Gone.

We will see you all when we get back from Disney. I may be posting a few things on the ROAD TRIP blog during the trip to let our parents know that we made it and are safe. But for this blog, well, it will be silent for the next 10 days. I don't think it has ever gone that long without a post. Oh well, who cares! I'm going to see Mickey Mouse.

See You Later Aligator!

I Love the My Early Morning Walks

Yesterday on my morning run, I brought along my small camera so you could meet a few of my running buddies. Say hello to all my little friends.

This duck was playing a game of hide and seek with me. I won.


This duck was splashing in the puddle, unfortunatley my small camera is very slow so you only get to see him walking off after he finished.


I like to think that these two ducks are my cheering squad. They stand at the road and cheer me on when I start running, "Go Susan Go!"


There is also a small family that I had the pleasure of walking cross the road in a single file line today. Unfortunatley my small camera was at the house so I didn't get a picture.

And now I am off to eat a slice of Jeff's chocolate fudge birthday cake. One of the benefits of running is you can have a slice of cake and not feel guilty for it. Now two or three slices is a whole other story. :)

My Mom Was Right, All Hell Breaks Loose After Midnight :)

The night going into Jeff's birthday, I was sleeping like a baby. Jeff was up front surfing the Internet when he heard a big bang that sounded like a gun shot.He heard the car driving by outside and heard what sounded like shots being fired. Jeff ran into the room to check on me and started saying in a loud voice. "Susan, are you okay? Are you hurt!?! Did you hear that noise?"

To which I woke from my slumber and said, "What are you talking about? What is going on? I haven't heard a thing."And he says "The window up front was shot at, I think it may be broken?"

"Really, hmm." I am still asleep, not really sure what to think.

Jeff grabs his flashlight and heads outside. "Jeff, don't go outside and get shot at."

He ignores me and heads outside. When he comes back he says, "Don't worry all is well, it was just a paint ball."

I wasn't worried, I was already back to sleep. :)

In the morning, when I went walking this is what I saw. Whoever did this had good aim because every window along the front of our apartments was shot with a paintball.

All's well now, the apartment complex has cleaned it up and thankfully no windows were broken.

Poor Jeff almost died the night of his birthday of a heart attack.

Happy Birthday Jeff!

This is a picture of Jeff (the birthday boy) trying out his skills of Karaoke for the first time.

J-

How proud I am to be your wife. You amaze me every single day with your witty remarks and your words of wisdom. My favorite one this week was when we were planning where we would stay the first night on our road trip and you said, "If we are just looking for a place to do the 3 S's then this place will work perfect." When I asked you what the 3 S's stood for I should have known not to ask b/c you said, "Shower, Shave and S----." And then there are those moments where you say something in regards to God and life in general and I am just stand there in awe of what God is doing through and in you.

When I was a little girl I prayed for my future husband often. Not too long ago, I came across the original list that I wrote and I was able to mark off everyone. Thank ya Jesus!

Here are a few from that list:

• someone to make me laugh
• someone who is good with kids
• someone who is my best friend
• someone who is good with money
• someone who loves traditions as much as me
• someone who doesn't smoke or get drunk
• someone who loves Jesus

Jeff you are a blessing to me! I am proud to be your wife and I am enjoying watching God transform you from the inside out. Here's to another year of you! May God continue to manifest His presence in your life.

I love you!

S

Let's Get Real-Can We?

I have been thinking about the words found in James 5:13-16 the last few months. I read it not too long ago and could not remember where I read that verse. Don't you hate that? Well with the help of my trusty concordance and a heap of prayer I found it two weeks ago. There are many people that I want to share this verse with, who read the blog, so for time sake, I will write it all here.


The New Living Translations says it best:

"Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results."

I call it the getting real verse. I believe there is much power when we are able to admit that we are struggling, rejoicing or we have sinned.

Let me see if I can simplify my thoughts regarding this verse:

1. Why are we afraid to ask for help when we know we could really use it?
2. Why do we pretend we have it all together when the truth is we are falling apart?
3. Why are we afraid to let others walk along side us in our time of need?
4. Why do we sometimes find ourselves avoiding those who are hurting instead of walking along side them?
5. How can we encourage and love those walking through a rough season.

