20 years ago today......

Today is our 20th. anniversary.

This is when we first saw each other after this last deployment of 9 months.

I never thought we would be here. We got married for all the wrong reasons but WOW , did God have a plan. I was way too young or should I say immature at the time. I often say that Our girls ages (18) and (15) are more mature now than I was when we got married and it's true. Neither of us knew and walked with Jesus and it was just doomed to fail. We have had MANY rough days but the good ones seem to far outweigh the bad.

Our marriage has been a growing process, much like our walk with the Lord. As we have grown in Him, we have grown together. We both got saved when Katherine was a baby but we weren't really growing in Christ. We went to church every time the door opened but never really cracked a Bible to study and read for ourselves. Then we were shown, basically the folly of our ways, and began truly walking with the Lord, reading His word, meditating, studying, and memorizing. Wow, what a difference those simple little things can make.

Even then, I had a long road to go. I needed to truly understand the word submission. Eph. 5:22-24 Having been raised by a very strong willed, independent, single, mother, submission is not a word I was ever taught. HaHa In time though, God can change your heart and show you a better way. About 5 yrs. ago I read the book Created to be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl and it was life changing for me and I think Ronnie would say him too. I saw all of the many ways I was still trying to be the head of our family, even though I would have previously thought I had this submission thing down. Things run much more smoothly around here now.:)

Today, we have a pretty great marriage and family and Lord willing, we will have at least 20 more years together. I am extremely thankful that God took something that we didn't necessarily mean for good and turned it into something really good. Romans 8:28

Ronnie is in Hattiesburg for summer camp. However, he has managed to work it out that he is going to sweep me away for the evening. I have no idea what he has planned. He just told me to pack a bag. If you know Ronnie, than you know this is not typical. He and the girls have been back and forth on the phone and there is no telling what is going but no matter what it is, it will be special.

Have a great day!!

22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.~~ Ephesians 5:22-24

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.~~ Romans 8:28

A Glimpse at our days.....

The biggest thing going on around our homestead this week is that this beautiful, sweet, loving, and most of all totally sold out to Jesus Christ, girl is spending the week on a mission trip to New Orleans. We went to a musical at Christmas time and she told me then she wanted to join the performance choir that was performing. Well, we got her all signed up in Jan. and she has worked so hard. This week they are performing at different churches, detention centers, and public places like the Cafe Du Monde. She is worn out from all of the busyness of it but is having a great time. We live by the verse,... Bad company corrupts good morals. 1 Cor. 15:33. So it was a big leap for her to go off and do something like this. However, she did just graduate and she will be 19 in Oct. By this point she should be trained in the way that she should go. (Prov. 22:6) She truly has a heart for those less fortunate and we are so proud of the young woman she is becoming.
I love you Katherine and I have missed you like crazy this week!!!!

In the meantime we are staying busy busy with the garden. I go out every morning for a while and weed or tie up tomato plants.

All of this hard work has produced beyond our wildest dreams. We have decided this may very well be our best garden yet. I think God is blessing this sweet man because he missed all of last years harvest. He loves gardening. I am so thankful. I love stalks of corn. It is really shooting up now.We have a ton of squash and zucchini blooms.
And a ton of zucchini.....

and squash. We should be picking by the end of the week. Praise the Lord.

I have 60 tomato plants planted and it looks like only one is going to die. They are already covered with little tomatoes. Today I am taking all of my frozen tomatoes from last year and working on my new spaghetti/pizza sauce. I will be putting up a lot of sauce, salsa, and ketchup this year, Lord willing.

~~she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. Prov. 6:8~~

By the way, I am wondering does anyone have any idea what this plant is? I don't think it is an angel trumpet. It doesn't grow on a large stem. It grows more like an amaryllis. It may just be some type of amaryllis, however the foliage looks different.

Well, I must go get started. I hope you all have a great day!!