Sisters

John 11:5 (NIV) Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

I dearly love Martha and her sister Mary! I have nothing against Lazarus, their brother, but I just can relate to the sisters so much. I even have a nickname for them........the M and M's of the Bible. God gave me a devotion on the sisters using the verses in Luke 10: 38-42. I have alot of fun with them but also have a tender heart for them. Whenever they are mentioned in scripture it is easy to feel the love Jesus had for them too. There is so much to talk about in this 11th chapter of John. It begins with the death of Lazarus, the sisters sending for Jesus, Jesus comforts the sisters, then Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

I wanted to share this verse today because Jesus has pressed it down on my heart for this week. Tomorrow would have been my sister Kathy's 59th birthday (March 31). Jesus has been so good to remind me that just as He loved these M and M's in the Bible, He so much loves me and loves my sister in Heaven. I draw much comfort from knowing He is loving her right now. She won't have a birthday tomorrow because she is where we will never grow old. I would like to think she is spending part of tomorrow with Martha and Mary. Kathy was so much like Mary and I am so much like Martha............we both would joke about that. I would not at all be surprise when she crossed heaven shores on September 9, 2008 Martha and Mary might have been there to greet her. That makes me smile because I know Kathy would have been grinning ear to ear to come face to face with those sisters! No doubt she would have told them her sister down here was another Martha...busy busy! I use to tease Kathy and let her know that wasn't it just like Jesus to say "He loved Martha and her sister" instead of saying "He loved Mary and her sister." Jesus would have known us "Martha" already knew he loved the "Marys" of this world because they were being still listening to Him! (Luke 10: 38-42) We needed to hear our name mentioned! He is such a Lord of details! Praise you Lord!

Tomorrow will be a difficult day for our family. We still miss Kathy so much. Our grief is for ourselves not for her. We know she is in a much better place and no more pain for her. We know from our faith in Jesus and His word that she would not want to come back once she crossed over into Heaven and experieced it. Through God' grace He has brought me to a place that I can say with a humbled heart I would not ask her to come back to this earthly life either now that she has experiecne Heaven. We hurt when our love ones leave this earthly life because we love. The love is greater than the hurt. Thank you Lord for allowing me to have my sister for over 58 years.

Precious Lord you know the inside of my heart, you know it is tender as I focus on what would have been Kathy's birthday tomorrow. Lord I lift up Rick, Christy, her Rick, Kurt, Nathan, Mother and the rest of our family to you as we go through tomorrow. Lord be with those reading this that are dealing with grief, minister to their hurting heart too. Thank you Lord that just as you loved Martha, her sister and brother, you love us and our families. Thank you Lord for the precious memories we all have of our loves one that are with you today. Help us Lord as we go through this earthly journey to keep building memories that will become so precious with the passing of the years. You are a God of compassion, help us to always show your compassion heart to others that need your touch. I love you Lord and praise you for fogrgiving me and allowing me to serve you. Amen.

Do you need a reminder today that Jesus loves you too? He sure does and always will. Are you missing love ones that are with Jesus now? I sure am . I think I might write Kathy a note tomorrow and read it to Jesus and ask Him to read it to her. There is no doubt in my heart, mind, and soul He will hear what I say! Thank you Lord! Also I think I will reach out tomorrow to someone that needs it and it be my gift in Kathy's memory.

Thank you for allowing me to share my tender heart with you today. Draw comfort from knowing as a child of God's one day in God's prefect timing we will be together with our love ones in Heaven.

