Graced with Grace

What better day to write a love story than today. We met about three years ago. The exact details of our very first meeting I don't remember very well because it wasn't exactly love at first sight for either one of us. He was a young happy freshman while I was a sad despondent old junior. It wasn't too long before we became friends though. He started serving in the kitchen with me, and became a sweet fragrance of joy and youth in my weary sad drained life. It seems that the kitchen is a fitting place for two people to fall in love. I am sure he will never forget the many gifts of "love" I gave him as a dishwasher. Yes, I brought him so many dishes which I pointedly told him was "from the bottom of my heart...... where all the dirt lies." What could get more romantic than that? Right?!?!?! So we became friends. We played pranks. We did parties. We ate food. And we started sharing each others coffee drinks. (gross!) And I became madly in lo...

  I wouldn't change anything From the laughter to the tears. Every little memory counts, Every little memory makes A year to remember.   Sledding with my sisters, Baking sweet aroma and enjoying every bite. Drawing with children Or snuggling a sleeping little one On my shoulder. Fellowship with friends around A crowded table. Learning, and reading, And drinking coffee to stay awake. Flowers of sunshine on sick days. A brothers wedding. More sunshine for a weary heart. The skies that radiate the glory of God And proclaim his promises and love From day to day. Friends to hold me tight when tears fall fast. Waiting on God's will. Learning to trust him more. Friends getting married. A sister's wedding too. Working hard out doors And getting dirty. Working along side my best friend. Courting the man of my dreams. Learning to be loved And to love and to live in grace.  A sweet friend and a waffle date. ...

  Being the southern gal that I am, I have a deep appreciation for the southern culture. And that appreciation and love has only grown over the years especially through the past four years when I moved up North for college and have been able to recognize and take notice of things I may not have noticed if I had not been able to have the experience of a different culture to compare my southern culture to. There are some things about the south that are just stereo types, what everyone not from the south imagines it to be like. Such as, grandmas and grandpas rocking on the rockers on the front porch. Ok, so that actually isn’t necessarily a stereo type because that is actually real. There are particular houses way out in the country that I enjoy passing because there will often be some elderly folks sitting outside in chairs or rockers waving to every car that drives by. But more recently I was attending a small church fellowship event in which I didn’t know many o...

I haven't written too much lately, but that doesn't mean that nothing is happening, although life does seem to be kind of slow right now. I am trying to find a job for the summer, but already more than half the summer seems to be gone. Summer has had it adventures and highlights and also lows, so I thought I would share a few of them with you and because everyone loves pictures, I will share some pictures that go along with some of my favorite moments of this summer so far. ;) The first highlight of my summer was going home for a month to visit my sisters and parents. The low about going home was getting my Wisdom-teeth pulled (of which you shall have no pleasure in seeing the pictures of my chipmunk face because I am not going to share that with you. Muwahahahaha!) But there were several highs to my visit. One sister graduated high school and another sister I got to watch at her violin recital. I was able to visit with several friends, read several good and ...

  Three years ago this journey began. Three years ago I didn’t know these people existed or would ever be a part of my life, but now these are some of my greatest friends. Don’t be afraid to start a new adventure, to begin a new chapter, to turn down a path not yet trodden because you never know the stories that could be told, the people you will meet, the memories that will be made if only you are willing to step out in faith. Don’t be afraid to love a stranger because that stranger could become your best friend. Be willing to go where God leads.   Walk by faith and not by sight.   Three years ago I was scared to death to go off to college in the far off land of Minnesota, but now I am ever so thankful that I did.   I still have a journey ahead, there are still friends to make, more people to meet and place to go, adventures to be had and stories to tell. Still more tears and still more laughter, but I am ever so thankful for the peopl...

Once upon a time in  a far away land, dreary and cold, there  lived a girl named Hannah. Now Hannah was not the average girl that one would meet on the street, but rather unique and a bit too odd, but then sometimes the oddest are the ones that the best of stories can be written of and so I shall tell of one of her many oddities. This oddity has to do with her passion for tea. When it comes to drinking tea, she is quite particular. Tea should, if possible, always be poured from a tea pot and into a darling little tea cup. Tea cups and tea pots, after all, were created for this purpose, so why not put it to good use. Not only this, but being the southern girl that she is, she must have sugar or honey to sweeten her tea. Nothing within her being can make her truly enjoy unsweetened tea, so sweet tea it must be or as I over heard a southerner once say if tea is unsweetened it is like drinking a cup of grass or dirt flavored hot water. But to go on with the o...

