*Moving on cheerfully while having a cold and sore throat
*Caring for aging parents
*Fearing I’m not learning at the rate I should
*Having patience
*A dead car
*Waking up to no pleo-gold status
Some delightful things:
*Having aging parents to care for
*Having invested the last 24 years in my children instead of the stock market, so that I’m having such good returns
*Beautiful weather
*A body that fights sickness so that it won’t last long
*Prospective visits *Children’s books
*Children
*Good men *A new car (Goodbye, Reepacheep!)
*Amazing friends (which I don’t dare try to link)
*Having a group of such wonderful and encouraging young people at a nearby college
*My Plant City family
*Having Emma and Jesse here each day
*My Father, who shares my burdens and has a Plan
Ohh, I ~really~ think those are very stylish. That was my second choice after the Honda we bought. I'm very happy you have a nice, new, sure-to-last-a-long-time car.
#2 under delights...that is just so true and even though it is still difficult to go to work and leave my baby, I know that the Lord will one day grant us the ability for me to stay home. Until then, I'm just trying to soak up every possible minute with my boys. And thankfully I have a lot of time off the next couple of months. One of the nice perk of being a teacher I guess.
I am SO excited about Thanksgiving. With Tim and the girls being gone, I was going to be kind of blue, but now it'll be great! Although, I know your cooking is wonderful, I don't think Tim's going to turn down a fishing weekend to come to dinner. :D I am anxious, too, for Will's appointment tomorrow. We just have to get him well. This has just been going on way too long. I'll talk to you soon!
And, true, the difficult things can be a blessing for us even if we don't feel like they are at the time being. I just wish I had aging parents to care for.
Thanks. I can't wait to get our copy or else get Ben home on Tuesday--whichever comes first! :^) And I agree; I think investing in our children was much wiser in the short term, long term and eternal term!
Nothings happening with the house. I met with the realtor and it isn't as if other houses are being chosen over ours, no houses like ours have sold in our area at all. We have an interesting proposition to consider: a family in Peoria needs to move up here and, like us, nothing is happening with their house. They would like us to consider "renting" each others homes until one of them sells. That's all I know, I was contacted by a friend of mine there about it and don't know the family or the house at all. I told her that, sure, she could give them our e-mail. I don't know that we would do it.
We really were surprised to see Ben in Gettysburg today. Pleasantly surprised! It would be wonderful to walk into services one Sunday morning and find you there! Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
For those of you who know my husband (and me), you will be surprised to hear that we are going to a party tonight. It is hosted by Mark and me at the student center at FC. IT BEGINS AT 10:45 P.M. and is called the "Phi Theta Kappa Election-Night Extravaganza." We will pray, sing, and watch the election returns for hours and hours. We will eat and laugh and maybe cry. I even have coloring pages of the US map so we can color in the red and blue as the results come in!
I hope you have someone with whom to share this evening and the wee hours. My thanks to my friend Amanda who reminded me of the following passages from our Father:
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment...Pay to all what is owed them...respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." Rom. 13
"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved." Phil 3:20-4
UPDATE: We started so late because we couldn't have the student center to ourselves until then. Last election when we did this, we were there all night, and we still didn't know the verdict when we left. It was an exciting night. This time, sadly, the end came sooner than I'd hoped. I was in bed by 1:30. We did have a great turnout, and I hope no germs were shared....
No way! Mark and Melanie beginning a party at 10:45 PM!?!?
I have no one with whom to watch. :-( My hubby isn't going to stay up, I know. He's not even watching with me now. Hope you have a good night and stay awake!
I think it would uplifting to watch the election results amongst believers. I'm glad you enjoyed it. When I saw it started at 10:45 I hoped it wasn't over before you started.
It is hard to imagine you being up so late. Like many, we prayed off and on all day during the election, but that night we rented a movie. Call it denial.
Rosemary and Wes are coming to visit me. They get here in about 2 hours and will be here til Tuesday. I am looking forward to their visit. I wish you could come too.
So glad he and you liked those cherries. Well, at least he did! I seem to remember he and I like cherry pies etc, but you and Mr. Berry do not; am I right about you? I know I'm right about Mr. Berry; he hasn't tried the dried cherries!
