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!

Words For The Wind

Our church is studying the Psalms this summer. It is absolutely wonderful. I can relate to the Psalmist so well. I read from Psalms everyday, it is my favorite book of the Bible. I also, listen to Piper each week and it just so happens that he is taking his church through the Psalms this summer, so I get a double dose of my favorite things. Kind of like having you a Sonic Diet Cherry Diet Coke and a Starbucks Non-Fat Double Shot in the same day!!

To top all that off, I believe God is working in my heart and teaching me more about grace. More about His compassion and care for me, more about how I am but dust and He knows it. I am seeing more and more weakness in myself and yet, I am not discouraged. I feel so sure that He has a way to help me and He will do the work in me. It is not about me doing it and getting it and perfecting it. It is all about Him, all of grace. My role is simply to follow Him, trust Him and obey Him. Here are some things I am learning…

This is a quote from John Piper that I have been thinking about…

“Do you think you that you can reprove words when the speech of a despairing man is wind?” Job 6:26

“What does that mean? That means please don’t be picky about my language when I am in pain. If I say “God why have you forgotten me?’ don’t lecture me on the fact that God never forgets His own, do that later. Don’t be picky with my language; it’s a wind word it’s going to be blown away. There will be plenty of time for you to see my life, that I am a true lover of God and I will stand with Him no matter what. I think that’s the point. If you care about people and you’ve got a robust theology of suffering and someone says something theologically inappropriate, let it go. It’s going to be blown away. A month later they are going to look back on these horrible moments and they are going to think “Good Night, I am glad God didn’t strike me dead.’ And He didn’t and you shouldn’t.”

I have become so aware of how often I feel like I need to have a solution to my weakness or sin and I need to give others a solution too. I have spoken too quickly to correct others when they are weak, instead of coming along side and just carrying them. In Job it reads, “No one spoke a word to him, for they saw his suffering was great” (ch. 1). Piper’s quote undid me. I was in tears as I have done that to others and had that done to me. I truly believe that, out of love for someone, I have spoken words that are true but not timely. Many times it is better to remain silent. There will be time later to adjust.

And then, we were at the pool recently and there was this dad with his son, about 6 years old. The boy was swimming the length of the pool and whenever he would come up for air the dad would scream “SWIM, SWIM.” The boy would barely get a breath and then go under again. A few times the child tried to hold onto his dad, he was exhausted, only to be met by more screams of “Get off of me and swim.” It was heartbreaking. I turned to Hosanna and told her “That is how I feel right now. I can’t even get a full breath before I have to go back and swim.” Well, the lesson had just begun. I have come to see that it is not God screaming at me, He instead is saying “Are you weary? Float, rest, breath, let me carry you.”

Again, it is all about God working and doing. It is not about me and all I can do. He is my everything and the changer and sustainer of my being. He will accomplish His desire in me.

If you have time, listen to the teaching by Eric Hughes that we heard this past Sunday at Grace Church and then go to Pipers' website and listen to June 1, 2008. They are both so excellent!

P.S. I am not excusing sin or saying we don’t need to be responsible for ourselves. I am, also, not saying we should not correct one another in love. I am just saying that for me, I want to move more by grace and less by rules and trust that God will work in me and in those around me and it is not up to me to fix it all in my life or in anyone else's.

Let's Close Out This Week!

Wow, what a week! On Monday Meg had her tonsils out. Then on Wednesday, we had to end our fun with the Bensons since they had to go home. The day they were leaving Meg began to turn a bit south from her tonsillectomy. I figured she was just feeling the pain more now that all the anesthetics were out of her body. On Thursday she seem to rebound a bit and we also got the results from a biopsy that had looked "suspicious." Benign!! Thursday night she goes downhill again, hhmmm, should we be back at the hospital? She doesn't want to go, I am sooo tired I fall asleep watching a move (it is date night) and Fred decides he will be the night watchman so I can rest.(love that guy). Friday she rebounds again, but when the Dr. calls they say "Well, maybe she better come back. Well, maybe she is OK, but maybe she better come back. Okay, Let's try the new drugs and see how she is." Friday night goes well. We all sleep pretty well. Then today she went downhill fast. So, off we went to the ER and they were great. The doctor had called ahead so they were waiting for us. Meg was immediately seen and given new antibiotics for an infection, steroids for the swelling, morphine for the pain, something to stop the nausea and fluids for the dehydration. About an hour later they did all the same things again and then she was released! It was so smooth I knew the Lord was ahead of us. I think she may be on her way to really being better. If you think of her, please pray for her. She was supposed to begin her first job as a pedo dental assistant, obviously she won't be able to be there on Monday. We are hoping they will wait for her and not hire someone else, this practice is ideal for her.

