What is God trying to say through this?

Ok it's becoming one of those weeks where you have SO much to do and it seems like all the "little" things reach up and bite you.

Wedding week and you think all will go well huh? Smooth as silk, all things just slowly move right in place....not!

OK Marty came home tonite and he has a flat tire!
OK Kevin came home tonite and he has a flat tire!

So tell me what ya'll think is the message in this?

What is Heaven and Hell?

Two great basic points shared by my future son-in-law in his sermon today. Not that we don't already know this but there may be someone who is reading this who these two statements just might hit home and help them make a decision to follow Christ.

You ready, OK here goes:

Heaven is where "He" is
Hell is where "He" Ain't

What to write about hmmm.

As I was sitting here tonite trying to decide what to share in bloggy world.
I just thought hmmm.....

So busy in my life right now and so many wheels turning in my head I can't get focused.
So here's what is going on in my head...

• quiet time
• wedding
• wedding music
• wedding programs
• when will tuxes be here
• pick up wedding rental stuff
• vacation next week
• work
• worrying
• smiling
• crying
• empty nest feelings
• new family member
• dress
• wondering
• cut the cord? hmm.. (might be a long one to cut all the way to Conway)
• college degree
• her new home (how excited for them)
• when wedding over searching schooling for myself
• 50 mile walk coming at end of May
• new Bible Study next week (whew! what does God have for me?)
• remodel the empty room in my house (that was just emptied out last weekend)
• trip to Colorado
• trip to Memphis
• trip to Maggie Valley
• trip to Hilton Head
• my son dating

ok, ok my brain is overloaded.....I have to stop now....

I'll come back later when my brain has had time to rest!

What do you think that brides do?

Have any of you ever been around a bride about to be married? Whew is one word I can think of.....

She has a lot to do to get ready for that day (and so does the Mamma)
Here is a list of some things she works on in preparation for that day:

1. dress selection
2. hair style
3. wardrobe for honeymoon
4. reception
5. ceremony specialties
6. wedding invitations
7. bridal showers
8. bridal portraits
9. music selection

and oh so much more......she wants to make herself as beautiful as she can for her groom because she loves him so much and wants to please him with herself and everything concerning the wedding.

The Bible uses the image of the bride and groom to describe the relationship between Christ and the church.

Any of us who are Christians are engaged to Jesus. We awake every day waiting and preparing for our wedding day that will happen when our groom "Jesus" comes to get us and takes us to His home.

Think about the lovely bride when she is given her beautiful engagement ring, she wants to show it off to everyone, she is wanting to make the statement to say "hey I belong to someone". Well as believers of Jesus when we accept Christ as our Saviour and get baptized we too are making a statement of our commitment to Him and also saying "hey I belong to Him".

A bride sweet talks about her groom, she wants to spend "all" her time with only him and one of the best things for her is that he "chose" her and nothing makes her any happier than knowing that.

To know that Jesus "chose" us, man what could make us happier (to know someone wants us) WOW!

OK another thing a bride has is a countdown calendar counting down to that final day. She just can't wait until the day arrives to begin her new life,with her husband to be, the one she has longed for, the one she wishes to become intimate with.

Well for us Christians (the bride of Christ) we are also anticipating that day when we will be united with our groom, but until that moment we just need to stay faithful to him and continue to say (Rev. 22:20 "Even so, come Lord Jesus). Our wedding day will come, just hold on and one day we'll meet Him on that aisle.

For any of you who have never accepted Him that special wedding day will never come for you. You don't wanna miss this special day, it will be nothing like the typical wedding day that all us brides plan for. So what are you waiting for, receive Him now, and your wedding day will come for you too!

Here's her new home....

Well in 13 more days here is where my baby will be spending her days.

Her "new" home..

Another Precious moment for me....

Well when we got the last boxes unpacked, furniture unloaded and placed where it goes, washer and dryer installed, dishes washed and put up, at Matt and Kelly's new home there was one last thing that needed to be done. Check this out...


