Laura Beth's Favorite Lions

Big Lion #23 Mr. Justin Forrest

Lady Lions #20 Kari Bishop and #33 Ashley Helton


FHU Lion Mascot - photo by Jud Davis

Lady Lion #11 - Megan Thompson

Laura Beth's First Research Project

The new standards in Tennessee require each Kindergartener to choose a research topic, do research and present it. Laura Beth's teacher - the wise woman she is!! - chose to let them pick an animal to research during of their study on the zoo. Laura Beth - being the avid FHU Lion fan she is - chose to research the lion. She did a good job. We went online and found 5 facts about the lion that she wanted to share with her class. They were:

1. You can hear a lion's roar from 5 miles away. (To which she tried to demonstrate that for me)

2. Lions live in Africa. (We had learned that at one time lions lived in many different places, but today they live in Africa. She asked, "If they live in Africa today, where will they live tomorrow?" I could not answer that one!)

3. Mama lions do the hunting for food.

4. Baby lions are called cubs.

5. Lions are the king of the beasts.

One of our college students had been to Africa and sent her pictures of the lions over email. So, we made a power point presentation using those pictures to help tell about her 5 facts. Then, she asked me if she could put pictures of her favorite lions in her power point presentation. We added pictures of Lady Lion Megan Thompson, Lady Lion Ashley Helton, Lady Lion Kari Bishop, Big Lion Justin Forrest and the FHU Lion mascot to the end of her presentation. She declared, "This is the best research project EVER!!!!"

Snow little . . . . But Snow Glad!!!

Cecily finally sees the snow!!!

We FINALLY got a little snow yesterday. It was not a lot, but since this is the end of February I bundled my kids and Cecily (a little girl I keep) and went outside for what may be the only snow we get this winter. The kids were so excited. You really can't even tell from the pictures that it was snowing, but it was. We have been teased a few times with very light snow, but nothing where we could actually go out and see. So yesterday was a nice surprise. It didn't last long because by bedtime it was all gone, but you have to enjoy what you get when you get it!!! Needless to say, there was school today, but we did see snow flurries again this morning as we all went off to our different schools. I, personally, would have liked to have seen more, but the kids were thrilled with what they got. Therefore, I need to learn the lesson I have trying to teach them, "Be content with what you have!!!"

Saying Goodye

Me and Megan Thompson after Senior Day


Megan and Laura Beth



One of the worst things about working with college kids is saying goodbye. I have never been one for goodbyes. I got use to them thanks to my growing up in an Air Force home and having to move every 3-4 years, but I never liked them. When we took the job at Freed-Hardeman, I never thought we would develop the relationships we have with so many of the college kids. My dad laughs and says he never knows who is going to be at the house when he comes. We have kids just pop in at any time of day or night to talk, to eat, to play or just to be. Don't get me wrong, I would not change it for the world, but come May (and sometimes December) my heart breaks. The spring semester seems to be the worst. Starting in February, we have reminders that our time with some of them is coming to a close and Saturday was one of them. We have been blessed to have 4 girls in our lives over the past 3 years that we have grown so close to. 3 of them played or play basketball of FHU's Lady Lion basketball team. 2 graduated last year - but have stayed around for grad school and teaching jobs. We are very blessed to still have them around to where we see them frequently. However, this year, we lose our Megan. Megan came along with Ashley and Kari 2 years ago and was so quiet. We have gradually seen her come out of her shell and every day we fall more in love with her. Saturday was her senior day - her last official home game as a Lady Lion (we hope to have more during conference tournament). She is not staying around, but is moving back home around Cookeville. We will miss Megan's laugh, smile, 3 pointers and just being around. We know we have a few more months with her, but we want her to know we will miss her greatly and love her very much!!! Here's to you, Megan Thompson!!!!

