48 Years of Love and Hard Work

          Sixty-eight years ago today, my grandfather, Joel Oscar, married his blonde haired, blue eyed sweetheart, my grandma, Essie Lavern.  She was a young and beautiful fifteen year old bride who donned a pale blue dress.  He was a handsome young man of twenty-two, dressed in his best suit.

          When my grandpa asked for my grandma's hand in marriage, her father told him that he was the one in charge of, "finishin' her rearin'".

   

(Great-grandpa Wesley Angelo with my great-uncle)

          It was a warm Sunday afternoon when they started their life together.  The sun was shinning through the tall, oak trees as the gently swayed in the warm summer breeze.  After church the two of them met at the preachers small, country home, along with their closest and dearest family and friends.  Standing in the entry way of the preacher's humble home, they said their vows, were announced husband and wife, and kissed for the first time.  After the wedding, a small reception was held in my great-grandfather's front yard.  That evening, my grandpa took grandma to church for the evening service.  Thus began their forty-eight years together as husband and wife.

          Together they raised seven children, five boys and two girls, chickens, horses, cows, and pigs.

(Uncle David)

          She baked him biscuits for breakfast every morning, and he took her to church every Sunday.

(My uncle Larry and Aunt Helen)

    

          Their home was filled with love and laughter and grandma's good cooking.

          As their children grew older and started families of their own, their home was filled with laughter and toys again.

(Christmas presents Christmas 1959)

          All in all, they were blessed with five granddaughters, eight grandsons, one angle granddaughter, ten great-grandsons, five great-granddaughter, and one angle great-grandbaby.  Grandma cooked breakfast and dinner for her large and growing family every Saturday.

(Grandma with two of her great-grandchildren Christmas 2013)

         As the years past, a life of hard work began to stoop Grandpa's back and tighten his joints.  Over tine, Rheumatoid Arthritis placed him in a wheelchair, and eventually confined him to his bed.  Grandma was his faithful nurse, always by his side.

(Grandpa and I)

          After forty-eight years of marriage, full of love and hard work, children and biscuits, my grandpa passed away.  My grandma wore her wedding ring for fifteen more years, until she passed it, along with all of the memories of it held of Grandpa and his love and hard work onto me, on my sixteenth birthday.

4 facts about the 4th on the 4th

1. Even though Thomas Jefferson gets all of the credit for the Declaration he wasn't the only author.  He was just the primary one.  The Continental Congress appointed five men to do the job.  The other were: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman, and they were the ones that appointed Jefferson the primary author.  Adams and Franklin did make a few additions however.
2. Did you know that six Founding Fathers signed both the Declaration and the U.S Constitution.  They were: Benjamin Franklin, George Clymer, Robert Morris, George Reed, Roger Sherman, and James Wilson.
3. Did you know that nine signers died before the Peace Treaty of 1783 was signed to officially end the Revolution.  They were:  Button Gwinnet, John Hart, Joseph Hewes, Philip Livingston, Thomas Lynch Jr., John Morton, George Ross, Richard Stockton, and George Taylor.  
4. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson and John Adamswere the two final surviving signers.  They both died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration in 1826.  Adams last words were "Jefferson still survives."  Thomas Jefferson however had died five hours earlier.

Happy Independence Day!

30 things that i learned in the 30 days of june

1.     Wearing a knee-length skirt to go ice-skating in not a good idea.  When you fall on your bare knee it burns, really bad.

2.     Kids say the darndest things. 

My five year old cousin Fender:  I’m hungry.

Me:  Ok, what do you want to eat?

Fender: My mommy usually gives me chocolate doughnuts when I’m hungry.

Me:  Are you sure about that?

Fender:  Yep… I like chocolate doughnuts!

