Quick Post....

I have just a minute to post! *deep breath* Today is the beginning of a really busy weekend. I was at the church this morning decorating for a wedding, home to get an installation taken care of, quick shower and we have to be back at the church at 6. It will be a late night, but with some good friends, it will go quickly, I'm sure. Then back to church tomorrow by noon for the wedding. Clean up comes next, then home for a quick change of clothes and back for the parent/youth meeting tomorrow evening. Home and a good night's rest and heart preparation for Sunday church and care group meetings. *sigh* God is good! Imagine if I did not have the breath or energy or ability to do all of these things. Now there is something to thank the Lord for His wonderful care of me! Y'all have a great weekend!

Back in the Groove

Well....the wonderful long weekend is over, and it was good to get up this morning and get back into our "normal" (if you can call it that) groove....CPCC, homeschool, laundry, cooking (still) and all of the normal things our day holds for us. The hardest part is Gene having to go back to work. I just love when he can be home with us for extra time! It is fun, even if we aren't doing anything special.....it's just always special to have him home. I think the cloudy, rainy day helped to be able to focus on the fact that we return to the normal. I love watching it rain....both water and leaves in our yard and have a great cup of coffee or tea.....I do miss being able to sit by a fire and watch....Marge...I'm glad you have one to enjoy!

So this week may not be sooo normal and this may end up being my only post for the week! I have to help get the church ready for a wedding on Saturday. A couple in our care group are getting married and it should be a fun time! Chelsey is also trying to plan a Christmas party for all of the high school (9th-12th graders) that are home schooled at church, so she has me involved in ideas for decorating, food and what to do. She really just wants the high schoolers to have an event that will encourage relationships and be fun at the same time. She has some good ideas. So she is trying to line up adults to help, entertaining things to do, of course, good food, and people to help set up and clean up. She has done a great job in just following guidelines and submitting a full plan to the pastor and administrator and home school group leaders. I think this has been good for her to learn how to submit things and patiently wait for a response.

I love watching our kids as they grow and begin to take on new levels of responsibilities. I think I can stand in awe of what God has done in their lives....in our case with Chelsey, in spite of me!
I mean we can train them as best we can, but we are still such sinners!!!! At least I am! And the grace and mercy of God abounds in our children's lives as we entrust them to Him and allow Him to bring them along and reveal Himself to them. Praise God! He can do it all, and He doesn't need me to tell Him how to fix anything!!! =) I just know I'm blessed to have a daughter who really loves the Lord!

Well....there are my ramblings for now.....I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Second Saturday

Well, yesterday seemed like Saturday, so today is a 2nd Saturday. We are enjoying just being together as a family and relaxing. Gene is trying to decide whether or not to work in the yard today. It's pretty chilly outside, and we're not a fan of the cold! So staying warm is good! I didn't do any of the black Friday holiday shopping.....I did my grocery shopping! It's great....there are VERY FEW people doing grocery shopping the day after Thanksgiving, and you get the same great sales! So today we are just hanging out! Stay warm!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well.....we are all sufficiently stuffed! We had a great time with family at my niece's home in Belmont. We were all supposed to bring one side dish....well.....in this family, one side dish never happens. I think everyone brought 2 or 3 side dishes and desserts too, so there was TONS of food to munch on. The best part was that most of hit was really very healthy! We didn't have so much "filler" stuff beforehand and that was great! It was such a nice day that we were able to sit outside for most of the afternoon and enjoy the fire pit by some beautiful landscaping with a little waterfall and pond that my nephew put in himself (he has his own landscaping business). It was fun to be by the fire, laughing at memories and catching up with folks and playing with all the dogs.

I have one niece who lives in the eastern part of the state and holidays are about the only time we get to see her, so today was a treat! We had a fun time, talking and just being with family. For some reason this year was more pleasant than some of our gatherings in the past. That is something to be grateful for in itself!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day and have been able to recount the many blessings that the Lord has sent your way! Many blessings to you all from the Miracles!

The Little Man is Growing Up

Well....it's been a while since we've seen Carter, but here is a picture from about a week ago. It is fun to see how big he is getting! If you don't know who Carter is....that is our grandson!

Hope everyone has their cooking well underway for Thanksgiving. We will be going to my niece's house in Belmont for the afternoon.

May be Lord bless you all and enjoy making new memories, remembering old ones and being grateful to the Lord for all He has done!

