Back To Reality

Well, I am definitely "back in the saddle" again! Today was my second day of re-entry into the real world. It went better than yesterday. Yesterday I was so tired that I almost fell asleep while I was teaching...pretty pathetic, huh? But my student and I are reading an exceptional little novel called Number the Stars written by Lois Lowery. It is a captivating account of how the people of Denmark were able to hide nearly all of their Jewish population during WWII.

I have several students that I work with in Houston. Ever since I moved here I have had a variety of teaching jobs. I chose not to get a Texas teaching certificate and limit myself to a traditional classroom. Rather, I decided to teach individuals, and I LOVE it! I'm not stuck in a classroom; I get to drive to several homes. I don't have discipline problems, I have no papers to grade; I only have students that really have a desire to learn. I'm back to the reason I entered the field of education in the first place - for the pure joy of teaching, and finally I get to do just that! No more jumping through the hoops for my principal or marching to the beat of a Superintendent. Nope! Now I get to call the shots, and I thoroughly enjoy that!

I work with a variety of different students. Last year, for example, I worked for Two Jewish families and taught their sons English and World History. I also work for a large global oil company that is based in Argentina. When they place engineers in Houston that do not speak English, part of their benefits package is English lessons. I usually become quite involved in their lives in the beginning and serve as their "security blanket" as they navigate the maze of where to buy groceries or confront their fear of talking on the phone with limited English skills. They are very bright and pick up on the language very well!

I also work for a family that has a 17 year-old son that suffers from ADD. His school experiences have been a nightmare, so this year they pulled him out of school and I help their son prepare for the GED.

And finally, I tutor some high school English students on an "on call" basis, which usually means I get a call whenever they need help with a research paper.

So that's how I spend my days, teaching and traveling from job to job. My days are full and I feel very fullfilled!!

What a Fabulous Trip!

I just returned to Houston tonight. What a fabulous time I had visiting family and friends! I have lots of pictures to post and stories to tell, but tonight I'm pretty tired, and I begin teaching tomorrow morning (and still need to make lesson plans!). Anyway, I will post just a little bit before I call it a day...

This is my granddaughter, Leilani. She is seven years old and in second grade. Our son, Ted (her Daddy). and Leilani were at the airport in Grand Rapids to pick Bill and I up at 11:15 in the evening. Leilani goes to an all-year school, so she had the week off. She was able to spend the night with us and have a slumber party with her Gandma! We had so much fun that she decided to stay a second night.

This is Leilani's Mother, Lily. Lily was born in Taiwan and came to the United States when she was about five years old. Her father was a professor in a Dutch community in Iowa when Lily was young. She said she was featured in a Tulip Festival parade, and she was dressed as a little Dutch girl! I wish we had pictures of that!

And this is our son, Ted, playing with their son, Bill. He is named after his Grandpa, but I think they will soon call him Will instead of Bill.

This is our handsome grandson, Bill. Bill is four years old and is autistic. He is not verbal yet, so his teachers are trying to teach him sign language. He is full of energy, has a beautiful smile, and is very bright and curious!

It was so good to spend a few days with Ted and Lily and their children. We don't get to see them too often, so our visits with them are cherished!

Okay...that's it for tonight, and I will share more of my trip tomorrow. Night!

My Worst Nightmare!!!

I'm EXCITED!!! On Thursday I will be flying to Grand Rapids to spend time with my Mom and sisters. I'm looking forward to visits with family and friends. I love meeting up with friends that I only get to see every couple of years and just spend time filling in the gaps of what we've been up to since we last met. I love that about friends...I love the ways that years can pass without seeing one another, and yet friends can just pick right back up - without skipping a beat - and catch up with one another's lives.

The main reason I'm going up North (beside seeing my family!) is that I am on the alumni board of my college. On Friday, September 26, I meet with the board, but I also have been asked to speak in chapel that morning. I LOVE reconnecting with old friends from college - a few of them are even professors at the college! And, of course, I'll also be relishing my time in downtown Chicago. I used to live and work on Michigan Avenue, and I Love, Love, Love walking arounnd my old hangouts and just enjoying the city. I'm hoping that this time I will FINALLY get to see "WICKED". My sister and I will be staying right on Michigan Avenue at the Marriot and I can hardly contain my excitement!!

