My Friend

This week has been harrowing week for a friend of mine. I've known the Fikes family for all of my 35 years of life. In fact, I lived with them for about 6 months when my own family was having hard times. Last week, my friend Amber Fikes Lamb came home from Tennessee with her husband Chuck. They were here to be with her Dad since he is fighting a battle with cancer. On Monday, they told the family that he had 1-2 weeks to live. On Tuesday night she spent the night at the hospital and her husband stayed at her parents home. On Wednesday morning, she went home to get a shower and found her husband dead in bed. I'll never forget driving up to her house and seeing all the ambulances, coroner, and Sheriff cars. She was in absolute shock for a time, and then it started to hit her. I don't think it has quit hitting her. On Thursday, she had to visit the funeral home which was definitely no picnic. It breaks my heart and I don't even begin to understand the mind of God, but I have found comfort in the words to the song "Trust His Heart".

God is too wise to be mistaken;
God is too good to be unkind;
So when you don’t understand;
When you don’t see his plan;
When you can’t trace his hand;
Trust his heart.

Sweet Gracie

We had a lovely visit yesterday evening with Will, Ashley, and Gracie. Gracie is just adorable. She was in a kissy mood and kept wanting to give kisses. She and Hannah played until 8:30 p.m. She is walking and loves to call herself Mama. She points to herself and says "Mama, Mama". I can't wait until we can see them again!

Miles Funeral Brings Reunion

Friday Was a Snow day!

Snow is so beautiful.

It makes the world look clean and covers a multitude of sins.

It also leaves a mess after it melts.

Hannah loved her snowman,

and she cried after it was murdered by one of the dogs.

They just knew the carrot nose and the raisin eyes were edible.

It's a snowwheeler.

Terry rode around in the snow on the 4-wheeler,

but he kept complaining of how cold it was.

Hello, it's snow!

My Lovely Daughter

My daughter has started loving to cook! She is learning how to read the recipe, measure flour and sugar, crack eggs (without eggshell), and use the mixer. She made some delicous cookies the other day. Today she made a strawberry cake to take to fellowship dinner at church.

God Grew Tired of Us

I watched a moving documentary this week about the lost boys of Sudan. If you want to feel guilty, blessed, disturbed, and grateful then I would suggest watching "God Grew Tired of Us". There were also humourous parts when the lost boys are integrated into the United States. On the airplane they ate their little pats of butter by themselves and the ketchup by itself. They said that the food on the plane just wasn’t as good as what they were used to. After you see how they had been living and eating, it makes this statement almost ludicrous to us. They had to be taught how to flip a light switch, use a trash can, go to the grocery store, etc. There was one humourous episode when a boy is smashing Ritz crackers with the handle of a hammer, then he added milk and boiled it into some sort of mush.

I have never really understood the whole situation of the lost boys, and I will try to impart the little knowledge I have gained. When Sudan began to have conflict a couple of decades ago, there was a decree made that all boys 12 years and under in the South of Sudan should be killed. Therefore, a mass exodus of young boys left and began a dangerous trek across the desert and into Ethiopia seeking asylum. Eleven and Twelve year old boys became the head of household and would have several younger children to care for. They walked for miles and miles, and many thousands of them died. Some of the boys were in charge of burying the dead. One of the lost boys was being interviewed some 17 years later, and he said, "we thought God had grew tired of us, and was punishing us for all the bad things we had done." He also said, "We knew God was with us, or we would have never made it through the desert." One of the lost boys also said, "Americans should be more grateful for what they have." I think if God has grown tired of anyone, it would be the ungrateful Americans. I pray that I will use the gifts God has given me more efficiently and effectively.

One Touch