That Face

THAT FACE.....

It’s been a part of my life for the past 18-1/2 years. And just when I thought I would never be able to be a grandmother, I was adopted by Isabella Grace and became Lele.

Infertility kept me from having children of my own, but it was just like God to offer me a better plan by gifting me with a granddaughter named Bella.

And today....a day she has been waiting for most of her life, she will walk across that stage....standing tall, head held high and confidence tucked tightly and securely in her back pocket....and hold that piece of parchment that represents a mountain of hard work. In my opinion, that hard work was worthy of far more than a piece of paper.

My granddaughter is headed to Grand Canyon University in the Fall.....a place that defines the person that she is. It’s the perfect place for a girl who LOVES God more than anything or anyone....because its a university that VALUES God more than anything or anyone, unlike many of the universities in our country. It’s a perfect partner for her future.

And as we, her family and friends, sit in the stands of her Allen High School Eagle Stadium, the largest High School football stadium in the World that serves only one high school, will be cheering this amazing “woman” on as she turns the page in the Book of Bella. And we will be packing up our hearts to move a chunk of it to Grand Canyon University with her,

Blessed am I.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Scratched Up Road To Salvation

 

I feel like an old friend has just returned home to me after having plastic surgery. Outwardly, they look different....but inwardly, they're the same. 

 

My Bible, the very Bible that helped me find my way to having a relationship with God just a few years ago, went to the book surgeon to be rebound in January after, among many other things, the entire Creation book of Genesis fell out and was discovered tucked behind the end-of-the-world book of Revelation after much use.

Awww...so good to have my old friend back home with me again.

 

Finish Line To Multiple Sclerosis

 

https://www.facebook.com/donate/778932829396804/

 

AS WE NEAR THE FINISH LINE for collecting donations for the Multiple Sclerosis Round Up Bike Ride 2021 this Saturday to beat MS, I thought I would share one more story about Chuck you may not have known about him.

He lived with Multiple Sclerosis for a little over 30 years. One minute he was cutting wood, the next he was on the ground and couldn't walk. Just like that. Welcome to the World of Multiple Sclerosis.

During those 30 years, he lost his eyesight for a short time only to have it come back after a week. He couldn't feel his feet at all, so when he was able to walk, his eyes were always on his feet confirming they were where they were suppose to be. This ultimately caused him to run into a steel exterior stairwell and break his neck in 2000 as he was verifying where his feet were.

He lost many of his teeth due to years of steroids which also damaged his heart; and he took steroids knowing this would most likely cause problems elsewhere. But his philosophy on life till the day he died was "Quality over Quantity".

All of these things might have slowed him down a bit, but it never stopped him. Never.

He rode shotgun all over this great country of ours on the back of a Honda Goldwing Trike after teaching his wife (me) how to drive one so he could feel the wind in his face once again just as he had in the days prior to Multiple Sclerosis. Not many men would have been man enough to do that. But Chuck did.

Why? Because he wanted to live while he was living.

Won't you consider sponsoring our team PRESS ON to help in the defeat of Multiple Sclerosis? It's tax deductible and who knows, maybe YOUR donation will be the donation that finds the cure!! Thanks! Liz Calloway Etheridge

Monday-Thru-Friday-Mom

 

Monday Thru Friday Mom

Lizetheridge

 

My Mom used to always say....”We need to hear a Monday thru Friday sermon” whenever she would hear a preacher preach another sermon on Moses....or Joseph.....or Noah. She wanted to be taught how to Biblically make it through a week of 3-bratty-kids-and-9-hour-work-days-in-a-hot-warehouse-to-make-ends-meet and still be thankful on Friday.

 

We used to chuckle when she’d say that but, we all knew what she meant. Life is hard....lonely....frustrating and messy. If only the weekend sermon could teach us how Jesus would have chosen to handle 3 bratty kids. Ya....I was the youngest of those three bratty kids and probably....NO....most assuredly, I was the brattiest of them all. 

 

Mom was the fireman of our family....constantly putting out fires of fighting children, a tired husband, keeping an 800 square foot house for a family of five spotlessly clean and cooking 3 meals when cooking wasn’t her “blessing”.

She put herself last and her family first. Always first.

 

“Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person’s everything.”

 

After she passed away, I discovered I had ended up with her perfume. “Youth Dew” by Estee Lauder. I also discovered that by simply opening the perfume lid, I could instantly feel Mom’s presence in the room next to me. It was like she was standing right next to me. Tears would fall with the reality that it was all a mirage each time I would open that bottle. 

 

“A mother’s sense lasts long after she lets go.”

 

But Mom knew that by putting her own wants and needs aside and providing wisdom, kindness and praying thousands of prayers over her children for those Monday through Friday trials, she could successfully make it to the weekend.

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." Proverbs 31:26

 

Mom wasn’t perfect; but to me...she was everything I ever hoped to become.

 

Happy Mother’s Day.