Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart

Trust. We sing about it, "Trust and Obey" "Do I trust you Lord?" "Standing on the Promises" I do love that one. But, when it comes right down to it do we really trust Him? I have dealt with that concept this weekend. We were supposed to know about our "Big Change" by Friday. No news. (For those of you who thought so, no I'm not pregnant. At least not as far as I know! and that wasn't what the big change was about) It is so hard for me to be patient sometimes. It would be easy for me to blame it on this generation of instant gratification, but the fact is I'm inpatient. Me, Rebecca. (I heard you say AMEN mother, all the way over here in Germany) So the past 2 weeks were an exercise in patience for me. I did well. Friday was a bit nerve racking but all in all I feel I passed the test. Our very sincere prayer was and is "If this is not your will Lord, please don't let it happen." So now here we are 3 days after we should have known. Patience is no longer an issue. Now it's trust vs fear. The Lord has impressed on my heart that we have been praying that prayer and meaning it but then as soon as I didn't hear what I wanted to hear when I thought I was entitled to hear it, I assumed the worst. Worst being defined as what I don't want to happen happening whether it's God's will or not. This morning I'm choosing to lay it at His feet. And leave it there. He has taken me through deeper waters than this. There is nothing I can do to make the decision one way or the other so I will trust Him. He knows what is best for us. In times like this, I think it really helps to remember what He has done for us in the past. A year ago we were told we were coming here. We had hoped for a Hawaii assignment. We had been fairly certain that we'd get it. Our prayer then was the same as now. We didn't get the assignment. We chose though, to thank God even though it didn't work out because the Bible says to thank God in ALL things. So we thanked Him because He had a plan and though we didn't understand we knew it was for our best. Turned out the guy who got Hawaii deployed to Iraq immediately after getting there. The day I was told my husband had a fatal illness and would likely be dead within a year. After I had cried my heart I heard His still, small voice and he said I'm here. I am the Lord who healeth thee. The time I prayed for Him to send me a husband. The time I asked to be allowed to get home in time to be with my dad a little before he died. All of the guidance during those challenging Jersey years. Do I trust Him? You bet I do. Those are only some of the highlights but they serve to remind me of how His hand has been over my life right from the start. Neither of my parents ever intended to have me and yet here I am. God knows what He's doing. I'll leave it with Him. And yes, as soon as I know anything you'll know as well.

Connie From Texas

Does anyone know Connie? Her husband got on her blog and said she'd been in pain in her leg and he took her to the doctor and she couldn't blog for a while. I'm just concerned. It's the nurse in me. I'm currently reminding myself that she belongs to Jesus and He knows all about it. Why is it so hard not to worry? What's up with that?

Anticipation

Remember that old Heinz Ketchup commercial? Anticipation, Anticipation is making me wait. And therefore it's making you wait. We still don't know. I didn't end up subbing after all. I got there and was looking for the sub instructions and in came the real teacher. Oh well, they have to pay me for half the day anyway so time wasn't completely wasted. Nothing much to blog about today. Maybe tomorrow.

Today

Today then is a bit slower. We had to take my car into the shop early this morning. It makes a squeaking squealing noise whenever it has been driven about 45 min and is going between 80 and 100. That's kilometers per hour. So, I'm catching up on blogging and then some house work. Then off to the BSCC luncheon where our featured speaker will be my dear friend Pat Burr. Pat is some kind of counselor here on post. I say some kind because there are different positions with people of the same education and I'm not sure what her exact title is. She will be speaking on learning to de-stress and enjoy life. After that I expect to be able to go pick my car up, if it is ready. Otherwise I have nothing else scheduled but making dinner. I am thinking of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and some kind of vegetable. Should be green beans but I'm more in the mood for corn. I know, I know, too much starch. We'll also have some kind of fruit for desert.

Tomorrow, I'm substitute teaching again and then it is the day we are supposed to find out whether or not there is going to be a big change in our lives. I'll tell you as soon as we know for sure!

Blessings to all!

