cool friends, great week!

OK, it's been an eventful week for me!  For those who haven't heard, I turned 37 on Thursday, June 26th.  I don't feel that old, but the youth remind me that 37 is ancient!!!  

Anyway, Monday, June 23rd, we went to Raleigh to pick up Claude's nephew, Lee.  He flew up from FL to spend the week with us.  Got him, then went to 2 malls looking for a Build-A-Bear for my youngest niece.  (It's a tradition I have to make one for each of my nephews & nieces!).  So, I finally found one I wanted to make for my niece, Dahlia.  I wanted the "Hello Kitty" for her.  So I go in to make one and the salesperson tells me that they retired the Hello Kitty and I can't get it anymore.  I WAS SOOO BUMMED!  My wonderful husband knows me so well!  He knew I needed a bit of "good news" so he spilled the beans that my parents AND my brother & sister-in-law (along with my nephews & nieces) are all coming up to visit next week (4th of July week!!!!).

This MADE MY DAY!!!  I've missed them so much and was really bummed that I couldn't be with them for my birthday.  

So, on Tuesday, June 24th, the youth decided to have a movie nite at OUR HOUSE!  It was fun.  I can't figure out why they like hangin' out with us so much, but we enjoy it too so I guess it's all good!

Wednesday, June 25th, our wonderful city of Greenville got some "poo" in the water so the restaurants (and various other places) all closed for the day.  Greenville looked like a ghost town!  My friend and accountability partner, Christina, (along with 5 other ladies) surprised me at my house with a cake, cards, and a balloon!  It was definitely a shocker!  I was so touched that they would take time from their day to do something like this for me.  WOW!  God blessed me with great friends!   

Speaking of friends, later that night, some other friends of ours, the Hansens, drove us to Wilson for dinner for my birthday!  I just can't believe that we are so blessed!  It was a wonderful day!

Thursday, June 26th!  I didn't do ANYTHING this day!  Claude let me go shopping for myself, but I have a hard time buying things for me.  So, I shopped for a while, but then went home!  I received text messages throughout the day from the youth wishing me a happy birthday!  

Later that night, my small group from church came over for our weekly Bible study and they had TONS of food for a birthday celebration!  Again, I just can't believe that I have so many people that would go out of their way for me.  I don't know why I am so blessed, but thank you God for all of these fabulous people in my life!  

Friday, June 27th, the youth went to Green Springs AGAIN.  I am not sure what the draw is for this place, but everyone that goes loves it!  One of the youth leaders, Kim, made a cake for me and the youth sang to me (BTW, I've had happy birthday sung to me 4 times.)!  I had one of the youth decide to wipe RED ICING all over my face!  Don't worry, I had the boys from youth run her down and hold her while I gave her a BIG SMOOCH on her cheek!!!  She was red too by the time I was done!!!!  Claude took a couple of pictures of it!

It's been a wonderful week!  THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO THOUGHT OF ME AND WISHED ME WELL ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!!  This year's was unforgettable!  I love you guys!

Wedding pics!

She looked so beautiful and so happy!!!

The love in his eyes as he watched her walk down the aisle was so beautiful!

They sang "Love Song" together!  I'd never heard the song before, but it was so beautiful and so touching to see them doing what they do best together... praising God in song!

You may kiss the bride!

The entertainment at the reception was the bubbles!!!!

What's under here?!?!?

Toss it good Janelle!

The newlyweds and their DC family!

Pool Pics

We were missing several of our "regulars" but we still had a great group!  

(back: Kevin, Shannon, Kelly, JC, John, Amanda, Melissa, Megan, front: Courtney, Izzy, Kelsey, Kyle, Craig, Isaiah, Troy, in the water: Claude & Kim)

Nice hair, Izzy!  

Isaiah, the cross-dresser!

JUST JUMP, COURTNEY!!!!

All together now!

(I'm so glad that the group gets along so well!)

John performing "Spank the baby".

(I don't understand the fun of falling on your butt on the board, but hey, what do I know!)

These kids are BOTTOMLESS PITS when it comes to eating!

Craig performing "Kung Fu Panda"!

The "beached whales"

(John, Craig, & Isaiah)

Busy weekend!

Sorry it's been awhile since I blogged.  I tried blogging Tuesday, June 17th, but my internet kept going down and I'd lose everything I blogged about, so I finally gave up!  

