A big building

Julia came home from school the other day devastated. She was upset because she had a bad day at school. I asked her what was wrong and she said this boy told everyone that she liked him.

I said, "Julia, did you tell him that you liked him?"

She said, "No, mommy. I did not!! He's a big tall building with feet!!"

Then I lost it! :-)

Thank you Lord for the joy my children bring me!

Please Pray

This post is to ask you to pray for a very special Lady, Mrs. Dot.

When I think of Mrs. Dot, I think of a true lady. One you don't see very often these days. Someone I aspire to be like. In everything she does, whether in her home, when she was the director of the daycare, or out somewhere else, she always carries herself with dignity and class, confident in her relationship with God and her place in His kingdom.

I cannot ever remember a time that I didn't know Rev. Bobby and Dot Collins. See, they some of my parents very best friends, so they have always been apart of our extended family. There wasn't a trip to the coast or a time that they came to the mountains we weren't together. Nor do I ever remember a Church of God General Assembly without them.

There is so much I love about this couple. Their contagious joy, the friendship they have so lovingly given to my parents and our family, but more than that, I love the work they have done for the Kingdom of God. They started a new church ministry in a side room of their home with 18 people. Today, that congregation has grown to one of the biggest in our state. You can check out their church at www.wowcenter.org. But their ministry does not end there, it is only the beginning because their ministry has extended to many different countries in their support of World Missions and the love they have for all God's people. It is awesome and inspiring to see what God has done through their lives, and I feel so honored and privileged to know them both.

Mrs. Dot has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's and is not doing so well these days. I ask that you pray especially for her and Rev. Bobby. Pray for the ones helping to take care of her, for their family, the Doctors providing her care, and their church family. Pray for a mighty touch of the Savior's hand.

I love you Mrs. Dot!

Joy

Girls gone wild!!!

Well, no, not really, but for us four gals, it was about as close as it gets!!

God is so good to me! He allowed me to take a few days and go to the mountains with my four best gals. We would like to thank Greg, Chad, Troy and John for allowing us to be gone, for taking care of the kids (thank you especially, Chad - even IF Savannah was run over by a 4-wheeler!!!!), for making sure you all were fed, and keeping our homes standing while we were gone. We appreciate that you made the sacrifice for us.

But we know why you did. See we know, that you know, that if you allow us our little trips like this, we always come back better than ever. Refreshed and recharged to take better care of all of those things we left in your hands. So thank you again. And while we're at it, we would also like to thank Joel, Julia, Christian, Savannah, Hunter and Easton for allowing their mommies to have a few days off from mommy duty (well, not really, but physically).

We had such a great time! Holly and Tasha had never been to Gatlinburg - I couldn't believe that, but then I discovered during our little trip that Tasha has not been to a lot of places. She experienced her very first time to Cracker Barrel as well. Can you imagine living in the south and not having been to a Cracker Barrel?? Well, we took care of that right off the bat!

We have a wonderful chalet up above Gatlinburg almost to the Ober Gatlinburg Ski resort. The hill to get to our cabin was so steep, that I had to drive the Expedition up the STEEP mountain, pull into another cabin's driveway and turn around so I could get going in the right direction to get up our hill because I could not turn the big ol' vehicle up the driveway!! That was not so fun in the dark, let me tell you. The name of our Chalet was Quiet Times, and we loved it. Here's a picture of it sitting up on the side of the mountain.

It was so comforting to see evidence that the owner of the Chalet loved the Lord when we got there. Through a book on the table and pictures on the wall, we knew we were in the right place.

We got some shopping done, drank some mocha's, watched a few movies, enjoyed the hot tub, went to the very top of the mountains, ate at some great places (see Holly's chicken pot pie? it was the biggest one I had ever seen in my life!), conquered some fears, got to know each other so much better, laughed like crazy, and spent some awesome time with the King of Kings.

It was such a sweet, sweet time, and I am so thankful that the Lord brought such special friends in my life. They are one of those gifts that you always want, but never really expect to get. I have a lot of friends, but I began praying for God to send some really special people my way -- and boy did he answer that one way beyond my expectations!

We're already talking about when we get to go back -- and how we need to stay just a little bit longer. We decided we wanted at least one day where we never left the cabin. There is much going on in each of our lives...beyond our everyday responsibilities...Melodie and I are both taking classes, Holly is going to have another baby, and Tasha is not waiting for, but preparing and anticipating a beautiful baby girl from China who will be named Emma Grace (we just can't wait until she gets here!!).

