Remembering the Things of Old

Fathers, open your mouths and utter things of  old...things you have heard and know, things your forefathers have told us.  Do not hide them from your children.  Tell them to the next generation.  Tell them of the praiseworthy deeds God has done.  Tell of His great power and the great wonders He has done. Teach these things to your children and your grandchildren, so that the next generation will turn and tell their children and their children's children of the love of God.  Then they will put their trust in God and never forget His deeds and commands.  And why should you do this?  So your children will not be like their forefathers who turned from God.
Ps. 78:1-8 paraphrased


This scripture has been very heavy on my heart.  This year, my mother-in-law will celebrate her 95th birthday.  As she approaches this milestone I think about what she has left us in memories and also how many stories have not been shared.

Years ago, I put together a scrapbook for my mother-in-law and saw the impact of time in one person's life.  Her life stretches from the beginning of automobiles to the cyber world we all have embraced.  Her relatives served in WWII, and her family survived the Great Depression.  She is now has the title of great-grandmother to three great-granddaughters. God's faithful hand on her life could fill a book, as it should all of us.

The scripture commands us to re-tell God's faithfulness to us and past generations, but it takes people telling the stories for them to be handed down.

My children probably get tired of hearing me re-tell our stories.  I will text them memories as they come to mind, even words that were spoken over them through the years.  I will recall how they felt about things in the past...mostly to remind them who they are and God's hand on their lives.

Pictures allow us to document our memories, but we also need to document the stories through some form of written or recorded means.

When a child is doubting a decision, I can remind them what their dreams were as a child and they can recall their passions.  Confidence is built as they move forward.

Recalling the past also gives us courage for the future.  God's faithfulness to us should be mentioned often.  How easy it is to look only at the present circumstances.  God knew the importance of re-telling of his faithfulness to all generations, or he wouldn't have written it as a command.

This year, I started this blog to leave a paper trail for my children and future generations.  I have also been scanning pictures from my years of collection...so I can re-tell the stories.

My children may not be very interested in these stories at this time...they all live in the present mindset, but time will bring about a desire to know their past.  When they have children, they will want to say...."hey, this is what happened to me, here is where I met God."

My Roots are Texas Deep!

Spring brings out the wandering side of me.  I would love to just get in the car and drive through the state  in which I was born and raised, TEXAS.


I just can't escape the fact, nor do I want to, that I am a true Texas girl.  I am fourth generation Texan!!! I love Texas history, UT Longhorns,  horses, peaches and pecans. Therefore, I bleed Texan...yes, that is me at my grandfather's ranch near Fort Hood in the 70's.

Spring brings out blanketed fields of bluebonnets and a hunger for the hill country.  Summer beckons with fresh peaches and rafting floats down the Guadalupe River through the City of Gruene.  Each area of my grand state has unique offerings. Don't forget, we used to be our own country... the Republic of Texas!

Born in Austin, Texas and having lived there for 38 years of my life, I have grown to love the history of my state.  The Alamo and the Hispanic culture of San Antonio have always wooed us to visit on weekends.  New Braunfels shares with us the beauty of the German culture.  Dallas/Ft. Worth, where I now live, shows the rise of Texas in the world, as well as the cowboys that drove massive herds of  longhorns across our cattle trails.  Galveston, with her beaches (even if not the prettiest beaches) are ours and they beg you to come to the coast and relax.

The sights and sounds of Texas are too great to be held in any one blog post, but I am also seeing that none of us can escape our roots.  You might want to deny them...I can't because when I open my mouth and you know where I am from. We can try to gloss over our roots, but usually the truth will be found.  Where we plant ourselves will determine the fruit we will bear as our roots go deep into the ground.

As a parent, I can only show my children where their roots should be deeply planted. But they must choose for themselves, as I give them wings to fly and establish their own roots.

Although I would hope that a fifth generation will be established here in Texas, I don't know if that will happen. However, the roots that go down deep in any soil are the ones I want planted in the Lord.  May my children be grounded in His word and have their roots planted deeply.  May they not be uprooted by the world, but firmly planted in Him and produce righteous fruit.

From this Texas girl, who still dreams of riding horses and having a plot of land to wander on, I hope you are allowing the Lord to grow deep roots in Him as you continue on this earthly journey.

Y'all come!

I Can't Hear Myself Thinking

We have all heard the phrase, "I can't hear myself thinking."  I know for sure where it comes from, because it happened again today!


I love all varieties of cheesecakes and pound cakes.  I love making them and collecting recipes.  Since I fixed a mint cheesecake for St Patrick's Day I decided to share my joy for making these desserts by making a pound cake for a friend.

As I went through recipes, I was thinking how the internet is making it so easy to find new adventurous delights, I was reminded of my father-in-law's love for 7-Up pound cake.  He was a semi-pro baseball player for 7-Up during the 30's and later part owner of the 7-Up bottling plant in the city were I was raised.  Since Easter reminds me of family and family was so dear to him, 7-Up pound cake would be the perfect choice.


Along came my sixth child, a non-stop-except-when-he-sleeps talker!  No, my sixth isn't a girl. He is a cowboy boot-wearing, Batman-Robin Hood-loving Boy!


As I was studying the familiar recipe... he was talking!


As I was counting out the cups...he was talking!  The numbers in my head were 1 and 2, while he was verbalizing 10, 18, 22!


As I was checking to make sure I hadn't forgotten something during this process...he was talking!

Then I stopped, inhaled, and heard the phrase, "I can't hear myself thinking!" My foggy 49-year-old, change-of-life brain wasn't working.  I had to laugh, still struggling through his talking to put our creation into the oven.


My father-in-law would have loved the pound cake, but more than that, he would have loved to have seen our fifth boy.  He came from a family of five boys...I sure wish I could have talked to his mother.  As we gave the pound cake away and made another for us, he would have loved the fact that I was enjoying my son, even though "I couldn't hear myself thinking."


This is dedicated to my father-in-law who loved life, never took anything too seriously, and loved his family so deeply.  His memory still richly blesses me even after 15 years of his entry into Heaven.  We will see him someday!  This Easter weekend, we will enjoy this 7-Up pound cake and I will walk down memory lane with the two sons that never knew their amazing, loving granddad.