God Wink

I love the term "God Wink." I learned it from a dear friend that described it to mean 'something that only God could orchestrate.'

We experienced one of those moments just yesterday and I couldn't wait to share.

Back in May, our Director of the Kids Ministry at our church asked if Little JCrew would read the scripture for a service during the Summer. During the past two summers they have involved the kids ministry in reading a scripture during the service. Little JCrew jumped at the opportunity. We were then provided dates during the month of July that would work for us and we were then told our date and told our verse to rehearse.

Yesterday was Little JCrew's turn. I was torn about videoing the process, because I like to be "in the moment," but I turned my phone on and tried to do both.

I showed the video to my mom when she got home. She watched it and then asked if I knew the verses. She then explained the importance.

I have a brother that died when he was seven. I was born shortly after his death (that is a whole different God story.) Before his death, he learned Philippians 3:12-14 to earn his badge for Jet Cadets. Those verses were read at his funeral.

And here Little JCrew is, 1.5 months shy of his seventh birthday, reciting that same verse. No one knew this story, yet those verses were chosen for the Sunday that my little one was chosen to serve.

*God Wink*

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Golden Anniversary Celebration

We got to be a part of something really awesome recently. Our Sunday School was going to take a break for the summer and not meet, but then the church came and asked us to plan a party. Our answer, "Heck yes!"

We started planning in June for the September event. The party was for the couples in our church that had celebrated 50 years of marriage! There were over 50 couples in our church that have celebrated 50 years or more. Each week we discussed a different topic for the event. The event felt so far away, but I'm so glad we planned ahead, so there was no last minute panicking.

I really just want to share photos. It turned out better than we planned. We had about 26 couples attend our event. We started the evening with a Mocktail Hour.

We served two different punches in cocktail glasses.
 

During the cocktail hour, we played a Newlywed Game.

We thought it'd be fun to have a couple from our Sunday School class participate.

During our preparation for the event, we interviewed the couples. They came by our class and we asked some questions. The answers were to help us make this event tailored to them. We got to learn so much about these cute couples. The interviews were the best part. We printed the interviews on pretty paper and hung them on twine along with their wedding photos.

For dinner, we had it catered by a local small restaurant. It was delicious food. The dinner was served on the hosts' and volunteers' China! This was such a neat detail. Our class, with a couple other volunteers, served as waiters for the tables.

Each table also had a colored fabric that anchored the table decor. These colors were the colors mentioned of our guests' weddings.

We even had a red table with Christmas China on it, as we had several couples that married near Christmas, so they used the church's Christmas decor for their wedding decor.

We kept the flower arrangements simple white to not distract from all the other stuff that was going on.

The flowers were in gold vases. Those "vases" were wine, beer, condiment, and liquor bottles that we collected. I spread the word to all I knew to save their bottles. Each weekend we were painting those bottles gold. The 50th wedding anniversary is the Gold Anniversary!

The bottles had to be soaked to get the labels off. I used a mixture of baking soda and vinegar and it worked great.

Then it was on to painting them. I researched the best gold spray paint, and it truly was great.

A lady from our church volunteered to make a wedding cake for the celebration. It was a gold cake that was soooo good! We had to decorate the table to match up with its elegance.

On either side of the wedding cake, we had tables that had easels on them. Those easels were to display the wedding China of our guests. We asked them to bring in a dinner plate from their set. We displayed them and wrote their last name on a placecard. It was so fun to see the different patterns, but to also hear the guests comment about the plates. Many remembered seeing the other patterns as they shopped for theirs.

Another item we asked the guests to bring was their wedding gown. Some still had theirs, but others did not. Some ladies borrowed their dresses! We had several gowns that we hung up for display. Those REALLY made the decor special!

Our last little bit of decor that we had for the room was a "photobooth." We used trimmings from our yards to created the arch and we found furniture around the church along with a couple items from my home. I found a cute banner on Etsy and had to have it!

We had found an inspiration picture, but really didn't know if we could pull off the same quality.

It can't be compared apples to apples, but I LOVE how ours turned out. After dinner, we had several stand in line to get their pictures done. They had cute props they could play with and a chalkboard sign they could use to write down how many years of marriage they were celebrating.

Then a couple of us young folks got to participate. We wrote how many years away from celebrating 50 we were.

During the night we played hits from the time they were dating/married (50's 60's). We even had one of our classmates bring his Barbershop quartet to serenade the crowd.

After dinner, we also encouraged the couples to dance. Many did, and it was a VERY special moment.

