Friends find the sweetest sense of happiness comes from simply being together.

My grandson, Colton's first birthday!

 We had such a marvelous time in Fulshear, Texas this past weekend celebrating the first birthday of our first grandchild, Colton!  I was so proud of my beautiful daughter!  She planned everything and threw the best birthday event for this precious baby boy!  It's hard to believe a year ago we were all keeping vigil in the NICU of Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas.  We praise God for this child and for the miracles and answered prayers after Melissa developed sudden onset Preeclampsia and HELLP Syndrome that required an emergency C-section delivery 8 weeks early.  Colton spent 5 weeks in one of the best NICU's in the nation and we are SO thankful for the entire staff there at Texas Children's Women's Pavilion NICU.  Instead of gifts, Melissa and Jonathan asked the party guests to give a donation to this outstanding NICU.

Jonathan is truly a fabulous father and daddy to Colton!  They established an extra special bond early on, since Melissa was bed bound a day or two right after the c-section and Colton was immediately in the NICU on another floor, Jonathan was able to go back and forth between mommy and baby, therefore Jonathan learned all the unique things NICU parents learn before Melissa and I got to.  He was right there talking to and touching Colton, reassuring him and letting Colton hear him before we could get Mommy to the NICU.  They are the best of buddies to this day and no one can make Colton smile, laugh, and play quite like his daddy can!  

Jonathan's beautiful younger sister, Carla is the best Aunt to Colton!  She is a teacher by training and she made sure there were books in the NICU in Colton's room right away so his mommy, daddy, and family and friends could start reading to him immediately!  It gave us all something tangible we could do while Colton worked hard to stay warm, sleep, eat, and grow!  Thank you Carla!

Melissa holding her adorable and happy nephew, Korbin!  Korbin and Colton are going to have more fun growing up and playing together!  We affectionately refer to this formidable twosome as Co-Ko!

Papa Rand is the proud grandfather of two boys now!  God is so good!  Bill and I are so thankful for both Randy and Dianne and we praise God for getting to co-grandparent with them!

Again, Bill and I were so impressed with how Melissa planned all this and did all the work and creative touches herself!  She had a friend from church do the cake but she and Jonathan made and did everything else!  We grandparents helped as they set it all up but she did ALL the creative stuff herself and she works full time too!  (Yes, I am bragging but can you blame me?  She is amazing!)

The cake was just perfect!  It could not have been any more darling!  As Woody would say, This party was good enough to make you say, "Yee-haw cowboy!"

Colton seemed delighted with everything and everyone!  His party was at 2 pm in the afternoon and that is right about his nap time!

His first time to have a taste of his own birthday cake was a hit!  He enjoyed meticulously taking little bites and then he got sleepy!

                                                               Korbin got sleepy too!

Was this not the cutest thing ever!  As soon as he finished nibbling on his cake, he closed his precious little eyelids and took a nap, right there in his highchair!

Sleeping baby boy!  Little cowboy all tuckered out after so much fun being celebrated at his 1 year old birthday party!

Korbin enjoyed getting to come see his cousin Colton as well as so many other people who love him!

Carla and Kason Knight with their new baby boy, Korbin!  Carla took these excellent pictures with her good camera!  I so appreciate her taking and sharing there photos!  Carla is a Baylor graduate and certified teacher and Kason is an A&M graduate where he was an officer in the Corp.  These two are so precious and I love getting time with them and Korbin!

Dianne and Randy are such amazing grandparents to these two little boys!  Bill and I are very blessed to call them our friends and to get to co-grandparent Colton with them!  Dianne is a Baylor graduate and she was a Pi Beta Phi at Baylor just a year or two ahead of Bill and I!  We all love attending Baylor games together!

Proud Papa and sleeping little cowboy Colton on his big day!  God is so good!  1Samuel 1:27, "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:"

Men need: the three A's! Women need Security and Self Esteem, it's that simple!

 Bill and I celebrated 32 years of marriage to one another, last January!  God is so good!  I can still say that I am happy and glad to be married to Bill!  We met at Baylor our freshman year. We were good friends until our senior year when we started dating and after our first date we never went out with anyone else!  We were engaged within 5 months after dating!  I actually had a list of what I wanted and prayed for one day in a husband and yes, he met everything on my list!  His strengths fill in my weaknesses and vice a versa!  He is good at math, good with money, very athletic, very punctual and always on time or early as well as very driven and intrinsically motivated!  He is a visionary, give him a task and he will not only complete it but exceed your expectations, every time!  He is loyal, he is an excellent provider and protector, and he is kind, giving, and strong, both physically and mentally.  Bill is extremely conscientious and excellent with budgets, numbers, and data.  He can do all kinds of analysis effectively and efficiently. I consider myself very blessed to get to spend the rest of my life with this marvelous man!
We co-counseling couples that Bill is preparing for their marriage ceremony. This facilitates having both a male and female perspective when discussing the realities and challenges of married life. We love sharing this special time with precious couples and we always teach them the needs of men and the needs of women.
Men need:  Admiration, Appreciation, and Affection, lots of Affection!
Women need:  Security and Self Esteem.
It really is that simple!  I know, I know, you are asking, "Really?"  Yes!  Really!