So dear Father, we thank you most of all. For your protection, for your provision, and for the love you have for us, your daughters, to give us such a special time with you and each other.

Proverbs 27:9 in the Message Bible says this: Just as lotions and fragrance gives sensual delight, a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.

Thank you guys, for the refreshing!

Blessings!
Joy

Health Challenge 2007

For the new year, our Church began a health challenge, our very own Biggest Loser of sorts, and Greg and I are team captains...sounds like fun, huh? So, for the first week in January, everyone who signed up ate like pigs, and now we're all in withdrawals because it started this week. As captains, it is our job to encourage, motivate, and help those members of our team, and this is something that Greg loves to do. I decided to send out encouraging messages to our team each week and I thought I would include them here as well.

So, if one of your resolutions was to live a healthier lifestyle, why don't you join us? We have 10 weeks to loose some weight, get into shape, and develop healthy habits for a lifetime!

Here's this week's encouragement:

I just wanted to send you guys a little something to encourage you on our health challenge journey this week.

I was reading in Proverbs this morning, and Proverbs 3:5-9 in the message Bible says "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!"

There is so much that God is saying to me in these verses - here are a few things:
#1 - You can't do it in yourself, but I can enable you - Trust me!
#2 - When evil (this week it's name is COKE!) comes my way - RUN to GOD! He'll help me overcome! (and He has)
#3 - He wants our very bones to vibrate with life!

Now you may think that your very bones vibrating with life is ok, however you really don't understand how that's going to help you fit into smaller size pants - but let's remember what bones do: they support our flesh and provide a frame for which we are created, but most importantly, they are where the blood comes from! If our blood is full of sickness and disease, then our bodies feel that...the sluggishness when our white blood cells are fighting infection, the rate at which our heart has to pump our blood, and we're probably even feeling it if our veins are full of cholesterol that keeps the blood from flowing smoothly. If our blood is full of muck and junk, we don't feel like working out!

BUT, If we trust in God from the depth of who we are, not just with the words coming out of our mouths, then he is going to infuse our bones with new, fresh, cleansed blood that will make an inner change in our hearts and lives but will produce an outward result!

So, keep up the good work! I know it's a pain to have to take a break once an hour to go to the bathroom because of all of the water we're drinking, but in the end, it's worth it! When your body is screaming for sugar, salt, and unhealthy food, keep your eye on the end result. When your muscles are screaming from the way you are working them and forcing them to move in a way they are unaccustomed too, think on how much stronger you will be and the new testimony you will be able to give! And think of the potential new people beyond our walls you will be able to touch because of it.

I love you all and I'm so glad we're on this journey together!

Bunches of Blessings!
Joy

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Saturday, my baby turned 9 years old. That's so hard for me to get ahold of. One more year, and she will be sprinting towards becoming a teenager - that's a thought I just can't handle at this point.

Julia is such a special girl, and I don't say that only because she's mine. If everyone was really able to get to know her the way I do...her laughter, her sense of humor, her quick witt....to watch her play, and imagine, and dream, you would think she is special, too.

It is suprising to me to see doubts about herself in her at such a young age. Being self-conscious about her freckles, wanting to please, wearing her heart on her sleeve and being upset if you don't take it and accept the love she's offering, I worry about her.

However, I have been noticing lately that she has learned to do something really special at such a young age. She has learned how to pray....to really talk to God. Not like He's some big, bad King sitting on his throne ready to give out punishment, or like He's some genie in a bottle there to fulfill her every wish, but to really talk to Him like He's sitting next to her in the chair beside her and they're having a conversation. Her prayers never cease to amaze me, especially the depth of them sometime.

This year when I wrote her birthday letter, I reminded her of her ability to pray, and how important it will be to her later in life as she has to deal with things that require us to run to the Savior for help. She will already know how to touch Him by simply saying His name and knowing He's right there.

I also reminded her of how happy I was when she was born, because she made our family complete, and she still makes it complete today.

I am so thankful for this special little girl that God gave us, and I cherish her everyday. How blessed I am to be her Mom!

Blessings!
Joy

Late but still Thankful

It's been a while since I've posted. There are no words to say how crazy life has been the past few weeks, but I will try.

