Ode to the Birthday Girl

Happy 14th Birthday Sweet Baby Girl!!!!

Savannah,
I cannot believe you are 14 today. No longer a little girl but a young lady. I had all these baby pics to put up of you but couldn't get all computers to cooperate. Maybe next year. I will always look at you though and see my blue-eyed, blonde haired little girl that told me all the time that Daddy was going to be your "pusband". It has been quite an adjustment for you growing up as the baby in a house filled with six of us to now being only you, Daddy and me. You sure love your brothers and sister. But with their absence you have gained a new sister and two nephews who adore you. There a few things I want to tell you today. You inspire and motivate me every day to be a better momma and a better person. As I pray for various things over your life, God reminds me I have to set the example. If I want you to be a confident, creative, faith-filled woman, you need to see me claiming those same things for myself. Over the years the things I desire for you have changed. More than any financial success or educational degrees I hope you will choose to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and walk in victory. Not that when you make that choice does it assure you an easy and perfect life, but it does assure you a wonderful blessed life knowing you are walking with God and in relationship with Him. Decide now to realize He who is in us has already overcome the world. Don't be as stubborn as your old momma. Look to your grandmothers for advice on how to live and trust God. They all love you so much and are always available to you. Also remember that when you think the world is not treating you fairly or Satan is giving you an opportunity to get down on yourself that you are "fearfully and wonderfully made" and you are a princess in God's kingdom!



You are so fun. You make Daddy and me laugh so hard with all your entertaining stories. I know our time with you as a regular fixture in this house is getting shorter and shorter. I won't take a second of it for granted. You are such a kind hearted young person and we are amazed at your sweetness. We really do think that most of the time you get the fact that everything is not all about you. That is a rare quality in most your age. To live a life that puts others first is to truly understand what Christ-like humility is. You are beautiful Savannah, on the inside and out. Daddy and I are so proud and humbled that God chose us to be your parents. I hope your day is everything you hope it will be and just know that you are on my mind every second of today just as you were fourteen years ago.

I love you very much!

Momma

Memory Verse #6!

2 Corinthians 2:14

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him." (emphasis mine)

My bible study peeps and I are doing the Anointed Transformed and Redeemed study of David right now. It is really good! This morning I was reading about the word anointed and what that means to us as believers. Priscilla Shirer is always saying that upon receiving Christ we also receive the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Not a partial dose of the Spirit. The whole thing - it is not an installment plan. If we had a clue what the power of our anointing carried with it we would be amazed. This morning my text said that often times believers are looking for miraculous signs of our anointing when for many of us the miracle is in our everyday living. I know I see it when my reaction or response to a situation is not what it normally would be, when I show kindness to someone I feel wronged by when my initial desire is to respond in like. I also know I see it when I look at where I was as a new Christian and where I am now. The Lord changed my desires and that is a miracle. We are the miracle! Thank you Lord.


As I looked at my verse it stood out to me that God always leads us in triumphal procession. Several things about this:
1. It doesn't say the believer always follows in triumph.
2. God is always doing what He promised He would.
3. His way is victory.
4. He is always there to lead us.

How sad if any of you are ever like me and take many other paths of my own before seeking the one that has God at the forefront!


The second thing that stood out was "through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him."

1. Nonbelievers are constantly watching those of us who profess to believe to see if we really believe what we say we do.
2. What we believe is how we act. (ouch!)
3. Sometimes what I am spreading through my actions is not very fragrant.


We have an enemy who knows he cannot destroy us but he can try to rule our lives with fear, doubt and intimidation. I also read this morning that his bark is worse than his bite but it is the bark that frightens us. WHY oh WHY when "we KNOW whom we have believed and are persuaded that he is able."
We are under the anointing beloved of the Most High God who leads us in triumph. Won't we follow Him today and through our obedience show others what a Mighty God we serve and how we don't end up on the path the way we began.

That beloved, is the miracle of the anointing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR!!!!

Today is my first grandpeep's birthday. I can hardly believe he is three today! It just seems like yesterday my phone rang at 2 in the morning saying it was time to go to the hospital. Our lives have never been the same and we are so thankful!

Dear Connor,
When did you go from being our baby boy to our little boy who thinks he is a little man? You are so precious and I cannot tell you how much you are loved. You are a blessing from above of the most special kind. You are a gift that has brought so much joy to every one's life. I can only speak for your PawPaw and myself so that is what I am going to do. We love you so much. When we haven't seen you in a while we feel like our hearts will burst wide open until we do.

You have the uncanny ability to make everyone you see feel like a rock star when they walk in the room. You just squeal their name in delight and run over to them and give them a huge hug. And by the way GiGi thinks your hugs are the best! They make my day. You have so, so many family members to keep up with, but you do and you remember every one's name. You are terribly smart. You never forget anything and you can carry on a conversation like a grown-up. There has never been any doubt as to where your ability to talk so well comes from!
You were the best little baby. Hardly ever cried and were always pretty content. I miss those baby days and I know your momma does too. But time passes and we have to understand you have to grow up.
It is so much fun to watch you do that. Every day is something new with you. Even though we don't see you everyday you are always on our minds and in our prayers. I know God has great big plans and purpose for your life. It is my prayer that you will always know that and lean on Him for all things. For Him to make you a mighty warrior for His kingdom sake. Maybe one day you will read this and know how special you are to us. We are so thankful God chose us to be your grandparents! I hope you have a very special day today and I can't wait for your party this weekend!

I love you to the sky and back Connor!