I have learned in the past two years that there is NOTHING wrong with asking for help. I have been blessed to be surrounded by friends who can see through the "I'm fine or I'm good" answer. Every time I admit that I am struggling and ask for help, God brings someone into my life to offer a word of encouragement or a phone call out of the blue to tell me they have been praying for me.

I believe that every human being has seasons of good and bad. I think that if we allowed ourselves to open up in the bad times we would find that supporting someone else in there bad times would be easier for us, less uncomfortable. I believe that God encourages us to lay down the all is well with me mask and let our true selves show through so that we can be healed. And then, in return one day we will be able to help someone else in their time of need. So let's get real peeps and quit trying to act like we are picture perfect. Isn't that what the Christian community is all about?


And can I say another thing that has been running through my head? Let's look at the life of Jesus. Jesus had 12 disciples that went with him everywhere he went. He padres so to speak. But how many people did he have when he went to pray in the garden? (Matthew 26:37) Three! And so I say this as an encouragement to those of you out there who are a little more private. You don't have to share the deepest hurts and pain with every Tom, Dick and Harry or Sally, Sue and Mary. If you are hurting, if you are rejoicing, if you are sick, if you are falling to pieces at the seams, if you are blessed in the season I pray that you have that one person or three, to pray for you in your time of need, whatever that need maybe. You know safe people that you are able to say, "Pray with me, I am desperate!" or "Rejoice with me-God has blessed me!"

And I pray, oh how I pray that in return we are able to be a person where people want to come to us in good times and bad.


Alright, that is all for now!

Rock on my friends, rock on! :)

Why I Haven't Been Blogging...

• I leave for Disney World in 5 days...I am busy packing
• I am playing on Facebook instead
• I have started turning off my computer at 8 p.m and am happy to report our electric bill went down $3 by doing so
• Project Runway started this week
• My team leaves for the Las Vegas furniture show in 3 days and I have been busy getting all the reports and spreadsheets done in a timely manner. By the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer.
• Jeff and I have been shopping at Goodwill and Thrift Town for fun logo t-shirts to wear on our trip. The other day they had a 1/2 off sale at Goodwill, I didn't buy anything but it was fun to watch the people dive for clothes and fight over furniture. What can I say, I love to be where the action is!

I will be back soon, please don't worry about us we are alive and having fun!

5 Things: Jeff's Thoughts On Pregnancy

Jeff has said a few things regarding pregnancy, raising children and newborn baby sleeping arrangements in the last few weeks that have left me feeling a little nervous about how he is going to handle when our time comes. Thankfully Jeff's family has decided that they would do me a favor and start praying without ceasing for me.

I guarantee that the following stories will make you want to do the same for me. LOL!

So in honor of Cousin Britt's birthday today...here goes nothing.

1. Brandy (Britt's mom) had a wort removed the week that Maudie first went into the hospital. Brandy came from the doctor's appointment to the hospital and was wearing a pair of flip flops. First off who doesn't wear flip flops when you are nine months pregnant and top it off the middle of summer? First thing out of Jeff's mouth after hearing she had a wort removed, "And you are wearing flip flops to a hospital?!?" Brandy laughed and says, "Cous, look at my feet!" And then he says..."S*&t! Your feet are fat! I have never seen feet that fat before." This was the first comment where we realized that Jeff is absolutely clueless to the life of a pregnant woman.

2. Maternity Wear- Jeff asks his sister, "Can you wear the same outfit the whole way time?" Which we took to believe that I was going to get one pair of maternity jeans and shirt to wear the whole nine months, every day. But it all fairness, he was talking about if you buy a pair of maternity pants will they stretch out the whole time.

3. Baby's Crib- Meredith found a crib on Craig's list that was a great deal. The lady wanted to include the babies mattress in the deal. Jeff said, "Jump on it, sister! That is a deal!" Which made us all just stop and look at him. It wasn't like the mattress was wrapped in plastic and it wasn't like she knew the family. Meredith said, "That's gross, I can buy a baby mattress for next to nothing, I think that is what I am going to do instead." And Jeff says, "It's a baby! How dirty could they be?!?" Uh, mom's out there, why don't you tell us how dirty your little pooper can be!

The following were said to Brandy Saturday night, 2 days before she gave birth to baby Britt.

4. Inducing- Jeff says, "How does that work? Do they put a little Crisco down there to slide on through?" Thankfully, Brandy died laughing and told him she would let the doctor know about the new breakthrough.

