30 Days of Gratitude

I started on a 30 day journey yesterday.  

Day 1:   I am grateful that we still have Bob Strong with us after his dreadful cardic arrest when he nearly died on July 29, 2012 and that he was able to be with us for the wonderful time with the grandchildren and great grandchildren at our house last night. 

Day 2:  I am grateful today that when God offered His invitation for salvation to me as a 7 year old child that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.  

The First Miracle in our family

Of late, I have been overwhelmed with God’s grace and goodness in our lives because of the miraculous healing of my husband Bob on August 4^th, 2012.  This is not the first time that God provided a miracle in my family.  In December of 1989, our oldest son Jimmy was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Diffused Histiocytic Lymphoma.  It was at least a stage 3 or maybe 4 and the outlook was not good.  The prognosis of this cancer was very bad at the time as it usually occurred in men over 50 and It was usually fatal.   He began the usual treatment the United States offers right away.  Jimmy was the youth minister in our church, an outstanding young man who was reaching young people for Christ and he was my beloved son.  We were stunned when the results of his biopsy came back with the results of being cancer.  I really struggled with this as I could not believe God would allow this fine young man to be stricken with such a deadly disease and I was angry.  This was the beginning of a battle between myself and Satan.  As people would go visit Jimmy in the hospital they were stunned because as they went to offer their condolences to Jimmy, they would leave the hospital encouraged by him.  He would always say he didn’t know what God was going to do but that he knew God was not finished with him yet. He had a lot more faith than I did. 

A strange thing started happening during all this time, we were told about a physician in the country of Greece who had good results treating people with cancer.  We were told by at least four different sources about this guy and none of the four had any connection with each other. We investigated this doctor and the procedure to go there for his treatment and we prayed about whether Jimmy should go to Greece for this treatment .  I was overwhelmed with doubt.  One minute I would pray and feel God’s peace and the next the devil would tell me that Jimmy was going to die if we sent him to Greece and so I would go from faith to the depths of despair from one minute to the next. At last I told Jimmy I could not discern  God’s will in this situation but would instead pray that He would reveal His will to Jimmy and we would support whatever God led him to do. 

God spoke to Jimmy’s heart and he felt led to go to Greece.  A requirement of going to Greece involved sending a sample of his blood to the doctor in order for him to evaluate if you were a good candidate for treatment.  Jimmy asked his oncologist to prepare his blood but he said the treatment was quackery and refused.  He then asked his surgeon, Dr. Tebby Thames if he would prepare it and he agreed so we were able to send it to Dr. Alivazatos.

We did not have the money to pay for him to go but through the efforts of friends, strangers, and our church, the money came in.  He left the end of March and did not return until the end of May.  It was a very hard time for me.  Remember that this was before cell phones or skype and it was so expensive that he could not call us.  We had a pre-arranged time where we would call him once a week and he would stand by the telephone in the hotel lobby and wait for our call.  In between times the devil and God fought for control of my thoughts.  Finally one Wednesday God spoke to my heart and told me that He loved Jimmy even more than I did and that I was going to have to make the decision to trust Him or not.  He said you will never have peace until you do.  I closed my eyes and visually placed Jimmy in the palm of my hand and raised him to God and gave him to Him.  I said God I know you love him more than I do and that you only loaned him to me as he really is yours and I really do trust you whether he lives or he dies.  I know that if you take him you will bring me through it.  Finally from that moment on, I had peace and I could finally pray, “Thy will be done”.  The struggle was over.

The miracle is that it has been 32 years since that time and Jimmy has never shown a sign of ever having had cancer.  He has a lovely wife and three outstanding children and is a son to be very proud of.  For a long time I kept track of all the people we knew who received the traditional treatment our country has to offer since then who have died and it was so many that I finally quit counting. 

I wanted to write this down because I am afraid as the years passed I began to forget to thank God daily for this wonderful event in our family.  I know I was changed back then but I am not sure I fully understood how big the real miracle was.  I wondered why God spared Jimmy and I am proud to say that many people have been influenced by the good God has done through him.  His children are doubly blessed because even though they were not even alive when God touched our family with the first miracle, they did see their grandfather at death’s door restored to life after a heartfelt prayer asking God to send us a miracle and restore Bob to us.   I can hardly talk about what God did for Jimmy or for Bob without breaking down because it so touches my heart with the memories.    Many people never see this kind of miracle in their lives but we have been blessed twice.  God is so good.

October 8, 2012

Much has happened in the last few weeks.  We continue to be amazed when we look back and see where we were a couple of months ago.  Bob continues to improve and those who see him can recognize no sign that he nearly died on August 4^th.  God did answer my prayer for a miracle and each morning when I wake up and Bob is with us, I am reminded of this.  

Some people live their whole lives and never see a miracle up close.  We did and my hope and prayer is that we will never be the same as a family again.  I want us to love each other more deeply, care more for each other, be kinder to each other, be more thoughtful to one another, be patient with each others failings and rejoice more at each of our victories. I want others to be able to see Jesus living in us and making a difference in our lives so that they will want what we have. I don’t want us to take one another for granted and more than that, I don’t want us to take God for granted.

