Blessings Upon Blessings

Today was full of blessings. Brother Eddie Davis is preaching our revival and preached the BEST sermon, There is a River. I cried off and on through that whole sermon. Many people were touched through the preaching of the Word this morning. And if you're in the area, we'll be having service tonight at 6:00 and each night, through Wednesday, at 7:00. Come join us.
There is a family that has been coming to church. I have watched these people and can really see the Lord on their lives. They are a sweet story. The mom just got saved a few weeks ago. And the daughter came forward to get saved this morning, before the preaching got underway. If you knew their story, you'd be crying like I did when I saw that daddy walk behind his daughter to the alter with his Bible in hand. It was just precious!
Having a baptism after services tonight. I really can't wait to see what the Lord is going to do.
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My mother was in attendance this Sunday. She's been sick with bronchitis this past week. She was in Virginia with her sisters for several weeks before that, so it was nice having her back in the services today. And I'm glad to have celebrated her sixty-third birthday with her, this past Friday. Bruce and I took her to her choice of restaurants, then back to our house for cake and ice cream. After that, she took Hannah and Harry to her house, where Justin joined them after he got off work. And when I was done doing my Friday errands, I joined them all at her house for a hot dog supper and a movie. We had a great day with her and hope she enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed hers.
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Justin had an agility test at a fire department this past Friday. He did good and they called him back for an interview this coming Tuesday. So proud of him. It's a part time position, but it's definitely a foot in the door and I know if it's the Lord's will, then God will open that door a little wider at just the right time.
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Someone very dear to our hearts bought mom a new washer and dryer for her birthday. It was a tremendous blessing to her and she is so excited to know that it will be delivered this week. I'm happy for her. My dryer still dried clothes great, but it was old as the hills and made the LOUDEST noise while drying. So she gave us her dryer. It was like night and day when I dried clothes in it yesterday. LOL Earlier this year, the Lord gave us a practically brand new washing machine. So this year, the Lord gave us a "new to us" washer and dryer set. And that's a blessing to us.
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Harrison is doing GREAT with his new curriculum this year. He's up and hitting the books at 6:00am. He'll do three subjects, check his work, make corrections, and then go back to bed for an hour or so. He'll get back up, do his chores, finish his last two subjects, and he's done by or just shortly after 1:00. He's doing great. He's struggling in Math, but only because he needs to master some things. So we've stopped everything until he's done that. No point in going on until he has the knowledge to move on. That's another reason I love homeschooling. You can stop and concentrate on what's important. Bless his heart, he hates math. But I'll be honest, he gets it honestly. It was never, EVER my favorite subject!
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Hannah is doing great also. Sometimes I just watch her working away and can't believe that she has one more year of high school left. It can be a little depressing when I think about it, but I am so proud of her and the young lady she has become. She is so independent and I know that she is going to do good, in whatever the Lord leads her in doing.
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Bruce's job is still going strong. He's been working six days since January. Since he's been on second, it has been a great blessing for family time in the morning/afternoon hours. We are still praying the Lord will open that first shift position for him and we believe He will in the near future. I have enjoyed having him home at night. He worked third for so long, it's been different having him to curl up to at night. But I have gotten some great sleep and am actually on a normal sleep schedule, which I didn't have for the last few years. I have to say, I like it!!
~~~~~

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ:

Ephesians 1:3

Just Bubbling With Excitement!!

I turn the BIG 40 today. Someone asked me this morning how it felt to be forty. Well, about the same as it felt yesterday when I was thirty-nine. LOL
I've always loved my birthdays and this year is no different. I am too blessed to be stressed over age!! God has been good to me and if He allows me another forty years, I'll be praising Him still.
I wrote a little poem last night just for the day. Here it is:
I'll be forty today, 'tis no lie. Like some I could sit and boo hoo and cry
but instead I think I'll take the day, and yell, "YEE HAW, I got something' to say!
I am not feeble, I am not old, 'You look so young' I'm often told.
So please no sympathy for me, I like my birthday, if fills me with glee.
Yeah, I'm forty and feelin' real great, a lot of it's due to my special mate.
I'm looking forward to another great year, 'cause forty-one is nothing to fear."
