4 Audio Books, 3 Viruses and 3000+ Miles . . . .

Well, make that 5 viruses now, but by the time we returned home there were only 3 children in my family that had been stricken with the disease. Now, Abigail Grace and I have joined their number :)

A Beaming Beauty

A sweet little girl just fell asleep and she was still beaming from the wonderful evening she spent with her Daddy. Tonight was our CHENM Father/Daughter Banquet, and it may have been even more incredible than last year, though I doubt that could be possible.

A date with Daddy. Curled Hair. Special Dress. A bouquet of flowers. Pictures. Spending an evening with friends - families - fathers - who love the Lord. Encouragement. Games. Laughing. Challenge. Ice Cream and Brownies. Simple elegance. Beauty.

All these things present a portrait of God's grace in our lives. What a good God to grant us such special, treasured moments!

Is there anything better than an entire evening spent with Daddy? Nothing that comes to mind. How much more precious is that special time with Daddy, though, when it is shared with special friends who also love the Lord. I am so thankful that my family has the privilege of being in a group that honors Him in such a precious way. Over 40 families were represented this evening - what a testimony! It gives me great encouragement as I am reminded of all the families in CHENM (Christian Home Educators of Northeast Mississippi) that are also walking the same path that we are on.

It was an odd feeling as I clicked away taking pictures of Hannah before her special date with her Daddy. Though tiny, she looked so grown up - so full of joy and confidence - so poised and prepared. My little girl is fading away and becoming a beautiful young lady. It is bittersweet, for sure. A reminder of the fleeting gift of time with her that has been entrusted to me. She already has such deep compassion for others, such a servant's heart, such a passion to learn. Her love for the Lord is already so great. What a treasure.

Tonight is yet another sweet memory to reflect on in the future. My beaming beauty - basking in the afterglow of such a special night. I know that one day she will look back and realize how much more special it was because the Lord was the reason they were together in the first place. What a precious gift!

Big J Playing B Ball

The beginning of 2009 brought the start of something completely new for our family - our entrance into the world of sports. I have never been a huge fan of sports - that is, until my little man was the one out there on the court!

Jason has headed up a team of people to begin an Upward Basketball League in our town and it has been an incredible experience for all of us. The focus is on Christ and allows for each player to have equal play time and equal competition with the other teams.

It has been amazing to see such a huge difference in Joshua's skills and in his enjoyment of playing the game. His very first game he got the ball and ran as fast as he could down to the other end of the court - a feat that would have been great if he were a quarterback! When I asked him about it, he said that he didn't want to let go of the ball because someone else might get it from him!

By the end of the season, he was dribbling the ball, shooting goals and working hard at playing defense, rather than trying to see if he could switch his jersey to the other team's color and "become" one of their players while he was out there on the court!

What a joy it has been to see him delight in having something that was special just for him - manliness in a world of (mostly) women! He has treasured the special time he has had with his coach (Daddy), and it has been so wonderful to see them out on the court together.

Thank you, Jason, for the countless hours you have put into this league, and most importantly into our precious son! We love you, Joshua! Way to go, Bobcats!!

The Stash Continued . . .

I must admit that I walked through the kitchen right after I posted about the stash and I couldn't help but bend down and check if there had been any new deposits. All clear. The food must either be in the tummy or in the trash.

I had a friend tell me how strange it was for there to be a stash at all. At their home, they just have a slop bucket for anything left uneaten. But we don't have any goats or other animals to eat up our leftovers, so no slop bucket around here.

It is not that we stand over our children and force them to finish their food before they may leave the table, but they do have to finish their food before they can have a fun snack later on or a treat at the end of the meal. Sometimes, what's coming must seem much better than what has already been given - hence the stash.

On Thursday morning while we were "super-cleaning" the house I walked into the kitchen and was greeted with a pile of dried-up, old food on the floor. Apparently, it had been discovered within the deep recesses of the booster seat of one of my children when it was removed from the chair. It was obviously neither in the tummy or the trash - no more assumptions on my part! When I asked her about it, her only reply was, "Me did that a long time ago," and she walked off to finish her chore.

Now her booster seat is flush to the cushion and is she is no longer so "boosted" with the ability to deposit the remains of various meals within.

As of yet, I have never found a fruit, vegetable, nut, or piece of pasta stuck aside. I may need to consider scaling back on the initial portion sizes for some of the other "food groups." (Yes, pasta and nuts really could be considered a food group around our house.) And, of course, I will probably continue to check out the original stash for quite some time. At least you'll know what I'm doing if you are at my house and you see me looking under the table after a meal!

The Stash

The night before Valentine's Day, our Preschool Department at church gave us a wonderful gift - a Parent's Night Out/Preschool Pajama Party. The kids had a blast, and so did we! It is not often that we are given the opportunity to go on a date, and it was a great blessing to us.

