Greg Loves Sarah

“People are like stained-glass windows.

They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,

but when the darkness sets in

their true beauty is revealed

only if there is light from within.”

~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

As long as I can remember, my grandmother (with extremely rare exception) has always answered the phone the same way. Not with a plain “Hello” or a cheery “Good morning!” or a proper “Perkins’ residence. This is Betty.” Nope. Not my grandma. She answers it this way: “Praise the Lord! It’s a beautiful day! What can I do to help you?” Early in the morning, late at night, in the middle of the day…it’s always the same. I actually had that little line put on a t-shirt for her.

This past week, we thought we might lose my grandmother. Well, not lose her – she’s a child of God. But we had a pretty close call. As a result, mom and I came home to LA from Big Sandy on Tuesday night. We are praising that the Lord that my grandmother (who is still in ICU) is recovering well from what turned out to be a burst appendix. God is soooo good.

When I first heard how tough things were for her, my heart was SO heavy and I shed my share of tears. The thought of her being in a hospital and scared made my heart go out to her. And the thought of saying “goodbye” was so…..*sigh*

At the beginning of the week, Melanie and I were talking and decided that since we were going to see one another at the end of the week, it was going to be “The Week of No Goodbyes”. So during the week, we’d end our conversations with “Hello” instead of “bye” I know….we are goofy. I love it though :) Do you know how hard it is to end a conversation with “hello”??? Saying “goodbye” has become such a habit that it just comes out naturally without thinking and, furthermore, to end a conversation with “hello” and then end the call makes a gal feel like she’s hanging up on a friend. Oddness.

So, the Lord had it in His will to allow my grandmother to stay with us. And every once in a while, it crosses my mind: “It was the Week of No Goodbyes”.

This morning finds me happily situated in Spring, TX. I drove over last night (after an unexpected 3day detour to LA to be with my grandmother). Next week (Mon-Wedn) is the Children’s Ministry Workshop put on by Children’s Ministries of Texas (CMT). I have 3 sessions to speak at – I pray that the Lord just uses me as an instrument and that all the words are His own. Then Thurs-Saturday is the THSC Homeschool Conference. CMT is responsible for the children’s program which may have in the neighborhood of 800 little ones. Fun stuff!

So…here I am. In Houston area, expecting a great week.

Y’all…Our God is….so……GOOD.

We haven’t even figured out yet how to define “good” when it comes to the Lord. The word itself is do huge. And our Lord is so amazing.

An added blessing of my unscheduled trip home, was getting to be with my mom and dad and in my own home. Loveliness. :) I also got to spend time with other family members who came through. Seeing Halina, Matthew, and Little Sarah was such a treat…I hadn’t seen them since sometime in May….Ah, I love family…

And I love being a part of the family of God……

Dear Dears, [AKA: Malloo, Bethie, Lizzy, and Ames]

I miss y’all. I miss the giggles, energy, craziness, ideas that NEVER happen, ideas that DO happen, staying up late, hair-dyeing, heart-to-hearts, movies, laying there awake solving the problems of the world, laying there awake ignoring the problems of the world, talking about Jesus, crying out for Jesus, media snacking in a group, im’ing a friend who’s just across the room (just to say hello and that you are glad you can SEE HER), telling Grandpa good morning, singing just because, throwing paper airplanes in a Sonic parking lot or a front yard, walking in the park, dreaming BIG, dreaming SMALL, not dreaming AT ALL but just BEING………..

Frankly, I miss Y’ALL.

Here’s an e-hug x 4. One for Bethie. One for Lizzy. One for Amy. And one for Mellie-Malloo.

May all your days be sunny on the inside. Love you.

Aren’t Catherine and Savannah lovely???? Wowsers, I cherish them…

“God made us sisters; love made us friends…”

You know….I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we spend the first 9 months of our lives in a continuous hug :-) Makes us SO SWEET upon our arrival in this world.

Savannah is so precious…watching her sleep so peacefully…its just amazing…And she is so available to cuddle with. I am loving auntie-hood :-)