Spoiled Rotten

Hey Y'all,

This week-end after all the Thanksgiving/Baby dedication festivities I broke out my Christmas decorations. This through my new dog Penny into a tailspin. She followed me around whining and looking super worried. Finally, her mommy (Megan) picked her up to comfort her and let her know we weren't moving or getting rid of anything since I had boxes and totes everywhere. Take a look!







Look at that worried little face!






Feeling secure in Megan's arms! She loves her dogs!

Dedicated

Today my little Piper was dedicated at our church. This was such a special day. I was so proud as I watched my daughter and her husband stand up front and promise to their families, church family and to God to raise this child in the ways of the Lord. What a tremendous responsibility. Piper was so good. She was just looking around and never even made a peep. Her sweet Aunt Megan just beamed at her while we watched the Pastor hold her and pray over her. Piper loves her some Aunt Meg!! She just breaks out in this big ole goofy grin when you even say the name Megan. I was so emotional through this whole event that I only took three pictures!!!



Here is Pastor Gates addressing Blake and Erica




Our Pastor is so sweet. Here he is speaking to us as a church family how we need to pray and lift up these young families and our children.




I snuck a picture while he was praying over this little one. Pastor Gates gets so emotional with this event. His voice just broke over Piper.



Pray for this young family and for all the ones just starting out and the ones that have a few miles under their belts. Satan is after our families hard and fast. He is winning a few battles but Praise His Name he will lose the war.

Bless y'all,

Cindy

Quirky Bunch

Here are a couple of shots from Thanksgiving. I took one from each end of my tables. I stretched out 2 eight foot tables onto the end of my dining room table so all of us could eat together and not place everyone under 30 at the kid table!



Look at all those full plates!




Erica is shoving an entire deviled egg into her mouth at once. Classy.




Most thankful for this little butterball!!

Happy Thanksgiving...

Just want to take a sec to say how utterly thankful I am. So many blessings in my life.

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
My wonderful daughters
My sweet son in law
My parents
My sister
My nieces
My precious, precious grand daughter
My extended family
My new additions to the family with Blake's' family
My darling friends
My wonderful prayer warriors/friends
My church family
My country

I have a warm home. Tons of food cooking as I type. Plenty of water. A vehicle that runs. More than enough. God is just so good to this frazzled soul. I hope and pray all of y'all have the most wonderful Thanksgiving.


Love & Blessings,

Cindy

In a Tizzy

Hey Y'all,

I am in a big ole tizzy!! At my church we have a "Ladies Hospitality Banquet" each fall. This is where we set up 35 - 40 round tables that each seat eight guests. There is a host lady who invites seven other friends or family, all ladies of course. We have a marvelous meal, Godly speaker and worshipful music to soothe your spirit. Each host lady decorates her table as she sees fit. She can do it fancy or she can do it plainer. Whatever...so fun!! This is by far my FAVORITE thing we do at my church. I love this banquet. It plants so many seeds of the truth of Jesus Christ and every year many ladies rededicate or come to know the LORD, which is our only goal. There is no competition here. The tizzy part comes in here. I am decorating four tables. I have got everything set up except I did forget my drinking glasses....good grief! I even just got back from town in a search for wrapped pats of butter. Who knew they would be so hard to find??? Every one's table is just gorgeous. Really breathtaking. I love to see china patterns that have been passed down from grandmother, to mother, to daughter. I hope to do that for my grand daughters one day. I love to sit back after we eat a wonderful meal and listen to a gifted singer lift her voice to the heavens in pure praise. Every year I sit and laugh my head off and then wipe all my makeup off with tears from the testimony and stories from our speakers. We have had some wonderful ones in the years past. This event means so much to me because it is the one thing I can really contribute to in working for the LORD. I love entertaining and this is like a big ole dinner party with 300 guests! All the men in our church wear fancy cummerbunds and wait on the tables...classy! It is so much fun and yet I know it is just a tiny glimmer of heaven. Can you imagine dinners in heaven?? I know we will be eating there so don't even think you won't! I am sure we will have old fashioned dinners on the ground and long banquet hall style dinners and on and on and on. Think, while down here on earth we prepare dinners for people so that they can enjoy a good meal and listen to a great message about the saving grace of a blessed Savior so that when we get to heaven we can eat with our blessed Savior. That is enough to throw me into another tizzy!!

Bless Y'all,

Cindy

"Do 'Da Dippity"

Hey Y'all,

I am flat out in love with this commercial. I howl everytime I see it! These "hood rats" got it goin on.... enjoy

Tenderness.....

There are times in your life or your life, as a mother especially, when you have to allow one (or all) of your children to be hurt. And that hurts you even more. So deeply. I have always been very maternal. I am so tender towards the needs of my daughters and now my grand daughter. I cry when they cry. I even cry when I hold little Piper and just behold that tiny precious face. I am crying right now. This weekend my youngest girl was so hurt by things that I knew would hurt her but couldn't really stop. It isn't that I didn't want to stop this pain but if I had intervened it would have happened later and could have been much worse on her. I wanted to stop this hurtful thing but instead I prayed all weekend for that child. I even woke out of a sound sleep early Sunday morning at around 3 and prayed for her. As hard as it is (believe me, it is hard) for me to not interfere every time, I knew this time God would show her some things. Things that just broke her heart and really made her just cry. It just breaks my heart to see my girls upset. I still want to gather them up in my lap and kiss them and hug them until the pain subsides. Below is a song about our God who will do that very thing. He is so tender towards His children. I love that about Him....I really, really do.

Three months old

Hey Y'all,

Piper is Three Months Old! That is just so hard to believe. She is just growing so fast. Below are a couple of pictures of her and her mommy and daddy.



Blake, Erica and their "big" girl.






Piper and her frog, Prince Charming.





I am not kissing him.



Bless Y'all,

Cindy

What I (and a few others) Want

Hey Y'all,

Pull up a chair. Put your feet up. Cross your arms over your chest. Stick out your lower lip. Take a deeeeep breath.....furiously blow it out. Official pout stance? Check. I have been having a humongous, gigantic pity party as of late. I have been in a frenzy with my emotions. I have been in a tailspin that is getting out of control. I feel as if I am about to either explode or implode. I also am not sure which one would be worse or better at this point. What I want is a Defender. You know, the cape, the muscles, the wavy black hair....wait that's Superman. He would do. Batman also. Even Spiderman. But alas, sweet ladies....there are no superheroes. None. I still want a defender. Recently there has been an onslaught of offenses towards me that I am just barely able to stand. I am shocked and in tears so often that I ran out of kleenex last night. As a hoarder...I never run out of anything. I'll talk on that at a later date. Anyway. I spoke (whined rather) with a dear friend last night about how I so wanted a defender to ease the pain of all the offenses I have endured over the last several months. I want someone to stand up for me and say, "Are you crazy...don't say that.... Better than that I really want some lights knocked out. Just being real here. While doing my new Bible study today, Jonah by Priscilla Shirer. Fabulous!!!! The Lord showed me a familiar verse. How often is the familiar new????

Proverbs 3:5 "Lean on. trust in, and be confident in the LORD with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding."

Wow! It just hit me at that moment. I don't have to understand .... anything. God sees. He IS El Roi. The God who sees. He understands. I cannot trust my own understanding, insight or feelings.

He is my Defender. Period.

Bless You!!!

Cindy