Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Her Children Will Rise Up and Call Her Blessed....

My sweet Momma celebrated her 80th birthday on September 21.  The weekend after was our official celebration.   We had a couple of family dinners and my brothers came in from out of town, but the big do was a surprise party that Saturday afternoon.  We held it at a local center in our town where my mom volunteers.  Hubby and I did the set-up and take down... food, flowers and decorations ... inviting etc. with lots of help from our kids and their significant others.  I have to say though, the vast majority of the work and what kept everything running smoothly was that man of mine!  He is a big ole sweet fella with a heart of gold. Many of Mom's friends thought he was the caterer and commented on needing his name and number.. they might want to hire him.  Hmm...could be a side job in his future.  LOL!

Mother had a great time. We hoped for 50 - 60 folks. Had over 100!  All 4 of her children came with their spouses.  3 of the 11 grandchildren were there with their honeys and 1 of the 10 great-grands.  We are a scattered bunch, so it is tough to get us all together in the same place.

Here are some pictures from the day.....








Monday, October 10, 2011

Young Love...

I have prayed over the years for our children and their future spouses and while no one is engaged at this date love is definitely in the air.  Honestly, we never encouraged dating. That sounds strange to many, but hear me out. There is no reason to latch on to another person and spend lots of alone time with them just for fun.  We felt it better that our kids spend time with friends.. developing friendships.. and when they found someone they had a deeper interest in.. someone they felt God was leading them to.. then they would prayerfully move forward to see where the relationship was to go.

Our daughter wholeheartedly agreed. Not so much our son. He was interested in a few girls in his teen years and did quasi-date them. I say quasi-date because they met through church activities and their dates consisted of going to youth group events or our with family.  All these were extremely short lived relationships.

In the summer of 2009 while at Camp, he met a girl briefly. They linked up on Facebook as kids do and found they had mutual friends.  Over the next few months their friendship grew and they eventually decided they wanted more. That was 2 years ago this December.  My husband and I feel sure that she is our future daughter-in-love and we are thrilled.  They are just so made for each other. Both have a heart for ministry... they lead worship together... they do Bible study together... pray together... it is just awesome to see! They also act silly and laugh and giggle and occasionally get miffed... all those things that come with love.  Our son is in college.. so no wedding bells for a few more years.  He has to be done with school and able to support a wife ... and children!



Our daughter has recently started seeing a young man.  Because he lives in another town, we have not had as much time to get to know him. That will come.  He is a cute fella.... not that looks matter... and the more I see them together ... well, the more I see them TOGETHER.. Know what I mean? They fit each other well. They have similar wants and desires for their futures. I love that he is very supportive and encouraging to her.  My husband says "He treats her well".. that is important to a dad.  (Sidenote... poor guy can never be good enough for her... that is part of the Daddy code) They are a bit challenged by the distance but modern technology helps... skype, emails, texts etc. make us a lot closer than we really are... and both of them know the drive between where he lives and where we live very well!  They are in that early stage of a relationship where they are getting to know each other... pondering the possibility of a future together... no wedding bells there either... but I wouldn't be surprised to hear them coming their way one day.



And so now my prayers are slightly changed. I pray for these possible future spouses by name.. and while some of the things I prayed for in the past are still on the list, there are new things being added as we all get to know each other.

My kids are 4 1/2 years apart... I thought God did that to space things for me... I have a feeling that won't be true with weddings... I expect these 2 will come within a year of each other at most.  Should be a wild ride... just sitting back and waiting for lift off!