If yo get a moment please watch this video of Zac Smith. I saw this on Kelly's Corner blog. Get out your tissues. To God be the glory!
http://vimeo.com/9796056

A most special man

This is my grandmother..AKA Sally Field!

My grandfather, Thad.

Today is such a sweet day! This picture is of my grandfather Thad Browder Today would have been his 74th birthday. I had the most special relationship with him. You see, even though my grandparents were not perfect people they always made sure that the grandchildren knew they were loved. He loved Grammy with all his heart and he was always about family. I was among one of the most fortunate one of the grandchildren because I was able to share a lot of my life with them because they lived closer to our family than the rest of my cousins or aunts. Plus I was older. My other cousins are a little younger than me and were so young when he died they they were not able to share as many things with him before he died.As far back as I can remember they have always, and I mean always were there for any birthday party, school function, whatever...My Grammy still continues on this tradition and she has such a huge amount of grand kids and great grand kids. As the Proverbs say, She is so blessed..what a legacy Grammy has.



Gran-gran as I have always called him went to be with the Lord my junior year in high school..I remember the day as if it were yesterday. About nine months earlier he was diagnosed with a brain tumor called a glioblastoma. Which means budding tumor. It would increase in size every few weeks. Sadly, the doctors gave us devastating news that there was no cure, but surgery would only buy us precious time. I was actually at a softball practice when my dad came and pulled me off the field. I remember being so shocked that it was here. I don't think that you ever are able to cope with losing someone just because you are given a notice that they do not have long to live. If it were not for my Health Occupations teacher that year I would have failed 11th grade. I was so devastated that my grandfather would not be there. I was not a believer in Christ at that time, so I remember being angry and bitter toward any mention about God during those times. I remember praying to God, but angry because God wouldn't heal this great man. But when I became a christian I let those feelings go and realized that God has a plan that he is weaving together. I honestly feel that in some way with my grandfather passing away had a part in my journey to seek our Heavenly Father. One of the most honorable things I was able to do for my gran-gran was I had a letter published in a book that I had written to him about how sad I was to let him go but that it was ok. Because of that they did a special on him and the book at our local television station. That was precious to me! Now, I look back and see that God did hear my prayer and heal him. He is no longer suffering or in pain. It wasn't my idea of healing but it was God's way of ultimately healing him.



We had a very unique relationship. When I was young I remember going to his house and him playing and chasing me around the house. He would always say, "Last one to the car, loves Tracy Vaughn." Now don't ask me who Tracy Vaughn is...it was some inside joke that has always been some what a tradition in our family to say when we were playing around. He would always pretend he wouldn't see me in his favorite chair and sit on me and say, "Where is Amy Sue?" And I would just giggle....We would go down to the Fast Fare and he would buy either M&M's or Mickey Mouse popsicles! To this day I love M&M's and when I got married in honor of my grandfather Hilton gave me a bag of M&M's after they pronounced us husband and wife. On any given Saturday he would come by our house and pick me up and take me to the beauty shop and get my hair done. When I turned 13 he came by the house one afternoon and told my mom he was taking me to go buy makeup. Not just down to Wal-mart and buy Cover girl. He wanted me to have the best. We went down to Belks and he walked up to the Clinique counter and told the lady he wanted all the stuff from cleansers to eyeshadow for me. My eyeshadow was a baby blue and I had pink blush! LOL! Did we all wear blue at that age? Several times I remember him coming to my house picking me up and taking me to my most favorite store... Maurices! Not only did he buy me like a dozen outfits but they also had the jewelry, socks, and shoes to match with each outfit... Now Hilton should know why my love language is gifts!!!!! The most special thing that he did for me was after he was diagnosed he had my grandmother put back some money to save for the prom dress of my dreams my senior year. Unfortunately, he never saw me in it...but it was beautiful...white and sleeveless...I looked like a princess!



Ok,ok...yes I was spoiled! He did it to me...poor Hilton...LOL! I have so many wonderful memories. Not only during those trips was it about giving me gifts, but we also had "talks". With anything I ever struggled with I always felt like I could share them with him. Who knew that God knew what he was doing when he gave me a grandfather to give me such wise advice when it came to handling people. He never knew that I met a fella named Hilton who was going to be a preacher. I have always taken the advice he gave me and still practice it today. One such advice..."Say hello to everyone you meet." "Smile at everyone and treat them the way you want to be treated." The list could go on and on!



