Today was the day

Today was the day that my son put a ring on her finger. So many thoughts run through my head. How good God is that he has blessed my son with a wonderful woman to be his bride. How blessed we are to have such a sweet godly woman join our family. I am excited about what the future holds for them. It brings back memories of my engagement to the love of my life. My marriage has gotten better with each passing year. Tom is my best friend, my husband, my encouragement, my love. He laughs with me, teases me, listens to me and gives me his shoulder to cry on when I need it. I can't imagine life without him. That is my prayer for Daniel and Josanna, that they have years to spend loving each other, laughing together, depending on each other, praying for each other and growing closer to Christ with each passing day. Today was a wonderful day!

Christmas

It's December already! Where has the year gone? Today was Chad's first day of Christmas break and boy did he enjoy it. It started last night with Teddy and Bobby spending the night. Unfortunately, Bobby had to leave early, but Teddy stayed all day. Wade then joined the fun. They played hide and seek in the dark at 2:00 in the morning and then later at 4:00 in the afternoon up at the church. (Lots of places to hide there) We then had a family movie night complete with a fire in the fire place and popcorn. We ended the evening with our Advent readings. What a great day! The boys made me smile as they laughed and enjoyed being together. That is some of what I enjoy the most about Christmas: laughter, love, family, celebrating the Advent of the coming of our Lord. This Christmas will be especially fun as we enjoy celebrating the Christmas season with the newest member of our family. My prayer for each of you who may read this that this year would be a special one filled with laughter, joy, smiles, tickles, gifts, family, friends, surprises, and a reminder that it took the miracle of Christmas to have the redemption at Easter. I am truly blessed.

Consider it all joy...

When I have hard days the only way to get through them is to focus on truth. God's truth. He doesn't promise "happiness" in our journey. He does promise "joy" in our journey if our relationship with Him is our highest priority. Sometimes in the dark days all that you can do is cling to His Word, His promises, His hope. "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not; I will help thee."
Isaiah 41:33

Things are not so dark now. I try to focus more on my relationship with my Lord which I love

more than life itself. I try to laugh more. I try to relax more. I try to schedule in time to have fun with my family and friends. I try to love more. I try to reach out more. I try to encourage others. To serve others.

As I ponder my life and the blessings God has given me I walk down memory lane. These are some pictures that show just how much God has blessed me. These are pictures that make me smile.

Hard Days

Some days are just hard days. Do you ever just want to runaway from life? Today is such a day for me. Yesterday would have been my neice Kelsey's 17th birthday. I came to Dallas on Tuesday to be with my sister and the rest of my family. We planted a pink crepe myrtle in their yard to be a reminder of life... as it blooms pink every spring. Sometimes my heart hurts so much the only way to get through the day is to remember Who is my sustaining strength. I try to remember the God of the mountain top victories is also the one who holds my hand through "the valley of the shadow of death." Some days it is hard to "count it all joy when you encounter various trials...". It is still a journey to rest in this command. Today it is hard to count.

Old friends or better yet friends from the past...

Tommorrow my husband and I travel down memory lane to a reunion of some our college friends in Nacogdoches. OK, not this far back, but I don't have any of my college day pictures in digital format....so use your imagination. One of our friends from college and seminary is Michele Easley (who is now president of Moody Bible College). He and his wife will be there for the weekend to speak at Grace Bible Church (the church we went to while in college). It will be interesting to see what God has done in the lives of our friends. Each of our journey's since college will have been different, but in some ways I'm sure the same. Many of us will have married and have a family. Many of us will be ministering in one form or another. Many of us will look older (if not wiser...wait, how do you look wiser?) I digress. We should have a great day, visiting, remembering, laughing... I'll let you know how it goes.

Memories of Kelsey

On October 3rd at 5:30 in the morning my 16 year old niece Kelsey went to be with the Lord. She glorified the Lord in her life and has through her death. Many lives have been changed since the Lord took her to be with Him. She is where I long to be. As Paul says, "To live is Christ, to die is gain." Kelsey has gained what I long for: to see my Lord face to face. To worship at His feet. Lives have been changed. Mine has been changed. I have had to re-focus. I have had to look closely at my priorities. I have had to balance the "peace that passes all understanding" with the human emotion of the grief that I feel as I miss Kelsey. She was a joyful, funny, dramatic, talented musician who loved the Lord and loved life. My life will never be the same. My family has felt the many, many prayers offered the past 12 days. They have sustained us. Thank you to all of my friends that have been faithful to pray for me and my family.

Colorado High

What could be better...the mountains, the blue sky, the GREAT weather, the stimulating/stretching interaction of Plutarch & Shakespeare. God has truly blessed me with this unbelievable conference. His timing. His grace to me.

Look to The Light

I frequently need to remind myself to focus on the true Light, the Light that is always there to light my path through darkness. My desire is for His Light to shine in me and through me. It is still a journey...my odyssey.

Elvis is in the house!

Where has the summer gone??

I keep wondering what happened to summer this year. Last May is was just around the corner and now it is almost August! I'm not ready for it to be August. I still have too much of summer to enjoy. Flowers to smell, books to read, time to relax on the lake, play, laugh...enjoy the sunshine. Someday when we are not bound by time and space I will enjoy sitting, standing, singing, dancing? with my Lord. I think I will enjoy asking Him questions the most, well, I probably won't even care at that point and just get back to praising Him. These pictures I took last weekend when Tom and I were away. They remind me of summer. I'm clinging to it as long as I can. :) Notice the butterfly on the bottom picture? It enjoys summer too!

Birthday celebrations Golden style

Our weekend away to celebrate our birthdays was fabulous! Taking the stage though did have it's advantages!

Having fun...

The siblings goofing off!

A Day at the Lake-Mom kneeboarding!!

A little about me..

Welcome to Golden Odyssey! I am on a journey to becoming more Christ like. I am on a journey to my heavenly home. I am on a journey to learn more about my Lord and how to serve him with all that I am. Sometimes my journey leaves the path He desires for me, but He is always there waiting when I return...loving me, being patient with me, encouraging me. I have met lots of friends on my journey. This is my best friend & husband!