Have you ever seen such an adorable face? This little baby is Jezabelle McDougald, my great niece fur baby. She is the teeniest thing, and to hear her bark…oh, my! Too cute!
I spent the day today helping Lori with decorating her new home. Ben was away for the day and…not that he would mind or anything…it’s just easier to work when it’s just us girls doing the playing, isn’t it? Lori, Joy and myself had a full day of work to do. After we got the major moving around finished, we added some fall pieces to her house…one of which is this great fall leaf bowl. Suzanne, my daughter in love, came by and quickly fell in love with Jeza. She thought she would look cute in the bowl…and so she did!
However, she quickly decided that she did not like this place she was in and managed to hoist herself up onto the rim of the bowl. But, once there…she could not decide what to do next. It looked too far to the top of the table. “Rescue me someone!”
“Ahhh! That’s more like it! This is where I like to be most! With my mommy!”
Now, we had to do some rearranging of furniture to get things to their optimum ‘look-good’ potential. So, we moved couches, tables, and a TV…a big TV. A big TV with lots of stuff plugged into it…surround sound, WII, cable, DVR…many, many cords. Now to move the TV, we had to undo all the cords. However, and herein lies the unfortunate occurrence, we could not for the life of us remember what to do with all the cords once we got the big TV moved to another table and pushed back against the wall. Why would anyone have to have all those cords anyway? Seems to me that as smart as ‘smart people’ are these days, they could put all that stuff into the TV to start with and then you would only have to plug in ONE cord and everything would work. Now, this would not have been such a devastating thing had Lori’s new hubby Ben, not asked her specifically to tape the ALABAMA game that was on this afternoon. He was hard at work, and all he wanted to do when he came home was to watch THE game. But, alas, this is not to be. Hope he gets over it. Lori didn’t seem too worried. As I left, she was putting Jeza into the car and they were heading to Joy’s house…so SHE could watch the game! “Lori, if Ben asks, I’m telling him it was all YOUR idea!”
I am a collector at heart, and it really doesn’t matter what it is, if I like it…I like it…and I collect it. It is the ‘gathering together’ that is the fun! Most of the things I collect are of little value to anyone else. But, that’s OK…that is not even what is important. It is the feeling of other hands holding and other hearts loving an item that makes it valuble to me. One day I will tell you about all my collections…but for today, I will tell you that I love to collect photographs. I love the finding and sorting and catagorizing…then the reviewing!
Today, I want to share some of my favorite ‘early fall’ pictures. Why, yes, there are ‘early fall’ pictures and ‘late fall’ pictures. Just as there are pumpkin pics, and fall leaf pics, and fall decor pics. There are Halloween pictures, and Thanksgiving pictures, and most precious of all…’my family in fall’ pictures. I hope you enjoy looking at these. (Only collected by me…not taken by me).
I think I have mentioned recently that my church went through a terrible ordeal…it split. This has been a devastating occurrence in my life. And, coming so soon after Mom’s journey to Heaven, it has felt like another death to me.
I have written no less than 10 posts about what transpired. But, chose not to publish any of them. I wondered if they were too harsh. Or were they too angry. Maybe, they seemed too sad, or maybe, not really saying what I felt. I guess the truth of the matter has been…I haven’t known just exactly what I really have felt. All I could say for sure was that it hurt…big time.
I have been at Southside since I was in the 6th grade. I have become the person I am today within the walls of those buildings. I have formed my thoughts on life and the way to live it properly while listening to great men of God speak from the pulpit. I have struggled with problems in my life while being supported by the congregation there. I have faced my own personal battles while keeping ‘one foot in the door’ so to speak.
But, this, this breaking apart of the family of God is one of the hardest things I’ve ever faced. There has been anger and hateful and hurtful talk between both groups. It is so hard to take. It has split up friendships, partnerships, families. It has driven wedges between people where none has ever existed before. It has devastated.
In examining why I feel compelled to address this on my blog…I think it is because I have wanted to document every major life occurrence here. But, I have agonized over this incident and how to best explain it. I am usually not so careful with what I write. While I am always on guard to never knowingly write something that would hurt another person, I tend to pretty much write the way I talk. And, that is usually speaking my mind and saying whatever comes up. But, I am so aware in this matter, that I do not want to do or say or write anything that is not honest and true. I would never want to harm the cause of Christ. And, I think in the life of Southside Baptist Church, it has been harmed too much already.
