Photo from the Children's Home

Oldest daughter sent this photo from the children’s home outside Capetown where she will be working until February.

 

She is working in the “baby house” and loves it there. It is, she says, absolute chaos, with 4 workers and 32 little ones, and when she’s done with her shift, she just wants to sleep.  But she still loves it.

Her internet connection is slower than Carla’s, if you can imagine that, and uploading photos is a nightmare, so this is the only full-sized picture we got. The rest are small and not very clear, but if she should manage to send more good ones, maybe I’ll post some more.

What shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment?

At the day of judgment, the righteous, being caught up to Christ in the clouds,[1] shall be set on his right hand, and there openly acknowledged and acquitted,[2] shall join with him in the judging of reprobate angels and men,[3] and shall be received into heaven,[4] where they shall be fully and forever freed from all sin and misery;[5] filled with inconceivable joys,[6] made perfectly holy and happy both in body and soul, in the company of innumerable saints and holy angels,[7] but especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, to all eternity.[8] And this is the perfect and full communion, which the members of the invisible church shall enjoy with Christ in glory, at the resurrection and day of judgment.

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Vintage Christmas Images: Happier with a Hoover

 
I love old magazines, mostly for the ads. Nothing captures the flavor of an era quite like its advertising.

In case you can’t read the fine print—and who could?—here’s what it says:

P. S. to husbands:

She cares about her home, you know, so if you really care about her … wouldn’t it be a good idea to consider a Hoover for Christmas? Prices start at $66.95. Model 29 (shown here) $95.95. Low down payment; easy terms. See your Hoover dealer now.

Well now! 

I love the print on the circular-skirted shirt dress. You may not be able to see it, but it’s stylized evergreen trees, chubby angels and doves. Did anyone really wear dresses like that?

When I saw this ad, it reminded me of something that happened at Christmas right after we moved here to Whitehorse. We (husband, wife, baby) came with everything we owned in the back of a pick-up truck, so we didn’t have much. We brought no new furniture at all, but by Christmas time, we’d picked up some used furniture: a couch and chair set,* a stand for the T.V.,  a kitchen table with chairs, a crib, a bed, and a couple of dressers. That still left the apartment a little bare.

So when Christmas rolled around, Keith bought me an end table for the living room and a very nice (and quite expensive) lamp. I was thrilled with my gift.

There was a woman a little older than me who had taken me under her wing. I was only 22 that year and she was in her thirties, and I am still very grateful that she was willing to mentor me as I learned to manage a young baby and life so far away from family. When she asked me what I’d received for Christmas, I told her. “I wish,” she said, “I could be happy just getting things for the house like you are.”  I think she meant well—she usually did—but she often said things without thinking. That remark took some of the thrill from my gifts.

At the time, I thought it didn’t bother me much, but obviously it did or thirty years later I wouldn’t have her words memorized exactly and they wouldn’t be the first thing I thought of when I saw this ad, would they? 

*I wish I still had that set, by the way. Straight out of the fifties, in perfect condition. I bet the lady in this ad had that exact couch and chair in her living room.