Happy Monday!

And how was YOUR Lord's Day? Mine was superb. To hear Sunday's sermons, especially Sunday night's on the woman who was forgiven much, click here: http://www.sermonaudio.com/aashepard. Get ready for a blessing!

A few little snips of news:

I paid $2.89 for gas in Brownwood on Friday! How sweet was that! Gas went down FORTY CENTS in one day in Winters. Amazing!

My living room is currently decorated with an extra sofa standing on its arm right when you open the front door. Thankfully it's getting a new home SOON, I hope! It's a real conversation starter.

I made homemade egg rolls for the coaches (6) and their families on Thursday, all by myself. Almost 50 of them. And on time. That was fun, and they got rave reviews. The guys are great, and they're good to Greg, for which I am thankful.

Listening to "Beulah Land" by Squire Parson. Been a long time. Memories! O Patrick, where art thou?

My sweet neighbor wants me to share scripture with her, so I'm going over this morning. I want to tell her about Brother Audey's sermon last night, but I might have to bring tissues. Forgiven. What a CLEAN word. I so want to show my love to my Savior by my works and my life. He is SO worthy!

Guess what, brethren? It's Columbus Day (sorry, Prediger)! An interesting question to ask is: Where would we live today if Columbus hadn't discovered America? That cracks me up!

AB's coming by on Thursday, headed to Abilene. And I might just tag along. She's a dear, fun sister!

And I tried on her pointy, pointy shoes yesterday, and they fit, and she gave them to me because they don't fit her right. I don't see myself as a pointy-shoed type of girl (raise your hand and shout Amen, someone!). We'll see. I've surprised myself a lot lately. If you would've told me even 6 months ago that I'd be a vegetarian, I would've laughed you to scorn. Here I am, 6 months later, a raw foodie. I skipped a whole phase. (But I'm NOT a vegetarian, sorry. Meat is just so tasty. I have it on occasion at others' homes.) (Obviously not 100% raw. Raw chicken is disgusting.)

The preaching has been outstanding. I am so thankful for such a pastor as God has sent us. (Maybe this'll get a comment out of him. "Blood out of a turnip" comes to mind.) I've just resigned myself to the fact that my life will be meddled into (in the bestest , most profitable kind of way) as long as we're there. SOMEBODY's not going to let me stay in my comfortable little spot, content where I am spiritually. He's so good for me, and for our church. I thank God for our prediger.

And his wife is such a joy! You know what they did, much to my embarrassment? They brought me a FRAPPUCCINO to church, and gave it to me right before the evening service. So I brought it in, which got me quite the wide-mouthed stare from JB (who was wondering where HIS was). I tried not to schluck it loudly during the preaching, but my pastor told me I could bring it inside and drink it during the meeting. And I am submissive, if anything. Awkward, but delicious. Thanks, CS!

And cool weather is coming! I LOVE FALL AND WINTER! I would say "I live for it," but that's not quite accurate. But I do love fall and winter. I even moved to a town called "Winters." Greg told me the band's theme is "Winter Wonderland," and they play it before each game. (Shows how many games I go to! Shameful for a coach's wife, eh.)

Notice how smoothly I segue from one subject to another? Like occasional boulders on the highway of life.

Good day, all! Off to wash my hair, check the mail, and see my neighbor. Love y'all!

Leave a comment and spread the love around.

PS Those Cozarts are awesome photographers. I am so proud of them. A Blanket girl, you know....

National Punctuation Day

Last month sometime was National Punctuation Day. I loved this! And here's my favorite quote from the web site, written about commas and periods being outside quotation marks (because there are geeks like me out in this world):

"Commas and periods are too little to go outside."

Sweet.

Wrapping It Up

Greetings! If you need a good convicting read, head to http://www.bought-with-a-price.blogspot.com. Sarah's got a great post there.

So, "Goodbye"?