3.     My little brother isn’t a baby anymore.  Fourteen years old, I can’t believe it!

4.     I might be obsessed with Bible journaling

5.     It’s dark in Target when the lights go out.  I mean like can’t see your hand in front of your face dark.

6.     Chobani chocolate haze yogurt is delicious.

7.     Biology CLEP prep is a 37 week course!  So maybe I’m not going to CLEP out of Biology this summer.

8.     All clownfish are born male and the most aggressive one become the female of the bunch.  If the female dies, then a male switches his gender and takes her place.  I'm serious .We serve an amazing creator don’t we!  

9.     The F’s can keep a secret!  Thanks so much for surprising us with Hattie and Jordan’s big news.  Congratulations on the engagement, I am so happy for you guys!

10.  I have discovered how to tell my cousins 9 month old identical twins apart…have me smile at them.  Kara Lauren starts screaming and Lana Kathrine starts reaching for me.

11.  Reba and I are capable of being responsible adults.  Who knew driving into town by ourselves could be so much fun.

12.  I am an awesome swim teacher.  I got all three of my cousins back floating.

13.  Macaw parrots pull out their feathers when they get mad or stressed.  Poor Gus, he looked so pathetic.

14.  God created light and dark three full days before He created the sun, moon, and stars.  I’ve known this all of my life but I never really had thought about it.  “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” Revelations 21:23.

15.  Poor Reagan gets depressed when Harlie leaves her with us to dog sit.

16.  Don’t go into Walmart and expect to try on a shirt at ten o’clock at night.  It makes the lady very upset.

17.  Veggie Tales gets more and more amusing the older I get.

18.  You can give dogs a Melatonin if they get stressed during a thunderstorm.

19.  In our society today humans take nearly one trillion photos a year, which means that we are taking more photos every few minutes than in the entire nineteenth century.  

20.  Any time my sister shows me a new song, it follows me.  I mean I will have never heard that song before and after she plays it for me it will be on in every store I walk into in town.

21.  You can fix Earl Grey tea like iced sweet tea and it is delicious. 

22.  The traditional June wedding came about in the fifteen hundreds.  People would take their yearly baths in May and would wed in June while they were clean.

23.  The wedding bouquet is also from the fifteen hundreds and was carried to cover up the smell of body odor.

24.  This site is going to get me into a lot of trouble.

25.  My feet are too big to find any cute shoes.

26.  You can find anything on Pinterest.

27.   Sometimes all you can do is pray and let it go.

28.  I would rather watch cheesy TV shows from the sixties (aka. Emergency, Hawaii Five-0, Dragnet) and I blame my grandma completely. 

29.  Skirts with pockets are a rare luxury. 

30.  Never assume that cookies are chocolate chip, they might be raisin and that makes for a very nasty surprise.

O, What Peace We Often Forfeit

I am a perfectionist.

I am a planner.

I am a mother hen.

I am OCD.

I am a control freak.

     These are my flaws.  These are my daily challenges.  These are the character traits that I am constantly having to work to overcome and that I am struggling to learn how to use for good rather than harm. These are my personal, built in stumbling blocks.  These are the things that take away from my faith and trust in God.  These are the things that far too often steal my joy and peace.

     I like to have a plan.  Not only that, but I like to have a perfect plan that is safe, orderly, and does not change.  I like for my family, siblings, and friends to make the choices that I deem as acceptable and right.  I like to worry and fret and complain and discuss how I am right and my plan is the perfect, safe, orderly, and logical one when these things do not happen.  I also like to handle it all by my lonesome.

     All to while God is watching me wallow in my “perfection”, waiting for me to come and sit at His feet, and willing to listen and flood my heart with His peace that passes all understanding and to fill me with His unspeakable joy.  If I could only remember that all I can do is pray and trust God, how much sweeter would life be?

O, what peace we often forfeit,

O, what needless pain we bare.

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

     When I finally give up and realize that my human self cannot save the day and I finally run to the Lord, He is always, without fail standing with open arms.  He always washes me in His peace and joy. And, I always end up in absolute awe of how awesome and merciful He is to me.

