"Someone Worth Dying For"

Returning back to Colorado after being with family for several weeks, is pretty difficult for me. Its not that I don't love Colorado and my friends here but being a Mom, leaving children and their families is so hard for me. Having the personality that God gave me doesn't help. (I want to fix everything and sometimes want to fix things that are really not broken) Sam and I miss being with family and especially the grandchildren. We are so proud of our children, their spouses and their children. There are so many wonderful things I could tell about each one of them, but getting back to the type of Mom I am, I have trouble sometimes taking things upon myself to do to fix instead of letting God. Yesterday's devotion in the book "Jesus Calling" that Sharon gave to Sam for Father's Day was meant especially for me. It begins by saying "Entrust your loved ones to Me; release them into My protective care. They are much safer with Me than in your clinging hands. As you entrust others into My care, I am free to shower blessings on them. My presence will go with them wherever they go and I will give them rest. Watch to see what I will do." Ephesians 3:20 says "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us"

I was listening to the radio this morning and heard a song that I had not heard before which spoke to me and wanted to share the name of it and the artist. The artist is Mikes Chair and the name of the song is "Someone Worth Dying For". I would put it on my blog, but don't know how at the moment.

Thinking about Will, Ellie, Denise and Byrum as they begin a new school year. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Summer Trip

I don't really even know where to begin telling about my summer trip back to North Carolina. Guess I will begin by saying what Ellie said to me several times. "It looks like so much fun being a Grandmother. I can't wait till I am a Grandmother!" Ellie is right! It is lots of fun being a "Meme" or sometimes "NeNe." Although extended trips can be very tiring, I would say it's worth it. I was there a longer bit of time than Sam, but he would agree that the trip is defintely worth it. Just to list some of the fun, I will begin with Will (our oldest). He is 13 and such a sweet and handsome guy. I enjoyed watching him enjoy his cousins although he is the oldest, he is admired by all of them. He loves to play the guitar and is very good, I must say. Ellie is becoming more beautiful each day and the highlight of our time together was when she asked me one day at the beach, "Meme, when you aren't holding Ben or Eli will you hold me like your little baby? Holding her in my lap was so special as we sat together telling stories about her dad when he was a little boy. PawPaw and Will were sitting with us and we had lots of funny stories to tell. Byrum is defintely a great help in party planning. He did a great job helping with Mia's 3rd birthday party and getting ready for the Burgin Family Day. He is an expert on many subjects. I enjoyed watching him pick vegetables in their garden, swimming, entertaining his baby brother, Eli, watching Mr. Bean together, having conversations together right before bedtime. He is becoming a very good reader. I was able to be home for Mia's 3rd birthday party. I enjoyed seeing the families come together to help Mia celebrate. Mia loves books and I enjoyed getting to read to her before bed. She blessed my heart by singing "Give Thanks" to me one night and I asked her about one hundred times to sing that song to me that Blessed my heart. She always did. I was excited to see her little dance class perform on the last day of her dance camp. I didn't know I was going to get to have my first lesson in ballet, but enjoyed it. She made me smile so many times as she played with her cousins and at the beach asking this pretty tall blonde if she was Barbie. She is such a good helper too. She would walk into the kitchen and ask me "What are you making, Nene? Can I help you? She really likes to crack eggs.
I slept in the room with Ben sometimes and enjoyed hearing him in the morning waking up, talking to his Panda bear and Bubby that he slept with. Listening to him sing ABC and "I like to eat Apples and Bananas" in his language. Getting to see him take his first steps and continue with getting pretty braver by the day with his walking ability. Watching Eli crawl around and pull up and fall without even getting upset is pretty cute. His sweet smile will melt your heart and seeing him learn so much new everyday. "How big is Eli?" So big!
On the last day of my visit, Ashley and I along with Byrum and Eli went to the Billy Graham Library. That was a special treat! I bought a few books at the book store and in reading some quotes from Ruth Graham, one has stuck in my mind as advice to give my children as they raise our grandchildren. "Never let a single day pass without saying an encouraging word to your child."

My trip was just what I set out to do....enjoy family. Surprising my Aunt Marcie for her 80th birthday, spending time with Mama in her new home and meeting her new friends, and making memories for our family.

I love you family! You are all so special!

Happy 41st. Anniversary

41 years? How can this be? I am not old enough to have been married 41 years.....oh yes, guess I am 60. How did I get to be 60 so fast? The saying goes "Time flies when you are having fun" Guess that's true. I couldn't have said "I do" to a better person. Thank you for loving me and always being there to support me. As we go through this day and hopefully many more together, my prayer is that we can continue to love each other and hold each other up as we go through life. I love you!