I'm steeling my heart, purposing to be tough and not cry in front of him. After more hemming-and-hawing, he says, I think I love you. Wow. That was the LAST thing I expected to hear. I was floored. My mouth must've hung open. All I said was, Oh? Now, remember what I wrote about the next man who told me he loved me? I just closed my mouth and looked at him. Then he said, You WILL marry me, won't you? (I get tears in my eyes still as I type this!) That was all I needed to hear! And wow, did we cry! We just talked and talked, and knelt down and dedicated our lives to God together, and then I HAD to leave! I was amazed, dumbfounded, thrilled, honored, blessed. I did not deserve such a man. And God heard my requests, and heeded my tuggings on his robe!

The next day we went to our pastor and told him we wanted to get married. Now. He said, First you need counseling. He said, One month. We said, Two weeks. So it was about two weeks later that we got married.

And there was a battle within me, believe it or not. One the one hand, I loved this man. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, have his babies, serve him all my days. On the other hand, it had been me and the Lord for a year and a half; I was SO happy in my God--HE led me, HE taught me, I submitted wholly to HIM! And now I was going to marry a SINNER (like me!), and have HIM lead me (and what a lead THAT has been!) and teach me and I had to submit to HIM?

I KNEW that my relationship to God would change (it HAD to!), but I wasn't sure I wanted to lose what I had with my Lord. Plus I'd never seen it done right. I would rather be single my whole life than go through a divorce. Greg and I decided right away we would never use that "d" word! (And he did, once. A very sad time, but God got us through it.) So strong was this conflict that on the way up the aisle, I told the Lord, If I'm making a mistake (and believe me, I had fervently prayed about it!), I will turn around and walk out right now. I was terrified, yet so in love with this wonderful man. Plus I hadn't learned about the sovereignty of God at this time, so the whole submission thing was REALLY scary to me! Remember The Boss marries The Baby? Whee.

It was a wonderful wedding, my friends threw together so much out of their own homes and pockets to make it possible, and I was so thankful for everything.

I LOVE being married, I love being married to GREGORY, my best, truest friend in this world. I have been sad, mad, mostly glad, but NEVER bored! Marriage has taught me so much about Greg, God, and myself. Especially myself. Scary. But "God leads His dear children along," and so he did the Risses. He saves, keeps, defends, provides. And I thank Him for providing me such a blessing in my husband. I truly don't deserve him. But that's what GRACE is about, isn't it?

How weird!

PS The colors of my blog are almost the colors of Grace's bedroom! Fascinating....

Some More "Continued"

Hi there! Let's carry on, shall we? To catch up: Went to McKinney with Sarah and the children, saw Grace's new home--wowie! Five bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 story, 3000 square feet, right across the street from the school, on the corner. Sweet. AND it's brand spanking new. We stayed up from 9 PM to 3:45 AM painting Grace's bedroom. It looks SO nice--dark plum on one wall, and dark gray for the rest of the room. Who knew that was a beautiful combination?! AND I got to go to my favorite store in the world, *KEA. Got a dining room table that is the coolest, lamps, end tables, a kitchen cart, and some kitchen utensils. (You KNEW I'd get my apartment in here somehow, didn't you? You know who you are. And you are right.)

Back to Gregorio y Viviana.

[And I just noticed: Not only is IAN in VivIAN, but so is ANA (Anna)! How fun is that!]

(Am I easily distracted!)

So, it's almost time to go back to "bible" college. I'm getting sad, but making my peace with it. Greg and I were spending all our waking moments together, and loving every moment. But Greg never said anything, and certainly not the "L" word. So I'm sure not going to. On one of our outings, just the two of us, he decided to just pick a street and pass out tracts and witness to the folks. There was one house where the man was outside watering his lawn alone. Greg starts talking to him, and he tells us that he is married and committing adultery, and he does care what God thinks about it. I'm listening to Greg PLEAD with this man to trust Christ, and I'm thinking, God, I LOVE this man! I love his heart, his care for people, his zeal for God.

