and then....they were gone!!!

Ok..I admit it...I'm writing this before Holly actually drives off towards New Orleans because I can write it with joy and no tears of sadness. However...what prompted me to write this was the fact that when I went to my garage today to get in my car I suddenly realized ALOT of boxes were gone and we had our garage back finally!!!! Then, it hit me!!! I didn't really mind those boxes...I don't really mind the clothes that are stacked and stacked on top of Holly's twin beds in her room upstairs~~~I did mind the huge flat screen tv that was propped up against the pretty chest in my living room! but other than that...I could pretty much tune it all out!! I've even grown to love Murphy! their Cavaschon that we've inherited for awhile!! Rosie sure loves having a playmate and he doens't shed! In fact...I may send Rosie to New Orleans instead of Murphy!!
I have to also admit that I have learned more in this past month about trusting in God's sovereignty and His timing than I could have learned in a lifetime!!! Brad is so very excited about his new placement and loves his supervisor!! It doesn't hurt that he used to play for the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots!! how fun!! and he is so very encouraging!!!
Luckily...the silly things that have bothered me the most during this past month can all be avoided by just not going upstairs and looking at the bedrooms that are "heavy laden" with boxes, clothes, books, breakables that they treasure and don't want to store....etc.... unfortunately, the things that cannot be overlooked are things like the anger and frustrations that we've all experienced...the"why" questions and the "what ifs!" These are the things that cannot be tucked away in upstairs closets or bedrooms...these have been the things that have revealed alot of our true character...and for that...I am horrified....and yet grateful!!! I am horrified at the things I've seen and felt in myself...and I am forever grateful that I have watched my daughter and her husband treat everything as if it were a blessing...when I felt like they were being "jipped or cheated" they were humble and grateful! When I felt like I wanted to take this all away from them....they were glad they could learn and grow from it!
In reality....they have helped their mother and father in law grow more than we ever could have imagined....and believe it or not...I wouldn't take it away for anything!!!!

Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes ALL things to work together for His good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose......

It's hailing on a sweltering hot Alabama day!

Ok...today was WIERD!!! How does it hail the size of grapes in 90 degree weather! I guess the weather read my mind and got as confused as I've been lately!!! Holly and I sat and stared it amazed....alot of "wierdness" has been happening in our life lately and it seems to be getting more intense! Thankfully, a sweet friend reminded me of Psalms 23... sometimes I really do feel like this flock of sheep just staring out in the distance wondering....
                                     "Where are we going, Lord?"

Praise the Lord for a Shepherd ! otherwise...I would be lost!

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

 ¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
 ² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 ³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,

   they comfort me.

 ⁵ You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;

surely my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
   forever.

there are times when I feel completely alone through this journey....as a 
mother, a wife, a friend, a woman....but I know that God watches the cattle on a thousand hills....so I feel pretty sure that he also watches the sheep....as He is our ultimate Shepherd!


Isaiah 40:11
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

oh Lord....grant us wisdom when shepherding our young! 

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away...Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Job 1:21....the title of this post!!! When I first thought about what I was going to write about I was listening to the Trace Adkins song...Just Fishin....and of course, I was ....Just Cryin!!!! WOW!!! One defintely needs  to listen to the country song...cry and then try to move on!!! Because...( and I'm preaching to myself here!!) the verse in Job is wonderfully true!!! The Lord DOES give AND the The Lord DOES take away...but whatever the case....BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!!!!!!!! It's like what Wales Goebel starts all of his Sunday School lessons with....GOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME!!!! ALL THE TIME....GOD IS GOOD!!!

What a fabulous promise to cling to when I am crying into my bath mat!!! ( you would know if you read my earlier post about Holly moving!! ) and what a wonderful promise to cling to when every day issues come up in our lives!! And they WILL!!! I promise they will!!!

and he thinks "we're just fishin!!"

My first reaction is to always cry and be depressed...but I also asked alot of you to hold me accountable...to walk the walk and not just talk the talk!!! I know it's ok to be sad...I really do and I really am sad about them moving!!! but what I can truthfully say to anyone is that I am more GLAD that God is in control and that I have absolutely no idea what He has planned....and that far out weighs the "SAD" in me. Does that make any since at all? It does to me!!! and it gives me a real hope, and a real peace and it helps me to just get through tomorrow!! and guess what? we aren't even assured of what tomorrow may bring!!! But we are assured of God's love and we are 100% sure of God's eternal forgiveness IF we simply put our trust in Him!!! So no matter how sad you may see me...or how sad I may sound when I write...my heart and my soul trusts in Him.....and He alone is my source of happiness, joy, contentment, etc...

