http://78mag.com/2014/09/an-extraordinary-experience/


I am sharing the above link with you all because I am one proud momma. I can't deny it. Indulge me for a moment. A local magazine contacted me about wanting to write an article for their online readers. It is hard to translate how special this experience has been for our daughter. Many kids participate in the Duke TIP program for 7th and 8th graders taking pre-ACT tests. That is not what Ivey-Elise experienced. She was asked to join an earlier version of Duke TIP that is specifically for 4th - 6th graders. She has been blessed with an awesome experience.

A Rose of Friendship

"The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart."

- Unknown

This rose has a story to tell. 

It is a symbol of friendship. 

It is a symbol of God's grace.

It is a symbol of love. 

It is a symbol of healing. 

You may not see all of these symbols when you look at this delicate, porcelain rose, but I do. 

Let me tell you its story. 

The story begins years and years and years ago. There was young girl, Sarah Christen, who grew up living in Saudi Arabia. She was an American by birth. Her dad had taken a job working for a member of the Royal family and she spent several years of her life living abroad. 

At this same time, there was a young boy who grew up in the heart of Alabama. He was an only child. He lived in a small town that held all the quintessential charm of the South. His name, Garve III. His father was a very successful trial lawyer. The kind of lawyer that most people loved to despise --- until they needed a lawyer! This young boy learned early on that there were people who would be mad at him because of what his father did for a living. 

There was another young girl whose name was Joette. She too,  grew up in the same sleepy, Alabama town as Garve. She was one of those people who didn't really like the boy or his family because of his father. You see, Garve's father had filed lawsuits against her family and their family business over the years, and they were, understandably, hurt. 

Fast forward about 10 years. The young girl who grew up overseas and the boy had met and fallen in love. They married, and move to Garve's hometown. As they began to make friends, and establish a home together, Sarah Christen and Joette met. It was NOT a very warm meeting. In fact, it was in a court room! Sarah Christen had wanted to see her father-in-law in the courtroom, in action. The case was one where Garve's dad had sued Joette's family business, yet again. Joette glared and gave Sarah Christen the  "evil eyes"  in the courtroom that day. 

Several years later, Garve and Joette's husband had met. They had the same circle of friends. And both men were invited to bring their wives on a couples trip to Las Vegas for a mutual  friend's 40th birthday. That trip would prove to be the beginning of a wonderful miracle. 

During that trip Joette and Sarah Christen began to talk. They learned of each other's lives. Their interests. Their experiences. Surprisingly, they had much in common. A budding friendship began to form. Joette's family and Garve's family were skeptical. The families were still unsure of the others and both had hurts. 

A few years into the friendship that was continuing to deepen, Joette planned to bring her daughter to Sarah Christen's child birthday party. It was the first time that Garve's family would all be there. Sometime during the party Joette's daughter,  and Garve's DAD, began playing with each other by bouncing a tiny bouncy ball back and forth to one another. That act, in and of itself, was something that took the girls breath away. It was a physical symbol of the healing that was beginning to occur between the families. During that interaction the tiny bouncy ball accidentally hit a porcelain rose that was sitting in the house. It shattered. Joette was so upset. Sarah Christen's dad told her not to worry. This porcelain rose was just a THING, and there was not  a chance this THING could be more important than a child. Things break. Joette felt better, but over the years would always say something about wanting to replace the broken rose. 

The healing of the families hurts continued over time. Sarah Christen was hired by Joette to work at her family business! Talk about coming full circle! The friends have laughed and said that God has a great sense of humor. To go from a Shakesperean family grudge to being the best of friends and even working together is a true testament to how blessed we can be when we allow our hearts to be open. Jay McIrney said it best, "The capacity of friendship is God's way of apologizing for our families." How true! 

Joette called me the other day, and told me she had left a "HAPPY" on my porch. In the box, was the porcelain rose pictured above. I will always look at that rose and see MUCH, MUCH more than a pretty piece of porcelain. 

Essential Oils for Headaches

I love Essential Oils. 

You may know that by now. 

And I suffer from migraines, and headaches all the time. 

Essential Oils are a huge help in dealing with my headaches. 

If you want to know more about Esential Oils, or would like to purchase some -

go to this link below or message me. 

https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?sponsorid=1757139&enrollerid=1757139&site=US&isoCountryCode=US

Another Second Wind Dream

I am so blessed to work for a company that allows me the privilege of blessing others!

What a joy and an honor!

Check out the story on Facebook of our most recent dream fulfilled!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.637567952988422.1073741837.554235774654974&type=1

It was such a fun day getting to take the residents to the garden center to pick out their flowers and plants. 

Memorial Weekend Fun

What a wonderful, joy-filled, memory making, noisy, tiring, family spent weekend we are having. The joys of having friends who are really more like family. 

From kids all piled up in one bedroom (& fighting over whose turn it is to sleep on the floor), to waiting FOREVER on the men to "grill" our hamburgers, to laughing until my sides hurt when the kids played a mean game of "king of the hill" using the inner tube. 

