TWELVE YEARS OLD!!!

This time thing... oh my gosh!! Our sweet Princess Allie Jill turns twelve today and I found myself praying for her as I drove from here to there; found myself loving her even more today than yesterday. When you were born Allie, we were all in awe of you; our first grandchild, first child, first niece. A new beginning for all of us as we stepped into this season of life... children again... and it proved to be more than wonderful having you around.... twelve years ago and every day up until now. As I prayed for you today, God gave a tiny glimpse into His heart for you, I believe. So many changes during pre-teen and upcoming teenage years and Allie, God wants you to know that He sees you and when He sees you He knows how special you are. He made you and there is no one like you. You are one of a kind and the plans God has for you are good and full of blessing and unique to fit the gifts and personality He has given to you. He is calling you to be fully His; walking and running the race set before you with Him! Imagine!! This is too wonderful, isn't it, but oh so true. You are His workmanship; a beautiful princess in His Kingdom and through the gifts He placed inside you since before you were born, He has plans for you that will bring such joy for both of you; and that will bring Him glory. Others will come to know Jesus because of His love in you Allie; they will better see the beauty of His holiness and the beauty of His creation. Allie, you have so much love in your heart to share with those around you and those who God will surely bring into your young life. You don't have to worry or be anxious about anything. God is working and takes pleasure in the thing He has begun in you. He is calling you and loving you right now my sweet granddaughter. I encourage you to look for Him as you go, while you sit, and even as you sleep. He's there with you all the time in the little things and in the things that seem so huge. Jesus loves you and I love you too.... so much. Happy Birthday!! Love, Gibbie

A Good and Heart Jumping Quote.... I Thought

I heard a quote today; one of those that makes your heart jump, gives you goosebumps, and makes you know it is worth sharing with the people you love. You know, that kind. This is something I definitely want my granddaughters to nail down at an early age so they won't settle for anything less. So beautiful... "A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find her." Of course, for my grandsons they will need to know that "A man should look for a woman who's heart is so hidden in Christ that he has to seek Him first to find her." As some of my grandchildren are getting older and looking outside their little worlds beyond immediate family, I am seeing even more the importance of teaching them God's ways and principles so that they might avoid the many pitfalls that are out there in the world around them ready to lure them in and away from what is good and True. This Gibbie's heart so much wants to see the children in her life run after Him with all that is in them. Afterall, the love of Jesus is what holds everything else together, isn't it?

Psalm 127:1,3-5

"Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain. ... Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them!"

Hmmmm... Right Now I Am....

Here is the "tag your it..." recently started by Brook and Amy. Hope you all join in.

Right Now, I am:
feeling... good about my life
enjoying... this cool fall weather, pumpkins, and the resurgence of fresh flowers
wondering... if I'll ever get to really retire and feel good about it.
listening... to co-workers walk past my office space
drinking... yummy water
wanting... to get every room in my house clean at the same time.
loving... my husband more than ever before
looking... forward to moving into our new athletic facility on campus next month

Isn't It Ironic?... :O)

Even though I was not "picked", I thought I'd play along anyway with the "Sixth Picture" game thing. I find it ironic that this is what I found... Allan and Emily on the bridge in Corey and Amy's old neighborhood! Well, don't that just beat cha? :0) Just kidding Em. It's really OK that I wasn't on your list since you said anyone can play regardless. This picture is one of my favorites of you and Allan. I loved that day and I love you and Allan in it. For any of my readers who might not know; this was taken when we all knew things were getting serious between these two lovebirds, but there had not yet been talk of an engagement or marriage. What a beautiful fall day to celebrate their young love and the fun we all had on our walk through Highland Village a few years ago. To think, Claire was only a twinkle in God's eye. A wedding, living in California in their very first home, moving to Austin to work for JetBlue, and now in Flower Mound with a house, yard, a mini-van of all things, working for SW Airlines, play groups, MOPS, church league softball, a playroom jam-packed with toys and more than we can know to come. Life races on and changes come, but like I said once before... "If nothing ever changes, there wouldn't be butterflies."

Ponderings of Sadness vs. Walking Joyfully With Him...

