The Call

Ha!!! You saw the title and thought I was about to "wax elephants" about something spiritual didn't you??? NOT!!!!

Yesterday afternoon, a few things happened and I went home from work early. I left here at about 3:15 and so on my way home I called Christa to see how her day was going. She answered her phone with a squeal and the words "I got a call!!!" That was pretty call even though he called her collect which of course makes me chuckle!!

So I walked in the door of my house to see Dave and Carrie at the speaker phone talking to David! He called us collect also and told his dad it was probably costing about $1000 a minute. Probably not quite the truth. He has arrived, he is trying to settle in and will be getting a phone card so that he can call us maybe sometime today. There is an 8 hour time difference so that makes things interesting.

I just wanted you all to know that we heard from David and to please keep him and his family in your prayers!!

Pics From the Weekend

I thought I would try to post a few pictures from our weekend with David. Enjoy! The "descriptions" are above each picture!

We hadn't been at the hotel but about 30 minutes than this was the activity going on! Let me tell you they both were sawing logs!!!

This was David's main activity since the cell phone was going home with me the next day!

Doesn't he look excited and happy???

He is awake but that is about it!! Not to sure if he should smile or not!

I know - he looks just like me!!!

My Marine and I before we left on Sunday!

The Marine and his hero, his Dad!!

His last minute phone call before we headed out! Bet ya don't know who he was talking to, do ya??

Headed up the steps to his barracks - giving us his last wave!

My last sight of him! Yes I was crying and no, I was NOT happy!!

This was a sign I saw on a gazebo headed out of Jacksonville, NC. We actually saw lots and lots of these but this one really caught my eye!!

I attend Sunday School with at least two people I work with. The owner and VP were both in SS on Sunday morning when my friend Tara requested prayer for us since pretty much no one knew what was going on!! So when I got to work on Monday a couple of the guys brought this banner out and hung it above the window that is right across from my desk!! It was so nice of them and I was very thankful for their thoughts!!!!

My 1600, 36 hour Whirlwind Weekend & 7 Random things about me!

There - how is that for a blog title?!?!

Well, Friday evening we were enjoying a wonderful, high class meal at the local NEW McDonald's thanks to some gift certificates I found in my sons stuff when my cell phone rang. And what to my wandering ears did appear but the Marine. "Hey Mom - when you were going through my stuff, did you find a pair of boots?" I had and he promptly informed his mother (who was enjoying a greasy double-cheeseburger at that moment) that he HAD to have those boots before leaving his base on Sunday night. Hmmmm...6:15 on a Friday night? To be delivered on Saturday? NOT!!! Anyway, I called my good friend Tara whose husband works for FedEx and said "HELP!!!". But there was no help - too late for the truck!! So the decision was made!! What decision? Glad you asked!!
Dave and I left at 5:00 AM on Saturday morning and drove 12 hours to Camp Lejeune to play FEDEX for our son. Great parents aren't we?? Anyway, we got up there, picked David up, had supper at Outback, spent the night at a hotel (sleep was optional), left the hotel at 7 on Saturday (minus MY PILLOW) and took David back to base. Finally said our good byes and headed home about 45 minutes later. Dropped half dead into bed at around 9:30 last night.
So - yes I had to say goodbye to David again and no that wasn't easy. It was great to see him again even for a short time but still hard to say goodbye. He is officially on his way as I type! I really don't know when he will get there but I am not expecting to for awhile.
FOR THE RECORD - I think I have my emotions under control and after a "gentle, loving reminder" from my heavenly Father, I have things in hand. Much better than when I did my last post!! ** A collective sigh is heard by all readers!!***
On to the next reason for the blog - 7 random things about me!!
1) I LOVE Lima beans - cooked correctly of course!!
2) The longer I am married the more I love David!!
3) I have three of the best kids in the world!!
Oh wait - random things...let me see!!
4) I collect teddy bear figurines! Not picky - just love them!
5) I am trying to quit drinking Diet Mt Dew as of today!
6) The diet is officially back on although there is nothing in my house to eat for a diet!
7) I remember telling Nicole Cassady something about the piano she didn't know but I can't remember what it was - it was too long and too many kids ago!!
Okay - I am done!! And the clapping begins!!!

