Behind the Spackle and Paint

She walks in the room

Beautiful and smiling

She loves on all she meets

Her message is one of love and deliverance

Her song is one of praise

She walks with confidence

She laughs with ease

You would never know that

Behind the laughter is pain

Her husband who is supposed to love and cherish her

Berates her at every chance

Her children who are supposed to rise and call her blessed

Have all walked away

Her boss who is supposed to guide and direct

Harasses her at every turn

And her friends?

Her friends have no idea

She rises in the morning and in the mirror she sees

A woman who is anything but beautiful

Her eyes look back at her with an emptyness

Despondent

Disheartened

Dismayed

And so she begins

Putting on her game face

The foundation

The blush

Eyeshadow and mascara

Lips lined and glossed

She encourages herself in the Lord

A pep talk of sorts

A remodel

And no one knows

Behind the spackle and paint

Beats a heart in pain

Isaiah 61:3
To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Three Little Words A Mother Loves to Hear

It was Mother’s Day 2012

A day set aside to honor our Mothers

All around the world

Mothers were receiving breakfast in bed

Burnt toast and runny eggs

With grounds in the coffee

Beautiful bouquets of fragrant flowers

Picked from the neighbor’s yard with clumps of dirt still clinging

Cards

Homemade with construction paper and crayons

Glitter and glue

Storebought

With sentiments written by HallMark or DaySpring

Gifts of great worth wrapped in newspaper and tied with dental floss

Showered with jelly kisses and hugs

Phone calls and texts with messages of

I love you!

Happy Mother’s Day!

You’re the Best!

I’m glad you’re my mom!

This year all my children are grown

Our nest is empty

No breakfast in bed

No cards

No flowers from the garden

No jelly kisses

Or gifts wrapped in newspaper

BUT

Beautiful flowers and sweet candy from the youngest

Text messages from them all

Happy Mother’s Day!

Have I told you lately how much you mean to me?

I’m so glad you’re MY mom!

I love you!

I know it may sound cliche’

But EVERY day is Mother’s Day

My children always let me know how much they love me!

They honor me in word and deed

What more could I ask for?

Three Little Words

The best I heard that day

Words that I thought I would never hear

Words that made my heart soar

What were they?

CHURCH IS AWESOME!

Our children have all found their niche

Their place of worship

A place where they can serve and be served

This mothers heart is happy and thrilled

All because of three little words!

He Knew My Name

Chatting with friends over lunch one Sunday

We know one another but not real well

Laughing and eating

Learning and caring

Asking and answering

Hearing how the couple met

Telling how I was the answer to Mark’s prayer

Found out they were from Tulsa

Worked and lived there during some of the same time I was there

Both were mail carriers

One carried on the South side of town

The other on the North–my side

Told him my maiden name

And he told me my address

Knew our name and address

After all these years

The milkman’s daughter met the mailman!

He knew me before he met me

Just like God

He knows me

Before I was even born

He knew me!

He knew exactly how I looked

What I would act like

Who I would marry

How many children I would have

Where I would live

How I would live

He knew me and He loved me

There is great comfort in that

The Day Has Finally Arrived!!

My heart is full

My feet are tired

Our baby girl is married to the man of her dreams

The wedding was short and sweet

15 or 20 minutes–tops!

The reception was perfect!

Fun! Vibrant! Colorful! Wild!

Just like her

Our baby

The final one to leave our nest

Bittersweet

But not too much

We knew from the beginning this would be how it is

We knew when we first held each baby in our arms

That one day

Poof!

They would be out of the nest and soaring

Godly

Kingdom expanding

Loving

Worshiping

World changers

With Heaven on their mind

And Jesus in their heart

What more could a parent ask for?

Tis the Season

Gardening season, that is!

The ground is tilled

Hoed

And ready to be planted

Almost

This year I am putting down weed barrier

Call me what you will

But I gotta try to stay ahead of the weeds this year

Last year they slaughtered me!

Anyway

I went to WalMart solely to buy weed barrier

But did I buy enough for my lil plot of tilled ground?

NO!

It is about 1/2 covered

So another trip to WalMart is in order

Just not tonight

I’m pooped!

And I’ve only just begun

I’ll leave you with a picture from last years garden

My lone little tomato

My First

Daughter

My friend

Another birthday

Another blessing

To my beautiful girl

You are my sunshine

My princess

You care deeply and love fiercely

You are a
Beautiful awesome godly woman

A force to be reckoned with

A wonderful help-mate

Fantastic nurse

Kind

Smart

Witty

Loving

Caring

Sensitive

Generous

Happy Birthday!

I Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Greatest Gift

13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. ² And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.

⁴ Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

¹³ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

How can I add to this?
I don’t need to
‘Nuff said

Birthday Begins

I don’t know if our son will see this
Don’t know if he even reads his ole mom’s blog
Doesn’t matter

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR NUMBER 1 SON!!

I know everyone thinks that their children are the best
As well they should

But in our case
It’s actually truth not brag!

Our kids rock!

But this is about the aforementioned son

He is quite the man

He is loving
Kind
Nurturing
Talented
Intelligent
Humble
Passionate
Tenacious
(nice way of saying stubborn)
Loves his wife and girls

And
He loves his mama!

This does not make him a mama’s boy
A wimp
Or weak!

It has been said
If you find a man who truly loves his mama
You have found a man who will truly love his wife!

Hope this doesn’t embarrass you, Son
I just want everyone to know
YOU ROCK!

HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY BRYAN!!

Will You Be Missed?

In my life
Change is coming
A new adventure is on my horizon
I don’t know every step
But I do know the first one
And it is very exciting

As I prepare for the next chapter in life
I’ve been turning the last few pages of this one with a definite smile on my face
Teasing my co-workers with my typical antics
Then making the statement
“You know you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone!”

I think they will miss me
I hope they will
Not the work that I accomplished
Let’s face it
It ain’t rocket science
But my presence
My influence
My humor
My spirit
ME

I hope I brought something to their lives
Made them think a little differently
Love a little deeper
Laugh a little longer
Walk a little taller
Praise a little louder
Worship a little bolder

So tell me
When you walk out of the room do people say
“Thank You God,  she’s gone”
Or
“Thank You God,  she was here”

Proverbs 10:7

New Living Translation (NLT)

 ⁷ We have happy memories of the godly,
but the name of a wicked person rots away.

Don’t Get Caught Running on Empty

Earlier this week our electricity was out
It went off somewhere around midnight
In the morning when it was time to get going for the day
We still didn’t have electricity

Getting dressed in the dark
Fixing hair and makeup in the dark
None of this was fun

 I remembered we had an oil lamp that had once belonged to my mother
She passed away almost 2 years ago
I kept the lamp because I figured it would come in handy some day

Some day had arrived!

I brought the lamp into the room where we were getting ready
Quite proud that I had remembered it
I took off the glass shade
Turned up the wick
And lit it

Still proud
I put the shade back on and proceeded to bask in the light

That’s when it hit me
The odor from the burning wick and the flame
Just didn’t seem right

There was NO oil in the lamp

Who knew that oil would evaporate?
Certainly not me

This reminded me of the parable of the ten virgins

Five were wise
Their lamps were full of oil and the wicks were trimmed

Five were foolish
They had no oil in their lamps
Maybe they used all their oil
Or maybe it dried up

When they heard the bridegroom was coming
These five foolish girls wanted the wise ones to share their oil

Nothing doing!

The wise girls told the others
Go out and buy your own because we might not have enough for us if we share

While the foolish girls were at the local WalMart
The bridegroom arrived and those who were ready went to the wedding

The five foolish virgins missed out because they had not been taking care of business

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming