A New Adventure...

Well....I'm on a new adventure.....maybe I should say that differently. Let's just say it's been a while, but I'm working again! This time, I'm going to be able to work from home. I'm just trying to figure everything out this week. How it all will work, what the schedule will look like, the number of hours I'll work and all of that, and what life will look like from this point. I'll be doing phone calls -- call center followups for Great Direct Concepts/Auto Lending Network. I've been looking for something to do from home for a few months, and this one seems like it is going to work out well. I'm hoping so. It's kind of a good feeling to know what I'll be doing now that homeschooling is over. I'm sure the Lord has plenty in store for me, and I look forward to this all fitting together. Very interesting!

One Season Ends, A New One Begins.....

Well, once again, it has been forever since I last posted! As of Saturday, we have officially ended the high school years.....with the conclusion of Youth Camp 2008. It was a wonderful time! The presence of the Lord and the work that He was doing was evident. I'll post more on that when I get all my thoughts together. So now we move on to the college years and M28. With Chelsey now working, and today, we got her registered for the last class she needed for fall at CPCC, the busyness of life looks different. We are still praying for God's provision for a car for Chelsey to be able to use for her many destinations as they increase in the months to come. It is exciting to see how she is also changing, maturing and realizing how much she must trust the Lord in many areas of her life. It is also a new season for Gene and I. We have the opportunity to spend more time together alone and do things together. What a change! I tell you what -- those 17 years since we were last alone have flown by! I am just so grateful for all that the Lord has done through the years to teach us and grow us and draw us all closer to Himself and continue His sanctifying process with an abundance of grace! So here is my question I pose to the Lord now.... Now what do I do? That is where I am....trying to figure it all out and hear from Him. I'm looking forward to whatever is next.

Deep *sigh*

Well....for now, all the things on my plate are done.....referring to graduation, youth banquet, anniversary celebrations and mom's bible study. I really enjoyed all of them! Still can't believe that Chelsey is actually done with homeschool. I think in my mind I never thought that we would make it through to the end. Yea God! He did many awesome works in the two of us.....there was definitely a lot of character growth that took place, and as a family, He has been faithful to keep us drawn to Him. So now she must decide what she is going to do next. She has some really mixed feelings about whether she wants to start school in the fall, or whether she just wants to work. She is really enjoying working at Chick-fil-A. I can't decide if she really likes it or if she just realized how cool it is to get paid and enjoy the work at the same time. Today she made a huge investment. She bought herself an ipod. She really had a tough few moments of justifying spending that much money. I'm grateful that she doesn't want to spend all of her money. I pray that she stays with that mindset.

The youth banquet went very well. I think that was very and there have been lots of compliments. I am very grateful to everyone who contributed! The place was beautiful! Kendra did a great job with decorations, and many ladies did a fantastic job with the food. AND, M28-ers we can't do it without them! Their servant hearts on Thursday and Friday were outstanding. What a wonderful evening! Congrats to Mark and Chelsey for receiving the Quest Awards this year. What an honor. It will be exciting to see all that the Lord has in store for the youth, and how He will draw them as they enter college and M28.

Anniversaries....well Gene and I celebrated our 21st....I think we celebrated several days. Shelley reminded us that not only was Chelsey's graduation taking over our anniversary, but her high school graduation was also on our anniversary....that was 12 years ago! Wow! But Saturday we drove to Greenville (SC) to Gene's sisters....she and her husband were celebrating their 50th anniversary. Their kids threw dinners and receptions all weekend. We were so exhausted, we only made the Saturday afternoon reception. It was really nice. There were folks that we got a chance to visit with that we don't see very often. Gene's sister from Iowa, his nephews from Florida and Pennsylvania. AND, Gene's mom returns from her winter in Iowa back to SC. It was great to see her...we haven't seen her since last year! WOW!

Sunday, needless to say, we crashed. It was a very nice day, Gene put up the hammock and took his nap outside in the breeze. I made it to the couch! It was a great day of just relaxing!!!

Monday....I worked on the bible study for my mom's WOC (women of the church) meeting that was today. I emailed Gene in the afternoon to ask for prayer because my brain felt like mush and I just couldn't decide how things were going to turn out....but I did know that I just needed to trust the Lord for what He wanted me to share. So I took Chelsey to work and when I came back home, was able to get it done without a lot of trouble. And today, I was able to trust the Lord for the delivery! It was nice to be able to share what the Lord had shown me with these ladies.

So that's what I've been up to lately!

Quick Post -- More Later

It has been a crazy busy couple of weeks culminating in this past weekend. Friday night was the Q222 End of Year Banquet......then a Saturday trip to Greenville, SC for Gene's sister & husband's 50th anniversary reception, home again and then finally a very relaxing Father's Day. That was very nice! Today I have to prepare for a Bible study that my mom asked me to lead at her church for a small group of ladies tomorrow morning......this is the 2nd time that I have done this.....anyway, I have a short passage about Elijah that I am to focus on.....I would definitely appreciate any and all prayers during my preparation time today and presentation tomorrow. Sooo, I'll give a more detailed post in the next couple of days....but for now.....praise be to God! His mercy and grace abound!

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!