Excerpt: The Pursuit of God, The Human Thirst for the Divine, A.W. Tozer

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, The Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wondered so long. In Jesus' name. Amen
Excerpt: The Pursuit of God, The Human Thirst for the Divine, A.W. Tozer

Friday, June 24, 2011

Crochet the Night Away!

I got totally immersed in looking for free crochet patterns for kids/babies on the web yesterday and in my searching I found some really cute things for Abigail.  So, I quickly set out to work on my new found patterns.

The top shown in the picture was actually a dress and the bodice was solid, not lacey like I made mine.  The bottom of the top is made of "Solomon's Knots" which I had never heard of, so I found a YouTube video showing how to make them.  Very simple, but a royal pain to mess with!  But, if you want the WOW factor in your project, you have to painstakingly get there!  Since I was changing the pattern, I needed to find some little bloomers.  These are called "soakers" and that is something else I had never heard of!  I guess they are for soaking up pee that leeks out, not to mention the other grossness!  I'm going to tweak the pattern the next time I make these because there is a seam in the front where you sew the crotch when you are finished.  Then decided a headband and some sandals would look cute and finish the outfit!  And, Voila!  Here you have it!

I used my kit, Abigail, to make the layout.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

It's Me! Oh, Yes it is!

OK, I'm back with some more files from the dark ages, LOL!  Dark, as in, black and white.............or red!  Or, I suppose some of the younger generation that reads this will agree that these pictures are from the dark ages, as in, "I want to be able to look back when we are old like you guys (ha, ha!) and have great stories to tell and loads of super cute pics of us in our younger days looking so spry and happy!"  Not that this offended me or anything................Liz..................but it COULD be true that we guys are GETTING older!  Life has a way of doing that to you!  :D

All joking aside......Liz, I really WASN'T offended!  I thought it was very sweet of you to want yours and Brad's life to be as happy as we have been!  I pray that for all of my children!  I'm sure you realize how blessed you are to come from a home where there was love.  I think part of that is due to our giving the LORD priority #1 in our home!  If you haven't realized that..........WAKE UP!  Because I'm telling you now.............if you want your home to be a success.........make sure you give the LORD priority #1 in ALL things!

And when you don't understand why things are happening the way they are...........just be patient and TRUST in the LORD with all your might!  It will be alright!

Now that I've preached to you a little bit, let me share some of my pictures from childhood.....some of my history BEFORE your dad!

I don't know much about any of the places mom and dad lived in the early days of their marriage, other than it being in Osgood, Indiana.  I know that mom was living with some friends of hers in Versailles, Indiana, a town nearby, when she met dad and they were married 3 months later on December 20, 1954 (2 days after your dad was born).  I came along 9 months and 19 days later on October 8, 1955!  I am 1 month and 21 days old in this picture from December 1955.  Dad was working as a mechanic at a gas station in Osgood, Indiana.  His boss was Ralph Schmaltz.  I don't know how it happened or what the circumstances were that brought them together, but I know we spent alot of time with the Schmaltzes for as long as I can remember until we moved from the area.  But, even then we or they would travel to pay one another a visit from time to time.  When we gathered, they were ALWAYS playing cards!  It slips my mind now what game they played........maybe Spades, or that might be one of the games they played.  I'm thinking too hard at trying to remember, so I can't tell you, LOL!

Does anyone think any of the grandkids favor me in this picture at all?

Here I am at 6 months old.....that would be in April 1956.


These 2 pictures are from the summer of 1956.  Dad was a Harley man!  I especially like the second picture of me sitting in a pot of water!  At least I'm assuming there is water in the pot!  :D


These pictures are from late summer to early fall 1956.  I included them so you could see that dad never changed.  But, mom looks different.  Maybe because she is so skinny!  Dad told me one time that she weighed 108 lbs when they got married!  I'm thinking the other kids in the pictures remind me of some of my cousins from Kokomo, Indiana where my mom's family lived.



1st birthday.  In the bottom picture, that is my cousin, Linda, who was from May to October older than me.  That is her mom, Marie Brandenburg, Uncle Hubert's wife, standing near me.  I cropped most of her off, not on purpose, however!

