thehereandafter

  How well do you know the meanings of the names in the BIBLE? After taking this I realized I didn't know very much at all on this topic...so you give it a try! The answers will be printed at the bottom of this post. 1: Who was blessed with laughter when her son was born, and named him accordingly? Sarah...Rachel...Leah...Rebekah 2: What does the name "Adam" mean? man, blue sky....man, red earth...man, green grass...man, rocks of earth 3: When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, to what name, meaning "bitterness", did she change her name? Sarah...Mary...Hannah...Mara 4: Whose name means "my judge is God"? Samuel...Daniel...Ezekiel...Jaaziel 5: Which of Jesus' titles means "the anointed"? Lord...Jesus...Emmanuel...Christ 6: What does the name "Elisha" mean? my God is faithful.....my God is salvation...my God is king...my God is joyful 7: Which disciple's name means "manly"? Peter...James...Andrew...Matthew...

I found this one special piece of paper tucked in among  some photographs in a box my mama kept. Let me read to you the first part... "Taipei (Taiwan) Oct. 6 It is almost midnite and I just got home. Chuck's (my father) in Kaohsiung and the kiddies are in bed asleep. We're in condition '3' of typhoon Carla and it has been storming since about 4:00 this morning. " It then continues to explain that on this night she was attending a baby shower at a friend's home. She explains that their friends Dean and Gayla arrived and she was happy to see them because mama and another lady were alone from Tien Mow (the city we lived in). " And we thank God again, because on the way home we got on the Shelin Bridge and discovered the T.A.S. (Taipei American School) corner was flooded and we couldn't get home. Dean led the way and we started back up the mountain and home by way of Peitow Chen. There was water over the road, a few trees down and a slide, but ...

My daughter, Amanda, had a love for baby dolls when she was young. A girl can never have too many babies! That was her motto and she was an excellent Mommy. When she wrapped one of her babies in a blanket to put them down for a nap she would wrap them all up and put them to bed. If she brought out her stroller the whole family of babies went for a walk and when she took her "cozy coupe" for a spin there were babies crammed in like sardines. We were at the mall one day and she saw a baby in the window and refused to walk on. She wanted to go into the store and see that baby. Well, we could have picked her up...probably screaming and kicking or go in the store and see the baby. We chose to take her in the store but laid down some ground rules first. "We are going in to see this baby, to tell it hello but then we...mommy, daddy, and you are coming out of the store and going to finish our business. We are not going to buy the baby and we are going to be obedient when it ...

Forgive me, and be assured that I will only say this once...well, I will try! Over the course of the last few years, life has been emotional tough and physically draining. I have really tried my best to put on my happy face so many times, on so many days, but it was really just to keep my mama and daddy's moral up. I don't think I managed it very well and somewhere along the way I lost the gift of joy. But Mama!...she never lost her joy and her sense of humor...even to the very last days she was able to show us a smirk, a smile, a raising of her eyebrows...Mama was an amazing mother and woman. She would want her whole family to be joyful, to have their sense of humor, to be able to laugh! And through the grace of God we all will again...Mama, these Fun Friday posts are in honor of you!  When you think you have had a bad day just pull up this post and reread it...puts it in perspective! You Know It's A Bad Day When... You turn on the morning TV news and they're d...

My Uncle Stan, who lives in Canada on a lake, gave me this cute plastic duck. It is a duck decoy so it is the same size as a real duck. It has been hanging around the house for years...20+. Easy to care for...no clipping wings, no feeding, no late night worries about some animal attacking it...just a little dusting now and then! LOL! My son-in-law David decided to play a little trick on me one day while doing yard work. He took my duck, Stan, outside and put him in the birdbath. This birdbath is in the front yard just outside the window where my chair sits in the living room. Very view able. I glanced out the window and saw this duck sitting in the bird bath and it fooled me. At first glance I thought to myself that we had a duck right outside the window. I took a second look and realized it was Stan; not real at all. We all had a good laugh but Stan now resides there full-time. My grands love it. When they come to MeMe's house, Aiden always goes to the window and states,"Me...

I had the most heartwarming moment the other day. Let me take a minute to tell you about it. Taking a minute to glance through my FB page I came across a video my daughter in law had posted.    She had my little granddaughter, who mind you is not even two years old yet, in her lap, rocking her to put her down to bed. My daughter Ashley was singing to my cupcake Charleston. It was one of those precious moments...Ashley softly singing "How Great Thou Art" when our little Charleston started to sing too! They both,while rocking, were softly and tenderly singing together! Take a minute to watch the short video...or not...this post will continue. https://www.facebook.com/ashley.barnes.56/videos/1782371055109786/ This made me tear up! Not only because I am a grammie but because I know how much God was honored in this small tiny moment in all of time! A mommy and a baby giving adoration to the one that gave them this sweet moment...this wonderful life! And because I was so very...

