A Time for Thanksgiving

Over the last 8 weeks, my family has had a rough time. A short eight weeks ago we found out my father had cancer. Over the next couple of weeks, decisions had to be made - what treatment to do, what not to do. CANCER is a nasty word. No matter how prepared you are for the diagnosis, it hits hard when you realize that its there and its right in front of you. To top that off, its hard to believe it, understand it, cope with it, and come to terms with it when it involves your parents. That is when you turn to hope and faith.

With faith comes hope - a hope that no matter what God will see you through the times. Faith is trusting in what you can't see because of what you can see.

Surgery was had on November 11 (Veteran's Day, Papa Boo's birthday). Everything went well, the doctor seemed to think that everything looked good. Now the wait began on the pathology reports to make sure the cancer hadn't spread. FINALLY the results came in the Tuesday before Thanksgiving - the cancer was centralized. It had not spread to the lymph nodes. An answer to prayers in a big way - I believe that this was God's favor happening in our lives. Without unconditional faith in him, through him - the worries would have kept us thinking the worst throughout the last 8 weeks, but with God and our faith we didn't let the "Worry fairy" keep us busy worrying about something we had no control over.

Thanksgiving was a joyous occasion this year at our house - we had a lot to be THANKFUL for. So I ask you, to think about what is going on in your life and around you - What are you thankful for this year? How has God shown his favor in your life?

Stress and Control

Stress is a nasty 6 letter word. Life in the past couple of weeks has been stressful and we all deal with stress a little differently. I tend to turn inwards and then will eventually break. Friday was my break day. I was done...put in a fork in me, call me well-done, completely cooked through. Through stress we need to turn to God and listen to what he is telling us. I completely turned the stressful situation over to him, and he handled it for me. Prayers were answered.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. Colossians 3:14 - 16

We (including myself) need to be patient and trust in the Lord. He will turn the situation around. He never gives us more than we can handle, even if we think it is more than we can handle. Memento mori, a Latin phrase, is translated, “Remember you are mortal.” We are mortal and cannot control everything and for most of us (including me) that is a hard thing to remember to turn over to God. Through him all things are possible. Stressed spelled backwards is desserts - so forget the stress and go straight to the dessert of all time - GOD!!

Heaven gained another angel tonight

Jaime and her best friend Danelle

Tonight heaven gained another angel. My friend Jaime went home to be with the Lord. Jaime was a beautiful person on the inside and the outside. I remember all of the pranks she pulled in college - saran wrapping the cars of a friend while they were in class, shaving creaming the car, if I remember correctly she even moved someone's car one time. Jaime or as we called her "Haime" (thanks to a professor who pronounced her name with an H sound instead of a J - and it stuck) always and I mean ALWAYS had a smile on her face. She could be stressed out and freaking out on the inside but she always showed the world how happy she was to be here. She was a loving friend, coach, youth leader, sister, aunt, daughter, etc and will be greatly missed by all those who knew her. The students' lives she impacted through her teaching, through her coaching, and through her working with the youth at her church show what an amazing person she is.

Jaime we love you and will miss you always, but we know that you are up in Heaven dancing with the Lord and smiling!!

Psalm 16

A David Song

^1-2 Keep me safe, O God, I've run for dear life to you. I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around— what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don't just go shopping for a god. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice! You set me up with a house and yard. And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go.

^9-10 I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell— that's not my destination!

¹¹ Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

Charleston, SC

WOOHOO!!! I recently hit one of the locations on my Travel Bucket List. Along with 2 of my

friends I went to Charleston, SC. What a beautiful city. The buildings, the history, the beach - just a few of my favorite things all in one location.

We arrived and began walking the city. After 4 hours of walking and a delicious lunch at Blossom, we went and checked into our hotel in the heart of the Historic District on Meeting St. We relaxed a little, went to the pool, and then got ready for dinner. We decided to go somewhere near and ended up at Hyman's Seafood - very good food and TONS of it - I recommend sharing a plate - so MUCH food.

The next day we decided to hit the Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, Boone Hall Plantation, Cooper River Bridge, Charles Pickney Historical Site, and saw the USS Yorktown and the

submarine. It was a super busy day!! We ended up at Shem Creek for dinner.

The next day was our last day. We decided to tour another plantation - after some discussion we decided to do visit Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. BEAUTIFUL!! I recommend it - the grounds were gorgeous well worth the price. The history behind the plantations are just amazing to hear. After touring the grounds we headed out of Charleston.

I loved hearing the history behind all of the places that we visited, seeing the architecture, and just enjoying the vacation!! Charleston is a place that I will go back to!! I may have found my retirement city....beach and history all combined in one. Yes, I do believe I can do this.