Yep that's right she let me install the "special" bear light switch plate in her new home. It's been with her since day one of her birth and I'm so excited she's letting it stay with her now. It really made my day to be able to place it in her "new" home where she will spend her life with her husband. My soon to be son-in-law.
Oh how sweet a moment this day was for us. Our little baby has grown up. And in 13 more days she will be married! WOW....this moment seemed like it came way too fast.....

A Precious but sad Moment for me tonite....

What a hard time for me tonite as I was packing and loading up the car to move all Kelly's belongings to her new home in Conway SC. She and her soon to be husband have now found them a place to live and we are beginning to move their stuff in tomorrow.

As I was getting down to the last few boxes and stuff there was one last thing left to take down that she told me she wanted and you can see it in the pictures here. On the back side of the plate I had written her birth date, her name and Love Mamma and Daddy.

This is her special light switch plate that I put up the day she was born and has been in her room since that day March 10, 1988. And now it's the last thing I took down from her room to take to her new home. I know it will still be about 16 days until she is actually living in her new home but she will have one special piece of her "old" home in her "new" home.

Kelly I hope you continue to use it and enjoy it the rest of your life and maybe one day even use it for your children.

I love you Kelly!

Go Cougars....

Giving a shout out to York Comprehensive High School Choral Program as they are down in Orlando Florida this weekend in a choral competition.

You go get em' guys, and come home with that trophy!

Giving Thanks.....

Wanted to give a shout out to you yes "you" the one who opens her house up to us each week for us to study God's word and get to know Him more.

And to your family who endures putting up with us and allowing us to have you for several hours.

It is just awesome the way God has moved in your home and each of our lives since you started these little sessions.

I can't wait to see what He has for our futures.

We love you and thank you!

10 days.....and now on his way home

For the last 10 days my soon to be son-in-law has been in India teaching and sharing Jesus.
He is on his way back home, and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I can't wait to hear about his trip and all that the Lord did while He was there.

Thanks God for the last 10 days and what you've done in and through me too as I've continually prayed for him. You've changed me by using him.

My God you are an AWESOME God!

30 years ago I took mine.....

30 years ago I was taking my wedding portraits around this time of year and now tomorrow morning I drive down to be with my daughter while she is getting hers taken.

I am so looking forward to spending this time with her and seeing my beautiful girl during her "moment".

Can't believe the time is almost upon us....what 22 days left......whew I might need to go ahead and stock up on some kleenex....tears of joy though! I'm really excited for her and the life God has in store when she becomes Mrs. Matthew Brown....

Love ya my sweetie and ready to spend this great time with you tomorrow!

Wanting Tender Loving Care......

Last night I was at my Tuesday Night Bible Study and after we had wrapped up our very last lesson in "Jesus the One and Only" a few of us hung around and shared a few stories and such from our lives.

As I was sitting sharing and listening, all of a sudden to the left of me I noticed was my friend's cat trying to sleep on a soft footstool, then all of a sudden one of her babies jumped up onto the stool and meowed at her momma still wanting some milk from her. The mommy cat started cleaning her, but the baby kept trying to get at the milk, and then the mommy kinda snapped her paw at her and nibbled at her neck and ear (I guess trying to get her to understand, momma is dry, no more milk here, you gotta grow up girl!)

I kinda started thinking that is just how we are, no matter how old we get when we want or need something we want to crawl up on our Savior's lap and say "Daddy help me".
He has given us His Word to teach us how to grow up, and yet we always want to take the easy road just like that baby cat and just ask Jesus to answer our every call.

Oh don't get me wrong, our Lord loves to help us when we have difficult times, but He also wants us to learn when He teaches us and not have to keep coming back for milk, but progress to meat.

Watching these cats last night helped me to realize that even though the Lord does want me to learn what He teaches me, He is still there to let me climb up in His lap for tender loving care and still give me some milk from time to time.

Thank you Lord for always being there for me "all the time"

29 Days until "The Day"....

Well only 29 Days left until the day of my daughter's wedding.

