Oh Where, Oh Where have all the bloggers gone...

To the tune of "Oh Where, Oh Where has my little dog gone..."

Oh Where, Oh Where have all the bloggers gone?

Oh Where, Oh Where could they be....

I miss you guys. I will spend some time making the rounds tomorrow. But, if you do stop by chime on in and let me know what you are up to! Love you guys...

TAG! You're IT!

My friend SUSAN at "Forever His" tagged me today with a game of "Six Random Things About Me!" So... Here are the rules as I choose to play along:
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1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself.
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.
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MY SIX RANDOM THINGS:

1. Apparently my husband and I have gotten funnier with age. I have never thought of myself as particularly funny, but then the other night my daughter and her best friend were here and I had them in stitches - so I receive that ... The older I get the funnier I get.

2. I love to sing. When I was growing up I wanted to be LORETTA LYNN. No kidding. My first opportunity to sing in front of anyone was Karoke in a bar! GO Figure. I sang "Walking After Midnight," really loud and really off key. Picture Cameron Diaz in "My Best Friend's Wedding" and you would have a pretty good idea of what I sounded like! A few months later a friend and I tackled "CRAZY" and that went over really big... Not a note off key. These days I sing worship to God... and I love demonstrative worship, the more charismatic the better. Singing and dancing before the Lord, making a joyful noise - I am all about that!

3. I want to buy an old farm house and restore the whole thing. I also wouldn't mind buying and rebuilding/restoring a 1968 Ford Mustang. I want to learn to do these things myself. I just do!

4. My hair has not officially been its natural color since 2001!

5. I just might officially be a Word Study Geek and Commentary Nerd. I love me some good commentary and the deeper the Word study in that Bible of mine I can go the happier I am.

6. Yesterday I told my daughter that I was really a skinny woman in a larger woman's body... Cause I just don't feel XX LARGE most of the time. (Must be that love I have for sweets working on me.)

And that is the six randoms things about me.

Here are my six tagged friends:

LORA

PATRICIA

YOLANDA

ESTHERMAY

GAYLE

CINDY

My Absence

I feel like I've neglected this blog forever now. Only finding time to post a few extemporaneous posts about the elections, letters to Presidents and patriotic type stuff. But, God has been working on my heart. And I will be back very soon. I promise.

I've been on my face in prayer a lot, fasting some, and being available for my family as my husband returned from Houston the last week of October! Yea! He is finally home. ;)

Blessings all around. If you stop in leave me a note and let me know what is going on in your world!

Blessings.

Blog Friends, Cyber Sisters, Build-a-Bear Comfort, Healing Worship, God's Word

I'm finally getting around to writing this special post paying tribute to my personal experience in San Antonio at the Living Proof Live Siesta Fiesta! Are you ready for my story in words and pictures? Here we Go!

On Friday while we were waiting to enter, Amanda came out and visited with us and posed for a few (more than a few) pictures with the Siestas. Rich Kalonick who is pictured above with Amanda took the following fabulous photos and has graciously given us permission to download, print and share these. You can view more on Rich's fabulous photography HERE.

Before the Siesta "Meet-up" after the conference, the Lifeway/Living Proof team organized us in large groups for photos with Beth, Amanda and Melissa. I in brown and white just to the left of Beth and the woman in the yellow jacket in this photo. The young lady in green immediately to my left is RHONDA. She is an incredibly friendly and funny woman who I met at breakfast that morning.

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She, her mother (SUE) and sister (REBECCA) were up early and eating at the Cactus Flower restaurant in the hotel Saturday morning. I struck up a conversation with her mother while standing in line for the buffet. We happened to be sitting in the same section of the restaurant when we returned to our tables. I alone and they at a large round table with extra chairs. A quick, sincere invitation allowed me to join them for the meal. I was so very blessed by our conversation, their welcoming spirit and when we left Rhonda's mom offered to purchase my breakfast. It blessed me so much. I will not forget them ever... Hello Friends from Hallsville! I am so grateful to have met you.

Beth is so funny, ya'll! She totally asked for a picture of this moose posed with a dead armadillo (you may have seen it at the Siesta Blog) to put on her website. Okay, so Moose Mama (Melana from Wyoming) tossed Mr. Miesta Moose, the official Siesta Mascot, for Beth to hold in our picture. Rich took these close-up shots of our Mama Siesta and Mr. Miesta Moose! I'm the one in the brown and white to the left. It was fun and funny!

This is Melana (AKA Moose Mama) and Veronica, along with Tiffany (AKA For His Glory) - who graciously extended the offer for me to ride with her to San Antonio, and Adrienne (AKA as Fuzzytop). They are a sampling of the most genuine, beautiful, caring and special women I have met on this crazy blog journey. Melana and I shared tears as we talked about my son that day waiting for the event to begin. It was so precious to me. Tiffany and I became fast friends - it really seems as if we are long lost sisters - after our ten hours in the car together. We talked our way to San Antonio and all the way back - though we both were worn out and immersed deeply in our experiences from the weekend. SUCH Blessings to be sure!

