Memorial Day

I hope you all had a great day! Gene and I sure did! Our anniversary is this coming Friday, but since we are steeped in graduation rehearsal and then graduation, we took yesterday to celebrate! We took a day trip to South Mountain State Park. We drove through the countryside rather than taking the interstate, and it was a wonderful drive! We got there and hiked for a while and enjoyed the beauty of the trail. After we left there, we stopped at a small winery about 20 minutes from Stone Mountain. It is a very small place, a family run business that started out of a son's effort to find some heart healthy ways to help out his dad who has heart problems. We had a wine tasting and saw where they make their wine and store it and listened to how they developed their flavors and all that. They also have parties and weddings and receptions at their facility which is very nice. After that we drove back to Charlotte, went out to eat and then home to relax. It is such a blessing to spend the day with my honey! And he's been all mine for 21 years now! Time does go by sooo fast! But I know this....I am blessed!!!!!

A Good Movie...

Last week we rented a few movies with a gift card that we received over Christmas. One of the movies that we rented was August Rush. I must say, it was a movie that all three of us enjoyed tremendously. Maybe it is because we all love music, but it is rare that we rent a movie that all of us like. Gene usually falls asleep because the movies are too "girlie". BUT, he really enjoyed this one....the music and the story. I think we may end up purchasing this one as a keeper. Chelsey enjoyed it so much that she purchased the soundtrack with some of her birthday money. All this to say....consider it!

What movie have you seen lately that you really enjoyed? That could be a current movie or video that you have seen. Thanks for sharing!

An Update.....

I have been pretty slack in posting, and thanks Erin for asking how my dad's surgery went. It went really well. It took a little longer to get the graft because of a lot of scar tissue, but it is done, he is doing well! He doesn't have to go back to the doctor until next week.

Us kids & grandkids surprised my parents at their church today. We had flowers in the church and a little message in the bulletin to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary which is this Thursday. That is a really long time! What an example! I think they were really surprised. One of my nieces and my nephew & his family were able to go to church with them too. We were going to take them to lunch, but it didn't work out today because of too many conflicts. We will try for that on another day this week. They brought the flowers home, and literally, they take up the entire dining room table.

Wasn't it great to see the Kauflin family today at CWCC? I'm sure some of the GCC people saw them on Saturday. It was just so good......makes me realize just how much I've missed them. It would be really great to be able to sit down with them sometime one on one and hear all that the Lord is doing in their lives and just catch up.

Onward! Finishing up school for Chelsey, finishing up graduation stuff. It is working out good, and not too stressful....God is so faithful!!! What a blessing!

Well...it's late.....and I think I'm ready to sleep! Y'all have a good week! Oh...and Kendra.....I think it'll be David Cook!

Happy 17th!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEY!!!

Thank you Lord for Chelsey! She is a blessing and a joy. Yes, there have been plenty of times of strife and plenty of times of anger and harsh words and many raw emotions, but they do not equal the times of sweet talks, lots of laughing and just the joy and cheerfulness that you birthed in her before time began. Best of all, she does love and desire to follow her Savior and worship Him with a passion. Thank you for blessing our lives with this beautiful young woman! Our prayer is that you would continue to grow her in You and may the spark of passion for You be fanned into a blazing flame. May she daily be filled with your Spirit so that she can honor and serve you with power from above and not in her own strength. May her witness be of You and may Your hand be on her life to lead her, to guide her and provide for her all of her days. Thank you Lord, for the privilege of being her parents and blessing us in this sweet, sweet way!

Happy Birthday Babe!

We Love You Bunches!

