Remembering Patsy (Jane Scott)

My husband, Henry and I were going through some old papers and this poem written in 1986 by a friend of Patsy's surfaced. She had found out that Patsy's breast cancer had returned and had spread.

To My Friend who has always been afraid of Flying

It frightens me to feel you slipping away, I'd like to hold on so tight.
A magnet stronger than all of our love seems to be drawing you close.
The pain of our possible parting sears with a white hot light.
Yet the beauty of all that you are and have been is a treasure beyond all loss.
This flight that you have just begun, the most terrifying of all to me,
Is one that you face with courage and grace
so that I who laughed at your fear of flying
stand in awe at your strength in the face of dying.

by Ann Topple

Celebrating Family

Our family was together for the first time in two years at our niece's wedding in a quarry in North Carolina last month. Our children traveled from Annapolis, Seattle, Chattanooga and Birmingham to gather for this festive event.

We were excited to be a part of the celebration of the joining in marriage Nate Willis to Kate Stewart in holy matrimony. As Christians, we rejoice that God in His sovereignty, brought these two lives together to become one flesh in Him.

It also means he is now an honorary member of the Bowillie clan and can now attend Thanksgiving at Camp Maranook!

Welcome to the family, Nate!

Scripture Pictures

Last November, my husband and I decided to pay for a private printing of my book, "My Jesus Pocketbook of Scripture Pictures".
The book was originally published in 1982 by a small company but then was sold to an international publishing company, David C. Cook, which resulted in boosting the sales quite a bit. It was a blessing that lasted 18 years, then the little book was dropped from the catalog. The publishing rights were returned to me.
Now, there are many new little ones born in our extended family and we realized it was time to reprint this sweet, tiny picture book that encourages toddlers to not be afraid of storms, dogs and the dark, but trust in the Lord Jesus, the King of Glory.
What a blessing to see my granddaughter study the winsome, watercolor scenes of children, ask questions and then hear the Bible verse (under the picture) read to her by her Grandpa and have him explain to her the truth in the Bible that even applies to her young life as well as his.

Sharing Sorrows and Joys

Last weekend my husband, Henry and I had the privilege of attending our brother-in-law, Tom's birthday party with a family gathering at the beach.

We had much to celebrate...God's gift of life to him and the beauty of the ocean!
But what shines out even more than the glorious scenery was the joy of the arrival of the soon to be bride and groom! Kate and her fiance, Nathan delighted the rest of the family as they shared their preparations for the wedding next month!

As we became aquainted, we heard the difficult story of the death of Nathan's sister-in-law of breast cancer in April leaving her husband and two children behind. It brought back memories and a few tears as we recalled when Henry's sister died of breast cancer at a young age also. We shared the sorrow of family members that we felt should be there to join the celebrations but were no longer with us.

But as we parted with the anticipation of seeing each other again next month at the wedding, it reminded me of another hope we have to come. There is the future joy of knowing we will see our departed love ones again at the marriage feast of the Lamb in heaven!

A Dream Come True

Sitting in the front row of a concert, holding hands with my best friend and lover, Henry while Fernando Ortega is singing and playing the piano was marvelous!
Hearing him sing "Blessed is the Man that Walks in Your Favor" and "This Great Day", "Jesus,King of Angels"with the cello harmonizing in the background was amazing! We smiled and smiled.

I was able to go up to the stage and hand Fernando one of my Scripture Picture books and tell him this was for his 3 year old daughter, Ruby.

I'm thankful that maybe a little of my creation will bless his family in just a small way since his songs have blessed our family for more than a decade!

Update for September

The end of April saw our area hit with 30 tornadoes! We had a huge tree down and no power for a week, but no significant damage other than losing the food in our refrig. and freezer. Many lost loved ones, homes and property...our hearts go out to each one.

Just when I thought I would catch up at home, our daughter had an emergency C section in Seattle. So I spent two glorious weeks in Seattle helping my daughter recover and getting to know my darling, tiny granddaughter, Ivey Hope and also my son-in-law better.

I returned just in time to be a Hebrew mother in our church sponsored Bible school called Marketplace, 29 A.D.

Then there was a constant stream of summer visitors! Which is great fun for my husband and I to host members of our two large families! We are thankful for everyone that stopped by to see us down by the river!

Then the new director of the ministry that is dear to my heart asked me to take over the facebook page of The Memorial for the Unborn. We are very thankful for the large number of friends that follow us at that site!

So I have been writing updates and answering questions to keep our supporters in the loop as to the various activities happening at The Wall.

I will try to make occasional posts here but at least you now know what's been going on!

