Christmas Luncheon With Dear Friends

Titus 2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

That's a tall order for an aged woman to fulfill, BUT the Lord has sent those kind of ladies into my life to mentor me in the faith, in this business of aging, and in those things that might lie ahead of me....

Oh My.... the Lord is so good to have sent some lovely older women into my heart and life. I am so privileged to have friendships with some older ladies in our church. Today, I had 5 of them over for a Christmas Luncheon. These ladies have all gone through the sorrow of separation in that they have all lost their husbands. One of the ladies lost her husband just this year. I have stood amazed at how she consistently turns to the Lord and depends upon Him for her every need. Another of the ladies lost her 60-year-old daughter just a year ago. They say that to lose a child (of any age) is life's hardest heartache. I can only imagine how deep the pain still is, but she has kept on keeping on. One of the ladies served on the mission field in Haiti alongside her husband for many years. What a treasure trove of stories she has to tell. Yes, these ladies are my friends and my mentors. I truly look up to them, and they bless me beyond measure. I would like to salute my friends here and wish Joyce, Myrna, Ruth, Margie, and Wilma each a truly Blessed Christmas! (Click on any picture to enlarge!)

I pray that I will be found faithful to live the life of a Godly aged woman and be an example for the young women coming up behind me.

Dan and Rhonda and Family ~~ Christmas Pic

Proverbs 28:20 ¶ A faithful man shall abound with blessings:

There are bosses and there are friends.... and then there are bosses who are friends. And to have a boss that is a faithful man in the Lord, what a blessing! Such is the case of Dan L. I worked for him at TCS for eight years, and it was the best job I ever had. Dan "principaled" our kids in school, coached our son in basketball, was a mentor to our Amy in the education field, and remains faithful in the Lord's work to this day. Richard and I enjoyed our friendship with Dan and Rhonda-- raising our kids together, working in the ministry of the church and school, and living the Christian life. We especially enjoyed our once-in-a-while double-dates to Outback. Those were always good times. I still think of them whenever we go to Outback!

Today I received some Christmas pics from Rhonda. They are so good! With Rhonda's permission, I post one here as a tribute to our dear friends, and to thank God for this good family. (Click on pic to enlarge it for a good view!)

Sitting: Pam holding her 3-month-old Ellie, Rhonda, Dawn holding 2-year-old Luke and expecting a baby girl, and Rhonda's mom, Jean. Standing are the menfolk: first the two sons-in-law: Casey (married to Pam) and Josh (married to Dawn), Dan, and then Danny, Dan's and Rhonda's son. What a great family~~ with a faithful man at the helm!

Christmas Party Blessings

Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.


The tables are set and we await our guests as we come together to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.... (Click on any pic to enlarge for a better view)



Richard and I always enjoy hosting our annual "Couples Christmas Party" which this year included inviting 8 couples to our home. This year we were privileged to have our new pastor and co-pastor and their wives attend as our very special guests. We have grown to love Dr. Neal and Tracy and Dr. Lloyd and Karen. (I don't use last names on my blog.) In addition, the following couples came: John and Jeanette, Jeff and Sandra, Ed and Arda, James and Ann, Jerry and Peggy, and Larry and Margie. With Richard and me, there were 9 couples so we had 3 tables set to accommodate 3 couples at each. The ladies helped with the meal so we had delicious food and precious fellowship. Richard and I can only hope that our friends enjoyed it half as much as we did. Here are some pics from our party which was held on Sunday night, December 9.

Ed and Arda are the first to arrive. Here comes Arda with her tray of veggies and dip.


Jeanette and Karen visiting.


Fellowshipping during dinner...


We played a Christmas Carol game and then shared around the circle...




Our friends graciously posed for pics...



Merry Christmas from Richard and Susan!

Ronnie's and Rosemarie's Granddaughters

Psalm 16:6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.



It's such a blessing to be able to stay in touch with dear friends known in previous years, cities, and situations. One such family is that of Ronnie and Rosemarie H. I worked in the church office with Rosemarie and enjoyed a precious friendship with her. When God's call upon Ronnie's ministry moved them away, we lost touch for a long while. I am so thankful that the internet has reconnected us!

I always looked up to Rosemarie (though she is shorter than me!) because of her deep relationship with the Lord, because of her station in life as a pastor's wife, because she has a God-given gift to sing, and because of the wonderful person that she is. She has truly been a mentor in my life.

Ronnie and Rosemarie have three children: Kelley, Scott, and David. Now Kelley is married and has bestowed upon Rosemarie the wonderful privilege of being a grandmother. I believe Rosemarie is "Grammy" to her 2 granddaughters, Rylee (5) and Abbey (2). I think you will agree from the pics that they are beautiful little girls and that Ronnie and Rosemarie are so very blessed!

Ron and Brenda E With their GRANDchildren

Philippians 1:3 ¶ I thank my God upon every remembrance
of YOU...

I thought it would be fun to blog (with permission) some pics of precious family and friends during this Christmas season. I start off my holiday blog with this picture of Dr. E and Brenda with their OK family. Dr. E was our pastor in T-Town way back in the 80's when we were raising our young family. What a blessing and help he was to us spiritually and as a friend. My Dad served as assistant pastor of the church under Dr. E and it was during that time that Dad got sick and God took him home to Heaven. Dr. E will never know what a help and blessing he was to my mother, my sisters, and me during that time. Brenda was the perfect pastor's wife~~ supporting her husband in the ministry, raising her family, and loving on her church family. Those were wonderful years for me personally. I post this picture as a tribute of friendship to this fine couple and their dear family. Dr. E and Brenda are shown with their good-looking gaggle of grandchildren~~ offspring of their children Julie, John, and JoAnna....

Family Fun in T-Town on Saturday

John 17:13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I love the Christmas season. It is such a blessing to set aside this time to truly reflect on God's precious gift of His Son JESUS CHRIST for this lost and dying world~~~ and more importantly, for sinful me. This season brings about so much joy and a lot of that revolves around our loved ones~~ family and friends. My heart was "full to busting" with the blessings of the season on Saturday.......

We got up very early on Saturday, December 8, to make the trip to T-Town to be with our families for the day. It was a good ride up in Amy's Brian's Suburban with all 8 of us in tow. We enjoyed the 5-hour fellowship going up. (The kids were wonderful!!)

We arrived at Logan's at 11:03 so were just 3 minutes "late" and certainly not the last ones to arrive. Some traditions never change. :) It was a wonderful nearly 3 hours in the restaurant with ALL THIRTY-FOUR of Momma and Daddy D's descendants present. What a joy to get together with Larry's, Richard's, Diane's and Bill's families. If Momma D and Daddy D (I don't use last names on my blog) were able to view the scene from Heaven's portals, they had to be so very pleased that the family remains very close and that it is still growing!! Our newest member this year is 4-month-old Mataea, daughter of Rob and Melinda and GRANDdaughter of Mike and Diane. What a beauty she is!! Here are some special pics of Mataea: (Note: Click any Pic to enlarge it for a better view!)






A special joy this year was that Chip is now pastoring in Huntsville and was able to join us for Dean Christmas for the first time in a very long time, and that Chris and Bonnie and their family were able to attend this year after having to miss last year's get-together. With ALL of us there, we were able to have a picture made of the clan: (Don't forget to enlarge this one!) (ID of folks in the pic is available upon request.)

After that lovely lunch and fabulous family fellowship, we dropped by Susan's sister's home to visit Karen and Paul. What warm hugs and sweet fellowship we had there. Bryan and Trish (Karen's son and daughter-in-law) came over so we add the added blessing of seeing them, too! (Ashley was sick and at home in bed so we were unable to see her and missed her!) Here are some pics of our visit with Paul and Karen:




From Karen's, we met up with my niece, Dee, at the mall. She and her 18-month-old were shopping but visited with us for about 30 minutes. It was so good to see Dee and Jackson. While we were visiting, an old friend~~ Sonny S. ~~ came walking by, and we were able to visit with him, too. It was fun to catch up. Some pics from our mall parking lot visit:




We weren't planning this but ended up staying over to attend the LIVING CHRISTMAS TREE program at our "home" church in C'dale, BUT our nephew-in-law Tim took us to the church during the afternoon to SEE the tree. It brought back a flood of memories of our 20 years at the church and singing in that tree so we changed our plans and stayed for the program that night. It was wonderful and such a blessing to see a LOT of dear friends from our 20 years at that church. During our afternoon visit, Tim let Amy and the kids get into the tree as she had sung in it during her years of growing up in that church. Here are some pics of the tree and of Amy and the kids in it. I certainly didn't brave those tall stairways to try to shimmy into it again. :)



We got home at just past midnight on early Sunday morning but all 8 of us made it to Sunday School on time and had a wonderful day in church. Richard and I hosted our annual "Couples Christmas Party" on Sunday night with 16 friends in our home, but that's another blog for later.

Merry Christmas to all!!
Love,
Susan