Waiting on God

I have been studying the amazing book by Cassandra Martin called Our Father in Heaven . . . Teach Us to Pray over the past few weeks and have just been amazed. Prayer is something that I struggle with at times. Oh, I talk to God constantly, but I struggle with sitting down and just letting it all out. You hear of these people who wake up at 5:30 (which I do) and talk to God for 30 minutes to an hour to start their day. I have to admit, I don't do that. I find that when I try to do that my mind wanders over every direction possible and nothing flows. While I know my God is not concerned with my delivery and presentation, I want to be pleasing to Him. Mrs. Martin does such a good job laying things out for me in a simple way and I am blown away daily by the remarks she makes and in the way she makes them. I have been toying with sharing spiritual insights I have on this blog because I am not a writer in any way possible, but I do long to share my faith and spiritual growth with others. So bear with me as I begin this new journey . . .
One of the requirements for coming before our Father in heaven in prayer is for our hearts to quiet. When we come to Him in disaray (which is sometimes neccessary depending on the situation) and craziness of our lives we have a difficult time meeting our Lord. We see in Mark 1:35 that Jesus and His disciples took a time out and away from the business of their lives to rest, reflect and reconnect with the One that was most important to them and the work they were doing. We know the familiar verse is Psalms 46:10a - Be still and know that I am God. Be still that means to stop and to cease striving. However, in our crazy world, it is hard for us to stop, to cease and to be still. We are always waiting for the BIG moment to come to us and we want our delivery and presentation to be one that just knocks everyone out of their seat. When we come before our Father we want to be amazed with the big show of His awesome power, but we see that is not neccessarily so. God wants us to be still and quiet when we come to Him so we are ready to listen to what He has to say to us.
This is pictured beautifully in 1 Kings 19:11-13. Mrs. Martin takes a pretty familiar story and presented it in a way that really hits home. Elijah is on an emotional roller coaster. He has defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Caramel, but then is running for his life when he hears the wicked Queen Jezebel is after him. God calls Elijah to the mountain to learn from Him and to be quiet, but Elijah brings a lot of baggage with him. Elijah wants to meet God, but his heart is not ready. God tells Elijah to wait on the mountain for him to pass by. Elijah waits as a violent wind comes by, but that is not God. An earthquake comes, but that is not God as well. A fire blazes through, but that is not God either. Elijah sees God in a gentle whisper. Mrs. Martin mentions that the wind, earthquake and fire can represent our lives and what we bring in our hearts as we come to God. We bring an earthquake that causes our focus to be on what is ripping our lives apart right now instead of at the One that can mend it. We bring a violent wind of things howling at us in our lives and we bring a fire that is so out of control we cannot focus on the One who can help us get back in control. God comes to us in a whisper so we have to be quiet and get closer to Him and His heart in order to listen to Him. Mrs. Martin, again, puts it perfectly, "The winds howl and the earthquakes will shake, but God wants us to be so attuned to His voice that we will wait, long and listen for His gentle whisper."
May God be with each of us as we strive to quiet our hearts in our crazy world and strive to draw closer to His heart to hear His whisper.

Happy 88th Birthday, Grandmama!!!

Grandmama Whittle on her 88th Birthday


She could not get enough of the cake. She thought it was so good.



Carter and Laura Beth help Grandmama open presents.

Saturday we were able to celebrate Grandmama's 88th birthday at the Chester County Nursing Home. She had a wonderful day with everyone. She told some people she was 26 years old and that today was her birthday!!! However, when it was time for her to open her presents she could not believe that it was her birthday!!! Because of health reasons and distance, the ones that were able to be at the party were Papa (Walker), Mom (Dwina), RoRo (Rosemary), Damon, Laura Beth, Carter, Jonathan (Rosemary's son), Rebecca (his wife), Aunt Hazel (Grandmama's sister who also lives in the nursing home) and me. A sweet lady from church made her a chocolate (Grandmama's favorite) cake which she loved!!! Every bite was like the first for her. She would just sigh and close her eyes with each bite saying how good it was. It was so good to see her enjoying her time on her day.

The day was a nice change from the week we had been having. Grandmama has had congestive heart failure and we think that it is back. She was retaining water and her legs and feet were swelling. Please keep Grandmama in your prayers. The doctors have upped her meds and have seen that her fluid level in her body is extremely high. This has been causing her a lot of pain and making her days hard on her. Grandmama is a very sick lady and we are blessed with every day we have her with us!!!

Happy 88th Birthday, Mary Louise Cobb Whittle!!!!

Uncut Valentine's Day Pictures

Well, my friend, Betsy, inspired me . . . . These are not final copies, but I was somewhat pleased. I had to settle for the box of candy instead of large lollipops. Henderson does not have large lollipops and our Target is by all the tornado destrucion. . . maybe next year. I already have plans in my head!!!! Thanks, Betsy.

