Bye-Bye Baby Britt...Gone to Texas

For the past thirty years in a row, I have had little feet pitterpattering around.  Never a day without children at home until today.  My youngest boy will walk into his first college class at the University of Texas at 8:00am tomorrow.  This day always seemed so way out in the future.  When Britt was born, they said it would cost $100,000 to go to college and we gasped---well, it can be even more than that at private universities.

I have loved every single second of being a stay-at-home mom.  I could have had 20 kids if God had let me. I did have 10---I lost 6 to miscarriage.  I adored my babies!  I had Barrett, Brooke and Blair in three years. Three in diapers.  It was the time of my life!  After a tumultuous childhood, I never dreamed God could put me back together like He did.  After three kids in a row, we became infertile...Britt was born seven years later.  Kind of like starting another family.  He hardly remembers his siblings at home.  But you adore them now...here they are today ~

So what comes to my mind as I am immersed in my own boxes packing up lifelong possessions as we are moving.  This is what I think, surrounded by a lifetime of memories.  Look at your life not your stuff:  "An unexamined life is not worth living."  Socrates.  Listen well to what wars inside of you, my children!  Psalm 131 has three short verses.  "My heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty.  Still and Quiet my soul like a weaned child, which you all are now.  Put your hope in the LORD, today and forever."

Memories flood my mind as I pack up things you have touched.  Britt, as a toddler, you loved Steve Green tapes (ha!!) and memorized them effortlessly.  "When I Am Afraid, I Will Trust in You" was one of the songs.  Michael was your best buddy---he called you Bit.  When a life-sized Barney came walking in the door of Michael's 2nd birthday party, you all screamed crying and ran out of the house.  Your sisters and brother loved you so much when you were a little boy!  I'm weeping at that one!  I had to fight them to get you back, they so wanted to hold you.  That reminds me of one of your favorite statements as a little one:  "Hold Me."  I think there was so much falling from the hands of the siblings...ha.

I remember well your first day of kindergarten.  You met Ben and Andrew and Greg and Ethan.  The famous four became your lifelong friends.  I took the 5 of you to the circus and museums and parks and Fix Flags (that's what you called it).  You swam every day of your life and that took a lot of determination and courage.  School Days with all four of you were full of delight and drama.  Like when the fruit flies hatched in our custom van overnight and rode with us to school the next day because someone left their fruit under the seat.  Or when the lock broke and we got locked inside our home and you four had to crawl out the bay window to catch your carpool.  You worked hard Britt all the days of your life.  You all were such a joy to me! 

High School was the best!  Pine Cove.  Italy.  Kanakuk.  Thailand.  Orlando.  Endless basketball games and swim meets, even football games!  We were so touched by you when you waved your last good-byes to Ethan and Greg and Ben and Andrew and jumped into our car for the journey to move to Austin.  Dad said if you couldn't leave your life of 11 years at the same school in Fort Worth, we'd stay.  But no, you trusted a Good God to bring you on this Hyde Park journey.  And it has been a hard one in some ways.  But God has been here with you every step of the way.  And He brought Nash and Dillon and some incredible girl friends into your life!  They will be your lifelong friends!  And He stirred up faith in you!  My last words as you shut the dorm door the other day:  2 Tim 4:7 "Fight the good fight of faith.  Finish the race.  Keep the faith."  And you will!

So, this mom thanks the caboose, Britt, for giving me the best life ever! You were uber successful in everything you touched in high school.  God gave you those gifts!  What's real success anyway?  It's pretty quiet here.  And no one is eating up all the food.  I will miss you more than you will ever know.  But you know what, I'm doing really well! This is what we raised you for---to be independent and find the God Who is coming to meet you---Jer 31:2,3.  Just wanted to say that I have so enjoyed my past three decades.  Oh my word!  I won't see you that often but, remember, I am just across town, right around the corner from Mighty Fine, and I'll always be in the battle for your soul!  Isaiah 37:26  Haven't you gotten the news? God says: HE is behind all that is going on.  His Plan A for your life is good!  HE will personally take care of you. 

Bye-bye Baby Britt!  Gone to Texas.  GTT
I have so loved being your mom!  Madre

Dark Night of the Soul

Providential Blessing and Providential Suffering happen to every one of us.  This year has held both for us.  Since Christmas and its happenings, it has been a dark night of the soul for me.  And yesterday was no exception.  And I am writing to say that we are holding fast to a very good God in the midst of confusion and pain.  I am more privileged by the high calling of my Christ to leave behind 30 years of life in Fort Worth and come to a place where we knew barely no one.  We know way down deep God called us to Austin.  And our God has been very good to us in the midst of both blessing like marriages and suffering like cancer. We'll stay here until God moves us someplace else.  We are more privileged by our calling than unsettled by our pain. 2 Kings 20:1-3 God observes my tears and I am leaning hard on Him.  And that is a very good place to be!

When Bob lost his church position of 27 years four years ago, I was way more unsettled by my pain. I had a major meltdown, severe depression.  But God broke through and I am still drawing near to Him, and more alive in Him than ever.  No more living by my pain but rather a greater resolve to be holy and deal with my own stuff.  There's something inside of me standing up right now in the midst of this dark night that is singing praises to a very good God! Isaiah 28:21 The LORD will rise up.  He will rouse Himself to do His Work, His Strange Work.  John 20:29 - Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.  Life itself is grace.  And I am listening to my life this day, this moment as my God is fleshing out His Incarnate Word in my life and yours, no matter what the crisis.

I think far too many people do not deal with what is really going on inside of their hearts.  Psalm 28:3 --- they speak peace to you but they hold onto evil in their hearts---a friend of mine calls it "courtesty without connection." We all have evil in our hearts. It runs straight through all of us.  Isaiah 30:11 - I am confronted with the Holy One and I am dealing with my stuff!  Pascal once said:  "True Religion accounts for the greatness and wretchedness of humans."  Oh wretched man that I am!  Praise God there is hope for our sin.  Covered.  I am dealing with my demanding spirit---my priority to place justice for us rather than glory for God.  No, I am more taken with His Glory than my comfort, my will.

Isaiah 50 talks about not lighting your own fires but letting God do His Work.  Life is hard---Job 23:10---and He knows the way we take.  Bob shared 2 Thes 1:11 in church yesterday:  May God count us all worthy of His High Calling and fulfill every desire we have for good and every work of faith, with power.  Strengthen all of us in the inside where it really counts to walk by faith.  Expose our arrogance, our foolishness.  Stir our appetite for holiness and fill us all with hope whether we walk through dark days or joyful ones. 

A good friend told me:  "Don't be afraid of failure or you will live for success...God is detaching me from everything that numbs my sacred hunger for Him and makes me feel hungrier for something other than God." 

I still have cancer but there's something far worse than cancer.  It's cancer of our soul.  But I have such Hope!  There is something far worse than a difficult life---it's distance from God and not finding Him in the midst of our mess.  God is changing me in the midst of some significant pain and loss and I could not be any more grateful to Him.  We are all "curved in on ourselves" as Augustine once said. 

Bob and I ask for your prayers as we make some decisions about our future.  Britt leaves for college tomorrow.  We gave up our apartment lease to be creative and pursue exchanging labor for rent money.  God gave me the idea and we'll see where it takes us. If you're in Austin and you know of a situation where we could work as caretakers for senior citizens or someone trying to sell their vacant home or watch their property in exchange for rent, let us know.  We have moved all of our belongings into public storage.  We'll have to get rid of our sweet dog again, a border collie who loves his mama.  Losing my boy to college and losing my dog tomorrow is added on top of all of this. 

If you focus on the smaller story of your life, you'll misunderstand what really matters in life.  Crabb says:  Things that feel awful will be seen as tragedies to reverse if possible, endure if necessary and prevent.  That's not what we're after over here---not trying to just endure tragedy.  We all are being lifted to the Higher Story of God---it's not about us. 

To God be the Glory!  He has been good to us to this very day.  Jer 24:6.  His Eyes are now set on us to do us good from this day forward, even in this dark night of the soul.

Father-of-the-Bride Marries His Little Girl Tonight

Tonight your daddy will perform your wedding vows before a holy God and in the presence of family and friends who adore you and have come to honor you, sweet Blair.  It's a day where the mother-of-the-bride reflects back on the goodness of our God in giving you to us.  What an honor, what a joy to have been your mom!  I'll always be here for you, baby girl!  I'm weeping as I write thinking about mistakes I've made as a mom and how I've "missed" all of you at times.  Repentant tears.  Tears of joy.  Thinking back this morning on the day you were born and what indescribable joy it was for me.  However, your birth did just about kill me.  Had to have a blood transfusion back in the day when blood wasn't being tested for disease.  Long recovery for me.  But we never recovered from having you. We are so very very grateful to God for your precious life!   From childhood, you have embraced your world, your God.  You have enjoyed life to the hilt. 

When you were about two, you found a clown costume in our hall closet and donned the outfit including the clown hair to greet the next guest who came to our door.   And you greeted your world well, always.  Your big sister, Brooke, said if she ever wanted to meet anyone, she would just stand right behind you and she could meet the world.  You probably know someone in every state of the U.S., seriously.  Your school years found you helping your classmates again and again.  Your older siblings may have been hard acts to follow---or so they say--- being first and second in their class, but you allowed your beautiful God to carve your nitch.  I think your brothers got all the math genes.  But God paved a good way for you to attend the University of Oklahoma.  You were chosen to be in the President's Leadership Class---only two were selected out-of-state from all their admissions applications.  Your hard work in high school paid off for you and you became a Witherspoon Fellow in D.C. right after college.  Your college years in political science also opened a door for you in Washington D.C. where you served the people as a Legislative Correspondent for the gentle and kind Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma.  Your long stay in Washington D.C. proved to be a very good start to your young adult life trusting a very good God.  And the precious friends you have made along your way are here today with us.   They have come from Washington D.C., Charlotte, Atlanta, and too many towns up north to list. 

Yesterday, I shared with you, Blair, a photo memory book I made for your 2nd birthday .  In it were 7 verses that we had worked on memorizing that year.  One of them was I Sam 2:9 - God will guard the feet of his faithful ones.  Even this morning, God gave me a verse in Psalm 121 for you that He will guard you as you go out this day and leave us.  If you turn around when you drive off, you'll see me crying, probably a lot.  It will be tears of joy and tears of sadness for me in closing this chapter of our lives.  I have so loved being your mommy. I have so loved having my kids at home---I'll trust God with this as I let you go.  You'll just never know until you have your own kids.  Another verse in that 2nd Birthday Book that I shared with you at your Rehearsal Dinner was Joshua 1:9 - God is with you wherever you go!  As you become Mrs. Patrick Walsh this day, know that it is your Beautiful God Who holds your hand & will meet the deepest needs of your heart.  You adore Patrick and we love him because you do.  He has been so good to you.  He is a gentleman in the true sense of the word.  We welcome Patrick who works at Louisian Tech in their sports department and the entire Walsh family of Atlanta into our hearts.  You're going to live in my home state. 

You will always be my girl!  I'll close with this thought.  One day we'll all lift our glasses to toast the One for Whom we live.  But tonight, we lift our glasses to toast you both from Psalm 131.  Wait for God.  Wait in Hope.  We wait with you on a Beautiful God to show up.  Hope Now.  Hope Always. 

photos sent from my cell phone (will have to find a scanner someday).  I'll Love You Forever, Mommy

Happy Birthday Britt

It will be lonely going through the drama of life without the birthday boy!. You ran back to get your backpack out of our car and accidentally locked me out of my car on the UT campus yesterday in the POURING RAIN.  It ended up being a God moment for me.  Really.  I pulled over my head the body-size UT garbage bag they were doling out to the Longhorn parents and walked aimlessly in the rain as my cell was dead.  Thought about Susanna Wesley pulling her apron over her head every afternoon to pray in the midst of umpteen kids.  Stopped in my tracks and prayed for you, Britt, on that UT campus, your new home for the next four years.  I'll miss you so!

Today is your birthday.  We prayed 7 years and God answered in His timing.  I lost 3 babies the year you were born and didn't think I could carry you either.  But God carried you, gave you life...and is still breathing life into you every day.  We're so proud of the young man you are becoming.  You're an absolute delight and joy to me, no matter what!

Your elementary years were full of determination to do what was right.  Full of joy and you honored us so much.  You swam every day of your life and gave 100% of dedication and passion.  You always wanted a brother your age.  God gave you Nash...

Your high school years were a dream.  You jumped on board with us to move to Austin during your junior year in high school and trust a good God to help you.  HE did! Your Austin friends became crazy about you and that was answered prayer too!  And, your God was here before we got here.  And HE has been moving in you ever since.

You are answered prayer to me.  You have touched deep places in my heart.  Your questions have brought me great joy.  You know more about me than most.  You've been a great son!  You were worth the wait!  I'll always remember touching your big toe seconds after you were born to see if you were really alive. I didn't think I would make it through the pregnancy.  That last week I hadn't slept for about 3 or 4 days straight.  I was lost in such gratitude to God for your birth. We checked out of the hospital and went straight to the Fort Worth Fireworks celebration. 

I have a college prayer for you I'm offering up on your birthday!  2 Tim 4:7
Fight the good fight of faith...
Finish the race...
Keep the faith...

Your parents and family and friends ADORE you!  You're one of the best thing that ever happened to me.  I love you more than I could ever find words to say.

Love & Happy Birthday, Mom

Baccalaureate

There I sat at my baby's baccalaureate.  Never had been to one.  I went early and sat quietly alone in this beautiful pristine church building graced with gorgeous stained-glass arched windows.  The afternoon sun peeked into my heart of memories.  Thought about the church where I grew up with its stained-glass stately windows that I would gaze at every day of my life as my parochial school required us to attend church every morning.  Even in those quiet moments, prayers under my breath went up to a then-distant God.  Not anymore.  He's near to me this day and I'm so grateful.  Somehow, HE has filled me with the Knowledge of His Will and I know things today I didn't know even last week.  How those shifts occur, IDK??  But, it's happening and I am ever so grateful to a Good God in the midst of some confusion and a little chaos.

So, I celebrate this precious boy God has given to his dad and me. This high school graduation is not what I live for---it's just a page of his life turning.  He has been such a joy to raise.  It was a miracle Britt was born.  We went through 7 years of infertility.  Then, one day, I touched his toe for the first time.  Ecstatic.  The troubled pregnancy had about done me in with fear I couldn't manage.  Overwhelming pain.  God was about to step in...and HE did! I was far more concerned about being delivered from my pain than delivered from my darkness. Not right.

Britt attacks life with humility and kindness and such respect for his parents and others.  I couldn't say enough good things about this child and all the good that God has stirred up inside of him.  He's faced his hard times and come through well.  I've thought a lot about 2 Thes 1: 11,12 in raising him that God was answering every desire for what's right in his life. Today, I think a lot about 2 Tim 4:7 and will pray that verse for him til I go to my grave.  May he fight the good fight of faith in his young adult years.  May he finish the course God has set for him.  May he keep the faith!

Britt started swimming when he was 4 and competed for the next 13 years. He met his lifelong friends Ethan, Greg, Andrew and Ben in kindergarten.  The fab five will forever be friends. His junior year was interrupted by a Great Divide.  A very unexpected turn-of-God-events found my husband no longer on the church staff where we had served for 27 years or so.  We had nowhere to go and our Good God moved into my life in ways I could have never imagined.  But first, he brought me to another end of myself while Britt watched.  We were "graced with disaster that your soul requires to bring you back home." (SJoC).  I became alive in ways I had never been!  Then God moved us to a new church in Austin in one week's time.  Bob said we wouldn't go if God was not in it for Britt.  Britt saw it as part of his journey. We were only here a few short months when I was diagnosed with cancer.  Again, you watched and wondered if I would make it to your graduation. We found Hyde Park Baptist School, one of the largest private schools in Austin.  We knew no one.  Britt walked into the junior halls and hearts of kids like Nash and Dillon and the girls.  Unbelievable what God has done for us all. Nash will be his lifelong friend and they are going to be Longhorns together!  Here's Dillon, Britt and Nash at their 2010 Baccalaureate.

Son, your journey is not to graduate and get into the best schools with the most advantageous scholarships.  Your journey is a story in a Story.  There's a Divine Hero in all of this!!!

Britt's progress is not measured by his many achievements like getting a full-ride to the University of Texas or recognitions by huge companies like Coca Cola National Scholar or even being so loved and accepted by his Hyde Park classmates.  No, this journey is all about detaching from what claims our affections, what rules our lives, and attaching to the One Whom we were created to enjoy. Rev. 4:11.  This child has been so willing to deal with what's going on inside of him when he gets off course--- and live humbly.  Oh, that our Christ continue to be formed in him.  Gal. 4:19.


So, congratulations Britt as you walk the stage this Friday night.  I'll be there thinking about a kid in footed pajamas who stole my heart as a baby, and kept on loving his family for the past 18 years.  You've done what has been asked of you and so much more.  You spent about 2,000 hours in community service, not an easy thing to do while achieving all-state in four sports.  You raised over $5,000 and delivered good stuff to help displaced kids in Thailand.  You went to Boys State and HOBY and Youth and  Government every year.  And you didn't complain about such a heavy schedule, even SAR!  One line you wrote in your admissions essay stands out to this mom:  "Life is not about achievements but it's about making a difference in the life of a child.  It's about seeing the smile on the faces of kids like 11-year-old Nat whom we were able to help learn to walk for the first time in his life."

This mom will miss you more than you will ever know!  You'll be in the same town, but I'll just pretend that you went to the University of Nebraska like Barrett did and give you some space to learn and live and love. And if you ever want the best burger and shake, I'll meet you at Mighty Fine in a sec.  There's a new chapter to be written in your story in a Story!  As David's last words about his son, Solomon, say:  God, please give Britt a "true heart" that He may know you more.  1 Chron. 29:19.

2 Chronicles 36:23 - You belong to God.  Keep on returning home to Him!  May your God be with you at UT! Move forward!

Cancer, College, and Choices

.This past month, our lives have been both beautiful and broken ... and bursting with opportunity to trust a very good God!   Here is the short text version:  Blair had a benign tumor removed from her thyroid. Britt chose UT and God so showed up for him.  And this month marks my one-year anniversary since being diagnosed with cancer.  My Love & Gratitude to each one of you!  The rest is just details...

• Blair Faces Surgery...Met Blair in Dallas last week to have a rather large tumor removed from her thyroid. My nephew found the best surgical oncologist! He had some help!!  The Great Physician was in that operating room.  And, it could not have gone any better although the incision on her neck is much larger than we anticipated.  And what a great attitude Blair chose to have about that!  He removed half of her thyroid as well. The full pathology report came back yesterday and it is benign! We camped at my sister's house and God provided peace unbelievable!  When you watch your child suffer, there are no words.  Blair faced this with such courage and trust in a very good God.  She flew back to D.C. yesterday and went back to work today.  So grateful!!!!  Am I more concerned about being rescued from our pain or rescued from the domain of darkness?  Col 1:11-12
• Britt Chooses UT...Britt ran his last track meet EVER this weekend. I have so LOVED being this kid's mom!  In just a few weeks, God will close the chapter of SCHOOL DAYS!  Britt graduates from high school on May 28th.  He will make the decision FINAL tonight that he is headed to the University of Texas.  A Longhorn---the team we always cheered against.  We even cheered for any team playing against UT, even if we didn't know them.  So, this one's a surprise.  We just want Britt to be where God wants him to be...our hands are open to Him.  Where does Britt's little life fall into the "Great Story of God's Mission"?? C.J.H.W. Praying for him to find a beautiful God at UT.
• God Provides for Britt...Financial Peace is a course we worked on last year...we found out all the stuff we had done wrong.  Kind of hard to correct a lifetime of mistakes.  Grateful to a Gigantic God Who intervenes.  Our home has gone back to foreclosure again.  Trusting Him!  Meanwhile, Britt just interviewed with the Terry Foundation and was named a Terry Scholar.  This unbelievable philanthropist provides ginormous scholarships through the UT admission application process.  Little did we know that God was providing all along for Britt to be financed through his four years of college.  Plus, he has won some smaller scholarships---he has done well!   
• God Carries Me Through Cancer...April marked my one year anniversary having cancer.  And, yes, I still say the word because my tumor markers show that it is still there.  And yes, I am asking HIM to say the Word and I will be healed! And, YES, I am doing very well!  But there is an evil greater than cancer within me.  If I choose to live for myself and to get my own way and make my life work...it's called selfishness, greed, arrogance.  A friend of mine calls it:  "courtesy without connection, laughter without love, weeping without worship."  Having cancer has been one of the best things that could happen to me as far as my relationship with God goes.  I'm not saying that I would ever want to go through it again.  I am saying that nothing has engaged me in the real battle in my soul like suffering has.  I just finished reading the story of Solomon in I Kings and in 66 Love Letters.  I think a quote from that book captures for me some thoughts deep from my heart.  "The lesson to be learned from the wisest of men [Solomon] who became the greatest of fools is this:                     Leadership without a priority concern for personal holiness over effective management at best produces only outward success."  Life is not about faring the up's and down's.  The rejections and acceptances do not define who we are. We are His and HE is committed to our holiness!

