Today my future son-in-love and I went Christmas shopping together. He wanted my opinion on something for Hope and I did some shopping while we were out. We started our morning with a devotion in the car on the way to breakfast and then ate at a little restaurant called Cafe 65 that a sweet lady named Tammy has bought and is running. (She used to be the best waitress at Chaney's in my opinion) We enjoyed our food and conversation and then started our many stops. The first one being Family Christian.....not a good place to leave the two of us for very long. We can spend way to much...WAY to FAST!! lol! But after our door busters, coupons and sale items we saved $170.00 ......Now that is some gooooooood shopping! lol! We shared our thoughts, had sweet fellowship and laughed a lot! What a sweet time it was. I don't get to spend much time with Ben just the two of us so it was a special blessing. He is an extraordinary young man and I am proud of him and love him like my own. We talked a lot about the goodness of God and how merciful and kind He is. Ben and Hope make a wonderful couple and God is going to use them for his kingdom...I watch with great anticipation! Not many young men would want to spend the day with their future Mother-in-law.......how blessed I am!
He and I returned this afternoon with sweet memories and some secrets that Miss Hope will just have to wait a little longer to find out about!!! hee hee
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!
What a WONDERFUL surprise this morning to get up and see the ground covered with beautiful white snow!!! Nothing else compares to how clean and pure it looks when a fresh snow comes! I get so excited! I'm just like a little kid. I called Renea at 7:00a.m. this morning and said "Guess what???!!! I know what God was having for breakfast this morning....powered donuts and some spilled over on us!"....I told ya...like a kid. lol.
I can not look at creation and not be amazed! That snow this morning in its beauty reminded me of how we must look to God when he see the righteousness of Christ covering us!!! We are so clean and pure! Our yard was covered in dead, crunchy, yucky leaves but now....you can't see them....they are covered in pure white snow. Well, my sins, as ugly as they were are covered in the blood of Christ and I have been made as white as snow!!! Thank you Lord!!! What a blessed Reminder!
I can not look at creation and not be amazed! That snow this morning in its beauty reminded me of how we must look to God when he see the righteousness of Christ covering us!!! We are so clean and pure! Our yard was covered in dead, crunchy, yucky leaves but now....you can't see them....they are covered in pure white snow. Well, my sins, as ugly as they were are covered in the blood of Christ and I have been made as white as snow!!! Thank you Lord!!! What a blessed Reminder!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
It could have been a commercial......
Bottom Round Roast......$10.00
Creamed Corn............$5.00
Creamed Potatoes........$3.00
Cornbread...............$2.00
Having my family sit around the table and share their day and their laughter......
PRICELESS!!!!!!
Call Mastercard and tell them we're in.....we have their next commercial! LOL!
It really is priceless though. When we all come to the table we bring lots of variety. There's Hannah who talks non stop about her day, what she and Lauren did in Coach O'Neals class that cracked them up and then she begins laughing all over again and it makes us all laugh because Hannah's laugh is contagious for sure!! Then there's Hope who very quietly and patiently waits for her turn to share something about ROTC and maybe her plans for the future. I also love watching Hope when Hannah is telling a story because she smiles and laughs right along with Hannah. Even though Hannah's tenacity and spunkyness gets on Hope's nerves they are two of the very things she admires about her as well. Then there's Ben who you can tell is really enjoying his food, talks about his day at Fastenal and what stock he has put out and how he unloaded the truck and maybe about a colorful customer he had that day, something that he and Rock might have talked about, or maybe something new the Lord has shown him that day. Doug and I interject from time to time but it is just a joy for us to hear our kids. To listen to them and feel like we are a part of their lives.
Our table isn't just a place to set your plate, it is a place where we connect and our love grows for one another. Some nights the food may be simple and some nights it may look like a homecoming (depending upon my mood and our finances..lol) but it is always a place of unity and love. We give thanks every time before we eat but I assure you my heart is not just blessing the food.....it is thanking God for the honor of being with my family.
