Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

During the extreme winter temps, a pipe burst at Mom's camp. The leak was very visible as the water spewed all over the storage room, ran out the back door, and into the ditch.  We cut the power to the well, cleaned up all the water, and let everything dry out.  It looked as if we had dodged a bullet and repairs would be minimal. There are advantages to having concrete floors and mostly metal walls.  Fast forward to the next time I went by to check on the place.  Although everything was turned off, as the temps rose and things thawed, the water table rose as well. Water then backed up into the line and seeped inside from a small crack that hadn’t yet been repaired. We were once again cleaning up a mess and now dealing with damage we thought we had avoided. While cutting out the damaged plywood, I remembered my younger days of working in an insurance office.  We would sometimes have water claims that would be denied, depending on the circumstance. ...

  On our recent trip to Aurora, IL, we noticed something strange looking in the distance. As we approached Lexington, there was a long line of blinking red lights.  At first, we thought it could be an airport. But as we got closer, we noticed that there were no other colored lights, only red, and they spanned both sides of the interstate so there were far too many of them to be an airstrip. We started googling what the odd sight may be. Apparently, many others had also been intrigued because there were LOTS of speculations of what they were. I'm sure anyone that travels a lot would have known immediately, but we had to do a little more internet searching to find out that what we were seeing was a massive wind farm.   As we later passed by more fields of them, I was reminded of my very young years in Sunday School when my teacher, Brenda Dickey, taught me the song, This Little Light of Mine.  We attended a small church that didn't have many children. Sometimes it...

My friend Sonya, Mom, Megan, and I all went to Illinois last week to volunteer for Samaritan's Purse. On the way, we stopped off in St Louis and then scheduled a whole day just for sightseeing in Chicago.  For some of us, it was the first of many experiences.  Trains, taxis, tour buses, and skyscrapers were not the norm for us country girls.  We went inside the Gateway Arch, went through Union Station, visited Navy Pier, and overlooked the city from the top of the John Hancock Building, among other things.  We figured that while we were close, we should seize the opportunities.   On the long drive up, I wondered how different the culture would be there and if our southern accents would stick out like sore thumbs... they did.  That turned out to be a good thing though because any time we were asked where we were from, we were also able to tell them why we were there.  It opened a door to share about the shoebox program and the gospel....

As many know, we just finished a house for our son, Joseph.  It was a work of love that due to some unexpected life events, took much longer than we planned.  Thankfully, other than a few finishing touches, it’s now complete.  As we were clearing out the tools and leftover materials for him to move in, he mentioned needing a set of tables. I hated to see him spend any more money. So, I looked around to see what was left over that could be used to make them. There was some butcher block left from trimming down the bar and cutting out the sink hole. It would be just enough for three separate pieces that I edged with some of the oak trim leftover from the cabinets Dad made shortly before he passed away. (Pictured below) I then remembered the bed box spring set that we were getting rid of. I took it apart and used the slats to make the table legs.  As I was putting the polyurethane on the finished tabletops, my mind went to how often we can feel tired, worn out, and not ...

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...