Thursday, November 13, 2014
Happy to be Home!
Just a quick update! We are back home!!! It's wonderful, to say the least! Things were unpacked and almost settled when the babies arrived! Clint and Jenny, had a beautiful girl, they named Jade! And Beth and Nate, had a little boy! They named him Cash! Oh! and Kim and Bryan's, little man, Michael Thomas, is 9 months old! Last February, we had 2 grandchildren....and now we have 5!!! (and one more on the way.... :)
We are so grateful for the new additions to our family! I will post pics soon! We've almost had the most exciting football season! Our favorite team, the Temple Wildcats has one the 17-5A District Championship! With 64 other Texas High Schools, we head into the Playoffs, this Friday night at Texas State University! Wow! What an exciting time of life!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Welcome Back Home! Camp Contentment Part 2
Zippity Doo Dah!!!…and Hip Hip Hooray!!!
Last week, Coach and I finally moved back home. It took 5 long months to rebuild our home. Which I fondly call Camp Contentment. Though we had only lived here 3 1/2 months, when it caught on fire, on May 2nd, it’s a bit surreal moving into the same house twice in an 8 months. Our much improved home has been reroofed (from the rafters up), rewired, remodeled, repainted and wood floors refinished. Thanks to our insurance State Auto and Specialty Restoration Services (Waco, Texas), our house has never been better. We’ve still got a lot of boxes to unpack and a few kinks to work out but one thing is for sure..
There is no place like home!
Monday, August 25, 2014
Camp Contentment–Ashes to Beauty
The rebuilding of Camp Contentment is going slowly but surely. It’s been over 31/2 months but we are beginning to see
light at the end of the tunnel. SRT, Specialty Restoration of Texas is doing a great job of putting our house back together
again. Like Humpty Dumpty’s fall, it’s been a big mess and hasn’t been easy. It has required much patience and an
attitude of gratitude to survive this ordeal. Whenever I get a frustrated or discouraged, I start counting my blessings.
Remembering all the things I have to be thankful for and before I know it, I’m not complaining anymore. It’s amazing
how that works! It’s also amazing how down, dreary and DRAMATIC things get when I don’t:/
Last week was a big week at Camp Contentment! The tile on the Kitchen backsplash
Master Bath and Guest Bath’s went in. The new kitchen floor went down. The painters
primed and began painting.
While under construction, we’ve also taken the opportunity to spruce up the back yard.
Fences by Far, removed the old wood fence and an even older chain link fence. While it was
down, we had Lone Star Structures deliver a storage house, which will create more space
in the garage/art studio. Then Fences by Far, built a beautiful new cedar fence. It looks
and smells great! Which is amazing considering a few months ago our house smelled
burnt! In fact, until all of the charred remains were removed, you could still smell smoke.
We wondered if it would ever go away. But it has and I’m thrilled to say that our like house
has never been better. Oh, it’s still a mess but it won’t be for long. The transition from ashes
to beauty has not been over night. It has taken some time and patience but nevertheless
the transformation has been amazing and certainly a blessing! I have a new appreciation
for insurance companies and the service they provide. State Auto, has taken good care of us.
So has, God. He has met all our needs. Surrounded us with the peace of His Presence which
feels like a giant umbrella of which we can carry out our everyday lives under His protection.
Taking every opportunity to encourage others along the way.
Isaiah 61: 1-3
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom
for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners….to bestow on them a crown of
beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise.’