Getting There...

Slowly but Surely! I have been working on my husband's office at the church the last couple days...here's what we have done so far. I still have tons of work to do, such as paint the crown molding and get it put up, finish hanging his wall decor, put his books in the bookshelf, setting up a new computer, the list never ends. At least we are at a stage where it's usable and can tell that we are making progress. Here's a few pics and I'll post more when I finish.





By the way, the picture of Landon above his desk is the picture that I won when I hosted the giveaway from UPrinting.com. Isn't it awesome?

We had the best time ever visiting my family and our friends in Grand Prairie, Texas this past weekend. I was able to spend lots of quality time with my parents and was
even able to see my brother and sister and their families. They came in while we were in town. I'm thankful to have parents who truly love their children and show it. It was the greatest feeling to see my mother and dad smiling so much because their kids and grandkids were around.

Now, we're back home and it's business as usual, so to speak. My in-laws are leaving Sunday afternoon after service to try and take a vacation for two weeks. We are praying that God will continue to give my father-n-law strength and that he will be able to enjoy some much needed time away. Please say a word of prayer for him and that he will continue to gain strength and be able to eat and hold his food down. He's lost so much weight, but we are believing that God is touching him and healing him completely. He's getting better...slowly but surely...he's getting there!

Wordless Wednesday

Today's Wordless Wednesday is being hosted by Simply Joyful Photos...head on over for some great photos. Today is Bloggers Choice.




Although this one is not actually a wordless photo, it is one of my favorites!

The Human Touch

Ever stopped to think about how little the human touch is used in todays world? I was online tonight and read the status update of a friend of mine on Facebook when I was suddenly struck by a strange thought. She is really going through some tough times at this present time and several people had made remarks of support and commented that they were praying for her...for her to call if she needed anything...etc. Well, when I went to make a comment to her, I was struck by one thought. 'I wonder if she needs a human touch...something tangible like a hug, a smile, a face she can see?'

I couldn't help but think that in todays world all these tangible things are being replace with the modern things. Handshakes are being replaced by keystrokes, Personal conversations are being replace by text messages, phone calls replace a nice visit with a warm cup of tea or a cold drink; it seems we are just not using the human touch as much as we used to. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all the modern techonology and all the ease it brings to our lives, but I don't want to forget the effect that the human touch has on our lives.

We can all recall moments in our lives when the touch of a hand on our shoulder or a hug from a best friend was all that we needed to help calm our fears, lower our anxiety, or dispell us from our loneliness. There have actually been times when no words were spoken to me, but just someones touch communicated all that needed to be said. Touching is an act of love or a way for us to communicate without words. A human touch can reassure us like nothing else can. When a baby is born, one of the first things they are introduced to is the mother's touch.

I've watched my little Landon when he is exploring things for the first time...he touches the object of interest over and over again. He is curious and wants to learn of the object by touching it and getting a feel of it. It's almost as if his hands are the windows of his mind and he can see and learn of the object much more clearly by touching it. I've noticed that when he really wants to get my attention, he will touch me...sometimes with that annoying continual tapping that will drive a mother insane...but it's a touch nonetheless.


Sometimes I think that we forget the importance of the human touch and because it is such a basic thing all our life that we take it for granted...just as we do breathing.

Tonight, late as it was, I went on my instincts and I drove to where my friend was and told her I just wanted to see her and give her a personal touch, a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friends face to look into and see that I truly cared enough to put a personal touch to what was going on in her life. The reward of the smile on her face was worth the little bit of time and effort I took to do something 'old school' and uncommon in today's world.

Learning some new techniques...

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday at French Lique is being hosted by Heather at Simply Joyful Photos for the summer. Today is Blogger's Choice.

Random Pictures

Here's some random pictures that I have been meaning to post but time has got away from me a lot lately. I just figured to combine them into one post...
Anthony and Landon riding the 4-wheeler in the yard. This is the same 4-wheeler Anthony wrecked on. He was doing donuts around a tree and going way too fast. It will be a while before you see pictures of him on it again since he has broken ribs on his right side and a chipped back bone fromt he wreck. He's learned that he is older than he thought and that he shouldn't do donuts at high rates of speed without lots of pratice. lol (Don't worry, Landon wasn't on it with him and Landon always wears a helmet if they are going to ride anywhere besides the front yard.)

We get lots of this stuff in Louisiana...but it helps to cool things off!


I love to take pictures of the raindrops on plants and flowers after a rain.

Everything looks so bright and fresh after the rain...


My lil Country Bumpkin


A few pictures of our trip to Louisiana District's 95th Annual Campmeeting. It was awesome!


Mickey Mangum singing God Bless America at the Friday night service. Since it was so close to July 4th, they had a patriotic tribute at the beginning of the service.