Thursday morning we woke up to hundreds of forks in our front yard.  The Youth had struck!  However, we learned thru informants that a youth LEADER was the brains behind it so we're waiting to get her back (a 2nd youth leader was in on it but forgot to show up Wednesday night.  He thinks he's off the hook since technically he didn't do anything, but we all know that Claude won't let THAT go!)  BTW, they struck the Ebeling house too!  Then, Thursday, ALL DAY, we kept getting text messages saying "Hold On To Your Fork"!  (Listen to the podcast from Sunday, June 15th, for more on the fork story!)

Friday, the youth with to the Dixon's pool (the Dixons are a family in our church who have been AWESOME to us and to the church!)  Anyway, they opened their pool up to us anytime we want (I could definitely abuse that offer!  Remember, I'm a Florida girl!  Sunshine and water is a MUST!!!)   I have pictures so I'll try to upload them in another blog.  I've been having issues with my blog and getting pics to upload.   We had so much fun!  It was nice (about 86 degrees) and the water was so refreshing!   

Saturday, a CROWD from Discovery Church braved a nasty storm and headed to Wilmington for Davey & Janelle's wedding!  It was the coolest wedding I've ever attended!  The bride & groom sang a "Love Song" (that was the title) to each other and to God!  Davey's dad married That night, we had set-up.  It was a bit scarce because alot of folks were gone (still in Wilmington!).  It went well though!  Claude got home around 11:30PM.  It was a LOOONNNGGG night!   

Church was great today!  The music was wonderful despite the fact that poor Randy has been sick for the past couple of days.  He can't seem to keep anything in.  Please pray for him.  He looked bad this morning.  So much that he went home and the band played without him.  Now THAT'S BAD.    Children's church went great too!  We had a great group today and lots of fun with our lesson & the game that went with it.  

That's about it.  I will finish uploading the pics and try to get them on the blog!

Finally!  We made it!!!! 

(sorry for the blurry picture)

LUNCH TIME!!!!  We had been swimming for about 2 hours, so we were quite hungry!

The Cobbs are crazy kids, but we love 'em!!!!!

(l to r, Julianna, Stefi, John, Izzy)

Julianna going off the 3rd level on the zip line.

John & Isaiah playing "chicken" on the ropes.  These ropes are about 5 ft over the water!

This is what MOST of us did the entire time we were at green springs!  

I call it "dopes on a rope"!

Shannon Wallace jumping off the 2nd level.

This was a BIG step for her!

Yesterday's news

I had a great time at church yesterday!  Childrens' church was fun!  We learned about how to improve on your prayer life!  The kids played a game with this parachute that Claude has.  The thing is HUGE!  The game was a blast and the kids learned about variety in their prayers.  We had a great time.

We got home from church and I called my Daddy to tell him Happy Father's Day.  I miss him like crazy.  I never really thought of myself as "daddy's girl", but now that I look back I guess I was.  I've always been a tomboy and I can remember playing sports with my daddy in the stands cheering me on!  I guess my brothers saw it before I did.  They knew they were loved, but I was the only girl!  Daddy's girl.  

Anyway, before I talked with my Dad, Claude had decided to call and talk to his dad.  They haven't really spoken since Claude's stepfather's funeral last June when things got a bit sticky.  Anyway, Claude called to wish him a happy father's day.  The call didn't go as well as hoped.  But, the effort was made and that's what's important.  

Today's the day!!!!!

Today is the first official outing of the summer for Crosslink.  Guess where we're going?!?!?!?  Green Springs!  I don't know exactly what it is about this place that the kids love so much, but they've been bugging us since March on "when are we gonna go to green springs?"  SO the day has arrived.  Of course, one of the girls pointed out that it's Friday the 13th!  However, I am not superstitious so it doesn't bother me!  Still, it wouldn't hurt for anyone who reads this blog to say a prayer for us that everyone stays safe, has a great time, and most importantly, has a great testimony to the other kids out there!

Pics to come!!!!

Heartache

My heart is heavy right now.  

Right now, I am having to sit and be still while some things are happening that I have no control over.  I hate this.   It hurts to know that you've let folks down or failed.  (Even more so for someone with my personality.)  I want to do everything right, but when I don't I want to fix it ASAP.  So, how do you fix a wounded heart or a hurt relationship?  Sometimes, you can love the Lord and do your very best to honor and please Him, but still fail.  Verses come to my mind,  "I can do all things thru Christ...", but then I also think "Be still and know that I am God".  What do I do?