One of many Christmases with the Schmaltzes.  I think I am in a little red wagon or something.  That is Darren and Renee Schmaltz behind me.


Since I had a picture of Tim on the potty, I figured it only fair to include one of me on the potty, too!  This looks like it was taken when I was about a year old or so.

I almost skipped over this one.  This is my Great Grandma Whitest from my dad's side of the family.  The one thing I regret is not getting any family history from mom and dad.

How sweet!  Here I am holding my baby brother's bottle when he was a couple weeks old.  We were 18 months apart to the day.  I always thought we were 17 months apart, but he was born April 8, 1957, so that is 18 months.

I skipped this one from 1956.  I love the towel on my head in this one.  Do you ever wonder why you do some of the things you do?  I know now the reason I wrap a towel around my head after I wash my hair is shown in this picture.  Because it has always been done that way!  It's like the story of the lady cutting the ends off of her ham roast before putting it in the pan to bake.  Someone asked her why she did it and she said she didn't know, that's just the way her mom always did it.  When asking her mom why she did it she was told that her mom had always done it that way.  So, the lady asked her grandmother why she cut the ends off of her roast and her grandma's reply was that she cut the ends off because her pan was not big enough!  LOLOLOL!  I think that is hilarious!  So, girls, the reason you put your towel around your head is because that's the way your grandmother always did it!  :D

I would say this picture was taken sometime around my 2nd birthday because Joey looks to be around 6 months old to me which would put this picture being taken in October 1957.  He got mom's brown eyes and I got dad's blue eyes................and I just happened to think about Kara's eyes being brown..........I had always said she was the first brown-eyed person in our family, but that's not true!  I wasn't thinking about Joey's eyes being brown.  While mom's eyes were brown basically, most of the time they had some green to them, too.  But, Joey's are definitely brown!

This was my dog, Snowball, a female Spitz.  She was a couple months younger than me.  I had her til I was about 12 years old.  She just disappeared.  We never did know if someone stole her or if she just went off to die at an old age.

I wonder what was so funny?  I must be about 2 years old or more.

The note on this picture says it was taken on Easter in 1958.  Looking at Joey with drool all down the front of him, I know exactly where his son got it!  Andy was constantly drooling!

 1961 - I look totally thrilled, don't I!

This is Easter 1962.  The dresses Kim and I have on were made by our Aunt Opal, dad's sister.


This was taken in 1964 when we lived in California.  How did we end up in California, you ask?  Well, dad was stationed in California when he was in the army.  He liked it and always talked about going on vacation out there.  In 1963 we did just that.  His intention was that if he found a job out there, we would stay.  On the Thursday before we were to leave to come back home to Indiana he found a job in a gas station.  So, we stayed.  We did not enjoy it at all.  It was a nice place to visit, but we didn't want to live there.  We stayed for 10 months before dad decided enough.  We moved back to Indiana..........however, not Osgood, Indiana.  We lived in College Corner, Indiana, which was near dad's sisters.  While working on these pictures, the thought came to me as to why we didn't go back to Osgood.  I would say that the main reason was that dad no longer had a job with Ralph Schmaltz.  So, now I am wondering if Mr. Schmaltz fired dad when he did not return from vacation, which would be perfectly legit, or is one of the reasons we went to California in the first place because dad would no longer be working for Mr. Schmaltz??  Was that the reason why he wanted a job out there?  Guess I'll never know this side of heaven!


1970.  Alot has happened between coming back from California to this house in Hebron, KY.  The house we were renting in Liberty, Indiana was a farm house and I think we got it rent-free because dad was keeping up the farm, I don't remember for sure.  But, it was affecting his health, if I remember correctly.  Anyway, some how he landed a job as a truck driver for Emery Air Freight out of the Greater Cincinnati Airport, which is located in Northern KY.  So, we moved to Union, KY in 1965 or maybe it was early in 1966.  That's where we met Bro. Ginn and family and attended the church he pastored, Big Bone Baptist Church.  We eventually ended up in a house in Hebron, KY.  These 2 pictures are taken at that house.  It was a very nice house.........until the tornado of 1974.  But that is another story for another time.  In these 2 pictures, I had gotten pretty heavy.  In 1971 I got a good case of the flu or something and lost 10 lbs.  I determined that if I could do that by being sick, I could loose more.  I believe I had just starting going with Tim, so that was probably the biggest motivation!  :D  I  lost 40 lbs total and looked great!  I joined the track team at school, too, and that helped tremendously!  Running laps around the high school after school every afternoon played a major part in my weight loss!  I kept it off pretty well, too, til the kids started coming along!  :D  The outfit I'm wearing in the bottom picture is a skirt and vest I made in home economics in 9th grade!  I was very proud of the outfit and wore it lots!

