Forever Friends

This story starts over 20 years ago.  And it started with these 2 beautiful women.  They became best friends when Amy was in the 4th grade and Liz was in the 5th grade.  They lived across the street from one another and were together constantly.  But they grew up, became more beautiful, and had beautiful children.  The friendship continued...and now their children are friends.  The moms weren't around Sunday, but a couple of grandma's decided to get the next generation together and play at Jump Zone.  We also called Benjamin (my nephew) and invited him to join us. And it was just too much fun!! 

 Amy with husband, Jay

Liz with husband, Kyle

Olivia

Isaac, Benjamin, Josiah & Libby

Isaac, Benjamin, Josiah & Libby

Sliding together!

Josiah

Benjamin

Gideon--love that face!

Libby trying a new roll down the slide.

My mom and sister watching the fun.

Very cool, Isaac!

Livie & Mom (who showed up at the end).

Benjamin, Isaac & Josiah (who's looking pretty excited!)

Gideon gurgling his water.  Such a boy!!

Now this is where it gets good...I couldn't leave one picture out...it just got better and better!

Left to right back row:  Benjamin (nephew), Isaac (Amy's), Libby (Liz's), Josiah (Amy's)

Left to right front row:  Gideon (Liz's) and Olivia (Amy's)

Interesting that Liz & Amy named their daughters Libby and Olivia.  And we call them Libby & Livie.

Amy kept trying to get Livie to put her arms down but she was having too much fun. ha! 

Keep watching Gideon...

Who are you, girl?

Nice bunny ears, Ben!

Eyes are starting to wander.

Yep...

I'm losing them...

And they're gone.

But I had to put the 2 youngest together and take a couple of pics.

Gideon & Olivia.  LOVE his eyes!!  Ha!!

And LOVE her eyes!  HAHA!

We had a great day together.

The Tehran Initiative by Joel C. Rosenberg

What if you were a student of biblical prophecy, had worked under some of the leading politicians of the world and had a first-hand knowledge of international politics?  You'd write The Tehran Initiative to sound an alarm to the Christian community.
I was very excited to receive the the sequel to The Twelfth Imam and begin reading it.  It was a hot page-turner and I just didn't want to put it down.  When I received the book, I was told I couldn't review the book before October 23rd...and it was hard to wait.
The premise of this book is that the Twelfth Imam has arrived on the scene in Iran and begins pressuring the middle eastern countries to form a caliphate under him.  Israel is nervously watching this caliphate form, aware that with each country who joins, it means another nuclear weapon is added to the Imam's arsenal.  It then becomes a contest to see if Iran or Israel will make the first strike.  Unfortunately, it's also unclear whose side the United States of America will choose.
This story could be written from the front page of today's newspaper.  We're given much insight into the inner workings of the CIA and the military as they try to restrain itchy trigger fingers without actually going to war.

I'd give this book 5 out of 5 stars.


Thank you to Tyndale House Publishers for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Go Bulldogs!

Tonight is the Borger Bulldog vs Pampa Harvester game.  I always hear it:  "Who are you going to root for?"  For those who don't know, I grew up in Pampa.  So I was a Pampa Harvester who bled green & gold.  Now back in the day...those were football games!  Borger & Pampa are huge rivals and their football games 30-something years ago always involved a fight.  Police positioned themselves near the student section just to break up fights.  And they were definitely on the field after the game for the after-game fights.  Not that I'm advocating fighting...it was just always a show and something to talk about for weeks/years afterwards.  Harvesters stole the Bulldog bell.  Bulldogs torched the Harvester.  And on and on and on....

But once we moved to Borger and my children were involved in sports, my loyalties switched.  I root for the Bulldogs--that is, if I ever go to a game.  And if that weren't enough, I lived in Pampa 18 years.  I've now lived in Borger 24 years.  Incredible!  (And if you're trying to add...yes...I'm only 42.  jk)

Go Bulldogs!

