Welcome to Friday 10.30.2015

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 

"This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.  Isaiah 30:21

Welcome to Friday!

Checking in on you... I just wanted to check in with you and see how things were going with you this week and to see how you have been.  How are you doing?  How did things go for you this week?  Did you get around to all the things you had planned?  Were you able to enjoy some of the many blessings that flowed your way this week?  What kind of projects and activities were you working on this week and how did they turn out?  What brought joy to your life this week and made you thankful?  What people, events, or things made you smile and laugh during the week gone by?

As always, I wanted to let you know that you are in my thoughts, on my mind, and in my prayers.  I have prayed that the Glorious One will continue to wrap you in His arms, drench you with love, and grant you peace in the midst of your circumstances.  I have prayed that the Almighty God will defend, protect, and still the storms when they rise up in your life.  I am asking and continue to ask that the Lord draw nearer, pull you closer, and make your heart overflow with the knowledge of just how much you mean to Him and how endless is His grace for you.  May God, the glorious, splendid, powerful,... magnificent, excellent, holy,... righteous, just, gracious,... loving, compassionate, merciful and everlasting King unload your worries, and replace every worry with the assurance of His promises and the gift of daily bread.  Welcome to Friday!

I have had a full and good week.  I've had trials, troubles and storms, but I have also had the presence of the One who calms storms, walks on water, gave death the beat down, and is the everlasting Rock!  So, this week I am thankful for:

• Laughter; real stomach busting, teary eyed laughter
• Joy
• Gladness
• Storms that wipe away the pretend and remind me of the rock
• I was not thankful for the storm, but thankful that it ended
• Thankful that when it was gone I was reminded of the greatness of God
• Children
• Siblings
• Awesome parents
• Avoiding an accident today on the way from lunch
• Dates with Trish
• We had lunch today
• We managed a dinner date last week
• Dinner at the house with the family three times this week
• We had Sunday dinner (Trish fixed Macaroni and meatloaf)
• Last night I fixed the girls chocolate chip waffles with sausage (no chocolate chips)
• I fixed Trish and omelette 
• Sharing our lives together
• Finishing Fearless by Max Lucado
• It was great
• We serve the Almighty God and He loves us; fear less and be Fearless!
• Bible Study Preparation - Luke 14
• Reading a book on Jesus' parables (Luke 15)
• One chapter is called the Prodigal Son
• One chapter is called the Parable of the loving, gracious, forgiving Father 
• One chapter is called the Son who felt rejected (he wasn't rejected, only he felt that way)
• Having a job
• Solving a tough problem at work
• Finding a critical issue and its root cause during product testing
• Spending time with Sydney
• Watching a few quarters of various sports games
• None of my team's won
• Paige's awards including "A Honor Roll" and a reading aware fro reading over 120 minutes per week every week
• Grade reports and encouraging progress
• All the good that took place in this week
• Losing all 3 games on Monday as the underdog team
• Winning all 3 games on Wednesday as the favorite
• Finally getting back to the YMCA for a workout

A few more details of the week:

I had one the deepest, most satisfying belly laughs this past Saturday.  Trish took the girls to choir practice and to prepare for worship service.  I stayed home with Ava and Emma.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't get dressed before Trish and the older girls pulled out the driveway.  So, I came down to where Ava and Emma were sitting at the breakfast table.  I looked at Emma and she was behaving well, trying to eat breakfast.  Ava was playing a game on the iPad and also eating.  So, I said, "Ava I'm going to get dressed, behave and keep an eye on Emma."  I was not prepared for what came next, but it made me smile, still makes me smile and led to a deep belly laugh.  Ava squinted her eyes, tilted her head and replaced her concentrated expression with a confused one.  Then looking up she said, "You... want me... to babysit Emma?  I can't babysit Emma!"  The look on her face, and her the follow up response of "I'm too little to watch Emma," was priceless.  It reminded me of when Matt told Felicia, "Uncle Cassius, Uncle Cassius can't watch us... he's just a kid!"