Jennifer (AKA Jenmom) has been my internet friend since near the first of the year. She and I are regular IM chatters and so meeting her was a highlight of my weekend. I mean, a real highlight. I so looked forward to finally putting her face with her name. She walked with us and sat with us through the entire event and I loved every minute spent with her. She is a joy filled, beautiful woman of God. Love You, Jen! I did not have the opportunity to meet all the women in this photo, but I did meet Stephanie (AKA Ocean Mommy) at lunch earlier that day. She is in the middle, fourth from the left.

Valerie and her daughter, Kristen. Valerie and I have a friend, Teri, in common. And, Valerie and I have frequently emailed and written to one another through our blogs since Spring. I was really hoping to connect with her. As soon as I arrived in San Antonio my roommates told me they had met Valerie and she was asking about me.

Lora - caught in the act of worship. Read below about Lora, she is one of my roommates and she is a sister I will treasure forever and ever.

This is Tiffany again - she, too, was caught in the act of worship.

This, for me was the best part of the weekend. I am fairly certain I recognize these women, but I will honor them and their privacy in this moment. What I will tell you about this type of connection in San Antonio is this: Our hotel room held church each time we were in it especially from 10 PM - well after midnight that we were there. We prayed, cried, laughed, read Scripture and bonded in ways that defy the amount of time we had together.

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Hearts knit together even before we met.

This is the other photographer featured in this post. Nesha is a quiet wife and mother from Virginia who went ahead of us early on Saturday to ensure we had great seats for the morning session. She took wonderful pictures and shared them with us! Can I be honest? Nesha was snapping away with her camera on Friday night, and I was weary of using mine so I just said, "I think I will let you take pictures for me, Nesha." I was half kidding, but she delivered and I love the photos. I will be sharing my favorite weekend shots of Beth and her girls in a future post but for now, suffice it to say - Nesha has an eye for beauty and captures it well with her lens. Thank you, Nesha. I miss our hugs and talks, too.

Okay, so this picture hosts the members of the First Church of room 1009 - Riverwalk Marriott, San Antonio, Texas. Our story is somewhat incredible so I will share it with you after introductions. First of all, meet (from left) Lora, Nesha, Me, and Alexia. We hail from Tennessee, Virginia, Texas and Illinois. Now, we decided that this represented the four points of the map - South, East, West and North... (in that order because of where we are in the photo).
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What is incredible about our journey to San Antonio is the details planning of our God in putting us together - because only He could have gathered this motley crew of women with hearts so tender toward one another. You see, I had planned to come to San Antonio with at least one local friend who was to drive me down and share a room with me. A room that I booked through Kim (AKA Siesta Party Planner Partner to Patty). We had another friend who decided to join us in June and so I needed to fill one more spot with two months to spare - or so I thought. At the end of June, one of the local friends bailed out. Then the other friend, who I was riding with, she and her husband had some important family business to tend to which left her without the money to make the trip down. I was back to square one! Which didn't hurt my feelings, but I was beginning to think I was going to have a very expensive visit to San Antonio - but that big hotel room all to myself was not an all together bad idea. My husband, he didn't quite agree so I put the word out that I needed roommates.

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By mid-July I had been contacted by three more women. Two from the deep South and another, Alexia, from the great state of Illinois. I was excited. I spoke to them both by phone. About a week later, I got yet another discouraging email. The two from the South were having some personal issues that might leave them without the money to make the trip. I told her that I wished I could offer her the room knowing she might have to cancell last minute, but I really needed to be sure I had those spots filled. She was gracious and agreed that maybe the timing was not right for her to make the trip.

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I had turned away one other person who had contacted me about the room, Nesha. So I wrote to her and let her know the spot was still available. A few days, maybe a week later I got a call from her letting me know she was interested in the spot in my room.

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And just about the end of July I got yet another email inquiry about a possible spot in a room for Thursday since my reservation was for Friday-Saturday. Lora wrote to me about that opportunity. I responded that I would be interested in one spot on Thursday night if it were still available after she had tried to fill the spots with three full weekend Siestas. She responded by asking if she might share our room on Friday-Saturday. I got excited, sent out an email announcing we had secured our fourth roommate and then learned that Lora had not yet decided what her options were.