And, so, I choose to not say anything about the particulars of this tragedy. Some of the dearest people in my life are now attending another church. And, I must respect that. Just as I wish them to respect my choice. Honestly, Don and I were torn in our decision. But, I will say this…this did not have to happen…and that is the biggest tragedy of all.
Pray for us…those who stayed and those who left. We all need it. We need to look closely at what has transpired. We need to ask questions, and get answers. We need to examine everything and make decisions based only on what God would do. I do know this: “…for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the Saints.” 1 Corinthians 14:33 NASB I know He is not pleased with this occurrence.
I hope that this will fill the need I have had to write about this. As I said earlier, I do not want to offend. Everyone who stayed or who left had their own decisions to make. And, we all had to come to our decisions based on our own set of criteria. And, that is as it should be. The pastor of Southside, before this happened; and the pastor now of this new church was very good to my family. He has a heart for hurting people. He was so kind and faithful to pray for Alex, and he was so comforting to us during Mom’s death and funeral. He was there as she died and was a source of peace and comfort to our family. We will always be grateful to him.
There is not a winner in a situation like this. We all lost something very precious. We lost fellowship with our church family. Those ‘ties that bind our hearts in Christian love’ were broken. I miss the people that have been in my life since I was a child. I miss those people that gave me a hug every Sunday. I miss those people who I knew could be called on for anything…anytime. I wonder if they miss the fellowship that we had at Southside. I wonder if they miss those of us that stayed. I wonder if think about those who were hurting before they left and are hurting still. I wonder about lot of things…
I have been wanting some good pics of the kids(young adults) for a while, and Sweet Adam made these for me when we had our Summer Birthday Celebration on August 28. Tara is expecting her first baby in November. We are so very blessed. Joy will be a ‘grandmother’…how exciting! And, Lord willing, there will lots more babies to love.
WAIT A MINUTE!!! He didn’t make these pictures…I did! But, he brought the camera, set it up, fixed the focus, and all those other things. All I had to do was snap the pic. Of course, that takes skill and timing and great talent…don’t ya think? 🙂
Ian….Tara….Alex….Lori….Adam ……’The Original 5′
Ian…Alex…Ben…Lori…Suzanne…Adam…Tara…Will…..’All the Grandchildren’
Ian…Alex…Ben…Lori…Pop…Suze…Adam…Tara…Will
Ian…Alex…Adam……’My 3 Sons’
Suze…Tonja…Lori…Joy…Tara…..’The Females of the Family’
And so the travelling has begun again. Oh, my, there is alot of road between Clinton and Dothan. Mom and Pop have been making this trip for over 60 years. Pop left this area before Mom did and he would come back to see her. This trip was the first time he had come without her since they married. That brought tears to us all. Pop says that when we were just babies, we would lay on the seat beside him and stare up at the moon and stars. I can also remember when Mom would make a bed in the backseat and the floor board for us to sleep as they travelled. Then we graduated to the station wagon, where they made a bed for us. We always travelled at night. Joy was a screamer and that’s the only way she could go with us…if she slept. I would not have minded terribly if they just left her at home. But, then she would have screamed the whole time because she missed me. See, she adored me and followed me around…always wanting to do everything I did. Anyway…that’s why we travelled at night. At least, I think that’s what I remember Mom telling me! So, we escaped the car seat era. Joy and I have even put Mom and all 5 kids in my old station wagon and made the trip…in one day. I made it once with my Mother, my mother in law, and all 3 boys. My MIL was not happy when I had to stop less than 50 miles from home and have a heart to heart with one of the boys beside the road. A little switch was involved. There was much ‘wailing and gnashing of teeth’ as I remember. Not much trouble out of that one the rest of the trip, though. Isn’t it funny, when kids know that you really MEAN all those things you promise you will do if they don’t behave, they behave so much better!!! When Ian was born with his clefts, we discovered that one of the finest programs in the US was in Chapel Hill, NC..and so began a 20 year plan to fix his problems. My aunts and uncles were with me all the way…every step. How blessed to be able to go through this uncertain journey surrounded by family!
We decide that since we have fortified ourselves with such fine and wonderful food these past few days, we will try to make it in one day. We go back the way that has the most Interstate Highway…which moves us along quicker.
Now, you may remember that while we were on our fun trip up here, we learned much about the car. Oh! It. Is. A. Fine.Car. I was of the impression that we had learned all there was to know about this fine vehicle. If I had a dollar for every time they pulled the car manual out of the glove compartment….! I digress. Really, I just left the driving to them. They were enjoying themselves so much. Discovering new things, and sharing them with one another, and talking about them again…and again…and again. What kind of daughter or sister would I be if I interfered with the excitement they were finding in this car? So, I just stayed out of it…read my book…took my naps…and left it to them. I did offer to drive, however. And, I would have been happy to, but, I probably couldn’t enjoy it as much as they did.
