Monday, July 28, 2008

How do you spell LOVE?

BOXES! People from all OVER are bringing me BOXES! I love these people! I need boxes!

You know who you are: THANK YOU!

Neighbors are coming out of the woodwork to bring me boxes. I feel so loved....

LOVE is spelled HELP. Sarah, Jewel of Early, whose price is FAR above rubies, came over today and helped me pack. You would think that with 2 babies under 3, she wouldn't be much help, but you don't know my Mimi if you think that! Whatadoll! I actually have HOPE that this apartment can be packed in three days!

LOVE is spelled RESTING. That's what Deborah let me and Greg do yesterday at her lovely home, between church meetings. It doesn't get any better than that. Thank you, loved one!

LOVE is also spelled HEMMING! Mary, I pledge my undying love to you (she is hemming two of the five dresses!). God is so good to me, sending me such friends and family.

LOVE is also spelled TAKING DOWN THE WALLPAPER BORDER I STAPLED UP THERE. Joseph, you already knew I have undying love for you; now I have MORE than ever! Thank you, blessed son-in-love! He pledged to take care of me in my old age, and he's getting an EARLY start (I sure can be punny!). How thankful I am for you! AND with a great attitude, AND after working 9 hours in 100+ heat at 3*M!

See how God has provided for me? !

LOVE is also spelled PREACHING THAT FEEDS THE SOUL. And I got that yesterday! Thank you, dear pastor (you'd think he'd comment at least once a year on here; sigh)! My cup runneth over. We had 13 visitors, not counting the spouse of one of our members. Can't wait to see what God's going to do! AND, if you want to hear the awesome message from Sunday morning, click here: http://sermonaudio.com/aashepard and look for "The Excellency of Christ." And check out anything else there--it's all GREAT! That's our pastor for you. God is good. Speaking thereof, there's a great pattern developing here, I was telling him: first, he preaches on my favorite story in the scriptures, the Canaanite woman, "Crumbs Undeserved" is the name of that one, and the two following on "Intercessory Prayer for the Lost," then he preaches on my favorite verse and the context thereof, Philippians 3:7-14! I am SO basking in the goodness of God to me!

Enough for now. My back is hurting, the packing calls me, and I have to figure out something to eat for tonight.

THANKS for your prayers, those who pray for me. I CANNOT thank you enough. Truly.

Yours and His,
Vivi (which no one but Ali calls me)
PS The "Watermelon Man" on the way to church was named Pee Wee Hamilton. How fun! (I'm sure he is cuter than I am. Greg met him.)

Friday, July 18, 2008

Blizzard's Coming!

Say hello to the wife of the new Winters, TX Special Ed teacher and coach! Nice to meet you!

We will be moving to Winters by mid-August, probably earlier. Yes, I said that dreaded four-letter word: move. Sigh. I will be leaving proximity to our two fabulous daughters, and for that I am sad. Except for that, I am so so happy for my husband! (I see Mom once a week now, so that won't change anything.)

And we already got an apartment! It's a 2/2, slightly smaller than we have now. And laugh--the privacy fence houses a yard about 18" by 36". Tres cute. (I think I could have a decent garden in that plot.) That fence is major overkill! There is a little "patio" (I think it'll hold one chair) within this fence. The outer yard is nice and well-kept. It's a duplex--did I mention that? And there's a 2-car driveway. A half-mile away from school. (I may get a bike, but first I have to get into shape to ride one! The last time I tried, I got almost half a block away before I almost died. Time to work on that!)

So that's the latest here. Working on the "wedding dresses" for the little people. I cannot start packing until I finish them--too much chaos! All prayers would be greatly appreciated. If this apartment can get filled for 1 August, we won't lose a month's rent, which would be a blessing!

Signing off for now. Love to all.

PS Winters' mascot is a blizzard. Not Dairy Queen's.

Friday, July 11, 2008

What a Blessing!

Mike's coming! I am so glad; I miss my baby boy (now the father of three!). He's doing the raw experiment for 30 days, and so far, so good. I'm gonna make him some fun, yummy food while he's here. And I've lost 11 lbs. in 25 days--not too shabby! I'm pleased, and I'm enjoying myself.

Baby Grace and her family were here last weekend for Christy's shower, which was a lot of fun (both their visit and the shower). (And THAT was a poorly-constructed sentence!) Little Luke has lost more teeth than Ian, who's a year older. Interesting. I love the toothless look (just on kids and hockey players) (are you out there, CC, almost CH?).

Gotta get to sewing! I have five dresses to make for the wedding, scheduled for August 2nd. Greg's gonna marry them (doesn't THAT sound weird!), and he's getting things ready for that. She'll get married where Sarah did, which is fun. And yours truly is the photographer. Yikes!

Hopefully we will see Paul again this weekend. And Leilani (correct spelling) was a joy. Beautiful girl. We made some fun food together.

And our pastor is blessing me like crazy preaching on my favorite account in the Bible--the Canaanite woman with the possessed daughter (Matthew 15:21-28). This week will be Message #3. You can hear these on http://sermonaudio.com/aashepard and they will be under "Crumbs Undeserved" and "Intercessory Prayer for the Lost." I am a learning woman. And I continue to pray for my babies, and my baby grands, and all those related thereto. God is good!

Well, now that I've left you with the most interesting post ever, I'll sign off. My Faithful Four (and you know who you are)--please leave the required comment. Love to all!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

The Thoughtfulness of God

How thoughtful is He? Well, I just started doing the bulletin for church, and I'm printing them at home. A trip to the thrift store yesterday yielded a great sale, with BOTH my printer inks there (and no others--do you KNOW how many kinds of ink there are?!), and they were $.99 each!!!!!! The regular price for both is at least $60 at Wal**Mart. I almost started crying right there. Wonderful! And books were 12/$1, and I found a bible, in great shape, for $.08, non-taxable! "More to be desired are they than gold," speaking of God's words. It was a great day. And I thank the Lord for His thoughtfulness.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Groceries!

Today I'm getting groceries! Paul's bringing me some good stuff from Austin. Looking forward to a little variety in my eating. Almost 3 weeks, and I've lost 9 lbs. and gained stronger fingernails! Mine are usually the strength of wet egg noodles, but, hey, they've gotten stronger!!! Who'd a thunk it? Next thing you know, I'll have a fat french braid going down my back. Look for it next week--the week my 12 hairs will multiply into thousands! I believe I'm staying on this way of eating from now on. And that is with the smell of brisket in the air--it's for tomorrow's meal after church. Talk about my used-to-be favorite food. No pain, no loss....

And looking forward to having Paul, the firstborn, here for the evening. He's bringing his friend, Lelani (sp?), and we're looking forward to meeting her. AND she's bringing her blender, so I get to meet that, too. We're planning on "not cooking" up some good food tonight! Stop by for a bite.

Yesterday's Fourth of July bash at Sarah's went so well! There were 34 folks there last night, and we had SUCH a good time! I took lots of fun photos, and everyone was happy. I think that not one child cried (Ian hurt his finger, and I think that was it)! And that's with 17 children there! We even had 2 Ians. And if you know Ian, you know the only thing better than 1 Ian is two of them. I love that boy.

Tomorrow's church, fellowship dinner, and then Christy's shower. I am busy, busy, and loving it!

Good evening for now. Tomorrow the church gets its first bulletin put together by yours truly. I'm striving to learn more on the creative side of it. But it's pretty vanilla for tomorrow.

You're invited to show some love in the form of a comment. Help yourself!