what a day!

God is just like morton's salt. "when it rains, it pours".

He really showed off this past friday ~

the baby chick got a job.

the newlyweds have a contract on their first house.

march 12, 2010........what a day!

He has poured out some beautiful blessings on our family. how grateful we are. He's just the Sweetest and most Perfect!

miss em ~

she'll be an 'accounting' intern for the HOUSTON TEXANS! it's a facade. they even told her so. it's just a stepping stone to a future that right now only God knows. i'm guessing He's exploding with the awesome knowledge of her future. really big belly laugh! we're way okay with that. she'll start with day one and watch her life unfold one day at a time. professional football. seriously? dream? check. totally aware of how big God is? check. can't wait to watch the unfolding!

k2 ~

first house. fabulously scary step! they're up for it. oh happy day. did i mention they have a pool? so this summer it'll be BYOFS -- bring your own food and stuff! some serious fun with their new married friends. cooking out, laughing with peeps, soaking in the vitamin d. a place of their own. a real home. starting their new life. it doesn't get any better than that. or does it? the future looks pretty amazing!

we're missing our middle. every minute. praying that soon she'll be back with us. we're waiting and watching for her.

here is our celebration picture. we went to vic & anthony's...our fave. reynard, our favorite waiter, was there to help us celebrate along with an old family friend.

good times.

incredible God.

thank You so much!

the birthday girl

i will very soon become an age of which i cannot even say out loud. if wisdom comes with age i should be so wise now! alas, it does not. i wish i were a wise woman.

i'm a slow learner .... so that means that i'm extremely grateful to God for allowing me to take my sweet time to come to my senses! if life is a journey, i've taken more than my share of detours. i am not an optimist. i wish i were. i have to work hard to try to be one. i try. harder....like avis?

so here is my gratitude list ~ just a few:

~ i am so grateful for a supportive and loving husband

~ the three beautiful daughters that God so lavishly gave us

~ friends that have always been just that

~ a sister who has staying power

~ a beautiful home

~ a rockin' car

~ a God who IS

~ spring

sometimes i get overwhelmed by all the mistakes i've made. i still make them. so if my husband or my children ever read this - i want to tell you how much i love you. i hope that you'll forgive all of my errant behavior and decisions that weren't the best. i'm still a work in progress for sure!

bill ~ thank you for everything. how you've put up with me is amazing. i think

we might make it!

kate ~ the most beautiful bride! think more about what you can do for your

husband on a daily basis than of yourself. these are words of wisdom that

i wish i'd have done more of.

kyle ~ you're so welcomed and loved! it's great to have a son!!

mollie ~ i love you!

emily ~ may you find what you're looking for. i know you will! be open and

ready to "do whatever it takes"!

happy birthday, sandi! i'm beginning to love you a little bit more every day! :)

twenty ten !

here we are again! thirty-four years of wedded bliss. well, of marriage. wink. we're at vic & anthony's again but without rynard. he definitely makes it more fun. btw...that's creme brulle, not a plate of burned goo.

new year. new decade. newly married daughter complete with new son-in-law. xoxo

i'm not one for resolutions but it is a time to look forward and think about things i'd like to do or do better or not keep doing. so far i've been really bad at 'not keep doing'. i just can't seem to get my head completely straight. grrr. i will persevere!

i've been thinking about how much God loves us. the story about the shepherd who leaves his entire flock to go out and look for the one that is lost. all by itself, that's amazing. but he does it. he looks everywhere. and he finds the lost lamb! does that lamb understand that he could've lost his life? does he even know that he's lost? why did he wander in the first place? doesn't he know that the safest place is with his master?

i will venture to say that he does not. by the mere fact that he has drifted away. he is unaware of his plight. of his fragile and precarious situation. and that's how it happens, isn't it? we ever so slowly drift away. it's a slow fade. and we find ourselves.......lost. and we don't even know it. or someone we know has lost their way. and they are lost. even if we can't find them, God can. God can. and He will. we need only to pray. and hope. and watch. and wait.

He is the Great Shepherd.

one of our lambs is lost. God has left the protected to go and find the unprotected. He will prevail. His way will be done. may we rest in the bewildering knowledge of how much He loves us. He will search until His lamb is found. He will not give up. and neither will we.

He gives hope and a future. a future that we wouldn't otherwise have.

what a friend we have in Jesus!

.....and they're living happily ever after

it was a magical night.

a fairytale.

she was beautiful.

he was handsome.

the night was straight out of a favorite book.

the first page in a brand-new one.

and it's their book.

off they went to the honeymoon. the virgin islands. sun, sand, beaches, beautiful water, a 45 foot sea ray adventure, forests and views of God's handiwork everywhere.

sunsets on the ocean are unique and awesome.

they're home and life begins ~

it will never be the same because now, now they're sharing it together. just as it should be.

the book is open. and now every "first" begins.....

yesterday was their first one-month anniversary.

today is their first thanksgiving as mr. and mrs. lawrence.

let the story begin....................

