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Friday, April 26, 2013

For my Abby...


Abby,

Oh how I have enjoyed looking at your engagement pictures...the love between you two is so evident. It is so genuine and there is just the right amount of fun and laughter mixed in!

Abby you have such a radiance about you. This radiance has been there a long time, your love for Jesus has bubbled out as long as I can remember. You love and enthusiasm for Him is part of what Josh finds attractive in you....don't ever lose that excitement for your first love. It is that love that will make it possible for you to show Josh the love and respect he needs.

Your dad and I have prayed for you since before you were born. Those prayers for you only intensified the minute we laid eyes on you...our Christmas Eve babe! We have prayed so many things for you over the years and have been excited to see God answering many of them. One such prayer for your future husband; how exciting it is for us to get to pray for him by name now. Dad and I both love you so much and our prayers for you will continue!

Life is a bit hectic for you right now. In the midst of finishing up this semester, planning a wedding and also planning a marriage; don't forget to take time to laugh, take time to hold hands, take time to dream, and most importantly take time to pray!


I love you Abby!!!

Mom 




Thursday, April 25, 2013

My Son's Mind...

Sometimes I just feel the need to share a little bit more of who my kids are. The following is a copy of a speech Caleb presented today. I find it fascinating how his mind works and how he was able to come up with this. You may recognize that his inspiration was taken from several great men and their most famous speeches. (not sure what they would say to this speech, but it brought a smile to my face).

Always thinking!!!
 
Four weeks and seven months ago my father and mother brought forth on this campus a new student, deemed a freshman but dedicated to the proposition that one day he might survive his first year at college.
But now we are engaged in a great war of finals week. Testing whether that student or any student so enrolled, and so dedicated can long endure. We are met in a great classroom of that war. We have gathered here today to remember and dedicate a portion of that classroom and of that campus to those who sacrificed their time and their sleep so that they might receive a degree.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow these campus grounds. The brave students before us, sleep deprived or well rested, barely passing or honors, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor ever hear of what we say here, but it cannot neglect what those brave students did here. It is for us, the still enrolled, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which we have before us. It is for us to be here dedicated to the great task of finals remaining before us. That from these honored graduates we take inspiration that it can be done. That we here highly resolve that those graduates did not endure college in vain. That this nation, under God, needs a new birth of workers and that the job pool of the workers, by the workers, and for the workers will not perish from this earth.
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves worthy to ride out the storm of finals, and to outlive the menace of prerequisites, if necessary for years, and if necessary alone. At any rate that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of this student body. That is the will of the administration of this great establishment and university. The students of this great university will endure, even though many students have failed before and many more will. We shall not waver. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in Glaske, we shall fight in Hardwick and Longview, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing knowledge, we shall defend our grades, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches of the pond, we shall fight on the landing grounds of Abbott Aviation, we shall fight in the dorm rooms and in the labs, we shall fight in the classrooms; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this student body or a large part of it were failing and struggling, then those students beyond the Longview campus and beyond the University of LeTourneau would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the new workforce, with all its power and skill, steps forth to rescue and liberate the old.
And so my fellow LeTourneau students, ask not what your university can do for you - ask what you can do for your university. To study or not study, that is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind of a student to suffer the pains and sorrows of unemployment, or to take arms against the economy of trouble. To study, lose sleep. Lose sleep perchance lose dreams. But I will not lose my dream. Because I have a dream.
I have a dream that one day the students of LeTourneau University will no longer be judged based on their academic standing or upon the contents of their GPA, but on their dedication and hard work. I have a dream that those enrolled in this University will succeed and achieve what was once thought unachievable. I have a dream that one day freshman and juniors, sophomores and seniors, will all join the work force of this great nation. That one day they will walk across the glorious stage in Belcher auditorium to receive their diploma from the president of this fine University. And if those students so dedicated to the cause of graduation, succeed and win the battle of finals and midterms, essays and speeches, presentations and lab reports. And if for such a time as this they go out into every workplace, every nation. Let their freedom ring. Let it ring from the construction site of the Anna Lee and Sidney Allen Family Student Center. Let freedom ring from the fine dining of the Corner Cafeteria. Let freedom ring from the bunker of the Robert Gilmore Letourneau Memorial Student Center. But not only that; let freedom ring from the halls of Glaske Engineering. Let freedom ring from the residence hall named after a cardinal direction. Let freedom ring from every classroom and dorm room. From every academic building, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when their freedom rings, when they let it ring from every inch of this campus, they will be able to join hands around the ivy cutting ceremony and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Friday, April 12, 2013

Five Minute Friday...Here...

Wow, I can't believe it is Friday already again. Time is a funny thing, days can creep by yet at the same time weeks fly by! So it is with five minutes, such a short amount of time, yet it is amazing to see the amazing thoughts and inspirations from the people who take part in Five Minute Friday. Please be sure and stop by Lisa-Jo's blog and check out the amazing minds out there!!! We all follow the same rules, one word...five minutes...no editing. Today's word is HERE...

go.

Some days this empty nest of ours can get pretty lonely.
Some days I find myself wondering what does a mom with adult children do?
They aren't here...they are there...
Some days I find myself remembering the "good old days".
Those days when I was mom to kids that were here!
Those days when a hug was all the pay I needed.
As I sit here now, I realize my job is still mom.
Those hugs are still there...they are in the form of a text or a phone call.
 As much as I loved my kids as babies, toddlers and kids...I love seeing where they are now.
I love seeing all the ways that God has answered our prayers for them.

Today I found myself texting one of my children...I am here whenever you need me.
Now my job focuses even more on prayer...so no matter where my children are...
I will be here...praying for them! What a great place to be!!!





Friday, April 5, 2013

Five Minute Friday...what to do after...

It's Five Minute Friday time again. That time every week where we all head over to Lisa-Jo's and are given one word and five minutes to write about that word. The fun is no editing is allowed, just our random thoughts and whatever comes to mind. I've been taking a bit of a blogging break lately, but my brain is always ready for Five Minute Friday! Today's word is AFTER.


After is a funny word. Usually it means the fun is over, that whatever you had been looking forward to is done. We plan and plan for events and before you know it they are done, and life continues as normal afterwards.

Sunday we celebrated Easter. We all planned for it, parents planned egg hunts, moms bought their kids Easter outfits, many hams were bought in anticipation for a scrumptious meal, churches printed more bulletins and prepared for company. So after Easter, after all that planning, does our life go on as normal? I hope not!

Jesus rose from the dead! This is something that is life changing, this is something that we shouldn't just celebrate on Easter. Easter is a celebration and a time to rejoice, but shouldn't we be that excited every day? Shouldn't we wake up every day and want to shout HE IS RISEN?!

After an encounter with Jesus...life is never normal again!!