Today a friend sent me this. I've been laughing all morning. And, of course, with a speaking engagement coming up soon, this is my worst nightmare. Hope I don't make any flubs like this one! Well, gotta go and get ready for my trip! Did I tell you, I'M EXCITED!!??!!!

Dr. Evans

No church today...all services are cancelled down here because of the storm. Over one million Houstonians are without power and most everything is closed. It's hard to get out and about right now because of all the debris that needs to be cleared from the roads. It's also dangerous to drive - many of the traffic lights are either out or dangling from wires.

I had my own little church service. While the rest of my family was sleeping, I listened to a sermon I had downloaded onto my ipod. The sermon was by a pastor from Dallas, Dr. Tony Evans. Bill heard him at a conference in New Orleans, and I hear him every morning on the radio as I drive to work. He's so dynamic and hearing him preach is a great way for me to start my day.

Here's little example of his preaching style. If you like listening to him, visit his website (www.tonyevans.org)and you can hear even more! Have a blessed beginning to the new week ahead! Hugs!

Making Pearls

The storm has passed. Finally! I have nothing but praise to report. The storm grew in intensity through the night and the wind was ferocious. I wanted so badly to sleep the storm away, but it was impossible. The sounds in the dark were so intense, coupled with the pelting rain, and that made it impossible to do anything but lie awake and pray that God would protect us. Finally morning came, but the winds had not quieted down. I was able to look outside, however, and it looked like we had very little damage, if any. By eleven this morning the storm had passed through and I was able to go outside and investigate. We had no flooding, no trees down, and only a few shingles off of the roof! Amazing!

I have to be honest, however, and tell you that going through the storm shook me. I thought I had come to a place where God had taught me so much. I thought I was finally at a place where I could be strong. Well, this served to remind me that while God has, indeed, taught me many lessons, I still have a LONG way to go! As I laid in bed last night, so many memories of Katrina came back to me. Going through that storm was very much like dealing with the death of someone you love. The stages of grief were very similar. At first I was just numb. Then slowly I realized all that we lost and what we were up against. I was thankful that our family was fine, but I grieved over things that I would never see again - things that I couldn't replace. I lost so many precious family pictures, my babies' baby books, those little envelopes where I kept their hair from their first haircut, their baptism outfits that I had hoped to see on their children someday, and the list went on and on. One day, out of nowhere, I remembered a pin from my Grandmother, and her pearls that I wore on my wedding day. And I remembered a special pearl necklace that I received when I was a young 19 year old college student. Those were the things that I grieved - those irreplaceable things from my past.

It's been three years since Katrina, and I thought I was strong. This recent storm reminded me that I'm not meant to be the strong one...God is! His Word tells me that I'm just a jar of clay. 2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
I really pray that God develops me into a pearl for His glory. A pearl is formed out of irritation. A grain of sand enters the mollusk and that little oyster begins to form layer after layer of nacre to surround the irritation. And finally one day, the pearl is opened and there, nestled safe and secure, is a beautiful pearl! Not all oysters, however, make pearls. They are opened , have no pearl, and are tossed aside, to be used in soup or thrown away.

I don't want to be tossed away. My prayer is that any adversity I go through will reveal that I am weak, but He is strong. After all, God is busy making pearls!

Waiting...

I have never liked going to the dentist's office. Even as a little girl, I would try every trick in the book to get out of going. Even something simple like getting my teeth cleaned seemed to make me sick to my stomach! When I was pregnant I had a horrible toothache and waited for as long as I could stand it before I reluctantly called Dr. Smith. He told me he was going to have to pull my wisdom tooth. He even said he had time to do it right then and there! My reply? "Oh, thanks, but I think I better ask my husband first!" (Proof that I CAN be submissive to my husband! LOL)

That's kind of how I feel right now as I wait for Hurricane Ike. I have that same "oh-no-I-have-to-go-to-the-dentist" kind of stomach ache. After living on the Gulf Coast for over 25 years, I've experienced hurricanes and they are never fun. I'm not looking forward to hearing those horrible wind gusts that last for hours. I don't look forward to spending days without electricity.

