Shad's Mission Trips

Once again Shad is planning on doing two mission trips this summer.  He is going back to work in Miami doing neighborhood outreaches and giving out food.  They worked in Liberty City, Downtown Miami and Little Havana.   They worked hard every day and did tent services at night. 


He will also be going back to El Salvador working with the same group he did last year.  They work in the poor areas doing outreaches and food distribution.  They worked in some of the schools in the slums.  They worked with the local churches.  The female in the group witnessed to the girls in the brothels. 

Shad started work in December and has been saving his money to fund these trips and has already put down his deposit.  He is also responsible to bring some food supplies and toys to hand out.  Last year he got blessed by a friend of mine who owns a thrift store.  Someone had donated a ton of unopened McDonald toys and they were perfect for him to hand out. 

If you would like to help him raise money for his trips or give toys or food supplies/candy that will NOT melt... please send a check marked for Shad to: 

Grace Church

7060 Berry road 

Zephyrhills Fl 33540

Both experiences were eye opening for Shad.  I have mixed feelings about short term missions trips but the thing I like about both trips he took is that they are established yearly mission trips through our denomination.  Both trips work with local established churches and have specific goals that help the pastors not hinder them.   Both trips are planned out far in advanced and are there just to assistant the local ministers.  

Being the realist (not sarcastic) person that I am I don't consider my son a "world changer" (too often I see that #worldchanger and roll my eyes)   I think the trips are more of a #shadchanger   It gets him out of his comfort zone and lets him assist local churches to reach their areas.  Maybe it will affect his life long term-who knows God could use this to grab his heart and call him into ministry.  But maybe it'll just be  time where he can help others and keep as a memory to stay humble and grateful for all he has in his life.  He is meeting a need for that week by being there and helping the pastor to reach his goal

Shad is accustom to doing outreaches & working in our church.  He's gone door to door in our town.  He sets up things for our church and runs the sound.   He helps clean the church has done a little yard work at the church.   So he is using skills he already has to help others.  We've taught our kids to serve others and that is something Shad does well.  It is definitely one of his gifts and I love that about him.  

So please keep him in prayer - last year I was a bit stressed about both of his trips but he survived and so did I LOL  I love for both of my boys to have amazing life experiences but at the same time I'd be more than happy to keep them locked safely in a bunker LOL   I totally have a bit of a dual thought pattern going when it comes to them.  I have literally talked with them about travel/work ideas that sound amazing....then totally freaked out and said "absolutely NOT"!!!  They understand my thought process I think!  And yet again I am excited/scared for Shad to do this!

Steve was planning on a mission trip back to Haiti  this year but it just didn't work out with dates and his work.  He is going on a cruise with two friends to Cuba.... that takes a whole other level of faith LOL!!!!  I've already had the "you will be in a Communist country ALONE" talk with him and plan to with his buddies when they get here before the trip.  I'm driving them to the ship so they can be assured I will be lecturing them the whole trip!!!!!  His buddies are great Christian young men but the three of them always get into some type of an "adventure" when they are together.  LOL  

Thank you!!!

7 year anniversary & an update on Sam

Last Thursday was the 7th anniversary of one of the happiest days of my life!  It was the day we met Sarah and Selah!  This picture is so precious to me.  I'd just gotten off a night train and hadn't even brushed my teeth but it didn't matter I had my girls!

Jon held Sarah and sang to her  She was listening so attentively.

We tried to recreate it-she's grown a bit LOL

I love these people!

THIS picture is Sarah walking with her daddy to the car after we ate lunch on Sunday!

These past 7 years have been filled with love & hope along with some deep valleys too.  I'm thankful our girls have a home with us and are taken care of (very spoiled)   Selah's pictures really don't convey her understanding and overall happiness.  She is very content & relaxed most of the time.  She has 4 nurses who care for her around the clock and her own suite   Everything we think about that we think might help her we try and get for her.  I still grieve the fact that the accident happened but I find comfort knowing the depth of care Selah has given to her daily.




Well the Sam medical drama continues.  Wednesday he had an appointment with the sleep specialist again.  This time we were able to get an appointment with the head of the department.  She had some creative ideas for Sam.   She ordered him an hospital bed so he can sleep in a more upright position.  She also wants him to try Singular-sometimes it will shrink the adenoid down.  She feels his major issue is tone.  Surgery might help but probably wouldn't help much.  She is also sending him to a facial/cranial surgeon.   She noticed that his chin recedes-honestly we had never noticed it.  So this doctor may have a brace he can wear at night or he may recommend surgery.  I doubt very seriously we would do the surgery.  The Doctor is very concerned and said Sam's apnea is very bad-one of the worst.  He could easily die from it. 