Therapy Time

I am sitting here at my desk barely holding the tears at bay. Christa and her parents are taking David to the airport in Atlanta as I type this. He flies back to base tonight in order to be there by noon tomorrow when his leave is over. He will find out the final plans tomorrow but as far as I know he will be heading out either Tuesday or Wednesday.
It seemed that as long as he was either here or with Christa, the "real" wasn't happening. I feel like I just cut the final string and my heart is torn to bits. I don't think I have fallen completely apart yet so unfortunately the worst is yet to come for you poor people who read this!!
I have all the favorite "sayings" down pat like - "God knows what is happening" and "He hasn't promised more than we can handle" and "Just trust in God" and all the other ones I can't think of right now. However, right now - I can't wrap my brain or my heart around the fact that my son is going to war. I can't picture him riding on top of a hummer with a 50 cal gun in his hand. I can't stomach the idea of him being cold for winter is coming or not hearing from him like I am used to. Of course there is always the fear that he will be bored and when he gets bored the world has no idea what can happen!!
So - here I sit. Tears are threatening like I can't imagine and the cold fear is starting to creep in. I know - sounds horrible doesn't it? Sorry - honesty is what I need right now. I have to unload this somewhere or my office mates are going to think they are working in an insane asylum!! I guess I just need to spout this off somewhere! If I were home, the situation would be different for Dave is the best supporter I have and I simply wouldn't survive without him.
Somehow I know that I will survive this and I have to be strong for my girls and Christa. Hopefully the next 7 months will fly by. That is what I am hanging onto right now. Thanks for "listening" and maybe before took long, I will have better stuff to post about and all will be bright and shiny again. Who knows? Miracles do happen!!

A Poem for ME today!

"Give me a new idea," I said, while musing on a sleepless bed;
"A new idea that'll bring to earth a balm for souls of priceless worth;
That'll give men thoughts of things above, and teach them how to serve and love,
That'll banish every selfish thought and rid men of the sins they've thought."

The new thought came, just how, I'll tell; Twas when on bended knee I fell,
And sought from HIM who knows full well the way our sorrow to expel.
SEE GOD IN ALL THINGS, great and small, and give Him praise whate'er befall,
In life or death, in pain or woe, see God, and overcome thy foe.

I saw HIM in the morning light, HE made the day shine clear and bright;
I saw HIM in the noontide hour, and gained from HIM refreshing shower.
At eventide, when worn and sad, HE gave me help, and made me glad.
At midnight, when on tossing bed my weary soul to sleep HE led.

I saw HIM when great losses came, and found HE loved me just the same.
When heavy loads I had to bear, I found HE lightened every care.
By sickness, sorrow, sore distress, HE calmed my mind and gave me rest.
HE's filled my heart with gladsome praise since I gave HIM the upward gaze.

Twas new to me, yet old to some, this thought that to me has become
A revelation of the way we all should live throughout the day;
For as each day unfolds its light, we'll walk by faith and not by sight.
Life will, indeed a blessing bring, if we SEE GOD IN EVERYTHING.

BIG NEWS!!

It's official!! As of Saturday, David and Christa are now engaged!! They are planning to get married on August 16th, 2008 (barring the Corp making them change it for some unknown reason)!!!!

Ramblings

This blog could be a mess but I seem to have a lot on my mind this morning and I am afraid that if I don't get it out, there could be a blow up soon so here goes.

I have been doing some thinking this week especially since Sunday morning. We had school revival last week with Jonathan Heath and Sunday morning he preached about revival and the reasons we don't experience it. This general thought has brought lots of things to my mind and then prayer meeting last night really got things to brewing!

First of all - confession - I am sooooooo guilty of getting wrapped up in my own little life and all the "problems" that I quickly lose sight of the bigger picture. For instance, we found out yesterday that a very, very dear friend of our family has breast cancer and will be having surgery this next week. I felt so frustrated in the beginning for I can't figure out "why her". Then my husband gently reminded me that God only brings what we can handle so HE must believe that they can make it through this. Of course my brain is way too wrapped up in the next 7 months of adventures in my sons life. Someone reminded me on Monday night at his party that I needed to remember that he was in God's hands and there is no safer place to be. Lesson? Let go and let God handle my "problems". Life would be much better if I did that!!!

Then of course there is the whole spiritual aspect of my life. Where do I stand anyway? Am I so caught up in the things that are going on in my life that I have lost sight of God? Priorities get so out of wack so easily it seems. I know - I am busy just like everyone else. There is always laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, homework, vehicle stuff, teenage "stuff", diets, exercise (or lack of those two), church, work and who knows what else. BUT - what about my Bible reading and prayer time? Are they really up to what I NEED them to be?? Do I really care enough about my relationship with God to change what I need to no matter the consequences with others?