Since I had started spending time with Greg, I had a great tug-of-war going with God. One moment it would be like I was tugging on God's robe, saying, But, Father, LOOK at him! He would be PERFECT for me!, and the next moment saying, Just you and me, Lord. I don't need anyone but you, and I want to do your will and go where you want me to go. It was a fun time!

So, at this point, I knew I loved this man, but didn't know what God was going to do. So I kept praying and trusting (and playing tug-of-war).

[An "aside:" I don't believe people "fall in love." I don't believe in "I couldn't help it." Loving someone is a choice, and it is totally under your control who you choose to set your affections upon. And who you choose NOT to set your affections upon. You CAN help it, and, furthermore, God expects you to help it. The idea that the world has that you fell in love with someone whom it was sinful for you to "fall in love" with, and you couldn't help it, and here you are, and what could you do, after all? is a bunch of romantic, worldly, ungodly nonsense which removes all responsibility for your affections. "SET your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." The end.]

(So how do I REALLY feel about that?)

Greg asks me to pick him up after work (he had loaned me his truck, dear man), and we go take a ride to Nautilus Gym on the other side of town. This confuses me, as Greg is getting out of the Air Force on August 29th and going to school with me. (Does that date look familiar? hehe.) When I ask him what's going on, he says he feels he would be going to college with me BECAUSE of me, so he decided not to go. (What does THAT mean?) WELL. That leaves him staying here, and me going to Florida shortly. I experienced at that moment what our pastor at that time called "death of a vision." So much for me and Greg. So, while Greg's at the gym applying, I'm making my peace with God about it all, toughening up to say goodbye and it's been real and all that. Because it looks like it's not going to happen, and that's fine, because I have a God who will "never leave me nor forsake me," and HE loves me!

Ok. We continue to spend time together, though I'm backing off emotionally, as I don't want to get hurt. Plus there are LOTS of single godly girls at church, so forget it.

Now it's almost time for me to go back to Florida, and I start making plans to work with my junior high bible study, get a ride back, etc. And Greg starts acting weird, aloof. I figure it's getting time to say goodbye, so I prepare my heart. I keep asking him what's wrong, and the answer remains the same: nothing. Yeah, right.

After a few days of this, I'm ready to get this over with and move on, so I tell him we need to talk, and I invite myself to his apartment (which I had never done before, because I don't do alone with someone of the opposite s*x, and I figure nothing dramatically dangerous is going to happen). So I persist: what's wrong? I'm steeling myself for "Goodbye; it's been real."

Continued, hopefully soon.

[A funny story in here. This is the kind of man Greg was: We had dinner together with another physical training instructor (co-worker) and his wife. Greg wanted to cook. Now THIS is worth observing, wouldn't you be thinking? I sure was! We're having baked chicken, so Greg gets two whole chickens and slaps them on a cookie sheet. Neat! I know NOTHING about cooking (trust me!), but I DO think that maybe you should put something on the chickens before you slam them into the oven? I suggest butter. So he gets a stick of butter and SHOVES it INTO the chicken! If it would've still had its head on, it would've turned cross-eyed! I was hysterical! I very kindly said, while wiping the tears from my eyes, I think the butter goes on the OUTSIDE of the bird. So he took the stick of butter in his palm, squeezed, and out squoze the butter from between his fingers. And that's what he put on the chickens, and they were delicious. Go figure. I thought to myself, I think I would never be BORED with this man. And was THAT an understatement!]

You would think...

...that all I write about is my apartment! Not so fast, buddy.

