Mother/Daughter Tea Party

On Tuesday night the Women’s Ministry (Women of Purpose) of my church, Cathedral of Praise, hosted a Mother/Daughter Tea Party. I must say it was a GREAT night! Hats Off to Marci Coffelt, she did an OUTSTANDING job putting this night together. Speaking of hats…we had a hat contest. There were some beautiful hats and of course some silly hats.

Ms. Jackie Harris, a member of our church, spoke. She shared about being a Godly Mother. Ms. Jackie stressed that any female can give birth but not all females can be a MOTHER! By definition, Mother – is a woman of authority. The Word from God for that hour to us was…Push On! You are not pressing on in vain. We must do away with SELF and let God fulfill His purpose in us. She ended with the story of Rizpah. Ms. Jackie did a FANTASTIC job ministering to us all!

Our theme was “The Many Hats of a Mother”. The decorations were beautiful. Ms. Linda Todd, a member of our church, did an OUTSTANDING job of creating an elegant evening. Each lady did a MARVELOUS job decorating their table. The “Tea Party” favors were so cute. One of the most touching parts of the evening was the Memory Table. People brought a picture of mothers or daughters that have already passed. The photos were beautifully displayed and a candle was lit in honor and memory of that person. This was very beautiful and touching. We also had a Mother/Daughter skit by Kathy Byrd and Jennifer Mayo, also members of our church, it was hilarious! The daughter was hidden, her hands, were the actual hands applying the Mother’s make-up.

I was so blessed to have my MOM join me for this Mother/Daughter Tea Party. This was another Mother/Daughter bonding moment! Precious Memories! Love you Mom! Again, Happy Mother’s Day!

Update on Life

Well after my "Girls Road Trip" life has been hectic catching up. Work was crazy BUT I'm almost caught up. I've been filling-in for this other person at work so...my job has been VERY BUSY! I'm also preparing for a conference so my STRESS level has been a little on the high side.

Chase has had a some more golf tournaments. It has really been a lot of fun going and watching him play. He has had a pretty good freshmen year on the golf team. We just got back from Louisiana from the SWAC tournament. He had some good days and one real bad day. Overall he placed 14th out of 50 golfers. The team placed 4th out of 10. Not too bad. We will be leaving for the Minority Tournament in Florida. This is kind of a big deal. It will play as a delay on the Golf Channel. Hopefully he will get some air time!

Tres has some interesting news also. He is going to be the Youth Pastor at Church 29:11. His first Sunday is April 26th. Please keep him in your prayers. I know God has called him...but as his mother I am a little nervous. This is such a big responsibility for my little baby. I am so very proud of him.

Amazing April has been the theme for our church. We had an Amazing Outreach the first Saturday in April including: hot dogs, give-a-ways, carnival games, inflatables, egg hunt (7,000 eggs), costumed characters, singing, and of course a message about JESUS. The next day was Family and Friend day. We met many new people. The next week was Easter. This was Chuck's first Easter sermon as the PASTOR. It was great. He preached about how Jesus got out of the grave and we need to get out of our grave. Get out of bondage. I must say it was a really good message. We had 28 to give their heart to the Lord that day. Praise God! Last week was focusing on finding your place in ministry. Basically, where do you fit in the puzzle at Cathedral of Praise. It turned out really nice. This week is Jesus in Jeans. We are having a casual Sunday and then going to the Falls for a church wide picnic. This should be a great day.

Back to Easter. Both of our families came to church with us. We had church, lunch, Easter pictures, and of course an egg hunt. This was the first Easter of many firsts. Chase had to leave early that morning for a golf tournament. Jeff, Missy, and Megan, went to the church where Jeff's sister and her husband (Billy and Tracy) pastor. My brother, his wife Barbara, and part of their bunch were able to be with us. It was a great day even though we MISSED the rest of our family.

Let's see...the family...Jeff has had some up and down moments with his chemo. Overall he seems to be doing good. Missy and Megan are handling life pretty good. This is their life and it may have taken them by surprise but not God. My mom seems to be having a ton of good days. She seems to feel much better. God is so good. Kennedy is growing-up right before our eyes. She is talking up a storm. Shane and Sallie are experiencing the challenges of marriage and a toddler. I remember those days! Charlie has finally hit the golf course again. Sissy has not been feeling so great. She is suppose to go to the doctor finally on Monday! What do you expect with this Alabama weather! Mike and Barbara the "Bunch" seem to be adjusting well to their new life. We've told Mike that we are keeping Barbara no matter what!

Well that's all for now! I'm excited about what God has in store for each of us in the upcoming months!

Girls Road Trip

I went on my first "Girls Road Trip" with some life long friends. Yes, I have been on other "Girl Trips" BUT this was the first of this type of "Girls Trip". I have been friends with Ginger since the first grade. I met my friend Terri when my family moved into the house they still live in when I was in the fourth grade. Ginger and Terri met when we were all in the fifth grade. Do you get the picture...we have all been friends for a very long time. We are all the same age. We got married around the same time. Each of us have two children. I have two boys, Ginger has two boys, and Terri has two girls. Our children are the same age. The children have all become close friends through the years. We are all Christians. Each of us are happily married. You could say we have a lot in common.

