Terry's Birthday Hike

Most of these pictures were taken by Ashley Diggs, a couple were taken by my daughter Hannah. I was at home babysitting baby Gracie. I had the best time of them all.

God Directs

As we approach graduation time, I can't help but remember my own graduation from high school which will be 17 years ago this May. I was so confused about what I should do and where I should go. My dad had recently lost his mangement position job and so my whole senior year was in a uproar. The scripture I clung to was Proverbs 3: 5-6

Trust the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not
unto thine own understanding.

In all thine ways acknowledge Him, and He
shall direct thy paths.

I know that over the years I have seen God direct my path, but I still haven't always understood what it meant for God to "direct" my path. It doesn't say that God will draw me a picture, speak in an audible voice and give me step-by-step instructions on where to go and what to do. It doesn't say he will send an Angel to tell me what will happening in my life. It doesn't say that I will get a neon sign informing me of God's next move. Webster's says that when used as a verb, direct means to control the operations of; to aim (something) in a particular direction; to supervise and control; or to give an order to." I think that all apply to God's directions. He should control the operations of my life, he has aimed me in the direction he wants me to go, he is the supervisor of my life, and he gives the orders. It doesn't mean that I always understand what he is doing or know what the outcome will be. He has just aimed me in the direction my path should take. I've always felt that my life with God was like a maze. I go this way and wham, there is a wall. I turn around and try another path. Sometimes those brick walls are there to slow me down. Sometimes God needs us to stop and listen as he directs. God closes doors and opens doors, it's up to us to walk through the open doors and to stop trying to break-in to the closed ones. He has given us a road map--the Bible. He has also given us a compass--His spirit. Stop, look around, and listen as God directs your path.

The Maestro

Tuesday, April 15, 2008, was not only tax day, but it was also Andy's Senior Recital which is apparently just as important. Andy started playing the piano about fourteen years ago. He began taking lessons from Velma Bever. She was an older lady who has since passed away, but she was a fireball. Andy very quickly started playing well enough to play in church and he did quite often. Although, in the beginning Andy was still young and he really didn't like playing in front of people. I remember pushing him to play because he was just so good. I told him it was a talent God had given him and he should use it. Andy makes playing the piano look easy, but being a very amateur piano player myself, I know it is not as easy as he makes it look. Andy has been my accompanist at church for sometime. He quickly learned how to transpose, and since I don't sing any song in the key it's written, he is able to fix that for me.

Andy got a music scholarship to Central Baptist College which is where this recital was held. For his recital, he played Sonata in F Major K. 280 by Mozart, Roumanian Folk Dances by Bartok, Impromptu in A flat, op. 142 by Schubert, and Scottish Legend by Amy Beach.

Hannah is lounging with her brother at the piano.

The Last Two Tears

Freddie Fikes left this life today around 3:00 p.m., and joined Jesus. As he took his last breath, he had two tears to escape his eyes. He has been at death's door since Saturday and very little, if any, recognition or emotion has been shown. But as he entered heaven's gates, God wiped away his tears and his last two tears seeped out. It says in Revelations 7:17 that, ". . .God shall wipe every tear from their eyes" It also says in II Corinthians 5:4, that "for while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened. . . " Bro. Freddie has battled cancer for ten years and has had a particularly harrowing fight the last two years. He has been burdened with pain and sickness, and he is finally well. God has healed him, just not in the way we had hoped.

Freddie loved God, his church, and his family. He fought to the last moment to stay with them just a little bit longer. In his later years, he surrendered to preach and traveled many miles giving back to God. Freddie was always a giver. He would help anybody. It didn't matter if they were a druggie, a thief, or a convicted felon. He believed that God could take you and totally change your life with His spirit. Untold hundreds of people have been helped by Freddie Fikes, and also attended church because that was one of the requirements of his assistance.

I have known the Fikes family all my life. My mom grew up with them and she doesn't remember not knowing them, and I am the same way. When my mother married my Dad, and I was about 2 years old, they bought Donna and Freddie's old house on Shady Grove road. I have memories of visiting them in their homes many times--I specifically remember going to their house on Sunday nights after church and this usually involved cheese dip or popcorn and a game of some sort. I remember they introduced me to Skip-bo.