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Justin will be here soon. He and Jeremy should be pulling in anytime. I know they've had a great week at camp and I can't wait to hear about it. I've been overly excited just thinking about it. He'll be home all next week before returning for the summer. So I'm looking forward to having my boy home a few days. His phone isn't working and, of course, they don't have Internet access where he's at. So we don't get to communicate. That would explain why I'm so excited to see him, I guess. I've missed him. Our whole family has.
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Our church is having dinner on the grounds this Sunday after the morning worship service. This will be our first churchwide event since the new building has been completed. We're looking forward to that and I'm sure I'll have pictures to share with you later.
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Then Monday we'll be going toward Lake Lure to spend the day at my Uncle's home. My mom's brothers and sisters will be there, with my cousins and their families. Some of them I've only met through facebook and some of them I've seen once in thirty years. I am so looking forward to it. It will be so nice seeing everyone.
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I hope your fourth of July weekend is as exceptional as mine is going to be. Our country has taken some different paths and I feel we are losing touch.....no.....lost touch.....with the God that it was founded upon. But we still live in the greatest country ever. I am thankful to be an American. I am thankful to be a child of God.
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“It can not be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
~*~Patrick Henry~*~

And One More Busy Weekend...

I've been spending some time at my mom's house, helping her do some things, which I was able to complete today. I primed and painted her hearth for her. That was a JOB, let me tell ya!! But it's finished and it looks so much better.

I also painted a mirror and sconce set she already had. I think the black looks so much prettier. I like it a lot better than when it was white.

I had a lot of fun doing these projects. I have some touch up work I need to get to for her on her walls. Lord willing, I can get to those before next week.
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Of course yesterday was Father's Day. We had two wonderful services at church. One young man was saved Sunday night and then Pastor baptized a lady Sunday night also. Praise the Lord!
We celebrated with Bruce by having one of his favorite meals for dinner. Justin had to go back to the camp and wasn't going to be able to come home with us after church so he opened his gifts before the morning service. He just died laughing at the card from the kids. They bought him a parental translator of what kids say to what they mean. It was really funny and I just loved how he got cracked up.


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Saturday was Justin's 19th birthday. He got home from the camp around 5:00 and we celebrated with his grandmothers.

He wanted pizza, so of course Pizza Hut was on the menu.

And since we're a Tar Heel family, he got the white and Carolina Blue with banners birthday cake! :P

We got into a little icing fight. I would have won, but he overtook me in the end. Oh well... maybe next time.

His cake and ice cream.... ugh, I get sick just looking at it.

He wanted a video camera to take to camp so this is the one we got him, only the one we got him is red. It's really nice. I think he'll get some good stuff on it.

We had a good evening with him.

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Friday night, Brother Johnathan, Mrs. Jennifer, and myself, took the youth group bowling. It was so much fun. This bowling alley is pretty far away, but it is very family oriented and had a good atmosphere. Great place to take the youth. It was so fun bowling with them and watching them bowl was hilarious.

Brother Johnathan being his nutty, turkey-self. lol

And this was the final score. Brother Johnathan had 46 pts, I was in second with 64, and Mrs. Jennifer was in first place with 150. Great job, Mrs. Jennifer!!!!

After bowling we took the youth to McDonald's. They really know how to eat!

Some of the crazy girls on the van! lol

You can't go through Gastonia without stopping at Krispy Kreme! And when the red light is on...well...you know what THAT means!

Poor Mrs. Jennifer never gets out of Shelby. Needless to say she was really excited about getting to go to Krispy Kreme. :P

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It was a terrific last few days. Looking forward to some much needed time this weekend with my family our two extra daughters that stay with us from time to time. Celine and Carissa will be with us. Love those girls!

Happy Birthday, Justin!!

Happy Birthday to my eldest son, Justin. I love ya, son!

This is one of my favorite pictures of him. He was goofing off one night and dressed up as Mr. Monopoly. He's so silly sometimes. Much like his daddy! :)

Justin has always been a mild mannered young man, with a tender heart. He is a lot like his dad in that he is straight up and honest with you. I have to say he is much more patient than I am. He seems to keep his cool when I seem to blow my top. Sometimes I'll get riled about something and he'll pat me on the shoulder and say, "It's ok. God's got this!" LOL And he never seems to worry that much. When certain needs arise, I worry for him and he always says, "Ahh, I'm not worried about it. God will provide." And he's right. God always does provide. It's a blessing to see him rest in knowing God will take care of things and he doesn't have to wring his hands and worry.

