The World of "Mother"

As a mom, it is hard to explain the emotion of knowing that YOUR baby girl is in labor and about to give birth. You want to do something... and there is absolutely nothing you can do. Nope, she has to walk this road... on her own.

When we arrived in VA - we were able to go back to the room and visit for just a minute. Our first born baby girl was in labor. Her hands were shaking from the meds - and I could hardly contain the emotion. But I did. As I said, I just wanted to do SOMETHING. So, I prayed. And went back to the waiting room. And continued to pray. And went to sleep curled up on a small chair. And prayed. And waited.

She did so well - of course! You can read her story here.

It is the beginning of motherhood. The beginning of being able and willing to give your life for your child. The beginning of sacrifice. The beginning of a love that is incomprehensible and unexplainable and unending.

And for the Mom of the new Mom - it is certainly another "No Greater Joy" moment..

Welcome, my Julia, to the world of "Mother".








(P.S. - there will be pics of our Baby Josiah coming soon!)

Mother's Day Meme

Angie at The Knightly News is hosting this meme for Mother's day...

Since it is such a busy weekend - I want to share with you about my MOM from my post last year... and then see pics and updates on her Cancer from earlier this year here.

I hope that the other moms that read will join in ... link to Angie's blog so we can all visit together during this next week.

Being a mom is a high calling. I am blessed to have a Godly Mom... and I am blessed to be a Mom.

Look forward to visiting with you all!
Sweet Blessings...

WFW # 18 My Sweet MOM

Psalm 25:14
"The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him..."

I wanted you to see a pic of my mom that I have blogged about so much lately. See what I wrote about this verse here.

This picture was taken two weeks before surgery... with her new great-grandson! Isn't she beautiful? And I am not the only one who will tell you that she is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside. I am truly blessed!

(for more WFW's visit with 160AcreWoods)

Tuesdays Together (#11)

Welcome to TUESDAYS TOGETHER (in the WORD).

I am so glad that you have joined us.
Our goal/purpose is that we are reading God's Word and we are sharing with each other a "nugget" of what we are learning. Join with us - at any time. We welcome your comments and/or your "nuggets" of what you have read and/or your link to your blog post. You do not have to be a "blogger" to join in on the encouragement and sharing together.


This week our reading (posted on the side bar) was from Proverbs 6, Psalm 25-26, and
I Timothy 1-5.

And once again, I come to you with a couple of passages from the Psalms. There is such comfort there. There are answers when you have REAL questions. There is peace in the promises. So I beginning here this week:

Psalm 25:1, 2(a)

" To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust"

And that is just what I did. I lifted up my soul/my heavy heart. I lifted up my precious Mom and her health and her surgery. My God is trustworthy. He is faithful. He is true to His Word... always. Oh my God, in you I trust...



And I loved this verse this week too. You see, one thing Mom has said to many people this week, is that she is "God's Favorite. " And she is joking.... sorta.

Look at this passage:

Psalm 25:14

"The friendship of the LORD

is for those who fear him,

and He makes known to them his covenant."

After watching her with this surgery, I think I would have to agree. She has a true "friendship" with our Lord.

Here is the first part of this verse from the Amplified Bible:
"The secret of the sweet, satisfying companionship of the Lord have they who fear, revere and worship Him" Isn't that good?

It has been amazing. She has had NO PAIN. Not even a Aleve until Monday night - and then it was just one. She even said she was just uncomfortable - and took one before she went to bed. That is it! There is no doubt that God's hand has been on her. Lots of prayers have been prayed on her behalf and I truly believe that her recovery is a testimony of the Lord's work on her body.


So, I close thanking all of you for joining me in prayer on her behalf. You truly blessed my heart with the emails... the calls... the comments (here and on FB). That is what the Body of Christ does. The joys are multiplied together... and the sorrows are halfed. Sweet Blessings to you all!


Now, your turn.
Remember... leave a comment... share your thoughts... and if you blog - link with us.

An Update on Mom

Just wanted to post a quick update...

Mom did very well .... and is now on the road to recovery. They did have to take the lymph nodes too - so it was a more extensive surgery. But she is really doing remarkable!

She is asleep - has not even had any pain medicine. I tried to get her to at least get some tylenol - but she said she really does not need any. She is a trooper! I am just amazed... and thankful...

