She's Finally At Home

Just wanted to let everyone know that our dear friend and neighbor, Geneva, went home to be with the Lord on Saturday morning around 9:45 a.m. That was just one month to the day that we were Christmas caroling to her on the porch.

Funeral will be tomorrow night and burial will be on Thursday afternoon, which is also the one year anniversary of Joe's mother's death. This has been very hard on all of us, but especially on Joe, thinking about what we went through a year ago. Geneva and Frank have been like surrogate parents to us for the last 12 years, and we are going to miss her terribly.

It was 22 years ago today...

that Joe and I had our first date. It doesn't seem that long ago! And as far as I'm concerned, he STILL makes me blush, I still get butterflies in my stomach when I see him walking across a parking lot, and I hope we have 22 more years to celebrate this occasion!

Happy 40th To My Friend!

I've been trying to get to the library for TWO DAYS to get this post done!!! And now I'm finally here to say a most Happy Birthday to Leah. She and I go W-A-Y back, so many years ago, and of course I have pictures of what "we" looked like back then...well, not ME, but SHE!

This is really when we began our friendship, she getting married to Joe's best friend/cousin. They were like Siamese twins, those two guys! And that's ME in the blue dress with the HUGE collar! Incidentally, it was my 18th birthday, and YES, I caught the bouquet!

She really got a handle on the whole "motherhood/wife" thing! Just look at her doing laundry in her little apartment in Bluffton! She has always been an inspiration to me, how she keeps her stuff done!

I missed their "First Anniversary" party, but Joe had this picture of her...she looks so young, doesn't she??! :)

It was SO exciting to have her living here in Tennessee!! This was at a Thanksgiving dinner at their house. We had lots of good times together, the kids playing in the little swimming pools, we tried out new recipes on our husbands and kids, we played a LOT of Dutch Blitz and Skipbo!
And then it's 1998 and Clayton comes along and we REALLY start to have fun! David becomes "Papaw Dave," which SHOULD make Leah a Mamaw of some sort, but we never really got around to calling her that!! Look at Ashley, being 7!

And here she turns 30, and we've turned around twice and now she's 40??!! Wow, time flies when you're having fun, or is it, "time flies when you get older?"

And now she's been the mother of the groom, and working on becoming the mother of the bride, and then she'll starting adding "REAL" grandkids, instead of adopting mine!

I hope you have a wonderful day, enjoy all your presents, don't eat too much cake! And may this be the best year of your life so far!!!!!

It's Basketball Time!

Clayton is doing something that's he wanted to do for a long time now...playing basketball on a team! We signed him up for the Upward Basketball program (which we LOVE) and they have been practicing each week, but this past Saturday was their first game. Here's a few pictures, Clayton is #45, in the black pants.This is the way they start each game...one of the things we love about the program.

And look who's coaching!!! Justin's also living one of his dreams. This is something he's been wanting to do for a really long time, and he's really good at it, as soon as he gets over being afraid of hurting feelings! :) Right now, since it's his first time, he is assisting the coach, but at HOME he is definitely Clayton's head coach!!

Happy Birthday to...

Joe's nephew Jonathan! He and Joe are just 7 years apart, so Joe's always kind of thought of him as a younger brother. What great times they've had together, playing basketball when they were younger, and now playing golf together whenever we go north in the summer months.

Hope you have a great day, Jonathan!

Such a tragedy...

I have heard the news about Brent Bigger and his family...I'm just in shock. I didn't know him personally, although I did meet him when he was traveling in a quartet. I remember that

he was T-A-L-L! And a very nice guy, what you might describe as a "gentle giant!"

And now, after a day of sight-seeing in the North Carolina mountains last Friday, there's a tragic accident and his wife and children are gone! How does someone recover from this? How would I be able to go on without my husband and two boys? I've been trying to put myself into his shoes and I don't like the feeling I'm getting!

There was no chance to say good-bye, no time to say all those things that needed to be said...and then the guilt that must be washing over him. I just have to stop!

God is sovereign, right? Isn't that what we believe? He doesn't give us more than we are able to bear, right? How much should one man have to bear? They had barely started living! Their family was just getting started...the questions this man must have for God. Is it right to question Almighty God? So many emotions all flying through my mind and heart right now.

Trust...faith...belief...rest...peace...love...trust...faith...over and over again those words go across my mind. Trust and faith are the ones that come most often because those are what it's going to take to get through this tragedy, if you can ever get "through" something like this.

A beautiful day spent together, an accident in a vehicle, and lives are forever changed.
Photos from Alabama Bible Methodist e-mail I received.
You can also view a Fox news video by visiting this link http://www.foxcarolina.com/news/18454876/detail.html

It's a New Year...

So, it's a brand new year, a clean slate, a chance to begin again. And that's what I plan to do, but on the other hand, there are certain things that I'd like to keep, things that I want to stay the same.

1. I'd like to keep my marriage. There are many homes and families being torn apart, and it's devastating our country, our churches, our society. I think I'll keep mine, especially since we're going to be celebrating 20 years together this spring!!!

2. I want to keep my church! God led us to River Oaks a little over 2 years ago, and what a haven it has become to us. The people, that pastor, the teaching, the leadership...all so WONDERFUL and spirit-filled. I'm not looking to change that at all!

3. Oh, I want to keep my friends...after all, I have so much invested in these relationships, I'm just too tired to get new ones! Well, not really. I welcome new friendships any day, but I'm not looking to get rid of any of the old ones.

Ok, so what DO I want to change?

Well, there's the ever-faithful "lose weight" resolution...only this year it seems to be different. God led me to a Grace Group at church where I was able to sort out a lot of painful things inside, and discover that eating was an addiction to me, a way of covering up hurt and frustration. So, I'm working on transferring emotions from food to paper and prayer. And it's working!!!
Yeah, God!

I want to spend more time with my kids...especially since I have a senior that seems headed into the Armed Forces in some capacity. These days are FLYING by and I can't seem to find the switch to slow this thing down. I'm trying to make deliberate efforts to make memories that we can hold onto when the school days are done and the boy has become a man and moved out and on with his own life. Ok, enough of that!!!

I want to be more sensitive to others' needs around me...how many times did I miss an opportunity to share Christ because I was in too much of a hurry to get on to my own places or talking too much about my own needs? I'm asking God to slow me down and show me how to be His hands and feet in this Body of Christ.

I guess my greatest desire is to become more of a reflection of God this year. And not just to the world or the people that I see in church, but in our home, to my children and husband...may they see Christ in me in a way they never have before. I want to take more risks, have less regrets, enjoy more freedom in my life than I ever have.

Those are the things I'm looking for in 2009.

Happy New Year!