Sunday, December 30, 2012

A New Year's Meditation

Rejoicing in the Incarnation "Jesus, thou Joy of loving hearts, Thou Fount of life, Thou Light of men, From the best bliss that earth imparts We turn unfilled to Thee again. Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood; Thou savest those that on Thee call; To them that seek Thee Thou art good, To them that find Thee, all in all..... This poem is taken from hymn ascribed to Bernard of Clairvaux, 1091-1153

Friday, October 12, 2012

Buying a House

Today is a dream come true for my husband and me! Our sweet little Beck granddaughters will be close by! We love hearing their cheerful greeting when they see us..."Gumpa, and Grandma!!" Our daughter and husband closed on a house in Chattanooga after 5 years of living in Annapolis and Hyattsville, Maryland. The wait is over...they move in this weekend! Our Father in Heaven, the great shepherd of His sheep has provided them with an awesome house just blocks from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. We celebrated our granddaughter, Frances' two year old birthday and didn't have to leave the next day to drive hundreds of miles home! Now it will only be a 20 minute drive to get a hug and we are very grateful to God for sending them back south to Tennessee! Now I finally know how happy we made Henry's mother, giving her the fun of being Granny B to our 4 children when we moved from St. Paul, Minnesota to Chattanooga 33 years ago.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Welcome Back Beck Family

It's with joy we welcomed the Becks back to Chattanooga! They are in the process of buying a house near the University. We are very thankful to have Tacy and Stephen in the same city after 5 years of making multiple trips to Maryland. We can't complain, Annapolis was a BEAUTIFUL spot to visit! But we are THRILLED to have Molly,4, Frances,2 and Madeleine, 4 months close by so we can watch them grow up. Her new blog is picturing the skyline, which has some great photos and recipes that you may enjoy!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Sweet Girls All Around

Sweet, little Girls love Grandpa. My husband, Henry grew up with 4 sisters. Then he married me and gained 4 more sister-in-laws! Now he has 4 granddaughters. I told him that God knew he was good with women, so He blessed Henry with lots of women in his life! And he proved that to be true when we had our vacation last month down at the river with his two daughters and sweet granddaughters. Frances re-named Grandpa. Now he comes with a smile when she calls for "GumpPa"!!!He played his mandolin and we all sang. He read stories,rocked the baby, gave boat rides and grilled several delicious dinners. What a wonderful guy!

Julianna and Ryland's Wedding

One of the highlights of our year was the wedding of our dear friends, the Rainsfords' son, Ryland to Julianna. It was a special blessing to witness their covenant vows to each other in a field near Rock Creek Fellowship. The friends and family arrived from many states and countries, the parents and brother and sisters travelled from Kenya. What a wonderful time of rejoicing and celebrating God's rich blessings together!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Shall We Gather at the River

July 1, 2012 was the first time our 4 granddaughters all gathered under one roof! The wonderful occasion was our summer vacation at our cottage, Kalmia on the Tennessee River.  Kira and her daughter, one year old Ivey flew in from Seattle.  She joined her 3 cousins, Molly, Frances and Madeleine and Aunt Tacy who drove in from Hyattsville, MD.  Husbands Peter and Stephen were unable to take the time off to join us on this Williams family reunion, but Stephen did make a short appearance at the end of the gathering.
Brothers Evan and Eric took their turn on the dock, the boat and sleeping on the couch some nights.
They both entertained their little nieces with music and games.

The moms even had time off to do some kayaking on the river, but were careful to not cross in front of the barge, (seen in the background) and Gumpa waterskiied on one ski.  He still has the knack!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Welcome to the Family


May 7, 2012 is a very special day for us! Madeleine Esther Beck arrived into the world at 1:00 p.m.
As the grandparents, we could not be more pleased to have a healthy, pretty new granddaughter!!
What a great blessing it is to be able to travel to Maryland.  Henry and I were so excited to meet this special, little girl!  And we loved having time to take her big sisters, Molly and Frances on several fun outings... a concert for kids, play in the park and a nature walk down to the river.  Henry brought his mandolin, so we had several family sing- a-longs with xylophone and shakers and lots of enthusiasm, even using bells to accompany a loud rendition of Jingle Bells!
Thank you, Heavenly Father for the marvelous blessing of a new grandchild sent from heaven into our arms.  We humbly bow before You in joyful thanksgiving for Your kindness to us.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Daughters, Granddaughters and Goddaughters



