God is in CONTROL

Saturday, July 30, 2011

My Friend, Betty

   

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" -- the Word says


That being the case, there was a sweet, tender homecoming on Wednesday afternoon as my friend Betty Murphey moved into her eternal home.  I would have loved to see her eyes as she saw the face of her Jesus.

Betty was special to me and my family as well as our Church.

Our kids loved the fact she  was willing to think outside the box.


She took a chance on our young Church plant and was devoted to it's mission.  

Betty was a person with an infectious laugh - she laughed at my stories (that made her special ;-0) - she wasn't afraid to laugh at herself. She could easily identify with anything you were going through.


There was a gentleness and kindness about her that made her easily approachable by people of all ages.

In trying to find pictures of her -- I realized there weren't many with Betty in the forefront -- she was usually somewhere in the background -- serving -- helping -- visiting -- and laughing --she didn't like a lot of attention drawn to her publicly.

Betty loved to read.  One of her favorite Christian authors died this past Wednesday, also. 

She loved to study the Bible. With Betty in the class you always knew there would be wisdom coming from her corner -- not the preachy - stuffy kind -- but something you could hang on to and apply to your life.


She loved dearly loved Ken -- they had been married 61 years.    You never saw one without the other and as you said their names it was always both-- and together -- Ken and Betty.  They were a team, supporting and caring for each other through hard times.
Their 50th celebration June 2000
Couples told us that Ken and Betty's way of sharing realistically helped them learn about lifetime commitment.

Ken and Betty were generous people.  They would quietly take care of someone's need.

She was a devoted mom to Kathy and Jim and ever so proud of her three grand kids --- Rachel, Ryan and Jennifer.  We all felt we knew them so well,  since  Betty loved to share her people with us.

She went out of her way to be attentive to whatever needs we had -- bringing food, sending a card  - making a visit.
 
We loved to have them over for dinner --She and Ken were often on Marshall's birthday guest list.  In my summer sorting, I found a framed verse they gave Marshall when he graduated from high school - reminding him of the wonderful plans God had for him. 


Prior to Ken and Betty's move to Houston, it thrilled me when she said -- "I want to come to your house one more time."  We set about to make that happen,

Betty, we miss you and at some point -- we'll all be joining you at your new house

-- Be watching for us, sweet sister -- leave the light on.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

KC and Campbell Time!!!

All roads lead to KC and the biggest part of my week was spent @ Bethany and Mat's playing Nana.

Shoe shopping for Little Miss





Girl's lunch out at the Salty Iguana
C's a huge fan of black beans!!!

Wednesday was a family photo shoot -- who takes a photographer's family picture?  Another friend who's also a photographer,of course!  We headed to Luce Park at 7 am to get the best possible light.  Campbell had been awake since 4 with serious teething!    Nana went along to help with bags, props, and getting grins out of Campbell.


















With a week of teething, Campbell needed lots of hugs, holding, and wagon rides and I was only too happy to volunteer!


B/C of the heat wagon rides had to come before 8 AM
Limes seemed to help the teeth!

Meet Me In St. Louis



 My cousin, Deb and I had talked of getting together this summer and plans finally took shape.  We decided to meet in St. Louis.  I found great hotel rates on line -- close to some of the major attractions and then learned that possibly I had selected one in a scary neighborhood.  Not to fear, Janet had experience as a dispatcher for the Knox Co. Indiana Sheriff's office.
Three of  Ida and Verner Brian's granddaughters




 We never knew our grandparents because they both died at an early age, so it was interesting to read letters from our Grandma Brian that I had discovered in my mother's keepsakes this summer. We shared stories that we'd learned from our mothers about these two special people.













We stayed right by the old
Union Station so we voted to
eat-out at Hard Rock St. Louis.



 


With triple digit temperatures -- what are three "mature"(50 or 60+)  women to do???  Head to the Mall -- No heat stroke for us by sightseeing outdoor attractions.  Stopping at Clayton's Galleria meant we HAD to sample dessert at the Cheesecake Factory!   The blurry effect to the picture is actually how we felt after we ate these huge pieces of cheesecake.


