...How Great Thou Art...

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

(words & music by Carl G. Boberg and R.J. Hughes)

Let Me Know...

Anyone have any opinions on Gastric Bypass Surgery?

Anyone know of someone who has had it done?

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Country Roads... Take Me Home...

Almost heaven... West Virginia...
Blue Ridge Mountains...Shenandoah river
Life is old there...Older than the trees...
Younger than the mountains...
Growin’ like a breeze
Country roads, take me home...
To the place... I belong...
West Virginia... mountain momma...
Take me home...country roads
All my memories... gathered 'round her...
Miner’s lady... stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty...painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine...
Teardrops in my eye
Country roads, take me home...
To the place... I belong
West Virginia... mountain momma...
Take me home... country roads
I hear her voice...
In the mornin’ hour she calls me...
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And drivin’ down the road I get a feelin’...
That I should have been home yesterday...yesterday...
Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong...
West virginia... mountain momma...
Take me home...country roads
Country roads, take me home...
To the place I belong...
West Virginia... mountain momma...
Take me home...country roads
Take me home, now country roads
Take me home, now country roads
(Words and music by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver)

A few nights ago... I had a dream that my Mama and my Grammy (my mom's mom) came down to visit me from heaven. They had been in this place where I could go and visit them. My Grammy came first. She was laying on a bed. She was so happy to see me... so proud of me... I remember her smiling at me. Then, to my surprise... she sang me the song... "Country Roads" by John Denver. I thought that was oddly strange... as my Grammy used to sing gospel songs on an old radio show many moons ago. She was not much into other music I don't believe... but I found the song that she sang in her sweet yet scratchy voice... very comforting. She then said to me that she had to go back... but that my mom was coming to visit me too.

Still in my dream... I came back the next day to see if my Mama was at the place that I could go visit her... and she was! She was laying in the same bed as my Grammy was the day before. She was so happy to see me! And for me... well... I felt as if I had been given special priveledge from God to spend time with those I love.

We talked about all kinds of things. We talked about cake decorating... which is a gift that my mother and I both shared. We talked also about different kinds of flowers that she liked. Not cake flowers... but real flowers. She had given me a folded up piece of paper that had dried blossoms of Lavendar tucked inside it. I remember opening it up and the fragrance was so sweet and pure.

I asked her how long she was allowed to visit with me. She said that she didn't know how long she could stay... but to come back every day to see if she was still there. I did too!

The second day... she told me a little bit about heaven. She said that she couldn't wait until we could all be there together. I told her that I had seen Grammy the day before she showed up. She told me that my Aunt Norma was also up there. She also said that my Aunt Dorcille would be there too... but she wasn't quite ready yet to go.

(My Aunt Dorcille is Denise's www.pharoahstreasure.blogspot.com mom. She is still alive and lives in the same town as I do.)

The third day... she asked me to just sit with her until she had to go back... so I did. I laid my head down on my Mama... and she just held me. She... too... sang "Country Roads, Take Me Home" to me.

I felt so comforted. I could feel my Mama's soft arms holding me. I could feel her breathe under my head. I could hear her voice so soft all around me.

Then I woke up... she had gone back to heaven.

When Denise and I were little... our mom's loved John Denver. They owned ever album... yes... black vinyl album... that he ever made. We knew every word to every song that he ever sang at a very young age. We even got to go see John Denver in concert once. So to tie this all together... to hear that particular song was quite out of the ordinary. I have not listened to any of those songs since the day of my Mama's funeral almost six years ago. I woke from my dream singing the song. Tears fell from my eyes... as I played the cassette from my bag of things from my mother's funeral.

It makes me wonder... What kind of road... is going to take me home... to the place... where I belong?

I love ya Niecie... I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed posting about it.

April 10, 1969

If my mother were alive today... she would have called me first thing in the morning and this is what I would have heard...

"A happy birthday to you...
A happy birthday to you...
May you feel God is near...
Every day of the year!

A happy birthday to you...
A happy birthday to you...
And the best one you've ever had!"

We would have then talked about what we were going to fix for dinner. Hands down it would have been chicken enchiliadas. She then would have made me a grasshopper pie.

Grasshopper pie in our home was this:

Oreo cookies crumbled into a crust in a springform pan.
Chocolate mint chip ice cream spread out into the crust.
Hershey's hot fudge topping spread all over the top of the ice cream.
Sliced almonds all over the top of the hot fudge.

... And of course... I would get the first piece!

This year... I had to work... but that was ok.

We had a wonderful time still!

Hannah fixed me chicken enchiliadas and a homemade carrot cake. We joked that she should not give up her day job to be a cake decorator! LOL! (But it tasted good! The 'chiliadas were awesome Han... thanx!!)

