Saturday, August 13, 2011

Miracle Joy

"  Your joy is going to come in January!"

In December 1978 my husband and I were married just after Christmas and right before my birthday. We talked about having children and waited...waited...and waited. The first two or three years I didn't mind the wait as I was so young. After several years, however, I felt sad that I had not conceived. One year we went on a Holy Land tour with fellow ministers and their wives and my family, also ministers. One early morning before the excursion of the day began, my oldest brother called our room and asked if he could come over for a few minutes. He had dreamed the night before of a room full of ladies wearing maternity clothes. I was one of them. He asked my husband and me to join hands with him as he prayed for us. That same day, we went by Rachel's well, and members of the group were teasing some of the young ladies about drinking from Rachel's well, saying that if we drank of the well we would become pregnant. Later, the same day, an older minister friend of my family came to me while we were in the commonly known Upper Room. We were having a prayer meeting, and this minister felt impressed that I should go through the prayer line to receive prayer to conceive a child. What a day! That was in June. On one October day, I knelt in my bedroom and prayed, "God, I believe you're going to give me a baby, but I just want to know when." Almost before I could finish that sentence, certain words flashed through my mind: YOUR JOY IS GOING TO COME IN JANUARY! I thought, was that me? Where did those words come from? "God, was that from you?"
At the time I worked for State Department of Texas Highways and Public Transportation. In the years I had worked there, never had I had to work on a weekend. Never had I been required to lift boxes - until approximately January 19, 1988 on a Saturday. Soon after that workday, I began feeling sick - a sickness unlike what I had ever experienced. I had visited a fertility doctor for awhile. One day I went to begin the next fertility procedure. They took tests, and the doctor came in to announce: "You don't have to begin fertility tests. You are pregnant!" It was January!
My husband and I always said if we had a girl, we would name her middle name Joy. October 6, 1988, our "Joy" was born. My mother would make a comment about her miracle (me) having a miracle. When I was born, the doctor had said I wouldn't make it through the night. My dad was a pastor of a church. Dad tells the story about the doctor saying I wasn't going to live through the night. The church was in a revival. That night the people did not leave when the service ended. They stayed and prayed for hours. Finally, that night, the doctor gave my dad good news:  "She's going to live." I believe in miracles!
Here's my "Joy" that just got married July 30th:


Ask, believing, and it shall be done!
I am posting* these true stories of my life as inspiration to join in with the up-coming Miracle Makeover Party. It's about a little boy named Charlie, and this will help raise money for another Miracle Makeover for someone in need. If you are interested in participating in the Makeover Reveal Party, visit:

Small Places

What's it like living in small places? I could tell you many stories of what it's like. I've lived the home-is-where-you-park-it RV lifestyle, mobile-home style, apartment style, and cabin style. How? By adapting. It seems like that's what I do best - adapt. I'm in another adapting mode right now with this cottage cabin I live in. These are a few things I did today to enable me to adapt:
  1. Vacuum
  2. Move a side table and two end tables
  3. Tie my new 15% off-$6-a-piece-chair pillows to chairs
  4. Arrange side table setting
  5. Arrange table setting
  6. Take photos of nature
Those are a few small get-me-through-change tasks I enjoyed today. It's one of those days...weekends...seasons of change.



When I tired of in-house tasks, I took mini nature breaks by watering the kitchen tomato and pepper garden, square foot garden, and the rock garden of arid plants that I haven't watered in awhile. Another mini break I spent capturing the little bird nest in my cactus with my camera. The cactus reminded me of the leaning tower of Pisa. The cactus intrigues me with its spikes and delicate pink flowers. How beautiful and serene nature is.


Today I'm sharing with:

Friday, August 12, 2011

Wedding Idea Winner

Greetings! I've been away from my blog since a week before my daughter's wedding in Texas. As I promised, here are the photos...and... the winner for outside wedding ideas for my Wedding Ring Quilt Giveaway contest is:   Gail who said... Another idea.....quilts for table cloths...on the food table, gift table, cake table (this one might be an all white one). 
Honorable mention is: Tammy@Beatrice Banks who said...
Sparklers for the send off! My daughter, Chrissie, was married to her sweetheart on July 30 in Kemah, TX in a friend's back yard by the bay. It was beautiful! They chose to decorate their outside wedding with nature's natural color: trees, flowers, the bay, grass. Chrissie used a quilt top for the table with the guest book and picture of her and her new husband. (Note: My mom passed away three years ago. Since then I gave each of her granddaughters one of the quilt tops she had made. Chrissie used hers for the table. Another sentimental note is that Chrissie, her sister, one of her matrons of honor, and I made the bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages and used ribbon and lace from a huge box I had saved that was Mother's. These special mementos made me feel like she was a part of the wedding.) Chrissie loved the sparklers idea! Due to the drought, there was a ban on buying fireworks. On the eve of her wedding after the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, the city held their last Friday night fireworks display on the bay - right where we were. So Chrissie got to have her sparklers after all - lots of sparkle! 
Beautiful Wedding Setting on Chrissie's and Elvin's Wedding Day by the Bay!
The Bride's Cake and Groom's Cake Combined! Bottom layers are the white cake, and top layers are the delicious chocolate with raspberry filling cake - made by the groom's professional cake decorator father!
Quilt Guest Book and Photo Table
Me, Mom signing the guest book.
Mrs. Chrissie
Happy Bride
Mr. & Mrs.
Mr. Fun, Chrissie's dad, taking a photo of the person taking his pic.
The makeover vintage dress. Now Chrissie's (shorter length)...was mine (when it was long).
The bottom layer of ruffles on mine was added to the back of hers.
 I hope you've enjoyed the photos of the bride and groom and their summer wedding on the bay photos!