Loving others to Jesus with you and loving you through Him, In His grip, Ginger

Bible Verse of the Week...Cheerful Heart

Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

We would all agree the importance of taking medicine the Dr has said we need to take and would encourage others that have health issues to be sure and take their medicine like the Dr said. But do we stop to really think about how importance a cheerful heart is for our well being? I believe with all my heart that we would not have some of the medicial problems we have if we focused more on keeping the heart cheerful. Looking at this verse we read the results of not having a cheerful heart............a crushed spirit. A crushed spirit is pretty powerful since we are told it will dry up the bones! It is healthful for us to be cheerful. A cheerful heart is one that is focused on the Lord, rejoicing in Him, serving Him with gladness and humbled before Him. A crushed spirit will contribute to the sickliness of the body. A crushed spirit is one that has not surrendered their life completelye over to the Lord. They do not give the Lord their burdens and concerns but instead turn them into worries. The worries and burdens keep the heart from being cheerful and crushes the spirit. What the heart is determines the kind of person we are.

My grand-daughters and I love to watch old movies together. My grandson will watch certain one but he is not into it like the 3 grand-daughters are. One of the movies I watch with the girls is Pollyanna. In the movie Pollyanna played by Hayley Mills , she is telling her aunt that things had been rough for her and her Dad, they had no money and times were very hard on them . Pollyanna went on to tell her aunt that during those rough times they played the "glad game" they would come up with things they could be glad for and that would cheer them up. After Pollyanna's dad died she was put in a orphan until she went to live with her aunt. She became the "Glad Girl" to those that she came in contact with because she always played the glad game her Dad had taught her when things were not good for her. This is just a movie but I see a wonderful principle here to live by..........positive thinking. Positive thinking is not based on everything being right but on us seeing good in the mist of all the wrong . We do this through our realtionship with the Lord. We don't live in a perfect world and there are no prefect people walking this earthly journey so there is no way everything is going to be the way we think it should be all the time. Difficult and painful seasons are apart of this earthly life just as the good seasons are. The cheerful heart comes from trustng the Lord in all the seasons.

Precious Lord and only Savior help us to remember we are the caregiver of our own heart. We have a choice through you how we treat this heart of ours. Keep in front of us that we can help ourselves be more healthy by giving it all up to you. Lord the best medicine we will ever take is a daily dose of you so help us to fill our heart up daily with you through being in your word, talking to you, and serving you. Lord your word tells us that out of the overflow of our heart the mouth speaks so help us remember that what is inside the heart will come out our mouth. We want to be the type of servants that speaks cheerful words over others not speak bitter words that wil crush their spirits. Lord we can do all things through you so give us faith to let you be the medicine that keeps our heart cheerful. I am so glad that we have you Lord. I love you and praise your name...Amen.

Catch Up - - - Warning - - - long post

Well, where to start??? It's been a while since I posted and we have been very busy. I'll start with Thanksgiving. I posted some photos, but didn't get a chance to tell you how much fun we had in Texas. Grandma, the boys and I had a good drive down. It was uneventful and a beautiful day to drive. On Wednesday we went over to Ginger's house and a friend of theirs came over to take photos of Grandma and the kids outside. That all went pretty well, other than everyone bribing Nathan to sit still and smile. I actually had to go inside the house. He can be so testy sometimes and I think my presence was making it worse. Imagine that! That's one time I was missing mom. She was so good at getting him to do what he needed to do and she never lost her patience. There have been a couple of times that she has taken the kids to get photos done without me even going. They both were always so good for her. Once we got thru with the photos, we went to ChuckECheese (a bribe for Nathan) and then we went to Wal-Mart (another bribe for Nathan)! Too many people bribing him!! He definatly knows how to work the system. Later that afternoon we went to the mall and to see a movie. We saw Bolt. Thursday of course we stuffed our faces with food all day at Stacy's house. And let me just add right here that Stacy is such a blessing to me. She has a lot of that patience that I was talking about earlier...reminds me of mom that way. Friday we went to Kohls somewhat early...9:00 I think...with Ginger. I'm having trouble remembering what else we did that day. Oh, yes, we went bowling and then the kids exchanged Christmas presents.

Saturday we took all the kids to a place that has laser tag, rock climbing, video games, etc. They had a ball! Kurt did his first official rock climbing and loved it! Photo is Kurt, Sara, Baylee, Kelby & Ryan.

