"Beauty for Ashes" Sister2Sister Fall Retreat

"Beauty for Ashes" was the Scripture theme for our 2008 Sister2Sister Fall Retreat. What an awesome time we had. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and best of all, God showed up in a way that I have not experienced lately. Many women gave testimonies of how God has taken the ashes that have been a part of their lives and completely changed them into something absolutely beautiful. We shared, really shared with one another. This retreat is what the church should really be about. We encouraged one another as the body of Christ should do. Our last session was nothing but prayer and wow! did God show up when we began to pray. The retreat was supposed to have ended at 4:00. But when the Holy Spirit of God falls upon you, you can't leave. I believe than every woman there experienced something that they had not experienced in a long time. Thank you God for your faithfulness, your mercy, and making yourself so real to your daughters. Praise You Father!

19 Days until fun filled vacation days!

Spider Man Comes to Visit

I am loving the break in the hot humid Summer days. For the past few days, you can sense that Fall weather is just around the corner. The highs were mainly in the low 80's the last several days and the drop of 5 to 8 degrees makes such a difference in the way it feels outside.

We had a good weekend. Saturday was spent in football mode most of the day. We kept Carter during the Alabama game so that his mother and daddy could go to a football party. He is so sweet and is getting so big. He already has his Halloween costume and is making sure that he gets his "wear" out of it. He loves spider man and had his mask on most of the time he was visiting with us.

It was another great game for Bama! They beat Arkansas 49 to 14!

Sunday night we had a great first community group meeting. The Peaks, the Northcutts, and the Rylees are joining with us for our group. We began an Andy Stanley DVD and it was very thought provoking and we had a lot of great discussion around the subject. We were encouraged to examine our heart not just our behavior. So many times, when we let our filter down, what comes out of us is what is really in our hearts. We don't like to think about this, but it is true. After we had our prayer time, we all went out to eat. We have decided that we all would rather go out after we finish each night than to have to deal with food at houses. It works for all of us, so that's great!

We had a women's ministry team meeting tonight at 5:30 to discuss the final plans for the women's retreat this Friday and Saturday. I pray that God really use this retreat in all of the lives of the women who attend.

Well I think we made the decision to extend our vacation. But instead of extending it on the back side, we are going to just begin it sooner on the front side. We now plan to leave on Sun., Oct. 18 and return on Sat., Oct.30. With that being said.......

26 days until the travel trailer leaves Mobile for vacation!

Sick Days

I just got back from the doctor. I never go to the doctor, but I felt so bad yesterday that I certainly didn't want to go through the weekend feeling this way. I called the office first thing this morning and they told me to come in right then and they would work me in. Having worked in doctor's offices before, I knew that I was probably going to be sitting for a long time and I was right. I got there at 9:15 and I left around 11:3o. It could have been worse. The doctor determined allergies were my problem. He gave me a shot, medicine and nasal spray and I am already feeling better. Yesterday, I think I got out of bed twice for maybe 30 min. to an hour. The rest of the day, I was flat on my back in bed. The pressure in my head was terrible and my body felt like I had the flu. But, I'm on the road to recovery.

35 days until vacation! Maybe even sooner. We are considering leaving adding a few days on to our vacation and we might leave sooner. We'll make that decision soon.

It's Tuesday evening. I just have not had a chance to blog until now. To catch up, we went to Bladon on Friday and Saturday. Randall and Mike finished most of the shooting houses. Now we have to get them over to the field. This will take more man power than these two older men can muster. So the reinforcements of sons will have come up and help with this major task. All that they lack doing is putting up the walls, door, and roof. They tell me this should be easy. The pictures show what the four houses look like at this point. Mike and Randall are so talented!

We ate lunch on Saturday with Randall's mother and daddy and then we are out with Mike and Deborah at J & K's in Gilbertown. The picture of Mike and Deborah was taken at the restaurant.

Sunday evening, we went out to eat with our newly formed Community Group. We met at 5:00 and went to eat at Cheeburger, Cheeburger. This was Randall's and mine's first time to eat there. Delicious cheeseburgers and milkshakes. Ainsleigh came with Morris and Julie and she made us so proud by eating the pounder cheeseburger. An announcement was made to everyone in the restaurant that she had eaten the whole thing and then her picture was proudly displayed on the walls of the restaurant along with her two older brothers who had already met this challenge. Not too many girls were on that wall of fame and I am so proud of my nieces determination not to let her brothers do something that she couldn't do. I was so sorry that I didn't have my camera with me so that I could display his proud moment on my blog. Way to go Ainsleigh!

