THANKFUL THURSDAY

I have SO much to be thankful for but today I want to give thanks to the Lord for the most incredible Mother's Day weekend I've had in quite some time. It was full of lots of good stuff. Not only was I able to spend a wonderful evening with my amazing mom, but I also spent another evening with my three daughters, ALL at the same time! That hasn't happened for Mother's Day in a very, very long time. I received a ton of wonderful goodies, but better yet, we simply had a great time together. I was truly thrilled to be with all three of my girls again. I was also blessed to have my youngest grandson, Mason, here. I wish both of my grandsons could have made it, but, unfortunately, Connor had a bad day at school, so his mommy decided he needed to stay at home with dad. That was a little disappointing because I don't get to see them that often but I still had a wonderful time visiting with Mason. He was a complete mess and kept us laughing the entire time. We took a few pictures that evening and I wanted to share them with you. I hope you enjoy them.....

My girls......Whitney, Morgan and Rebekah

Whitney, Mason, Morgan and Rebekah

Whitney and Mason

Mason checking things out....

Bekah stealin' kisses...

Mason peeking out the window,
Casper making sure he doesn't miss anything.

Time to go home.

If you haven't already, please take a moment to read some of the other Mother's Day posts I've done over the last few days. You can find them here:

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN

SUNDAY CITAR: ~ MOTHER'S DAY EDITION ~

FLASHBACK FRIDAY and FRIDAY FOLLOW #3

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'd love for you to join us in Thankful Thursday and take a moment to share what YOU are thankful for. Visit Sonya at Becoming a Strong Woman of God as a Wife, Mother and Friend to link up.

Blessings,

Teresa

WORD-FILLED WEDNESDAY

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining.

~ 1 Peter 4:8-9 ~

This verse really spoke to me today. It made me think about my family, especially my sister.

I have an AMAZING family! Every single member is someone I know I can depend on no matter what. However, like most families, we definitely have our moments when we don't see eye-to-eye. That is especially true when it comes to my sister and me. You might remember that I told you a little about that here on her birthday.

Since then, we've had a couple more disagreements that did not end very well. It makes me extremely sad when that happens. I never, ever intend to cause a fuss or hurt her feelings, but somehow that is what always seems to happen. :0(

Thankfully, though, LOVE does cover a multitude of sins, and in our family, we somehow always manage to come out on the other side of any disagreement with our relationships still intact. As for my sister and me, we definitely aren't as close as I would like for us to be, but I hope and pray that somehow, someway we can work together to change that. We're not getting any younger and we just never know when the day will come that one of us won't be here any longer.

Thanks for joining me for Word-Filled Wednesday! As always, the purpose of WFW is to share God's Word (no famous quotes or other literature, only the beautiful Word of our Heavenly Father) through scripture and pictures.

WFW is being hosted this week by Lori at All You Have To Give. Please take some time to visit her blog for even more encouragement or if you want to link up and join us. It is really awesome!

Have a great week!

Blessings,


Teresa

THEN SINGS MY SOUL SATURDAYS~ WE LIVE ~

I have truly enjoyed this whole week of Spring Break with my family. We haven't really done anything that special but it has been so awesome having everyone hanging out at home, talking, laughing, watching movies and just being lazy for the most part. I wish we could do this more often but life is just so busy, especially with two teenagers in the house! I also wish I could spend more time with my oldest daughter and two grandsons but they stay just as busy.

The song I chose for today is one that I like to listen to because it reminds me that I should never take even one day for granted. We just never know when it may be the last day we spend with our spouse, one of our children, our parents, our siblings, our friends, etc. We never know when it may be our last day -period.

So, we all need to LIVE!

'WE LIVE'

By ~ Super Chic[k]

There's a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost her son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be the last time she'd trade with
him for a little more time
(so she could say she loved him one last time)
And hold him tight
But with life we never know when we're
coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

There's a man who waits for the tests to
See if the cancer had spread yet
And now he asks why did I wait to
live 'til it was time to die
If I could have the time back, how I'd live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well, this is your story and it all depends
So don't let it become true
Get out and do what we were meant to do

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day
Is a gift somehow, someway
And get our heads up out of this darkness
And spark this new mindset and start on
with life cuz it ain't gone yet
And tragedy's a reminder to take off
the blinders and wake up
(to live the life)
We're supposed to take up
(moving forward)
With all our heads up
Cuz life is worth living

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

I hope you LIVE your weekend to its fullest!