Coram Deo Merry Nell!

Tonight was Merry Nell's Celebration Service.  The Franciscan-esque Evangelical Free Church was packed to overflowing.  Lisa shared on behalf of all of those in our cancer support group that Merry Nell led.  Dr. Lisa has Stage 4 breast cancer metastasized to her liver, like Merry Nell.  They are both alive!  Lisa's with us and Merry Nell is Face-to-Face with Him.  I wept as Lisa's beautiful words on behalf of all of us flowed from such a good place in her heart.  She talked about the Hope we found in our darkest days.  And nothing, not even cancer, can take away that hope.  Rom 8:37-39.

Merry Nell's husband, Clif, spoke of his warrior wife who had battled breast cancer over the past three decades defying all odds to live.  And live she did---in His Presence here and now there!
She led well.
She lived well.
She loved well.
She suffered well.

At the Reception in the Community Hall, Clif came up and introduced himself to me and thanked me for coming to his wife's funeral.  Amazing.  He wanted to know how I knew the love of his life.  I told him about the first cancer support group meeting where I met Merry Nell.  I had started radiation the day before and was terrified of it.  One of the darkest times of my life to surrender to the 3-foot thick door that shut like the sound of thunder to me.  God gave me Exodus 14:14 that morning before I attended the group.  "The LORD will fight for you.  You need only be still!"  Then I met Merry Nell.  It was my turn to share my story.  When I finished, Merry Nell shared with a sparkle in her eye: God wants you to know Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you.  You need only be still."  Over 31,000 verses and God brings that one to her mind.  Merry Nell offered me hope that dark day as she brought that Word to me.  And as I came to know her through the group, her story gave me such courage to surrender in a very dark time for me.

Tonight, as I shared with Clif about his precious wife, he beat me to the punchline.  Clif said to me:  "There's a verse that you remind me of that meant a lot to Merry Nell that I want to share with you...Exodus 14:14. How did he know?  I had hours earlier written the verse in their guest book.  With tears streaming down my face, I thanked this new friend who just lost the love of his life.  He said they had shared a million moments of love.

Well Done, Merry Nell.  Enter the joy of your Master, Redeemer, King, Blessed Assurance, Rescuer, Healer.  Coram Deo!

Britt is playing in March Madness

High school kids have their own March Madness on Zinch.com.  Britt was selected as a State Finalist in Zinch’s March Madness scholarship competition. He has the potential to win $20,000 depending on the number of votes he gets. Over 150,000 students from around the world applied to compete for this scholarship. 64 students were selected as a State Finalist in Texas. Britt is one of them.  If you'd like to help him, click on the link below and vote.  It will only take a second.  The students with the most votes in each state advance to the next round of 32 in Zinch's March Madness. THANKS SO MUCH!


Vote for Britt by clicking here:

http://www.zinch.com/Voting/Regionals.aspx?GroupId=67#Britt-Brandon





Thanks for supporting me in my quest for $20,000!



