LIFE is a Dream!

Kerry tells me that I am a person who takes ordinary circumstances and turns them into extraordinary events!  He is right.  I suspect I learned that way of perception as I was growing up - my parents always instilled in me the need to pay attention to what God wants for your life.

Some of the highlights along the way that have led me to this time and the assurance that I am exactly where God wants me to be....

While in junior high I participated in the UIL Poetry contest.  The Touch of the Masters Hand was the poem I read.  I still can recite the poem without the printed copy.  What an incredible poem - 

Then in high school - I became an extemporaneous speaker.  The UIL contest of Persuasive Speaking was my platform.  I competed at the district and regional level and as a senior placed 5th in Regionals.  This of course was without in real speech training.  But that led to my career pathway of getting a degree in speech and teaching speech for several years.

My dad's secretary asked me one day (as a junior in high school) - what I planned to "be when I grew up" - and my answer was Oh something in public relations  - my mom told me last week that she always thought I should go into public relations too.  I can still remember talking to Nicki that day - in the Perrin ISD school cafeteria.  Little did I know that it might take a while to come to that public relations dream.

There of course have been other signs along the way - that much like reading a literary work the symbolism is evident once you finish the "book".

Oh yes "book" - my friend Crystal has been encouraging me to write a book for quite some time now.  I had no idea how to even really go about that endeavor but with LIFE - I will write a book (some time in my future) and LIFE will help me market that book to readers everywhere.  Pictured below is Crystal, Kerry, me, & Brent.  

LIFE encourages us to dream - to remember those dreams we had growing up.  LIFE wants us to reach for those dreams.  For some it is a new car, new house, secure retirement, pay off all debt - each of us have a different perspective on the dream.

For me LIFE is the dream.  

I have always wanted to be a part of a community.

I have always wanted to be in a position to truly help others.

I always love speaking!

I always enjoy sharing with others what God has done in my life.

I have always truly loved serving.

Now I have a system in place that shows me the way to do those things every single day with proven results as I own my own Leadership Company.

LIFE is my Dream.

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Abound....An Old Word that Sounds New

I think the word abound is an old word.  I use that phrase to describe words that I feel like we do not use anymore.

But I think I really like the word abound.

Merriam-Webster defines abound as "to be present in large numbers or in great quantity - be prevalent"

My Bible dictionary even mentions abound (yes I have a Bible dictionary - I have more books that some small real libraries - that is a blog for another day but oh my word - I love books!).

This all started when I was at my computer this morning.  I have a screen saver of pictures with scriptures and other phrases to keep my focused on what's important - this one flashed by this morning and caught my eye.

I tend to stand at my computer quite a bit and it is only increased lately.  I have the absolute wonderful opportunity to keep granddaughter one (Kg5) on Mondays & Tuesdays.  Oh how my life is just perfectly blessed!

I love music and lately I have been turning on iTunes to an album of Christian music songs and I sing while she falls asleep.  

We actually do quite a bit of singing and dancing - she will grow up loving all kinds of music.  Most of all I want her to grow up knowing and feeling the love of Jesus.  I want Jesus to fill her with joy and peace as she believes in Him so that she can abound in hope.

Abounding in hope - that is what we all want - right?  There has to be more!  We must have hope that our belief is real - that we do serve the God of hope.  

Abound in hope - Great quantities of hope!

To me one of the greatest passages about hope is in John 14.  I remember this passage best from almost 25 years ago.  I was in Graham Regional Medical Center and Kerry opened his Bible and read this passage as I was put on seizure alert and wondering when that premature baby would be born.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you...

That baby (son one) was born about 24 hours after Kerry read the passage to me.

Son One at 4 months.  He was born 7 weeks early!

To understand abounding in hope - one must know Jesus and accept His grace.

For more on this grace - prepare2prosper

Yes!  Let's abound in Hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.  And let's share that with others - share that as we love.  

Extra note - over on the other blog - prepare2prosper - you will read about a man in our community who was larger than life.  A man that while I did not know him well, his son has spent many days in our home with nephew three, and we have gone to church with them and watched many, many football games with his family.  His dear friends are my dear friends and I have been a small part of helping during their loss.  Well - imagine my surprise when I read his obituary.... his mother's name - Greta... The only Greta that I have heard of before (well except for the famous one) was this baby...

God speed Jeff! We will see you soon.  Please tell your mom that another Greta will meet her one day too.  

