Class of 2017

Graduation weekend happened! And by God's grace, it was perfect!

So many things could have gone wrong and none of them did! Hooray!

Lots of love was poured out on my sweet graduate and he was blessed! 

One night before the fun started, I gave myself permission to cry about my hubby missing this and I think that helped somehow. Then I asked dear friends to keep us in prayer for the weekend ahead. And it did feel like he was 'with us in spirit.' 

Thursday night my bestie and her son flew in! Hooray! 

Friday I worked and then she and I cooked for a houseful of precious kids and went shopping and did party prep. And we stopped for mini-donuts without all the kids, because we could! LOL 

Saturday, we did more cooking and then drove Andrew and his friends to the hotel where the ceremony was to be held for the home schoolers  in our state. He attended the 5 hour practice (yes, you read that right!) and his friends enjoyed the hotel's water park. One of his 'gifts' was to stay there over night with his friends since the ceremony was in the morning. -I'm happy to say, no lamps were broken in the process! 

When I saw how nice their room was, I kept wondering why I was letting a bunch of boys stay THERE when I was driving all the way back home. LOL

Lots of decorating and the frosting of cupcakes happened late into the night.  

The next day these sweet friends and lots more, missed church and came to the longest ceremony ever. : )  

J made this shirt with Andrew on it! LOL

After he walked across the stage and received his diploma, I got this sweet text from him, which totally melted my heart on the spot! 

Somehow we were the only family out of 300 go to the nearest Cracker Barrel when it was over!  (they were literally at Chili's) This was much to M's delight because they don't have CBs in CA. ; ) 

Then we rushed back to throw Andrew's grad party! Both events were just a few hours apart. What was I thinking? ; )  

Eating and game-playing happened. Then the  kids ended the evening playing guitar and singing worship songs, which was the perfect way to end such a special weekend! PTL!

I'm happy to say that I've now accomplished 19 years of homeschooling! Whoo-hoo!

And in August we will go away to a cute cabin in the GA mountains and celebrate that fact. 

But now, I need a nap! LOL

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

"Through God

we shall do valiantly,

It is He 

who treads 

down our enemies."

 ~Psalm 108:13

This verse encouraged me so much this week! 

Because of God we are valiant!

 (showing courage, determined, lionhearted, brave and fearless)

And it is HE who treads down our enemies!

What enemies has He trampled for you? 

Maybe not the literal enemies that David faced, but the kind that can war against your spirit and your soul. Enemies like fear, doubt, despair, depression, etc...

He's trampled so many enemies for my family in the last year and a half and I'm so proud of us for letting Him (Amen) and just so very grateful! 

Through God we are made valiant! 

~Becky

Casting and reeling

My grandfather loved to fish. He taught all of us grand kids how to fish and took us on lots of fishing trips in his boat out on the bay.
I remember learning how to cast my line into the water and wanting to leave it there once I'd done it, like I had accomplished some big thing and I was done.
But that didn't seem to be how it worked.
Whatever type of fish we were fishing for, required that we constantly cast out our line and then reel it back in over and over again. I wasn't a big fan.
(and in all those years, I only caught one fish! ;)

In the arena of prayer though, it really is a big accomplishment to just "cast." We really are done then! How great is that?
No "reeling" is required! It is actually very ineffective to cast and then reel it all back in.

 "Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Pet 4:7

Learning just to cast,
~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

The other day, I mentioned Judah Smith's teaching on How's Your Soul?
Week 6 is rocking my world so I can't think of a better thing to share in the Word than what he said.
Here is the link. Watch week #6, if not all of them. 😀


~Becky

Missing the fun Anne with an 'e'

My sister and I faced-timed each other while watching the first episode of Netflix's Anne of Green Gables remake! We just had to be 'together' to watch this childhood favorite of ours and this was the only way. : )

I'm glad that I didn't know before I watched it, that it has been called the 'dark and gritty reboot.'
-It is definitely not as fun as Disney's version in the 80's. I kept thinking this Anne was in serious need of counselling or therapy. "The poor dear!"
But it was still fun to hear some of our favorite lines!

 Too bad this favorite didn't stay as humorous and lighthearted as it was.

~Becky

Happy Mother's Day

I'm so grateful to be their mom! 

Feeling very blessed!

~Becky

Doing life together

Last year, one of my friends took me to lunch and told me about her vision for pouring into womens' lives through a regular Bible study. Her desire was for this group of women to become close friends, who do life together and encourage one another.
I remember not being sure if I wanted to 'do life' with a bunch of women because of some past experiences I've had with friendships with women who were competitive. Blah!

God was surely in this idea and it has been a wonderful year.

Most of the ladies in this group are my age or younger. Some of them have kids the same ages as mine and some have little ones. Most are married but hanging out with them doesn't remind me that I'm a widow, just that I am a Christ follower. Praise God!
Some are new believers and some aren't.
We are big Judah Smith fans and have done several of his Bible studies this year, the latest being "How's Your Soul," which was really good.

We pray for each other in person and whenever needed. We've seen each other through some really BIG things. (good and bad) And we always cheer each other on!
Being with them has certainly been good for my soul! They have seen me through a lot of tearful evenings this year and they make me laugh until I almost cry!
Love them!

~Becky