The Desires Of My Heart

First come love.  I will meet Mr. Right and we will fall hopelessly in love.  We will save our first kiss until our wedding and will be the most happy and perfect couple that you have ever seen.  He will lovingly tease me and we will laugh together all of the time.  I will bake him cookies and he will call his sweet.

Then he will pop the question.  He will have asked my dad’s permission, will get down on one knee, and will use my full name.  Rebekah will be hiding in the background to capture the entire thing on film.  It will be a complete surprise.

Then comes marriage, preferably in the golden fall.  I will be 21.  It will be a small affair with close friends and family in my parent’s back yard under the big walnut tree.  My father will be the preacher and my sister will be my maid of honor.  Instead of a wedding cake, I will help my mom make a gigantic strawberry pie.

Next comes the happily ever after.  A little home just down the road from my parents with a wraparound porch and a beautiful view of the forest.  We will have a Border Collie named Charlie, two boys named Elijah and Josiah, two girls named Esther and Naomi, and several adopted children.  We will grow old together.

Yes, these are my dreams that I have made for myself in all of their glory.

The problem is that they are my dreams, not God’s plans. 

King Solomon plainly states that, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” Proverbs 16:9.

But, there is hope!

King David offered words of encouragement when he wrote, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” Psalms 37:4.

While there is no knight in shining armor riding his brave steed over the horizon, I know that the Creator of the universe, the one who knows the name of the furthest star that twinkles in the night sky and knows when the smallest sparrow falls to the ground.  The master of the world who paints the sunrises and the sunsets across the horizon with breath taking purple and pink hues.  He is the one who created my heart and He is the one who created this dream and placed it in my heart.  He knows when my prince charming will come galloping over the horizon on his brave white steed, and until that day, He is the one who will hold my heart.  He is the one who will fulfill me, even after my Mr. Right sweeps me off of my feet.  He is my first love.  He is the one who created me, knowing full well exactly when these dreams will come true and I know that it will be in His impeccably perfect timing.  I can rest in peace knowing that He is in full control of my future and not myself. 

Thank God.

28 Things I Learned in the 28 Days of February

1. You are never too old to get a Valentine's Day card from you grandma.
2. Hoop skirts are heavy.
3. Snow, That's all I'm gonna say, just snow.
4. 5 pound chihuahuas can't walk on ice.
5. Birthday parties in the dark are just as much fun (thanks F's).
6. Nutella is even better cold, who knew.
7. Roses can freeze if you leaves them out in the car when it is 15 degrees, but the amazing thing is that they thaw just fine.
8. I can eat 1/2 of a strawberry pie without getting sick.  Don't judge me, it was my birthday.
9. My sister can't be trusted.  
10. Sonic closes at mid-night, not 11 p.m., which is a very important thing to know when it is 10:43 p.m. and you have a group of 25 hungry people.
11. I will never understand people, no offence.  It's nothing personal, it's just that y'all don't make sense to me sometimes. 
12. My brother does not need espresso, 
13. My dad really can't cook, he isn't just faking it.
14. The Apostle Paul knew how to give an insult.  (Acts 23.3)
15. A gluten free diet is a little overwhelming, but I can do this.
16. Corn pasta is nasty.
17. Arkansas can have a winter, but it can stop now.
18. Before the throne of God above I have a strong, a perfect plea.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m4LMqQyH5Y)
19. If you stack candy corn up in a circle with the fat side out it looks like an ear of corn.
20. My sister likes the brake pedal.
21. I am a person of habit.  My mom pointed out that I eat one of two things everyday for lunch.
22. The Voice of the Martyrs has an app. 
23. I have an amazingly supportive mom.
24. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia has 35 letters in it and is the fear of long words, kinds ironic isn't it.
25. The Phone Tracker app completely drains your phone battery.
26. Marshmallows help sore throats.
27. Biscuits taste better when they are made in a dutch oven over an open fire. 
28. I don't know how to schedule a post  to, well, post, thus this being three days late.

