Never too old for this.....................

The Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, MS is this week. Any one that knows Jim, KNOWS that he is there. Hopefully later in the week I will be able to post some pictures. Dan and Krisha went down on Friday night and stayed until Saturday afternoon with him.

It is just too hot this time of year for Eli and I to travel. Eli is currently on three pills a day for his allergies and only goes outside long enough to "do his business." (it was 102 here today!) We did ride around the block yesterday in the car (with the AC on HIGH) to give him an opportunity to get out for a little bit.

Tonight, we are watching one of my all time favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz. Isn't this the best movie ever? The best part is that you never get too old to enjoy it. I'm sure that Eli isn't enjoying it as much as I am, but he has been laying in my lap being attentive.

Don't you love the feeling watching an old movie can give to you! It floods you with childhood memories.

"Remember, A heart isn't judged by how much it loves,

but how much it is loved by others."

(The Great Wizard of Oz)

"Oh crap, she's up"

Be the kind of woman that

when your feet hit the floor each morning,

the Devil says "Oh crap, she's up!"

I ran across this on Myspace today. My first thought after reading it was,"wouldn't it be great to know that each morning when we awake, that the Devil is scared of us!" The Bible tells us that we can overcome the Devil if we just put on the whole armor of God.

Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist,

righteousness like armor on your chest,

and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace.
In every situation take the shield of faith,

and with it you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,

which is God's word.

Ephesians 6:14-17

Eli waiting on his dad to come home, and a beautiful creation by Krisha!

This is what Eli does every afternoon. He sits at the window waiting for his Daddy to come home from work. As soon as he sees Jim drive up, he runs to the door that is to the left of this window. He begins whining and circling, "begging" me to open it for him. Then, he is inside the laundry room, and does the same thing.........he whines and circles until I open that door, which leads to the patio. Once on the patio he can hear his Daddy saying "Where is my Eli" and Eli is going nuts looking at me until I open the wooden gate for him........then he runs to his Daddy and the world is at peace, if only for a moment!

(If you are getting tired of us talking about Eli so much on this blog, you are reading the wrong blog!)

However, I will add pictures of a beautiful cake that Krisha made for Mother's birthday. Just wish that we could be there to share in the fun!!!

Happy Birthday to my Mother

Mother celebrates her birthday tomorrow (July 18th). It is moments like this that we miss being "home" the most.

We hope she has a great day and many, many more birthdays to celebrate!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

The reason for the new song................

The reason I picked the song, "Home to you", isn't about Jim and I as a couple. It is about how much Jim and I LOVE coming home and being greeted by Eli! It is amazing how excited he gets when he hears Jim's truck pull into our driveway. He starts going from the window to the door, just barking and whining for me to let him out so that he can greet his Daddy properly! It is an amazing sight.

Jim has always said that he enjoys coming home and having those special moments with Eli. He says he can tell Eli all of the day's problems, and Eli always listens.......and agrees with his Daddy! I sometimes watch the two of them outside "talking" and it is so heartwarming to watch.

If Jim doesn't come home within the time Eli thinks that he should, Eli will sit at the window and watch for him.......and he will stay there.

Anyway, I heard this song recently and it reminded me of Eli and Jim's special time together in the afternoons and I wanted to share it with everyone.

However, I do love the fact that Jim comes home to me also!

It's allergy season at our house.

Eli's biggest health problem is his allergies. He gets allergy shots about every six weeks. Without the shots, he is tormented with itching, watering eyes and terrible skin problems. Along with his allergy shots, he gets Benadryl almost daily. It helps, however it keeps him drowsy too. Lately, his allergies seem to be working overtime with him. When he feels bad he will lay on "his couch" and rest. He looked so sad this morning!

If you don't know her, please get to know her!

I love reading anything written by Beth Moore. If you don't know her, please get to know her through her website (linked from my page). Below is an excerpt taken from her website describing her:
Known for presenting the Scripture in living color, Christian speaker, author, and ministry leader Beth Moore brings joy and excitement in Christ to life through words. Her deep love for the Savior is obvious; her style of speaking electric. She loves the Lord, loves to laugh, and loves to be with His people. She is passionate about women knowing and loving the Word of God, which she says is "life out of the pit" for her.

Beth and Keith praise God for 28 years of marriage. They enjoy traveling, hiking, drinking coffee on the back porch, eating Mexican food, making each other laugh, and being grandparents. The Moores live in Houston, Texas, with their dogs, Beanie and Sunny. They have two adult daughters, Amanda and Melissa. Amanda and her husband, Curtis, serve at a church in the Dallas area and have a one-year-old son named Jackson. Melissa, who shares her mother's appreciation for the Greek language, is completing her Master's degree in Biblical exegesis.

The most recent book I have read by Beth is called, "Jesus, 90 Days with the One and Only", it is a study of Jesus' life. Beth gives the reader the opportunity to "walk with Him through triumph and trail", and "to quietly sit at His side and awaken your spirit." I am looking forward to joining other women at my church (Cathedral in the Pines) this Fall for one of Beth's Bible studies.

