The next 30 years...Happy Birthday Heather!

As I sit here in the quiet of a hotel room...I know exactly where I was 30 years ago...I was hanging out in a hospital...WAITING...waiting for my life to ever change...but change for the better...all the same!

Waiting the arrival of one PRINCESS...our Heather...and I wonder where the 30 years have gone...from holding one precious little baby in my arms...who had to hang out her first years in the dairy barn...Of course some days I get glimpses of her...in another form...a little blond-haired blue-eyed girl that has so much looks of her mama.

I had thought I would include pics of the last 30 years...of playing with puppies...her fishing with my dad...playing ball...(any kind of ball...remind you of anyone).   But as I said...I am not at home and of course I wouldn't have thought of getting it done ahead of time.   So we will celebrate this one BIG...TEXAS STYLE...

I mean on the way here...I show one little Firecracker a plane and tell her that will be us and she says, "I didn't know Texas was in the sky."   And as we are driving a long she says everyone stand...yes she is in her car seat and I in my seat...but sheesh can't you guys pretend...ANYWAY after we pretend to stand in the back seat of the truck...she puts her hand over her heart...and yes she is wearing her "Daddy shirt" so right there on her heart is a picture of her daddy...but she begins to sing...Amarillo by morning...up from San Antone..."   Yes that is the main even of this trip...George Strait's farewell tour...but while we are here...they had talked of all the rain received before we got here...but yesterday was good...

I bet some of you thought I found some pictures of Heather at 3...NO this would be one little Izzybell excited to go on vacation...yes her mama was a lot like this...an I CAN DO IT MYSELF girl...

I catch a pic of them...on the plane...and I think what a beautiful pair of girls I am blessed to have in my life...that I am thankful that 30 years ago...that we would wait and wait and then one little baby girl would decide she wanted her own day finally at 11:39 p.m....after all day saying maybe I'll come later...not sure if I want to right now...but when she came she came with much urgency...that it was time...much like now when she makes up her mind...look out...

What a gift...these two share...this would be right before taking off...one little San Antonio Hard Rock bear buckled in for the flight...holding tight to mama's hand...before we got a little nervous on the takeoff...but they got each other's hands...no worries...

And much like my daughter has always been...on the way here...she is the one giving the gifts...loading up one little girl with presents to open on the way...I love this pic as it captures the gift...but it also is what a special mama she has become...but those who know them..probably picked up on the ear rub...

Because she may have had ulterior motives maybe...

Knowing full well that this would give one little Peanut...lots of energy and that it did...but so far an amazing time...and it is only our first full day...

Before leaving Heather did get a special present from Jay's mama...after we had celebrated a memorial day...thinking of one of the things  I have watched my amazing daughter do with such strength and dignity...and perhaps some think I am a "bragger"...but I am very proud of my kids and I think sometimes more should tell their kids...WOW!  You are amazing!

 

I loved last night one little Izzy saying I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY...and I hope that today her mama's birthday will be just that HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

 

 

 

So Happy Birthday to my daughter...you have been such a blessing to my life...and I remember thinking...how could I love anyone more...I shared this with Izzy telling her of when her mama was born and holding her in my arms and thinking...how could I love anyone more...and Izzy replied...me?   And though not more...she holds a special place...I have found that God gives us amazing people that only them and them alone can fill that special place in our hearts that is theirs...and theirs alone...SO HAPPY HAPPY Birthday...here's to may you have all "tinds of fun"...in your next 30 years!!!

 

LYAAA

Oklahoma...may they have "arms"

Tonight there is a mama whose life is forever changed...with an emptiness that hits so deep in her soul...and my heart cries with her...there is another mama that hugs her baby just a little tighter as it is hard to even fathom how frightened those little ones were during the tornadoes that hit in Oklahoma.   Times as these are those that we cry, "WHY!"   But it is also the time that we turn to our God for comfort...I think of this morning that I had read in my "Kasey Jo calendar" (God's Way Day by Day by Charles F. Stanley).    And I am in awe of how these words ring to the emotion that I continue to be filled with.   He had written...

