Presenting "Mr. & Mrs. Daniel F. Moreland"

When last I posted on this blog, I suspected that a very special relationship was developing between our daughter, Paige Garner, and a young man she met at church, Daniel Moreland. I was correct and Paige accepted an engagement ring from Daniel on May 16th. The hectic process of planning a church wedding started and we didn't get many chances to slow down. As we planned, Paige and Daniel shared their stories on a wedding website and Paige also shared from time to time on her blog. Mom still didn't make it back to this blog to write. I think I may have been too busy making lists and running errands :)

Despite my inadequacies as a chronicler of our exciting times, God has richly blessed our family through Daniel and on August 9, 2008, we celebrated their marriage at First Baptist Church, San Antonio. We were so pleased that many of you could celebrate with us.

I understand that the newly married couple is currently attempting to fit their numerous belongings into an apartment in College Station before Daniel begins class next week. Paige will begin looking for a job soon. Mom, however, is coping with the changes in our lives by blogging about their wedding and move rather than trying to clean up what was left behind at our home :p

Perhaps, I'll be more regular with my blog entries in the coming months than I have been in the last year. Unless, I spend too much time looking at wedding pictures...

I Finally Established a Google Account...

Wow! It's been over a year since my last post. It is obvious that this blog has not been a priority in my life, although I have still enjoyed reading the blog posts of various friends and ministries.

I'm involved in a massive writing project for a special emphasis at our church and this seems like an appropriate time to return to this blog as well. Perhaps, I can "try out" bits of the project here...unless I get selected for a civil jury in our county which is expected to serve about SIX weeks beginning on March 24, 2008. The questionnaire I received with the Jury Summons is a writing project in itself. [Do everything without complaining...um, could have done without that verse popping into my mind at this moment *sheepish look*].

Just to catch up on some high points of the last year:

Our daughter graduated from LeTourneau University in early May of 2007 and we had a great time celebrating this event as a family.

Tom and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in late May and joked about Paige going to Hawaii instead of us (she could stay with my sisters in-laws which would not have been our choice for an anniversary trip so we used airline miles to send her while her cousins were also there). Is she spoiled or what?

Paige decided not to start graduate school immediately and began to work for the Boerne Public Library.

Tom and I spent a few days in Colorado after dropping Paige off at Glorieta Baptist Conference Center near Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she worked the previous summer.

Tom and I remain active in our church here in Boerne and Paige joined a church in San Antonio where she could make new friends as part of the Singles ministry.

Paige and I began attending BSF on Monday evenings here in Boerne.

Paige met Daniel at church in December and we are enjoying the excitement and challenges (long distance relationship with one in Texas and the other in an internship in Ohio) of this somewhat quirky but much loved couple :)

Paige celebrated her 21st birthday in January with a trip to New Orleans to visit a close friend and Valentine's Day with a trip to Ohio to see Daniel. Do I see a pattern here? Paige keeps taking trips while Mom and Dad remain at home :p Hopefully, this will not be the pattern for the rest of the year. I'm really in the mood to plan a trip.

God has blessed us in so many ways during this last year. I look forward to sharing through this blog from time to time. I hope you are having a great day!

Progression (Or Squish/Crunching About the Yard)

When I first began to take photographs the clouds mostly covered the sun but before I finished sunlight was sparkling on the melting ice.

On An Icy Note From Down South

I can't possibly keep up with Ma Hoyt when it comes to posting pictures of God's beautiful world or man's quirky products and pastimes, but having ventured outdoors and crunched my way about the yard with camera in hand, I feel compelled to share :) Apparently, I also felt compelled to write a very long run-on sentence...Hope that you enjoy them!

Only in Texas?

The roots of my raising run deep...into the whole realm of country music. Today was particularly fun while driving around San Antonio because a local radio station, KJ97, is playing only George Strait music all day and all night and giving away his new CD which will be available in stores tomorrow. Even in a part of the country where George has been known to renew his driver's license a few blocks from our home and people see him around the area on occasion wearing a ball cap, hearing his music played exclusively is not the norm.

I know that many of you don't like country music and it is by no means the only type of music I enjoy, but I must admit to knowing most of the lyrics to anything by George Strait, and a large number of songs much older than his. I also must admit that Paige's ability to hear almost any song one time and then sing the song, inappropriate lyrics and all, resulted in some potentially embarrassing moments when she was younger. While I have been known to change the radio station when lyrics were less than wholesome, I've never totally eliminated country music from my life. My Daddy loved country music and Saturday night television was primarily country in our house. I can remember this being a point of contention at times since we wanted to watch "Flipper." But Daddy died in 1977 and sometimes nothing substitutes for singing along with a favorite country song. Excuse the reminiscing...

"No matter how long you've dated, everyone marries a stranger. "

The line quoted above is from a Boundless webzine article Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend. As someone who has been faithfully married to one man for over twenty-nine years, I can attest to the truth of that statement. I think the rest of the article makes some interesting points, also. I trust that you'll find it interesting or bring it to the attention of someone else that might.