The Lord opened some doors for Justin to work at a Christian camp over the summer. He left this past Wednesday to go for his counselor training. He'll be back Saturday night and we'll be celebrating his birthday with his grandmothers.

Lord willing he'll be home most every weekend over the summer. So it'll be good to have him home, but I'll miss him through the week. Whatever will we do with all the supper leftovers from him not being here??? LOL Just kidding, Justin!

Justin was born over seas while Bruce was in the military. We came back stateside and back to our hometown when he was just about to turn one. I'm really thankful that he had the opportunity to grow up around his grandparents and grow up in our former church and the church we're at now. I could not ask for better friends and better influences that God has placed in his life.

Please pray for him as he and his friend, Jeremy, are working at the camp this summer, that the Lord will bless their time there, that He will speak to their hearts and help them as they deal with the campers.

Justin, I'm proud of you. You're a wonderful son and your dad and I are so fortunate that the Lord saw fit to lend you to us. We love you! Happy Birthday.

III John 1:4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Friendly

Click here for pictures from Hannah's Sweet Sixteen. We had a great time. Thank you, to everyone that made her night special.

Friendly:

"A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there
is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."

Proverbs 18:24

Of Senior Pictures and More Sweet Sixteen Stuff

Justin and I took James, a young man in our church, out and about town today for his senior pics. We had a good time and I'm looking forward to showing him all of his great pictures.

James is a good kid. He's working hard at the mission where Justin's first job was and is also involved in our bus ministry. He is a crazy...but we love him. LOL
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Hannah decided on a meal for her Sweet Sixteen party, so I ordered the meat and I'll be cooking the rest, along with the help of my mother-in-law, who graciously offered to make her delicioius potato salad. Bruce's cousin's daughter is making her cake and I'll be picking that up tomorrow, along with some shopping with Hannah, taking her to the beautician to get her hair trimmed, and then home again, home again, jiggity jig!

Now it's time to get ready for church and enjoy some time of singing, preaching, and fellowship with God's people.

Harrison's Birthday

Harrison turned eleven this past Monday. He was on pins and needles all day long. He wanted me to make tacos so I did that with all the fixin's and Spanish rice. His Maw Maw and Grandmother came over to help celebrate. He was excited because he knew he would be getting some birthday money to go with what he has been saving for his iPod Touch. He also wanted me to make his cake so I did. It was a double decker chocolate devil's food cake with chocolate icing, chocolate dollops, and chocolate sprinkles. That's what he wanted so that's what he got. He had his Maw Maw bring chocolate mint ice cream and banana split ice cream. He definitely has a sweet tooth. He inherited that from his dad, for sure! lol Anyway, when he gathered all his birthday money plus what he had been saving he had enough for his iPod. So Tuesday when I finished the house I clean I took him to pick it out. His daddy loaded it for him with some fun apps and videos and he's been having a ball with it ever since. As a matter of fact, his brother and sister have been having fun with it too. I'm glad you got the iPod you wanted, Harry. I'm proud of you for being so good at saving your money. You're awesome!! :)

Of IFB Churches and Birthdays

I only saw a portion of ABC's 20/20 episode on IFB churches. The portion I saw was about one church and a girl that had a pitiful story to tell. Not sure what the rest of the episode was about. But I found stupidity in the episode that they would link all IFB churches together with this one church, as some tyrannical cult. Can you say liberal media? IFB churches claim fundamentalism, meaning we stand on the fundamentals of the Bible. The "I" in IFB simply put is for Independent. Basically, that means we are not governed under sects, conventions, or committees. We are each our own. Just because a church claims to be IFB, doesn't mean we are all alike or do things like that one church. If the story I saw on 20/20's Saturday episode is true, they should have featured that church and that pastor all on their own instead of linking all IFB churches together like that. It was ridiculous. What a crock! And that's all I have to say about that. Except this...Someone had mentioned in Sunday School that a portion of the episode criticized us for believing the entirety of the Bible. I sure do believe that. But not because I am IFB. It is because I am a CHRISTIAN and believe the HOLY BIBLE is God's WORD! The Bible is true from beginning to end. Some will accept portions of it and some will accept all of it. That's up to the reader. There will come a day when everyone will realize that the King James Bible is the Holy, WORD of God. It is not man written. It is God-breathed, AMEN! And for those of us who are living right, doing right, and trying to live for the Lord, we don't have to like what is being said or done against us, but we can rejoice in knowing that God is on our side. Matthew 5: 10-13 "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On a more pleasant note, it is Harrison's birthday today. YAY! He is now eleven. Harrison is a great kid with a hilarious sense of humor. He keeps us in stitches sometimes. He is growing in the Lord and I am amazed at some of the things he says and some of the discernment he has in certain areas of right and wrong. I'm proud of him and the young man he has become so far. We will celebrate tonight by having the grandmothers over. He wanted tacos, Spanish rice, and chocolate cake. So I have to get busy on all of that soon. Happy Birthday, Harrison! I sure do love you a whole lot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We had a great time in Murfreesboro, Tennessee this past weekend at Brother Tony Hutson's church. I'll have a blog post and some pictures to share with you about that trip soon.