How do we know it was a miracle?  We know.  Four vital systems for life were shutting down, his heart, his kidneys, his brain and he had pneumonia.  They told us he likely would not live out the rest of the day at the least and not more than a few days at most.  We discontinued life support and prayed for a miracle and God answered yes to our prayers. The medical people in the hospital told us Bob was a miracle but we did not know to what extent.  About 2 weeks after Bob was discharged, he went to see the man who had administered the EEG tests.  This test determines brain activity on a person in a coma and how much and so on.  He told Bob that in over 20 years of doing this type work, he has never had anyone who measured as poorly as Bob did on the EEG test to ever wake up.  He called it a miracle. 

Bob also looked up the EMT’s who came to our house when he had his cardiac arrest and they said it was a miracle and that less than 2% who have such an event make it.  Our neighbor across the street who is in the medical profession said it was a miracle.  A friend of ours at church, who is a physician, looked at Bob’s medical records and he says it was a miracle.

Why God chose to answer my prayer for a miracle, I don’t know.  We did not deserve it more than others.  We are certainly not closer to God than many of you, but perhaps God knew we would try to make a difference every day in the people we came in contact with for the rest of our lives. My advice is to pray specific prayers continually for the needs in your life.  And pray expecting God to hear and to answer.

 I can't bear to think of life without Bob but God would have brought me through it and I do trust Him completely. Once again we are still so grateful for our miracle.

Maggie cough remedy

MAGGIE’S COUGH REMEDY

¼ teaspoon Cayenne

¼ teaspoon Ginger

1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar (an organic one, like Bragg’s, is preferred.)

2 Tablespoon Water

1 Tablespoon Honey (use a locally produced raw honey, if possible.)


Dissolve cayenne and ginger in cider vinegar and water. Add honey and shake well. Take 1 Tablespoon as needed for cough. Hoo-wee.

Note: this doesn’t dissolve perfectly. Always shake well before using.



If you make this in small batches as the recipe is written, there is no need to refrigerate.

If you prefer, you may refrigerate this. It keeps as long as you need it. I like to make small batches (it is so easy to mix up.) and use it up in a just a few days.

Bob Strong Miracle

Dear friends:




On July 29, 2012 Bob had a massive cardiac arrest. He spent 15 days in the hospital. Here is a brief description of Bob's ordeal. We were at home getting ready to go to bed. Our grown daughter Robin was spending a couple of days with us so she could go to the doctor's office on Tuesday. They were walking down the hall toward 2 of the bedrooms when suddenly Bob fell. She yelled at me that he fell and was not breathing and started immediately giving him CPR. I ran to the phone and called 911 and opened the house so they could get in. They arrived in about 5 minutes and got his heart going again and put a ventilator in to get him breathing. They then took him to UMC where they worked on him in the emergency room. Finally they transferred him to MICU where he spent the next 6 1/2 days in a coma. They medically induced the coma to protect his body while they put him in a hypothermic state for 24 hours. After they warmed his body back up and the drugs were supposedly out of his body, they started trying to get him to wake up.



They were unsuccessful and finally told us that his kidneys were shutting down, he had pneumonia caused by the CPR, they could not even find out what heart damage was done as he was too fragile to be taken to the heart Cath lab and that they feared brain damage because he was unresponsive to any stimulation or to the EEG test. Finally on Saturday August 4th, we gathered as a family to hear what the doctors had to say and they offered little hope for a normal recovery. We had them discontinue life support and gathered together for a prayer which I led. Basically what I said was that the doctors had offered us little hope but that we believed in miracles and that we were asking God for a miracle. They discontinued life support and told us to stay close by as they thought he could go at any time.



Miraculously, throughout the day, Bob's body began to respond favorably as he started to breathe on his own, his kidneys started functioning again, his blood pressure stabilized, his heart rate stayed fairly normal although the rate was irregular. About 6:15 p.m. as I sat by his bed, his eyes changed to where I thought he was finally seeing me. I asked him "Robert can you see me?" and he replied "Some". That was the beginning of our miracle.



Throughout the evening he began to ask questions about what happened and where he was. We told him what had happened he wanted to know where it happened and where he was. He asked this several times. He recognized all those who had gathered to see him and we were relieved as it soon became apparent he still had his humor. One of the most amazing things was that early in the waking up process, he kept saying something over and over again. Our son Brad was with me and we told Bob we were so sorry we could not figure out what he was saying. Finally Bob said "Usana Magnesium" as clear as day. Our granddaughter Tiffany immediately looked it up on her iphone and was amazed at the hundreds of health benefits of magnesium. It was then that I knew were getting the whole package back. Bob was going to be fine. He still had his memory, his knowledge, and his humor. What more could we ask for!!!



I asked our son Jimmy to help get his nutrients restored and his fluid, which had to come from the doctor and he did. We had to leave at 11:00 p.m. but when we called the next morning, he was sitting up in a chair, talking with the nurse and responding to commands. He knew all the vital stuff they kept asking him and continued to improve. When the doctors began making their rounds they were amazed. One of the neurology doctors came in he just said "wow". Later that day they transferred him to the 5th floor and everywhere he went they referred to him as the "miracle man".