37 days until the travel trailer is loaded and heads to Branson!

11,315 Days

11,315 days somehow does not seem like an awful long time. But 31 years does! As of yesterday, Randall and I have been married for 11,315 days or 31 years. However you look at it, I am so thankful that God has brought us through the good times and bad. Yes, it has taken both Randall and me staying true to the vows that we made even when we would have liked to have thrown in the towel. But I know that God has blessed us and been with us through those tough times and He is the One that deserves the credit. I can say that I love my husband more now than ever. He is an absolutely fabulous husband and treats me like a queen. God has blessed our union with a wonderful family and we could not be more blessed!

44 Days - Branson.....Here we come!

A Long Day

Yesterday was one of the biggest days of the year for the area of ministry that I serve in at work and church. Group Link was held yesterday. Group Link is the event where we place people who are wanting to join off campus small groups with groups that are desiring to add people to their groups. I began the day at 8:15 where I continuously made tea all morning until I had enough to serve 250 people. It took me three hours!That's a lot of tea! I did this in between my regular Sunday morning duties, which made for a very full morning. After I finished with the Sunday School records, Randall and I made a mad dash to Ruby Tuesday's and grabbed a salad. Then I ran by Lowe's to pick up flowers to place in the tennis shoes that we were using for centerpieces for the 30 tables we are using at Group Link. Then it was back to church!

Setting up for Group Link is a massive undertaking. We have lots to do in a short amount of time. Group Link began at 5:00 and because of some other church actvities right after the last service, we were not able to get into the worship center to begin to set up until around 1:00. My plan was to get set up and then go home for a few minutes to freshen up before Group Link. Well, that didn't happen this year. We ran out of time and I stayed straight through.

We had a great turn out for the event and we felt as everything went well. I pray that everyone that participates will grow in their walk with God and will find great encouragement from others in their small group. I also pray that this year more than ever, groups will get out in the communityand share the love of Jesus Christ with a world that needs to see the church in action.

I finally arrived at home around 8:00 last night. 12 hours is a long day and this old woman was pooped!!!!! My body hurt so badly, I couldn't go to sleep until I took 3 ibuprophen.

Today, Julie and I returned to our teaching art at Light of the Village for the new school year. The school has doubled in size since last year. Instead of having only 7 boys, we now have a total of 15 students, boys and girls mixed. It is always such a blessing to minister at this wonderful ministry and we look forward to our new year.

Tonight, I am still tired from yesterday and also from having to do all the clean up today from yesterday. I think I will sleep well tonight.

45 Days until we leave in the 24 ft. travel trailer and head for Branson, MO.

Highlights of the Last Three Days

For about three months now, I have noticed a raised place on my back that itches and has seemed to get larger. After letting several people look at it and getting their opinions, I decided that I might need to have it checked. Went to the doctor Thursday morning and it took about two seconds for him to tell me that it was nothing to worry about. I really wasn't worried, but it never hurts to have these things checked when they begin to change in size and itch.

Yesterday, (Friday) I was off as usual. I begin teaching art at Light of the Village again this next Monday, so I decided to go purchase some supplies that we will need. I am so excited that this year, the church is giving me money so that we can do more with the students. We were not able to do anything with color last year because they could not affort any supplies. We will start with pastels. I was blessed to find pastels on sale for 30% off and was also able to get some sketch pads. Being able to use color mediums will open up a whole new learning process for them. I am very excited about that.

Last night, we went to see a movie. I knew that it would be a silly movie but I thought I was in the mood for silly. The movie ended up being sillier than I ever anticipated and I am sorry that I made Randall sit through it:) As usual though, the popcorn and diet coke were worth the trip! Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner at Panera Bread.