For now, I am being still.  Everything in me screams to DO SOMETHING, so I am.  I am praying.  I am begging the Lord to help and intervene.  I am asking Him to teach us thru these situations. Show us how to do things better the next time.  He knows our hearts.  He knows our intentions.  Thank you Lord for your grace and mercy when we fail.

Blah, blah, blah...

There's been alot of "busy work" happening this past week.  The 'blings were on vacation in TN, so Claude & Randy picked up the slack!  Even though it was busy, it was a good week.  There's always a refreshing feeling after coming back from a few days off that helps make getting back into the swing of things a little bit easier!!!  

The youth group, Crosslink, has us busy for the next 3 Fridays!  We have 2 trips to green springs planned (if you don't know what green springs is, go to the Discovery Church website and look at the photo gallery!  plenty of pics!).  The kids are more excited about green springs than they are of our "hopeful" trip to Kings Dominion in VA.  I'm not sure why it's so appealing to them.  Perhaps because it offers them a little piece of the good ol' days type of swimming hole.  Do you remember when we could just head down to the river or lake and go swimming.  Do ya remember heading there and thinking about all the friends you'd see there because that was where everyone went to hang out and have good clean fun together?  I remember my parents used to live on the Hillsborough river and my big brother would go swimming in it.  I was too young and by the time I was old enough, I believe they'd stopped letting him swim in it because of the gator that decided to make his home nearby!  Anyway, my parents would take us to different springs to go swimming (probably why I love the cold water & not so much the beach!).  Those days are gone, but green springs offers these kids a little bit of the past simple fun that we as adults use to have growing up.  I'm ok with that!

BTW, I just love our youth!  I haven't said that in a while so just needed to put it out there!  I love working with the childrens church too, but there is just something about those youth that just blesses my heart!  I think it's because at my age, if I did have kids, they'd be teenagers by now and so it's the natural progression of things!  Cool, huh!?!  God knew what He was doing by giving us little ones when we are young enough to have the energy for them! Then, teenagers when we are old enough to ask Him "Why did I ever have kids?"!!!!  

More pics!

Another picture of the patio!  Loved it!

Pretty flower!

Wild Clover!  Now we were told that these are considered  weeds, but the ladies said that a weed is only a weed if it's in a place where you don't want it!  

I had to try the hammock too!  Claude had a fun time taking "moving pictures" of me trying to get out of it!  I didn't have as hard a time as him, but it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be!!!

Obviously, while laughing, it's IMPOSSIBLE to get out of a hammock!  Claude was being a brat and making me laugh so hard that I couldn't do anything!  Then he started pushing me on the hammock!  I finally gave up!  HE WON!

We had a fantastic time and told the ladies that we would be back the next time they needed something put together!

BTW, the ladies liked my pictures of the house and it surroundings so much that their web designer wanted permission to use them on their website!  He said they were better than the ones he paid to have done!  HHMMM!!!  Maybe we could exchange the pictures for another couple of days in the B&B!?!?!?!

I had to...

Since we've been back from our trip to the mountains, I've had several peo

ple ask about the B&B we stayed at; so I am going to post some pictures. 

The front yard is huge.  It has a brook running along the road at the entrance.  It's not big, but it moves enough to cause the "babbling" effect!

There's also a hammock and a couple of chairs nestled near the brook.  (The hammock hung a little too low for Claude!  He had a hard time getting out of it!!!  I laughed so hard I cried!!!

The backyard has a beautiful patio that runs the length of the house.  It has tables & chairs, but my favorite things were the rocking chairs! 

 

There were birdfeeders that provided nourishment for the abundance of wildlife!  I say "wildlife" because we had our very own chipmunk that would aggravate the birds and rob the feeders!  It was fun to watch!

They had a nice view of the mountains from the back patio too!  At night, you could see a small cross made of lights on top of one of the mountains.  We tried to take a picture of it, but it was just a blur of light!

The ladies have done a great job of planting flowers around the house that make it so colorful and pretty!   They even use some of the flowers as garnishments on the breakfast plates!  They must have a green thumb!  It was fun taking pictures of the various flowers.  SO MUCH COLOR!

I asked the Carolyn if they had planted all of the flowers and landscape.  She said that some of it was done by them, but some of the shrubbery and flowers were already there, it just needed to be pruned and "babied".  The back patio had a cart full of potted flowers. It was really neat!  

The neighbor found out that the inn had quests and she brought over some flowers in a vase that was from her garden.  

They were so beautiful!