On Tuesday they did an angiogram and installed 3 stints. Meanwhile they did another eco-cardiogram and determined his injection faction was dramatically improved and that he had a cardiac arrest which is different from a heart attack. They installed a defibulator on Friday. We were at the hospital until Monday afternoon and are now at home. He continues to improve daily and we are overcome with the love and prayers shown by so many people all over this nation. We can hardly believe what all happened but we believe with all our heart that God favored us with a miracle and we will never fail to give him the glory.



I have several heroes that I am eternally grateful for. First our daughter Robin who was with us who was able to do the CPR and do it well, our son Jimmy who was my advocate with the doctors and nurses when I needed it the most, our son Brad who talked on the phone non-stop so I wouldn’t have to and was on Facebook to keep everyone advised of what was going on. He even was able to contact  Bob's good friend in Mexico, Oscar Soto who drove 20 hours one way to be at his bedside, our son Kevin who made three round trips from Fort Stockton in one week and communicated with a whole other set of family and friends, and finally our granddaughter Tiffany Decker who is a NICU nurse who was able to make us understand what was going on and made us question some things that might have made a difference in his care.


Once again thanks so much for caring and praying.

Love to all

24 Million people now have Diabetes in the USA

8 percent of the US population now have diabetes and that number continues to rise rapidly. Why? Lack of exercise, poor diet, and rising obesity due to poor eating habits are big contributors. Diabetes occurs when levels of blood sugar in the body rise above normal and stay elevated. The term for sugar is glucose and is the major source of fuel for all the cells in the body.

Our food is converted into glucose. The pancreas makes the hormone insulin which helps open the cells up to receive glucose and other nutrients. If there is not enough insulin in the bloodstream to help those nutrients get in the cells, they starve to death. People with type 2 diabetes produce insulin, but their body does not use the insulin properly. This insulin imbalance cause glucose to build up in the blood instead of going into the cells, which cause the cells and therefore the entire body to malfunction, which leads to diabetes.

The good news is that type 2 diabetes is completely and totally preventable and in many cases also totally reversable. One of the biggest risk factor for diabetes in insulin resistance. Insulin is supposed to take the glocose from your bloodstream and escort it into your cells for fuel. Without this escort service, your cells don't get the fuel (energy) they need, which causes problems with your metabolism and shortens your lifespan, leaving you feeling like you are running on empty, while the unused fuel(sugar) accumulates in your blood.

You can stop diabetes naturally. Step 1: Let low glycemic eating be your guide. There are a number of lifestyle factors that influrnce your risk of developing diabetes but the greatest culprit is the food you eat. Learn to determine the glycemic index of the foods you eat. The GI of a food depends on the amount of carbohydrates it has in it and whether they are in a form that is absorbed quickly or whether they are released slowly during digestion.

Most vegetables (except for potatoes) are considered safe even though they do contain carbs, their effect on blood sugar levels is so low that their GI doesn't register. However if you tend to consume a lot of high-glycemic carbohydrates such as white breads, rice, pasta, potatoes, sugary desserts, soda, fruit juices, crackers, and most cereals you will constantly spike your blood sugar. The constant spikes overwhelm your ability to utilize your insulin properly. When this happens your risk of diabetes skyrockets but your risk of excessive weight gain also skyrockets. A diet that is high-fiber, low -fat, with lots of cold-water fish, poultry and eggs will help start you on the way to better health. The glycemic index of the foods you eat should be under 55. To find out the glycemic index of specific foods, check the free online database at www.glycemicindex.com.

Step 2: Engage in regular physical activity. Every time you engage in physical activity you are reducing the risk of developing diabetes. According to a study by the National Institutes of Health, men and women diagnosed with pre-diabetic glucose intolerance who exercised regularly lowered their risk of diabetes by 58 percent - far better than the 31 percent protection offered by the diabetes drug Glucophage. It doesn't matter what king of exercise you engage in, as long as it is done on a regular bases. It can be as simple as walking 10,000 steps. Get an inexpensive pedometer to keep track. Aim to exercise at least 5 days a week for 30 minutes.

Step 3. Take safe sensible supplements. Start by taking a pharmaceutical iron-free muti-vitamin. Then take increased dosages of Vitamin D3, magnesium, chromium picolinate, and alpha lipoic acid. I recommend The Essentials by Usana Health Sciences. Contact me for information on how to get the at a wholesale price.