I Wish I Could Claim Responsibility For These Pictures

I hope you enjoyed these pictures :) Sometimes we are just too "sleepy" to be productive. That's not my excuse for not writing a serious post. I'm just not properly motivated at present, I guess.

So Long Overdue With Posting That Probably Only My Family Will Look At This Post

I really can't believe that I haven't posted ANYTHING since April. I guess I read far more blog entries than I either write or comment on. This will not be a long post but perhaps this next week I'll write a serious post. For today, I'd like to share links to a few blog entries that caused me to smile a moment or laugh. I hope that if anyone is actually reading this blog, you'll find something you enjoy also.

From Girltalk: Friday Funnies

From Thinklings: I Have Girls
I Have Boys

While I only linked one entry from "Friday Funnies," the archives for that category contain more chuckle worthy material :)

Yet Another View

An Unusual Flower - Parrot Flower from Thailand

Texan, Southern, or a Strong Dose of Both?

I started the morning off with this test after noting Jonathan's results on the same. It provided a few minutes of fun.

Dixie Royal You are 89% true Southern!

You are pure belle or gentleman! You know your Jones Soda, Nehi and RC colas, your Moon Pies and sweet potato pie; you'd absolutely die without air conditioners in the summer, and you've seen Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes (or read the book!). Your grandmother lives in an antebellum home and has a cook who makes the best fried chicken and asparagus casserole and summer squash and everything else in the world. And you know the taste of honeysuckle and the feel of grass between your toes. You are blessed.

My grandparents were born between 1890 and 1906 and never lived in anything approaching an antebellum home, although two of them hoed plenty of cotton and one grandmother built several homes herself and was quite accomplished with a shotgun.

Granny Little cooked her own fried chicken in an iron skillet in pure lard and I don't really remember Granny Boyd's fried chicken. She did, however, make 72 biscuits for breakfast in the days when she was cooking for her own children since she had 14 of them. She was in her 60's when I was born and was married to PaPa for 70 years before he died.

I definitely remember Nehi grape soda from the lift-top iced cooler at Aunt Francis' store, Royal Crown colas, moon pies, tasting honeysuckle blooms, and the feel of St. Augustine grass between my toes...also chasing lightening bugs, watching horned toads in the backyard, Sunday "singings" and dinner on the grounds (church grounds, that is). I have been truly blessed to grow up where I did with family and friends who loved me and let me know it and parents and grandparents who lived out committed marriages of the "until death do you part" type.

My Song

Music has always played a vital part in my life. Perhaps this partially explains why a passage I recently read in a novel by B. J. Hoff resonates with something within me. A school teacher was praying and reading scripture:

"And in his spirit, Truth whispered: The music of life is within you...not in the world, not in circumstances or external things...and not in an instrument. You are the instrument, and I am the music. Whatever road you walk in this life, it is because I have set your feet upon it. Whatever trials you encounter, whatever struggles you endure--your joys, your sorrows--these, too, are My will. I would have you, through the life you live with me, show these children....these people...that the music of life is within, not without...that it comes from Me. I am your hope...your strength...your song. I, the Lord, am your music."

"The Lord is my strength and song, And he has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him."
- Exodus 15:2

Spring Beauty

Definitely goofing around before the last symphony and "striking a pose" 

An Interesting Perspective

Our local paper wrote regarding the latest "ranking" involving the county where we live here in the hill country of Texas. Interesting...

A Day Late

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted and this isn't a "real" post of my own thoughts either. I didn't read these blogs on or before Valentine's Day but I think they are still worth passing along, hopefully, for your reading enjoyment. Check out "Countdown to National Single Awareness Day" and "A VD Prophylactic: How to Write a Love Letter (and Salvage Valentine's Day)" by Carolyn McCulley and Joe Carter.

Improving Your People Skills

I need to post something where I've actually written thoughtfully soon (lest I forget how) but in the meantime, I ran across this article I had bookmarked some time ago and thought it was worth sharing. Now, I need to practice what I've read...

On the Reading of Books

I can't claim responsibility for the content of this blog entry, but I can certainly relate. Reading has always been one of the great joys of my life. When I taught first and second grade, a major goal was to excite children about reading--even material that challenged their skill level. Consequently, I own enough children's books that I've started giving some away since I'm no longer teaching. The house is certainly littered (term pictures the arrangement of volumes of books rather than their value) with adult books but budgetary constraints have encouraged avid utilization of public and church libraries. I particularly enjoyed these comments by the blog's author, "C.J., I took books to high school athletic events when I played in the band. [Heap coals of scorn and nerdliness here.] I remember the books -- do you remember the games?" When Paige played in the band, I observed some reading going on in the saxophone section, although, believe it or not, she wasn't the guilty party :)

The blog's author, by the way, is Al Mohler as part of a group blog site.

Just In Case...

Just in case you sometimes read "Pyromaniac" as I do, Phil has determined that this blog could consume his life and has made some changes. The new "Pyromaniac" emerges as a group blog found here.

