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A few sad things have happened in my life over the last month and a half so I'm going to get them out of the way first. My Great Aunt Bettye passed away a little over a month ago. If you knew my Aunt Bettye then there was no doubt you adored her! She was a fiesty little woman! I first learned about "toy" parties (ladies, you know what I'm talking about) from her! I remember sitting in her kitchen one day while she was trying to patiently wait for the UPS man. When I asked why she was practically stalking the door, she said something about a special delivery. I remember seeing my mom over by the sink shaking her head but I had no idea why. Aunt Bettye said "well, I've got a toy coming." I was a teenager! Maybe 13 or 14 at the time. Toys were actually toys to me!! The UPS man shows up and jokes with Aunt Bettye that the "package" wouldn't fit through the mail slot. It wasn't until she opened the box and pulled out her "toy" that I realized what it was!!!!! My face was full of pure shock and she says, "Honey, I may be old but I'm not dead." AHHHH!!! After I got over the pure horrification of it all, all I could do was laugh. That was my Aunt Bettye! I could tell you several stories like that but I'll spare you! As I said, Aunt Bettye was my great aunt but when my Gram died, she took over as my grandmother and was like a mom to my mom. My Gram didn't have much money so usually at Christmas all of us grandkids got socks or something from the dollar store...which was fine by us! But every Christmas, Gram bought me my own Kewpee coupon. (For those of you not from this area, Kewpee has the BEST hamburgers EVER.) It was pretty much the hilight of every Christmas!! After Gram died, Aunt Bettye picked up where Gram left out. I was so surprised that Aunt Bettye even knew! I'm not sure why it surprised me...Gram didn't drive so obviously Aunt Bettye would be the one to take her out shopping but it was still a surprise and made me so happy! Aunt Bettye was so upset when she had to quit driving and then was moved into the nursing home because she couldn't buy me those coupons. It meant a lot to her to be able to do that for me. I actually still have the last coupon she bought me stashed away somewhere. I had a feeling it would be the last one she got me and so I wanted to keep it.
Even though we knew Aunt Bettye was tired and ready to go be with Jesus, it didn't make her death much easier. It broke my heart more knowing that other than brothers and sisters, mom was losing her last relative like that. Mom and Aunt Bettye were so close. Aunt Bettye's nursing home was pretty close to Mom and Dad's house so Mom visited with her often. I hated that my mom lost that but I also know my Aunt Bettye is in a better place being ornery as ever. I know she's happy and out of pain.
Without giving you some long history on my life (cause who wants to sit reading that), I'm going to tell you something some of you may not know. I'm the baby of 7 kids. Yep! I'm the baby! Life is good! (Hee, hee!) My mom was married once before my dad and my dad was married twice before my mom. Mom had one foster child, Arlene, who is the oldest of us 7. Dad had 3 children from his first marriage; Marc, Laura and Chris. He then had twins from his second marriage, Barbara and Matt. Then there's me! Unfortunately, due to bad decisions, hurt feelings and all kinds of complicated life stuff, my dad's relationship with his five kids is nothing like the relationship he has with me. Part of that is simply because I grew up in the house with my dad. But he doesn't love them any less. (This is where I skip the whole history of things.) We got a phone call a few weeks ago that my sister Laura (the oldest of dad's kids) had passed away. No, to our knowledge she hadn't been sick. Yes, there were things in life she struggled with but don't we all in some way? This was definitely a shock to us all. A parent should never know the pain of losing their child. Ugh. I can't even imagine. But I know that Laura loved the Lord with all of her heart and soul. And so I know that she's no longer struggling with certain things in her life and she's sharing her songs she had written about God to Him. Doesn't make the loss any less. It doesn't make the hurt go away. It doesn't change the fact that I simply wish we had all gotten one last goodbye. But she's in a better place. She's finally happy. And I pray that from this, relationships will heal. God will use her passing as a good thing. I'm confident of that.
There are good things in my life too!!! Photography has been keeping me pretty busy. I had three shoots in one weekend. That may not be a lot to some people but when you work 5 days a week, adding in 3 shoots during the weekend makes things just as busy! But it was a good busy. I've got another one scheduled for this weekend and I'm pretty excited to see how it turned out...especially since we've had some rain and the grass is back to being green!
I've taken a position as my church council secretary. That kind of stuff frightens me! I'm just being honest. It makes me nervous! We had our Vacation Bible School at church a few weeks ago. I love seeing kids come to church for 5 days straight and love every minute of it!! And they actually learn something!! :-)
Work has been busy too. As the summer has been coming to an end, things have been busy the 5 days we're here during the week and then we added in painting days and an Open House! I just want a nap! Fall session starts for us next week. It's kind of a bitter sweet type of thing. We've had so much fun this summer! I've been able to go on lots of field trips with the kids! But since the school-age room is right beside our office, it will be nice to have quiet the majority of the day. I think the kids are ready to go back to school too. They would never admit it but structure and schedules are good for kids and even when they don't realize, they miss that. I miss that!
Oh oh oh!! I got to see Casting Crowns a few weeks ago with my amazing friend Sarah! It was so much fun...as always! I love seeing them in concert. It's not just about the music. When they give a concert, it's like a worship service!! And when Mark Hall (the lead singer) speaks, I identify with what he's saying. He doesn't sugar coat things. He doesn't say things all politcally correct. He says what you know you're thinking. I love that!! Sanctus Real opened for them that evening. I've never seen them in concert before but I enjoyed every minute of that! I'd see them again! I definitely want to!
Today, I leave you with a song from MercyMe. I love them too!! And I've been playing this song a lot. Hope you enjoy it!