Circumstances may never change, but God remains faithful. Now in that we can rejoice and be glad. He is moving regardless of what we do or don’t do. Whether we come along beside Him, as He surely longs for us to do, or choose to go our own way remaining on the outside looking in; muddling along in our own strength with our own agendas. Still He moves in power and love to unfold His plan for His people. I know He continues to draw us ever closer to His ways and purposes, but there are moments in time when the darkness weighs heavy and it’s hard to see or feel His presence. I have struggled at times throughout my life with loneliness and even depression. I have some thoughts about this, but no matter what the root cause, we know as believers, the enemy of our souls does not win! If God be for us, who can be against us? God has made us MORE than conquerors through Jesus who loves us and gave His life for us. He is the lifter of our heads and our help in times of trouble, isn’t He? He is our peace that breaks down every wall and our hope; the author and finisher of our faith. His love covers a multitude of sin and His grace is sufficient. He is our strength, our redeemer, our new beginning, and the answer to all our prayers. I love these words of life; I cling to them with everything that is in me and find speaking God’s creative Word does just that; it brings life to my soul. I am able to put on a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness and find joy unspeakable and full of glory; not because anything has changed around me, but joy comes because of who He is inside me. God accepts us like we are, but He also empowers us to change into His likeness. What a glorious God we serve! His loving-kindness is better than life. Of course we WILL follow Him. Who can resist such amazing love? Who would want to if they really understood? Lord, help us to see today the depth, breadth, height, and width of your love.

When that heavy cloud over my mind presses in I find that moving to a place of worship within myself dispels the darkness and Light can enter in. There are times when I allow the enemy to gain a foothold in my life when I let daily cares steal away the Word that has been sown in my heart. Yes, I am guilty and, of course, I cannot live righteously alone. There are things I need to do better, like putting my Jesus time first every morning rather than doing all my morning ‘stuff’ thinking I’ll get it all done and then have more undistracted time with Him. Sounds good, but it’s not working. I need fellowship/community with other believers and when I don’t see that happening, a sadness that is hard to shake creeps in. Isolation comes as wallowing in sadness seems easier than seeking out a friend. See, I know a lot of right answers, but don’t always walk very well in the Truth I know. Too many times I long for what I don’t have instead of enjoying what God has blessed me with. None of this may make an ounce of sense, but help comes in voicing all this junk swirling around inside my heart and soul. Just when I think I’ve worked through all ‘my issues’ (everybody has them) and can find contentment in just knowing Jesus and His love for me, then WHAM!! Those same feelings of loneliness, unworthiness, uselessness, unacceptance, etc. raise their ugly heads and do a number on my mind and emotions. I feel trapped in my own disobedience and you’d think I’d see it coming by now; pull the rug out from under that lying devil once and for all. I so much want to be wholly and completely HIS; belonging fully to God… heart, soul, and body. I want to want to stay at His feet and sometimes I’m successful at it. The spiraling down comes when I falter and don’t do what I know to do, but what I don’t want to do. Seems we’ve heard that same pattern of behavior from Paul in his writings to the Church so long ago, haven’t we? There really is NOTHING new under the sun. The same struggles have plagued the hearts of men and women from the beginning of time and we fight within ourselves to this day in that very same battle. LORD HELP!!... and He is faithful.

“The voice of God descends
Into the darkness of my soul.
He calls my name;
Gently lifts me up and up
Until I see the Light,
And run with Him once more.”

*Written at seeing the faithfulness of God... again ~ JS

Look At Them Now!

*** I have worked so hard at trying to creatively place these pics with the correct names, but it's still not right. Help!

I remember being in the sixth grade and thinking, "WOW! Only six more years and I'll graduate from high school!" Six years sounded like so far away then. I thought being 16 was amazing and then leaving home, finding the love of my life, a wedding, and that first moment when we found out I was going to have a baby! It was official and I was so excited; my precious husband was in shock. With two more years to go at Texas Tech, living in a tiny apartment, working two extra jobs while taking a full load academically... well, I imagine he was in shock! We survived, had three more babies and watched them grow up so quickly right before our eyes. Birthday parties, baptisms, one-act plays, ballgames, first loves and broken hearts. Night-time prayers, dandelion boquets, first jobs, rebellion, open arms of love when they came back. College years, four weddings and then grandbabies. We had two of them for so long it seemed at the time, and all of a sudden here we are with EIGHT! Each one has captured my heart. Our youngest is two weeks old today; our oldest is 11 and in the proverbial sixth grade. Amazing! And here they all are.... beautiful, funny, challenging, delightful, and much too far away for this Gibbie of theirs.

Allie Jill P.

Jackson Selke P.

Cooper Aubrey P.

Skyler LeeAnne S.

Claire Alyse K.

Asher Case W.

Chloe Grace S.

Ainsley GraceW.