50 in P-Town

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Almost Full Circle

Taste and see that the Lord is good! Even with stubborn folk like me!

There's a problem I've had for several years now that I've had much struggle with off and on. Weeks will go by with no agitation and frustration and then other weeks with it being all I can think about. I'll lose sleep over it and overthink it and the possible resolutions. I admit that I have not given it over to God like I should have. I continue to grab it back from Him like I can handle it myself. So silly! I refuse to let it go.

Well, it's about to take care of itself. The Lord has allowed some circumstances that will resolve the problem. He has either lost patience with me or has had an amazing amount of mercy on me. Ha! I love Him so much.

Here is a quote from my devotional this morning that is so appropriate! (By Jan Silvious)
"To learn humility is to learn contentment in all circumstances. Humility is not in what we own or achieve, but in maintaining a teachable attitude, a willingness to bend to the will of the Father."

You'd think that after being a Christian for 44 years and all the wonderful strength and gifts that are available to me from Him that I would have done better than this...to be defeated somewhat. But He is truly aware of and patient with our weaknesses. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He is happy to take our burdens on Himself. I just hope He'll give me another chance one day to show that I can conquer a problem. Well, I think that's a given!

IN VERY HAPPY NEWS:
We have a little grandson coming in November. Found out yesterday that it's a boy. So Maddie is still the number one and only girl. The two boys will grow up together just 2 years apart. That'll be nice but tough at the same time for their parents, I'm thinking! No name decided as of yet.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Ramble On

Beautiful Memorial Day weekend. If it's this hot in May what are we looking at in July and August? I dread to think. My son and daughter-in-law are successfully settled in Savannah and being welcomed by Tropical Storm Beryl today. Sure is early for that kind of storm also. The Lord answered our prayers and Stephen got a full-time job within a week of moving there. Rachel has started her "rotations" and is at a hospital in Savannah working in the oncology department in the pharmacy there. She'll be there a total of 5 weeks and then move to the next area. This will go on all year until she graduates next May.

John and I went on a road trip a few weeks ago. It's our favorite thing to do for a vacation besides going to Siesta Key! We traveled to Blowing Rock, North Carolina going the back roads up through north Georgia. Then from there to Fredericksburg, Virginia. We had fun setting our GPS to the next destination and following it exactly instead of trying to go the usual highways. We ended up on some beautiful country roads in North Carolina and Virginia. The roads took us through gorgeous valleys and mountain areas and we hardly saw another car. Very isolated feeling yet so peaceful. I felt like I could finally breathe after such a busy season at work and at home. We joked that in some of those areas the main revenue was probably moonshine. Looked like it to me! The speed limit was 55 miles an hour through some of those very curvy roads. I wonder why??

We visited 5 Civil War Battlefield national parks. Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Appomattox, and Manassas. My husband loves history and especially Civil War history. It was very interesting and the parks are beautiful. We saw many graves in the cemeteries there of the "unknown soldier". From there we visited Shenandoah National Park. It was a rainy Tuesday and the school year was not yet over. Needless to say, we felt like we had the whole 109 miles of park to ourselves. We saw deer but that's about it for wildlife. We drove through rain and fog at some of the highest elevations and then suddenly the sun would break through time and time again. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. What a contrast to Grand Teton National Park with those amazing peaks. The ones in the Shenandoah were lovely, green, and you could see for miles.

Work has been very busy as usual. We never really seem to have a lull in the routine as we are always getting ready for the next season or preparing for a big presentation or just dealing with Sunday routines. We had a beautiful Good Friday service and Easter Sunday service at RSBC. Our choir loves preparing for and presenting these special concerts. It helps also to have such a gifted minister of music who knows exactly how to create most effectively these programs to touch hearts and help us to worship. I so enjoy being part of the music team.