Blessings,

Teresa

For more inspiring and uplifting music, please visit Amy at SIGNS, MIRACLES AND WONDERS!

THE SIMPLE WOMAN'S DAYBOOK Entry #2

Would you like to linger on the simple things? Then join me and many others in taking a little look into the day plans and thoughts of those who are focusing on simplicity...beauty of the 'everyday moments'.

~ The Simple Woman - Created Spring 2008

FOR TODAY - Tuesday, March 2nd

Outside my window.....it is 33 degrees and SNOWING!! We are under a winter weather advisory. YAY! :0)

I am thinking.....about my girls who are still in school and wishing our school system wouldn't always be the very last one to make a decision to close school when we have inclement weather.

I am thankful for.....my new MP3 player I received for my birthday last week. I LOVE music, especially Praise and Worship music, but I haven't really had a way to listen to it in quite a while. This MP3 player is really going to be a blessing to me.

From the kitchen.....I smell my Hazelnut Creme coffee brewing. YUM!

I am wearing.....my comfy pajamas and I'm bundled up in my Slanket. I REALLY love my Slanket.

I am going.....to schedule a few doctors' appointments that have been put on the back burner for far too long.

I am creating.....a special blog post about my own personal experience with Dysautonomia. I have received numerous emails over the last few months from a variety of people. They are almost always inquiring about my experience with the disease. Since I have not been feeling very well, I have not been able to answer them all in detail. Therefore, I've decided to do a 'Frequently Asked Questions' post in hopes of putting all my answers in one very conspicuous place.

I am (still) reading..... 'God Needs Me - Living with Dysautonomia' by Lynn Fox Adams. It is an amazing book!

I am hoping.....that it keeps snowing all day and all night. I hope we get lots of the white stuff!

I am praying.....for my family's safety as they travel home today.

I am hearing.....complete silence. Sometimes it is deafening.

Around the house.....we have decided to hire someone to paint all of the common areas in our home (2 story family room & foyer, plus kitchen, breakfast room, halls and mudroom). We are working really hard to pick the perfect color since we have really disliked the initial color we chose when we built our home a little over 2 years ago.

One of my favorite things.....is winter! There are so many people in such a rush for spring to get here but I am truly enjoying winter! I just LOVE a cold winter's night when you can snuggle up in a blanket by the fireplace and enjoy a yummy cup of coffee and a good book....(or your hubby!)

A few plans for the rest of the week.....This weekend is Morgan's audition for Auburn University's music program and then an informational meeting afterward. I won't be able to go but my husband will. Please say a little prayer for her!

From my picture journal.....A couple more snow pics my youngest daughter, Rebekah, made the last time we had a little of the white stuff. You may click on the picture to get a better look.

This is looking off our back deck. There is a very high hilltop to the left with a house on top.

If you would like to join in with 'The Simple Woman's Daybook', please feel free to visit Peggy's blog. She is a wonderful hostess and would love to have you stop by.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

I know I said I wasn't going to post again until after the first of the year but I have a very urgent prayer request I'd like to bring before all my prayer warriors.

My cousin, Tommy, who is in his early 50s, has been sick for about a week. At first, the doctor thought he might have had a sinus infection. However, he never responded to the antibiotics and only continued to worsen. On Christmas Eve, he was hospitalized after being diagnosed with the H1N1 (Swine) Flu. Since that time, his condition has continued to deteriorate and now he also has bilateral pneumonia. Today, he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and was placed on a ventilator to help with his breathing. He is in very critical condition.

Please pray for Tommy as he battles this very insidious illness. Please ask the Lord to give him all the strength and comfort he will need to make it through. I'd also like to ask that you pray for my Aunt Dorothy, Tommy's mom, who has lost her husband (cancer), her older son (automobile accident) and her daughter-in-law (cancer) - all within the last 2 years. Please ask the Lord to give her, and the rest of the family, all the strength, grace and comfort needed to make it through the coming days. AND, that special PEACE that passeth all understanding.

Thank you so much for your continued love and support.

Blessings,

Teresa

(Almost) WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ The View From My Chair

Due to my illness, I am confined to a recliner
all day long, while my family is away.