Let's start back at Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my Mom and Dad. Just being together, sharing a meal, getting up at 4:30 to go shopping (thanks Mom!). There's just something about getting out into the crowds that really gets the spirit of the season going. One of the highlights of the weekend for me was getting to see my Grandma Hagee. This was her 96th Thanksgiving! And though she looked small and frail laying there in her bed, there was still her bright smile on her face. I'm not sure if she really realizes how much her life has changed, however it really doesn't seem to matter much to her. She just smiles and enjoys the sunshine. Seeing her and my children with her made me so thankful to still have her in my life.

I had planned to put up my Christmas tree Thanksgiving weekend, but we bought a new couch which we weren't going to pick up until the next week, so I really didn't see the need to get all of the Christmas stuff out when we were getting ready to change everything around. This did NOT sit so well with Julia. I think she had been dreaming about putting the Christmas tree up! I promised her when the new couch was in, we would put it up. But then our Christmas play happened, and life got really crazy. This past Friday night we were at church for dress rehersal so we decided to put it up on Saturday afternoon. I had errands to run and school work to do before being at the Church for our first performance on Saturday night so we decided to put it up when we got home Saturday evening because Greg and Joel would be there to help but when we got home, Joel was already in the bed asleep and Greg was asleep on the couch. So no tree. I went downstairs to work on my classes and here comes my wonderful daughter with a contract for me to sign - a mother-daughter contract - that said that we would put up the tree the next day. What was I supposed to do? I knew that with two preformances on Sunday, and with my parents and Eric's kids coming I would be pressed for time, but I HAD to sign it! So Mom was signed on my line, therefore committing me to putting up the tree the next day.

God is so good, though. Joel was looking for something to do Sunday afternoon, and I let him put the tree together. He likes doing stuff like that, and the Lord knew I really didn't have the strength to do it. It was late Sunday night when we got home, and Julia wanted to decorate the tree, but I just didn't have it in me, so we decided that we would all work on in Monday evening. And we did! And thus I fullfilled my contractual duties! :-) Now if I could just snap my fingers and all of my gifts be bought, wrapped, and sitting under the tree, I would be doing great!

The Christmas production we did at Church is an entirely different story. I was in the play part, playing the part of Abigail, the wife to Jonas, the Innkeeper. The story told is such a special one, and I can honestly say that there have been times during the past weeks that I was at my wits end because of everything that was going on in my life, but when we practiced, there was always something to laugh about. So much so that I'm sure the director wondered if we could get through it without laughing! God knew everything going on in my life, and He also knew it would be a tight fit for me to fit this in there, too. However, He knew that He was going to use it to bless me, and refresh me, and to bring me joy when I wasn't really in the mood to be joyous. The Lord has blessed our church with such talented people, and it was a priviledge to be apart of something so awesome!

I hope that you, too, had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I will try to get up pictures next time -- until then...

Bunches of Blessings!
Joy

Run, Baby, Run!

This past weekend was full and wonderful for several reasons. Let me share --


The first was that I went with some of the girlfriends from church to see the new movie "One Night with the King". AWESOME! Yes, I just yelled that at you! It was so good -- my favorite kind of movie. You know, the ones with good looking guys with swords and shields, beautiful women, action, passion, suspense with lots of history in there too. So anyway - I loved it! I also loved being with the girls. A great movie, great company at dinner, and a cup of Mocha on the way home is just what the Savior wanted for me.

Greg and Joel also had a little adventure Saturday night when they were invited to the VA Tech football game against Southern Miss. Joel had never been to a college game before, and he had such a great time. They tailgated (which neither of them had ever done) and had just great seats at the game. It helped that Tech won - and that they were in company of a good friend. It sounded just like what the Savior wanted for them, too.

However, something extra special happened to my Julia! She ran in her very first 5K. When Greg first started talking to her about it, you could tell she was really hesitant, but wanted to do it to simply please her Father. Joel was 8 when he ran in this same race with Greg, so it was going to be special time for just Greg and Julia. Now, my Julia is Athletic -- she's just not quite as competitive as Joel. She loves to run, play, and climb trees. But while Joel does it to see how fast, how quick, and how much better he can do it than you, she does it for the mere joy of doing it.

So on a chilly October morning, we all go up to go and support Julia and Greg in their run. Greg had set a goal for them to finish the 5k in 30 minutes, which would be about 10 minute miles. Julia, having never run a distance race before set her pace way too fast for the first mile, causing her to have to stop and break stride. Because she did this, Greg said she was never able to get back into a good pace of running - too much starting and stopping. (We could talk a lot on that, couldn't we?)