Okay, one thing from her blog that I have to share with you is about her losing her two companions, Sunny and Beanie. I won't copy her word for word, but I want to share some of her feelings that Jim and I share with her and Keith about having a dog in the house. (Taken from her June 12th blog)

"My Dear Siestas, thank you so much for your love and kindness toward us in the loss of our beloved Beanie and in only three weeks from the day that we lost my constant shadow, Sunny. This time I didn't feel the least funny about you expending energy to pray for us, even if it seemed silly to some. Between the loss of them both, we are torn up. Just torn up. Have cried more in the last three days than I have cried in the last five years put together. When your kids are grown and you're nurturers by nature like Keith and I are, your pets have a whole different place in the home because you center so much of your activity around them and affection upon them. They are gifts from God to lonesome people. The four of us - Keith, Sunny, Beanie, and I - did everything together. We even took them to Sonic and knew what they liked to order."

"So many of you were right on target: It won't be long till we fill our house with puppies again. We'll take a little while to recover then dive back in. And they'll drive us crazy for two solid years and chew up half the furniture. And we won't care because Keith and I are dog people, plain and simple. Keep the fancy house. We'll take rompin' stompin' dogs. Tranquility never has been what we've looked for in a home. We like L-I-F-E even if it covers the couch with fur. "

To read her entire posting, go to her website: http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/

To read about the passing of Sunny, "The Passing of a Wonderful Dog" (May 27, 2008) http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2008/05/passing-of-wonderful-dog.html

and to read about the passing of Beanie, "Our Darling Beanie" (June 12, 2008) http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2008/06/our-darling-beanie.html

I find it very comforting to know that Jim and I are not the only people that consider our "four-legged" children true gifts from God!

Also, for all of you ladies that love to cook, this blog has some great recipes!

(The picture above is of Beth with Sunny, to the right is of Keith with Beanie)

A friend loves at all times. (Proverbs 17:17)

One of the things I like about moving so much is the friendships that I make along the way. However, one of the things I dislike about moving so much is having to leave those friends behind.

The saying is true, "There is no place like home", and I cherish the friends I have back home in Alabama with all my heart. But, I made some wonderful friends while living in Oklahoma that I still stay in touch with.

It means so much to be able to share stories with them of our children getting married, having children, getting degrees, new jobs, loves found and loves lost. While in nursing school, I made friends with so many wonderful, special people. But, these two are on my heart today and I want to say how much they mean to me.

Jerri and Dana, I love you guys!

Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional!!!

Change can be tough but how much misery should we endure before taking it as a sign to move on. Is this really a “cross to bear” or is it the only way God knows how to get our attention?

Recently, my job situation deteriorated to the point where I had no other option but to get out. I am trusting God to use this situation to accomplish something good for me in the long run.

I believe that God used this circumstance to make sure I will be where He wants me to be, when he says it is time for me to be there. I am putting my career path into God's timing, instead of my own.

The Bible tells me this is only for a short time, and that if I have faith and give it my best, he will make me part of something bigger, and that my work will have eternal significance.

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. "2 Corinthians 4:17

God has already spoken that he has great things in store for me. I received the following email, the day after I left my job from a person that has always been an inspiration in my life and has kept me in her prayers since the day I was born, my sister.

"Just want you to know I am praying for you. Woke up Sat. morning about 3:00 and felt like I was having a heart attack, I couldn't breath and felt God wanting me to pray. Several issues were brought to my heart and I began to just cry and pray. He placed you in those thoughts, and as I prayed I thought of your compassion, your tendernes-yet toughness, and thought of all the people you are coming in contact with through your work. I know you are a help to them from your medical knowledge, but what is just as important is your love for them and how you connect with them. Krisha had told me about the autistic man and how you are the only one that can deal with him--God wanted me to tell you there are many others you will help, many others that will see your true concern for them when other nurses or doctors can only help them medically. I have faith in you, faith in your true concern for those you come in contact with--just be you--that will be enough, they will see how special you are and they will trust you, and reach out to you---and God will give you whatever you need to get you thru.

I know in the future I will say, "Leaving that job is the best thing that ever happened to me." So, I refuse to be miserable about it. I will stop having feelings of being a quitter or failing, because I know in my heart I gave it my all. I realize that it wasn't where God needs me to be. I'm letting go and giving God my attention to put me where I belong.

Phone call from a little redheaded angel

Chloe surprised Jim yesterday by calling him at work. He was in a business meeting when his phone started vibrating, he looked and the caller id read it was Anita. He excused himself from the meeting, stating that he had to take this call.........little did he know that when he said hello that it would be Chloe on the other end!

Apparently Anita had told Chloe that they were going to visit Dan and Krisha, but Chloe had another trip in mind, "Go see Jim" she politely stated to Anita. When Anita explained that they were going to see Dan and Krisha and not Jim (and Darlene too!) Chloe stated her request a little stronger, "No, Jim!"

So, the next best thing was for Anita to let Chloe call and talk to Jim. Apparently they had a very interesting conversation with Jim saying, "I'm gonna get you" and Chloe responding with her famous words, "Get!"

Later that afternoon Jim and I went to see the new children's park in our subdivision. Not looking at the new swings, slides and sandboxes, but at a man and his little boy walking down the sidewalk (the little boy had his cap on backwards, he was adorable!) Jim stated that he could have a blast with one of those! Until our own grandchildren come along, we will cherish every moment we get with our precious little redheaded angel, Chloe.

Hopefully she will get to visit us in Texas and play in the new playground this summer!

Eli is still doing it..............

In a previous post I told how Eli went to the closet where I had been hiding all of his birthday presents and laying at the door. (He obviously was thinking that there was MORE goodies behind this door!) He is still doing it! Poor guy.