Family Beach Vacation! July 4, 2009

We just got back from a few days at the beach. We had a great time. I was so blessed to have my whole family together. Dustin’s girlfriend Kandace also joined us. We arrived in Panama City early Monday morning. When we arrived our room was not cleaned, so we had to wait at the beach until our room was ready. We had driven all night so we were really tired. Randy actually crashed on the couch because he drove all night. We all had slept at least part of the way. We change into our bathing suits and head to the beach. There were yellow and purple flags flying. I get my noodle and head out into the water. I am floating along and not paying any attention to the fact that I had gotten further out than I had planned. Cody comes out and jokingly said…”what are you doing this far out don’t you know it is dangerous”. He was quoting me. At that point I get off of my noodle so I can get closer to shore and when I did I realized I could not touch bottom. Well you know what I did, I PANICKED!!! I threw my noodles away and tried to swim with the current. I was not gaining in ground. I yell to this strange man to give me a push so I could maybe get to where I could touch…nope. Cody sees me and says, “mom are you ok.” I scream “NO HELP ME, I CAN’T BREATHE”. He comes to my rescue but is not able to get me to where I can touch bottom. Dustin then comes out to help and finally I can touch. I head for the shore and didn’t get back in the beach again,except on the edge. The reason I panicked was because years ago me and my sister got caught in the current and almost drowned, so I do not like to be in the ocean over my head. The bay,river, creak, or pool doesn’t bother me to be over my head, but the ocean does. Me and Tanner decided to go and hang out by the pool. Finally our room was clean so we all got dressed and went out to dinner. We ate at the Bone Fish.  We were so tired we went to bed early around 8:30.

Tuesday, we had planned to spend the day at St. Andrews State Park snorkeling at the Jetty’s.  It was a great day. It was not too hot since it was a little overcast. The breeze was also blowing. We snorkeled for hours. It was so fun having the whole family snorkeling together. We saw some really cool sea life…we saw tropical fish, stingrays, manta rays, crabs, coral reefs, jelly fish, and sea urchins. After a day of snorkeling we went back to the condo and got dressed to make family pictures on the beach. We go back to the park for our pictures. On the way we stop by the alligator lake to see if we can see an alligator. We do see 4 alligators. We also take pictures on the trails around the lake. However, we got all hot and sweaty and it was getting late so by the time we got to the beach the sun was setting, so we didn’t get the beach photos I wanted. I was also frustrated with my camera. I still prefer my 35 mm. It makes much better pictures than my digital camera. After a long day on the beach we decide to get pizza to go.

Wednesday, we go back to the park to snorkel. This time it was hot and sunny. We used 70 SPF sunscreen but we still got burned. The only place we burned was our backs, because we snorkeled for 4 hours and our backs were all that was out to the water. I was on fire! We lost track of time and forgot to reapply sunscreen…ouch! Dustin and Cody rode the sling shot. It shot them 300 feet in the air in 2 seconds. They said it was a blast. Cody and Tanner rode the fastest go-karts they have ever ridden. Tanner started first and stayed in first.  It made me nervous just to watch them. 

 

Thursday, we get up and pack up and head for home. We drive through Graceville, FL where we used to live to show Kandace where we lived and the schools the boys went to, and the college Randy went to. I was so devastated when one of the houses we lived in had been trashed. It looked disgusting. I can not discribe how bad it looked. It broke my heart. I had taken pride in the place and kept it looking good. These people had let it run down. The yard was grown up, trash was in the yard, even furniture, vehicles parked everywhere, limbs on top of the house, it was molded. The beautiful azalea bushes we had were now grown over the top of the house. I just wanted to cry. We went to visit our neighbor but she wasn’t home. I am sure she is upset with how the place looked. We drove on to Dothan, AL and ate at Applebees. This was one of my old hangouts with my girlfriends. We dropped Kandace off and got home around 2:00 a.m. It was a great trip. The Lord blessed us with the perfect weather. The condo was great and we were all together to enjoy it.