It Never Rains But It Pours

Ok, this is where I've been the past 2 days. Tuesday morning I had an emergency dentist appointment. A crown had fallen out and I really needed it put back in. Also, it was my first visit to this dentist and you know how that always takes more time. It was a German dentist and he was really quite wonderful. Then, I had lunch with a friend at the DFAC. The funniest thing happened. A man in uniform came by and said hello to us. They all look alike to me. I looked up and smiled. I heard Kim, my friend, say oh hello sir. She used her formal army wife voice. Turns out it was a visiting general. lol I was so glad my name wasn't pasted on my shirt or anything. Not that I was rude, but I rarely notice someone's rank and typically, this time, I paid no attention and merely smiled and went on with the current conversation. Also, at while we were having lunch, the dissenter from last weeks PWOC came by. I invited her to have lunch with us. My heart has been so burdened for her soul, and I longed for the opportunity to show her Christ's love regardless of her disbelief in my Jesus. Anyway, that is why I paid little attention to the general. I was busy in a conversation with her. As a side note, this was the last week of our Habakkuk Bible study. The last lesson taught me that it is not my responsibility to make her accept Christ. It is my responsibility to model Christ and share Him, but it is her responsibility to accept Him or to choose not to. That was really good to know. I tend to beat myself up a lot, and I had worried this week that maybe I had not said the right things or maybe I had been to (I don't know stringent?)in my presentation of Christ. So, upon reading that, my heart was lifted, and I felt that she had heard what she was meant to hear. Ok so after that I spent the afternoon doing Red Cross work. Then home to make dinner for us and clean up a bit.

So then yesterday I had PWOC in the morning. A meeting with Therese after that. Then BSCC board meeting from noon to one. After that I had another afternoon of Red Cross work. Home to make dinner for Alan and clean up a bit and then out to a wives coffee group from 1800 - 2130. For those of you who don't know, the coffee group consists of the spouses of the senior NCO's and officers of a battalion or brigade headquarters company. It's a social group for friendship and support and generally meets on a monthly basis. They also do the planning of some activities for the support of the unit.

So, the reason I say it never rains but it pours is that of these things but the PWOC were last minute notice. Yes, I could have said no to the Red Cross thing, but they asked at the end of last week and I had already said yes before all the other stuff (like my crown falling out) happened. lol see? It never rains but it pours. Now I'm super busy the next 2 weeks and then I have 2 weeks of nothing scheduled.

Manic Monday

Today felt just manic. I had so much to do! 4 loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and ironed. Changed bed linens and put out fresh towels. Made doctor, dentist, and vet appointments. Met with the clinic chief nurse to work out a new schedule. Picked up scholarship applications at the school. (I'm the chair of the spouses club scholarship committee) Mailed two rather large packages. Went to the ATM and then to the shoppette to get drinks for the FRG bar-b-que tonight. Yes, they were having a sale. Baked and decorated 2 pans of cookies. Made a dozen deviled eggs, went to the German market for fresh ground beef and mixed it with spices for hamburgers for said barbque. Sliced up tomato and onion for hamburgers. Carted all of that and hubby to barbque, cooked hamburgers while serving hot dogs to others. Finally had a chance to eat. (It was soooooo goood) Gathered my things and went home. Now finally a chance to blog and read email. I'm going to bed now. lol My back hurts. It's nice to have a busy day. I was wishing my mom was here today. This is the first time I've made her deviled eggs and I could have used a taste tester. Oh well. Mom, if you're reading this they must have been good. They went quickly. Good night all.

Springtime and Smokey

We have had the most beautiful weather this past week. Sun shining, few clouds, warm temps. Long walks in the evenings. Spring is such a wonderful time for lighthearted romance and fun! Yesterday was spent washing both cars. In the evening I took our boy Smokey out on his leash for the first time since we have been here. He was very nervous, but I think he really enjoyed going to the park. The kids all liked him and wanted to pet him and be with him. The only thing is that he just hates wearing the harness and being on the leash. I hate that it must be so, but they don't allow pets to be off leash here on post. Smokey misses being allowed to roam free, but I hope he will enjoy getting to go out regardless. He has been so restless and now he seems more content so... What is everyone else doing to enjoy the spring weather?

