happy anniversary to mom and dad

This is the cake topper from my Mom and Dad's wedding cake from May 29, 1954. Yesterday was my Mom and Dad's anniversary. If Dad was still alive they would have been married 65 years. I love the fact that Mom has saved this for all of these years.

They met on a blind date at an Arlington verses Morristown basketball game. Mom was a cheerleader for the Arlington Wildcats. That's the only part of the story that I've been told, but I would like to know more.

I enjoy listening to stories of their travels. For instance, she told me that she had always wanted to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. So on their honeymoon they traveled to California and they paid twenty-five cents to cross the bridge. That quarter had been saved since before the wedding.  

This past week, while visiting with her, she told me about how much Dad loved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500 Mile Race that takes place every year in Indianapolis on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Well since they were married on the 29th and that year the race was ran on the 31st, Dad was not able to attend the race. So while on their honeymoon somewhere near the Yellowstone National Park, they asked someone where they could watch the race. No one that they talked to knew of the race and didn't know where they could watch or even listen to it. She tells that she and Dad could not believe that no one knew of the Indy 500. Dad and Mom didn't miss many races after that.

My Mother told me that she liked to tell people that she and Dad were married in May and in July I was born. She doesn't tell them until after the confusion comes over their face that they were married in 1954 and I was born a year later in July. When telling this story she laughs because she thinks that was so clever of her.

I know she misses my dad. She misses the life that they had together and now with her poor health and not being able to get around by herself, I know that she wishes she could go and be with him in heaven. I miss him too and think about him almost every day. I miss his laugh most of all. He had a great smile and could make you smile and laugh right along with him.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

unplanned

This past week, the Preacher and I went to see the movie, Unplanned. A local movie theater was showing the film for a one time showing and we had announced to our congregation and community that we needed their support in viewing this movie.

Honestly I didn't want to go. I had no desire to watch and listen to the horrific scenes that I knew would be portrayed in the film.

The Preacher and I have been, and always will be, Pro-Life. There is nothing that can deter us from this. With all of the craziness that is going on in our world, in our country, I think we who want to save babies, in the womb and outside of the womb, need to take a stand for what is right.

The Preacher and I have been involved in Crisis Pregnancy Centers for more than 20 years now, and we feel that their work is vital in the communities that they represent. We have even been the ones who stood on the other side of the fence praying and asking for the Lord's help and forgiveness.

The movie did a good job in showing all of the different reasons that Satan has lied to us about who should be getting an abortion and why. Everything from a boyfriend not wanting to be strapped with a baby, a father not wanting his family to be shamed by a daughter's unwanted pregnancy, a woman who just doesn't care about the baby and doesn't want another child to feed. And then the lies about how the baby is no more than just a blob in the womb and the baby/blob won't feel anything during the procedure. The movie gave you an insightful look into Planned Parenthood itself. This organization is nothing more than a large corporation wanting to make as much money as possible, with no regard to the girls and women AND babies who step foot into their "clinics"

If you have the thought that your body is your body and you'll do as you wish with that body then I ask that you watch and listen to this video by Kirsten Watson.

When did it become normal for a mother to want to kill her own child? 

you are mine

While praying one day, a woman asked, "Who are you, God?"
He answered, "I Am".

"But, who is 'I Am'?", she asked.

He replied,
"I Am Joy
I Am Love
I Am Peace
I Am Grace
I Am Mercy
I Am Safety
I Am Shelter
I Am Creator
I Am Strength
I Am Comforter
I Am Forgiveness
I Am the First and the Last
I Am the Beginning and the End
I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

With tears in her eyes, she looked toward heaven and said, "Now I understand. But who am I?"

God tenderly wiped the tears from her eyes and whispered, 

"You are Mine."

To a woman who showed me how to have joy, love, peace, grace, mercy. Gave me safety and shelter. Showed me how to be creative. I saw her strength and yet she is a comfort. Who gave me forgiveness. And showed me Who was the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Way, the Truth and the Life...