The other day I came across an hour long program on TV highlighting Arnold Palmer and "Arnie's Army". It was quite interesting and being a "Master's Tournament" fan I really enjoy it. Over the next few days that word "Army" seemed to stay in my brain. Several times it popped out at me like it was a neon sign...Ollie's Army, United States Army, Army of Tourist, Army of Photographers.  I figured God was prompting me so I took a few minutes to pray, look through my bible and browse my study notes.   Angels really do exist and the meaning of the word angel comes the Greek word and Hebrew word meaning "messenger".  They really do exist , who are heavenly bodies not bound by human constraints. They exist for the sole purpose of praising God and carrying out his will; to do the will of God, "to be His messengers, guides, providers, protectors, deliverers, encourages, as a means of answering prayers, caring for us at the moment of d...

We, at the Barnes' Casa de Villa (our house), play a not so fun game. Our daughter, Amanda, takes her clear plastic appliances out of her mouth and then lays it down somewhere.  Then we all have to run around and find it. This is a generational problem my mama handed down. I remember as a child, living in Taiwan, and making mad dashes back to the Officer's Club to retrieve Mama's retainer rolled up in a napkin. The game then was to find it before it got thrown away. Amanda has an upper and lower appliance which she is to wear 23 hours a day to prepare for her upcoming surgery. The hitch is that she cannot eat with them in so therefore they are taken out several times a day even if she is just taking a bite or two of something. At least we have never lost them in a restaurant in a rolled up napkin! Yesterday though she was walking around asking if any of us had seen her appliances. We told her we hadn't and would look around. She opened the refrigerator and guess what...

 Today my hubby and I are headed for Raleigh, NC for some work related seminars. We are so fortunate to be able to do this several times a year and in 4 or 5 different states. We are able to take a company vehicle, lodge in a very nice hotel (always a king bed with a down comforter and many, many pillows), eat whenever and wherever the mood strikes, and I can usually fit in a little retail therapy! Sounds perfect doesn't it!? Well yes, unless you are my better half and have your PTS, OCD, neurotic, guilt-ridden, wife tagging along with you. OOOKK...here is a picture into one aspect in the life of my sainted hubby!  The craziness begins weeks before our trips. He comes home from work and informs me that we are going so "clear your calendar!" At first I am always very excited and just the thought of a break from our routine makes me smile...and of course the thought of a king size bed and all the Starbucks coffee I could want. But then the guilt starts to creep in. How...

Most of you that know me well are aware that I have an obsession with all things WEATHER! When I had my first baby she had colic and we decided to hook up to cable. In those days there was not a lot of late night television and my baby's "uncomfortable" time didn't start until around 11 pm. So, as I stood in my living room, bouncing her in the middle of the night, I would watch hours of Jim Cantore of the weather channel...pretty much all the programming that was available through the night back then. That was the start of my love for the weather...sunny, windy, rainy, snow, thunderstorms, tornadoes, high pressure systems, low pressure systems...all things weather. This winter the weather has been up and down and very interesting to follow. From winter temperatures in the 80's to snow flurries; from rain and flash floods to sunny days and days of thunderstorms. We have had so many up's  and down's. In the same week we had snow showers and then temperatur...

I started my blog way back in 2005. In sure doesn't seem that it has been that long ago. My blog started because life was changing in big ways. I named it, after much prayer "The Here and After" and what that meant to me was "Here" was what we had been living...life as I knew it. The "After" for me meant what was coming. At that time in my life I couldn't comprehend any other sort of life then living a quiet life, schooling my two children, doing everything as a family, and loving it!!! The meaning of life was clear for me...be the best Godly wife, mother, and teacher I could be! God had given me a wonderful husband, two fantastic kids, a home in the country that allowed me to see God all around me, great parents and siblings, and wonderful friends... "and make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you." 1 Thessalonians 4:11.  As my children were starting in...

As most of you already know I live in the country...and have experienced quite a few funny incidents. Like the time the neighbors pigs got loose. There I was sitting by the window having a little prayer time and down the dirt drive came about 5 or 6 pigs...running and snorting! Needless to say, we had a country pig roundup, which is not easy! We have had a cow loose running across my property, which had to be headed back to his own home, chicken and a couple roosters that decided the bugs in my yard where tastier and then tried to attack me, domesticated bunnies that got out of their cages, which all were not found and some mornings you can see one or two black and white bunnies running across the back pasture...country life is unique! Of late, we have a black and white goat that belongs next door and she has taken a liking to my front deck. She wonders over usually when the family next door is gone for the whole day or out of town. She stands on the deck, peers in my front window...

