Look Whose Turning 70!!

What a FUN day celebrating my sister, Debbie Calloway Rusk, as she turned the page to a new chapter titled Chapter 70.

A BIG thanks to her daughter, Jacque and her friend Darcy who did a great job of planning, organizing and making this day so special! She was shown how dearly loved she is!!

Happy 70th Birthday, Sissie

 HAPPPY Day 1 of Chapter 70 to my Sissie!

You have been my stabilizer, my rock and the voice of reason more times than not in my life....and you have always been my first call in good times.....and in bad.

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And I just want to say, I have really enjoyed annoying you during all these years and I am excited to continue annoying you in the future!

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Have a wonderful Day 1 of Chapter 70, Sissie. You are so loved by me.

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Signed, the Younger Sister

Happy Birthday, Chuck......We Love You

 March 21, 2025

We will celebrate and toast you in our lives, Chuck, until we see you again.

Happy "Earthly" Birthday, Chuck.......and THANK FOR for this amazing Etheridge family I inherited the day I married you......and that Wayne inherited the day he married me.

Your legacy lives on.......and on.

Happy Birthday Chief!

 March 11, 2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Chief Wayne Sekerke!

This past weekend, Wayne and I went to an event at the Dickie's Arena in Ft. Worth. It was an all day event with 8,000 people in attendance.

During the lunch break, us along with 7,998 other people, were all trying to make our way through the crowded hallway of this arena, when I heard Wayne say something to the couple just ahead of us. It turned out to be two long-time friends of his from his days at the FAA.

They turned around, and the biggest, most beautiful smile covered the lady's face as she saw Wayne. She then looked over at me, grabbed my hand, and said, "Liz, I've been wanting to meet you!"

You see, they knew Wayne when he and Cyndi were married and had covered him in prayers through her death. As we stood there in the middle of chaos and people at Dickie's Arena, she grabbed both of my hands and said,

"We prayed deeply for Wayne during his time of loss. We prayed for healing, for peace for him, and we prayed for love to find its way back into his life. Liz, we prayed for YOU before Wayne ever met you."

I could feel the tears stinging my eyes as this beautiful red-headed lady I had never met before, named Jen, told me she had prayed for ME.....a yet unknown face in the life of Wayne....before he ever knew there was a Liz and before I ever knew there was a Wayne.

Today is this man's birthday.....his last 365 days being in his 60's. He prays each morning at the kitchen table with his wife after reading our Jesus Calling devotional. This morning, Day 1 of Year 69....he held my hand (yes, I snapped this pic while he was praying...shame on me), looked up the scriptures using his trusty flashlight, and I see this heart form in the center of his Bible. Yep....right smack dab in the center.

It was God's way of reminding Wayne and me that marriage takes three people......not two. And it's the third person of our marriage that hears the prayers of others on our behalf......prayers like Jen and Dan Bush's.....who prayed years ago that God would put us into each other's lives.

And He did.

Check out our story here........

https://youtu.be/M57uH6SXXhs?si=mevgVXMQQJ32-jCN

Cyndi Sekerke - A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words

 January 11, 2025

A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words........

And this picture, well, it wins the Grand Prize.

This is Cyndi Sekerke, Wayne's late wife.....and today....TODAY we celebrate her earthly birthday. It's been a little over 7 years since God called her home to a place of REST. PEACE and HEALING.

And that very handsome man staring into her eyes....well, that's her Bud, her dad Ken. And for the first time in 7 years, they are looking into each others eyes once again. You see, Ken passed away exactly a month ago yesterday. They are once again together......Sis and Bud.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words.....I say a 1000 words couldn't begin to describe this picture.

Happy Earthly Birthday Mom

December 21, 2024

 TODAY....would have been Mom's 93rd Birthday.

And what better way to CELEBRATE this wonderful woman than to share a funny story about her.

A few years before she passed away, she asked me to take her to Walmart to pick up a few items. Because of her Parkinsons, my sister and I had been trying for months to convince her to use the Walmart scooter they provided to their customers. She always refused. Said it made her look "old".

But this time, I convinced her to "just try it" once. As we walked towards the scooters lining the wall, she picked out her scooter while I gave her a quick tutorial on how to drive it. I could see the look of apprehension on her face, but I also saw a spark of excitement.

We walked/drove around the store for a bit getting used to the "feel" of the scooter when she said she needed to head to the Men's Underwear section for some undies for Dad. I headed in the opposite direction to get some eye drops from the pharmacy.

As I returned back to the Men's Underwear section, I couldn't find Mom. I looked around until I saw her driving down the main aisle towards the back of the store.....completely oblivious to the rack of men's underwear following her and attached to the back of her scooter.

We laughed till we cried (she never again got on a Walmart scooter) that day....and that picture will be forever etched in my mind when I think of my Mom. A simple woman. A woman with a heart of Love for each of us kids....a woman who believed in her kids more than she believed in herself.

