Green Grass..

Do you often look at people you envy (I know God says not to do this) and say "I wish I could be them". Well... I'm beginning to see the grass is not always greener on the other side. As a Christian, walking this road of faith can be a real hard road to haul. Sometimes keeping the faith can be a real battle with the world pulling and tugging at you everywhere you go. No matter how great you see that person or family you would like to be...they too have battles and struggles they go through. We are all on a different part in this road of life and faith. It's how we react to the road blocks that come up from time to time, that allow us to continue to move forward or reverse. I prefer moving forward, but that is not always the case. I realise my God is right there with me during those times of idling and even the times of reverse. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." When I placed my life in God's hands, I made a choice to follow Him no matter where that road leads. It's the tough times that mold us and allow us to someday minister to someone else who may be going down that same road we have traveled. I know for me, I would rather have counsel from someone who has "been there and done that".


Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this
statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered
to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their
next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch
him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest
beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the
silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He
explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle
of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought
again about the verse that says:

"He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front
of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that
yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his
eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a
moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do
you know when the silver is fully refined?"
He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in
it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye
on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Emily and Eric...It's set in stone!

We have a new addition!!!!!!!!!

Today our baby girl is officially engaged to Eric Jackson. I am so proud that she chose to listen to the Lord. I can't wait to see what God has in store as we embark on this new season of raising kids. Congratulations Eric and Emily!

Irish Blessing...

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Oh Say Can You Sing?

Today our daughter had an audition to sing the National Anthem for our new minor League team...the Gwinnett Braves. We arrived at the church where the auditions were being held just before the doors opened. I think I was more nervous than Jessica was and I wasn't the one singing. We sat and listened to many individuals sing their 90 second version of the National Anthem. Some were good and some were just plain bad! I felt like I was watching American Idol,except everyone was singing the same song. Now I can't get the National Anthem out of my head...I would really be ok if I never heard it again. Jessica finally had her chance at performing.She did fine, but half way through lost her note and stoped to correct it. Jessica has a beautiful voice and I love to hear her sing. She just needs to work on her confidence and her stage presence. I really think if she can overcome these she would do really well. On a positive note... at least she didn't have Simon as a judge!
Overall it was a great day...I got a chance to spend time with my daughter and hear her sing the National Anthem.


There is two people I need to mention, Lindsey and Rachel. These two girls made today possible.This weekend I ended up with the flu and really didn't feel to good. Kelley and Justin went on a trip to Kentucky,so that left me and the girls. Lindsey and Rachel...along with Megan helped with Mackenzie so that I could take Jessica to her audition today. After watching the girls all day they even cleaned the house...kitchen(even mopped),folded laundry,cleaned and vacumed the living room. Wow was I impressed...they have really blessed me today more than I could ever express to them. I love you girls! I am so very thankful to have you for my daughters.

Serious Life Magazine...Check it out!

This is a new online blogger magazine I happened upon. Click on the photo to view the March publication.

Back to school....

Well....the kiddos are going back to school tomorrow. They have been home for two days...Monday was because of our snow blast to end the winter. However no school on Tuesday was quite strange. The snow and ice on the roads were all melted, so the roads were fine. Because of the weight of the snow on the trees, a large amount of Jackson County residents lost power from the trees falling on the power lines. We only had a couple of power surges during the bad weather, but never lost ours. Hopefully all this wet weather will help the lakes to fill back up in time for summer. I know I'm ready for our weekends at the lake...now if we can just get that house built.

The past few days have been fun....but I'm ready to get back into a routine! As you can see from the above picture my kids aren't to happy....:>(

Snow* Snow* and more Snow* !

Click on each picture to see the details....

Georgia we have snow....and lots of it out here in Jackson County. The day started out with a call from Delta cancelling Kelley's flight for 6:30 this evening. They automatically booked him for the next day.The reason was ...snow. SNOW, it had been 65 degrees the day before and all we have had is rain,there is no way we will have enough snow to cancel flights to Orlando. After much persistence to the fact he needed to be there today,he was booked on an earlier flight. Well about noon the ice started falling. Then along about 1pm here comes the snow and huge flakes that looked like feathers. What a beautiful sight! Kelley decided to drive himself to the airport. Well, he made it to Jimmy Carter blvd. and had to turn around. When he left we may have had a 1/2 inch of snow. By the time he made it home we had 3 inches and it was still coming down hard, the roads out our way were covered. I must confess, I was praying for a flight cancellation! The kids had a blast making snow balls and snowmen. Emily and Eric tried to leave but couldn't get out of the driveway. After a little shoveling, they managed to make it to the road.

We spent the day by the fireplace and taking pictures of the kids. Not to mention keeping all the hats,gloves,scarves and coats picked up and hung up to dry. Snow day tomorrow for my crew! Kelley will be trying to fly out tomorrow, I hate when he goes out of town.