Landon and Mommy...I love this little boy with my whole heart...and then some!


I blame these last two pictures on our time spent at Grand Prairie UPC!!! Let me explain...we were doing lots of fundraising to send the kids at church to camp and so we would sell things after church and do different fundraisers in the foyer of the church...well, Landon only got that we were raising money...so since we've moved here he wants to raise money in the foyer here too! He does this by singing and playing his guitar. Only the money goes into his OWN pocket!



It doesn't help that everyone encourages his behaviour because they think it's cute.

Some things never change...and the fact that I still love to take random pictures has only been recognized more here in Louisiana since we have moved. We take two days off a week and spend that time with just our family of three. We usually go fishing, or riding or exploring, and of course I always have my camera in hand. I find it soothing to look at the world and things of creation through the lens of a camera. It cheap therapy for me! So, here's some of the pictures from our latest drive through the countryside.

On this particular day we just got in the car and drove through the back roads until we ended up somewhere we found familiar. I never thought I'd enjoy something like that...I'm a planner and like to know where I am going and why I am going there, and what time I can expect to be back home. My husband, on the other hand, is a 'fly by the seat of your pants' type of guy and loves to just follow the yellow brick road to see where it leads. He's trying to get me out of that stress zone of always having everything planned, so we've been doing quiet a few of these little drives.

We often laugh because my husband compares our personalities to the characters in the storybook series of Winnie The Pooh. Yep, you probably guess that I am Rabbit, (always looking at the clock and worried about not being on schedule) Anthony is Pooh, (skipping through the forrest with a jar of honey and no worries, and Landon is Roo, (having the time of his life playing and no cares or worries)...but hey, it takes all kinds to make the world go round. Who knows??? One day I just may get the hang of it and grab that honey pot of his and take a break from my normal routine and go skipping off into the woods to stay. Stranger things have happened!

New logo for the church...

Here's one of the new logos we will be using for the church. It is fresh off the press...I'm loving the colors and how it turned out. We will be using this for our multimedia welcome, our church letterheads, our webpage and such. We have several other logo variations in the works for the youth department and Sunday School dept. I just had to share this one with everyone.

I still have a TON of work to get done on our webpage, but will post that link as soon as I get it fixed and updated with all the new stuff. I am loving the design, Denise!

You just never know...

I have been brought to a very humbling place this week. I have had one of those moments in life that changes the way you look at life and God and how He works. As most everyone knows, we have just moved to Louisiana in the last month. We have been reunited with lots of our friends and people we have lost touch with and it's just been great getting to know each other all over again. Well, this past Wednesday, we were packed and ready to leave early Thursday morning to go to the 95th Annual Louisiana District Campmeeting services in Tioga, Louisiana. Then our plans were changed when we got news that my in-laws neighbor wanted to be baptized Thursday evening.

It's so funny how things work out. When my husband and I were first married I worked with Mrs. Andrews as an aide on a handicapped bus. I loved working with her and the kids but quit when we moved to Texas. Through the years we have seen Mrs. Andrews when we would come for a visit. We'd walk across the road and chat and show off our little boy. We got the call Tuesday that she was very ill and that the cancer had come back and things just didn't look good for her. She wanted to be baptized in Jesus name, and of course we were honored to be there and be able to baptize her.

When we arrived at her house at 6p.m. she was very weak, could barely talk and had to be lifted into the pool. She was so weak that her husband had to hold her nose while Anthony baptized her. The moment she was baptized, there was just a happy and fresh look on her face and she began talking to us and telling us how clean and great she felt. It was just amazing the difference in her and how alert she became. After she had changed clothes and was back inside she prayed and received the precious spirit of God. We left afterwards and headed to the campmeeting, only to receive the phone call that she had passed away at 1am that next morning. I cannot tell you the feeling that overcame my husband and I both as we took in this news. It was overwhelming to think that just seven hours earlier we had paused our little plans and allowed God to interrupt our agenda long enough to make a difference in eternity. Oh, that we would never be too busy for God to interrupt our plans! For one can rest assured that when He interrupts our plans...it will be worth it.

The amazing part of this whole story is that her husband has never believe in truth or thought that anything such as baptism mattered. At the funeral home Sunday afternoon, he told my father-n-law that if he had not been so concerned about his wife and her strength and health that evening, he would have just leaned back and let my husband baptize him! So, we just never know what God is doing. His ways are not our ways...that's for sure! But right in the midst of one of the saddest times of life, God is doing a work on a man that my in laws have witnessed to and worked on for 32 years. I'm looking forward to the day we baptize Mr. Andrews too.

So, please keep the Andrews family in your prayers. The funeral will be Monday morning and they will need much prayers and strength then and in the days ahead. And, Mrs. Andrews...we'll see you in the sweet by and by!