While I would sit and look out across the gulf. I would think about how Awesome God is. As I watched the power of the waves crashing against the shore, and looked out at the vast sea it just made me realize how BIG our God is. He is all powerful, all knowing,and an ever present God. I love you and praise you for who you are.

Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who  has measured off the heavens with His fingers?  Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed out the mountains and the hills? Isa. 40:12

 

 

“My Man” June 26, 2009

I know it is not “Father’s Day” but I wanted to take this time to give a tribute to my husband, Randy. He is a great husband and father, and I take him for granted way too much. I am lucky to have such a wonderful husband. He loves me and our boys and tries to make us happy. I know I make it difficult for him sometimes, because I am hard to please.  He is man of great character. He is an example to our sons of what it means to live a Christian life. He is devoted to our family. He works hard to provide for us. He is also a “Mr. Fix-it”. I have never had to hire a repair man for anything whether it is something to do with the house or cars. He can fix just about anything. He can do electrical work, plumbing, automotive work, construction work, and just about anything. His nickname is “McGuiver”.  We count on him to fix all of our problems. It is nice to know that we can count on him anytime. He will drop whatever he is doing to come to our rescue, even in the middle of the night.   He wants to give us so much more than he is able to, for that I love him. He knows how much I love the beach and he is taking me next week, even though it is not his favorite place. He would rather make me happy than himself. Thank you for loving me that much.

 I am blessed that God brought us together 24 years ago. I know that it is God who will keep us together in this world where divorce is on the rise.  It scares me to think about my life without Randy. He is the one I depend on for everything, of course that is second only to God.  He is also the one I blame when things aren’t going my way, for that I am sorry. I love you with all of my heart and pray that you know that. Thanks for all you do for our family. You mean more to us than you know. May God bless you for your faithfullness to Him and to our family.

 

God does hear our prayers! June 19, 2009

I wanted to share a journey that I have taken over the past few days. I warn you it is a dark place called a pit, but how God reached down His hand and lifted me up.

It started on Saturday. I was really low. I had fallen into an all too familiar pit, as Beth Moore would say in her book “Getting Out of the Pit”. I have to admit that at times I have wallowed in that pit for days even months at a time. I don’t always know what triggers it, but I fall into a pit of depression. I was feeling down Saturday. I felt lonely and discouraged. I think I was also a bit envious of all the comments on facebook with people who were looking forward to their summer vacations. They would post about their beach trips, river trips and swimming plans. I on the other hand had no such plans. I was thinking that all I had to look forward to was my boys leaving me in the fall.

I am at a different place than I am used to. For one I have to work during the summer after years of being a stay at home mom, or working in the school system. Second, since Randy is not pastoring right now, accept as an interium pastor, he works all weekend at Sears. My boys are also working. Me and Tanner then find ourselves lost with nothing to do on weekends. I have not made any real friends here to hang with, and my closest friends live so far away. My family lives a 3 hours drive away. There are no places to go swimming, no beach, no river, no creek, not even a pool.

Soooo this past Saturday it all got to me. I fell into a pit of depression. When Randy got home he tried to pull me out, but to no avail. He took me to the movies to see Up and out to eat, but it did not help any. He then takes my mood personally as if it is his fault and that he needs to fix me. Not the right thing to do when I am already low. He does the best he can, but it is only God who can lift my spirits. I realized that I needed to pray. I went to the bathroom at the restaurant and cried out to God. I told Him how I was feeling and asked Him to please step in and lift my spirit and to give me the fruits of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, etc Gal. 5:22 & 23. I also rebuked the enemy who was attacking me. Then I confessed my sins of envy, jealousy, lack of faith and trust, and also my unbelief. I asked God to please encourage me. I know he knows what I need more than I do. I felt a peace at that moment and I felt that I was on the upward climb out of my pit. Praise the Lord.

