The first time I met my husband's grandfather, he welcomed me with a great big ole hug. You know the kind of hug that makes you feel right at home. The kind that makes you forget that the person you are embracing is a total stranger. I was standing in the middle of his living room surrounded by pictures of smiling faces, most of whom I did not recognize. That did not stop him from pointing at each one and telling me all about the moment the photo was taken, or how many children this one has, or how that one had just gotten over being sick and whom was hoping to come down at Christmas. He felt familiar and he made certain that I was familiar with each of them. Because they were his family.
The first Christmas I spent as Mrs. Chaffin I was very sick! The kind of sick that sends you to the hospital on the eve of Christmas Eve. Strep throat! I was miserable. I wanted to stay home in bed, but this was "Our First Christmas" and I was not going to give up that easy. So when I had been on antibiotics long enough to no longer be contagious and time for Nathan's family's annual Christmas Eve get together rolled around; I pulled on my bright Christmas sweater, pull my unkempt hair into a ponytail, fill the pockets of my jeans with cough drops and we headed over to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's for dinner. I will never forget the greeting I received that night. When Paw Paw turn from the kitchen table and saw me, he walked across the room with open arms and said "there's my baby girl." In that moment he stopped being Nathan's Paw Paw ...he's just been Paw Paw ever since. And when I think about that Christmas I don't linger long on how sick I was, but instead I remember what it felt like to have someone else's family become my own.
My own grandfather, Papa, passed away while Nathan and I were engaged to be married. Until I met Nathan, I thought he was the sweetest, kindest, godliest, most loving man in the entire world (Nathan gives him stiff competition for that title, for now I will just call it a toss up). Papa planted a garden every year; tending that garden alongside of him is some of my favorite memories. Like the time the tractor caught on fire while he was on it, or how he got stuck in the mud and had to leave his artificial leg there among the tomato plants. And most of all how he always saved the first cucumber for me, because he knew that I think there is nothing in this world that taste as good as a cucumber picked right from the garden still warm from the sun.
About a year and a half after my Papa passed, we stopped by to visit Nathan's grandparents and found Nathan's Paw Paw and Dad in their garden pulling up weeds. We stayed out there with them for a little while and helped. Nathan's dad asked if knew the difference in a weed and a plant (that man is always giving me a hard time :) *wink wink). I assured him that I was country girl and that I sure did. Then I told them all about my Papa and his garden and my cucumbers. I didn't think much more about that conversation until one day that summer when Nathan's mom called and said that Paw Paw had saved the first cucumber he picked from his garden for me and to come over and get it soon. Never has a cucumber tasted sweeter than that one.
Yesterday we were laughing with him after church and he was giving the children a dollar to "Talk Mom and Dad into taking you to go get some candy."...and today...today I got a phone call from Nathan's Mom. Today they found out that Paw Paw has cancer. It started in his lungs, and the doctors think it has already moved to his brain. Today I feel heartbroken. And I find myself wondering if the man who has made me feel loved and treasured and adored, knows that I love and treasure and adore him. And if there is any blessing at all to be found in knowing that someone you love has cancer, then it is this...that you are given the opportunity to make certain that they do know.
If you are reading this, then may I ask you to please join us in prayer for Paw Paw, his name is Roy, but I don't think he would mind you calling him "Paw Paw".
Monday, January 20, 2014
Monday, September 3, 2012
ALIVE
Don't you just love it when God's word springs new to you; and you discover a verse that you know you have read before, because you have read that chapter or book or the entire Bible thru, but somehow you never noted what was there before. I had that experience just yesterday. I pointed it out to my hubby, who by the way has an incredible memory and he had the same reaction as I did...HOW DID I OVERLOOK THAT! IF I HAD READ THAT BEFORE I WOULD HAVE REMEMBER IT, BUT I MUST HAVE READ IT BEFORE, BECAUSE I'VE READ THAT BEFORE!
So, are you curious yet? Want to know what we read, well here it is...
2 Kings 13:21.
"Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet."
Okay, these guys are burying a body and they see some bad guys coming, so rather than burying him, they hurry it up by tossing him into Elisha's already existing tomb; and when the man's body touched Elisha's body, the dead man comes back to life! Seriously...how does one overlook that!
He was so full of LIFE that his bones brought a man back from the dead! Truly evidence that supports Matthew 25:46. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Even in death, there is life.
