Meet our new dog, Princess!

It’s been about 10 months since our previous dog died and we had been wanting to get another Shiba Inu but they are hard to come buy if you don’t want to buy a puppy so we went to our local rescue to see what they had. Kenny went first and text me pictures of dogs he was interested in. I went later that day and when I walked through there were a number of pitbull or mixes of pitbull – those were immediately crossed off. Others were very ancy jumping up or barking – crossed those off. Then I saw one reddish dog just sitting quietly. That peaked my interest. They called her Bettyboo – a Boxer Lab mix which we later found out is called a Boxador.

At the shelter

They brought her out to the greeting room so I could see how she would react and I was happy that she came right up to me and was very friendly but also reserved. I text Kenny that I thought this would be the one. A little while later Kenny came and met me at the shelter. He wasn’t as keen on her because she was timid and slinked into the room with her tail down. So we left. I had fallen for Bettyboo and was disappointed but we needed to both agree so I figured it would work out.
After thinking it over and getting input from his friends Kenny text me the next day, Thursday, that he was going to get Bettyboo (I was out with clients) .
It was interesting because the Saturday before we had found a lost dog in our neighborhood and took it home while we waited for the owner to come get her.

Lost dog..

Reunited with owner

 
Kenny named her Princess which is we are still getting used to and I keep calling her Petra (the previous dog). She is about 9 months old and alternates between being mischievous (chewing on socks, jumping on the back of the sofa, emptying trash cans) to being very timid. Obviously she has had some trauma. We are enjoying her thoroughly and have had endless laughs and cuddles. We hope to have her as long as we did Petra.

Playtime at bedtime

She loves her bones

Guitars and fellowship

We had a couple of the local brethren come over today to learn guitar. One teacher, a novice and a complete beginner. The guys had fun learning and fellowshipping and they plan on making this a regular jam session!

Wonderful FOT 2015!

FEAST OF TABERNACLES 2015

It's 10pm on Monday October 5th and we are back home after an exhilarating Feast of Tabernacles 2015 topped off by having Mr Gerald Flurry give the last message and closing prayer. I'm sure you'll get to hear Mr Flurry's message so I won't spoil it by providing details!  Today was the Last Great Day and we live in Augusta, just 2hrs from the site in Stone Mountain so we had a quick journey home.  One of the benefits of rainy weather during most of the feast was that it put our focus on fellowship and getting to know our wonderful brethren and share our experiences. Mr Macdonald had challenged us in his day 1 message to get out of our comfort zone and meet new brethren and we certainly benefited from that admonition.

Apart form services, the foyer of the hotel or coffee shop were ideal places to hang out and meet folks or learn the game of Mexican Train!  It was especially exciting to meet brethren who were attending their first feast.  So now we are back home and we have plenty to go over before the next Holyday season begins!

See all feast 2015 photos HERE

 

 

Happy FOT 2015!

Thankful for God's Protection

You always dread getting a phone call to tell you that something happened to your loved one. Well on Saturday September 12th I got that call. Thankfully it was from my husband Kenny and he was not hurt badly.

On the way home from services Kenny's usually very reliable Chrysler 300 stopped dead in the middle lane of I-26 west near Columbia (I was home sick that day). Right then and there could have been a major wreck if any cars had been directly behind him going at 70mph as they usually are on that highway on a Saturday.  He called me immediately and while he was still on the phone he told me the police had just arrived so they came on the scene very quickly.  About 5 mins later he called me back to say that his car had been hit from behind while he was still in it. Kenny still had his seatbelt on so he only hit his head on the wheel and was able to walk away with whiplash.  The other driver who was taken to hospital on a stretcher. Kenny did go to the hospital and x-rays and catscan showed that all is well. He will just be quite sore for a while.


Trumpets is tomorrow and this incident just emphasizes the great need for prayer for everyone as they travel during these fall holyday season.  I am very thankful for God's protection as without a doubt this could have ended up much worse than just our time with our 9-year old car coming to an end.

We hear or read the cliche all the time about making the most of life and letting people know you love them now. An experience like this makes it real that tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us.

Road trip to Oklaholma

We just returned from an unplanned but not unwelcome trip to Oklaholma. Our good friends Desiree and Thurman's marriage happened sooner than expected so we took the opportunity to take a road trip to Ardmore, OK and then to Edmond afterwards. It was great timing as PYC just started and it was awesome to get some of that camp fever.  A 15 hr road trip is always fun with Kenny: he drives, I sleep some, we catch up on some church audio, we laugh, sing-a-long to some favorite tunes and see what new things we can discover about each other. A refreshing change from routine.

As we passed through Atlanta we saw a car with a PYC tag (license plate) and then our own street signs!

This was our first time passing through Dallas, and I was fascinated by the ginormous overpasses and that they were all painted! I guess it's true that Texas does everything bigger! 

Reed Wedding Pictures

 

Edmond & PYC Pictures

 

Musings at 48.25 years old

  

I am finding that this is a very true quote and I have been reflecting a lot on what I am learning from my life's experiences.  I don't know if it's because I am approaching 50 (now turned 48 in January) and I can't believe I am there already, or because I am in the most challenging job I have had for a long time where I see a lot of sickness and human nature. It is so real to me that we only truly know ourselves when we are put in different situations. We may think we know how we feel or react but until we are in it under duress then we really find out what our true character is. I understand more deeply why we need to go through different experiences, whether to learn to see things from other's perspectives, or to test the depth of our character and highlight areas for improvement. Every day, several times a day, I ask myself, what am I to learn from that incident or situation? How could I have handled it better (or maybe on a rare occasion I actually did pretty well!). Sometimes it's obvious but often it isn't clear or it could be multiple lessons. Of course, with human nature sometimes I just don't want to see the obvious and it takes a while for it to sink in!

I also find myself reflecting on how short our time is. To me the past 30 years have gone by so fast. I regret not doing more when I could have been further along in certain areas by now. If I had started that habit 5 or 10 years ago what fruit would have been borne by now. Thoughts like that are a spur to get on and be a doer. I want to look back in another 5 years and see what was accomplished rather than regret what wasn't.  

That's another thing I have come to realize - how futile regret is. You can wallow in it and nothing changes. It's a total waste of energy. Just learn from the past and move forward. I often ponder that God has given us a new day, new week, new month and new year to remind us that we can start over again and again and again. That's so encouraging. 

Here's to 1.75 more years of experiences and learning as I reach age 50 (God willing).

This is Love

This Is Love

Love is a giving a caring, a soul that's always sharing

Though unnoted it's deeds are, they're derive from a vibrant spa.

A sensitivity to others, with heartfelt care for all brothers

Regarding not the color of their skin, for to hm all men are kin.

Not content to tramp one mile, love travels further (with a smile)

Always forgives when he's been wronged, hurt is forgotten before too long.

Love flows from God, down through his son, then into us (if we'll only come)

A precious gift of life, yet free, a vital commodity for you and me.