Not to get too dramatic but last year I told our pediatrician  I felt that death was hovering over Sam.  those were my exact words.  Our doctor has known me for a long time and knows I am not too crazy and I'm not dramatic.  In fact I tend to down play things  He took me serious and ran a bunch of tests on Sam and sent us to several specialists.  It took months to get Sam in for a sleep study and now months later to get some real help.  (he can't use a c-pap because of the air pressure-it could blow out his eye)   There was a time I had Sam sleep with us because I was so worried about him at night.  Since October we've at least had the pulse/oxygen alarm on him so we could run to him if there was a problem.  The doctor was very concerned-almost frightening telling us of all the problems Sam could encounter. 

In the long run sleep apnea kills by taxing the heart.  So she sent us back to Sam's cardiologist who had dismissed him last year because he was doing so good.  The cardiologist said his heart and lungs were fine now but there could be a problem long term.

Here's some cute pictures my friend took at breakfast before we met with the doctor. 

The doctor is adamant that Sam is not to gain any more weight.  We've been told he is just about finishing growing (they can tell by the growth plates in their legs)   He is about 4"8 just about where we were told he'd be as an adult.  Sam is not a huge fan of exercise!  We think walking might hurt a bit since his legs are drawn up but he likes to jump on the trampoline some. 

Sarah loves to exercise!!

With everything we are finding out about Sam we are going to have Sarah tested too.  She doesn't snore but many kids with special needs have sleep apnea.  Plus it is time for her to have her yearly check up and lab work.  She is not very good with doctors and tends to freak out on us.  We have lots of medical appointments coming up in the next couple of months. 

And by the way.... I started the thyroid medicine a week ago tonight and have already lost 6 pounds!!!!  It's a little creepy but in a fun way to get on the scale and see a little weight loss every day. I don't feel any different but maybe I will- I don't care I just love the weight loss LOL


I  also have  sleep apnea as I have shared but a very light case.  I'm wearing a C-pap.  It has been challenging.  I had an appointment also this week and they congratulated me on wearing the mask.  The tech reads the report.  But I have had many problems with it.  I first was given a nose mask that fits inside the nose.  I had to have the Extra Small one because I have a small nose LOL  It's too big so it's cut the inside of my nose!  OW!  So they switched me to a mask that goes over the outside of the nose and it seals the nose.....yep NO!  In the doctor's office it was ok- at home I've fought it...literally!  I took it off the first night and second night in my sleep.  I was doing that with the other mask but not as bad.  I think I'll go back to the nose cutting one!!!  I'm trying my best to use it. 

Well Sarah and I are on the back porch and it's pouring rain.  It's the most peaceful place to be -love hearing the rain on the roof.  I love rain!!!!  We are going to relax out here for awhile then we are eating chicken & dumplings for supper talk about comfort :)

Unplanned

Last night our church went together to see the movie Unplanned.  It was the best Christian movie I've ever seen.   A few months ago I read the book and the movie stayed true to the book.  It's rated R for two scenes.  The first scene is an actual abortion that is filmed via an ultrasound.  It is heartbreaking and I could not watch it.  I'd seen it before on line but it was too hard to watch on a big screen as you see the baby try to get away from the suction!  The second scene is one where the main character, Abby takes the RU-486 and hemorrhages.  It's amazing how many movies have just a PG or PG-13 rating for all kinds of violence and gore but this movie that shows the reality of abortion gets an R rating.   

The thing that stuck with me most about the movie was that Abby's parents and husband disagreed with her career but yet they still loved her and were there for her.  That's how Christian families should be & I hope we would be like that if we disagreed with our children's choices.  But the parents and the husband kept praying for her eyes to be opened and they were.

