Fifty-five Years of Studly

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Studly Man. Such a cowboy! I think this was when he still lived in Peru and his dad's job on a zillion acres owned by W.R. Grace permitted access to ponies. I love his little outfit, his saddle oxfords, and the way his two-gallon hat sits back on his head.

Cute back then.

Still cute today.

His hat is bigger. His pony has been replaced by a Faithful Friend, and his toy six-shooter is now a real pistola.

Oh, yeah. And he grew a beard.

Happy birthday, Studly. Although you're officially a double-nickle senior citizen, you'll always have that little boy charm that warms my heart.

I love you.

Still Considering the Iris

Days later, and I'm still marveling at both the handiwork of God and how well my little camera captured it!



The colors: some bold, some pale.

The frills: some delicate, some strong.

The blooms: all breathtaking, all proof of the Creator's endless imagination.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

Still more to come. Check back soon!

Consider the Irises and How They Grow

In our yard in Virginia, my mom grew some of the most beautiful iris flowers I've ever seen. I've always loved them. So elegant. So delicate. So lovely.

Studly and I took a Sunday drive this afternoon.

To see beautiful iris flowers.

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:27

More to come. Stay tuned!

No Itching Here

Seven years ago today, I married my best friend.

Since then, life has been crazy and fun and full of surprises and adventures. Most of them have been wonderful; a few have been difficult. All of them have been easier because we've had each other.

We've laughed. A lot.

We've journeyed through life together.

We've cried some, too.

And we've had our communication challenges and our moments when communication simply didn't exist. We've frustrated each other. We've even made each other angry.

But those things make us human.

It's hard to remember life before April 20, 2002. Life before sharing a bathroom and fighting for the covers on a cold night. Life before the inevitable toilet seat up-versus-down debate. Life before the risk of having someone else eat your leftovers before you could get to them. Life before sharing the remote control. Life before splitting holiday and vacation time between TWO families.

But I wouldn't trade any of it. (Okay, I'd trade the toilet seat being up in the middle of the night.) Because through all of those adventures, we've become a team. We've built a home together that is a haven for us. We've grown a ministry together. We've become family.

Happy anniversary, Studly Man.

I love you.

Doesn't Everyone?

The Gregorian calendar says today is April 6. That's 17 full days after the beginning of Spring. More than two weeks! The vernal equinox marks the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring.

So why is it supposed to get down to 28 degrees tonight? Unless I remember incorrectly, that's below freezing. And temperatures below freezing don't occur in Texas 17 days after the first day of Spring.

Wasn't there some big movie about the Earth having a fever and the giant threat that is global warning?

Guess Al wasted his money on that!

FREEZING!

In April!

My local nursery and the weathermen on every channel were kind enough to warn me to bring the plants in. So I did what any smart wife would do. I asked Studly to bring in the potted plants.

He's such a good boy. He did it!

(I'm keeping him.)

I walked by the bathroom on the far side of the house a while ago. Something seemed strange.

I turned the light on in there, and this is what I found:


The bathroom has become a temporary greenhouse.


Doesn't everyone store potted plants in the shower?

If they have to stay in there very long, it will be easy to water them. That Studly is genius. Pure genius!

Letting Sleeping Dogs Lie

Because they're so sweet when they're sleeping....

BigDog was asleep on the portion of the ottoman not occupied by Studly's legs, and Little was asleep on said legs, almost nose to nose with his sister.

Ahhh.... the quiet!

The Mantel

When I was growing up, I always loved to visit my grandparents' homes. They were always full of wonder and interesting and different things than were seen around our house.


My dad was raised by his grandparents. They were the sweetest people. Most knew them as Stewart and Eugenia (or "Eugie" for short). I knew them as Nana and Gimpa. (Yes, Me-Again, I know. If I said "Stewart and Eugenia," I should've said "Gimpa and Nana," putting both references to them in the same gender order. But we didn't call them "Gimpa and Nana;" we called them "Nana and Gimpa." Deal with it. Love you.)

Ahem.

They lived in this big ten room house at 1829 Belleville that they purchased in 1926. (Picture taken in 2007. Still looks good!)They raised my dad in it and still lived there by the time Me-Again and I came along. We loved to explore the attic (the two small paned and gabled windows at the top) and wander through Nana's pantry to see what goodies might be awaiting us if she hadn't just made a fresh batch of her famous custard. Oh, how I'd love to have some of that custard now!

Visiting Nana and Gimpa and PawDad (my dad's dad who lived with them in his later years) was especially fun at Christmastime. Everything sparkled and was so lovely... a fantasy land for a little girl. In Nana's huge dining room, there was a table in front of the tall window that held the most wonderful ice skating scene made with a mirror, rolls of white cotton and darling plastic "skating snowmen" whose knapsacks held real lollipops that good little girls were allowed to sample. It even had little green pine trees that stood in the snowy cotton to complete the outdoor scene.

