A New Grandson!!! I love being a Memaw!!!

Friday was the big day!! Leighton Alexander James Hamm was born at 8:11am!!! He entered the world a whopping 9 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long!! He and his Mommy and Daddy are doing so good. There is nothing like seeing a grandchild for the first time. I thought when Sydney was born that it was just the biggest thing yet, but it happened again when Leighton was born. I love our babies...they are so precious and God has blessed us so much with healthy grandkids. And He has blessed our kids with great kids!!!! I am so thankful that Kilyssa and Travis allow me to be a part of all this and to be a Grandma to the kids. I know that things can get complicated at times, but I am just thankful for all of them, that they are in my life!!!

Fall ..... Ya Gotta LOVE It!!!!

I have finally gotten to the age where my "favorites" are changing. If you asked me 5 years ago what my favorite time of year was, I would, without a doubt day SUMMER!!! I loved the sun, loved tanning by the pool, loved the whole long sunny days of summer. But now, as I ever so slowly creep towards turning 50, I am becoming a Fall type of gal. I'm not into laying in the sun, sweating to death for a great tan. I only went to the pool one time this summer. Having night sweats is enough sweating for me! I really like this 75 ish degree stuff. When you can sit on the deck, enjoy the sunshine and the cool breezes. I didn't think I would ever get to this point, but I am really excited about fall this year. Of course, getting a new grandson and a new daughter in law this fall makes this one really special. But even without those huge events, I love the fall weather. Makes me want to have more than I should have cups of Starbucks Pumpkin Lattes. I even have a craving for apple cider!! So I am going to enjoy all the days of September and October more than I ever have, attend more fall festivals, have more lattes and leave the sweating to the night time!!!

My Amazing Husband

I am not the bragging kind, but I have to brag some today. I have the most amazing husband!!! I know there are several out there who would say they have a husband more amazing, but I don't think I can agree!! Yesterday I had a very long day and I was very worried all day about my oldest son. I worked late and didn't get home until almost 7pm. Since Duane's son was at work, we were alone for supper. All during the meal he kept asking me if I was OK and I said sure, I'm fine. But he knew better. After dinner, he told me to just go out to the deck and sit. He would take care of the kitchen and would bring us coffee when he was done. That sounded so pleasant to me! So Beau (my puppy) and I went out to watch the birds from the deck. After just a few minutes, here comes my wonderful husband with the small TV from our extra room. He has rabbit ears on it and is setting it up so I can watch TV outside!!! Now I'm not a huge TV fan, but it was nice to just sit there, outside in the beautiful weather and watch jeopardy. In fact, it was so nice, I stayed there until 10pm when Dancing With The Stars was over!!! My husband knew what I needed more than I did and he knew that small jester would be so awesome to me!

Mondays...ugh!!!

I'm not a fan of Mondays. I quite prefer Sunday evenings. I don't know why, but seems like all my Sundays evenings are quiet and enjoyable and Mondays are a pain. I know today I am not praying enough because I have a terrible case of the worry warts. I'm worried about alot of things and I know that I need to just hand them over to God and be done with it. But being who I am, I will hold on to these things and make my Monday that much worse....until tonight in my prayers, when I will give it all up to Him. Common sense says that I should just do that now. I don't think I have much common sense on Mondays. Maybe that is what I should pray for on Sunday evenings...common sense for Mondays!!