I've prepared as best I could with water, food, etc. and now I need to emotionally prepare. How? I remind myself of the many ways my Heavenly Father shows His love for His children. These are a couple of the verses that I love:

1. Psalm 147:4 He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name. To me, that is so comforting. The God of the universe not only created every star, He also has a name for every star. And if He knows their names, He knows my name too! I'm not just one in a mass of humanity. He knows my name and He knows I need Him to be with me during the storm.

2. Hebrews 7:25 ...He always lives to intercede for them. It fills me with awe to know that Jesus prays for me! So right now He is bringing my prayer requests to God! Talk about having an awesome prayer partner!!!

3. Isaiah 49:15-16 ... I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands... My God has my name tattooed on His hands!

4. Isaiah 43:1,2,5 Fear not, for I have redeemed you: I have summoned you by name: you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. DO NOT BE AFRAID, FOR I AM WITH YOU.

And so there you have it...having to face another storm, but not having to face it alone. Next time I post, the storm will be past and I'll tell you how we fared.

Take a Hike, Ike!

This morning I woke up to many reminders of the hours before Katrina. Ike is a serious storm and it is being taken seriously by everyone here in Texas. Even though we live 70 miles from the Gulf (as opposed to where we were with Katrina - our home was right on the Gulf), we are still promised very strong winds and rain for many hours as Ike slowly lumbers to the North. I won't lie...I'm scared. This storm is serving to trigger some of my most vulnerable areas - areas that I have been trying so hard to deal with over the past year. So when I woke up this morning and was confronted with non-stop media coverage, when I saw that Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel was in Galveston (that's an inside joke among hurricane survivors...you can tell where the hurricane is coming because that's where you'll find Jim Cantore!), when I saw the lines were even longer at the gas pumps this morning, when I got an email from church asking where we were going to ride out the storm, when I got a call from my husband telling me the office would shut down at 1:00 today, that's when I went to my only constant source of comfort - my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ. I also found myself singing a song that I've loved since I first heard it in college. These are the words:

When I think I'm going under, part the waters, Lord
When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea
When I cry for help, oh, hear me
Lord and hold out Your hand
Touch my life
Still the raging storm in me.

Today I have that song on a CD, sung by a group named Selah. I love their voices and their music. The group was made up of a brother and sister and their friend from college. Today the sister is raising her family, so there is a new singer. I had the privilege of hearing them live two years ago on a cruise - of all places! The whole ship was filled with Christian women and all of the speakers and artists were Christian. It was so uplifting. Anyway, I tried to find the lyrics to the song, and I stumbled across this video. It is a somber reminder of 9/11 and the war. So many are vocal about their disdain for this war, but the bottom line is that we have thousands of our sons and daughters over there right now, ready to give their lives to defend us and our country. We owe them our honor and thanks. And we owe them our prayers. So please join with me in remembering all the families affected by 9/11, those affected by war, and those bracing themselves against Ike. Well, for some reason I can't post the video, so just click here to watch it:

Time To Hunker Down!

Sadly, I realize I'm not in Mississippi anymore. Our radio and tv stations are all abuzz with information about Hurricane Ike. While they are giving good advice on evacuation routes, what supplies to have on hand, and how to properly prepare, I miss hearing the voice of Governor Barbour from MS telling us to "hunker down"! He managed to get the message out to all of us in two words...and believe me, we knew what those two words meant! Right now Houston and the Gulf Coast is in the process of hunkering down. There are lines of cars at all the gas stations. Tanks need to be full in case of evacuation or in case tankers aren't able to get here for a few days. Places like Loew's are busy selling lumber for people to use to cover up their windows. Wal mart and Target have all the hurricane supplies in the front of the store - water, candles, batteries, and canned food - so that customers can grab the stuff and go. Within the last hour our phone has been ringing. Our dinner with friends on Sat. has been cancelled. The girl that cuts my hair cancelled my Sat. appointment. The boy that I teach every morning is evacuating, so I won't teach him the rest of the week. I am part of a care team that cares for quintuplets. My shift is on Saturday mornings, but they are evacuating, so I won't see those precious babies for awhile! And many friends are calling to make sure we are okay and asking what we are going to do. Quite honestly, I don't know. We are watching all the reports very carefully and will make a decision in the morning. Regardless of where it hits, we will have bad weather - lots of wind and rain - for the next few days. Please pray for the people down here. Ike looks like a serious storm. Well, time to "HUNKER DOWN"!