The thoughts running through my mind every day are just consuming me.

The excitement, the tears, the joy! Whew...

Look at this beautiful cake my sister and mom had made for one of her bridal showers.

Isn't it just beautiful!

I know she is just as excited for this day to finally arrive. I didn't think I would ever be ready for this day, but my God is really helping me and oh what a great son-in-law we will have. Count down is on, and we have lot's still left to do......

The Look.....

As soon as Peter denied Christ the third time, the rooster crowed.
In the NLT version Luke 22:61 says: At that "very moment" the Lord turned and looked at Peter and Peter remembered that the Lord told him this would happen , that before the rooster crows tomorrow morning you will have denied me three times.

Think about the power of "The Look" shared between the two of them. Peter had to have had so much emotion going through him at that time. To know that what Jesus said, came true. Peter no doubt tried to shield himself from the piercing look he was being given by Jesus.

In Beth Moore's Bible Study she said "Peter's heart hemorrhaged from Christ's penetrating look of unveiled reality and love".

I can't even fathom or imagine what Peter was going through:

• buckets of tears
• wailing
• devastation
• wanting to go off somewhere and just be alone, away from people who would condemn him for denying Christ
• embarrassment

Wow I could go on and on with how Peter may have felt. Then I start thinking about all of us. Do we deny Christ? When we do, you know He looks at us in the same way He did Peter. He gives us "The Look" too we just don't see him visibly with those piercing eyes as Peter did. Whew, would we even be able to stand it? Does "The Look" make us change our ways any?

When we fail him we must remember that Christ can use those who recognize their failure.

Last Day.....

Well folks tomorrow will be my last day for teaching Sunday School at my church.
God has been telling me for about two years now that I need to be a student of His word and get to know Him more myself in order to even teach about Him better.

So finally after two years of telling Him no and shutting the door in His face, I've finally answered Him and said Yes Lord. Here I am, teach me!

This is one subject I've shared over the years with the class and even tomorrow's last lesson also teaches this, is "are we following Him when He calls". Well finally I am.

I am seeking the right path He wants me to take to help me learn His word more deeply.
I covet your prayers in the months and years to come as God begins to teach and change me.
I look forward to where God will lead me in the future and who knows (God does) maybe it will be right back to teaching again.

I ask everyone to pray for whoever the church has approached to consider teaching our class. Pray that God would do all the leading for the person He wants and needs to be there. I will give my full support to them in every way I can.

To all my ladies: I love you dearly and I appreciate the love and support you have shown me. I will continue praying for each of you and our class as a whole that all of us together would become what God wants us to be in our lives, our families, our church, our community and that we will all go out and fish for souls!

Wanna go fishing?

I'm not talking about this kind of fishing........

I'm "talking" about this kind of fishing......

Fishing for souls for Jesus Christ.

Let's get out there and go where the fish (the souls) are, let's tell them about Jesus Christ now!
Don't allow fear to hinder you from fishing and getting a bite.
These fish (souls) need you and me.....Now let's get our bait (The Bible) and go catch a boat full!

• Check out all these giving their hearts and souls to Jesus. Don't that get your blood pumping, get you excited.....get you wanting to get up and go out witnessing for Him?
• The greatest hindrance to soul winning is keeping ourselves out of the way and fully allowing the Holy Spirit to catch the person's soul.

• When we are on a fishing trip and we catch "The Big One" we are so proud and excited for the achievement we just accomplished, but you know what? the greatest thrill of all is when we see somebody won to the Kingdom of God. It's way better than catching a fish and we can say Yeah another one snatched away (from Satan)!

Update on Michael Day 227.....

Here is an update from Jim Brown (Michael's father-in-law) on how Michael is doing.

For the most part they are doing fine and trying to adjust to their situation.
They have a comfortable home and Nikki is working hard to keep it all in one piece.
Michael has taken over the kitchen and is doing most of the cooking. Trust me, that is a good thing.