It's our dear Joseph's birthday, and it brings back many fond memories. I am so happy and grateful that he has a loving and industrious wife to take care of him -and to make his favorite cake, even though her dippy mother-in-law left out one ingredient on the recipe card. Luckily, Lauren is pretty sharp and caught that.
Only in Florida do you come away from Halloween with a collection of mosquito bites.
One of the funniest things I've ever seen was Jesse in an inflatable basketball costume. Pictures soon. Sadly, Emma's homemade costume with fabric paint design was sat upon while still wet. Poor Emma, or poor friend who sat upon?
Be careful to remember where you hide the Halloween candy you buy two weeks early because it's on sale and you have a great coupon.
Please carve out some time and pray fervently today and tomorrow for our country and its leaders.
I wish you lived closer! The great thing about forgetting where you put Halloween candy is that eventually you'll find it and you won't have any little treaters at your door to share it with.
I think you should share with Lauren and Joseph how I helped make his pie a reality -- standing dripping wet just outside the tub trying to picture the recipe -- one I haven't made in at least a year. Glad it worked out. :)
I was Nanny McPhee, complete with a pretty much perfect unibrow (google it if you haven't seen a picture from the movie!). In fact, the almost-a-unibrow was so perfect I had THREE people honestly ask me if it was real and did I normally shave it? Awkward.
It's amazing how this weather can make me want to laugh and cry all at once: it brings back such happy memories of my childhood (playing outside, football games, and Thanksgiving Day parades), and it makes me miss the times and people who were part of those memories (my mamaws and my daddy). It also reminds me of lovely days in Germany, NC, PA, and TN when my children were babies and growing up --when we raked leaves, played tag, built scarecrows, and played in the snow.
Okay, so it's not THAT cool, but it is very, very refreshing. :)
Hello dear one. I have a fire in the fireplace as the wind and rain are blowing outside. I've got to go get our dog, but my real desire is to curl up in front of the fire with a good book or maybe P&P or maybe the Bronte family movie I have been slowly working to finish. Then there is the laundry and unpacking to do.... but my, that fire is cozy-looking and cozy-feeling!
I'm sitting here eating a cold sandwich and thinking it needs some hot soup to go with it! The boys and I just returned from BB's -- we took a drive up a nearby mountain afterwards and drank in the gorgeous leaves. The peak is right about now.
Well, you won't have to miss me for too much longer because I am going to be down for a visit in about eight days! I am pretty exited to say the least. Will I get to see you while I am down there?? Thanks for being such a blessing to all who know you! I want to be like you when i grow up. :)
We are in Williamsburg this week and it is quite cool here. The wind has been blowing all day today. It is so cold but we have been enjoying the day. We were going in and out of buildings today at the Williamsburg Pottery.
Hey Melanie. I never thanked you for my birthday gift. Not many people called or remembered my birthday so it meant a lot to me. I didn't hear from anyone in my family, except my sister.
I'll email you sometime in the next 24 hours... until then, your suspense level will spike and then, when you read my email, it drop significantly and you'll wonder why you even wondered. :)
If you're within a few hours of Plant City, FL, it would be worth your while to come to this series of Bible lessons presented by Sewell Hall.
Services are Sunday night 6 p.m., and 7:30 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings.
There is a ladies' Bible class on Tuesday morning at 10:00.
Everyone is welcome!
This morning's lessons were humbling and enlightening and encouraging and reviving. Praise God for His Plan, good men who teach His Word, and for opportunities like these.
The weekend was simply lovely -- while you visited with Amanda, I saw a photo of two of your kids in the PA/FC graduation picture on Jeff and Libby's fridge. :) Will email you soon. :)
Melanie- Thank you for feeding my son tonight. He said he loved the food and the company. Also, Betty Lockamon said she saw you all in TN over the weekend.
Thank you so much. We are very excited, but it is really difficult being very long distance grandparents! She is absolutely gorgeous and they are both very excited. When Eddie called to say she was born, he said, "Mom, she's the prettiest baby I've ever seen!" My reply, "Surprise, surprise." He said, "No, I mean it. She has the most beautiful face." We have got to see live video of her over Skype.
Do you know of anyone on Pleonast from the Zephyrhills congregation? I'm following up on a request for financial assistance from someone there and want to verify it is accurate.