So I'd recommend this movie 100%  It's not my type of movie- I prefer mindless comedy but it is a movie that can change people's perspective on abortion.    Shad went with us and talked about the movie all the way home.  It made an impact on him. 

watch the trailer here

Health updates

About 11 years ago the boys and I were in a horrible accident.  A car pulled out in front of me on a 60  mph road.  Immediately before I crashed into it I managed to turn the van slightly so I took the greater hit rather than Steve who was sitting in the front seat.  We hit the car, both of us spun into a second car.  All three vehicles were totaled.  Sam and Shad's car seats were split down the back of each of them.  When our van came to a stop and I jumped out and grabbed the little boys while screaming for Steve to get out as the van was smoking.  We ran away from it and I literally dropped to my knees hugging the boys and thanked God for preserving our lives.  In that split second before we crashed I thought we would all die.  No one was seriously injured- the car I hit - the passenger's side was pushed into the driver's side.  If there had been a passenger that person would have been killed.  The driver that caused this was a 16 year old girl who was crying about her car..... her family reached us and all they could do was apologize and assure us that she would not be driving anything for awhile.  (And you know I can always find humor in everything.... I had the cutest white shirt and blue and white capri pants on.  When I looked down my whole right side was covered with blood.  But I couldn't find where the blood was coming from.  I was so busy checking out the kids that I forgot about it until an EMS worker gasped at me.  Then I smelled it, it was PIZZA SAUCE!  Steve was holding pizzas for a church party LOL)

The EMS insisted that I get an xray which I did the next day.  There was nothing too seriously wrong with me but I found out that my thyroid had nodules  on it.  So that led to me to seeing a doctor for years.  The doctor finally wanted me to get a biopsy.   I agreed to do it but only in the hospital.  Thankfully I did~while being prepped for the biopsy the head of radiology stopped everything!  They continued to do an ultrasound of the thyroid and decided that I had Hashimoto instead.  The doctor described my thyroid as burnt as a piece of toast  They couldn't believe it was still functioning   That was about 3 years ago and my thyroid has continued to function normal and I've gotten a sonogram yearly.   In the past year I've had hair loss.  Every time I brush my hair, it falls out.  The doctor had said perhaps that was an indication the thyroid was having more issues.  

Yesterday I get a robo call from my primary doctor's office saying it was urgent for me to schedule an appointment asap due to recent lab work.  I was actually in the process of getting ready to leave the house for my yearly thyroid appointment so I stopped in and got the results to take to him.  OMG!  They were AWFUL on every single level.  

Back in September I had had blood work done to establish myself with a new primary care doctor.  She was thrilled with my labs, everything was in normal range- I was just a little anemic.  We talked about how much I exercise and how I don't lose weight and she suggested cutting back carbs but other than that there was NO issues other than my strange pain issue.  

Yesterday my lab report read totally different.  I was wondering because just since January 1 I have gained 13 pounds.  That was freaking me out!   There had been no changes in my eating habits and I'd upped my walking goal from 10,000 steps to 11,000 steps daily.  Well everything was out of wack-my total cholesterol went from 182 to 209!   Every cholesterol marker was up.  The A1C indicator for diabetes went from 5.3 to 5.8 which is very pre-diabetic.  A test showed positive for fatty liver etc.....

AND the big thing was the tests on my thyroid showed that it is not working normally.  This is something they had been expecting but it still freaked me out!  The doctor started me immediately on thyroid meds  He did assure me that he thought the weight would come right off   In the mean time I am really cutting down carbs while maintaining my normal low fat diet.  For years I would eat low fat at home (since I have to cook that way for my husband) but if I went out to eat, I'd eat whatever I wanted within reason.  And that worked for me but now I'm even cutting that back for now.  Before this one of my goals for this year was to drink at least 48 oz of water a day and I'd mostly been reaching that goal.  Now I'm trying to up it and really cut down on sugar.  I'm not sure I'll always do this but I'm using Truvia instead of sugar in my tea and coffee and if I get a soda, I'm getting a sugar free one.  

The doctor was absolutely shocked by the change in my labs!  He said it was unusual to see such a large change and feels my thyroid is to blame.  That's what I'm hoping but I learned just how much a difference 13 pounds can make on the function of the body.  Obviously from my pictures I was not skinny LOL but this new weight gain has thrown everything off.  This whole thing has made me angry!!!!  I've got too much to do to have any health problems that I can control!  So hopefully between the meds and me working even harder at diet and exercise this will get under control!!!!  

And one thing that might be a bit TMI but it looks like maybe just maybe this may have caused me to start menopause.  At 53 I've been ready for it.  LOL   I could write a whole blog about that.  The huge majority of my friends are so past menopause and laugh at poor little completely regular me...

