C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N TIME!

I am screaming at the top of my lungs from Arkansas and Roger is screaming from the top of his lungs in Kennett, MO right now!

We just received his results from his 2nd try at taking the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager test. There are so many different dimensions to this test from chemistry to equations and stuff that is way over my head...actually, it makes my brain hurt to think about it! LOL!

He called today from out of town around 2:30 and asked me if there was anything in the mail yet. Of course, the mail hadn't run yet but I told him that I'd keep checking. I had to run some errands and checked the mail again at 4:15 PM.

Oh, my...when I saw the envelope in the mail...my heart stopped. He has worked so hard studying harder, longer and more intensely than even the first time.

I stopped in the driveway and called him. I told him that the envelope was here. He said "oh, no" and I asked him if he wanted me to open it (he's out of town overnight) and he said "yes, go ahead".

I opened it and told him..."oh, honey" and he just groaned as his heart sank. I said the letter says "Mr. W......(long pause)...Congratulations on passing your CHMM exam!!!!".

Ok...I know that was mean but I couldn't resist...he would have done it to me!

Needless to say...we were both screaming so loud that I scared the dog and probably the neighbors!

I am so proud of him!!! Way to go, baby!!!

P.S. Update...life is busy, life is crazy but I am slowly getting there. As for my heart, I have only had a few episodes over the past few weeks and I am so thankful. My new appointment is January 5th because I had to reschedule it do to a conflict with something else. I am praying that there will nothing be wrong and I will be given a clean bill of health.


Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year!

Praising God~Part II

There were so many things to be thankful for this past weekend and I didn't want one to take away from the other.

Saturday morning when we were on our way to the golf course to get things ready for the kickoff of the 1st Annual Brothers for Hope St. Jude Golf Classic, we saw a friend of ours ahead of us. Roger called him on his cell phone because we thought he was going to the same place we were.

However, he began to tell us about his daughter, McKenzie's ball team that morning. After arriving at the golf course and during the day, we found out more and more details of how God miraculously spared the lives of this entire ball team and their families

This is a 10 and under, competitive, fast pitch girls softball team. They were headed to a tournament about 2 1/2 hours away early Saturday morning. It was or had been raining as they traveled down I-40 (one of the worst stretches of interstate...known for so many deadly wrecks) and as usual...there was construction going on.

The 1st of 3 wrecks had already occurred earlier in the morning and the interstate was backed up. They were routing the traffic off the interstate and onto the old highway to keep traffic moving. However, there wasn't a state trooper or anyone warning motorist of the sudden detour. They only had orange cones set up to redirect traffic off the interstate at the Wheatley exit. A couple of ladies were driving, suddenly realized where they were supposed to go and tried to get off, went under a tractor trailer and the change reaction began. Those two ladies were killed instantly.

The caravan of softball players and their parents were right behind...the now, 2nd wreck had just happened. Traffic starts stopping and an tractor trailer rear ended one of our parents at about 70 miles an hour. Other drivers were able to pull him free of the wreckage before his truck burst into flames. It is not known right now if he lived or not but he was in real bad shape.

The family that he hit wasn't hurt. But, the caravan following that truck were also involved. Another parent saw the traffic stopping and a tractor trailer barrelling down on her, so she took the ditch instead of getting rear ended.

That SUV was carrying another child who's parents were going to be at the golf tournament and weren't with their child. What a sick feeling they had when they received that phone call. She said that she had a sick feeling when she put her daughter in the car with another parent who she trust to take her daughter anywhere. She kept asking herself..."what is wrong with me, why am I feeling this way?" She soon found out what those feelings were all about.

Another car was carrying a family that I grew up with plus the mother-in-law. Their car was destroyed beyond recognition because they got it from the front and the back.

One of my best friend's daughter (who's father was ahead of us that morning) should have been in the caravan but wasn't playing that day because she had a church event that kept her at home. PTL!

All in all, several vehicles belonging to our ball team were totalled BUT, NOT ONE ADULT OR CHILD WAS INJURED beyond cuts, scrapes, bruises, sore and just being shook up.

Psalm 121:8
the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (NIV)

Psalm 91:11
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; (NIV)

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Another thing that I am praising God for today is that Brandon was here with us Saturday night, went to church with us on Sunday and we had lunch with my mom yesterday afternoon before I had to take him back to work.

We had a powerful, illustrated sermon yesterday morning and the seed of TRUTH was planted. I have been praying since I knew that he was coming that God would cultivate the soil of his heart so that the seeds would not fall on thorny ground. Only God knows exactly what Brandon is thinking or feeling because he is good at putting up smoke screens or telling you what you want to hear...or he just reminds silent.

I am just so thankful to get to spend some time with him this weekend.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Praising God!!!

