My bride and I finally got our Christmas decor up and running and as we
have done the past few years, we tend to scale back due to products of
maturity and the date on our birth certificates.........grin if you must.
My bride enjoys the Christmas season tremendously and we both
keep elements of Christ in all of our decor both inside and outside since
"Jesus is the Reason for the Season and all
Seasons."
My bride didn't have any help this year other than myself and as usual,
I did the brawn stuff like setting up the tree and bringing boxes up from
the basement, etc., whereas she does the more intellectual and artistic
decorating. It took a little longer without any extra assistance but we
managed to get it done nevertheless.
Our Star of David which is 10 feet across and about 40 feet off
the ground was needing some serious renovation this season with one section of lights
completely in the dark and about half a dozen or more bulbs burned out in various
places. It has been several years since replacing and repairing the
inoperative lights on the
Star of David which normally requires the help of a ground person typically
called a grunt but didn't have
the luxury of a helper. It took one climb using one of my personal
made Porter Hunter's Dream foot climber
tree stands to get the Star of David down to the ground and then several
more trips up and down the tree to thread a new rope through a pulley
affixed to the hanger bracket support member and
get the Star of David back onto the hanger brackets once the repairs were
made. I damaged one
light bulb fixture while getting the Star back into position and that is one
of the hazards without the help of a ground person to keep the Star of David
from rotating while hoisting it up to the bracket fixture which requires you
to be at least 30 feet off the ground to secure the lower point of the Star
of David to the tree. In the background is a traditional
Cross which is also 40 feet above ground but the back yard terrain looses
elevation very fast making the cross appear closer to the ground from the
angle as viewed in the below pix. Pix below of the Star of David above
the three Peace On Earth angels:
Most of our Christmas decor both inside and outside has remained
unchanged the past 5 to 10 years and each year we downsize a little more but will
continue to display the outside decor as long as I am physically able to do so.
In the future, I might have to employ the assistance of a bucket truck to
repair and refurbish the Cross and the Star of David. My comfort zone
above the ground is now around 25 feet and 40 feet above the ground brings
about some additional prayer for certain!
My bride and I are thankful for each and every day that the Lord allows
and I am going to copy and paste something that I wrote in one of my
short stories from
three
years ago which still sums up my view for our Christmas Holiday and Season.
With all the commercialization of our CHRISTMAS Holiday and so many
attempting to get on the Political Correctness
Band Wagon of not
wishing to offend anyone and to me, they have no backbone and don't stand for
anything that really matters and are mere puppets;
"Pull my little strings and
I'll do anything." Without Jesus Christ our Lord and
Savior, there would be no Christmas since
Jesus is
the Reason for the Season and all seasons! Whatever your personal
Faith and Religion are, it is your choice and right; I choose to be a
Christian! I have a lighted
Star of David and a
Cross elevated
about 40 feet above ground to give symbolic tribute to Christ and the Christmas Season and
several Angels to go along with the traditional seasonal decor.
Laus Deo "Praise be to God." With
that said, below are some pixs of the Porter Home Christmas Yard Decor; Click on the thumbnails for a larger
screen view:
Click on below thumbnail pixs for a larger screen view of our standard
inside Christmas decor:
My bride stated that she wanted to changed the entire decor and theme of
the Christmas tree next year and I am sure by then she will have new
ornaments in order to do so.
My sister Susan Pettigrew of Reidsville, NC called on 12-18-13 and
planned to come down with my number One Brother-in-Law, Douglas to place
new seasonal flowers on our parents grave and we made
plans to have lunch at
The
River's Edge Restaurant in Cheraw, SC which has fantastic home style
seasoned food and a wonderful assortment of fresh home made cakes,
pies, baked bread and pastries. Below a pix of us taken at the
Porter home on 12-19-13 around 1130ish:
We enjoyed a fantastic meal at the River's Edge and one of their Thursday
menu specials was; baked pork chops in gravy with rice, collard
greens and corn fritters. There are many Southern Cuisine side dishes
to choose from and one will definitely not leave their place hungry by the
very generous portions of food plated and served. The staff are very
efficient and one of the owners will definitely take the time to introduce
herself if she spots someone she hasn't seen there before. I highly
recommend The River's Edge Restaurant if you enjoy wonderfully prepared Southern
Cuisine food. My bride and I finished off the meal sharing
a humongous slice of fresh toasted coconut and pecan cake which was also
"off the chain" and we enjoyed a fresh cup of hot black
coffee.
My sister recently had her hair shortened from waist length to less than
shoulder length and she looks much, much younger for sure.
Welcome to Hollywood!
It really felt like the Christmas Season
today enjoying the friendship and fellowship of my Sister and # 1
Brother-in-Law along with my Bride and as I say so many times,
"Two of the Greatest Ships that ever Sailed:
Friendship and Fellowship."
Pix below of Mickey and Joyce taken at The River's Edge courtesy of my
lovely and talented sister, Susan Pettigrew:
We plan to have our annual Christmas Eve finger food party and pass a few
gifts around and will post pixs then.
Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-19-13.
CHRISTMAS EVE FINGER FOOD PARTY AND GIFT GIVING
Below pixs of our Christmas Eve finger food party of which we all had a
great time. Click on thumbnails for a larger screen view:
Below a pix of the work station/food island after the fact. A big
difference from the first pix posted. Now the fun part of cleaning
that crystal back up and storing until needed again..... .....grin if you
must!:
Below, before and after Christmas tree also:
We had a fantastic Christmas Eve finger food party and glad that my
bride's brother Boyce Adcock was able to attend along with Cris and Shane
Hough, Lisa, Steve and Xander Gonzales, Laura Porter, Travis and Trevor
Huneycutt.
Our youngest Grandson, Xander McKnight Gonzales had fractured his right
arm a few days earlier but it did not slow him down in the least amount.
The best part of Christmas is watching the small kids with such excitement,
energy and enthusiasm awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus to bring them
gifts. I can still remember my own excitement back in the early 1950s
trying to stay awake at night and catch a glimpse of Santa Claus, his
sleigh pulled by the Reindeers with Rudolph and his bright shiny red nose
leading the way, stopping on our roof top with Santa Claus to descend down the chimney to
deliver the Christmas gifts we had requested which was wonderful and magical
indeed, however I never managed to stay awake to witness the event. It is sad that there are
many not able to enjoy such amazing times for whatever reasons. I am
so thankful that our parents (deceased) allowed us to enjoy the secular
part of Christmas and at the same time teach us the true meaning of
Christmas which my Bride and I have done the same thing with our children. Our parents enjoyed the Christmas Holidays just as much as we did.
Web published update on 12-25-13 by Bill aka Mickey Porter.
LEAVING ON A
SPIRITUAL NOTE
If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take this
moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation will be
attained.
Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest
any man should boast.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.”
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.”
Open this
link about faith in the King James Bible.
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Open this
link of Bible Verses About Salvation, King
James Version Bible (KJV).
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God;”
Micah 6:8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth
the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God?”
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me."
