My Journey Book

As some of you may have noticed, I have not been blogging very much lately. I have had a very stressful couple of weeks at work and to be honest, not a lot has been going on in my personal life that was blogworthy. I have pretty much been going to work, coming home, eating dinner and going to bed. Not much to blog about there, huh?

Today was an especially difficult day as I received the news that a very dear family friend who had been battling cancer had passed away this weekend and I was just heartbroken over that news. 

Isn't it just like God to know that I was going to have a day like that today and to have something special waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home!! My sweet blogging friend, Dawn, had made me the most precious gift you can ever imagine and I just had to share it with you. 

First of all, look at this card that she HANDMADE! How adorable is that and inside were the sweetest words to brighten my day, lift my spirits and encourage me in the Lord.

She made me this "Journey Book". I can't imagine how much preparation and work went into making this special gift!

On the backs of each of the pages she had written in calligraphy a verse that I have been memorizing in 2009 as part of my LPM Scripture Memory Challenge and each of the slideout little tags had verses that she chose because they reminded her of me and our friendship. 

Each of them were made with beautiful colors, ribbons and accents -- this one even has a little jeweled butterfly.

Look at this one with the adorable pattern and cute little buttons.  This has been a verse that I have recited over and over to myself in recent days - 

"HE is your CONSTANT source of stability.  He abundantly provides saftety and great wisdom. He gives ALL this to those who fear Him." 

Isaiah 33:6

When I first began blogging, almost a year ago, I never knew that I would meet so many wonderful, godly women and would develop so many special friendships with people that I had never even had the privilege of meeting in person.  

Dawn is one of those special friendships. She is a constant source of encouragement. She is one of the most thoughtful people that I have ever met. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting my dear friend, I hope you'll stop by to visit her right now. 

Thank you again, Dawn, for such a special gift. What an awesome reminder to me of you and our sweet friendship! I thank the Lord for you!

Two New Blogging Buddies!

Two of my co-workers have decided to join the blogging world and I am so excited.

Laura is a brand new mommy to a precious little boy named, Ryder. What a perfect time for her to start blogging to be able to "chronicle" all the "firsts" and fun times that she will be experiencing over the months and years to come.

Stacy is mom to 6 year old twins - a boy, Christian, and a girl, Carleigh. She is one of the most creative and crafty people that I know, so I am sure that she will be "a natural" at this whole blogging thing.

If you have a minute, pop over to say a quick "hello" to each of them. I know they would love to hear from you. They have heard so much about all of my wonderful friends that I have made through blogging, but I would love for them to have the privilege of meeting you "in person"!

Living In A Toxic Environment

There is much talk today about our environment.  I am concerned about the water I drink and the air that I breathe.  I want my grandchildren to grow up on a clean planet, with clean lakes and rivers, and I am doing as much as I can to help accomplish that.

But, I wonder whether I am just as concerned about other pollutants in my environment. What about the "moral climate" in which I live?  

Do you know that there are some people that are toxic. Do any of you know what I am talking about? Think of some of the people that you enjoy seeing and hanging out with.  

Do they build you up spiritually?  

Is your walk with the Lord stronger as a result of being with them? 

Or, is it weaker?  

I have some friends that I love to hang out with, but God has shown me that I need to distance myself from them. I am not stronger spiritually as a result of having been with them.

I used to tell my children when they were younger, "You become like those you hang around." Did you know that is a scriptural principle?  I Corinthians 15:33 says, "Do not be deceived; Bad company corrupts good morals." How many times I have seen this to be true in my own life and in the lives of my children and it happens so quickly and with such subtlety.

There are also toxic places that need to be avoided. There are websites that we need to avoid.  There are certain books and magazines that need to be off-limits. There are movies that we need to avoid because they "contaminate" our minds. 

Proverbs 4:26 says, "Watch the path of your feet."

I wonder, would we relocate our family to a place that we knew was a toxic waste dump?  Would we plan to spend our family vacations there?  Of course not, and yet, there are many places that we go, television shows that we watch, and things that we read that are JUST as toxic to our souls!

So the question is, "How can we remain uncontaminated in this world in which we live? I believe that the answer can be found in Psalm 119:9-11:

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping it according to Thy word.

With all my heart I have sought Thee;

Do not let me wander from Thy commandments.

Thy word I have treasured in my heart,

That I may not sin against Thee.

