A few More Musical Pics

Here's the carrying on that went on after the show.

Cliff & Emily are laughing at my mom who is trying to take the picture. It took a few attempts but she finally got a good one!!

This is what my kids LOVE about their grandma. She is fun!! I'm not sure what she did but it got her hysterical...which got the kids going....




Mom, Ellie & Anna Laughed themselves all the way to the floor!!

Still laughing!!!!!

Getting composure back??????

Finally, got the picture. My dad? Well, as you have read in a previous post, he finds different things funny!!!!!

Who Called Them the Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer?????

June passed so quickly! One week mom & I were preparing for a garage sale.

Yep, all the junk is gone!! And, to cap it all off, mom and I did no garage sale shopping. Nope, we stuck to our de-junking ways and got rid of STUFF!!!!!

June 13, Cliff's mom flew from Atlanta for a 3-week visit. To say my husband was excited about his mom coming is to put it mildly. We will be married 25 years this year and in all that time, she has only come to visit once and that was when Josh graduated.

We had planned to try to take her up to visit Josh at Bethel where he is working over the summer. Since school let out for the summer, he's been hard at work on a musical for a large conference that took place in Cleveland. The timing was perfect for us to take her up and see him in this musical.

The musical was "The Upside Down King", and is basically a walk with Christ's followers through the New Testament as they examine his claims that sometimes are so opposite of our human ways of thinking. It was so good and such a treat!! The cast was well-rehearsed and seemed to have so much fun presenting it. I was excited for Joshua because the audience at this conference was between 6000-8000 people. To have to opportunity to perform in that kind of a venue sometimes only comes around once in a lifetime.

The following are some scenes from the musical:

I know I'm biased but this is my very talented, very handsome son!!

Amy couldn't go but still got a picture with Jacob & Emily and cousins, Anna & Ellie who spent a couple weeks with grandma & grandpa.

Josh & his two very proud grandmas. My mom in the yellow, Cliff's mom in black.

I have more pictures and will spread them out over several posts.

Currently, we are going through a series of messages on Sunday mornings on The Lord's Prayer.
These past few weeks, have been comparisons between our earthly fathers and our Heavenly Father.

Dad, I don't know if I could have a better earthly example of my Heavenly Father than you. You are so full of grace and mercy and I know that no matter what, all I'd have to do is call and you'd be right there for me as you have always been. I count myself extremely blessed!!
Thanks for being such a great dad!!!!!

Crossing A Manhatten Bridge with My Dad

Ok, I have to preface this post by explaining my dad's sense of humor. He enjoys slapstick comedy (people tripping, falling, etc) and watching reactions of people who get shocked, surprised or scared. Every now & then a bird would get into our house through the flue in the fireplace. The entire neighborhood would know there was a bird in the preacher's house because the door would fly open and my mom, myself, and my sister would all run out screaming because dad would chase us with it! NONE of us like birds! I don't know where my little brother was...I'm sorry but if there's a bird involved, its every man for himself!

Now I have to tell you about myself as a kid. I was scared of almost everything!! Boats, dark, storms, BIRDS, heights...you name it, I was scared of it. So here I am, a kid with numerous fears living in Long Island, NY. To go anywhere outside of Long Island, it involved bridges....very high, very long bridges over water. What could I do? Shut my eyes and pray and wait till we were safely on the other side. Sounds like a plan right?? Remember who my dad is?? Crazy humor man!!! On most bridges, he would swerve towards the edge and everyone would scream, thus destroying my shut eye plan because I'd open them to see why we were all screaming!! "DAD, PLEASE STOP!!!!" "LORD, PLEASE DON'T LET US FALL OFF THIS BRIDGE!" were my desperate cries!!

Now dad had a favorite bridge. To this day, I can't tell you the name of it. But I can tell you that it had a lane outside of the main part of the bridge where they used to cross the cattle. Guess who LOVED going fast in that cattle lane???? CRAZY HUMOR DAD!!!! That one was the WORST!!!! I cannot even tell you the sense of relief I would feel when we were safely on the other side of that bridge.