I'll end by posting photos of our three little granddaughters. They are the joy of our hearts and definitely do make our lives GRAND!!!

Wedding in the Wildwood

Allison and Micah Morrison were married this weekend at The Little Brown Church in the Wildwood on Signal Mountain. The official title is the Union Chapel of Walden's Ridge.

My husband's great grandmother and grandfather started this church on the front porch of their home 103 years ago. So we were thrilled that our nephew chose this spot for his wedding.

This was a glorious celebration of the uniting in the holy covenant of marriage two young people that love the LORD and seek to serve Him as they work with the youth at their church, Northshore Fellowship!

May their new life together as husband and wife be blessed in years to come!

A Delightful Darling Daughter Arrives

A surprise to many on Friday was the unexpected arrival of a wonderful blessing... the newest member of our family,
Ivey Hope Hopkins.

She is the 4lb. 11oz. daughter of our daughter and son-in-law, Kira and Peter Hopkins who entered this world 3 weeks early. We are all thankful for the emergency C-section that was performed early in the morning after an eventful night of warning signs that made it clear it was the best solution.
As grandparents, we were delighted to welcome our third granddaughter and definitely the most petite!

"O LORD God of Hosts, restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us..." Ps.80:19

and on tiny Ivey.

Holy Week

A special week in the calendar year for Christians is Holy Week. We remember with both sadness and joy the passion of our LORD, Jesus as he died on the cross. My husband and I have been reading John Piper's book, THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST out loud to each other for our devotions this Lenten season. Here are only a few of the 50 reasons John Piper writes devotionals on the topic of why Jesus died:
1. To Absorb the Wrath of God
2. To please His Heavenly Father
3. To become a ransom for many
4 To bring us to faith... etc.

We would recommend this book as worthy of your time and energy to pick up for yourself.
Without his death there would not be freedom from sin, resurrection and hope of eternal life! Rejoice this Easter, He is Risen!

"How happy is the one whose sins are forgiven.
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity...
In whose spirit there is no deceit."
Psalm 32:1-2

Yet God called Himself the God of Jacob. Jacob was a liar, a man full of deceit that had to wrestle with God before he was touched by Him. Praise God, He did not leave us in our sins and deceit but provided a way of escape through His cleansing blood!
Thank you, Heavenly Father for Good Friday!
Thank you for Easter!

Celebrating My Birthday

"This is the day that the LORD has made. We will be glad and rejoice in it!
Psalm 118:24
My brave husband took me to the English Rose Tearoom to celebrate my birthday today!
It's a good thing he had 4 sisters, so he could face all those women sipping tea.
He didn't even flinch when 12 more women showed up in their red hats and purple outfits!
I enjoyed sharing a scone with lemon curd with my hero!

During Times of a Trial

I heard a book review on the radio that I thought was worth sharing considering the difficult last few weeks seeing our nephew Micah so seriously ill.

Handholds of Faith
1. God allowed it.
2. Face the facts.
3. Go ahead and grieve.
4. What does God say?(See Job chapters 41-42.)
5. Don't rehearse the hurt.
6. Take time to practice His truth.
7. Share your past, don't waste your sorrows.

These thoughts are from Kay Arthur's book, When the Hurt Runs Deep. She mentioned that Job faced severe trials and he comes to the place where he realizes that God is trustworthy. We can place our pain in His hands.

"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our LORD. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he granted to us his precious and very great promises..." II Peter 1:vv.2-4

Sally's Comment

My sister,Sally is little Micah's grandmother. We both have the great joy of being grandparents, but along with that also comes the pain when one of these little ones suffer greatly. Seeing Micah with a feeding tube and IV's and so weak was HARD!

Yesterday Sally reminded me of my comment at our father's funeral. I told the congregation how thankful I was for parents who took time to have family devotions every night after dinner. Then I told how I would listen to "The Reading" (the Bible) from the living room couch when I was recovering from encephalitis. Dad said he would give a quarter to the child who could recite Isaiah 40:31. So I struggled slowly into the bright kitchen and said, "They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run at not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint." Then I claimed my 25 cents.

I was weak for months but gradually renewed my strength. Now all these years later I actually walked and RAN in a 5K race in Birmingham, Alabama a few weeks ago! PTL!