On Sunday I went to church with Tanner. Randy had to preach. Dustin & Cody went to their churches. I had to sit alone because Tanner sat with the youth. This did not help my mood.  I went to our missions backyard Bible club and that was a blessing. I continued to seek the Lord for peace. I read His word and listened to praise music.

I was still a little down on Monday because I work alone and in the basement of my bosses home. This gives me too much down time to think. I kept my KLOVE christian radio going all day. I reflected on the scriptures, and clung to the promise that I am not alone, because God is with me.

Tuesday, I went to Birth Choice where I am a counselor. I had a no show day, which means my clients didn’t show up for their counseling session. That was probably a blessing because I was close to tears all day. I shared a small portion of my discouragement with the ladies there. I told them how I was frustrated that there was no where to swim where we live. I am such a water dog that no water makes me really sad during the summer. Of course the beach is what I am missing the most, since I lived in Florida for 7 years and got used to going whenever I could. Anyways one of the ladies, Pat, said she had a pool and that I was welcome to come over anytime and swim. Praise the Lord. He knows what I need.

On Wednesday after work  we had another backyard Bible club at another location. The leader of our group Stephanie invited me to lunch on Thursday. I was so excited, because I have not gone to lunch with a girl friend in a long time. I was thankful that the Lord heard my prayer.

Stay with me because I am almost out of the dark and into the light. I go to lunch with Stephanie and her two year old and 2 week old little girls. We had a great visit. Then I get home and think what now. Iwas debating on calling Pat to go swimming, but lost my nerve. Then she called me and invited me over. I was so excited. Me and Tanner went over for a couple of hours and hung out with Pat and her friend Karen. It was so nice to be in the sun and laying in a pool. I was so excited how God was working in my life in such a short time. When Randy gets home we go and eat mexican with Cody and play a round of disc golf. Randy tells me he can get off work for a few days and that we can go to the beach. Is God good or what. He is sending me blessing after blessing to encourage me and lift me up out of the pit. 

Today, I am so happy to know that God cares about my deepest needs and longings. He knows I need women friends in my life. He knows how I love the water and especially the beach. One of my verses I am memorizing is, “Do not worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Phil. 4:6 That is just what I decided to do, and the reward was great.

I shared this story with you, so if you find yourself in your own pit that you could see an example of how to get out. Look to God for all your needs. Tell Him how you feel, he knows anyway. Cling to His promises in the scriptures. Follow Phil 4:8  it tells us what to think on…things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, etc. Remember how much he loves you and wants to give you good things. Christian music is a great way help you focus on God. He is the lifter of your head. He is holding out His hand to you…just grab it and let Him lift you up.

Psalm 71:20-21 (New Living Translation)

20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship,
but you will restore me to life again
and lift me up from the depths of the earth.
21 You will restore me to even greater honor
and comfort me once again.

Happy Birthday Sis!!! June 15, 2009

I just wanted to wish my sister a Happy Birthday. I won’t tell you how old she is, that would be rude. I will tell you she is one year shy of the big 4-0. I wanted to introduce her to you so you will know how special she is to me. I am two years older than her, so we have always been very close. We have shared our lives together through thick and thin. She probably knows me better than anyone else. She is not only my sister but my best friend. I have always been able to count one her no matter what. She is a very loving and giving person. She will do anything she can for anybody. She is dedicated to whatever she does, whether her work, her family, church, football league, or Relay for Life. She really puts her all into whatever she commits to. I am proud of her. She is very athletic, she can beat me at most any sport, except maybe putt-putt golf or ping-pong…LOL. I enjoy hanging out with her. We get along really well. We are very comfortable with each other and can tell each other anything. Of course as kids we didn’t always see eye to eye, we had our fighting moments, but now we rarely fight. I pray that God will bless her on her special day. I love you Mel and I hope you know how special you are to me.

Worth the drive! June 13, 2009

Have you ever found a restaurant that is worth the drive? We discovered this great little catfish place on the river in the middle of nowhere when we took a road trip for our anniversary. The place is about an hours drive from our house.  We just loved it. The food was great and the place had a homey atmosphere. All the waitresses were really friendly. We vowed that we would be back.