These are the memories I cherish. I love every stinky, whiny, sleepy, happy, sappy moment. 

Before we know it, the kids will be grown up and living on their own. I pray that they look back on these days with the same fondness that I have. 

Here's to the first weekend of summer 2014, and all the memories that will be made. 

A Day in the Life ......

So, here is a conversation with my 12 year old from dinner the other night:

IE: (returning from the bathroom with her 4 year-old brother) "Mom, I can't stop laughing!

ME: "Why?" 

IE: "I was holding Grish up so he could wash his hands. His hair was close to my nose. I told him he smelled like a dog!" 

ME: "What?!" 

IE: " Mom, his hair smelled clean, but like a dog just home from the groomer! I asked him what he used to wash his hair ------ He told me the bottle with the picture of the DOG on it!" 

Yep. Dog shampoo. He cleaned his hair with dog shampoo. 

Are you looking for a way to help you family with their health? 

Young Living Essential Oils is the way to go. 

I love this product and would be happy to help you discover what would be best for you.

Contact me today! 

Staying Essentially L'Oil!

#EssentiallyL'oil #EssentialL'Oilist #YoungLiving #LemonDroppers

Sassy's Sayings . . .

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill

Wow! What a great saying. It makes you stop and think, doesn't it? What has been an obstacle for you? Do you see it as an opportunity, or a difficulty? 

I challenge you to take those nagging thoughts captive and Carpe Diem!

A Moment in Time . . .

My oldest child has an eye for photography. 

And I don't mean that she just likes taking selfies on her iPhone,

I mean she loves a real camera. 

Digital, old-school with 35 mm film, instant . . . you name it, she will shoot it.

Last year, she heard of a local competition (Walker 24/7 Photography Contest) that was going on in our community, and chose to enter. 

She won in her age division. 

This year, the competition(Walker 24/7 Photography Contest) was being held again, and she entered again. 

She placed 2nd and 3rd in her age division, and they also displayed 2 other photographs that she submitted. 

I am so proud of her!

She is saving the money from the competitions and babysitting jobs to buy a nice camera.

And I don't mean a couple hundred dollar camera, I mean a super-duper, huge lens, does all sorts of fancy things type of camera. She really wants a Nikon. Anyway . . . I sure hope she is able to save up for it! 

I am posting the pictures that won, as well as the pictures they chose to display this year. 

Walker County was founded in 1823

Jasper Post Office

Half-Time Devotional

Upward Basketball/Jasper's First Baptist Church

6th grade English

Maddox Middle School

Practice Makes Perfect

Maddox Middle School 6th grade band practice

Essential Oils

Do You Know About

Young Living Essential Oils?

I do. 

And I love them!

In fact, I have recently become a distributor for the company. 

This means that I can sell the products to you. 

Or better yet, if you love to shop online (like me)

you can just click the link below 

and it will direct you to my page. 

Essential Oils are amazing. 

I will be posting more about them 

in the near future. 

https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?sponsorid=1757139&enrollerid=1757139&site=US&isoCountryCode=US

LIFE IS PRECIOUS

LIFE IS PRECIOUS . . .

every moment should be cherished.

every breath should be breathed with thankfulness.

every loved one hugged tightly.

every moment a choice should be made . . . to choose 

love

peace

calm

strength

courage

joy

gratefulness

kindness

in the past week there have been several times when i have had to pause and realize the brevity of life. 

a young girl from our community died on Easter day from an atv accident. she was 13 years old and went to school with my daughter. i didn't know her personally but people who know her said she had a spunk and a love for life. 

yesterday, tornadoes ripped through arkansas and mississippi and alabama. 

lives have been lost. 

Jesus has called some people home. 

i pray in these moments when we see how quickly life can be taken, that we remember what is really important. that the pressures of the every day lives we lead will not overshadow the precious fragility we can enjoy each and every day.

Easter Morning - 2014

He is RISEN! What a glorious morning worshipping our Saviour! If you have time, check out the service. The music was wonderful and the message was moving! 

http://www.sundaystreams.com/go/FirstUMC

Introducing ..... ME!

Well, I have struggled for a while with how to start this blog. I love to write. I love to tell stories. I love my family. So, that is where I will begin. My family.

I have been married for 14 years to the love of my life. I will refer to him as G3, because he is the third namesake with his given name. We met in college. We fell head-over-heels in love and married young. We have walked this life together. Good, bad, everyday, mundane, spectacular and every descriptive word in between. God has been the glue that holds us together. He remains the center of the relationship. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man to be my forever Valentine!

We have 4 gorgeous, smart, witty, wild, beautiful, athletic, joyful, funny children. Our children are little lights in our life. They are each so unique and it really blows me away to see them blossoming into the human beings they were created to be.

Because I have a full and busy life I am sure this will not be a daily blog, but I hope to write about the things I love. The things that make me laugh. The things that I am passionate about. The things that fascinate me.

I hope to give a glimpse into the person I am. I hope to give little snippets, and chronicles to remember my life by. . . .

Sassy