Now to get really TMI I was never regular until I had Sam.  In fact just months before I got pregnant with him my doctor thought I was pre-menopausal and didn't think I'd get pregnant.  But dang did I fool her now 16 freaking years later.....Anyhow after Sam was born I became like clock work...literally to the HOUR I knew when I would start.  It's been unreal to me because the whole time before Sam I couldn't get pregnant  because I didn't have periods and didn't ovulate.  I'd have to take medicine to have one, then medicine to ovulate....  It was intense.  It took us 6 years to get pregnant with Steve and then 8 years to get pregnant with Sam.  So the past 15 years have been a bit unusual for me.  Doctors can't explain it.  

So last night I had a huge green salad with chicken bacon on it!  Yummy!  Today I had a cauliflower crust pizza (Green Giant brand pretty good) with lots of veggies and turkey pepperoni on it.  I took the first pill last night before bed,  The one thing that is shocking to me is that I will have to be on medicine the rest of my life.  It's a strange feeling for someone who doesn't take Advil for a headache until she's about to pass out.  I'm just not a medicine taker.  

I told this whole story because  it seems a lot of my readers are around my age so this might help someone.   And to finish it up, there may FINALLY be an explanation for the pain I've been in for years.  In May 2008 I began to have unexplained pain in my body.  I first noticed it while we were on a short vacation and it scared me.  It started on my right side near my waist.  While to this day I still have that pain no doctor or test has been able to find the cause.  In fact it has worsen and now my neck/back and both sides hurt and sometimes my whole belly is tender.  Te back of my heels hurt so much.   Believe me there have been times when I knew I had to have some terrible disease to feel like this.  The ONLY thing that seemed to help me at all was walking..  I absolutely refused to even fill the prescriptions I've been given.  I've had all kinds of tests.  The only thing ever found was at the time of the accident, just a few months later, they noticed not just the thyroid problem but that two of my neck vertebra are fused   It was just an oddity until I came across an article on Facebook about Ankylosing Spondylitis.  The doctor think that is a possibility  And it's an auto immune disease just like the Hashimoto.  I'm not sure there's much they can do about it but I'd like to know why I hurt like I do!

Everyhing just works together for our good no mater what.  If I'd never had the accident, I wouldn't have known about this problem and wouldn't have been following it as closely  Another little story about that accident, Shad cried about our van being totalled.  We told him it would be fine, we had insurance and we'd get another one.  We did- the exact same white Dodge Caravan but one that was a few years younger.  We drove that van until we hit 250,000 and we gave it to a friend when we got another van given to us.


Well this post has been all about me.  But maybe someone might be helped by it.   If you have any medical issue going on have it checked out.  And do all you can to prevent and to reverse it!!!

Christian Persecution

I'm a news junkie.  On my blog I don't get too political but you can probably guess I'm a conservative.  Lately I've noticed that there is a lot of news that get no play time at all.  In fact if I didn't subscribe to various groups I would have never heard about this!

In the world today Christians are being targeted for persecution imprisonment and death.  One such area is Chengdu China.  Chengdu is where Shad is from and I spent a week in that city in 2006.  Before I went to China I bought dozen of small bibles to give out.  To be honest I did that against the advice of the adoption agency we used.  But there was no way I was going to be in China without giving out bibles.  While in Chengdu I gave people bibles when I was alone with them in private.  One housekeeper began weeping when I handed her a bible.  That was so precious to me.  In another city I actually met with a man to give him bibles for his group of Christians.  It was a very cloak and dagger type of situation.  I had literally been given a code word to use and a certain scenario to act out.  To be honest I was afraid but I knew I could not-not help out.  Technically bibles were allowed but there was an incredible process to go through to get one and once a person received one then they were added to a list. 

Now the crackdown has started in Chengdu and it grieves my heart.   I'm by no means a China expert but I understand from what I read how every part of life in China is connected.   Many of the Christians are being arrested but it doesn't just stop with a family member being arrested.  Many are now being kicked out of their homes, their children taken from them, fired from their jobs.... It's so sad.  I get my news from China Aid  on facebook and at China Aid   I also get information on worldwide persecution from  the Voice of the Martyrs.

There has recently been many attacks on Christians in Nigeria read here  or here more   Over 200 killed in the past month.  Little or none of this gets reported on regular news.

According to Open Doors every month

• 255 Christians are killed
• 104 are abducted
• 180 Christian women are raped, sexually harassed or forced into marriage
• 66 churches are attacked
• 160 Christians are detained without trial and imprisoned

Personally we know people who live in different countries where Christianity or Evangelical Christianity is discouraged.  Some dear friends of ours were forced to leave their area upon the threat of death for preaching the gospel.  I wanted to have them come to the USA because of that but they stopped me from working on their behalf to get them asylum because they felt God wanted them to stay in their home country and preach the gospel.  They now have a thriving church in another area of their country! 