Frugal Friday

Ok, so now my back hurts from all that scrubbing yesterday. lol. Oh well, I learned my lesson. I'm a little annoyed that I wasted my money on that mop-n-glo though. So, on to Frugal Friday.

My husband and I travel quite a bit. Additionally my husband travels for work at least monthly. We save all of those things you get from hotels. Soap, shampoo, mouthwash, toothpaste, shower caps, conditioner, lotion, mending kits, shoeshine kits, plastic laundry bags, sample size deodorant, emery boards and body wash. All of those things we get from hotels. Now not every hotel we go to supplies the room with deodorant or toothpaste. The one my husband uses on business does. The thing is we use this stuff. We use it in the hotel and we take the remainder home and use it there. I used to worry about this until several friends who work at hotels told me that they expect you to take these things. NOT THE TOWELS! And, no we have never taken the towels. I include all this in Frugal Friday because I honestly haven't bought a bar of soap in months. In fact, I donated a bunch of those soap bars a few weeks ago when my PWOC group was putting together packages for Polish orphans. (I would have donated a bunch of the rest of it too but we couldn't send anything liquid) We get enough of all of that stuff that I only buy when things will cost me about 50 cents or less. When I combine coupons with sales to get hair products it's mostly just conditioner and I get it because I use a LOT of conditioner, it's one of the hotel toiletries we get least often, and I like to save them to take on trips. With the new toiletry travel restrictions on airplanes they are nice to have. So that's my tip today. Use those hotel toiletries! After all, you paid for them when you paid for the room.

Abortion Wrongs

Sorry I just don't believe in abortion rights. I wish to publicly applaud the supreme court for its landmark ruling prohibiting partial birth abortion. I don't care what anyone says. That is down right murder. Pulling a viable fetus out of its mothers womb and killing it is murder! Don't try to give me malarkey about doing it to save a mother's life either because that is crap! The fact is that there is NO WAY that it could even maybe save a mother's life. If a mother is that bad off then deliver/c-section the baby and save her life. Pulling a baby part way out and killing it will not save her life. The baby will have to deliver anyway. Dead or alive what went in must come out. C-sections can be done in as little as 60 seconds and can be done with spinal block type medication. There can be NO justification for it and I'm glad it's now outlawed. Keep in mind people that though I'm not addressing it here, I am against any form of abortion.

Read The Label

I got up this morning and went about my normal daily routine. I made the bed, wiped down the bathroom, cleaned up the kitchen, got my husband's coffee ready for tomorrow, and set my robo maid to cleaning the floors. Well, I chose to do more. I swept and mopped the bathroom floor. Then I swept and mopped the kitchen floor, and that is where it all began. Sweeping was no problem. It's the mopping that got me. I mopped the floor as usual using my swiffer wet-jet and mop-n-glo. ( I don't necessarily HAVE to use the swiffer floor solution) The problem with mopping the floor is that since we have been in this apartment (10 months) the floor has seemed to get dirtier and dirtier. (It's a white floor) It seems to be in the areas we walk and not so much under the microwave table etc. This has been extremely frustrating to me. So, today after I mopped the floor I noticed that I got the spots up ( like spilled coffee etc.) but it seemed to be dirtier than when I started. It was like I was grinding the dirt in with the mop. I couldn't figure. Well I decided to get after it. I put on my rubber shoes and got out a scrubber thing and taped it to my wet-jet. Then I removed everything I could from the kitchen floor. After that, I mixed up hot water and some Mr. Clean and poured it all over the floor. Made puddles of it. I began to scrubber the floor. Some stuff came up and I put a new scrubber on. Finally that grunge seemed to be coming up, but the scrubber just wasn't doing what I needed it to. I pulled it off and looked at it. There was a buildup on it. Well it turns out that it was the mop-n-glo. I guess that product puts down a waxy type of substance for the "glow" part. And it was trapping dirt on my floor. So when I discovered this, I had been at it for a while and I had dirty mop water all over my floor. I mopped it up and mixed up new hot water and Mr. Clean, got out a scrub brush, got out my 2 pillows that are cased in plastic, and got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed liked my aunt used to. That did it. It's coming up. I say coming because I have a decent sized kitchen and I'm not through. I'm doing a section at a time. I'm not used to that and I have knee problems so I do part and then rest a bit and do some more. But that is taking care of the dirt! Had I only read the mop-n-glo label, I would have known that it is not to be used on this type of floor. It didn't harm the floor, just made it nasty. The funny part is that the more I mopped the worse it got. So I got rid of the little that was left and I will stick with Mr. Clean or the Swiffer wet-jet solution from now on. You'd think at my age I'd know these things!

