this world

the first week of school is over.  it has been a very tough week.  my manger at the school had a son who had surgery that was totally unplanned and she was out all week.  this left just two of us to run the entire child nutrition department for 539 children and over 50 staff members of my elementary school.  we did call in two subs but since they usually are totally unfamiliar with your workplace this is also tons of fun if you get what i am saying.  on top of this we had 115 kindergartners that know nothing about school.  if children have been in public daycare since they were six weeks old school is still different.  try bringing 25 five year olds anywhere by yourself!  remember now you do not yet know their names, their little nuances, their tendencies...nothing about them.  more tons of fun.  this brings me to this world.  this world we live in...this world that at times i really love for the right reasons...this world i love at times for the wrong reason.  i do get worldly at times and focus on the wrong things.  with new students you get new parents.  more tons of fun!!  most are very sweet and very kind but you do get a few who are.....out of their minds.  true is true, people.  then their are parents like this:  a daddy came in the lunchroom at 8:00 one morning toting a sleepy toddler with the weight of the world on his young shoulders.  daddy might have been 25 or 26.  he was very straightforward with me and said, "Ma'am  I don't have a job and my little girls first day is today in kindergarten.  I don't have any money....will she get lunch?"  he broke my heart.  here is a single daddy raising two kids, no job...desperate.  he asked if our school offers after school care.  i said it does.  he said he had a good interview that day.  i asked him his first name.  he said "Nick".  i told nick that i would be praying for him.  he was so grateful.  this world....is so sad.  we struggle so hard.  he just wants to work so he can provide for his babies.  to do the right thing.  where is mom???  i have no clue...and i don't really want to know because i may form an opinion that is unkind to say the least.  then came the call....  on friday morning my coworker, janet, answered the phone.  it rings approximately 853 times a day!!!  we hate phones.  a frantic daddy is on the phone she says and wants to talk to you.  the major job i have is taking care of student accounts.  i picked up the phone and this pitiful man started "speed talking".  you know when you are upset or very nervous and you talk super fast?  that was this man.  he told me a horror story of how he had just got custody of his niece the day before and that today was her first day at our school.  he told me she was just five.  FIVE. 5 years old.  understand.  he proceeded to tell me that the child custody services had placed her with him because her daddy had sexually abused his child and that the mom, his sister, was unfit.  "can she get free lunch, ma'am??"  he told me her food stamp number, he told me her file case number.  he told me all of this in about a minute.  when he took a breath i explained to him that with food stamps free breakfast and lunch is automatic.  do not worry about that.  but then i told him that was all i needed to know.  this world....that i hate.....  she is five......what kind of daddy does this?  i don't know.  not a human one.  a monster one.  a satan driven one.  this phone call made me hate this kind of daddy.  i saw the little girl later.  at lunch.  wild eyed and frightened.  she is five.  only five and her eyes told me a story in a second.  i hope one day this little girl meets the best daddy...Our heavenly Father....God Almighty....The Ancient Of Days.  this world is not my home and one day the Ancient of Days will remember the hurts we went through and wipe away all tears  and there will be no more sadness, sorrow or death.  it will be His world.

Weekend Round Up

This weekend was the last before school starts back tomorrow.  I am crying so hard I can't see straight!!  I love summertime and the freedoms that it gives.  Even though fall isn't for a few weeks it is already cool air night and the days have been very cool for August in the south.  The highs are in the low 80's..... I wanted some heat in these last few days!!  We celebrated this weekend my daddy's birthday and my new son-in-laws birthday too.

My sweet daddy was 72 on the 21st of August.  He is so funny and he is the smartest man I know.  He has helped me so much in the last few years I can never thank him enough.  That is what good daddies do though!

Brittany just loves Piper and Savannah.  Here she is toting Piper on her shoulders while we walked to the barn below my house.

Savannah loves Brittany too....farm animals are just not her thing.  See how her little legs are doing the monkey hold!!

Aaron and Brittany...two of my favorites!

Piper was helping Megan feed our neighbors animals.  She loves to help at the "farm".

This beauty named Coast was patiently waiting her turn for some sweet feed.