Randy got to craving catfish and said hey, lets go to Hagey’s Catfish Hotel, so we planned to go on Thursday so the whole family could go together. Dustin was at my mom’s so him and Kandice drove up to meet us. Tanner, Cody and Jessica rode with us. We get there before Dustin and Kandace so I pull out the camera to take pictures of everyone by the river. Of course when Dustin and Kandace arrived I took their pictures too. We had a great time being together as a family. Since the boys have grown and gotten jobs it is hard to get everyone together. I love it when we can all be together. I cherish each moment and try to freeze time. I just wanted to share this moment with you and of course show off my family.

 

Ten and Win! May 29, 2009

Can you say the 10 Commandments in order in 20 seconds. If you want a chance to win $20,000 you need to go to tenandwin.com and register for a chance to be called on 10-26-09 and if you can say the 10 Commandments at that time you can win $20,000. This video will help you learn the 10 Commandments in 20 seconds flat. Don’t forget to register for a chance to be called. They will pick a random number to call on 10-26-09 to see if you can say the 10 Commandments in 20 seconds. You have plenty of time to work on them before then….that is 5 months away. Good luck and God Bless.

Smoky Mountain Vacation May 29, 2009

Day 1: Me, Tanner, my sister Melanie, Matt, and Mikayla get up at 5:00 a.m. and head out for the mountains. We drive separate vehicles because she is staying 3 extra days. The boys start out with me and Mikayla is with Mel. We have walkie talkies to communicate back and forth as well as cell phones. It rains on us most of the way there. I have to make several pit stops due to overactive bladder. We get within 5 or 6 miles from the condo and I have a major tire blowout. As we are figuring out what to do a policewoman stops to assist us. She calls a tow truck to come and change the tire for us, $60.00 later we are back on the road. We unpack and check out the condo then head to the pool. We stocked up on groceries and relaxed for a bit.

Day 2: We get up and go to the NASCAR Speedpark. Melanie had 4 rain out tickets from 2007. We spent the day racing around the different go-kart tracks, riding the tilt-a-whirl, scrambler, and we played a game of putt-putt.Mikayla had old timer photos made. She got so hot she almost passed out. She said she was dizzy and couldn’t see. I rushed her inside where it was cool and got her some water. She came around. We went back to the condo for lunch and we took a nap. We go back for some more racing. The kids all tried climbing the rock climbing wall. Mikayla was the first one to conquer it. She was able to conquer 3 of the 4 walls. Matt also conquered 3 of the 4 walls. Tanner was persitent in trying, but his big hands and feet(size 18 4E) gave him a challenge. Tanner and Matt raced in the simulator cars. Matt won the race. Tanner had fun wrecking. After being there all day it began to rain around 9:00 at night. I couldn’t believe they gave us rain out tickets…woo hoo. We eat at Applebees and call it a night.

 

 

Day 3: We enjoy a big country breakfast at Flapjacks. Since we had rainchecks for the NASCAR Speedpark the boys go back for another day of go-kart racing. There were 8 different tracks to chose from. We leave the boys there and Me, Mel, and Mikayla go shopping. We go to the Christmas Place first. Melanie gets all of hers and her friends ornaments for their Christmas swap. They were really cool ornaments that were personalized.We check in on the boys and watch them race a few races. Mikayla gets to ride free with Matt for a couple of races.  We then go to the Tanger Outlet mall across the road from the speedpark. We start out at the bra outlet. We get sized and try on tons of bras. I finally choose one and Mel gets 2. This is something you can only do without guys around. We go get the boys for Tanner to try on shoes. No luck. We go to Mr. Gheti’s pizza place for supper. It was not very good. We go back to the speedpark for a while longer and watch the boys race and rock climb. Mikayla gets to ride a few more times. Melanie still has 3 rainchecks for later. We cruise the trip of Pigeon Forge then we go back to the condo for the night. I enjoyed a long soak in the jaccuzzi tub.

