Blast from the Past Friday

It's already Friday again? Holy cow, this week has just FLOWN by!! I've been busy working in the yard and trying to keep up with the housework. CRAZY times around here, let me tell you! Because I LOVE reminiscing about things, here's the Blast from the Past for this week...

This is me and my Grandma Martin. She was a wild one, known for dancing on the table at family reunions in days gone by, having a great sense of humor, and always having a fridge stocked with every flavor of Faygo imaginable. I know we're not supposed to pick favorites when it comes to relatives, but out of all of my grandparents, she certainly was my favorite!

I was 15 when this picture was taken, Christmas 1989. Look how stinkin' skinny I was!! I LOVED my hair back then...probably one of my fave hairdos I've had, VERY late 80's/early 90's to be sure! I remember I used to spend HOURS spiral curling my already permed hair to get it just right. These days rarely blow dry my hair, much less spend hours styling it. Oh how my priorities have changed...

Grandma is gone now, and I miss her. I'm glad I have lots of fun memories of her though.

I can REALLY see Puckey's resemblance to me in this picture. We have the same cheekbones. Well, when I'm skinny enough to HAVE cheekbones...LOL I'm working on that, and slowly but surely I WILL get there!

So there you have it, a Blast from MY Past...Have a great weekend!

Less than one week has gone by

and we've had another loss in our family. My grandma Martin passed away yesterday. She was 88 and suffered from Alzheimer's. In a way I'm glad she's gone - she's no longer held to the limitations of her illness.

I just wanted to share a couple of my favorite things about my grandma from when I was a kid.

FAYGO. On any given day, at any given time, you could go to my grandma's house and find an assortment of Faygo pop that would rival most grocery stores. And we could drink as much as we wanted.

Chop Suey. My grandma made the best chop suey EVER.

Fried taco shells. If we had tacos, my grandma would fry flour tortilla shells in oil just long enough to make them a little crispy, but still flexible enough to wrap. YUMMY.

Lipstick. In the "pink" bathroom (my grandma made the main bathroom in her house pink, with girlie accessories, while my grandpa got designated a small "man bathroom" near the garage), my grandma had this lipstick holder. It was a pink poodle, and it held a whole bunch of lipsticks. I would spend HOURS in that bathroom trying on lipstick. My grandma probably wondered how on earth she went through so much toilet paper. You know, since I had to wipe off the "evidence" before I came back out of the bathroom. I couldn't find any pictures online of the lipstick holder, this was the closest thing I could come up with. I wonder whatever happened to that thing anyway?!?

Her sense of humor. My grandma was pretty wild back in the day...and she was always one for a laugh. One year at our family reunion she did (what she called) an Indian dance on top of one of the tables (after drinking some "fire water"...LOL). Yeah, I doubt too many kids can say that about their grandma.

I'm thankful I got to have her around for so long. It's not every person in her thirties that can say she has all of her grandparents. I was fortunate to be able to say that until last night.

Praise report & prayer request

PRAISE REPORT!!!!!

Ande went to see his grandma last night, and said that she had perked up a bit, and even was laughing with him and his cousin. Grandma even got moved to a "regular" room, which is good news. Ande didn't get to find out what the progress with the blood clots was, but I imagine it must be at least stable, as I can't imagine she would have been moved out of intensive care otherwise. Praise God! Thanks to any of you who have prayed on our behalf. The Lord does hear the prayers of his faithful.

*****I got a call from Ande's mom this morning telling me that Ande's grandma was placed back in ICU last night after experiencing labored breathing. Thanking you for your continued prayers.*****

Prayer for a friend...

I also have another prayer request, relating to a friend of ours. I can't get into much detail other than to say that someone who Ande and I care deeply about is in desperate need of prayer. Pray that he will seek help and remember that the Lord is bigger than any addiction. Also pray for his family, especially his 3 daughters, who are going to be affected in a number of ways by this.

Lord, you ARE so faithful, you CAN work miracles, you DO love us, you WILL NOT leave us or forsake us. I love you, Lord, and thank you for sending your son to die for our sins. There is nothing we could ever do to earn salvation, yet you freely offer it. I am amazed and in awe of you, Lord.

You CAN heal my friend, and I believe that with all my heart. Lord, if it is your will, I pray that you will show my friend in no uncertain terms that you have the POWER to help him, if only he will submit to you.

Lord, I don't know why this has happened to my friend. I can't even begin to imagine how this situation will be worked out. All I know is that you will hear and answer my prayer.

I pray for strength and wisdom for his family, and for you to place a hedge of protection around each of them. I pray that you would also place a hedge of thorns around my friend, so that this addiction will hold no pleasure for him. I cry out especially on behalf of those precious daughters, Lord, that you would keep old wounds closed and protect them from new ones.

Lord, I simply don't even have the words to speak, but you know my heart, and you know this situation. You knew it before my friend was even born, and if it is your will, I plead with you to intercede in his life and release him from this bondage that has held him for YEARS, Lord.

Whatever your will is, Lord, I pray that you show yourself in this situation, that my friend can have no doubt that you love him, and that he and his family will turn TO you, not from you. Help my friend turn his back on this sin, and to forge ahead with renewed strength.

Thanking you for working in my heart, Lord, and for giving me the ability to pray on the behalf of not only myself, but others as well. Thanking you as well for whatever work you do in my friend's life, Lord. In Jesus' precious name.

Amen

I should have posted this several days ago

For those of you who are (or know someone who is) prayer warriors...Could you please pray for Ande's grandma Ruth (and his family)?

After a couple of incidents with heart palpitations, and a failed attempt to get her to go to the hospital, Ande's uncle made his grandma go to the ER. Of course, they admitted her, and found several problems. The most serious one is the fact that she has a blood clot in her heart, which if it makes it's way out of her heart it will head for her lungs and cause her to stop breathing. She also has a deep vein clot in her leg, which is very, very large. The doctors can't give her high enough levels of medication to dissolve the clots because it could cause bleeding on her brain, which would be extremely bad. Ande's grandma has asked not to be resuscitated should her condition get to that point.

Please pray for her comfort in the hospital, for wisdom in treatment from her doctors, and for Ande's entire family to have peace beyond all understanding no matter what happens. Pray especially for Ande's mom, as there are some circumstances that are causing her added stress and grief right now. I am also praying that God's will be done in this situation, as I know that everything God does is good, even when it seems bad.

Thanks in advance for the prayers - I am confident that you will heed my request!