When you face various trials, it is always good to stop and count your bountiful blessings! I have two daughters, three Goddaughters and soon to be four granddaughters.
This week, one of my Goddaughters and I shared the same day to celebrate our co-birthdays.
My niece, Jennifer graced my life by having the good sense to arrive in this world on my 19th birthday.
Last week, I met my younger daughter, Tacy, in the Highlands of Southern Virginia for a mother-daughter retreat to celebrate our spring birthdays. Time away in the beautiful mountains bedecked in white and pink dogwoods and red and yellow tulips was enchanting. We hiked, napped, talked while soaking in a hot tub and even lunched in a charming tea room.
I was blessed with photos of the three granddaughters and felt the 4th one kicking in her mother's belly. Her Grandpa and Grandma eagerly await the moment we can greet her gleefully with a "welcome to the world" kiss.
Thank you, Heavenly Father for blessing us over and over!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

God's Timing is Best


This poem is from Dayspring:

When the time was right,
the sea parted
the walls fell down,
the lions went hungry,
the sun stood still,
the star appeared,
the waves were calmed,
the stone was rolled away,
the LORD ascended...
And when the time was right,
the KING of KINGS will return.

God is never early and He's never late-
He's always right on time and His plans for you are good.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Sunday, March 25, 2012

New Movie "October Baby"

The new movie, October Baby, released this past weekend is well worth attending! It is the first film of two brothers and some of it is filmed in Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama. The plot centers around a family dealing with issues surrounding adoption and abortion.
It made me very thankful for the ministries, Bethany Christian Services and The Memorial for the Unborn.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Queen Cleleste Completes Her Reign

Our bright and bonny Border Collie, Celeste went home to heaven yesterday, March 6, 2012.
In September, 1997 our daughter, Tacy and I drove to Nashville to pick up a puppy! Her sister, Kira had just left for Wheaton College in Chicago and we were all lonely. Beautiful and extremely smart, Celeste had our hearts wrapped up in her paws from the start. She was so elegant we decided she should be named after the king of the elephants, King Babar's wife, Queen Celeste. She was our second border collie.
Nataani graced our home in New Mexico when we lived on the Navajo Indian Reservation. The Navajos are sheepherders and so are Scottish Border Collies, so that is where we first were introduced to this marvelous breed!
Celeste loved to chase tennis balls, jog on woodland trails with Kira or Henry. She understood hand signals, she could be put in reverse by lifting a hand and say back and without turning around, with understanding eyes still glued to yours she would slowly remove herself from a room in a royal fashion. She was an loyal companion for almost 15 years. She would often sleep in Eric's room and put up with Evan's puppy,Rocky. Here she is with Bessie, one of her good buddies. She will be sorely missed by all of us!!! Especially her constant companion, Samson, our huge brown lab.
Oddly her nickname was longer than than her full name but fit perfectly. We mostly called her Celestial, because she truly was a heavenly dog that we considered a gift from God picked out special just for us!
Henry's bluegrass group sings a song..."Over in the Glory Land" and we do expect she will greet us when we arrive in heaven, but in the meantime she will probably be walking those streets of gold with Bumpa!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Two Radio Interviews


Ann and I were invited to speak on the topic dealt with in our book, Empty Arms... healing after an abortion.
We are thankful to the Christian Medical and Dental Association for choosing our book as a recommended resource both February and December of 2011. This gave our book fresh wind in our sails, so that there was renewed interest from others.
We were on Chris Fabry Live on Jan.20, 2012 for the 1st hour of his call-in show.
Then on Jan.30, 2012 at the radio station of WMBW, we were the guests of Janet Parshall on her show, In the Market in the 2nd hour. We were humbled to talk with callers who are still struggling with their decisions to terminate the lives of their unborn babies. We could offer forgiveness through Jesus and encourage them to name their baby and remember the hope of heaven.

Celebrating Ivey Hope's Baptism



"I think when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men,
How He called little children as lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with them then." by Jemima Luke

Jan.22, 2012
Our little granddaughter, Ivey Hope became a child of the covenant of baptism.
Her uncle, her grandfather and grandmother made the journey from Tennessee, through a snowstorm to be witnesses and sponsors as the newest member of our family was brought to the church for this special occasion.
How thankful we are for this sweet gift from heaven and also for these words,
"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd:he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young."Isaiah 40:11

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

New Opportunities


Ann Caldwell and I are thankful for the fresh wind in the sails of our book, Empty Arms. In 2011 our book was picked two different months as a book on the recommended resources of the Christian Medical and Dental Association. This has been very encouraging as it continues to touch lives all over the world.
We have been invited to have a radio interview with Chris Fabry next Friday, Jan.20, 2012 at 3 p.m. Eastern time.