And it seems that today's word is.......                                                             Dance And so I write. "Let them Praise his name with dancing..." Psalm 149:3   This is the picture that use to be on the wall of my parents home and it always made me smile. There is nothing to special about it, but it brings back memories, memories of joy and laughter and dance. And now it hangs on my own wall above my bed, so when I wake up I remember to praise his name with dancing.   I don't dance that much any more, but let me tell you a secret. As a little girl, I loved to dance.   I used to dance around and around in our family living room, the music ...

  Tis’ been a while since I have written, so I thought a bit of an update on life may be in order. I mentioned in my last post that I was going on a missions trip, helping with a basketball camp, so I thought I would share a few of my highlights with you in hopes that you may be encouraged. Day 1, we arrived safely in El Cajon, California, Saturday afternoon. We joined Kaleo church for their worship service that evening, which was the first of many refreshing experiences. The church was so kind, loving, and welcoming and made us feel immediately like we were a part of their family, which we truly were. There are many homeless people apart of this church because of where it is located and because the church has a particular passion and love for the homeless, so it was really neat to see how much these people joyfully lived for Christ. Even though they had nothing, they had everything. One of the highlights from my time serving at the basketball camp for the inner city ...

Her hands Wipe away tears, Clean dirty faces, Hold tiny fingers, Knead the bread.   Her arms Hold tight the crying, Rock to sleep the infant, Support a child, It becomes a bed.   Her breast Feeds the hungry, Nourishes her child, Brings life to the little one, A pillow for the weary.   Her heart Loves unconditionally, Serves willingly, Prays unceasingly, Perseveres courageously.   Her days are long Defending the weak, Encouraging the faint of heart, Speaking words of peace, Calming the stormy seas.   She toils Night and day. Blessings seem scarce, Fights ensue, Baby's awake all night And so is mother dear. Dinner not on time, Child scrapes his knee, Peanut butter in hair. This is a  mother’s life.   But she arises With each new day ...

I have started my collection of children's books. Some day these shall be quite necessary in life, particularly that middle one. The middle one was a favorite growing up and I still love it. ;) The other two were my Grandma's. I intend to continue adding to my collection with other childhood favorites. Are there any favorite childhood books that you loved and one to read to your kids someday?

Happy birthday to the most amazing Tara Kristen​ in the whole world! Tara, you are an amazing woman of God and I have been truly blessed to watch you grow in your love for him as you reach out and serve others. You also have an awesome sense of humor and are always making me laugh! You encourage me to conquer my fears and do scary things, such as, ride a dirt bike. ;) Or you introduce me to fantastic movies, such as, The Scarlet Pimpernel. I have been so blessed to have known you for the past 10+ years. You have been a wonderful friend. You are also a courageous and loyal friend to put up with me for so long and to endure all of my lame jokes. ;) Thanks for always laughing even when the jokes aren't really that funny. It is always nice to know that someone will laugh. ;) I love you, Tara, and am excited to see what God has in store for your life!  

I lived in Minnesota for a whole winter and didn't go ice skating once, even though it is the perfect place to go ice skating being the land of a thousand lakes. Then I come back to North Carolina and go ice skating in an ice house during the summer. That sounds kind of backwards doesn't? :) Now ice skating is one, among a million, skills that I do not have. I simply was not born with the gift of moving on ice. So as you can imagine I move at a very slow tedious pace and even then I fall quite often. That is when I discovered that I ought to be very thankful God made me short. He certainly had a reason for it. He knew that some day I would be on ice and that the shorter I am the safer it would be. Small children on ice can be absolutely adorable, if they know what their doing, but I must admit they freak me out at times. For, although some of them are very good at skating, they don't always look where they are going or else don't take into account that there will b...

My little sister, Lydia, had a splinter in her toe this evening, so several of us all gathered around her ready to pull it out. My dad of course got out his knife, thinking that was clearly the best option. But I'll have you know, that she nor any of her sisters thought that was a good option. Known of us like the idea of having a knife digging into our foot, splinter or no splinter, thus, we all plead on her behalf. I stepped in and said I could pull it out with my fingers. So while I pull and push at it with my fingers, some are trying to comfort the poor girl and my dad is standing there insisting that he use his knife. In the meantime, Lydia, is making all kinds of funny noises and comments, because no matter how much pain she is in she always seems to say something funny and make us ( or at least me) laugh, even though we are trying to be all serious and be her doctor. Dad finally wins and gets to use his knife for a short time, but after a little bit of picking at it, I had ...