In the past our lives have taken us down some stressful paths. We began to say, "We need to take a trip." Finally, on March 18, 2009, we took our "Girls Road Trip". The three of us went to Gatlinburg, TN. We had a fabulous time! It was all about US! We did what 3 girls do best...we talked, and talked, and talked, and talked some more! We saw late night hours and early morning hours. There was not one topic untouched. It was great therapy for all! I'm sure our families would agree.

We laughed a lot, ate a lot, and just simply enjoyed life! It was Terri's birthday on the Friday of our trip. (Thanks Dad for baking Terri a cake.) We celebrated by being lazy that morning. Later that day we went on a nature drive. That evening we took Terri to the Alamo for a great birthday dinner. Ginger grilled out while Terri and I tried to help out in the kitchen. Terri and I clean a mean kitchen. Ginger makes great omelet also! We shopped until we dropped on Saturday. That's saying a lot because Terri is NOT a shopper. Ginger and I changed that. We are always great at getting other people to spend their money. What can I say we are bargain shoppers. We really enjoyed our trip to the Tanger Outlets. Did someone say COACH? (Ha!Ha!)

All FRIENDS in their FORTIES deserve to have a good time with old FRIENDS! It does you a dose of good in life. We've already started planning our next adventure. Maybe it want take forever for us to get away again!

Until then! Memories!

Pictures

I have updated some pictures on a couple of blog entries. Check the pictures out on Congratulations Chase and Tres is turning 20. Sorry for the display. I just can't get the pictures to go where I want them to go! BUT...I love pictures so I just put them in there anyway I can get them in there.

Congratulations Chase!!!

Congratulations are due to Chase...He placed as the Top Medalist in the Golf Tournament that Alabama A&M played in Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Congratulations Baby! We are so proud of you!!! By the way...Alabama A&M won first place in the tournament and the other team members also placed in the Top 10 Medal spots. Congratulations to all the Alabama A&M golfers. We are proud of each of you! Go Bulldogs!

This was an exciting trip. We went to Tunica, MS to watch the tournament. I could not live with myself without spending breakfast time with Tres. After all we were leaving on his 20th birthday. We created some good memories on this trip. Chuck, Grandmother, MeMe, Uncle Jeff, and I went to watch our little "Bulldog". The tournament was at Tunica National. It was a very WINDY tournament!
The family ate with Chase, some of his teammates, and another set of parents on Monday night. We ate at Paula Deems. This Lady and Sons was better than the one in Savannah. Let's just say that Paul's cooking is DELICIOUS!!!

Work hard guys! We are looking forward to the tournament you are hosting at the end of this month.

Tres Is Turning 20!!!

Can you believe my first born baby is turning TWENTY years old? On Monday, March 9, 2009, Tres will be 20 years old! Where did the time go?

Let's reflect on the past. We were told he was going to be a Downs Syndrome baby. Wrong...I truly believe that he was healed by God in the womb. He was born 2 weeks early a perfectly healthy 6lb. 70z. 19 in. long bouncing baby boy. Today, Tres is 5ft. 11in. tall and weighs 200 plus pounds. He's still my healthy bouncing baby boy. It seems it wasn't so long ago that we took him to Pre-School, watched him graduate from K-5, took him to his first day of public school, and then watched him graduate from High School. Today, he goes to Jefferson State Junior College, works a part-time paying job, volunteers at ChristWay as a youth worker and assisting the Youth Pastor, Brent Hand, AKA close friend and hero, and volunteer coaches the first girls golf team at his former High School.

Tres has always been a pretty good kid. He did well in school. Tres has always had an outgoing, easygoing, fun, and loving personality. I can honestly say that Chuck and I have been blessed. Don't be deceived we have had our moments with Tres. Just to hit a few hair raising highlights...He began kissing girls in K-5, in 3rd grade he changed the amount on a check so the boys could win a competition, in 10th grade he got Stevie Ray Stoggner suspended from school, and his first freshmen year of college was not so good.

I must share a few proud moments...the day he was dedicated to God, the day he truly gave his heart to the Lord, the day he was baptized, when he won Bible Story Telling at the age of 12, the fact that he won Bible Teaching at the ages of 13, 15, and 17, little league all-stars, being the MJ Mascot, being a MJ golfer, preaching a couple of youth services, children services, and adult services, a much better freshman college year, and many, many, many other moments.

Recently, I gained a new respect for Tres. During a recent trying time in all of our lives, Tres told me privately that he saw Jesus in me. I realized that day that my first born baby boy had grown into a beautiful young MAN.

I could go on and on and on but...I'll get right to the point...Tres is a son that blesses my heart. He is a good christian boy that will make the one God created for him a wonderful husband someday. My grandchildren-to-be someday will have a father that they can look-up to and respect.

Tres, I see Jesus in you! Happy Birthday! I love you!

Love...Sweet...Love

Let's see...Valentine's weekend...What did we actually do?

It all started on Thursday. I took the day off and go to Kennedy's Valentine's party at her pre-school. Next, off to meet Missy at her house to do the construction crew clean-up. After cleaning all day I drove back to Gadsden to meet Chuck at home for dinner and watch Survivor. He surprised me with flowers for Valentine's. I love flowers.

On to Friday...Chuck and I drove back to Birmingham to help move the Skinners back in to their home. We worked all day and well into the night. Everything turned out beautiful.

Saturday...Valentine's Day...We slept late. WOW! It was so nice to actually sleep! We took Tres and Chase to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. They went home and I went to get a much needed manicure. Chase went golfing, Chuck and Tres took a nap. What excitement!!!

Saturday evening, Chuck and I drove back to Gadsden and enjoyed dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Gadsden. We watched a movie at home and just relaxed. Of course, while I took my nap on the couch...Chuck studied.

I know it may sound like a boring Valentine's but...it was ours and we enjoyed it. Oh, by the way Chuck got shoes for Valentine's - Tres & Chase got Guy Harvey t'shirts and cash.

The Skinners Go Home

The Skinners got to move back into their home on Friday, February 13, 2009. Not to bad since the fire was only in December of 2008. Thanks to everyone that pitched in and made this day possible so quick. You all did a fantastic job! Their home is just absolutely beautiful! Someone said, "It looks like a picture in a magazine".

Skinners Say, "Thank You"

Thank You
from
The Skinner Family
Jeff, Missy, and Megan

Our family has been overwhelmed by your compassion. We have truly seen Jesus through you. Your kind words, phone calls, visits, gifts of time and money, words of encouragement, and prayers are very much appreciated. The Bible says in Matthew 6:4, “that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret; will Himself reward you openly.” If we have left a thank you out along the way, we are truly sorry. Please continue to pray for us. His presences in our day to day life is our strength.

As Jeff continues to battle Stage 4 Brain Cancer, we all continue to believe that Jeff will receive his healing. A house fire in the midst of brain cancer, and the holidays, could seem like a sour note. Our family has chosen to make lemonade out of this situation! We give God praise, glory, and honor!

(This is the add that Missy put in the North Jefferson News.)

The Skinner Story...

I wanted to share an article that Missy is submitting to the local news that does specials on the community:

Our Story
It seems like every time you turn the television on or open the newspaper, you see one tragedy after another. I would like to share that among all the bad there is still some good out there. There are good people out there. My family has been blessed by family, friends, the community, business associates, our Army family, and many people I do not even know.
It all started on October 26, 2008, I took my husband, Jeff, to the Emergency Room. He was suffering from a serve headache. His serve headache turned out to be another brain tumor. On October 27, 2008, Jeff had his second brain surgery at Trinity Hospital. The surgeon removed the tumor. After the surgery, the doctor came out and told me that my husband has a Stage 4 Cancerous tumor. He was given a 48 week life expectancy. I stood still trying to comprehend what had just been told to me. At the same time, I am trying to figure out how I am going to tell our only child her father has cancer. Our only child is only 16 years old. I am 39 and Jeff is 38, how could this be?
On Tuesday, October 28, 2008, Jeff took a turn for the worse. Jeff was experiencing swelling on the brain. During this time Jeff also had his first stroke. His short-term memory was affected. He had many other physical challenges to overcome. His balance was off, etc. God has been very good and merciful through all of this. The faith of my family has grown stronger. We know and understand that He is the Great Physician. Finally, on November 8, 2008, Jeff was released from the hospital. Praise the Lord!
Everything was going really well. Jeff was getting stronger each day. His memory was improving. His other physical problems were getting better. Jeff was not feeling well on Sunday, December 7, 2008 so I took him to the Emergency Room. They changed his medication and he seemed to be fine. Jeff was finally able to begin his Radiation and Chemo treatment on Monday, December 8, 2008. Everything went well during his first treatment. I took him in for his second treatment on Tuesday, December 9, 2008, and the entire world changed. During this treatment Jeff was rushed to the Emergency Room at Trinity Hospital. He was experiencing brain swelling again. During this time Jeff, also suffered another stroke. Jeff had to undergo another brain surgery. After his surgery, the doctor came out and told me that they removed the bone flap that was put in after his first surgery, some dead brain cells, and new cancerous cells. The doctors exact words were, “We’ve done all we can do, He is in the Lord’s hands”. The next morning, the doctor told me that he didn’t expect to see me because he felt that Jeff would not make it through the night. He told me, “Mrs. Skinner, he is a miracle”. I know Jeff is a miracle…my miracle. Well as of today, I still believe that the God I know and serve will heal my husband, the father of my child.
The strokes have affected Jeff’s vision. He is still suffering from other physical problems from the cancer and his third brain surgery. He is unable to take care of himself let alone stay by himself. I am reminded of our wedding vows…”For better or worse, in sickness and in health”. This is a good lesson for those going through this with us to learn what unconditional love is.
Jeff was finally released from the Hospital on Tuesday, December 16, 2008. Our story gets more interesting here. On Saturday, December 20, 2008, Jeff’s sisters picked my daughter Megan and me up to go and finish our Christmas shopping. No matter what was going on in our personal life…Christmas was rapidly approaching. Their husbands were going to be Jeff’s caretakers that day. They came over and stayed with him for a little while and then took him to Krispy Kreme for some donuts.
I had barely gotten inside the mall and started to shop when my cell phone began to ring. My next door neighbor called and told me that our house was on fire! I remember thinking this can’t be happening! I had been doing all morning. Apparently there was a short in the dryer and this is the cause of the fire. (No I did not leave the dryer running when I left.)
God is good and He does take care of His children. The Christmas gifts I had already purchased and wrapped were rescued. My scrapbooks of our lives were saved. A few other sentimental items were also saved. Other than that we lost everything else.
Now, this is the good I want to tell you about. God is good all the time, all the time God is good! To get through life, you might as well look for humor. The day of the fire, as the day was ending, we were joking around about sending our story in to Extreme Home Makeover. Well, who needs Extreme Home Makeover when you have family, friends, and a community that have all pitched in to help rebuild our home! God puts people in your path in His timing. We have been overwhelmed from the kindness and generosity of others. God’s love is truly shining through others as they are blessing us. I can’t express our thanks enough. There are good people in this world!