God, make me sensitive to the places I go, the people that I am with and the things that I do. Help me to remember that I will become like those I hang around and help me to surround myself with friends that make me spiritually stronger as a result of having been around them. I pray that Your Word might be hidden in my heart so that I will immediately recognize things in my environment that are not healthy for me or my family. Strengthen me and give me the courage to walk away from these things. Help me to keep my way pure by keeping it according to Your Word. Amen.

To Grandmother's House We Go

My Mother and me

Thank you all SO much for all of your prayers for my Mother's surgery, and for Faith and I as we travelled to GA and back.  My Mother is doing as well as can be expected following the surgery she had.  I spoke with her today at lunch and she was in a good deal more pain than she had been, but was still in good spirits. She had been out of the bed most of the day, sitting in a chair, and before the day was out, she was supposed to get up and walk!  Needless to say, she was NOT looking forward to that!  

Her biggest complaint is that she just cannot get any rest because the nurses are constantly waking her up to check her vitals, give her more medicine, etc.  Her husband stayed with her last night at the hospital, but she said that she was sending him home tonight because he snored all night last night and kept her awake!

Faith had posted a picture of my grandmother's house on her blog and she had mentioned that I would be sharing a story about that house at a later time. The house in the picture was where my grandparents lived for 62 years.  I have so many wonderful memories of both of them and of countless hours spent in that house.

Well, about 4 years ago my best friend, Becky, called me one day at work and said, "Emilie, I just walked in a house here in Columbus and I feel like I have been in this house before.  Do you remember what the address of your grandmother's house was?" I said, "Of course, it was 1408 XXXX  Street."  She said, "You're not going to believe this.  My son is getting ready to buy THAT house!".  To make a long story short, HE DID!  Can you believe that out of ALL the houses in Columbus, GA my best friend's son bought MY  MaMa and PaPa's house!  

This is a picture of the house today.

Is it not the most adorable little house you have ever seen!  PaPa was very particular about his grass and the house still has a wonderful stand of grass.  Looks like a golf course, doesn't it?  I wish I could just pick this little house up and move it to NC!

 Becky and me

Becky and I  went to high school together and then both of us also went to Dental Hygiene School.  We have been friends since 1971 when we met the first day of Band Camp when I needed a ride home.   She is an amazing mother to her 2 wonderful sons and the best friend anyone could ever have! I love you, Beck Beck!

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times!

Our next door neighbors, Tom and Denise, spend the Summer in New York and the Winter down South with us.  Denise's Mom and Dad, Vicki and Chuck, recently retired and moved from New York to our area. Walt and I were invited to their beautiful new home tonight for dinner and we had the most wonderful time! Denise had already told me that dinner at her mom's would be like dinner at Martha Stewart's house and, boy, was she right about that!

Vicki had the most beautiful table set when we got there and dinner was ready to go on the table.  

We were all laughing because Tom always thinks he has to eat at like 5:00 on the dot and we were not eating 'til close to 6:00! (But look, we were sitting down BEFORE the 6:00 hour, Tom!)

We started with a tomato salad with basil and it was delish!

She had cooked these gorgeous pork chops in an iron skillet and served them with these yummy sweet potato fries.

Here's Vicki serving Chuck some of these delicious pork chops.  I don't know how both of them stay so trim with this kind of good cookin'!

She had green beans she had gotten at the market.

Here are Walt and I seated at her beautiful table.  Unbeknownst to Vicki, pork chops is one of Walt's favorites!  

And we ended up on homemade peach pie with Breyers vanilla ice cream.  Oh my goodness! 

What a way to come off the South Beach Diet I've been back on for 2 1/2 weeks, huh?

We had such a wonderful time with friends tonight.  Thank the Lord for fun times with friends!

Many of You Make My Day!

 

I got my first blog award!  As many of you know, I am new to blogging and I am still a little unsure of exactly how all of this works, (I had to call my daughter to ask her what to do when I got "tagged" last week!) but I do know that I have many of your blogs that I now look forward to reading on a daily basis.  

So, thank you so much, Heather, for the "You Make My Day Award".  I feel like I should be giving it right back to you because I look forward to your posts and enjoy them so much! Thank you, also, Faith for encouraging me to start a blog.  (Even though you did kind of trick me into it! LOL)

I would like to pass this award on to some people who also "make my day"!  Thank you for being great "bloggy friends" and for keeping me motivated, challenged and encouraged through your posts.

Betsy Maddox

"Grandma Judy"

Becky

Melissa 

Nicki