Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Hooray!

God never fails to amaze me! He always gives more than I ask for. John has been offered and accepted a teaching position at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO. It is a Baptist College. Now for all of us "Church of Christ" folks who think we can't talk about all the many blessings God has granted in our lives because it might sound too "demoninational," this is completely untrue for those Baptist folks - Praise the Lord! So maybe this is the opportunity that God has set before Laura and John for them to witness His love and power and goodness and grace and joy and faithfulness and peace!

And you know, I'm liking John more and more. Laura is really mellowing out and not freaking out and getting angry with me when I say things like I just said in the paragraph above...must be John's good influence on her or at least, I'm going to give him the credit for that. He even told her she didn't have to work if she didn't want to...but she thinks she might want to teach French. She would be excellent at that if she decides that's what she wants to do. I think he's gonna take good care of my little girl!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Laura and John

Several have asked what John looks like so here's a photo of John and Laura...They look like they go together to me! She seems really happy and like she's finally getting into this weddding business. Just keep praying that someone or something will make her know without a doubt that God is alive and real and that He loves her and that she will bring John to the Lord with her when she comes back. I just have to believe that God can make all of this turn out for His glory! By the way, John got offered the job at Fort Hayes University in Kansas. See, God is already answering my prayers...whether they choose to believe it happened that way or not, I choose to believe! Praise Him for His wonderful blessings and never ending love!
One more photo...I don't know how to put the photos below the writing...

What a Morning!




This has been some morning already! Yesterday, I went to Searcy for the National AWH Spring Meeting and Barbara Taylor was getting a Worthy Woman award (the highest honor one can get in AWH) and I was charged with gettingher there so I promised her that I would do anything for her today at Run for the Son if she would go the the Spring meeting with me...She told me to be at the grad school at 7:00 this morning...I didn't remember that there was a 7:00 on Saturday morning, but I made it and it was well worth it to see her surprise and joy yesterday at recieveing her well-deserved award. She is one hard working lady! We were fininshed and I was back home by 10:15 or so...They were to deliver stone and dirt for build flower beds around the back patio so it will be pretty for Laura's wedding this morning and as I sat here at my computer studying to retake my Boards, I heard this loud crash and Joe can running in saying, "You've got to look in the yard!" I am gong to try to put the photos on here of what I saw...Thankfully, no one was hurt but it's taking them a while to get the truck upright again...

Monday, April 17, 2006

Great Easter Weekend!

Searcy is always so much fun at Easter...filled with fun and friends! We had a blast on Thursday afternoon and evening just playing around and going out for coffee and relaxing and visiting with friends. On Friday, Vivian and I did out usual thing of dismissing Beckie and Dan's classes except that they had a guest speaker in one class, so we couldn't let them go then, and we even dismissed one of Lou Butterfield's classes...I went to camp Maywood with him way back when. But in one of Beckie's classes they were prepared for us and the joke was on me! She showed a video of a cute little boy that they are working with in the speech clinic that got to do the weather on the Harding weather channel with the weather man.This older than normal student raised her hand and said, "I object! This is one expensive lady and we paid good money to have her teach us and we want to get our money's worth." I about fell out of my chair! Then the whole class started laughing and they all got up and walked out. The lady said she had practiced saying that in front of the mirror all night to be able to say it without laughing.
Needless to say, I was shocked to death because no one in the twenty something years that Vivian and i have been doing that has ever objected to getting out of class early!

Diana came over on Friday afternoon to be my date for "President's Council" stuff and we were pretty bad...we ate dinner and then left and went to the play. It was so funny. The students had written it and it was all songs from the 50's, 60's. and 70's. Beckie, Vivian, Diana, and I sang right along with every song and it was a blast! Beth went home to wait on Jenn and Aaron and the girls to get there. Afterward we all went to the Underground Coffeehouse with Wil and some other friends who where there form Memphis and Beth did come and join us becuase Jenn and Aaron still weren't there. On Saturday, Diana and Wil and I went to eat Presidnet's Council lunch and then left before the program to go play again. Bill and Wyatt surprised Wil by coming over for his show on Saturday afternoon. That was pretty neat and Diana and I got to go wat with all of them before Bill and Wyatt left to go back home. then Saturday night we all went to Spring Sing. As usual, it was fun...And thank you Steve and Dottie and Cindy for keeping the traditional "United We Stand" at the end! It was wonderful to stand up and sing it with my friends as we have done for the past 30 or so years.

Joe rode his motorcycle over and had a good time with Jonathan James. We all had a good time with Grace and Susie after Jenn and Aaron got there. And on Sunday, we had out extraordinary potluck at the James' with our traditional Easter baskets for the kids and college students alike. It was great fun even with Jim Norris being his regular self (for those of you who know him, that will need no explanation. for those of you who don't, let's just say that we've known each other since Ole Miss days and he is somthing else!)

Tim was in Tampa at a dental meeting so he missed all the fun, but Vivian and I had lots of fun telling him about all the fun he missed!

