Category Archives: Holidays

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Merry Christmas

. Holidays
Merry Christmas from the Caylor-Browns: Ammon, Carter, Sean, and Haven

Merry Christmas from the Caylor-Browns: Ammon, Carter, Sean, and Haven

Dear Friends, Family, & Blog visitors, thank you so much for being Christmas blessings. Have a peaceful Christmas Eve. Put aside the thoughts of gifts, preparing Christmas lunches and dinners, and find some alone time to think of a traveling and anxious mother and father (Mary & Joseph), who together brought Jesus the future Christ into the world in a lonely stable with only God’s creatures as witnesses. And, oh my, envision the star of Bethlehem that shown where Jesus lay, with it picture the angels those heavenly hosts singing of his birth. Thank you God for our Jesus, and thank you Jesus for choosing to come to this earth as a babe so as to experience life just the way we do.

Merry Christmas everyone, and may you carry the Christ Child, Jesus the man and preacher, and Jesus the Christ our Lord and Redeemer in your hearts every day of the coming New Year. With love, Haven

The Nativity: Our Yard 2010

The Nativity: Our Yard 2010

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Toys R Us 2012

. Family, Family Travel, Holidays . , , , ,

It’s so cool to enjoy the Ferris Wheel at the Toys R Us in Times Square, New York City. Ammon and Carter really enjoy going there even if it is just to “look at toys”.

3rd Annual Toys R Us Ferris Wheel Ride: Haven's 1st ride with Carter.

3rd Annual Toys R Us Ferris Wheel Ride: Haven’s 1st ride with Carter.

Nana & Sean's 1st Ferris Wheel Picture with Ammon: 3rd Annual Toys R Us Ferris Wheel Ride

Nana & Sean’s 1st Ferris Wheel Picture with Ammon: 3rd Annual Toys R Us Ferris Wheel Ride

It’s so cool to see Carter & Ammon growing. I am including their last year’s link so we can all compare.

2011 Toys R US

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Thanksgiving 2012

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My “Thank you God” shortlist

  • Jesus Christ
  • My spouse
  • Carter & Ammon
  • My food, clothing, & shelter
  • Reliable transportation
  • Wonderful Brothers and Sisters in Christ
  • Family
  • Friends

Ammon & Carter did a Thanksgiving 2012 poster. I hope you like them. God bless you all on this special day of giving thanks. Haven and the Crew

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Dual Memorial Day 2012

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Image

 

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Dual Purpose Memorial Day

To our Soldiers Past, Present, and Future:

Words cannot say “Thank you!” enough to our service men and women from the past, present, and future. There have been many of my family members who have fought for the colonies, fought for both the Union and the Confederacy, fought in World War I, and served in World War II, and we have several who have served in peace time as well. Both of these men are dead, but my Granddaddy (Troy Caylor) was drafted into the Army in the spring of 1945, did not do combat (praise the Lord), but helped in the United State’s Japanese occupation from 1945-1946. His brother-in-law, Charles Kirk, was drafted earlier in World War II, entered the Navy, and served on the now famous-floating museum, the Intrepid .

My May 28 Memorial Day

I had mixed emotions on Sunday evening. I could not decide what to write for Memorial Day 2012 because it was a unique day. I chose to write about Memorial Day 2012 the day after the holiday. 

This year’s Memorial Day was May 28. It’s a national holiday. My family and I have another “memorial day” on May 28: The anniversary death of my father. Yesterday, my father died 30 years ago. My goodness, it was 30 years ago! I can still hear him talk, hear him laugh, and call my name. For years, I dreamed about him, and he still appears in my dreams but not as frequently. One positive thing about a parent dying young (he was 42) and unexpectedly is that the parent is always “ageless” and frozen in time. I did not have to see my father become old, suffer from any disease, lose his memory, or lose his physical strength. Until the day I die or lose MY memory, he will be my 42 year old father. As I’ve said before, I don’t feel sad for myself, because I had a wonderful father, and we had a great relationship (NO REGRETS), but I do wish Ammon and Carter could experience his grandfatherly love, sense of humor, Christian love, and love of life. However, I’m glad our Papa Caylor Angel can see us in heaven.

 

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Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

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Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, was human like us. He did not want to endure the physical pain of his upcoming crucifixion. From Mark 14:36, Jesus implores to God in the Garden of Gethsemane  “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” The “Abba” is Aramaic for “Daddy”. It reminds me so much of when Carter wants something and says “Please, Daddy!”, and my heart either wrenches and gives in or I say  “No” to what Carter wants.

God’s answer was for Jesus to endure the cross and be the sacrificial lamb for all mankind. My human heart can only imagine the anguish God was feeling for Jesus to die for us. An angel came from God and comforted Jesus (Luke 24: 43) so as to fortify him for the excruciating death that awaited him.

