One Year Ago Today

Nanny and Papaw at Indian Rocks Beach 2013

It's so hard to believe that it's been a year since my grandma passed away.  I miss her so much every day that I can only imagine how my grandfather feels.  Even as I type, the tears are streaming down my face and I would give anything to hug and tell her how much I love her--even just one more time.

The good news is that I have hope and I know that I will see her again.  Someday.  When God decides to return for His people.  Until then, I grieve because I have to live without her.  No. We have to live without her.  However, I rejoice because she's in no more pain.  It's just her human body at the grave.  Her spirit is alive and well and hanging out with God!  

Do you know this hope?  If not, contact me and we'll talk.  Seriously.  I don't want anyone to live without this fact that God is coming back for His people and that we'll get to live with Him for eternity!  Can you imagine?

I miss you Nanny and I love you!  Until we meet again!  

YouTube Thursday

Today is a bittersweet day for me.  My grandmother passed away Monday afternoon and her funeral is today.  I'm excited for her to no longer be in excruciating pain, but I'm also selfish because I still wish she was here--I still have so many things to learn.  I know I'll see her in Heaven within a blink of an eye, but I miss her already.  I thought this song by Matthew West was appropriate for today:

Save a Place for Me





The sweet part is that I will be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon this weekend and I will be leaving for Orlando right after her funeral and burial services.  My grandfather gave me permission to go, so I'm going to do my best so I can make them both proud.  I am sad that my aunt will not be joining me--we had great plans for this trip--but I know she wants to stay with my grandfather to help him cope with this sudden loss. So, if you happen to be at Disney this weekend and see me wandering around, stop by and say hi, I would love to meet you!

Soul Searching Sundays

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I still have not received any prayer requests or praise reports, so today I am focusing on my own personal prayer requests.

Lord, I'm praying for my family right now. I pray that my Nanny understands that it's okay to leave us and go to Heaven with you.  We've all said our goodbyes and have let her know that we will be fine and that we will take care of Papaw, but Lord, she's still fighting to stay here with us and it's tearing Papaw apart.

Lord, please help her to take her final breath so that he is no longer tortured and thinking that she is in pain.  Lord, I know this is devastating for him, but he is exhausted, as we all are, and I think it will give him peace to know that she is with you.

Lord, I pray for the rest of the family.  My mom, aunt, cousins, and other family members who are dealing with the strain of death.  Lord, I pray that you give them peace about her passing and wrap your arms of love and protection when we have to deal with the aftermath of her death.

Lord, thank you for being here with us as we go through this painful time of loss.  Thank you for being merciful and ending the suffering as quickly as possible. 

I ask all of this in your most precious name. Amen.

Rest In Peace Martha

You are missed greatly.

My Crazy Life....

Ugh!

That's the way I've been feeling here lately. I'm sure it's just a result from the seemingly non-stop rain we've had this past week and a half, but I still haven't managed to get out of this fog. Yes, I know we NEED the rain, and I would have enjoyed it more if I could have curled up with a great book and a large cup of tea. Unfortunately, I had to deal with Seniors and their last few days of school, (Now I know why teachers are not allowed to carry guns into school.) as well as the other end-of-the-year (HALLELUJAH!) shenanigans both by students and their teachers.

In addition to the craziness that has been my life the past few weeks, I found out that one my best-friends from high school--her husband died of a heart attack a week after my sister's fiance. They were the same age--38. So this is fair warning for anyone who is close to that age--get your heart checked! I don't care if you're the healthiest person alive--get your heart checked--then maybe I can get some sleep. Thanks!

I've also been shopping for apartments. YUCK! Whoever said that now's the time to rent is LYING! I could almost buy a house for the amount of money I would be spending in rent each month. Unfortunately, I don't have money for a down payment, upkeep, etc. so it's still more feasible for me to rent. YUCK.

Thankfully I have it narrowed down to two places. Unfortunately, the pros and cons of each are equal. The more expensive one is only $25 more a month and is MUCH nicer, but that's the difference between gas and no gas for the car. Grrrr...... Anyone have any suggestions? I could actually move into the cheaper one this weekend. Can you imagine? Of course that means that I need to find a moving company that would help me move in 5 days' worth of time. Yea--I didn't think so either. Then, the next 2 weekends after that are booked from previous commitments and then I'm working at the local theme park the rest of the summer. They'll only hold the apartment for 10 days and I actually was able to walk in the apartment and see the one I would be renting. As I mentioned, any thoughts are helpful. :)

Meanwhile, I need to get things packed--which means my books and scrapbooking stuff. My furniture and things are in storage, so you'd think packing would be easy; however, anyone in my family can attest to the numbers of piles I have of each aforementioned subjects. Let's just say that I think the boxes totaled 75 of just books and scrapbooking supplies. Ridiculous, I know. Thankfully, I plan of scrapbooking more once I actually have a place where I can spread out and work--and NOT have to clean up when I'm in the middle of a project.

Ack! If you don't hear from me anytime soon you can assume some boxes fell on me. Have a great week!

Tragedy

My sister's fiance died yesterday at only 38/9 years old. Unfortunately, she was with him when he stopped breathing at their house. She was not able to ride to the hospital in the ambulance and was immediately rushed to a family room to wait for the doctor's horrible news. Please pray for my sister and his family as they go through this trial. He was her rock during this chaotic period in her life and they were just getting things settled to start preparing for their wedding. He also left behind my niece who already misses him terribly and doesn't really understand why "poppi" died. We have to wait for the ME to finish their work before they can finalize plans for a funeral. Please just keep her/them in your prayers. Thank you.

PLEASE PRAY!

This is an email I received through our FIRST family. It's hard to belive that this type of persecution is going on today, but here it is in black and white. Please pray for this situation in India, that the persecutions and deaths of Christians and innocent children are stopped! Thank you!

Bev of http://ribbit-ribbit.blogspot.com/ just wrote me with this prayer request:

This is a request for prayer for YWAM missionaries and their churches in Orissa , India . The request came from her friend, Mable Hurst, an associate of HCJB Global.

Dear beloved sponsors and friends of Good News India .

We have never seen anything like this. We knew that Orissa was the most resistant and hostile State in India as far as the Gospel is concerned. And we brushed off the continuous threats and harassment we faced as we went about His work.

But none of our staff imagined that they would see this kind of carnage....

And it seems to be totally under the radar of the Western Media ....

Let me explain....

A militant Hindu priest and 4 of his attendants, who were zealously going around the villages of Orissa and 'reconverting' people back to Hinduism, were gunned down by unknown assailants in Central Orissa last weekend. Immediately the Christians were blamed. The cry rose up...'Kill the Christians!'

And the horror began....

In the past 4 days, we have first hand witness to hundreds of churches being blown up or burned and many, many dozens of Christian tribals have been slaughtered. For no other reason than they bear the name of Christ.

Night and day I have been in touch with our Good News India Directors spread across 14 Dream Centers in Orissa... they are right in the middle of all this chaos.

In Tihidi, just after the police came to offer protection, a group of 70 blood-thirsty militants came to kill our staff and destroy the home. They were not allowed to get in, but they did a lot of damage to our Dream Center by throwing rocks and bricks and smashing our gate, etc. They have promised to come back and 'finish the job.' Our kids and staff are locked inside and have stayed that way with doors and windows shut for the past 3 days. It has been a time of desperately calling on the Lord in prayer.

More police have come to offer protection. In Kalahandi, the police and some local sympathizers got to our dream center and gave our staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to evacate. No one had time to even grab a change of clothes or any personal belonging. As they fled, the blood thirsty mob came to kill everyone in the building. We would have had a mass funeral there, but for His grace. In Phulbani, the mob came looking for Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu people, our neighbors turned them away by saying that there were no Christians in this area. So they left.

We had favor. The same thing happened in Balasore.

All our dream enters are under lock down with the kids and staff huddled inside and police outside. The fanatics are circling outside waiting for a chance to kill. Others were not so fortunate. In a nearby Catholic orphanage, the mob allowed the kids to leave and locked up a Priest and a computer teacher in house and burned them to death. Many believers have been killed and hacked into pieces and left on the road.... even women and children. At another orphanage run by another organization, when this began, the Director and his wife jumped on their motorbike and simply fled, leaving all the children and staff behind.

Every one of our GNI directors that I have spoken to said: 'Westay with our kids.... we live together or die together, but we willnever abandon what God has called us to do.' More than 5000Christian families have had their homes burned or destroyed. They havefled into the jungles and are living in great fear waiting for theauthorities to bring about peace. But so far, no peace is foreseen. This will continue for another 10 days.... supposedly the 14 daymourning period for the slain Hindu priest. Many more Christians willdie and their houses destroyed. Many more churches will be smasheddown. The Federal government is trying to restore order and perhapsthings will calm down. We ask for your prayers. Only the Hand of Godcan calm this storm. None of us know the meaning of persecution. Butnow our kids and staff know what that means. So many of our kids coming from Hindu backgrounds are confused and totally bewildered at what is happening around them. So many of their guardians have fled into the jungles and are unable to come and get them during these trying times.

Through all this, I am more determined than ever to continue withour goal: the transformation of a community by transforming its children. Orissa will be saved... that is our heart's cry. If we cantake these thousands of throw-away children and help them to becomedisciples of Jesus, they will transform an entire region. It is a longterm goal, but it is strategic thinking in terms of the GreatCommission. What can you do? First, please uphold all this infervent prayer. Second, pass this e-mail on to as many friends as youcan. We must get the word out and increase our prayer base for this isspiritual warfare at its most basic meaning. We are literally fightingthe devil in order to live for His Kingdom. The next 10 days arecrucial. We pray for peace and calm to pervade across Orissa. Prayer works!

Blessings, Chip & Sandy Wanner Col 2:2 MBI
Team Facilitators to YWAM frontlines

Thanks for the Laughs...

Harvey Korman
1927-2008"Harvey Korman." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 5 vols. St. James Press, 2000.
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

The world is less cheerful tonight as news of Mr. Korman's death is publicized on the evening news. I have childhood memories of watching "The Carol Burnett Show" and laughing hysterically at the good, clean humor that has been lost in today's society. My favorite part was watching Mr. Korman's face when his fellow actors did something unexpected--anyone remember the "Gone with the Wind" curtain spoof? I also enjoyed his ad libs because they reflected his quick wit and humor, and always brought a laugh. Yes, the world has lost a wonderful entertainer today. Maybe God decided that He could use a few more laughs up in Heaven. Rest in Peace Mr. Korman, and thanks for the laughs.