Word Play

Choices made by one person often have repercussions that impact others in their family or circle of friends. My daughter's choice of college is one such instance. Paige has expanded her circle of "unique" friends and extended Mom's world, as well. Her willingness to share many of her experiences with dear old Mom has resulted in numerous chuckles and exposure to a wide variety of writing, both in the blogosphere and elsewhere. Not particularly viewing myself as a gifted writer, I won't try to emulate stories told in limerick, satirical pieces, political analysis, or weighty literary criticism. I would like, however, to share an interesting blog I sometimes skim. Unable to link the specific entry only, I must ask that you go here and then scroll down to January 19th - " JC: It Was A Dark and Stormy Blog" for some fun "word play" among authors initiated by author Jack Cavanaugh.

Equal Time

My last post linked articles for men. While continuing to catch up on blog reading after my trip over the weekend, I ran across some comments related to a topic of relevance to godly women- "Modesty." Just last week I listened to several audio files online dealing with this issue in the church (including the C. J. Mahaney audio message referenced in this blog). I think that it is an issue which needs to be seriously addressed if we really care about the men in our life. So ladies, this one is for you...

Show Yourself a Man

While catching up on blog reading this morning, I ran across a link to several articles clustered around the topic "Show Yourself a Man." As a wife and mother, these articles have limited application to my own life but I wanted to point them out for consideration by the guys in my life or group of acquaintances. Maybe you'll find something of relevance to your growth as godly men.

An Opportunity to Share Your Concerns and Opinions

Dan Edelin, through his website "Cerulean Sanctum," is eliciting comments this weekend regarding "how the Church in America can better live out the faith." I'm interested in seeing the type of feedback he receives. Perhaps I'll even get brave and submit a comment of my own. I have been accused of having a few opinions of my own, after all. :-)

"Finding Out the Greatness Of Thy Loving Heart"

An old hymn (sung to a much newer tune) was shared as special music this morning in church and it especially resonated with me today. I had been praying for rest, peace, and God's strength for a friend last night and this song seemed especially "timely." As I pondered the words of the song, one thought kept coming to mind-- that "finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart" encompasses a vast range of experiences. Sometimes we experience God's love in joyful circumstances and moments. At other times, however, he walks with us through deep sorrow and uncertainty. Much happens in my life that I cannot understand this side of heaven, but, looking back I can see that I have a richer walk with Christ having experienced his presence in both joyful times and difficult times. I firmly believe that scripture places great value upon suffering but none of us wants to sign up for these lessons and we hurt when our friends experience them, also. So, to those in my circle who are currently hurting and looking to the day when they rejoice again, I offer these lyrics to ponder. May I also be faithful to uphold you guys in prayer.

Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art,
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.
Thou has bid me gaze upon Thee, and Thy beauty fills my soul,
For by Thy tranforming power, Thou hast made me whole.

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art,
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.

Oh, how great Thy loving kindness--vaster, broader than the sea.
Oh, how marvelous Thy goodness lavished all on me.
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, 'know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of pomise, and have made it mine.

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art.
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love--so pure, so changless--satisfies my heart,
Satisfies its deepest longing, meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me 'round with blessings; Thine is love, indeed.

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art.
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.

Ever lift Thy face upon me as I work and wait for Thee.
Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory, Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting; fill me with Thy grace.

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art.
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.

After the worship service, I sat near the piano as Amy, Andrea, and David worked on this song some more before the second service. This lilting arrangement was played by guitar, violin, and piano. It was a blessing to hear David sing these words so sincerely because we have grieved much over the death of his son last July. I listened, prayed, and cried (I find I do well these days with weeping "with those who weep." Romans 12:15). It was a good experience in a messy, painful sort of way.

Researching this old hymn on the Internet, I found the words attributed to Jean S. Pigott (1845-1882) and the common tune in hymnals is identified as "Tranquility" and attributed to James Mountain. The arrangement I heard today was by David Hampton (copyright 1998 New Spring ASCAP). This hymn was also identified by one individual as a hymn China missionary Hudson Taylor would sing to himself when he couldn't sleep at night, although I cannot attest to the veracity of this assertion.

For Purposes of Comparison

I guess it is only fair to post a more current picture of my husband, Tom, after the pictures posted by both Paige and I at our blogs in the last few days. So, for purposes of comparison, here it is...

Tom, last July at his Dad's wedding

A moment from Paige's "tutu phase" 

At Paige's request we spent much of Sunday afternoon looking through old family pictures. This turned out to be quite entertaining since Paige had not really looked at pictures of her Mom and Dad and their other family members from the "old days" since she was too small to remember much about them. To her amazement she discovered documented evidence that we had once been young.

Last night, Paige and I scanned a number of old family pictures and laughed a lot. While she is still sleeping this morning, I'll post some of them for any entertainment value they might hold to blog readers. Most were selected for this post by the beloved daughter but I may have to throw in one or two unexpected ones (since I know which other pictures she hopes to post on her own blog). Mom must be allowed some fun on occasion, after all!

Amazingly young looking first year teacher 

Wedding shower - Spring 1977