I thank you for taking the time to read, Our Story. Your consideration in airing our story on your show would be more than appreciated. There are so many people to thank, I’m not sure of any other way to thank them all.
If you would like to verify Our Story, it was shared on Magic 96 by a personal friend of mine during their Christmas Elves. However, this was shared before the house fire. When someone hears about the fire on top of stage 4 brain cancer, their mouth drops open and they say, you’re kidding me…this can’t be true.
Missy Skinner

Our New Year

Let's see...we ended 2008 in prayer at the church. We had a time of prayer over each ministry and the upcoming year. Then we enjoyed a time of fellowship. The boys joined us for this. This was a great end to the year. Later, we went back to our apartment and just hung out.

We started 2009 off with some great time together as a family. The Kennedys loaded up Tres' Trailblazer and headed to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. We were pumped up to support the Tide!

Well, as you already know...The game was a let down! The Tide played poorly! It was as if the coaches and the team were not at the game! It was ugly!

All in all we had a great time. We tried some seafood restaurants, of course we walked down Bourbon Street, went to Jackson Square, went to the Open Market, walked on the Riverwalk, and strolled around the French Quarter. Chuck and I went to New Orleans a few years ago to watch the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints play a football game. We had already experienced New Orleans. Tres and Chase had their first experience of New Orleans on this
Sugar Bowl trip. If you ask any of us about it, you will get the same response...New Orleans is stinky and nasty place. We were quite taken by the devastation and destruction still there from Hurricane Katrina.

We did run into many tide fans. It was nice to see everyone! Oh, well Roll Tide anyway!

What A Christmas

What A Christmas!

I must say that Christmas 2008 ranks as one of the most interesting for us. Normally the four of us have our Christmas on Dec. 19th or 20th. That did not happen this year considering we didn't truly start our Christmas shopping until Dec. 19th. Thankfully we finished Saturday by lunch time. Of course we had a few little odd and end things (like our gag gifts...this is another tradition that the four of us really look forward to) left to pick-up but the major shopping had been completed.

Since our shopping started so late of course the chore of gift wrapping started even later. For me wrapping Christmas presents on December 22nd is just not the way it is suppose to be. Did I mention that Tres also worked most of his break from school. This was also not the normal thing. What about sending out Christmas cards? I thought for a few moments that we were going to have to skip that task. I couldn't stand it! I love Christmas cards! I especially love the Christmas cards with pictures.

Oh well, through the ups and downs that we have been through the last few months one thing is for sure we have learned to deal with change and stress. We have been able to sit back and examine life. We have discovered what is truly important in life. I suggest to you to examine your life and truly find what is important. You will discover your true treasures.

We did have a great Christmas. Our immediate family increased on my side from 10 to 15. I can truly say this was a GREAT Christmas. I love my new sister-in-law Barbara and all the children that came with her. My Great Aunt Melba spent Christmas in California with her sister. We did miss having her here.

God did help us through Christmas on Chuck's side of the family also. We still made Christmas memories. All of us are thankful that we were ALL here for Christmas. A new tradition for us was started a few years back. We draw names at Thanksgiving and make that person a homemade gift. This has become on of our favorite things. Another tradition between Uncle Chuck and Megan has been going on since Megan was a very young little girl. They exchange a personal special gift with each other. It is usually something special just between the two of them. This year Uncle Chuck's gift to Megan was a Polly Pocket van. Megan loved Polly Pockets! Hers were in the attic and were burned in the fire. As for me, let me include these sister-in-laws, my brother-in-law, and all the children...I truly love each of them with my whole heart. We have grown-up together. This Christmas was also full of special surprises. Charlie got Sissy really good this year.

