Twelve Baskets Full.....

My Friend and co-worker, Nelly, has started a blog, Twelve Baskets Full, which is the story of her dream God is turning into reality.

Check it out and see what God is doing in her life.


Also, say a prayer for my Grandfather. He is in the hospital, not doing well. We know it is only a matter of time.

He has had a full, wonderful life. He is tired, his body is tired.

He is comfortable. He is not in pain.

Please pray he continues to be comfortable and pain free. At this point, it's all we can ask for.

Please pray for my Dad specifically, as he is the Decision Maker of the family.

In 1999, my Grandfather made it very clear what he did and did not want done. Decisions are still hard to make even under the best circumstances.

Ive told my Dad he has to think with his head and not his heart.

That is easier said than done, I know.


Have a wonderful weekend, Friends!

I love you all.

=],

I'm in love.....

I swore it wouldn't happen, I wouldn't let it, but I took one look into those beautiful eyes and my heart melted.



She was a quiet girl, with a gentle spirit.

She was most content sitting in my lap, with my arms wrapped around her, which was certainly fine with me.



She smiled constantly.

She said it made her happy I was there.

She couldn't believe we came from Alabama on a "tour bus" to help them.

She was a girly girl.

She loved to fix hair and kept saying over and over "white hair is so soft".

She loved to sing.

She had never heard the song Jesus Loves Me.

Unbelievable, huh?

She wanted a song of her own to sing at home.

I wrote down the words to Jesus Loves Me on a piece of paper.

I taught her that song.

She said she would sing it, "Forever".

That made me smile.

I have never seen anybody more excited about getting a piece of paper in all my life.

Honestly, I have never been more excited about giving a piece of paper.

My youngest daughter, Kylee, had the privilege of telling her about Jesus and leading her to Christ.



I was so proud of Kylee for being bold in sharing her faith.

God is using her in mighty ways even at age 12.

She told Kylee she had to find me and tell me she asked Jesus in her heart.



She was worth every mile I traveled there.

She told me she never wanted me to leave her.

My heart broke.

She asked me if she could go back to Alabama and live with me and be my little girl.

What do you say?

I told her if I stayed in Virginia, my family would be very sad and as much as I would love for her to come to Alabama, I knew her family would be very sad if she left Virginia.

I told her to remember she always had a friend in Alabama.

That was the best I could do.

What I really wanted to do was scoop that baby up and bring her back to Alabama with me and raise her as my daughter and love on her forever.

She was precious.

I fell in love with this girl.

Her eyes literally lit up each time I told her I loved her.

She knew that was the truth.

She didn't come to Bible School our last night there.

I'm not sure why.

I walked the neighborhood looking for any sign of her.

I couldn't find her.

I expected to have one more night with her.

I didn't get to say goodbye.

I wanted to.

I hope 3 nights worth of love made a difference in her life.

I know it did mine.


=],

It's A Long Way.....

Oh, how I missed all of you, my blog friends.

I have literally spent the last couple days attempting to catch catching up on all of your blogs.

We had an amazing mission trip to Virginia.

Bayside Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was gracious enough to let us use their Church as our home away from home last week. Thank you, Bayside Baptist Church! May the Lord bless you immensely =)



Our actual Mission Site was Holy Trinity Baptist Church in inner city Norfolk, Virginia. We attended Worship Service there Sunday morning. WOW! We look different, we talk different, we came from different parts of the Country but we serve the same God therefore we are brothers and sister in Christ.

Pictured here is the organist for Holy Trinity. We share the exact same name. Can you imagine another Gracie? No? That's what my group said, too =)

Our wonderful Sisters in Christ at Holy Trinity cooked lunch for us after Church. We had fried chicken, collard greens, cabbage, green beans, slaw, potato salad, corn bread, homemade pound cake. Mmmmm, It was delicious!

Sunday was a day of Soul food and soul food.

We did beach ministry on Virginia Beach during the day. Sounds tough, huh? Our kids gave out care packages to lifeguards which contained bottled H2O, crackers, chapstick, a Bible, and a Gospel tract. They couldn't talk to the lifeguards cause they couldn't distract them from their duty, but we had prayed over each and every package before it was given out that God would use it to bring someone to Him.

We also gave out bottled H2O and Frisbees with Bible verses on them to vacationers and played games on the beach with the kids. We had sand sculpture competitions which drew alot of interest from those passing by.


Each night, we traveled to Holy Trinity to do Vacation Bible School. As I said before, it is located in inner city Norfolk and is actually in an old commercial store front.

The Sanctuary has 8 pews in it. Reckon how long it took for all 39 of us to fill it up? Let me help you, before everyone made it in the front door!

We averaged 34 kids each night which was fabulous considering they usually have 2-4 children in attendance.

More important than anything, we saw 9 precious children accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. That ALONE was worth every mile of our long journey, and each minute of sleep lost.




It was an amazing experience.

It was an amazing week.

I am humbled to be part of such an amazing work for God.

I am completely taken aback by the leadership and willingness of our high school students to openly serve God and tell others about Him.

I did meet one special little girl at VBS last week. I can't wait to tell you about her.

Until then, remember, The Way isn't always easy and sometimes it's long, BUT in the end there is great reward.


=],

Road Trip for Jesus.....

Just wanted to let all my Blog Friends know that we are making preparations to load up in the morning and travel 700 miles to head here.......
Norfolk, Virginia.


Gorgeous isn't it?


I haven't been there in person but all that will change in about 24 hours.


We are leaving Alabama at 7 in the morning heading to Norfolk for 7 days on a High School Youth Mission Trip with our Church.


Of course, my girls are part of the Youth group at our Church so the Hubby and I planned our vacation so we could go, too.


I was worried about having enough time off at work, but God worked it right out.
(That is a whole different post later).


We will be doing beach ministries during the day and at night we will be conducting Vacation Bible School.


I will be updating via my Blackberry, most likely. I will take my computer but I'm not sure exactly what the set up will be like as we will actually be staying at a different church across town.


Please keep us in your prayers as we travel to do God's work. I know without a doubt there are lives in Norfolk, Virginia that are waiting to be changed, and there are people in Gadsden, Alabama that want God to use them to share God's love.

Sounds like the perfect combination to me......


Ok, gotta run, I'm suppose to be packing!


=],

Blog Hop - Favorite Photo.....

I have told you before there is no job or title I could hold that is more important to me than being a Mom. Growing up that is all I ever wanted to be.


Haley, our oldest daughter, on the left, will turn 18 September 4th. She will be a High School Senior this coming year. It seems so unreal that the baby I prayed so hard for is so quickly growing into a young lady right before my eyes. It scares me and yet I'm excited at the same time as I watch her grow as and I wonder what great plans God has for her. How will He use that brilliant mind? Where will she go to college? I am so proud of her and the life she lives unashamed for Christ.


Kylee, our baby, on the right, will enter the teenage years as she turns 13 on August 27th. She will be a 7th grader in the fall. Kylee was our surprise blessing from God and I am so thankful His ways are far wiser than ours. It literally scares me when I think of all the good things we would have missed out on if we had "had it our way". Kylee, without a doubt, has a servants heart that is running over with love for others. God, no doubt, has awesome plans for her.


Why don't you hop on in and join us, and tell us about your favorite photo?


=],