I chuckled a few weekends ago when I stopped by on a Saturday morning. Michael wheeled himself up next to the stove and was preparing to make pancakes for breakfast. Wyatt his two year old son, was so excited to have pancakes that he climbs right up Michael's wheels of his chair and perches himself right next to Daddy as he cooks.
It was a wonderful sight to see.

Michael will soon be having some work done to his right leg. The doctors need to map the nerves in the leg in order to see how much damage there is and try to give a prognosis of how long it will take for the nerves to heal or find a different path in order for Michael to start using the right leg.

They say that the nerves are one of two things in the human body that can regenerate themselves. They can grow an inch a month.
So maybe in 15 months or so his toes on that right leg may work.
Time will tell.
The verdict is still out on whether or not the large intestine can be put back together. The last I heard the doctors may look into this in a few months from now.

Michael and Nikki are taking photography courses in the evenings in the hopes of starting a business for themselves. Nikki remains employed with the school district as a 3rd grade teacher.

As far as our family we've had some difficulty too, recently my wife Becky was a victim of this economic downturn and is now unemployed.

Love to all of you
---The Brown/McDaniel Family

Hey Everyone, Please pray that God will show His plan to these two families and when He speaks they will be ready to listen.
---thanks to all of you who have been keeping up with Michael and keeping them lifted in prayers

Update on Michael Day 226.....

Well today is actually Michael's Day 226 since his accident and it has been a long time coming for me to be able to meet Michael myself.

I had the awesome privilege to get to meet him in Rock Hill at Winthrop College on March 21st (which was Day 222 for him) for the 2009 S.C. All-State Choral Performance.

My son Kevin McCormick and Michael's sister-in-law Ashley Brown (yep same family of Kelly's husband to be Matt) were both selected for S.C. All-State Choral groups, and when I found out Michael was coming I was so excited.

As you can see he allowed me to take a picture with him to share with all of you who have been readers of my blog and who have been fervently praying for him since last August.

Please continue to pray for him as he still has a very long road ahead of him. He will be having some tests on his leg sometime in April, and still unsure at this time when they will be able to take him off the colostemy bag.

Michael you inspired me this past weekend when I experienced how uplifted your spirit is even through all you face daily. I will continue to pray for you.

I would like to ask all who read this blog and the ones of you who know Michael personally to keep him lifted up in prayer and ask God to continue showing Michael and his family God's power in the times ahead.

Talk about a challenge....listen to this....

This guy that I work with came into work this morning and told all three of us ladies who are sitting in the same cubicle area as he does and said to us "if ya'll see me on the floor every hour today and the rest of this week doing push-ups don't think I've lost my mind".

He told us of a challenge that he and his buddies are doing this week.
5000 pushups and memorizing scripture.

Whew you go guys! Getting physically fit and spiritually fit all at the same time.

OK so I have a question?

How many of you are scared to ask someone if they know Jesus as their Lord and Savior?

Don't wait.....we are living in the last days.....those who don't know Him don't have much time left. Don't be afraid to ask the most important question someone will ever be asked.

Get bold....ASK!

Update on Michael Day 209....

Michael's family came home today and he was there practicing going up steps.
You go Michael.

We are still lifting you up in prayer.

Friends....

WOW, what great friends I have.

Thank you Lord......

Growing up.....

Why is it when our kids are around 1 yr. old we are ready for them to start walking and talking.

Then as they get between 2 and 3 we want them to be potty trained so we don't have to "deal" with diapers or pull ups any longer.

Then at age 5 we are ready for them to go to kindergarten.

Then when they are in elementary school we are ready for them to go to middle and junior high so we don't have to help them with homework anymore.

Then we they get to high school we are excited that they can drive to school and we don't have to be their chaueffer any longer.

Then when they graduate high school and either go off to college or get married etc. we then wish.....

"they were younger again" and not leaving home......

Ok maybe not you who are reading this but this Mamma feels like that about her kids. One will be 21 in 10 days and one who just turned 18 a few months ago.....noooooo......come back......

