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.

Morning .....My Favorite Part Of The Day

 March 15, 2025

Morning. My favorite part of the day.

Quiet.

Still.

Hopeful.

Before rising, I begin with gratitude. For life. For opportunities the day will provide.

I fill my cup with coffee and retreat to my favorite chair.

With mind and body rested, before I’m invaded by the world outside these walls, I have time alone. To think. To read. To pray.

I prefer it to begin in the dark when I can see the day unfold before me.

I sit with my thoughts.

I acknowledge my successes and failures to see what I can learn from them. Good choices and bad. I give thanks. I ask for forgiveness.

I listen.

The birds remind me it’s a new day. A time to receive grace. And to give the same grace that I received.

These moments carry me through the day.

Without them I am disoriented. A bit lost.

I’ve learned that “how I start” affects “how I end”.

Choices made throughout the day are influenced by the choices I made that morning.

Morning prepares me for what is ahead.

It won’t be perfect, and that’s ok.

I will give thanks. I will ask for forgiveness.

And if I’m given another morning, I will find refuge in my favorite part of the day.

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

Date 1,350

 TODAY.......my husband informed me it was our 1,350th Date Day!!

Then....and Now

ORANGE BEACH - DAY 1

 Hellooooooooo Orange Beach!!!!!!! Goodbye 10-Hour-Drive-In-Rain!!!!!

Facebook Memories....awwww....you've just got to love Facebook Memories!!! Several years ago before I sold the lake house and moved back to the Metroplex, bought a new house, found a partner, sold my house, and bought our "together" house, I wrote an article on the back of my church bulletin each Sunday. As these articles start popping up in my Facebook Memories, I sometimes come across one I need to reprint.....more for myself to read TO MYSELF than anything....but in hopes it might help others too.

The one below just happened to be written exactly 5 years ago today....and that still small voice inside me said, "REPOST". So here we go.....together:

“The Only Time God Tells You To Slip Out of Church Early”

Liz Etheridge-Sekerke

"If you enter a place of worship and about to make an offering, then suddenly remember a grudge that a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God."

Matthew 5:23-24 (MSG)

The great Christian writer, Max Lucado, once wrote, "As far as I know, this is the only time God tells you to slip out of church early. Apparently, he’d rather have you give your olive branch than your tithe. If you are worshiping and remember that your mom is hacked-off at you for forgetting her birthday, then get off the pew and find a phone. Maybe she’ll forgive you; maybe she won’t. But at least you can return to your pew with a clean conscience.”

I had to chuckle visualizing 20 guilt-ridden Christians jumping up from their cushioned pews, running out the back door of the church to phone a disgruntled friend just as the offering plate made its way to them. I can only imagine the speculation and lunchtime conversation about "why" from those left holding the offering plate.

But if Matthew 5:23-24 has taught me anything, it is that reconciliation is critical to my relationship with Christ.

I'm no stranger to disgruntled relationships...after all, I'm a girl. We invented the word "disgruntled". We wear our feelings on our sleeves and get our hearts broken....and break others' hearts....easily. But I love what the writer of Matthew is saying here. Resolve your issues with each other FIRST....and then come to God SECOND to complete the reconciliation.

My tendency over the years in dealing with disgruntled relationships....whether it be them or me that's disgruntled....has been one of avoidance. I tend to take the easy route by stepping back, saying nothing and then pulling away from the friendship, all the while sometimes harboring unforgiveness. (I can see many of my disgruntled friends shaking their heads and whispering under their breath, "Yep, that's what Liz does!" when they read this confession.) DO-NOT-DO-WHAT-I-DO. That is the opposite of what Matthew 5:23 is saying.

Instead, go to those you have offended and ask forgiveness....and forgive those who have offended you. NOW. Even when it requires an interruption of your worship time. Be assured, God will be waiting when you return with a full dose of forgiveness for you.