Try it, ladies, stop criticizing your man for one week, only praise him, (admiration), thank him, (appreciation), and meet his needs for Affection  XOXOXOX.  See what happens!  I promise you, he will be the man of your dreams and it's free!  It costs you no money, you have all you need ladies to do these three things for the man you love!  Try it, let me know what the results are!  Then you have to keep it up! I promise, after one week of doing this and NO CRITICISM, you will want to keep it up and it will be easy!

 Ladies, if you want to do even more than just what your man needs, be sure and feed him well and often too!  Then don't forget to ask him to exercise with you and then praise him when he does it!
Men do respond to good food from the woman they love as you show him that you want to nurture him, feed him, and satisfy him.

Men, be sure you express to you woman, wife, and/or lady, that SHE is the most beautiful woman in the room, in your eyes, always!  Tell her over and over, never stop.  The majority of women, no matter how beautiful, suffer from low self esteem, believe me.  The number of women who have shared with me how low their self concept is astounds me, after all, God made us "wonderfully" and even when you read the scriptures to ladies about how God made them exactly as they are and for a purpose, the majority of ladies struggle with believing it and applying it to themselves.
Reassure and show your woman  that you will provide for her and protect her.  Show her over and over that you will never leave her, no matter what you face together (aging, illness, financial struggles, difficulties that life brings), you will stay the course, you will finish the race, together.

Bill demonstrated to me that he would finish this half marathon beside me and I'll never forget it!  He could have run ahead and crossed the finish line way ahead of me but he didn't!  He stayed by my side, encouraging me, praising me, coaching me, and we finished the race, together!

Take time away to refresh, recharge, relax, and recreate together!  Cultivate common interest.  When I married Bill I didn't know how to snow ski, golf, or snorkel.  Well, he loves to do these things and now I do too!  I overcame some fears to cultivate "common interests".  He as well learned to shop, walk the mall and "play all 18 holes" of the mall!  He learned to enjoy Musicals at the theater and he even learned how to play Bunco and watch chick flicks with me!

Ephesians 5:28 says, "So ought men to love wives as their own bodies.  He that loveth his wife loveth himself."

Ecclesiastes 9:9 says, "Love joyfully with the wife whom thou loves all the days of the life…"  

Proverbs 19:14 "…a prudent wife is from the Lord."

Proverbs 18:22 "Whoso findeth a wife fineth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord."  

My prayer for you is for God to bless your marriage with joy, fun, marvelous memories, and hope for a joyful future for you and yours!

(Sadly, one thing I do have to add here is this, if a woman or a man is being physically or emotionally abused, tell a trusted person, do not continue to allow this, and get help.  Spousal abuse is NEVER acceptable, NEVER.  Sometimes help can facilitate a change, healing, and restoration but if you are being abused, if you are afraid, speak out, get away and get help.)

Bill and I recently spent 10 days in Israel along with 10 wonderful people from our church.

 We flew into Tel Aviv and drove up the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and spent our first night in Netanya.  Our hotel was right on the shore of the Sea and we got to put our feet in the Mediterranean!  The next morning we were taken to walk and tour the Caesarea Harbor that is deep in centuries of history and layers upon layers of habitation and rule. Caesarea is a seaport city situated on the Mediterranean 30 miles North of Joppa.  Herod the Great began building Caesarea in 22 B.C.  The city was named in honor of Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1) and had lavish palaces, public buildings, a temple to Augustine, a theater, a hippodrome, an amphitheater and an elaborate sewer system.  It was truly fascinating!

 There is only one 18 hole golf course in all of Israel and yes, my husband found it!  Well, actually our guide, Nadine found it at my request!  It's in Cesserea and I asked Nadine if she could help me make this photo happen!  Yes, Bill got to at least swing a golf club (he did not play 18!) but he can now say he golfed where Jesus walked!

 Next we headed to Mt. Carmel where there is an amazing viewpoint of the Jezereel Valley or the Valley of Armageddon!  This HUGE area is stunning and you can truly see for miles in every direction.  According to scripture this is the stage where end times will occur.  Today this valley produces the highest volume of food per square foot in the world!  We can now see the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy as God restores the land of Israel and it becomes"…like the garden of Eden." (Ez. 36:35).

 The Sea of Galilee is 13-14 miles long by 7-8 miles wide.  130-157 feet deep, 686 feet below sea level and 32 miles in circumference.  It is shaped like a harp and is also known as Gennesaret in Mark 1:16, 7:31, and John 6:1.  We enjoyed sailing the Sea of Galilee with our group and dancing on board to beautiful music, watching our crew raise the American flag in our honor, and viewing many historical sites on shore from our amazing view on the boat!

 At a lovely little church called Peter's chapel we got to put our feet in the Sea of Galilee and view the water from the shore.

