HE'S IN THE ARMY, NOW!

He finally made it!  Tyler was sworn in on March 17, 2014.  He ships to Fort Benning, GA April 7th for Basic Training.  Then he will go to Fort Sam Houston, in Texas, to be trained as a medic.

Happy Birthdays to our March Guys!

These guys are seven years apart but both were born in March.

 It doesn't seem that long ago that they looked like this, 

but very soon that little baby will be "Marching" off to the Army!

 Alex (age 7),  Tyler (about 6 months)

Apparently they both knew what they wanted to do by the age of 4!

Alex (age 4)

Tyler (age 4)

Happy Birthdays, guys!  We love you very much!

1 Corinthians 14:20 

20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. Corinthians 14:20

February

February was another sleeper of a month.

We had a few snowflakes,

and we did lots of puzzles.

So our year is starting out slow.  Slow can be good. 

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.2 Peter 3:9

January

I guess nothing very noteworthy happened in January. When I went to look through the pictures that were taken in January to find something to post, all I found were a few pictures of Rickey,

                         (There is always a picture of Rickey)

and then there were these pictures.

I am posting these because I want to remember this as a Blessing. 

This blessing started when a guy from the water department came to the door and said that our water usage was double what is was last month, so we must have a leak somewhere in our water line. The leak is not the Blessing.  The leak was somewhere between the 650 feet from the house to the meter.  Other than spending $$$ on special locating equipment, the only way to find the leak was to grab a shovel and dig.  So Doug and Tyler got shovels and started digging.  They dug along three feet of the water line and there it was.  Doug even had all the parts he needed to repair it. They did not have to dig up 647 feet of water line, and we didn't have to buy any parts to have it fixed. Now, that's a Blessing!

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.2 Corinthians 4:17

Happy New Year / Our Year in Review

    Not really. We do wish you a happy New Year, but I won’t make you wade through the old one with me.  However, if you really do want to see our year in review, consult the 2013 section of the blog.

    

   We did make it through another year, though, and we hope you did, too.  We had some trials (aka life), but we also had a year of many blessings in the form of jobs, a wedding, graduation and more.  The most significant blessing of this year has been the reconnection of people who are important to us.

   We are all special and unique pieces of the section of the puzzle God created us to work for Him while we are on this earth.  There are no two pieces exactly alike, only one of each piece is needed, but if one piece is missing there is a noticeable gap.  

  Personally, I am overwhelmed by any puzzle of over 500 pieces and the only way I can do a puzzle is by looking at the picture on the lid of the box.  Only God knows how many pieces are in His puzzle, but He has it all flawlessly planned out.  He has the Lid to the Box.  Our job is to fit together the pieces He has already given us, and will give us in the future.

   In this age of instant communication over any distance it’s amazing how our busy lives get in the way of staying connected with special people in our lives.  More importantly, we need to stay connected to our Heavenly Father. We have always had and always will have the technology for instant communication with Him.  The bottom line is that if our lives are too busy for God and people, our lives are too busy. There is nothing in this world that is more important.

     If you are reading this, you are important to us, and we want to stay connected.  We have all been given a new year and a new chance to get our priorities in order.  We don’t get do-overs in life, but we do get new beginnings.  Although.  I did read that the 1986 calendar has the same days as 2014, so if that was a particularly good year for you, I suppose you could dig out your old 1986 calendar and have another go at it.  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord in 2014, and hope to see you there.

So, get out there, connect with your pieces (old and new) and have a great 2014 (or 1986)!

CHRISTMAS 2013 in Pictures - Lots of Pictures

Christmas 2013 in no particular order,