It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

The same sweet present keeps popping up under our tree!!!!!

Is he going to be so much fun or what? He is spending the night with GiGi and PawPaw while his precious momma and daddy celebrate their 4th anniversary. I love being a grandmother. The only thing that would be better is if the other grandpeep were here too! What a blast we are going to have this year. God is so good and so faithful. I am so humbled and grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon me.

All Circumstances

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

I love Thanksgiving. It competes with Christmas for me as a favorite holiday. I love the anticipation of Thanksgiving, the getting ready for it, all the things that precede it get me that much more excited for it. I think it is a holiday that gets overlooked or is just seen as the Christmas kick-off. I have never felt that way about Thanksgiving. However, this year has been different for me. We had a flooding issue the last weekend in September and since then our home has been in total chaos. I mean we were having to go to the garage to search for our underwear every morning. Then if you have ever been in a remodeling situation you know how stressful that can be. I have been in a funk for six weeks. That is not like me. I love fall so very much and feel like I missed out on it. We have been so busy with our business and school is... well full of teenagers and you know that brings no stress! Anyway I have just been out of sorts and thinking life would never get back to normal for us. Well it has and as I sat down this morning in my cozy chair, (which has been covered in plastic for three weeks) to have some alone time with the Lord, I realized why I had been in a funk. I had not been having my quiet time. How ashamed I felt that I let an upside down house get me upside down. I had let the ole devil get away with turning my focus on everything that I felt was wrong in my life and stealing my joy. Then I felt ashamed as I thought about all the things that were stressing me out you know like:
My home is upside down and chaotic......at least you have a home
My job is so busy.....................................at least you have a job
We keep getting work thrown at us.......Six months ago you were praying for more work
I was sick with myself. I love Thanksgiving, I love to give Thanks and I wasn't doing it.
So, what am I thankful for this year?
A loving gracious Father who sent His son to die for my sins
A loving gracious Father who has been waiting on me every morning to acknowledge Him and when I finally do, He wraps His arms around me and forgives me.
A husband who loves the Lord, loves me, loves our children, grandchildren, our employees, prays for those who are hurting, who works hard and makes me smile every day.
Children who come and help their sad parents out whenever we need them to, and never complain - at least not to us.
Two grand boys who make us laugh and bring us so much joy.
Our parents who have helped us so much, taught us so much, and loved us so much.
Siblings that we can talk to and count on to pray for us.
Friends that help out in all circumstances.
Our home.
Our health.
Our business that keeps growing.
The fact that we have decisions to make about where to spend Thanksgiving when so many others are alone, may we never take family for granted.
Bible study peeps that pray for me regularly.
My country.
Our soldiers.
My freedom.
My salvation, thank you Lord. Thank you, thank you.

Josh

This is our son Josh. He is ridiculously handsome but will never be serious in a picture. He has a beautiful smile but I haven't gotten a good pic of that since his high school senior pictures eight years ago and that was only because he knew we were paying good money for those.

Josh and his darling girlfriend, who by the way also has a beautiful smile and he better get to being cute in pictures with her!

But normally this is what I get when I take his picture:

Or this: (notice that his baby sister is always on cue and ready to smile for the camera). Josh is a great big brother.

He is also a terrific uncle. Refuses to talk baby talk but a great uncle nevertheless.

Josh is a good grandson. They are used to his silliness in pictures. I think his PawPaw even encourages him in his mischief.

Josh is many things to his family. His dad and I know we can call him with anything and he will be here in an instant. I just know he is going to move hundreds of miles away but he hasn't yet. He is always there when we need him. He is a manly man. He loves to deer hunt, play in the mud, and just all things boy. He has been that way forever. He was our only child that could entertain himself and play alone for hours. Either that or he thought we were all so weird he wanted no part of us. But in spite of being so masculine, Josh is a very sensitive human being. He is thoughtful, considerate and always seems to know just when this mom needs a hug. He is loving to his sisters, nephews, grandparents and never leaves the house without hugging his dad. He is going to be mad at me for this! I don't care though because Josh is one of those who never wants attention brought to himself. However it is only fitting on this day that I tell you something else he is.

Josh is a veteran. It seems only right to honor him today, along with so many others. Josh was deployed to Iraq for about a year. His leave was difficult on our whole family but a blessing all at the same time. His dad and I learned a lot during that year about trusting the Lord. God honored that and increased our faith tremendously. We were still so happy when his year ended and he was home. He doesn't talk much about his leave and we don't ask much. I have observed him with some of his friends he was deployed with and he cares for those guys like they are his family. In a way they definitely were and continue to be. All those men fought for our freedoms and rights and we certainly do not take that for granted. Unselfishly. That is how Josh lives. Unselfishly.

We are blessed that he came home safely. Many did not, many are still fighting the battle to uphold our freedom. My brother-in-law is in Afghanistan. My grandfather fought in WWII. So many who did so much. Honor our veterans this day. Pray for those who continue to serve and defend this nation of ours.

