Psalm 98:4
"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise."
Psalm 34:8
"O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"
Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since we've posted here! The last three months have been a whirlwind. We have been SO busy- that's a good thing! In these economic hard times, we are thankful to God for the work He gives us to do. The attached pictures are some of our recent work, and also a more recent photo of the family together. Today also just happens to be our #2 son's 21st Birthday. So Happy Birthday to TJ, and many more! You have brought music to our household! We Love you! Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season of REJOICING in GOd and remembering the Birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!May His love fill your homes and hearts!
As a mom, I see my boys in all kind of situations- from bedhead in the morning to worn out dog-tired, sweaty hot and stinky in the evening!! My most favorite times of all is when they get dressed up and lookin' good! Sometimes, it's only for special occasions.But that's OK with me! I try to get pictures of them as often as I can, and sometimes a special occasion is just the time to pull out the camera and "shoot" them! Below are a few recent shots:
Ben, our oldest
TJ- my favorite second son!
Mikki- young man growing up!
My handsome guys!(all four of them!)
My creative candid shot! It actually turned out! (I was so surprised!)
25 years ago on August 4, 1984, our Mommy and Daddy said their "I Do's"!
To celebrate, the boys set up a "surprise" Anniversary party with Mom's family, who live local to us, to meet up at a restaurant for dinner and such with Mom knowing about it. And she was VERY surprised!(don't you love it when these kind of secret plans work out well?) After dinner, Dad got down on one knee(in the restaurant!)and proposed to Mom again. Of course she said yes! Then we told her we would be sending them both to a three day trip to Catalina Island!
Thank you Lord for this milestone in their lives! It is sad that in the day and age not many couple make it to 25 years. Lord, build up all our family's!
I wish you both 25 more years together, following God more wholly and loving each other more deeply every day!
With half of the family sick for the past couple of weeks, plus our work schedule and preparing for visitors here, well,.... I guess I've just lost track of time! Sorry!
Psalm 147: 1-11
"Praise the Lord How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. The Lord sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love."
What joy the birth of my sons has brought to me! As I held each one of them in my arms and kissed them for the very first time, it was truly LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT! Lots of fond memories fill my heart today as I am remembering MY first Mother's Day!
Many times I have felt like my job as stay-at-home "MOM" has been of small significance and not very glorious! I have sulked in the fact that women "out there" in the world get so much more praise from society in their professions. Many women have lots of degrees and education, they make more money, they appear more "blessed" from a worldly standpoint.
Then I am reminded of the timeless worth of the job of "MOTHER". For, what degree of education can replace a hug and a kiss, what amount of money can buy Love, what value can be placed on the care of and attention to all the details of raising a family. No job can ever replace the joys of being there for a baby's first step, first words, teaching your little one to read, watching and caring over your children as they grow into youth and then into adults. Truly, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world", in that being a Mother isn't just about having children. It's about molding and shaping the next generation. And more importantly, it's about teaching and training the next generation to be godly genuine Christians!
I am so thankful to God for this amazing privilege!
I am certainly not a "perfect" mom, and my young men are not "perfect" children (although I think their pretty fine!), but I am so happy that God chose to put us all together and call us a family!
Thank you, Lord, for blessing me and giving the the chance to be called "MOM"!
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You.
The following is TJ's input to the Greer Family blog:
Do you know what the difference is between a hymn and a praise chorus?
Here's a little example for you; (It's a really old example, sorry if you've seen it before!)
An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was.
"Well," said the farmer, "it was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns."
"Praise choruses?" said his wife. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer.
"Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife.
The farmer said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you "Martha, the cows are in the corn"' - well, that would be a hymn. If on the other hand, I were to say to you:
Martha, Martha, Martha,
Oh Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows
the white cows,
the black and white cows,
the COWS, COWS, COWS
are in the corn,
are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,
the CORN, CORN, CORN.
Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well, that would be a praise chorus."
The next weekend, his nephew, a young, new Christian from the city came to visit and attended the local church of the small town. He went home and his mother asked him how it was.
"Well," said the young man, "it was good. They did something different however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs."
"Hymns?" asked his mother. "What are those?"
"Oh, they're OK. They are sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.