Happy

Thanksgiving!

Thanks...

Thanks to everyone who lifted up a prayer for me this morning. My time of sharing went very well. There were about twelve ladies there, and I just enjoyed listening to them talk and then being able to share what the Lord had given me for them. By His grace and for His glory, may there be fruit that bears in due season. What a privilege it was to be in this position. I was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I am truly grateful that I was able to be serving the Lord in this way! You know, I was thinking about this last night when I went to bed. I've been thinking about evangelism. Sharing the gospel more. I'm one of those people who .... well, let's just say I'm no Adam Campbell or Larry Malament. BUT, that doesn't mean that I can't share the Gospel like them or as well as them. So I've been asking the Lord, what does evangelism look like for me? Well, today was one of those days, where I was able to share the gospel. There was still some comfort to the time today....I knew most of the ladies there, it was in a church, that sort of thing. But I cannot take for granted that all have heard the gospel or have received salvation. So this little group setting was a really good way for me to share the gospel today. I pray that God will be glorified in this time shared.

Please Pray!

Speaking of stepping out of my comfort zone....I'm putting the finishing words to the message that I am giving at my mom's women of the church meeting tomorrow morning. I would really appreciate your prayers -- anytime now through about 11:00 tomorrow. These ladies are used to about a 10 to 15 minute devotion, but I couldn't get what I wanted to share with them to less than 30 minutes. Pray that these ladies would be able to hear the gospel as I speak about Remembering to be Grateful. I'm really kinda looking forward to this opportunity. Most of these women are my probably 75+ in age, and most of them at some point in my life were Sunday School teachers, some relatives and/or scout leaders or had some other part in impacting my life. It is the grace of God that I would be able to look back and share with them and be able to express thankfulness at the same time.

Comfort Zones

So, after hearing Brent's message, and reading and discussing Chapter 6 in Why Small Groups, I was just wondering.....what comfort zone do you have that God is maybe asking you to step out of for the sake of the Gospel......or even just in general?

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Isn't it kind of the Lord to give us such BEAUTIFUL fall days?!?!? It is so wonderful. It helps me to look at God's creation and be more grateful for all that he has made. You know, most days I can honestly say that I don't think about creation much.....I guess I'm mostly just taking it for granted. I don't want to do that anymore. God is loving and kind, and He made the created world for His glory and He made it as provision to each of us. I mean, just think about it...if we didn't have the natural resources that the Lord was kind enough to create, we would not have the wonderful conveniences that we have now. When you think of how things are made and what they are made from, without the natural resources, it would be very different. And God created everything else BEFORE He created us. So we begin to also see that God has created order. Certain things have to come first before other things can happen. I have been doing a study on gratefulness, and it has drawn my attention to how little I stop and think and thank the Lord for just everything in my life. In Luke 19, Jesus is entering the city (Palm Sunday story) and the disciples are praising and honoring him......

37When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
40"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

Jesus tells us that even the stones are ready to cry out if no one else is praising him and giving him the glory. I think there may have been lots of stones around me at numerous times praising God because I wasn't! That's sad!!!

In Revelation 5, John speaks of every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea praising God (won't that be an amazing site?).....

13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"

14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

So I want to have an undercurrent running through my mind, my heart and my soul.....an undercurrent of gratitude and thankfulness and praise.....I want it to be in my actions and in my words......I want to be louder than the stones crying out! Praise be to God! Thank you for the things you have done!

Productive Day

Today has been one of those productive days....very busy, but in a great way! Chelsey has been babysitting all day (sorry Meghann, I wanted to invite you and the little man over for lunch but other plans were already in place) -- she actually left last night (sure do miss her when she's gone that long!). So this morning I had coffee with a friend at Panera. We haven't talked in a REALLY long time, so it was great catching up with each other. We had some good biblical fellowship along with just some chatting time. Then I had a return to make...quick in and out, not allowing myself to get distracted----such a temptation sometimes! Home to clean the house -- the basics today -- bathroom, dusting, vacuming and the usual walking the dog! Walked to visit a neighbor, but she was busy as well. Came home made dinner, did some school planning and investigation (CPCC books are really expensive!!!). Made some email contacts for care group purposes. Called a couple of ladies in the care group to check on how they are doing. It will soon be time for Chelsey to return, and I'll get a chance to catch up with her and then Gene will get home. Soon it is suppertime and we grab a quick dinner and off to CPCC to drop Chelsey at her ASL class and Gene & I will have a date night at Jackson's Java. Home around 9 and begin to wind down! It's busy, but it has been good! I have a lot to thank the Lord for...because He has blessed me and allowed me to be able to do all of these things! He's awesome!