"...beloved of God, called to be saints." That's from the first chapter of Romans, and it stopped me in my tracks. How amazing are those two phrases! The first one: We could park it there for eternity and never exhaust it! That God would even think on me, yet alone call ME beloved! I will never get over it! HERE is security; here is safety; here is better-than-self-esteem! I am SAFE. I belong to GOD. And all glory goes to Him, where it belongs. And is God content to "just" save me, or does He have more in mind for me? Oh, yes, there is MUCH more! Saints! He gives me a new heart, new desires, and a longing to know more about, and be more like, His precious Son, the Lord Jesus. "...to glorify God, and enjoy Him forever" is the chief end of Man. What a wondrous salvation! Thank you, my Lord and my God!

Help!

I needed a place to put the water cooler, amongst other things. Martha to the rescue, for less than half price! God is so kind that way....

Continued

(One day when Greg was teaching in Blanket, a foster kid was following him walking to the football field. Near the Ag building was a tire jack. The kid asked what it was, and Greg told him. And his reply was, "You know EVERYTHING about mechanics!" We have adopted that phrase, with variations, which is why, when I tell people Greg was installing an air conditioner when I met him, I tell them, "Yep, he knows EVERYTHING about electricity!")

So there was this handsome GI, knowing everything about electricity! Blissful sigh. Being the quiet, reticent, sweet Christian girl that I was, I waited for someone to introduce us. NOT. (I used to be [believe it or not!] VERY loud (surely there have been SOME changes in 34.5 years of sanctification!). So I went up and introduced myself and asked him about himself. 23. (I was 19.)Married? Nope. Ever been married? Nope. Kids? Nope. Debt? (Just kidding! That was for LATER.) I even asked him what was wrong with him that he wasn't married yet! He said, I think, that he had a close call. Air Force. Staff Sergeant. Physical training instructor. (At that point, I should've fallen over in hysterics, because this sweet Christian girl {that would be me} almost flunked PE because she wouldn't dress out for softball in the heat of San Antonio!) So here is Mr. All-Tri-State in football, lettered in every sport except hockey (sorry, CH), captain of many. We had SO much in common....

Our pastor, ever the joker (remember he was a youth minister once), saw us talking and said, "Hey, Greg--this is Vivian. She's been DYING to meet you!" (This is knowing I'd never seen him before.) Haha. Good old Lee.

In spite of that intro, we hit it off. Time to backtrack to "bible college." The center of life there was *soulwi**ing" (NOT the Lord Jesus Christ, sadly), and, in the semester I was there, I only witnessed to my junior high bible study kids. The surrounding adults intimidated the fool out of me--most (outside the school) were Je^^ish, as in the people whose condos I got paid to clean. So I was, by our church's standards, sadly lacking when I came home, and feeling pretty guilty about it. And here was GREG! Talk about ON FIRE! He was crazy! He would take a load of kids from church to witness to the GIs on base, and managed to never get kicked off it for doing it. He would take kids to Hemisfair downtown, which is where the poor bald, "rich" GIs went when they had liberty. I was so amazed at this--such boldness! Our pastor had taught him well in a semester, eh.

And here is the providence of God--backtracking to "eternity past." I used to go roller skating at Lackland every free moment--it was my passion. And hey--eat your heart out!--I can skate backwards! And sideways! (I KNEW you'd be impressed, but what does that have to do with "eternity past"?) One of the men who worked at the skating rink, Ray, was like a dad to me (remember my dad had left with his girlfriend when I was 16), and we used to have lots of good talks. He was a professing Christian, though he never told me. (So what constitutes "a good talk"?) I just loved the guy for listening to me. It was a good friendship--he was married and had kids my age, I believe, and he adjusted my skates well. Anyway, unbeknownst to me, Ray was also a physical training instructor, and it was HE who invited Greg to church while I was gone to "bible college." (Isn't that AWESOME?!) Thanks, Ray, wherever you are. (And he never even went to church there!) (And I should know--I was a "charter member": "It won't get you into heaven, but it will get you a front seat when you get there!"). God is fascinating!

Now fast forward from eternity past to soulwi**ing. Shy girl that I was (enough!), I asked him if I could go with him sometime (with others). So he would take a group of us, pick a street, and go door-to-door (I long for such boldness now!).