When the Reno family gathered at our house for Christmas this year this was also another time of not your normal Christmas. We had Subway for Christmas dinner and Carrot Cake from Full Moon. Like, I said 2008 was not your normal Christmas. This was the best we could do under the circumstances. Everyone was really great about this. Thanks! We were also missing 5 of the normal attending family members due to sickness and work. That was sad but understandable. Hopefully 2009 we will all be together again!

The Sullivans, our friends from Huntsville stopped by on Christmas night. This is becoming a tradition also. We enjoy our Christmas visit from them. We catch-up on life and just being around each other. What better way to end Christmas night than spending it with family and friends.

I hope you all had a very BLESSED and Merry Christmas! I will post pictues soon!

The Saturday BEFORE Christmas

I'm sure by now that most of you have heard the latest with the Skinner family. The Saturday before Christmas they had a house fire. Thankfully no one was at home. Missy's sister-in-laws on Jeff's side came by and took her and Megan Christmas shopping. Their husbands came by and took Jeff out of the house for a little while.

During this time, there was a fire with the dryer. It has been said that there was an electrical spark that caused the fire. The insurance company has already been out and started the ball rolling. They are going to gut their townhouse down to the 2x4's and start all over.

The day of the fire they moved in to our house in Morris. You take the lemon and make lemonade. I thought for a little while that Missy was going to lose it. She got it together and has really had a good outlook on life.

On Saturday or Sunday night ( I can't remember because all of the days are running together.)Missy made a list of problems and blessings. Praise the Lord her blessings were many more pages than her problems. She listed only 10 problems in her life and had 6 pages of blessings! Do you see God at work? I do!

I am proud of myself. On Monday, I was left at home all day with the list and did not read it! I was so tempted! I felt this was a private matter even though she had told me about it. I knew if Missy wanted me to read it she would tell me so. Thankfully, she finally told me that I could read it. It was very touching. Maybe later I will share the contents with her permission.

Through all of this we have been able to spend some special time with Jeff, Missy, and Megan. If you want to see Jeff at his best, come over around 7:00 AM. It is still a long road ahead...but...with God all things are possible! Please continue to pray for healing and encouragement!

I almost forgot to share how good God is! On that blazing Saturday, when everything had settled down, you could choose to laugh or cry. So of course, we chose to find humor. We were joking about writing in to Extreme Home Make Over. We all felt that their story was sad enough that they might just get picked. On Monday, Missy called me and tearfully said...Who needs Extreme Home Make Over when you have a community, family, friends, work related acquaintances, and special people that God places in your life at the right time. God has truly taken the bad and turned it to good. He does what He says He will do. His blessings have been poured out on them. To all of you special people that have been a part of God's blessings...THANK YOU and PRAISE AND GLORY BE TO OUR GOD!

Jeff...The Doctor's words...MIRACLE

Since Sunday, December 7, 2008, things have not just been exactly right for our brother-in-law, Jeff. (Health wise) On Tuesday during his treatment they said he was having a seizure. Next no it is a stroke. No he is having continuous seizures. Things just did not add up. We left our apartment at 4:04 PM and talked with Chuck's sister to see if she needed anything and that we were on our way. She says, oh don't bother with coming he is fine. Within the next 30 minutes the next phone call is...they have put him on the ventilator and are calling in the family. By the time we reached the hospital they were preparing him for emergency surgery. He was suffering from swelling on the brain. They removed some dead brain cells, new cancerous cells, and the steel plate they put in after his first surgery. As if this wasn't bleak enough news, the doctor ends with we have done all we can do...he is in the Lord's hands. Well he has been in the Lord's hands for a very long time!

On Wednesday morning, December 10, 2008, his vitals are looking good but he is still non-responsive. We were there later when the doctor stood before Chuck's sister and said...Mrs. Skinner, do you know that your husband is a miracle! The answer of course was yes! He is doing better and is more responsive.

It has been a very long week for the family. Jeff was finally moved in to a room on Sunday, December 14, 2008. The goal of the doctors is to have him home by Christmas. It was determined that he did have another stroke on Tuesday, December 9, 2008. This is from the swelling on the brain. His vision has been affected. It will possibly get better with time. Reality has set in that this is going to be a part of life. Unless God intervenes, the Jeff we all know and love is in there somewhere but only through God will we every see that Jeff again.

On Wednesday, December 17, 2008, Jeff got to come home from the hospital. While he gave Missy and Megan a hard time about getting out of the car in the rain, the good part for all is that he is home in time for Christmas.

Please continue to pray for Jeff, Missy and Megan. As much as a healing is needed, encouragement is needed. Please have all prayer warriors that you know to pray and believe God for a miracle for Jeff. We are continuing to believe that God will heal Jeff. I praise Him and thank Him for one more miracle. All things are in His hands and His timing.