Anyway, I am looking forward to tomorrow morning, the beginning of a new week. Eric Hughes is preaching at our church so it will be especially sweet to go tomorrow, though I always look forward to going to our church. I am looking forward to Meg feeling better, since they think the tonsils were the root of her being sick so much the past few years. I am looking forward to a nice night of sleep!! Thanks for praying for us. We are grateful.

I am re-reading "Trusting God" by Bridges. So helpful at this time!! I'll leave you with this quote, "Because He has a plan for you, and because no one can thwart that plan, you too can have hope and courage. You, too, can trust God...There are no contingencies with God. Our unexpected, forced change of plans is a part of His plan. God is never surprised: never caught off guard; never frustrated by unexpected developments."

Oh So Fun

It is a tradition to do something exciting whenever we are with some of our friends. So, when Jim and Linda came to visit us on a last minute trip, we knew we had to come up with something good. We couldn't rent snow mobiles, go skiing, play in the ocean or go ice skating so we decided to go rent some wave runners. We took Meg with us, since we had been promising her that we would take her soon. It was so fun and sort of scary. Anyway, you can see Linda was a bit scared, she was praying before she even got going!!

Jamie and Dan

Two weeks ago Jamie and Dan came to visit us. We had fun just hanging around and laughing. It was a delight getting to know Dan and watch his gentle care of our dear Jamie. He is a gentle, wise man. He cares very well for Jamie, very tenderly. We loved him. Of course, Jamie kept us laughing all weekend! We can't wait to see them (and the rest of the Smith Fam and Jen, Ryan and Isaac) at the wedding in August.

The picture sums up our weekend. (just for you Nanc)

You know You're Old When...

You go to Target to buy clothespins and 3 different employees have no idea what they are???!!.....

You go to Dairy Queen, ask for a crunch cone and the employee doesn't know what that is???!!...

You go to the grocery store and realize they don't make Bundt cake mixes anymore..no one knows what it is??!!!....

I better just stay home

Well, this weekend turned out to be filled with fun. Friday night we went to Fred's softball game and our team, Grace Church Crush, won the game. I enjoyed going and cheering the team on and catching up with all sorts of people from our church. It was hot though. I will enjoy the games that are later in the evening more!!

Then, on Saturday, I slept till 8 and then just hung around in pj's till about 2. The only one of us that was dressed or productive was Freddie boy. I think the only reason I did get dressed was because a friend needed to come use our computer. But, then the real fun began. Meg had asked us to go to a Hot Air Balloon Festival with her. We were going to go up for a launch and a glow. So, we piled in our car, Tim, Callie, Hosannie, Fred and I. Off we went to Celina (Meg, Rob and ALyssa were meeting us.) Low and behold, we got all the way to Celina only to encounter a severe thunderstorm that, we later learned on the news, wiped out the festival!! SO, we headed back south and landed at Chicago St. Pizzaria. We ordered our deep dish and sat down to wait the 40 minutes for it to bake. We played a card game and just had fun. Then the great pizza came and away went the cards. After that we headed to DQ and then to a lake for a walk. We walked in the rain around the lake and enjoyed one another. (notice Callie's little tummy) (Tim looks so excited!!)

Today we got to go to church and then hang out with our friends Rob, Paul, Mark and Jonathan. We had them over for dinner, golf, wiffle ball, dessert and Indiana Jones. When we began this weekend we did not have any plans. But, the weekend surprised me and was fun after all!! Isn't God kind?

Keeper...

