Patty is Singing At Jesus' Feet

On July 15, our Exalt Ministry Celebration Choir, experienced one of the most meaningful Spirit-filled times of our lives. Patty Foster, one of our choir members, was seemingly knocking on heaven's door with cancer. Patty's desire was to as she said, "sing with the choir one more time." Our worship leader, ever seeking to honor God and listening to the Spirit's leading, dismissed us at 7:30 p.m. from rehearsal to go to Patty's house and sing in her yard. Patty was able to be out on the porch with her family. We stood under the canopy of the trees and a weeping heaven and worshipped with Patty one last time. Patty died Tuesday, July 21 and is now in heaven's choir worshipping her Savior...until we're there with her to sing again.

See you soon, Patty.

Photos Coming Soon

WOW! Last night I went to World Market and Tim asked if I'd drop him off at Best Buy to look around. Well, of course, I would cause I could spend some leisure time in World Market checking out all the CLEARANCE aisles without being rushed. I looked around in WM, checked out all the CLEARANCE, bought a couple of things and went back to the car. I moved the car to the lot in front of Best Buy and called his cell to let him know I was out there. As I sat, I realized that it was taking him an awful long time in Best Buy so after bout 30 minutes, I phoned again. He said 2-3 minutes more :-(. I moved the car in front of the store since it was almost closing time and there weren't many cars in the lot. After about 10 minutes, here comes Tim carrying a huge Best Buy bag. He has wanted a surround sound system so that was my first thought; however, it didn't look like one box...it looked like SEVERAL small boxes, not surround sound. He got in the car and I said, "what have you done?" He smiled the biggest smile and told me "happy anniversary" which is in November. He said, "what do you want most of all?" I still couldn't think and he said "Nikon!" I nearly went through the ceiling ecstatic. He'd bought a Nikon D60 camera, my dream camera. I've wanted one for years but never thought I could take the $$ to get one. WOW! I can't stop saying WOW! I am so excited. I'm sure my blog will be the recipient of the fruits of the Nikon, good or bad. WOW! I'm so excited. (can you tell I'm excited?)

WORDFUL Wednesday

WORDLESS Wednesday

Ruby Tuesday

I'm trying to fervently get back into blogging so thought today I'd try this meme that is hosted each week on Mary's blog, "Work of the Poet." Each week she looks for photos with the color ruby. Since that's once of my favorite colors, I thought I'd do the same. I didn't find many with ruby but you can bet from here on out, I will be taking pics of anything ruby.

When we were in Brazil, we quickly developed a taste for açaí. Small berries harvested in the rainforests of Brazil, açaí tastes like a vibrant blend of berries and chocolate. Hidden within its royal purple pigment is the magic that makes it nature's perfect energy fruit. Açaí is packed full of antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Although açaí may not be available in your local supermarket, you can find it in several health food (Earth Fare has it) and gourmet stores (often in juice form). A new product featuring the unsweetened pulp is now also available, and I highly recommend that you choose this form of açaí.

In Brazil, açaí is sold as a bowl of frozen smashed-up berries with sliced bananas and/or granola. It is yummy. After cultivating the taste in Brazil, we came home to find that açaí has become a food fad even being named as a Super Food.

Açaí pulp contains a remarkable concentration of antioxidants that help combat premature aging, with 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes and 10 to 30 times the anthocyanins of red wine. A synergy of monounsaturated (healthy) fats, dietary fiber and phytosterols to help promote cardiovascular and digestive health. An almost perfect essential amino acid complex in conjunction with valuable trace minerals, vital to proper muscle contraction and regeneration. The fatty acid content in açaí resembles that of olive oil, and is rich in monounsaturated oleic acid. Oleic acid is important for a number of reasons. It helps omega-3 fish oils penetrate the cell membrane; together they help make cell membranes more supple. By keeping the cell membrane supple, all hormones, neurotransmitter and insulin receptors function more efficiently. This is particularly important because high insulin levels create an inflammatory state, and we know, inflammation causes aging. (http://www.oprah.com/article/health/nutrition/life_acai)

Wow, who knew that something so YUMMY could be so good for you. As you can see, the grandchildren LOVE açaí. Totally appropriate Ruby Tuesday post :-).

Mosaic Monday: At the Beach

Each Monday, Mary at her Little Red House blog hosts Mosaic Monday. This week's Mosaic Monday highlights summer vacation beach photos. Check it out at her blog. You'll love it each week. Be sure to create your own mosaic also. Mary's blog of July 17, gives instructions. It's lots of fun.

Best Wednesday of My Life

Most of you will know that I work at a university. One of our professors, when asked "how are you" will often respond with "best Wednesday (or Monday, Tuesday, etc.) of my life." He's been going through some pretty bad stuff lately but this continues to be his response to the everyday "how are you's?"

Today as I was looking online for a quote to use for my status updates on facebook, I ran across one by Ralph Waldo Emerson; "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." Why is it that we look for our happiness in whatever lies ahead rather than looking at today and calling it "the best day of my life?" We often "can't wait for the weekend" or "look forward to vacation" or "when the holidays get here..." Who knows what that little change in attitude might do to brighten our day and our life. If we say that today is the best day of the year or of our life then it just might be. Wouldn't that be great!