5. Feeling Huge- As you can imagine, 2 days before you are about to give birth you feel huge and like Brandy says she feels like her skin is going to tear apart. Jeff later says to me, "I don't know why she is complaining. I am bigger than she is and you don't hear me complaining." Thankfully he was only joking when he said this.

And before anyone freaks out, Jeff loves to say stuff for shock value, I guarantee he will be just fine when my turn comes. He was just trying to get a laugh and another blog post...PROMISE!

You Know It's Summer When...

You spend most of your time in the pool to beat the heat.
Jeff cuts his hair into his summer cut.
You stay out at your in-laws super late helping Hayley catch frogs.
Meet Jacob and Esau (Hayley's named them not me. I wanted Big Guy and Little Guy)
And you ring in the forth by watching a few fireworks. (I took the picture)

And Jeff took this picture... You have to click on the picture to see the fireworks. Hee! Hee!


Happy Summer everyone!

I Don't Want To Forget the Memories...

Last night I spent the night with my grandparents. I was going over to hang out with them after Jeff left for work and hubs suggested I take my toothbrush and pj's so that I didn't feel like I had to rush home.

It was a nice surprise for my grandparents...who didn't kick me out even though Jeff teased that they might.

I knew I should have brought my camera b/c there were lots of funny moments I wished I would have captured.

Oh well I will store them in words here so that I can read them again one day.

1. Watching the Rangers do well then loose horribly to the Yankee's.
2. Hearing Granny call A-Rod's new fling a slut! Yes, she said "Slut." (If you don't know who I am talking about she sang Vogue, Cherish, Holiday)
3. Bonner declaring at 8 p.m that it was watermelon time and fixing us a big ole bowl to eat. I LOVE WATERMELON!
4. Bonner said a cuss word then quickly changed it to the child friendly term. So I told him I was now 30 I have heard those words before. Then Granny said, "We still don't want him to talk that way in front of the children." I guess I will always be a child to her. :)
5. Bonner went and restocked the candy jar when he heard I was coming to visit this week. He had my favorite, Reece's peanut butter cups piled high in that jar and insisted that 9 0'clock was candy time.
6. Going to bed in my "old room". Bonner offered to tuck me in but since I was not near ready for bed at 9:30 p.m, like he was, I told him I would be just fine tucking in myself this one time. He said, "Wake us if you need us, Ding-a-ling."
7. Waking up to the smell of coffee and sausage cooking. And finding that it wasn't Granny cooking but Bonner. Bonner even made biscuits and gravy and it was delicious. Who knew he could cook so well!
8. Bonner telling me, like he did in the old days, that he couldn't sleep last night because I was snoring too loud. And I responded like I did when I was little, "That snoring was not me it was YOU!"

We had so much fun last night that we decided to make this a regular event. There is something about the familiarity of spending the night with your favorite grandparents that makes me feel as if I was a kid again. And thankfully my husband works nights so I am free to spend the night with them as often as I like.

See how sweet life can be when you live in the present moment?

Enjoying the Downtime.

Above is a picture of the newest addition to the Crazy Cagle Cousins. Isn't He sweet?

Hayley told me after camp this year, where Couz Morgan was a counselor and where a few of my cousins stopped in to visit her, she said, "You have way too many cousins. Do you all know each other?"

Thank God for blog land because let's face it that is how we all stay connected these days. So much so that Granny B often will call and say "Did so and so update the blog today?" It cracks me up every time because who knew my 75 year oldish Granny would be so hip.

I will be back soon, promise.

Posts you can look forward to:

1) Top 5 Things Jeff has said regarding new babies. Let's just say his family is praying for me without ceasing after a few of the remarks he made in the last few days.

2) June Picture Show

Great Is Thy Faithfulness...While Living in the Moment

This past week has been hard on Jeff and I. I think we both were surprised with how sad we have felt. When you consider that this Saturday was the 30 day mark of Maudie being checked into the hospital for a small case of pneumonia, you begin to realize what a whirlwind this has been for us. And it has only been a week since her funeral. It's only natural that we, the ones left behind would feel a little lost and confused.

If there is one thing I have learned from this past month; God is faithful to fulfill all His promises in due time. I guess that is one reason I broke down on Sunday while singing "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." (Unfortunately I was on stage) Up to this point, I hadn't really cried or felt sad for loosing Maudie. This whole time instead of feeling sad, I felt joy. Joy because Jeff and I were able to talk to her about Jesus and experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit firsthand in her life.

