Then Sings My Soul Saturdays

This song was playing at my Uncle Martin's funeral. I had never heard it before, but it seemed to bring everyone a lot of peace. Thank you, Amy, for being our host.

May the Lord bless you today. Embrace and love those around you. Big hugs from me to you!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday, my sisters....my friends. The hour is late and I am extremely tired and this post is going to be a bit rough as I don't know who is hosting Thankful Thursday this week/month....I've just lost track. However, I want to post the following:

I am thankful that my Uncle Martin surrendered his life to the Lord one week before he died. I was with him Friday, May 22, early in the morning and he had begun what the nurses called "end of stage" breathing. I sat and held his hand and talked with him about the fun things we did when I was younger and told him that I didn't say "thank you" enough but I wanted him to know that he was a great Uncle and I had appreciated him in my life. I also told him that I was so glad that he had accepted Jesus and that he would soon be wrapped in His arms and he would be reunited with his bride, my Aunt Pat.

I assured him of my love and then assured him of the love of the Lord ten thousand times more. And then I left him. He died that evening. The pastor that had witnessed to him for over 34 years cried at his funeral and spoke of the peace my Uncle had in his last days after he laid his pride aside and accepted the Lord...and it was true. Many remarked about how peaceful he was.

So I am thankful for the Holy Spirit that was ever persistent and never gave up on my Uncle and I am thankful for the peace that transcends all understanding. My family has lost now 7 family members in this last year...it has been an extremely hard toll and we are now looking at my Aunt Margaret who was just put back in ICU and we have been told she probably won't make it. This is my father's sister.

So again, if I am absent, please know why. I am feeling a little overwhelmed and needing to be with my family in Vero and realizing there are only 24 hours in a day. I want to also say thank you for all of your prayers and outpouring of support. You have lifted me up and I do feel weary. I am thankful the Lord put you all in my life ... even in this arena of blogland. You all mean so much to me.

May the Lord bless you. I truly do think of you often and pray you are all doing well. I love and miss you.

Monday, Monday

Good morning! I would like to thank each and everyone of you that have stopped by and given me words of encouragement and have been lifting up my family and I in prayer.

I saw a dear sister at church today and she simply edified my Spirit by her kindness of offers of help in any and every way while I am back and forth helping my parents. I would like to give you an update.

Last Wednesday when I took my father to the doctor, we went to see his brother together and found my Uncle Martin awake and in good spirits. I was able to feed him oatmeal and two cups of coffee and get a couple of smiles out of him. The very next day he went into a coma. I arrived to feed him and he was unable to respond to me and the nurse told me he would not be waking up anymore.

When my cousin, Susan, arrived I told her about her Dad and walked her in. She also told me she was able to handle all of this because her father had accepted the Lord just the week before. Praise the Lord.

My father's sister, my Aunt Margaret, went into ICU at the same time and went on a breathing tube for a collapsed lung. She is still in ICU and has undergone surgery and just today they took the breathing tube out of her. It is still touch and go at this point. My father and his brothers and sisters are holding up the best they can.

I am so thankful for the Lord and His Word and the strength He has given me throughout this ordeal. Although, I must confess, today after church all I wanted to do was sleep sleep sleep.

Please forgive my lack of getting to your blogs and commenting. And thank you for your encouragement anyway to me in the lack of my ability to reciprocate.

Psalm 23:2 " He makes me lay down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters"

May the Lord bless you today. Big hugs to you.

Circle of Love

Good morning! Laurie over at Women Taking a Stand is highlighting

my blog today on Circle of Love. So .... if you'd like to, go check it out ... click here.

May the Lord bless you! Big big hugs!!

Word for Wednesday

Luke 5:31-32 " Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

My dear bloggy sisters .... As much as I like to be a consistent person ... as of late, I have been hitting and missing in the blog arena.

My father's brother, my Uncle Martin, has been placed in hospice in Vero Beach and diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. This is the man that just lost his wife and my cousins who just lost their mother. This is definitely a season of mourning for my father and my family.

