A horse named Sundae. A friend named Sherri. Love.

When I was 15, I owned a horse. She was the sweetest horse I have ever been around. Her name was Sundae. Sundae got her name because she looked like an ice cream Sundae. She was a pretty little paint, a racking horse. Nothing special to anyone but me. But for me, she represented a freedom that I have rarely known. I could ride her with no saddle (which is how I usually rode) and at times I would jump on her with no bridle either. I would guide her with my words and a gentle tug on her mane. It was as if she read my mind. What a special animal.

Few people know about my passion for horses. I love everything about them. I love their soft noses, their smell, seeing them run, or just peacefully graze in a pasture. I love their unique markings, and colorings. For me, a horse is one of Gods most beautiful creations. There have been many times that I have seen a horse and its brought tears to my eyes. I long to own one again. I long to ride, to run, to feel the wind on my face and the freedom that riding brings.

One Sunday when I was 15, I invited a friend over to ride Sundae with me. She was so excited. She shared my love for horses and couldn't wait to climb on Sundae and go for a ride. We rode double, and bare back. I remember that day so well. What fun we had! We laughed, and giggled. It was as if Sundae joined in on our party. She seemed to be enjoying every second of the day, too.

Little did I know, that day was a life changing day for me, and for my friend, Sherri. After that Sunday afternoon we were bonded forever. It was as if God used our ride, Sundae, and that afternoon to knit our hearts together forever.

Since then our friendship has gone through ups and downs. We still laugh about all the mischief we got into. We've had our hard times. There were seasons in our lives where we didn't talk as much, and then many many seasons when we were inseparable. We've raised our kids together, dog sat each others dogs, cried together when our precious pets have passed away, colored each others hair (oh my!), met the Osmonds together, (haha!! true story!), and seen Alabama more times than I can remember. We have lost family members so dear that I can hardly speak of the unbearable grief, walked through marriage and divorce together, suffered heartache together, cried rivers, and shared more laughter than any two girlfriends I know of.

Tomorrow, Sherri has a birthday. I am sitting here and replaying so much of our lives in my head. She is such an amazing woman. She loves God and her family with unwavering passion and faithfulness. She is a faithful friend to so many. I consider her one of the wisest women I know. She's usually the first one I run to when I need advice, or just an ear to listen. How blessed beyond measure I am to have a friend like Sherri Turner. Our friendship is a treasure. And I thank God for her faithfulness and love.
Who knew that day that we jumped on my precious Sundae and rode the day away, that the most beautiful friendship was beginning. Almost 40 years later, we're stronger than ever.
We've always had a saying we say to each other. It's the best way we have to describe our love.
So, here's to you, Sherri Turner....For time and eternity...Happy Birthday, my dearest friend...
I love you so much!

"Testing the Strong Ones"

What a week! I have taken each moment step by step, knowing I was going through a lot, but trying to just take it as it came. My son moved out this week. I got some devastating news about something a loved one is doing. My dear friend went through the one year anniversary of the death of her son. I was flat out rejected by someone I hold close in my heart. I found out a dear friend has breast cancer. Found out of more lies and betrayal. I've been coming to terms with some uncertainties. Carrying it all pretty much alone. And then today, to ice the cake, on my way out the door this morning, our toilet ran over...no time to clean it because I was already running late....and then, I lifted my hands to praise God in church and realized my deodorant wasn't working. Holy cow!!! haha How embarrassing! Who on earth does that happen to?? Oh, that's right! ME!! lol haha

Then the dam almost broke. You know...the final straw... I almost went into the ugly cry. All of us women know exactly what that looks like, and its not something you want to do in public. (Even though I had already lost it twice in public this week and cried the ugly cry, I didn't want to do it again. Certainly not in church, where everyone acts like they have it all together...) But subtly my tears began to flow. I remember one day last week crying before God and saying "This is all I can take! I am at my limit." But it kept coming. And He kept giving me the strength as I needed it.

 I cried all the way home this morning, called my daughter, and cried to her. Then I began to realize I did have plenty to be grateful for. I began to think over the little things that also happened that brought me great joy. Gordon (our dog) always brings a smile to my face. I briefly spoke to an old friend that I hadn't talked to in months. I had lunch with a friend, and even though her grief over losing her son was so deep, we managed to laugh a little. I got to see my son's new apartment. And I ate way more ice cream than I should have... Most importantly, God sent dear friends to encourage me along the way. Time after time my girlfriends text, or messaged me or called and said the very words I needed to hear. I am convinced that they were messengers from God. He was using each of  them to hold my arms up just as Aaron held Moses arms up when he became weary.

My Bible study this week has been about believing God for miracles. The teaching was on the parting of the red sea. And I am believing God for a few 'red sea' miracles in my own life...
Not sure why I am writing this except to say, if you're going through more that you think you can bear,  God will carry you through. He is always sending us hope, and bits of joy if we will keep our eyes open for it. And yes, I believe He is in the miracle business and He has miracles in store for me, and for you. In the mean time, I want to be your Aaron and help hold your arms up. I want to walk by your side until the stormy season passes.

