Hiking with Friends

It is quite amazing how many beautiful, natural attractions God has given us to enjoy in our little area around us.  Within a couple of hours there are many hikes to take to see God's beauty of nature and waterfalls that surround us.

Having friends and close family only makes these hikes and outings much more special.  Laughter, talking, playing, staying on the right trail...yes, sometimes, such as this one, our leader got sidetracked and we had to go down and over, struggling on down.  It made it quite difficult for those of us not in the greatest shape!  We survived, and found the correct, marked trail heading out and made it just fine.  Times like these make for great memories and just another great adventure to be talked about later.

See big rock?  Julia.Must.Climb. :)

I would like to apologize over and over for not being a consistent blogger.  But, if you have read my last post, then you will understand where my priorities lie at this point.  I hope to be back soon, but for now, please be in prayer for our family.

We serve a mighty God, the One and Only God, and we trust His plan, no matter how difficult.  We may never see on this side of heaven what that may be, but that is what faith is.  

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"In the beginning God..."

Gen. 1:1

That's all we need to know.  Begin there, and continue reading to find all that follows, and exactly how He desires us to follow Him.  It's all in His Word.

"The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;

The Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength;

Indeed, the world is firmly established, 

it will not be moved."

Psalm 93:1

Always Experiencing Him,
Jody

Sad Days and God's Grace

We have had a very difficult time the past few weeks, 3 to be exact.  My much beloved brother-in-law, and husband, father, uncle, son, and brother was taken from this life, in our eyes, much too early.  

We cannot understand God's ways, they are much higher than ours, we only know how much we miss him, and feel we need him here, and although on this side of heaven this tragedy will never make sense to us, we trust in the One True God who knows all and is All.  This is what faith is all about.  We have faith in the God who creates, who takes away, and who gives all we need in trying times.  He knows best, though we can't always understand.   

We celebrated Kelly's 40th birthday this past January, and had such a good time with family and friends.  God has given us wonderful memories which we will treasure always.

Funny, loving, helpful, intelligent, giving, humble, professional, and one of the best tuba/euphonium players in the world, Dr. Kelly Gene Thomas will be sorely missed. 

As we seek and focus on God during these trying days, I ask for your continued prayers for our family, but especially Jana and their 4 children.  We do not understand why God took Kelly when in our eyes we needed him more, but we trust and have faith in Him to uphold Jana and his children with His mighty right hand.

We cannot thank you enough through the giveforward fund to the food tidings meal schedule that has been provided, and oh my goodness! The visits, gifts, food, shelves, playing with children, listening, and help in soooooo many areas!  We are ever grateful in this time of extremely hard eucharisteos.  We still give thanks in all things, because as difficult as this has been, we have seen the love of Christ shown through so many people.  

We love you all!  

            We are thankful for you all!  

We are grateful for you showing God's great love in all you have done for us and for Kelly's wonderful family!

Always Experiencing Him,
Jody