today in nine words (well they are more like phrases, but that doesn't sound as nice)

* hot chocolate * foundations of education p. 215-234 * 

* mr. monk * homemade granola * 1 John * crackling fire *

 * late night reading * melting snow * baby calf *

A Godly man never indulges in a desire

that he cannot form
into a prayer to God ~ Unknown

oh the things that you can find on the world wide web

Psalms 65:8

From where the sun rises to where it sets, You inspire shouts of joy  ~ Psalms 65:8

For such a time as this ~Esther 4:14

     All little girls and boys have heard the story of brave and beautiful queen Esther.  How she was chosen to be queen and saved her people from evil Haman's plan to annihilate them.  She was placed in the kingdom for such a time as that.  A time when God would use her to save millions of people.  She did not do anything great or spectacular, she simply followed God and let Him use her to save his people from destruction.  
    God can use us too.  Just like he did Esther.  While we were more than likely not place in our current role in life to save an entire race of people, God can and will use us to do extraordinary things if we will just let Him.  Look for the opportunities that God places in your life.  Live life to the fullest and keep your eyes open, continually seeking out the open doors that He places before you.  Ask Him for the strength to walk through them.  Ask Him to use you in whatever situation you find yourself in at this very moment.  Our God is great and He can use the smallest most mundane moments in our life for His glory.
     Your "for such a time as this" moment could be helping an elderly lady across the street, or holding the door open for the mom with three toddlers and a crying baby at Chik-fil-a.  It could be as simple as smiling at the person sitting next to you in class.  If God can use you in just one persons life, to bless them in just one simple way, to encourage them and show them the love that God has so mercifully lavished upon us, then that day, no matter how hard, or boring, or routine it may have seemed was in God's plan and was used to glorify Him.

(my sweet little cousin on her 5th birthday)

the first day back to college and chocolate chip double doozies

     Well, yesterday was my first day of classes for this semester and I am happy to announce that all went well.  This semester is going to be new for me.  It is my first semester of education classes, and it is the first semester that my mom has not driven me into town.  Also, I have a mixture of both on campus and on-line classes which is going to take some work to juggle.  But God is good and faithful to His children and He blessed me with His peace and joy as I stated this semester of changes.  To celebrate the smooth start of this semester I made some chocolate chip double doozies and curled up and watched JAG.  Growing up, these delicious double doozie cookies were my treat for when we would take my grandmother shopping.  We would stop by the cookie shop in the mall and I would always pick these fluff-stuffed cookies for my payment.  Now that I have gotten older and am no longer rewarded with these sweet treats when I sped my afternoon shopping with my grandmother, I have decided to try and recreate them on my own.  I must say, I did a pretty good job.

The Cookie:

2 sticks butter softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 1/4 cup flour
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until it is creamy.
Add eggs and beat well.
Mix in the baking soda and the slat.
Add the flour, a little at a time.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoon full onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes or until they are golden brown and delicious.
Allow to cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes and then transfer onto a cooling rack.  Allow to cool all the way before you ice.

Butter Cream Filling:

1 cup shortening
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
10 teaspoons water
1 pinch of salt
Cream flavoring, shortening, and water.  
Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been mixed together thoroughly.  
Blend an additional minute or so until creamy.

Now for creating the sandwiches.  Smear the frosting on the bottom side of a cookie and smash another cookie on top. Continue until all of the cookies are partnered up.  Now, enjoy your chewy, fluff-centered cookies. 
Yields: 30 sandwiches

Back to Normality

     The Christmas tree has been taken down and the strings of sparkling lights have been wound up until next year.  All of the Christmas decorations have been placed back into hibernation until next year.  The Christmas goodies have been gobbled up with the exception of just a few chocolate covered pretzels that have survived and are sitting on the kitchen counter tempting me to finish them off.  I have bought my textbooks for the up and coming semester and am starting to prepare for classes starting next week.  The magic of Christmas is over for another year and it is back to normality.