Skinner Update

I spoke with Missy this morning. Their story has been turned in to Magic 96 by Carla Bennett. They heard it on Friday evening.

Jeff starts his radiation and chemo treatment on Monday at 4:00 or 4:30 PM. Please keep Jeff in your prayers. We are believing for a Healing.

When you pray, please remember not only Jeff, but remember Missy and Megan also. There lives are also effected. Missy has been a wonderful caregiver to Jeff. Megan has also been a great trooper. Together they are making it day by day.

God will turn the bad to good. The door for ministry has been opened. As they work on their Christmas cards, I pray that God will anoint each card. They are including a letter thanking everyone for their gifts, prayers, visits, phone calls etc. Also, they are sharing that God is their strength and that they are believing God for a healing. You never know who's heart might be touched and their life changed forever. Those cards will be going out to not only family and friends this year but to vendors and work related people.

Join me in praying that someone will receive the gift of Salvation this Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a blessed Thanksgiving. I have a new outlook on Thanksgiving. I am trying my best to give THANKS each day with a grateful heart. Every new day is a blessing from God.

My Thanksgiving Holiday actually started on Monday when I got off from work. Chase and I drove from Huntsville to Birmingham. The boys and I had dinner with my parents. Good old greasy cheeseburgers and hand made french fries. My dad is a great cook! He even had chocolate pie for Chase. This was a real treat.

The boys had plans to play basketball with some friends later that night. I sat at home by myself and overdosed on TV and Internet. I stayed up past midnight catching up on life. We could not get cable or Internet at our apartment until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Chuck stayed in Gadsden until Wednesday evening taking care of this issue.

On Tuesday, I did work from home and then the Holiday began. Chase and I cleaned house for our Thanksgiving guest. I picked my Great Aunt Melba (she is 81 years old.) up in Homewood around 12:30 PM. We had lunch at the Paw-Paw Patch. It was delicious! We went to Ross in Fultondale. Around 5:00 PM we picked my Mom up and went to Tanya's in Warrior. Please keep in mind that at this point I still have not been grocery shopping. Around 6:00 PM we dropped my Mom off and picked my Dad up and went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart in Gardendale. I finally got home around 7:00 PM. I had to do a little more work for my job before kicking back to relax and enjoy more TV and Internet. The boys played basketball again on Tuesday night.

Chase and I started our Wednesday off with breakfast at my parents. My nephews were here from Dothan. We enjoyed a great big pancake and bacon breakfast! Next, my mom, aunt, and myself went back to my house to start the Thanksgiving cooking. We made the dressing, pecan pies, lemon ice box pies, mac & cheese, potato salad, and cranberry sauce. Tres had to work. Chase went to help Missy with the Thanksgiving meal at Reno Refractories. At this point Chuck is still in Gadsden by himself.

When we finished our cooking Mom, Aunt Melba, and I went to do a little more shopping. We got back home around 5:00 PM. Chuck rolled in around 5:30 PM. Our family Holiday started. We went to Chili's in Fultondale for dinner. The boys went to do something with their friends but for the life of me I can't remember today. Chuck and I went to purchase our youngest niece a Christmas gift. Of course what we decided to purchase for Kennedy is one of the top 12 toys this year. I had no idea. Chuck saw the advertisement and said that's what we are going to get her. You know Wal-mart was out. They told us they had 6 coming in on the truck that night and it would be on the shelf to purchase on Thursday.

Thursday morning the dressing goes in the oven and things are running smooth. We are watching the parade and enjoying life. Chuck and I decide to make a quick run to Wal-mart to purchase our top 12 toy. The shelves at Wal-mart had not changed one bit. Disgusted we went to Kmart to see if by any chance they might have it. They did! Yeah! By the way we have never gone shopping on Thanksgiving morning before. I felt a tinge of guilt shopping on Thanksgiving morning.

Back to the house we go. The dressing is ready and the mac & cheese is baking. Chuck makes his Thanksgiving gravy and I am baking the rolls. Our families are arriving bringing their holiday dish. There were 22 of us to sit down at our Thanksgiving meal. We are BLESSED!

For the first time my brother walks in with a box of casseroles with his new wife and all the children. It was a weird site watching him come in with food in his hand. It was weird but also thrilling. We had a peaceful family Thanksgiving. Again, I say we are BLESSED!

At the same time we are experiencing a real family feeling on my side of the family we are facing an obstacle on Chuck's side of the family. God is good all the time. All the time God is good. We are counting are blessings and believing the Lord for many more blessings! We are BLESSED!

On Friday, we put up our Christmas decorations. Later Chuck, Tres, Chase, Charlie, Sissy, Sallie, Kennedy, and I went to the movies. We saw Four Christmases. It was cute.

Saturday, Chuck and I went to purchase his dad's birthday present. Next it was off to purchase food for the Ironbowl. We all went to his parents to watch the Ironbowl. ROLL TIDE! We enjoyed watching Bama beat Auburn 36-0! Chuck and I had to hurry back to our house and grab our things. We left to head back to Gadsden.

