This morning, after making the carpool run, I thought it would take me 5 minutes to water the flowers we planted in the cool of the evening.

But no. Something had been eating my hybiscus. They are 7 ft tall! Why would some measely bug think it could have a midnight snack on my beauties? Well, me and Sevendust will teach them a thing or two!!! OK, I confess. It didn't happen overnight. But it just didn't seem so bad when I first noticed it! Snuck up on me, I reckon!

As I started relieving the beloved plants of those holey leaves, I began to see a pattern. For every huge, bug-bitten leaf, there was already a teensy little sign of life coming in! That new life would have eventually bumped off the old, unhealthy one.

So life is. May we welcome those tiny, yet mighty growth patterns in our lives. Shed the old stuff...old habits...sinfulnesses...weakness...there's more to this life!

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:13-14

Baby Addison ~ Ain't She Sweet!!!

Welcome to the world, Little One!!!

passages

In the last 5 days, there's been a lot of excitement in our family!!!

Liz came home safely Sunday night...what a joy to have her home after 195,840 minutes away!! But who's counting!!!

We had about 100 ppl at our house as family and friends joined us in welcoming her home,
and celebrated Ruth's graduation!
In 172,800 seconds, Ruth will step into the world of high school graduates.
I wrote her a song, called Eyes of Blue...haven't recorded it yet, but she approved it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then, two nieces born in one week...oh...great nieces!!!

Two of my sisters are enjoying their grandaughters!!!
Congrats to the mommies, Rachel and Jillian!!!

And my cousin, Mary, had her baby today, too!!! Her first! Praise the Lord!!!
A long awaited arrival...Mary is about 40 yrs old!!! Oh, Praise Him!!!!

Can hardly wait to squeeze those babies!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But I'll wait a few weeks...Stephen came in from kindergarten today saying that only 9 of his classmates were in school today, out of 23.

Then we received this email:

Your child's elementary "had an unusually high absence rate today.
Seventy-six children were absent and about 10 were sent home ill.
The absences are particularly concentrated in kindergarten, with 28 children out.
Typically, there are about 25 student absences.
Vomiting appears to be a common symptom.
At this point, the cause of the illness is not known.

Our County Public Health and Environmental Services Department has been contacted as a precaution
so that this can be investigated.
The parents of children who are ill may be interviewed in an effort to determine the cause of the illness
and if any additional steps need to be taken for prevention.

And why did I insist that Stephen go to school today, even tho he complained of a sore throat? Because first, he said his foot hurt.
Then his arm.
And his knee.
Then he hid a shoe.
Doesn't he know I've been discerning the truth from "crying wolf" for almost 22 years?

And why did I think I'm right?
Now I'm just holding my breath,
hoping & praying he's not next on the list of sick kids in his class!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Randomness: I think grandniece would be a nice change of terminology! Then I could be a grandaunt instead of greataunt!

Don't You EVER

If you spill superglue on your finger, don't lick it off, even if it FEELS like a burn. It is not a burn. You'll be fine.

It does NOT taste like Elmer's. It is NOT harmless.

When we get to Heaven, you'll be able to pick me out of the crowd. I'll be the one STILL looking for something to wipe the smile that's glued on my face!

Well, at least I died laughing.

ps I got the glue off my tongue by scraping it on my teeth. Don't you EVER do that, either!!! hope it wears off before my next dental appt...

SoundClick Widgets

Gas is CHEAP????

"A typical latte costs $3.59 for 16 oz. That's 22 cents per ounce or $28.72 a gallon!"

Check out Dave Ramsey's article at:

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/newsletters/company/052308.cfm?ectid=cnl0805_06#1

It's a New Day for Dottie

Songwriter Dottie Rambo went to be with Jesus yesterday.

Everything Dottie wrote about,
she's now experience FACE to FACE!

I looked at her song isting on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_by_Dottie_Rambo
and there are many classics on there.
But among the more popular ones,
I found these to be particularly touching:

*I Want To Live So I Can Die Right
*My Visit To Heaven

She did, and she did.

Her life, and death, were no surprise to our Lord...and she's
complete in Him, bowing down before Him.
And think of all the other saints she's rejoicing with!!!

Greatly missed, but greatly appreciated.
She's touched lives in so many ways,
like yours, and in turn, mine.
Her investment here on earth was huge.

The first Dottie song I can remember singing
was in the late 70's
"Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome" ~
in my youth ensemble.

Didn't even know she wrote that, until tonight.
It's been forever in my heart.
Once again, I'm welcoming Him in this place.
Omnipotent Father, of mercy and grace.

Grieving ~ And Believing

I'm grieving with this family in our church....prayers appreciated.

Nancy was in my ladies' small group...she and her husband were in our Sunday School class. A precious couple. I can't believe he's gone. But I'm so thankful to know He loved the Lord Jesus.

http://ourtribune.com/article.php?id=3433

sad,
eva

edited to share a note:

I was crushed to get this news. Barry was able to be with the family, but I had to stay home with a sick kid, along with guys repairing our bathroom tile. I asked the Lord to let me "do" something, in addition to praying.

Later, God rattled my cage, and showed me that I'd turned inward, and that I needed turn outward and touch lives ~ to not let Chuck's death be in vain. The Lord gave me strength and wisdom. I burned 20 songs of mine, plus one in Spanish that my cousin wrote (put it first on the cd's in case it was the only one they heard)...the Father helped me to share my grief with these men...and to offer hope. Yes, there was a language barrier, but they understand life and death.

As they waited for their ride, I briefly shared the gospel. None of them knows the Lord YET. The oldest gentleman hugged the cd and said it is probably the only birthday he will get. I assured him that the Lord Jesus is the best present he could ever receive. And he said he'd listen tonight. They have my cell # and I encouraged them to call me if they want to talk about how Christ can make a difference in their lives. Of course, they nodded and thanked me graciously. Only God knows how hard or fertile the soil of their hearts are. Only He can do a work, and I trust Him.

Over and over again, the Lord reminds me to live each to the fullest. I pray you will, too. Really. We really don't know when it will be our last. Really.

So, if today was your last day, what would you do, to make a difference for Christ? Anything different than what you already did today?