I am leaving tomorrow to take my father to the doctor and then to be with his brother. I am glad that when his blue eyes look into mine that he receives comfort and he is allowing me the privilege of walking him through this pain. It's been a long time since I have seen my father openly cry and need me ... and I am so grateful to the power of the Holy Spirit who enabled me to sit with him and let him do just that. Tomorrow he is allowing me to take him to the doctor and to see his brother who is in hospice and his older sister who is in ICU in another hospital. I pray that the Lord will use me and give me courage to speak truth and give comfort.

I will covet your prayers while I'm away. I don't know how long I will be gone. I'm going to stay with my Dad as long as he needs me. May the Lord bless you all. I will miss you!

Blue Monday

Happy Monday everyone! I'm linking up with Smiling Sal today to throw some beautiful blue your way....Happy Blue Monday to everyone.


We went out on the lake this weekend and it was just beautiful! This is Joshua trying some new wakeboard tricks! Blue Blue Blue .... very pretty!

This is more tricks ... more blue!

And more..........

Some air.....

Lots more air .... and blue

We had a great time together on the boat. I hope you have enjoyed the blue!

Blessings to you today!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! This is my beloved mother, Delores. She is a lovely lady....inside and out. She is a peacemaker and the Lord says she will be blessed for those efforts. My mother is the one who took me to church when I was a little girl and revealed to me the love of our Lord, Jesus.

For a long period of time she lost her way with Him...but I am so glad to say...she is walking closer to Him now than she ever has! Praise His Holy Name.

This picture was taken at Easter at my sister, Candy's house. My mother always has a sense of style and I think she is the most beautiful woman. She actually works in her garden in panty hose and high heels....no, I'm not kidding. I'm telling ya, she always looks good!

We tease my Mom a lot. She is gullible and naive and fun to tease! She loves to decorate and her whole house looks like the set of My Big Fat Greek Wedding ... complete with the statues out front! NO...I'm not making this up! lol She wanted me to take pictures and blog about it so she would be 'famous'....so without further adieu ... here's proof positive of what I'm telling ya!




This is in one corner of her house. As you can see, there's barely sitting room or walking room...but there's statues on the wall, paintings on the wall ... a greek tree of some nature...there might even be two or three trees in this area. Please notice the lighting or she will be devastated.

This is a picture of her bed. I could not bring myself to show you the whole room. You would not believe it. She actually has dressers stacked on top of each other to make room for statues. Still, it looks like a goddess could be right at home there.

If you ever just drop by my Mom's house...the table is always made and looking lovely. Please notice the giraffe in the back ... she went through an animal print period too. lol I'm not sure how many readers are still with me, but I'm laughing so hard right now. Also, please notice the elegant candles....they are everywhere....there resemblance to statues, no doubt.

This is my Mom and her sister and brother when she was younger....she is the cute little one in the front. She is the youngest of six ... only three survived. Times were tough back then and she lost one brother to a brain tumor and I'm not sure how she lost her other siblings. I know that the brother she lost to a brain tumor was 4 and it left a major impact on her. He came down with a headache and then he was gone. Whenever one of us children had a headache as a child, she would lay with us all through the night and make sure we were still breathing...I still remember that.

This is another corner....statues, beautiful floral....candles....wall paintings in the smallest of spaces....but oh how lovely!

Mom in her backyard. She loves her backyard. It even screams "come sit with me for awhile". Everything is so homey. Please notice she has dishes set up outside. Are you hysterical? She moves that furniture a few times a week because she likes for it to look different and new.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I'm not sure you are going to be famous because of this post...but your daughter loves you with an everlasting love! I remember you standing in that church on 27th Avenue singing and the Holy Spirit empowering you to do so because you were so frightened to sing in public. I remember you stroking all of our hair and whispering words of love to us. I remember your pain through each betrayal of each husband and how you still tried to put us children first. I remember always calling and checking on me to make sure I made it home safe and that was just last week and I'm way too old for you to still be worrying over me but I'm glad you care enough to do so.

Your child is arising and calling you blessed .... may that bring you joy! I love you.

For other Mother's Day tributes ... go see Angie @ The Knightly News.

It's here...it finally arrived ...oh happy day!

Josh's letterman's jacket arrived today! Hip Hip Hooray! He has been checking the door every day for that delivery box! lol We had sent the patches in several weeks ago along with the payment for the embroidering and the jacket and today ... lo and behold ... it arrived.