Yes we are sad. Yes we are hurting and rightly so. We lost our grandmother after all.

Yesterday after church, Jeff and I sat in the car and talked about the next phase of our journey. For months now I have felt nothing but peace for living in the moment. Jeff hasn't really believed that I am able to be joyful in the waiting, he has been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't blame him because getting to this point has been filled with gut retching tears. Every time I try to explain to him that month after month I am okay, has left him wondering if what I say is true. I feel like our conversation yesterday finally made him realize that I am indeed okay with the waiting. I know that God's timing is perfect and I know that if we were to have the desires of our heart before now, we may not have been as invested in Maudie and her salvation. I praise God for knowing what is best and giving us one of the greatest memories of our life.

And so, after much discussion and prayer, Jeff is on board with being joyful in the waiting too. He promises that he will not sit and watch me like a hawk waiting for the other shoe to drop. We are going to enjoy this summer and simply live in the moment. We look forward to God blessing us in the future, but for now, at least for the next 60 days, we are just going to enjoy the time with the two of us.

Because like we sang yesterday, "All I have needed thy hand have provided. Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord to me!"

Thank you for praying for us through our journey!

Yikes!

For the last two weeks I have been looking at the Deer Run website looking for pictures of Hayley Bailey. When we went to visit her on Sunday she pulled me aside and was telling me about the little boy she wanted to catch for Sadie Hawkins day. She said, "Aunt Susan, I wanted to give him a hug the other night but chickened out." In my mind I was thinking "YOU'RE ONLY 10!" But soon realized I was the same way when I was her age so I better just go with it and not freak out. Instead I told her I was proud of her for not hugging him first, a boy should ALWAYS make the first move!

So as I am looking through the pictures today and I realized that I may have found her Sadie's date. Do you see her in the pink? Do you see her hand resting on his shoulder?

OH MY GOODNESS!

I think my niece has her first Deer Run crush!

Is that her hand or the boy next to him? I am just wanting to make sure- I would hope that chick-a-dee would have listened to me Sunday. LOL!

Edited to add: After much debate between her Aunt Susan and Uncle Jeff we have declared the hand to NOT be hers. But you can gurantee that I will take this picture and find out who her Sadie's Date was this year.

And mom, did you have to mention that story....

BIG.DEEP.BREATH.

Today I am back to catching up on life, remember this post well as you can our apartment is much worse.

Yesterday we left it all undone and went to CDR to visit our favorite little 2nd session camper.Fellow Deer Runners fully understand the blessing that a visit to camp was for us yesterday. I feel like God used that day for both Jeff and I to be able to take one big deep breath and leave our troubles behind. I am fully okay with not having my house in perfect order, it's times like this that I thank God that I able to offer myself a bit of grace.

Thanks to everyone who took time out to give us your favorite verse please feel free to keep them coming. My favorite verse given to me by a friend on the phone last week is Galatians 6:2,

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

I am closing with a video that has ministered to me this past week. I pray it blesses you too. Maudie is defiantly in better hands now.




I am off to take a BIG.DEEP.BREATH.

May you have a blessed week!

30 Days Later...

I am amazed that from the time that Maudie became our neighbor to her death today it has only been 30 days.

Three weeks ago she went into the hospital room where she later died with a bad case of pneumonia. Two weeks ago, we prayed with Maudie for her to be saved and learned that she had stage 4 lung cancer. One week ago, we were talking with the doctors about moving her to a rehab facility. And today she is dancing with the angels and swaying to the music with Pop.

What I learned from the past 30 days:
1. Prayer is a powerful tool
2. Trust your gut instincts when the Lord lays people on your heart to minister to.
3. When you get the feeling something big is about to take place get ready because it's true.
4. Building a relationship with a non-believer is one of the best ways to open the doors to talk about Jesus.
5. Cherish every moment with loved ones because you never know when it will be the last.

Moving forward...

I have a favor to ask of you. I want to put a book together for the Cherry Family and would like your help.

What is a scripture you cling to in times of mourning? What brings you comfort when you are facing a tough season in your life?

I am leaving this post up for a few days since we will obviously be busy. So please, please, please take a minute to give us a verse. I would love to knock there socks off with wonderful verses to carry them through this rough season.