Life

Life is short and that is never more evident then when you find out one of your friends has stage 4 cancer - at the age of 33!! However, this wonderful, smiling, always happy friend of mine has something going for her - she knows the Lord. Please lift a prayer up for Jaime over the next weeks, months etc as the doctors do all they can to help her fight this battle with all of their knowledge. She and God are going to fight this battle and win. I posted part of Josh Turner's song Me and God on her wall today:

He's my Father, He's my friend, The beginning, And the end, He rules the world, With a staff and rod
We're a team. Me and God
I am weak and he is strong, Me and God, He forgives me when I'm wrong, Me and God, He's the one I lean on, When life gets hard, Me and God

Through Jaime's struggles, I came to realize that there are several people that I need to forgive in my family. I will never agree with everything they do, and I admit I will probably never understand why they do half of what they do, but they are family and because of that I need to FORGIVE them. I need to show them that with me and God working together there is nothing he can't do!!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 states: So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing

It is time that I encourage instead of discourage. Feelings have been hurt, but it is now time to move on.

Ephesians 4:32 states: Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you

It is time to be kind!! It is time to forgive!!

Romans 12:17 states: Never pay back evil with evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable

Now is my time to be honorable, to show that me and God can overcome some of the petty family matters that have occurred.

I'm not saying this is going to be easy. In fact, I know that this is going to be one of the hardest things that I will ever do BUT I know that I have God on my side and that with him and thru him I can do anything!!!

It is time for me to do as 1 Peter 5:6 - 7 states: So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.

Bliss

So what does 72 hours on the beach equal? It equals one happy, relaxed, slightly pink me!! I just spent 72 hours with my toes in the sand and water - what a feeling!!! It is amazing to sit there and listen to the waves pound the sand. It is amazing what God does at the beach... the sunrise over the ocean, the waves pounding the sand throughout the day, and then the sunset over the ocean in the evening. Every day at the beach is a miracle. Just a few of the things that were seen: dolphins, jellyfish, seaweed (lots of it), a shark (small but still a shark), a crab, a turtle nest, and lots of sun and sand.

“Where there is FAITH, there is LOVE; Where there is LOVE; there is PEACE; Where there is PEACE; there is GOD; Where there is GOD; there is BLISS.” ~ Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The Lord is my ROCK

When the waters rise My hope is sure

When my world falls apart I stand secure
When my way is dark Your light breaks through When I don't feel you near Your word is true

Jesus your love surrounds me, You're holding my life, Holding my life

The Lord is my rock And I won't be afraid I wont be afraid You're with me

The Lord is my rock And I won't be afraid I wont be afraid You're with me

The above lyrics is one of my favorite songs from the BEST ever church band and it got me thru some tough times last year. January 2010 saw my Grandpa Coplin pass away after battling dimensia. It is not a disease that leaves you with wonderful memories. I will never forget the call from my mom stating that they had taken him to the hospital (he was already in a nursing home at this point), and then the call from my sister who was crying so bad because he had already passed away. At this point I packed so quickly that I can't even tell you what I packed and what I took home. On the 6 hour drive home, I secured substitutes for the week because of course 1 person couldn't take the whole week, called my assistant and set up tentative lesson plans - once I had taken care of my responsibilities at school I began to cry. That song gave me strength during that trip - I put that Elevation CD in the CD player and hit repeat when that song came on. Two weekends later, I was at church at Elevation for the 1st time since my grandpa had passed and was felling pretty down - guess what song they played - yep that's right: The Lord Is My Rock!! I knew at that time that God was going to help me get thru this!!

All during this time my Papa Boo was still dealing with issues from surgery the last August. August 2010 was not kind to me either. I had been going to school to prepare for the upcoming school year. Open house was on Sunday and I was going to relax on Saturday as I had my room ready to go. Saturday morning all of my plans changed. I received a call earlier that week from my mom saying that Papa who had been in the hospital since the beginning of August (he went into have surgery to reverse his colonoscopy bag and then had complications) was not doing good and to be ready - at this point I had decided no matter what I was going to go home the following weekend and see him. Well on Saturday my plans changed drastically. My mom called and said that he was really bad and that they were waiting to talk to the doctors. I immediately packed a bag, and called my sister. I knew that my mom was trying to shelter me from the whole truth as not to upset me. My sister confirmed my worst fears. At this time I decided to go to school, get out some things just in case and then leave from there for the 6 hour drive to WV. I load up my car with myself, my bag, the dog, her things, and school stuff. I head to school to tell the administration and get some things out (mind you my dog is in the car). Needless to say God had other plans in store for me that day - I got to my room to find the door locked and my keys in my car, so I decided to just go and call my assistant and have her take care of things. I was upset when Grandpa Coplin had passed and upset that I didn't get to say goodbye, I was DETERMINED to get home to say my goodbyes to Papa Boo. Once again Elevation's The Lord is My Rock became my anthem to WV. That trip was a blur, I know that I made record time, and that I cried and talked to God and my friends most of the way. I just wanted to make it home. The hard part was knowing that they were taking him off of life support and that I may not make it. Once I got to my parents house, my brother in law picked me up and we made the little over an hour trip to the hospital where Papa was. The whole way there I prayed that I could have this closure and those words The lord is my rock just kept repeating in my head!! I got to have my closure and I thank God everyday for that simple thing.

The Lord is my rock because Jesus your love surrounds me, You're holding my life, Holding my life

The Lord is my rock And I won't be afraid I wont be afraid You're with me. Every time I hear that song I feel the love of God, family, and friends surround me. I know that no matter what I am loved and that God has my back. The link below will take you to the song - please enjoy!!

The Lord is My Rock by Elevation Worship