This is my amazing view from my chair
during my absolute favorite season, Fall!

So when I start to dwell on just how
rough I feel life has become...

I love to look out these windows...

from inside this beautiful home
the Lord has entrusted to my family and me.

I am very blessed, indeed!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SISTER!

Today is a very special day and I wanted to share it with all of you. It is the birthday of one of the nearest and dearest people to me in the whole wide world, my baby sister, Melissa. Melissa and I are only 19 months apart. I definitely look like the youngest, but she is, indeed, my younger sister. :0) LOL!

My only sister and I have shared so many things in our lives, a ton of very good things and a lot of really bad stuff, too. We have definitely not always gotten along; just ask our parents - or our husbands! Instead of being best buddies when we were little, we tended to 'fight like cats and dogs', as our Mama would always say. As we moved into our 'tween and teenage years, Melissa desperately wanted to follow me around wherever I went. She wanted to do everything my friends and I were doing but I wanted nothing to do with her! At least not when my friends were around. There was just enough age difference between us that it was simply 'not cool' to have her tagging along. Sometimes our parents made me take her and sometimes I got my way and she had to stay behind. So what do younger sisters do when they get left behind and want to get back at their big sisters? They tattle about every little thing! Yep, that is exactly what they do. They become snitches for the parents. However, I would not learn this until I became an adult. Melissa was a very good snitch, too! I always wondered how my parents found out every single time I did something I was not supposed to be doing!

Even as adults we have not always agreed and there have been many times we have not gotten along during certain circumstances. However, I have always, always known that she is there for me. I've never doubted that. Melissa and I both have been through some extremely major trials and tribulations as adults. We've both endured things some people can't even imagine and will never, ever deal with in their whole entire life. Despite all our differences, I have ALWAYS known she is in my corner. I know that no matter what, I can depend on her when the chips are down. She has always been here for my family and me through thick and thin. She has generously given of her self, her time, her money and anything else I have ever needed. She is THE very definition of a sister and a friend. I don't know what I would do without her in my life and I hope I never have to figure it out. She is part of the rock that is my family. We are close and we are solid. A lot of people don't have that but I am extremely blessed that I do.

Melissa, I hope that today is an amazing birthday for you and I pray that this next year is filled with nothing but joy, sunshine and wonderful blessings from the Lord above.

I love you, sis!

(This was the best picture I could find of us when we were little. I decided to do this at the last minute so I didn't have much time. This was us at our childhood church. I'm thinking this is probably on Easter Sunday, in dresses handmade by our Granny.)

NEW KID ON THE BLOG

Well, it is official. I have finally taken the plunge into the real world of blogging. It has taken me forever to get it all figured out, and I still have a LONG, LONG way to go, but I think I'm headed in the right direction. There have been some pretty major set backs lately, but I'm really pleased to say that I'm at least getting it started.

As some of you know, I did a few posts on what some might would consider a 'blog' on Facebook but I just didn't seem to have much of a following there because 1) it is hard to find readers there because it is difficult to navigate and 2) the sane folks who still haven't gotten lured in by 'the housewife's equivalent to crack', AKA Facebook, are not able to read my posts there without signing up for an account. Plus, I have not been feeling very well the last couple of months, so I haven't been keeping it updated as much as I would have liked.

Therefore, I thought I would start fresh with a new blog here where anyone can read it if they want. I plan to use it as a tool to continue to educate my friends and family - and even strangers who happen to stop by - about my disease and how it affects my life and the lives of my family. I will also use it to keep everyone up-to-date on what all is going on in our lives. Most of the time, there won't be a tremendous amount to write about but at least you will know what we're up to. I also believe it will be a great outlet for me to share some of my feelings about the struggles I face as I deal almost daily with pain and fear, anger and guilt, disappointment and frustration. However, I will also share all the good stuff, too, like the complete love and faith I have in my awesome husband who always treats me like a queen, the tremendous gratefulness I have for my awesome family who is ALWAYS here to support me on the good days and the bad, my thankfulness for our loving church family and friends who have always stood by our side through thick and thin and, most of all, my joy which I continue to find in my Lord and Savior each and every day. Without the awesome support group I have in my family, friends and my walk with my Savior, I honestly don't know where I would be today. No matter what, I am one blessed lady!

See ya soon!

Blessings,
Teresa