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I spoke with her by phone, we prayed about it and I released her to do what was best for her. A few days later she called and said that she had another room offer but felt the Lord wanted her to room with us. So - we set about trying to combine our two reservations to one. By the end of the first week of August we learned we had reservations in two separate hotels. She at Rivercenter and I at Riverwalk. I contacted Kim about the problems with the reservation and she suggested I extend my reservation to Thursday and cancel the Rivercenter reservation. I thought - that's a great idea, except I had called the week before to do just that very thing and was told there were no rooms for Thursday available.

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After talking it over with Lora, we decided we should add her to the reservation since she would be arriving first to the hotel. I called back and inquired about adding Thursday to our reservation and adding Lora as well. I got the Thursday - Sunday reservation we were hoping for but the price went up $20 but that was okay. I called Lora back and we agreed it was our best plan. She had also learned of a special promotion for those with a Visa card on the reservation and she and her husband had just gotten one - so we got an additional discount.

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I realized I had not gotten the total cost for the weekend since changing the reservation so I called back. This time the agent told me that if we had four people in our room that the cost would be $219 per night. I almost had a heart attack. With taxes and all it would come to over $800 for the three nights. He offered to cancel my reservation for me when I baulked at the price, but I told him I guess if the price was $219 plus tax we would have to pay it. He said, "Okay, well right now you have two on the reservation for $179/night, but it will go up if you add people to the reservation."

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I called Lora and began to debrief her on the craziness of that phone call and the fact that if we got the good rate we'd have to effectively lie and hide the fact that we had four people in the room. We prayed about it, resigned ourselves to the higher price and I set about delivering the more expensive knews to our little group. That is when I realized that I still did not have the total and the new higher rate. I called back again (Okay... this is the third call within like an hour and a half). The new agent, Gilbert, assured me the highest rate we would pay with two to four people was $179/night. I could have hugged him through the phone. Lora would call a few days later and we ended up with the room for $150 and change per person for the three nights! WOO HOO! A Deal, a real life bonafide deal. Had we not agreed to the higher price in our hearts, or tried to get around it - I am sure we would have lost our luggage, been robbed or some other horrible twist of fate that would have left us completely miserable that weekend. We won the battle by trusting God over what we had heard and believed to be true.

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After we arrived in San Antonio, Lora learned the other woman she was considering staying with had not even come after all, so she would have been stranded had she followed the other plans.

And if that were the sum total of our ROOM story, it would be enough. But it is not...

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On August 1st - Lora attended the Simulcast Living Proof event and had been given a word to pray over me. Now let me just say she and I have never met or corresponded before we got connected on the hotel room opportunity. She held onto that word until the Lord released her to pray it over me that weekend. Which happened to be Sunday morning right before I left. The word corresponded with the chapter of Scripture God had been directing me to read in my quiet time (Isaiah 60) and agreed with a word I had been given in the Spring, a word I received that evening when a friend and I pressed in for confirmation from God (she had no idea what I had been told in San Antonio, but her word was confirmation of Lora's prayer and a word I had received last Summer when God showed me the key to healing in our family.) Needless to say I was a bit overwhelmed. I wrote about this experience on Friday in my Everday Doers post.

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Around the first of August I had also gotten an email from another blogger who alerted me to the fact that God was preparing a divine appointment between Alexia and I that weekend. This friend assured me that no matter what she wanted to make sure we kept that appointment. And, God delivered the opportunity on Friday night.

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By Saturday afternoon, we had all shared our deepest burdens and pains with one another and begun the knitting of our wounded hearts together through prayer and ministry. The only reasonable explanation is that God knew and had a plan for each one of us that involved being in that exact place at that exact time with one another for a healing work to begin in each of our lives. Such beautiful moments... Such beautiful memories. I am in awe of our God.

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You see, each of us have been/had been dealing with our particular brand of woundedness. Each of us in different places with our pain - and each of us bearing different gifts to help the others through. The overflow of grace in room 1009 was AMAZING! AMAZING! God came down and shared Himself with us in the quietness of that room.

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GLORY!

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Okay... now on with the story because this post is already a mile and a half long.
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A FEW BLOGGY FRIENDS - (I took these pictures.)

Tammy -(AKA Grateful in Georgia) - A kindred heart

Twinkle - MY GEORGIA friend. Twinkle and I "met" over at the Lifeway Forums some four or five years ago when I landed there through the online study of Believing God. She prayed with me through the difficult days of my son's last year and blessed with sweet words of comfort, encouragement and prayer in the aftermath of my loss. She is my Georgia friend who wore her hat, her boots and her wranglers because she was in TEXAS! I love you, Twinkle. I really am so glad we got to hug necks.

I captured this photo taken by Cindy off of her blog.

Cindy (AKA Still His Girl) and Gayle (AKA http://thewestiecrew.blogspot.com) are very special NEW blog friends - as in we did not meet until San Antonio. I met Gayle when she needed to find her way back to the hotel after lunch on Friday. We soon learned that she is precious, gentle and well a genuine blessing of God even if only for a moment of the day. She made her way back with us by bus and there we got to visit. I was surprised on Saturday morning when I saw her sitting behind us. I came up the row before the session began and sat down to talk with her a few minutes...