These little piggies are hungry!!  The pink one belongs to Megan.  His name is Woodrow.  I would name him pork chop sandwich!!

These two want something to eat too.  Goats are funny creatures to say the least!!

We had some leftover sparklers.  Piper loved them!

Savannah just loves cake!!

The sweet newlyweds!!  It was their two week anniversary!

My sweet girls....they are just wonderful to me!  Beautiful young women...inside and out.

What a blessing that family is to me.  I love all my "people" as Piper says.  God is just so good to me... all the time.

Belated Birthday Party

Piper's third birthday fell on August 4th.  due to Megan's wedding and her bridesmaid luncheon was the day before we celebrated Piper's birthday this past weekend.  It was to be a Tinkerbell Party with a whole backyard water theme.  Of course, it rained.  I think it has rained   every.    single.   day.   this.   whole.   summer!!!!!!!  So needless to say, we moved the party to inside Erica and Blake's home.    Crowded, but lots of fun.  Piper didn't care.  She was so excited and all her little friends had a good time.


Piper has gotten very good at opening presents.

She is one of the few children I know who actually loves to get new clothes.  She was so sweet with all her gifts.

This was an awesome talking Cinderella doll that was really big.  She was so beautiful and Piper was thrilled with her.  Her great-grandpa gave her this and he picked it out all by himself!!  Good job Paw-Paw Robert!

Daddy and Mommy gave Piper her first little bicycle.  Hopefully the rain will stop for a few hours so she can ride it!

Savannah was just as happy as she could be with all the hulla-ba-loo going on around her.

Piper and a few of her little friends were playing dress up in her room and then proceeded to act out "Sleeping Beauties"

It is so hard to believe that Piper is three years old.  where has the time gone??  You are such a smart, sweet and funny little girl.  I just love you to pieces.  Watching you grow and develop into such a precious toddler has been wonderful.  I am so proud of you and how wonderfully your mommy and daddy have raised you.  I love that anytime you climb into my car the first thing you say is, "Can I hear my "joy, joy" songs, Mimi?"  You love church, vbs, singing and you are so sweet when you pray.  My prayer is that you come to know Jesus early in your life and you are on the right track.  I can already see that your little heart is so tender towards Him.  You are a great big sister to Savannah and you just love on her most of the time.  She certainly thinks you hung the moon!  You love to dress up, play princess, play with "little people", cooking, coloring and you love going to the library.  You are really liking ballet class and show me how to point your toes all the time.  You love the pool and love to be outside.  You are 36 1/2 inches tall and weigh 31 lbs.  Your vocabulary is huge and you are so easy to carry on a complete conversation with you.  Happy, happy birthday sweetie-pie.....your Mimi loves you!!

How To touch A Woman

I love women.  Old women.  Young women.  Baby women.  Teenage women.  Young moms or new grandmothers.  All kinds of women.  What a special bond groups of women can have.  Can...that is the key word.  How can we help each other?  Serve each other?  Touch each other?  Reach each other?  Reach women where they are and where they need to be reached.  To be real to one another and find a bond.
We’re constantly trying to find new ways to reach women where they are, and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult. As culture shifts, so do the needs of women. No matter what your age may be, women are still women and we are always going to need other women in our lives. Here are 10 ways to meet women where they are:

