I'm Back

Well, I'm back. What a week. Very busy and demanding but oh so fun. Prepare for a long post.

Monday, I took the kids to my Mother's parent's house. My PawPaw has dementia and my Nanny has Alzheimer's. They are beginning to fade away. These are the grandparents who took us on summer vacations to Disney, Six Flags, Gatlinburg, Stone Mountain and Opryland. Now, they can't remember my kids names. The whole situation makes me recognize the futility of this life and then I hope for heaven.

Tuesday, we went on up to my Dad's mother. Granny is in her eighties and almost exactly as she was when I was a kid. She may be a bit slower but she's still just as mean. Well, not mean... just very opinionated. She cracks me up. She has a certain way of doing things and you just need to back up and let her do them. Kim and I call it her 'groove.' "Don't throw Granny off her groove!" She loves to laugh and the older I grow, the more I realize that I'm a lot like her. It makes me happy.

Wednesday, we headed back to Birmingham. I knew I wouldn't have time to go all the way home, so I went to Kim Hill's house. Brody took a nap while the other kids played outside. It was lovely! Isn't it funny how some friendships sorta sneak up on you? Our's is that way. At first glance, it doesn't look like we have much in common but wow, we're so much a like. Only she's much prettier. She is a faithful friend to me. God uses her to teach me a lot. Like fashion. She and I loaded all 7 kids up and went to Cato. It's a clothing store. She picked out the cutest top for me to buy to wear to the Day of Whimsy. I looked good. Thank you, Kim.

Wednesday night, we spent the night with Chris' grandmother as usual. It was fun. I get to watch cable at her house. Which means I stay up way too late watching HGTV.

Thursday and Friday were spent completely devoted to ironing out details for Saturday. Not tons but enough to keep me busy. Thursday night the place that donated our tables burned to the ground. So early Friday morning was spent getting more. No problem. Very simple. God worked out all the details. Friday night while setting everything up we discovered that the linen service had given us completely unsuitable tablecloths. So Kim and Terri made a mad dash for Sam's to buy some. God, again, worked out the details. We had fun and everything that could be done ahead of time, was done.

Saturday morning, Kayla (my jr. high friend/intern/slave) and I got up at 6:30 and went to the church to finish up and pray. Things got rolling at 9:00 and went really smoothly. God worked out the details. All the members jumped in and did what needed to be done. The visitors seemed to really enjoy themselves, the seminars went well and the luncheon was awesome. The food was yummy and plentiful. Way too much fruit salad though. Mrs. Barker had prepared a lecture but was moved to share her testimony instead. I've never heard a clearer or more compelling Gospel presentation in my life. God really used her words.

All in all, things went well. I didn't feel rushed or stressed. Let me take that back... my stress never became full-blown. ;o) It was amazing to see God use us. He used Kim Hill and Connie in the music and Leslie and Ingrid in the kitchen. And the list goes on and on.

God brought together over 100 women Saturday. And I learned something in a more concrete way... God is in the details.