Prayers for Tornado Victims

We are fine. Thanks be to God - we are fine. However, others are not. The Jackson, TN, area was hit very hard by Tuesday night's tornadoes that came through the area. The major destruction was about 30-45 minutes north of us. One of our rival schools - Union University suffered major damage during the storms. It has been said that ever building on campus was affected somehow with the exception of the sports arena. You can look at these websites to see the damage that was done.
http://www.uurecovery.blogspot.com/ and http://fhu.facebook.com/share_redirect.php?h=7f0964e4d76e0e5b8d0a64585580d8db&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jacksonsun.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcs.dll%2Fgallery%3FAvis%3DDQ%26Dato%3D20080205%26Kategori%3DPHOTOGALLERIES01%26Lopenr%3D802060801%26Ref%3DPH&sid=8620996714

One of my friends since Kindergarten lives close to the hospital that was hit. He and his family (with a 2 week old baby) lost the roof to their house while they were in the house. Many of the houses around him were either hit or destroyed. Please continue to pray for these victims as they struggle to get back on their feet.

Baseball 24/7

Well, today is a spring-like day in West Tennessee despite it being Lecturship week at FHU in which we usually have the worst winter weather of the year. Despite it being warm weather, we have rainy weather which makes it hard for the kids. They really want to be outside, but we can't. I wasn't going to blog today, but Carter (wanting to go outside) is playing baseball in the house in the den and I felt the need to save this part of time for us. This is a usual for us really. He is a 4 year old who would eat, sleep and breathe baseball. Before his 4 year old birthday, we didn't really have much baseball equipment, but that did not stop Carter from using his imagination. He would use a construction hard hat as his baseball helmet. He would use his winter mittens as his baseball gloves. He would use his sister's (much to his dad's displeasure) pink and purple softball glove because his was too small. Everyday (despite the warm summer heat) Carter would wear his baseball pants (thank you, yard sales and hand-me-downs), a Braves shirt or jersey of some kind and be ready to go. We thought we had really arrived when a young man from church passed down his REAL baseball belt to Carter (because we had been wearing our Sunday belt) and then when another young man from church gave Carter his old batting helmet (which we keep outside). Another young family that lives behind us, passed down 3-4 pairs of baseball pants and cleats!!! You have never seen a young child so excited!!! He usually is someone from the Braves team - mainly Brian McCann. Since we do not have any catcher equipment to be like Brian, we continue to use our imagination. Our Christian Armor shield is our chest protector; construction knee pads, shin guards and our Darth Vador mask, our catchers mask. Nothing stops us!!!! The Chipper Jones jersey you see in the pictures below was retired multiple times this past season on the account of being too small. However, it always seemed to find its way out of retirement and into the drawer. It has been permentantly retired in the Welch Hall of Fame as of the end of the baseball season. Carter learned a lot about baseball this year - why teams trade (he was very sad when Salty left the Braves for the Rangers, but he loves Mark Texiarra now), what the DH is (we get to watch Salty play for the Rangers since Daddy loves the Rangers), that our favorite teams don't always make the playoffs (he was bummed about this for weeks) and even more about trading (we broke the news about Andruw Jones not coming back about month after it happened because he was so bummed about Atlanta being done). However, he did learn to like other teams. He considers himself a Braves, Rangers and Red Sox (go Big Papi!!) fan and proudly supports jerseys from all these teams now. It has been fun to see the game through the eyes of a child again. It really helped bring the game back to life in this house.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Carter sliding into home. We slide everywhere because according to Carter, "That is what boys do."
Ready to steal.


Before he got real batting gloves for his birthday, he used his winter mittens.

One tough baseball player.

Mother Daughter Day

Saturday was a special day for Laura Beth and me. Some of my girlfriends had found a tea room about 45 minutes away from us and decided we needed to have an extra girls' day (we usually go out one night a month to celebrate birthdays). Laura Beth has always wanted to go with us, but they are usually on a school night which makes it hard for her to go. However, since this one was on a Saturday, she was able to go with us and we had a wonderful day. It was a lovely old house (as you can tell from the pictures) with so much character. Different rooms were decorated in different themes. Some were where you had your lunch and some you could shop in. We ate our lunch in the sunroom. Laura Beth dined on chicken fingers, chips and sweet tea (in a big girl's glass). I shared with my friend Sharon so we could taste different things. My lunch included chicken salad on crossiant and a pesto crossaint that was divine!!! I am trying to figure out how they made it!!! Each lunch was brought out on a different china plate that seemlessly flowed together!! The different tea pots and tea cups were the perfect touch as well. Laura Beth and I enjoyed eating together and looking for the perfect take home to help us remember the day. Laura Beth chose a heart picture frame for herself as well as one for Gran, Nana and Grandmama. She decided we are going to put the picture of the two of us in the frame for each of them. It was a perfect day for tea and time spent together. We are already planning our next trip.

Time for Tea

Outside Anna Renea's

Momma and Laura Beth

On the staircase

Looking out the window by our table