Come and listen

We sang the song "Come and Listen" on Sunday morning and it has been in my head all week. "... come let me tell you what He has done for me, let me tell you what He has done for me He has done for you, He has done for us, Come and listen, Come and listen to what He’s done." How awesome are these lyrics. Too often we are so busy saying God listen to me, we forget to listen to Him. I pray I'll boldly tell others about Him and that I'll also be listening to Him...

Thanksgiving

It's always wonderful to get together with family. We had a great day. I always enjoy the grandbabies. Because we have 15 for every holiday meal, I always sit with the grandbabies. This year, Jessica asked to say the Thanksgiving prayer. It was very sweet. She thanked God for the food, those that fixed it, and she hoped everyone would have a happy day. We were eating for about 10-15 minutes when Katelyn asked me who made the sweet potatoes - she said they were really good and asked if she could have the leftovers if there were any. I told her I made them and she could have the leftovers. She then asked if she could pray. I said sure and we had a second blessing - she was thankful for everyone there and for the good food. One of the highlights of my day was from our youngest grandbaby, Abby. Her parents had been saying we need to get ready to go to Nonni's for Thanksgiving. When they got to our house, they asked her to tell me why they were here. She said we are doing Thanks - Nonni - giving. A phrase I will always hold dear...

Working together

I have a terrific hubby and we work well together. He has done the cleaning today in prep for Thanksgiving. I was working on kitchen curtains - finishing them up so we could hang them tonight, finishing the newsletter and slides for church. Didn't want to forget to do them with prep for Thanksgiving and the catching up on sleep afterwards. I'll do the kitchen floor before going to bed tonight and then be up about 7 AM to get the turkey in the oven and start the prep on some other items. Everyone comes to our home so it will be an exciting day tomorrow. I love having family around. We eat at noon and then we go to John's sister for his family dinner at 5 PM. We will be a couple of "stuffed turkeys" ourselves. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

God is so good...

God is so good and is in control. We forget that too often. We get caught up in the things of this world. I've been reminded of it several times this week in amazing ways. One of the most special is the husband God gave me. John and I are very compatible. We enjoy being together which by today's standards is remarkable - we've been married for 25 years. We love to laugh and do so every day. Laughter is a great gift from God. It doesn't cost anything and it makes you feel great. It's contagious! I highly recommend adding laughter to your daily life. There is always something to laugh about...

The beauty of Fall

No painter can top the Master. God paints the trees with the perfect brush. The variety of colors is awesome. We took my Mom to see the fall leaves yesterday. We rode up to Westminster. The leaves were beautiful. We are especially fond of the sugar maples - the ones that have the brilliant reds, oranges/yellows and sometimes a touch of green. The colored trees always remind me of a bowl of Trix - yes, Trix are for kids and I are one! Take a look outside and see if you think the same thing. Most importantly, it was a wonderful time with my Mom.

It keeps gettin' better and better...

God is an awesome God who is continually working in our lives. This has been an especially wonderful weekend with the Lord. In my exurberance to talk about the sermons of my guys in my last entry, I forgot to mention Pastor Mike's sermon on remaining faithful until the Lord calls us Home - an inspiring reminder of the work we need to do. I have heard several thought-provoking sermons this weekend. Topics like - what vision do we have, what is our legacy, our need to remain faithful - to be good stewards, and putting our complete trust in Jesus. Where are we with the Lord and where are we going? There is no retirement from God's work until He calls us Home. As we were reminded in church this morning - don't gloss over the awesomeness of God! He is there for us every minute of everyday. Too many times we try to handle things on our own; when we can't, then we ask God for help. My goal is to live my life reflecting God's love and grace. I don't always do a very good job. I want to be more bold in my witness about my Lord. I heard a gospel musician say this week: I gave the Lord Saviorship in my life right away - I gave him Lordship of my life later on. It is a profound statement. It made me think about my own life - of course, He is my Saviour; but do I daily give Him Lordship of my life. I'm praying I will give Him Lordship daily.

Awesome time at Marsh Road Baptist

Today was just awesome! Marsh Road Baptist was celebrating 40 years - it's Poppa Shepard's church. I played for the congregational singing. It was a great joy to share in their special day. John Yoho (Poppa's grandson and he's like one of our kids) is in St. Louis with Julie, Cliff, and several other youth leaders at a conference. (I miss my kids who are in St. Louis.) He videotaped a message talking about the vision it took to start this church. He did a great job - it's hard to video a message when there isn't anyone else to interact with. Dave Yoho (Poppa's grandson, and he's like one of our kids too - used to vacation with us) preached his first sermon on the legacy we leave. He did awesome - you would never have known it was his first one. The only clue was the ending "that's all I've got to say." I took notes during his sermon and was crying out of joy at his commitment to the Lord and how the Lord was using him. Poppa Shepard told me Pastor Mike and Ms. Deb Yoho (parents of the guys mentioned above) would sing right after Dave preached. I was wiping away a tear after Dave finished preaching when I noticed Pastor Mike and Ms. Deb stand up. I quickly threw my pen and notepad at my hubby and went to the piano to play for them. They sang "Find Us Faithful" which was so appropriate for the day and so touching. It was a wonderful day with friends and "family." Can't wait to see what God has in store for tomorrow.