I love you Mom!




(Poem ~ Author Unknown)

grandma's potato salad

This is my mother-in-law, the Preacher's mother. She was the sweetest woman, and I could not have asked for a better mother-in-law.

She loved to bake, especially fruit pies. Her pie crust was amazing. It was so flaky and buttery. Sometimes all I wanted was the crust. I could pass up the fruit but not that crust.

Another dish that she would make was potato salad. We all loved her potato salad. If there was a pot-luck dinner scheduled at the church, people would request her salad. It was so creamy and sweet with a little crunch from the bacon.

No one in the family would attempt to make it. It was her salad and only she could make it! She would boil the red potatoes and her eggs. And then see would gather all the other ingredients, place them on the table and there she would sit and make the magic happen. 

After she passed away in 2010, among the hundreds of things we missed about her, we missed her potato salad. The Preacher and I would attempt making it on a few occasions but it never seemed to come out right. 

A couple of weeks ago the weather was beautiful. The day felt like we were finally coming out of winter's chill. The Preacher decided to grill some steaks. I cleaned the patio table, excited to sit out in the spring's sunshine.

The Preacher asked me to fix a salad to go with the steaks and we both knew what we needed to make -- Grandma's potato salad!

I boiled the red potatoes and the eggs and I fried some bacon. I set out the other ingredients: mayo, mustard, celery seeds, salt and pepper, and I chopped some dill pickles. When it was all combined we had a potato salad that was as good as my mother-in-law's! 

We were very excited that we had replicated her recipe and it felt good to honor the Preacher's mother, Joan Smith.

who am I?

Who am I? There are days when I can't answer that question. 

There are days when I am lost in a mind fog. There are days when I wonder why am I this way. There are days when I wonder why can't I be like (fill in the blank)?

I have always been an introvert. Growing up I never knew there was a word for the way I felt. I just knew that life outside of my own home and family was sometimes difficult. I have always felt self-conscious of how I looked, of the clothes I wore, how I talked, what I said, and on and on. If I thought for an instant that someone might laugh at me for doing something or saying something, then you can be sure, I would not do it or say it.

I just read in the book, Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, that "what people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here". I wish someone had told me that years ago.

And then there are the times when I get really brave and say to myself, "don't worry about what they will say! Go, even if it does make a mess." Then there are days when I do things because I don't want to become what is expected of me because of my age, my standing in life or even because I'm a girl.

I will never be famous or even infamous. I am and always will be just me. The girl who will struggle with an identity and the girl who knows exactly who she is. 

But...this week I was told by a Christian sister that she thought it was a pleasure to do ministry with another woman who has just a hint of rebel in her. I like that!

Rebel –– today that's who I am!

outside my window

I look outside my window 

I am taken by surprise

Rush outside my doorway

Let the sunrise feel my eyes

I climb upon a rock

And I listen to the stream

Watch the sunrise come

See it shining through the trees

Look across the mountain

Watch the haze fade

Listen to the forest

With the coming of the day

The birds begin to sing

And I watch one take flight

They are also happy

At the passing of the night

 The forest it fills with sunlight 

And the colors slowly fade

Sing a song to the morning

To welcome the day

So I open my eyes and smile

And I start another day

Wipe my hands across my eyes

As the colors slowly fade

(author unknown)

promise kept

Sometimes when I pray I can't seem to put into words what I am feeling or asking for when I bow my head. So the cure for me is to write my prayers.

In January, we were going through some rough times and during those times I would write down my prayers, my thoughts and some Bible verses that seemed to speak to me. 

On one particular day while in Texas visiting our son, I wrote down this verse

I call on the Lord in my distress and he answers me. Save me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.   Psalms 120:1-2

I then wrote

Please keep Your promises Lord! 

That same day we drove to the Enchanted Rock State Park, located in south central Texas, to go hiking with our son.  Upon arriving we discovered that the park was full and the rangers had closed the gates but they were also giving out tickets instructing us to come back later in the afternoon when the park would not be so crowded. We almost decided to go home but decided to get some lunch and return.