The Deep Deep Love of Jesus

The great messages we've heard at church in the last couple of weeks and studying Hosea for care group tonight have given me lots to think about (oh...picture is not mine, but looks like something I'd do!). Just thinking about God's compassion and love for me with new insights, has just opened a deeper level of understanding of His grace to me and just how wonderful His love for me is....not to mention a fresh awareness of how undeserving I am. I can reflect on many things I've done in my life.....I guess you would call them my "bigger" sins are enough to make His love for me unwarranted. But when I think of the little things....the "little" sins.....things I do or say or think without any effort at all, those make His love for me amazing......something that I don't deserve. As I studied the relationship of Hosea and Gomer and how that is a reflection of God's love for His people, then just make that application to my own life...I am blown away! What an amazing God! And to think, my understanding only scratches the surface. The depth of His love, I cannot begin to fathom.

May is Full!

The month of May is full .... or so it seems! Lots of good things! First we get to celebrate the end of school! Well, CPCC is all done, and homeschool is almost done.

THEN....we get to celebrate this:

Chelsey's birthday is next week! What a blessing and what a joy she has been! And my niece's b-day is two days later.

Then we celebrate Mother's Day....that's always a fun day. (And we get to hear CJ speak at church again!)

Next, my Dad has to undergo his 14th eye surgery! Pray that the skin graft for his cornea takes and heals completely without any complications (his only other option is to lose that eye).
Then we get to enjoy having Bob Kauflin at church for a visit and speaking to us.

On the 22nd we will celebrate my Mom & Dad's 65th wedding anniversary. (I won't add their picture again.) That is so amazing that they have been married for so long! What an example!

Then there is the Memorial Day holiday.

And then Gene & I celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary.....it sure doesn't seem like it has been that long but I am so blessed! (well, I think we both are) -- not sure when we will celebrate though since graduation rehearsal is that evening!

And then Chelsey graduates from high school......followed by the closing of our home school. And she will be off to CPCC.

Many celebrations and also many changes! So much to be grateful for! God is very kind and gracious to allow us to experience all of this! What a month! I'm excited to see it all unfold because I know there are many things yet to be discovered!

Isn't She Lovely?

There is a lot of hustle and bustle around here.....finishing up CPCC for the semester, finishing up high school forever, starting a new job (Chelsey), getting graduation "stuff" done -- on time!!! One of the most pleasurable things of late has been Chelsey's senior pics.....they are wonderful and so many to choose from. Chelsey really enjoy this time and is thrilled with the outcome. Her life is getting so busy. It is so fun to watch all of the things that are happening in her life. And yes, it does bring a tear to Mom's eye knowing how sweet it is and sad that my "little girl" is quickly maturing into a beautiful, passionate and godly young woman. We have been so blessed to be chosen as her parents!!! Chelsey and I have definitely had our trials as we battled the sinful character in both of our lives, but I don't think I would ever ask to change anything....even the times that I sinned against her -- ways too numerous to count -- and I say that because, the Lord has used these times to humble me and bring me to repentance before Him and before Chelsey and Gene. If those times had not occurred, my life would probably not have changed as it has and I would not have grown in grace. God is kind!!!

So yes, homeschooling is coming to an end for me. That is odd to think about since I've been doing it for a long time now....I know, not as long as some, but still..... Homeschooling has been a mixed bag of emotions for me and it, too, has proved to be a tool to work on my character. Gene and I were both in agreement that we desired and wanted to home school Chelsey. But I tell you what....there were times when we went so far as to get an application to private school. It was tough. We were not sure if the battles were worth it. And as most, there were so many times when I felt so inadequate in teaching her. I really had to trust the Lord with that because there was no other way to walk it out. There is a lot about homeschooling that I just didn't like at all. And there are things that Chelsey probably would have learned more about in another classroom, but there is one thing that I am confident in......she would not have learned as much about the Lord or about grace as she did right here at The Oaks (our homeschool). I am also confident that she has learned by God's grace and that she has taken in all that she needs during this time. Oh, I can think of plenty of areas that she can still learn in and will continue to grow in over the next few years. Praise God! He has seen us through and Chelsey will graduate on May 31st! What a blessing and a testimony of God's grace in all of our lives.