Our Last Wednesday..... I had to shed a tear.

I have had the precious privilege of having a LOT of face-time with our 4th grandchild. Regarding our older three Grandkids, Jarrett was adopted from Ukraine at age 10, Isabella was adopted from Ukraine at age 6, and Josh was adopted from Ukraine at age 2. Six months after Isabella and Josh were adopted in 2001, we moved here to be near Brian, Amy, and the kids. I was blessed to be able to spend a lot of that first summer with them and bonded with Belle and Josh deeply during that time. And then when we moved down that December, Grandpa Richard and I lived with them for 6 months. That was the REAL bonding time. Belle was in 1st grade and Josh attended nursery school. We were busy with the building of our house and didn't keep him at home with us every day. As I look back, I regret that we didn't keep him at home with us more, BUT the socialization with the other little kids his age helped him immensely with the English language, etc. Grandpa and I picked up Isabella and Josh from school a lot of days and had them in the afternoons until Brian and Amy got home from work. We did have a lot of good face-time with them for which I thank the Lord.

Jarrett was adopted at age 10 and we have had summers and school-vacation times to spend with him. There certainly were not those younger years to bond with him. I have to say though that today he definitely gravitates toward his Grandpa Richard. They have a close relationship for which I am thankful.

Jaden was born in November 2004. Amy had 12 glorious weeks of maternity leave to be with her baby. When she returned to work after her leave, I had the previous privilege of keeping Jaden every school-day for the next 2-1/2 years. What a blessing to be here and able to do that for Brian and Amy and for Jaden. My heart has memories stored up that will go to Heaven with me, I hope!! This past August when Jaden was about to turn 3, I determined that he needed more stimulation in the area of academics, playtime, socialization, etc. and recommended to Brian and Amy that he go to Nursery School instead of Grandma School. I agonized over that decision when it was being prayed over and certainly agonized over it the first day of Jaden leaving to go to Nursery School. I bawled for half the day. Amy and Brian had told me from the "get-go" that I could keep Jaden anytime that I wanted to. I let him get settled into nursery school for a couple of weeks and then decided that I would like to dedicate my WEDNESDAYS to having Jaden, so that is what I did this school year. I looked forward to my Wednesday with Jaden each and every week. He is a smart, fun-loving kid and we have had lots of great times together~~~ many of which are blogged on this very site.

Today is my FOREVER last day to be able to keep Jaden on WEDNESDAY. I had to have a little cry at breakfast over that very fact. Our 4th grandchild is growing up so fast and will be in K4 come August. He won't be able to "miss school" to stay with Grandma at either his whim or my own. He will be a real "school boy" and he is excited that his class will be at "Mommy's big school."

Jaden..... I pray that you have stored up some memories of your time spent at Grandma's house for these past 3-1/2 years. I hope you are old enough to be able to remember some of the fun times and recall them in the years to come. I certainly know that I will never forget them..... even if they become locked up in my memory should I ever suffer a brain disorder, surely they will remain in my heart forever and I will know and remember.

I hope today is your BEST WEDNESDAY ever. Your Grandpa is retired and is enjoying his 2nd Wednesday with you. You guys are outside enjoying this lovely late-spring morning ~~ doing guy stuff. You have requested to go to McDonald's for lunch and we will do that. That was a fun part of many of our Wednesdays together. And per our routine, you will get your bath and take a nice afternoon nap. When you wake up, we will take you to Mommy at "Mommy's School" for you to have Wednesday evening dinner with your family and then go to church with them.

Oh Jaden, I cry now as I realize this is our last time to have our Wednesday together. Of course, I will be here to keep you should you become sick and can't attend school on a Wednesday, but I mean "OUR" regular Wednesday together. I will miss you, Jadie-Boy. I love you. But God loves you even more and has a wonderful plan for your life. When you start your school years with K4 in August, I pray that you will learn everything they teach you at your Christian School ~~ about God and His Son Jesus Christ, the excellent academics, how to be a good citizen ~~ and that you will always obey God's Word and love Him with your whole heart. Happy Wednesday to us!!!!

~~Love, Grandma

Hobby and Faith ~~ A weird connection

I have a strange "hobby" ~~ I follow about 10 "caringbridge" sites for folks I don't know but read them and pray for the people involved. Most of the ones I follow are of children who have cancer. And then there is the site I follow of a couple in North Carolina. The wife had CF and was about to go on the list for a double-lung transplant and they night before they were to leave to go to Duke, it was discovered that she was pregnant!! She gave birth to a precious one pound baby girl at 27 weeks. A couple of months after the birth of her baby, the mother received her double-lung transplant. The mother and baby are both released from the hospital but have had to remain in the area so that they both can be monitored. It is hoped that they will be able to be released to go back to their home in the Outer Banks in a couple of weeks. What a story!! The URL is http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/ if anyone wants to check it out. It is an amazing story of a precious Christian couple.

Back to the reason for my post when I OUGHT to be PACKING for our trip...... I received a caringbridge notification of a post on a "case" I am following. This one is for a man from the Tuscaloosa area who worked for Alabama Power Company for a number of years and of whom I learned about through a prayer request for him on my prayer chain. Steve has battled cancer and continues to share on his caringbridge site. My antennae shot up with part of his post this morning and I felt the need to share it with you. We have this strange thing going on in America that all religious are okay. Just so you believe, and if you sincerely believe what you believe, it is okay to believe it and you will go to Heaven when you die. An "all roads lead to God" sort of philosophy. That is hogwash. In John 14:6, our Lord Jesus Himself said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." As a Christian I cannot give credence to the notion that any other "Savior" or "god" or "man" will lead anyone to heaven. Apart from salvation based on our Lord Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, all of mankind is doomed for hell. 'JESUS SAVES! CHRIST ALONE."

In Steve's post today, he related meeting up with a Christian from a Muslim country. It perked up my ears because it is evident how America is caving in to that particular culture and mindset. We who are Christians are the "salt and light." We had better stand up and speak up for what we know to be the truth. And we had better be prepared to die for it. From Steve:

I had a sleep study done Sunday night, and it was another one of those moments that God put together. The technician was a very soft spoken man. He could tell I was from around here, due to acsent, but he also wasn't from around here. He escaped from Ethiopia 8 years ago.

I said escaped because his words were "we had to leave the country." You see he made the mistake of being a Christian. He told me the same thing happening in Sudan is happening in his country. the Muslims are taking over and if your not a Muslim you have 2 choices, convert or die. His words, not mine.

Even with facing death he told me Christians are meeting under trees, in old buildings, anywhere they can to hear God's word. Here in the United States, people wont even get out of bed, to drive, and attend any number of churches. He said in ethiopia they can't build enough churches; you see, the Muslims burn them down.

So, believe what you want about them being a friendly religion, who some people have hijacked the faith; talk to someone who is from there; Muslims are on a mission to conquer the world; one nation at a time. Before you think it can't happen here; check out Minnesota where a Muslim was elected, and took the oath on a Koran, not a bible.

My heart was gripped at the truth in what Steve related ~~ about my own spiritual laziness during this time of an extreme spiritual battle being waged every day. His post woke me up and has caused me to take stock regarding the importance of Christ in my life and knowing that there are people all around who are believing every lie of the Devil which has thrown our country into chaos. It's time to re-group, suit up in our spiritual armor and to get back out there on the battlefield. It's "do or die" time and in some cases, "do and die" for martyred Christians around the world. How long before that will take place right here in our land?

We Pulled Off a SURPRISE Retirement Party for Richard!

Ps 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.














Amy told me a few weeks back that she wanted to throw a retirement party for her Dad. As we talked about it, we decided to host it at our house as this last week of school is so very busy for her. We decided to make it a surprise and led her dad to think that it was a going-away party for friends who are leaving in June. He had to be given a reason for the party for we would be making food and setting up tables to host about 20 people in our home!! I made the guest list and told Richard all of the couples who would be coming. He didn't know that Brian, Amy, and the kids would be here for the party so that is how we surprised him. (NOTE: Chip wanted to be here but of course, Sundays are his big day of ministry. At over 300 miles away, he just wasn't able to buzz on down after church. We spent 5 days with Chip right after Richard's retirement and he "feted" his dad's retirement during that time.)

After all of the guests (6 couples from church: James & Ann, Jerry & Peggy, John & Jeanette, Dan & Dorothy, John & Regina, Ed & Arda ) arrived on Sunday night after church, I called Amy to ask if I could "borrow" something and if she could bring it over. Well, she and her whole family walked in and that's when Jaden handed the invitation to Grandpa and said, "Here Grandpa, read this!"

URL of video of Richard reading the invitation AT the party that you can copy and paste into your favorite browser: http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=3b93043a744af0c259c5

We had a good meal with Chipped Ham Bar-B-Que sandwiches (Brian's mother's recipe that Amy recommended), potato chips, a veggie tray, and a mixed fruit bowl.

After we ate, we had a "Congratulations, Richard" cake with coffee or punch. Here is the URL for the video of the group singing and of Richard and the grandkids waiting to blow out the candle: http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=63c71afd2721bf306c53

Everyone gave Richard some retirement exhortations using words starting with the letters R-E-T-I-R-E-M-E-N-T and that was fun. Richard opened the cards from our friends and then it was time to wind down as ALL OF THOSE WORKING PEOPLE had to get home to bed and be ready for the Monday morning alarm. We didn't set ours. :) Here are some pics of our fun evening:

Another Dear Saint Has Arrived in Heaven....

We received word this morning that a dear friend from our church back home, Dave Elmore, had taken off for Heaven last night. We can't feel "sorry" for him in the matter of his homegoing, but our hearts are so very burdened for his dear family. His sweet wife, Laudine, will be just lost with her Dave. Our sister-in-law, Genell, is their oldest daughter and they have the baby daughter: Kay. I know those girls are heartbroken as are their girls: Kim, Dana, and Krystle as they mourn the loss of their grandfather.

I would like to say that Mr. and Mrs. Elmore were stalwarts in our church~~ so very faithful and always with a friendly greeting. We will look forward to seeing Bro. Dave one of these days at that glad reunion day.

The picture is of Mr. and Mrs. Elmore with their granddaughter Krystle (our niece) which was made at her college graduation on the 6th ~~ some 11 days ago.

Krystle's College Graduation~~ We're Proud Of Our Niece!

Our sweet niece, Krystle (daughter of Larry and Genell) graduated from college last week. We were unable to attend as we couldn't travel that day, so we were very glad to receive graduation pics of Krystle's special day. Krystle graduated from Shelton State with an Associate in Applied Science in Office Administration majoring in Medical Transcription and Medical Coding. Here are a few pics of her special day which I share with Krystle's permission.

Retired ~~ Foot-Loose, Fancy-Free, and Flying High!

I kept Jaden today as has been my custom all school year. And now Richard is retired and home to enjoy the fun, so I should say "we" kept Jaden today. We were eating breakfast with Jaden at 7:30 when I got the hair-brained idea that we take Jaden out to NAS to see the Blue Angels practice at 8:30. We finished eating, got ready, and took off. Jaden put my visor on while riding in the car and we got a chuckle out of the new way of wearing it.


It was a fun morning out there ~~ sunny but with a deliciously cool breeze. They had a lot of old planes and helicopters out there on display. Jaden and Grandpa were able to walk through the Blue Angel's "Fat Albert" plane so that thrilled Jaden.

The BLUES put on a spectacular show as they practiced and there was a huge crowd of folks out there. We took our camper-chairs-in-a-bag and had front-row seats along the flight-line. Jaden loved the BLUES. He stayed interested the entire time and watched them intently. The noise didn't bother him so that was great.

At the conclusion of every practice, they have all of the children in attendance come out on the flight-line to wave American flags that they hand out. Jaden had fun doing that. Some of my pics and videos are posted here as a memorial of our impromptu fun on a retired day with Jaden in tow.

LANCASTER BLESSINGS!

Rhonda shared pics made on Mother's Day of her two daughters and their families. It is with much joy that I share these pics. The first one is of Dawn with her husband Josh and their two precious kids, Luke and Lily. Don't you know this Mother's Day was so very special as they had just known for a few days that Baby Lily does NOT have cancer. We are still praising God over the miracle of her good health.

And then we have sweet Pam with her husband Casey and their precious little girl, Ellie. It is a joy to share pics sent to me by dear friends whom we rarely get to see but still love dearly.

BAIN BLESSINGS!

David and Debbie recently visited Jason, Corrie, and the GRANDkids in Virginia. David shared some sweet pics so I asked and received his permission to share them here as tribute to our dear friends!! This first one is of Jason and Corrie with their 4 children. It's so nice to be able to keep him with them a bit through the pics David and Debbie share with us.



David and Debbie with their darling grands. With David and Debbie living in Alabama and each of their 3 married sons living out of state (Jason in Virginia, Adam in Georgia, and Daniel and Missouri), the trips to visit the boys and their families have got to be so very precious and treasured.



This is such a sweet picture of "Big Daddy" David with his GRANDS. In addition to these 4 kids of Jason's, David and Debbie have 3 more grands: Adam and Erika have one little boy while Daniel and Joni have a boy and a girl. I would say they are extremely blessed!!!

It is such a joy to share pics of friends whom we dearly love but rarely get to see.

Our First Retirement Trip: To visit Chip in Huntsville

I am going to keep a Retirement Journal so needed to write down the details of our for post-retirement trip which was to go to Huntsville for a long Mother's Day weekend to visit Chip. When I typed our journal this evening, I decided to post it here for posterity. Here goes....

We left our house at 6:00 a.m. on last Thursday morning and had a nice drive to Huntsville, AL. When we were about 30 minutes from Chip's church, he called to let us know that there were bad storms in the area and that they were under a tornado watch. We arrived at the church and in a little bit left from there with Chip to go to lunch with him and the new senior pastor, Pastor Zach, to go to lunch. We had a delightful lunch at an upscale restaurant called "Grille 29."

We enjoyed getting acquainted with Pastor Zach. He is such a nice young man (32 years old!). He said he is enjoying Chip being on staff so much that if he could, he would fire him and then re-hire him just so Chip knows how valuable and appreciated he is. What a vote of confidence!!! After we had finished our meal, the waiter came back to our table to tell us that a tornado warning was in progress, that the storm was headed our way and that we should leave the restaurant and go home. We all returned to the church and waited out the storm there. It never got bad ~~ just a lot of heavy rain and some wind for a brief period of time. Chip had been given a bigger office located next door to the Pastor's office but had not had time to make the physical move so his Dad and I moved all of his books to the new location, hung his pictures and plaques, etc. and helped Chip get his new office squared away. Chip received a call that a lady in their church who had been suffering with breast cancer for 7 years, was in real bad shape so he and Pastor Zach left to go to the house. Richard and I returned to Chip's house at that time. In a couple of hours, Chip called to say that "Sandi" had passed while the pastors and the family stood around singing "Amazing Grace." Sandi was only 45 years old and left behind a wonderful Christian husband, an elementary age little boy and 2 teenagers. Chip and Pastor Zach stayed at their house for several hours. In the meantime, Richard and I went to a pizza place in Chip's neighborhood and had pizza waiting when Chip got home for the bereaved family's home at about 8:00. We ate, visited, talked, and enjoyed catching up with Chip until we all got tired and called it a night.

That evening, Chip presented a retirement gift to his dad. (I made a video of that moment but cannot seem to make that video move to this spot so it is located at the bottom of this post. Weird but that's the way it is.)

On Friday morning, we met a realtor in Chip's church, Tommy, who is helping Chip look for a house to purchase. We met Tommy at the house Chip is currently looking at, and we really liked it. We shall see what Chip's final decision is. We went to church with Chip for a little while before we went to a ritzy hamburger joint called "Cheeburger Cheeburger." They have humongous burgers and fries. Richard and I shared a lb. burger and fries. It was a delicious and delightful meal with Chip. From there he went back to the office. We returned to his house. Chip was conducting a Sunday School teacher's meeting for his student ministry group. It was held in the lovely home of one of his teachers. She served a delicious lasagna casserole. The other teachers (and us) brought drinks and desserts. Chip conducted the teachers' meeting and they got a lot of ideas and plans hammered out. It is a bustling student ministry with lots going on!! Richard and I enjoyed attending and getting to know some of the adults who work in the student ministry. We returned home after the meeting (going on 10:00 p.m.!), talked a bit, and went to bed.

Saturday morning at 11:00 was Sandi's funeral. Chip went to it while Richard and I hung out in the church office while we waited on him to return. We went to lunch at "Nothing But Noodles." Afterwards, Chip returned to the church office to do some work (straightening up the new office) and we returned to his house. That evening we attended a College get-together as Chip is the College Pastor as well as Student Pastor. It has held at the home of a couple who works in the college department. They had a delicious cook-out and then a bonfire. Chip brought a wonderful Bible Study lesson around the bonfire and it was a very meaningful time. As we were leaving, the man of the house told us that a storm was headed our way. Chip returned to the church office to do some work while Richard and I returned to Chip's house. A tornado warning sounded with the high school TORNADO SIREN blaring at the school right across the street from Chip's house. It was a tad unnerving!!! We "weathered" out the storm (Chip came home during it) and then all went to bed at 12:30 a.m. EXHAUSTED!!!

Sunday Morning Mother's Day dawned bright and beautiful BUT WINDY AND QUITE CHILLY!!! It was a VERY STIFF wind all day long. I had not had the privilege of being in the company of my son ON a Mother's Day for 10 years so it was a wonderful day spending it with Chip in ministry. (Not to say that I didn't miss Amy. She called on Sunday morning to wish me a Happy Mother's Day.) We went to church and sat in on Chip's COLLEGE Sunday School class. He taught a wonderful lesson on the covenants God had made with man in the OT. It was very, very good. After Sunday School, we had a wonderful Mother's Day service at Chip's church with a precious children's choir singing the cutest song, other special music, and then a wonderful message by Pastor Zach. Chip took us to Mother's Day dinner at TGIFriday. We enjoyed a delicious meal!!! On Sunday afternoon, we all "chilled" with the guys (Richard and Chip) watching NBA basketball and me reading/snoozing.

At 6:00, we were back at the church for Chip to conduct a meeting with his small group of guys in his Student Ministry who are feeling the call to preach. This semester Chip started this ministry which he explains this way: "Our cbsm KTL Team is made up of guys who sense God’s calling to serve in full-time ministry in the future. KTL stands for “Preach the Word” in Greek (Keruxon Ton Logon). KTL also accepts students who want to use their God-given teaching gifts in the church one day in the future. We meet weekly to discuss ministry and how to communicate all of the Scriptures." So Richard and I attended that meeting at Chip's invitation, heard the young man who will be speaking to the teens on Sunday night as he practiced his message before Chip and the other guys in KTL. It was a very interesting process with Jeremy giving his message and then Chip giving him lots of praise as well as constructive helps in how to improve for Wednesday night's message. Afterwards, Chip and the other guys there laid hands on Jeremy and prayed for him. Momma Dean had to tear up a bit as it was all so very touching how that Chip is touching the lives of young men who are sensing God's call on their lives.

Afterwards, we went out with Chip and 3 of those those guys to Indigo Joe's for chicken wings. It was a wonderful time of fellowship as those high school guys picked Chip's brain and heart as they threw out lots and lots of questions about living the Christian life, ministry, etc. Afterwards, we returned to Chip's house. We sat up for a few minutes but by 9:30, we were all 3 ready to turn in. We had crammed a lot into 4 days!!!!!!!!!

We got up this Monday morning and had a bite of breakfast with Chip before we said our good-byes. He departed for the church office and we departed for home. It was a very meaningful and wonderful visit with Chip. He is so very gracious and kind and seems to enjoy having us involved in every facet of his ministry. Richard and I plan to go up the week of June 16 to spend the week with Chip and help in the VBS at his invitation. We look forward to that fun time.

Here is the video of Chip presenting his retirement gift to his Dad:

Blessings,

Susan

A HUGE "PRAISE" REGARDING BABY LILY JONES

Psalm 150:1 ¶ Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

(If you haven't already, please double-click on this pic to see it!)

This is Dawn's post tonight on Lily's caringbridge site:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 07, 2008 09:00 PM, CDT

We received a call from Lily's oncologist today. The final diagnosis is mature teratoma, a benign tumor! Praise God! Josh and I are amazed and so thankful for the Lord's mercy. There will be no more tests. Just the routine check-up in a couple of months. I feel as if a boulder has been lifted off of my shoulders.

I thank the Lord for this trial. Only good things has come of it. It has strengthened my relationship with Him and taught me how to depend on Him more. It's also brought our family closer together. Thank you all so very much for the many, many prayers that were sent up for Lily and us. Josh and I both felt your prayers working. We felt a peace that could have only come from the Lord. Thanks also for all of the encouraging messages. Where would we be without the Lord and our wonderful friends? Our prayers have been answered! PRAISE GOD!

And I also received this email from Dawn's mother (Lily's Grandma!) earlier this afternoon:

We have some wonderful, wonderful news. The oncologist just called Dawn and Josh and told them the tumor has been diagnosed as mature teratoma. This is such good news! God did a wonderful miracle in Lily's life. First of all the tumor was not malignant neuroblastoma cancer, as we were told for two long weeks. Second of all the tumor was not made up of brain and spine tissue, which is what we were told last Friday evening. She will not need an MRI of her brain or spine to make sure she is developing normal. Now we have just been told that the tumor was made up of cartilage. Lily doesn't have to go back for a check up for two or three more months! I can't begin to describe to you the burden that has been lifted off my shoulders. All I can say, is that God answered so many prayers that were lifted up for Lily by all of our friends, relatives, acquaintances and many, many other people we do not even know. Please get the words out about Lily. I'm sure Dawn hasn't had a chance to update the website yet, but please feel free to check it out later and send them a message if you feel lead. We are giving God all the glory!

www.caringbridge.org/visit/lilyjones

Thank you,
Rhonda