Praise God for two things...(1) God miraculously held off the rain until the last team came back to the clubhouse. Literally!...then the bottom fell out and the floodgates opened (2) the tournament was a complete success. The silent auction raised over $2,100. alone. I can't wait to share with you the actual dollar amount that we will be writing a check to St. Jude for.

This golf tournament was a desire that was placed in a teenage boy, a junior high schools heart after touring St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee back in October 2008. Zac came home telling his parents that he has taken fore granted all that he has in his life because when he visited St. Jude...those kids only had hope and very little else.

It was Zac's desire to host a benefit golf tournament to raise funds for the hospital that never turns one child away because they don't have the money to pay. This is a cancer research hospital founded by the late Danny Thomas. It cost over a million dollars a day to run the hospital. They depend solely on donations for the smallest amounts to the largest.

Brothers of JDC/DCA (JDC=Junior Delta Christians and DCA=Delta Christian Association) is a Christian organization that does community projects, instills principles of helping others, giving back to their community and so many more values...boys from the 7th grade through 12th grade.

The tournament was named "Brothers for Hope St. Jude Golf Classic".

Today, we had a friend's son, Kyler as our guest for this benefit. When he was 9 months old, he was diagnosed with cancer of the retina...which he was born with but his doctor didn't discovered the reason for his extreme pain, crying and irritability which was documented in his chart that he mother couldn't deal with a colicky baby.

Upon his diagnosis, he was scheduled to have his eyes removed the following Monday and this was on Friday. His doctor called them the next morning to tell them that he couldn't sleep all night (which was the prayer of his mother) and he had found a doctor in Memphis, TN who was willing to take him as his patient...they lived in Kansas. These doctors in Kansas told his parents that he would be dead within 6 months...before he was 15 months old.

The doctor in Memphis referred him to St. Jude at 9 months of age and Kyler is just about to turn 13 years old. He has been an active patient since he was 9 months old and St. Jude has spent over a million dollars to keep him alive. Kyler has last one eye and is legally blind in the other but he has a wonderful spirit. He is extremely smart and is in gifted and talented in Marion School District. What an amazing testimony to the wonderful work that this hospital and doctors do for all children with cancer and other childhood diseases.

I am so excited with the turnout, comments about the tournament and the money that was raised for a very worthy cause. It was well worth all the hard work that went into it. It was the first golf tournament and their will be another one next year.

So many people said that the rain will never hold off and it would be rained out...but with God...ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE...including the weather!

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!

~Praise Report and Prayer Request~

Good Morning Everyone!

I wanted to give you a brief update on Dorinda's sister's family this morning. I got a text from Dorinda last night (but didn't get it until this morning cause my phone was off and I was in the bed...not feeling good) stating they were taking Deanna into surgery to do a C-Section delivery around 10 PM. She said then that Tami (Dorinda's sister and Deanna's mom) was exhausted and very upset. She was emotionally, mentally and physically drained with all that was going on . She had to be at the hospital bright and early this morning with her husband, Ronnie who was having major surgery for oral cancer. It has been an emotional week for them.

The praise report is that Deanna and baby girl are doing great. Baby girl arrived here safely about 10:45 PM and they are both doing well this morning.

Prayer Request - Please pray for Ronnie and Tami today. He is facing major surgery for oral cancer...the second surgery since August '08. Please pray for strength, peace and for wisdom for the doctors treating Ronnie. As of a few minutes ago, 11 AM, Ronnie had not been taken back for surgery yet. I can only imagine the anxiousness that they are feeling right now, but God can pour out His peace that passes all understanding on them right now.

Dorinda asked me to tell everyone thank you so much for your prayers...we are blessed to have such wonderful bloggy friends, who are mighty prayer warriors!

Also, we requested prayer for Dorinda's daughter and son-in-law...Glenda and Brad. She just posted an update on her blog...Journey To Ever After...if you get time...go over and read it (haven't read it all yet) and see what God is doing in their lives.

P.S. Thank you to those who have been praying for me...I am feeling more like myself today than I have been all week. I was so tired, no brain functioning power, feeling like I was trying to get a cold and/or just sick. I had no energy or desire to blog or Facebook this week...gee, I must have been sick! It was all I could do to be an employee, wife and mother. I usually function on about 5 hours of sleep a night because I am blogging or Facebooking but this week, I was in bed asleep by 9:30 and Roger took Tyler to school 3 days so I could sleep a little longer...it paid off with sleep and prayers...I feel much better. I'm taking the rest of the week off from blogging and will hopefully, be back full force on Monday. I am going to read and comment this weekend but not post. Boy...I've missed you guys! Pray you have a wonderful weekend!!!

Have a wonderfully blessed day!