My Girl!

This is my girl! She's great! We have had many battles in her 16 years, but in the end, God has been kind because through them He has changed us. We still have an occasional argument, but to see us both growing in God's grace as we interact together is something that truly excites both of us because we know without a doubt that we would not be able to stand where we do today without that life-saving and life-changing grace. It's amazing!

So now, she is a concurrent enrollment student at CPCC, and she is being challenged in different ways, but she absolutely loves going to classes, meeting new people and sometimes even getting to hang out with people from church....people that she might not hang out with on a normal day. Today she had to meet with an advisor as part of a class that she is taking. She was very disappointed because she was told that since she was a concurrent enrollment student that they couldn't help her. I don't know if anyone else has gotten that response, but it didn't make a lot of sense to me. So we are going to have our own session later today since we are going to plan her next semester classes.

It's funny....she was talking about how she wished that she could have gone to maybe a private school during her senior year. She thinks that would be so much fun. I had to remind her though that she can easily "glamorize" that scenario just through some of the books or movies that she has read/seen and everything seems so wonderful. I just reminded her that those books and movies forget to put the real life hard work that goes into school. She just really enjoys being around people so much....more because she is an only child and partly because she is a very outgoing person. I'm really glad she's not shy! She has been blessed this semester to have met some great Christians in her classes. It is something that she hasn't taken for granted and I'm glad about that.

Well....that's my girl! I love her and am blessed by her!

Seasons

I'm really looking forward to the women's meeting tonight. I know there is lots more to learn. Chelsey is 16, but she is graduating from high school this year and I just want to be able to focuse the next few years on her heart for the Lord, for her future husband---hopefuly that is part of His plan, and for her future home. Isn't it such a blessing to be a mom?

A "Becky" inspired repost ---

When I read Becky's post, or should I say re-post of her random things about herself, I was inspired to "do better" on my own post of 8 random things about myself (although some I might keep)....so here goes.

1. Born and raised in Charlotte....the only place I ever moved was to college!

2. In first grade I hated school because I couldn't be home with my mom and do all the fun stuff and go all the fun places that we used to before school.

3. When I was in elementary school, I fell off a bike and knocked out my front teeth (permanent) -- the dentist LOVED me!

4. I met first met Gene when I was 12....that means we have known each other for almost 38 years! You do the math!

5. My first job was in a toy store.

6. Do any of you remember leg wrestling? I was the champ in our youth group, and could even throw the advisors!

7. I didn't know what to major in when I was in college, so I majored in psychology.

8. I worked for 10 years as a systems analyst for a computer company.

Tagged......

OK...so Lindsay tagged me on these 8 random things....I think I would have done better with the children's books than this one....here goes.....

1. Born & raised in Charlotte.

2. The house we lived in was built by my grandfather.....and you can really tell!!!!

3. This is my last year of homeschooling.....we made it all the way! She graduates in May (on our anniversary)!

4. I'm the youngest of 3 kids.....Gene is the youngest of 3 kids.....and the age difference between siblings in both families is exactly the same.

5. I'm a grandma!

6. I'm probably the only person who doesn't get on the interstates or freeways to navigate to and through downtown Charlotte.

7. I've been to Jamaica 4 times.....all b.C. (before Chelsey)......and we ate lots of strange things -- like curried goat --which was after the goat races & the loser was .... well, you know --- actually quite tasty!

8. This was really hard to come up with 8 things....as Chelsey says....I'm not a very random person!


OK....done with that! Moving on......AND....I think everyone else has probably been tagged, except for maybe Chelsey

Growing

At this time of year, you don't see a lot growing. BUT, as I read through many of the blogs of faithful posters out there, I'm seeing that there is a lot of growth going on. That is such a blessing; it is an encouragement! God is at work!!! What better news? Just yesterday, Chelsey was sharing with me some verses that she had read in Lamentations and one in particular in Jeremiah, and then she sat down and wrote out some of her thoughts in a Word document. What she wrote, I could not have said better myself, so I'm going to share them with you here. I told her to post them on her own blog, and she probably will, but her thoughts were great encouragement to me. As we all keep seeking the Lord and allow Him to grow in us, we grow in Him!

