What???

I am the "lucky" one who produces the newsletter for our church. Whenever I have some extra space and need something to fill that space, I look on the internet for some interesting items that just might work. Last week I ran across this picture:

Ummmm . . . . I DID NOT put this is the newsletter!!!

Love,
Sherry

Last Monday, May 31 - Memorial Day, a dear friend and ex-boss when home to be with the Lord. This man exemplified, love, faith, dignity and grace. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend. When in conversation with him, he had of a way of making you feel as though you were the only person in the world. His precious wife does the same.

His death came sudden and as a shock. He had not been feeling too well and had an upper respiratory infection and wasn't progressing as he should. Tuesday, June 1, the doctors at Baylor Hospital in Dallas drew blood and found that he had acute Leukemia. The doctor delivered a shocking message that there was nothing that could be done, and at his age, he could not withstand the chemo treatments. He was given 3 days to live. He made it to 6 days. Early Monday morning while sleeping, he passed from this life into the next. He spent his last 6 days with family close by. They have some wonderful and precious memories of his last days with them. James was an encourager to others and he continued this until the end. The days ahead will be long and lonely without him, but the family has the Comforter to help them through the rough times ahead.

It can be said that his was a live well lived! He accomplished much in his lifetime, but he would tell you that his greatest accomplishment was his family. Never let us find ourselves taking each other for granted because life is too short and each day with our loved ones and friends is a treasure and gift from God.

Love,

Sherry

"You get a line and I'll get a pole . . . . "

"Hey, all my Grammie's bloggy friends, we're going fishin'.

Wanna come?"

" Yeah, we're goin' fish'n! Come with us!"

"Let's go, brother. "

"First thing . . . we need bait . . . how about some worms?""I need just a few more. . . . I've got big plans!"

"Next, a quick lesson on how to get this thing ready for fish'n!
Thanks Dad!"
"That dern tree!! @#%#!!"

"PaPa, watch me cast! "

"How'd ya like that cast?
All set! Come oooon fish! "

"I gotta be patient."


"Did I get something?"

"Nope, you didn't.

I'm getting tired of this so I'm gonna try something else."

"Net fishing! What fun!"

"Yuck! Pond scum!"

"A reading break. I've had a great time.

If you don't believe me, just take a look at my 'clean' legs!!!!! "

It was a beautiful evening.

A view across the pond -- so peaceful.

Love,

Sherry

The Marketplace

This morning Hubs suggested that we have brunch at a newly opened restaurant in our tiny little town. They serve breakfast/brunch only and the hours of operation are 6:30 - 11:00 a.m. This place is very unique. As you walk up to the front door, it's your first clue that this is going to be a different experience -- again, considering we are in such a small town.

The restaurant used to be a warehouse and boasts a series of rooms. Each one has it's one style and personality. As you enter, you step into what feels like a coffee/soda shop in colors of red, black and white. It's very quaint and inviting. Walking through we found 3 more large rooms to explore. Along the way you can shop for decor items, baby items and other miscellaneous items.

I took some pictures to put on my blog to share this experience with you. The first one is the entrance. There's more to see than is in the picture. There's a ledge up at the top of the porch and there's decor with lights that look really cool.

This is the room where we ate. I'm standing beside a fountain which gives you an idea of how large everything is.

Here's close up of the fountain. It's made from a large stock tank with a smaller one inside.

A shot even a little closer. The sound of the trinkling water is so calming and restful.

Another shot of the room. There's actually two of the column units.



Here's another room. I took a quite picture on the way out. There were people eating nearby and so I didn't take very much time to get everything in the pic.

Many of the rooms have scripture verses on the them.
Here is an example of them.

Oh, yes. The food is absolutely great and inexpensive! I can definitely recommend The Marketplace! Hope you've had a wondeful evening!

Love,

Sherry

Scripture Memorization

I'm late in posting the scriptures that I am memorizing for the month of May. As I have shared before, I am memorizing the first chapter of the book of James. Here are the verses for May:

"And hose who are rich should boast that

God has humbled them.

They will fade away like a little

flower in the field.

The hot sun rises and and grass withers;

the little flower droops and falls

and it's beauty fades away.

In the same way, the rich will fade away

with all of their achievements.