That is when Gayle noticed my little dog, Justin. I had already had the occasion to introduce him to Margaret Kennedy (http://www.margaretkennedy.org/) while looking for Nesha on the floor. This little dog is named Justin. Gayle asked about him and I told her the story of how he reminds me of my son. She wrote about our conversation and what followed HERE. Sharing Justin's story is one of the ways I know that his life continues to have meaning. And, so God blessed me that day with two occasions to tell his story through this little Build-A-Bear Dog.

Cindy also took this picture of me as they sat behind us during worship.

Travis led us in a soul stirring song called, "Before the Throne of God." He told us to "sit down" while he sang, but truthfully, I could not stay down. The worship that took place inside of me during this song just turned me inside out and allowed me to pour out all the painful things I've carried for three years out at the foot of the cross. I found myself standing before His throne, just He and I.

I was able to pour out my love as an offering, a sacrifice of praise. He in turn poured out His healing Spirit upon my soul. He began to mend fully my broken mother's heart.

I want to leave you with the words to Isaiah 60 and the soul stirring words of "Before the Throne of God." You can sing the precious words of this hymn of faith in the video included in this post.

Isaiah

Chapter 60
The Glory of Zion

1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 "Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm.

5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

7 All Kedar's flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple. 8 "Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests?

9 Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.

10 "Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion.

11 Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations-- their kings led in triumphal procession.

12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined.

13 "The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of my feet.

14 The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 "Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations.

16 You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold, and silver in place of iron. Instead of wood I will bring you bronze, and iron in place of stones. I will make peace your governor and righteousness your ruler.

18 No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.

19 The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

20 Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.

21 Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

22 The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the Lord; in its time I will do this swiftly."
(New International Version)

"Before The Throne of God Above" (Words Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863)

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence to depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see Him there
Who made and end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To long Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My sould is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high, With Christ my Savior and my God!

Tag You're It! A MEME

Pass it on... Pass it on...

I’ve been working on grief curriculum as noted these past couple of weeks and was taking a break when I saw this meme over at BooMama's and thought I’d play along.

Since research or writing can be intense... I decided to join in.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Well, ten years ago we were on the verge of marriage - My hubby and I were a month away from a weddin' and I was making decorations, shopping for cute little gingham dresses for our three girls and living my dream in our brand new "manufactured home" on an acre of land in Justin, TX. This was our pre-church and his pre-God stage... but The Lord has done mighty things for us and we are so glad. (Psalm 126) (P. S. Ya'll - I hand drew my wedding invitations - all 35 of them and my thank you cards, too... I wrote out the lettering and everything...) Pinch a penny, save a dime!

Back then I had visions of being a published writer dancing in my head - posted regularly on a Writer's BBS forum and had a 486 word piece called "Dear John" published in an e-zine called "Fish Eggs for the Soul." I got paid $5.00 for the effort - in the form of a personal check from the e-zine owner. And that was pretty much the extent of my writing career --- until I took up bloggin' of course.

I had no idea what in-depth Bible study was and that God could be up close and personal in my life. And, my husband's most famous comment about God from this season of our lives was, "The closest I ever came to God was 'You turn left at the church on the corner to get to my house!'" I went into full, immature Christian woman meltdown crying out - "God PLEASE SAVE MY HUSBAND, and Use ME To Do IT!" Yeah right!

Thank the Lord a couple of years later we found a Bible-teaching church that walked with us through the salvations of my husband and most of our children... and walked me right on into spiritual maturity, minsitry and a love for the Lord that just wells in me every single day.

Am I rambling along... Oh, yes - NEXT!

Favorite Snacks
Truthfully, POPCORN...
Coca Cola - Rt. 44 from Sonic and it is better during Happy Hour!
a scoop of peanut butter
Thin Mints
Dairy Queen Ice Cream
Pringles Potato Chips

To-Do List
(I don't really EVER get this organized, but if I had one it might look something like this...)