Julia finished her race with two police cars giving her an escort - cheering her on -- in just over 32 minutes. Pretty awesome, huh? I am so proud of her for so many reasons. Not that she finished the race so well, but that she attempted to do something so huge for her young life. I am so glad that she had a moment at this age to just shine.

Her Dad is hoping that this will be the birth of a track star - so just get used to hearing the phrase Run, Baby, Run!

Blessings!
Joy

P.S. I coudn't go without posting some pictures of Joel. Here are some of him from his last Carlisle game. Enjoy!

A moment of joy

Have you ever been in a moment and known that it was a perfect moment - while you were in it? I had that happen to me a couple of weeks ago.

It happened a couple of Saturdays ago when we had planned a family outing with Joel's travel soccer team to go to watch the UNCG men's soccer team play at their homecoming game against Elon. My friend Laura and her husband David were unable to go, so I offered to let their son Corey go with us so he wouldn't have to miss out. Then while I was at a wedding on Saturday afternoon, Joel asked his girlfriend of the moment Peyton and their friend that lived down the street from us, Kacie, to go as well since we had two extra tickets.

So here the seven of us pack up and go (it's a good thing we just upgraded to a bigger vehicle!) to dinner, a fast ride to Greensboro, a great soccer game (UNCG won!) and ice cream at McDonald's afterward with me wondering just what I had gotten myself into. However, I couldn't have asked for more than the night we had. The kids behaved perfectly (yes, even mine) and had such a great time.

My moment of joy happened on the way home. We had turned the radio to Saturday night at the Disco (the only station we could all agree on) and as soon as we did, "Carwash" filled the vehicle and before you know it there were 5 kids in the back singing and laughing, dancing as much as they could in their seats. Greg looked over at me and smiled and grabbed my hand, and all of a sudden I knew I was in a perfect moment. A moment when all of the rest of the world faded away and there was nothing else but what was immediately around me. A moment of joy.

I am so thankful for that moment. But more than that, I am thankful that I recognized the moment while I was in it and was able to give thanks to the Lord for allowing me such a special gift. When it seems like my life is topsy-turvy and that I've given out until there's nothing left to give, I am given a most special gift that no amount of money could buy.

Lord, may I be so blessed as to have many, many more such moments and never forget to thank You for each one.

Blessings!
Joy

My New Space!

So, I've taken another crazy pill and thought I would start a blog. Why? Well, for many reasons, but mainly for a soon-to-be teenage boy and a beautiful young lady who live in my home who I want to record some memories for. I've tried to scrapbook, but really, I'm already 12 years behind -- I'll never catch up if I keep on adding to that stack! So this is a way to just jump in and get some sort of journal going. It's also a way the family that we have scattered all across the world can see what's going on in our household each and every week.

You may have been wondering why I titled it "A Spacious Place". That comes straight from one of my favorite Bible verses (who can have just one?) that has been with me for the past few years.

He brought me into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. Psalm 18:19.

That He brought me to where I am today is truly mind altering, but that He did it because He delighted in me is more than I can comprehend. When I look at myself and what I see, I am not able to understand why - I don't even delight in myself most of the time. I always see all of the hundreds and thousands of things that I have going on and that I am working on in my life that I need to improve before I ever get to the state of being delightful - but none of that stuff matters to Him! He looks past all of the "stuff" in my life and sees through to the me at the core and He is delighted! That's just one of the billion reasons I love Him so much.

So I am in a spacious place - a place of growing. A place of learning. Not a place of being shut in or closed all around me, but a place of being free from the shadows. A place where I can experience all that God has for me. It's also a place of exposure, but it's O.K. because He is my guard and protection.

I'll leave you today with this same passage (v. 16-18) from the Message Bible which just really lays it out there for me.

But me he caught—reached all the way

from sky to sea; he pulled me out

Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,

the void in which I was drowning.

They hit me when I was down,

but God stuck by me.

He stood me up on a wide-open field;

I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

Psalm 18:16-19 - The Message

Today, I hope you, too, realize that He delights in you. He reached all the way from the sky to the sea to pull you out -- just because He loves you.

I hope you come visit with me often.....

Until then - Bunches of Blessings!
Joy