God blesses those who

patiently endure testing and temptation.

Afterward they will rceive a crown of life

that God promised to those who love him."

James 1:10 - 12 NLT

I love the promises of God! I so enjoy memorizing scripture. God is so faithful to bring the memorized verses to mind when I need them. Last year I memorized Psalm 139, and I have been greatly surprized at how many times I have used it in sharing with others, in Bible study and in teaching my Sunday School class. God's Word never gets old, is never out-of-date and has the answers to life's questions. All we have to do is utilize it!

Love,

Sherry

Memorable Days

Last week was special for our family. Hubs and I spent a wonderful week in the Ozark mountains. We left Sunday afternoon. However . . . it was also the week that our precious granddaughter graduated from Kindergarten. We certainly would not miss that, so, we made the 5 hour trip back home just for this major event in her little life.

The night before had been full of storms, tornadoes and power loss. Fortunately, the power was still on at our house. Since my son and DIL's house was without power, the graduation party was moved to our house. We arrived early in the afternoon to help wherever needed. About 4:30 p.m. my son arrived with the little ones so that they could be bathed and get ready for the big night of graduation. My DIL followed close behind carrying bags of decorations and drinks and supplies. I got out a tablecloth and she knew where everything else was and we began getting the table ready. My son dressed our grandson and I was privilege to dress my granddaughter and do her hair while my DIL took her shower and got dressed, too. Before long we were all set to go

Here's our little graduate after she was all ready to go.

♥ She is a sweetheart! ♥

Receiving her diploma!

Another pic of her receiving her diploma.

With her teacher.

Another pic with her teacher. It was her teacher's first year of teaching.

Her cake.
I did not make the cake because we were out of town.This is not the cake that was ordered. The store that was to make her cake lost power and a cake sale due to the storms. She was very fortunate to even have a cake. It was a last hour attempt -- but it worked out!!

Her "fun" pose with the cake.

With one of her classmates.

Her best "bud".

It was a wonderful evening, She does have girlfriends but she also has NO problem with the boys. :)

At 8:00 p.m. we turned the house over to our kids (they stayed there until their electricity came back on). We went back to Ozarks and finished out the week with friends.

On Friday, our friends had to leave to go to their grandson's high school graduation, so the cabin had an empty bedroom. We called our son and DIL and invited them to come and stay until Sunday. So, Friday night they arrived. I don't know who was more excited -- all of them or us!!

We spent Saturday at Silver Dollar City. Everyone had a great time. The little ones were absolutely awesome! They were so good and cooperative -- even our little guy that's almost two :) Hubs and I left late Saturday evening to be back in time for church. The kids stayed until Sunday morning and had a nice time. It was the first time they had been able to come to the cabin. They really enjoyed their time away -- even if it was kind of short. It was spur-of-the-moment plans, but sometimes the unexpected can be the most fun!

We are thanking the Lord that all of our church members, friends and family's homes were unharmed in the many storms that came through here last week and over the weekend. Many homes, cars and properties were damaged. Hailstones were anywhere from baseball size to dime size!!! God is good -- always!

Love,
Sherry

P.S . Blogger has gone looney so . . I apologize for the crazy font size! I tried to edit the Html but it didn't work as it should have.

What ? ? ?

I was opening mail at the office this morning and ran across this envelope in the stack . . . . .

Uhh . . . were they practicing thriftiness -- cleaning out their desk -- out of money --- What ???

(Note: I folded back the sending organization's address to hide it and torn the address label off as well.)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Love,

Sherry

LPM Simulcast

Today began very early at my house. It all started at 5:00 a.m. in order to get ready for Beth Moore's Simulcast "So Long Insecurity". My friend Allison came to my house at 7:00 a.m. and we left to meet Valerie and Beverly. We all hopped into Valerie's car and headed to the Journey Church at Norman. We arrived at around 8:30 a.m. The church served breakfast, lunch and snacks! They were so hospitable!

We met up with Jesse and Carol after we arrived. Here's a pic of us:

Valerie, Jessie, Carol, Me, Allison & Beverly

Oh, yes! I won a door prize - a pedicure. Valerie received one, too. Beverly won an awesome prize -- a personal consultation from an interior designer! Isn't that awesome? The Journey church out did themselves in putting this together!