What can we do?  The bible says to pray for the persecuted.  We can stay inform and inform others.  We can contact our government officials to ask them to put pressure on countries doing this.  When I am tempted to complain about something in my life I think of others who are going through so much more and that reminds me to be grateful and to pray for others.

Porch Time

We do a lot of porch time in our family.  The front and back porches are just about our favorite rooms in the house.  Both have a different feel about them but both help me to relax!  I grew up in an old house that had a front and back porch and was insistent that when we had our own home we'd have a front and back porch.  Growing up I spend many nights sitting on our front porch.  I remember one night I was about 8 years old, we sat our there and sang for hours after supper.  The mosquito truck came by which was always a treat LOL  Then my friend's family stopped by in their station wagon to see if I'd like to go get an iceee at the 7-11 store.   We followed the mosquito truck down the road.  It's the simplest things.  That's been over 45 years ago and I still remember that night like it was yesterday.  Looking back on my blog there's been lots of pictures taken on the porches lately as the weather has gotten nicer and we did our porch spring cleaning.  This afternoon Sarah and I spent most of it on the back porch.  I had paperwork to do and appointments to set for various folks.  She on the other hand had a nap to take! 


She started out on the swing but it was a bit warm so I put her in shorts and in the hammock

she slept like this for an hour even though I tried to move her a couple of times lol

Finally I got her moved

They were up early today and back to work at therapy

Sam was loving the sun

Sarah was glad to be back on Rambo!  Sam did good with his physical therapy too.  

This was Sarah on Sunday  I thought she looked very cute!

With having so many people to buy for I seldom pay full price for clothes but this shirt was meant for Sarah!  I only got a small discount off but I had to get it for her:)  

You may or may not be able to tell I tried to do a pony tail.  I totally suck at doing girls' hair!  I just do my hair straight all the extra stuff is too hard lol.  I'm trying to do better.  Her respite care worker is much better with hair than me.  

Well I hope you are having great week!  Florida is in the middle of our short spring and i love this time of year.   

March 2019 update

Today I'll update about March thus far.




We made it to the Strawberry Festival twice.  One night we just took Shad and met Steve and his girlfriend there.  We saw some of ALABAMA in concert!  They are my favorite group!!!

Love Alabama- smooth silky voices.  true southern singing

Another night we took Shad and Sam.  (Sarah stayed home- she would have liked the rides but not the loudness  she hates noises that are loud and she gets very upset)

Most of the night Shad was hanging out with some friends but he rode a few rides with Sam

this was his favorite.

Both nights were really fun.  The second night we had some strange run in with a carnival worker who was making fun of Shad's eye from a game booth.    The ironic thing is that Jon & I happened to be getting off the Ferris Wheel as Shad and his friends were getting on it.  Neither of us knew where the others were at but as I heard the guy I knew he was talking about Shad and I went running to stop him.  I started screaming at the worker who was quite shocked to see a middle aged white woman with freckles telling him to shut up about her son.  Believe me he shut up!  Shad's friends described me as "Lit" LOL   Shad wanted to drop the whole thing and continue riding rides with his friends so I didn't go and complain about it.  Shad is so good about letting things go and I still get shocked when things like that happen to him or to our other kids.

You know I was raised right.  Before I ever had a child with a disability, I never thought that their story was any of my business or they were there to provide me with entertainment.  At the most, I'd catch the child's eye or parent's -smile at them and then turn away and go on with my life & allow them to go on with their day.

Some people don't understand why I get so upset when people stare or ask questions since I have a blog.  (Obviously this guy was an obnoxious fool and mean) But for us personally when we are out with our family we are not focused on the kids' issues.  If I'm somewhere, I'm doing something and don't feel the need to be reminded that our family is different.  Sometimes conversations happen naturally but for us personally I wish people just treated us as a normal family.  Don't stare and don't ask.  Other families don't seem to mind remarks or questions but I'm not one of those!  Let's say one of your kids had broken their leg and was in a cast sitting in a wheelchair and your family is in Disney.  Would you want a bunch of questions or stares?  No of course you would not-you'd just want to enjoy your day the best you could.  That's how I feel.  sometimes I don't think of the differences so I hate to be reminded.  I don't feel the need to "educate" people .  Well actually sometimes I DO but those times might not be the kind of education the person was looking for LOL

Anyhow off my soapbox!  Jon and I also got a chance to go to a conference in Orlando for Step Up For Students the agency that oversees the Gardner Scholarship.  It was a nice easy conference and we stayed overnight in a Hilton so we were happy:)  We didn't really take any pictures but had a relaxing time.


