A weekend of parties

My baby is graduating high school soon and turning 18 this week! How can this be?

I can't say enough about this sweet young man! He's wise beyond his years and a joy to my heart. The circumstances of life have made us spend a lot of time together in the last year and he has been a huge blessing to me.
-But he will always be 14 in my mind! LOL

This weekend is the 30th anniversary of our church! Our pastor has been leading the church for every single one of those years and still does! He's amazing!
God led our family to worship here 14 years ago and it has been a great place to grow and raise our kids. Hubby believed in being committed to a local church for the long haul. -No church hopping or shopping for this family! We have always been so grateful to be "planted" here.

So we have some special celebrations to attend this weekend in honor of this milestone, as well as the joy of celebrating Andrew's life! Yay! Let the parties begin!


~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

In 1 John 2:1,
John wrote (most likely to the churches near Ephesus -or so says the footnote in my Bible)

 "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin."

 "And if anyone sins..." (because we unfortunately do)

"we have an Advocate with the Father," (an advocate pleads our case and secures our pardon)

And we happen to have the very best One who could possibly advocate for us:
 "Jesus Christ the righteous." I love that!
(because of course, another human sinner couldn't secure us a pardon)

How did He?
By becoming the sinless sacrifice required by our sinfulness.

"And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins," (that churchy word means that Jesus Himself became the sacrifice)

And I love this part:
"and not for our (sins) only but also for the WHOLE WORLD." (emphasis mine!) : )
Amen!

~Becky

Learning and growing

I have been a part of a widow's support group for the last year or so, but recently, I realized that my season for being in that group was over. It was really hard to stop going because they are some of the sweetest ladies on the planet. They have been so kind. They have prayed for me and my kids and been so interested in our lives. Plus, they are a lot of fun!

 I'm sort of the baby of the group since most are 20-30 years older than I am. They like the meetings to end early so they don't have to drive in the dark. They talk about the best doctor to see for a hearing aid and whether they should live with their kids or not. -One time we found out who in the room had nose jobs when they were young! LOL

Interestingly, they don't talk about the grief or the pain of loosing their spouse. They are there to party and enjoy each other's fellowship, have a devotional and pray for each other..They only time I saw anyone break down and cry (besides myself) was when we sang Christmas carols.
They are a precious and lovely bunch and I will miss them. It was an honor to spend the year with them.

It took me a long time to realize that even though I had a great time with them, I usually cried almost the whole drive home. Our age difference reminded me of how much living I have yet to do without my hubby.I would debate within myself whether it is harder to loose a husband after 24 years or after 50. Is it easier to have almost finished living your life when death parts you
or harder?
My pity party would be in full swing by the time I got home.

Then one of my wise sons reminded me that I don't have to let this one thing define me and my life. My life is bigger than the fact that my husband is with the Lord already.
I think he's right about that.

~Becky

He is risen!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

 Psalm 54 came to mind the other day when I was in need of some encouragement. I've always loved verse 4.
"Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who uphold my life."

It hit me then that it doesn't say that God is the one and only one who upholds my life. Amazingly enough, He is one of THOSE who upholds it. I had never thought of that before!

He's given me more than just Himself. Which totally makes sense since He is the one who said that it wasn't good for man to be alone. We obviously weren't designed to do life by ourselves.

So, I got to thinking about this 'list' of people I have, who in some small or large way, help uphold my life. And it was very encouraging! I highly recommend thinking through your own list.
 
Because our family has been through so much in the last few years, many people came readily to mind for the HUGE ways they loved and supported us. But in everyday life, there are so many, who in sweet and subtle ways help us keep on keeping on in our faith walk. They never stop walking in love and they cling to their faith through every trial and cheer us on to do the same.
The phrase "upholds my life" also translates as "sustains my soul."
Certain friends just feed your soul, don't they? Hanging around them makes you love Jesus even more. I love those folks!

When you add to that list, the One who died for your soul and who loves you more than His own life, you've got quite a list of those who "uphold" you! We are in good hands!

"God is my helper;
The Lord is with those who uphold my life."
Amen!

~Becky

Catching up

I'm not very good at finding the time to blog these days. I wish all the posts that I write in my head, actually made it here. : )

We had a family game night the other night with Tiffany's parents because we don't get to see them often enough. We had a great time even though games were never actually attempted. I also forgot to take pictures of us not playing games. LOL

The love seat mentioned in a previous post, was finally delivered. Glory, glory and it came in a BOX. A very big box! And so we were the first ones to actually sit on it. And the bait and switch was made right! Or the switch and bait -if you are very mad. ; )

Andrew is enjoying his new job as a cashier at the grocery store near where I work. Joy and I came in the other night to say hi and cheer him on.

I made it to my happy place last weekend, but the water is still ice cold.

I found out that I am terrible at choosing paint colors.

But miracle of miracles, Home Depot let me EXCHANGE the paint I bought and for a better color. How nice is that? This is the one I didn't like.

Bree has always been allowed on the furniture until now. But she has a new doggie bed and she actually likes it. -Although she looks less than thrilled in this photo. LOL 

These birds make things interesting at work. They like to guard the doors and rip the flowers out of the flower beds. We were replanting the flowers several times a day. Ugh! Today a hedge was planted in the flower beds. Yahoo! Let's hope they don't care for hedge-ripping!

One day last week, this one decided that pecking on the door all morning would be fun. Too funny!

Joy has a new job delivering food for Panera. When she delivers to the college campus nearby, she does it on a long board. How cool is that? I definitely need a picture of that! I couldn't deliver anything in tact, on a long board -to save my life.

That's about it for what's been happening here.
Hope you are having a nice weekend!

~Becky