What I express in my blog is my heart...it's why I started my blog and it's my place to grieve, to be happy, to laugh, to cry, to hurt, to be joyful, to be thankful.... to love....to love what God is teaching me in each and every experience! and to really...when all is said and done...sort through my own feelings and issues and once again cling to God's promises...the promises that I have always known in my heart but am now having to live out in my life and trust Him to bring it all to fruition.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Phil. 4:19

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

and like I quoted Wales Goebel earlier...God is good! All the time..All the time....God is good!!!
                                      just look at what He blessed us with!!!!

                                      How could I ever doubt Him???
check out the song and you will understand why this post was so special to me!! daddy's and their daughters!!! WOW!!

Trace Adkins - "Just Fishin'." Official Full Length Country Music Video.:http://t.co/RGcTgaq Best song I've ever heard!! and oh so true!!

2 hours ago via Twitter ·  ·  · @CPBradford on Twitter

Three New Recipes

Creamy Chicken Chowder

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Cream of Potato Soup
1 1/2 C milk
1 C chicken broth
1 4oz can sliced mushrooms
1 small can chopped green chilies
2-3 C chopped cooked chicken
1 C mexicorn
1/3 C sliced green onions
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
Combine all cans, undrained in large soup pot, add chicken and heat over low till warm. Add shredded cheese and heat till melted. Can serve with green onions on the side if desired!
* this soup is alot better than it sounds! It's incredibly easy and people love it! It's great to take to new moms, etc....

My grandmother's corn muffins

1 C self-rising corn meal                                            1 C sour cream
1/3 C flour                                                                  1 small can cream style corn
1 t baking powder                                                      1 small jar chopped pimentos
1 1/2 C canola oil                                                        2 eggs, slightly beaten
*combine cornmeal, flour, and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in another bowl and stir into dry ingredients. Spoon into 12 greased muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes at 400. These are reaaly good as well! My grandmother was a wonderful cook!!!

the herbs and the dijon mustard layer

French Tomato Tart with Goat Cheese and Honey!

right before putting in the oven

my version

The professional version!

4-5 medium tomatoes sliced thinly
dijon mustard
fresh herbs ( I used fresh tarragon and basil)
pepper
sliced goat cheese or crumbled...I tried to slice mine and it just crumbled so it was a mixture! I used one small roll.
drizzle honey on top...as much as you like or as a little or you can leave it off! I thought it sounded iffy but I did it and we loved it!
1 roll pillsbury pie crust...Feel free to use the real recipe for the tart...I was very pushed for time!

Spread a decent amount of dijon mustard into your pie crust that has been fitted in a deep dish pie plate.
Layer the tomatoes so that they slightly overlap
Sprinkle with lots of fresh herbs and pepper to taste
put goat cheese all over the top and sprinkle with more herbs. Drizzle with honey. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or a little longer depending on your oven
You want your cheese to be slightly browned on top!.

Hope you like atleast the soup and the muffins! The tart takes a true goat cheese lover like myself! Enjoy!

Hope Floats and so does a Life Preserver!!!

"Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad...but it's the middle that counts the most! And you need to remember that when you're at the beginning...just give hope a chance to float up and it will!" Quote from Hope Floats and Sandra Bullock....could be my life statement!!!
I'm just interested in the middle right now! I'm not doing so well with it and that's a little scary to me! Things are being thrown at me left and right and I feel like I'm playing dodge ball in a way!
I could list ten million promises that I turn to when things aren't going the way "I" planned...."all things work together for good", "His ways are not our ways"...and so on! Now don't mis-understand me...these are all FABULOUS and TRUE!!! but like I said, they are things that I "turn" to! I want them to be things that I CLING to and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I was a drowning victim at sea....these promises from God's word would be my life preserver! I NEED life preserving promises right now...every day....all day....and so on, and so on! It's not going to ever go away...the need that we have for something and Someone to put our ultimate trust in! So why don't I just go for it!! When things are thrown at me my immediate thought should be, "Lord...this is ordained by you....You will see me through it"....NOT....running to my bathroom, locking the door and sobbing into my bathmat for crying out loud!!!
Well....moving forward...I'm hoping you are atleast concerned as to why I would EVER run to my bathroom, lock the door and cry into my bathmat! ( not that it happens THAT often!!) but...this time it did and it was real and it was scary! Don't know how much you know about my sweet daughter and her wonderful husband and their "adventures" with the Chick Fil A Interim Manager training program! I can honestly say I don't want to know much more and I already know enough to probably train them along with alot of their higher ups! but moving right along...Holly and Brad were abruptly uprooted from what they thought was about to be their home....their first Chick Fil A of their own but God obviously had other plans that I will definitely ask Him about when I arrive in heaven...they were given a month off...they've been living with us....and they were supposed to find out in MID June where they would be going on July 1st! How many of you believe like I do that if a month has 30 days then on day 15...IT IS MID JUNE!!!!! Obviously....Chick Fil A has a different calendar than the rest of the world because they were just told YESTERDAY!!! the 20th!!!!!!!! Does that day seem extra special to anybody else but me? It was Holly and Brad's 2nd Anniversary for crying out loud!!! When Brad announced it to us...and us includes Holly for the first time...I kept telling him not to do it...don't ruin your anniversary dinner...being that they were dressed and leaving mind you!!!! Of course, the moment he began...I held up my hand and said I didn't want to know yet....I guess I just wanted to keep guessing? In reality...I was about to start fasting for God to intervene on their behalf! (Or was it mine?!?) Long story short...waterfalls of tears began to fall and I couldn't stop them...I didn't even want to! It was as if the floodgates had been opened and all these weeks of anticipation and fretting over things I can't go into because I'm seriously thinking they are part of the Secret Service...or the CIA or something!!! The tears flowed and luckily the words that flowed and the anger that flowed could not be heard by anyone other than me, the bathmat and the Lord....the King of Kings....the Great I AM!! My Redeemer! Jehovah....the Messiah!!! my Saviour!!! my Shepherd!!!
So now....I'm asking Him to throw me the Life Preserver! I know it's around me...tightly fitted from that day at Camp Hargis when I was in Jr. High...but somehow...I'm not using it correctly at this very moment and I truly want too!! I need too for my sake and the sake of my family!!! ( Mainly Jim!!) I'm asking Him for true peace when things don't go the way I had hoped for or planned for! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He has Holly and Brad's very best interest in mind...and ours as well. I'm just being honest when I say that I am heart broken and sad and even mad that they are leaving next week for a place called Kenner, Louisianna! I can't even spell it! It's right outside of New Orleans and actually when Brad announced it was 5 1/2 hours away is when the tears really began to fall! i can't help it that I've loved every single solitary minute of knowing that they were just 45 minutes away and that Holly worked for me 2-3 days a week and she was there for all of Miller's important events in his life! His games, his prom, etc....They were at church sitting by us every Sunday again! Something that a parent truly longs for! Now they won't be here for Miller's Senior year of High School...and that...was truly my first thought when I heard the news of Kenner, Louisianna.
I'm claiming the last few verses that God had been putting on my heart to get me through this...I know THEY will be fine! They always are and I'm excited for the people in Kenner to get the priviledge of knowing my special children! I will share them for a while...I will share them as long as God sees fit...even if I shed a few tears along the way....I truly don't know how people manage without the Lord!!

Psalms 73:26 " My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever! "
Psalms 19:14 "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, Oh Lord"
Psalms 28:7 " The Lord is my strength and my shield: my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song"
and last but certainly not least...
Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart!"

Glorious Promises to cling to as my Life Preserver!!!

Why do we celebrate Father's Day?

 Why do we celebrate Father's Day? Because we can!!!! and we should! I am so very thankful that my children have the best father and both of their grandfather's and my married children have their father in laws to honor as well.... that I thought I should share it with you!

 Jim is a great beach dad!!! even in the "early years" as we like to call them!!!

even when he challenges Miller and his friends in push-ups!!! 

he is really a great "Poppy" as well!!!!

 I guess he learned it from Pappy!! and Papa!!! ( wow!! alot of "P" names in this family!

He also loves his "baby girl"....we won't even go there for fear of tears at this point!!!!

 but he also taught Miller to love his sister! ha ha!! Miller loved his sister with no help from us!!!

 this is one of my favorites!!! Picking up the wedding dress and tux at the Tutwiler Hotel!!! What a fun memory!!!

I've always treasured the bond between Holly and JIm!! It's so special!!!! only to be rivaled by her brothers!!!
 and I feel sure Mitch will love his precious daughter , Layton in exactly the same way!!

 He certainly loves to give gifts to his children...but I know from 28 years of marriage not one tangible gift measures up to the gifts of wisdom he has taught them by example....