This week we had some work done on two of our vans.  At our auto mechanics shop he has had several cats dropped off recently,  These two were in bad shape and I eventually took them to our local low cost vet and then brought them home with me because I felt so bad for them.


this is Hope

this is Faith.  She looks like she is about 3 months old but the vet said she was really about 3 years old.

they've made themselves at home on our front porch.  I can't put them out because they haven't been spayed and are too weak to be yet.  I got them their shots and some tests to make sure they were well before putting them with our outdoor pets and hopefully finding a home for them.  They both have already learned to go in the litter box.  

this big fellow has come up and of course I've been feeding him.  One morning we had him trapped to go to the vet to get neutered and he got out of the trap LOL  But Shad figured out the mistake and next time we will get him!!!!  We call him Sarge

this is my "real" cat Vermont and she is not happy with the new girls being on her porch.  She has been on the back porch She recently got follow up testing on her kidneys.  Two years ago she was in complete kidney failure.  Thankfully she has now recovered!
At the time it happened to her, two other cats who occasionally came in the house also got sick but not as bad as her.  We decided that it was essential oils I was adding to the vinegar that I clean with.    To be completely safe we also changed the foods the cats were eating.  bt since none of the cats that are strictly outdoors got sick we are pretty sure it was the cleaner.
I'm NOT an essential oil person who thinks it heals everything but I like smells so I bought some from a friend who was trying to start a business.  Now I'm very very careful if i use them on anything. I did put the peppermint on me when I was so sick a few months ago from salmonella  The smell gave me something to concentrate on and helped me some.   But ai've also smelled some of them that gave me a headache.  One time a friend put something on my neck and by the time i got home I had the worst headache ever.  I'm not much of a believer!

Last night I made chicken & dumplings.  Not to brag but my chicken & dumplings are better than my Granny's was and that is saying alot:)  I've tweated my recipe over the years but I'll share it with you...  I make two big pots but I'll give you the recipe for just one (like normal people make LOL)  

8 cups of chicken broth (2 cartons)

3 cans of condensed chicken soup

3 chicken bouillion  tablets 

a tablespoon of dried parsley 

2 boneless skin less chicken breasts

bring to a boil & cook until the chicken is done

take the breasts out and  shred it.

Then I take the LAZY way out.... I use frozen dumplings.  Yes I've made them from scratch but this recipe takes enough time as it is and I found these which are amazing.  

Just drop them in cold (they will unfreeze within minutes so they can be added easily but I just break them up into little pieces and throw them in the broth.  Every-time you put in a handful or so,  stir and stir it and let the temperature climb back up before you put more in .  You may have to add some more water I do every time.  Once all the dumplings are broke up and in the pot and it is boiling, stir them while they are boiling for 10 minutes and then add the shredded chicken and stir boiling for 2 minutes.  Then my favorite part....set it off the burner put a lid on it and leave it alone for about 20 minutes and you will have the best tasty dumpling you could dream of!!!!  

*you may add more chicken bouillon cubes as you add more water into it.  Last night I eneded up adding another 4 cups to the pot on the right to bring the water level up.  You will want to have lots of broth.  I've even added another can of condensed chicken souop because I thought the broth needed more.  I put in some pepper and salt as I go but not much.  

 We had our friend who is also our music minister over -I'd been promising him chicken & dumpling for awhile.  Later we sat around a fire outside and sang out of the old hymnal.  We just bought these hymnals for our church.  They are what we call "the Church of God" hymnals  I grew up singing out of them as did our music minister.  So we went back and did some old songs.  It was fun.  We had to restart alot of the songs to find the key and melody LOL but there were a couple we did really good on so our church will have to look out for some new "old" songs.  We are probably one of the few evangelical churches to order new hymnals this decade  LOL  

But I'll be honest I prefer the old songs for the most part.  they are deep, easy to sing and have a theological depth (for the most part) that is missing in many newer songs.   I could get on another soapbox but since that would be the third one this blog I'll leave it alone.  How many of you grew up on these songs?

I've enjoyed hearing from folks on the Blog's FB page.  

My Real Life By Yvonne

Ok we are all caught up!  I'll try to post more regularly