Allow me just to be honest about something:  I really don’t like politics.  I do understand the importance of this election for all of the various reasons.  But there is plenty more about politics that I just don’t understand and frankly don’t care to understand!  I am exercising my privilege to vote, and I don’t feel I’m voting ignorant of the candidates.  I just don’t care to get all caught up in the hooplah (is that how you spell that?) that comes with politics. 

However, because my husband is the polar opposite of me and simply can’t seem to get enough political information, I obliged and went to the local McCain/Palin rally this past Sunday.  Saxby Chambliss (currently running for a consecutive Senate seat) was the guest speaker and was accompanied by various other Republican dignitaries and veterans of war.

Despite my lack of political interest and my overwhelming desire for November 4th to hurry and get here, I’m so glad we went.  It was a great opportunity for us to teach our children about patriotism, respect, and gratitude.  GO McCAIN!!!

So my good friend, Jodi, tagged me and here are my boring answers.  Sad thing is, in ten years from now, I’m not so sure my answers would be any less boring:)

10 years ago I:

1.  Was trying to have my first baby.

2.  Was soooo not mature enough to have a baby (I know that now).

3.  Was working as a legal secretary.

4.  Was driving a leased (big no-no in our home now) Pontiac Grand Prix.

5.  Was about 20 pounds lighter.

5 things on today’s “to do” list:

1.  Work on laundry (daily chore)

2.  Don’t forget to pick up Noah early from school for early release.

3.  Take kids to park.

4.  Give dog bath and wash his bedding.

5.  Vacuum house. 

5 snacks I enjoy:

1.  Cookies and milk

2. Moose Tracks ice cream

3.  Popcorn and coke

4.  Chips and Salsa

5.  Fruit

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:

1.  Pay off any existing bills

2.  Spend lots on family and friends

3.   Invest

4.  Tithe 

5.  Travel 

5 places I have lived:

1.  Georgia

2. Missouri

3.  Georgia

4.  New York

5.  Georgia 

5 jobs I have had:

1.  Babysitting (and lots of it, I might add)

2.  Chick-fil-A

3.  Secretary in leasing office of business complex

4.  Child support collector for DeKalb County

5.  Legal Secretary

The rules say I have to tag 5 people.
So I’ll tag:

1.  Terry

2.  Tiffany

3.  Brenda

4.  Shelley

5.  Melissa (get a blog already)

In the middle of a really hard time for our family, God has given us reason to celebrate.  Yesterday, October 7th, marked the 3 year anniversary of my father-in-law’s successful kidney transplant.  His transplant is such an example of God’s faithfulness and what He can do with our obedience, that I can’t not share his story with you. 

My father-in-law, Mike, has a hereditary kidney disease called poly-cystic kidney disease.  He was diagnosed with it about 8 years ago when his blood pressure was sky-high and medication wasn’t helping.  Since then, my husband and his two siblings have all been diagnosed with the same disease.  And, yes, my children will probably have it one day too, but we’re praying not.

It eventually became necessary for him to start dialysis, with the hopes of one day getting a kidney transplant.  He was approved for the transplant list, but you can imagine how long the list is.  And because he is an only child and all of his own children have the disease, his closest relatives were not suitable for donating.  So dialysis continued.

We were all praying, and his name and need was added to his church prayer list.  During this time, God began speaking to a man in his church, telling him he needed to give Mike his kidney.  The strange thing is, Andrew had never even met Mike.  Andrew is only a few years older than me, and has young children.  He only knew Mike by name because of his need for a kidney.  So Andrew went to the church staff and told them what he felt like God was leading him to do.  They put them together and Andrew went to Piedmont Hospital for a series of testing to find out his compatibility.  You should know that the chances were very slim that they could be a match.  A number of different things must be compatible, even down to their size and the possible size of the kidney. 

After a day of testing, the doctor came in to share the news with Andrew.  Not only were they compatible, but the doctor said that they were as close to a perfect match as you could possibly get and it was as if they were twin brothers.  Andrew’s response?  “I could have told you that.”  He had no doubt that God had told him to give his kidney to Mike and that if he was just obedient, God would work out the details.  He had no need to worry.

So on October 7, 2005, Mike and Andrew underwent extensive transplant surgery.  Mike’s body accepted the kidney without any problems, and both patients recovered nicely.  Now, with each year that passes, the two families celebrate the fact that we’ve had one more year together and an appreciation for one man’s obedience and unselfishness.

Yesterday, in the midst of our grief and even our questioning of why He gives and takes away, I couldn’t help but reflect upon His faithfulness to our family.  And while we don’t understand why God chose to take our sweet mom from us, there is a peace that passes all understanding because He has proven He is trustworthy.

“Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus”

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word,

Just to rest upon His promise, just to know thus saith the Lord.

Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him, how I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er,

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust Him more.

Because:

1.  She was my friend long before she was my mother-in-law.  Chanch and I dated (off and on – but that’s for another post) for almost four years before we were married.  During that time, Chanch was away at college in Florida.  Ladrene and I became very close.  I even moved into their basement apartment while he was away.  My rent was reduced, and the extra money helped pay his tuition.  Many an afternoon she and I spent missing Chanch and watching Lifetime (4 hour) movies or taped “Young and the Restless” episodes together:)

2.   She was an incredible mother.  She raised up three wonderful children and loved them unconditionally.  She did her very best to raise them to be godly, first and foremost by setting a godly example.  I was fortunate enough to fall in love with one of them. 

3.  She forgave me after I betrayed her trust and disappointed her.  I’ll not go into details about it now because it was truly forgiven and forgotten, but against her advice, Chanch and I decided to get married during his third year of college.  He quit school and we got married.  She wasn’t too happy about it.  But I’ll never forget standing on the stairway just before she was to go down the aisle as mother of the groom.  She turned with tears in her eyes, put her hand on my face, and said, “Welcome to my family.”  She never brought up the past!

4.  She taught me so much.  Chanch and I were not raised the same way.  What couple is?  That’s why marriage is all about compromise.  So, in order for me to do my part in the compromise and do things the way he preferred, I had some learning to do.  From what I hear, most mother-in-laws are happy to do the teaching:)  Mine was too, but never in a condescending way.  She was always so gracious and never wanted to offend me or my parents for having done things differently.  I really wish you could know just how honestly I can say that!

5.  After several years of marriage, Chanch and I had some marital problems.  At the time, we were living in his parents’ basement apartment, saving money to buy a house.  Chanch left for close to a week.  You can imagine how uncomfortable it could have been for me living with his parents.  And, to be honest, it was a little.  But Ladrene stayed out of our business and didn’t take sides.  She could have easily chosen to believe her son was innocent and in the right, but she knew that separation and divorce was not the answer because there was no biblical reason for such.  So, she prayed . . . and prayed . . . and prayed until he came home and we sought counseling.  (As a side note:  we realized in counseling that part of the problems we had stemmed from bitterness and guilt that he did not finish school and gotten married too early.  She never said “I told you so.”  And for those of you who do not know, Chanch went on to finish seminary just four years ago.   She was a proud Momma!)

6.  She prayed earnestly that God would give us a baby.  I can’t tell you how many times she cried with me during the 3 years we struggled to conceive.  She even paid for me to see a chiropractor 3 times a week for months because someone told her it might help me get pregnant:)  But ultimately, she trusted God to do what was best for us.  That’s why we could not wait to tell her when my test was finally positive.  Chanch was going to her work and would see her first.  He promised he would wait until I could get there so we could tell her together.  Chanch told her we were thinking about changing our guest room wall color and which color did she like better – pink or blue?  She looked at me and said, “Are you?”  Again, we cried together but they were tears of joy!  Both additional pregnancies brought the same reaction.

7.  Family was so important to her.  I realize we all say that, but Ladrene proved it.  If you knew her at all, you knew she had 6 children (the in-laws were always considered her own) and 9 grandchildren.  She was at every birthday party, every school program, every grandchild’s ballgame, etc.  If there was more than one event happening at the same time, she would go to one and send Mike to the other.  It was important to her that we all were supported in whatever we were involved in.  I remember when we were teaching the college and career class at our church, she organized and cooked a fundraiser dinner to help raise money for a winter retreat.  All for a bunch of kids she didn’t even know, but she loved their teachers. 

   And then there was family night.  For years, we would all (Mike and Ladrene and their childrens’ families) get together for dinner at her house once a week.  It was important to her that we all stayed connected and that she got to see all of her grandchildren together.  She wanted them to grow up together and be more than just cousins.  As the grandchildren got older and more involved in extra-curricular activities, we gradually cut family night back to once a month.  Our last family night was the day we took our family picture, just one week before she passed away.  She had already booked October’s family night, and you can bet we’ll all be there.  It’s a family tradition!

8.  She was so much more than a mother-in-law to me.  And I was never a daughter-in-law to her.  We were always family.  I seriously cannot relate to people when they talk about typical “in-law” relationships.  Mine was so different.  I was so blessed!  She would call during the week just to talk to me.  She knew Chanch was at work during the day, but she wasn’t calling for him.  She wanted to talk to me.  I was important to her, and she wanted me to know it.  The feeling was more than mutual.