This past Monday we all celebrated Memorial Day. The day, every year, that we pay respect and honor to those that have fought for our freedoms and protection. For me it is a very personal day as I remember, as a young girl, my father leaving us twice to go to Vietnam and fight in that war. There are others in my family...my two nephew served in the military and both served overseas in this present war. Thank you, Lord, that those in my family that served came back! Monday night, after a peaceful morning and a wonderful afternoon spent with my family, friends, and my honey bun and cupcake I started thinking about the greatest Commander-in-Chief, the most powerful and fearless warrior civilization has ever known. He has assembled and led his faithful soldiers, his armies for thousands of years. In all his battles he has always been victorious. A few of the battles were David and Goliath (see 1 Samuel 17), Ai (see Joshua 6-7), the battle of Jericho (see Joshua 6 ). "The Lord God...

As all of you might know I love a little snow! I drive my family crazy (and thank you Daddy for always playing along with me:) watching and reporting the weather if it forecasts any precip and temps anywhere around 35 degrees....I pray and wish for snow! And as the northeast was bracing for blizzard conditions God blessed us with a steady but light snowfall during the early morning hours of Saturday and into Saturday around lunch.    The Barnes’ estate looked beautiful dressed in a fresh blanket of snow white. Of course, we took pictures…Russell and I,  at 4 a.m. hanging out the front door, not wanting to disturb the beautiful white flakes that covered our front deck. And as the sun started to rise I couldn't keep myself from looking out the windows. The property and the trees, with it’s carpet of white, lumps of snow hanging to all the branches overhead, and the sprinkle of snow that falls from the heavens as the wind blows is a perfect picture only our Creator can pain...

With the start of a new year comes lists of resolutions, renewed commitments, fresh outlooks, grand doses of resolve, a lot of reflection....most of us look at the new year as a fresh beginning, new start to change ways and put our best foot (feet) forward. On the internet there are tons of "bucket list" and setting "Goals" templates to print and fill in. We all want the coming year to be a little or a lot better than the past year....we want to grow and be better people...we want our relationships to improve, and we want prosperity and happiness....or more! This past year, in my life, I have attempted (and you see I used the word "attempted" as I have not mastered the following) to learn to simplify...to be more focused on others...to be restful in my spirit....to turn my face to God and empty myself to him...to praise God in all and every circumstance. It has been a real hard, it has been a test and I will not ask God to show me my report card becau...

I have a smart phone with the weather app on it and when I open the app, up comes the latest story....RAIN. When I turn on the national news the big story is the RAIN. Upon waking in the morning my husband turns to me and states, that again today, it is RAINING! For the past week or so the weather has dominated the news and the lives of most of us. It has rained and rained and rained . Today, though, I was thinking about rain in a totally different way. The Lord brought this verse to me during my prayer time ..."Rain down, you heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it." Isaiah 45:8. God is commanding blessings to fall upon his people and he is beseeching his people....us...to willingly and gratefully receive them and to walk worthy of the blessings he rains upon us. What God is illustrating in these words are the ri...

I remember the days growing up and being a member of a big family with such warmth and security. Of course, we had the normal issues growing up...being children.  There were five of us children and naturally we had our complaints. We  whined  and grumbled on Saturdays when Mama handed out our chores, we grumbled about what she packed in our lunch sacks, we grumbled and protested when she gathered us together for evening devotions and prayers....we were children (and teenagers) and could NO WAY, NO HOW see the wonderful value and plan in my Mama's parenting.    I have begun a bible study on-line and we are studying the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus is packed with wonderful examples of God's love, protection, and the measures he will go to for us his children. And over and over the book of Exodus reveals how God's people, the children of Israel had a hard time putting their trust in the Almighty and seeing His BIG picture...the value and path of ...

The weather is changing...last night it dipped into the upper thirties out here in the country and tonight it is suppose to be around the same with a chance of frost. So what was a country girl suppose to do yesterday!? Get prepared to have a morning fire to sit by and drink my coffee....what else?!  So, the preparations began... the first thing was to get the fireplace tools out and start cleaning out the fireplace. I swept out all the old soot and ash, wiped down the hearth with a wet rag and then dusted it so it was all nice and shiny black. I opened the flue and then swept out that soot.  Then I headed outside to the wood shed to bring up some logs to put on the front porch. Once I filled my wood holder on the porch I gathered sticks to pile up. I sat for a while and broke them into pieces and then it was time to go inside and set up the fire. It was fun layering the sticks and different sizes of logs into the fireplace...at least this is not television series "Surviv...