Our Molly - 2007 - 2024

Thank You, Molly, for bringing such JOY into our lives for so many years.

Thank You for putting up with us....for encouraging us....for forgiving us when we didn't feed you on time.

Thank You for crawling into our laps when we were sad....

Thank You for trusting us to keep you safe and to provide entertainment for you when you were bored.

And when we didn't deserve to be loved because we left you too long or rubbed your nose in things you couldn't help, you loved us anyway. Unconditionally.

I learned a lot from you, Molly. Thank You for allowing us to be YOUR parents. We will always love you.

Chapter 64

 

Today......Marks the Beginning of Chapter 64 in the Life of Liz.

I love getting older. Sounds crazy I know, but I wouldn’t reverse the clock for all the money in the world. If anything, I would increase the clock speed as I move forward into the future.

And there's just something about being another year older that causes you to reflect back on Chapters 63 or 44 or 27 or look ahead to Chapters 65 or 72 or 86 in your life, right? 

To look at where you’ve been......and to where you’re going. 

To the Shipwrecks in your life....and to the Rescues. 

To the Griefs.....and to the Restorations.

When you look back on spent chapters in your life, you are able to see with clarity....20-20 vision....the pouring out of Grace you received through those very Rescues and Restorations by the One who numbered your days when He created you. You remember the sufferings, yes.....but you also see the ripples from your endurance muscles increasing because of those Chapters of Suffering.

"Suffering Produces Endurance.....” 

Romans 5:3

I am finding with each passing year, the things I used to hold tightly to my chest....you know, those things of “this” world that distract me and I thought were important and necessary....are anything but. They are just noisy “things”. And they kept me looking “back” more than looking “forward”. Forward past the final chapter in the Book Of Liz to a new book:

A book titled, “Eternity”.

Can't wait to read Chapter 64!!

Blessings Come In Many Shapes

 June 14, 2024

On August 9, 2016.......this little treasure came into my life as a Blessing by a good friend.....who saw a need and filled it. Our entire home had flooded 8 months earlier.....we had just moved back into the restored home and were without a place to put our clothes........

A kind man from our church heard of our need.....loaded up his antique dresser that had been in his family for many years into the bed of his pickup truck.....and drove it to our home.

Even though I never knew his family, this antique dresser always made me feel a part of his family. Like I had a piece of their DNA or something.

I moved 5x since that original delivery to our post-flooded lake house. And it has moved with me each time. From our lake house to the little blue cabin on the lake to my house in Allen to a storage Pod to our home today.

It has served many purposes over the years....far more than just holding our clothes...but today, I said goodbye and thanked it for being SO good to me as it went to a new home....a new person to bless....to a farm house much like the one it originally lived in. I understand its new home will be in a farmhouse photography studio where it just might become a celebrity among families making memories and continuing to deliver blessings to everyone who crosses its path.

And my heart is full because..... IT LIVES ON.

UPDATE:

And here is where it lives now.....

https://www.instagram.com/thelittleglassshack?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Troy

June 12, 2023 

This Guy......

*

He is Patient

He is Kind

He Doesn't Envy Others

And He Doesn't Boast

He Doesn't Have a Proud Bone in his Body

And He Doesn't Dishonor Others

He Isn't Self-Seeking

And He Doesn't Anger Easily

He Keeps No Record of Wrongs Made to Him

He Doesn't Get Enjoyment Out of Evil

And He Delights in Truth

He Always Protects

He Always Trusts

He Always Hopes

And He Always Perseveres

Troy's Love Never Fails

He has been the Greatest Father and Friend to my two Beautiful Granddaughters....

He is a Loving and Supporting Husband to Jen....

And He has been my Rock more times than I can count....

Troy Etheridge is Chuck's one and only son....a son I inherited when I married his Dad many years ago. He was the Best Man at Chuck's and my wedding......and he was the Man who walked me down the aisle to my new life with Wayne.

Happy Birthday Troy.....my Friend and my Son.

Road Trip

 June 5, 2024

What does Tupelo, Elvis, Natchez Trace and Storms all have in common?

Us.

We saw them all yesterday. From standing in Elvis' homestead and country church, to driving 200 of the 444 miles of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, to wicked storms turning tree covered roads into a war zone. We saw it all!

We were planning on just doing a "fly-by" of Elvis' hometown in Tupelo, Mississippi....aka..."Slow down to 55 mph, Wayne, while I snap a picture of Elvis Boulevard sign"., but were sucked in by the beauty and "Grace" of everything Elvis. EVERYTHING - ELVIS. I wasn't a crazy Elvis fan before we parked and walked up to his 2-room home, but I found myself lovin' the guy and trying the rest of the day to find Elvis on Youtube. I can't imagine why you would ever be in Tupelo, but if you ever are, its worthy of a stop!

We then headed to the place I have been wanting to go for years!! Natchez Trace Scenic Highway. And it did not disappoint! Well, until the last 50 miles when storms started brewing and we could no longer see the road and no turn-offs were to be found and 80' trees were falling all around us. I "might" have had a bit of anxiety (storms are not my friend, for those of you who don't know my history) and at one point, I heard Wayne say, "I don't remember you putting anything about storms and anxiety on your e-harmony profile".

We survived.....

And kissed the ground next to the homeless man in downtown Jackson once we arrived.