Elisha lived in the days before Jesus lived. He lived under the law God had established, it was his faith that compelled him to obey the law and by his faith that he was made righteous. It was in that same faith that he found life, and that he was able to bring life to the dead. The account in 2 Kings 13:21 is not the only time that Elisha's faith restored life in the dead. Hebrew 11:35 says that by faith "women received back their dead, raised to life again." In 2 Kings 4:8-37 we see Elisha's faith bring and restore life to the Shunammite woman's son. Here is their story: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%204:8-37&version=NIV
We live in the days after the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the messiah. The very one who came to fulfill the law. He lived it to perfection! It is in our faith in Him that we find life. In John 14:6, Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
It is our faith in Him and love for Him that compels us to obey His commandments. Jesus said "If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15.
And it is our faith that drives us to share the life that we have found in Jesus with those who are dead. "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:12.
I have always thought it would be pretty awesome to go out like Enoch. To walk with the Lord, then simply be no more. But now I'm thinking it would may be even more awesome to leave behind bones that bring life to the dead. And when I think on it, I can think of a few people I have known that have lived such lives of faith that when they passed away they left such an impact on those they knew, that the dead they had touched found life.
So, are you curious yet? Want to know what we read, well here it is...
2 Kings 13:21.
"Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet."
Okay, these guys are burying a body and they see some bad guys coming, so rather than burying him, they hurry it up by tossing him into Elisha's already existing tomb; and when the man's body touched Elisha's body, the dead man comes back to life! Seriously...how does one overlook that!
He was so full of LIFE that his bones brought a man back from the dead! Truly evidence that supports Matthew 25:46. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." Even in death, there is life.
Elisha lived in the days before Jesus lived. He lived under the law God had established, it was his faith that compelled him to obey the law and by his faith that he was made righteous. It was in that same faith that he found life, and that he was able to bring life to the dead. The account in 2 Kings 13:21 is not the only time that Elisha's faith restored life in the dead. Hebrew 11:35 says that by faith "women received back their dead, raised to life again." In 2 Kings 4:8-37 we see Elisha's faith bring and restore life to the Shunammite woman's son. Here is their story: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%204:8-37&version=NIV
We live in the days after the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the messiah. The very one who came to fulfill the law. He lived it to perfection! It is in our faith in Him that we find life. In John 14:6, Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
It is our faith in Him and love for Him that compels us to obey His commandments. Jesus said "If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15.
And it is our faith that drives us to share the life that we have found in Jesus with those who are dead. "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:12.
I have always thought it would be pretty awesome to go out like Enoch. To walk with the Lord, then simply be no more. But now I'm thinking it would may be even more awesome to leave behind bones that bring life to the dead. And when I think on it, I can think of a few people I have known that have lived such lives of faith that when they passed away they left such an impact on those they knew, that the dead they had touched found life.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
A Look at Matthew 22
Recently Nathan and I discussed this scripture found in Matthew 22:
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend ?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
For Nathan something about it just wasn't making sense. You see the very last verse says that MANY were invited, not ALL. Other scriptures lead us to believe that Jesus invites ALL people to come to Him, such as John 3:16 which says "whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Whosoever seems inclusive to all people. Yet we know that God's Word NEVER contridicts itselfs...so what was it that he was missing.
We read and reread the passage, discussed it aloud with one another, broke it down section by section....and there it was. The part we had missed! Right there in verse 9! Did you see it? Are you shaking your head at us for taking so long to figure out such a simple thing? Are you just noticing it yourself? Or are you still wondering what it was?
In verse 9 Jesus sends His servants out to gather ALL the people, yet in verse 14 we see that MANY were invited, not ALL. Jesus didn't fail to send out an invitation to ALL the people, his servants failed to invite ALL the people. They invited MANY...wasn't that enough? No, that was not the command.
Now, it is important that we take notice of the fact that once the guest arrive at the wedding it is their responsibility to put on the wedding garments, no longer is the responsibility on the servants, but it is the servants responsibility to get out the invitation. It is our responsibility to deliver the invitation; not to those we like, not to those like us, not to those we find worthy...but to ALL we can find.
'He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Mark 16:15
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend ?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
For Nathan something about it just wasn't making sense. You see the very last verse says that MANY were invited, not ALL. Other scriptures lead us to believe that Jesus invites ALL people to come to Him, such as John 3:16 which says "whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Whosoever seems inclusive to all people. Yet we know that God's Word NEVER contridicts itselfs...so what was it that he was missing.
We read and reread the passage, discussed it aloud with one another, broke it down section by section....and there it was. The part we had missed! Right there in verse 9! Did you see it? Are you shaking your head at us for taking so long to figure out such a simple thing? Are you just noticing it yourself? Or are you still wondering what it was?