1. Pray as I hit the snooze for the beginning of my day.
2. Give notice to storage --- 30 days and we are out of there baby! Because, well the new owner's made me mad... and we only have five boxes and one dresser in the dern thing... I can squeeze it in somewhere around the house.
3. Spend some time reading email, bloggin' and readin' and checkin' in at the forums... (I should have gone to work out here, but got lost in the email.) Read from my computer Bible and post some insights somewhere on the internet...
4. Research and writing for Grief Curriculum - "Only nine more sessions to write!"
5. Take youngest daughter to work.
6. Take oldest daughter to Wal-Mart
8. Stop by Subway so oldest can by her a lunch.
9. Stop by Sonic for a Coke because, well, IT IS HAPPY HOUR! We had to wait one minute in the stall to get a half price drink.
10. Return home. Eat Lunch... yes that late and with no breakfast... I know, I know....
11. Pick Up youngest daughter from work.
12. Return home, answer emails and watch oldest daughter make Macaroni and Cheese.
13. Take oldest daughter to work.
14. Stop and get gas.
15. Take youngest daughter to Lifeway to buy her friend a Bible.
16. On the way to Lifeway, realize we are near the hospital where our friend Sarah just had her baby and so we stopped by to ooh, aaah, cuddle and coo at the most adorable baby I've seen in months. He is a peach!
17. Go to Lifeway.
18. Return to oldest daughter's work, and pick up her debit card.
19. Go to Sonic to buy oldest daughter a Rt. 44 Sweet Iced Tea... and me another Coke... not my usual MO.
20. Drop Youngest Daughter at oldest daughter's work with the drinks and debit card.
21. Return home to cook dinner. (Delicious, No Kidding I baked chicken breasts and sliced them up and stuck them in a pre-cooked batch of Betty Crocker Chicken Helper, creamy style... and it was so good - I thought I was in HEAVEN)!
22. Field a call from my friend Mary - who has been on the phone with me three or four times today.
23. Eat dinner while Mary drives to my house, and then review session three of the grief curriculum I've been working on with Mary while my youngest daughter walks through the front door with her best friend...
24. Oooh and Aaah over the new Apologetics Bible my daughter bought for herself and the precious leather Bible she bought for her friend... view her otherwise unmentionable purchase from Wal-Mart.
25. Bid Mary farewell and laugh at a text message my daughter and her best friend send me of the movie they are watching - "DROP DEAD FRED!"
26. Laugh at myself and now I am writing this meme... WHEW! IS IT TIME TO SAY GOODNIGHT YET! I'm a bit worn out! Oh, and now I have time to do my Bible study lesson for NOG and read some of that precious Word from my NKJV Bible... I love Him so...

So now... TAG - YOU CAN BE IT!

TAG! You're It!

My Friend, Twinkle, tagged me for a fun MEME that goes like this...
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I am to post 6 unimportant things about myself, and then tag 6 other people.

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But first, the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you. (In my case, that would be *-*TWINKLE*-* )

2. Post these rules on your blog.

3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.

4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry.

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Here are my 6 unimportant things:

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1. I hate my fifth grade picture...

If I had a copy of it well, I'd show you but I burned the thing - it didn't even look like me.

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2. My hair has not been anything close to my natural color for at least five years now.

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3. I laugh out loud and a lot at grief support group. And if I sit by my friend, Mary, (we've been grieving our sons for almost the same number of months - she is 2 months further along than I am) we laugh doubly loud! We are not allowed to sit together much! Imagine...

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4. I do NOT watch AMERICAN IDOL... I know... I know... its almost sacrilegious... but, I just can't do it. SOOOOO.... I Read All About It On Other People's Blogs... Here's a shout out to Boo Mama and Fry Daddy who keep me totally up to date on the whole American Idol issue!

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5. I rarely, if ever listen to SECULAR MUSIC! On 9/11 we listened to the reports at work on a local Christian Radio Station all day, I switched the station in our truck that afternoon and found that when I tried to switch it back... I could not really stand to listen to what was there!

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6. Last but not least... I'm an OLDEST child. So, I was the test-child... yes, it is true so if you were wondering --- most of my problems are experimental! LOL!

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Okay... All-the... All-the... Oxen Free! (Just Kidding!)

So TAG! You're now it...

1. Beautiful Bev

2. Bodacious Boomama (I was gonna' say Audacious but it don't start with a B)

3. Sensational Susan

4. Encouraging Elise

5. Lively Lori

6. Magnificent Monica

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Thanks Twinkle for including me in this fun bloggy game of tag! All I ask is if I tagged you, please keep this going by Tagging 6 More... Be Blessed and have FUN!

100th POST

**UPDATE** Hey ALL! SUSAN at Forever His is the 100th comment poster on my blog! What has Susan won, you might be asking... and I'm gonna' tell you! A "Wake Up the World" CD by Gateway Worship! Yippee! You can purchase a copy of this cd at the Gateway Resources Worship Website. To check out the Gateway Worship Promo from Integrity Music try this link.

Yippee! I have posted my hundredth blog post today! The previous post to this one was number 100. So in honor of my 100th post why don't we come up with something related to 100 that we can praise the Lord for ... I'll start, thank you for 100 thoughts that spawned 100 posts! I'm so excited and grateful for this very day!

Blessings! P.S. For the person who posted the 100th comment on my blog I am going to send a very special gift... I will be back in a while to let you know who the lucky winner is and request your very special address so that I can get you your gift! Blessings again!

