Wordless Wednesday????

There are several blogs I follow who participate in a "Wordless Wednesday" carnival where you show a photo and say nothing... no thing! But I could NEVER be that wordless... once I thought there were no words to express how I was feeling, but then it turned out that, indeed, there were actually words. So, I gave up after that one attempt and decided to be the person God meant me to be... a blabber mouth!

I have a new favorite, cherished possession. My mom gave me Granma's Bible this past weekend. My grandma was the closest person I've ever known to the heart of God. Seriously, I couldn't name a fault the woman had and I heard her praying night and day my entire life. She walked with God in a way that only those who know her could understand when I say that. Her Bible is taped on the binding and there is a WEALTH of notes in the margins of this Bible. It will take me years to get through the notes, I'm sure, but it's become my new referrence material. You can be sure when I look up a verse in my NIV, I will be looking up the notes in Granma's King James. Mama, thank you so much for sharing this with me! It really means so much to have it.

Which reminds me, with all the excitement over the kitty (now being called Mickey) I didn't get a chance to mention that we had our family reunion this past weekend. Once a year, my two brothers and their families and my sister and her family all get together at my mom's house for Memorial Day. I think my oldest brother (still younger than me by one year) had the best description I've ever heard this year when he said, "This weekend is always like you crammed a family reunion into a cannon and shot it out." There are four of us kids, plus spouses (8 total), my parents (making 10) and 10 kids. So that's one adult per kiddo and my youngest brother doesn't even have any children yet. So the days are coming when we will be far outnumbered in the kid to adult ratio. And the oldest child is 9, so you can imagine a bit of the chaos. Well, maybe you can't imagine the chaos that surrounds sleeping 20 people (most of whom my mom can put in a bed, but five of those beds are in one large room, so you can imagine, maybe, what that looks like.) I have the funniest photos of the day on Saturday when the kids were all shiny and clean and cute at the beginning of the day. Then by the end of the day, I'll just show you a photo of my nieces feet and maybe you can get an idea of how much fun the kids had being together that day. I will say, for only getting together once a year (we are all pretty scattered around) the kids pick up right where they left off and there are rarely any tears, even from the littlest ones.

So, the kitty got a clean bill of health, more or less, from the vet. Brian, would this be a good time to tell you that the little u-turn you made on the interstate cost us nearly $100 with Dr. Jim? Anyway, he has an eye infection and some parasites, both of which are being treated with meds. He is only FOUR WEEKS OLD and the vet thinks someone threw him out of the car that wasn't quite still yet because he has some pretty deep little gouges on his face. Can I just take a moment to tell you how WORTHLESS these folks are! Seriously, if you can throw a four week old kitten from a moving car, you are completely dead inside. There is nothing in you that is tender or loving! Particularly, if you even have a four week old kitten in your possession you probably own the mother, which makes you a complete LOSER that you could love one cat and dispose of her offspring like that. Seriously, I really get teary thinking about it. I know that there are PEOPLE who could have been helped with that $100. But I also know that God did KNOW that kitten was on the side of the road. 100's of motorists had already passed him and no one had stopped. I was passing by at 75 mph and I SAW this poor creature, who was the same color as the road, I might add, and that is just the heart God put in me. It's not in my nature to let anything defenseless suffer. And I would have still been wondering what happened to this kitten. So in my book, I was just doing what God expected of me. If He knows every bird of the field, then He knows this kitten and He also knows the scum who dumped him and He would love to redeem that person too, so hopefully, the loser who threw Mickey out will have some pretty sleepless nights. I won't hold my breath. Besides, I think it's Deuteronomy that specifically says that if your neighbor loses and oxen, it's your JOB to care for this animal until your neighbor can return for it. Boy, am I totally the OPPOSITE of wordless or what? :)

I want to give a shout of congrats to my friend, Kristi, who has the most amazing heart. She and her family are now the proud parents of Lucy Lane, a little baby in an orphanage in Africa. They passed court yesterday and will be leaving to pick up this precious baby on June 13th. Congratulations Kristi.

Also, please check out Gwen's blog. She has some new shirts on there that are rockin' cute AND they are LOVINGLY hand sewn. I wish you could have seen Gwen, Suzanne and myself yesterday, with about 20 kids running around Suzanne's house, sewing these shirts on her dining room table and precious Maggie Oatsvall, sitting with us, cutting up the left-over shirt fabric with a pair of Kindergarten scissors. Seriously, that vision alone is worth the money for the shirt! So, if you're looking for some new "in your face" wear, check out the Oatsvall Village. By the way, the brand of shirt is actually called "In Your Face!" :)

"We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows." Lamentations 5:3