Ok my kids if you are reading this I'm ok....I stopped crying finally....I love you both

Memories....

WOW, 68 days left until my first born will be married.

I was walking around our house today thinking of different spots where she did things or said things. I laughed, I cried.....

I really enjoyed allowing God to help me remember all those moments with her.


I took a lot of pictures of her room today the way it looks now because a few weeks from now it will be empty from the 21 years of "things" that have filled that space. It will just not be the same.

But Praise God, it will now be different, instead of that room just being known as "her" room, after May 2nd, it can be called "their room". It can be shared with the wonderful man that God brought into her life.
(Matthew James Brown)

God I praise you for every moment you will bestow on these two as they spend their lives with you. Touch them, Use them, bless them, keep them.

For those of you who may wonder who I'm talking about here is a picture of them for you so you can connect with who I'm talking about and you can pray for their upcoming marriage.





Matt Brown and Kelly McCormick










I love both of you very much and I look forward to all the adventures and endeavors Christ has in store for your lives.
----Love Mamma and future moo-in-law

Why would Jesus need to pray?

There may be many of you who have wondered why Jesus would need to pray. Well here are some reasons:

• He depended on and needed the Father.
• He modeled this dependence on prayer so that we too would realize our dependance on God in prayer.

WOW if Jesus realized he needed the Father, He went to Him in the place He knew He could find Him real close. In His prayers.

What about you and me, is that where we head when we need Him? and what about when we don't, do we still call on Him in our prayers to give Him thanks for what He has done?

Just some thoughts after I got home from Bible study tonite about Jesus' prayer life while I was sitting here in my own prayers. I just love talking to my Lord. I can tell him anything...and everything...things I can't even share with others...He knows my thoughts...He knows my dreams...He knows my desires...thank you Lord for ALWAYS being there for me.

Another licensed driver.....OH NO....

Yep it's true, we have another licensed driver in our house.
My son Kevin.

Just another step closer to my children leaving the nest.
I just don't know if my heart can take it........

Congratulations Kevin for working hard

Are you in God's way?

Just wondering if any of you ever find yourself in the way of God trying to do His work in and through you.

Well guess what....I have been in His way for the past 8 months. He has been trying to change a path of direction in my life and I have been shutting the door every time He opens it. I've prayed and asked Him to show me that it is His will and every time He has shown me and said yes my daughter, now is the time......I've said back to Him, are you sure Lord? I've said but what about this Lord.....what about that Lord....and He kept showing me His answer (YES!)

So what has taken me so long to surrender to His call.......only one answer to that.
I've put myself in His way.....

Pray for me this week as I surrender this decision to Him and move out of His way so He can show me His work and do His work....

Glorifying God in your trials....

All day today I have been thinking of a poem I shared while teaching Sunday School this morning and it has just given me so much encouragement that I had to share it with all of you.
It is by Annie Johnson Flint

God hath not promised skies always blue
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through

God hath not promised sun without rain
joy without sorrow, peace without pain

God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation trouble and woe
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide
swift easy travel needing no guide
Never a mountain rocky and steep
Never a river turbid and deep

But God hath promised strength for the day
Rest for the laborer, light for our way
Grace for the trials and help from above
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Our newest addition to our family... my great niece

Brooklynn Leila-Rose Carnes
Born: Feb. 6th, 2009
6 lbs. 7 oz.

Not understanding the sufferings of life?

We face MANY trials every day, even more sometimes than our friend Job did.
We can lean on the fact that our God who is loving and knows "ALL" understands our sufferings and hurts.

Check out this awesome poem I read during my devotion this morning. It really pumped me up and gave me courage of how my Lord will keep me in His hand and take care of "all" my trials

Not now, but in the coming years,
It may be in the better land,
We'll read the meaning of our tears,
And there, some time, we'll understand.

Then trust in God through all the days;
Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand;
Though dark thy way, still sing and praise,
Some time, some time we'll understand.

I just love my Lord.....

Jobs 36:5, Yes, God is mighty...He undestands all things....