You're Not Alone

Whew! I just finished with my last class for the day and I'm ready to call it a day! Before I turn in, I want to share a song that I've been hearing on the radio and I think it's so comforting. So, for all my dear friends(and I know there are many of you)that are being hit with adversity and need to be reminded of God's deep and abiding love, this song's for you!

I searched for love, when the night came, and it closed in,
I was alone, but you found me, where I was hiding,
and now I'll never ever be same, it was the sweetest voice, that called my name saying

You're not alone, for I am here, let me wipe away your every fear,
My love,I've never left your side, I have seen you through the darkest night,
And I'm the one that who's loved you all your life, All of your life.
You cry yourself to sleep, 'cause the hurt is real, and the pain cuts deep,
all hope seems lost, with heartache your closest friend, and everyone else long gone,
you've had to face the music on your own, but there is a sweeter song that calls you home, saying

You're not alone, for I am here, let me wipe away your every tear,.
My love I've never left your side, I have seen you through the darkest nights,
And I'm the one who's loved you all your life, All your life.

Faithful and true... Forever, For my love will carry you... You're not alone, for I... I am here, let me wipe away your every fear... Oh yeah, My love I've never left your side, I have seen you through your darkest night, Your darkest nights, And I'm the one that's loved you all your life, All of your life

Fur Elise

Elise, do you recognize this fountain?

Here's yet another one of the thousands of little fountains that are scattered throughout Houston. The two I posted are in our neighborhood. I think we have about ten in all!

This text is "Fur Elise". For those of you not familiar with this song, it's probably because you haven't had a child that took piano lessons! Elise happens to be the name of my youngest child. On the day Elise was born our pediatrician, Dr. Tucker, was in the delivery room and asked what the baby's name was. We told her "Elise" and without missing a beat she started humming this famous song. Dr. Tucker - what a character! I first saw her way back in the early 80's. She would come into the local grocery store (It was named "Jitney Jungle". Can you tell we lived in Mississippi!?!) Anyway, she would come in for the sole purpose of playing a popular video game, "Ms. Pacman". Back in those days, we didn't have elaborate game systems in our homes, so games were played in stores or arcades. One day while I was at the hospital, I saw my Ms. Pacman "friend". I didn't have a clue who she was, I just figured that maybe she worked at the hospital. After all, whenever I saw her, she was always dressed in scrubs. When David was born, she popped into my room and said "Congratulations!" As she left I thought to myself, "What a friendly little hospital. Even the janitorial staff comes in to say hi!" Then David had his first appointment with a pediatrician. Imagine my surprise when Dr. Tucker walked in! For a few seconds I was confused, and then embarrassed as it slowly dawned on me who my Pacman playing janitor REALLY was!!

Well, I digress. This is the point where you might lose interest because this is really meant for Elise, who is now living on her own in Mobile, Alabama and attending US of A. I miss her terribly. Elise has this spirit, this spark about her that makes her fun to be around. Our home is much quieter without her here! Elise has a favorite song. It's an old hymn called, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing." I don't know why that's her favorite. Why is that song your favorite, Elise? All I know is that whenever she calls my cell phone or sends me a text, my phone plays that hymn. I get so many comments from people when they hear my phone go off and it starts playing that hymn. I especially like it when my phone goes off in Macy's. You should see all the people craning their necks to figure out where that church music is coming from! Today I got a text from her that said, "I miss you, Mommy!" Ah, music to my ears. I miss her, and think of her so often...especially when I'm driving around Houston. Now I know why. It's all the fountains I pass as I drive around Houston. I teach English all over the city, so I pass my fair share of these fountains every day. I think tomorrow I'll start counting them. And Elise, every time I pass one, I can't help but think of you and say a prayer for you. Some days it may not feel like it, but God's got it all under control, Elise, and He's working everything out for your good and for His glory! Here's a little story about that favorite song of yours:

