Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

Julie Ann Thomas!!!  I’m sure everyone can remember a time when they were referred to by their full name. The thought probably brings you back to when you were a child doing something you shouldn't have or not coming fast enough after being called. There’s something about being called by your name that always gets your attention.   Our names are important because our parents spent time choosing them for us. One of the most exciting things about expecting a baby is getting to choose a name for the child. It could be unique, have a special meaning, or maybe you just like the way it sounds. Rusty and I named our children after family and friends. (Although we love to pick on Megan and tell her that she was named after a character from a TV crime show).    The Bible tells us that once we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we become children of God and as His children… He calls us by name.  I can just hear my Granny playing that old hymn on the piano now....

When I started my first job as a teenager, I quickly made plans for my first paycheck. I knew exactly what I was going to buy... a pair of solid white British Knights.  They looked sharp and I was super proud of them.   When the house burned, Mom took Amy and I shopping for new clothes and shoes. Of course, I had to get another pair of BKs, but to my disappointment they no longer had the same ones and I had to choose a different style. I finally settled on a pair that had black quilting on the side (similar to the ones pictured below).  They were actually kind of ugly, but that's what everyone else was wearing, so I had to get them.  All was good with the world until Amy picked her shoes.  You guessed it…she wanted the same pair. I remember standing in Foot Locker inside Edgewood Mall and begging Mom to make her pick something else. I was a teenager, and it just wasn’t right that my little sister thought she should have the exact same shoes as me. I gave Mo...

  Have you ever tried to take a picture of something you thought was pretty, but the camera didn't do it justice?  I noticed it on our Thanksgiving trip to the mountains and the recent snowfall. The   views were gorgeous, but the photos weren't that great. It reminded me of a previous conversation I had on my way to Mississippi a few months ago. The cotton fields were in full bloom, and I thought they were beautiful.  I was on the phone with my friend, Abi, when I pulled the car over to take a picture.  I told her that I was disappointed because the picture didn't look near as good as the real thing.  She said, "That's because people made the camera and God made the fields".  I thought that was a pretty profound statement.  Even with all of the photo editing tools we have available today, nothing I did to the pictures could replicate what my eyes saw.  It made me think of how we're always trying to improve our images. But are they r...

  Have you ever had things not go as planned? For my family, it seemed to happen all too often.  So much so that any time it did, I would tell the kids... “We’re just making memories”.  Megan calls it my catch phrase. I'd tell them that one day we’d look back and laugh about some of the situations. There were things like: blow outs in the middle of nowhere, the car a/c going out on a road trip during a heat wave, frequent flier trips to the ER for the strangest of mishaps, or the disastrous camping trip (pictured above) that my kids will never let me live down. Just ask any of them about it. They’ll be more than happy to fill you in.  I seem to have a knack for remembering details of situations that I’ve lived through. Most of the time that’s a good thing, but sometimes there are things that would best be forgotten. This is especially so for someone that already battles anxiety because it’s easy to get caught up on those things that can keep us from moving forward. A...

For years, a trip to Mississippi meant that I would be shopping with Mom and shooting with Dad.  Living almost eight hours away, our visits would sometimes be a few months apart.  It was important to do things with my parents that they enjoyed. As much as I love spending time with Mom, shopping has never been my thing.  I like to go look sometimes, but for the most part I’m more of a “get in and get out” shopper.  Mom could shop all day and leave you begging for a place to sit down and rest for a minute. When we would get ready to leave the house and tell Dad that we’d be back before long, he would always say, “Yeah, we’ll see about that”. She still  likes to shop but is now limited to stores that have riding carts or ones that don’t require much walking.  Dad, on the other hand, would have rather done anything than to have to be in a large crowd of people shopping all day.  He found enjoyment in reloading ammo and shooting one of the many firearm...