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Gracious & Football

If you have read my blog for any length of time you know all about my absolute LOVE for football.  My first love is high school football - that stems from years and years of walking with my dad on the sidelines of Perrin High School football.  Then that love just escalated with Nephew One hit high school and our dedication and admiration for Graham Steer football began and I suspect will never end.

We have laughed, cheered, yelled, and we have cried.

This year I also got to see graciousness on the field of play.

Nephew Three is a Graham Steer.  He is also the perfect example of what preparation can do.  He played football for Perrin and really had a great freshman and sophomore season.  Then his junior year he started both ways for Graham on the junior varsity team.  He was moved up to varsity and finished the season as a slot receiver for the 2013 Graham Steers State Semi-Finalist.

Junior Season

Nephew Three with Coach Brad McCoy (My boys' football coach)  & Dillon Cobb - Nephew Three's coach from Colt Camp.  This was after JV game against Abilene Wylie in the Junior Season.

Grandson One wearing the helmet became a tradition in the Junior Season.

The helmet wearing continued into the Senior Season.  

Back to that "what preparation can do".  

The summer of 2014 our #33 spent the entire summer working hard to prepare for the Senior Season of football.  If you want to know how to truly be a part of a winning football team - then ask #33.  He spent day and day in the weight room and practicing 7 on 7.  In fact that Graham Steer 7 on 7 team won the State 7 on 7 meet for the 2nd year in a row!!

Nephew Three & Coach Son Two - State 7 on 7 Champions!

Then came the Senior Season - of which there is much to write about!  Nephew Three was a running back and receiver - played on both the kick off and return teams.  And scored touchdowns!!  It was just the most awesome season and we had so much fun watching him play as a Graham Steer.

Nephew Three with Dillon Cobb again - Wylie football game - 

we won (we beat them twice this year!)

Funny thing about high school sports - there is an ending.  Even though we WON on my birthday - that second win against Abilene Wylie - WON again while playing a tough Stephenville team - even if we could have won that game on December 12th - the season was going to end.

Ours ended one week earlier than what we had hoped.

But in the midst of all of our tears - mine included (I simply hate the ending....).  I witnessed graciousness.

Gracious defined --- very polite in a way that shows respect, showing consideration, showing a natural kindness - thoughtful (prepare2prosper)

One more time he posed for the traditional picture....

That's how one prospers in life - live graciously.  Nephew Three showed that -

Nephew Three knows Jesus.

Nephew Three lives as Jesus instructed and prepares each day for that living.

Nephew Three is a Graham Steer - 2014 State Semi-Finalist.

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Do You Talk To Your Plants?

We love plants.

I am actually in my home as I write - I am going to count the house plants we have.  I guarantee I will not get the same number twice.

16 - 15 of those are in the main dining - kitchen - living area.

We also rescue plants.

This one Kerry rescued a couple of years ago - we weren't sure it would survive.  It only had a few leaves - oh how I love this ficus tree!

We also have plants that were gifts for milestones...

My mom & dad sent this one to me when I finally defended my dissertation! That was in October of 2011.  

And evidently we have plants with a mind of their own.  In the photo below notice how the one on the upstairs landing has decided to come toward the light (oh there's a blog for another day...) and is crawling around the deer.  The plant on the right of this picture is a cactus of some sort.  A person I worked with several years ago had several of these and they are easy to share.  In fact I have at least 3 pots with this plant and I think a couple more outside.  They are quite easy to grow - would you like one?

There's another one of the cactus plants with a football decoration.  The plant in the background I don't so much remember the history behind that one but this one in the tall pot - it is from the services for Kerry's grandmother.  That was in April of 2007.

From The Codys when I finished that doctorate!

This final one from our landing the closest plant is the one that is growing toward the light - in the far left background is the ficus tree - on the shelving with the TV is a plant from Uncle Mike for Corey's senior year in football (2010) - then there's a palm tree just to the right of the wooden beam and just to the left of the top deer's nose is a plant from my dear friends who now live in Denison.  That plant was sent to Corey after his football injury (2010).  

Isaiah 61:11

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

You should read my other blog - prepare2prosper.org - more plant pictures with a history lesson too.

**** 16 - in the dining/kitchen/living area this time.



Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

More than one....

There is more than one place to write!

I have another blog - it is a bit different - my goal is for it to be more devotional in nature - more specific about Biblical studies rather than whatever event in my life I want to share with you ....