On Sunday, Tres, Chase, Charlie, Sissy, Jeff, Missy, Megan, Shane, Sallie and Kennedy all joined us in Gadsden for church service. After church we all went to Top of the River for lunch and to celebrate Charlie's birthday. After lunch they came by to see our new apartment.

That was our Thanksgiving week! Again, I say we are BLESSED!

Cathedral of Praise...A New Adventure

Wow! What an adventure. We had a "meet and greet" our first Wednesday night at our new church as first time Senior Pastors. Now that's a lot of first. However, I left one first out. It was our first time to attend a new church without our children. I think that transition was harder than making the transition from Student Pastor to Senior Pastor.

We enjoyed meeting our new church family. You know I enjoyed the sweets as we met everyone. Sunday, November 16, was our first official service at Cathedral. Everything went well. Chase was able to be in service with us. My boss and his son also came and supported us in our first service. Our next Wednesday night Chuck taught the adult class. How different is that. On Saturday, we helped the women with their fund raiser. Chuck and I learned a lot about baking. We made pumpkin rolls ALL day long. It was great! I don't really care for pumpkin but...the pumpkin roll was delicious! Sunday was a GREAT service! After service we enjoyed fellowship as we had our Thanksgiving meal. We are blessed with many WONDERFUL cooks. I appreciated the way EVERYONE pitched in from set-up to clean-up to make sure our Thanksgiving meal went well.

Our Student Pastors, Joe and Erica Bain, have been great to help us get settled in. We are enjoying getting to know them and their son Malachi. They were kind and invited us over to enjoy some TV time. Joe and Erica are also Survivor fans so we went over and watched Survivor with them. We still do not have cable or Internet at our apartment! As of Wednesday that will change! Thank the Lord!

On Saturday, Tres and Chase came to visit us. Yeah!!! They got put right to work by a couple of the women that were there decorating for the Thanksgiving meal. It was funny they were sent to Hobby Lobby and didn't really know where they were going. I of course have been so turned around that I was not of any help. Thankfully Chuck was able to give them directions. Later we went to a little shopping place called Martins. I love this place! I live about 200 yards from their door. This could also not be a good thing. Anyway, we had to go and spoil our boys a little. We have MISSED them! Later we ordered take-out from Struts (a wing and tender place) and went back over to Joe and Erica's to watch some football.

Like I have already said, Sunday was a great service. Both of the boys where with us in service. I can't believe that my second Sunday there Chuck had me come to service as a silly character. The children were in service with us and he wanted to do something special for them since this was really our first time to be in church with the children. We had already gone out to a youth service and met the teenagers.

The church secretary, Ashley and the custodian, Regina have been a huge help also. Dusty and Jen, the Music Worship Leaders, have done an outstanding job. We are getting to know the Children's Pastors, Andy and Belinda. There are so many people that have been helpful I can't list them all. I just need to simply say THANKS to everyone.

The boys stayed over on Sunday night also. When we finally got back to the apartment on Sunday afternoon, we got hooked on a new to us TV show...Prison Break. Joe and Erica let us borrow the first season on DVD. Who would have ever thought you would be sitting around hoping some prisoners break free.

Well, I could keep rattling on and on and on but I guess I better end here. This new adventure is Ministry has been great! God has a plan for each of us in His time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Update on Jeff

Jeff went to the doctor at UAB on Friday. He was there from around 9:00 AM until around 6:00 PM. He saw multiple doctors and had many test ran. On Monday at 6:45 AM the doctor called and told them the test showed that Jeff has also had a stroke. I truly believe this happened on the Tuesday that he was so bad in ICU. He has an appointment with the radiation doctor on Monday. Missy says that the radiation and chemo will probably not start until after Thanksgiving. When he does start radiation he will go every day for 6 weeks.

He is getting better daily. With God on his side...He will be well! His memory is doing better. Physically he is getting stronger each day. Missy and Megan are doing well. They all make a good team. God is there strength!

Please continue to pray for each of them. There is still a very long road ahead of them. God is there tower of refuge and strength...a very presence help in a time of need.

Trip to Savannah, GA

This was a great trip! We try to go somewhere for our anniversary every year. It doesn't always work out but when it does it is always a cherished memory. This trip was planned for the week after our actual anniversary so we could also go to watch Chase play in a golf tournament.

We left later than we had actually planned because so much has been going on in our family. The thought entered my mind to just cancel everything but the little voice in my head kept saying GO so we did. I am so GLAD that we did go. This ranks up at the top of our travel list.