9.  She was the best “Grammie” to my children.  My grandparents loved me and I knew that, but they weren’t typical grandparents.  There was very little spoiling, and much more griping when I was a child.  Grammie was a spoiler.  She loved Noah, Colby and Addilyn, along with the other 6, more than anything and they knew it.  My heart breaks for Noah because he is old enough to understand and really miss her.  He is also old enough to have precious memories and remember how much he was loved.  But, as much as I’m glad Colby and Addilyn don’t really have to grieve her loss right now, my heart also breaks for them because they won’t really remember Grammie.  They’ll never know how she used to say “Coby” instead of “Colby” simply because she couldn’t get that “l” in there no matter how hard she tried.  And how happy she was when I got my girl.  She always said that everyone should have at least one of each.  If she was anything, she was a “Grammie”.

10.  Ultimately, I am so grateful that I know one day I’ll see her again.  I have no doubt that she is in Heaven now.  In fact, she’s probably irritated that I’m crying while I write this instead of rejoicing that she’s in a much better place.  It is so hard to lose her, and I miss her more than words can say, but I’m so thankful that one day we’ll be together again.  And what a reunion that will be!

I don’t have the right words to express my heart tonight.  My sweet mother-in-law, Ladrene (58), went home to be with the Lord unexpectedly this past Friday morning, September 19th.  For those of you who have not heard, she had knee replacement surgery on Thursday morning.  Everything went well and she was supposed to stay in the hospital for a couple of days and then come home for a full recovery.  On Friday morning, the Lord had other plans.  After doing her exercises and walking for the first time, she began to feel as though she could not breathe and her chest was hurting.  Evidently, a blood clot dislodged from her leg when she was moving and traveled to her lungs. 

I want to take a second to tell you just how awesome our God is.  We have been overwhelmed with the realization that He has been setting in motion her passing for weeks now, even though we were taken by surprise.  Just last Saturday, we took a new family picture.  It had been 3 years since the last family picture was taken, which means Addilyn wasn’t even in it.  I cannot tell you how grateful we are for that picture and the fact that it is the complete family with all 9 of her grandchildren. 

Also, because she was having knee surgery and would be immobilized for 4 to 6 weeks, she had taken special time to tell so many of her friends, co-workers, and church family goodbye, knowing she wouldn’t see them again for a while.  Even though she wasn’t a very outwardly affectionate person, she gave out many hugs before going into the hospital.  Chanch and his brother and sister were able to be with her at the hospital on Thursday for her surgery.  I stayed back with the kids, but we all called her and told her we loved her and were praying for her.  Each of my children were able to speak to her and send their love.  Most of the time when death is sudden and unexpected, people aren’t given the opportunity to say goodbye.  We are blessed beyond measure!  It all reminds me of the following verse:

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”  Psalm 37:23 

She was a godly woman and her steps were most definitely ordered the last week of her life.

My intentions were to write a post tonight about her life and all that she meant to me, but that’s just going to have to wait a while.  Please keep our family in your prayers.  We are literally taking it minute by minute as we continue to trust God and His better plan. 

just post You Tube videos.  Here’s one worth watching:

It just doesn’t get any cuter than this!

Today, Colby and Addilyn were playing together.  Addilyn evidently did something to irritate Colby.  He got her back with this:

“Addilyn is a baby, sitting in a tree.  Q-R-S and T-U-V.”

Chanch has a little nickname for each of the kids – something that only he calls them from time to time.  Colby’s nickname happens to be C-Man (since his name starts with a “C”).  I know, not very cute, but, like I said, I didn’t come up with it. 

This is the conversation that took place with Colby today:

Mommy:  Be careful doing that, Colby.

Colby:  My name’s not Colby.  It’s ”Semen”. 

I’m thinking it is time for Daddy to come up with a new nickname, preferably one that doesn’t sound like a bodily fluid when a 4 year old refers to himself.

This past Friday, I bought 3 bushels of fresh, sweet silver queen corn.  I spent the entire day shucking, silking, cutting, scraping, blanching, cooling, bagging and freezing.  The end result was 30 quarts of delicious corn to enjoy all winter long.

     

Yes, I know that you can buy corn frozen or even in a can, but trust me, people, it is worth the trouble!  And the kids and I had a great time working on it together.  Did you know that a 2 year old can even shuck corn? 

Saturday, I split a bushel of fresh butter peas with my mother-in-law.  They are a little less work than the corn, but quite tasty!  My next project will be Chanch’s great-aunt’s family famous apple jelly!  Chanch loved it growing up so he asked me to talk to Ella Ruth and find out how she made it.  She is now in her nineties and bed ridden, so I was honored to sit down beside her while she shared her tips and secrets!  I’ll let you know how it turns out!