I have spent most of today surfing the web. I've become very interested in Sarah Palin because she just seems to have such great leadership qualities...the kind of leadership qualities I admire. She seems to be extremely bright, articulate, cares for others, makes things happen, not afraid to take on big issues that are just wrong, has great Christian values that influence her decisions, loves her family, and so much more. The more I learn, the more I like. I actually ordered a t-shirt online that has on it, "PALINTOLOGIST; Sarah Palin voter who shares her conservative values, Maverick attitude, and American style." I can't wait to get it. I believe that God may have raised Sarah up to be our present day Esther. I believe she was created for just such a times as this. I know that we will need to immerse this woman in our prayers, because no doubt, "the enemy" ( and I don't mean Obama, or maybe I do:)) will be out to destroy her.

I am loving Facebook as well. It is so much fun finding out what is going on the the lives of my friends. When I first started Facebook, I wasn't that impressed...but now I LOVE it.

Well, we have purchased the Alabama /Tulane Game to play on T.V. at 6:00. Randall has had hot wings in the crock pot all afternoon and they smell scrumptious! I can't wait to consume them in just a few minutes. I hope Alabama plays as well this week as they did last week.

The next big event that we are anticipating is our vacation to Branson, MO. We will leave Mobile on Friday, October 24 and return Sunday, November 2. We have never been to Branson and we look forward to seeing a few shows and enjoying the beautiful Fall weather that they are known for. I will close every blog from this point until then with the number of days we have left until we leave.

I hope all of you have had a wonderful Saturday!

47 days until we hook up the 24 foot trailer and head for Branson!

Not Much to Gustav

This morning I woke up to some pretty decent wind blowing outside the house. It only lasted for a few minutes however. Gustav was just beginning to make landfall around the middle of the Louisana Coast as a Category 3 Hurricane. The great fear of the day was that the levee's in New Orleans would break again and we would see a repeat of Katrina. Well it is now 4:00 P.M. and the worst of the storm and the storm surge has past and I am happy to say that everything is well here as well as New Orleans. We are still seeing bands coming in ever so often when it will rain heavily as well as wind blows, but it only lasts a few minutes. There have been many tornado warnings in our area throughout the day, but as of right now, no damage or injuries have been reported. I will say that I an very glad that I was not in our 24 ft. travel trailer during this. We would have been rocking and rolling for sure! I am sure the winds were even greater towards the coast. You know, I always hear people say when they are spared from dangers such as a hurricane, things such as "God is Good." You know, that is true. But it is also true that God is good even if people do receive damage to their homes and property. What happens to us in life has nothing to do with God's goodness. God is good no matter what circumstances come our way!

Sunday, August 31

Well, we got up early and began breaking down our campsite. Other than a steady, nice breeze, there was no indication of a dangerous hurricane looming out in the Gulf. It was actually a beautiful morning. Just before we left however the first circular clouds associated with the rings around a hurricane began to appear. After we got completely packed up, we decided to go to Hazel's and enjoy a great breakfast before heading to Mobile.

Our original plan for Sunday had been to meet Mike and Deborah at the new Bass Pro Shop in Daphne on our way back to Gulf Shores after church Sunday morning. We have been planning for several weeks for Mike and Deborah to come down and go to Bass Pro Shop this weekend. And after we planned to go camping, we just combined the two destinations.

Bass Pro Shop just opened this past week. It is one amazing store, It's almost like Disney World for the outdoor enthusiast! I took pictures from inside the store. I bought a pair of polaroid sunglasses that I have been looking for for a long time. We enjoyed looking around so much and look forward to going back soon and often!

Once we got home, there was a lot to do like unloading the camper, taking the camper back to storage, and then washing all the laundry. Once all of that was done, I was glued to the Weather Channel. It was a pretty sure bet that Gustav would not make a direct hit in our area, but we would probably get some pretty decent weather from it. The worst of which was lots of tornadoes that are usually located in the upper right quadrant which is where we would be. Tomorrow morning is when we should see the worst of the weather.

Saturday, August 30

One of my favorite times while camping is early morning when I can take my coffee outside, sit on the patio under the awning and just enjoy the beauty of a new day. This morning was no disappointment. There was a gently breeze blowing and the birds were singing. I even witnessed a group of geese flying in formation directly over my campsite (off course my camera was inside:()

After my sleepy head husband got up a little while later, we decided we would do what has become "the thing to do when we go to Gulf Shores" and that is to go look at fifth wheels at Camping World and another place. I told Randall that I was embarrased because we have already been to both of these dealerships three times and the salesmen were going to get tired of seeing us. He told me I was being crazy! So, off we went. At this point, we have looked at so many different fifth wheels, I can't remember one from another, but fortunately Randall can.

