Cactus Flower

Called to Stay + Called Together =  Called to Stay Together  Today marks 28 years of marriage to the man of my life.  Ours has been a missionary marriage since day #1.  When we started dating, while both in Bible college, Byron let me know of his missionary call to the country of Brazil.  It was to let me know - Date me, might marry me, will go to Brazil. I took it seriously as I had felt called to missions at a young age.  In 1985, I traveled to Brazil with Byron to see if it and he were for me.  I remember thinking after the trip that I really liked Brazil, and Byron, too.  We started making plans to marry and to get to Brazil.  We were married in 1987, but it took a few more years to get to the mission field. Our wedding was simple.  We were married at Chamblissburg Baptist Church in front of the parsonage.  Pastor George Law counselled with us before we were married.  He seemed concerned about my "independent sp...

  This past year was an incredible year for the Atha family. Here's a small list of this year's events that came to my mind as I gratefully considered all that the Lord God did for us in 2011... Byron and I started teaching ESL classes outside of the home. This was a mixed blessing: lots of work and not as much reward as we'd hoped. It did expand our circle of acquaintances around the town and for this I am grateful. Dona Neia moved into the head cook position for most of our camp retreats. She is a joy with whom to work. Look back to my "Happy Family" post to hear more about the others who began working in the kitchen this year. William and Byron were able to make an incredible trip together to visit the town where Byron's parents worked years ago. The spent almost two weeks in Sao Miguel do Guama along with Granny Atha in May working on the church building and parsonage there. William participated in his first missions trip. He went up to C...

Newlyweds become oldyweds, and oldyweds are the reasons that families work.   Anon. Chains do not hold a marriage together.  It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.  Simone Signoret Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.  That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand.  Emily Kimbrough I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance, A church filled with family and friends. I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for, He said one that would make me his wife. Author Unknown Ah, what dreams we have as young people!  Dreams of large houses and beautiful children.   Hopes for happiness always and perfect days.  On May 30, 1987, I dreamed of telling stories to children under a tree in a far off land with my missionary husband hurding them all to hear.  I dreamed of travels and baptisms and my husband preaching to large crowds, of teaching missionary children, and occasional ...

It's weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don't even amount to a couple of hours.  James Keivom While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.  Dorothea Lange  A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.  Eudora Welty They say a picture paints a thousand words, what about a thousand pictures? What a great looking man I have! Through the years he has only refined and gotten better.  May 30, 2010 we celebrated 23 years together in marriage.  Looking forward to the next 23! Happy Anniversary to my parents, who celebrate 46 years this week! Love you, Byron!