Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!

The Joys of The Season

Hope you had a very blessed Christmas, we did!  We arrived at our son's home on the Saturday before Christmas.  Sunday we went to church with them and rested up.  Monday the girls went out to do a little last minute shopping.  Tuesday, Christmas, we spent at home with the family.  It was a fun day and everyone got lots of goodies.

The weather has been pretty wet since we arrived-lots of rain but we even had snow the day after Christmas, I really thought we would be leaving the cold snow up north.

Yesterday it finally dried up and we had a cold gorgeous day.  We took a ride to Shelby Farm Park in Memphis, where our son does a lot of running.  We went for a little walk but it was pretty cool outside and none of us had dressed for it, so we kept the walk to a minimum.

We are hoping to get together with some friends this week and take care of some much needed business and then Saturday we will head for the coast and our home.

We haven't been to our home in about 6 months so we are excited to visit again.  Looking forward to visiting with our house sitter and picking up a few things.  We also have some doctor's appointments and business details to take care of before we begin our long trek back north.

Have a safe and wonderful New Year's and I will be back next year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!

Tough Times

I spoke with my brother, Dave, about a month ago and he was heading to the beach to go kayaking.

3 weeks ago he phoned to tell me he was having trouble with stomach swelling.  His doctor was out of town but had phoned in orders for some tests.

2 weeks ago he called to tell me his doctor said the tests results looked like a tumor on his liver but he had never seen anything like this so he was sending Dave to a specialist.

Last week Dave arrived at the hospital to meet the specialist and have the test run.  This doctor confirmed the earlier diagnosis and within 24 hours Dave died.

How I will miss him.  Dave was my strong supporter.  I could always call him and he always had time for me.  I was his spiritual compass.  He called me when he needed prayer and spiritual help.  He was always there for me and I tried to be there for him.  Now I feel like a part of me is missing.

Dave did not suffer long and for this I am eternally grateful.  But this happened so very fast that it still feels surreal.  Quite often he had assured me of his trust in Jesus as his Saviour and on this I lean for peace.  This peace is a true gift from the Lord and I am trusting that Dave is in heaven with our parents.

There are no words to say how special he was to me or to say how much my heart grieves, but Dave will always be remembered and sadly missed by our family.

Dave's obituary has been posted here.
http://www.honakerforestlawn.com/sitemaker/sites/HONAKE1/obit.cgi?user=777817Bailey

The Wedding

On October 20, 2012 our oldest granddaughter got married and changed her name from Lydia Walker to Mrs. Joshua Chaffin.

We left North Dakota and flew to South Carolina to meet the rest of the family for this happy/sad occasion.  The Lord blessed us with good travels both ways, including making all connecting flights.

The weather was perfect and it was such an enjoyable time for our family but it sure is sad to think of our darling girl so grown up.

This is our beautiful bride.

And the happy couple.

The maid of honor, her brother and cousin.

The adorable flower girl.

The oldest brother of the bride, our oldest grandson.

One more look at the bride and groom.

These are all the photos I have at the present but I am sure I will get more as time goes on.

 

Children in Church

We have belonged to large churches and very small ones and it seems a common area of concern is the little children. 

When children are not accustomed to sitting quietly. . .they can become a distraction to the pastor as well as the people sitting nearby.

In large churches the answer is a nursery.  All children under the age of 3 are expected to be put in the nursery.  Depending on the size of the church, the children may then be promoted to children's church.  Children's church is designed to teach elementary age children how to sit still and listen, and the hope is when they graduate to the sanctuary they will know how to behave, sit still and listen to the sermon without disrupting the service.  Unfortunately this is seldom the case.

We have never been in favor of churches separating families and sending different age groups off to different classes or activities.  So we have not used the nursery nor children's church.

We believe the church should reinforce parental authority and the family structure.  We do not believe children should be taken from their family and sent to nursery, Sunday School or children's church.  However, if children are to remain with their parents in the service they must understand what is expected of them and they must be disciplined.

We believe it is the parent's responsibility to explain to their children what is expected of them-that they must be quiet and pay attention while the Pastor is speaking.  If a problem develops the parent should remove the child and deal with the situation in private.

We are currently attending a family-oriented church.  Everyone meets together in the same room and families sit together.  We do not have a nursery or Sunday School.  Our service lasts about 2-2 1/2 hours and the children sit still and listen.  If a child gets restless, one of the parents will remove them until they are ready to behave.

It is unfortunate that church's have reached a place where they feel it necessary to separate families and weaken the family unit.  It is also unfortunate that so many parents do not discipline their children but, instead, seem to be proud that their child has an 'attitude' or is a 'free spirit' or any other justification for the parent's lack of discipline.

It is important we realize who God has placed in charge of the family - and it is not the child.  It is time for parents to practice godly discipline and responsibility for their children's development.

A Good Night's Sleep

After you reach a certain age (and it is different for all of us) a really good night's sleep becomes a very elusive prospect. We have reached that age. It is a rare night, indeed, when both of us sleep all night and we really treasure those times.

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law asked if we would like a queen-sized Tempurpedic mattress and boxspring. These are the very expensive beds they advertise on TV as being designed by NASA. . .

Sweet 17

Our oldest granddaughter, Lydia, recently celebrated her 17th birthday and her parents surprised her with a day of blessings.

They told Lydia they were taking her out to select her birthday gift and on the way they stopped at a local amusement park.  To her surprise several of her friends were there to meet her and they were all treated to a fun day of putt-putt and go-cart racing.  Then her dad took them all out for lunch.

Lydia was surprised and excited to see her friends and enjoy the time with her.  Little did she suspect that the surprises were not over yet...