We have found that these recommendations also work for people who want to lose weight. You can change your life and lose weight for the last time as well as prevent diabetes. If you already have it, we can help your reverse it. Check out our website. www.kstrong.trinityhealthweightloss.com

Top Ten Basics of Optimal Health

Bob and I have been coaching people on how to get control of their health for over two years now. Below are listed certain basic habits that promote optimal health (and healthy weight). In some instances we have been successful in helping some individuals reverse their Type II diabetes. Check out our website: http://www.kstrong.trinityhealthweightloss.com/

1. Eat a healthy diet that incorporates fresh fruit and vegetables avoiding fast food

2.Drink plenty of clean pure water - Most people need at least 10 glasses a day

3. Manage your stress.

4. Strive to walk 10,000 steps daily or 35 to 45 minutes of exercise 5 to 6 days a week

5. No one gets enough vitamin D so consider supplementation

6. Limit toxin exposure

7. Consume healthy fat. Eat more Omega 6 coming from fresh fish, flax seed oil, walnuts

8. Cut down on sugar consumption but also eliminate all artificial sweetners like Splenda, Aspartame, etc. and use Stevia, Xylitol or other healthy sweetners

9. Take a high quality pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements

10. Get plenty of sleep - Get at least 7 hours of sleep each day
Remember, leading a common sense, healthy lifestyle is your best bet to produce a healthy body and mind, and increase your longevity.

Fortunately, you can still take self-responsibility, educate yourself, and make better, healthier choices. By implementing these changes to your life, you are building a healthy mind and body, and thereby safeguarding yourself against a multitude of health problems and serious diseases.

Healthy Food does not have to taste bad. Mock mashed potatoes

Today marks the beginning of self accountability. For the past two years Bob and I have been coaching teams on how to lose weight with the added benefit of reversing type 2 diabetes. When I first embarked on the journey I did a 5 day Reset program which helps reverse the body's cravings for bad carbs. I lost 23 pounds the first 6 months and have been coasting for awhile. I would like to lose an additional 15 pounds and have identified my weakness and it is the lack of enough exercise so I plan on taking action so I can be more fit in all areas of my life.


We have coached many people with great results but I have long felt the need to blog about the experience with the benefit of sharing tips and receipes for others on this lifelong journey.


I am sharing a receipe for "Potato Cauliflower Mash" which will shock you as to how good it is. This is a low glycemic, low carb receipe.

1 head cauliflower trimmed
12 oz potatoes peeled
1 Tsp butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peel potatoes, cube and cook until tender. Trim the leaves from the cauliflower and cut in 1/2 inch cubes. Place in a microwave safe bowl and add 3 or 4 tablespoons water. Cook until tender 12 to 15 minutes. Drain all liquid from potatoes and cauliflower and combine in a bowl and whip with mixer. Add butter and salt and pepper to taste. For a creamer texture, you can add milk, a tablespoon at a time. Enjoy. Check out my new weightloss website:

http://www.kstrong.trinityhealthweightloss.com/ Check out the 10 day jumpstart.

Bob's mother's death

Bob's sweet mother Maxine left this world to be with Jesus on December 3rd about 3:05 a.m. She had Alzheimer's so the last 4 or 5 years have been challenging for Bob. About 3 weeks before she died we had to move her to Quail Ridge to a Alzheimer's facility so things were going to get worse for her. She did know Bob the day before she died so that was good. She was in good health for the most part and so we are glad she did not have to endure what was sure to come had she stayed with us for awhile longer. The hardest thing to endure was typical of the disease and that was the anger and rage at the caregiver, Bob and the outbursts of profanity that was so unlike her.

Most of her life were devoted to sharing the gospel of Jesus and trying to help those in need. She had a hard life in that she lost a son Richard at 8 years of age and another son, Raymond when he was grown. It would be so hard to outlive your child.

I wanted to write this blog to share what an experience we had in laying her to rest. First we had a small funeral for her here in Lubbock, Texas and that went very well. She wanted to be buried next to her husband Ray who had died in 1996 and her youngest son Richard in Dakota City, Nebraska, so Bob had to work with not only the funeral home here but another one up there. Sanders Funeral Home delivered the body to Delta Airlines in Dallas on Saturday evening and we took a plane out on Tuesday morning. We were supposed to arrive in Sioux City, Iowa at 3:46 in the afternoon. The only airlines that go into Sioux City, is Delta-Northwest so from Lubbock we had to fly to Memphis, Tenn, then transfer to a flight that went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and from there we were supposed to transfer to a plane that would take us to Sioux City. Before we left, Bob's cousin Irene, called and said a blizzard was on the way and maybe we should postpone things but knowing how unpredicatible the weather can be, we decided to take a chance and go on after talking with the director of the funeral home there.

While in Memphis, we got word that the boday did not arrive in Omaha, so they were not sure when it would or where her remains were. Poor Bob got on the phone with the funeral home in Sioux City, and then his cousins to cancel the funeral which was scheduled the next day. After arriving in Minneapolis, after several hours of delay, they cancelled our flight. We decided to try to get closer to Sioux City if possible so we flew into Sioux Falls, South Dakota where we spent the night. The next morning we rented a car and drove down to Sioux City.

We were able to have the services the next day as they located Mrs. Strong in Minneapolis and finally got her remains in Sioux City. The blizzard did come as predicted so we were at the cemetary with temperatures at -5 degrees with a wind chill of 17 below zero. The crowd was much smaller due to the weather being so nasty, but we finally did get her laid to rest.

Next came the challenge of trying to get our flights changed to the next day. So we flew home a day later than planned.

Wish you could plan not to leave this earth in December, in the middle of a blizzard. We missed Rose's performance in the Nutcracker and also Cody's Nutcracker performance and Brianna's Choir concert due to our untimely travels. So sorry for this for the girls sake.