I have been thinking lately that it is important to define our roles from the Bible. For instances, I am a wife, therefore I should go to the Bible and see what it says about the role of the wife. There are many phrases the Bible uses to describe our roles, again as example, a wife is also called a helper, a helpmate, a love, a keeper of the home etc. There are many roles in our lives and our roles change as do our seasons. I am now starting to be considered an "older woman" (not sure what I think about that!!). Anyway, I was thinking about my role(s) in life and asking God to help me define what my role is in this season. As always, He is faithful to answer. In my quiet time today I read a verse that made my heart leap. I found a new role in the Bible, one I have never seen before!!! One I am excited to fulfill!!I was so thrilled and so sure it was God speaking to me. I had found a new purpose for my life!! So, if any of you ladies are struggling to know what God might have for you, I encourage you to read 2 Kings 22:14 and see if this might be something God has for you too. :)

New Vice on Ice

The girls got me hooked on Starbuck's Iced Non Fat Double Shot. I could have several a day! Have you tried it yet? I am usually a Sugar free something, nonfat latte girl, but this has taken it's place! Now I am just wondering how to fund my need!

Nothing much!

Well, it has been a week since my last post and not too much is going on. We have gone to the pool everyday and enjoyed it so much. I walk over relax, cool off and walk home. I don't know how people survive the Texas heat without a pool. I am grateful we have one so close.

This weekend was fun and filled with activity. I got to be with my friend Holly 3 times in a few days. A rare treat! We also went to an outdoor concert with our care group and I thought it was so fun to be there. The weather was perfect as we listened to some local talent. Afterward, we headed over to the baseball fields and watch some 14 year old boys play their last game of the season.

We had guests for dinner on Saturday night and Sunday night. Both were nice nights.

One thing that has been on my mind lately is the cost of discipleship and the cost of proclaiming the Gospel. Though I know there are many costs the one I have felt the most lately is saying good-bye and being far from ones you love so much. Both Callie and Erin are facing a sad goodbye with girls they have each come to love here in Dallas. On Saturday morning I broke down and cried and told Fred I didn't want the girls to have to feel the sting of giving up your friends and why couldn't we be called to a church that never changes?? Of course, he very gently reminded me of all we have been given and how God has been so kind and that we wouldn't want to be anywhere else and that the girls have been taught that this life is not always easy, but God is always good. I rebounded quickly and repented of my tantrum, but I must confess, apart from hanging out with Jesus, my next favorite thing about Heaven is there will be no goodbyes!!!

Home Again, Home Again Jiggety Jog

Well, we are home again, this time from Cleveland. The city where Fred and I met, were married and had our four children. It was such a great weekend. It started out with hanging out at Mom's and Fred helped with some chores around the house while Mom and I got manicures and pedicures!! Then we had an evening at Robin's (Fred's oldest sister) hanging out on the deck, having yummy ribs with margaritas and then walking to Malley's Ice Cream Shoppe, a childhood favorite for both Fred and I. The walk was encumbered by the fact that I was often thrown into a web by Spiderman (aka Owen Shaw). Thankfully, I remembered my own super powers and was able to escape.


Saturday we had a brunch at Mary's (Fred's other older sister) and we got to see our the bride, Hannah Marie. Everyone was busy eating and getting all beautiful for the wedding. It was so nice and I was so grateful we got to be a part of it.



Then, Robin, Callie, Meg and I went shopping for a bit and then off to the wedding. I was undone at the wedding as I was able to see the faithfulness of God in Hannah's life and the lives of her sisters. These girls are absolutely amazing! You can see the handiwork of God is all of them.

Sunday was a walk in the Metro Parks. It was so beautiful and also a place full of memories for Fred and I. Much of the trip was spent telling our kids about this person or that person or pointing out were we used to play, ride our bikes, where our friends lived, we saw our childhood homes, etc. etc. I think the kids thought we were rambling, I think we were too!!! ha ha ha


We also were able to attend Becca's graduation. The Commencement Ceremony was very moving and Becca sang a song she wrote for her fellow classmates. She did an outstanding job. I was so proud of her.

The weekend held so much more than this. It was great to be with Fred's family and hang out. It was great to see the places where much of our lives took place. It was incredible to be a part of Hannah's big day. It was moving to see old friends and hear about the goodness of God in their lives. It was fun to help Mom with chores. It was great to meet JP our new nephew and to meet Ryan Hannah's groom. It was a wonderful 5 days.