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick who can understand it?(ESV)
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?(NIV)

One verse, two versions, same meaning. Desperately sick? Beyond cure?! How hopeless does that seem? As we look back in time and remember things we’ve said or done, this verse makes sense… "I can’t believe I said that to her! I must have some kind of evil or twisted thinking!" No…not evil or twisted thinking but a desperately sick heart that is beyond cure.

So does this mean that we can just give up? "My heart is beyond cure…its useless to keep fighting when there can be no cure…right?" No way! Just because there isn’t a cure doesn’t mean that our condition can’t improve. Just like in the medical world, there are many diseases that are incurable but with the proper care and medicine, the condition will get better and sometimes even disappear…that doesn’t mean that the disease is gone…its just being held back by a stronger force.

So what is our stronger force…our medicine? The only thing that can help us is prayer and diving into the word, reading your Bible daily as if it were a life-saving pill. That’s what it is in effect…a life-saving and life-altering pill. We could not have come this far without it…think about it, becoming a Christian was our first dose of healing ointment. And every new day that we draw breath and every time we meet with God in prayer is proper care for our desperately sick heart.
So think of it this way…I have a desperately sick heart that is beyond cure, I’m waiting for a transplant that I can only get when I go to heaven. I have to do regular check-ups and sometimes even surgery to help keep my heart healthy. Prayer is my proper care; the Bible is my medicine. With that combination, there IS hope.

Lamentations 3:20-24 "My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!"

So we have our prescription and we have our medicine. Let us not fail to take it faithfully until the day when God calls us home for our new heart. Faithfully read your Bible and meet with God everyday, this is the only medicine that can help. Yes our hearts are desperately sick with sin and worldliness and pride and yes it is beyond cure BUT with the right medicine and the proper care, we can fight this battle!

The Little Things

The little things in this life can be quite comforting....a cup of coffee, a good book, a loving husband, children....some of those are really huge things but they are all a comfort. Sometimes it is the little things in relationships that turn into huge things. I was talking with a friend last night about some of those "little things" that have become so HUGE that they are affecting the way she thinks about things. It's these "little things" that God uses to reveal what is in our heart. The sponge is getting squeezed! It not only changes the was we think about things or people, but if left to continue growing, these "little things" -- OK these issues (usually sin) -- reveal our heart and our attitude toward just about everything we do! We get frustrated, things hurt us that shouldn't, we become bitter and resentful and unforgiving. We can ruin relationships this way. Soooo, we need to make sure that we deal with the"little things" in our lives. We need to be continually pursuing the Lord over these "little things" that bother us. We need to let the Lord reveal these areas of our hearts to us and deal with us in a significant way. Don't ignore them....just be amazed that God is gracious enough to show us what we are really like and then let us repent and apprehend the grace that He is extending to us to grow and move on to even more things -- some still little, some more important and some even greater. Let us be captured by His presence in our day to day lives.

Care Group

I love our group! We have lots of fun together, and everyone is getting pretty comfortable with one another it seems! We still have lots of growing to do in our walks with the Lord and in our group. We did have a great discussion last night about caring for one another.

So, now it is Monday and the start of a new week! Very kind of the Lord to make it sunny and bright! Right now, it seems like there will just be lots of normal things going on this week...school, laundry, writing & study for bible study, cooking, cleaning, and the week to week errands. Tonight I'm meeting with one of the ladies from our care group for a couple of hours. I pray the Lord will use that time in a meaningful and specific way.

Chelsey is wanting to go shopping sometime, so I have to see if I can work that into the schedule soon. I'm not much of a shopper anymore! It is fun to take her though, and sometimes I will have her ask a friend to go along so that they can have some shopping fun! Tonight though, she is off to babysit for the Seavers -- at least that's the plan!

Poor Gene...he gets abandoned tonight! Sometimes he just needs that time too! Never fear...I'll be home before you know it!

Posting

So I'm probably a bit out of the norm with posting.....I just don't have lots to say on a daily basis. Well, maybe I should rethink that statement! I probably have plenty to say, but I just don't have the time everyday to post on this blog. So as irregular as my posts are, it is still fun...but it may be a bit boring to most of you. Sorry for no pics....I don't have a digital camera....Chelsey is the photographer in the family. Maybe I'll have to get her to take a few I can post along the way!