The girls are funny and beautiful.  They are teaching me to let up a little, and to remember that laughter is a blessing.  I used to remember that so well.  I can remember when Vincent or Felix would get on a roll and they could make you laugh until your side hurt and tears were coming down your eyes and you couldn't breathe...  I sure hope someone makes you laugh like that every week.  Ava sure made me laugh.  

Sunday I got the true worship experience.  Without Trish in the building (Gabbi was home sick), I had Ava and Emma treat me to the real show.  Emma started service off by standing just out of reach and tossing her coat in the air.  While the pastor prayed, while the choir was singing - Emma was active and I was having to struggle to get her under control.  It is amazing how she knew to stay out of arms reach.  Ava was close by, so after a stern look and a slight pinch she behaved.  Emma didn't calm down until much, much later.  I think the second bathroom break Emma seemed to be settled.  The second break was so stressful.  Ava was pinching and squeezing and I was certain she wouldn't make it.  To make matters worse, when we got to the men's room (cause we don't have a family bathroom yet) it was occupied.  We had to go back upstairs and get Betty to take them to the bathroom.  After that workout in worship, I was so thankful for the benediction.

I have got tremendous laughter out of the girls this week, including Emma.  On Monday morning she insisted that she wear her pink dress and pink cowboy boots.  Not any ordinary pink dress, but a very beautiful (think Easter) pink dress with lace, flowers, and all the frill.  I knew she wouldn't be a fan of the blue khaki style paints, but I was not prepared for her response to seeing the pants.  She ran from the outstretched pants, straight to the closet and stood pointing and begging for her pink dress.  I'll have to admit, the dress was cute - but she was definitely overdressed for a trip to drop Sydney off at school.  Then, earlier today, when I was getting dressed to go to Paige's school she told me, "Here is your shirt... Come on Daddy, I take care of you!"  

Paige and Ava continue to make the morning drop off line at school eventful.  One morning Paige gathered all of Ava's supplies up in one hand so Ava could just get out the car.  However, it didn't speed things up at all.  Ava took her sweet time, even longer than normal, so much so that a line had formed and those kids had exited before she made it to the sidewalk.  The one day I saw her get out with great speed involved a water puddle and a teacher trying to keep her from getting out into the puddle.  Paige received the "A honor roll award" today, along with some other awards.

Sydney has notched numerous accomplishments, so many that I seem to forget about her being in student government, getting sworn in, serving faithfully in her morning meetings, and still doing awesome in class.  This week she taught me SLANT (sit up, lean in, ask questions, nod and turn in to the speaker) a technique for better listening.  She also made the A/B honor roll.  She was upset about her first ever 'B'.  I am proud of her effort and her grades, and I shared with her that my first ever 'B' came a lot sooner than 6th grade. 

Cassarra is deep in the throws of being a senior.  She got an acceptance letter from one school, I'll let her tell you about it.  She has another couple of applications in flight, and is starting to see the picture forming in front of her eyes.  I'm trying to speak encouragement to her, so feel free to jump in and give her encouragement as well.  She did well on her report card.  She has one class that continues to give her trouble, but I couldn't be prouder of how hard she works at bringing it up.

Gabbi is doing okay.  She took the PSAT this week.  Her takeaway, "It was long!"  I am confident she did well, so long as she didn't get frustrated.  She was very excited this week about dressing the other kids up for the 31st.  She was also proud of going the extra mile in Spanish class and being ahead of the pack and earning extra credit.  Over the weekend she got her hair trimmed and started making plans for a new look.  She was also trying to make plans to get the new Jurassic World movie, but I wasn't taking the bait.  In school she has brought up one of her two tough areas, and managed to hold steady on the other.  I am proud of the work she has done to keep the other grades in the A/B range while she starts working on Math and History.