Rich and I got married on my 18th birthday. April 10, 1987. He bought me an Easter lily for our 19th wedding anniversary.

I got a card with a really ugly horse smiling on it... It said something to the effect of.... "Your get up and go... is now sit down and whoa!" Funny... ha ha!

...Through The Eyes Of Jesus...

When the darkness and heaviness of this world block the ways of the Lord... sometimes it seems impossible to see things the way we are suppose to see things. We struggle through the muck and trudge through the drudgery of everyday garbage that can literally keep us from the life that God wants for us.

I really vented yesterday. It felt good to get it all out of my system. It bogged me down and I felt like I was wearing concrete shoes and someone was ready to push me off of the end of the pier into the thick and murky stench of despair.

Yesterday afternoon... something happened to me.

I had been in tears most of the day. My heart felt as though it was being ripped from my chest and I felt emptiness in my soul. I felt alone inside. I did not feel God around me. I longed for His presence... I ached for His comfort. In my mind I felt as though I was praying constantly... but I really wasn't.

A few days ago... I received my monthly magazine from Jesse Duplantis Ministries which I enjoy reading. I read most of the magazine a couple days ago... not really paying too much attention... but enjoying it none the less. Yesterday... I read an article by Cathy Duplantis about the basics of prayer. It really touched my soul. Alot of it I had heard... or read before... but it is kind of like when you read a special verse in the bible... it can mean something to you the first time you read it... and years later... it can be fresh and new all over again! The Lord is alive and real in this dead world... and I bow down every day in complete thankfulness for that!

When I completed reading the article... I sat there contemplating it... mulling it around in my mind... and my heart was open to a new way of praying. All I could think of was... Lord... help me to see and do what it is I need to see and do.

I got up to go to the bathroom. Our house was so hot and muggy. During the winter months... my husband likes to take the laundry dryer vent tubing off and let the heat warm the house instead of losing it outside. I hate that he does that... it drives me insane... but... that is what he does. I went into the bathroom to freshen up and just "be alone".

Usually a trip to the bathroom involves my daughter coming in to talk with me... and sometimes Rich comes in... and of course our little dog Sterling HAS to be where his dad goes. It is when I get the rare opportunity to really "be alone" in the bathroom that I enjoy. God and I tend to share alot of praying in there... it is a rare quiet place that He and I talk heart to heart. Praying in the shower is such a pure and cleansing feeling. Call me crazy if you want... but try it first!

Anyways... There I was. The mirrors were all fogged over because of the muggy heat from the dryer. I could not see anything. I bent over the sink to brush my teeth and wash up a bit. We have one of those old medicine cabinet mirror things that have the sliding doors on the front that are mirrors also. Well... as I bent down... the very top edge of the mirrored doors had about a one inch strip across the tops of them that were not fogged over.

At first... I had caught a glimpse of my shadowed outline of my face and hair. I had been feeling so ugly and scraggly... as I spoke about in my post yesterday. When I saw the foggy image of myself... I could not make out any definite lines at all. It was then I heard the voice of the Lord... so soft and compassionate in my heart. He said... "Your image to me is beautiful... even in a fog... I can see you clearly... and you are beautiful to me."

I looked at the fuzzy image and I saw the beauty He spoke of. Then... in the strip of the mirrored doors that was not fogged over... I caught a glimpse of just my eyes. I froze. Just looking at my eyes... almost as if they were not my own. I then heard the Lord's sweet voice again. He said... "You need to see the world through the eyes of Jesus."

I was speechless. I just stood there looking into my own eyes... with toothpaste burning on my tongue. I was in awe of the Lord. I felt His presence all around me. I felt comfort and almost like a door of newness opened up in my heart and mind.

I was so tired from all of the stress. I went into my bedroom and decided to take a nap. I wanted to soak in all of the comfort I was feeling. I sat on the edge of my bed and I asked the Lord to help me see with the eyes of Jesus. I asked Him to keep my eyes focused on the good things of this world... and to see through the muck that the devil throws at me.

I laid down and took a nap. I woke a couple hours later... very slowly. I felt as though I was laying weightless on a bed of angels wings... wrapped in the comfort of the arms of the Lord. I had dreams about my situation at work... and with my department manager. I felt peace. She needs the Lord in her life. I need to see her with the same eyes that Jesus sees her with. I need to uplift her in prayer. I need to make peace with her not only in my soul... but in real life as well. Perhaps... she is one of the souls... that I am to help bring to the Lord. I think the devil knows this fact... and he is doing his darnedest to keep me from it... but I have news for him...

"Greater is He who is in me... than he who is in the world."
~1 John 4:4