In fact I will be the first to leave one. in the comments.

(Lurkers can comment too-ain't no shame in admitting you are out there!)

Maudie Is Home

Maudie has gone to be with Lord. It was a sweet moment in all of our lives, I will tell you more later. I just wanted to let you know so that you all could be in prayer for us. God has been good to us all during this time.

Thank you for praying us through this time.

Please keep jeff in your prayers, he is taking this very hard. We became very close to his grandmother during the past two years. Please pray that I would be open to letting him mourn as he needs to. Let's just say I like people around me and he, well, not so much. :)

Cardboard Testimony

Please watch the video first before reading on.

God has transformed Jeff's grandmother's life in the last two weeks. I can see God's love radiate through her even in her final days. All her life, she fought God. All her life, she chose not to follow His way. But last night after I sang "Jesus Loves Me" she said, "I wasted so many years."

What will your cardboard testimony be? When will you let God transfomr your life from the inside out? Don't waste your life chasing after those things that won't fill you. Don't wait until you are on your death bed to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If He is speaking listen. If He is calling you, come.

Oh and the little boy with special needs shown on the video is Brandy (Jeff's cousin) college roommate's little boy. We have prayed for Thomas for almost 3 years, he wasn't supposed to live past the age of two. God had other plans for that little boy. Proof that prayer works and that we should never give up hope!

No Break-God has other plans

Jeff and I received a call today telling us to get to the hospital to say our final goodbyes to his grandmother.

We both were floored by this news since yesterday she was just fine. We were able to have a very lengthy conversation about God's love and faithfulness. We reminded Maudie that God give us strength step by step and does not expect us to walk through life on our own. Jeff prayed with her before we left and his prayer was absolutely beautiful. He left me speechless.

As we headed to the hospital, I called two of my sweet friends to give me the pep talk I needed. Thank you friends! When we pulled into the parking lot, Jeff grabs my hand and begins to pray for whatever lies ahead. Again I was floored. Jeff has defiantly become a mighty prayer warrior over the past year in our time of waiting.

And today we sat around and waited, talked to a few doctors, fed her ice chips, prayed with her, prayed for family members and passed out Kleenexes (I carry tissues at all times during moments like this) Later while the family talked things over with the doctor, I sat with Maudie and talked to her about Heaven. I am so very encouraged by her belief in God. I am sure in recent weeks I will share a few of our conversations but for now I want to cherish them myself. Tie them up with a ribbon around my heart and hold on to them tightly for a bit. God has been faithful to answer my prayers and God has been faithful to provide me with words, scripture and strength for that moment. God is faithful to meet us in our present state-praise God for that!!!

I will keep you all posted since blogging is how are sweet family stays connected.

Continue to pray, we will need it.

Oh and Maudie asked me to sing at her funeral tonight, a task I am honored to do. Tonight I sang to her her favorite bible song (as she calls them), Jesus Loves Me. Is that not the best bible song ever written? And I sang to her my favorite bible song, It Is Well with My Soul. We cried through both but praise God I got to sing those two songs seeing the sweet expression on her face while doing so.

God is good. So very, very good.

pray for the young family...maudie is not long for this world...

Taking A Break To Get Back on Track

I wanted to show you our apartment in it's truest form as a means to give you all hope. It is okay to fall off the cleaning wagon from time to time. All work with no play is a boring way to live.

I am going to take a time out from the blog so I can get back on track.

Just looking at the mess leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed because I don't know what I should do first but I choose not to freak out.
Instead I made a list of what I wanted to accomplish, I will turn up my happy music, light a candle and set my timer so that I stay on task and do what I can in the time set aside. Step by step this mess will become a place again. And when I cross of a chore on my to do list, I will take a moment to do a happy jig since no housecleaning is complete without dancing a jig or two.

I will see you on the flip side.

He Ain't Gonna Win Don't Forget the Lyrics

Maybe you have heard the Ashlee Simpson song titled L.O.V.E. I love this song because it's just plain fun.

It must be a catchy tune because I just caught Jeff singing it.

But he was singing his version and not Ashlee's.

Instead of singing L-O, L-O, L-O, L-O V-E Jeff sings Hell-o, Hell-O, Hell-O, Hello-O Beep, Beep

Here is the video so that you can hear the real version. Jeff thinks his version is better, what do you think?