"Well, what's the difference?" asked his mother.
The young man said, "Well, it's like this - If I were to say to you 'Martha, the cows are in the corn' - well, that would be a regular song. If on the other hand, I were to say to you:
Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.
For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense
Hearkenest they in God's sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.
Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.
So look to the bright shining day by and by
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn
Where no vicious animals make my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.'
Then if I were to do only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well that would be a hymn.
While playing at the park the other day, I saw this team of young girls playing softball. What struck me as funny was their unusual uniforms- black and HOT PINK polka dotted knees highs!! And while the girls were cute, it seems sad that sports have now come down to a fashion statement. The looked like little barbies, with helmet, glove and bat accessories! (My guess is that you'd never see a boys team dressed like that! )
A day at the local park provided me an opportunity to get a new picture of Mikki for his birthday post. With kite, frisbees, and a cheerful fetching companion. our dog Lizzy, we had a great time!
TJ reminded me this morning that I needed to post "something" on our blog again, since it's been quite a while! Sorry about that! I guess I just lost track of time! We've been busy around here, but if you actually asked what we've been up to, I probably would end up saying something like, "Oh not much, same as usual." It's hard sometimes to give an answer, when in reality we HAVE been busy on so many different projects. But we do so many different things, I don't know how to describe it all!
Let's see, our family recently went to visit our Springville community of friends. Ben and TJ helped one of the young men up there in doing something akin to "barn-raising." The young man will be getting married in May, and still had a lot to do to get the new house ready. So our boys wanted to go and help him with drywalling and other jobs. It was wonderful to see them all in action, working to bless the young man and being blessed in return! That was about three days of work, and they really got a lot done!! And had a lot of fun in the process, too!
We recntly finished our garden for this year, and things are growing along nicely! I love to look out my kitchen window and see all of the plants! My tomato plants alone have grown at least five inches! YAY!
We also got some new chickens again! This involved building a chicken coop, which I am so glad for this time! They have their own little yard to run around in and are safe for times when we are away from home. No coyotes this year! We got six chickens which were almost ready to lay, and sure enough, the day after we got them, we got our first egg!! We will be getting some baby chicks in the near future! They are always so cute and fun to watch!
We have been practicing some new songs, and are preparing for some *hopeful* travels this summer and fall, Lord willing.
Our family business is doing well, and God is opening some new doors for us! We'll see what develops from all of that! God is Faithful, and we are so thankful to HIM for that!
Not much of a post this time. Mostly just catching up on what we've been doing here. Thanks for stopping by long enough to read through it! Leave a comment if you like, 'cause we always like to hear from you!!
While visiting at our "dear" friends house one day, we were so surprised to see this "deer" family walking around behind the house! Five big deer were enjoying nibbling on the young tender grass there. Amazingly, they didn't run off quickly, but meandered their way along as they saw us watching from a distance. What magnificent animals they were- able to move along the steep terrain with such ease and always on the alert for danger. A rare treat to see considering this was in the city.
I am reminded of the verse in Psalms 42:1
"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul thirsts for Thee, O God."
Today I was reading in a book called "Come away, my beloved" by Frances J. Roberts. I thought this was a beautiful piece(old English) on Resignation to God:
"Incline thine heart unto Me, and let thine ear be attuned to My voice. For lo, I would speak to thee, and I have an urgent message to give thee. Go not about to establish thine own designs. Lo, I have already set in motion My divine will and purpose and I would not have thee interfere. I am jealous about My children: Lo, they are Mine, saith the Lord; and ye shall not intrude in any way such as would hinder My plans from working out. Yea, ye may do many things, but only that which I direct thee to do can have My blessing upon it. Resign all into My hands-- thy loved ones as well as thine own self. Be obedient to the still small voice. Thine own imaginings may speak more loudly, but wait upon Me always. Ye shall see the wisdom and the glory in this in due time. Fret not about carnal things, but concern thyself first and always about spiritual values. Truly, My promise is still: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all the other needful things SHALL BE ADDED unto thee."
I thought this was a good reminder, in summary, to:
Give everything to God Wait on Him, Seek Him first Don't worry about your life and the things here Everything NEEDED will be given in its time!