Robert Robinson (1735-1790) got saved under the ministry of George Whitefield. He even entered into the Christian ministry, but he still tended to wandered from God. He wrote the hymn “Come Thou Fount” as an autobiographical sketch. His heart would get out of tune, causing him to neglect God. In stanza two he tells of his conversion. And stanza three he admits that he has a daily debt to Grace and asked God to help his wandering heart.. One day, in his latter years, while he was on a stagecoach, a female passenger wanted to share her faith with him. His actions that day spoke as one not knowing Christ. She quoted this hymn saying, “These words might help you as they have helped me.” He sobbed, “Madam, I am the poor, unhappy man who composed that hymn many years ago. I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;Praise the mount-I’m fixed upon it-mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I’m come;And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.Jesus sought me when a stranger, wand’ring from the fold of god;He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to Thee;Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;Here’s my heart, O take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above.

Click here to enjoy the song. It's performed by college students and reminds me of your choir days! Love you so very much, and I know tomorrow will be a better day. Hugs!

What Does "Gruntled" Mean?

The movie I watched.
The hurricane I'm keeping my eye on!

One of my favorite billboards which, unfortunately, is too small for you to read, so I'll explain it in this blog.

Chicago....one of my hands-down, all-time favorite places to be!!! On a recent visit, I looked out of my hotel window and saw this billboard. It was so good, I had to snap a picture of it. Unfortunately, I don't think you can read the big red sign unless you can enlarge the picture, but it says "Leave disgruntled. Arrive gruntled." That's clever, isn't it? That's how my weekend was...I went into it disgruntled...but now I'm gruntled and ready to take on the demands of a new week.

So why was I disgruntled? Basically because I've been sick. Nothing major, but enough to make me have the chills and want to sleep all day. I've had several headaches, and a low-grade fever. and now it's been passed on to my husband and son. They just got back from urgent care and have "twin" prescriptions.

And what better thing thing to do if you're feeling crummy? Watch movies! I wrapped up in my pink blanket, surrounded myself with ice water and carrots (I know! I'm on a diet!), stretched out in the recliner, and watched "Dan In Real Life". My daughter, Elise, kept telling me how much she enjoyed this movie. I did, too. It's not an action-packed adventure, but just a slow-paced plot about the life of an advice columnist named Dan Burns. At the very end of the movie he writes these words of wisdom in his newspaper column: Plans. We're always asking young people, "So, what are your plans?" Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.

That's pretty good advise, isn't it! We just never know what's around the corner! But God does!

And speaking of right around the corner, have you been tracking Ike? Yikes! Can you see me on the map above? I'm the one in Houston frantically trying to fan this thing in another direction! We'll be keeping our eye on this one for most of the week, I'm sure.

The second movie that I watched (and don't tell anyone, but this time around I had iced tea and a fiber bar! I know...there's nothing like a walk on the wild side!) was "The Girl With the Pearl Earring" Another slow-paced, but beautifully told story about the famous Dutch painting. A lot of it I enjoyed merely for the setting. It takes place in Delft, Holland. I'm looking forward to the day when I can visit Holland, the birthplace of my husband and all my ancestors. I also want to see this work by Vermeer (the actual painting of the girl with the pearl earring) in person. So get ready, Alice, (my college roommate who lives in Amsterdam) 'cause I'm planning a visit soon!

And the last thing I did was to begin a book called "The Shack"...thanks for recommending it, Daryce! So far, so good! (Note to Daryce: I'll be in Chicago in two weeks and we can discuss the book then, ok?)

So that's my weekend, and I'm feeling very gruntled. And I'm wishing all of you a very gruntled week! Hugs!

Love It!!! Gotta Share It!!!

Just read this and had to share it!

Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1996):
The ultimate ground of our rejoicing can never be our circumstances, even though we as Christians recognize that our circumstances are providentially arranged. If our joy derives primarily from our circumstances, then when our circumstances change, we will be miserable. Our delight must be in the Lord himself. That is what enables us to live with joy above our circumstances. As Nehemiah puts it, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the Lord sometimes allows miserable circumstances to lash us—that we may learn this lesson.…Whatever the mysteries of evil and sorrow, they do have the salutary effect of helping believers to shift the ground of their joy from created things to the Creator, from the temporary to the eternal, from jingoism to Jesus, from consumption to God. (p. 106)

And on a lighter note, I got a phone call from a dear college friend who was reading my post from yesterday. She told me she laughed so hard at the part where I said how I, if I were an Israelite in the desert, would have been gathering manna all day instead of just a little jar-full. "Who are you trying to kid, Joey??? I know you, and you would be out there with a shovel and a refrigerator box!"