My Rick & Grandma ended up going back on Saturday. Rick M, the boys & I went back Sunday. This trip was not so uneventful. The dvd player did not work until we were almost home, Nathan threw up in the car and we hit icy roads over the mountain on 540! So glad I had that "man" in the car I spoke of in my earlier blog!!

We also had our Thanksgiving in Russellville with Aunt Jane, Uncle Terry and the bunch down there. We again had way too much to eat and had a ball. We took the kids on a hay ride to the park and played for a while. It was pretty cold, but fun.

We have taken our annual trip to Silver Dollar City to see the Christmas lights. We barely saw the lights. We got there around 2:00 and barely made it to 5:30. It was FREEZING. I think the temp started out around 35 or so but quickly dropped and the wind was horrible!
At Branson Landing

Kurt got locked up while we were there!Nathan waiting for his favorite thing...the train! They always have Santa there of course. Nathan wouldn't sit on his lap, but he did write 3 letters and dropped them in Santa's mailbox. We also had our Christmas in Ft. Smith with Kristin and her family. I'm so glad that they live closer now. We get to see them a lot more often. The 4 boys have so much fun together.Of course we also had our Christmas at home. Rick M. spent the night with us on Christmas Eve so he got to witness the excitement of Christmas morning at our house. The kids played for a while and then we went to his house for Christmas dinner. I didn't feel ready to brave a turkey this year, so we cheated and got a ham from Honey Baked Ham. I made everything else, except the dressing and dessert. Grandma made her wonderful dressing and also a peach cobbler. We tried not to over do it on the food, but still had tons of food left over. Why is that???? Anyway, we had a good day. There were a few tears shed for mom, but we know that she was definately having a better Christmas than us!! Kurt made a Christmas card for Nana at school...

Both of the boys have such big and loving hearts!!!! Nathan was being very quiet one morning in his room and this is what I found... He was writing I love (heart) Jesus. Isn't that so precious?!?! I just love the backwards "S"

Let me close by saying that Ginger and Harv are here...got here today. It's a big week for us...Grandma's birthday (79 yrs) and Mom & Rick's anniversary is tomorrow, Nathan's birthday is Friday and the anniversary of Barry's death is Saturday. Please continue to pray for us.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and wish you many blessing for the new year!!

"If You Could See Me Now"

This was one of the songs Aunt Kathy had written in her bible - a song she wanted at her funeral. The words to this song are very meaningful and bring much comfort in the year of "firsts." It is an amazing feeling to know that she is in no pain, standing tall, walking the streets of gold and most of all looking at the face of Jesus. While she is greatly missed here now, I can't help but smile to know what she is doing now. I thought I'd share the words and you tube video with you.

Our prayers have all been answered. I have finally arrived.
The healing that had been delayed has now been realized.
No one's in a hurry. There's no schedule to keep.
We're all enjoying Jesus, just sitting at His feet.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

My light and temporary trials have worked out for my good,
To know it brought Him glory when I misunderstood.
Though we've had our sorrows, they can never compare.
What Jesus has in store for us, no language can share.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

If you could see me now, I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now, I'm standing tall and whole.
If you could see me now, you'd know I've seen His face.
If you could see me now, you'd know the pain is erased.
You wouldn't want me to ever leave this place,
If you could only see me now.

You wouldn't want me to ever leave this perfect place
If you could only see me now
If you could see me now
If you could only see me now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8g0fBEgP8

Uncle Rick, Christy, Rick, Kurt, Nathan & Grandma, we love you and are thinking of you always!

Love you all!
Stacy

Great Photo!!

Papa with Kurt, Jace, Nathan & Garrett. He loves his grandsons...and his granddaughters, but unfortunately they were not here the day this photo was taken.
We are going to Silver Dollar City this weekend to see the Christmas lights. We are looking forward to it and hoping the weather holds out on us.
Have a great weekend!