So Much To Say

I have so much to say today! First of all, thank you to those of you praying with me. It seems like with things like this it never rains but it pours.
Next topic,
Today we had a dissenter come into our PWOC class. It was a weird thing all together. First off, there were only 2 of us there. Events conspired (God lead I'm sure) so that it was only myself and another very strong Christian. Not that the others are not strong, but you'll see. One girl is off getting married in the States. She is already married but they are having the ceremony. Another is on vacation with her family. A third just had a baby. And the other regular had been there earlier but had to leave to take her daughter to some sort of appointment. None of the irregulars were there. Today's topic had to do with Christians and alcohol. It comes from the woe to drunkards found in Habakkuk. Anyway, we were about 10 minutes into our discussion, and a woman I had never seen before today came in saying she wanted to sit in on our study. I had no problem with this. I told her what today's topic was and brought her up to date on what we had discussed. Well, to make a long story short, this lady in response to all we discussed began to spout very wrong, anti-Christian rhetoric. She said (paraphrasing) how research proves that homosexuals are born that way and that they don't have a choice. She said that parts of the Bible may be inspired but men have chosen to change it and take things out and put things in. She said that we are not compassionate because we call homosexuality, drunkenness, etc. sin and we don't understand. She said that there are millions of spiritual people all over the world who love their religions and truly believe and we can't say that they are wrong. Then said that Jesus is not the only way to heaven. She said that Jesus was a very compassionate and tolerant man. I had to strongly disagree with that. Jesus was compassionate to be sure, but He did not and does not tolerate sin and cited examples of that. She said that evolution has been proven. All of these things and more. Be sure that the 2 of us responded appropriately. In love and kindness we were able to refute her claims. I sorrowed that she could not accept that you must believe all of the Bible or none of it. I explained that you cannot tell Jesus that you agree with Love your neighbor as yourself but not that sex outside of marriage thing and expect to get to go to heaven. All the time we were praying silently that the Lord would lead us and guide us, give us words, to answer her. She left before the study was over stating that she wished to look in on the other studies. I checked around afterwards and found that she did not in fact go to any of the other studies.
Praise the Lord! First, because He lead her to my study. Not that I'm so great but that there were only 2 of us there. Therefore, her false claims could not be heard by many people and especially because we have ladies who are new Christians and some who are still searching. The 2 of us who were there, are not going to be shaken by her ideas. Praise the Lord! Because the seeds of the truth were planted in her heart. She has now heard the Truth. Praise the Lord, because she left and no one else was subjected to her. Pray. As soon as she left we both just stopped the study and prayed. and prayed and prayed. I have such a burden for her soul! We prayed that the Lord would put Christians in her path, that she could not escape the Word. My heart remains heavy for her and I continue to pray. Pray also because this woman is a family life therapist. She only has 10 days left on post and my prayer is that people who need Godly advice be directed to a different therapist. We have a Godly counselor on post.

Then the last thing that I had to say is that as I am helping to prepare for our upcoming 20 year high school reunion, sad things have come to light. 10 people that we know from our class have died. Some I knew about and some I didn't. It's hard to believe that they're gone. So sad.