Ouch!! I guess my flaws aren't as well hidden as I had hoped!! But hey, I'm learning....one day at a time. :)

One Day At A Time

Here is the current projected path for Ike.

Just when I thought it was safe to turn off the weather channel...here comes another one! Ike is already tracking at a Catagory 4. Please keep all those in the path of this storm (as well as those in the path of Hannah) in your prayers.

I was just looking over my blog, and on one of the posts I said that I was going to share more about these four words: Lord, is, my, and shepherd. I didn't stay on track. Like the above hurricane, I'm a little "wobbly" and "unpredictable"! But for just a little bit, I want to share what I learned about the word "is" as it relates to going through the storms of life.

It really helped me to learn and experience the truth that the Lord IS my shepherd. Not that He WAS my shepherd, or that He WILL BE my shepherd...I learned that He IS my shepherd. To me, that means that right here, right now, God is with me and will meet the needs that I have today. Someone once said, "God has just enough grace for TODAY." I'm still pondering that statement, but I think that person means that God doesn't want us to worry about our yesterdays or our tomorrows. Like a magnet on my sister's refrigerator door says,"Yesterday is past, tomorrow is not promised to us, but we have the gift of today...and that's why it is called "the present".

As I dealt with all the overwhelming details of losing everything, of dealing with insurance companies, mortgage officers, FEMA and SBA representatives, I found myself often looking at it all and thinking, "There is no way I can handle all of this stuff!" I can't adequately put into words the hopelessness and despair I felt. A big reason for that is the fact that I was looking at the whole entire mess. What I should have been doing was looking at little pieces. I forgot the saying that I learned as a child,"Yard by yard, life is hard! Inch by inch, life's a cinch!"

As I look back, I can see how God led me through every step. He was always there. I'm learning more about God's sense of time and how he transcends the confines of time. He lives in an eternal present. He is a "Right Now" kind of shepherd. He shepherds me one day at a time.

I'm learning slowly (and learning the hard way!) that God promises to shepherd me TODAY. He says to me, "Quit your worrying about tomorrow!!! When you get to tomorrow, I'll be there!"

Just like the Israelites were only given a daily dose of manna, so God sends me exactly what I need to meet the demands of each new day. Oh man, I shudder to think of what I would have been like in the wilderness! I probably would have been out there trying to gather up enough to last the whole forty years! And just like what happened to the Israelites, all my hard work would have spoiled, because I wasn't doing it God's way. Nope, not this naughty little sheep. I was trying to trust in my own plan, my "new and improved" way of meeting my needs.
I'm far from perfect...I have six kids that can vouch for that!...but I am learning (slowly!).

And what I'm learning is that my life and all of it's circumstances rest in the Hands of a loving God...a God Who is patiently teaching this willful, head-strong little sheep a thing or two about living ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Where Did Summer Go?

Can't believe that Labor Day has come and gone! Time to put away white shoes, flip-flops, and any other visible signs of summer. I don't know if it was my imagination, but today the air felt crisper...a tell-tale sign that Fall is here. I love all the seasons, but I've always had a special passion for Summer. To me it conjures up special memories of carefree days at the lake. I LOVE the water and all things associated with it...swimming, water-skiing, fishing, canoeing, etc. Above are a few Summer memories spent on Lake Michigan. My Mom and sisters had a great time together sharing my sister Karen's birthday. Good-bye Summer...I miss you already!

I Never Would Have Made It Without You

My eyes are kinda sore! They've been glued to the Weather Channel watching the path of Gustav. With two of my children going to college in Mobile, Alabama, and several close friends still living on the Gulf Coast, I had more than a vested interest in where this hurricane was headed. It also brought back a lot of memories of what we went through with Katrina. With that said, I want to share a great song with y'all...sung by a fellow Grand Rapids native, Rev. Marvin Sapp. And to my Heavenly Father, I joyfully say, "I NEVER would have made it without You"!!!