Walking Together Towards God

This Memorial Day weekend, Maurice and I had a great time celebrating my grandfather's 90th birthday and spending some quality family time together. It made me think about what kind of legacy we will build together. I want it to be great, but greatness does not happen unintentionally.  My grandfather intentionally took his family to church, discplined his children, loved his wife and made great contributions from his neighborhood as a business owner to his nation as a soldier. At his special party today, he had honorary acknowledgements read and many people thanked him for his influence in their lives and in the lives of their families. The fruit of his very full life was abundantly apparent in all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren present. He is STILL influencial! This weekend also marks the 13th anniversary of our engagement!! It was on a beautiful day like this that Maurice proposed marriage and I happily accepted. It is easily one of the best days of ...

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Our youngest son went on a school fiendtrip that resulted in a bumpy, scaly rash that reminded me of poison ivy! He was itching terribly and my first inclination as a nurse was to grab the diphenhydramine (benadryl). We tried that and some cortisone 10, then I remembered my essential oils! I quickly researched which oils are good for irritated skin and rashes and whipped up a small batch to ease his symptoms. I had no idea what amounts to use or what I should add first, second or third. I just wanted my baby to get better fast! He had been rubbing, so poison ivy oils spread all over that way. He had bumps and rashes from head to toe. I wanted to cry! I started by just applying a little to one area. I dabbed it to his skin manually and he said that he felt a little burning, but then "it felt better". I started taking pictures to make sure that I was seeing what I thought I was. The rash started to disappear in about an hour. Then, to my amazement, my son told me that he ...

If love is an action word, how do I "perform" it as a wife? Well, there is the obvious physical intimacy that I can willingly offer and receive from my husband, but sometimes, my love needs to be a real sacrifice. I could just hear someone saying that depending on their mood, sex would be a sacrifice...lol! Well, today my husband called from work and wanted a special meal and.....well, my heart was not in the right place. I was thinking about how I wish someone would fix my favorite foods, cater to me , spoil me . How sad that I can let those selfish thoughts creep in! Then I remembered how my husband had so thoughtfully served me the weekend before. He did some things out of his "comfort zone" for me and my heart softened. We have to train our hearts and minds to mold themselves to the Word of God. Put others before yourself is what the Bible says. "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more importa...

There was a time that I wondered if I would ever be a mother at all. After we got married in 2001, we waited for a few years and then we were pregnant with our first child in the spring of 2005. We were elated because we had finally saved enough to move out of our 1 bedroom apartment and become real homeowners!  Our happiness quickly took a turn for the worse just a few short months later when I began to have periods of cramping, then spotting. I had been working full-time throughout my pregnancy in rehab. It was heavy work, but I thought nothing of it. I was also very ignorant about heavy lifting while pregnant and monitoring my out-of-control mood swings. I took a lot of my frustration out on my husband. We had told our families and then we lost the baby to a miscarriage. Incompatible genes they told us. Incompatible?? Bind the Devil!! Now, I was no midwife or OB/GYN nurse, but I figured two healthy people could have a healthy baby together without complications. It's b...

Way back in the day, I was given my first journal by my mom. I felt special. My secrets were locked away behind pretty pink pages. I remember that it had a lock and key - which I unfortunately lost after a few entries. Since then I have been better at keeping a real journal. As a matter of fact I have about 11 of them that are full of memories, both happy and sad. I saw myself growing up between those pages. I went from sharing thoughts about not wanting to be best friends with my sisters anymore, to the confusing tween and teen years, as well as my struggles with relationships and being hopeful for marriage then a tragic miscarriage with my husband. There were times when there were very large gaps, years even, when I did not write anything. It wasn't as if there was nothing interesting happening in my life, it was just either very personal, forgotten or not notable. It's nice to see the documentation of my past, but it is also good to know that I can see how my decisi...