Fall Weather

Wow! The background of my blog this time of year matches the views I've been seeing the last few days in Alabama, north Georgia, and now North Carolina! The beauty of God's creation amazes me continuously! But in this mountain setting, the intensity of the colors - the rich reds, the warm golds and vivid yellows are breathtaking! Add to the colors the occasional waterfall, rolling stream, and cascade of colors on the side of mountains .... well, I'm thinking this MUST be heaven! I haven't even mentioned the fact that I left 85-90 degree weather at home and this morning it was 31 degrees here in Highlands, NC! Sigh...I may never leave! Oh, WAIT - I have children and a grandchild in Little Rock waiting on us to arrive there tomorrow! So, I guess we'll be on the road again - this time through the Blue Ridge Parkway and eastern/middle/western Tennessee! Bye for now!

Friends ...

Friends are precious! In our lives, there are many different types of friends! My life consists of friends that I see fairly regularly (like at church), friends that I only talk to by email or facebook, friends that actually get to see me without makeup on occasion (that I exercise with or that I chaperone Acteen retreats with!), friends that I tell deep dark secrets to (there aren't many of these!), new friends that I meet through speaking and leading conferences, and then there are friends that I share something in the past with - like old school chums or roomies from college days!

This weekend I'll be seeing some of those friends from long ago and we'll definitely have some talks about those days when we were trying to survive the "Make love, not war" era! Most of us thought it was cool to be hippies and tried to accomplish that by wearing bellbottoms and making the peace sign to others. My long straight hair (that I learned to iron in college!) was another symbol of trying to fit in! I'm sure there were others who did more than just TRY to act like a hippie, especially AFTER high school was over. But I'm not telling .... It's my 40th reunion and I'm looking forward to sharing it with friends who knew me when ... I'm praying that I'll be a good listener, that I'll smile a lot (especially when I don't recognize someone I SHOULD know!), and that others will feel better about themselves after we've talked! Those are things that I look for in a FRIEND!

What is God doing...?

Several years ago, I met someone in an unusual way and knew immediately that it was a "God encounter." Have you had one of those experiences? When you know that it only happened because you were listening to that "still small voice" and being obedient? If not, you probably will at some point in your life's journey if you are seeking to hear God and obey.

When it happened for me recently, I found myself listening to a story that could have come straight out of a novel! In fact, a novel WAS written by this young Afghan man who, along with his brother, found Christ after fleeing from persecution in their own country. Over the last two years, I developed a relationship with these two young men, met the missionaries who introduced them to the Lord, and have tried to help tell their "story" to other believers who have been praying for them. There is a possibility their book will be re-published with a sequel in the coming months and an article about their life will be published in a well-known Christian magazine soon.

Tonight, I received news from their missionary "mom" that a near tragedy has struck their family who remains in the Middle East. It burdens my heart to know that my two young brothers are so very far away from their loved ones at a time when it is extremely difficult for them to cope with sad news. I would ask that others reading this might simply pray for E and S as they continue to seek God's will in their lives and to follow HIS call as they understand it.

Sharing Jesus!

Last night our Acteens group held our regular backyard Bible club (called M'n M's - Missions in Minden! and YES, we hand out M 'n M's to all the kiddos!) at Hillside Apartment Complex! We usually take off for the summer months, but school is IN and so are WE! We had about 17 girls/leaders and about 15 kids! That's a pretty good ratio, don't you think? Anyway, I was just sooo proud of some of our younger girls who just stepped right up to the plate and LOVED on those children! For some, it was their first mission project and yet they were confident and full of energy as they worked one-on-one for crafts; played duck, duck, goose; and led them in silly songs! During our Bible story, one of our older girls told the Bible story using our "JESUS" puppet! What a blessing to see these girls learning how to be the hands and feet of Jesus right in our own community! See you next time, little ones!

Fresh start???

Well, here I am...two YEARS later...(WHAAAT??). Several people have asked me lately why I'm not blogging or why I QUIT blogging ( I BARELY started) and I didn't have a good answer, soooooo here I am again. We'll see how this goes.

I guess I should bring everyone (all TWO of you!) up to date! We now have one precious little grandson, Landon Andrew Walker, and just found out we'll be having another grandchild in May!! Chris and Amanda just moved to Mozambique last week and told us Tuesday via SKYPE that they are pregnant!!! Well, THEY aren't pregnant but THEY are both super excited!! We can't wait! They will come home to have the baby - yay!!!








Another "biggie" in my life right now is that I have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance and have been adjusting my diet and lifestyle accordingly! Wow!! Our daughter was diagnosed with Celiac disease three years ago so at least I had some prior knowledge of what to do, etc. But it's still not an easy thing to deal with, although thanks to several sweet friends, I'm learning to manage! More about this later...

Hurricanes ...

Hurricane Gustav certainly proved to be an interesting hurricane for our state. I just read an article in an area paper that it had actually caused more wind and rain damage across the state than Katrina had done. Of course, the major damage from Katrina came from flooding because the levees didn't hold. There are still areas of our state without power, without sewer systems properly functioning, without adequate supplies of gasoline, etc. Here in Minden, most of our evacuees have headed home, even though some of them might not have returned to good situations. And now we are facing Ike! Sigh.