Trish is doing well.  I think she is amazing.  She keeps the calendar lined up and somehow makes sure that everything from morning hair appointments, to afternoon homework works out with clock like precision.  In addition to the usual, I think she has been working on some family cards, and some calendar details.  A week or so ago I got a sneak peak, and the second book is just as good as the first.  I told her about Sunday and she just smiled, as if to say, "Welcome to my World!"  Thankful we have a church that understands the little people and come alongside us to help, advise and guide.

Well, I've gone on too long.  I truly hope that you are doing well.  I truly pray that God continues to smile down on you and draw you deeper into His love.  And I truly wish you a great Friday and a wonderful weekend.  May the Spirit, the Son, and the Holy Father bless you in all of your days and as always...

Welcome to Friday!

 

With love (& in triumph),

Cassius

Welcome to Friday 10.23.2015

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded."  ~ 2 Chronicles 15:7

Welcome to Friday!

Welcome to Friday!  I hope that you are as excited as I am that the week is coming to an end and the weekend is ready to be born.  How are you doing?  How did your week go this week?  What were you up to this week in your world?  Did you get a chance to complete your "To-Do" list, and how many things did you knock off of your "Wish List"?  What moments took your breath away, made your smile, and filled you with joy?  What kind of moments made you praise God, celebrate, or be reminded of just how blessed and favored we are?

I hope that you are doing very well and that you have had an enjoyable and fantastic week.  I am praying that God, the Lord who sits high and looks low, continues to bless and give you strength.  I hope that you have felt good, felt loved, felt covered, and felt like the goodness of God has found you at just the right moments, stilled your storms, and given you hope - even in the midst of difficulty.

I just wanted to check on you again to say Welcome to another Friday and another weekend. 

I have had a very good week.  On Friday Trish and I went out on our date night.  It was kind of neat, despite the fact that we never made it to our intended destination.  We were trying to make it to the fair.  We had about a three hour window with babysitting services, and after over an hour we were stalled in the line of cars trying to get into the gates.  We were in the right lane, just blocks down from the entrance, but after several minutes (maybe less than 30), we hadn't moved more than 1/2 of a car length.  Even the presence of an additional officer directing traffic gave us no hope of ever making it in to the grounds in time.  Add to the entry problems the fact that it takes nearly as long to leave the grounds, and suddenly we had to make the call to pull the plug.  Instead of gorging on fair food we opted for Pizza @ home and more conversation.  It turned into a very enjoyable evening of conversation, great company and really good pizza. 

The weekend continued to have a bundle of good surprises wrapped up inside.  On Saturday Cassarra got up and took the SAT.  She showed great maturity to get up on time, get out of the house on time, and I'm confident that she did her best on the test.  Sydney took a trip to the fair with one of her friend from school/the neighborhood.  She had a blast!  They rode rides that have long since gone off my list, ate a bunch, and enjoyed the experience.  On top of that, Sydney surprised me and Trish by bring us some fair treats to share.  So, even though we didn't make it inside the gates on Friday - we did get the tastes on Saturday!

Cassarra and Gabbi went to the fair on Sunday with some of their friends.  I think they really enjoyed themselves, but they did realize that the fair was a bit more than they had budgeted.  Unlike Sydney, there was no fair food brought home on Sunday - well some donuts, but there was a reason for that!  Trish and I didn't get our usual coffee date in on Sunday, but we will definitely try to double up on that this weekend or next.  The rest of the weekend was a great mix of seeing my parents, chatting with my sister, getting encouragement from friends, laughing with the girls, and working on new ideas.  Plus, on Sunday night I managed a few minutes of football before the "Disney" folks reclaimed the remote.

