"Will you..."seems to run in family right now...

Ok, after a brief recovery period, our eldest son decided to let us know that he too, in fact will be marrying his main squeeze......we couldn't be happier....she is a beautiful girl.

He announced this over lunch at Red Lobster, where he was pretty quiet. When I finally asked what was up, he said he was nervous because he was going to ask Lindsey to marry him. Ok, after I recovered from the fact that he didn't ask ME first, (of course I never let on) I asked why he would be nervous. Of course the obvious, she might say no. Now as a parent, the fact that someone, anyone would reject a perfect child such as your own is just not something that crosses your mind. But this was really a struggle for our Steve, so with a little reassurance and encouragement, he left his Mommy to ask his girl to be his wife. Of course she said yes and all is wonderful, but it made me stop and think. There are times when there is such insecurity in my life, and I go to the Father before a ministry, and ask Him, what if they say no? What if they don't like me....He is so faithful at wrapping His huge cosmic arms around me and just loving me into submission to the things He has called me to do. What a precious moment it was to pass that love to my nervous son......showing our kids God's love, unconditional and everlasting love...is so important. Thank you Lord, i love you.

EEK, I've been tagged!!!!!

My buddy Tammers tagged me.....I'm a little worried, I don't know 5 other bloggers yet, but we'll give it a try!

5 things I wanna do before I die:

1. Help my Mom understand true forgiveness and grace.
2. Travel with my hubby and spread God's word
3. Help others live their dream
4. Feel as good about myself physically as I do Spiritually
5. Take my family someplace tropical for a couple weeks!!!!

5 things I can do:

1. Make people laugh
2. Worship from the heart
3. Type 73 WPM
4. Talk my way out of speeding tickets...
5. Put others needs before mine

5 things I cannot do:

1. Take excuses when there needs to be accountability
2. Be intimidated to not share my faith
3. Watch someone I love hurt...I have to fix it!!!
4. A triple summersault on the trampoline....
5. Sleep during the day

5 things that make a man attractive to me:

1. His love and commitment to the Lord
2. Big bear hugs!!!!!
3. Awesome sense of humor
4. Laughing eyes
5. Encourager

5 celebrities I crush on:

Hmmmmmm Celebrity: a famous or celebrated person. I celebrate my hubby and never consider crushing on other men.....so Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry. He is my everything!!!!

WOW...ok, now five tags...I don't know 5 other tags that haven't done this...so if you happen to stop by, have fun!!!

Thanks Tammers

Happy Birthday to YOOOOUUUUU!!!!

WOW!!! I'm pretty glad right now that Mikey doesn't get a lot of computer access, he would probably be on the phone as soon as this is posted. But today we are celebrating!!!! Our "baby" turns 19 today, and it's the first birthday that we won't be able to spoil him rotten and tell him face to face how much we love him. He is a priceless treasure in our lives and has brought us alot of joy over the years. Right now he is stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana with his bride of 41 days Miss Katie. Jer & I have gone from Mom & Dad to Ma & Pop and he'll tell you there is no better food than fried pickles and sweet tea... When you talk to him, he'll be the first to tell you how he felt called by the Lord to be a warrior, and it's in Him that he trusts for all things. Any parent who reads this knows how that will make your heart soar...

Today has been hard, alot of memories, alot of "where has the time gone" thoughts, and unashamed tears while missing our boy. Today is our day to celebrate his life, so I wanted to share that with you. His favorite scripture is Psalm 144:1&2, "Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle - My lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the One in whom I take refuge, who subdues my people under me." If you think of him, please pray for him, and all of our soldiers. We love you son, Happy Birthday!!! Love, Ma

The heart of a servant...

My husband and I just had a wonderful couple of days with some Lovin the Lord cowboys in California. My husband plays the fiddle and I love to lead worship, so the Lord has blessed us with an incredible ministry with a great group of people. My flavor of music is more modern, Hillsongish type worship, but somehow we seem to balance eachother out!!!!! And the cowboys are likin it!

Anyway, we learned the importance of having the heart of a servant, we've all heard this, but I guess it never meant so much to me as this time of teaching. We focused on the Cana wedding..the water into wine. Have you ever been asked to do something just totally off the wall? How is your servants heart when that happens. There have been times when I just let someone else deal with something, or not stay after to help clean up etc. and those are the times that you can really miss out! If you really want to get to know a pastor, spend time with them when they aren't "on". That's the real blessing...our purpose when we are around another brother or sister, regardless of their gifting, should be to lift them up andto help them be the best they can be, in whatever situation they are in. That usually means menial tasks or grunt work, but look at the wedding story. In John 2:1-11 the story reveals that it was the servants that Jesus spoke to. It says the first of His miraculous signs, Jesus performed and thus revealed His Glory and the disciples put their faith in Him. The people who came away most blessed and witnessed God's glory were the servants. It's gotten me back to thinking about how many times I've been just helping out, and prayed with someone, or listened to a fear, or caught a piece of equipment that would have fallen. So much opportunity comes with a servants heart. I just want to encourage you today, to be the servant, not worry about being noticed, you can be certain that you are being noticed by the One that matters most. Even if you never hear a thank you here, when we get home, we'll hear "Well done, good and faithful servant".