Family Crisis

My sister's 5 year old grandson, Micah Morrison developed complications called ADEM after a case of viral pneumonia. A very simple explanation for non-medical people that my physician husband gave me was antibodies changed from attacking the infection to attacking the brain and spinal cord. Little Micah was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital unable to walk, talk or swallow. It was a very critical situation that we having been following by reading The Micah Mandate.blogspot.com. We have been very grateful for great medical care and a physician who told my nephew that Micah was in the "Great Physician's hands". Yes, there has been many prayers upholding this young family, Matt and Ginny and their other 2 children as well.
Memories of my own bout of encephalitis after mumps when I was 15 years old came flooding back to me. The extreme pain of light too bright and noise too loud, the high fever and inability to stand up were suddenly vividly recalled. My case was not as severe as Micah's, but I was in the bed for a month and weak for 6 months. I also had a loving family who supported me with many prayers to our loving Heavenly Father.
Today I cried as I watched the video posted of Micah out of his hospital bed actually WALKING!
My husband and I visited him in that room just Friday night and his legs were totally limp. But we sang an old song that I learned from my mother and father in Sunday School when I was a child. This song made Micah smile...

"It's bubbling, it's bubbling, it's bubbling in my soul,
They're singing and laughing since Jesus made me whole,
Folks don't understand it,nor people reason why,
It's bubbling, bubbling, bubbling day and night!"

We don't understand, but we do trust the One who does and who promised to be with us ALWAYS!

Weekly Waltzing

"To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven...
A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to DANCE..
from Ecclesiastes 3:vv.1,4

Saturdays have become OUR time to dance! My husband, Henry and I are waltz partners.
Through our son, Evan's friend, Byl Butler we have become members of The St. Elmo Waltz Society. Byl is the instructor of our weekly sessions. He choreographs our waltzes that we do in an ensemble.
There are multiple benefits and perks from these meetings. We not only have improved our waltz technique, but we have made new friends and exercised at the same time!
You don't have to trip over your partner's feet, if you practice. Moving in a square isn't square at all, but smooth,fluid and joyful!
Learn to waltz, it's wonderful!

Running the Race

Today we got up early to run the 5K in downtown Birmingham with our 2 sons, Evan and Eric. We also had Natalie and Terry on our team as well. We were supporting Horizons School plus making a great memory of an exhilarating morning. Jogging through the downtown streets that had been packed with cars only the night before when we took the trolley to the Art Museum was awesome! Now the traffic was all humans pounding the pavement.

The joy in a journey well done was celebrated with the group in the afterglow of the RUN!
Some of the runners had this verse on the backs of their T-shirts.

"... let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end... because of the joy that was waiting for him, he endured the disgrace of dying on the cross, and is now seated at the right side of God's throne."
Hebrews 12:1b-2

The Power of the Ultrasound Photo

My husband and I received a precious gift from the LORD last week!

We saw our first glimpse of our new granddaughter who is not born yet!

How amazing to be able to peek inside our daughter, thanks to an ultrasound machine in Swedish Hospital in Ballard, Washington and view a photo taken in what was once a secret place but that now can be posted on Facebook, so all can see the newest member of our family!

It certainly is a confirmation that an unborn baby is not a blob of tissue, but an little human being with a face!

We are so excited to meet this new, little girl and hold her in our arms come June.

"LORD, you have examined me and you know me... You created every part of me;
you put me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because you are to be feared;
... when I was growing in secret, you knew that I was there- " from Psalm 139

Speech at the Wall

Here is the talk I gave on Sanctity of Life Sunday at the Memorial for the Unborn Service we hold each year in January.


"As Vice Chairmen of the Board, I would like to welcome you today to the Wall of Remembrance.

This is a sacred place where parents give names to the babies they lost from abortion.

It is a place that provides closure and healing through Jesus Christ. The wooden cross I am standing next to is a reminder of the wrath he took in our place, for our sins. It is empty, a testimony of Jesus' resurrection.

First, I want to share some BAD NEWS with you.
One out of five pregnancies end in abortion. Since 1973,...in the 38 years since Roe vs. Wade made abortion legal, there have been over 50 million abortions nationwide. After 20 years of declining annual rates, it is sad to report that this year's abortions and their funding have increased. Planned Parenthood has people in high places and it received 363 million dollars of OUR money in government grants.

The GOOD NEWS is the people in our nation are speaking out. Abortion is NOT
Health care!!The tide is turning.
Last January the Memorial for the Unborn hosted over 500 students to visit the Wall. We were able to encourage them to choose abstinence.

We continue to see this ministry grow and reach people from around the world. Last fall we had a couple from Norway visit the Wall.

We hosted a Freedom Ride in the fall. Father Frank Pavone and The Priests for Life, Theresa Burke of Rachel's Vineyard and Dr. Alveda King were some of the distinguished guests attending this event that had visitors from all over the east coast arrive by bus for a rally to bring attention to the fact that the unborn have civil rights that are being neglected! Chattanooga was cited as a City of Hope.