My Grammy has stuck to tradition and carries out the job with making sure our family is taken care of. She is a strong woman and I treasure the things that she has brought to my life. I know she loves and misses her husband every day. Sometimes when we are together we will say, "If Gran-gran were here, he would fix this issue..." She is such an inspiration and even though she can't always now be at every function all the children in the family are involved with, I know she wishes she could. We are all spread out the U.S. now. But it never fails, she ALWAYS has a Hallmark card in the mail to every grandchild at every holiday. And it is always signed XOXOXOXOXOXO Love, Grammy. My daughter Kyndal Grace laughs every time and says, " I know this is from Grammy because of the XO!" She is a spunky lady and I call her Sally Field. She takes care of her family and you are not allowed to hurt anyone in her family unless you want to deal with her. She is fashionable and loves Liz Claiborne. I hope I have her wonderful genes and still look so young when I am around her age. She lets the children pull out every Disney movies she has in the house and never raises her voice to them while they are tearing up. She was there for every birth of my children. I thought that when I was having Kaitlyn she was going to get kicked out of the hospital because they were just not doing enough for my pain! I laugh so hard thinking about that. That is why I call her Sally Field...(She reminds me of her in Steel Magnolias) One of the most comforting times I remember her there was after Caleb was born he was in critical condition at the NICU and it was dark outside. I had been crying and was so tired and in so much pain. My parents, and Hilton's family were there. I happened to look up and there was Grammy with my two aunts coming to be with me. Just me! To help me. I am so blessed with a great family!







As for now.....



I know he would have loved watching me on my wedding day marry the man I love. Or for the birth of my children. I know he would have loved to watch my other cousins and my brother getting married. I know without a doubt he would have been overwhelmed with joy and tears of all the great grandchildren he would have had to love on...and possibly would have treated my daughters the same way as he treated me. He would have pulled some of us and my other family back into a reality check when we messed up. Not in an ugly way, but more like a gentle tug while holding on to us tightly...just as our Heavenly Father does. He had a way to just fix things.



For some reason, God needed him on March 30,1994. I know without a doubt we will see him again! I can't wait. I will see him and our precious child, Bailey,that we lost 5 years ago.

Gift...of an Ordinary Day!

A friend sent this to me...I needed a good cry! Tears have such a healing effect! Get your Kleenex out!







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olSyCLJU3O0

Prayer for a sister in Christ

This is what I love about being a Christian! You see, I may not always personally know a person that I am praying for but God knows the person and the circumstances always! Well dear friends in Christ I am asking you to lift this family I am getting ready to talk about in prayer. I am a reader of Kelly's Korner and her most recent post stated:

"Can you please pray for a family in AR. The husband is a pastor in a small town and they have three children. Yesterday the youngest - a 3 yr old boy - was diagonosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. They go to AR children's hospital tomorrow to determine stage and treatment options. They need our prayer."

Well, this immediately caught my attention...being in the ministry as well my heart is always leaning immediately to others who are in the same "shoes" as my husband and I. My heart is broken for this family. As the post stated they will have a tough day tomorrow...But Our Father is there with them.

If you don't mind would you take a moment and just pray....

Here is the blog to this family if you would like to leave a comment for them or to be updated...

www.harperhouse4.blogspot.com

God bless you all!

Top 10 things I love about my husband!

A friend of mine named Sarah at this blog....http://www.jjjourney.blogspot.com/, challenged her fellow blog friends to do a top 10 of their husbands! She had such sweet things to say about her fella! It inspired me to do one for Hilton...Bless his heart... I rarely post things about him, and I need to do it more. I challenge you to do it to friends!



So hear goes... Drum roll please! LOL!



10. Hilton is probably the most humble person you will ever meet. He does not covet possesions and he is very content with what God has given him.
9. He loved me way before I would even give him the time of day! Hey...before you judge you have to understand that I was very young...18!!! And I thought..."What does a preacher want with me?" Let's just say I wasn't born with a "sign" that said "YOU WILL BE A PREACHER'S WIFE!!!!" LOL! I laugh at the thought that God had ordained a long time ago about bringing us two together...He has a sense of humor...
8. Hilton is a great daddy...He loves his girls and son. He takes up time with them and seems to be more patient with them at times. I love especially watching him with the girls. Nothing like a daddy and his girls. They adore him. He makes sure that he takes time with them individually regardless of how hectic his schedule is.
7. He is loving and compassionate about our marriage, our kids, our future dreams. He dreams big!!! HE knows with God anything is possible!
6. He is my "rock". At times when I am feeling like I am about to have a meltdown, he knows how to comfort me and calm me down. He is the quiet one...(except when he is preaching) Lol! I am the loud one in the family. He reacts calmly...I don't!
5. To me, he is the best looking preacher I know! I love watching him up at the pulpit...He burns with a love for the Lord and telling others about being set free. I love watching him take care of his "flock" at our church.
4. He is not afraid to help clean the house and take turns taking care of our children. He comes home from a long day and still helps me out...
3. Hilton loves his parents and family very much. He respects them and never tries to cause problems within his family. He loves my parents and my family as well. He is constantly praying for them..
2. He is an awesome husband and he spoils me...more than I deserve!!!!!!! He tries to demonstrate his love for me the way Christ demonstrates His love for the church!
1. He loves the Lord with all his heart mind and soul!