Yes, we love to laugh....

Ok, so sometime witnessing becomes confusion when you just can't understand how people can arrive where they are in their thought process.....today's hurdle, Christians are boring and don't know how to laugh or have fun.......that statement itself made me break into hysterical laughter....our home is filled with laughter, practical jokes and lots of smiles. We know by looking at the Platypus and the fact that men have nipples that God DOES have a sense of humor!!!! For all of you who haven't laughed in awhile, here's a story for ya....
A minister decided to do something a little different one Sunday, and told the congregation that when he said a word to start singing a worship song that came to mind. First word was cross.....it didn't take long before people broke out in The Old Rugged Cross, next word, grace....of course Amazing Grace broke out in no time, then he shocked his congregation by saying "sex". Everyone began to squirm in their seat and a good 5 minutes passed before an elderly couple stood up in the back and began singing Precious Memories.....

Ok, now that's funny!!!! When we learn to laugh at ourselves we'll be able to help others laugh as well....Christians don't have fun? Not where I come from...

I've been inspired.....

Sometimes you just have to wait and be inspired to write something....I've had fun keeping up with a couple friends the last couple of days, so I haven't been too faithful at writing.....but a new blogging friend, Mandy, got me to thinking about beauty, real beauty.



Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "The age of a woman doesn't mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles." Considering my husband plays the fiddle, I could really relate.....and that's great if your strings aren't springing from all the wrong places or your tailpiece isn't hanging too low.



Didn't God create us to be beautiful on the inside? How do we get so wrapped up in the fleshy stuff that the world ( which we are suppose to be in but not part of) says is beauty. Yes, I know, we are suppose to take care of the "temple" that we have been entrusted, and recently my son freshly out of boot-camp has more than inspired his Dad and I to get in shape. Join the gym? Possibly, but personally I find the showers and their postage stamp towel size to be a humiliating experience of peek-a-boo. It's kind of like Tommy the Towelmaker made towels with a bunch of pygmy adolescents suffering from eating disorders..... AND I usually spend my short walk from the shower to the locker doing a spastic dance with my towel snapping around me.

Anyway, I have reached a point in my walk with the Lord, that He has shown me that He loves me regardless of if I have the latest style of hair, perfect weight, trendy clothes, but also that He would love for me to be the best the He has created me to be. Spiritually, my husband and I are in a good place, and yes we are beginning a no sugar, healthy eating regime, as well as walking etc. We just had to wait for the Lord's timing to get us there.....just like anything else. I'll let you know how it's going......

You get what you expect.....

How many times do we go to church expecting God to do a work in us? Honestly, this last weekend was one of those times, and I got what I came for. My husband and I attend Table Rock Fellowship and I can honestly say we never come away from there regretting the decision to attend. The thing that was convicting to me was when Pastor Tom began to ask if we believed what we actually read in the paper......we all felt very proud of ourselves, no hands were raised. "OK," he asked, "how about on TV, do any of you believe what you see on TV?" Again, no brainer......hands stayed down. Next question, "Radio? Anyone believe what you hear on the radio?" OK, people are beginning to feel a set up, squirmy behinds filled the room, still no hands went up......Then, he held up the Bible. "How about this?"he asked. "Anyone believe what is in this?" Harmless question, everyone smiled nodded and hands went up everywhere. "Why then, do we spend so much time with things we don't even believe, and little time with the one thing we say we completely believe in?" Immediate eye opening experience....one of those life lessons that will stick with me for a very long time to come. God wants to come first in all things.....I don't always do that, but am so much more aware of how valuable our time is together.....

It's so good to have a Lord who isn't sitting there with a big stick when He wants our attention, He's so quick to forgive our shortcomings, when He just gently steers us where He wants us to go.

I just love Him so......

Monkey see monkey do........

Ok, so I do have a slight sense of humor.......for some reason this just got my funny bone. I really don't have anything spectacular to write, except the fact that God just continues to amaze me every day with His unconditional love and the vastness of his patience and understanding. I suppose if I had to list a reason for this blog, first and foremost is to bring God glory...so my hope is that it is viewed by the believer and non-believer alike. I believe God is bigger than any problem or circumstance you may be facing right now and yes, He is a know-it-all and has ALL of the answers. I encourage anyone who doesn't know Him yet to have a chat with Him and begin your new adventure with the One who created you. He loves you right where you are, and enough to not leave you there. For those brothers and sisters who DO know Him, just praise Him.