In verse 9 Jesus sends His servants out to gather ALL the people, yet in verse 14 we see that MANY were invited, not ALL. Jesus didn't fail to send out an invitation to ALL the people, his servants failed to invite ALL the people. They invited MANY...wasn't that enough? No, that was not the command.
Now, it is important that we take notice of the fact that once the guest arrive at the wedding it is their responsibility to put on the wedding garments, no longer is the responsibility on the servants, but it is the servants responsibility to get out the invitation. It is our responsibility to deliver the invitation; not to those we like, not to those like us, not to those we find worthy...but to ALL we can find.
'He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Mark 16:15
Some Cuties
Time has been flying around here over the last few weeks. If you can believe it, Samuel Ethan is already 6 weeks old! Everyone is adjusting well to having a new baby in the house and Samuel is adjusting well to being in a house full of silly little people.
In the last month we have celebrated Easter, made countless visits to the doctors offices for check up, said good bye to Nathan's grandparents whom have returned home to West Virgina after a month long visit, taken a trip to the zoo, visited Chuck E. Cheese and been to two different parks. Tomorrow we will be going to see Nathan's brother, Jon, graduate from college. (Way to go Jon-you have done an awesome job and we are proud of you!) So, while I am sorry that I have not blogged recently, I cannot say that I would have it any other way. We have been busy living this life that God has sooo blessed us with.
Here is a picture of some real cuties to tide you over till my next post:
In the last month we have celebrated Easter, made countless visits to the doctors offices for check up, said good bye to Nathan's grandparents whom have returned home to West Virgina after a month long visit, taken a trip to the zoo, visited Chuck E. Cheese and been to two different parks. Tomorrow we will be going to see Nathan's brother, Jon, graduate from college. (Way to go Jon-you have done an awesome job and we are proud of you!) So, while I am sorry that I have not blogged recently, I cannot say that I would have it any other way. We have been busy living this life that God has sooo blessed us with.
Here is a picture of some real cuties to tide you over till my next post:
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Samuel Ethan
I am way past due on this blog. Samuel Ethan is 2 weeks old already. He is a delightful baby. It took 4 babies, but I finally have one that looks like me! He weighed 7lbs. 1oz. and was 18in. long when he was born. Blue eyed and a head full of dark brown hair. He is a little bit of a thing and we have fallen head over heels for him already.
We are eager to discover all the wonderful things God has in store for him, but we are enjoying these sleepy days and have no desire to watch them fly by. I look at my other 3 children and I am reminded of just how quickly time passes. They will never be babies again...tears.
We watched an episode of Boy Meets World last night, the one where the new baby is born early and he is in the NICU. My mind quickly returned to our days in the NICU. I was holding Ethan and could not help but feel overwhelmed with emotion. What a blessing our children are! How precious and fragile this life is! We can so easily take for granted the moments we have with our children.
Here is a picture of Mr. Samuel Ethan:
We are eager to discover all the wonderful things God has in store for him, but we are enjoying these sleepy days and have no desire to watch them fly by. I look at my other 3 children and I am reminded of just how quickly time passes. They will never be babies again...tears.
We watched an episode of Boy Meets World last night, the one where the new baby is born early and he is in the NICU. My mind quickly returned to our days in the NICU. I was holding Ethan and could not help but feel overwhelmed with emotion. What a blessing our children are! How precious and fragile this life is! We can so easily take for granted the moments we have with our children.
Here is a picture of Mr. Samuel Ethan:
Sunday, March 11, 2012
EXCITING TIMES
Just wanted to share a few exciting things from over the last few days and to ask for your prayers in these matters:
- We have a date set for the c-section. Samuel Ethan will arrive on March 20th...if he decides to wait that long. :) We are eager to meet him! Please be in prayer for us on that day. Pray for a safe delivery, a healthy baby, for Taylor & Isaac & Aaron whom are not used to being away from their mommy, and for this mommy's heart which is not used to being away from them.
- Nathan was asked to preach next Sunday. He teaches teenagers every week, but this is the first time he will be preaching to adults. I am excited to see how God uses him! He is very nervous already. Please pray that the Lord fills him with peace this week, that hearts are being prepared even now to receive the Word, that the Lord leads me in the wisdom of knowing how to encourage and support him, and most importantly that God is glorified because of the obedience of his servant.
- Our youth will be leading church services on March the 25th. We have been working with them on skits, music, scripture reading, and an interpetive movement for a couple of weeks now. We are eager to see them step up and lead. One of our youth, TJ, will even be preaching (God is doing big things in this young man's life). Please pray that this experience becomes something that inspires them to fulfill the 2 Timothy 4:12 calling in their lives to "not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in love, in life, in faith, and in purity."