The rest of the week has been this amazing blur of events, activities, and blessings.  I am so thankful for:

• Trish
  
• Prayer time with Trish
• Coffee talks
• Having a great date night (despite the fair traffic)
• Her wisdom and friendship
• Her guidance for the girls
  
• Family and friends
• Family and friends and encouraging prayers
• Visiting with two of my sisters this weekend
• Encouragement - loads of encouragement
  
• Ava and Emma laughing and making the house full of energy and joy
• Listening to Gabbi and Cassarra tell stories about the fair and running into Mr. Jeff
• Cassarra applying for schools
  
• An answered prayer at work playing out in dramatic and clear fashion
• A gift from a friend of the family to the girls
• The glow and joy of Ava and Emma as they showed me their new wall decals
• Emma wearing her new pink shoes - with everything
  
• A great visit with our CEO
  
• Getting to work early and having things prepared for our CEO's visit
• Getting a compliment from our CEO on my growth and maturity as a manager
• Reading to Ava and Emma
• We read book after book
• We read from the Bible
• Ava and Emma really got into reading and interacting with the Bible App
• Apple pie
• Getting up early this week and being able to exercise
• Checking out a gorgeous sunset on Thursday night (over the lake)

Again, I just want to thank you for your prayers and let you know that I have you in my thoughts and prayers too.  I am so thankful for you and I hope and pray that you are doing well this week.  I hope you are ready for the weekend and that your weekend will be exceedingly blessed and contain numerous moments of joy, hope, laughter and rest.  Take care and as always...

Welcome to Friday!

Trials, challenges, difficulties and trouble will not prevail against you and the storm shall
not wash you away. You, O child of the Most High, will flourish, find peace,
have hope, know joy, win victory, and experience triumph.
You, who are beloved of God, shall have great success, blessings and favor.
The Lord our God who walks before us, holds us up, and has
won the victory on our behalf.  He will see to it that your day is an amazing display of
His wonder working power, amazing grace and endless mercies.
Have a great day!

Wake up

Wake up and step straight into God’s loving arms, where we find an endless love, boundless strength and unwavering hope. 

The Lord and His might will be with us and His strength gives us "enough strength to face life’s most difficult challenges" and not only survive but... THRIVE! 

"God will never abandon us. (~ Hebrews 13.5)"

Welcome to Friday 10.16.2015

Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you 1 Peter 5:7

Welcome to Friday...!

I had all the best intentions of dropping you a note earlier today.  I was all pumped and primed to send my best wishes for a magical and fantastic Friday.  In my mind I had most of my email all mapped out and I was so ready to help you kick start and amazing end to the week.  I guess you can say I was starting out with a clean slate, great intentions, and the plans to help me get it done.  But as our coach at work said, "Even the best laid plans don't survive first contact with the enemy."  Not sure how it all got derailed, but most of the day is gone...

All that said, I still prayed that you would have a great day.  I still hoped and even now am hoping that your day was magical and fantastic.  Even though I didn't get this email out at the start of the day, I pray that the Lord God, the Eternal Father, made your day bright and filled with love.  Welcome to Friday! 

How are you doing?  How are things going for you and with you in your neck of the woods?  How was your week and what kind of things were you up to this week?  Did you get your big ticket items moved from start to finish?  What new and exciting things unfolded for you?  What were you challenges?  I hope that you were able to survive, get through and then thrive even in the midst of the challenges. 

I would describe this week as a great week that seemed to develop despite a lot of up hill climbs, tough sledding, challenging moments and overabundance of trials.  I am not sure I have had a week like this past week in... ever.  In SC we had the 1000 year storm, and it felt like this week was a 1000 year week. 

Work presented the perfect storm of new issues, customer issues, budget issues, partner issues, software problems, employee arguments, and etc.  It probably didn't help that I managed to botch James 1:19 "Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry!"  On Monday, during a highly charged meeting, I managed to be quick to speak, faster to become angry, and then finally... after my foot was firmly planted in my mouth, I listened.

At home I had the struggle with getting Ava and Emma (and myself) back on a routine after being out for a week due to the storm and flooding.  Emma has cried every morning, wanting to either go with me to take Ava and Emma to school, or just crying to have Ava stay.  Plus the changes in bedtime during the storm has put those two off their schedule big time.   The older four have had challenges getting back into the routine and adjusting to teachers who aren't quite sure how to handle having been out for a whole week.

