Hello, Summer!!

Well, it's officially summer now, and for children family, the summer break has been in full swing for a few weeks.  But, it hasn't been much of a break so far!  It seems it's been just as busy as during the school year, but a different kind of busy.  A fun busy. (Not that school isn't fun, but you know what I mean :).

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I would be taking a few weeks off from blogging. I'll be "out of pocket" and not able to post for those weeks.

I'll see you back after the 4th of July weekend! Doesn't that sound strange!??

Have a great week.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.
Psalm 139:1-6

The Chronicles of Biscuit - Worry, Worry, Worry

The Chronicles of Biscuit: Stories about our younger son, Tyler, whose nickname is Biscuit.

Biscuit is a worrier.  In fact, he's a worrier DE-LUX!  He worries about the weather....storms that could turn back, he worries about his safety in our house and hotels, he worries about a lot of things.  And he'll admit it.

This week Biscuit has been playing in a three-day golf tournament. Because he has won several day tournaments and has had lots of compliments about his golf game, Biscuit went into this bigger tournament with high expectations.  When we got to the tournament and saw the pretty glass golf trophies, Biscuit was confident he would walk away with one on the last day.  But very quickly, on the first day, Biscuit realized that the tournament was a lot tougher than he thought it would be.

The 10-11 year olds were playing from further back tees than Biscuit typically had to play from, and he was having to walk 18 holes, where the other tournaments he only had to play 9 holes.  He also usually practices only 9 holes on our 9-hole course nearby. But also, and an even bigger issue, was the mentality of a 3-day tournament - especially for a worrier!

Biscuit's worry over a bad golf swing or the shot's landing, caused even more worry, resulting in an even bigger score at the end of the day.  Biscuit's worry turned to disappointment, and even some anger that showed at some points (something he's having to face punishment for the rest of the week, unfortunately).  Worry, worry, worry.

Biscuit's problem isn't new.  There have been worriers since the beginning.  Remember Moses?  When God asked Moses to go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt he answered, "Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"  Or Jonah.  His worry caused him to try to run away from the Lord, then he ended up getting swallowed by a big fish!

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” ³ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3

As Christians, worry is not trusting in God. It is saying that we don't trust that God will do what He says He will do.  It's been said that worry is temporary atheism.  Ouch! That's a pretty harsh term, isn't it?  But Jesus had lots to say about being a worrier.

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:25-34

So, what is the solution to having no worries?  Well, there could be many formulas, but here is what I told Tyler:

#1.  Pray

Most things we tend to worry about never happen, but to help our minds be clearer and help us learn to trust in God more during these times, we must pray.  Our lifeline to our Heavenly Father is always available.  He's always listening.  We should turn our worries over to Him.

#2.  Change Our Mindset

I didn't think of it as being anything profound when I said it to Tyler, but it seemed to help him a lot.  I would say, "No stress....it's just a challenge."  When we change our mind from worrying to thinking of something as a challenge, most of us are going to think, "Okay! I can do this!".  It's when our mind says, "I can't."....."I'll fail."...."It's too difficult".....that we will worry and most likely fail.

Maybe you have other ways to alleviate stress in your life.  I have a friend who likes to sing songs of praise to get her mind off of her worries.  Whatever helps you, do it! (Unless it is something harmful for your body, of course.)  But never neglect #1.  It's the best solution to worry.

25 Years Ago.....

...our life together was just beginning!  I had planned my wedding date for six years.  I wanted to be married on June 18th, after attending a wedding on that date in 1982!  At that time I was 13 years old! Who would have thought that those plans would really come true six years later!

Not a lot changed about my wedding details from the time I was 13 until the time I was 19.  My 13 year old plans had colors of ivory and pink and gray. But one very big thing did change:  THE GROOM!!!  That's a pretty major change and my original "groom" would have been a very, very big mistake!  Thankfully my more mature (well, more mature than 13, anyway) choice was a very, very great choice!

Our lives have been blessed.  We've laughed and cried together.  We've had ups and downs.  We've had disagreements and make-ups.  We've grown closer to God and closer to each other. We're committed to each other and believe that marriage should be a life-long commitment. We love each other, and look forward to many more years of marriage together.

The fruit of our marriage would be, of course, the births' of our four children.  Those would be the four most important days in our marriage, other than our wedding day.  The day we lost our little boy to stillbirth would also be an important day in our marriage, but not a happy day, at all....just relevant to our marriage.

I've included some of my very favorite wedding photos and photos of special things from our wedding and engagement. This picture with my dad putting a penny in my shoe is one of my very favorites. I love the look on his face! :)

 This is our wedding invitation.  The little phrase was on several things at our wedding.  I still like it a lot!

Here's a little poem from one of our showers written by a sweet sister-in-Christ.