Erin is doing well and is in her 16th week. We will know boy or girl news in another 2 weeks. Can't wait!! Madison is so funny and she's growing in all ways! Famous quotes: "Grandmommy, I don't like that ABC song. It fweaks me out!" And then another time with Erin in the car: "Who wants these sunglasses?" (no answer) "Who wants these sunglasses?" (said a little louder with no answer) Then loudly "Who wants these flippin' sunglasses???" HAHA. Well, children do tend to imitate their parents...hmmm. Landon is talking more and has shown interest in the potty. What a great thing that would be before the baby comes! He is very affectionate but is also showing some "terrific Two" behavior. NO NO NO. Hmmm... He's a JOY to us as is Maddie. They both are very sweet-natured.

Memorial Day weekend is here and the start of summer! We have many June and July birthdays and anniversaries coming up in my family. Special times are coming throughout the year. This fall we will have the gift of a new grandchild. My extended family is thriving and well. I feel like David sometimes in the Psalms...abundantly blessed despite the fact that I am not always pleasing to the Lord. His mercy and love are wonderful. Psalm 89:1: I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever!

PHOTO MIX:

Good Friday

The program for a special evening at RSBC

Choir and Orchestra on Good Friday

Beautiful presentation

Our minister of music and his wife sang "Glorious Day" on Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday morning celebration

Our road trip led us to interesting places. This was the marker indicating where Stonewall Jackson was shot.

I was on top of Grandfather Mountain...windy and cold and gorgeous!

North Carolina back roads

John studying the markers at Spotsylvania

More country back roads as we drove into Virginia

Wow! Lovely. Bet it's really dark out there at night!

Beautiful Mountain Laurel along Virginia roads

Shenandoah National Park as we drove through sun, rain, fog

Confederate cemetery in Fredericksburg

Beautiful Park at Manassas

Shenandoah Valley

Shenandoah

Appomattox

So I finally gave in and covered the gray...still not quite as red-headed as Maddie but close to my youthful color

My favorite picture! Easter Sunday and babies just up from their naps.

Landon ready for the pool

Maddie's last day of preschool...she's gotten so big!

Madison and her buddy Keegan at his birthday party...they love each other!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Where Did the Last Two Months Go?

Pretty Girl!

The big announcement for baby #3! I love it!

Sweet Landon!

He's quite relaxed in the church nursery!

No caption needed!

My beautiful redhead!

What happened? I checked my blog today and realized I hadn't written since February! Crazy days and weeks and months. The pics above are highlights of this very busy time. The best news of all is that I'll be Grandmommy to three come November! A very happy surprise. Erin's been busy...3 babies in three and a half years. She has always been blessed with healthy pregnancies and we pray for this one to be no different.

I've been very busy at work with normal events and also getting ready for our big Good Friday concert. That was wonderful, successful, around 1000 folks attended. Easter Sunday was a beautiful day also. Even before that my boss was given the responsibility of putting together a benefit concert for Cobb Street Ministries...a very worthy ministry that takes care of homeless women and children. That was an amazing success! A lot of work in 4 weeks time but it raised 30,000 dollars total during the concert and in the 2 weeks after it. I have definitely learned a lot in my job in the last 7 years. I have learned about advertising and logistics and details, details, details! I've learned how all the behind-the-scenes stuff has to be done in an excellent way for the outcome to be its most successful. We do all as unto the Lord. That helps in the energy-lag times.

All the family is well. My son and daughter-in-law are about to move to Savannah so Rachel can finish her doctorate in pharmacy. She will do her "rotations" there. They just got a "little" puppy...one that will grow to probably 150 pounds at least. It's called a presa canario breed. I'm thinking this will be their "child" for the next few years.

Stephen, Rachel, and Martel the puppy

Maddie and Landon are doing great. Maddie plays soccer on a team for 3 year olds. It's such a funny start to our Saturdays to watch that group play. They know not when and where to stop as they all chase down the ball. They fall splat on their faces and cry or have to be carried off the field to mommy and daddy. They seem to have fun just running in a pack and the parents just laugh and clap. It's a good introduction to sports and at least tires them out for their naps later!

Soccer! God bless those patient coaches!