Is it needless to say that I was impressed with this young man? And he wasn't even in debt; in fact, he paid off my school bill before anything developed between us ($450, and you can believe I was thankful!). And he would let me use his truck (a shortbed Chevy with a longbed camper--go, Greg!) and walk to work. I was broker than beans--I had only my clothes and my bible. Seriously. And a job as church secretary that paid almost nothing.

So what are this man's plans? He wants to go to the same school I went to! I received this with the biggest inward groan and sigh--wait till he hits those halls full of squeaky-voiced girls quoting scriptures--there goes our friendship.... So, I helped him fill out his college application (this was "foreshadowing"; I would do almost all paperwork involved in our lives from here on out!). He got accepted (surprise). So he was going to give me a ride to college (which I needed), and oh, well....

We continued our friendship, heavily into the scriptures. I wouldn't go to his apartment (he had a roommate) alone with him, so we would ride around (before gas was $4 a gallon!) and talk about the Lord and the scriptures. Lots of questions, lots of challenges, lots of fascinating talks. We stayed up crazy late, and sometimes he would reluctantly leave, park in front of my friends' house, and pray that God would wake him up in time to go home and shower and change and go to work. (Ah, youth!) And we talked on the phone until our ears were soggy when we weren't together (blessedly, not long-distance!). It was a sweet, rich time in our lives.

12:28 AM. "Uncle" for now. Mas tomorrow, perhaps. Keep those comments rolling in (even if I have to make them!). Hugs to all!

PS "TMI" yet?

See It Before Greg Does!

New furniture! How fun is that! AND, cheapie that I am, I got FREE DELIVERY to Winters from Bwd! God is kind that way.... I wanted to surprise Greg, so he hasn't even seen it yet. He will in 20 minutes, though....

Time to get out of the country look for me, and I can finally get some furniture. Headed to IKEA (and Grace, but not in that order!) next week. I'm looking for something to put the water dispenser on, so ignore it. Revised pics will be posted next week.

How fun! Continued post coming up shortly! Love to all.

Part Negative 1--Gregorio y Viviana

Well, folks, here it is by popular request. So, to my four faithful readers, here goes....

"Part Negative 1" because I have to give you some background.

The Lord saved me at age 18. I was brought up in a home that did NOT put the "fun" in "dysfunctional." I never saw anything done right, as I've said before, let alone marriage. All I had for my teachers was what I found to read (being a voracious reader--still am), which pretty much consisted of "True Story" and "True Romance," and other such junk. If you don't know what those are, I'm so happy for you! Pure trash. So much so, that when my dad got together with his girlfriend when I was 16, he asked me what he should do, and I, FOOL that I was, said, "If you love her, go with her." How sorry is that! Forget about 19 years of marriage and 3 children and the vows you made before God. Sigh.

I was the only daughter, with two younger brothers. I was The Boss. Now put that together (getting ahead of myself here) with The Baby, with two older sisters who spoiled him and got him everything he needed, and the fireworks start. Imagine. But I digress....

After starting my "romantic life" at age 12 (which I DO NOT recommend!), I had lots of boyfriends, with relationships I started and finished. Got a lot of those in by age 18 when God saved me, and He saved me out of my worst relationship, which "was the best of times, and it was the worst of times." God was so merciful to me to release me from my bondage of sin!

So, now that I was a Christian and single, I was ready for God to send me single to Africa as a missionary for the rest of my life. I knew I was forgiven, but felt I was not worthy of a Christian husband, with my past. So it was just me and the Lord Jesus for a year and a half.

The Lord was SO good and kind and tender to me during this time (as He always is, but especially so then). I was basking in knowing God, being forgiven (bliss! a clean slate), and having a new heart that loved God and wanted to serve Him with everything I had. It was such a precious time. I would have been perfectly content to live like that the rest of my life, even go to Africa, if He would go with me. GOD taught ME, GOD led ME, GOD loved ME! I couldn't get enough of Him.