After a couple of weeks, we will have to go and see the Oncologist... and we have never been down that road before either. So, pray with us now about those decisions that she will have to make.

I cannot express to all of you how much all of your love, concern and prayers have meant to us!
Thank you for interceding with us! God is so good!

You are blessings to me!

Welcome...(# 10)

to TUESDAYS TOGETHER (in the WORD). I am so glad that you have joined us.

Remember our goal/purpose is that we are reading God's Word and we are sharing with each other a "nugget" of what we are learning.

This week our reading (posted on the side bar) was from Psalms 13- 15, and Acts 23- 28.

I want to focus on this passage:

"But I have trusted in Your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation."

Psalms 13:5

Years ago while going through a very tough time in ministry, I read the book, "God Works the Night Shift" by Ron Mehl. The Lord used it greatly in my life at that time, and I have been reminded of it again... this time - not ministry related. This time it is personal.

So, I say with the Psalmist... BUT I have - I AM trusting in Your steadfast love. Even when it is dark. Even when I can't see the reason. This walk this week with my mom is a road that we have not traveled. But I trust Him. Even when I can't see Him. I am also reminded of an old song - "When You Can't Trace His Hand... Trust His Heart."

I am trusting in His Steadfast Love....

Also, I thank you for the love and support that we have received. I agree with a post that my daughter wrote last week. She worded it so well. You can read the whole post here. But I want to say a special thank you to those of you have been there for us. You will never know how much it means when you reach out to us in times like these. We will forever be grateful for people that God puts in our lives who are not afraid to get close to the Pastor/Wife/Family, and who will be there with and for us when we are hurting and have needs.

I am trusting in His Steadfast Love...

Now, your turn. Remember... leave a comment... share your thoughts... and if you blog - link with us.

F.Y.I

• I am home from the hospital.
• We still have NO diagnosis.
• The heart Cath was fine
• The Gall-bladder scan was fine
• The Liver/pancreas scan was fine
• The "scope-thingy" that they put down my throat into the stomach was fine. (sorta)
• The CTScan of the abdomen -to make sure what the "scope-thingy" did find - that it was not a tumor - and IT WAS NOT - just a spleen poking into the side of my stomach. A fine spleen I might add.
• I feel like I have been run through the wringer. Wait, I have.

So... why did I have chest pains that went to the arm and up into the neck? (and would not go away for 2 hours) I don't know.

But a couple of things that I did learn...

(1) If you need to get back to see the Dr fast... tell them you are having chest pains - and you get wheel-chaired in with a crew of 4 or 5 nurses in a split-second. Straight to the Dr.

(2) If one Nitro under the tongue relieves most of the pain, and then the second Nitro under the tongue gets the pain level down to about a #2, then you probably do not need the third Nitro... That nearly put me out. Seriously thought I was dying. The BP dropped to 80/40. I literally felt like everything was shutting down.

Hal just says that he knew I was not dying ... because I was so upset. No dying Grace. When the day comes for me to meet my Savior - I will be granted dying Grace. That is good. And he was right - It was not my day. (Here is his blog post.)

I will post again later (when all of this anesthesia has worn off - and I feel like a human again. And maybe have clear thoughts.)

But for now, thanks for those of you who knew and were praying. A special thanks to Michelle (my nurse, my friend, my sister in Christ) -it meant so much to have you taking care of me. Thanks to Lindsey, Jessica, and Melissa (also special friends, sisters-in Christ-) at the hospital - checking to make sure all was going well. And thanks to all that came to visit and called. Thanks to Anita for supper! You all are treasures! Once again, I must say - we are so blessed!

And... I know I have not posted my scripture - I was supposed to edit that before it posted. And right now, I cannot remember which one I was going to add. That too will come later. Maybe tomorrow.

WFW # 11 Coming Home

3) I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,

4) always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,

8) For God is my witness,

how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

9) And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more,

with knowledge and all discernment,

10) so that you may approve what is excellent,

and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ,

to the glory and praise of God.

Julia and Ronnie are coming home....

It has been since the wedding in August since I have SEEN them.

That is entirely toooooooooooo long for this mom.

I can hardly wait!

The closer it gets, the more excited I get.

Cooking, Cleaning, and going to Edgars Bakery :)

All of my Chicks will be here in my nest for a little while.