Life in the Fresh Lane...

Our wonderful little town has the most convenient, exciting place that I have encountered in recent days. This little place, "The Fresh Lane," had occasion to make me very happy not too many days ago.
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It was Thursday afternoon and a strange North Texas Blizzard was in full swing. The snowflakes literally looked like snowballs falling from the sky and thudding against my windshield as I meandered my way along side streets and through backroads trying to avoid the heavy traffic on the freeway after a meeting at church. I was so excited about the cold wet globs of snow falling from the sky, but not anticipating with great joy the trek I was going to have to make through the parking lot and the SNOW into Wal-Mart to buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk that I had put off for too long. I knew I would be freezing and that the trek could prove dangerous if the ground had any ice on it at all.
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That is when I remember the little tan hut on the corner of Main and McLeroy. It has a brightly lit sign and rolling kiosk advertising a variety of grocery items and their prices. It has a covered drive through on the east and west sides of the building and it was - yes, ON. MY. WAY. HOME!
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I eased my car into the driveway and pulled up to the sliding glass door. There, in the wonderful warmth of my car, I ordered my loaf of bread and gallon of milk and had them delivered to me for less than I would have paid at yea old Wal-Mart. I didn't even have to unbuckle my seat belt or kill the engine. In a matter of minutes I had my last minute grocery purchase and was on my way HOME! The woman delivered all of this service with great speed and a smile and I was very much grateful that she had literally saved me a slip, a fall or a frozen toe or two. Thank you Lord for the Fresh Lane! I mean - who'd of thunk it? A drive through grocery store! I must say the Fresh Lane is vying for a position called, "MY. NEW. BEST. FRIEND." Well, My next best friend, anyway. Next to Jesus who must have inspired the idea just for me... do you really think so?

Blizzards AGAIN!

Twice in one week. It is snowing buckets outside right now! Hard to believe... Texas. God is so funny!

P. S. I got caught in a Texas blizzard...

Hey ya'll! I just had to share that last night after my class at church that I came out to an very cold and wet snow all over my beloved Impala. I got in and realized the entire right side and it's windows had approximately an inch of snow mounted on them. The back window was no better. All I could do was zip up my sweatshirt to my neck and hop out with the small hand scraper I had in the door and knock the fluffy, wet, white mounds off my windows.

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I hastily got back in the car praying that the heater would work in record speed. God help me... I was cold. I slipped and slided (not a real word but I like it...) all over the parking lot until I finally made it to the road and then was able to drive easily up to the stop light, though I thought I might slide right into the car in front of me when I tried to stop. It was about this time I realized that though my headlights were on - they were casting no light in front of my car!

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I realized... I forgot to knock the inch or so of snow that was covering them off when I uncovered the windows. I pulled into the gas station at the next corner and hopped out making haste again as I launched the winter white off the headlights and hustled back into the driver's seat to white knuckle may way back up Hwy 114 toward home. I was much surprised when I got to Trophy Club and headed up Hwy 170 to I-35 - the snow just stopped. The road was wet and a little slick, but the snow was all but non-existent there. I laughed aloud after calming my frazzled nerves... Only a mile between the two spots I went from rapid snow fall to no snow at all! March in Texas, if you don't like the weather - wait a minute! (Yes, it is not lost on me that yesterday I was posting about Thunderstorms and tornadoes!) God has a sense of humor, oh yes He does! He is on the throne and in control and I thank Him that he spared me yet again!

Rodents!

Okay so this morning a friend in need of comfort over at the Lifeway Forums prompted this rather long response from me about the rather extensive experience I have had with rodents of a variety of types in my life... Please, do have a belly laugh at my expense... I did!

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When I was a teenager it was not unusual to have all sorts of rodent creatures around the house. My dad, in his wisdom building our house, put in the sort of windows you cannot open - like double paned - one solid piece in each window. Makes a beautiful house, but is lousy for the spring and fall evenings when the cool breezes blew in through the trees off the lake.

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One night I came home from a night out with my friends and noticed an unusual looking stuffed animal among my collection on top of the television in my room. It had wiry gray fur with dark beaded black eyes. It's tail looked like a rubber hose... WAIT A MINUTE... IT's A POSSUM!

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I ran downstairs and hastily told my father in the most urgent whisper I could manage and he grimaced, groaned and grumped all the way up the stairs grabbing that possum by his tail and tossing him out the front door. The front door that had been wide open most of the evening making a way for the possum to get into my house. It gave a whole new meaning to the term playing possom.

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I would go on to discover baby possums in our pantry near the cereal boxes one other time, and the straw that broke the camel's back was the little drowned looking possum sitting in the tub as I pulled back the curtain to climb in and shower! I was screaming and hopping around. The latter two experiences were left to my brother to rescue me. I think I actually just closed the pantry door on the second possum and decided I didn't really want any cereal.

