"Here It Is....The Day She Said YES!"

I would like to begin this Blog with how I PRAISE God in all the many wonderful ways he is working in each of our lives!! His mercy and grace are unfolding a step at a time and it is so much more than amazing to watch him work!! Friend, he has a timetable and a plan and knows how to fit all the many different pieces of life's puzzle together to make it into something BEAUTIFUL! As the song goes "I'm gonna take all the broken pieces and make something beautiful like only I could. So put it all in the hands of the Father - Give it up, give it all over to the One and only One who can turn it into something beautiful."
I truly believe he is doing exactly that....in his timing. Don't get discouraged when YOU can't see it happening. Most of the time we don't. God is just working a little longer behind the scenes to make it that much more beautiful. Trust HIM. There is hope.

And now....for the BIG day!!

Tuesday, October 16, 2013 would become a day to represent a very special time in the life of our daughter, Savannah. It would become the day she received Taylor Tibbitts proposal question with a .......YES! It was also a day that was shared by many including her parents. Something that this mother will cherish always. God is doing some really super amazing works in the life of our daughter and us....and I give God all the glory and thanks from a truly grateful mother's heart! Please, I ask that you keep us each one in your prayers as God is working out his will in our lives.

At 5:30pm, we met up with Taylor's family and their friends, inside a privately owned hangar. It was a little overwhelming to see all the many people there. We were told to wait inside the hangar. Once Taylor and Savannah arrived, then the doors would be shut concealing our presence. This was ALL a surprise to Savannah. Taylor had taken her to Oive Garden to eat. He had made up an excuse to have to go out to his work site, after their dinner, and do something he had forgotten. Once they had arrived, the doors were shut, and we all were making up our own stories of just what was going on beyond those doors. Taylor had a helicopter awaiting Savannah once they got there. They would then take off for a ride and finish it with a view of the field below that said "Will you" with a heart to land in below the words. Once she saw the words "Will you" he would then finish the rest of the sentence himself with the words "Marry me?" while holding the ring in his hand. :) Smooth huh!

 Heather and I knew that Savannah was nervous about flying in general. So, many of the stories circulating around were ones such as "The poor thing probably isn't wanting to get on the helicopter!" "She's probably standing there crying and Taylor's trying his best to talk her into it!" Many of us had our ears up to the hangar's door trying to catch anything we could possibly hear. I thought I heard her scream once and told Heather....that in turn started all the more stories circulating! Haha! We had Savannah a pitiful mess. BUT in reality, what did lay beyond those doors was the complete opposite. She was loving every moment of it and quite excitedly agreed to go for the ride!! :)

All the many people celebrating a special day with Taylor and Savannah!

Taylor's Mom taking an aerial picture of the proposal field.

Such a beautifully HAPPY girl she was!!!!

Savannh was SO excited!! She was sending Heather and I pictures while they were up in the helicopter! :)

We also got aerial views of the San Jacinto Monument and the Battleship of Texas!

She was loving it!

Soon we excitedly spotted them coming in the horizon!!

It was SO exciting watching them come in!! :)

This Mom got a very HAPPY hug from her daughter - - a true blessing indeed!!

A toast to the newly engaged couple!

Our beautiful girls!!

Taking a picture with Taylor's brother. :)

Cody...always the character.

After all the excitement, we were invited over to Taylor's parent's house for fajitas.

It was a very wonderful night shared by two special people . . .

Thank you, God, for the growing blessings you are allowing us to see in our lives.....

And the BIG DAY is - - - - -

May 8, 2014!!!!!

"A Day of Disappointments or a Day of Blessings??"

Ever had one of those days when your entire day was full of plans that kept changing? Ever had a day when you were actually excited and looking forward to those plans you made - only to seemingly keep being met with disappointment?

That's pretty much how my past Thursday was playing out.

It began with plans to go to Kemah Boardwalk and enjoy our delicious and much anticipated meal of pizza and Cesar salad. If you've known anything about us then you know we that we look forward to each week of driving a hour away to enjoy one of our most favorite meals of the week. We never eat anywhere else while in Kemah - only this one place. If you are wondering why I keep elaborating, it's because I want to emphasize the excitement it holds for us! :) Are you with me? This place is a true highlight to our week!

David dear remembered that he had not called about a recall on our washer. What better day to remember?! He makes the call, and long story short, he agrees to a open window time of 1-5....on our Kemah day. Wait a minute.....did you possibly forget how important this day is, dear??!! Surely not.
I was just a little set back.....ok NO I was VERY setback!! And yes....I had to pout for a time. I mean c'mon, let's be honest here. Much of my pouting is simply amusing to dear husband.....and rightly so. I'm sure I'm a pathetic case. He calmly and nicely told me "We can do Kemah tomorrow." It wasn't just no Kemah that upset me - we also had plans to do our training we are in for an up and coming adventure we are taking at the end of September. Those plans would also be put until tomorrow.

Sooo....I decided (after a bit) to make the best of it. David gave me two choices of what we could eat and I
UN-excitedly chose one. I texted our oldest daughter, before we left, thinking that she was at work. I thought I would just let her know our plans anyway. Turns out....she wanted to meet us there. Hmm...how bout that!