I also think of the 12 disciples being “cowards”, but yet, what would I have done? Do I betray Jesus like Judas did (Matthew 26: 47-49)? Do I like money, cars, clothes, traveling, or food more than Jesus and put them before my love and dedication to him? Sometimes I feel that I would have run like everyone but Peter and John. However, Peter snuck around and denied that he knew Jesus. Tradition tells that John and his family was well-received in high Jerusalem circles and probably mingled with the crowds during those early morning hours being as close to Jesus as could even until Jesus gave up his Spirit on the cross (John 19:25-27). Oh, how I would love to think that I would stay by Jesus’ side until the end.

No matter what, Jesus still loves me like he loved Judas until the end. Jesus STILL called Judas “friend” (Matthew 26: 50): Unbelievable and remarkable! However, that’s Jesus! He is LOVE and forgiveness!

This evening as we lay down in our cozy beds for a great night’s rest, let’s remember our tired and sleepless Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and getting ready to face the death on the cross so he could be our sacrificial lamb and take on our sins. What a man! Thank you, Jesus!

* It’s because of Jesus that I have begun to write and share about my life, if you have a few minutes, enjoy my latest adventures as of March 2014,

http://bit.ly/1lziq4r

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The Last Supper/Communion

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Last Supper/communion

Matthew 26: 17-29; Mark 14: 12-25; Luke 22:7-19; John 13 & 14

Jesus instituted communion the night before his crucifixion, and it is has been a part of Christian worship ever since. I have met several, wonderful Jewish people, and one Holy Week in the future, I hope and pray Carter, Ammon, Sean, I can sit and partake of one and think of Jesus and the 12 Apostles eating in fellowship. Passover Seder

Being a Christian/a follower of Jesus Christ and partaking of the bread that represents his body on the cross and sipping the fruit of the vine that represents his blood that was shed for me and all the billions of people on the earth for the remission of our sins is what puts my heart and soul in “communion” with all the billions of saints who are partaking of the Lord’s supper with me. That is a powerful component of Christian worship

I know everyone doesn’t take communion every Sunday, and I kinda wish we would like the Christians of the New Testament (all it takes is a little research of first century Christian worship to understand they took it every Sunday), but in the scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. However, it’s a part of worship in remembering the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. The next time you partake of the Lord’s supper, think of all the billions of Christians you are communing with as well. It’s a pretty awesome thought.

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Jesus washes feet

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John 13: 3-30

If you knew you would be dead in the next 24 hours, would you take time to wash your friends and family’s feet? Wouldn’t that be a bizarre act? Well, that is one thing Jesus did KNOWING he was going to die. Jesus wanted the 12 disciples to know that he did not think he was any better than they. He was their master yet he wanted to serve them. The serving wasn’t to stop there but to continue with them serving others.

I’ve often thought of Jesus washing dirty, stinking, calloused feet of his friends. Here is the son of God that came down from heaven and all of its glory sitting on the floor of an upper room in some home in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago, humbly and gently washing 12 burly men’s feet.

During the Holy Week, the main idea is that Jesus was crucified and while being crucified took on the sins of the world. However, we sometimes skip over the fact that the one of the last things he taught just hours before his death was to love and serve others.

To answer my own opening question, I’m not sure how and where I would fit serving others in, but, yes, I would serve others in fullest capacity I could in those last hours. However, I can do it HERE and NOW without waiting….that is what Jesus wants us to place in our hearts and act upon immediately. Have a blessed day, friends.

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Easter Season

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The Caylor-Brown Easter Mantle

I hope and pray that everyone has a great Friday, and that your Easter Season is flowing with blessings.

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St. Patrick’s Day & Dublin, Ireland

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin, Ireland: June 13, 2011

I’ve always enjoyed all the “wearing of the green” and the leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day. However, it wasn’t until our day in Dublin, Ireland June of 2011, that I felt a “spiritual conncetion” with Saint Patrick.  I had even read several times yet without absorbing much history of Saint Patrick to really know his story.

St. Patrick

He had been taken from  homeland in Wales (Great Britain) to be a slave in Ireland. He was approximately 16, and by his early 20s he had made it back to Wales. He then became a minister and returned to Ireland.

He writes that he “baptized thousands of people”. He ordained priests to lead the new Christian communities. He converted wealthy women, some of whom became nuns in the face of family opposition. He also dealt with the sons of kings, converting them too.

Carter, Nana, Haven, & Ammon (admiring the vaulted ceilings)
June 13, 2011: St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin, Ireland

My favorite building in Dublin, Ireland was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It had such a warmth and “spirit” about it. It wasn’t like other cathedrals I have been in where it was like a museum instead of a place of worship. St. Patrick’s work was filled with love and giving, and his spirit seems to permeate his cathedral.