February 2024 Prayer Letter

 

True Greatness

Did you make a New Year's Resolution?  This year I haven't made a resolution, but I have changed my focus on what I am doing with my children.  As a mom, I want my children to succeed, to be their very best.  However, have I been challenged to think about raising my children for True Greatness and not success alone.  Want to hear more?  You can read more about it on A Snap Shot of Motherhood.  The title is A New Year, A New Perspective

Blessings to you in 2012!

An Unwelcome Visitor

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas as a family.  It was such a blessing to have Courtney home with us.  However, on Christmas morning we did have an unwelcome visitor that you can read about The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Christmas Breakfast on the A Snap Shot of Motherhood (Laura's other blog).
Enjoy! 

Good Friday

In honor of Good Friday, the children made a Garden Tomb. I got the idea from the blog A Holy Experience. The children planted some herbs in a flower pot we had on the deck and put a large stone in the garden to represent the garden tomb. Another rock was placed in front of the large stone to represent the stone that was rolled in place to seal Jesus' tomb. A candle is in our garden because Jesus is the Light of the World. On Easter the stone will be rolled away and we will celebrate the good news that the tomb is empty!

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said,
'Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here; he has risen!"
Luke 24:1-6

Ingredients Matter

In honor of Courtney's 18th birthday, and because she has gone vegan, I decided to make her favorite German Chocolate Cake " vegan style". I found a great recipe online and baked the cake. It smelled delicious baking! The frosting however, was a different story. I mixed the ingredients and put it on the stovetop to heat. After awhile the frosting doubled in size and was foamy. I transferred the frosting to my biggest pan and was a little amazed when it continued growing in size. Finally it bubbled out of my pan and onto the stove. I was mortified. I so wanted to bless Courtney, but I had made a mess of the frosting and the stove.

When she came home I told her what happened. She said, "Mom, you did use corn syrup or cornstarch?" I looked up in the cabinet and saw the cornstarch on the shelf and realized I had never taken it out of the cupboard. I had used Baking Soda instead! Oh my. No wonder it acted more like the boys' volcano science experiment rather than frosting. By the way, Josiah fondly calls my concoction "frothing" rather than frosting! With a quick trip to the store and all the right ingredients, the cake was completed. But I sure learned a lesson. Putting something in that doesn't belong can spell disaster. Ingredients are important!

What is your recipe for life? Is your life bubbling out of control like my "frothing"? What kind of ingredients are you putting inside of you? Are there things in your life that you are compromising or substituting for the ingredients that really belong? I know that listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit are so vital in life. Sometimes I ignore what God might be trying to tell me thinking, "Oh, this is no big thing" but God knows what is best for me. He designed me (and He designed you too) and He knows what is best to make each of our lives perfect in His sight.

Tom's Tribute

To honor Tom's parents at their 50th Anniversary celebration he wrote a tribute and read it to them at their party...


Dear Mom and Dad,

I have been truly blessed to have had you as parents. And as we celebrate your 50th Anniversary, I have been thinking a lot about you both, and I want to honor you today in the presence of family and friends and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

You have gone the distance, and although you haven't finished the course yet, you have set a great pace to finish well. You could have called it quits many times, but you didn't. I'm proud of you for sticking it out and staying committed to one another and to our family. I have learned from you that divorce isn't an option.

I have learned the importance of family from you both--and faith. Mom, you made sacrifices by staying home with us kids. I remember fondly home-cooked meals (excluding liver), the smell of fried chicken in the well-scrubbed kitchen, black-eyed peas, fresh rolls--the wonderful pitcher of sweet tea--which is still a staple in our family's home today. I remember times at the Sawdust Pile singing praises to Jesus. What I don't remember is all the hard work--diapers before disposable...cleaning up throw-up or nursing me through fevers. I love you Mom.

Thanks to you both for taking us kids to church and letting me go to the Billy Graham Crusade where I heard God's call to faith. Dad, thanks for being there for me--coaching little league, massaging leg cramps at night and continuing to model a godly father and husband, taking care of Mom when she had health issues, praying for our family and yours, and taking me to Promise Keepers with Sean and Fred, continuing to study and teach the Bible...Love is a choice, whether you are showing that love to Mom or helping to take care of your mom. I have great respect for you Dad.

I have learned hard work and helping others through you and mom.

Mom and Dad, thanks for the fun times....Disney, 6 Flags, Tweetsie Railroad, times at Morehead and Atlantic Beach growing up...body surfing, catching crabs, getting sunburned, playing cards. Then as we got older and moved to Washington, there were many water skiing with the Burks, snow skiing at Timberline...boy scout trips with you Dad. All of these are sweet memories.

Thanks for not killing me...I mean there were ample opportunities, and these are just scratching the surface...like when I almost burned the woods down playing with matches; the many times that I was not-so-nice to my siblings...like the jalapeno episode with Sean...There were also teacher episodes and the police episode when for some reason I thought windows in a nearby building were for target practice throwing rocks. Later on, dropping out of college--flipping burgers was a wake-up call that maybe a college education wasn't such a bad idea after all...my parents could really give helpful advice--I only wished I would have listened sooner.

Life wasn't perfect in our home growing up, but I felt loved. You gave me freedom to fail but great encouragement to succeed. You have always loved me and that has been huge in my life. And you have prayed for me. To have you as Mom and you as Dad has made me what I am today. I hope I can show the same love and commitment to my wife and family as you have modeled. I love you Mom and Dad.

Tom


(If you are interested in finding out about honoring your parents or writing a tribute a great resource is The Best Gift You Can Ever Give Your Parents by Dennis Rainey and Dave Boehi.)

A Legacy and a Tribute

Frank & Quita
Celebrating 50 Years of Marriage

January 31, 2010

On January 31st we had the privilege to host an anniversary celebration to honor Tom's parents for their 50 years of marriage.

We had lots of yummy food...Frank & Quita had a chance to renew their wedding vows...There was also time for Tom & Sean to honor their parents with a Tribute...Special friends came from miles away to join in the celebration and to share their stories of friendship and encouragement from times spent together...We had a scrapbook to give to them filled with encouraging notes, words of blessings, and pictures from their friends from all over the country. It was a great time to renew friendships... We all enjoyed being able to bless Granny & Grandpa...