We met her there and had a very nice lunch as well as good fellowship.
Was this lunch a blessing? Yup!
I had previously told her of our plans to go to Kemah and she had declined saying she needed to go into work. IF we had followed through with our plans then we would have missed this blessing of food and fellowship with a daughter that needs us in her life....and we need her too.

Setback # 2- After lunch, we went our way and daughter went hers. I knew we had to stay close to home due to waiting on repairman coming. That's when I thought that hubby and I would go to the woods and train. Uhh....hubby had another idea up his sleeve. He told me "Do you want me to surprise you or do you want to know where we are going?" I normally would go for the surprise, but today, nope give it to me up front. He said "We are going to the gym and training." Did I mention I know how to pout?!?

Here we go again.....
Seriously....the gym is considered in my top 5 most  boring places to exercise!! It literally makes number 1 on the list!! We are working out on the treadmills. No beautiful scenery around you. Absolutely NO reward or incentive is given while you are sweating and exerting your full energy. I need scenery, people, like the WOODS. I need a reason to have exerted that much energy by seeing something really awesome in the woods such as a waterfall, deer, mountainsides, rivers, trees falling down....something!! Ok you get the point again....I don't like the gym.

We drive to the gym and I very glumly walk inside. And just about as glumly, I began to workout on the treadmill. My super, wonderful husband tries to make me smile and have a decent attitude. He is so super wonderful....but even so. The girl goes glumly on. During this time, a girl approaches us. That girl turns out to be our second daughter! She had come to work out also. Neither of us knew the other would be there. We were both pleasantly surprised. This second daughter we see so very little of as it is, so you can maybe imagine the surprise. As we continued our workout, she visited us for a time. She was waiting her turn on one of the machines. Once she was able to workout, she did in fact come back our way and continue the visit. She delighted herself in increasing Mom's incline as well as her speed, however. Make that dramatic increases!! Much to Mom's frantic exclamations and trying her best to keep atop this crazy machine...she laughed merrily on. O gee!
Was this encounter a blessing? You betcha!

Afterwards, we took our tired bodies home.

 - Showers done - we waited. Yes....for the repairman. To which, as you can guess, he never called and never made a showing. David called and guess what they said? "O we can schedule you for tomorrow." I shouted out "NO!" I wasn't about to give up another beloved Kemah day!! David told them that he only would allow them to come out IF they would come before 11am. No later! They could not guarantee it and required him to call the repair company himself the following day to confirm it. Yada-yada-yada......

Setback #3 - Now...it was time to decide where we were going to eat dinner for the evening. We chose a place hoping that it wouldn't be too crowded. Something about Thursday evenings makes people want to go out, I'm tellin ya. The more I thought about this place....the more I really wanted to try it again. Guess what? We were met with "It will be a 30-40 minute wait." And to think this was BEFORE 7pm and on a week night!!
Here we go again....
Ok, so I only pouted a tad. But, I really was NOT excited about going to our next choice. It was close by though and my David was really hungry. We got in line and I decided to call our son to let him know where we were at. While talking to him, I casually said "Do you wanna come?" all the while expecting him to say no. To my surprise....(lots of surprises on this day) he says yes! He very rarely enjoys eating out with us and we eat out alot! He either is working, with friends, or sleeping (his favorite hobby). He met us up there and once again we were having a very nice meal and fellowship with yet another one of our children.
Was this dinner a blessing? Absolutely!

Later that evening, as I'm relaying the day to myself, I came up with the very profound assumption - - God wanted us to be with our children today! I voiced my thoughts to David and he quite agreed. He also brought light to my thinking when he confidently shared "There is going to be a Blog in here somewhere." The man knows what he is talking about. Through his enlightment of helping me to see the grander side of things AND as always God helping me to write and share.....a Blog surely did come forth! :-)

Together God, David and I put together these 3 points resulting from our day:

1. God's plans are stronger than ours.
2. God's plans are better than ours.
3. We can't screw up God's plans.

I don't think I need to spell it out for you any, for it is quite clear. :-)
We make plans - God has the  plans. We get disappointed - God shows us better.

If you would allow me, I would like to share the verses I have found to support these points. . .

Proverbs 19: 21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  
Proverbs 20:24 "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?" 
Psalm 25:11 "He will instruct him in the way chosen for him."
Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." 
Psalm 33:11 "But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations."
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Psalm 75:2 "You say, 'I choose the appointed time...."
Job 42: 2 "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted."
Proverbs 21:30 "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord."

So, we see that God always has the plans. He directs and instructs us in those plans. And....we canNOT screw up those plans. Thank ya Jesus!!

At times we must wait to see the plans unfold. What does God ask from us during this time?

Psalm 130:5 "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope."
Psalm 37:7 "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." 
Psalm 38:15 "I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God."
Psalm 33:20-21 "We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name." 

We wait with hope and patience and rejoicing.....knowing he will answer us in his appointed time.

For we know that he "The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made." Psalm 145:13

Thank you, God, that you turned this girl's day of disappointement into truly a day of BLESSINGS!!!