I have been reading recently about the children of Israel and how the temple was destroyed and they have spent years in captivity. Now Ezra has begun the rebuilding process. But think about that - the Israelites had been in captivity so long that the younger generation had no idea about what "used" to be. The younger ones had probably adopted a life completely different from what their forefathers had lived. Present day - have I been so lazy in my spiritual life for so long that my children don't remember the "real" Holy life expected of us? It's just become a routine - a day to day living and handling the mundane duties of life. I sense a problem here.

Last night, Pastor Wolfe talked about purity but not like you think when you first read the word. There is so much more to it than that. I don't believe I ever realized it before. That is something I intend to study some more on my own. Being pure goes far beyond the "intimate" part of life. Being pure before God in entertainment, dress, activities and so much more.

Okay - so I have rattled enough. I am so very thankful for the faithfulness of God to speak to me when I need it most. I am not out here by myself. I know in my quest for the "real"....I will find God and that is all I need!

Pictures of our Last Week and Some "Explanation"

Okay - the following is a VERY BRIEF photo journal from the last week or so. It is a small journal in comparison to the actual events but at least it will give you the general idea.
This first picture happened when we first got David and spent some "quality time" stuffing his face at the local Cracker Barrel!! Of course the rest of us didn't mind eating either!!

This was taken this past Sunday night after church! I think you can say that the family was "complete" after Christa's arrival on Saturday morning. They can't seem to figure out that there are plenty of seats in the living room for everyone to have one!!

This was the early "Christmas" present that we bought for David to take "over yonder" with him. It is a Marine Bible and has some really great things in it that we felt would be very beneficial for him! We even had it engraved and hope that it comes back home with him in one piece (both him and the Bible!!!)

This was "proof positive" that during Dave's "Christmas" prayer, we should have raided the hankie drawer BEFORE he started. To say that we "snotted" up more than one hankie would be an understatement and David insisted I take a picture of his "snotty" arm!!!

We decided to try to have a party for David while he was here. This would be the very proud parents along with the awesome Marine behind the table with his cake. Yes - there WERE actually two cakes and no there is not any left!!

Yea - kinda self-explanatory I know but just in case.....this would be the two "love-birds" with the cake!!

I bought two of these cakes - one chocolate and one vanilla. Absolutely delicious - proof in that there wasn't hardly any left. Thanks to Tara for helping me out with this!! By the way, for the record, she has been a GREAT friend to me and I love her dearly!!

Even with her standing and them on their knees, she really isn't all that tall is she??? Ashley will fall apart when she sees that I put these two pictures on here but they just cracked me up!! The next picture is of her with them standing!!! This is Nathan Veyon, Joel Veyon and Doug Wiseman. Anyone want to tell me why that girl is always surrounded by boys?!?! Josh even tried to stick his head into the first picture!!


Well, this was only about 2/3 of my living room at one point. Let me see if I can get them all named - Clayton and Candace Carroll, Brittany Shillington, Danielle Case, Christa, Elisabeth McBryant (my niece), Courtney, Sean (Danielle's groom-to-be), Caleb Carroll, the knees of Clouse Hobbs, and Josh Kline. In the other 1/3 of the living room was Ashley, Carrie, Rebecca Kline, Joel and Nathan Veyon, Doug Wiseman and I seriously forget who else!!! Let's just say it was close to the noisiest room in the house for the entire time of the party!!

This group was in the kitchen - Mary Ellen Huff, Jackie Shamber, Karen Carroll, the red shirt belonged to Carla Case and Jan Hobbs is on the cell phone. Wonder how she heard that call??? My dear friend Tara was probably hiding from the camera but I think I have some pictures to post later that will take care of that!!

Let me see.....the men in the dining room. Oh yes - that is where the food was!!! Anyway, Ralph Hydes was in black, Dave is to his left, a small glimpse of Pat Davis, and then Joe Taylor was to Ralph's right. In the back was Pastor Wolfe talking to Jim Howard and then guarding the food table from burglars was Rick Huff, John Shamber and Brad Hawn!

There were lots of other people there and if I started trying to name everyone else that is not in a picture I would be in trouble. We had a great turn-out and I was pleased for David.
So that is it for now! I am sure that there will be more sometime later. I am enjoying having him home and I thank God for HIS blessings!!