Mikayla & Mel @ The Christmas Place

Day 4: We decided to go to Gatlinburg before I head home. Melanie talks me into riding the Sky Lift. I am terrified of hights, but I thought I could handle it. I ask these two sweet old ladies at the ticket booth if they thought I would be ok on the ride since I am scared of heights. They say sure it is not bad at all. Let me tell you don’t trust sweet looking old ladies they will lie to you. I am fine going up the lift. Mikayla rides with me. She is holding my flip flops and halfway up she drops it. oops. I was so excited that I made it to the top. We get off and go to the lookout spot where you can see forever and take beautiful pictures of the mountain….not. I can’t get close enough to take pictures. I am shaking so bad I have to go set down. I start crying hysterically. I call my husband crying and saying, “I am on top of a mountain and I can’t get down, I don’t know what I am going to do”. He prays with me and tries to calm me down. He calls back and says he found someone to drive me down off the mountain and gives me the guys phone number. I am telling him no I will get my courage up to ride down. How I don’t know. I pray. I quote scripture. The kids are telling me God will take care of me, not to worry. It thunders. I tell myself I have to get off the mountain before it storms. The guy working the lift tells me he will make sure my chair doesn’t move so I can get in. Finally, a peace comes over me and I am able to get on the lift. I close my eyes at first, and then I open them and I was fine all the way down. Mikayla holds my hand all the way down. About half way through the ride down it pours down rain. You may ask if I would do it again. I would have to say… maybe. We leave Gatlinburg and go to the condo for me to pack up and drive home. Me and Tanner are on our own this time. We stop in Lebanon at the outlet looking for him some shoes. He wears an 18 so it is sooo hard to find shoes. The Nike Outlet had some size 18 shoes, but they were not wide enough. We eat at Steak-N-Shake and get home about 9:00 p.m. I crashed.

Tanner on top of the mountain

Mel getting off sky lift.

Tanner & Matt on sky lift.

P.S. Melanie just called and said she went back to the lift and they had my flip flop…yippee!

Proud Mom May 29, 2009

I am so proud to be Dustin’s mom. It has been my privilege and joy to pour my life into his. He is a man that makes his mom proud. He is a dedicated Christian. He loves the Lord and lives a life that honors the Lord. He is a loving son. He is a gentelman with Kandace. He is respected by his peers and professors.  He is a talented and hard working musician. His composition recital was better than I had even imagined. I had heard the music he created on the computer, but when it was played live with flutes, piccolo’s, violins, bass, violas, drums, trumpets, clarinets, obos, bassoons, etc it sounded AWESOME. This mom smiled from ear to ear. I was so proud.

He is now a college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Union University. He graduated in the top 10% of his class. We celebrated his Graduation day with me cooking all of his favorite foods. My sister Melanie and her kids came for the big day along with Kandace his girlfriend. The graduation was outside and it was overcast with rain in the forcast. This turned out to be a blessing because they shortened the graduation almost in half. You know as well as I do that even though you are proud to be there for your child, the graduation itself is soooo boring, especially with over 500 graduates. I proudly sat in my seat, it seemed a mile from the stage, to wait to here my babies name to be called so I could stand in his honor.

 

 

I pray blessing on his life. I pray that God will lead him in the path of righteousness. I pray God will give him wisdom and understand. I pray that the Lord will use his talents and gifts for  His glory. May the Lord bless and keep him and make His face shine upon him. May you find favor with God and man.

24 Years and Counting!!! May 18, 2009

It is hard to believe that it has been twenty-four years since I walked down the isle to my handsome young husband and said “I do”. It has been a long and challenging journey, but one I would gladly take again. I pray Randy feels the same way.