Here it is December 16th and I don't have all of those 32 presents purchased or wrapped or any of the decorations up. I am feeling extremely sorry for myself. I am sure that as time passes we will laugh about all of this as it was an unbelievable experience. I understand Maxine was a little fire-cracker in life and she sure went out with a bang. Bob was lucky as was I to have a good woman for his mother. We will miss her but we would never want her back the way she was.

Birthdays

Whew!! Birthdays are special especially for little ones. Not so much for old ladies like myself. Recently Bob and I went to one of our great grandson's 2 1/2 year old party. Why a 2 1/2 year old party you ask? Well Ryan's birthday is December 22nd, not a great time to have a birthday let alone a party. How do I know.....because my birthday is December 23rd. Anyway it was a great idea to have a 2 1/2 year old party.

They had it at a big health club here called Bodyworks for Women. they have a wonderful indoor children's pool with two slides, big buckets that periodically fill with water that dump water all over the place, big valves like fire fighter valves and things to climb on and so on. The place was crawling with little people and their parents.

Even my youngest granddaughter, Silas who is one year old wanted to be part of the action. She thinks so is so big. I came directly from work and did not have a bathing suit on. Not sure I want one on right now either. I got soaked trying to keep silas safe. Her bigger brother Memphis loved it so much. He must have gone down the slide 100,000 times.

I am writing about this with a bit of nostalgia. It brought back memories of my dear sweet mother. She loved parties especially family parties and she would have loved this one. It was filled with little people having a good time and their parents watching them carefully. Mother had a few more grandchildren than I do ( I have 18) and quite a few more great grandchildren. She was never happier than getting together with the family. I hope there will be times in heaven when we get together with all our loved ones to celebrate the love we have for one another. I sit here crying, longing for her and the sweet memories we shared but glad she has gone on to be with Jesus. I guess it strikes me most when I am enjoying something I know she would have loved.

Hysterical

This story requires a little background. Bob and I are not young anymore, much as we wish we were, but we have always been willing to learn new things for the most part. A number of years ago we got our first computer and have since upgraded 3 times. When we got the first one Bob dutyfully went to some computer classes and promptly never touched the computer again for several years. By the time he got back to the computer he had forgotten everything they taught him in the class so it was back to square one.

Now fast forward a few years; I have tried to teach him a bit of navigation several times over the years and he would take copious notes, practice the routine, then promptly put the notes up so good, they were never to be found again. This process has been repeated several times over. However in the past 6 to 8 months he has determined to learn the process again. He can now type in "Google" and then type in the key word and then generally find what he wants. He has gotten especially good on looking up the weather in Manuel Benavides, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

What makes this story a scream follows. This evening we went to the Drug Emporium. Bob was looking at a natural sweetner and wanted to know the glycemic index of it, since we were unfamiliar with that product. He asked the young man to look it up on the computer and the kid said I don't know if I know how. Anyway Bob said just go the the address line and type in www.google.com and then when on google, type in the word of the product which he did. Then the kid said, I don't know how to find out the glycemic number on this. Bob said just type in the product name and then type glycemic index number after it, which the kid did. It immediately pulled up the information.

What is so funny is that as Bob was leaving, the kid said "You Sure Do Know Your Computers". I laughed until I nearly cried as Bob has been so frustrated over trying to learn this. We have not even tried to learn email yet.

Now I want you to know Bob is really smart and can learn anything, he just has trouble with his wife teaching him and he has trouble sitting still long enough to learn the process. Anyway laughter is said to be good for the soul and so we had a good soul day.

Missing Mother

As February winds down and we only have another week left in the month I think back to what we were all doing this time last year. Starting in January mother started her final journey which ended in Heaven. Her health had gotten so bad that Linda Mae and I summoned Patti, Neale, Greg, Joy, and Linda Lou and all came to see her in the following weeks. Patti, Neale, Greg and Lita all were so alarmed with her condition that they all decided to stay which finally culminated in mother's passing on March 5, 2008.



I find myself crying often as I think of all the firsts of this past year starting with Easter, Mother's day, 4th of July, mother's birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and now the anniversary of her final journey. I still find myself wanting to pick up the phone and discuss something going on in our lives. She was always such a willing ear and always looked for the best in each situation no matter what.

I posted a photo of her on facebook and many of the family have all been thinking of her just like I have. A good friend of mine sent me a message and said that it had been 6 years since his mother's passing and not a day goes by that he does not miss her.

I ask myself what is the good in thinking about her like this and I guess I hope that I can have somewhat of the same impact on my children and grandchildren as she did and live a life worthy of her memory.

My niece, Lori lives in Germany and she made a chocolate pie today and was reminded of mother. Mother made the most devine chocolate pies and as far as I can tell no one can equal her. Some of us try but never quite achieve the perfection she did. Another niece Kristen who lives in the state of Washington expressed a similar experience around Christmas or Thanksgiving.

We are all missing you mother and although we would not want you to be sad or to back here, we do hope you know how much we all love you and miss you.

