Happy Birthday...

My Daddy would have been 54 today...

 He taught me how to enjoy sitting on the front porch during a rainstorm...

He taught me to love ALL kinds of music, and love the crackle and pop of records....

He taught me how to experiment with cooking and not be afraid to mess a dish up...or make it better..

I'm sorry to admit that I did not inherit his talent for growing a garden or even keeping a plant alive...

He could make an amazing buttersauce to go with shrimp or crab...

He had a funny laugh that made everyone else laugh with him..

He was a creative genius as a stone mason, and many people have admired his work...

He would be the first one to lend a helping hand to anyone, whether you were a prince or pauper...


Love you Daddy...Miss you...

Wordless Wednesday..busy times

A few pics on Wednesday

First meeting for the Cub Scouts of the new school year

Miss Em's first dance class..it was so cute!!

My cousins and I at a dance at our annual festival in town

Goofing around at a roadside park on our way home from visiting family

Wordless Wednesday

First day of pre-k

Casting Judgment

"If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions, then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to someone else, for each one should carry his own load."  ~ Galatians 6:3-5 NIV

This verse was  a part of my devotional this morning. It amazes me how God can give us insight when we need it. I know all of us have been in a situation where it is easy to cast judgment on someone because of something they said or did. 

      "She kissed another guy that wasn't her husband, I would never do that!"

      "He embezzled money from his office, who would do such a thing!!" 

       "Look at the way her kids act! Mine would never behave that way, what kind of parent would do that?!"

   But if you look at any of these things, everyone sins, everyone falls, everyone makes mistakes. The woman who thinks about kissing a man who isn't her husband is just as guilty as the woman who goes through with the action. Is keeping incorrect change that a teller gives you any different than embezzling money? And the comment about kids behaving that way, well I may be a little young in the parent game, but I know never to say that because your kids WILL act that someday. And the parent may be dealing with a sick spouse, a dying parent, or just the demands of life weighing them down, and  they are so tired that disciplining their children is a down the list right now.  Sin is sin, whether big or small, God doesn't distinguish beween the two. But by realizing it is sin, and asking for forgiveness, there lies the true freedom.

Never think that you are above something I believe is what is being said in this verse. Carry your own load, don't judge someone or think you are above someone because of their situations. Give them the love of Christ, because there is only one judgment that matters. And it is not ours...

"Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction, the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people." ~ Galatians 6:7-10 NIV