Staci is a MRS!!

My sweet friend, Staci, was recently married to a great guy named Ted. Their marriage celebration was held in a basement of a restaurant in downtown Savannah that had yummy food and a great atmosphere. It was such a fun night! They have so many wonderful friends and family members. I'm glad I was able to join her on her special night.

Staci and her precious little boy, Jake

Staci and me

My Evie

I miss my sweet friend so much. She was one of my closest friends for most of the last 10 years. When life happened, Eve was there. Eve had the most generous heart of anyone that I know. She loved unconditionally and was a great listener and encourager. She was very commited to her beliefs and would stick to them no matter what.

She was diagnosed with colon cancer several years ago and fought hard with that tenacious spirit of hers. Almost a year ago, she went to be with Jesus. I am comforted by the fact that she is no longer in any pain, but I still ache for her.

I struggled a lot today as I missed her more than usual. Since she was on my mind, I thought I would at least introduce her since I'll probably write about her again.

Grand Marshals at the Disney Parade!

Since Disney World has that wonderful promotion where people can be admitted for free on their birthday, Luke and I took advantage of it and celebrated his birthday there. We met our friends, Ben and Greta Lyn, there and had a wonderful time! Here we all are in front of the Walt Disney/Mickey statue and Cinderella's Castle (Luke and I are sporting our complimentary Mickey ears --see below for the story!!). Here are some highlights from the day:

Cinderella's step-mother is giving me fashion advice: mouse ears are fine after Labor Day.

Luke's birthday blueberry muffin

There were so many people lined up on both sides of the parade route to see the Disney characters. The parade went from one end of the park to the other and took about 1/2 an hour or so. Luke and I and one other family were randomly selected out of the thousands of people at Magic Kingdom to be the Grand Marshals of the parade. We rode in the front car that lead the character parade and all of the Disney characters were dancing behind us in the street and on floats. The blue covering that you can barely see over the heads of the people in the lower left-hand side of the picture is our car. It was so exciting!! My face hurt at the end from smiling so much!

The yellow streamer sticking out of the car is where I was sitting. Luke was on the other side of the car. The people in charge of the parade also gave Mickey Mouse ear hats (with our names embroidered on the back) to me, Luke and the other "Grand Marshal" family. This was such a fun birthday surprise for Luke!

My Sad Razorbacks

What a good game last night! BIG plays (and unfortunately lots of turnovers!) by both the Bulldogs and the Razorbacks all the way through. Defense was pathetic...but overall, very entertaining, high scoring game. I just really wish my hogs had done better under pressure at the end. Too many wasted opportunities. Hoping for better things in the future, although with the rough SEC lineup they have ahead of them, it will be an uphill battle.

Hide and Go Seek with "Rucy Rog"

One of our favorite activities is playing "Hide and Go Seek" with our puppy dog. We will make her stay in one room while we hide and then we whistle for her from our hiding place. She can always sniff us out, whether it's in the dirty clothes pile, in the hot water heater closet or under a bed. Lucy is so proud of herself when she's made a find. She'll jump up and down, furiously wag her tail, and then trot around like she's won a prize! We played again tonight and it amazes me how I never get tired of laughing at her silly excitement!

Trusting through Pain

Last night, I went to a memorial service for the infant son of a sweet friend. The little boy was only 4 weeks old when he went to be with Jesus. Our choir sang several songs for the memorial service that had been hand-selected by the parents. While I was sitting in the choir loft, every once in a while, I would steal a glance at the mother. Through her tears, she was smiling with closed eyes and singing along to every word in complete worship. The songs told of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord and how He has complete power and control, even when we go through times where we feel shattered, torn, and broken. I was so moved by her trust in the Lord, Who she knew to be faithful to her...even in the midst of her storm. It shamed me to think of the times in my own life when I don't choose to trust Him, especially when I've not experienced anything nearly as devastating as losing a child. What an encouragement she was to me!

Hope for the Hopeless

I found this link on another blog that I occasionally read. It's through "Focus on the Family". This is Ann Kiemel, a Christian author and speaker, telling her amazing story and it helped me to look at the things that Luke and I are going through from a different perspective. If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulty starting a family or waiting for a husband, then I'd encourage you to take 15 minutes or so to listen.

Here's the link:
http://www.listen.family.org/daily/A000002160.cfm

Under Construction

Here are some photos taken by Nathan Potter, the worship pastor at our church. The new construction of our church is coming along smoothly. The new parking lot is in and the new buildings of phase 1 are in the process of being completed. The walls are up now, but I don't have the most updated pictures. I'm sure our church staff is really excited about the prospect of having real offices rather than the old double-wide they're in right now!