our son

Eric my son with his son - Oliver and me.

Eric is our son.

He is a lot like his father, whom I adore, so God has blessed me with 2 men I adore...well, actually 4 men I adore if you're counting my son-in-law and my dad!

Eric always stood back to see if others were going to push it too far, or get in trouble before he would join in any of the orneriness of his friends.   I call this wisdom - even though it was early in his life that I first witnessed this.

When my hubby and I talked to Eric at an early age about the Lord - he told us a couple of times he was thinking about it.  This was about 5 years of age.

Then one day - he came and told us he was ready.  I call this wisdom!

His creativity has always fascinated me.  I love to watch to see what 'his take' on things will be.  It's always unique, and it's usually right.

He's smart.  I fought, and begged and tried to be creative in encouraging the completion of reading requirements and other homework assignments.  They always got done in his timing not mine - and he was very, very seldom if ever late with his work.  It was the process that was unorthodoxed, at least according to me, but it worked and I learned to let him figure it out.

Isn't that in fact the most difficult decision of parenting?  To let them figure out things for themselves as they become capable of doing that?

And now he is the High School Student Ministry Pastor.

I watch students follow him around.   I see that he has an ability far beyond his years to teach and connect with them and I stand and watch as if seeing him for the first time.

And now our son is a dad.

Everyone told me - being a grandparent is like nothing you've ever experienced before and they were right.  But, it's not just having a grandchild that's AMAZING, it's watching our son parent.  Unbelievable.. and it causes me to thank the Lord every time I watch he and his wife love their son.

I write this today to tell all of you - keep working with your kids.  They won't be perfect, neither is our son - but he loves the Lord and he loves his family.

Eric is my son - and it's one of the greatest, most fulfilling pieces of my life.

new Thanksgivings

For our family there were many new Thanksgivings this year.

We were missing a daughter and son-in-law, this was new - they never miss our family holidays.

We added 6 new faces to our Thanksgiving.  The Perez family, celebrated with us - one of favorite new families from Crossroads!

And a most amazing new addition is our precious Oliver!

I will never quit praising the Lord for our family, for His provisions and for the opportunities He gives all of our kids.

Today Aaron and Jocelyn spent time with a group that invited them to observe ancient instruments being played in Siem Reap Cambodia.  Aaron was invited to play an instrument that only 3 people in the world know how to play.  And the group is asking them to return to help notate out the music for the first time ever.  My understanding is that music has never been written for these instruments and they have never been recorded!  Unbelievable opportunities!

my amazing son-in-law Aaron

My son Eric on left - who is the most amazing father I've ever seen!  (Ok, maybe the
only other ones as good are my hubby and dad!)

I loved every minute today with our families.

All 4 of these guys are huge parts of my life!

I will never take them for granted.

They're Godly, they're hilarious, and they're really good cooks!

One of my biggest thanksgivings today was that my mom was well, and happy and confident in her Lord for whatever lies ahead.

A special thankfulness seeing my mom
who is soon to face several surgeries, enjoying time
with Oliver her first great-grandson!

I'm also thankful that for the first time there is absolutely nothing I care about standing in line for on Black Friday!

I pray that all of you had a blessed day!!

what I learned today

I learned that things change quickly!

My mom had some tests done that we didn't expect to have results from until next week.  They want her to come in the morning to talk to the doctor.  We shall see…

I had my carpal tunnel evaluation today - my right hand is serious.  Would like to have surgery right way.

And then good things happened.

Oliver smiled at me.
Vern didn't whine when I ate food in front of him.
Aaron and Jocelyn face timed with us twice!  And, while I talked to them they played me a song that they had just written.  It was amazing!

God is good ALL the time.

Everything we go through draws us to Him.

I face whatever tomorrow brings with strength only available to us from the God who created us and cares more about us then we can ever understand.