"May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord's face radiate with joy because of you!

May He show you His favor and give you His peace."

Numbers 6:24

going to the chapel and they're gonna get married...

she's getting married four weeks from yesterday.

kate, darling, (let me borrow that endearment from grandmother) ~ you were the object of my dreams, the prayer that was answered by God. just when i had given up, God smiled and said yes!

only parents, of course, understand the wonder of first children. you truly were a wonderment. "the best gift". (thank you barbra streisand) and just in time for christmas.

eleven days before you get married you'll have your twenty-eighth birthday. happy birthday. (two and a half weeks early) what a nice present!

you're marrying a great guy, kate. he really loves you. he's nice. and handsome. you go together. you fit. we were happy to give you our blessing. very important.

you will be such a beautiful bride! the most beautiful. i can see you now coming down the aisle. radiant. full of joy and love. the biggest day. i pray that you and kyle will make the most important part of your lives together based on the Lord. it will determine everything. and life will go so much better for you!

here is one of my favorite verses for marriage ~

"two are better than one because they have a good return for their work. if

one falls down, the other can pick him up. but pity the man who falls and

has no one to help him up! also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

but how can one keep warm alone? though one may be overpowered, two can

defend themselves. a cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

i love you both and i'm looking forward with great anticipation and joy to your very own day!

xoxo mthr

(it's nice to have a boy in our family, kyle, you've done a great job of handling all these girls!)

the baby chick

it's true. my baby chick, emily jane, graduated from college. thank You, God! yea. no more payments of any kind, at least to or for texas a&m. ever. to any college. any. where. ever. you can see me doing the happy dance, can't you?

packing and moving was......well, insane. but it's done, over, kaput. with tons of help from her 'mama' and a cache full of amazing friends. thank you, amazing friends.

so now it's job fair. every. day. not nearly as much fun as college. (the fun part not the class and studying part) it's real world part. it's going back home to fun-filled parents part. i crack myself up with the adjective there. we, the parents, are down to the mundane with only bursts of fun-filled-ness. not to be confused with college graduate fun-filled. ness. it's major computer time and resumes part. it's the interviewing part. with companies that aren't even close to what she wants to do. what does she want to do? no worries. she'll figure it out. sooner or later. no pressure but we're all hoping for sooner. wink.

okay. we're going to make it. all of us.

"this is a test. this is only a test. if it were not a test, your local broadcasting company would inform you. stay tuned to this channel."

we're staying tuned to this channel.

and guess who the broadcaster is? yes, thankfully, it's God Himself. so we will all persevere, we will all continue to pray (especially ejb) and we will all keep tuned-in to every channel that He gives us.

He really is... mighty to save.

even college grads without a job.

i love you baby chick.

AND DON'T YOU EVER FORGET IT.

wink. wink. wink.

just random thoughts...a few more things

i just can't shake this 'feeling'. when your parents die, life goes on. and everyone and the world goes on. as it should be. but i'm left with the feelings, the memories. the fragility of life. the strength of life. the wisp of death. it really is like "the twinkling of an eye". you're here one split second and then you're not....you're gone. in an instant, you're gone from this world.

for my children ....i just want to write this down for you. i want you to know that, without the smallest doubt, God is real. Jesus is real. He is who He says He is. He is God and there is no other! i want you to know that God does the most unbelieveable things for me. i am at a complete loss for words as to why.

here's the story that i want you to know ~ i was sitting by my mother's bed the morning that she died. her breathing had changed even more, her body, her eyes, everything about her was changing. but is was sweet and peaceful. i watched as she was being drawn away, as she was leaving this world. i saw her eyes moving under her lids. i watched the artery in her throat pulsating. she made a grimace and then another one. then she made three distinct 'sounds', like sighs except that i heard her voice in those sighs. it was surprising to me even at the moment. and that was it. she was gone.

it wasnt' until later when i sat beside her again and began writing in my journal that i suddenly realized what i had witnessed. the Bible tells us that God has 'called us by name' and that we will rise to meet Him when we die unless we're living when He returns and we will rise with Him. as i was writing about hearing her voice in those sighs, i instantly knew that God was calling her name and that she was answering Him!!! that God allowed me to witness this most sacred event is beyond my comprehension. i was sitting there, seemingly alone, when in actuality we were surrounded by angels and God Himself calling her name. i am as humbled as a human being can be.

i still feel fragile but i wanted you to know this.