A few sad things have happened in my life over the last month and a half so I'm going to get them out of the way first. My Great Aunt Bettye passed away a little over a month ago. If you knew my Aunt Bettye then there was no doubt you adored her! She was a fiesty little woman! I first learned about "toy" parties (ladies, you know what I'm talking about) from her! I remember sitting in her kitchen one day while she was trying to patiently wait for the UPS man. When I asked why she was practically stalking the door, she said something about a special delivery. I remember seeing my mom over by the sink shaking her head but I had no idea why. Aunt Bettye said "well, I've got a toy coming." I was a teenager! Maybe 13 or 14 at the time. Toys were actually toys to me!! The UPS man shows up and jokes with Aunt Bettye that the "package" wouldn't fit through the mail slot. It wasn't until she opened the box and pulled out her "toy" that I realized what it was!!!!! My face was full of pure shock and she says, "Honey, I may be old but I'm not dead." AHHHH!!! After I got over the pure horrification of it all, all I could do was laugh. That was my Aunt Bettye! I could tell you several stories like that but I'll spare you! As I said, Aunt Bettye was my great aunt but when my Gram died, she took over as my grandmother and was like a mom to my mom. My Gram didn't have much money so usually at Christmas all of us grandkids got socks or something from the dollar store...which was fine by us! But every Christmas, Gram bought me my own Kewpee coupon. (For those of you not from this area, Kewpee has the BEST hamburgers EVER.) It was pretty much the hilight of every Christmas!! After Gram died, Aunt Bettye picked up where Gram left out. I was so surprised that Aunt Bettye even knew! I'm not sure why it surprised me...Gram didn't drive so obviously Aunt Bettye would be the one to take her out shopping but it was still a surprise and made me so happy! Aunt Bettye was so upset when she had to quit driving and then was moved into the nursing home because she couldn't buy me those coupons. It meant a lot to her to be able to do that for me. I actually still have the last coupon she bought me stashed away somewhere. I had a feeling it would be the last one she got me and so I wanted to keep it.
Even though we knew Aunt Bettye was tired and ready to go be with Jesus, it didn't make her death much easier. It broke my heart more knowing that other than brothers and sisters, mom was losing her last relative like that. Mom and Aunt Bettye were so close. Aunt Bettye's nursing home was pretty close to Mom and Dad's house so Mom visited with her often. I hated that my mom lost that but I also know my Aunt Bettye is in a better place being ornery as ever. I know she's happy and out of pain.
Without giving you some long history on my life (cause who wants to sit reading that), I'm going to tell you something some of you may not know. I'm the baby of 7 kids. Yep! I'm the baby! Life is good! (Hee, hee!) My mom was married once before my dad and my dad was married twice before my mom. Mom had one foster child, Arlene, who is the oldest of us 7. Dad had 3 children from his first marriage; Marc, Laura and Chris. He then had twins from his second marriage, Barbara and Matt. Then there's me! Unfortunately, due to bad decisions, hurt feelings and all kinds of complicated life stuff, my dad's relationship with his five kids is nothing like the relationship he has with me. Part of that is simply because I grew up in the house with my dad. But he doesn't love them any less. (This is where I skip the whole history of things.) We got a phone call a few weeks ago that my sister Laura (the oldest of dad's kids) had passed away. No, to our knowledge she hadn't been sick. Yes, there were things in life she struggled with but don't we all in some way? This was definitely a shock to us all. A parent should never know the pain of losing their child. Ugh. I can't even imagine. But I know that Laura loved the Lord with all of her heart and soul. And so I know that she's no longer struggling with certain things in her life and she's sharing her songs she had written about God to Him. Doesn't make the loss any less. It doesn't make the hurt go away. It doesn't change the fact that I simply wish we had all gotten one last goodbye. But she's in a better place. She's finally happy. And I pray that from this, relationships will heal. God will use her passing as a good thing. I'm confident of that.
There are good things in my life too!!! Photography has been keeping me pretty busy. I had three shoots in one weekend. That may not be a lot to some people but when you work 5 days a week, adding in 3 shoots during the weekend makes things just as busy! But it was a good busy. I've got another one scheduled for this weekend and I'm pretty excited to see how it turned out...especially since we've had some rain and the grass is back to being green!
I've taken a position as my church council secretary. That kind of stuff frightens me! I'm just being honest. It makes me nervous! We had our Vacation Bible School at church a few weeks ago. I love seeing kids come to church for 5 days straight and love every minute of it!! And they actually learn something!! :-)
Work has been busy too. As the summer has been coming to an end, things have been busy the 5 days we're here during the week and then we added in painting days and an Open House! I just want a nap! Fall session starts for us next week. It's kind of a bitter sweet type of thing. We've had so much fun this summer! I've been able to go on lots of field trips with the kids! But since the school-age room is right beside our office, it will be nice to have quiet the majority of the day. I think the kids are ready to go back to school too. They would never admit it but structure and schedules are good for kids and even when they don't realize, they miss that. I miss that!
Oh oh oh!! I got to see Casting Crowns a few weeks ago with my amazing friend Sarah! It was so much fun...as always! I love seeing them in concert. It's not just about the music. When they give a concert, it's like a worship service!! And when Mark Hall (the lead singer) speaks, I identify with what he's saying. He doesn't sugar coat things. He doesn't say things all politcally correct. He says what you know you're thinking. I love that!! Sanctus Real opened for them that evening. I've never seen them in concert before but I enjoyed every minute of that! I'd see them again! I definitely want to!
Today, I leave you with a song from MercyMe. I love them too!! And I've been playing this song a lot. Hope you enjoy it!
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