Pray for Peace....

I don't have many words, my heart is heavy. Every Thursday night I meet with about 8 sisters in Christ for a bible study. One of those sisters' lives changed forever last night about 8:00 pm. Her oldest daughter, Taylor who is a mere 17 years old, more beautiful on the inside as on the outside, went to be with our one and only Savior. As many teenagers, Taylor had problems, but some of Taylor's problems were deeper and different than your average teenagers. She had the biggest heart of anyone her age and loved her parents and two younger sisters as well as a special young man in her life. But the monster raging inside her took over this weekend. She felt like the world was against her and she set out to run from that. As she was running, she was struck by a car and killed. Please, pray for this family, pray for peace and understanding. Pray that we as brothers and sisters will know what to do for the family. Pray for the Newsome's to be comforted and know that they are loved. Taylor has conquered this beast and won her home with the King. Go about your day in prayer and love those you don't think need loving...we all need to be loved. We love you, Taylor!! And we love you, Newsome & Wright families. John 11:25,26....Taylor lives!!

Be blessed...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

I'm back....What has taken me a full day, maybe a day and a half to do in past years, has taken me at least 5 business days to do this year....you got it...decorate for Christmas!! I'm getting old or it's taken me longer this year to get in the mood to decorate. Actually, I enjoy decorating for Fall than any other time. So it took a while to take the Fall decorations down and put those away, before I could even think about the Christmas decorations. I've actually been through decorating for a few days now, just had a hard time finding the time to document it with photographs and blogging about it. So, for your boredom, here we go....

The overall view...

Small Santa collection...

Santa Lane....

The Snowman collection...

The mistletoe and what to do when near it...
Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head know what to do!! :0)

Lexi is taking it all in....this is her first Christmas with us...

The parade of trees...The main tree with miscellaneous ornaments from through the years...

The Coke tree...

The trio of trees (Nostalgic games/characters tree, The Photo tree, & the snowman tree)...

Our favorite new addition to the nostalgic tree...the "mooing" barn... So basically there you have the tour of the inside of the Phillips' house at Christmas time. If I can remember, I'll snap a shot of the outside at some point. But it's nothing spectacular.

Well, besides the decorating, it's just been the usual hectic time of the year. Three out of the four of us have had the sinus/bronchitis crud, so that hasn't helped our non-existent Christmas cheer. I think we are all seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with the crud thing though, so that's good news.

We did learn that "the Princess" will make her royal appearance more than likely on December 23. Yes that is the date we welcomed the last little princess in the family (16 years ago). Princess Alison will have to give up her throne, and she is NOT a bit happy about that. Just ask her!! She'll forget fast enough, as that is also the day that (hopefully) she will gain her Alabama driver's license, so all will be well with the de-throned princess. I'll keep everyone posted on the outcome!! We are all anxiously awaiting Princess AraBelle!!

Another long awaited and exciting thing that is happening this week is, the church family where my family attends worship (Greenbrier Church of Christ) has been collecting money from the members to sponsor 33 children who attend Golden Springs Elementary who need a little help at Christmas. We met our goal and were able to purchase for each child, a brand new coat, shirt, pants and shoes. These will be presented to the children and their parents on Wed. morning at the school. This is the second year we've been blessed to be able to do this. Last year I believe we sponsored 25 children. So, we have been truly blessed to add 8 more children to that list this year. I will be there to take pictures and hopefully have a couple to post the next time I blog.

This past Saturday, my family travelled to Leeds, AL to attend my mother's side (The Reaves) of the family's annual Christmas gathering. I'll have more about that along with some pictures, hopefully tomorrow or the next day (you know me)...ok sometime before the end of the year.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE remember Coleman in your prayers. He's hanging in there, by the way, he and Caden turned the big 5 last Wednesday. Please pray that this LAST chance at treatment will rid his body of the terrible beast...cancer. Pray for complete healing. Thank you, I know his family is so thankful for all the prayer warriors out there!! God bless you!!

I'll leave you with this gift.....