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I also remember an occasion when I saw a mouse dart across my bedroom floor when I was a teen. It scurried across the white carpet and could not have been larger than a medium size bouncy ball. I was so frightened I climbed across the furniture that stood between my bed and the door - never letting my foot touch down, opened my door and turned out the light before climbing back across the furniture to my bed and lying down. I suppose I was not quite aware that mouse could scamper his way on up the comforter edges and land himself right in my bed with me if he chose to. I rather believe he politely excused himself from my room because to my recollection I never saw him again.

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I have a dozen silly memories of this nature. Some involving a season of dead rats around an apartment complex - it was like the Pied Piper had led them to a rat poison box in our own backyard. They just kept showing up.

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In our old house, the one we lived in before Justin died, we would get a usual scurry of field mice in the house every winter. We would have to set traps and the whole nine yards. This was a turn of the century, pier and beam house that sat a good 4 feet off the ground with a crawl space underneath.

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One night as I lay on the couch watching television I catch some movement in the hall between the kitchen and bath out of the corner of my eye. A mouse was making his way from one room to the other and missed the door hitting the wall. He must of rung his little bell good, but he hesitated only a second before redirecting and heading back in the direction of the bathroom. It was so funny I did not have a mind to be alarmed.

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We had another run at possums and the added pleasure of squirrels in that house which led to my kids swearing the place was haunted.You would be in the bathroom taking a bath and this wretched clawing sound would begin to transpire. It would happen at all hours of the day and night. One night, when it first started, Scott and the kids were at a lock-in and I heard the eerie sound. I went over and tapped on the bottom of the tub to set off the craziest cacaphony of scurry and tapping I'd ever heard. Whatever was under there, perhaps a squirrel by the scurry, ran up through the piping in the wall, obviously colliding with the plumbing the whole way... The wall actually shook violently - I thought I was about to meet the clawed beast face to face and it freaked me out so bad I called my husband and informed him he would have to come home if I heard it again.

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We would hear the squirrels scurrying through the attic and once discovered that a rather large squirrel had gotten trapped in the vent-a-hood above the stove. As I was cooking one night I grew very alarmed when I noticed long dark hairs hanging down through the vent grate. I was telling my husband I thought there was a problem and he dismissed me. IMAGINE THAT!

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The next day the trapped critter had nawed a whole all the way through the grate and it was chattering as it pushed it's nose out trying to break free. It was not only alarming, it was disgusting. We duct taped the vent back shut and decided to go the next day and by a live varmint trap from the sporting goods store. My youngest daughter and Scott picked out the largest trap we could find because I had everyone convinced a raccoon had somehow found it's way into that vent. (What was I thinking?)

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We took it home and removed the vent grate ever so gently, the squirrel stuck his head out and then presented his bushy tail before retreating above the fan motor. Scott mounted the trap so it sat right under the vent in a chair and he put a spoon full of peanut butter in the bottom. We sat in the hall hoping to catch a glimpse of the awnry critter, but he would come out take one look at us and retreat back in.

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Our entire family retired to the living room and began to watch television, but Taylor went into the darkened dining room (off of our bedroom and the kitchen and sat and watched until the clatter of the squirrel scurrying to the bottom of the trap set her free and she ran and slapped the door closed. Scott hastily took this rather large - like gargantiuan squirrel out the front door and down the block to let him go. I was greatly relieved.

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Our final rodent quandry was in our laundry room where Scott opened the door one day and found three baby possums nestled in a pile of dirty clothes. They are quite cute as babies but also quite gnarly as adults and I was deeply troubled because I figured where there were babies, there must be a mama...

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Justin, not Scott, scooped up the babies in the towel they were sitting in and hustled them out the back door depositing them beneath a bush where we watched them look so lost without their mama.Scott on the other hand discovered the mama near the bathroom door off the laundry. He gave chase and she scurried (if possums scurry) to the hole behind the bathtub that gives plumbers access to the pipes. He laughed hard to discover she had somehow removed the door and was taking care of those babies right there in our laundry unbeknownst to us.

Nowadays, these types of things really have not come to bear... but if it did, I suppose I would just remember that little mouse running full speed into the wall and begin to laugh my head off again. Live and Learn!

Oh Boy! Oh No! Oh Boy!