Trust, that is the issue here. I trust them to transport me safely from one town to the next…cautiously following every traffic sign and looking for the other cars and driving defensively and all. So, I felt at ease to drift off to dreamland…knowing they were doing all that was necessary to keep us all safe. Imagine, if you can, the FEAR…the TERROR…the HORROR I felt when I was awakened by Joy yelling to Pop, who was behind the wheel…”Take your hand off that button…We’re going 95 miles an hour! Turn it loose!” Jumping up from where I lay peacefully napping, I hit my head, and spilled my drink. “Turn it loose”, I yelled, not knowing what the culprit was at that time. But, if he was holding it and she was yelling, it was not good. Remember, that *&$#* cruise control? The one that moves up by 5 mph when you tap it? Well, if you hold it in…it just cruises right on up at a steady rate…UNTIL YOU TURN IT LOOSE!!!!!! Joy prevented a crisis….Pop learned a lesson….Tonja wet her pants!
Oh, it was a fun and exciting trip! I asked Pop if he should be driving since he was having trouble seeing, but he said he was just looking around that big black spot in his vision. That eased my mind. Joy leaned her head over and went to sleep and let Pop drive…so I watched the road with him…knowing full well there was nothing I could do from the backseat. But, bless her little heart, she needed the rest. Yeah, like I needed to be in a 4 vehicle pile up!
FYI…As per the rules, I got out, ready to pump the gas, but Pop did it. I was, however, able to teach him how to use the credit card to pay at the pump. That was good. And, did Joy get herself out of the car to get a lesson on how to pump gas? No! I tell you, she is still 54 years old and still DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO PUMP HER OWN GAS!!!!
We made it into Dothan about dark thirty. And we moved our things into our cars and took off to our own homes. And, the road trip was over. NEXT YEAR? Only if there is NOT a new car! ****************************************
In all seriousness here, I must end this series of posts by telling you how blest my life is. I have a wonderful family. Immediate and extended. I love my Pop and my sister so much…and I miss my Mom. But, God in His infinite wisdom chose to take her home. And, while I do not like it…I trust Him. Pop is doing so well, and we are all trying to adjust to life without her. She was such a presence when she was around, and she has left a void that will never be filled. It was bittersweet to be with her sisters last week. They share some of the same mannerisms, and it was good to see that part of Mom again. They had her when she was a child, and then she belonged to us as she was an adult…but, they have always been a big part of her life. I am so thankful that Joy and I had the chance to be here when we were young, and forge this bond we have. They are our family, too. And, I love this part of my heritage. I love this area of the country. This little town filled with people who are ‘salt of the earth’. They live with the things of nature in the forefront of their lives…crops, animals,weather. I always feel when I come here, that I have left the cares of the world I live in behind…and things take on a slower, more honest pace. Walking in and eating what’s left of whatever we had for supper, showing up at the backdoor just to visit, and talking about the same things with each one, but loving it every time. These are real people…these are my people. I can see why Pop was so taken with this area when he got out of the Navy, and why he chose to live here for a while. They captured him, too. And became his family as well as Mom’s.
Aren’t God’s ways so wonderful? How can we question his wisdom? But, I do…too often. You’d think I would have learned by now that what He does, He does with our best interests at heart. I forget that sometimes…and try to remind Him that I have an opinion on how He could best run things. Thank goodness, He does not listen to me! ” Oh, Lord, your ways are perfect. Forgive me for not trusting you more. Thank you for giving me what I need instead of what I think I want. Thank you for the plan you set forth in my life. Thank you for my family…every single member. I treasure them…and I treasure You. ”
I am a Christian woman who has survived many years on the planet. God has blessed me with a wonderful family: husband, 3 sons, a dear DIL, and a precious grandson. I also have dear friends to keep me inspired. I am an artist of sorts and am finding my way through the great blessing of retirement. I recently retired after 20 years as a music teacher. Life is good!
My Boys
"All your sons will be taught by the Lord; and great will be their peace." Isaiah 54:13
Read their stories... Adam Alex Ian
Hello, my name is Everly. I am a blogger living in New York. This is my blog, where I post about interior design and decoration. Never miss out on new stuff.
Hello, my name is Everly. I am a blogger living in New York. This is my blog, where I post about interior design and decoration. Never miss out on new stuff.