Month: October 2010

  • God is LIGHT and in Him there is NO darkness.

    Sometimes life seems so good. All of are friends seem to have great marriages. We are all working hard to raise up Godly children. We go to church.  We feel blessed and well, I think sheltered. We forgot how hard the enemy is working to destroy. We get to comfortable in our life.

    And then we get a phone call. Or a friend comes over and says they need to talk. Or the preacher gives a sermon that makes your heart sink because of the sin that has erupted in the church. And all of a sudden you realize how close the darkness is. How close the enemy has come to destroying. Or, even worse, that he has succeeded. Destroyed. He has tore apart a marriage, a family. Children are left broken and confused. What they knew as love, is now full of hurt and heartache. The spouse has had ever trace of trust and love taken from them and is now left with a life that they have to slowly piece back together.

    This week has been one of those weeks. The phone call. The darkness revealed. And oh, how horrid and ugly and heartbreaking is the darkness. I have cried. I have grieved. I have realized how sheltered I have become. To think that it could have happened to my family. That is could happen to my family. And I have hit my knees. Hard. Real hard. Praying for our friends. Praying for my husband. Praying for my children. Praying for me.

    And last night, while I was listening to an amazing woman teaching from the word, she read this verse from 1 John 1:5

    “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.”  (1 John 1:5)

    It spoke volumes to my heart. I have heard this verse so many times. But last night, when I could not sleep, I pondered what she had read. 

    “God is Light and in Him there is no darkness.”

    Oh, to be in the Light. To not have any Darkness.  That is what my soul longs for. 

    I opened my bible and read the next five verses.

    “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” 

    It is so easy to believe lies. It’s easy to justify our sin. To point our finger at someone else. 

    It’s easy to walk straight into the darkness and not even realize that we are on the path to destruction. 

    Today my heart cries out~”Lord, please help me to bask in your light. Help me to run far and fast from the darkness. Protect my family from the darkness. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that has cleansed my sins.  Help me to be a light to every person in my life. Please let them see the light in my life and let them turn away from the darkness. Lord, that we would all have fellowship with one another in your Light.”

    ~cheryl

  • ~Leaving Behind A Legacy~

    The last few weeks have been such a blur. We went from receiving a phone call that Eric’s Grandpa was being taken to the hospital by ambulance, (after Grandma had already been taken in three times in three days) to this past weekend where we celebrated his life and the legacy that he has left behind. The days have been emotional for each one of us.  We have cried because we miss Grandpa so much already. And we have laughed at all the wonderful memories that he left us with. We have rejoiced in the promise that because he chose to believe in Jesus, we know that we will one day see him again.  

    Instead of a Memorial Service, the family chose to do a “Celebration of Life” Service.  The church was packed. And about 1/3 of us were family members. Grandpa and Grandma had 6 children, 14 grandchildren, and 24 great grandchildren.  The lives they have impacted stretch far and wide. Take me for example. I am married into this family. I met Grandpa and Grandma the weekend that Eric and I got married. They flew out to North Carolina for our wedding. I remember Grandma saying “Welcome to the family!” Grandpa was thrilled to have a new person around who had not heard all of his jokes and stories. Like how to jump on or off a moving train. Or how he owed his life to Cream of Wheat. There were the tongue twisters and jokes.  Unlike Eric who grew up in the same town as his grandparents, mine lived a thousand miles away. I rarely saw them growing up. So marrying into Eric’s family gave me a whole new aspect of family relationships. Every holiday is spent together at Grandpa and Grandma’s.  We crowd into their small house and we eat and laugh and play.  And then eat some more. Grandpa usually falls asleep in his chair with all the noise and commotion going on around him. 

    Now his chair his empty.  But what he left behind is a legacy of love and laughter. A man who has taught each of his children to love Jesus with all their heart. And those children have taught their children who are teaching their children.  Four generations later, the great grandchildren are being raised to believe in God and to live their life to the fullest serving Him. I am so thankful for the 12 years that I got to be a part of Grandpa’s life. 
    ~Cheryl~

    13 of the 24 Great Grandchildren

     

    Making Funny Faces…

     

     

     

      The Whole Family

     

     

     

    The Cousins

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Playing in the swing Grandpa made

  • ~Grandpa~

     

    “Precious in the sight of the Lord

    Is the death of His godly ones”

    Psalms 116:15

     

     

  • ~Memories~

    I sit here at my computer, sometime in the middle of the night. Trying to think how to put into words today. This past week. But sentences are not coming. Just memories. 

    Memories of Eric’s Grandpa. My children’s great Grandpa. He is 92 years old. This last weekend he had a massive stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body. He can’t swallow anymore and the doctors have said it will only be a few more days.
    Everyday this week has been agonizing. Our hopes that he would recover have slowly faded. And with that the grief of preparing to lose someone we love so much.
    So by lunch today, the children and I all just needed to do something that would distract us for a few hours. They have been very keen to all that is going on. So we loaded up and headed to the river. The sun was shining so bright and warm. As soon as we parked, the children were flying over the grass and hills, down to the river. We played and played. Laughed about silly things. I took lots of pictures. I wanted to remember every smile and joy that filled their little faces. 
    Exploring a dead fish.

     

    Moving it to dry land.

     

    Looking in it’s mouth.

     

     

     

    Trying to move a log into the water.

     

    Even Julia had fun in the sand.

     

    Giving “sand massages”

     

    And racing to the water to wash off!

     

     

     

    Sand painting each other.

     

     

    The sky was incredibly blue.

     

    And the sun so bright.

     

     

     

     

    I loved the mix of girly and dirt here

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    A heart for Mommy!

     

    Practicing handsprings

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ~cause being a gIrL is so much FuN!~

    Last week was a fun week of parties. Fondue party,spa party, and birthday parties! Laura and I came up with the idea to have a “Spa Party” to honor her birthday and a girlfriends birthday. Last spring we did a tea party, and although we considered it this time, the Spa party seemed like a lot of fun. Laura and her girlfriends pretty much did most of the planning once Laura and I decided what the theme would be. There would be foot baths, nail painting, massages, warm washcloth treatments (thanks to Eric~he had this washcloth warmer that he gave me from the office.) and of course food. All the sisters were invited to come along. The more the merrier on days like these.

    I think the girls all had a splendid time. Everybody left with beautiful fingernails and toenails. Tummies full of goodies and lemonade. And of course memories to last forever! Happy Birthday Girls!!

    And thanks for the extra pictures Mary!