In the Eye of the Hurricane

So much to pray about today. A friend's husband rushed into emergency surgery. Massacre at a college in Virginia. Children at school. Persecuted. Hurting. Dear friends in turmoil with agonizing decisions to make. A crossroad in our life. Uncertainty. Holding on to Jesus, though tossed by the sea. So much pain in my heart today. I ask you all to pray with me. Learning to trust. On old levels. On new ones. It's so good to know, that it's all in the Master's hands. "Though strong winds may blow, they can't change what I know. When I hold to the rock, that the wind can't erode." (Trace Balin)

Day Trippin'

We went on a wonderful day trip yesterday. We started out with breakfast at the DFAC (that's dining facility or mess hall you all you non-military peeps) then got in the car and headed for the Czech Republic. It was such a beautiful day. At least 70 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. A bright sunshiny day. The trip through Bavaria is always a scenic one. We went to Karlovy Vary, CZ. It is a town known for its spa's and shopping. The dollar stands up well to the Krone as $1 = 20+ Krone. We didn't buy much, but really enjoyed seeing the different architectural styles and shopping. I always get a kick out of going to a former eastern block country and finding McDonald's. Anyway, we got back home around 1900 and walked a couple blocks down the straBe to a favorite Italian restaurant. The waitress got such a kick out of us trying to use our broken German that she gave us a free appetizer! lol We enjoyed it very much. This morning we are getting ready for church. After that hubby is planning on taking the cars to be washed. We believe in having a day of rest just not on Sunday. Only because with going to church and then having to get ready for the week ahead, it rarely feels like a day of rest. So, generally speaking, we have ours on Saturday when the Lord had His. I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Wednesday Super Values

Wednesday I went to do my monthly grocery shopping at our local commissary. Now I do go more often than that but only for perishables, and most of those I prefer to get from the German stores. There were lots of sales so I will just post the best:

- 2 Banquet frozen fried chicken dinners for $0.75 each.
- A HUGE box of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes for $1.50
-Airwick spray - $0.79 each. I had 3 coupons for buy one get one free so I got 6. (my husband is a big fan of spray.)
- Kotex overnight maxi's $0.29 with my coupon
- Vaseline Intensive Care lotion $0.99 with my coupon. I got 3 of them. Both of us have very dry skin.
- Pantene conditioner (I need lots of it for my waist long frizzy hair) $0.59 with my coupon. I got 2 of them.
- Purell hand sanitizer purse size - I got $0.46 back with my coupon. I bought a second one for $0.54 cents with a lesser coupon so in all I got 2 for $0.08 or 4 cents each.
- Rice-a-Roni 2 boxes $0.25 each
- 6 pouches of blueberry muffin mix $0.33 each
- 9 cans of Dole tropical fruit salad (my favorite) $0.35 each
- 3 boxes of garlic potato flakes $0.40 each (each box contains 2 pouches so that makes 6 20-cent side dishes.
- 8 boxes of Martha White corn muffin mix $0.07 each
- 3 packages of Pillsbury refrigerated Easter cookies (the kind where you just place them on the cookie sheet, bake, frost, and put some weird edible paper decoration on it) $0.95 each on clearance. I had 3 coupons for $1 off so, they paid me 15cents to take them home. (I throw the paper decoration out. The concept of eating paper, edible or not, bothers me immensely.)

So. the super value savings in all were $47.77 savings in coupons and at least $14 savings in sales. For a grand total of at least $61.77 which is 52.36% of my bill.

The Honeymoon

Ok. So, Alan's orders had changed and we weren't going to be able to go on our trip to Disney World. New plan. We were living in southern Missouri and only had from Saturday after the wedding to Tuesday when we had to start back. We chose to go to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Eureka Springs has long been known as a wedding/honeymoon location. We stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast called Evening Shade. Now, for those of you familiar with the Ozarks, you know that it is a very conservative region and interracial marriage is often still looked at in less than a positive light. We had a bit of concern that it might be an issue, but decided to go anyway. Well, well, well. We got there and honestly in the glow of our very new marriage we didn't notice much. What we did notice was that we seemed to be treated with exceptional favor. Even by those who didn't know we were newly-weds. The other thing we noticed was men holding hands in public. We saw this, there, not once but twice. In fact, we noticed several female couples also. My husband, who is from New York City, said,"I thought you said this place was Conservative?" As it turned out it was some kind of gay and lesbian weekend and we seemed to be the only heterosexual couple around. LOL We've had a lot of fun telling this story over the years. The funniest part is that last year Alan surprised me with a return trip to our same honeymoon lodge. You guessed it. Gay and lesbian weekend again. Apparently it a group that goes there once or twice a year. We didn't plan it that way. It just happened. Oh well, we had a good time, a good laugh and wonderful memories.

