Sunset Dreaming

We are about to leave on vacation!! I can not wait! We are not headed to New York, or Disney World, or on some Caribbean Cruise, we are going to Sunset Beach NC!

If you have never heard of this place you have missed out! I would have to say this is my most favorite place in the world. It is a beautiful island that just makes you feel you have left the rest of the world completely behind. The sand has a way of touching your feet and saying "welcome home". The waves come in and carry all frustrations and worries out to sea. The atmosphere says "slow down, enjoy life" .

About a year ago, I was at the beach with my best friend and her children. We met this couple on "holiday", obviously they were from the UK. We enjoyed speaking to them each day. One day the lady said "Americans don't know how to take a real holiday". She was referring to the fact we take phones, computers and TV's and never really "leave it all behind". That has stuck with me since then.

So that is my goal this summer...maybe I am not even taking a vacation. Maybe I am truly going on "Holiday". I am taking books, games, kites, and I am going to take long walks every day, and talk to God, and my family. I am going to explore the island and create memories and truly leave it all behind. I need this, I know when we get back it will be non-stop until we get settled in TX.

So, if you need me in an emergency I can be located through Sunset Properties...any thing else will have to wait. I am on HOLIDAY!!!

Will you be my "Journeymate"?

I heard an awesome Focus on the Family this week. Dr. Dobson and some guest were talking about being "journeymates" for our children. It was excellent. They were talking about how scary just growing up can be, and if we are our children's journeymates we don't make the journey for them, but with them. I thought that was so good, because it is tempting to want to spare our children as much fear, hurt, and disappointment as possible. Instead of running interference we just need to run with them.

Then I started thinking about all of my wonderful friends that I have been blessed with. All of you know who you are and you are the ones that make leaving SC truly painful. I fear not having each of you in my daily life. I fear being lonley. I don't mean to sound down I am just trying to be real.

So, I thought about this journeymate thing again...I am asking you to be my journeymates. No...I don't expect you to go to Texas with me!! But we are blessed to have so many ways to take this journey together, email, blogs, calling plans, digital cameras and some many others including "snail mail"!

Who knows maybe we can write our own book someday!! Speaking of books I will be posting a list sometime soon of all the wonderful books and authors you have sent me so we can all share them!

An Awesome Date!

I had the most wonderful date last night! He was a perfect gentleman. He made me feel so special. Just to know I am the most important woman in his life...for now. Don't panic there is no trouble between me and my man...my date was with my 11 year old son!

My husband was able to get us tickets to go and see Josh Groban! It was the first "big" concert my son has ever been to and one of the best I have ever been to. Wes has always been a big fan of Josh Groban, and now I can appreciate that so much more. Josh Groban performed an absolutely beautiful, classical, and uplifting concert. He was accompanied by strings and brass and band. His music was positive and his personality was real!

We had an awesome night! Thanks Sid for the tickets, and thanks Wes for being an awesome date!

I Hope There Is a Good Bookstore in Dallas!!

I know this may sound a little crazy but I hope I can find a good paperback exchange in Dallas!
I love to read...it is such a relaxing time! I love to find a book that you can just not put down, and the characters become people you enjoy spending time with. I was talking to my sister-in-law the other day and I asked her what she was reading and she shared the names Emily Giffin, Mary Kay Andrews, and Linda Howard. I look forward to finding some books by these women! One of my favorites right now is Kristen Heiztmann, I would recommend anything by her. However, nothing beats her Diamond of the Rockies trilogy, "Quillan and Carina" will always be special !!

I love having someone to share a good book with too...especially over a cup of coffee! My sister-friend is that perfect person! She loves to read too. Some of her favorites are Nora Roberts, and JD Robb. This is one of those people with a writing personality problem because it is the same person writing under two names! We do some of the craziest things like plan which books are our summer books and which would be good winter books, which books would be good vacation books, and we panic when we finish a book without a good replacement waiting.

I would love to hear from other readers about books and authors you enjoy! If you are not a reader I strongly suggest it is a habit you start! Don't feel like you are wasting you time if it is not a self help or educational book. Find something that truly relaxes you and lets that part of our imagination that helped us grow as children still exercise our minds today.

Here are some others I have enjoyed along the way: Virginia Gaffney, Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti(Monster is excellent), Eugenia Price, Francine Rivers and many more!

Special Connections

I love all the wonderful ways God has of making us feel really special...I mean after all we are His children. I feel like I understand this really well because I had an awesome earthly father too. I was blessed to be a true "daddy's girl". My dad had these ways of making me feel like the most special daughter ever born. Now don't think bad of me for saying that...every little girl deserves that. If you did not have that from your dad you can still get that feeling from God. God does the most amazing little things just to make a touch and say "I really do know what you are feeling and going through". For instance, I had a wonderful phone call this past week. I had heard of the lady that was on the phone, I even remember whispering a prayer for her once because her and her husband had moved to Texas to go to seminary. I just couldn't imangine what that would be like. Now a few years later we are in reverse situations and she was so wonderful to talk too. We keep meeting people who went to school at DTS, but this was the first person I had talked to that has done what I am going to have to do. Our talk was so uplifting to me, and I know there is someone I can talk to any time that can truly say "I understand". God knew just when I needed that call. He let me know He really does know me and cares about me.

Wow, could it be in this world on billions of people that God, the creator and Lord of All, knows me well enough to care about all of the little feelings I might have...YES! I am not just some number on a test tube of cells...I am HIS daughter!

Thank you Lord for loving me so much, thank you for all of your special touches, and thank you for the support of friends like D.O. !

Hey, check out Sid's blog he has been having a little too much fun lately!
www.wonderingfellow.com