We returned around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. The Preacher and our son headed up the rock. Since I had our dog, Porter, and he was not allowed on the rock itself, I began to hike the lower trails. 

After exploring the rock, the Preacher and our son began to follow another trail that was headed to the west when the Preacher looked up and saw this.

He didn't know what it was at first but then realized it was a rainbow around the sun. But you could only witness this when you were below these rocks. If you looked at the sun full on you could not see the rainbow.

After we had all came back together and were sitting around a table enjoying a BBQ meal at a local restaurant, the Preacher began to show me the pictures he had taken while hiking. He was very excited to show me the one of the rainbow around the sun.

As soon as I saw that rainbow I began to tear up because I had remembered my plea to the Lord –Please keep Your promises. I knew that this was a sign from the Lord. He was showing me, us, that He does not forget His promises. The Preacher didn't know what I had wrote. He didn't know my plea to the Lord, so I told him the story. We knew that whatever was going to happen He would be there for us. He was confirming to us that we are not alone in our darkest hours. 

P.S The Preacher looked it up and the phenomena that he witnessed is actually called a Sun Dog Rainbow.

stand firm

Have you ever felt like Satan was on your door-step and just wouldn't stop knocking, even pounding, on your door? 

One day, a year or so ago, we heard and saw what Satan was wanting to do to our family. The day after, I woke up feeling very depressed and felt like I couldn't get out of bed. I lay there praying, pleading, begging God to remove this from our family. I finally had enough, I needed to get my mind in a different place. So I decided to pick up my phone and check out Pinterest. I had to have something that was mindless. The very first picture on my Pinterest feed was this scripture -- (Don't tell me God can't use anything and everything, even a phone app.)

"You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you...do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you." 2 Chronicles 20:17

I knew this was His promise to me. I took that verse and wrote it on everything. I wrote it on my bathroom mirror so I would see it when I got up in the morning and when I went to bed at night. I wrote it on the blackboard that hangs in our home. I wrote it on a post-it note and put it on my computer so that I would see it while I worked. Daily I was reminding myself of His Word, His promise.

He also gave me the scripture in Ephesians 6 - Put on the full armor of God. I knew that is what He was telling me to do when He said to take up your positions. He was telling me to put on my armor which is His armor.

Also through this ordeal, the Lord gave me a word and that word was suddenly. I saw it in Bible verses. I heard it in teachings. I read it in books. This is one of the quotes that the Lord sent to me, 

"God says that He has already spoken to the right people. He has already lined up the healing, the freedom. It's going to happen suddenly." 

The word suddenly was all over the place and I knew that it was for us. And when the end came it felt like it ended suddenly!

We took up our positions. We continued to pray everyday. I dug deep into His 
Word. 

Looking back, I realize that the Lord answered my prayer, my pleading, my begging on that first day. He answered me suddenly with His Word - you will not have to fight this battle.

We also had others who were fighting for us through all of this. Many of our friends and family were praying hard right along with us. I saw and heard things that I know could only have been from God. 

A year later here we are. This battle is over. The Lord was, is and always will be victorious. 

I have learned so much about my faith and who He is and I will not stop praising Him, I will tell the world of this victory, and what mighty things He can do.

front door

"I am a homebody. There is nothing I like to do more than walk through my front door at the end of a long day and close it behind me. At home I am embraced by a little world of my own creativeness, surrounded by the things that I love, need, want, and find beautiful. That is what our homes are, after all -- our own personal worlds that we have made for ourselves."   - Leslie Williamson

whiter than snow

For the last couple of days the trees have just been so beautiful encased in their icy, snowy cocoons. This scripture comes to my mind whenever I look upon the pine trees with their snow icing. 

why?

why?...

because....

"If the devil can kill you as a child, he will not have to deal with you as an adult"                                                              Dr. Ron Archer