Where Were You When...

...Kennedy was assassinated? I was in a history class at SMHS with Mr. Mitchell. Someone came to the portable classroom we were meeting in to tell Mr. Mitchell to turn on the TV. Needless to say, all class was suspended as we sat wanted to hear news that it was not true. How could this happen in America? Surely, he wasn't dead; maybe he was just wounded. No, it was true and JFK was dead and Jackie was riding in the car in a pink suit and hat with red blood all over her and a look of horror on her face.

...July 20, 1969; the day of the first lunar landing? We were living in Lake City SC but had been to Travelers Rest for the weekend. As we traveled by the Air Force base in Sumter, we were passed by a tractor trailer truck. I was riding with Diana in my lap (I know...no lectures about how unsafe that was) and we were playing a pacifier game. As the truck passed, I grabbed her pacifier out of her mouth and pretended to throw it out the car window to the "BIG TRUCK." Of course, I still held it in my hand just in case of one of the temper tantrums she was prone to at two years old. She thought I'd thrown it to the truck though and she never took a pacifier again. By the time we arrived home in Lake City, Diana was asleep but I woke her so she could watch the moon walk. She was just slightly over two so she doesn't remember but I wanted her to be able to tell her grandchildren that she "saw" it on TV.

...Nixon resigned? We were living in Statesville NC and I was a stay-at-home mom. I spent my morning glued to the television. It was a sorrowful time for the Nixon family and also a sad time for our nation.

...911? I was working at Furman University when my mother called me to say a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. We were talking about it, not knowing or even suspecting that terrorists had commandeered the plane. As we talked, the second plane hit and we then knew that these were not accidentals strikes. Lonita and I walked back to the Military Sciences offices so that we could watch on tv. We were there when the Pentagon was struck. It was good to watch with the military men that were later deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. They sat with tears in their eyes, as did I. At that time, we were all Americans first and foremost and we couldn't believe that someone/some people were able to do this in America.

Where were you when...?

True Story Tuesday

I have no idea if I'll get to play along every week with True Story Tuesday sponsored by Rachel and Mr. Daddy. I've been thinking for sometime that I would blog about my most embarassing moment and I suppose joining up with True Story Tuesday is as good a time as any.

A few months ago, my daughter wanted to look for some Croc sandals so we went to a shoe store that I knew sold them. I love going to Houser Shoes in Greenville so took this opportunity to window shop...and I mean window shop. I walked and walked around the store. There was a sweet teenage girl stocking the bottom shelves of several of the rows so I walked around her as she sat on the floor stocking. As I think back on it, her face was right about at the height of my derriere. Oh, I walked and walked those aisles and loved every second of it. In the meantime, daughter found several pairs of shoes that she liked and after I finished my looking, daughter paid for her purchases and we left. After we got in the car, we called husband and he asked us to meet him at our favorite meat and three place for supper. We drove to the restaurant, parked and as we walked into the restaurant, daughter said, "MOM!!! WAIT WAIT." I stopped dead in my tracks and she came up behind me saying, "MOM YOU HAVE TOILET PAPER HANGING FROM THE BACK OF YOUR PANTS!!!" Yes, I had walked around the shoe store with my derriere at the height of the young clerk's face and had toilet paper hanging from my rear. How embarrassing. I haven't been back to Houser Shoes since and often wonder if the clerk ever went back again. This is my true story (Tuesday) and I'm sticking to it.

It's Been One of THOSE Days

There are some days that I just plain don't feel good. I didn't want to get out of bed this morning because I didn't sleep well last night. Tim had a couple of yard sales he wanted to go check out and I just didn't want to get up and go. I had lots I wanted to get done today but didn't have the "umph" to get up and do it. Right now it's 9:20 p.m. and I could go to bed without any problem. This is coming from the world's top night owl. I hate to go to bed and never do until at least 11:30 p.m. But tonight, I could crawl in and go to sleep this early. What's up with all this? I'm feeling a little nauseated, tired, like allergies are about to get the better of me with burning, itchy eyes and drippy nose. I've had a little bit of a headache all day; in fact, I woke up with one this morning and at times during the day, I'd think it was going away but it has stuck all day long. Well, from this Pollyanna who believes that the glass is always half-full (never half-empty), I don't like feeling like this. It's a real downer day and I am hoping that tomorrow is MUCH better.

My Peace I Give to You

"...his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." - Psalm 30:5

"My soul finds rest in God alone: My salvation comes from Him. the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning." - Lamentations 3:22-23

"He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills." Psalms 147:8

"Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders. - Job 37:14

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." - Matthew 6:28-29

"The fruit of the spirit is love,joy and peace." - Galatians 5:22

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." - John 14:27

"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. - Galatians 5:22-24 (The Message)




Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end. - I Corinthians 14:3-8 (The Message)