We met at a family amusement center from the small town I was from, a town with only one red light. The family amusement center was a place where teens could hang out and play basketball, pool, video games, or just hang out. You could usually find me there when I had nothing better to do. One night Randy walks into the place. He came with his cousin, Mark. I knew Mark, but not Randy. Randy asked me my name and I said, “I don’t have one” and walked away. He continued to pursue me anyways. He asked me to shoot pool, but he couldn’t figure out how to get the balls out of the table. I told him you had to put $.50 in it first…hahaha. He had never played pool other than at someones home. I told you I was from a small town, but it was a metropolitian area compared to Randy. He was a country boy. He lived in the middle of nowhere. I was not interested in Randy that night. He called me a couple of weeks later and asked me out on a date. I was unsure as to whether to go or not. I asked him if we could double date with my best friend, Teresa. He agreed. We found her a date and the four of us went out. It started off on a rocky start. Randy had spent hours shining up his ‘69 Camero to show off on the date, but we had decided to drive Teresa’s dates truck. The movie was horrible, the pizza was bad, and we didn’t really talk to each other that much. Me and Teresa just talked mostly to each other. The date was over. Randy went home disappointed, and I just felt horrible about ignoring him all night. When I closed the door behind me I began to cry and realized that I loved him. Why I do not know. The next day I called to apologize for my bad behaivor. He was so happy he asked me out that night to eat with his whole family. After that night, we spent everyday together. He asked me to marry him in two weeks and we got married in less than 3 months of knowing each other. Did I tell you I was 17 and he was 18. I was still in high school. Randy had already graduated and was working. He had already been called into the ministry. I had felt called to missions. We began this 24 year journey on May 17, 1985.

Our first home after moving out of his parents home, we got to house sit for one of Randy’s cousin. The house was a two story house with an ingroud pool. We thought we were living it up. I finished high school the next year.  We had bought a new trailer and put it on Randy’s dad’s farm. He gave us 2 acres of our own. We had already lived in 4 or 5 places before now. We had Dustin in Sept. of 1987. Randy took his first church as pastor while Dustin was a baby. It was a small country church 45 min. one way. We loved those people, and they loved us. Cody came along in May 1989. He really shook things up when he almost died at birth. I almost died having him. I was really challenged in my faith during this time. I questioned God and got angry with Him. I didn’t understand why this was happening to me. I was a good christian and I thought nothing bad would happen if you went to church and prayed. God taught me to trust him more than ever during this time. Little did I know  at the time that He was preparing me for Tanner who was born in March of 1992. Tanner was born with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome. He was very sick at birth and he was in and out of the hospital until he was 5. I had learned from my experience with Cody to trust God. I put Tanner into God’s hands. In 1993 God lead us to Graceville, Florida so Randy could go to Florida Baptist Theological college. We sold our trailer, left our family and comfort zone and moved to Florida. This was a challenging time for us. I had 3 small children and no family or friends to help. Randy went to school all day and worked the night shift. We only had one car and he usually had it. Money was tight.  Randy took a small church as Interim pastor that was mostly elderly. This made it hard for me to make friends. I decided to homeschool Dustin. He was in first grade. I really enjoyed homeschooling. He loved to learn. I got involved in a homeschool group and began making friends. We joined a larger church in town and I got involved with teaching junior high girls and working with the youth. I loved it. The kids were active in the childrens ministry. We were finally making friends and adjusting to our new life in Florida. I also joined the young women for Christ where I met my best friend, Wanda . After 3 years Randy was called to pastor another church. I didn’t want to go at first, because I was happy with the church I was teaching at. The church he was called to didn’t have many youth or children. I got busy and built up the youth and childrens programs in the church. We stayed there almost 5 years. We left Florida and moved back to Tennessee in 2000. Randy was called as pastor to Ethridge First Baptist Church. We spent almost 5 years working together and growing the ministry at Ethridge. When we left Ethridge Dustin was a senior in high school. We waited for him to graduate before we moved again. Dustin had decided to go to Union University to college. We were still unsure as to what direction the Lord was leading us to. When we left Florida Randy had not completed his degree. We decided he needed to finish his degree. He then enrolled at Union University to complete his degree. He graduated in Dec. 2007. Dustin lived on campus. Cody was a junior in high school so we were concerned about his education. We found Trinity Christian Academy. He graduated from Trinity and enrolled at Union. We have lived in Jackson for almost 4 years now.