And share this thought... **Wishing you a season of beauty**

**Wishing you a season of peace**
BE BLESSED....

An update to my year long resolution

OK, in my previous post I resolved to be thankful for something every day, not just at Thanksgiving. Well, as you know, I'm not very dependable when it comes to posting here on my blog daily. But I am dedicated to my daily bible study, prayer time, and journaling. Even though I may slip from time to time, hey, I'm human. So, my everyday thankfulness will be written daily in my journal. From time to time, I will also post what I'm thankful for here on the blog, but the big revealing will be November 24, 2009. That's what I want my blog family to hold me accountable for. Yes, it will be a long blog, but you have a year to prepare and make a note of it on your new 2009 calendar. I still want to invite you to join me, so come on....

Today, I'm thankful for the pain in my hands....at least I have hands and can still use them.

Yes, it's short today, but I'll leave you with this....
"Thanksgiving is a word of action"

Thanksgiving....

Well, it's Thanksgiving week already. I can't believe this year is almost over. I just love Thanksgiving. It's a time to get together with family and friends without the expectation or obligation to give each other gifts. It's just a time of togetherness, fellowship, and being thankful. However, EVERY DAY should be thanksgiving. As humans we complain more than we count our blessings. If you think about it, what we consider to be burdens and complaints would be blessings to many people. I'm forever complaining about our monthly mortgage creeping up every year due to escrow. When I don't even think about the millions of people around the world who don't even have a roof over their head, or their "roof" is made of grass. I complain that my feet hurt, when I should be thankful that I can walk. I complain because I don't have enough money to buy a Christmas gift for everyone who is special in my life. I saw a saying the other day that really made me think...."Being rich is not determined by how much I have, but by how little I need". Oh man, talk about stinging!! Anyway, all this brings me to this...I know resolutions are typically made at the beginning of the new year, but I'm making a resolution today to make an entry in my journal EVERY day for what I'm thankful for each day. By November 24, 2009 I should be able to list 365 things I'm thankful for. So, hold me to it, if I don't have that list posted on my blog one year from today, Lord willing, of course!! Hold me accountable, I dare ya!! Oh, by the way, you all are welcome to join me!!

I'll leave you with this....
"A thankful heart is a happy heart"

Coleman needs your prayers....

I know it's been quiet a while since I've posted. It's just been busy, busy, busy around here. Which is a good thing. I just wanted to ask a favor of everyone on behalf of my little guy, Coleman......

PRAY! PLEASE! We all have one BIG contact in Heaven...call on Him. Pray for a miracle! If you do NOTHING else...just pray! Coleman Larson is 4, he will be 5 on December 10. His twin Caden has been a trooper for the last 2 1/2 years that Coleman has been fighting a beast known as Medulloblastoma...BRAIN CANCER! Together they are TEAM LARSON! Coleman has endurred brain surgery, chemo, radiation, CT scans by the dozen, MRIs that he no longer has to be sedated for...he is a pro, multiple lines, port-a-caths, a stem cell harvest and transplant and two relapses. His fight is getting harder and there are less and less options for him.

If you would like to, I know they would be very greatful to receive a birthday card. They love to get mail and they are very appreciative of every peice of mail they receive. Again, their birthday is December 10, 2008. Here is their address:

Coleman & Caden Larson

c/o Team Larson

Box 251

Callender, Iowa 50523

How can a doctor look into these eyes and say, "We are out of options."? Coleman and his family are in IOWA. But they are "regulars" at the Ronald McDonald house in NYC. Team Larson needs YOU, those of you who kept reading even though tears are streaming down your face, to PRAY, and PRAY like you've never prayed before! Because if TEAM LARSON has taught me ANYTHING it's to NE-VA DIV UP!

They got back home Saturday afternoon and are going to be able to spend Thanksgiving with their family for the first time in 2 years. However, when they got home, due to side effects of this new treatment, Coleman can no longer walk without falling. So, he is having to be carried everywhere. Can you imagine how frustrating and frightening this is for him and his family? He is still a happy little boy, just very scared and confused. HE NEEDS YOUR PRAYERS.

