Cactus Flower

unsplash - Igor Ovsyannykov Spring, 2014, forgetful, numb, messed up, full of crazy thoughts, unable to sleep.  All the signs of post-traumatic stress, that was me... cracked up. I was trying to fix my family and nothing was working.  Everything was out of my control.  My prayer life consisted of one recurring phrase - Oh, God, please help me.  My daily conversation with my husband was mostly - What are we going to do now?   We had a rebellious, unmanageable son and seemed to have no hope for resolution.  We'd tried everything we could think of.  Our marriage was a mess.  I was a mess . Our ministry seemed like it might be over. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not   2 Corinthians 4:1  Some how I was determined to not faint, to not give up, but how to do that seemed beyond my capabilities.  I felt that God could not use me at this time.   It seemed better to la...

This Friday evening the youngest of our clan will finish up high school and move on to the next stage of his life - summer!  Oh, and then college and what not. It's been an incredible eighteen years... Greyson was always a cutie-pie with his blonde hair and blue eyes in a country where that was a rarity.  Word is that when he was around five or six years old on the island camp people would ask to take photos with him and that he would oblige for a small fee.  Cute and knew it? For the most part he's been a joy, even though he doesn't comb his hair very often and making his bed doesn't come easy.  Perhaps his musical right sided brain could never deal with the structure of making a bed each day?  I'm hoping he'll learn at college! As the last in the nest, Greyson enjoyed a few years of being an only child.  Byron and I got to take a long awaited road trip around southern Brazil with Greyson in tow.  We made some great memories and en...

Easter evening, 2018 Easter, the mission house on Triangle Drive was filled with grandbabies, in-laws, a few out-laws, grandparents, and invited guests.  There may have been 18 or 20.  It was great, but somewhere along the line I realized I had taken no photos and forgotten to give Papa and Greyson their chocolate bunnies early that morning.  So, I felt sort of let down.  And a wave of "missionary grief" began to rise. last week Fast forward to  Monday afternoon:  William, our oldest, who'd been "home" over the holiday weekend rushed to get his things together to go back to college.  He'd decided to ride the newly fixed by Papa motorcyle back to school.  It was so nice to think of him going back to school, just like a normal American family.  We haven't been around to "see" the college thing.  As he rode off into the sunset and waved good-bye, it felt good and sad all at the same time. at our house Move along to Monda...

Look for more photos soon enough and a new blog post...

Sarah Griffith Photography My mother really wanted some good photos of the little grandbabies, and honestly, so did I.  But a good photographer doesn't come cheap in Brazil or the USA.  Luckily we found one who is really good and not too expensive.  The results were divine...   We are joyfully caring for brother and sister two days a week while Mommy takes some classes at the community college.  It's investment time.  Investment in their futures!  I want them to know who I am, remember me, and know about my God and Savior. So with each stinky diaper and whiny day, I pray and hug and kiss and invest...  

So you're on furlough from foreign missionary service and someone asks you how you are enjoying your vacation.  At the moment you've rushed from an engagement that morning, to the home in which you are staying where you hurrily cleaned up the house for a small group meeting leaving your daughter-in-law prepping snacks and icing cupcakes, only to jump in the car to head off to an evening engagement an hour and a half away over mountainous roads... how do you answer?   Your whole week has been consumed with taking care of grandbabies, helping plan a wedding that will happen in less than two weeks, helping family with the care of an elderly grandpa, visiting your parents in another state for a day trip and lunch, studying a little for a continuing education class, doing normal household chores, making daily runs to take our teen to driver's ed at a big high school, visiting a far off grocery store looking for ingredients for the wedding shower, going out with family to tes...