So yesterday was a little out of the norm for us as well. Chelsey babysat all day. She actually spent the night on Thursday night with the family because they had an early appointment. So she was gone from about 8:30 on Thursday evening until about 6:30 Friday evening. Now, those days are, for right now, out of our normal routine, but it is definitely a picture of days to come. The house is so quiet when there is no one here but me! Some days, I'm very diligent and productive. Others, it seems like I waste a lot of time. And still others like this seem to be a combination of productivity and total relaxation. Yesterday was a more productive day. I spent all morning out with my Mom since she had several errands that she needed to accomplish. It is funny, some days we have lots to talk about and other days, we are pretty quiet, each of us lost in our own thoughts. It was still an enjoyable time. After I got home, I was able to get a good bit of cleaning done, interrupted by only my own thoughts and distractions (rather than those of someone else). And I actually got to cook a great meal for my family. Lately, we've had a lot of quick meals due to Chelsey's classes where we have to be out of the house by 5:30 and other nights somewhat rushed because of other meetings with people and/or church. So I really enjoyed my time in the kitchen yesterday!

Here's a question for you readers: What are some quick but good meals that you have in your recipe file for those days when we are eating in a rush? I'd love to hear some of your suggestions.

Last night we got to just hang out as a family. Another thing that is rare in this season since Chelsey has two nights that she is in class. We chatted and watched a movie. Today Chelsey is taking three classes at CPCC's Free College Day. She took a Genetics class at the Central Campus at 9 this morning. Since the class is only an hour long, I either go to Starbucks or go sit and read at the Burger King nearby (I know...yuck....Burger King --- but I have found it to be a more peaceful place to sit and think or get something done than Starbucks which is fast-paced and loud!). Her class was to end at 10, but did not end until about 10:10. Her second class started at 10:30 at the Cato Campus. NO problem!!! Did you know that on Saturday, you can make it from the Central Campus to the Cato Campus in 10 minutes???? Amazing!!! I know you can't do that on a weekday! She is taking a Forensic class called "So you want to be a CSI?" She loves forensics for some reason, but doesn't particularly like a structure science class. She loves a good mystery! CPCC is providing lunch for the people who take their classes today for free. So she will have lunch and probably sit and read a bit or if the lab is open, she will work on her ASL Lab until her class at 2:30. She is taking an Interpreter class called "A Day in the Life of an Interperter" taught by our own Pam Morris. I'll pick her up at 3:30, and come home so that she can shower and we will have dinner and then it is off to Q222 meeting at about 5:30. So our day is quite full!

So while she is in class, I'm going to work on my Bible study for the women's meeting at my Mom's church in November. It is coming along.....I'm really excited with the direction and study that the Lord has me doing. It is about Remembering & Thankfulness. Very appropriate for this time of year. Pray that I'll be able to communicate effectively!

Gene is going to be working on his lawn tractor today. The last time he was using it, the frame broke. Yikes! He has made a couple of braces for it and has started to put them on. We are praying that these repairs will hold it together and allow him to keep using it for a while longer since there is no money in the budget for a new riding mower. Y'all can pray with us that the Lord would allow it to hold together during leaf season...and also pray for His provision for a new or used one. Gene not only has our lawn/yard to take care of but my parents as well. That makes for 3.5 acres to mow and keep up. Thankfully my parents yard doesn't have as many trees as ours does! God has been good to provide for us, and I'm sure that He will again. Hmmmmm.....makes me think of the song Sarah Groves sings....He's Always Been Faithful! I'm so glad we serve the ONE true God who know our every need!

I don't always look forward to the holidays. I enjoy seeing all of our families, but there are many times when I really desire to be able to do things with people from the church. I have been married for 20 years, and have NEVER cooked a Thanksgiving dinner. Now....don't get me wrong, I always prepare some dishes to share and I have even cooked a turkey, but I have never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner completely by myself....and I am quite capable of doing so... and had people in our home for Thanksgiving. We are always either at my folks house with my family or in Greenville, SC with Gene's family. So sometimes it seems like our little family of 3 has never really established any holiday traditions of our own, even though going to grandparents and relatives are our family tradition. I look forward to when we have the opportunity to include our church family in our holiday traditions.

OK....so I have rambled on to make up for a week of posting. You folks have a really great weekend! Be blessed!