On Friday evening we traveled to Atlanta, GA. We spent around 2 hours in the IKEA store. This is an amazing place. If you are looking for something unusual for your home or office, great organizational ideas, or just want to make the most of your space, this is a must place to visit. We finally checked in to our hotel around 9:30 PM and had dinner in the restaurant there. On Saturday, we slept in. This is very unusual for us. We have gotten old and normally don't sleep past 6:00 or 6:30 AM. We dressed in our Alabama attire and headed for Savannah, GA. Roll Tide Roll! We did hear and see some of the game. Along the way we made some stops and tried to make sure we ate at places we do not normally eat at around home. Some of the places we tried were: Big Chick, Village Pizza, Five Guys Burger & Fries, The Lady & Sons, Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, and The Shell House. You can't have a road trip without at least one stop at McDonald's.

When we arrived in Savannah, GA we stayed at The Marshall House. This was a beautiful place in Historic Savannah. It was built in 1851. It was voted Best of Savannah, featured on the Travel Channel's Great Hotels, named to Fodor's Hot List 2008 and listed among Coastal Living Magazine's Top 20 Favorite Hotels. Our room had been renovated in 2008. From the friendly people that greeted you, the valet parking, the nightly turn down service, the mints on your pillow, your complimentary bathrobes, the newspaper delivered to your room, the maid service, the delicious breakfast, and to the people at your beacon call to make sure stay was pleasurable, you could become spoiled. It was great!

One of my main goals was to eat at Paula Deen's restaurant The Lady & Sons. Chuck is such a good husband. We were up, ready, had breakfast, and standing on the curb by 9:00 AM to get our name on "the list" to have the Sunday Buffet at some point and time on Sunday. They don't even start taking names until 9:30 AM. Mission accomplished we were to eat at 2:00 PM!

To pass the time while we waited to "put some south in our mouth", we took the Oglethorpe Trolley Tour of The Historic Savannah Foundation. In 90 minutes we saw 250 years of history. Just to name a few we saw: River Street, Colonial Cemetery, Forsyth Park, Oglethorpe City Plan, Restored Waterfront, City Market, Waving Girl, Beautiful Churches and Synagogues, Davenport House, Hamilton-Turner Inn, The Old Pink House, Pirates House, City Hall, and The Mercer House. There has been many movies filmed in Savannah. I'll just mention a few that I can remember: Bagger Vance, Let's Give Them Something To Talk About, Forest Gump, The Garden of Good and Evil. How fitting the first golf course was always developed in Savannah. By the way, a Forest Gump look-a-like jumped up on our trolley. It was comical!

When it came time to check-in at The Lady & Sons we toured the gift shop. It was crazy! The place was packed. It was finally time to eat! Paula tells it like it is, "Everything does taste better with BUTTA y'all!" The Sunday Buffet is $15.99 per person. Your meal includes: Southern Fired Chicken, Baked Chicken, Roasted Pork Lion and Vegetables, Collard Greens, Mashed Potatoes, Yams, Lima Beans, Black Eye Peas, Green Beans, Creamed Corn, Mac and Cheese, Salad Bar, Banana Puddin', Peach Cobbler, Gooey Butter Cake, Hoe Cakes, Cheese Biscuits, and tea. It was finger lickin' and lip smackin' good!

To top the night off we went to Tybee Island to see "The Lighthouse" and the beach. On our way back to our hotel we made one more stop...Uncle Bubba's Oyster House (Paula Deen's brother). How cool is this. We ate at both of the places I really wanted to eat at in the same day! There we had: Crab Bites, Shrimp Quesadillas, Fried Pickles, Calamari, and Chocolate Pecan Pie with Vanilla Cream. We stuffed ourselves! It was delicious!

We did see Chase on Sunday afternoon as he finished up his practice round. Chuck and I went and bought the team a few snacks and energizers for the hotel and tournament. On Monday morning we were at the golf course at 8:00 AM to watch round one. This was a very hard course. Chase was also not feeling very well. Let me just say it was not a pretty round of golf. He shot 82 on Monday. Chase was 6 over after 3 holes. For all you non-golfers out there...this is not good. You could tell it was going to be a long day. The entire team did not play very well. Oh, by the way the temperature was a breezy and cold 70 degrees.

Another Alabama A&M family went to this tournament. So, that night Chase, Tyler (teammate), Cody (teammate), Tyler's parents, Chuck, and I went out to eat at The Shell House. Believe me when I say...There was a ton of seafood put away on this night. We had: Fired Shrimp, Boiled Shrimp, Snow Crab Legs, Oysters on the Half Shell, Crab Cakes, French Fies, Cole Slaw, Corn on the Cob, Salad, Baked Potatoes, and Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream. This was a fun night. We got to know Tyler and his family and Cody a little better.

Tuesday was a little better temperature wise and for Chase a little better golf wise. Chase shot 80 on Tuesday. He had the best score on his team on Tuesday and overall for the tournament on his team. Let's just say the Bulldogs were glad this tournament was OVER! They placed 10th out of 11 teams. This was the last tournament for the Fall golf season. They start back in the Spring. They will be missing one player, Larry. Larry will graduate in December and not be playing in the Spring. We will truly miss Larry. It has been a pleasure getting to know Larry.

Praise the Lord everyone returned home safely after a very long drive home! It's back to the real world today!