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

Things We Love . . . .

Today we woke up to a NO SCHOOL phone call from Laura Beth's school system!! Between the threat of bad weather and half the school being out with the flu, we have been able to enjoy a day with each other and the things we love. So what do we love . . . . .

Playgroup Time - every Thursday morning, a group of mothers from surrounding congregations meet in the church's gym for a morning of laughter, running and all the snacks you can ever imagine!!! Laura Beth was thrilled to get to go to playgroup since she had not been since October. The kids love being with each other and being able to act like kids in a big open room where they really can't hurt anything. The mothers (and sometimes the occassional father, but they try to stay away!!!) enjoy have quality adult time where we can discuss the lastest tv show, scrapbooking project, venting, and asking what to do with the latest toddler problem at home. We live for playgroup - sometimes the moms more than the kids!!

Webkinz - I tried to stay away as long as we could, but the Christmas season brought each child two different webkinz. So, I am the proud Webgrandmother of Banana Cake (the cheeky monkey), Speed (the cocker spaniel), Taylor (the pink pony) and Kinlee (the alley cat). We have all enjoyed playing the games, decorating the rooms, feeding them and even gardening. Since we are admitting things, I even got hooked - very badly!!! So badly, in fact, that I am now the proud Webmother of Alphie (the bulldog) and Glinda (the koala bear). How many times have I been caught trying to beat the Tower of Tiles or Quizzy's Word Challenge? - too many. However, I do love and live for the kids climbing in my lap (with the laptop) and ask me, "Let's play our game (tile towers) together!!!"

LOST - Damon and I have just discovered this tv series and oh my word!!! I really had a lot of pride that I was not "hooked" on any tv show, but that has all changed. I never get to watch the in shows because they come on at bedtime and that is a very important time at our house. However, my brother, Richard, was more than happy to let me borrow Seasons 1 and 2 and we are hooked!!! We have watched seasons 1, 2 and part of 3 in about 3 weeks. We are avg. a disc a day. Another thing I prided myself on was going to bed at a decent hour which has totally been blown this week!!!! Damon came home for a late lunch while the kids were having quiet time and we were able to sneak an episode in!! Don't tell me what happens tonight though because we are watching it with friends on Saturday!!!

FHU students - Tonight we also get to enjoy some of very favorites - FHU college students on and off the basketball court.
We are very blessed to be the sponsors of one of the social clubs on campus - Phi Kappa Alpha. This club in itself needs a post all by itself and one day will get it. This means every other week we get to spend quality time with them throwing marshmallows at each other, playing dodgeball or just singing praises to our Heavenly Father. Tonight is one of those meetings and we are so excited to get to see our favorites off the court.
We could be considered FHU basketball groupies. We love our Lady Lions (aka baby lions) and our Lions (aka big lions) basketball players. This group of athletes on and off the court have taught my children many valuable lessons and I thank God daily that my children have such wonderful role models. We have been able to show them how these athletes act like Christ on the court on Saturday and then worship Christ on Sunday with us at church. What a blessing!!! Since Laura Beth has started to school we usually have to make a early exit between the girls' and guys' games. We only get to see the guys play on Saturday, but tonight is Guys' only!!! The kids are so excited to be able to see Logan and Michael (their favorite Big Lions) play for the whole game. Let's go Lions!!!

I have always loved rainy days, but this has to be one of my favorites!! I hope you are showered with as many blessings as I have today!!!!

I know I have been terrible!!!

So much for doing well with this. I am going to try!!! I am going to work blogging into my daily schedule!!!!
I did write in an earlier post about Laura Beth's health and wanted to update you on that. Damon took her to the doctor on Wednesday thinking and praying that this would be our last visit only to find out that the Lymphocyte levels are back to being elevated. We are prayerfully deciding what the next step will be. Please keep Laura Beth, us and the doctors in your prayers.