Well, just a few more pictures.  These are school pictures.  I have more somewhere, but didn't see them in my boxes, so they must be in a book somewhere.  They will just have to wait for another time!

 1st Grade
5th grade

Senior picture.  Graduation from Conner Sr. High School - June 3, 1973.....38 years ago!  WOW!  That was a few years ago!

And there you have it!  From the cradle to graduation.  A few other details would include details from my spiritual life.  I trusted Jesus as my Savior before we moved to KY in 1965.  Harold Haynes, long with the LORD, was our pastor at a Baptist church in College Corner, Indiana.  Mom, dad and I were all baptized at the same time using the baptistry at a Baptist church in Dartown, Indiana, I believe.  I'll have to confirm that.  I owe a lot of my Biblical education/knowledge to Bro. Ginn and Sis. Ginn.  I've not always lived the way I should live for the LORD and I know I have probably been an embarrassment to Him, but thanks be to God for His mercy and forgiveness!  Mom and dad were not happy that I was in love with someone who was not a Christian.  They liked Tim, but they were worried about what would happen if and when we married.  A legitimate worry!  Tim asked me once what I thought of his going to the seminary in Louisville and I told him I didn't want to marry a preacher........how foolish!  I'm sure that made the LORD laugh out loud!  It is no wonder that when the LORD was dealing with Tim to surrender to preach that he did not discuss it with me.  But, when he told me for the first time on our way to church the morning he had decided to accept the call and announce it to the church, I was elated!  Scared, but elated!  And to this day, I'm so thankful that the LORD kept dealing with Tim inspite of me!  While it is true that I didn't marry a preacher.............in God's eyes, I did!  Because once He begins a work in someone's life, He finishes it!  So, Tim was as good as being a preacher when we got married, even though he wasn't officially!  Praise the LORD!

Monday, June 20, 2011

A Beautiful Love and a Beautiful Life!

Tim and I knew a looooooooooong time before the "I Do's" that we would get married.  As a matter of fact, there was no proposal, it was just assumed that we would marry!  And this knowledge was the main reason that I never went through with the idea of going to college to become a teacher.  All I wanted to do was marry Tim and have his children!  I didn't think about the number we would have, but I would do it all over again...........with Tim, that is!  He has ALWAYS been very mature and has always been such a gentleman in his manners!  I thank his mom and dad for that!  He still opens the door for me..........and I let him!  :D

We officially became a couple on March 13, 1971.  And with the exception of several months that I thought I wanted to be with someone else, we have been together!  Even during the time of our "separation," due totally because of my stupidity, I yearned to be back with him and was so afraid I had lost the best thing that had ever happened to me!  Thank God that He had other plans and allowed me the opportunity to fix the mess I had made of our relationship!

I worried when he went off to college that he would find someone else!  Looking back, I think the only reason I worried is because I was still feeling really guilty about how I had treated him!  If he HAD found someone else, I totally would have deserved it!  But, again, God intervened and the rest is history, as you say!  We were married on May 8, 1976.  My how the time has flown by!

Here are a few pictures showing how happy in love we were (and still are) in our beautiful life together!

Homecoming Dance in 1971.  Tim and I are not dancers and we only "danced" to the slow dances, which reminds me of shuffling your feet to keep from going to the bathroom in your pants!  :D

Mom had a graduation party for Tim and I.  This cake is one Tim's mom had made, I believe.  Graduation from Conner Senior High School in Hebron, KY on June 3, 1973.