Here is the proud moment.............the side pose with the year he graduates. 2010



The back pose .... definitely sporting the team name ... East Ridge KNIGHTS!!

And the front view with his letter that he earned ER ... and his name embroidered. On the right arm is their patch with the state champs football also embroidered but we didn't get that side in the picture. Now I think most of you know how warm it was outside today .... need I say more! lol

We are proud of Josh and his accomplishment. They are currently practicing up for Spring Ball and have 2 a day practices. I can't tell you how many bruises he has on him!

Thanks for letting me have a proud mama moment. Big hugs to you!

Golden Heart Award

My sweet friend, Alleliuabelle, awarded me with this precious Golden Heart Award. She is a precious sister who writes from a deep place of love for our Lord. She blesses me so. I am humbled by her passing this to me.

I am to pass it to five fellow bloggers who mean something to me and mention who passed it to me. This is where I always fail the test! lol I mean, five bloggers who mean something to me? Five?

There's my Kimmy, Kristi, Lisa Shaw, Alicia @ Confessions of a Snowflake, Lalee, Alicia, Leslie, Denise, April, Mimi, Frizzy, Jennifer @Through the Storms of Life, Lisa P , Jill, Tarah, Bethany, Debbie, Michele, Marsha, Peggy, Cheryl, Tiffany, Momstheword, Beth @ I'm Heading Towards My Destiny, Laurie Ann, Laurie @ Women Taking a Stand, MomsWeb, .Daphine...and as you can see, I'm way past five and could go on and on ... I love my bloggy sisters and thank God for you. If I have left anyone out...I'm going to be shooting myself in the foot.

So please, if you are here today ... grab that beautiful golden heart and know that each time you visit me and encourage me ... I am edified and you mean so much to me. Praise the Lord for all of His mercies in every form they come ... even blogging buddies! And pass it on to your bloggy friends.

May the Lord bless you .... and thank you Alleluiabelle ... for your kindness and your beautiful blog that lifts up the name of Jesus so beautifully.

Word for Wednesday

Psalm 61:2 "From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I."

Blessings to you today ... may you know that Jesus is your Rock! Big hugs to you.

Vacation Fun

OK, I know I told everyone I was taking a vacation ... and I am...really. This is proof! But I'm showing off my nephews and their mad skills! And also some family photos. So here we go.

This is yours truly somewhere in New Jersey. My sister in love just informed me it was Bridgewater...don't know if that is a bridge over troubled water ... but we were there. And at a soccer game that my most fantastic nephew rocked at!!


What can I say about these guys? My nephews say they are goofballs. I'm inclined to agree. This is the hubbalicious and his father. No resemblance at all ... right? lol

This is Uncle Jay and Giacomo ... however, he calls him Jackson just to aggravate him because that's what Uncle Jay does best!!

This is Giovanni at his flag football game. He did really well!! These boys have kept us running and they rock the kasbah!!

This is Will ... who is Giacomo's best friend and team player .... gotta get a plug in! lol

Jaden, Will and Giacomo blocking a free kick ... notice those hands!!! Too cute!

This is Giovanni practicing a shot while the team was resting at halftime. He has one mean kick!

What can I say about the three musketeers? These are some funny guys? Jay, Joe (my brother in love) and Pop! They were the cheering squad.

This is Ninamarie and Gio.

Giacomo being very intense during the game!

Giacomo and Will playing defense and midfield. Awesome!

Will walking off the field after a score.

Ninamarie getting some love from her father and her brother. Good times!

Ninamarie, Pop and me getting ready for the game.

Me and Ninamarie .... excited to watch Giacomo play.

Pop and the hubbalicious on the sidelines.

Ninamarie happy to have her family with her.

Ninamarie, Jay and Pop enjoying a breakfast sandwich before the game.

On the way here....we saw the Washington Monument ... here's my best shot at it.

Jay and I on the way ... yes, he was driving and we were snapping pictures! lol

This was the most beautiful field of wildflowers in North Carolina. Just had to get a shot of them.

Ok, my friends ... I hope you have enjoyed some of these family moments. I'll see everyone soon! Love and blessings to all! Big hugs!