"An old and familiar story is told of a young child who was troubled by a thunderstorm.  She sought refuge in her parent's bedroom...Her parents hugged her and cuddled her and attempted to comfort her by saying, "You are going to be all right.  God is with you.  He will take care of you."   The little girl replied, "Yes, but I still want to be with someone who has arms."  In many cases, I have seen God provide someone "with arms"...God sends His ministering servants to those in need of an expression of His reassurance and comfort."
 

May there be arms to comfort those that need arms...And the verse that was with it was Matthew 14:27 and so I had went to read more of this verse...I like to read them in their full context and so it read:

"But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, "Be of good cheer.  It is I, do not be afraid." 

 

 

And I think back of those storms and I was talking with my mother-in-law tonight of how frightened those children had to be...I remember just warnings of a tornado would fill me with fear as a child...how I would hope the wind would not stop blowing as my dad said the calm was more of a sign that the storm might be close...

 

 

Talk of the tornadoes just came on...a mile across...destruction...and I am reminded of a verse that comes to me often...I include it in a picture I stopped and took on the drive home.  We had a small amount of rain...but these clouds that loomed in the western sky...reminded of the power that hid those very mountains that often provide such a comfort to see them majestically standing off in the distance...but tonight they seemed to be hidden while the majesty of the sunset and the light of the sun seemed to find its way through the darkness...this picture is in color...though it almost appears black and white...

 

 

This verse makes me think of the connection with those that have passed on...to those who are here that have such sorrow and pain....and I am reminded of words that were given to me the other morning at my kitchen table...

Listen closely to Me...He says. There are abundance of sorrows that try to smother our souls. That smother the embers of the coals of Joy that sit and burn...Let the air come in that the Joy may burst to flames...There is enough sadness in this world. Be a light of hope and of joy though not forgetting that others feel the pain and sorrow as you do...
Do not fear nor be afraid for I am with you...
Sing a song of Joy for this day...
Showers from heaven will refresh your soul and sing the song of Kings-- of Christ who conquered death--and evil. Do not tarry in your journey walk swiftly so that you may reach your destination...Talking only words that are pleasing...not of boasting or pride--
 

Earlier I had read a prayer that my friend Susie Watts had prayed...

 May the people who have been in the devastating tornados be comforted and encouraged in their calamity and affliction ... Holy Father, I ask you to raise up an army of people to reach out and meet the overwhelming needs of these communities. Be with the grieving ... pour Your comfort, love and strength upon them all ... In Jesus Name, I pray ...

Amen Susie...Amen!

And so I add an extra...I love you...I am thankful for you...hug those babies a little tighter...tell someone you love them...and may God provide those who long for those "with arms" tonight to be held and comforted...I pray for those mama's...those daddy's...those husbands...those wives...and especially those children...that this morning had no idea what awaited them...I ask for healing...for peace.

May we all say a prayer for those...I read an awesome writing first thing this morning in Girlfriends in God by Mary Sutherland...I had read her devotional earlier before I had read in my Kasey Jo calendar talking of Jesus and the disciples...the storm...I would encourage you to read it... http://www.girlfriendsingod.com/category/devotions/

But there was one that just made me think of something my brother might say and so I share it with you...as you try and figure out the best way to pray...

Three ministers were discussing which position produces the most powerful prayer. As they were talking, a telephone repairman was working on the phone system in the background. One minister shared that he felt the key to powerful prayer was in the hands. He always held his hands together and pointed them upward as a form of symbolic worship. The second suggested that real prayer was conducted on the knees while the third minister suggested that they both had it wrong. According to him, the only position worth its salt was to pray while stretched out flat on your face in humility. The phone man couldn’t resist offering his opinion, “I have found that the most powerful prayer I ever prayed was while I was dangling upside down by my heels from a power pole suspended forty feet above the ground.” Helplessness underlines our need for faith and our total dependence upon God, even when the skies are clear and the water is calm.

Today in Oklahoma...the skies were not clear...the waters not calm...and I know that helplessness hit these individuals as it does many of us now...but I pray that they find the comfort and peace that God can provide in times such as these...and may they hear and feel the words of Jesus...do not be afraid...I am with you...

lyp



 

 



 

Candlelight Vigil

A year ago we were in the Washington D.C. area for Police Week as my favorite son-in-law's name was being placed on the memorial wall for fallen officers.   Tonight Tim and I watched the live stream of this memorial.  Honoring those officers lost in 2012...it takes way too long!    I know there are some that think that it might be better not to think on this...but it is something that I seem to get  a nudge to do.   Too often we do not stop and think of the good...of those who do good...of those who love with no greater love than to lay their lives down.   Or just sometimes remember those that have went on ahead of us...with a laugh...a tear...