Perhaps our favorite thing in the house was The Mantel. Its crowning glory was the nativity scene she placed in the center. Nana bought in 1908 for PawDad's first Christmas. Every year she put it up with care, and she even wrote out directions for placement of each figure in case someone else had to put everything up in her absence. They included such details as placing the camel with the broken nose facing a certain direction "as if he was wandering off" so the broken part didn't show so much. Dad still has those written instructions.

Eventually Nana gave Daddy that nativity and Santa's sleigh with white plastic reindeer that went on one end of the very long mantel. (The other end had a gorgeous white church with a rotating color wheel in front of it. We loved watching the colors change. I'm sure one of Dad's cousins has the church now.) The nativity has been displayed on the mantel at Mom and Dad's house all these years since, and this year, it is 100 years old. One hundred years old. A century has passed since these small figures where purchased by a loving mother for her firstborn. I didn't realize it until just recently, but that mantel manger scene was part of the faith legacy of my family that was being passed on to me, even before I was born.

Check out these pictures.
PawDad (my grandfather) is in the center, and Gimpa (my great-grandfather) is on the far right. The nativity is behind them.
Taken the same year, this picture cracks me up. So serious! I always remember Nana as jolly and happy and one who loved to laugh. Front row starting at left is my great aunt Ida Belle (PawDad's sister), my Nana who is holding Baby Gail (Ida Belle's daughter), and that cute little guy on the end is my dad at age ten. The back row left to right is my great uncle Stewart (PawDad and Ida Belle's brother), my PawDad, and my Gimpa. Again the nativity is behind them.

This picture was taken when my mom and dad had been married for just six months. Still newlyweds! Left to right, my Nana, Uncle Stewart, Uncle Buck (Ida Belle's husband), my PawDad, Aunt Ida Belle, my dad (seated on the arm of the chair), and my oh-so-serious mom. The little girl in front is one of my dad's cousins, but I'm not sure which one.

Here's the nativity as it looks at Mom and Dad's house in 2008. Dad put the reading lamp in front of it for photo lighting.

Here's Santa's sleigh with the reindeer. Never mind that the reindeer:

a) are of different species and sizes.

b) are 30 times larger than Santa himself.

c) have beady little red eyes.

Obviously Nana used her imagination in combining reindeer and Santa sleigh pieces she came across over the years. It makes me smile just to think about her and the many funny things like that she did over the years.

I'm glad this nativity came to reside with us. Nana died after we'd moved from Virginia to Texas. I was in my early teens. Gimpa and PawDad had both passed on by then, and I never went in that beautiful old house again. I hope the people who live in it now can somehow feel the warmth and love we always felt inside its walls.

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas, you beautiful old nativity scene!

I'm Thankful

I'm thankful that God loved me SO much He sent His only Son to die in my place. Grace so undeserved.

I'm thankful to live in a country where I'm still free to worship and live my life as a fully devoted follower of Christ, a privilege I don't take for granted and pray will remain.

I'm thankful for godly parents who love the Lord first, then each other, and then their children in ways that have always pointed me toward Jesus. They have sacrificed so often for me and for my sister.

I'm thankful for a loving sister who is an amazing, talented, wonderful Christian woman and friend. I'm thankful for her newfound (found again?) happiness with her husband.I'm thankful for her kids, the two greatest nieces and greatest nephew God ever created. They are joys!

I'm thankful the Lord added to my family by giving me the wonderful gift of my precious Studly Man. He makes my life complete.

I'm thankful for Studly's folks who have embraced me as their own and show love so freely.

I'm thankful for Studly's sister and her precious family who are wonderful examples of sacrificial love. (All four kids are adopted.)

I'm thankful for Studly's brother and his wife who bless us with their kind hearts.

I'm thankful for one very energetic and loyal BigDog and the joy she brings to our home.

I'm thankful for her little brother who makes me smile every day with his sweet cuddles.

I'm thankful the Lord sees fit to use us and that big dog in minstry to bring His love to kids who need to know Him.
I'm thankful for a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church that is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, refuses to compromise the Truth, and reaches out to the world with His love.

I'm thankful for an amazing friend who has known all my secrets for 30 years and loves me any way.

I'm thankful for a wise friend who sees the best in me even when I can't.

I'm thankful for a sisterhood of friends who hold me accountable and encourage me to follow Jesus.

I'm thankful for my job and the privilege of working with some awesome ladies.

(no, of course that's not me... just the only picture I could find of a woman working at her desk.)

I'm thankful for all my bloggy friends and their wonderful encouragement in my life.

My prayer for each of you this Thanksgiving is that your heart and home be filled with love and joy as you count your many blessings from above.