Today, I found out there is a name for people who have a fear of bridges.
It's called "Gephyrophobia"
My husband has been very kind to me and has always driven in the center lane of any and all bridges we cross. My dad, well, I love him. He's a great dad....but no more bridges!!!!!

Summer Memories

My dad LOVES to travel...especially road trips. When we were kids we travelled often. We'd load up into our very small, fuel efficient car and take off - often driving through the night to reach our destinations.

Other times, mom & dad would just want to take a day trip. I don't know if they really had a destination in mind. It seemed that we just drove until they found something interesting and we'd stop and explore it. Always something free because money was tight and usually a picnic lunch had been packed.

Great times...and many, many fond memories!!

A Very LONG Week!

As is common with alot of adults, Cliff was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago with type 2 diabetes. The doctor was great and gave us a bunch of helpful information. We went to CVS, fully loaded with coupons and got all his necessary blood testing supplies and thus began his life with diabetes.

The doctor started him on Metformin (a very common drug for the treatment of type2 diabetes) at one pill once a day the first week and increase to two pills a day the 2nd week. The second day he started the two pill week, he noticed some blurring in his vision. Cliff has worn reading glasses for years but has never had a problem seeing distance. By Wednesday of that week, his vision had blurred to the point he didn't feel safe in driving his tractor-trailor. We decided not to wait for his follow-up doctor visit but go right away. A change in vision is also fairly common when a person's blood sugar has been very high and often can get bad during initial treatement. Unfortunately, there are no timelines as to how long his vision would be messed up.

It's been frustrating for him. I know how frustrated I have been over not being able to hear well over these past several months. I think I'd rather not hear well than not see well. On top of that, he can't go to work which creates a whole other source of frustration.

This past Friday, I mentioned to Cliff that perhaps he could try different strengths of reading glasses to see if that would help. They did to an extent so we decided to run by our Opthamologists office and see if, by chance, they could fit him in for an appointment. At first, the receptionist told him they want you to wait until your blood sugar has been regulated for 3 months!!!! Now I don't know about you but we can't go 3 months without an income!! Once he explained that he cant work because of his eye situation, they talked to the dr. who agreed to see him on Saturday. Now, this eye office just started taking appointments on Saturdays!!

According to the Opthamologist, his eyes may never clear up to what they were and even if they did, it may only be slight. He was able to prescribe a pair of bi-foculs and with those, Cliff and see perfectly!! Hopefully they will be back in by next weekend so he can return to work quickly.

We were so amazed how God orchestrated this entire thing. From prompting us to run by the eye dr., to them agreeing to see him, to them being open on Saturday, to bifoculs clearing his vision. Who knows how long we would have been waiting for eyes to clear up that may never clear up!!

It was a great reminder to me, once again, that no matter how large I think my problems or obstacles are, God is bigger and greater. Why is it that I continually want to limit God? It's like I want to run and have safety nets spread out just in case God doesn't come through. Little by little I'm learning to trust Him.

Times of Faith

Do you remember this scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? The hero, Indiana Jones, is standing on the edge of a massive cavern. He must cross to find the grail and thereby saving his father's life. As he stand on the edge, he knows he must cross but he cannot see a way. It's a test of faith. Once he takes that first step, a bridge appears that he couldn't see before he took the step. He's able to cross and his father's life is saved in the end.

I think of this scene often...especially when it comes to matters of faith. Especially when I seem to be at a cross-road in life. I'm at one now. It's as if I can almost hear God asking me, "Are you going to trust me, Rebecca?" "I am enough. Just trust me." I know it but sometimes I have such a hard time taking that first step because I can't see what's before me.

I think, perhaps, one of the saddest portions of scripture I've ever read is at the end of John 6 when many of Jesus' disciples walked away. They literally followed Christ but when he called for them to take a step of faith they walked away...quit. I can imagine the disappointment in Jesus' eyes as he looks at the twelve and asked, "Will you leave too?" I believe that His disappointment was not in the fact that they had let him down but that He had so much to give them and they quit...they walked away instead of taking up their crosses and following Him.

I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, No turning back.