Survival

I can't believe it is only two weeks until Christmas 2008. It is always a glorious time of year as we contemplate all God has done for each us of us. The thing that resonates the most for me, is I cannot comprehend God loving us so much that He sent His only Son to die for our sins, but I am so grateful He did. I have not been able to comprehend why I was blest to have the mother I did but I am so very grateful for her. I don't know why I was blest to be born in the United States, but I am so grateful I was. I am so grateful for the blessing of living in Lubbock, Texas, the blessing of my church Calvary Baptist in Lubbock, Tx, the blessing of being able to worship the God I choose in freedom, the blessing of our new pastor Dr. Richard rush, the blessing of hearing God's word proclaimed each week and finally the blessing of my beautiful family.

Last year we made a special effort to be together at mother's house for Thanksgiving for which I am so grateful. Carleen and Neale were here and bless Carleen's heart the day after saw to it that all the decorations were up so mother could enjoy them. Linda Mae and Carleen spent the whole day putting them up.

I always have my growing family over on December 23rd to celebrate Jesus's birthday and we wanted her to be there last year, but she did not feel like it. She did come over for lunch on Christmas day. I thorougly enjoy the music, the decorations, the food, the family, the togetherness. This time is so sweet and such a priceless reminder of God's love but it is sad because it is the first season without mother. She loved all this so much and always wanted her house decorated early so she could look and savor the reminders of Christmas. She always started planning early on what gifts to give everyone and what food we would have. We are grateful that she was always able to do this with help from her children until the end.

Finally God bless all who might happen to read this post and may the gift of God's son be real to you and hopefully occupy a place in your heart.

Fall Reflections

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year and in Lubbock, TX, the weather is gorgeous. The days are warm, not hot and the nights are cool, a grim reminder that cold weather is just around the corner.

In my last blog entry I talked about the cute little spooks that visited our house on Holloween and our church's fall festival. We had a great time with the family but it was a sad time too. I think of last year before mother went to be with Jesus. She absolutely loved Holloween and made sure she had a lot of the best candy to give out. No cheap candy for her, she wanted all the real good chocolate candy and she wanted everyone to have plenty.....not just one piece from her. She wanted everyone to come in so she could see their costumes and we are grateful we have some cute photos of her last year. Who would have thought that last year would be her last year to enjoy this time of year.

This is part of the series of firsts I have had to experience since mother left this hard old world. Even though mother was 89 years of age, she would have been extremely involved in the sad election results of last night. I remember her saying over and over again that she didn't leave the Democratic party, it left her. She was not overly fond of John McCain, he has been too bi-partisan for her, but she would have absolutely loved Sarah Palin. (I just hope we have not seen the last of her. She makes me so proud of what it means to be a lady and she brought such class to the Republican ticket).

As I think over these last months, we have had to celebrate Easter, Mother's day, July 4th , her birthday, now Holloween with Thanksgiving and Christmas to follow all without her. It brings back a flood of memories because she was big on any excuse to get together with the family. Days in advance she would call and ask what the plans were. She was big into planning the food so we would do that and she was always involved until the last couple of years.

When our kids were growing up, we lived South of town in the country and we always had a cookout on the 4th. The whole family would come and bring their fireworks and we would gather in the front yard for our family fireworks display. Then, when it got good and dark, we moved to the back yard where we could watch a nearby race track do their spectacular fireworks show. I guess that is one of the few things I missed when we moved to town....no longer a place to have the family over for fireworks on the 4th. We do have a swimming pool now so for awhile, we had a cook out and swimming on the 4th, but the pool is in need of repair so we have not done that for the last several years.

I am grateful we had a good celebration for her last several birthdays and that we made Easter and Mother's day special for her last year. It certainly taught us that we are to live in the moment and to make each day special as we never know what is ahead for us. I miss you mother and I hope you know how much I loved you.

October musings

I have not updated my blog since I spoke of Jaykin and Tiffany's wedding which was the end of June 2008. A lot has been going on and for some reason I stay busy but don't seem to acomplish near as much as I used to. Mother's house is finally on the market and looks really good. There has been a lot on internet activity and several people have looked at the house several times. I wish we could have had it ready to sell a couple of months ago but I just could not get everything done.

Brianna was on a soccer team for the first time this year. She did very well and had a good time. I wish she had been able to play before as she seems to have a nack for it and it is so good for her. They had the last game last Saturday and it was kind of sad. The whole family has gone and it has been a fun hour each week. The weather has been incredible all except one day when they nearly had to play in the rain.

Brad's whole family and I attended Brianna's first choir concert October 16th . She is in the advanced choir even tho she is just in the sixth grade. She looked so grown up and she sings so well. I am thrilled since singing has always been a huge part of my life. She is learning lifelong skills. I hope she will stick with it.

Last Saturday our church had it's annual fall festival. It is a huge party for the kids of the church and the neighborhood. The children dress up in their Holloween costumes and we have dozens of game booths where they can earn candy and outside we have lots of big jumpers and a small train they can all ride. This is all for the very small cost of $1.00.