Coleman and Caden will tell you exactly what they think of Cancer if you ask. Peggy, their mom asked them and this is what they said:

Coleman explains, “It’s hard to be hooked up to a pole all day when it’s a sun-shiny day, ann be in your hos-pita woom all day when yoa don’t wanna be there ann wish ya tould be outside in-said, but NO, ya tan’t. I wish that no more tids would det tancer, tuz it's tewwible to haffa do all-a the suff what ya dotta do. If no more tids dot it, then we tould all yust be no-mal wif no more pokes."

Coleman’s twin Caden chimed in and gave his two cents, “Cancer is the worse day of my wife (life) because you don’t getta pway wif your brudder when ya weally want to. Sometimes the hospital is fun …if ya aren’t froe-in up wike Coleman does sometimes. I wish that no tids ever det tancer, so they tan haff fun all-a their days until they be daddies."

Thanks for hangin' in there and loving Coleman already! How can anyone not love this kid and pray for him continously??

For more info on Coleman Larson and his family, go to http://www.carepages.com/ and register (it's FREE and takes seconds). Click on Visit and type in ColemanScott (all one word). Be prepared to fall in love. This is ONE AMAZING FAMILY!!!!!

Just a Thought

I received this e-mail earlier today, I can't even remember where it came from, but even though we all know the outcome of the election, I still think this is a great thought provoking message...

Today, millions of people in the United States will cast their votes for a slate of political leaders, including President. After months of campaign speeches, television ads, and debates, each voter has the opportunity to say to one candidate, "I choose you." Not everyone's favorite will win, but every voter has a choice.
Unlike a political election in which the majority rules, each of us is given the opportunity to select our personal leader each day. In the spiritual election deep within our hearts, our choice will stand no matter what others may decide.
After many years in the Promised Land of Canaan, the aged Joshua called the people of Israel together and issued this challenge: "If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:15). In a great collective response, the people said, "We will serve the Lord!" (v.21).
Everyone serves some kind of god. Whom will we choose to have rule in our hearts today?

Honestly, that's about all I have to offer right now. I'll try to post something again tomorrow. I think I'll go say a prayer and continue to put my trust in God. May God bless this land! I'll leave you with this....

"Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."
--William Penn

I think Tuesday was actually Monday!!

Tuesday felt like a Monday to me, that's going on the way the world perceives a "Monday" to feel like, not that I actually know what Monday feels like. The first thing I do when I wake up, before my feet hit the floor, I reach for my glasses. You see, when you're blind as a bat, which I am, grabbing your glasses is a prerequisite to making your way to the bathroom. Well, I went to put them on and something just wasn't right. The left arm was missing!! When I went to bed the night before, as every night the last thing I do is fold my glasses and place them on my nightstand. They were folded when I went to grab them, but obviously when I grabbed them the arm fell to the floor. Well, after scrounging around I finally located the straying arm. This is the first time I've had any trouble with these frames since getting them about 2 years ago. So, as in the past with other frames I assumed the screw just fell out. I go to try to put the arm back in place and try to figure out where the screw actually goes....well, nothing is easy for me on a "Monday", even though it was Tuesday. There is no screw, nor a place for a screw. The arm just mysteriously decided it wanted to strike out on it's own, I guess. I tried, unsuccessfully to insert the arm back in it's rightful position, but It didn't want to stay. Almost running late, I had to put it aside until I could make it to the kitchen to figure out what to do. Actually getting dressed and presentable for the day went surprisingly well. I make my way down the hall with my one-armed glasses resting cockeyed on the bridge of my nose. I arrive in the kitchen and search for some "super glue", what a hero "super glue" is. I squirt a little down the hole where the staying arm is supposed to be, hold it for a couple of seconds, and all is well with the world. On with the morning....