Mike and Deborah called us while we were at Camping World and joined us in our search for the perfect RV. We left shortly after they got there. We stopped by Lowe's on the way back to the campground for Mike to pick up a generator. They lose power all the time in Bladon Springs and since there is a possible hurricane coming, he figured this would be a good time to take the plunge and buy one.

When we got to the campgrounds around lunchtime, Deborah brought some delicious pulled pork and we had pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans, cold slaw and best of all.... one of Mike's famous, delicious, outstanding, sweetend condensed poundcake that is to die for!!!

After lunch we sat around in the trailer mostly watching the Weather Channel and football (Opening day of college football) . I took a short nap during the football watching. Unless it's Alabama, I don't much care about it.

Since the Alabama game began at 7:00, we decided that we should go out to eat around 5:00 to make sure we were back in time for kickoff. We ate at DeSoto's and got back just in perfect time. It was such a nice evening that we brought the T.V out onto the patio and watched the game outside. It was a lot of fun because all around us were other groups of people watching the game outside too and it was almost like being at the game with all the yelling going on all around you! It was a GREAT game. Alabama looked strong against such a capable team as Clemson, which was ranked #9.

After the game was over, Randall and I made our plans to get up early the next morning (Sunday) and come back to Mobile so that I would not have to take a vacation day since I work on Sunday's now. But about 10:30, I talked with Mother and she said that she had heard on the 7:00 local news that Gulf Shores was under a mandatory evacuation tomorrow. So a quick change of plans had to be made. So much to my dismay,we would get up and bring our Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip to a close in the morning.

Friday, August 29

I got up early Friday morning and got Carter to school. Our son assured us that there was no need to cancel our weekend plans and we knew that if we were needed, we could be back in just an hour or so. So we decided to go on Gulf Shores and the Gulf Breeze RV Resort.

Because there is the possibility at this point of Hurricane Gustav being somewhere around our area when we get back, we needed to make some preparations here like buying groceries, checking the generator and stocking up on some gasoline.

We finally left Mobile around 11:30 and arrived at the RV park around 1:30. Set up was easy as usual. Soon after set-up, we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items to have for lunch and snacks for tomorrow when Mike and Deborah come to visit. Since I have been having a few stomach problems for the last few days, I just did not feel like any of our usual big camp meals that Randall usually makes and we just decided to have pancakes and bacon.

A little after dinner, Randall, Camp, and I went for a walk around the campground. The highlight of the walk was spotting a rabbit in the yard of one of our neighbors. Once Camp spotted the bunny...off he went..only to be jerked backed violently by the leash being held by his dad! Had he not been on a leash, we may have never seen Camp again because there is no doubt we would have not given up until the little bunny had met his demise! If you will look closely at the darkest picture, you will see the rabbit with the bright eyes.

Later in the evening, we went inside and watched the coverage that FOX News was showing since John McCain selected his running mate today, Sarah Palen. Seems like if will be a great ticket!

As we end the night, we are keeping a close eye to the Weather Channel and their coverage of Gustav. It is predicted to be a major hurricane at this point and it's track will determine whether or not we will have to cut our Labor Day weekend short or not. If it comes anywhere close, we will probably have to evacuate Gulf Shores, most likely on Sunday. We'll just have to wait and see

Thursday, August 28

I have really had an easy life. I have not had to deal with the kind of sorrow that many people go through. I guess that is why ny heart has broken so several months ago and then again yesterday. My precious son and daughter in law had another pregnancy that led to a miscarriage. After the doctor found a tubal pregancy yesterday morning after doing the ultrasound, she would not allow her to go to sleep before taking care of it with surgery. The surgery began yesterday at 5:00 and we left the hospital around 8:30 right after she woke up from the anesthesia. After the surgery, we went by mother's and daddy's and picked up Carter and he spent the night with us.

The good news is that this life threatening pregnancy to my daughter-in-law was caught in time, and other than the emotional issues that are involved, she should be fine physically. The doctor also said that even though she has had two bad pregancies (which the doctor referred to as just really bad luck), there is no reason why the next one should not be a healthy one. As sorry as I am to lose another grandchild, my sorrow is more for my daughter-in-law. She wants another child so badly. I pray that God will make her stronger as a result of going through this.