We even got to see April and Brett and Caden on Friday afternoon and Vivian was mean and called Leslie to brag about getting to hold "Caden while she wasn't around.

I just love being with my friends!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Vivian's Coming!

Vivian's coming tomorrow and we are going to
Searcy! HOORAY!!! Time for fun and friends and not worrying aobut anything but having fun! Diana(my sister) is even coming to be my date since Tim is going to a seminar in Tampa, but I will miss having him in Searcy with me...We've only been apart 1 Easter in our whole married life (31 years)...We'll get to see Wil (my nephew) in Spring sing and Reagan is even bringing Ben to Searcy. I can't wait to meet him. And I talked to Mary at the Grad school today - she's the one who makes arrangements for housing out of town grad students when they come in for short courses...she just happens to be from Philadelphia and she says she thinks she can find me a place to stay during my intership...that will be wonderful! The sun is shining and the weather is warm and God is good! I got my reservation information to the church office for my trip to Ghana next February today and the secretary is taking care of that...Life is good.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

We're going to have a wedding

Well, after many years of wondering if I ever was going to have a son-in -law, looks like I am going to have one and his name is John, Dr. John Wright...Now to many of you who have know Laura for a long time, that name will be a great surprise because her name has been linked with another for many years, but it seems that John has come along and swept her off her feet so to speak and they are getting married on June 29 in a small, private family ceremony at our house with a reception for friends following at our house.

Now this timing could be a problem since I will be spending the first three weeks of June in Philadelphia doing an intership at the Philadelphia Child and Famaily Therapy Center (formerly The Child Guidance Center founded by Salvador Minunchin), but Laura says that she and John are going to come here the week before the wedding and prepare all the food for the reception themselves. All of my friends at church (Laura's second mothers) have offered to help do anything that needs to be done for me so I guess we'll pull it off without a hitch or maybe I should say that they'll get hitched regardless...

With re-studing to take the Board again and reading the required book for the internship and thinking about the wedding, things are pretty exciting around here...keep us in your prayers...for God's will to be done, for peace, and especially for me to have a "ready recollection" of what I've studied or know the answers even if I haven't studied it when I take that test again!

Easter and Searcy can't get here soon enough!

We're having a wedding!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

It feels good to be affirmed!

Just have to brag a minute...had a client come in severeal weeks ago who had been seen previously by a psychologist and diagnosised with bipolar. As I l istened to the mother talk, I didn't hear signs of that at all but kept thinking that it sounded more like oppositional defiant dissorder to me. I told the mother I wasn't a doctor but from her description, ODD seemed like a better diagnosis and suggested that she check it out with a psychatrist. Well, she did yesterday and came back today with her child and a diagnosis of ODD and medication to fit the diagnosis. I might not have passed that test the first time, but i ain't as dumb as that test makes me look either. I'm still enjoying working with my kids!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

What a Bummer!

Caution...before you read this...it is a whiney blog...I finally got my scores back from my MFT Boards and now the pressure is off every other HUGSR Counseling student...I did not pass by 8 points...the passing score was 139 and I made 131, so Dr. Flatt's words ringing in my ears, "No, HUGSR Student has ever failed the boards"....well...I'm trying really hard to not be bummed out too bad about it. I wish they would have given me some idea of which areas were the weakest but they didn't. They only sent me a letter with the score and a new testing packet to fill out and send them another several hundred dollars to take the test again. I think the thing I'm most bummed out about is that I was really enjoying reading books and articles to help my clients and now I have to go back to studying that theory stuff and I still will have no idea how to answer those questions when I take the test again. The scores came on April 1...too bad it wasn't an April fools joke!

But on a positive note, I have been accepted to attend an intense summer internship at the Philapelphia Child and Family Therapy Center in Philadelphia the first 3 weeks of June. Only 6 people are accepted each year. So I am really excited about that. Anybody have any contacts in the Philly area who might help me find a bed for my three weeks there?

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Great weekend

Laura and John were here this weekend and it was a joy to have them here. We spent Saturday together at a home and art show (I say together, except that Tim knew an artist in about every other booth so he stopped and talked A LOT! and actually, John and Laura and I spent more time together at the show than he spent with us, but it was fun. Then we went to the HopeWorks talent show. It was really good. Ron Childers from Channel 5 is always the MC and he has the most fun making church jokes and of course, we always think he is so funny, mostly because what he says is so true!

You know, I experienced a first today. When John and Laura left today, I told them that I was going to continue praying for Laura to come back to her first love for the Lord and for John to follow her, finding faith in God for himself. John got a little tinkle in his eye and smile on his face and said, "I don't know that I've ever had anyone really pray for me before." Now to those of us who have grown up going to church of some kind or another, that is just old hat, every day kind of stuff, but I honestly can't ever remember meeting anyone in this country who has ever admitted that he's not ever had anyone to pray for him before so all of you who read this blog...Start praying and pray that he will feel the comfort and warmth of being bathed in prayer! Our God is an awesome God!