Which lately has not been very many....

We are loving every moment of Graham Steer Football.  I wonder just how many times I have said that!!

I created a notebook for my dad to have to look through - primarily on Friday evenings when we are at football games.  My dad always called me his "favorite daughter".  Yes - of course - I am the only daughter.

My dad is doing well.  Sometimes I wonder how to answer the question "How's your dad?"  My dad is different but yet he is the same - he is sick but yet he is well - he is human but yet he receives God's grace.  And that last part is the part I remember EVERY time I see him.  He never shows unhappiness even though I know that if he completely could verbalize his living arrangements he would not be very happy with me, he is physically doing just fine and holding his own, and every day he shows and voices his love for Jesus.  I simply cannot ask for anything more.  He is a living example of God's Grace.

Me & my dad taken rather recently....

While it is busy - it is also so much fun to have teenagers in our home.  Spaghetti Lunch on Fridays has become the best time.  

Nephew Three (far right) with Grandson in the middle.

I think he is LOVING being with the Graham Steers!

Would you like to follow my "other blog"? Here's the link...... Cheryl's Other Blog

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Becoming a Servant

This really began in the fall of 1985 however just as with much of life I certainly could not foresee today.

my grandma Cannon & my dad - many years before 1985...

My grandma Cannon got sick.  My mom tells me now that some thought it was a mini stroke but whatever the case the children were staying with her each day and night.  Since my dad lived 2 hours from her home the weekends were his assignment.  I do not remember how many weekends we went to her home but I do remember one.  I remember sleeping on the couch and my parents helping my grandmother.  I had just recently gotten engaged to Kerry and the engagement ring offered some visual comfort in this strange setting of caring for a grandmother. 

I grew up visiting the elderly.  In our small church in Perrin we went to the nursing home in Jacksboro many times – maybe even once a month.  We would sing, walk from room to room, and talk to the residents as if we knew them.  I do not remember knowing any of them personally – I just remember that visiting never bothered me.

One of my dad’s sisters went to live in a nursing home.  She had Alzheimer’s.  I loved visiting Aunt Mary when she lived next door to my grandmother – I loved visiting my Aunt Mary when she lived in the home.  That was the home my grandmother eventually lived in. 

My other grandmother lived in a nursing home for the entire time that I knew her.  That was in Madison, Nebraska and it was an amazing home.  Very clean, very friendly, very much responsible for taking care of our family members. 

That is not always the case.  Nursing homes aren’t always the best place – just sometimes they are the only place.  I am just not ready for my parents to live in a place that is not their home…..

As I have shared before my dad has dementia.  As with this illness we truly have no idea what the prognosis is from day to day.  I do know that having a spouse with dementia certainly presents wear and tear on the life that doesn’t have the illness. 

my parents just last year....

So in order to give both of my parents a quality of life that they truly deserve – we decided they needed more help in their home.  A help that could give my mom some relief – a help that understood the elderly – a help that they knew and would immediately feel comfortable with – a help that was ready to serve them – a help that could give back as they had been giving for 49 years to her – a help they love – a help that loves them. 

my dad, me, my mom - Father's Day 2013

We often say it takes a village to raise a child.  I believe it takes a village to grow old gracefully and with dignity. 

Now my career is Servant. 

Servant for 3 scheduled days a week for those people who gave me a family & home 49 years ago. 

Servant (with a huge learning curve) to the family that became mine when I married.  Do you have any idea how difficult it is to learn a new language?  Especially a language composed of PVC fittings, THHN, conduit, filters, American Standard, Rheem, sweep, 90, 45, accounts receivable, accounts payable, ESC, Quickbooks,  - and my list is so incredibly long!  I now have the joy of serving at my husband’s office 2 days a week. 

And I also can be a better Servant in my home.  Even though this new career has only been in place for 10 days – I already feel more at peace – more focused on Him – more focused on helping others. 

Of course one must have tools for this new career!  Just like the village will have diaper bags for the children – in this village I have a tote bag for DJ & Grandad’s.

His mercies.

New.

Every morning.

Great IS his faithfulness.

Note:  Now that I have time that is better suited for writing – I plan to write for Grace4Greta and more on Prepare2Prosper.org.  My closet is FULL of books and I have many on being a servant…..  I think that is where Prepare2Prosper needs to begin …. Again!  Be sure to visit prepare2prosper.org

Always, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14.