The kids were all so precious: Brad's group starting with the youngest going forward was Silas as a mandrake plant, Memphis as Spiderman, Carson as Snow White, Cody as Hermione from Harry Potter, Brianna as Sarah Palin and Megan as Hillary Clinton. They were all so cute.

Then the great grandchildren came. Ryan, was a turtle, Jayden was a butterfly, Kadence was spiderman, and Kaya was a pea. I am really not a fan of Holloween as a holiday but I love seeing the kids all dressed up. I am not a fan of candy either but I hope the parents can dispose of most of it so the kids won't be on a perpetual high.

By the way our church runs between 400 and 500 each Sunday in attendance and we probably had 1200 plus at our festival. It was a huge success and the weather cooperated.

My precious daughter-in-law Megan writes a very clever blog so I am putting a link here so you can read hers. It is much better than mine and very enjoyable. Be sure to check it out, in fact I would check it out regularly because it is so much fun. Here is the link: Be sure and scroll down and check out her previous blog from baby Silas's point of view. It is priceless. Of course you have to remember that this is from a proud grandmother's point of view.

http://meganblythe.blogspot.com/ .

Beautiful Wedding

This post is a couple of months late and I am sorry for that. The last Saturday in June on the 28th, Jaykin Ribordy and Tiffany Kamp got married. Jaykin is the youngest son of my daughter Brenda. They got married at the Garden and Arts Center here in Lubbock and it was lovely. Jimmy Williams, my oldest son performed the ceremony and I thought he did an outstanding job. The wedding was small by today's standards but had a lot of family on both sides and was a lot of fun.

Jaykin is a special young man in many ways. His mother had had her tubes tied to prevent any more children in their family when she got pregnant with him so we have always felt he was special. God must have had a special plan for him to overcome those obstacles to get here.

Jaykin just recently graduated from college in the spring. This was such an achievement because he delayed even starting college in the first place a couple of years because his dad had a couple of strokes that turned their family upside down. He helped his mom out a lot since Rick will never be able to work again. He still works two jobs just to get ahead.

Fabric Fiasco

You might be wondering what in the world would be interesting about fabric on a blog. Bear with me. A number of years ago I operated a small clothing business from my home. I sold things in craft shows and a local craft mall. It was definitely small stuff but I did make $33,000 from things I made myself my last year in business. I made beautiful skirts, matching vests, decorated T-shirts, appliqued vests, appliqued blouses, beautiful glitzy jackets, a cute Santa sitter couple and so on. After reflecting on the hours I was working each day (7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight), I decided to get a job. For awhile, I did not only the job but continued to maintain the booth at the craft mall and did both.

Those hours got to be too much after awhile so I decided to close the business. I always meant to do something with all that fabric but had never gotten around to it. The reason I had so much fabric is that to get the best price, you need to buy the whole bolt. Well anyway, I had the fabric stored in a spare bedroom. It was stacked according to colors, types and so on. One weekend a few years back while I was out of town visiting my oldest son Jimmy, my husband decided he wanted to pack away the fabric. He did so without my knowledge and when I came home there were 17 large boxes in the garage with my fabric.

Now the problem with all this is that I would have liked to do this myself. I would have put the stuff I wanted to keep and use somewhere different than the other stuff. Although I want to rid our lives of most of it, there are some fabric that I absolutely will not part with. I had much of it sorted out and in shelves with all the reds together, the blues together, the blacks together and so on. The purpose of this was so that if I wanted to applique something, or if I ever got around to learning to quilt, it would be easy to see what I had and get with the task. This was all mixed in with the other stuff.

I have to tell you that my husband Bob is the greatest. He is a good husband in most important ways but with regard to this one endeavour, his virtues were lost to me as he had no idea of the problems he created for me. To get back to the story, in getting my mother's house ready to sell, we have had one garage sale and now plan for at least one more if not two. The reason was to sell mother's stuff nobody wanted but I needed to sell some of my stuff to make room for the things I am moving to my house. So we have been selling not only her stuff but some of ours. I decided to tackle the fabric issue for our upcoming sale and started going through the 17 large boxes in the garage.

As I started this huge task, Sunday night I became angry all over again because I was reminded of the huge amount of extra work this had created for me. I was not a good role model of what to do when irritated with the spouse for some reason. Bob disappeared for awhile and I don't blame him. I finally got down to the last box last night and I have sorted, measured, and priced the fabric for the garage sale. It is all dirt cheap and I hope there a few people who will appreciate the beautiful assortment I have. One of the things that made my things different and pretty was the combination of patterns and fabric in my original way on the garments I created. I do owe Bob an apology although he has been sweet ever since regardless because I think he realizes he should have asked me before he packed it all up and I would have begged him to wait til I got home and we could do it together as it would be better for me that way.

To be fair, when these 17 boxes are gone and the stuff my packrat husband has saved for years is gone our garage might again resemble a garage. It has not been that I want to hold on to stuff, I just hate cleaning closets, sorting drawers, organizing cabinets, and all that builds up. I have noticed that I have over used the word "stuff" in this piece but really can't think of another word that would do the job.

Mother would be so proud of our garage as it will be in a few days, as she always hated it when I could not park in the garage. Bob is really trying to let go of some of the things and that is definately real good.