Joy- pure Joy for this mom.

(for more WFW's visit with 160AcreWoods)

Happy Mother's Day

Mom… Momma… Mother…what ever you may call her – the very word brings immediate thoughts and memories to your mind and heart. So today I want to share with you about MY Mom... how she reflects the Heart of our Heavenly Father. There are many ways but they all are rooted in the fact that she has spent a lifetime “sitting” at the feet of our Savior..

Interestingly, her name is Mary. How fitting.

Early memories are of Mother taking my brothers and me to church with her. Dad was not a Christian (yet), so this role fell in her lap and she took it very seriously. Not only did we go, but we were very active. Worshipping our Savior with our church family was a priority in her life. She did not just take us – she went with us. She wanted us to “sit at His feet” along with her.

At home, Mom had her quiet time early in the morning before her day started – and we were witness to it. I can still picture her sitting at the dining room table with her Bible in front of her and a pen or marker in hand. Many times, as we would come into the room, she would be praying. Mary would be “sitting at His feet”…even when there was much work to do.

As I entered the teenage years, our church had a vibrant youth ministry. We had the privilege to travel and sing in many churches in the Southeast. Mom was a youth sponsor. I shared her with approximately 100 teens from our church. She was a teacher, counselor, and prayer warrior for us. Many of the youth who came through that ministry will testify of the influence of “Mrs. Mary” in their life. She loved us – taught us – cried with us – disciplined us – fed us – prayed with us – prayed for us. She wanted us to grow in our relationship with Christ – to sit and learn from the Master, and then to live a life that reflected His Image. She led us there.

Then Mother had the precious opportunity to lead my Father to Christ. He also had watched her live the life that she professed. She literally loved him to Christ. On that particular day, Dad left the house to go to work, only to come right back to the table where Mother was sitting. She was reading her Bible and praying. He told her, “Mary, I want what you have!” Now, this was not the first time that she had shared her faith with him. She had many times in the past. But on that day, when the Spirit called him, Dad came back in the house for Mother to lead him to her Savior. What a beautiful testimony. She gently took a gospel tract, went through it page-by-page and then led my Dad in prayer as he accepted Christ as his Savior. Once again, she had been “sitting at His feet” when Dad came through the room.

Even in her work, she has been bold in sharing her faith. She was (and still is) a dental hygienist. We have often joked with her about getting all of those instruments in the mouth of her patient and then with a captive audience –sharing with them about her Savior. Many patients have asked her to pray with them even before they leave her room. She lives what she believes. She is a reflection of the very Heart of God and people are drawn to Him through her life.

My earthly Father died several years ago. I have observed her grief. Scripture is true that says, “we do not grieve as those who have no hope” (I Thess. 4:13b) and I have seen that blessed hope in her. As Mother has moved into the role of a widow, I have witnessed the beauty of her faith and the evidence of her walk with her Savior.

Mother sold her home and moved to the city where I live. She is active in our church with us. Her ministry has changed. She was a Sunday School teacher for as long as I can remember. She has taught many women’s classes. She has mentored more than I can count. But as she moved into our church, God literally placed her in a vibrant prayer ministry. Knowing she was a prayer warrior, many would come to her with requests. She began keeping a prayer notebook. As someone would share his or her request with Mom, she would write it down.

She is now 70 years old. She still rises early – she says it is when God wakes her up. She prays through the notebook daily. She keeps notes. She stays current on the requests. I have had many come and tell me, “I am number --- on Mary’s prayer list!” We have even had people to call my husband (the pastor) and tell him a specific request – only to have them say – “Will you also ask Mary to pray and put this request on her list?” We love it!

So as I look at her life… I see a mom who took her children with her to church. I see a youth leader who taught, mentored and loved many teens. I see a wife who lived her life in such a way to lead her husband to Christ – literally. I see a teacher who has taught many how to “eat at His table”. I see a widow who has found comfort in letting our Father in heaven be a “husband to the husbandless”. I see a prayer warrior who consistently and faithfully intercedes for many.

Mary truly reflects the Heart of Our Heavenly Father. She has spent a lifetime sitting as His feet and learning from Him. I am so blessed to call her Mom.

Oh, and by the way, her best friend’s name is Martha. Really.