Thanksgiving in Texas & Breakfast with Santa

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I don't have much time today to blog, but I wanted to get these photos up so you could see them. The first ones are from when we spend Thanskgiving in Texas. The ones with Santa are from our Breakfast with Santa this morning. Hope you enjoy...Love, Christy

Bible Verse of the Week....

PROVERBS 11:25 (NIV)
A GENEROUS MAN WILL PROSPER; HE WHO REFRESHES OTHERS WILL HIMSELF BE REFRESHED.

Generosity is like a rare gem, don't you think? Not alot of us possess it, I know I am having to ask the Lord to help me be generous more than I should at this point in my life! When you see generosity it does seem to "sparkle" in the one giving it. What admiration it will bring from onlookers. I am asking the Lord today to help me be "sparkling" for Him. I need His help to be sure that I am not so focused on my own "busyness" that I am misplacing this precious gem called generosity. \

This past Thanksgiving holiday our family was so blessed to have Rick, Mother, Christy, her Rick, and their boys (my precious GRAND-nephews) Kurt and Nathan here with us. Us older folks had the blessing of receiving much generosity from these younger ones. Our daughter-in-law Tanya was so generous with her time that she got up at 3am Friday morning to start making homemade cinnamon rolls (she is a wonderful cook, just like her Mom) so that she could surprise us with them at our breakfast time. She was so excited that we enjoyed them.....she "sparkled" ! Our daughter Stacy was "sparkling" as she was making sure Kurt and Nathan saw and did lots of neat things here on the Gulf coast. Kelby, Baylee, Ryan and Sara enjoyed sharing their time with Kurt and Nathan so they too "sparkled" as they reach out in their love and excitement to have everyone here. They always had a hug for Uncle Rick and Mother...........how they were "sparkling". My son Russ and son-in-law Steven "sparkled" as they made sure they spend plenty of time with our family that came for Thanksgiving. I watched as they all hugged, laughed, and continue to built those precious memories with each other. In my eyes they were all "sparkling" just reaching out in love to each other. As I watched Christy sit our whole family down and stand in front of us with her arms loaded in gifts for the adults (the kids had already exchanged their gifts) she told us that she had shopped for Christmas for Kathy earlier in the year. Kathy loved Thomas Kincaid Santa Christmas ornaments. Christy had no doubt put lots of thought and time into the gifts because they are beautiful delicate little Santas, each different and unique. Christy could have easy kept these for herself since her Mom is spending her first Christmas with Jesus. There would have been nothing wrong with that had she chosen to do that. But that was not the case. She had wrapped each one and gave each of us one to hang on our Christmas tree until we too join our love ones in Heaven. What a precious kind-hearted act of generosity she displaced. My sister Kathy was very thankful and humbled for the young woman Christy has become but I want to say with a very humbled heart that Kathy would have been so blessed to know that Christy through her grief reach out with her generous heart and you could tell once she did it she too was refreshed. Like the verse says you can't be generous and it not come back to help you right where you are!

There are many example you can give of ways you see your love ones are being generous. I just share some of my life stories with you. We call our family the grace-soaked bunch because we know we are in need of God's grace each day. He is so generous with us and how blessed we are! We don't always do and say the right things but praise God we know who to go to when we do mess up. God is so generous to clean us up and keep using us.

Lord. thank you for memories we have of those we love being so generous and kind. Lord I pray for those that need a extra dose of you today. I thank you for being so generous with your grace to each of us. Lord help us in our busyness that we stop, be generous to others and take time to feel that peace that comes when we do what you say we are to do. In this busy holiday season help us to be generous in sharing the reason for the season with those you put in our path. Thank you Lord for forgiving us, loving us, and using us for kingdom gain. Keep us humbled Lord. Thank you for those reading this. I love you Lord. Amen

Through the grace of God allow Him to let you "sparkle" for His gain and glory and watch how you are refresh in who you are through Him!

In His grip, Ginger