Moonstones and agates .....

Moonstones and agates ....

From fourth grade on up, I spent a lot of time with my maternal grandmother and step grandfather.  They lived on a sheep ranch near Eureka, California.
It had a huge two story old farm house, an intriguing (little women) attic, a real parlor, wooded roads, climbing trees, wood stoves to cook and to heat, a huge woodshed, sheep, chickens, a creek, a big barn....all those things that make a wonderful place for children and grandchildren...and my cousins and I spent a lot of time there...grandma would fix pancakes, breakfasts we loved...wonderful meals.  We helped with dusting, cleaning, working in the garden, picking berries, climbing trees, building "forts", picking cherry plums for customers....

one thing that took lots of time, (I think) was playing in the creek which ran by the barn...it was "filled" with moonstones, agates and just pretty rocks washed down from the nearby hills...I still have some of those "precious" stones 60 years later...they won't mean anything to anyone as I pass them on...but yet they were valuable to my childhood ...or the relationships built while hunting those wonderful stones ...

As I walked an Oregon coast beach recently, looking for the illusive sand dollar, agates or moonstones, I was reminiscing to myself of the hours we spent in my grandmother's creek looking for those stones as well... Our excitement at finding a treasure, pocketing it and later showing it to grandma...her enthusiasm over our "finds".  She made that place a wonderful memeory....her ready smile, her hugs, her strength of character, her joy, her love for each of us...thank YOU for the people You have placed in my life...

I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.
Psalm 45:17
(Totally out of context) but this verse reminded me of my grandmother, she is worth remembering...we have letters and history of her life written by her. She had a pioneer spirit, having made it through many hardships and passed down fun times...She lived a long life until her passing at age 92 in 1992.

Your name, Lord, endures forever, your renown,  Lord , through all generations.
Psalm 135:13

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
Deuteronomy 11:18-21