I know of another table that one day I will sit at and fellowship with my loved ones and that is at the Lord's table in heaven. I can't help but think how excited he is at the thought of that day when all his kids are finally home and sitting around his table. I'm sure the thought tugs at the very heart strings of God. You know, Ben isn't actually my biological child but he's mine all the same. I'd fight for him, nurture him, take care of him when he is sick, give him whatever he needed...I love him....he's mine. That's the way God's family is....we've been adopted in. If you are not in this family, if you are not sure that you will get to be seated at that table one day then please ask Jesus to become your father. He's waiting with open arms of mercy and love. There is NO sin to big that he can't forgive it. You just have to let him in.....he's patiently waiting. Open your heart's door. I want to see you at the table!
Creamed Corn............$5.00
Creamed Potatoes........$3.00
Cornbread...............$2.00
Having my family sit around the table and share their day and their laughter......
PRICELESS!!!!!!
Call Mastercard and tell them we're in.....we have their next commercial! LOL!
It really is priceless though. When we all come to the table we bring lots of variety. There's Hannah who talks non stop about her day, what she and Lauren did in Coach O'Neals class that cracked them up and then she begins laughing all over again and it makes us all laugh because Hannah's laugh is contagious for sure!! Then there's Hope who very quietly and patiently waits for her turn to share something about ROTC and maybe her plans for the future. I also love watching Hope when Hannah is telling a story because she smiles and laughs right along with Hannah. Even though Hannah's tenacity and spunkyness gets on Hope's nerves they are two of the very things she admires about her as well. Then there's Ben who you can tell is really enjoying his food, talks about his day at Fastenal and what stock he has put out and how he unloaded the truck and maybe about a colorful customer he had that day, something that he and Rock might have talked about, or maybe something new the Lord has shown him that day. Doug and I interject from time to time but it is just a joy for us to hear our kids. To listen to them and feel like we are a part of their lives.
Our table isn't just a place to set your plate, it is a place where we connect and our love grows for one another. Some nights the food may be simple and some nights it may look like a homecoming (depending upon my mood and our finances..lol) but it is always a place of unity and love. We give thanks every time before we eat but I assure you my heart is not just blessing the food.....it is thanking God for the honor of being with my family.
I know of another table that one day I will sit at and fellowship with my loved ones and that is at the Lord's table in heaven. I can't help but think how excited he is at the thought of that day when all his kids are finally home and sitting around his table. I'm sure the thought tugs at the very heart strings of God. You know, Ben isn't actually my biological child but he's mine all the same. I'd fight for him, nurture him, take care of him when he is sick, give him whatever he needed...I love him....he's mine. That's the way God's family is....we've been adopted in. If you are not in this family, if you are not sure that you will get to be seated at that table one day then please ask Jesus to become your father. He's waiting with open arms of mercy and love. There is NO sin to big that he can't forgive it. You just have to let him in.....he's patiently waiting. Open your heart's door. I want to see you at the table!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
What do you think?????
Tomorrow is the deadline for Hope's senior ad for the yearbook. I spent over 2 hours tonight looking through picture albums and trying to decide which pictures to include. Doug and I decided on a 1/2 page ad and we were allowed 6 photos and a message. The message wasn't that hard but choosing only 6 photos was very difficult.
I couldn't help but smile at some, giggle at others, and tear up at some of the photos because they weren't just an image of our oldest daughter.....they were memories. There was one of her when she was just about a year old with a mint green jogging suit and a pink hat with a fuzzy ball on top and she is in my arms; it is one of my favorite pictures of us. There was another of her and her daddy and Hannah, one on each side of him with their faces pressed onto one another with a huge grin. The girls were wearing their snoopy Christmas sweat shirts that Shela Rose gave them. It is really a sweet photo.
