Thus Far...

"Samuel took a stone and...named it Ebenezer, saying, 'thus far has the Lord helped us.' " 1Samuel 7:12

My dad and I have a Christmas tradition that I love; every year he picks out a book for me. We are both book lovers. The books that Dad has picked for me over the years are some of my all time favorite books. In our fire last year, I lost years of books. But as always Dad has begun to replenish my bookshelves with books he knows I will need to have in my personal library.

This years book is a daily devotional book, Look Unto Me The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon. I decided not to wait until January 1 to start reading and began on Christmas day. I thought it would be fun to start and finish next Christmas day when I get my next book from Dad. I was not a spiritual decision, just thought it would be fun. So I started reading Dec. 25th.

Then came Dec 29th, and 1 Samuel 7:12. The end of the year and New Years Eve have been rough days for me since we moved. I miss being with my family on Christmas, and I miss our friends on New Years Eve most of all. We had a tradition, party, food, games, watching the ball, now there is no routine and we haven't had time to build the relationships that make those traditions yet. It just seems sad to sit home and do nothing on the one night that was always much anticipated as a great date night. Anyway, I had already begun to struggle with these feelings before I read the days page.

Spurgeon talks about how this statement looks to the past and all the ways that God has taken care of us in the good and bad of our lives. Then he goes on to say that it also points to the future. It marks a point in time that is not the end. It says there is more to come, more good and bad, more pain and peace. More traditions to be made and more lonely days to come. When those times come to an end there is still old age, illness and death to come, but even that is not the end. God who has led us this far will lead us to eternity with Him. There is no reason to wonder where 2009 will take us, we need just to follow Him though all of life's ups and downs. He will not leave us hopeless.

"O believer, be of good courage and, with grateful confidence, set up your ebenezer stone as Samuel did, for: 'The Lord who 'thus far' has helped you WILL help you all your journey through.' John Newton"

Sunday our small group had a spur of the moment lunch in the park. It was such a beautiful day! The kids were cute and the adult conversation was nice too!

Mom's Visit

Our visit with mom was GREAT! Okay, maybe not great, I got sick Friday night and all day Saturday, but we did have fun. Mom got to spend time with Jake checking out what homeschool is like. They had a team project to do. We did some shopping and enjoyed a few antique stores with Jake, he is a fun kid! We spent a good deal of time doing what we all like best...playing games. Mom got this great new game I highly recommend it! (What's Yours Like?) We spent Sunday in downtown Greenville. It was too short, but it was so great to have her here! Right after mom left I ended up in the hospital with three kidney stones! They were only able to get two of the three stones, one of which was 7mm! It was very painful, and the real bummer is that there is still one stone still rattling around in there so I get to do it all over again at some point.






Sleep over









School Time














Good Eats














Growing...



















What a smile













Growing, Growing














Game night

Mom's New Game

going crazy

I don't really have anything to say. I am just nervously awaiting the arrival of my momma! She is somewhere between Greenville and Central. I have dinner ready, the table is set and I don't have any more cleaning to keep myself busy!

More soon.....check back for pictures of our weekend!

I've Been Tagged

I don't usually do things like this, but I figured I could just once.:

Meme Rules: Each player answers the question themselves.At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 years ago (1998):
1. I was 32 years old.
2. I had been married 7 years.
3. I had a 2 year old son.
4. We had just bought our first house.
5. We were attending Lakeview Wesleyan Church

5 things on today’s “to do” list:
1. Do laundry.
2. Do a days worth of homeschool in two hours.
3. Go on a field trip to an orchard.
4. Dust.
5. Watch Bones!

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Lemon Squares (Cathy's are the best!)
2. Popcorn, cheesy is my favorite.
3. Kosher dill pickles.
4. Saltines.
5. DQ Ice cream cakes.

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. PAy off all our debt.
2. Buy a Jeep Wrangler.
3. Have a savings account.
4. Buy a house.
5. Give to charity.

5 places I have lived:
1. Sturgis, MI
2. Marion, IN
3. Clemson, SC
4. Central, SC
5.

5 jobs I have had:
1. Preschool Teacher
2. Full time volunteer, JC Bodyshop, College Church
3. Office Manager, Youth For Christ
4. Babysitter
5. Pet store clerck, poop slinger, fish tank cleaner, reptile feeder....

Now, I’m supposed to tag 5 others:
1. Marcia Wodard
2. Tasha Quakenbush
3. Kari Terhune
4. Tracey Wesphal
5. Lisa Huber

Funny

I had to take a break from working around the house today. (I am getting ready for a visit from my momma!) I know other people have known about this site long before me, but I have been having fun at yearbookyourself.com. Here are a few of my favorites.(The last one I actually had.)

One Year

September 15th is a day that changed my life forever. It is the day I left Fairmount Camp for South Carolina. I can still see myself standing by Bob Vardaman’s truck wondering if I could really drive someone elses truck pulling my car on a flatbed trailor. The answer was yes! I did drive and pull my car and I didn’t even crack up his truck.

I had no idea what lay ahead of us that day. I would never have chosen the path of the fire and the bad school experience for Jake. But I am so glad that we are where we are. I miss friends, family & church. But there is a great deal to be said for being where God wants you.

There have been some rough lessons learned this year. I have tried for so long to keep priorities straight that stuff is stuff and not important. The fire helped cement that idea in my heart. Even those things I thought were irreplacable, the dearest “things” in my possession, they turned out to be just things after all.

Then there was that lesson of worship being a choice. I remember Pastor Chris Williams preaching on worship years ago and telling us that. But so often I let circumstances, emotions, and distractions to keep me from real worship. I hated the thought of having to leave my church, it was home and family to me. It was where God had taught me so much and I was sure that I would never find a place to hear God that way again. Guess what, worship really is a choice. I have found a church family. It will never be the same, but God meets me there when I go looking for him.

And of course, there was the reminder of not needing to see the plan to know to follow it. I had no idea that we would be home schooling again or that I would be at home. I came looking forward to working. I had hoped to be on campus with Mark by now. We have bills to pay, a house payment in Marion and rent in Central, but here I am. God rarely does things the way that I think he should. Than goodness!

It has been a year. I just thank God that we did it his way because facing even part of this without him would be unbearable!

I am really not a big fan of change. I never have been. I like to have a plan, a system, and work and live within it. After the year that we have had, you would think that I would be much more accustom to change by now.

I had hoped that after a year in Central we would have found our “normal”. But no such thing. If you didn’t already know, I quit my job two weeks ago. I am now a stay at home mom again!!!! I am so happy. Jake and I are getting into a routine with school and chores. We have been getting the house reorganized for school. I have joined a Bible study. Jake joined Civil Air Patrol with Mark. Oh, I also re-upped my Mary Kay so I can try to make a little money for us. Now if we can just keep things going without a change for a month or so it would be great!

In Loving Memory

Mark's grandpa Mealy (Pops)passed away early yesterday morning. He had been sick for a while, but it came sooner than we expected. He went peacefully in his sleep to be with his Lord. There will be a memorial service next weekend in North Carolina where they lived for the last 17ish years.

There is peace in knowing that he is with Jesus and not in pain, but we miss him. Jake has had a rough day today especially. He has such a tender heart. He and I went to visit with Grandma (GiGi) this afternoon and he cried on the way there. He held it together while we were talking with her, but has struggled this afternoon again.

Pops leaves an amazing legacy of love and prayer and faith. I have noticed a void already and a sense of urgency about the changes this brings to the family. We have big shoes to fill in passing on that legacy to the next generations of Mealy's.