The Story of Us

How did we come to be? Honestly I think it was meant to be. At times he was at Fort Leonard Wood (4 different times) and I was in Springfield. When he was in New York, so was I. When he was in Richmond, I was in Fredericksburg. I had dated on and off for years never finding anyone right. I had decided that it just wasn't God's will for my life to marry. So, I bought a house and chose to concentrate on my career and living a full life as a single instead of waiting for my life to begin with a man. I took nice vacations, spent time with friends, made new friends and found a church where single women had a place and weren't perceived as strange or sad. Then, one day I received an email from a man who said he had read my profile and seen my picture. In the email he told me about himself. His story was compelling, and since he had revealed that he was in the Army, he could be researched somewhat. I chose to respond, rather cautiously, to his email. We emailed for a few weeks and then spoke on the phone a few times. We had so much in common. From our backgrounds to our goals and aspirations it was amazing. Eventually we decided to meet. We went to a movie and then spent hours talking. Just getting to know each other. We are both MASH fans. Not just that we like the show but we both knew a lot of trivia and details the average fan doesn't know. We both drove the same kind of car. We came from the same kind of homes and had similar experiences in our young adult lives that had lead both of us to be extremely frugal in our current lives. Well, I was living in Springfield, and he lived at Ft. Leonard Wood about 90 min northeast. So we mostly only saw each other on the weekends. We just fit. We were both at the point in our lives where we knew what we wanted and what we didn't want. The pieces were just falling into place. We talked about getting married and what married life in the Army would be like. Two days before Christmas I was admitted to the hospital in severe pain. They had to give me a lot of pain medicine to get on top of the pain. Alan was with me and left about midnight. After he left I fell asleep and stopped breathing. When they found me my O2 sat was 35% and I wasn't breathing. I almost died. Alan was stunned to see me the next day in a different room on oxygen. On Christmas Eve, we had a record snow storm. I was still in the hospital and watching the TV as 2 feet of snow came down in about 4 hours. Cars were off the road everywhere. Alan called to say that he was on his way. He was to spend Christmas with my family. I worried about him making it. 4 hours later he came in, in uniform. He climbed into my hospital bed with me and asked me to marry him. I said yes, and he pulled out a box with my engagement ring. Later he asked again to make sure it wasn't the drugs talking. lol. The rest you know.

The Mickey and Minnie Mouse cake topper is for 2 reasons. All the cake toppers with 2 people were either 2 black people or 2 while people. Not one of each. Mickey is my favorite cartoon character. I have an extensive collection of Mickey things. Also, we had originally planned to go to Disney World for our honeymoon. Not that that ended up happening, but our honeymoon is a story for another day.

Disclaimer, I refer to my husband as black and not African American for 2 reasons. 1. We're not interested in being politically correct. 2. My husband is not African. He is part French, part Haitian and part Polynesian. Someday I may do a post about my opinions about political correctness.

Christ the Lord is Risen Today

Christ the Lord is Risen Today - Click here to hear and sing this beautiful hymn.

My heart sings with joy on this glorious Resurrection Morning!

Smokey

Smokey our cat is assumed to be at least 16 years old. He came to us a few months after we got married. He just wandered up to our back door and meowed so loud we had to see what was up. We fed him (both of us are cat lovers) and he stayed on living in our yard and on our patio. At that time we lived on an old dairy farm near Ft. Sill. Just before Alan deployed to Iraq, he told Smokey that he needed to be the man of the house while papa was gone. After Alan left, every day there would be a new dead something on my back door step. A dead mouse, shrew, bird, rabbit, etc. After he left me a dead rabbit with fur all over the patio and only the head, one leg and the intestines left, I cleaned it up and got down to his level. I looked him right in the eye and said,"No more." He never left another one. Smokey is very loving and kind. He is very good with children and even babies. We believe that he was dumped by another family. Unfortunately, that is happening more and more in the military. We are glad to have him. He has been a most welcome addition to our family. Tomorrow, since you all want to know, I'll tell you how Alan and I came to be.