The Lord sent me a necessary friend in the form of a male, and we had a great time challenging each other from the scriptures. I learned a lot from him, and I thank God for him. God used this friend to protect me and encourage me and ease my loneliness after leaving such an intense ungodly relationship. I had a crush on him for a while, but that passed. (There's a hilarious story in there, too!) He told me that one day God would send me a husband, and that he would pale in comparison. I had great difficulty believing this, as he was a pretty wonderful man.

Our pastor was a former youth minister, and we had a VERY young church, with maybe 2 married couples, and those were older. LOTS of teens! It was quite a neat time in my life, and I decided to go to *bible college* (called *"bridal college"* by some), as our pastor had. At this time I was still very rebellious towards rules and regulations. Then I read, "rebellion is as the sin of *witchcraft," and stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry." Many sighs....

A moment for Part Negative 2. There were some Christians in my high school, but I hate to say that they were extremely unpopular. They were what we would today call "the nerds." (What DO they call them today?) Remember this is in the days of MINI skirts and bell-bottom, hip-hugger pants. And the Christian girls dressed VERY modestly, in long dresses and skirts (just like I wear today!), and the guys wore high-water pants, which were SO uncool! And they passed out *Chick* tracts in the lunchroom, which I thought were hilarious. My friends and I, I'm ashamed to say, were their persecution. Double sigh.

Back to Part Negative 1. So I go to this "bible college" in Florida in January. Talk about not fitting in! I was like the "bull in the china shop." Many of the girls had high-pitched voices and talked so "plastic-ly," quoting verses in a way that, to me, was so fake. (An aside: Grace, I so sound like you there, don't I?) And here comes Miss-Bass-Voice-Viv. And a few of the Christians from my school were there, and, the first time they saw me, they looked as shocked as I imagine the Christians did when they saw Saul in the Christians' meetings! (Anyway, someday I'll blog about THAT adventure. I was a disgrace to the place, I think.) I tried a relationship there, but it didn't work out, thankfully. That's another funny (as in "ha-ha") story....

I had a great time in this "bible college," which I put in quotes because it was hyper-Arminian, with such a false gospel it was horrendous! I stayed out until 1 AM, when curfew was at 9:30 or so, "fellowshipping at IHOP," which was NOT an acceptable excuse! I snuck out all the time to the married couples' dorms to watch "Creature Feature,"the monster movie, on Friday nights. What a dodo.

So, there I was, involved in a junior-high bible study with two guys and having a ball. (Did I mention our "bible college" was the old *Hollywood "Beach" *Hotel in Florida? Between the bay and the ocean--what an incredible place! LUXURY!) I was SO not-dependent on anyone but God! I didn't need anyone. I had my summer set up. I was going to stay in Florida, work with the bible study kids, and have a blast serving the Lord.

Now here comes May, end of semester. My former roommate (another pitiful story) tells me they've got a carful headed back to San Antonio, with room for ONE MORE. Do I want to go home? NO. She asked me so many times, and my answer was always the same.

Until the day before they left. I got so incredibly homesick I felt I was going to DIE (not an exaggeration!) if I didn't go "home." (WHAT home?) I confirmed my spot in the car, called my married friend and asked if I could spend the summer with her and her husband and two little children, and I was set.

Back to Part Negative 2. Heard lots of sermons on dating and marriage (none on courtship), so I had my "list" ready! "Saved, *soulwinner,* no previous marriage or children, no debt, taller than me (let's be reasonable, eh), and HANDSOME, so our kids would have a fighting chance, and blue eyes (ok, so Greg's eyes are technically green, but they do look blue when he wears certain colors...)." I had gone steady with an Italian, a Mexican, a Puerto Rican, and a black guy, amongst many others, so I was pretty open that way, as long as he was saved. I had also purposed not to start any relationship again (let him start it), and not to be the first to say "I love you." Also, I purposed that the next man who told me "I love you" would have to have the next words be, "Will you marry me?" or I was going to walk away. (Wasn't I sensible? Pretty pitiful, eh.)