Maddie plays for the Dinosaurs!

Well, time blurs by on these busy work days. I have a long day each day and then I head to the park to walk. Trying to walk at least 6-9 miles a week which is good for me. I'm very lazy. We're having a beautiful Georgia spring and that helps. I'm able to walk away the stress of the day and pray for the many needs that surround me. I'm praying for this new baby to be born safe and healthy, for Erin to stay healthy and full of energy with 2 little ones during this pregnancy. I'm praying for an old friend who has multiple myeloma and is in the midst of treatment after a bone marrow transplant. I'm praying for Stephen and Rachel as they move away from family and find just the right place to live in Savannah. I pray for my parents' continued good health, my husband's safety in his job, my job that I love...that I will continue to grow in my skills and to be sensitive to the many needs around me.

As always, I'm very thankful. The Lord is my Shepherd.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Landon

My life is pretty steady and routine at the moment. Don't have a lot to blog about. You'd be bored, bored, bored. I'll just talk about my grandson, Landon. You might be bored but I won't! Ha! The baby boy is 16 months old. He has a very sweet disposition and loves to be held, kissed on those chubby cheeks and just craves the attention that he feels he deserves. Landon stands up for himself with Madison. In fact, she will run from him as he comes at her to demand his toy or her food or whatever. Quite comical to see. But he adores her also...no one can get him to laugh so loud and long as Maddie can. It's sweet to watch. They're only 18 months apart in age and I pray that they'll stay close even through the future years as teens and adults.

Landon's idea of dancing is running around in circles. He loves dancing to the Chipmunks' "Shake Your Groove Thing"...whatever a groove thing is. Ha! He drools as he dances and ends up with a soaking-wet shirt...well, he drools whether he's dancing or not. We're in an interesting phase of hundreds of teeth coming in at once. He greets people with a yell, he hugs, he laughs, he plants slobbery kisses on my mouth. He throws a ball well, runs staggering toward the fireplace at full speed and gives his mother heart failure.

Landon loves to sleep, loves his apple juice, loves cookies and vegetables. He wins the mess-maker prize. I've never seen a baby cover himself with food, cover his high chair, his shirt quite like that boy. Eating is a game to him, I think. Landon's favorite things are 1) his mommy 2) his daddy 3) Madison 4) brooms and vacuum cleaners ???? 5) ME? I hope so, anyway! Ha! He loves to be loved on and is quite the affectionate boy while being ALL boy. We're crazy about him. Another gift from God. We're thankful. (Now if I can talk his mommy into having a few more of these. Teasing, dear)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Birthday Greetings

Today I am 54. Feeling sort of "older" both inside and out but the Lord showed me this today..just for me!
I am truly blessed in all things.

Psalm 103 Praise for the LORD’S Mercies. A Psalm of David.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

5 Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

6 The LORD performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children,
18 To those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them.
19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

As 2012 begins...

This past year has brought me so much JOY and very little sorrow. I thank the Lord for His blessings, His mercy, and His love. I still struggle much in one area of my life and I will pray again for victory over this problem in 2012. It could be that the Lord will just continue to use it as a "thorn" so that I may be completely humbled and dependent on Him. That I won't think more of myself than I ought. I know He can take it away at any time and also He can discipline me with it. We shall see. Nevertheless, I'll just pray for His will and my obedience.

I love this passage from a book by Sarah Young. The book is Jesus Calling. It is written as if it's Jesus speaking to us:
"As this year draws to a close, receive My Peace. This is still your deepest need, and I, your Prince of Peace, long to pour Myself into your neediness. My abundance and your emptiness are a perfect match. I designed you to have no sufficiency of your own. I create you as a jar of clay, set apart for sacred use. I want you to be filled with My very Being, permeated through and through with Peace. Thank Me for My peaceful Presence, regardless of your feelings. Whisper My Name in loving tenderness. My Peace, which lives continually in your spirit, will gradually work its way through your entire being."

Isaiah 9:6: "For to us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Highlights and Memories from 2011: