ELECTION DAY 2008

Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

2Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.


On this the morning of Election Day 2008, my heart is in my throat. My stomach is in knots. My palms are sweating. My emotion is fearful. My thoughts are swirling with all of the "What if's..."

Susan....... get a hold of yourself, Girl. Yes, it is election day. Yes, we have two candidates vying for the Presidency of our United States. Yes, one of them is the one I voted for last Thursday. Yes, the other one seems to be so diabolically wrong for our Nation... our CHRISTIAN nation. Our democratic nation.

To calm my nerves and still my heart, I have to remember: God always knows the outcome of this election. It won't be a surprise to Him. Does that mean that I cannot continue to pray throughout this election day as I have prayed fervently for weeks now.... that "my man" will win??? No, I can pray. That is very Biblical. I can pray and then I can leave the results in God's very capable hands. I can trust Him in this matter. Even if it turns out that Obama is elected our new president, GOD WILL STILL BE ON HIS THRONE. We should not follow man anyway... but keep our eyes always fixed upon our Lord Jesus.

I pray that no matter who wins this election that we as Christians will "raise our bar" and live out our righteousness in an ungodly land. America has been growing more ungodly by the decade and we Christians have basically sat back and let her go on this downhill slide. No matter who is elected as president, I pray that all of God's born-again children on this earth will "stay by the stuff" and be true salt and light in this putrifying world in which we live.

What am I doing today? I am going to a ladies brunch where we will offer up our prayers for the election. I am going to the store to do some shopping. I am coming home to prepare for an election night get-together. I hope I can get a nap in this afternoon as I feel it will be a long night. On top of it all, I'm still praying for a MIRACLE that McCain/Palin will be declared the winners at the end this long saga. Even so, Come Lord Jesus!!!

USHERING IN THE MONTH OF THANKSGIVING

Amy's December 1 birthday has always ushered in the Christmas season for me. When she was a child, I always waited until the day after her birthday to start decorating for Christmas. Chip's January 5 birthday was the always grand finale to all of the holiday season from Thanksgiving through New Years. What wonderful memories I have of my kids' birthdays when they were children.

And now we have GRANDchildren! November 2 was our youngest grandson's 4th birthday. Brian and Amy had a nice party for him on Saturday and then on Sunday, we all ate out together at Olive Garden to celebrate Jaden's life. Now, I can get on with the plans for Thanksgiving!!

Here are a few good pics from the birthday lunch on Sunday:

PRAYER REQUEST FOR THE PENDER FAMILY~~ ANDREA IS SAFELY ARRIVED IN HEAVEN

Updates for Andrea Pender Family & Home Today, November 2, 2008 our precious daughter Andrea Lillian Pender went to be with Jesus. She just stopped breathing between 3:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. She had a peaceful look on her face and it does not appear as though she struggled. Funeral arrangements will be finalized tomorrow morning but our thoughts are to have the viewing from5-7 Wednesday evening at Flint Hill Baptist Church,Bessemer, AL. The funeral will begin at 7pm. The burial will be a private family event on Thursday morningat the Patterson - Forest Grove Cemetery in Pleasant Grove, AL. Thank each of you for your prayers and words of encouragement.We are doing pretty good with the ordeal. God has finally allowed some closure.

Grandkids ~~ Spotlight on Two of Them Today!

RUNNER'S WORLD....
We had a fun morning going to Isabella's Cross-Country Meet this morning. She bested her personal record with a 24:30 on her 5K run!!!! She pushed herself and made it happen!! She will be in the Regionals this next week. We are so very proud of our granddaughter!!! In the first picture, she is third from the left and has the white ribbon around her ponytail. (Remember, you can double-click on each pic to enlarge it for a better view!)




After the Race:


Videos of the Race: The Beginning and then the End:





BIRTHDAY BASH..........
At noon, Brian and Amy hosted a real cute "Candyland" 4th birthday party for Jaden. It was attended by both sets of grandparents, his Uncle Matt, Aunt Mary, and Cousin Morgan, and with the following friends: Kristen with her kids Jacob, Lauren, and Leslee, and Alisha with her daughter Hannah. It was a lot of fun, and Jaden was one excited little boy! I can't wait to see him tomorrow on his actual birthday.

We Are Stepping Out Tonight.....

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

I guess tonight is a "coming out" party of sorts. Richard and I are FINALLY taking the plunge and are going to our church's "senior saints" meeting tonight. Our group is called "The Triple L" which, I think, stands for "Live Longer and Like It." That sounds like a great motto for us as we have entered into our retirement years. The age minimum for the group is 55. I am 57 but for some reason still don't FEEL old enough to be attending the senior citizens meeting. Many of these folks are precious friends of ours, and I have looked UP to them. It's hard to believe I am now going to identify as one of them. I remember my mother telling me years ago, "Susan, it's best to be one of the younger ones in the group." But you know, Biblically that may not be entirely correct. The Bible says for the older women of the church to teach the younger women. If I am now to be considered one of the older ladies of the church, I had best be about my Heavenly Father's business.

The Sweet New Family of Three

Below this article, I posted a "Smilebox" photo album of our former campus daughter with her husband and their brand new daughter, but I have to post a BIG picture here and write a little bit.

Becky came to us as a campus daughter the 2nd semester of her freshman year. She was a good friend of Sarah P, a campus daughter, and when Sarah learned that Becky didn't have campus parents, she asked if we would consider adopting Becky into our campus family. We did and enjoyed Becky as a daughter for 3-1/2 years of her college life.

Becky was our first campus daughter to marry which meant we now had a campus son-in-law. And now two years later, they are parents to their brand new baby daughter, that means we now have a campus grandbaby!!!

We waited until all of the REAL grandparents (from GA and from SC) had come and gone before we went over to Becky's and Paul's to take supper last evening and to meet precious little Aleana. She was born nearly 4 weeks premature and had to stay in ICU for her first week of life relating to her immature lungs and then had a big bout of jaundice which landed her back in the hospital to get that treated,but she is now home and thriving. She was enjoyed her "dinner" when we arrived and was so sweet to hold and cuddle after she had eaten.

We shall pray for Paul and Becky as they raise their beautiful baby daughter in the Lord and shall enjoy watching Eleana grow up. God is good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our First "Campus Grandbaby"

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

THIS PROJECT WAS FOR THE BIRDS

Isa 46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east..........

I have always wanted to have some colorful and decorative bird houses/feeders to hang on our back fence. Well, Richard got a "wild hair" today and went out and made 4 birdhouses!! They are as cute as can be and hopefully the bird seed on the front ledges will attract some birds. It touches my heart that Richard knows my small dreams as well as my big dreams and always does his best to make them happen. He is my love and my hero all rolled into one!!!

A New Week

Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

This is the last week of campaigning for the two men who are running for the office of President of the United States. I simply cannot fathom that Americans could and might elect Barack Obama to this position. I just keep praying, "Please God, No Obama." All in all, I know that God is in control matter who is elected president, and that is my greatest source of comfort in these last days before the election on November 4.

