Isn't she lovely? This is my Grandma Frances. She will be 99 in October. She was a big part of my childhood and the only grandparent I really knew. My grandpa died before I was born and my paternal grandparents lived far away so I only saw them every several years. Grandma Frances lived near us when I was a child. She came over often and and would have little black licorice candies in her pocket! I still love black licorice! She would go the beach with our family and play in the waves with us. She would babysit us and once in a while smack us!! Her couch had plastic on it as did her lamp shades, I don't remember being at her house too much!! ha ha! She has great stories that we have heard a thousand times that still make us laugh. I love her dearly.

This week Grandma ran into a little health issue, we will know more in a week or so, but the graver issue is that she does not know Jesus. Both of my sisters were there this week and were able to share the Gospel with Grandma Frances again. This week she listened and seemed a little more open to hearing. Please pray that the Lord would draw her near to himself and reveal his love to her and give her salvation. I have prayed for her salvation for 32 years and I have faith that I am on the the cusp of seeing God answer my prayer. Today the Lord comforted me with these verses:

"Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!"

"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Rev. 7:10, 16-17

Oh how sweet that day will be!!!!!

We are back and recovering from relaxing so much! We really enjoyed our time away and REALLY enjoyed being with our precious friends Jen, Ryan, Isaac, Dan, Jamie, Cindi and Pete. I am so grateful for those God has allowed us to be friends with and how often we get to travel and see different ones. This trip was a gift from God.


We relaxed and took walks in the cool Michigan air. We watched the Olympics. We ate yummy food and had way too much Starbucks. We had Turtle Ice Cream Sundaes. We chatted and laughed. On Tuesday Fred and I went exploring. We ended up Kayaking on the Kalamazoo river. Walking around Saugatuck and window shopped. Then, we went to the beach on Lake Michigan and took a walk and put our feet in the ice cold lake (for one second). After all that, we headed back to Holland, one of our favorite places in the world, and just walked around like tourists. The day was fabulous.

On Wednesday, we spent the day with Jen and Isaac. Drank Starbucks on the front porch in our jeans with blankets on our laps to keep the chill away!! Sure beats the 107 degree that Dallas was experiencing. Then, Jen and I went to the mall and then home to get the guys, grab dinner and catch a late flight. We were home at midnight, in our own bed.

It was so nice to relax and sit around with no agenda except pleasure!! I really felt like I was on vacation!!!

Greetings from Holland!

Yes, we are in Holland. Actually, we were this weekend, now we are in Caledonia! We had a great weekend celebrating Jamie and Dan's wedding. It was so beautiful. They were married in Nelson Zeerip's yard on Lake Makatawa, off of Lake Michigan. The day was gorgeous, in the 70's, sunny with white puffy clouds floating by, sail boats on the water...so beautiful, Jamie looked amazing and it was wonderful to be a part of it all.

(behaving, as usual!!)


Fred and I are driving Jamie's car while we are here and she is on her honeymoon. Imagine the stares we got when Fred, myself, Hosanna and Isaac emerged from this car at the local ice cream hang out...

We are staying with Jenny, Ryan and Isaac while we are here. It is so fun to play with Isaac and get to know him better. He giggles from his belly at just about every silly thing we do. Jen and Ryan took the opportunity to go away for a few days, so Fred and I get Isaac all to ourselves! We have taken walks down the lake road, played outside and snuggled. He is such a great baby!



Tomorrow Jen and Ryan come home and Fred and I leave for Saugatuck where we will enjoy a couple of days of the harbor town, shop, sight see and kayak! Hope you enjoy the pictures of our vacation so far!!!!

WHO SAYS......

Girls can't parallel park??

Just a quick note...thanks for all the comments and emails after my last post. It is great to hear how God has been speaking and leading in all of your lives. I was encouraged by all your words and thoughts, so thanks again. Also, if you are one in a hard season or if the "blues" are often your companion, I want to recommend the teaching Craig gave at our church last Sunday (July 27th). It was as if he had taken my journal and read the entries from the past few years but especially the past few months! Amazing how the Lord works! The message was so gracious and so excellent and so freeing! Click here to listen and enjoy!