Merry Christmas 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

            2015 is now drawing to a close for us all…regardless of the kind of year; good, bad, or ugly…we will be closing the chapter.  Our prayer for you and for all of us is that we will choose to remember the good, learn from the bad, and accept that our loving heavenly Father has a purpose in it all and promises to use it for our good.  

            We haven’t had any additions to our family in 2015 but are anticipating the arrival of our “China Baby” by way of the pending adoption to The Growing Table family.  Little ones are loved and cherished and we will all be sad when the little ones are big; but each age and stage is precious and brings blessings and joy. 

 

            We have celebrated a lot of birthdays this year…and two in particular were celebrated together as Grammy's Dad turned 80 and her Mom turned 75.  We enjoyed a family reunion around the celebration and were only missing a few.

            In May, we attended the All School Reunion in our beloved small Kansas home town and loved taking the opportunity to catch up with school friends.  The hospitable folks of our home town put things together in fine fashion and we had a great time!  

In May we also saw our oldest granddaughter, Lou Lou, promoted from 8^th grade.  She is a freshman  now and it boggles our minds to think we actually have a high school grandchild!  Our youngest grand just turned one and with 26 of us in our immediate family, we are a crowd! 

            In early October we flew to Charleston, South Carolina to attend a wedding near there.  If you caught the national news you saw that areas of South Carolina experienced what is referred to as the “Thousand Year Flood” and we felt fortunate to drive out of the state before the water got too high in the red Ford F150 we purchased while there that is now dubbed “The Ark” because it saved us from that flood and got us home! 

             Also in October we enjoyed our family for our annual fall party at the farm.  Pop and I have tried in recent years to surprise the grandkids with our costumes and this year we were Gru and Lucy Wilde from Despicable Me 2.  The littlest ones were not sure what to think of Pop with his mask!

            Pop has hunted, golfed, and fished…and Grammy has attended a women’s retreat, bible study, a Beth Moore event and spent a little time with her folks…but not as much as either of us would like since we’ve traveled so much!  I guess we have some things to look forward to when Pop retires someday.  We hope to sleep a little more, see our grandkids and kids a lot more, have more time for things at the farm (including friends coming to visit), and to just laugh and enjoy life with more time together.

            Wishing you and yours a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year,

                                                                                                            Pop and Grammy

I am Loved Deeply, from the Heart

I was on an outing with this five year old cutie pie we call Super Girl on our blog.  She came with me on a fabric shopping excursion today.

I hadn't really planned on shopping for fabric...I thought I had all I needed in order to make a one-year photo quilt for Mini Maiden but when I began laying things out I decided I needed more pink...a girl can never have too much pink!  So I texted Rock Star to see if Super Girl might be available and she was!

I picked her up and we headed out.  It wasn't until we were actually on way that I decided where to go.  Super Girl hadn't had lunch yet and I thought that would be our first stop but she said she wasn't hungry yet and wanted to wait to eat.  I'm flexible so I steered the van toward Hobby Lobby because I love that store!

We found some perfect fabric choices right away and were just looking at lots of things because there are lots of things to look at there!  I thought several times I should tell Super Girl we needed to go but we were having such a good time and I don't get her to myself very often so we took our time.

As we were headed toward the front, I saw a familiar face...

This beautiful woman is a friend from years ago.  She mentored me when I was younger and still had four daughters in my nest.  We lived in the same town and attended the same church.  She loved me unconditionally and radiated the love of God.  I basked in her presence then and she has continued to love me (and I her) from a distance since we no longer live in the same town.  Some day I will see this face in heaven and get to spend more time with her.

She noted today that God brings special people into our lives.  I know what she means.  From a human perspective there is no rhyme or reason for the great love we share; yet God knit our hearts together years ago in a way that I am convinced will endure forever.

As we visited, my sweet little Super Girl was SO very patient!  She browsed the displays on either side of us being careful to always keep in my sight and never once fussed about taking so long (and I know she was getting hungry).  She even took this picture of us for me.

Some days, God smiles or winks at His children to show His great love; and today He brought me so much joy I could hardly contain it!  It was a simple miracle just for me that we were in the same place at the same time...I know without a doubt that He orchestrates our lives.  Thank You, Father!  I love You too!

1 Peter 1:22

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.