Apologies

It is a beautiful spring like day up here in the mountains of Virginia! I am so looking forward to Spring. It represents such things as life, new birth. It especially holds a most important time for us to reflect what Chirst has done for us. He DIED for our sin. Sometimes I think we don't take into full account exactly what HE did. The bible states he was marred beyond recognition! WoW!

He bore every sin of the world on his shoulders. He died a horrific death...but it doesn't end there...He ROSE on the third day. We have been made new. It is so sad that people reject him. I read a lot and unfortunately a lot of people are so turned off of loving God, because of religion. They believe you have to follow certain rules and the christian life is boring, or hypocritical. Being a christian is not being religious. It is about having a relationship...excuse me, PERSONAL RELATIONSHIOP with our Father in heaven. It doesn't mean we are to not ever mess up...I mess up every day! I think, do and say things I shouldn't all the time. I am very far from being perfet. I have not arrived...but I do strive to be more like Christ.

This morning after breakfast as a family we had a morning devotional together. Or at least we tried to have a morning devotional. With three kids and a dog it can be crazy at times trying to share devotional time! My son who is 4, doesn't quite understand but I know "seeds" are being planted. My daughters, however do listen and some of the devotionals are at times a little hard but I know if I keep reminding them about the Lord one day it will all click! As for the dog, Cody, he is a distraction...he wants to bark right as we are reading or asking questions. At times I get discoraged and think that it's impossible to do devotions with our family, but I don't give up! I know it is important to talk with our family all the time, and have teachable moments with them about our relationship with the Lord. Anyway, back to this mornings devotional....

It was about self righteousness...Have we ever just done things, good things but our motives for them were wrong? Whoa! That one it hard with me....I am guilty of this! In case you need to understand more about self righteousness here is what the devotional said about it. It comes from a devotional book we have called, Dinner Table devotionals from Nancy Guthrie....Self righteousness is the list inside our heads of what we've done or who we are that makes us acceptable to God, and certainly, we think, better than the average person around us.

Our church attendance, our donations to charity, when we think about how "other" people needed to hear that sermon or fix their own lives, rather than seeing our own need for repentance....Um, I am so guilty! You see sometimes we only apologize to God for the bad things we have done. But do we ever ask for forgiveness for the "good" things we do? Do we do things with the right attitude? Or do we do things so others in the church will see what "good"things we have done. If we do things with the right heart then we don't need special recognition...now don't get me wrong...I think it is appropiate at times to be encouraged, but if all we look forward to is a pat on the back when we do things, then we have done it for the wrong reason. It is my desire to always do things for others and not expect anything in return. Boy, I have been so guilty for doing things with the wrong motive! Even with my family....You see, Isaiah 64:6 says, We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. The opposite of self righteousness is dependance on the righteousness of Jesus...that is given to us to make us acceptable to God.

In my own life I do desire to give and do things for others. I love to help people. My heart prayer though is that I get out of the way and let God's righteousness shine rather than my own!

I will leave you with this last scripture to ponder on...

Romans 10:3

They don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God's way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

Facebook | 2010 Dominican Republic Missions Team

Facebook 2010 Dominican Republic Missions Team: "We are hosting a golf tournament at Roanoke Country Club on Saturday, May 22 with a shotgun start at 1:00. All proceeds will benefit the 2010 Dominican Republic Missions Team from Bethel Baptist Church.

Contact the church office (540-389-2376) to register for the tournament.Golf Tournament
A fun way to raise some funds for the DR missions trip
Time:1:00PM Saturday, May 22nd
Location:Roanoke Country Club"

Facebook | 2010 Dominican Republic Missions Team

Facebook 2010 Dominican Republic Missions Team: "Support the missions team going to the Dominican Republic.

We will be hosting a chili luncheon on Sunday, March 21 after the morning worship service. 'Family Ties' will be providing music entertainment during the event. You can also sign up to compete in the chili cookoff contest - with winners chosen in 3 categories.

Yo...u can purchase tickets through the church office or after services on Sundays.

Cost if purchased by March 14:
$5/person ($20 max per family)

Cost if purchased by March 21:
$7/person ($25 max per family)

Meal includes bowl of basic chili, toppings, cornbread, dessert and drink. Optional hot dog meal for kids. Kids 5 and under are free.See More
Chili Cookoff & Luncheon
Time:12:30PM Sunday, March 21st"

Dominican Republic

So, as I stated in one of my recent posts, that I am stepping out of my comfort zone...I guess I need to inform some of you what I am talking about.

First of all, if you know me well...you know I do not FLY...I have flown from RDU to Nashville..total flight time 1hour and 20 minutes...I did actually fly this route twice. Once with my hubby to the Southern Baptist Convention and once with a group of friends to a CareNet Conference.

