Ms Verna

There are some people in our lives that seem irreplaceable. Sister Verna Garner was one of those people. Ms Verna always seemed to be thinking of others or praying for someone. I only wish we had had time to get to know her even better. She passed away Friday evening from stomach cancer. Her services will be tomorrow. Please be in prayer for her family as they go through this time.

I have been in a really weird place lately. I feel like there is this sense of God doing something big in my life around me and in my life directly. Which is AWESOME! I don't ever remember a time when I have felt so aware of God working around me. But on the other end is this feeling that every time I turn around there is something negative happening! You know, one step forward, two steps back. It's hard to keep your eyes straight ahead and on the prize when people on every side are falling away. I need people. I am a people person. I am stronger when I have certain people around me. Most of my life those people have been my family. But, I think I am beginning to realize that I have leaned on them too hard. Don't get me wrong, I love them dearly, but there is a certain risk involved in putting yourself out there to someone other than your family. They don't HAVE to love you, so you take the risk. Recently, there have been certain people in my life that I was convinced was my support and my strength. Then, things start happening to them, too. I begin thinking, "They can't keep me strong, if they aren't strong, either." So, the verse comes to mind, "in my weakness, He is made strong". I have to keep reminding myself that my strength is in the Lord and not in people. But I also know that God gives us people in our lives that make us better. And right now, I feel like those people who were making me stronger are slipping away. I feel a little out of control. Like no amount of talking or praying will make them stay where they are and who I need them to be. How do I let them know how I feel without totally pushing them away? I just keep looking for the one step forward, and praying for God to take care of the two steps back. It's the only way I can keep from pulling my hair out!

Mitey Mites No More

Last night was Tyler's last Mitey Mites football game. And I don't mean just for this season; I mean, next year, if decides to continue to play football, he will be playing school ball! I think that's too much to think about right now, so I just won't! Anyway, we only lost one game, and that was the first one. Last night we were also exicted to have some friends of ours from Mtn Grove come up and watch Tyler play. It was good to visit with Stephen, Heather, Ethan, and Eli. Here's just a couple of pics! On to the next sport!!

George

I just could not wait to post tonight!! We had such a wonderful night at our Troop 4:20 group! Tonight was a "Mobile" night. For our project tonight, Kelly had suggested that we make cards and take them to a local nursing home. I wasn't sure how we would squeeze making cards, a visit, and all the commotion of the kids in an hour, but I was willing to try! So, as the kids showed up, we had them making as many pictures or cards as they could. We then loaded up in our cars and headed to the James River Care Center. Earlier that day, the activities director had told me that we could just walk around and hand them out to any of the residents that were out and about. So, here we went. I thought that the kids might be hesitant, but they totally surprised me! They were like, "There's someone!...How about them?" The people were all so sweet and very grateful for the gifts. And then we met George. We saw him out walking, and as I approached, I could tell that if he wasn't blind, he was very close. When I got near him, I introduced myself to him and told him that I had brought a group of my friends. I asked him if it was ok, we would like to give him a picture. I then asked the group who would like to share their picture with George. Jordan was the first to raise her hand, so I asked her to step forward. Knowing that sight-impaired people relied heavily on their other senses, I made sure to touch his hand frequently to help in my communication with him. So, when Jordan stepped up, I just took his hand and placed it on the top of her head, to try to show him she was just a little girl. Then, he did something I was totally not expecting. He began to pray for her! Here we were thinking we were going to this place to minister to these people, and he turned it around and ministered to us! He was such a sweet man, and the kids really liked him. So, I asked if we could take a picture with him. So, that's him with us in the picture. I will never forget George. And I hope that he made an impact on the kids. The funny thing is that we planned this night, made the cards, made the trip over there, went through all the effort, but he was just doing what came naturally to him! God lifted up my heart tonight, and I praise Him for showing up in a way that wasn't expected!

Free Water, Anyone?

