Following

Growing up, I had a pesky little sister four years my junior. She seemed to follow me everywhere. If I wanted to go for a walk to get away from her or ride my bike, suddenly she wanted to do the same thing.

It was annoying to have someone following me. Trying to lose her was sometimes fun, though. 😆

It's funny that now-a-days everyone seems to want others to follow them. We see this daily in our news feed. Follow me on Instagram. Follow me on Twitter. Follow my blog. Follow me...follow me...follow ME. Everybody wants a following.

To those of us who have pages of some sort, followers are important. 😀

Does it cost us anything to follow someone? Not really.

Eventually, we may see too many posts or emails from them. It might get on our nerves. Then we simply "unfollow" the page or blog and move on with our lives.

All this following got me to thinking about Jesus though.

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come follow Me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed Him. Mark 1:16-18

He was the first person that I know of to ask others to follow Him. (hehehe)

When He asked His disciples to follow, they dropped whatever they were doing and followed. They left their jobs. They left their families. It cost them a lot to follow Jesus. But what they gained was PRICELESS. He is the one person that EVERYONE should be following.

As for my little sister, I wish there was a way to go back in time and enjoy those early years with her again. I'd handle it a bit differently and ask her to follow me. ❤

Like Him...

Recently, our first grandchild was born. It was so exciting. There were several other family members at the hospital awaiting her birth with us. One of those, was her Great Grandma, Gandy. We noticed she disappeared around eight thirty but didn't think too much of it until my son, who was in the delivery room, stopped texting me.

Something was happening.

Great Grandma Gandy came strolling back to the waiting room. Took her seat across from me and said, "I think I heard a baby cry."

There were other babies down the hall so we suggested it might be one of those babies she heard but she responded, "No, I had my ear to the crack of the door...listening."

I'm sure I gasped. But honestly, I was impressed. It hadn't even crossed my mind to try and listen at the delivery room door!

She was right. A few minutes later, my son texted me and said, "She's here!"

We were buzzing with excitement waiting for someone to come and give us more information. Like how much does she weigh? Does she have hair? Is everything okay?

Then my daughter-in-law's mother came down the hall and said that they had taken the baby to NICU. She was okay but having trouble breathing. It seemed she'd inhaled amniotic fluid into her lungs.

That's when our excitement and joy turned to concern. We expected everything to go well with her birth and planned on holding her that night. Instead, we visited with everyone in our daughter-in-law's room and realized we weren't going to be allowed to see the baby anytime soon.

Everyone was disappointed but thankful she was in good hands and that our daughter-in-law was doing well. So, eventually, we called it a night and headed home. We didn't see our granddaughter  or touch her. Holding her was out of the question.

The next day, we were allowed to scrub up, wear masks and visit our granddaughter in the NICU. We could touch her but nobody could hold her except for her Momma.

It was five days after her birth when we were finally allowed to hold her. By then there was some anticipation built up. 😍

So, when I held her with nothing attached to her, it was priceless. She'd just eaten so she was content and awake. I enjoyed her so much. It was more wonderful than I imagined.

Most interesting, was observing her little features. Her eyes and mouth look like Sydney, her Momma and she has her dark hair.

She has my son's distinctive little ears and the famous "Eye toes" that run on my side of the family. (They will pick things up off the floor if you're too lazy to bend down to get something. tee hee)

Those features are my son's. But they are also mine.  I know she's like him because of what I see in her. He got those features from me and I got them from my Dad. It gave me a wonderful feeling to see those same features in my granddaughter.

Surely, our Heavenly Father feels the same way when He observes His Son's features in us. ❤

Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6 

More than enough

Christmas is upon us. Somehow it crept up on me again this year. 💚

This week, there was a discussion at work about buying gifts for our children and a co-worker mentioned a concern about buying those gifts. I've experienced the exact feeling so I think it must be pretty common. He stated that when he thinks he's done shopping he keeps going over in his mind, "Well, maybe I should get them this or that..." So, he buys more gifts. Then he said even when it's said and done and he's completely finished shopping, he worries about what he bought them and wonders, "Is it enough?"