Well, our Worship Pastor, Gregg Randolph and his sweet wife Jess have been showing all these wonderful pics of their mission work in the DR. Well, I immediately felt God calling me to take a mission trip. Funny how God works...It is hard to explain the feeling of being urged to agree to go. AGAIN, I DO NOT FLY!!!!!!!!! But, no matter what I was doing God continually has been working on me to go. I have recently been studying through the book of Exodus and even in that sweet book, I felt God telling me to GO! I, of course was being like Moses and telling God about all the reasons that I couldn't go! LOL! He always amazes me. So, I told Gregg to sign me up, and hurry and buy the airline ticket or I am backing out! HA! Also, the coolest part of all is that one week after being obedient, my trip was PAID IN FULL!!!! Wow! How cool is that! It really pays to listen to our Father...It is a 4 hour flight, but we actually will fly out of RDU(Raleigh Durham) and fly to Miami, then have a layover and fly to the DR. I think I can handle this! We will have a break in the flight, and I will be able to touch the ground in Miami!



I really am excited! It is definetly something new for me! I have never done a mission trip! I am asking God to break my heart and prepare me for this time. Will you please add the mission team to your prayers. We appreciate it! Our trip will be June 25-July 3rd. I will keep you posted on our preparations! We have lots to do before then. I also hope to blog some on my trip!



Below are the names of the others on the mission team.....I am excited that I am able to go on this trip with Hilton. WE have never done this as a couple. He has been on a mission trip to Capetown, South Africa.....in case you didn't know...that is a 19 hour flight! I am not quite ready for that one yet...maybe one day! HA!



2010 Missions Team (L-R) - Pat Myers, Phyllis Hunsley, Hilton Jeffreys, Amy Jeffreys, Bryan Hunsley, Sarah Balser, Gregg Randolph, Jessica Randolph

If you click on the link below you will see a pic of the team! Also, you can click to be kept up to date on the trip!
Thanks!

2010 Dominican Republic

My first baby is now almost a MIDDLE SCHOOLER!

Where has the time gone? My oldest, Kaitlyn just out of the blue (not really,haha) has grown up! It has hit me hard in the past month that she is almost done being a 5th grader. She is almost as tall as I am! Which doesn't mean a lot since I am only 5'2! She came in on Monday and told me about how the guidance counselor came in and talked to all the 5th graders about how middle school was going to be. Little tears formed in my eyes as she was telling me. It just seemed like yesterday that she was my newborn and I was holding her in my arms and dreaming about what she would be like.

I am still praying and dreaming for her. Praying that she will always follow God and have a tender heart for the those in need. I dream that she does well in her life and won't endure hard times. But, I know hard times will come, so my prayer is that she will lean on Him during those times. I also pray and dream of her future spouse and pray he is a God fearing man. If only marriages could still be arranged! LOL!

I am posting a pic now of her 5th grade Beach Day. It was a great day and my mom got to come down and spend the day with us. It was so much fun! We had a blast watching the kids dance and play around!

These are the times that I wish life would SLOW DOWN! Don't you? As the singer, Trace Adkins puts it...You're gonna miss this...You're gonna wish those days didn't go by so fast... I already miss those preschooler days with her. Her cute little pigtails flying away in the wind while she is swinging on the tire swing. I miss her mispronouncing words like 'spaghetti', to where it sounds like "sketti", and saying Stokland Neck instead of Scotland Neck. HA! I miss some of the innocence she has. I look back and at the time those early years in her life seemed so HARD! But compared to things now they were the easy days!

Hold your children longer...one day they will be gone and you will miss it!

Deserted!!!!

Oh my! Where have I been?? I have deserted my blog...since September!!!!!
I really want to stay current on this thing..just finding the time is hard!
Anyway, for those of you who still may occasionally look on here to see what we are up to....
We have a had a very busy winter!
Kaitlyn has finished basketball for Salem Rec! Her team did great! They came in second in the playoffs here.
Kyndal is doing great too and has bloomed in her reading skills. She is now getting ready to start tball!
Caleb, went back in Jan. to Duke to have a food challenge on his peanut...for those of you who may not know, Caleb has been in a study for almost two years now. They pretty much try to get his immune system to accept the peanut protein. His therapy?? Well, it' s pretty easy...everyday he gets 8 drops of this liquid peanut protein placed under his tongue. Anyway, back to his food challenge...DRUM ROLL!!!!!! He passed it! Which means that right now his body will accept him having up to 8 peanuts. We are still not allowed to give him peanut butter right now...we just know that in case he were to have an accidental injestion that in small amounts he wouldn't...well...die! We will go back in July for another challenge to see if he can handle up to the equivalent of 16 peanuts..will keep you posted!
I will also try to post in the near future about some new and exciting things that are going on for Hilton and I. I have definetly stepped out of my comfort zone on one of them!
Keep us in your prayers!