These little papers were given as favors, rolled up and secured with a gold ring. (The inexpensive ones that come in bulk.)

I didn't take a picture of it, but I had a schedule all written out for our wedding party.....to the detail....and there were several (okay, many!) details!  Two songs that were led by Joe's uncle - congregational singing - then 13 songs (yes, you read that correctly!!!!!) sung by Joe's twin brothers and their wives.  Hard songs.  All acapella.  All very beautiful!  They did such a great job!  We have it on tape, but 25 years ago things weren't as clear as they are now.  

This is a very special picture for us.  My grandpa is on the left and did part of our wedding. He wasn't too sure about it, at first, but he did a great job! I didn't know for a long time that he was really sick and running fever that day!  And Joe's dad did the wedding vows and lesson for the wedding.  He was a preacher, so used to speaking.  Both of these special men have passed away now. We're thankful they had a wonderful part of our wedding day!

On this GRATITUESDAY, it's pretty easy to see what I am grateful for, isn't it?  And looking forward to many more years! To see what others are grateful for, visit HeavenlyHomemakers.com.

 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b]? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Matthew 19:5-6

FORE!

Our oldest son and youngest son have both been playing golf a lot this summer.  They are both in a tour that has a contest every week or two, plus this week they're competing a big tournament called the Texas/Oklahoma Junior Golf Tournament. (Shortened to T/O).

The youngest hit his ball in the water last week.  That didn't stop him from trying his best to get a good score on the next to last hole.  He took off his shoes and  socks and chipped in the water!  That takes dedication! I'm afraid of snakes!

A golf course is a beautiful setting for pictures and as the boys golf I get to take some close-up, personal shots of them preparing to hit the ball.

I don't have to get too close with the big lens, so don't mess up their concentration.

Sometimes they're analyzing their next shot. Other times I think they're just resting.  

Taking pictures along the course path is so much fun! This course is called Karsten Creek. It's near Stillwater, Oklahoma....home of the OSU Cowboys.  Our oldest son attended golf camp there last week.

Some of the tee boxes have cowboy hat markers.  How cute!

This is at a different course in Wichita Falls, TX, but it's so much fun seeing the birds and wildlife at the courses!

This is the OSU men's golf coach. Mike McGraw.  Big golf fans will know that Rickie Fowler attended OSU under Coach McGraw.

Besides watching my boys play golf, my favorite thing about going to golf tournaments is getting to drive the golf cart!  Haha!  I can't help it! It's so much fun!

My least favorite thing about the golf tournaments is the heat.....or the cold.....or the extreme wind!  I know, I know....NO COMPLAINING!  Okay, so the middle, no-golf-for-me-son, and I cooled off at the big fan that was blowing the green.  He took over driving the golf cart, too.  Then began racing his dad and little brother! Family fun at its finest (minus our working daughter who was on a summer school trip to the zoo.).

And the last photo I'll share with you is the bunkers....sand traps.  Obviously it's not where you want the ball to land, but I think they're pretty!  I also like to watch the kids chip out of them!  I'm easily amused.

This week's T/O is a three day tournament with a possible fourth day for the oldest boy. There will be lots of golf played this week.

Golf is a mental game that builds character. It's often been described as being a gentlemen's sport.  It could also be a lady for the female's who play the game.  It's a pretty neat sport.  I never would have thought I would have liked it, but there's a reason I do like it.  My boys are playing! :)

I'll leave you with a couple of good golf quotes:

Golf isn’t like other sports where you can take a player out if he’s having a bad day. You have to play the whole game.

Phil Blackmar

Baseball reveals character; golf exposes it.
Ernie Banks

A Woman Like Lydia

Of all of the "conversion" stories in the Bible, one of my favorite ones is the story of Lydia.

Lydia was converted at a place of prayer. She was already doing what she believed to be the right thing - worshipping God.  But when Paul and his companions went to speak to her, her heart responded to the message.  She and all of her household were baptized.  

From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Act 16:11-15

Lydia opened her heart to the message.  She responded to the message and did what needed to be done to become a Christian.  She wasn't proud.  She wasn't arrogant.  She believed what they were telling her about salvation.  She believed and obeyed.

Wouldn't you like to see many more women like Lydia?  Women who were wise in the business world, but also open to the gospel message?  Women who were striving to live their lives according to the Word of God?

I pray that you are a woman like Lydia - opening your heart to the message and obeying it, as well.  

Notice what Lydia did as soon as she became a Christian.  She opened up her home to others!  She invited the ones who taught her to come into her home as guests! She offered hospitality to others!

Later on we hear a little bit more about Lydia:

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left. Acts 16:40

Apparently Lydia continued to practice hospitality by allowing the church to meet there.  Paul and Silas visited their brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage them.

Yes, I want to be like Lydia!  I pray you do, too!