Happy Birthday and Peanut M&M's

My sweet man had a birthday Friday. I won't tell how old he turned. That wouldn't be nice.

Anyway, I had my mom and mom-in-law over. He wanted breakfast for his birthday dinner so I did scrambled eggs, bacon and livermush, biscuits and gravy, and grits. All his favorites. His mom made his birthday cake. He wanted white cake with her homemade frosting. Mmm...good stuff there. Love your cakes, Marie!!
Mom made the scrambled eggs. My back is still in bad shape and I was glad she showed up when she did.
Thank you, mom, for helping with the eggs. :)

I was just going to post the picture above, but this one tickles me every time I see it. When I picked out his birthday card in the store I literally laughed out loud and there was no point in even looking for another card. It was a little story book card and he was reading it aloud, but when he got to this one page he just died laughing, like I did. He was squirting tears. I love to see him smile and laugh and this really had him cracking up.

I hope you had a wonderful birthday, sweetheart. I am so blessed to have you for my husband. I love you.
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Hannah went with me this week to help clean the house I do every other Tuesday. She was such a great help for me, just picking up all the rugs off the floor so I didn't have to bend over. She also cleaned the upstairs so I wouldn't have to go up and down the stairs. I appreciated her willingness to go and help. It took a lot off my mind and back!!
Thank you, Hannah. You're such a sweet daughter. :)

The lady I clean for is really nice. She usually leaves a note with my check telling me to help myself to a snack and a soda. I don't normally have a snack, but I do take my cup and enjoy a soda with crushed ice. However, when I cleaned Tuesday she had peanut M&Ms in her snack basket. Oh, I do love those things. I broke down and had a handful of them. They were so good. I thought about them the rest of the week, wishing I had just one more handful.

Today when I went grocery shopping, guess what was on sale BOGO! M&M's!! I got me a bag of peanut and Bruce a bag of regular. We're going to see who can take the longest to empty their bag. I'm pretty sure mine will still be half full come Christmas. His bag won't make it through Sunday. If I was a bettin' woman, I'd lay money on it! hahaha

Still Partyin'!

This past weekend the ladies from our church had a scheduled trip to Mrs. Ava's house in the mountains. We always have a great time while we're there and this time was no different. I was glad that mom was able to go. She really needed the change of scenery and what a scenery it was! It was so peaceful, mom slept pretty much the entire time we were there. How, with all the laughter, I'll never know.


We shared a lot of laughs and very interesting stories. Some I'll never forget. haha



We had way too many sweets in the house. No, really, we did. But Mrs. Janet's grilled chicken and pasta was delicious too!


If it weren't for this lady, it would be total chaos on any trip!

There is NOTHING like the beauty of God's earth. We saw the changing of leaves and families of deer.

I was really disappointed to find I had no single shots of my buddies, Dana and Mander. Or myself, for that matter. Whatever we talked about must have been good enough to keep my mind off taking pictures of us. LOL

At least we got this group shot! I sure do love these ladies!!

Monday night, "The two Gayles" planned a belated surprise birthday dinner for my mom at Olive Garden. The look of surprise on her face was priceless! "The two Gayles" crowned her, placed a feather boa around her neck, and pinned a beautiful corsage on her.