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Last Sunday I met with my ministry placement coach, and on Thursday I attended my first Writer's Critique Group meeting... as I sit here today tapping out words on this keyboard, I find myself asking - "Can this really be happening to me?"
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In my heart of hearts I can see myself sitting at the feet of Jesus and I find Him smiling down on me. Please pray... When I got the email this week from my ministry placement coach I was so excited at her report, however, I was also immediately taken with the work that would come with the privilege and I could barely stand myself. It was 5:30 AM and I was reading it aloud to my husband when I said, "Oh yes... Do you know what this means?" Then the lightbulb of responsibility came on and I said, "Oh no!" My husband turned to me and said "Is that good or bad?"
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I exhaled a shaky sigh, resigning myself to the journey with God where ever He leads and said, "No....No... It's good, I just realized that I am soon going to be on a time table... and that is a scary thing!"
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I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH! (and courage, and wisdom, and perserverance, and truth, and whew! He is my everything!)
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Please Pray!

Rated E - for Excellent

Thank YOU! Twinkle for the "excellent" award! I appreciate the honorable mention!

I would like to pass this award along:

Amy B - who organizes a meme I love to be a part of on Tuesdays - "In Other Words." She also posts thoughtful and insight-filled posts. I read and especially was touched by her post about Britney Spears. She has a heart for people and sharing Christ with them.

Lena Nelson Dooley - a fellow church member of mine who I met this week and she has blessed me so much already. She is a Christian/Inspirational novelist and she does author interviews at her blogspot with free book give-aways. She has many books in publication. You can learn more about Lena at her website. She is an amazing and genuine woman of God who has a heart to help others who are called to share God through the medium of fiction. Blessings, Lena.

and dear, sweet Celly B - she is a young woman with a heart for God. She is precious, I tell you and I just love the honesty and the authenticity in her posts. She is a beautiful woman of God.

Blessings freinds... I pass this along to so many others, but felt God wanted me to point you to these three women today! I pray you are blessed. Feel free to copy this award and pass it on to others. You are dear sweet sister friends to me and I love you all.

New Layout ISSUES! Yuck...

(UPDATE: As You Can See.... I did not change too much! It was way too complicated... anyone who can suggest help... please do so! I am definitely in a quandry!)



I'll be back soon to work on my layout... having yuck problems with getting it to cooperate with me. Yippee! I am going to get this down pretty soon!!!

Blessings.

The Daily Dose

My daily dose may be a little more limited than others because I am rather new to blogging. Ask me about Myspace and I might be able to shuttle you around, but blogging is rather new and it is bringing such great opportunities into my life. I have met two siestas who are walking a tough journey and we are making the way together... they shall remain nameless, but if they are reading this then they know who they are!

So, here is my "Daily Does" as Ms. Bev so lovingly puts it:

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1. Bev - she shares such meaningful insights not only about God's Word, but also about her life and those she comes into contact with daily. She is a beautiful blessing and a dear new friend in our Lord.

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2. BooMama - I've just discovered BooMama, okay... okay... so I have not been on the blog block very long and so there it is. But BooMama is a hoot and a hollar that gives me a laugh so hard my sides ache and my eyes water. I just can't help it. She has southern style and charm with a dash of seasoning salt and I just can't wait to read her "writing" again!

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3. Twinkle - Twinkle encourages me to dig deeper, look harder and live freer - and that is worth more than anyone could ever know. She is a Barnabas and a woman after God's own heart.

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4. Jenny Hope - The picture in her header is the best reason for visiting - Precious! I tell you. Of course babies give me warm fuzzies everywhere and that baby is so darn cute you just want to pick her up and cuddle. Jenny's heart is so tender to God and her family - she is a blessing beyond measure.

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5. A View from the Mountaintop - Teri is a tender heart toward God. She has walked the hard roads of life, but as her blog currently points out - "It is well, with her soul" She is seeking freedom and the heart of God in so many ways and shares what she learns readily with others. The king is enthralled with her beauty and is a delight not only to her sisters but also to her God.

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If I am honest.... Beth's LPM blog is what brought me here - then I thought I would write a memorial blog about my son... but truthfully, God wanted me to discover something inside of myself. I just want to give an honorary shout to our Beth. I know Beth has been at the writing and encouraging thing a lot more than most of us have been, but having sat under and led her studies consistently for the last five years, she has become a friend and a mentor to me even though we never met. It is good to go and read her transparent and authentic posts and see her be as human as the next gal! She makes me laugh, cry and she always presses me hard in our Father's direction. She is an inspiration to all.

Well, I have to go... there are two babies coming into our family in the next few months and we are having a Baby Shower for one of them today! Oh Joy! Babies... Babies... Babies... Love them so much you just want to pinch there little rosy cheeks, but then that would make them cry so I guess I won't - but whew! Nothing like a baby to make your heart say, "Thank You Lord, bless my soul! He makes all things new!"

Blessings to all.

P. S. Be sure to read my post from yesterday, the Spirit is so sweet and he gave me such a word. It is precious when He shows up so huge. He usually does this a lot but these days it is in technicolor! Love ya'll!