Britt

Happy Birthday Baby Blair

UPDATE on Blair's Biopsy: 
The radiologist was not able to perform the full biopsy today due to the size of the growth on Blair's thyroid. The complete biopsy will need to be done out-patient at a hospital.  The radiologist was able to take one sample of tissue and fluid.  Blair did very well tolerating that procedure.  Pathology report will be back in a couple of days.  Thanks so much for praying for her!  Bev

Dear Blair,
Happy 25th Birthday Baby Blair.  I remember the day well.  I bled profusely after giving birth and needed to have a blood transfusion. I didn't want it---who does---but they were not testing blood for AIDS yet.  God protected!  And your daddy went and ran the Cowtown Marathon.

You were the cutest baby girl with an intriguing personality.  Like a blonde Shirley Temple.  Brooke would say that if she ever wanted to meet anyone, she would stand right behind you. Even at an early age, you knew everyone in the neighborhood!  Now, you probably know someone in every state!

I remember your first soccer game as a four-year-old.  You grabbed your teammate's hand and ran off to the playground instead of to the ball.   Do you remember dancing in MayFest?  Stage fright!

You have always adored your sister and brother.  When Britt entered the world when you were 7, you met him at the front door in your clown outfit with rainbow clown hair.  Awww!

You loved school because you loved people.  Teachers would want me to get you to stop trying to help others and do your own work.  You have always had such a big heart for other people!

I can't remember your middle school years??  My mind is blank....hmmm.

High school was so much fun for you!  You'd say, you were grounded for all of high school.  But this mom says you just enjoyed yourself to the max!  You cared deeply when your friends messed up.  You prayed for them.  You talked to them.  You walked with them.  And you followed your God to this very day!  I think your high school days were a dream!

OU was a perfect God-ordained match for you.  You tackled political science and you met many more friends to fill your world with joy and love.  Your dad and I were so proud of the young woman you were becoming!

The Witherspoon Fellowship was another great match!  And then working on Capitol Hill is a calling and love and an opportunity you have seized well.  Your daddy and I have never had to worry about you for you've always been responsible and diligent at whatever you've tackled.

And now you're engaged to the love of your life.  A great guy who adores you and will care for you forever.  A guy who is so committed to you and to making the most of your lives together.  An accomplished guy who knows where he's going in life.  And we love you both more than words can say.

I wish I could upload one of your baby pictures with your gorgeous hair.  Instead, here's one of the last pictures we took before we moved out of our home of 20 years where you found a Secret Room and climbed out of the window behind us to get to school one morning and sang yourself to sleep every night and found a good God and left us with beautiful memories of a young life well lived!  Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!!!!


Pray for Blair on her Birthday:  Blair is having a needle biopsy on her thyroid today.  Pray for our girl on her birthday today that God's Hand once again protects her precious life!  She's a beautiful girl and she'll always be our Baby Blair!

Lenten Devotionals

Like many, I grew up observing Lent for the first 18 years of my life.  For me, it was more about giving up stuff. But tomorrow, as we begin the Lenten season, it will be more about "letting go" of things and looking truthfully at what is happening in my heart as I walk through life.  It will be about finding God in the midst of my mess.  A Good God.  A Holy God.  A Glorious God.

Larry Crabb has a new book called 66 Love Letters and there are about 20 of us reading through the Bible together and using his 66 Love Letters book as a devo guide to unpack the truth in each book. You can click on AString of Pearls blog in the top left column of this page to still jump in and join us there.  

But I wanted to let you know that Larry is offering daily excerpts from his 66 Love Letters book through a free e-mail service, a short reading for reflection every day during Lent's forty days (except Sundays) starting Wednesday February 17 and ending on Easter April 4th..  Just click (or copy and paste) the following LINK and subscribe by e-mail:  http://www.66loveletters.cgrantandcompany.com/

I am free today in ways I never dreamed because of my friend, Larry Crabb.  Larry has given me courage to face what is going on in my heart and has helped me find God in ways I could have never imagined.  I encourage you to take a look at his new book by subscribing to the free Lenten e-mails as we prepare our hearts for Him!

I'll end with one of the lines from the first chapter of his book 66 Love Letters:  "I want you to realize that I never underestimated how thoroughly you'd mess up your life or how painfully you would struggle and suffer, and I don't want you to underestimate your failures or struggles either.  They're all part of the story I'm telling.  But neither have I underestimated my determination or ability to enter the mess you've made and the pain you feel and turn everything around.  I can, and I will, make everything good again.  Never underestimate Me!"