 You are a hard man to live up to, Jim!!!!

 this "Dorothy" sure enjoyed seeing Poppy this past Halloween night!!!

 I am very blessed to have you as the father of my children...and the grandfather to many in the future...?

 wow...didn't mean to bring up more grandchildren at this point in your tribute!! ha ha!! we shall see...we shall see...but for now! God, the Author of Life has granted us with these!!! Special moments with each of your children....your two sons....your angel of a daughter....your precious daughter and son in law which I know you think of as your children...as do I!!!!

Brad....such a blessing!!!

Britney...what a blessing!!

I can't even let myself go into the unknown just yet when I think of having another addition to our family!!! Let's just enjoy Miller right where he is at this point in his young life! He is such a blessing!!!

 God blessed you with such great role models!!! Your incredible father!!! My incredible father!!!! WOW!! Let's be forever grateful and thankful!!!!

 I have to say Happy Father's Day to my dad at this point!!! Thank you for loving me through it all!! Even when I didn't deserve it! ( which really wasn't that often!! )

Thank you Mom for loving my husband and guiding us along all this while!!! 28 years this August!!

       Thank you to both sets of our parents! We are so very blessed by your love, your wisdom and your guidance! Words cannot express to you how very much we love you and how we wish the best Father's Day of all to Tom and Wayne!!!!                                                                 

I've told my children since birth that they have the best father on the face of the earth! and they do!!! Jim is truly the best father any child could ever want as well as being the best husband any girl could ever dream of! He takes care of my every need...he STRIVES to take care of my "wants and needs" whatever that might be! most of them are very frivolous! Mostly, he loves the Lord with all of his heart...he has a father that loves the Lord with all of his heart.... he has a father in law that loves the Lord with all of his heart....and he trusts in his Heavenly Father with all of his heart! My prayer is that my children's children can also repeat this post....I do believe that God blesses the heart of a child through a father that seeks to serve and love the Lord.

Thank you, Jim....

Is it by "default or is it Intentional?

Pronunciation: di-flt
Function: noun
1 : failure to take action default> default, not by deciding>
2 : failure to do something required (as make a payment or appear in court) defaulton a loan> default>
3 : a selection to be made automatically according to a computer program when the user does not specify a choice 


Lately, I've been seeing the word "default" ALOT!!  Especially since not only our home computer was hacked into and we spent hours- if not days of our beach trip trying to clear our name and get our "life" back...the setting that kept coming up was default! What does that mean exactly?  I wasn't sure..so I googled it! I had  just figured it was important because everytime we re-set our settings that word kept appearing as if I should want to click on that to make everything easier! Then our shop computer experienced the same frustrations and once again...the word, "Default" kept appearing! It occurred to me today as I was driving to my shop that in reality, alot of my life has been spent running on the default system and that perhaps I wanted to live my life intentionally and NOT by default! It occurred to me that I wanted to run my shop intentionally and not by default...it occurred to me that I've wasted alot of time living on the default method and I don't like it!
Don't ask me why I haven't realized this before now for crying out loud! I'm 47 years old! but I just erased an entire paragraph defending the "why's" of why I lived my life in the default method and I was stunned! I guess seeing the honesty finally brought it home! I lived my life in the default method because I was a new Christian and all of sudden I was best friends with some very strong Christians...it was easy! I could lean on friends and boyfriends that were strong christians and I could lean on Bible Study leaders, teachers, and so on and so on...that doesn't give me an excuse! Trust me! I know that! I'm just tired of learning everything on the default method! I don't want it to always be the fact that there is nothing else to cling to or nothing else to hang my hat on so to speak! I want to know Him before any of these issues arise! I want to be cradled in His arms before I need to be soothed. I want to be sitting as His feet learning before I ever need to learn! I want to be intentional in my life! I want to be intentional in how I live!...I want to be intentional in how I raise my children!  I want to be intentional in how I run my shop. Living by default has always eventually brought me to the foot of the cross...when I didn't know what else to do...God was always there.... I can only imagine that if I had intentionally been there...I might possibly have experienced blessings galore...and I intentionally don't plan on missing out on that anymore! It just isn't worth it!
So if you see me living these next few weeks by the default method...please point it out! I want to know! "My" plans for our family are defaulting in ways I never would have thought possible...but I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt...that God is using these incidents ( as He did in the past  with every single incident and was forever faithful! )   for our good! I just want to experience it under His wings...completely covered....