Back to Part Negative 1.Went back to church as soon as I got there; I was going to be our pastor's secretary for the summer. And the first meeting I attend back home, there is this amazingly handsome man, a GI from Lackland named Greg, putting in an air conditioner.

Coming up--Part 1. Continued....

PS If this is TMI, please let me know, and I'll abbreviate it. For those who think it is: We got together, we got married, and here we are, 33 years, 7 children, 13 grandchildren later. That's the short story.

PPS Love to my four faithful readers! You're the BEST!

The Papa

Here we are in all our glory! Orlando was short and sweet. It was good to see my papa, and good to be home! Thanks, Paul, for joining me in that adventure!

One-Third of a Century Together!

Wowzers! Thirty-three years of marriage! I'm loving him more than ever. Can't imagine it better!

I never saw it done right. I barely knew one married couple at church. They were dear, but I don't remember ever going to their home. That's as close as I had come to seeing a Christian marriage. My folks were divorced when I was 16, and we did NOT put the FUN in dysFUNctional!

Anybody want to hear the story of our meeting and courtship? (Hey, maybe THAT will get a comment or two!) Let me know. Love to my 4 fans!

"Settled"?

Finally! A day at home. Bliss! Rain. God's provision. Sermons to muse and meditation upon. God is so good!

Yesterday was an outstanding Lord's Day. Super Sunday School by dear Jason, and I got to hear him say "Keilah" again. Isn't that a great name for a girl? I love it! (Key-eye-lah.) Then there's another in the series on the Excellency of Christ, on Lazarus dying. Please go listen to it at http://sermonaudio.com/aashepard. Entitled: Faith's Romance: Jesus Wept. I highly recommend it. And the evening message was on training your children. I am blessed. AND we got to spend the afternoon with dear brethren. Greg even cooked for everyone.

ALMOST completely unpacked. I brought the remnants from the other apartment, so those still have to be put away.

Our Dan is back in Texas for a while! I MISS my red-headed snippet! It will be good to see him and Paul (who I also miss!). Wish Miss Kalee could come along for the ride....

Yesterday was Little Sarah's birthday (Happy 5th Birthday, Princess!) and tomorrow is her mommy's TWENTY-SIXTH! birthday! Wowzers! (That's our BABY!) We are the parents of OLD PEOPLE! (So what does that make US? GAK!)

I'll give you a moment to catch your breath from the excitement this post has caused you.

Off to make some curtains for the living room. I am on a sewing kick. Go figure....

Love to all. Leave a comment and spread the love. Thank you, Faithful Four!

Praying for a safe trip for the Michael Risses! They're leaving tonight. Love you!

What's happening in YOUR neck of the woods?

How do you spell PAMPER?

THIS is a foot massage, followed by a back massage! I asked them if they wanted to be adopted by me. I have to talk to their parents about this!

Ian wants me to quote him: I love you, Emmie!

Sarah wants me to quote her: I love Emmie!

What a great life.

PS Sarah added: I love Pee Wee!

Al Fin

(aka: FINALLY!)

Almost finished unpacking! Yahooey! More later, but I am loving this place. I just miss my ceiling fans....

Love to all who helped us so much with this move, and you know who you are! Pics soon. Sarah's moving next week (copycat!), and I'm headed over there to help. Tomorrow I finish up the Bwd. apartment and turn in keys, then get tires and see Grannybear with Sarah and the kiddlings. Then I'm spending the night and meeting Grace and Dean in Strawn to pick up our 3 baby grands! Got them until Tuesday--let the games begin! (Speaking of the Olympics....)

More later! My back HURTS! And I love the NEW Hamiltons! God is good.

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.)

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.

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!

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.

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!