Sadly, it puts a lot of stress on parents. We don't want to disappoint our kids. We want to give them everything they dream of receiving for Christmas and more. Sometimes, that's difficult and expensive.

I admit this year, for whatever reason, I've found it difficult to feel the heart of Christmas. That feeling that I love so much that's not found in decorations, shopping, cooking or even celebrations and parties. I've felt a little bit like Cindy Lou Who singing the song, "Where are you Christmas?"

This morning we went to a breakfast at a friend's house that they have every year on Christmas Eve before we went to church. I developed a headache and almost decided to skip church and go home. But I popped some Ibuprofen and we headed to the busiest service of the year at Long Hollow Baptist Church.

Finally, it was there amidst thousands of worshipers singing a simple Christmas song that I finally found my heart this Christmas. My emotions overwhelmed me in thankfulness and love for the child who came to give us everything.

There were no thoughts of whether our gifts to our children this Christmas are enough or not because what He gave us is more than enough. These three words that I've had on my mind all week were also used by Pastor Robby in his sermon this morning. 💜

Thank you God for your perfect plan in all things. Thank you for giving us the perfect gift that is MORE than enough.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NIV 

Closing Doors

A couple of weeks ago, I took my daughter-in-law to the mall shopping for a new dress. After we looked around and didn't find anything she cared for, we decided to go to a different store down the road.

Somehow, as we were getting into the car to leave the mall, I shut the car door on my left foot as I was climbing inside the vehicle. I yelped in pain and grabbed my boot-clad foot stunned that I slammed the door shut on my own limb. 

Finally, the pain subsided enough to drive and I had to laugh at myself. I couldn't remember ever doing that before. Why did I think I should close the door before I was all the way inside of the car? The top of my foot turned purple to remind me of my clumsiness.

Last weekend, I stepped outside onto the deck to feed my poor, hungry cat who stared at me through the glass every time I walked by. As I stepped back inside the house after feeding her, I shut the patio door on my left pointer finger. 

I grabbed my finger writhing in pain and immediately it became numb, swollen and turned purple. Luckily, it wasn't broken. 

Wait...
Didn't I just do this same careless thing less than two weeks ago to my left foot? (Which, by the way, just healed up and the color is back to normal.) Why am I closing doors on myself and causing my own pain? 

Most of us have heard the phrase, "When God closes a door - He opens a window." It's really a nice thought and I wish I would have coined the phrase. 😉 But what about when we close the door? And it hurts...

Sometimes we do this in life. We try to exit before we should. Maybe we're hurt, angry or just plum tired and we can't take it any more. It could be a job, marriage or even giving up on a dream. Have you ever closed a door that should have been left open?

Closing doors in life is usually a difficult decision but closing it before we should can be more painful. (Just ask my left foot and pointer finger...lol)

But they that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. AKJV

God advises us to wait for Him. If we wait, we will be strengthened. Then we will know when to close the door. Or maybe leave it open. ❤ 

   

Someone

We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. ❤ But I'm particularly thankful this year for someone.

I hoped one day I might get a grandchild. I prayed God would bless me with a little granddaughter since my own attempts for daughters brought me spunky little boys instead. (And God knows I wouldn't trade them for anything in this world.)  

However, my son Jestin and daughter-in-law, Sydney are expecting a baby girl in January, 2018. She is already formed in the womb and growing bigger and stronger everyday.

My mind is blown at how clear sonograms are these days. This picture is at 23 weeks and is a 4D sonogram. I can see by this profile shot that she will look a lot like her Momma. I'm sure my son's traits are there too but not visible yet.

This photo is my favorite because she seems to be deep in thought. ❤

With today's technology, we're able to get a small glimpse of what God sees and reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! Psalms 139:13-17

I want to kiss this little cheek so much! I know I already ADORE this child. How precious to know she is part of our family.

Sweet little Presley Lynn Cooper. I cannot wait to meet you. 💗

Carry me

We just got back from a wonderful beach vacation ❤

We haven't taken a family vacation for about five years, it seems. So, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The downside was that we got there when a hurricane was hitting the gulf. But it was a Category One and we weren't directly in it's path. When we arrived, the water was all the way up to the dunes and as muddy as the Mississippi River.