 Much Love to my readers and friends! I am humbled that you take a few minutes to spend with me. I pray somehow God uses my blog for His glory...That's my hearts desire...
Oh, and my blog Title "Testing the strong ones"...Came from Copeland! Missing them lately!

Nothing Like It!

My son is coming home today. He has been gone for two and a half weeks. I am beside myself with excitement. I just got home from a shopping spree at Walmart buying junk food for him. My order included potato stix, cookies, hot pockets, and brownies. All these items are things he loves. As I hurriedly pushed my cart through the store trying to beat the crowd, I found myself smiling. I wanted to look at someone and say "My sons coming home!!! Don't you understand??? MY SON"S COMING HOME!!! He's the best!!!"

As I loaded my order of groceries (AKA junk food) into my car, I was thinking how us moms love our kids. Really, there's nothing like it. Nothing compares to a Mommas love. My kids love me. They adore me. I have no question where I stand in their hearts, and for that, I am truly blessed. But, their love for me is still very different than my love for them. I was saying that very thing to Lindsay the other day. "I know how much you love me, but you will never fully understand my love for you until you are a mom."

The day you become a mom, your world changes. It gets more rich, more colorful. Selfishness falls away, for there is someone else that matters far more than yourself. As we raise our kids, we just love them! We are proud of them. We stand behind them. We sacrifice for them. When they get off track, we still love them and we are still proud of them. When their heart is broken, we feel their pain. When they have success, its the best day of our life! And when its just an ordinary day...nothing special...we still get excited just to see their faces, or even get a text from them. The littlest things make our day, like a hug or a note. There's just nothing like being a mom...

Can we possibly get our mind around the fact that our Father loves us even more than we love our kids? Better still, He loves our kids even more than we do! He is planning their lives, protecting, directing, loving and guiding them. For us moms, its hard to watch sometimes. Sometimes we have to watch them learn trust to Him in the middle of heart break. Sometimes our Father allows them the freedom to go in the wrong direction. (These trials not only grow our kids, but they also grow us.) Yet He is still guiding them as they "find themselves" or question Him. How beautiful is that? How lovely is our Fathers love. How very lovely....

A shout out to my kids! Thank you for being you! You are both the best!!! And a shout to God for giving you to me! His love for you is amazing! I am so grateful!

Daniel and Lindsay

 

 

 

                                 This was the day he got home from Europe! The day of my shopping trip!

I love this picture, even though its a year old. One of my favorites! We were on a hike in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Great Day! Love these two faces! :)

A walk to remember....

It was a hot muggy morning in Florida, like most mornings in Florida are. I was up before the rest of the family, and feeling a little restless. So I headed out the door for a long walk on the beach. As I walked, and began to pray, I remembered back to the night before. I had gone to bed late that evening with the same old guilt. Wrestling with the same old struggle was getting tiresome, and I was begging God to remove it.

As I walked and talked out loud, I am sure my fellow beach walkers thought I had lost my mind.  My prayer that morning, through my sweat and tears, went something like this: "God, I can never get this right! No matter how hard I try, I am always failing! Please just remove it!" The wrestling within me  was so deep, the longing for Him was almost palatable. At the same time I could almost see a finger pointing at me from my accuser and making me feel unworthy, and inadequate. As I prayed, His sweet voice came to me. It was almost audible, and I have never forgotten His words.

"My child, I am not sitting up here measuring and counting your failures! I'm not keeping score against you. I just love the fact that you get up everyday and come after me!"

Grace, Mercy. Unfailing unconditional Love. I felt all of that on the beach that day. I knew in my heart once again, that even though I fail all too often, His love for me never ceases.

I have carried that morning walk with me in my heart for a few years now. And even this morning as I sit here writing, His words ring in my head. I am still a big ole piece of work in progress! And He is still my God who is so proud of me, failures and all... He just longs for my time and wants me to get up everyday and head towards Him...

                                                           Fernandina Beach, Florida

"You don't know Jack"...

It was a spring day, two weeks after several tornadoes had devastated our area. Our neighborhood was in shambles. We had not had a direct hit by a tornado, but there was so much wind damage all around us. Trees down, roofs damaged, trees through roofs, etc. I remember driving home from work that day and I was exhausted. As I rounded the corner and went up the hill toward our neighborhood, low and behold, there he was. My dad. My 77 year old dad. He had his work hat on. If memory serves me right, he had his work gloves, too. And he was mowing our neighbors yard.

Our neighbor was a 30-something year old, able bodied man. He hadn't bothered to mow his yard all year, so the grass was knee high. You see, my dad had seen my neighbor out looking at the damage on his roof the day before. Dad was coming to chop up some downed trees for us (another act of love and service). When he saw our neighbor, he stopped to talk with him about the damage his house had sustained. And while he was at it, he talked with him about Jesus. But dad didn't want to leave it at that. He loaded his mower up, and came down the next day to mow our neighbors yard. He later told me that he let the man know he was doing it in Jesus name. The man barely uttered a thank you and closed the door on dad. That didn't detour this honorable man of God. He went ahead with his mowing, sweat dripping from his brow, doing his work "in Jesus name".