Those Who Have None....and Dont Mind

Today I had a not so good lunch. I didn't bring my turkey from home like I had been doing all week. I guess I just wasn't hungry for turkey. So when lunch time came, I realized that it was raining, there was not room in the budget for going out to eat and all I had was a can of soup. Vegetable and Noodle Soup. (notice there is no meat!! Zero points on Weight watchers!!!) So, I had soup. As I was eating this soup, I was reading the current book I'm on, Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado. In it he talks about finding your place in God's Plan. Here is what caught my eye at the end of chapter 13..."Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." Now I'm sure you are wondering what this has to do with my soup.? As I posted before, one of my current passions is Third Phase and the food pantry box at our church. Husband and I have been working on this box since March and it is done now. As I was reading the book and eating the soup, I realized how very much God has blessed me. I didn't have to go to a food pantry to get my soup, just took it out of my pantry. There were other choices I could have made. God has blessed me with those choices. But what if I didn't have a choice. What if that pantry was empty? How would I feed my family tonight? Even the dog? Where would his food come from? There are so many people out there who struggle everyday just getting food on the table. It's not because they are not working to provide for their family, it is because rent, gas to get to work, utilities etc are consuming their income. So I would like to say to anyone who reads this...do what you can...as much as you can. Maybe you are like me and missing a lunch would not be a health issue and you could put that can of soup in the food pantry box? I don't think any of the people who come to Third Phase would mind a can of soup. In fact, they would truly appreciate it if it meant their kids would have something to go with the bread. God tells us so many times to love our brothers, take care of them and help all those who need it. I want to do more than the food box, so I'm going to post a blog on our church networking site also. We have to do more than what we have done in the past to take care of God's family. There is no reason for anyone to be hungry. Give them food, give them prayer and most of all, give them The Lord....

Third Phase

We had a wonderful day at church yesterday. Duane and I are part of the LOTS Ministry. LOTS stands for Least Of Those Served. We have been working on a food pantry box since March and it is finally finished! Our church collects non perishable food and takes it to a food pantry for Hamilton County at Third Phase. You always hear how Hamilton County is the fastest growing county and there are so many nice houses and such. But there are also a huge number of people who cannot afford to feed their families. Third Phase has been serving over 40 families per DAY from their food pantry. This is a real passion of mine, to help raise the awareness of the needy, especially families who have kids and need food. I know that there are kids everywhere in our area that only get what they are served at school at lunch each day. I am so glad there are places like Third Phase that are able to help. I just hope we can make a difference from the food we collect at our church. I will pray about this alot.

Continuing....Duane

When I moved to Indianapolis, it was very scary at first. My friends, Phil, Sherry, Dennis and Eileen moved me here and then they were gone. Shortly after that, I met a new friend, Doug. and would you believe that meeting Doug lead me to a church?? Wow...God is so funny sometimes!! In fact, it lead me to the church that the minister was the brother of a very good friend of mine from my old church!!! Hazel Dell Christian Church has been my church home since August 2002 and I know without a doubt God lead me there.

My new job in Indianapolis is perfect. I work for a small CPA firm and I do bookkeeping and tax preparation. It is easy for me to say that I love my job. The people I work with are a very good group and we all work well with each other. Our office is small, we only have 5 people. I have learned so much from my days at H&R Block! Every day is new and I look forward to being here.

In the fall of 2002, just when things were good, my Dad got sick. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer at Thanksgiving, had surgery to remove a 2 pound tumor from his kidney on December 18th and passed away on May 1, 2003. I miss him so much and still expect him to answer the phone sometimes when I call my Mom. I think losing a parent so young, he was only 66, is devastating. Each and everyday I think of something that has happened in our family, with Mom or one of the grandkids and wonder what would Dad do or think if he were here. My youngest son is getting married in October and it breaks my heart that my Dad wont be there, even after 5 years. But, God is good and he brought someone into my life just at the right time who could give me the security and love my Dad used to.

My husband, Duane. We met because he was bored and was okay with spending $14.95. the whole story of that is rather long, but cutting to the chase...we met, dated and have been married for 4 years now. Duane is an amazing man, who has come to be the best friend I have ever had. Marrying someone with 4 kids and an ex-wife is not easy. We have had some serious issues, but with prayer and lots of it, we are doing good. Everyday with this man is amazing. I understand my past and what I had to go through to get to this point. I count my blessings everyday for someone who completes me like he does. I know he loves The Lord like I do and having someone like him in my life to worship with is just so cool! We have so much fun together doing some of the most ordinary things. We love working on our house, landscaping and other things. We have a huge deck on the back that we sit on daily, drinking coffee and just catching up with each other's day. He has been so good to my boys and has taught them so much. He even gets along with my Mom!!! Not a day goes by that I dont wish my Dad could have met him. I know they would be good friends. He loves college football and I love baseball, so we have attended lots of Indianapolis Indians games and IU football games. In fact, he is so nice, the football and basketball games we attended at IU were both against U of I!!! and he was even ok that I wore my Illini colors and he was dressed from head to toe in Hoosier Red!!