I was especially tired this week, mainly because I decided to stay up late on Sunday and watch both Sunday night football, the post game and then the ending of a movie.  The penalty for this poor decision was a ton of fatigue on Monday, which I compensated for with an afternoon coffee. *** WARNING *** / *** CAVEAT *** / *** LESSON LEARNED *** if you drink an afternoon coffee - you are still wide awake at 11pm.  And if you are still wide awake at 11pm you decide to watch sports, post game reports and the ending of movies and then... you seem to need a late afternoon coffee on Tuesday... then Wednesday... then Thursday!

Whew!  Thank God that the weekend is here and I can catch up on some sleep.  Sprinkled in the tired tough sledding have been some amazing moments.

• Top of the list was Trish helping me get through the tough sledding on Saturday (buy me lunch and I'll tell you all about it
  
• Ava trying to comfort Emma with the assurance that she would be okay and that she (Ava) would see her when she got home from school.  "I'll be back Emma.  I'll be back."
• Hearing all the laughter at the dinner table last night with the girls
• Playing along with Gabbi as she worked through her public speaking project of how to make a PB&J.  I was having fun being very literal and difficult
• Trish has an absolutely gorgeous new hair style going (she looks even younger than she already did)
• Paige and Sydney making Ava's breakfast and lunch without being forced too
• Watching Emma savoring every spoon full of ice cream, even though with everything else it seems like a race
• Emma in her pink cowgirl boots
• Going to the fair for a quick food only raid
• Having a blast working on a picture book with Trish
• She is so gifted with words, photos, and details
• She is also very patient with a novice who thought he knew it all

The time got away from me this week with all the different irons in the fire, and challenges.  I sincerely hope that your day was good and that your weekend will be even better.  For me, tough as it was, I am just so thankful that God is still good and God is still God.  I had joy in the trials, and some great moments of peace in the storms.  I have my measure of strength and health, and a great wife and family.  All the kids are doing pretty well.  Trish, like me, is still adjusting to the week long storm disruption - and we are both deeply grateful for God's grace in that storm.



Now that the weekend is here I will get all the rest, joy, love and renewal that is in store.  Plus, I get to spend a date night with Trish.  Sometime this weekend I hope to cut down the green forest in front of my house that was once a regular suburban lawn.  (Maybe I can get daddy to bail it for hay.  Okay it is not that bad, but it needs TLC).  I hope I can also get some time to work on another picture book.


My wish for you is that your weekend will be exceedingly and abundantly blessed.  Not blessed with things, but blessed with moments, memories, miracles and the abiding calm and joy that comes when you are held secure and fast in the arms of the Everlasting God who loves you.  Have a great evening and an absolutely sensational Saturday and Sunday.  As always, blessings to you and ...

Welcome to Friday...!

 

And the rains came...

I guess I don't really know where to start with this blog.  It kind of all started on late Friday afternoon (10.2.2015) when the rain really began to come down in Columbia.  The network news was calling for a really big weather event.  Some sources said that we could see as much as one foot (1') of rain on Monday.  It all seemed weird, and unreal.  My friend Jim and I were at work talking about the potential rain.  It seemed unreal to both of us.  Jim chimed in that he couldn't imagine that much rain.  We both thought that it might be a max on one foot over the weekend, but neither of us could fathom the idea of one foot in a single day.  Nor could we have imagined over one foot in a six hour span.

When I left work on Friday, Trish was dialed in and she was putting together kits for the storm.  I was initially like, "Ok.  If you think so."  I still couldn't get my head wrapped around the idea of a flood.  Sure the hurricane was off the coast, but it wasn't going to hit land in the US.  I thought to myself that this would be the usual tropical depression with the usual amount of wind and rain.  You know, a couple of hours, a couple of gusts, a few anxious moments of the howling and bending of trees, but then all clear.  Even as we went out to pick up some supplies, canned goods, food, medical kit, batteries and flash lights I was not convinced of the need.  I was convinced that Trish was convinced, but I didn't know... I just didn't realize.  