I get back home from taking Alison to school, which went amazingly well, since I am insisting that she drives as much as possible, seeing as she will be "legally" driving in a couple of months and needs all the practice she can get. Now my next task is to get Abbey out the door and to her "job coach" by a certain time. As we're trying to get out the door, of course the phone rings, and of course, I feel drawn to answer it. It is my good friend Jennifer. She and her family (our youth minister), bless them, live next door to the church that we attend. I am assigned to change the marquee sign in front of the church building, which I enjoy doing, since I'm such a quote freak. Well, that task was taken care of Monday morning, the real Monday. Jennifer is calling to inform me that one side of the marquee has been violated sometime during the night. The saying (which I love) that I had put up, said,

Forgive

Your Enemies--

It Messes With

Their Head

Well, some twisted, sicko, I mean some troubled soul, with nothing better to do thought that they would have their jollies and break a limb off a nearby tree and proceed to remove some letters (which several were not recovered--in other words, stolen) to reveal a rather perverted, disgusting phrase (which I will not post here). While out for her morning walk, Jennifer ran into a neighbor who brought it to her attention. She immediately had her oldest son throw on some clothes and go take down the altered message. Well, it turns out that there were a few calls of concern, meaning several people-- members of Greenbrier, acquaintances, and passer-bys --had seen the vulgar message....not good for "business".

Well, I was trying to get Abbey to her appointment, so there was nothing I could do immediately, except fume. I'm thinking, I'll get Abbey to her appointment, then go figure out how many letters were missing (whether it was worth the hassle to report the wrong doing) and what to do next.

I get Abbey to the appointment, not realizing that the appointment was meant for me also. Obviously a lot of "routine" paperwork and acknowledgement of obligations on both the agency and our part. Oh joy, I felt like we were closing on a house.....sign here, here and here, and initial here, here and.....here. Anyway, an hour and 15 minutes (a valuable hour and 15 minutes) later, we're back in the car headed back to Oxford. We stop to get lunch, which thankfully was uneventful). We move on to one of the job sites so Abbey can turn in her job application, again uneventful. Things are looking up....it's actually beginning to feel like Tuesday, instead of Monday...oh, I forgot, it IS Tuesday. Anyway, I run Abbey home, so I can run some errands and she can do some things around the house.

One of those errands is to make a deposit at the bank from a Wedding that I shot this weekend. (Oh, another story all it's own). I must insert here, that I had already been to the bank the day before to make this deposit, which the check to be deposited just happened to be drawn on the same bank I use for my business. Well, you can guess why it wasn't deposited the day before....I had my suspicions, so I wanted to be sure the funds were there.....you guessed it. Again, today, Monday, uh, I mean Tuesday, still not there. I immediately call the customer (they didn't take a honeymoon), at home to leave a message....no answer, no answering machine. At work....she isn't at this office any longer. I get new work number....she isn't here today, she may be off this week, you know she got married this weekend (oh yeah, did she??!!). I head home long enough to fire off an e-mail to her, which she responded late Tuesday night to say she gets paid Friday, and could I wait until Friday and it should be there. Hello, why couldn't you have just told me that LAST Friday, and saved me a couple of trips to the blessed bank. I honestly have no problem with post-dated checks....just clue me in!! We'll see what Friday holds....

I head to the church building to find out what I need to put on the defaced, bare sign. It is suggested what to put, so I go with.....

Our Apologies-

Victim of Vandals

Well to be honest, I wanted to put my favorite previous saying back up there, but I know the twisted, I mean sweet mischievous child, would probably return.... I'll come up with different wording, but the same message and post it again in a few days. "Hakuna Matata"....there are no worries here. God knows who you are.

Ok, now I have to get my equipment ready for a "minor" senior session. Then I'm off to get Alison from school. Once again I get her to drive, to get that all important practice in before the "real" thing. Only this time, a friend (the sister of the senior that I'm photographing) is coming with us. It's soooo much fun to "coach" a 15 year old driving with a friend in the car. What is it, that the 15 year old all of a sudden is a pro and knows more than her mom, who's been driving 28 + years. Anyway, after being in continuous prayer, we made it home safely. We're home for oh, 45 minutes, before we head out to Oxford Lake for the senior session. Once again, I am the driving coach. Student has somewhat of a better attitude. Coach continues to pray and yes, God is good, we arrive safely. The senior session is short and sweet, we are less the friend, who went on her way with her brother and headed home....sweet home.

I must say the evening was uneventful and I enjoyed the peace. God is Good all the time, He just likes to keep things interesting and keep us on our toes. I know my tomorrow is a brighter day, because, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says, "Therefore we do not lose heart....For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." My worst day here on earth WILL be worth it all...

I pray you all have a blessed day and remember.....

If you find a pathway with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.