The Weekend

Well, it is late on Monday night. I am usually in bed by now, but tonight I was fooling with my blog template. I am not in love with the one I picked, but I really want to learn how to design these myself, so for now an imported one will have to do.

This weekend was pretty quiet and yet busy. Meg is at NA, and from the bit I heard, she is having a great time. Hosanna went to Georgia for a family event. So, Fred and I had the house to ourselves for a few days. We had fun. We ate out a few times, walked, swam, went to the movies, ordered pizza, got ice cream, had Erin, Dru and Violet for breakfast..it was a fun weekend.

I, also had 2 girls' nights out in one weekend. One night we went to the Outlet shopping center. Gotta love Gap and Banana, and just for fun, Lori Ann and I ducked into the Coach store. Then on Sunday night a couple of girls and I went to dinner and the to a favorite little spot to sit outside on the sidewalk and chat and laugh while we had coffee. While we were there the electricity went out so that made it even more interesting. It never was restored while we were there.

I have loved going to the pool almost everyday. I am meeting some new ladies there, new opportunities to share with them about who I try to live for. I am amazed at how people can live their lives they have without the Lord, where do they get the strength? I am grateful He has called me and saved me, I couldn't imagine life without Him.

On Thursday we will head to Cleveland. The city we got married in and the birthplace of all my children. Meg, Callie and Tim will be joining us, so they will get to do the tour of the homes that Fred and I each grew up in and the places we lived until we left there to plant the church in Virginia Beach. I am looking forward to that, but I'm most looking forward to seeing our niece, Hannah Shaw, get married and being able to see all of Fred's family.

Well, off to bed. Tomorrow is Tuesday, which means "Violet Day" for me!!

Get 'Er Done!

Well, I never thought i would do it, but....you know those ladies that come and organize your home for you? Well, I needed help so I hired one. She came for 3 days to help me with some things....

She is Really Coming!

We got word tonight that our dear friend Jamie Smith is coming to visit us in June and she is bring her fiance' Dan with her. We have been trying to get her to come since we got here and now the tickets are bought and soon they will be here!!

Jamie lived with our family for a while and nestled her way into our hearts. I enjoyed waking each morning and having coffee (while I told her she should get off caffeine) and chatting for a long time each day. She shared a room with Jenny, so we had a full house and I loved every minute of it.

I can't wait to sit and chat face to face (I saw James in February when I was in Michigan visiting Jen). We only had one day together, not enough time, but we picked up where we left off and we laughed like crazy. Now we will have more time and we will get to grill Dan ;).

Free Pictures

Below is a link to a new digital photo company I am using. I just placed my first order with them. Your first 200 photos are free, so it is worth a try. let me know if you use them and what you think. Just click on the link below to check them out.
Referral Link : http://www.artscow.com/default.aspx?Ref=356494

I'm Back!!

Wow April was a full and fun month! It started it out with a visit from my friend DiDi Bendinelli! She came to Dallas to relax and recover from a hard few months. We did all the typical girl things...pedicures, shop, laugh, shop, watch a girl movie, shop, eat lunch out, shop, eat dinner out, shop, laugh, eat junk food etc. etc. We actually didn't buy much, just looked!!

A few days after DiDi left my Mom and Dad came to visit. They wanted to be here when Erin and Dru celebrated Violet's first birthday! It was great to have them. It was very relaxing and so dear to see them with Violet. She is their first great grandchild! They adore her. Below is a picture of my dad feeding her.

Then, a few days after they left we headed for a week in Denver. We went to Jordan Bendi's wedding. All of my kids were there and so many friends. It was so fun to be there catching up with people and seeing Jordan enter a new and wonderful season. A highlight of the trip was getting to see Tyler and Mindy, I miss them so much and love any chance I can get to see them. BTW they put an offer in on a house, so if you think of them, please pray they get it. It would be great, I will let Mindy tell you about it on her blog. Plus, if they get it I am SURE we will need to go help them :).

Well, it is May now. The pool is open (we are going today after church) and everything is bloomed and green. I love this month the best, so full of new things and so full of beauty. I am aware that July is coming and everything will be scorched ha ha ha! Gotta love Texas!!