Can't wait to see you again, Mom!!

Happy Earthly Birthday, Mom.

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!!

The "Light" They Call Cyndi Sekerke

 "There Are Some Who Bring A Light So Great To The World That Even After They Have Gone, The Light Remains."

January 11, 2024

I never knew Cyndi Sekerke during her time on this earth.....but I know the "Light" of Cyndi Sekerke that remains after her journey here was over. She shone that light on most everyone she met. Just ask the friends and family who still carry her light around with them. They'll tell ya.

God placed Cyndi in my life in the strangest and most unusual of ways.....and I can feel her light shining down on me most every day. It's an honor to be her friend......the friend I never met.

HAPPY EARTHLY BIRTHDAY, CYNDI......I hope they serve King Cake in Heaven....served exclusively by the King Himself!!

Where Did 19 Years Go??

 Where did 19 years go?

This beautiful young woman below is my 19 year old granddaughter, Brie Etheridge, who celebrates her birthday today.

As my friends all know, I can get a little "wordy" in my posts, so this year, I thought I'd say Happy Brie Day with pictures.....pictures of the beautiful life she has chosen to live.

You are so loved, Brie, and our hearts swell with pride for the person you have become. We love you deeply and fully. Enjoy Chapter 19 in the Book of Brie! Enjoy the video below….

Brie 19th Birthday

The Day She Turned 18

 

TODAY.......is this Precious girl's 18th Birthday!!!!

She is one of the funnest, most mature 18 year-olds this Lele has ever met!

She has experienced a lot of pain through surgeries in those short 18 years with few complaints.....

She has held her head up high, worked extra hard to stay in physical condition so as to stay well.....

She has agreed to Dinner Dates with her Lele when I feel sure she would have rather been out with her friends...

She is fiercely independent....

And she is my beautiful Granddaughter....

HAPPPY 18TH, My Sweet Brie-Brie.....Your Lele loves you so very very much!

HAPPY #94 PAPPO

What’s a birthday without banana pudding & a Diet Coke at Chubbys!

 

 

HAPPY "EARTHLY" BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE

 

 

Today marks the 4th birthday this man has spent healed of MS and without the need for a wheelchair. I woke this morning with a smile on my face knowing he is well, complete and most likely still cracking jokes no one understands in Heaven. I am so blessed to have had him choose me as his partner in his life....

Happy "EARTHLY" Birthday Charlie....we are headed to Ihop tonight in celebration of YOU......

My Heart Has Expanded - Happy Birthday Wayne

Love Lives On Forever 

(Click on Link Above)

 “My heart has expanded.  Because that’s what widowed hearts do.  They expand.  

One love isn’t moved out to make room for someone new....

but rather, an addition is built. 

The love widows can have for someone new, does not diminish the love for the one lost.  

It’s as strong and part of our lives as it ever was.  

But the expansion of the heart....is part of the grieving process.”

A year ago today, I introduced you to Wayne Sekerke....a Polish career Navy Chief from Pennsylvania with the gentlest and kindest of hearts and a million dollar smile.  We had met in the most Un-unique of ways......eHarmony. Personally...I believe it was actually “God-Harmony”.

I’m not going to fudge the truth here, friends.....it was HARD to tell you I was dating.  I feared you would think I was leaving the memory of Chuck behind.  I wondered if YOU were ready, not just for Liz to take a step forward, but also for yourselves to turn the page of this difficult chapter we all had been walking through.  

But the neat thing about turning the page and finding yourself at the beginning of a new chapter is that you always....ALWAYS....take the prior chapters with you.  You need them to make sense of the current chapter and I needed you to know that Chuck was coming with me as I turned the page.  Without him, this chapter couldn't have happened.

And so I told you about this amazing man this very day last year.  (See here).

https://murphys-mom.blogspot.com/2021/03/meet-me-in-middle-of-your-story.html

Today is that kind man’s birthday....and this year, I celebrate him as my husband.  And we have brought not just my late husband Chuck into this new chapter of our lives, but also Wayne’s late wife Cyndi.   This year has found me falling in love with Cyndi’s parents, Ken and Doris who have embraced and welcomed me into their lives and, although bitter-sweet for them, have been supportive of both Wayne and I.  The same is true for Chuck’s family; bitter-sweet yes....but with an accepting and loving heart as they made Wayne an honorary member of the Etheridge family.   

It’s been a year that made God smile.

Today we celebrate Wayne.....a man hand-wrapped and gifted to me for this chapter in my life.  I love that his friends refer to him as the “real deal”....”the most thoughtful and considerate man they’ve ever known”....”a Godly man”.  

I couldn’t agree more.

I love this man Wayne Sekerke....and I thank God every single day that He placed him on my path in this expanding chapter of our lives.

 

https://youtu.be/M57uH6SXXhs