Josh, know how much we love you and are so proud of you and the man that you are. We honor you and thank you for your sacrifice.

One Faithful Couple

This past weekend I had the privilege of going to Tampa, Florida to see my in-laws honored for beginning a church fifty years ago. I have been in the Cheney family for a long time and have always known about them starting a church, but until this weekend I never really understand just what they did and the sacrifices they made.

My father-in-law graduated from Baptist Bible College in the late 50’s and moved to Jacksonville, Fl with his bride and two small boys (my husband and his baby sister had not yet arrived on the scene). He was a youth pastor at a church in Jacksonville but felt very certainly that the Lord had called him to start a church to share the Gospel and offer the Hope of Christ. He was told that he couldn’t start a church in Tampa as the city would just not receive it well. Apparently whoever told my father-in-law that did not understand the will of my father-in-law but most importantly the will of the Heavenly Father. So to Tampa he went. Alone, jobless, and penniless. His family stayed in Jacksonville until he could secure employment and a place to have church services. We live in an age where communication is so taken for granted. His only source of communicating was through letters back home to his bride. These letters were shared with us this past weekend and may I tell you I still have not fully recovered from the impact they made on me. I hope I never do. Letters from a 24 year old young man with a family to support and a burning passion for serving God in his heart that could not be stifled. We listened in these letters as he told his wife back home that he had walked miles seeking to find employment to no avail yet. He walked miles knocking on doors to invite people to come to church when he still had not secured a meeting place. He wrote how proud he was to have had 10 people in a church service one night, 11 counting the Lord. Tears just rolled down my face as I heard letter after letter and saw picture after picture of this church coming to fruition. Then as we sat at lunch that day I watched lines of people approach my father-in-law and mother-in-law and thank them for their sacrifice and told them had it not been for them and beginning West Gate their families would not have heard the message of Christ. This church was the first one in that part of the city. There are charter members still in attendance! It blew my mind.

As I heard these letters I wondered about the sacrifice both of them made. No money, wondering how they would feed their children, would they be able to find jobs. Totally dependent on God’s provision for fulfilling His calling He had placed on Gerald’s life. Not too often in life do some get to see the fruit of the seed they planted. This church now houses a Christian school and a state seminary of which my father-in-law received an honorary doctorate in divinity. He was so handsome in his robes. With all the humility that they began their dream fifty years ago, my in-laws still displayed this past weekend as they were able to celebrate with their family and friends. We are a family of 22 and 15 were able to be there. What a time we had! As we all talked of their sacrifices, neither one of them sees it that way. They said compared to the sacrifice at the Cross theirs is small. But they are great in our eyes. I have never been more humbled, honored or proud to be their daughter-in-love as they so sweetly refer to me. What a blessing for my children to get to see what their grandparents did in the cause for Christ.

How faithful our God is to us. I am beyond thankful for this family that I love so very much. Though like all families, they are not perfect – no family is. They still love each other madly and all the more their Savior. This weekend I rejoiced with them, celebrated with them, cried with them, sang with them, and marveled at the thought that we will continue this time of celebration in Eternity. We will all be there together because of people like Gerald and Judy who shared the love of a gracious Savior. I love them dearly.

Psalms 118:23

“This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

As a young man eager to share the Gospel.

This is the pulpit a man built for Gerald that is still used in the church today.

Our immediate family with MawMaw and PawPaw. We are missing Jodi and Connor.

All of us that were there at the wonderful banquet prepared in Gerald and Judy's honor.

More pictures of our great time still to come.

Let us Run with Perseverance

For quite some time my baby girl has been desperately seeking some athletic endeavor that she could excel at. She tried out for basketball, realized that wasn't her thing and just hadn't found her niche quite yet. Until now. A couple of weeks she came home and said she wanted to join the Cross Country team. She certainly has the build for a runner, long and lean, so her Dad and I thought she should give it a shot. She has never run before, except for just playing. She went to the first practice and came home excited but a little down that everyone seemed to run faster. We told her it is not about being the fastest but just finishing. So one morning she wanted me to take her to the park to run. I put on my walking shoes and off we went. We get there and she is stretching and says to me, "Can you run a mile Momma?" Well yes. I mean I think I can, I don't really want to but I felt on the spot by my smiling youngest child. What else could I do? Hadn't I been saying, It is not about how fast you go but that you finish. So I ran. And I was miserable. I wanted to stop and quit, but as I looked up ahead, at times way far ahead, and saw her running I started to pray. Lord, please let her always approach life and trials with the attitude that she can do all things through You, please let her know that she can push past her fears and her doubts and know that she can persevere to the finish. And Lord more than anything can she see that in her Momma. That I will push past my fears and doubts and dare to step beyond what I think I can't do. You know what, before I knew it I ran that whole mile and when I came around the corner, my baby was cheering for me like I was finishing a marathon and I felt like I had. She was so proud of me and what a feeling that was.
Yesterday was my turn to cheer for her. She ran her first Cross Country event and it was only a mile. It was different than what she was used to because it was an up and downhill course. She had never been in a race and when those 90 something kids took off from the top of that hill I found myself praying out loud, "Lord please please don't let my baby fall down and get trampled." They sounded like the Running of the Bulls coming down that hill! I couldn't find her at first but then I saw that pretty little head fly by and I was so proud of her! Every time she came by us she looked like she was going to throw up. Up and down the hills was hard for her. But she kept going, and pushed past her fears. She finished 49th out of 90 something kids. She finished faster than she had ever run before! She was so proud of herself and her Mimi and I could hardly contain ourselves.
She has found her sport. I am so inspired I think I am going to do the Couch to 5K challenge. What a feeling when we see our kids succeed. It must be the same for our Heavenly Father. When He sees us do what all along He has known we can do. When we trust Him to work through us and in us to accomplish what we never could on our own. Dare to push through and do what you think you can't. Then be sure He gets the glory.