We are thankful for the fact that now unborn babies are showing up on Facebook! Ultrasound photos and videos are regularly posted by young parents excited to share their good news. Yes, babies have faces.

We remember Dan Penwell, our publisher at AMG Publishing, that went to be with the LORD this past year. We are grateful that he caught the vision to print our book, EMPTY ARMS, which shares of the amazing letters sent to the Wall each year.

I Corinthians 16 tells us to "STAND FIRM".

We are in a battle where we are all called to action, a battle we must fight on our knees.

Thank you."

March for Life 2011

Monday I joined the 27,000 people who came to the Mall in Washington, D.C. to let the world know we stand for LIFE.
My husband, Henry, my daughter, Tacy and her daughters Molly and Frances bonded as we braved the freezing temperatures to join forces with all the others who shared the sentiment to support protecting the unborn. The buses unloading lots of young people, most of them carrying various signs: Choose Life, Stop the Abortion Agenda, Lutherans for Life,ect., etc... all made for an EXCITING event!
Twice we headed into buildings along the Mall to warm up. We were able to give out three copies of EMPTY ARMS,(our book on people who regret their decisions to abort their babies). It was a privilege to represent the National Memorial for the Unborn, a place that gives names to those who died too young.
We were able to hear the congressmen from Texas, Kansas and Tennessee eloquently speak up for the Pro-Life Cause.
We look forward to the day when the unborn will be recognized as persons who need to have their civil rights defended. We look forward to a day when an unborn baby is not identified as a blob of tissue. We look forward to the day when the unborn are not disposal property, but blossoming, tiny persons protected and cherished!

Passing the Baton

Sunday, January 16, 2011 was Sanctity of Life Sunday. About 90 people gathered at The Wall of Names at The Memorial for the Unborn to commemorate the 50 million lives lost to abortion since 1973. That was the year Roe vs. Wade decision made abortion legal.
The somber tone, the tears, the lit candles, the testimonies and soft guitar music were all the same. Even the ending, when people go forward to place roses at the base of the Wall and paused to remember babies now in heaven was the same as other years.

I had the opportunity to hold up the book that Ann Caldwell and I authored together. The book, EMPTY ARMS, has had an international impact, even touching Russian and Chinese people who grieve for their babies lost to abortion. Our publisher, Dan Penwell died of cancer this year. We are thankful for his courage to push for our project to be published. He caught our vision that people needed to know that many from all walks of life have sent letters to the Memorial for the Unborn expressing their regret over making an abortion choice for their baby.

What was striking this year was the changing age of the leadership in our Sunday service!
The speakers, the soloist, the guitar player and our new director, Katrina Griffin are all 30 years old or younger. Praise God that the next generation is ready for the hand off of the baton! The fight to speak the truth in love will continue. The good news that Jesus forgives and heals the brokenhearted will be carried forth with new energy and vitality. The message to choose LIFE will continue to give hope to those who think there is no hope. This is a fight we plan to continue on our knees in prayer.

As we held our lit candles and sang Amazing Grace, God's love and forgiveness was very present. Our prayer for these new leaders, "Let your light so shine among men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matt.5:16

Fresh Grace in a New Year

Spending time together with family over the holidays has been so encouraging!
As a family, we share not only lovely dinners, but times to share our blessings and our prayer requests. Life is full of struggles... I told our son Eric last Sunday..."life is NOT fair" to one of his complaints. But... despite the injustice prevalent in this time on earth, we as believers live our lives with a promise provided by our loving Savior, the Lord Jesus.

"For God has said, Lo, I am with you always." Hebrews 13:6b

"He gives us more grace." James 4:6

_______He Giveth More Grace________

He giveth more grace when the burden grows greater;
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase.
To added affliction
He addeth His mercy;
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

Refrain:
His love has no limit;
His grace has no measure;
His pow'r has no boundary known unto men.
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!

(Written by Annie Johnson Flint in 1941)

New Year 2011

Happy New Year!
We continued our 30 year old tradition of eating Navajo Tacos on New Year's Eve.
After participating in the Run-Walk for St. Jude's Children's Hospital, we all look forward to frying up some Indian Fry Bread and adding all the delicious toppings for a divine supper!
Wendy's family has kept this agenda every year because it never seems to get old or boring, but always fun patting out the flat breads and exclaiming with delight in the finished product!
Let us not forget the roots of this favorite holiday activity but say a prayer for those who work and serve among the Navajo people, as we once did.
Thank you,LORD, for Kathy and Greg Staley who work at Immanuel Mission in Sweetwater, Arizona. Please bless them and their efforts. Amen.