We are now getting into a different time of our lives. We have a 2 yr old granddaughter, Syndey, who is just the best. And on Sept 26th we will welcome new baby Leighton into our family with his Mommy and Daddy and li'sis Sydney. We are so excited to meet him!! Even though I am technically the "step-grandma", I still feel like they are part of me. Kilyssa and Travis have been so nice to let me be MeMaw too!! The other part of our lives that is changing is that we are now taking care of things for our parents. Duane's Mom had breast cancer last year and is doing fine now. His Dad, Robert, had a stroke on May 1, 2008 and is unable to see. The only thing the stroke affected was his sight and it has been so frustrating for him to deal with. My Mom is doing pretty good, just gets bored with no family to take care of anymore. We all try to keep her busy. Our lives are very full and we are blessed...Duane and I!!!

Same Trip, Different Road

This weekend I am helping my sister move. She has been married for almost 26 years and is getting a divorce. I have been there before, but it was a road I was hoping she would not have to travel. She has two kids who are out of high school and one is in her last year of college. She and her husband have nothing in common any longer. I know she has been unhappy for a long time and I give her credit for staying long enough to raise the kids. As a Christian, I wish she could have made it work. As a sister, I see her pain and understand. So now she is doing something she has never done before, living along. She went straight from our childhood home to being married, so this will be very new for her. Of course the kids will still be around and actually each of them have their own room in her new home. But she will be for the first time a single Mom, living alone. I think she will be surprised that she will actually enjoy it most of the time. But there will be days that she will be lonely. She has a great support group of girlfriends, who I am sure will keep her busy. But I am still very sad. I guess I was hoping she will do what I had not been able to do in the past, stay married to the man she fell in love with first. I know that God has plans for her. I know He is in her life. Now that I have traveled past these roads and am finally with the man God intended me to be with, I can only hope that she will someday have that same opportunity. But for now...I will be there for her..help her decorate her new place and be the best sister I can be.

The Beginning....

I have often thought of doing a blog but never really considered my life to be so interesting. But I think that this is more for me than anyone else. Just to take a small part of my day to put down my thoughts and where my life is headed.
I am from a very small town in west central Indiana. Raised by very strict parents who believed a goods day work was important for all 4 of their kids. I'm the oldest of 4, 2 boys and 2 girls, which my parents had in 5 years! I think my Mom was a very organized person and managed to keep all of us on track most of time. She once told me that she didnt feel like she had accomplished anything in her life. But when I pointed out that she raised, mostly on her own since my Dad worked alot, 4 great kids who turned out pretty good, she could see that I was right. I know that at one time or another each of us disappointed her, she knows we all love her very much.
I have had lots of ups and downs in my life, 2 divorces, job changes, stress of raising 2 boys alone, but I know that God has been there with me all the time. I didnt realize that in the beginning, but he has shown me time and time again that He was there at all the right times. It wasnt until after my 2nd divorce that I found Him again and began to live life like He wanted. I became friends with some of the most Godly people I have ever known. Even though that group of people are not in my daily life now, God has given me a new group that is just as loving and encouraging as the first. He is like that, ya know? Always gives us just what we need, when we need it.
Just like when He moved me from Danville to Indianapolis. That was the biggest change I had ever made in my life and He was in control the whole way. I was fine at my job of 12 1/2 years in Danville. Had a great church family, great friends, my family was all very close..why would I change all that to move to a city where I had none of those things?? Because God knew where He wanted me and why. So I will leave this and continue my journey tomorrow. If you are reading this, thanks. I would love to hear from you. Especially old friends!!!