Even though the conditions were not ideal for relaxation, we figured we'd never be at the beach again during a hurricane so we tried to make the best of a bad situation. It was definitely exciting. 😅

So, we went shopping and drove to see sights the next day because the beach was too wild to enjoy. Wind and waves, wind and waves. But by the next day, we could go sit on the beach and listen to that wonderful relaxing sound of waves rolling in and splashing on the sand.

By the last full day we had to enjoy the beach, it was finally the way I imagined our vacation would be. The brown water cleared up as the shoreline receded from the dunes and there were more folks enjoying the day alongside us on the beach.

There was a little girl there about seven or eight years old who spent the majority of the day using a skim board directly in front of us. She had some pretty good skills, I must say!

As we were about to leave the beach and go eat dinner, I noticed that she and her daddy were walking out into the ocean together. Each time a big wave came, they'd jump and walk on farther out. Eventually, he was holding her hand and then finally she was riding on his back with her arms wrapped around his neck. (How I wish I would have snapped a picture of this!)

I was reminded of a dream I had right before we went on vacation where my dad was with me and I was hugging his back in a similar way and he said, "What a wonderful surprise!" Then he called me by my nickname he rarely uses these days. When I awoke from the dream, I pondered it and realized it's been a long time since he called me that and I haven't hugged his back since childhood.

Seeing the little girl in the ocean with her dad brought back to memory the safety I felt riding on my Daddy's back when I was young. I completely trusted that he would carry me safely to our destination, wherever that might be.

I took a break from my daily Bible reading while we were traveling so when we got home, I settled back into my routine. I was taken aback by some of the first verses I read considering the little girl riding on her Daddy's back was still fresh in my mind.

"Listen to me, family of Jacob, everyone that's left of the family of Israel.
I've been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, 
And I'll keep on carrying you when you're old.
I'll be there, bearing you when you're old and gray.
I've done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you." Isaiah 46:3-4 

Honestly, I read it over and over. I found great comfort in those words. ❤

I know that God demonstrated this to me before we left for vacation with the dream and while we were at the beach with a picture of a little girl clinging to her Daddy's back with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck as he walked her out into the great depths of the ocean. The water was over her head but it was not over his.

No matter what the future holds and even when I'm old and gray, I know He will carry me. 

PS. I'm not that far away from old and gray...tee hee  ❤

Humbled

About five years ago, as I walked across the basement floor toward my Sunday School classroom at church, God spoke to my spirit, "You need to humble yourself."

Humble myself?

What exactly does that mean? It concerned and confused me because I didn't feel that I thought of myself more highly than others.

I was raised in a humble home getting the things in life we needed and not much else. I'm from a big family raised in a little town. I started working at 13 years of age as a waitress at the local YMCA (back when you could work that young!) and have never been one for fancy things.

My first car was an old Toyota Corolla that you could start with a butter knife!

Plus, I never finished college. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life at that age.

So, I pondered this instruction from God and wondered what exactly it was He saw in me that He didn't like and I needed to change.

Unknown to me at that time, I was coming into a season of life where I would be humbled. I would be humbled to the point where nothing was what I thought it was in my life and only God was who He said He was.

As I look back now, I know why I needed to humble myself. It wasn't that I thought too much of myself compared to others. The problem was I didn't think ENOUGH of who God is and who He is not.

He was the one with me 24/7 during the most difficult time of my life. He was the one by my side when I was alone. He was the one I cried to daily begging for help during my darkest hour. He never left me. He never forsook me. He loved me at my lowest and through the darkest time of my Christian life.

I couldn't have imagined thinking any more highly of God at the moment I walked across the basement floor at church that morning five years ago. He was in a very high place in my life. But during the season of testing that followed, He rose above ALL else. He took His rightful place in my heart, mind, spirit - my entire life. 

How humbled I now am because of who HE is.

He is everything to me. He is perfect. He loves in a way that we can't comprehend. He parents His children in the most wonderful way. Teaching us the difficult things in life.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 1 Peter 5:6 (ESV)