The photos covered almost 18 years of her life. Wow....where does the time go? She was once just a little blond fuzzy headed toothless baby and now she is a beautiful brunette with the straightest teeth and prettiest smile you've ever seen! (After about $7,000.00 worth of orthodontic work...lol) And now she isn't just in love with her family she's totally head over heals for a 20 year old young man named Ben Minter.
I couldn't help but think of now if you showed the kids at school her baby pictures and asked them to guess who it was they would probably not have a clue that it was Hope, but I would. I'd know her anywhere at any age....that's because she's mine. That's how God is. We may change in appearance from the time we became his child but he always knows it is us. He knows our voice, He knows our features and mannerisms, and I think He cherishes each memory he has of us. Max Lucado said "If God had a refrigerator our picture would be on it and if he carried a wallet our picture would be in it." God is God...He knows all and doesn't need a physical album full of pictures to remember all the good times, but I can't help but think that my father is proud of us and our growth just like Doug and I are of Hope's. You see, we've seen her work so hard, and struggle at times, feel rejection, experience loss, enjoy triumph and it makes us proud of who she is and how she is growing up to be a wonderful, amazing young woman. God's never missed a moment of our spiritual growth; not one tear, not one struggle, not one victory....he's seen it all and I know as a father He is proud of us.
The last part of what I wrote in Hope's ad says "We will be watching you with joy and excitement as you enter college and the adventures that life will bring in the days ahead, and we will always be here with open arms of love and words of encouragement any time you need them." Don't you know Jesus will do the same for you!
I couldn't help but smile at some, giggle at others, and tear up at some of the photos because they weren't just an image of our oldest daughter.....they were memories. There was one of her when she was just about a year old with a mint green jogging suit and a pink hat with a fuzzy ball on top and she is in my arms; it is one of my favorite pictures of us. There was another of her and her daddy and Hannah, one on each side of him with their faces pressed onto one another with a huge grin. The girls were wearing their snoopy Christmas sweat shirts that Shela Rose gave them. It is really a sweet photo.
The photos covered almost 18 years of her life. Wow....where does the time go? She was once just a little blond fuzzy headed toothless baby and now she is a beautiful brunette with the straightest teeth and prettiest smile you've ever seen! (After about $7,000.00 worth of orthodontic work...lol) And now she isn't just in love with her family she's totally head over heals for a 20 year old young man named Ben Minter.
I couldn't help but think of now if you showed the kids at school her baby pictures and asked them to guess who it was they would probably not have a clue that it was Hope, but I would. I'd know her anywhere at any age....that's because she's mine. That's how God is. We may change in appearance from the time we became his child but he always knows it is us. He knows our voice, He knows our features and mannerisms, and I think He cherishes each memory he has of us. Max Lucado said "If God had a refrigerator our picture would be on it and if he carried a wallet our picture would be in it." God is God...He knows all and doesn't need a physical album full of pictures to remember all the good times, but I can't help but think that my father is proud of us and our growth just like Doug and I are of Hope's. You see, we've seen her work so hard, and struggle at times, feel rejection, experience loss, enjoy triumph and it makes us proud of who she is and how she is growing up to be a wonderful, amazing young woman. God's never missed a moment of our spiritual growth; not one tear, not one struggle, not one victory....he's seen it all and I know as a father He is proud of us.
The last part of what I wrote in Hope's ad says "We will be watching you with joy and excitement as you enter college and the adventures that life will bring in the days ahead, and we will always be here with open arms of love and words of encouragement any time you need them." Don't you know Jesus will do the same for you!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Hope & Ben's trip to the Mountains
Ben took Hope to the Mountains in VA for a day of admiring the Lord's work in creation. The leaves were beautiful and they enjoyed the time of just being together. They both have such a love for God's creation and enjoy worshiping Him as they take it all in. Ben also stopped at Nancy's Candy store and bought fudge and chocolate dipped pretzels for he and Hope....they even brought me a surprise! It was a day for making memories that they'll cherish for a long time.
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