Love,

GiGi and PawPaw

A Day Filled With Beauty

Yesterday was a special day for me. I will fill in all the details but I am going to do so in reverse..I am silly that way. Call me a start at the end to get to the beginning kind of conversationalist! We had our high school beauty pageant last night and I was the MC. They choose the person with the biggest mouth and that would be me! Plus I am such a girly girl I really love to see the girls all dressed up. Here I am with the winner and 1st runner-up. They are also students of mine and I love teaching them. Aren't they darling?

That was the highlight of my evening with these two placing as they did. But as I look at this picture a few things came to mind. They are so young and pretty and have so much of life before them. There was a time in my life when I would have looked at this picture and mourned the passing of my own youth, instead of seeing what I do now. My enemy would have churned up some insecurity in me about how I am middle aged, getting a few too many wrinkles and having to go and get my gray colored a little more often. And I will be honest- it was hard to get over. Some days I still struggle with those things but not so much. My God is helping me get over myself.

A few weeks ago my mama called my sisters and me and said she wanted to have a luncheon for my granny's sisters. My mama is one of ten children and my granny one of thirteen! Can you imagine? I have a huge family and am ever the more blessed for it. My granny lived in our home with us after my granddaddy passed away and my life was forever changed because of it. She was my best friend growing up. She has been with her savior for thirteen years now and sometimes the ache I feel over missing her is tremendous. I spent a lot of time curled up on her bed with her just hashing out all the problems I thought I had and she would listen so intently and then remind me what I had to be thankful for. She was good that way- always putting things in proper perspective for you while at the same time acknowledging your struggle with it. But, she wouldn't allow you to whine over it. Get on over it she would say. My granny loved her family and not just her children and her grandchildren. She had twelve siblings and she loved them with a vengeance. Especially her sisters. She would always tell us the greatest stories of their lives and how much love was in a house filled with thirteen children. All her siblings are gone on to heaven now except for three of my great aunts.

Aren't they gorgeous? They literally take my breath away. They are 84, 86 and 88! Look at them. All three have lost their husbands. One of them not only outlived her spouse but her two children as well. Another one lost two of her daughters to cancer and diabetes. The third has survived colon and breast cancer. And look at how radiant their faces are. They are such an inspiration to me. I can honestly tell you that the Lord showed me yesterday that this is the kind of beauty I should strive for. One that comes from a life lived loving Him and loving others. Serving others and selfless sacrifice. And I don't want you to think for one minute that I spent my day with a bunch of boring old ladies - quite the contrary. They are witty, hilarious, charming, wise, oh so wise, fashionistas, kind, generous, humble, gracious, beautiful, the epitome of lady-like, and mischievous to boot! Not a dull moment, we laughed till our sides hurt. Two of them brought their daughters and they are beautiful as well. Three of my own aunts were there and they too bring me so much joy to be around. I thanked God profusely for this family of origin He gave to me. These God-fearing strong women to be an example for me. I will take their brand of beauty over the worlds any time.

Proverbs 31:10 "A woman of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies."

Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

Proverbs 31:26 "She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction is on her tongue."

They are the cutest things ever. My day was so rich yesterday and I have thanked the Lord for it over and over. Reminding me that putting my attention and focus on worrying about an outward appearance is the worlds opinion of beauty. Yesterday He showed me in three women His definition of beauty and that is what my focus should be on. Living a life that pleases Him and the blessings that come out of that obedience.

What a legacy. I love all these women so very much and hope my own daughters will get an understanding of true beauty one day.

Proverbs 31: 30

"Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

I don't doubt for a second their reward in heaven is great. I love you Aunt Mary, Aunt Bert and Aunt Virginia!

Standing Firm

I am sick of the cold. Sick of the rain. Sick of the sicknesses going around. Come quickly springtime! It was a beautiful weekend and made me so ready for the signs of spring to hasten but I awoke this morning in disbelief that is already March 1 and it was rainy AND cold. What a yucky way to start the week. Hopefully today will be the only rainy day.
We had Graham's first birthday party this past Saturday and it was a blast. Go visit http://fearfullyandwonderfullymade.blogspot.com/ to see all the pics. Laura did a great job and she and Jeremy were such wonderful and gracious hosts. They had a house full and I know they were ready to relax after everyone left.
Today is March 1st so you know what that means! Memory verse time. Here it is:

Isaiah 7:9b
"If you do not stand firm in your faith you will not stand at all."

Quite fitting with Vicki Courtney's post today. Go check it out: http://vickicourtney.com/. Unbelievable. Vicki always hits things head on and that is part of what I love about her. Her books are terrific and I love the way she never minces words. We as parents have a voice and many times we do not use it. I have been so burdened lately with many things going on around me with young girls. The way I have seen many of them dress, their lack of modesty in an attempt to be "sexy" at 13!!!!! Things that they take pictures of and think it is okay. Things that they do and think that it is okay. We have one child left at home. She is almost 14 years old and the way the culture has changed in just the past 6-7 years since we were raising our older children is so drastic. Some days I just want to crawl in a hole because I feel so defeated. But then I read my verse that I have chosen and I am reminded that I am not a parent in this generation by accident. The way the world is may shock us but it is no surprise to our God. He knew how things would get way before the foundations of the world were laid. He also knew what He was doing when he planned my time on this earth on His kingdom calendar. I do have a voice and that voice knows Truth. Shame on me if I sit back and don't speak up. I pray with a heavy heart for our young people but I better make sure my actions are in line with my beliefs and stand up for what I know is right and not waver. Stand Firm.
I cringe to think what things will be like when our grandchildren are teenagers and how much change will have taken place. I don't know what the world will be like, but this I do know: God is not changing. He is constant and that better be where I show my children and grandchildren my faith lies. In Him and His truth.
Stand up with me won't you?