It was reported that there were 300,000 in attendance in 869 locations! Praise and worship was brought by the local church so we didn't get to join in with Travis :( Beth did a tremendous job as usual. She shared from Ephesians 4. She gave us an acronym for "secure".

A secure woman is:

1. Saved from herself

2. Entitled to truth

3. Clothed with intention

4. Upended by Grace

5. Rebounded by love

6. Expectional in life

We learned that grace turns everything upside down:

• Broken becomes whole
• The leper becomes clean
• The weak become strong
• The pauper becomes rich
• Insecurity becomes security
• Impossible becomes possible.

Beth nearly always has a commissioning for us to say to each other. Here is the one from today:

My Dear Sister
If Christ is Your Savior
You are the dwelling place
Of His own Spirit
You have it IN YOU
to be secure.
Every day of your life
You have a choice to make
You can live in your old defeat
Or you can turn from your unbelief
And choose life
Make up your mind
To put off the old you
And put on the new you.
Never, ever, ever forget
That the Lord is your security.
He will keep your foot
From being caught in a trap.
He will take care of you
To your very last breath.
Now, leave this place
And go out into the world
And act like a person
Who knows she’s dearly loved.
You were born to be exceptional.
So, Girlfriend, go forth
And walk worthy of your calling.
You are clothed in strength and dignity!
Now unto Him
Who can keep you from falling
Be glory and majesty
Power and authority
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Now and forever more
Amen.
So Long, Insecurity!

After I arrived home, I hurried off to catch the end of baby shower at the church. As soon as I returned back home we were off to take our guest for Sunday morning out to eat. It was a full and busy day but -- what a wonderful Saturday it was!

Love,

Sherry

6th Birthday -- Oh My!

Today was our granddaughter's 6th birthday party. Her birthday was April 5th and she had a small, short party at school, but today was the BIG party. She has been so excited and has taken an active part in the planning of this party. Here are some pictures from the celebration.

There first thing on the kids' agenda was to go outside

and have some fun in the backyard.

Every Princess must have her own banner.

Here's our little princess.

She had a crown, scepter and sash that said "Birthday Princess".

There were crowns for all the guest. The little princes had manly crowns. :)

I have been honored to make all the birthday cakes for her and her little brother. You can see the "line up" if you go here and here. Since this year was a princess theme, a castle cake was a must. Here's the cake.

She asked for blueberry cake.

This was a french vanilla cake with blueberry cheesecake filling.

These were blueberry cupcakes.

I revamped the strawberry cake recipe that's made with strawberry jello

and frozen strawberries and used berry blue jello and blueberries.

It was blue and tasted great.

I used egg whites instead of the whole egg

because blue and yellow (egg yokes) make green

-- I didn't want green cake batter.

She's a blessed little girl. She has family and friends that love her dearly, a beautiful home and an over abundance of toys. But the most important thing is this; she is being taught the Truth of God's Word. We are praying that someday soon, she will accept Christ as her personal Savior.


Have a blessed evening,
Sherry

Easter Sunday Pics

My son bought a new camera and he is having a hay day taking pics of his little ones. I am so glad that I don't have to worry about getting pictures myself because he is doing it -- with gusto!

Here are a few pictures he took of the kids Easter Sunday morning.

The first two were taken after the church Easter egg hunt.

Look . . . his little hands are in his pockets.

(That's Grammie's little man!)

He was facinated with the flowers -- ahem . . . weeds.

At home before church -- and the arrival of the Oklahoma wind!

She got a hair cut for Easter.

It's the first time she has had her hair flipped.

After it was cut and styled, she kept trying to straighten it out.

This was the day before her 6th birthday. She's a sweetie Pie!!

My two favorite girls!



She looks so big in this cute outfit.

This was his first Easter egg hunt.

He wasn't yet one last year and was sick and did not get to go to church,

but this year was a difficult story. :)

She's such a sweet big sister.

She was giving him some of her eggs for his basket.

I know they are my grandchildren, but . . . . I think they are the cutest ever! :0)

Kudos to the photographer! I proud of you son!

I hope that you had a glorious Easter as you celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!

Love,

Sherry