I felt very proud to be in the Honor Society with Tim!  However, I don't know how I got there because I was not that great in school as I just never really put forth much effort!  I did OK, but I could have done much better had I put forth some effort!  I failed Biology the first time around, which I would have figured would have kept me from being invited to the Honor Society!  That gold sure looked good on our caps and gowns, however!  :D

Tim held his 35mm camera out at arm's length and took this picture!  Now I'm the one always doing that!  :D

This trip to King's Island was in 1976 sometime.  I know that because the writing on the back addresses me as Tim's fiancee.  And I wasn't officially his fiancee until Christmas 1975 when he gave me my engagement ring.  This must have been an outing with Tim's dad's company or something.

FINALLY!  The big day!  May 8, 1976.  I had moved from home into this apartment in Covington, KY in April so that I could get it ready for Tim and I to live in.  It was a 3rd floor apartment with very few electrical outlets and peaked ceilings since we were on the top floor of the house!  We paid $30 per week rent!  Tim finished up college at University of Louisville on Friday, May 7th and we were married by the justice of the peace on Saturday.


Tim and I talked about owning a Buick Regal which was the popular car at the time, but we could never afford it!  Tim's mom, as our wedding gift, rented this car for us to travel to Natural Bridge, KY for our honeymoon.  I was not yet 21, so I could not drive it!

Here we are getting the tent set up.  I had never been camping before in my life!  So, this was a totally new experience for me!

Tim showed me all of the Boy Scout tricks.  We are blowing into the fire to help the flames become bolder!  Cooking on the stove was kind of new to me, let alone cooking on an open fire!

But, I have to admit that the pocket stew was delicious!

On top of the bridge........on top of the world and crazy in love!

We eventually moved into a trailer that we bought from Tim's Uncle Gary, which was on Tim's dad's property in Hebron, KY.  Tim fixed himself up a dark room in one of the bedrooms and he developed his own pictures.  This picture was taken down by the Ohio River.  Recognize the Dorothy Hamill haircut?  She was a champion olympic figure skater for the younger generation who reads this blog!  :D

Tim double exposed to create this picture.  LOVE it!  I would say these 2 pictures were taken in 1978.

Then comes the babies!  This Olan Mills picture was taken in the early part of 1982 because Michael got the little outfit he is wearing from his Aunt Jennifer for Christmas, I believe!

This picture was taken in March of 1984 according to the note on the back of the picture.

This picture was taken in 1987.  Nathanael cried and was not sure about the guy taking the pictures who tried very hard to get him to smile.


Well, that's all I have for you to look at.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day..........

To my wonderful husband and to Michael, our wonderful son!

I was looking through my boxes and boxes of pictures for a certain picture and found these pictures of Tim that I thought I would post since today is his day!  I am guessing at some of the dates.  Enjoy!


I'm guessing maybe January 1955 for these first 2, since he was born Dec. 18, 1954
 This is Tim's Gram, Tim's mom's mom.
 The date on the back of this picture says "Week of Feb. 7, 1955."  I'd say it is a 4-generation picture and I'm guessing that the woman seated holding Tim is Tim's mom's mom's mother.
 I'm guessing April - June 1955.

The date on this one is June 1955.
Happy First Birthday!
This picture reminds me of some of Nathanael's baby pictures.  I'm guessing January 1956.

The date on the back "Week of June 14, 1958" so he is about 3 1/2 here.  This reminds me of Michael as a toddler.
I have no idea on this one, but I'm guessing maybe 1st or 2nd grade?
Since he and I graduated together, I'm going to say he is in the 6th grade even though he looks much younger than that!
9th grade, 1969/70 school year, according to the writing on the back, which would confirm he is in the 6th grade in the one above.
I'm going to guess this 1973 or 1974 since he has a U of L shirt on.
I'm guessing 1975 or 1976 at U of L.
I'm going to guess 1978 for his graduation from NKU (Northern KY Univ).
This is my ALL TIME favorite picture of him.....I'm guessing around 1980...a Temple Baptist College picture.

So, there's a few pictures from baby to college.  Next, I'll scan some of our early years together.