4 Years

Four years ago today I married the love of my life. I often laugh as I remember our wedding day. The various goofs and mistakes, the joy that we had. We hadn't planned on getting married when we did. We were kicking around some time in August when Alan got new orders. The war in Iraq was just starting and he was being transferred to a new unit in a different state. We decided to get married and go together. We had exactly 6 weeks. So with both of us working more than full-time, Alan brought all his stuff to my house and lived on the bare necessities. Fortunately he was in government quarters and so most of the furniture wasn't his anyway. His things had to be moved to my place because the army will only pick up at one residence to do a move. So in that time we had all of both of our household goods and furniture picked up and moved, we sold the house that I owned, continued working right up until a few days before we got married, and had a full wedding. Invitations, dress, attendants clothes, flowers, cake etc. Nothing was left out. Except for perhaps sleep. It was a busy and crazy time. One day when it was rather slow at work the girls were helping me make up the "rice" bags. The wedding went off with the only hitch being that the sound guy didn't play the recessional as we walked back up the isle at the end and the flower guy forgot to leave most of the flowers and I had to call them. They had the nerve to ask if I could just do without! Good thing they were on the phone when they said that. lol! So here I have posted some pics of our special day to share with you.

Bye Bye Grandma

Early this morning I took my mom to the airport to send her home after spending nearly a month with us. I was a bit sad to see her go. She teared up but held up bravely. Our boy Smokey was very sad to see grandma go. So today after PWOC, running errands and cleaning house, I spent some time resting. I'm still trying to recover from that bronchitis or whatever it was I had while in Ireland. It seems to just keep hanging on. My husband has put our pics from Ireland to music and is going to try to put a link to it here on the blog. If we are successful you will have to let me know what you think. Have a wonderful day all.

My Ancestors

When we were in Ireland, we were able to go to county Laois (pronounced county leash) to the town of Stradbally where my grandfather was born and raised. His father (my great grandfather) was the rector of the parish there and was a chancellor of the church of Ireland. He pastored St. Patricks church in Stradbally. The church still stands today and the graves of my great grandparents and one of their daughters, who died as a child, are there in the Church cemetery. My husband found the number and called the current rector, the Reverend Cannon Nancy Gillespie. She was so kind as to come out and open the church for us. We went in and it is just as it was when my great grandfather, Robert Armstrong, pastored there. There are a few changes of course but the pew, altar, and podium are the very ones he used. It was so wonderful to be able to see where he ministered and touch the past as it were. This was a life long dream for my mother. I'm so glad we were able to go. Our family has a strong history of serving in the church. After my great grandfather, my grandfather became a missionary. They were unable to go though because my grandmother became pregnant and at that time (1920's) they wouldn't allow them to go because of it. However, they remained active in the church their whole lives. My mother then was a minister to the deaf until her marriage and has always been active in the church. As for us kids, one of my brothers serves as a deacon in his church and a Royal Ranger leader. Royal Rangers is like a Christian version of boy scouts. I also served as a children's pastor and tent maker in a home missions project in the New York metro area and my husband and I are active in the church today. We are not special. We are not perfect. In fact there is a lot of dysfunction in our family, but it goes to show that the Lord can use anyone in any circumstance if they are a willing vessel. I am honored to have the heritage of Godly service in my family. Those who have gone before us light our way reflecting the light of the Lord. OK so now on to the pictures.

The first one is St. Patrick's in Stradbally where my great grandfather pastored. The next is me and my mom on either side of my great grandparents grave. My great aunt Caroline's grave is on the other side of me. The third is my mother standing at her grandfather's pulpit, and the last is inside the sanctuary and it's mom and the current rector the Reverend Cannon Nancy Gillespie.

Although we no longer are affiliated with the Anglican church, the most important thing is to be part of the family of God. God doesn't care what denomination you attend so much as where your heart is and if you are following the Bible.