1. Don’t assume anything. We often look at women and assume that they already have enough friends or they don’t have enough time. Looks can be deceiving! Maybe she has a lot of acquaintances, but is longing for a real friend. It could be you!
2. Ask. Ask her to go places with you and be in your life. The worst thing they can do is say “No.”
3. Keep asking. Unless someone tells you to stop asking, keep extending the ask. Sometimes it just takes a few attempts and the right thing to grab her attention. Don’t just quit asking because she turned you down the first time.
4. Do life together. One of the sweetest parts of friendship is knowing the day-to-day happenings of the other women in your life. The mundane can be, well, mundane, and it  can be so much more rich in community. This also happens in the good, the bad, and the ugly times. Life is messy, and we all need other women in our lives who just know us to walk with us through it all.
5. Be real. Last week, I heard Pete Wilson (pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville) say, “Authenticity is the cry of all, but the game of few.” While we often claim authenticity, we still try to prove ourselves and often end up being someone we’re not. Just be you, and she’ll love you for it.
6. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Some of my dearest friends are ones that I initially thought I had nothing in common with, but was so wrong. Step out of your comfort area and approach a woman that just might open up a whole new world to you and cultivate a friendship that is truly rewarding to both of you!
7. Pray for her. Don’t just ask how you can pray for her… actually pray for her and pray with her if the Holy Spirit leads you to. Be willing to go to battle with her through prayer, whether she ever knows it or not.
8. Speak truth. The truth can hurt, but find ways to speak it in love. Be honest, but be kind in how you approach challenging conversations and situations. It can feel risky, but seek the Lord before you speak. Make sure you’re not speaking out of your flesh, but you’re listening to the Holy Spirit. My closest friends are the ones who are willing to speak truth into my life.
9. Love her right where she is. It’s not our job to fix anyone or change her, but we are called to love her. Be the kind of woman who is steadfast in her life, whether she has a relationship with Jesus or not. Walk with her, pray for her, and just love on her.
10. Be Jesus to her. Take her a meal. Watch her kids. Listen to her. Cry with her. Laugh with her. Show up. Just be there. When you can, put your needs aside and just be Jesus to her. You don’t have to provide answers or a solution, but point her to the One who can.

At the end of the day, we are called to meet other women at the point of their need. Philippians 2:1-8 paints a beautiful picture of how to treat the people in our lives. If we truly are putting the needs of others above our own, it will show through our actions. Our role is to step in, stand in the gap, and offer them a cold cup of water in the name of Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:42). We often over-complicate things that are really simple, and sometimes it just takes one step in the right direction on our part. It might be hard, but it’s absolutely worth it.

The Big Day

Whew!  It is over....finally.  My baby girl is married and is in Destin, Florida on her honeymoon.  To say Saturday was stressful is a humongo-ginormous understatement.  First of all it has rained almost every single day this summer.  And I mean rain!!!!!  We are living in a tropic zone.  So of course Megan wanted an outdoor reception and of course it rained.  Buckets and buckets of glorious rain.  My sweet friend Tracy had a wedding for her daughter in early July and their was a monsoon that day.  So rainy weddings are the new, hot trend this year.  Hope that one is one to go away.  The wedding was beautiful though.  Megan was a lovely bride and Thad was a handsome groom.  My older daughter, Erica, was the best matron of honor ever.  She took such good care of her sister.  They are very tight.  Piper and Savannah were just the cutest flower girls in the world.  To see my sweet little Savannah toddle up the church steps to the stage was so precious.  And every time the Pastor said, "Let us pray."  Piper dropped to her knees and folded her hands and said, "God is great, God is good."  So precious.  I took lots of photos of the getting ready time and at the reception but I took none of the wedding.  I actually hired a real professional for that.  Here are a "few" pictures I took.


The pew markers that my friend, Tracy, let me borrow.  I loved them!

At the rehearsal Thad's cousin Kevin showed up dressed for the show!

The pretty bridesmaids.  Brittany was doing some Savannah wrangling.

Piper and her bff, Emma, dancing at the rehearsal dinner.

Thad's cousin Bradley dancing with Savannah.

The sweet couple.  All ready for this wedding to be over!!!!!  They were so nervous.

Megan getting her face done.  She was so funny and all her nerves were gone.

Her friend Taylor doing her hair.  She is great at her job.

This was a look out of the choir rooms window.  The church has a field on that side and a farmer was getting up hay.....while the sun shined???  That was the storm that was coming....and it came to stay.

Piper all ready and waiting to carry her flowers.  She and Savannah were so cute.

Katheryn, Katelin and Jenna...Megan's guest registrar and program ladies.  Such good friends.

Piper and her bff, Emma, were so glad to see each other at the reception!!

The sweet couple.  Poor Megan's big updo had come washing down at this point!

Thad's nerves had disappeared and he was ready for some fun!!

They were dancing in the rain but they didn't care.

Piper loves to dance and there was just no getting her big dress off her and putting on her other dress.  She is a true little "southern belle".

Megan and her bridesmaids doing some line dance.  Thad is in there too.

Erica and her sweet hubby,  Blake.