Here come the Bulls!!!

Our little runner.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12: 1-3

My Bible Study Peeps.

For about two years now I have been attending a bible study in the home of one of my dear friends. She and I had wanted to do a bible study together for several years and the timing just wasn't ever right with our busy schedules. We both made a commitment to pray about it and lo and behold God worked it out and we have been meeting every other week for about two and a half years now. I love these women. Pat and I decided that God would bring together whomever He wanted in our study time, so we invited everyone we knew and prayed someone would show up. We average about 10-13 regulars. We have had several in and out over the years and we understand how busy women's lives are. These women have become so precious to me. They are representative of different denominations, family situations and backgrounds. Young mothers, grandmothers, single women, married women, shy, opinionated, loud, quiet, and all fun! But as different as they all are we all share one common bond- A deep desire to grow in our faith and knowledge of the One who brought us all together. We have shared so many things over our time together, answered prayer, sickness, death, praise reports, just life in general. They are a mighty group of prayer warriors and I knew the Lord was doing a work within our group when one day I was in Pat's office and someone came by and said, " I know you ladies have a bible study, could I get you ladies to pray for me?" CAN YOU?? ARE YOU KIDDING? It is our privilege and honor to lift up those in need and I know when I have a need it is just a matter of pressing a button in my inbox and I have 15 women on their knees for me.
I love them. I love that God knit our lives together at this time for whatever reason. I so love my friend Pat for opening her home to us and serving us so graciously week after week. I love that my baby sister and daughter-in-law share in this time with me. And I love that we are sisters in Christ persevering to seek His will and plan for our individual lives.

We are studying John Bevere's "The Bait of Satan" right now on the sin of offense. I am offended every time I read it so I guess I needed it! Not really offended, I think the term is convicted. Convicted that so many others before me struggled with so much more yet remained faithful to the One who is able to deliver us from our offenses. Thank you Jesus, you went to the cross on my behalf in spite of all the offenses you suffered.
Much to be thankful for. Have a blessed Friday and thank goodness the weekend is almost here.

Random

How long has it been???? Seems like forever. Do you ever feel the pace of life is so fast you are struggling just to catch it by the heels? I certainly have lately. So much as happened in just the month since I blogged last. School started again. Yippee! We moved into our new high school and are thrilled about all things new but missing very much the comfort zone in the old school. I teach seniors and they are missing their old haunt tremendously. One said to me the other day, " Yeah it was a rat hole, but it was OUR rat hole." They are so wise sometimes they don't even realize. I used that as an opportunity to preach, ahem I mean share with them that when they leave home this next year for college that will be very similar to what they feel. You don't appreciate what you have until you leave. And hopefully they will appreciate the foundation given them.

On another note our business is booming!! We are busier than we EVER have been but thanking God the whole time for the work. My husband and my mother are work horses like you wouldn't believe and I am trying hard to keep up. I had a brief meltdown the other day when I realized that I cannot do all things. I am trying to balance about 5 full time jobs, and the shock that I cannot keep up with them all was a downer for me. Why do we think we have to be Super Mom at everything?

We all went to what I consider to be one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever been to last weekend. Lake Greeson. My whole family, my in-laws, my parents, and one of sisters and her family spent Labor Day weekend getting some much needed R & R. The weather was great and we enjoyed just being together.

Well it is Saturday morning and the hubs and I are about to hunker down for a long day of work. Instead of being frustrated this is how I will spend my Saturday I will instead be thankful that we have a job to do, people who are helping us out because they love us, and that I have a husband that I enjoy working side by side with. We make a great team and there is no one I would rather do this life with than him.

Can you tell by the randomness of this post how crazy my head is? Have a blessed day!