The Olden Days

This morning, I was joined by some great people at breakfast at Living Water.  Our conversation turned to the "olden days" and things we remembered (or, in my case...had heard about.  Ha!)  Here's a list of a few of those things.  What do you remember?

• Pulling taffy
• Putting peanuts in a Coke bottle
• Turning the antenna (a pole outside attached to your house from the ground to above your roofline) to adjust your black and white TV
• Adjusting the tuner on your TV dial and getting up to turn the channel
• 5 cent candy bars
• Listening to Grand Ol' Opry on the radio
• Taking a bath in a tub outside--and sharing the same water with family members
• Riding in a covered wagon (just kidding!  seeing if you were paying attention!)
• Watching the black and white test pattern on TV
• 3 hamburgers for 25 cents
• Men wearing dress hats everywhere they went
• Popping popcorn in a pan or in a wire basket over the fire
• Listening in on the party line of your phone
• Staying up til the TV went off at midnight
• Charging your groceries at the grocery store

Lubbock

Zach & Shanna were going to Florida this past week with Shawn & Lissa so the girls could photograph a wedding and so they could all have a little fun.  So Zach & Shanna asked the 2 grandmas to take turns babysitting Dax.  Kay went Tuesday and then I went down Friday after I got off of work and stayed until last night.  I knew my two oldest granddaughters would give their right arms for the chance of helping with Dax for that long.  And I also remember how much I loved taking care of my baby cousins.  So Caitlin & Alexis went with me to Lubbock.

This is Dax in his "Alaska" onsie.  I'm not sure if Aunt Amanda got it for him or if his grandparents did when they went to visit Aunt Amanda in Anchorage.  But Alexis wanted to dress him in it and I didn't think it would fit since it was a 12 month size.  But..as you can see...it did.

I'm not sure Dax had ever ridden in a grocery cart this way, but he got to this day!  He loved it.

Only a grandmother would pick him up and put him in the middle of a display of pumpkins at the grocery store and snap a picture!!  He wanted to stay there though.

On our way home from church, I saw this large pumpkin and wanted to take a pic of all three kids beside it.  Caitlin refused to get in my picture.  Something about being seen by the world on my blog or some such nonsense.  ;) Love you, Caitlin!

The girls took count of whose turn it was to feed Dax his food or give him a bottle.  They had a ball.  And...they're pretty good babysitters.

We had so much fun together.  The girls made a delicious cake, carved pumpkins, helped with Dax, and even cleaned house.

The last day we were there, THIS happened!!  It was getting close to time for Zach & Shanna to fly in to Lubbock.  It had been windy all day...and I'd been praying they'd be able to get home.  I knew Shanna would be upset if she couldn't get to her baby boy!  We'd cleaned house that day and I just happened to look out their north window and saw this coming toward us.  It was about a mile away.  I must have screamed because the girls ran to the window and Caitlin asked, "Is that a tornado??"  I assured her it wasn't (not sure how I was so sure!) and we just watched it come towards us.  It was mesmerizing.  And then it hit.  It was as if the lights went out and then there was an eery reddish glow for about an hour afterwards as the dust fell over us.  I began texting Zach & Shanna, knowing they wouldn't be landing in Lubbock.  Sure enough, they were rerouted to Dallas because of the dust storm and debris on the landing strips in Lubbock.  I told the girls to remember this day---they could tell their kids that they had been through a dust storm and lived to tell about it.  Since I needed to get the girls home, Zach & Shanna's friend, Heather, came to stay with Dax until his mommy & daddy could get from Dallas to Lubbock.  They made it home before we made it to Amarillo.  I called Zach this morning to see if Dax was bored without all his entertainment!!  The girls & I felt like we'd failed--we'd planned to teach Dax to say "Momma" and to crawl--but that didn't happen.  But Caitlin did teach him to reach for us.

I promise, Shanna...we did dust.

Denying it's power?

II Timothy 3:5
"...having a form of godliness but denying its power..."