 Our next stop was the Mount of the Beatitudes we saw where Jesus taught the beatitudes as written in the book of Matthew 5-7.

Bill baptized all the folks in our group who wanted to be baptized in the Jordan River and it was thrilling, chilling and thrilling!  Seriously it was SO cold!  But this time was also very emotional and EXTRA special to us all.  It was marvelous to have my own husband, my handsome pastor, baptize me and then to get to watch two of our deacons baptize him!  God is so good!

As we traveled South toward our hotel on the South most tip of the Dead Sea our guide let us stoop for this photo op at "the lowest point on earth"!

On the way South we got to stop and see in person where they found the Dead Sea Scrolls!  Truly amazing!

Bill mastered floating the Dead Sea, immediately!  He was truly entertaining as he went right in and mastered the float so fast!

I love this one where he looks like he could be in parachuting posture!  He was a natural!

Yes, I waded right in and joined him and the art of floating here is something everyone should experience at least once!  Very relaxing, warm, soothing, and tranquil are a few words I would use to describe it!

 

Our group really enjoyed touring Masada!  If you don't know the history of this huge mountain top site you need to read up on it!  There was even a Peter O'Toole movie about it!

The place where David hid in a cave from Saul is now En Gedi Nature Reserve.  It was beautiful and a bit like West Texas here.

We went to the Mount of Olives to view Jerusalem from there. It is a limestone ridge located between Bethany to the east and Jerusalem to the west.  It rises 240 feel above the Temple Mount and is separated from it by the Kidron Valley also known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat.  After we saw several sites from here we began our descent to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Yes, we did ride a camel at the Mount of Olives!  I had been told this was the best spot to do so and our amazing guide, Nadine made sure it happened!  Kojack is this cantankerous camel's name!

We had a private reservation and time just our small group in the Garden of Gethsemane, which means garden of the wine press, located at the base of the Mount of Olives.  This beautiful garden contains 8 ancient olive trees claimed by botanists to be over 3,000 years old.  We had a wonderful time of praise and prayer in this garden.

On the top and center of The Temple Mount is this shrine known as Dome of the Rock.  This top area of 27 acres is the top of Mount Moriah.  This is the place where, as recorded in Genesis 22, god directed Abraham to bring his only son Issac and prepare to offer him as a sacrifice.  This is also the place where in 2 Samuel 24, God stops the plague and David buys the threshing floor from Araunah the Jebusite.  This is the site where Solomon builds the Temple to God, which was first destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. and where the second Temple of Jesus' time was re-built during the days of Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and Ezra and later enlarged and beautified by Herod the Great.  Today, the Temple area is under the control of the Moslems in an effort to keep peace.  The Temple is gone and in it's place is the Moslem Shrine you see above.  It was built between 687-691 A.D.  and is decorated with blue, green, yellow, and white Persian tiles.  The dome rises some 108 feet above the ground and is covered with an aluminum bronze alloy from Italy.  This shrine was used as a church by the Crusaders from 1099-1187.  The Dome of the Rock is used for individual prayers, while on the southern end of the area is the lead-domed El Aksa Mosque where Moslems gather for group prayers.  This is the site where King Abudullah of Jordan was assassinated in 1951, thereby allowing for his grandson, King Hussein, to become the ruler of Jordan.  Saudi Arabia paid for the dome to be covered in gold.

These are the Southern Steps of the Temple where people, including Jesus entered the Temple many times to worship and sacrifice.  They would journey far just to come once a year to this sacred Temple.

We had to secure an Arab guide to go into Bethlehem and see the birth place of Jesus!  I am so thankful we got to do this!  The cave under the Church of the Nativity is where the birthplace of Christ is and the Manger site.

 

After seeing the birth place we got to go and see the church by the fields where the shepherds were tending their sheep and the angels appeared to them to tell them about the birth of Jesus!

The Garden tomb right next to "The Place of the Skull" was the conclusion of our trip and one of the most special sites we were blessed to visit!  My cousin, Ken Newberry works there 3 months a year and he had just arrived so we got to have him as our guide in this special garden!

                                                  Praise God, he is not here, he is risen!

This truly was the trip of a lifetime!  It was life-changing!  I am so glad we made the necessary sacrifice to make this journey!  I am still overwhelmed with all I saw and heard.  I feel compelled more than ever to now be an Ambassador for His land!  We plan to go again and take another group in 2 years!  We would love to have 24 or more!  Please let us know now if you
 want to go with us!
The prophet Isaiah asked the question, "Can a country be born in a day or a nation brought forth in a moment?"  Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." Is. 66:8.  And so it was, on the 14th of May, 1948, in direct fulfillment of this prophecy and countless others, after having been scattered into the four corners of the earth since 70 A.D., the nation of Israel was birthed!  God did a new thing.  No nation in history has lost it's identity, been scattered and absorbed into other civilizations and then re-emerged after nearly 2000 years a distinct and individual people once again.  The people of Israel have returned to their land, revived their ancient language  and are seeing the restoration to their land.  Do miracles really happened today?  One only has to look at Israel to know the answer is yes.