Instead of fighting the crowds and spending our evening standing in line and waiting, Jason went to one of our favorite restaurants and brought home our favorite dish, a salad and some yummy bread. Being a sentimental man, he thought it would be fun to reminisce and have a candlelight dinner at our smaller sized round table, just as we had when we were first married and it was just the two of us. That is when he found the stash.

Back in my younger days when I really didn't want to finish eating my dinner (for various reasons), I pulled the "wad your food up in your napkin and quickly throw it away" trick. Another one of my favorites was the "fill your mouth completely full with as much food as possible and excuse yourself to the bathroom in order to spit it out" routine. (I think I truly believed that my parents had no idea . . . )

My children are not so elementary. Oh, no, they have exemplified their deeply developed creativity in their institution of the stash. Apparently, when we had begun clearing the table and washing the dishes . . . or perhaps when we went to get the baby after she had woken up . . . or possibly even right before our eyes through cunning trickery and deception, they would put their unwanted food inside the table itself!

There are actually two of our children who lay claim to discovering the perfect hiding place for their unwanted meal remains. Both of them are small and could have easily discovered the small "ledge" directly under the surface of the table where they collected the stash. I am certain that it was innocent at first - a new hiding place for anything small. But then the wheels started turning. . . . "What a great place to stick my food when I don't want to finish eating it! Ha ha! No one will ever know about this! What cleverness I possess!"

However, they didn't foresee Daddy removing the leaf from the table and actually seeing inside area where the gears are housed in order to change its length, otherwise known around our house as the stash.

Jason didn't worry about his discovery during the night of our special candlelight dinner. He just pushed the table back together and hid what was underneath one last time. I was none the wiser. The next morning, though, we had some dustbusters and dyson operators extrodinarie. They were a little sheepish, but very willing to clean up their mess!

I need to heed this warning: I have a very clever bunch on my hands! Now I just need to be checking this special place for future deposits and be on the lookout for future tactics. . . not just because I would prefer for food to not be rotting inside my furniture, but because the Lord has plainly exposed their hearts and their need for a Savior. What a great opportunity for the gospel to be proclaimed . .

MawMaw's Legacy

I didn't have time to post this at the beginning of the month while we were preparing to travel and heading to Texas. Now that I have a few minutes, though, I wanted to jot down a few of the things that I learned from my MawMaw. Honestly, this is more for me than anyone else. I don't expect anyone else to read it, but if you do, be blessed by the life of my MawMaw.

1) Love Jesus, Pray and Be Faithful.

Ever since I can remember, my MawMaw would give me Bible story books, games about making wise decisions, etc. When you went to her house, she always had her Bible out and was doing some type of study, reading a commentary, looking things up. Her Bible is marked to pieces - she has notes and underlines everywhere - it's that way because she was always in it - it didn't just sit on her shelf!

A year or two ago when I went to visit her at her last residence, she and a friend were watching a man preaching on TV. He was speaking Spanish, but it was being translated into English. I thought that was so funny! I wondered if she even realized that he wasn't speaking English . . . But it didn't matter to her, she just wanted to hear someone teaching God's Word. :)

Throughout my childhood, MawMaw taught the children's Sunday School class at her church. When I would visit her, we would go together and she was my teacher - pretty cool! I even went down for VBS with her one summer (and I still have the macaroni wise men that we made!). She was so faithful to serve. For years, my PawPaw would play golf while she attended church. No matter what, she was faithful to love Jesus, and she was faithful to love her husband and pray for him. She prayed for God to save him for so many years, and He did. About 10 years before he died in 2005, PawPaw was saved and there was a dramatic change in his life. It was something that only the Lord could do. Thank you so much, MawMaw, for praying for my PawPaw and for winning him over without a word . . . I truly believe that it was a direct result of her prayers and the Lord using her in his life, that my PawPaw was saved. My memories of him are so different than they would have been otherwise, and I cherish so many of the phone conversations, letters, and "I love you's" as a result.

We met a couple who came to visit with our family during my MawMaw's viewing. Their children had gone to her Backyard Bible Club many years before and both of them (the children) were saved. As a result of the difference in their lives, the parents were also saved within a few years. The parents came that night to make sure that we knew how MawMaw was used by the Lord to make an eternal difference in the lives of their entire family. What a privilege to hear about that and what an incredible legacy! Who knows how many more lives were changed as a result of her faithfulness, prayers and love of Christ. That is the legacy that I want to leave someday.

2) A Love for Books and a Love for Learning.

When you would walk into my MawMaw's house, there were books and bookshelves in quite a few of the rooms. Ah, a woman after my own heart! MawMaw loved to read. She loved to learn. She didn't just purchase a book and put it on the shelf. She could tell you all about each one and the history that it held.

I always loved to look at her books when we would visit. I would move her "real" abacus aside and carefully remove book after book - reading its pages, reviewing the notes throughout its pages, looking at the inscriptions and the publication dates. Each book had a story much deeper than what was printed on its pages, and I loved to hear them.