Several friends were able to be there. Joann, mom's co-laborer in Sunday School, is a gorgeous girl. But man, can she make some scary faces!

There were several pranks played. Two by Rebecca. She hid Joann's food when Joann went to the bathroom and then hid her purse at the other end of the table.

She wasn't the only one playing pranks. We were trying to get our server's attention but he was so busy we couldn't get it. So Jeannie decided to call Olive Garden, ask for Brian, and tell him what we needed. It was hilarious! He had a rough time with us, but he was a GREAT sport!

"The two Gayles" had mom a birthday cake with butter cream icing.

When we first got to Olive Garden I told the girls not to say anything. That when Brian asked if we wanted wine I'd answer for us. Sure enough, here he came with a bottle of white wine and asked if we would like some. I whispered to him, "Honey, we're with an AA group tonight." "Oh, ok, I'm sorry..." he said, as he hid the bottle behind him. We just died laughing.

We gave him such a hard time, Jeannie said we should write him a poem. So I grabbed a pen and one of the children's coloring papers and this is what I wrote:

We've really had fun with our server Brian,

No better service, not even at Ryan's

The AA girls can make him turn red,

He probably thinks we all need meds

He even answers private phone calls,

from the crazy, beautiful AA Dolls

So thanks for your smiles and your temperament too,

on top of your tip, this poems for you!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom celebrated her - - birthday today. If she wants to tell her age, she can fill in the blank.

Hannah and I went to pick mom up around 11:00 this morning. We were taking her to the Cup and Saucer Tea Room for lunch.

She had already shed some tears over daddy. Daddy was always big on birthdays. He believed everyone should have a good celebration on their special day. I have a story to tell you about something he did for me once, but I'll tell it another day. This is mom's day!

Anyway, we got to her house and decided to go ahead and give her her presents. We would have waited until we got to the Tea Room, but knew it would make her cry so we gave it to her at home.

The first gift was a picture of her and my children taken a couple of weeks ago. She was thrilled with it.

The other gift was a collage I made of five pictures of her and daddy.


At the top of the collage it says, Precious Memories...how they linger. She really loved it.

When we got to the Tea Room she was very surprised when we walked in and saw that I had invited several friends from church. She was thrilled! Mrs. Rebecca brought her a tiara to wear so she would be queen for a day. And Princess A came too, with beautiful peach flowers.

Her friends brought her some nice gifts. Mrs. Kim brought her perfume, Mrs. Barbara brought her some tea, Mrs. Janet a gift card to her favorite store, and there were several cards with money in them.

Ain't she purdy in her tiara?

I sat across from Mrs. Kim and Hannah. Gotta love 'em, you know?

Our pastor's wife (Mrs. Ava) was able to join us and so was Mrs. Janet.

Mrs. Barbara, my mother in law, and Rebecca....I'm so glad all of these ladies were able to join us. It just wouldn't have been the same without them!

I always have to sneak a shot of Mrs. Rebecca.

:D

My sweet mother in law. It was nice having her there.

Mrs. Janet brought mom's gift from her Secret Sister. It was the awesome hat...

A beautiful black cape with fur collar....

And a fashion scarf. Mom can't wait for the weather to snap cold! LOL

We had a lovely lunch. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I know I did. I had the Rhett Chicken wrap with the soup of the day, which was loaded baked potato soup.

Mom had the spinach and bacon quiche with the soup of the day.

See...I was there too. :)

Princess A was so good! She would come to our end of the table and just giggle. It was so cute. Her mother told her Aunt that if she dressed her like a princess she would be good and she was! Too cute!!

The Tea Room gave mom her choice of a free dessert for her birthday. She chose the strawberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Her day was just getting started. My dad always made sure she would have her hair done on her birthday. My brother, John, made sure she was able to do that today. So after lunch, she and Hannah went to Missy's and then they went to spend her gift cards and birthday money. She was a happy little lady when she dropped Hannah off here this evening. She showed me the beautiful outifts and shoes she got. Can't wait to see her in them!

I prayed the Lord would bless her day and He did. Good friends, good food, good fellowship. Those are good blessings!

Mom, you are MY blessing today and I love you. I hope you had a beautiful and wonderful birthday!