I have watched Dad do things like this for others my entire life. He goes about quietly serving. Humbly talking to other people, getting to know them, praying for them, and when possible, telling them about Jesus. He has won more people to Christ through his humble spirit and by loving them than anyone I know.

Why am I telling you this? Dad would not want me to talk about the things he does for others. He would be embarrassed to get any attention for his service or his kindness.

But I am writing and telling this story for a couple of reasons.

I am seeing a movement, as of late, that is bashing organized religion. I have written in the past about my views on this subject. You are absolutely right about organized religion! It has failed miserably in so many ways. Churches are full of "religious" people who are hypocrites, fakes, snobs, and cliques. They are full of adulterers, liars, cheaters, and people that are so judgmental, usually because they are covering their own sins.

But churches are also full of godly men and women. People like my dad. For every hypocrite, there is someone who will selflessly mow someone yard, or cook a meal for someone in need, or feed homeless people. There are people who work with children, or mentor teens, or visit the elderly. The list goes on and on of good I see. There are many people within the church walls, who love Jesus with all their hearts and get up every day to serve Him and serve others in whatever way He calls them to do. These are men and women of God. Yes, God is real. Yes, He is alive. Yes, many people serve Him. If you don't believe me, let me introduce you to Jack Price...my dad...

This is my Mom and Dad, with Paul, and Lindsay and Daniel. I am so thankful for the heritage they given us. Mom has served God most of her life, too, just like dad, only behind the scenes a little more..

Much love everyone, and thanks for reading...
 

Isaiah 30:18-21

 ¹⁸ Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.
 ¹⁹ O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.
 ²⁰ Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher.
 ²¹ Your ears will hear a word behind you, “^]This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

Fear Not...

I have never been a person with a lot of fears or phobias. When I was young, I remember being a fearful child. But as I grew older, and worked through my "stuff", I became less and less fearful. Once I reached my 40's, I really didn't consider myself to be a fearful person.

Then, I turned 50. And all of a sudden I developed all kinds of fears! Fear of severe storms, fear of heights, fear of driving on the interstate, and a fear of dentists! haha I am sure if I thought more about it I could list more fears; but frankly, its getting embarrassing!!

I have watched my beautiful 23 year old daughter battle with an ongoing fear of heights. There are two places that we visit frequently that cause her to tremble as soon as she sees them. One is an overlook at Fort Mountain State Park in Georgia. We hike the trail that leads to the overlook a couple of times a year. Without fail, when we start climbing down the rocky path that leads to the deck, she begins to tell me that she IS NOT going out on the deck. "I'll walk down there, but I'm not going to the edge" she says. And, without fail, I say to her, "The only way to get through a fear like you have is to push yourself through it! If you'll walk out there, eventually you won't be scared! The view is worth it!" The last couple of trips she has actually taken about 3 steps out onto the overlook. This was a monumental time in her life!

The other place that she is terrified of is the glass bridge in downtown Chattanooga. We have made that walk time and time again. The more we walked it, the more fearful she was. But, something very interesting happened last September...

Lindsay was meeting a young man that she was quite smitten with to go downtown for a late night walk. Before she left to meet him she said to me, "I hope he doesn't expect me to walk across that bridge." To which I gave her the same old reply. "You can't get through fear unless you push yourself.....blah blah blah". When she came home that night, she told me about the wonderful walk she'd had. And then she added, "Annddd, I crossed the glass bridge! I told him I was afraid, but he just said to me 'come on! you're doing this!', and I DID IT!" After that night, they crossed that bridge several times together. It was amazing to see the courage she gained as he held her hand and they crossed together!

 So, today I am having to eat my words, and follow my own advice! Tonight I sit here knowing that within the next 3 days, I am going to be faced head on with several of my fears. Severe storms are predicted for tomorrow. My son will be driving to Texas in two days. That's his first long trip away from us, and he'll be doing most of the driving, which puts me face to face with my fear of interstates. And I HAVE to make a dreaded appointment with a dentist. I am pretty sure dental surgery will be the outcome. My heart is racing just typing that one...

 But, I am taking some notes from my own advice and my daughters experience. You see, just as she held on to her boyfriend's hand and began to conquer her fear, I am going to hold on to my Father's hand and face mine. The fear is starting to be worse than any pain that my future could possibly hold! Really, isn't that the way all of our fears are? We are afraid and yet our wonderful Father is always there! Our fears do not change the outcome of life. Just like Lindsay hiking down that path to the overlook, her fear robbed her of enjoying the hike! And my fears will rob me of enjoying my journey with God!

So here goes... "In order to get past my fear, I have to push through it" and today I will add to my advice, "and hold tightly to my wonderful Father's hand!" I know His heart! I can trust Him!

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your hand, and says to you do not fear; I will help you.
Perfect!
Much love!

Here is the overlook at Fort Mountain State Park! It really does hang off the side of the mountain! But the view is amazing!

And here is the glass bridge in our beautiful city, Chattanooga! It crosses from the Walnut Street Bridge into the art district. What a beautiful city we live in!