through the "Fields of Daisies"

"Pleasant Pieces of Lace, Linens and Pearls" ~ My Favorites!!

Well, "blogging once again" only this time I am sharing with my readers probably one of my favorite pieces of jewelry of all times and that is "freshwater pearls" and please; would there be anybody out there that knows of some young lady who doesn't like pearls?...my goodness; they are so elegant of which you can dress them up or dress them down!

I happen to like wearing them with almost anything. In fact; not many ladies know the history behind the pearl...so I am willing to share this with my readers:

"The Legend Of The Pearl"

An organic gem, pearls are formed inside mollusks such as oysters and mussels. They are formed when an irritant such as a tiny stone or a wee bit of sand gets trapped inside their shell. Then a lustrous substance called "nacre" is secreted around the object to protect the soft internal surface of the mollusk. As layer upon layer of nacre coats the irritant, a pearl is formed. Light that is reflected from these overlapping layers produces a characteristic iridescent luster. This process of building a solid pearl can take up to seven or eight years.

Well, ....just think about that for a minute. How awesome is our God that He would cause sand to get trapped inside an oyster to create one of the finest pieces of jewels to wear around of neck! Readers, I don't know about you ~ but I think this is magnificent that our God creates such beauty and I mean beauty from the depths of the sea and gave man the knowledge of how to get these oysters open to get these precious gems and sell in department stores all over the world..... Wow!

Okay, now you know I love freshwater pearls; there are a couple of things that "strike my fancy well and good"...yep, you guessed it, the all time "fine linens and lace" which helps to capture its beauty in my mind. The labor of someone who's so gifted with their hands to put together pieces of lace just overwhelms me. God has given many people talents and for that reason I have grown to love and respect the people who gave of their time to piece together such pretty things to hand down to our children from generation to generation.

Now, last but not least, I simply adore fine linens around the table for any special occasions or whether they line the bedsheets of any antique bed at any Bed & Breakfast overnight stays. They make me warm and fuzzy inside and can't help but sleep better with them tucked up around my neck at night or stretched out to the foot of the bed...with any piece dropping to the floor of the bedposts! Talk about a good night's sleep!!!

So, there you have it...you now now I love "freshwater pearls, fine linens and lace".

Oh, how I Love My Lord!
Veronica

"Blackberry Picking Time"

Okay.....we are now well into the Summer season and it's just about "blackberry picking time". Wow, did we love this fruit that God especially put here on this earth for us to enjoy!!!

We "kiddos" would gather out pales and out for the day we would go...."hi ho, hi ho, it's off to the patch we go". Now, we didn't go for just an hour or two...why we would go and stay all day. Our father would softly say....you kids are not picking fast enough.

All I wanted to do was go back home and play; but we knew the fruit had to be picked and once our baskets were full.....(thinking it was time to go home)...Dad would say, come one let's get more berries. But, you know what....I wouldn't give those days up for anything in the world. Special time with family!!!

Well, once we had all the buckets full and we had "splinters" from the berry bushes...we would just cry all the way home from the thornes. Now keep in mind, we didn't have an air conditioned car to ride home in....why, us kids would just jump into the back of the pick-up truck and away we would go....thinking to ourselves ~ what is Mother going to do with all these berries we picked. Well, she first washed a pale of them in the sink....then she would make us a blackberry cobbler! Now you talk about good!!!!

After we would have our evening meal; we now had the pleasure of enjoying the "fruits of our labor"....homemade cobbler and ya know...it was better than any store bought; because we picked the berries and for some reason that just made it better.

After settling down for the evening and we all had our baths, now came the time for our Mother to get a "needle" and do the dreadful; most hated job of all and that was to remove all the "thornes, splinters and jaggers" from our hands....ouch ~ talk about hurt. At that particular moment.....I said to myself, I don't care if I ever go back to another blackberry patch in my life. But, the next summer we were back out in the patches gathering the berries. And what was not made into cobblers; again Mother would preserve them into jams and jellies and of course, that's another story for another day!!!

For us kids to be so young...we didn't have time to be bored. There was always work to be done around the house. I would not trade those times at all for any computers; games; i-pods; cell phones. Life was so simple for us, but yet we never did complain about anything because we need that God was good to us and we had plenty...all that we needed..(not what we wanted).

All winter long...breakfast would always taste so good with homemade biscuits and our blackberry jelly or jam. See, it was a special time of the year to gather the berries to enjoy them later in the season; but being little kids; we knew of no such thing as later seasons. All we could think about was the hot, sticky weather and having to pick berries with "bumble-bees" flying all around us. I can remember my father saying many times...now you kids look out for snakes because they love the berries! Now, how appealing was that to us..."watch out for snakes"! My goodness, what would we have done if we would have been bitten...but ya know ~ God looked out for us then. Never one time in all the years of blackberry pickin' did we get bit by any snakes.

Oh the joys of my childhood....God is good all the time; all the time God is good!!!

Veronica....."I Love My Lord"

News from back at the "Homeplace"

Delores Virginia Winnings Rudd

"My Dearest Mother"

So, after running many things through my mind in a day's time; ~ plenty of memories come to my mind. I do recall an old coal stove that my father used to fire up every morning so my mother could make delicious meals to put on the table every day; (morning, noon and night). I probably could have searched the town over and would never be able to find anyone that could cook like my "momma".. Goodness, she could make the best "yeast rolls" that could win any contest around...they were that good!!!...oh those memories!