You know your little sister is up to mischief if she offers to give you a kiss. All I had to do was look into her sweet (not so innocent) face and see her lips covered in chocolate and I knew then and there that I did not want a kiss from her at that moment. It is not often that she offers to give me a kiss. :)  You know your little sister is up to mischief when she sits next to you and looks up at you with the sweetest smile on her face (or is that a smile of mischief that I detect). It wasn't long before I realized she had taken something of mine and was hiding it from me. Thus, began an intense game of chasing my sister around the house and playing scavenger hunt with much laughter throughout. I eventually took her watch to get her back, but in the end we gave back each others possessions. She loves to cause much mischief, but I am afraid she has a sister who has the same passion at times.;)

I feel like this blog has been rather neglected. Now that does not mean that I completely forgot about this little blog. It simply means that I haven't written on it in a long time. I have thought about writing, yet every time I think about it I either don't have the time at that exact moment to do it or else I run into the scenario that I ran into today. That is, I sit down to write and I stare and I stare and nothing ever gets written. I feel that I must write something completely genius for anybody to ever want to even consider glancing at this silly little blog. I couldn't imagine who in the world would even want to read this blog, especially if that which is written is not some marvelous post full of beauty and ingenuity. Sometimes when I write I feel that it must be so profound that it must bring my readers to tears or else to hysterical laughter. I sometimes feel that it should be such profound thoughts that everyone would want to quote me for decades t...

Dear Elisabeth, Happy birthday!!!!!! You probably thought I had forgotten what a gloriously special day it is, but hey, I remembered! It makes me smile to think that God gave me another little sister 17 years ago today. Another little baby to hold, another little sister to play with, a sister who is willing to laugh at all my crazinesses even if no one else laughs, a  sister who brightens my life with her laughter and makes me laugh even when I don't want to or else the sister I can make laugh when you don't want to. ;) There are very few people who understand my humor like you do and are willing to laugh with me. Sometimes all it took was to look at each other in the eyes and then we would lose it completely and start laughing hysterically. You not only bring much joy and laughter into my life, but you have taught me so much in life as well. You have taught me that it is ok to be myself and to be different from everyone else by your own example. You never seem...

Taking a family photo, as most families have experienced, can be a bit challenging. Families will often run into the difficulty of getting even just one picture where everyone in the family looks nice and is smiling. The problem is only made ten times worse when you are one of a large family such as mine.  Well, not only is it difficult for my family to all look nice and smile in the family photo, but it is also difficult to find just the perfect place to take the picture and when that perfect place is found, I can't say that it is always safe, as is the case for this year's photo. I can't say who came up with this brilliant idea, but someone in my family thought it would be a great idea ( I am guessing it was one of my brothers) to take a family (minus my dad who took the picture) photo in a dead tree. So not only are we supposed to smile, but we are suppose to be smiling while standing in a dead tree that could break any moment with all the extra weight. But the p...

I love those moments when no one is watching (or maybe I just think no one is watching) and I start dancing and singing (not at the top of my lungs, lest someone hear). I love those moments when I get chased around the house by my sister because I got marker on her face. She started it by getting marker on my hands. ;) I love those moments when I start laughing hysterically because someone said something that probably wasn't really that funny. Or those moments when I start laughing again a while later about the same thing. ;) I love those moments when I give a surprise gift to my little sister and watch her face brighten up with delight and gratitude. I love those moments when mom randomly walks into the room where I am rapidly typing, stops, and waits for me to look at her. When I finally look, I discover to my great amusement that she is modeling for me, some of her old clothes. ;) I love those moments of sipping on hot tea on cold windy days. I love those moments w...

Rain, rain rain! That's all the weather has been doing the past couple days! Dreary rainy days can often mean dreary grumpy people! But guess what? I ain't goin' to be one of them peoples! No sirree, Bob! No sirree, Bob! I have purposed in my heart that I will live for Jesus in rain or shine by God's grace! Therefore, if it is a rainy day then that means that I must be a spot of sunshine in the rain. ;) So how have I been able to remain cheery in these rainy days. Well, lets take a peek and see. Tuesday I went bowling with most of my family. I do not have any skill in that game, whatsoever, but I was able to enjoy myself quite well and it was a good activity to play since we had to be inside. Not to mention the fun and laughter we had together and a wonderful memory we made that day. That day will be remembered as a fun day with my family rather than a gloomy rainy day. Yesterday while at work (a little restaurant) I tried to make sure that every customer that c...

Hello Friend, Today was one of those lovely stay-at-home days. I didn't have to go to work and I had no where to go, therefore, I spent a delightfully relaxing day at home. Some who know me know that I like to run! Now I don't like to run simple because it is fun to run, although, if you have the right attitude about it then maybe it is. Nevertheless, I generally run for the exercise and because I know that I will feel better when I am done (although you should not do things simply because it feels good, but rather because it is right and glorifying to God). The problem is I have been so busy lately that I probably haven't gone out to run in about a week. Therefore, today, considering I would have a whole day to be at home I knew I had to run. When I got outside, I knew I was in for a cold run, therefore, I quickly grabbed my jacket and decided to face it and get this job over with as soon as possible. My thoughts as I begin my run, "Three miles seems to be abou...