The last week of October. Amazing!! Where has this month gone? The first half of it. we were on our big trip so I guess that's why the 2nd half has seemed to pass by so quickly. When we returned home on the 12th, we hit the ground running. We got involved with a soul-winning booth at the fair on the night of the 16th and worked there once more and got rained out the other night we had signed up to work. We have attended Granddaughter Isabella's Cross-Country Meets on Saturday mornings. They are out of town and take up the entire morning but it is well worth it to watch her run AND to spend time with Brian, Amy, and the kids. We ride with them and so have lots of good fellowship in the vehicle and have enjoyed the pretty Saturdays of being outside for the meets. We attended a wonderful recital at the college and were proud of our campus daughter Jennifer who played in it. We made and took lunch to Dorothy and Dan last week. Dorothy is recovering from her 2nd knee replacement surgery and is doing well. One of our first campus daughters who graduated, married, and gave birth to a baby daughter last week was in the hospital for most of the week as her baby was a preemie, had breathing problems and then was jaundiced. We visited Becky in the hospital but have yet to see and hold our first "campus grandbaby." Baby Eleana had to be re-hospitalized on Thursday for her jaundice and they came home on Saturday night. Both sets of out-of-town grandparents were here but have returned home now (South Carolina and Georgia) so perhaps we can meet Miss Aleana this week. I hope so!! Our friend Peggy Pirkle in Tennesse is having cataract surgery on Monday so we will be praying for her. My dear friend Wilma (age 83) has a doctor's appt. on Wednesday that I am taking her to. Time spent with Wilma is always time well spent. She is a lovely and gracious lady who served on the mission field in Haiti with her husband. She is Godly and wise. I always learn something from Wilma. Last Friday, Richard and I ran by our doctor's office to have our lab work done. I have my appointment on Friday to see what is what with my high triglycerides. I hope and pray the fish oil has done some good because I certainly haven't stuck to a low-fat diet very well. Also on Friday at our Retirement Center Bible Study, it is hoped that our teacher, Carol, will be back with us. She and her husband Jim have been gone on a big RV trip since his retirement at the end of May. We look forward to having Carol back at the helm on Friday's. And then on Friday night, we are having our 9 campus daughters over for supper and fellowship. Makes me wonder how we ever had time to work jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FACE TO FACE WITH A FRIEND!!!

Luke 11:6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me,

This article will be copied over to the blog I made during our 35th wedding anniversary trip, but it first HAS to be posted here for it is far to important to be only posted on our trip blog.

It is so much fun to have pen pals and, in today's world, online friends. You learn so much about each other sharing anecdotes about life and prayer requests as they arise. You really grow close and truly do know each other even though you haven't met face to face. That is how it is with our Lord Jesus. We grow closer and closer to the Savior throughout our Christian lives and then have the blessed day of meeting Him face to face the moment we close our eyes in death on this earth.

Well, I didn't have to go so far as to close my eyes in death to meet this dear friend, but I did have to jump into the car with Richard, drive 1,206 miles, catch a cruise ship in Brooklyn, New York and wait until the 2nd day of our cruise when we were docked in Boston for the big moment!

Meeting my friend Chickie in Boston was all that I had dreamed about and so much more. To see that dear friend in person, to hug her, to talk in person, to laugh together, to ride in her car, to eat lunch (her treat!) at a wonderful restaurant, to go sight-seeing with her as our tour guide.... to feel her love and the complete connection of our hearts..... it was so very exciting and made for a wonderful day that I will always cherish.

Chickie and I are opposite in so many ways: she is Catholic and I am Baptist; she is a Democrat and I am a Republican; she speaks with a Bostonian accent and I have a Southern Drawl..... the list could go on. The thing that totally bound our hearts together was our love and respect for one another.

Chickie, I love you so much and thank you for the wonderful 4 hours we spent together. It was a special treat to meet your dear friends Cindy and Lorrayne, too. Richard sat there amazed at how well we knew each other. What a hoot!!!

Take care, Dear Friend, and always know how much you are loved by this Southern Gal. I count it a joy to post the pictures of our meeting that you shared with me.

Love Always,
Susan

Our first of many hugs!

Richard was happy to meet Chickie, too!

Here we are at the wonderful "Phillips" Restaurant where we had lunch (Chickie's treat) and there she gave me some very nice gifts.... including this cookbook that Chickie was the chairperson of putting it together.

Chickie's dear friend, Lorrayne (whom Chickie had lovingly spoken of so many times in her emails) came out to the restaurant to meet us. Another nice and fun Yankee!

Chickie took us on a wonderful tour of Boston... and this was in the section where she lived as a child. Here she is at her childhood home.