Getting Mom's House Ready to Sell

I have been meaning to update my blog but I have been busy trying to get the stuff out of my mother’s house so we can get her house on the market. It was really hard in the beginning but it no longer feels like her house so now it is just hard work. We are going to have a garage sale on Friday and Saturday and then everything that does not sell is going to be boxed up and donated to some place that can use the things. We have been working non stop for several weeks and I am beyond tired. I don’t have the energy or strength like I did when I was younger to work on something day and night and not feel the sting of it.

When my brother and sisters were here the last of June and the first of July we started the process. We pulled everything out of the attic, the closets and the high cupboards and divided those things of value at that time. However after everyone went home there is still tons of stuff to deal with.

Growing up, our mom taught us a deep love and appreciation for reading. Long before we had television, we would go to the public library and the whole family would check out books to read. Many times I would read all of mine and then in addition read my older sister’s before we had to return them. Mother read aloud to us when we were small and then we all read as a family later on. She had quite a collection of books herself. I am going to try and sell the paperback novels, but I can’t bring myself to do that with some of her finer books. Some of them I will keep and others will be donated to Exodus Prison Ministry or somewhere else that would appreciate them.

Mother loved the Lord and one of the ways she worshiped Him was through sacred music. She had many records by different Christian artists and later on she had all the videos by Bill Gaither and the homecoming friends. I am sure she has everyone they ever made and even some duplicates. She would forget she had ordered them and order again.

One of the nice things about keeping so much stuff is that everyone has been able to have something that will remind them of her. Each of the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren here have been able to choose something meaningful from her house. I thought it precious to see my oldest grandson have on display on a shelf an old beat up hand egg beater of mom's. Long before electric mixers came into being she could beat those eggs up a storm on her hand mixer. I remember her making her famous cream pies with that rusty old beater.

Rose

I have highlighted two of our 18 special grandchildren on my blog. I will get around to all of them even if it takes me all year because they are all special in their own unique way. Today I want to talk about Rose. She is the youngest child of my oldest son Jimmy and his wife Misty. I introduced you to her oldest brother Drew in my last post. As I thought of some of the thoughts I wanted to capture about Rose, I tried to think of the things that make her special. She is a adorable 9 year who is real comfortable in her skin. She is self-confident, happy, funny, smart, graceful, fun, and of course we think beautiful. She looks just like her mother did at that age and her grandmother, Shirley before her.

We had the privilege of attending Rose's ballet recital on May 17 this year. She has been studying ballet in a classical ballet studio for about 5 1/2 years and that is why she has so much poise and is graceful. Ballet does that for the dancers. They may never go on to become a professional dancer but the dicipline of the training molds the muscles in the body in a unique way to produce the gracefullness ballet requires. It has been so much fun to watch her progress from the tiny little child to the young lady she is now.

Rose seems to be real happy being herself. I think her parents are showing her they value her and know she is special. Life seems to go smoother for those of us who are confortable with who we are and I am praying that will be the case with sweet Rose. I pray she will always feel loved and cherished by all of us and that strong love will keep her safe and pure as she grows up. I love you Miss Rose.

What Make a 15 year old young man special?

What makes a 15 year old young man special?

Our 15 year old grandson Drew Williams received his Eagle Scouting award on May 19th. Drew is a part of a group of 8 young men who started their scouting journey in third grade. One of the young men moved away but the remaining 7 young men agreed to stay together as a group and to pursue the goal of Eagle Scout. All of the seven were awarded this coveted achievement on that night. To achieve this goal is extremely hard but for all seven to complete the task is remarkable.




Drew is a handsome 15 year old who plays tennis on the school tennis team, is active in his youth group at church and in his scout group and is on the honor roll. He is an artist and very mature for his age. Robert and I were fortunate to be at the banquet before the awards ceremony and at the ceremony where Drew received this remarkable award.





Of course a young man who achieves all this has to have a great set of parents and Drew has a great dad (our son Jimmy Williams) and wonderful mother, Misty. Misty and Jimmy are involved in all of their three children’s lives. Jimmy is an assistant scoutmaster and has been a big influence on Drew being where he is. Drew has established some valued life skills that will help him in all his future endeavors along with a strong spiritual foundation which will guide him in the days to come.

Requirement 6 of the Eagle Scout Rank Application was to write his Life Purpose and Ambitions. The rest of this paragraph is a quote from his paper. " My career and financial successes are not at all what my top priorities are for my future though. I aspire to be someone to be remembered, not just someone who did well and made some money. As a Christian raised in a God-loving home and an active member of a church youth group at First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls, Texas, my number one life goal is to be a living witness for Christ in all areas. I want to live as an example to follow. In my eyes, my life is worth nothing if I never use it to make a change in someone else's. As a Christian I strive to be somebody's door to Christ, and help lead them toward a new life."

This is a tribute to the achievement of Drew to reach this point in his life. It is also a grateful acknowledgement to his fine parents who chose long ago to demand the best of their children and to demonstrate these same elements in their own lifestyle. We are extremely proud of Drew but equally proud of Jimmy and Misty for the way they are raising their children.