So I went through the pics and realize that I have many that I would like to put in a slide show but for tonight...I put a few pics in a collage...in memory of the candle light vigil.   They showed faces of those that seemed so familiar in the sadness in their eyes...and I pray for their strength.  I see a picture of Heather holding Isabel during the slideshow at the memorial...and I realize how much one little "Peanut" has changed in a year...

The background picture was during the ceremony in which they shine a blue line across the sky...very touching...this one seemed to pick up a smoke almost in it...There are way too many names on these walls.   But I put up one picture of one little girl that is a legacy of Jay Sheridan...in oh so many ways!!!   

But I stop and say a prayer for so many little ones that do not have their daddy's physically with them anymore...but they will have their love forever...and I was reminded of this as tonight when the memorial ended as I sit in the middle of my darkened living room watching the laptop...in awe of the technology we have.  But as I looked outside I seen most amazing sunset...so of course I grabbed my camera and headed out...and there with this beautiful sunset was the moon...my reminder of Jeremiah 29:13...

 ^"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

 

 

 

Do you see the moon....Amazing...that the camera did not capture near the beauty that seemed to take up the whole sky!   And one just stops in AWE!   I think not just of those that have lost their lives...but those who have lost a loved one...a loved one...one that is loved!   Prayers for strength and comfort!

 

lyp



A Jay Bird day...

So this morning a beautiful sunrise as I sat in my blue kitchen...we have painted a darker blue...BUT Tim and I being Tim and I...instead of having one dark accent wall...we have one light accent wall :) OH WELL! What can I say...

As I drove to work this morning...I see flashing headlights in the distance and it takes a minute to register...oh yeah that is what the police cars do...those headlights aren't just blinking!  So I start to pull over as the State Patrol car was approaching. There were two vehicles and so I kind of motion to them that there was something coming...and of course when I see a cop car...I think of Jay. At the same time...Charles Stanley was speaking on the radio and he began speaking the words to I'll fly away...probably one of my all time favorites...it was sang at my mom's funeral...but it was one of those songs I remember being sung by my mom...my aunt...my grandma.   The voice on the radio I then hear talking of family...and how we need to appreciate what we have for someday they will be memories.  I'll fly away...perhaps one that I would like sung when I die...Hallelujah By and By...I love this version by Allison Krauss...not just because the style reminds me of my mom and my Aunt Betty..As the words just seem to speak to me so...and what's not to love of Allison Krauss...

As all of this happens and I am listening I see a bird soaring and I again think of Jay...and just that though we miss him...he is in a happy place...and I drive a little further and come upon Crowley and there sits a set up for I am assuming a truck weighing stop...and there are several vehicles and I think those look familiar...and sure enough I notice State Patrol units...and I see standing there one of the Bandy's.   And again...I think of Jay.  

So I get to work and I realize that I missed a phone call from my brother, Shane.    But he leaves a message and sometimes he leaves the best messages...He tells me of how he and Jo were in the hot tub this morning and the birds were just carrying on...they had received an awesome rain. He tells me Jo says it makes you think of and at first I think he says Timothy Bird Walk...and I think I can not place that so I ask Mary who tells me...Tennessee Bird Walk...to which we look it up...and yes there was the joy...the WMC...we find a video that has Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan...that sang it in 70's...However, I find this video and so I put it in...a reminder to laugh...

I come to work and Bob and Alice (the doves) have in fact kicked the sparrows out of the nest and are taking possession...sometimes God gives us birds...There is beauty all around us that makes us think of those we love...whether we can see them or not.    We can feel them...

And I notice this picture on my daughter's profile.....

and I am reminded that another police officer has lost his life...and I think of the family and friends of Littleton Police Officer, Kevin Denner.   And I pray for them and think of them...and hope that they may have special memories...special days that they are reminded of their lost one...and pray for their peace!

lyp