By Saturday the rain was picking up, and the advice of the news was to take shelter, get out of low lying areas, and make sure you had bottled water and supplies.  I got up and I headed out to Manna Station anyway.  I couldn't see how the rain, heavy at times, was a reason to stay at home.  As we went to Manna Station on Saturday 10.3.15 the rain was hit or miss.  Sometimes it came down in sheets and sometimes it came down in little spurts and mists.  I was still unsure about all the build up and all of the concern from everyone.  I wished my sister happy birthday, laughed with friends, served with those who were out guests and prayed in the prayer room as usual.

But then, the picture started to become clear when a friend (Ed) came in and said that his apartment had flooded before last week and was in danger of flooding already again this week.  His apartment was already near flooding - and suddenly I realized there must have been more rain coming down than I realized.  Maybe my roof was insulating me from the sound, and the ground and creek were hiding the amount of water.  After talking with Ed, another person talked about flooding and potential closures.  More and more the picture was starting to make sense or at least I could sense that it was potentially serious.

And then... Sunday came!

After we returned from Manna Station the rain continued to fall into the night.  And over night it really began to come down.  At different points in the night the sound of it all startled me awake.  It sounded like we were under a waterfall.  Each time I got up, Trish was staring at the iPad, checking the weather, reading the reports.  From all accounts and sounds, it was like the sky was crying in buckets and barrels.   The water kept coming.  I could hear the rain pouring off the roof and into the gutters.  And then it began to overrun the gutters, bouncing off the windows, gutters, roof top, and eventually pinging and pounding on the siding and even the ground.  Normally the rain is soothing and comforting.  Usually the rain is the sound that puts you to sleep and you feel this sense of peace and comfort.  But, as the morning continued on, there wasn't a lot of comfort from the rain drops.

The flood alerts started sounding.  Warnings and Alerts!  Seek higher ground!  Flood warning in your area.  The news hosts seemed anxious and excitable.  The constant pounding of rain suddenly indicated that truly there was a plot twist developing.  Something was about to happen that I had never seen before.

When morning came I turned on the television.  Even the sound of rain throughout the night didn't prepare me for what I saw on the television and for what followed.  For the next three or four hours I watched as roads were overcome with water, creeks swelled, ponds flooded, rivers looked gorged and fat, and even lakes began to see record levels of water.  If the rivers were a belt line - watch out its gonna blow.

News anchors were out warning people to stay in.  At first I felt like, "NO!  I'm going to church!"  But then the cameras panned around and showed the streets.  I saw images that still stick in my mind.  Cars with the hazard lights on.  Some cars empty and abandoned, and others eerily still, as they had become trapped in waters that suddenly overtook them.  I saw one car trapped and I couldn't imagine how anyone could have made it out alive.  I saw people being rescued from rivers with familiar names like Devine Street, Garners Ferry Road, etc.  I saw black tops become swirling brown tops covered in water and cars - big cars and trucks being tossed around.  I had wrestled with going out and Trish wisely won the contest.  While inside the house we were gripped by the television images - massive flooding.

All day Sunday we saw reports of floods, roads closed, roads damaged, bridges washing out and then... while we watched, a dam broke and businesses became completely drowned in water.  Even one building collapsing into a heap as water viciously punched and clawed, grabbed and kicked though the buildings frame and walls.  People say that water is powerful, and I've always seen images of water damage- somewhere else - but never here and never like this.  For many hours I sat stunned.

I have the I survived Hugo t-shirt, but even Hugo couldn't prepare me for this devastation.  Cars and trucks were tossed around like toys in the current.  A Camry was tossed up against a tree and wedged like a lego block on a corner peg.  Boats, canoes, and life rafts were out rescuing people from rising waters.  Two story houses were up to the 2nd floor in water.  An apartment building was completely flooded.  There were homes with the roof top barely visible from the water.  I saw an image of a raging river, only to realize that this was actually the middle of a road that had washed out in the flood.

Monday wasn't the end.  