We have been a family that enjoys hanging out with one another. We love to go to parks,  the zoo, amusement parks, water parks, we love to go swimming, camping, playing sports, playing board games, or just hanging out together. We love to travel and go on vacation together. Our favorite vacation spot is Panama City Beach. We also enjoy going to the mountains with all my family for Christmas. We  love to take a day trip or weekend trip somewhere spontaneous like to the Land Between the Lakes, or St. Louis, or Memphis. We have been blessed with a wonderful family. We have had alot of great times together. Memories that I will cherish forever.

In our 24 years together we have had 3 wonderful sons that bring us great pride and joy. We have lived in 14 different houses. We have driven 11 or 12 different vehicles. . Randy has pastored 7 churches. We have had many different jobs between us. Our boys have been to different schools including home school, public, and Christian. Our boys have played sports on many different ball teams including baseball, basketball, football.We have had multiple pets, from dogs, cats, fish,rabbits, and  hampsters to frogs, bugs, lizards, iguana’s and even snakes We have made many great friends along the way.  God has opened many opportunities for ministry outside of the church including mission trips to Brazil and Mexico/ Arizonia. Thank you Father for giving us so many opportunities to be an example of your love to the different people you have brought into our lives,

I told you the road had been long and a bit bumpy along the way, but God has been faithful to keep us together and to grow our love stronger everyday. I am so proud I walked into that family amusement center over 24 years ago, and I am glad I said yes to that first date. Randy has been a devoted husband and father. He loves the Lord and wants to please Him with his life. I am truly blessed to be Randy’s wife. Thank you for staying by my side and being someone I can count on no matter way. I love you more today than when I said, “I do”.

 

 

Goodbye Teens May 12, 2009

Cody turns 20 today, he is no longer a teenager. I am so proud that God chose me to be his mom. He is very special to me. I will give you 20 reason why he is so special.

1. I am thankful that God didn’t take his life when he was born. Cody almost died when he was born, he was taken in an Angel III moving NICU to Vanderbuilt and was on a ventilator to keep him alive. He stayed in the NICU for 7 days.
2. Cody was the sweetest baby. He was so cute and cuddley.
3. He was a fun child to be around. He loved life and loved people.
4. He has always been a mama’s boy.He enjoyes snuggling up with me and watching a movie, even last night.
5. I am thankful that I was able to lead him to the Lord when he was 7 years old, and continue to teach him to love the Lord.
6. I enjoyed being his teacher for the first few years of his life.
7. He loves his brothers and gets along with both of them. He loves all of the family, especially his nanny.
8. He loves his friends and is fun to be around.
9. I enjoyed getting to watch him play sports from T-Ball to Little League and on to High School Football. I even had the privilege of being his coach for a few years.
10. Cody is a great actor, he was great in the church plays and has a good sense of humor. He can make you laugh.
11. We worked together in drama and could bring an audience to tears.
12. Cody loves music, he is a good bass guitar player and has played on several praise teams.
13. Cody can make me smile when he is being silly.
14. He is a faithful fan of Mark Martin, NASCAR and Florida Gators, Football.
15. He loves children and they love him. He will make a great father someday.
16. He is a caring and loving son. He is sensitive to me when I need it.
17. He has a heart for God and wants to live for Him.
18. He is a devoted boyfriend to Jessica.
19. He is a hard worker and a responsible young man.
20. He will go far in this world and do great things for God.

Thank you God for Cody and the 20 years he has been my son. Thank you for the time we have shared together. I look forward to seeing what you have planned for his future. I pray that you will guide him and direct his steps. Give him wisdom to make godly choices. Be with him as he moves away to Murray State. Open doors of opportunities for him to use his gifts for your glory. Keep him in your loving arms and bless him.

Cody on his 20th Birthday