Today was a great day! You know it's always awesome when God shows up. Our young adult Sunday School class has been looking for ways to get out into the community. I have not been in on the planning because I have a class of my own, but Travis has been telling me some of the ideas. The suggestion that they settled on was to go to one of the local parks and hand out cold bottles of water. We just wanted to serve everyone, no strings attached. We planned to picnic at the park and then just wander around handing out the bottles. We prayed that God would provide a great day and enough people to get rid of around 100 bottles of water. You know, when you pray for God to bless you in something that He's already asked you to do, you'd better just sit back and watch the blessings flow. When we got to the park, we discovered "Art in the Park" and TONS OF PEOPLE! It was so much fun to just offer the water to people walking the trails or playing on the playground. Some didn't understand, some didn't care why. But over a short amount of time, we got rid of all of it. It was such an immediate answer to a prayer! God is awesome and I can't wait to do it again! Thanks to all those who participated!!

First of all, let me say that I had no idea how far behind I had gotten on my posting until I just got on. So, let me start by telling how our Wednesday night Troop 4:20 meeting went. This week was our "H" week, which stands for Headquarters. We based this week on Psalm 144:15, "Joyful are those whose God is the Lord". And we celebrated everything that God had done for us this past month. We played games, ate (too many) snacks, and gave away some prizes. The kids had a lot of fun, and we initiated our new helper, Kelly, in a great way!! I think she had just as much fun as they did. This Wednesday, we go on our next MOBILE week.

Friends or Enemies?

This weekend we have had the priviledge of having Benton stay with us. His mom is out of town, and she had asked if we could watch him. Of course, I said yes, when he's here we barely even know it! We tried to do some things to keep everyone entertained, especially since they were out of school on Friday. But one thing we did get to do was go to their Mighty Mites football game, and they PLAYED EACH OTHER!!! The boys were very excited, razzing each other before hand. But, sorry Benton, but Tyler's team won!!! But both boys played well! Tyler even caused and recovered a fumble on the first play! Fun stuff!

What's in a Name?

I've been considering changing the name of my blog for sometime. But, the name I chose, I could not figure out where I had heard it, so I was reluctant to use it. I didn't want to steal someone else's thunder. Well, I haven't been able to figure it out, so I went with it.

I think that God is using my dad's passing to reveal all sorts of things to me. One in particular is to make sure you leave something behind. I want to be in control of what people remember of me, what my children learn from me, those sorts of things. When my family is sifting through what's left of my life, I want them to be able to see something substantial. Just like someone who leaves a trail of breadcrumbs to be followed, I want the path I take to be worthy of following. So, I'm leaving breadcrumbs, and I hope that I will be proud of the trail I leave behind.

Ties, Ties, Ties

Today we spent most of our day helping my mom move. Even though the studio isn't quite ready to welcome all her stuff, we took advantage of the available help and wonderful weather and got it done! One of the last things to be moved from the duplex over to the studio was a tie rack, FULL OF MY DAD'S TIES! I knew that my dad had quite a collection of them, but I'm not sure I knew exactly how many that meant! There were all sorts. So, we laid them all out, and started going through them. There were quite a few left over from his travelling and singing days. I immediately spotted the one he wore at my wedding, and there were all the piano ties. While stories were being told of when he wore which tie, we carefully distributed them between me, Jennifer, and all 5 of our children. My dad was quite a character, and it definitely was shown in the assortment of his ties! I came home with quite a handful and now I am pondering what I should do with them. I am not the sort of person to just "have" them. I want to do something with them. Anybody out there have any kinds of creative ideas??? I have some, but I'd like some input!

Who's on First?

I just have to know. Is there anybody out there actually watching the baseball playoffs??? For me, I am only listening to the score to make sure the Cubs lose!!! I have to admit, it's kinda nice seeing some teams in there that haven't played for a while. On the other hand, it's hard to know or even care who to root for when I am not familiar with the other teams. I will probably start watching when the series finally gets here. And continue to root for whoever's playing the Cubs, if they make it that far!!

We're doing surgery....?

I have no pictures from tonight, but I do have a report! Tonight was "S", which means surgical. This week's verse is John 3:16. Surgical week is the time for the kids to invite their unsaved friends, and we talk about the salvation message in some form or another. We talked about sin, and talked about Romans 12:2 and how we need to be not like the world. We had another good group and had some good discussion. We had some small group prayer. It's amazing what kids will tell you. I love to see them communicating! Next week is "H" week, which stands for headquarters! This just means we are going to gather back at the headquarters and celebrate all that the Lord has done for us in the past weeks. Our verse is Psalm 144:15, "Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord"!!! Let's partaaay!