Planning this event was fun, but it was way more fun to experience it. These couples are amazing! They gave such great advice on marriage. Many agreed that marriage is not easy, but keeping Christ at the center is a saving grace for keeping a marriage going. They couldn't emphasize enough how your mindset when entering into a marriage needs to be focusing on the commitment. Don't do it with a plan to back out if it doesn't work.

Photo credit to Brad for being our photographer for the photobooth and capturing all the details.

It is a night we will remember forever.

Good-bye Maple Grove

Today we officially say goodbye to our old house.

Last year, we put our house on the market to sell. Our first viewer made us an offer. It was not the typical offer, so we had to think about it. It was a lease-to-purchase contract.

A lease-to-purchase was unfamiliar to me, so I had to research and see if I was comfortable. Our buyer would start off as our tenant. He would pay monthly rent and a portion of that rent would go towards the equity in the purchase price of the house. Or the portion of rent money could be used towards his closing costs.

In our agreement, the tenant could keep renting for a whole year and at anytime during that year he could decide to go through the purchase. If he did not exercise the option to purchase, he would lose the money he paid in rent. He originally said he'd purchase in November, and his back-up date was March. This was all based on when he gets his bonus from work.

November and March passed and I didn't get worried. I could have, but I knew God had a plan and He would help me figure out what to do.

I look back and realize how smoothly it all went. We had a great tenant that paid on time and kept the house in great condition. Now I don't care what he does with it! Although, I know he has plans to upgrade the kitchen and install a pool!

My mom has an acquaintance that has a lease-to-own contract on their house, and the tenant has stopped paying rent. Currently, they are having a hard time evicting the non-paying renter because of the lease-to-own contract. I feel bad and realize how scary of a risk you are taking.

June 29th is a great day!So excited to move on and only have two houses to take care of. Then we will list my mom's townhouse and get back down to one house! Hallelujah!

My Dad

My dad was not like many. When I look back at his life, I quickly realize how lucky I was to be his. He and my mom had three children; my two sisters and my brother. When my brother died at the age of seven, they had a surgical procedure reversed and I was conceived exactly a year after Michael’s death. My parents then went on to adopt two more children. That’s SIX kids!

My dad was someone very special. He worked a lot to make ends meet. Yet, my dad was there by my side through everything I did. I went to work with him regularly and he taught me his trade. On weekends, he would take me fishing in a catfish pond. After late nights in the dance studio, it was Dad who patiently waited on me and drove me home. And there were some nights he waited for a while and he never complained. He even let me belt out songs on repeat in the truck on the drive home. One of those songs was Celine Dion’s “I’m Your Lady.” I just changed the words to “I’m Your Daughter and You Are My Dad.” I sang that song for him.

My dad was a very patient and kind man. I never heard him utter a bad word to or about anyone. He loved everyone he met. And there was no such thing as a stranger.  He enjoyed being social and telling stories. “Did you hear about the boy who went to the Pediatrician?”

My dad had a wealth of knowledge. I tried to soak up everything he taught me and wish I knew half of the things he did. He should have been a mechanical engineer. The man could fix anything and he had a solution for it all. My dad’s degree was in animal husbandry. He was a cattle buyer for most of his life. It was his love for animals that flowed down to all his kids. And speaking of love, my dad loved food. He was always in the kitchen perfecting Grandma’s recipes. Pound cake was a favorite of his.

My dad was a strong man of faith. I never once saw him doubt, and his faith in God was passed down to us. He enjoyed worshiping the Lord and was at church every chance he could get. He loved music and you could always find his hand drumming to a song that was playing. He was a man of God and he raised us to love God.

We learned what it was like to love someone when we saw my mom and dad together. He was such a Southern gentleman. He was so tender with her and hugged her so softly. He offered her the biggest slice of pie. She wore his coat when it was cold. Their love was an example to us all.

My dad was a man of manners. A guest was always offered a drink; even to his visitors that recently visited him at home while he was sick. He was asking guests if they wanted a cup of coffee or a glass of Ginger Ale. He was a giving man and offered everything he had. He had a peppermint in his pocket for each child when he got home. Today, he would have wanted us to offer you all peppermints and thank you for coming.

We can never say thank you enough to the friends Dad made quickly in the short time he was here in Huntsville, but each one of you are a blessing. Dad was loved and he felt it. He made friendships that felt like they were 40 years long. We have lost a father and a friend but we are reminded how lucky we are. Fathers like him are hard to find. 

-Lindsay "Liz"