Thank you, GOD, for your wonderful promises and faithfulness!!
In continuation of the MacDonald's visit with us... (For some reason I can't get my computer to cooperate with me in rearranging these pictures. So they are in reverse order. Sorry!)
These are pictures of our combined Wednesday evening concert. Both families sang, separately and together at the ending.
The Greer Family Singers
The Mac/Greer Quartet: Carol and Bonnie MacDonald sing with TJ and Ben Greer This was their debut together! They sang "Crown Him"
The MacDonald's Brass Ensemble
The MacDonald Children Carol, Bonnie, Vincent, Peter, Nathan, Matthew, Daniel and Hannah
I've never done a "Caption Contest" on this blog as of yet, so when I ran across this picture, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of ideas you all could come up with for this picture!!
Now, I've been told that there are some lurkers out there who check out our blog, but don't leave any feedback. So this time, I'm hoping you'll get bold enough to join the fun! Leave us a note with your valued thoughts!!
And for those of you who don't recognize these crazy characters... Ben Greer on the left, Vincent MacDonald (middle), and TJ Greer on the right.
So, we're sitting around yackity-yacking on Sunday night. Next thing we know, we hear all of the boys (men? 5 0f them) laughing and running into the bathroom, slamming the door behind them. Like a bunch of cackling hens(roosters?), squeals of laughter and giggling behind the doors, they emerge from their secret adventure with their hair plastered with styling gel, looking like they just had the worst "bad hair" day since Samson in the Bible got his hair cut off. Everyone was laughing as each of them presented their new "Doo".
(It must have been the sleep deprivation, as most of us didn't get to bed earlier than midnight for several days in a row! )
(And, having no girls in the family, I naively thought it was the "girls" who were supposed to do this sort of thing! So much for stereotypes!) I think they must have used about a whole bottles worth of gel!
After the Sunday morning concerts at Calvary Chapel, we all headed out for a yummy pizza lunch with the pastor and his family. From there, we went directly to our next evening concert. Both families sang there. Below are a few pictures:
Bonnie playing the accordian
Mikki gives his 6-minute sermon Our family singing
Since the MacDonald's had never had "Starbucks" before, we treated a few of them to a "First"! Carol's cup says "Carol's 1st SBUX Drink"!
Somehow, the younger set always seems to have endless energy. Despite an already very full day, they came home that night and filled our house with music, laughter and fun!! Below, my living room full - complete with "Jam Session"
Looking in my front window, I couldn't resist taking their picture from our neighbor's point of view! Matthew and Peter have an interesting way of playing the mandolin!
Even after the jam session, the "boys" gave us all a good laugh with their crazy antics!
Our friends, the MacDonald Family Singers, arrived on Friday, Jan 30th, and it's been "full speed ahead" ever since. We have had such a great time together! We spent Friday relaxing and unwinding from their drive from Arizona, riding our motorcycles around the block, singing, playing and generally having a good time! Saturday we all headed over to the beach in Oceanside - some by car and van, and some on bikes via the bike trail! It was their first time to California and the Pacific Ocean, and we were all thankful for the beautiful sunny day and warm weather.
The Biking Crew
Mr and Mrs MacDonaldBelow, a shot of the "kids" who walked the Oceanside Pier, where they encountered a few not-so-friendly pelicans, watched a surf competition, saw Catalina Island off in the distance and a seal playing in the water, and saw where Mitch and Amy's names are carved into the pier boards!
Mikki and his sandcastle partner, Hannah!
Hail, Hail, the gang's all here!
Sunday held two morning concerts (both services)at Calvary Chapel Oceanside! The family enjoyed a warm welcome by all of the folks there, and had given away about 800 CD's by the time they were done! A new record for them! And they also got standing ovations both services, which was very unusual. Bonnie's yodeling song was a big hit, too!
Below, Carol and Vincent rehearse their piano duet before the services.
Keep checking back for the continuing saga and more pictures of their visit here, including Sunday evening concert with our family.
Our family singing
Carol's cup says "Carol's 1st SBUX Drink"!
Looking in my front window, I couldn't resist taking their picture from our neighbor's point of view!
Matthew and Peter have an interesting way of playing the mandolin!
Mr and Mrs MacDonald