Several years before she and my PawPaw moved from Hilltop Lakes she asked me if I had a special place that I could keep some of her books. I had to reassure her several times that I would take very good care of them and would not allow them to be damaged. They were some of her most valued treasures, and now they are some of my most valued treasures today.

Some of those treasures include the very first Bible that she was given when she was a little girl, a Bible dictionary that belonged to her uncle who was a minister, her copy of Little Women and Good Wives and her favorite book from college, Shakespeare's Complete Works. I love the book titled, Songs of Sentiment, as well as Anecdotes of Great Musicians. I love them all.

Are they worth very much? Probably not too much in the monetary sense, though most are very old and they were very well cared for. Too me, however, they are irreplaceable. They were something that she had held very dear, and they remain a constant reminder to me of her love for learning. That is something that I want to pass on to my own grandchildren someday. It would be great to pass on the books themselves, but how much more wonderful would it be to pass on a love for learning and the legacy behind that.

3) A Love for Family and a Love of History

MawMaw loved her family and she loved history. She spent countless hours researching our family legacy and documenting any information that she could find regarding our relatives. She loved to transfer that knowledge, as well. Any chance she could get, she would sit down and tell stories about our family. She would pull out her notes, her books, and all of her documents to show pictures of the people she was telling about, birth records, letters from them - whatever bits of history and information that she had.

At times, people would tire of hearing her stories, but honestly, I loved to hear them - even the ones that I had heard so many times before. It made our family seem exciting and fun. It gave me a glimpse into the past and allowed me to imagine what it was like back then, sometimes getting a real taste of their life through their own words, as well.

MawMaw did a wonderful job of preserving our family's history, and transferring that history, as well. I have stacks of letters from her where she would write just to say hello and there would end up being 4 or 5 pages of stories about someone she had learned about in our family, or stories about her life, her loves and what she desired and prayed for us. What a gift!

When choosing a name for our third child, Jason and I both loved the name Sarah Elizabeth if the baby was a girl. We chose the name because of its Biblical heritage, but I also had remembered MawMaw telling me long ago that my PawPaw's grandmother was named Sarah Elizabeth. While pregnant, my PawPaw died that November and I was unable to travel to Texas for his funeral. Later, in mid January, our daughter Sarah Elizabeth was born. How precious to have her named for both Biblical heritage and family heritage (all of our children's names are either Biblical names or Family names, and Sarah Elizabeth has both!) At first, no one believed me that it was a family name, but I distinctly remembered sitting down at the dining room table with MawMaw and looking where she had it written down . . . When Sarah Elizabeth was 6 weeks old, we traveled to Texas and I was able to find where it was written down after going through some of her family history material. Way to go, MawMaw! I was listening all those times and didn't forget the details. You caused me to be so enraptured by the history of our family that it made a huge impact on my life. May I pass on the love for family and the love for history, as well.

4) Live your life well.

Truly, my MawMaw was an amazing woman. She raised four boys and was a faithful wife who served her husband well. She graduated from college and earned her Master's Degree. She was a published author. She was an artist. She loved to paint and traveled to Santa Fe annually to sell her work. (My favorites are the pictures with the bluebonnets, of course!) She was extremely active as a member and leader of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was a children's Sunday School Teacher and Leader. She lived her life to the fullest.

Honestly, though, those accolades don't matter too much to me. What matters to me is that she is my MawMaw. She taught me what was really important. She loved Jesus. She diligently prayed for others and was faithful. She loved to learn. She loved her family. She loved history and worked hard to preserve it. She lived her life well.

Now, MawMaw is part of our family history. That seems so strange to me. I am so thankful, though, that the end of her life on this earth only marked the beginning of one much more glorious than we could ever imagine.

My children talk about her often, and I love that. I don't want them to forget. I love the pictures that I have of them with her. I love that they talk about how she is in heaven singing praises to God. I love that they can learn the things that she taught me, both by example and by words.

Thank you, MawMaw, for the legacy that you have left me. You have taught me well.

Remembering MawMaw

Tiffany, Kyle, and I with MawMaw ~ Christmas 2008

I got a call from my dad today letting me know that my MawMaw had passed away. She was 91 years old and had lived a full, wonderful life. Most importantly, she loved the Lord.
She no longer has to look up our names in her little notebook to remember who we are and how we "fit" into her life as loved ones. She no longer has to ask us the same questions multiple times and then say, "Oh, yes. That's right. I remember. . . " She no longer has to be alone and think about my PawPaw, who died a little over three years ago. No, she is with Jesus and that brings such great joy to my heart.
This day has been bittersweet. I will miss her a great deal, for sure. But I am so thankful that she is with the Lord, rejoicing at His throne, filled with joy in the fullness of His presence. Just thinking about it makes me long for that day even more!
Thank you, Lord, for a grandmother who was faithful, who loved me, and more importantly, loved You. I treasure the memories I have of her and eagerly await the day when we will be together, worshipping You.