This verse has been rolling around in my mind all week.  I don't want to just have an appearance of godliness.  There's no power in that.  I want the power of the Holy Spirit at work in my life.

FORM   /fɔrm/ [fawrm]   noun
1.  a dummy having the same measurements as a human body

New Believers

Would you do me a favor?  Even if you've never left a comment before--I need to hear from you now!

If you were mentoring a new believer, what is one important thing you'd want to include in their basic training?

Principle of Receiving

Andy reminded me tonight of a tape we listened to probably over 30 years ago by Jack Taylor called, "The Principle of Receiving."  The gist of his message is that God places people in our lives.  They're different.  They have different gifts than we do.  Their personalities are different.  They just come to the table...different.

But God has great purpose in that.  If we'll learn to receive that person just like they are and receive from them, we'll be the winners.  This can apply to a spouse, children, friends, co-workers, church staff, etc., etc.  If they weren't different...they'd be...us.  And how boring would that be?

If we could grasp this concept, we'd be rich people.

I need to go find that tape and listen to it again.  Well...and find a cassette player so I can!

Cheers...or Church?

What do these two things have in common?  More than you might imagine.    I remember when Cheers came on television, the "church" rose up in opposition to it and it's unsavory message.  It was boycotted.  We watched it just to see how bad it was.   (And kept watching it, I might add.)  If you've ever seen it, you know the song sticks in your head...."Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came."

I have some friends who have started riding motorcycles.  They're Christians and the people they ride with aren't.  They're not cramming Jesus down the others' throats...they're just being "in the world, but not of the world."  But they've told me stories of how these new friends have embraced them into their group.  They hit the bars, but they've provided non-alcoholic drinks for my friends because they know they don't drink.  They invite the whole gang to their house and cook steaks for everyone.  They don't deride them for their Christian views--they offer respect.  They've even started affectionately calling this man "Chap" for chaplain.  And he told me of one motorcycle gang who always tells the others, "I love you," before they depart from one another.

It makes you wonder if the church is really offering something desirable enough for them to leave those groups and join ours. 

"By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]."  John 13:35

Fall "Courageous" Visit

After Andy & I went to see the movie, "Courageous" last week, he took the initiative to contact our sons and offer to babysit and give them tickets to go see the movie here with their spouses.  (We didn't think Jay & Amy would drive from Dallas for a movie---and later found out they thought about it!  Shoot!!)  David & Zach were able to take him up on his offer so they came for the weekend.  The couples went to the movie Friday night while we watched the kids sleep. Ha!!  (They went to the late movie.)  These are photos from the weekend.

We hadn't had a baby around for three years when Dax showed up.  We're all pretty enamored with him--including Aunt La-La.

Addie, Ryan & Dax--cousins

Um-D throwing Dax in the air.

We put Dax in the walker and showed Ryan & Addie that he could walk.  They were cheering him on!

Addie didn't want him running into the stove, so she told him to "stop!"

Addie got to help Aunt Shanna feed Dax a bottle.

Zach, Shanna & Dax

David & Lindsey

Whenever we get together, it always involves football on the front lawn.

Ryan was all set to catch the ball when Uncle Hey interfered.

Liz came over Saturday and spent some time catching up with her grandchildren via blogs.

Our church was having a Chili Cook-Off tonight, and Andy began making his chili on Saturday.

He enlisted the help of Lindsey--one of the family's great cooks.  I told her I was slightly offended.  I offered Andy my recipe and he refused it.

Addie stepped in to stir the pot.  Pops was telling her not to stir so hard.  To which she replied, "I've done this before, Pops."  We all had a good laugh.

Lindsey showed Liz a video of David leading a song during worship at Trinity Fellowship in Amarillo. 

It felt like the holidays having some of our family here.  Before Zach & Shanna left today, we even had a fire in the fireplace.  Zach insisted that I put my Christmas tree up before he comes next time.  Twist my arm, Zach.