It finally stopped raining so they could cut the cake.  It was super good too.  Vanilla cake with lemon buttercream...yummo.

Here are the William's.  Ready to go to Florida!!!

Piper changed speedy quick into her other dress and now she was ready  to dance the night away.

Piper and Emma partied all night!!!  They were trying to learn "The Electric Slide."

My beautiful girls...Erica, Megan and Brittany.  all married and grown up now.   Waaaahh!!

Thad's cousins could not resist fixing up the couples truck.

To say I cried was an understatement.  At the wedding Thad wrote and sang a song to Megan and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.  I will post pictures later of the actual wedding.  I am so happy for my baby girl.  She is so happy too!!!

diary of a mad white woman???

I am mad.  Not mad as in angry but mad as in crazy-nuts.  This wedding is looming fast and I still have four door banners to make and four strands of 6 foot garland to hot glue a bazillion flowers onto!  But...it will get done because Lord knows I work best under extreme pressure and right now I am a pressure cooker set on a high.

Right now though,  I want to slow down and tell you what is running through my mind and my emotions.  I am watching my baby pack her winter clothes and take them to her new home.  I am listening to her excited conversations with friends, with her sister and with her fiance'.  She is so nervous and excited.  But she is also having a hard time.  We have this bond, she and I.  When her sister got married I cried my eyes out and I thought I would never recover.  But I did have Megan.  That was at the worst time of my life after Erica got married.  The worst.  But through it all Megan and I got really close.  She told me yesterday that I was her biggest fan.  And I am.  I have always been close to my girls but in the last few years we have really bonded and became friends too.  I am going to miss Megan something fierce.  She just fills up the house with noise and laughter and life.  I remember holding her all alone in the hospital after she was born and telling her I loved her and watching those bright eyes look into mine and we just clicked.  She was my needy one, my clingy one, my testy one.  My fit-pitcher, screamer, 500 questions a day asker, my mess maker....she was mine.  Where Erica was easy, sweet tempered and even keeled all the time.  Megan was a full gamut of every emotion ever thought of rolled into one little green-eyed brown-headed girl.  Watching her grow and make friends and slowly break away was fun.  She is an amazing girl.  So funny and sweet.  Don't get me wrong she gave me plenty of troubles but she helped me to grow as a parent and taught me how to pray harder than I ever had before.  Later in her life she asked me how in the world I always caught her when she was up to "no good".  I told her..."I pray that way, baby."  Watching Erica become a beautiful young bride was a pleasure.  She was just a vision that day.  She took my breath away.  Watching her as a young mam is equally wonderful.  She is such a good mama to my grandgirls.  When I watch Megan walk down the aisle to Thad to become his wife I know she will be beautiful.  She practically glows right now with love and anticipation.  I am going to miss this girl.  I am sobbing right now.  I wish my kids could just stay little forever and let me take care of them from now on...but that is not how God intends for our lives to be.  He wants us to grow up and leave our homes and start new homes with Him in the center.  Thad and Megan have stated many times that they want God in the center of their home and their lives.  Baby, I am praying that way.  When this wedding is over and the last centerpiece is taken apart and the last napkin is tossed I am sure I will cry my eyes out again.  I will miss her.  But it is time for her to fly away and start her own nest.  I am a mad white woman.  I am gripping my way through these last days with her smiling when I feel like crying.  Laughing when I feel like throwing my body down on the floor and weeping my head off.  So, come Saturday I will smile and greet people and smile some more.  I will shed some tears but I will smile through them.  I will hide in a bathroom stall and do the ugly cry ( you know the one) but I will exit the stall with a smile.  That is what mad women do.  We smile through the tears, through the pain, through it all.  I know that God will give me the grace I need on Saturday to get through this wedding....with a smile.  One that isn't fake but real.  A smile for my baby.  Come Sunday I won't be a mad white woman.  A sad one, but with a deep sense of gratefulness and joy that comes from God that both my girls have Godly, supportive husbands who love them.  Who truly care for them.  I thank the Lord for both of them.  Sorry if this seems rambling but my feelings are all over the place.  Now I will go back to working on this wedding while I wipe a tear or two away.