For years, Freddie owned a car lot and he bought and sold used cars. He was also a good mechanic. When I was looking for a new car, he took me to a car auction in some other town and we tried some out, but he didn't think there were any there good enough (at least not in my price range). Then he heard of one that was owned by a man who had become ill and needed to sell his car and we went over and saw it. He finally decided that was the car for me and it lasted me for several years, one of which was spent driving back and forth to Arkadelphia to college. Then I passed the car on down to my brother who eventually wore it out. Freddie always had some advice to give me, I can't say I always took it, but I did always listen.

I lived with Freddie and Donna for 6 months when my own family was in turmoil, and one night in the middle of the early morning, Amber awoke to find her dog had died. Obviously, she was devastated, and Freddie stayed up all night crying with her. The Fikes family is one of the most close-knit families I know, and their home was always open to anyone. I wager to bet most of the people who know them, know where to find a key to their house and know they are welcome to come in if they need too. When I lived there, Donna told us we could have anyone over, so long as we (Amber and I) cleaned the house. I always tease Amber about how I just couldn't color code the towels in a way that would please her. There is a hole and an ache in my heart tonight. I will miss hearing Freddie's voice and listening to his advice. I will cry for the family who is going to miss him more than they would miss an arm. He was their heart, and it stopped beating today. I pray God will step in and fill the hole and bring them peace. I am comforted by the words to a song I remember he and Tawaynia singing so many years ago, "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."

The Circus!

Due to the heavy rain on Thursday night, the circus had to set up in the old Gymnasium in Glenwood and they were unable to use any animals in their performance. They did use dogs, and that was my favorite part.

My Problem

For years, I've dealt with lots of digestive problems. I've wondered if I didn't have some strange disease that was going undiagnosed. In 2003, I had a severe episode, which was much different than all the others. I had diarrhea for five (5) weeks, at 8-10 times a day before I went to the doctor. When I went, a blood test showed that my sed rate (measures inflammation) was high and the doctor sent me to a Gastroenterologist. I then had a colonoscopy and she found that my small intestine was full of inflammation. The doctor was sure I had Crohn's Disease, but after several other tests that proved negative she gave up. I took 16 Pentasa a day from July, 2003, until February, 2004. At that time, against doctor's advice, I began to wean myself off of the pills and on April 1, 2004, I took my last pill. From then on, I never had diarrhea that severe again. I did still have digestive and intestinal discomforts at times, but nothing that didn't go away in a day or two. Also, stress sends me to the bathroom, and has continued to do so. In February of this year, I started having diarrhea again and it became severe. Not only is it inconvenient, it's depressing, and usually painful (crampy). It seemed that the episodes were linked to what I was eating so I began to try to find which food it was. I finally settled on soy--since it's in almost everything I eat. But when I removed soy from my diet, I still had problems. So I finally went to the doctor. I went to my family practitioner and he said it sounds like you just have "Irritable Bowel Syndrome". My GI doctor had said there was no such syndrome only Crohn's, Colitis and a handful of other irritable bowel diseases.

After my visit to the doctor this week, I decided to investigate Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It was like looking in a mirror. I read this off of a website and saw myself.

I would bet you already know from personal experience that some foods nearly always cause IBS problems, while others never seem to bother you. On the other
hand, you've also probably noticed that sometimes a specific food will trigger
an Irritable Bowel Syndrome attack, while at other times you can eat the exact
same thing without difficulty. Odds are it doesn't seem like there's any rhyme
or reason to this. Odds are also that you've been wracking your brain to figure
out why.

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Sometimes, just knowing what you are facing can take away much of the fear. I have done a lot of reading the past several days and discovered lots of the foods that the doctor told me were good for me have actually been irritating my intestines. I also learned that many doctors don't recognize this disease because there is no test for it and because it was originally thought to be psychosomatic. The problem is that the symptoms are very real regardless of whether it's in my head or not. If anyone who reads this has suffered with problems that you think might be related to IBS please let me know. I am interested in talking with you. tammiediggs@yahoo.com