Deeply Saddened Today...

I am deeply saddened today.

We had one of our faithful, young church members to pass away suddenly and unexpectedly last night . I can't even put into words how sad this is so I will just post a short e-mail that our Pastor sent out to the congregation today. PLEASE pray for this precious family and especially the husband as he prepares to tell their four year old son the news today.

"It is with extreme sorrow that I inform you that last night we lost one of our most beloved church members, Paige Snelgrove. Over the weekend she became ill, and over the last few days her condition worsened. She went to be with the Lord last night. Her husband Scott, a mighty man of God, fought courageously for her as he was by her side every moment. At this point, the medical reasons why she died are unclear, but what is very clear is that she is with Jesus at this moment. Scripture tells us, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." We have great hope and assurance of eternal life because of the work that was done on the cross. Although our hearts are broken and there are many unanswered questions, we choose to trust our Heavenly Father. I fully anticipate that God will use this trial to strengthen our walk with him. Please be in prayer for Scott today as he will be telling his four year old son, Cayden, that his mommy went to be with Jesus."

As the tears flow down my face as I type this, I am very numb and very confused over this. Yet, I will continue to trust that the Lord will use this for good.

Please also pray for my Pastor, Steve, and his wife, Lisa, as they prepare to minister to the body during this difficult, difficult time. The memorial service is Monday, February 2nd.

Please understand that I may not be up to reading and commenting for the next few days, but know that I will be missing you all.

Hangin' with Wonderful Friends...

This past weekend, we were able to spend a wonderful time with friends who we hadn't seen in about three years.

We've been friends with Carlos and Rosie for almost eight years. Morgan (our oldest) and Andre' (their oldest) were in the same Girl Scout Troop for several years together. Morgan and Andre' were the best of friends and it was a very sad day for them both when we switched Morgan to another Troop. They spent many hours on the phone in the beginning, but over time their friendship kind of took a backseat. However, I kept in contact with Rosie either over the phone or by email over the years. We just never had the time to get our families together. I know...pretty sad, huh?

Well, for many reasons, God has brought Andre' and Morgan back together again. Almost two weeks ago now, Andre' became a new student at Morgan's school and they have instantly become friends again. To spare you all the details, we invited Rosie and Carlos over for dinner last Saturday night so we could reconnect with their family.

Of course, I had to grab the camera and take some pictures of our night.

Aren't they just a beautiful family?

Carlos, Maya, Paloma, Rosie and Andre'

Morgan and Andre' Jae and Maya was nice enough to pose for a picture while playing Pac-Man. Yep, I have an arcade Pac-Man game that steals the show everytime new visitors come over. lol!

Rosie and me!

The only regret that I have is that we didn't make it a priority over the years to fellowship with each other more in person. We had forgotten just how much fun we always have when we take the time out to get together.

Do you have friends who live close by or within 20-30 miles of you that you just don't take the time out to fellowship with? Are we just that busy in life? As I was typing all of this up, I realize how sad this sounds that we have literally lived within miles (about 15 ) of each other and haven't seen each other in three years. Hmmmmm......

Okay, make me feel better about this. Am I the only one????

A Man in the Ladies' Restroom!!!

We were eating at Chili's not too long ago and, unfortunately, had a bit of a scare there.

After placing our order, Jae (my youngest) and I went to the ladies' restroom to wash our hands. We try HARD not use public restrooms normally, but on this particular day, I felt that our hands needed more than my hand sanitizer. lol!

As we were washing our hands, a MAN came out of the last stall. What?!?!?!?! Yes, a man came out of the last stall in the ladies' restroom as big as day!!!!!

With total shock, and a bit frightened, I turned around and asked him why he was in the ladies' restroom. Okay, I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but this man knew as well as I did that his response was a LIE!!! He looks around and says, "Oh, I thought this was the men's restroom." "Okay????", I said. I thought that Jae was going to take off running from the fright on her face. I kind of pushed Jae behind me and then proceeded to the door to show this man that it clearly stated on the door, "Ladies' Restroom." After I showed him the door on his way out, he kept saying, "Oh, I am so sorry, I had no idea. I really thought this was the men's restroom." Yep, WHATEVER!!!!!

I should have followed him to his table (that's if he even had a tbale), but I was so shook up that I went back into the restroom to wash my hands all over again. Apparently, there was another lady in there who had heard the whole thing. She came out shaking all over. She said she had no idea that she was in there alone with this man. It's was a bit scary.

I was walking back to our table when I realized that this man's response was an obvious lie since there are no urinals in the ladies' restrooms. Before I could even tell Dirk and Morgan what had happened, the manager came to our table to apologize. Apparently, the other lady who was in there rushed to advise the manager. I'm glad that she did as, at this point, I had not even thought about advising a manager.

I have never let my girls go to the restroom alone at a young age because of fear of them being abducted or getting lost. It never even entered my mind that I needed to protect them from some moron man being in the ladies' restroom at any time.

Talk about scary! I bet this man was waiting for some young girl to come into the restroom alone. This is probably something that he does frequently. My biggest regret is not following him to see if he was actually eating at Chili's or if he just happened to walk in. Gosh!!!

In years past, I've seen many times when there have been young girls in the restroom alone. We need to be very careful about allowing this.