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Isaac and Aaron turn 3
It has been quite awhile since I have posted. We have faced weeks of sickness, followed by weeks of busyness. I don't want to dwell on the sickness, so let's move on to the busyness. Nathan and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary, several of our nieces and nephews have celebrated birthdays, I helped my mom pull off a suprise 50th birthday dinner for my aunt, we are preparing to welcome Samuel Ethan to our family (we find out when the c-section will be scheduled on tomorrow), and our little guys turned 3!
We celebrated Isaac and Aaron's 3rd birthday with a dinosaur inspired birthday party. Birthday parties are huge around here because we have such a BIG family! We had 18 children at the boys birthday party and everyone of them were a cousin (16 first cousins and 2 second cousins) and we were missing a few (5) of them.
I really must learn to stay off of pinterest. Inspired by all of the wonderful ideas I have seen on there, I went a little overboard with the do it yourself stuff and was up until 2am the night before the party working on party favors. On the plus side, I really was able to pull off the party without spending alot of money because I did do so much of it myself.
Here are a few of my projects:
We celebrated Isaac and Aaron's 3rd birthday with a dinosaur inspired birthday party. Birthday parties are huge around here because we have such a BIG family! We had 18 children at the boys birthday party and everyone of them were a cousin (16 first cousins and 2 second cousins) and we were missing a few (5) of them.
I really must learn to stay off of pinterest. Inspired by all of the wonderful ideas I have seen on there, I went a little overboard with the do it yourself stuff and was up until 2am the night before the party working on party favors. On the plus side, I really was able to pull off the party without spending alot of money because I did do so much of it myself.
Here are a few of my projects:
Tissue paper pom pom balls...30 in total, strung on fishing line across the room. A fairly simple project and certainly inexpensive. I thought they add a very festive feel to the party!
Bugles become dinosaur claws, with a simple label! Easy project and I got to use my silhouette. I did the same with egg shaped gum (thankfully Easter candy is out) which became dino eggs.
I must be honest, my mom did most of the work on these. We boiled the eggs, cracked them, dyed them, cooled them, then peeled them. It gave them a really odd look and they made great dino eggs.
Instead of cupcakes, we had lava cakes! Little bunt cakes, drizzled with red and yellow icing, and topped with cute dino cupcake toppers I made using my silhouette cameo. I found the clipart on Etsy.
In addition to the dino eggs, dino claws, and lava cakes; we had dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets for the carnivores and vegetable and fruit trays for the herbivores.
I brought striped birthday hats at Target, added spikes to the back and pictures of dinos to the front!
I didn't love the way the birthday banner turned out, but I liked it enough to not start over!
I made each of the children a dinosaur tail. It was a BIG job, but the children loved them, so they were worth all of the effort involved. I brought the tan material on clearance, so in the end I spent less on them then I would have on making goody bags and they will last alot longer and provided an activity at the party as well.
Our other activity was a dinosaur egg dig. I put little dinos in easter eggs and buried them in dirt. The children loved getting messy! And it was a simple cheap project as well.
AARON
I find it hard to believe that my little 3lbs. 13oz. baby has grown into such a silly little guy! He has been my hero since the day he was born. Dinky, but determined! He has remained that way. These days he is inlove with all things Spiderman, but he won't watch the show because it is "scary". When we pull into the church parking lot he says "we're home", makes sure EVERYONE says "Dear God, thank you for my food and family" before eating, and when he prays he is always certain to thank God for Deigo, the Power Rangers, Woody, Buzz, and ofcourse, Spiderman. He loves to play with his cousins and spends nearly every moment with his brother. I am blessed in that God has allowed me to be mommy to one of His most unique creations :)
ISAAC
At 5lbs. 12oz. and one minute older, Isaac was a big brother from the moment he was born. He is everything the title implies. He is a bit bossy (I think he has learned this behavior from me). He is always looking out for Aaron and Taylor. If he gets a treat, he makes sure they get one as well. If he sees them getting into trouble he stops them. He has recently become VERY independant, which makes me both proud and sad. He refers to Taylor as "baby" and himself and Aaron as "oh boys". He is such a friendly little people person. Yesterday as we left a resturant, he stops at the table nearest to us and says "good-bye", then so as to not leave anyone out he looks around at the rest of the patrons and waves while saying "see you later everyone". Blessed. That's me. Blessed to be mommy to such a loving little man.
Three years! It has gone by so quickly. I pray it slows down some. I'm going to miss these years. I already do!
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