NEWS FLASH!!

A new blog is coming with lots if pictures I hope but it's going to take awhile!! Keep checking back unless the funny farm is getting contagious and you want no part of the craziness we are enduring!!!!

Pictures of My "Baby"

Well, if I have managed to do things properly - I may have some pictures for you! I am sure that I will be having my husband send out invitations to my funeral when this is all said and done!!
This is my "baby" about an hour after I gave birth! At that moment, the person taking the picture was probably grateful that the camera did not have a strap on it or it would have been wound very tightly around their neck!!!!! Yes, I had those dorky huge glasses and yes, I was actually that skinny at one point in my life!!



This is what was commonly referred to as the "Sumo Wrestler"!! A short story to go along with "His Chunkiness"...this child literally ate ALL THE TIME. We started out with a bottle every two hours. Then we went to the bottle and cereal every morning and evening when he was about 4 weeks old. Then we went to the bottle every two hours, cereal every morning and evening and three small jars of baby food for lunch and supper. Okay - so do you get the general idea? And yes, those every two hour bottles went all 24 hours every single day!!!!! He started at 5 lb 7 oz and at 6 months we were at 16 lbs. If you have seen him recently, you know that he NEVER took a break except for the 3 months at boot camp!!!

And this is just probably one of my favorite pictures of David when he was a baby! He was usually pretty happy - unless of course you were not feeding him fast enough!! The reason for this smile was more than likely his Dad who had the ability to get him to smile just about anytime!!! A side note - this picture was not taken at my house...note the ghastly wallpaper in the background!!


It's funny - I was somewhat emotional yesterday. (I know shocking, huh? Just ask Donna!) I was looking back over some pictures of past years and realized that time has flown by so quickly. The rest of it will go by just as fast. I am determined to see Jesus and make sure that my children make it to heaven also.

The Final Birthday Story of the Year

I know - I really should have a picture to post with this but if that is what you want to see.....go to LaDonna's blog. I will try to post some later.
Twenty years ago today, I was a scared young girl. This story has some funny parts and will probably bring me to tears in others so here goes!!! Dave was working second shift at a factory plus working part-time in groundskeeping at the hospital. I was babysitting a baby for a nurse who worked second shift at the same hospital. I had told her that this particular Friday would be my last night. I had three weeks til my baby was due and looking at the huge pile in the crib, I knew I had to have some time to get it all taken care of and ready for the big event!! My charge left around midnight and I ......well, I decided to clean up the house and get some food ready for David when he got home around 2am. We ate and sat on the floor and played Skip-Bo until we decided to go to bed around 5am. Guess what happened a short 2 hours later?? Yep - my water broke. So....somewhere along about 9 I called the doctor who asked me to head on down to the hospital even though there was absolutely NOTHING happening. There are just simply too many events that happened that day to record here. Things like: visitors I didn't even know, a relative that passed out, no contractions AT ALL for what seemed like a long time, my delivery nurse ended up being the Director of Nursing for the hospital, and so many other things. Anyway, with the help of some medicine the contractions began in earnest around 10 PM and at 11:40, my little, tiny, 5lb. 11oz., 15 1/2 inch long baby boy arrived. My first thought? What in the world am I supposed to do now??
We struggled in the beginning but once we figured out the bottles and the fact that this child would insist on eating EVERY TWO HOURS AROUND THE CLOCK, we survived. Actually, his eating habits haven't really changed much! He still eats all the time but the difference is I am not paying for it all!! David was always a strong-willed boy but we managed to get through that also but WHEN that happened I will NEVER tell!!! He has always been a good student - especially when he WANTED to be. We have had our share of ups and downs in his life but I wouldn't trade him for anything!
David has now become this smart, handsome, well-mannered, polite, charming, nutty, fun-loving Marine. He truly desires to live his life pleasing to Christ which pretty much out-shines anything else I say!! It is nice having him home right now. He thinks his Dad is the biggest HERO in the world and loves his sisters to an over-protective fault. He thinks his mom is the shortest, goofiest (is that a word?) person ever!
I have mixed emotions about my son right now but I love him to pieces and am so very, very proud of him. I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. My heart hurts when I think of what he is getting ready to do but I know that a long time ago, his first birthday to be exact, we dedicated him to God and that is where he stays. Safely in the palm of HIS hand!!
Happy birthday, David!!! You are the greatest son in the world!!!