Freeeeeeeeeeee Makeup....

NOT!

I don't know if any of you had heard of this news this week, but this past Tuesday, there were major department stores giving away brand-name makeup due to some sort of lawsuit. Yep! They had to give away $175 million in free makeup. They were supposed to give away the makeup for 7 days or until supplies ran out (whichever came first). Stores included; Macy's, Dillard's, Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom's, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Well, they sure ran out fast!!!! I went to Macy's and Dillard's on Wednesday and they were supposedly done with the free handouts!!! I could tell that the makeup consultants were tired of explaining this to all the customers - or shall I say all the beggars like me. lol!

Anyhoo, if you're at one of these stores over the weekend, it won't hurt to ask about it.

The temperature is finally dropping here in Dallas. Today we were in the 80's. Tonight it drops into the low 30's with a high of 42 degrees tomorrow. Okay, I know that many of you have a lot colder weather than this. I just thought I'd let you know that we're finally getting some of it, too. The way the weather is here in Texas, though, we'll probably be back in the 80's by Sunday. lol!

Have a great weekend, friends!

Costco or Sam's???

Okay, don't laugh at us!

After allllllllllllllllllllll these years we finally started off the new year with getting a Costco card. lol! We have many friends and family members who have one of these cards (or one for Sam's). We always thought that you had to buy EVERYTHING in bulk and that it would only be a waste of money for us to invest into getting one.

A friend bought me a brisket from Costco not too long ago. It was excellent. It was pre-cooked so it took just 30 minutes to warm up! After having it, we were SOLD! Soooooooooooooooo, we signed up for a Costco card not too long ago.

We LOVED the store! The only thing is it's so big and you really need a lot time to look through the entire store. I felt a little overwhelmed walking around and seeing all the bargains. Sounds strange, huh? Why would someone get overwhelmed over bargains? lol! We bought some great things on our first visit. Their fruit was splendid and their vegetables lasted us almost 2 weeks without going bad!!! That's my kind of deal!!

Anyhow, now that we have shared with friends that we finally got the Costco card after all these years, some have suggested that we also get the Sam's card.

Do most people really have both Costco and Sam's? Do you?

Okay, I also shop off of friends' and family members' suggestions. If a friend would not have bought us this brisket, I would have never tried it. Better yet, we'd probably never have signed up for the Costco card.

Soooooooo, that being said, what are some of your favorite items from either store that you can share with us?

My Visit...

First let me THANK all of you for your prayers and for your sincere words of encouragement in regards to my grandfather.

We were able to visit with him last night. As previously mentioned in my last post, I really wasn't looking forward to this visit due to issues among extended family members. Well, during a conversation with my oldest sister, I asked if anyone knew if he was saved. To be quite honest, I am ashamed that I didn't already know the answer to this question.

My deceased grandmother never missed attending church and I know without a doubt where she is spending eternity. However, I've never actually seen my grandfather in a church until my grandmother's funeral many years ago. In any case, I learned that no one knew for sure if he had been saved. Pretty sad, huh? This sounds awful, but now I dreaded the visit even more. It wasn't that I dreaded what I knew needed to take place during the course of our visit, but I dreaded the potential obstacles that stood in our way.

To spare you all the details;
My grandfather was awake during the time we visited. He seemed like he knew who we were. He attempted to carry on a conversation with us. However, it was very difficult to understand what he was saying. After we spent about an hour visiting him, we closed his bedroom door, shutting us off from the rest of the family. Dirk reminded him how much we loved him, but how God loved him more. Dirk talked a few minutes about Jesus. Eventually, Dirk was able to lead him in the salvation prayer and my grandfather accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior.

Though this visit was a little uncomfortable and the tension seemed to be somewhat heavy in the main sitting room, I am thankful that the Lord still used us.

There's not much more to add to this post, as it would only be thoughts I probably shouldn't share at this time and that I will continue to be in prayer about.

God truly is GOOD and we praise Him for He is worthy to be praised.

Unsettling Thoughts Tonight...

A few weeks ago, I posted about my grandfather being very sick and that he was in the hospital.

Well since that time, he's been in and out of the hospital several more times. Last week, he was released with the news that there's nothing more that can be done for him. My grandfather is 83 years old and has struggled with cancer for the last couple of years now. He stopped eating a few days ago and sleeps most of the day now.

My mom is having a very difficult time with this. I am okay with him passing, but I've had a lot of unsettling thoughts tonight (and most of the day) that I haven't been able to shake. My mom comes from a big family with 11 siblings. Unfortunately, my grandfather's failed health has taken a toll on my extended family members . There are too many opinions, too many people wanting to make decisions, too many people getting upset, too many people causing drama...need I say more? You get the picture, right?

So, my unsettling thoughts are why does this happen with families when death is near and it's so obvious that during a time like this that family should be closer than ever? This is so disturbing to me. I plan on visiting with my grandfather and mom tomorrow. I must admit that I am somewhat dreading the visit since there are so many family members there and all of these issues going on. Believe me, I'll stick out like a sore thumb!

I ask a favor of you to say a prayer on my grandfather's behalf. Pray that he is able to pass this life in peace and also pray that my extended family members can also have peace and patience with one another. Pray that they will be drawn closer together instead of farther apart.

As always, THANKS!