The picture above is my mother; taken probably when she was about 14 or 15 years old. If still living today, she would be 92 this year; 2010. Behind her is a wooden split rail fence that ran our property line....for ya see; that wooden fence......well, that's how I got the name for my blog! "I loved my mother"...

Christmas time was always a special time of the year for me; well I might I add also Easter also; because every year at Easter...without any doubt...us girls knew we were getting a "new homemade dress" for Easter and golly, were we proud to wear the dresses that Mother had worked so hard to make sure every stitch was "gathered" and eery "hem" was right below our knees. Why, no trying to confuse our Mother and sneaking to move the hem up by ourself; because she knew better; "can't outsmart our Mothers!!!.. But our Christmas has stuck with me even until now; I recall the very few things we would get; but one in particular thing we all received from Santa was a bag of fruit and nuts! One year I received a "Skipper Doll" and was so excited about that...well lets just say it like this.......I could hardly sleep for thinking about that doll I got for Christmas and the excitement just overwhelmed me.

I still have struggles of losing my Mother when I was only 14 years old...that's when we all needed a Mother; but God chose different!.. I remember certain things; we always had plenty of food to eat - my father had the biggest...most beautiful garden that he toiled day by night to make sure there was plenty for the winter months and start all over again in the spring. We always had plenty of corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, potatoes and all the necessity things my mother needed to put together her meals each evening. Mother would can as much produce...washing jars; getting the lids and rings together and listening for the "pop" sounds when they sealed for freshness. We were poor; but one thing we did not lack was a spiritual mother who kept us in church.

We went to church when the church doors were open. All activities that were held at the church...well, you can just bet we were there! Mother loved God and she taught us the principals and values of loving God and other people. We had our scripture reading every morning before we left for school and mother would always pray for our safety. Funny, but ya know; we had a German Shepherd dog that would walk us to school...every morning ~ he somehow knew when school was out because when the bell would ring for dismissal; there was our dog to walk us home. My father would not go to church with us...why I don't know. But later in his years; he too accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior and was saved. That was shouting grounds for the family...but it was too late for Mother to know about it; because God had already called her home to heaven with Him.

So, as the years moved on along; we always found ourselves getting into some kind of trouble that required a whipping from our father or mother. Now some of you may know; you never wanted a whipping from your father because that would always hurt; goodness, I would always put my hands on my behind so it wouldn't hurt so bad and funny thing, I still hear my father saying "move your hands".... I remember one day; late into spring when my father had known the frost was gone and he had planted his tomato plants...all in a row. Well, here comes this 4 year old and trampled down his tomato plants. Boy ~ did I get the whipping and told me to go to the house; of which I did....just a-cryin. I laugh about it now!!! Goodness, there are so many memories from home and I will share them with you as I move along in this blog. I'll even share with my readers about the fence posts; the grapvines and on and on. They say when you get older they call it the "Golden Years"...well, I agree to disagree because I think the younger years should be called "Younger Golden Years".

Well, so my life have moved into a grand of teenage years and for that very reason, I am thankful that God has given me such a wonderful family who:

1) Loved Me....

2) Taught Me About Christ....

3) Took Me To Church....

4) Clothed And Fed Me....

5) Taught Me Morals & Values Of Life....

Signed: Veronica Arnold

"Oh, Those Nasty, Painful Wooden Splinters"

My Goodness....

In looking back over my "small" years; my memory recalls all the childhood splinters that we all use to get. We would just cry and go on; running to our mother...please take the splinter out and make it better. Oh, the love of a mother's touch to make things all better.

I also think about those wooden fence rails we use to walk daily throughout my early years of life. We would try to see who could stay on the fence the longest without falling off; but when we did...guess what? - more splinters only this time we would be covered with them. Again, off to get the touch of our mother's love and make it all better. "Those were the days I remember".

The day came when God called my mother home to heaven to be with Him when I was at the age of 14 years old. Then and only then can a person identify the need for a mother. No more would I have a mother to pull those nasty splinters out which was all I could think of at that time!!!! I can remember all the things she did for me; made every stitch of clothing I wore; made sure we were fed; had a clean house; taught the Bible; taught me how to pray;........well, every little "jot and tittle". Someday, I will see her again, Praise God!

Then at the age of 18; God called my father home to heaven and left me behind with no earthly parents; but I did recall in my mind.."I have my Heavenly Father" who can look after me though and for that...I did call on Him daily for choices that I had to make at such a young age in my life.

I am married now for 30+ years to a wonderful man; "Bruce Neal" - who loves me and I love him. He gave me a wonderful son, "Brian Nicholas" and for 18 years we kept him in church; taught him morals and values. He saw his need for Christ and accepted Him at an early age. He went off to college and met a young lady; "Tracy Robinson Arnold" and four years later; they too were married. It's now been six years; so proud to announce our precious grand-daughter was born, "Addison Grace" of whom we have grown to love and adore.

Down through the years of maturing and growing in Christ; I have faced many trials that God has put me through. I've cried lots of tears and wondered why God would put me through these things...but "who am I"? Our God endured the cross for me..."why not me"?. I have learned patience in these trials and most of all ~ "LOVE FOR PEOPLE". God loves me; how could I not love people...which kept me inline - otherwise I would have fallen apart at the seems or so I thought. I do remind myself often...I belong to Christ and when others do wrong to me....they not only hurt me but they hurt Christ because I belong to Him.

I love my family...I would give my life for any one of them.
Veronica Celeste