My brothers and I are indebted to Debbie, Janet and their folks for the care they gave our parents!




I also got to spend an afternoon with my very special friend Charlene and her husband, Larry.  They have a huge garden and she made the most wonderful lunch -- complete with fresh blackberry cobbler!  Time wasn't long enough to catch up -- but we had been able to have an earlier visit in May when Terry and I were in Wood River for a marriage workshop.

I loved this re-post I read on someone's status on facebook -- it describes my life-long friendship with Charlene, and because of that, I re-post it here.
It's been said that everlasting friends go long periods of time without speaking and never question the friendship. These friends pick up like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live, and they don't hold grudges. They understand that life is BUSY and… you will ALWAYS love them. Re-post if you have at least 1 of these friends. They will know who they are...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

MOM

I found this picture of my Mom last week during my "summer purge project" when I tackled the photo boxes I had been filling up for years. I"d never seen this one before and it had to be one that was taken of her for a church bulletin board or directory.  It's not in clear focus -- not nearly like Bethany's digital specialty camera would do -- but it creates a softness about her that touched my heart. She was a gentle lady,  a little self-conscious -- definitely a behind-the-scenes woman.

Eight years ago today she went to be with Jesus - and as I was standing at the sink this morning, I was flooded with memories of her.

   She always loved tuna -- there I was making tuna salad -- it wasn't only tuna salad -- she made creamed tuna on toast -- tuna casserole -- I ate a lot of tuna growing up.
  She could s-t-r-e-t-c-h a dollar.  She grew her own fruits and vegetables and used them to make her own ketchup, relish, pickles, jelly, and canned all sorts of vegetables and fruits. She sewed everything for us when we were growing up --,her favorite words were, "we could make it for less."
She worked up until the last minute on everything.  I followed suit today  -- by  finishing a birthday gift last - minute, just like her.
 
She loved children and thought their antics were worth telling and re-telling.  Her 35 years of Sunday school teaching and working as a Media Aide in the elementary library gave her plenty of material.
  She could make anything grow!  I learned the names of so many different flowers from her.
 Every holiday was worth decorating for -- our house was an old small farm house -- but I never thought of it that way because she always had it fixed so nicely. She decorated for every holiday except Ground Hog Day!







She believed Sundays were all about the Lord and that you should dress accordingly.  In my childhood EVERYBODY wore hats to Church!










 She  could teach herself to do ANYTHING. If not, she took a course to learn it.  She built cabinets, just like her father before her, and taught my brothers. She took painting,  tailoring, upholstery and milnery classes.  She could crochet, stitch little houses, create clocks out of almost every thing.  Because she was always learning -- she never seemed old.


Her painting lessons created this!















  She loved to take pictures (for that reason I have so many albums and boxes of her photos to sort.  She would be proud of the accomplished photographer Bethany has become.  Terry used to tease her about the time on a camping trip she took so many pictures of the raccoons only to discover that there was no film in her camera.
  Having company was special..  She canned lots of green beans and always served them for company dinners. The aroma of green beans cooking always makes me think of those dinners she'd prepare.




  She believed being a Mom was the most important task I woman could have -- and Grandchildren -- why, her grand kids were the light of her life! 


She was my best friend and confidant.  Even as early as childhood - if I picked up a dish towel to help with dishes -- I had a captive audience and a wise listener.  Maybe that's why I ended up in the kitchen so  often -- she was always ready to hear me out.

She believed idle hands were certainly the devil's workshop,  and that busy kids were happy kids.  


These projects always brought some sort of reward!

helping grandma settle the yard at their new house.
Marshall can attest to that, as she always had a list of jobs for him to help her with when we'd visit.  You NEVER said you were bored around her -- or she'd find a cure for that boredom.  LOL 



 She was tireless in her efforts to take care of my Dad.  She believed that was her life purpose -- Together the two of them managed his Muscular Dystrophy for 40 plus years - allowing him to continue working.  We learned so much about being a caregiver from her.  


  
  She saw God as her refuge -- she read His word through several times and talked to him about EVERYTHING -- She and Dad believed it was their responsibility to pray over all of their family every day.  We always knew they were behind us, praying.

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