The water continued to come down.  Flood waters continued to travel, cutting new roads and paths wherever they wanted to.  But the worst part of Monday was discovering that some of the cars that were once buried in water had become a tomb.  As I write the count is 14 with people being recovered from some of these same cars and trucks, others being recovered from homes, and still more being recovered after being swept away.  

Horrible!  Unthinkable!  Unreal!  

Whatever word you want to use, the news has been hard to stomach, hard to swallow and hard to take.  There are some moments where I don't even have the words.

Difficult.  Emotional.  Tragic.  

However I try to describe it the same gut punch happens.  Someone died.  Someone's home is gone.  Roads are closed and people are now cut off from each other.  In some cases it was reported on Tuesday 10.6.15 that people are now afraid that they won't be able to get to life saving resources (dialysis, doctors, water, food, insulin).  As if the slow and fearful view of flooding and damage were not enough to worry and dread.

Unbelief!

There are moments when I pray and I feel like, "Wow!  Did this really happen here!"  There are these moments when I sit, working, writing, checking on friends and family, sitting in my home and I wonder does the world I left on Friday and Saturday still exist.

I decided to write this post because these few days have been very emotional.  The ups and downs of being safe, and then wondering who else may not be safe.  The ups and downs of being thankful and grateful, while deeply empathetic and sympathetic to those who are not.  This has been very emotional and we are still not done with it all yet.  The water has stopped coming down (except tears), but the rivers are still swelling, the lakes are still rising, and the dams are still threatening to burst and pour out another round of damage, chaos, and mayhem.  I decided to write today before before I get to far down or too far in the weeds of the chaos. I decided to write today to reaffirm the facts

God is still God.  God is still Sovereign.  God is still in control.  God is still with us.  

I post to tell my soul that God is still God.  This storm didn't catch him by surprise.  God is still Sovereign and this storm didn't knock him off the throne.  God is still in control and he is still with us to work and to transform this experience for our blessing, our greater good, and His glory.  I don't know how, but that isn't my job - "The secret things belong to the LORD God (Deut. 29.29)."

I post to tell my soul that God is a refuge and strength an ever present help in time of trouble (Ps 46.1).  This is our time of trouble and this is our time to call on, rest in, and run to God - our refuge and strength.

I post to tell my soul - hope in God and wait patiently for Him, even in the midst of the storm.  And I post to pray:

May God, the Lord Almighty bless the families of those who have been forever affected by this tragedy. May the God who created life give life and light to those who travel beyond this realm, whose last moments were snuffed out in the storm. The God of mercy - I praise you for your mercy, knowing that this storm could have been so much worse if not for your mercy. God of grace I thank you for the grace the spared our home, spared our lives and gives us the strength and power to begin the process to rebuild and restore. Lord, be with us. Lord be for us. Lord direct, guide and have great compassion on us. Lord God, even now protect us as we wait the rest of the storm to pass.

In Love (& in triumph),

Cassius

though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging... God is in the midst of her and God will help her... ~ Ps 46.3,5

I mourn for you...

I mourn for you my brother who bravely went out to help others but never came back in.
I mourn for you my sister who got swept away and tossed in the tide of unsuspecting current.
I mourn for you my friend... the water broke fast over you and time ceased...
I mourn for you and grieve with your family, shedding tears and sobs because life was shorter than we expected and this... this was not the end we ever imagined.
I mourn for all those whose lives, properties, friends, family, homes, jobs, and world as they knew it was washed away in the recent floods.  I mourn for you and I pray...

Almighty God in moans and sobs to deep for words send your hand to comfort

send your spirit to strengthen and encourage

send your peace to make things whole, right, and anew.

Almighty God we sit nearly speechless in the face of such destruction, loss and hurt

but in You we trust and have this confidence - You are my Lord and You are in control

Welcome to Friday 10.2.2015

Welcome to Friday! 

And this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life.  1 John 2:25

Well, another late run at checking in to see how you are doing.  I'm surely going to get better soon.  So, how are you doing today?  Are you wet or dry in your area?  Are you staying safe and enjoying the week that was, and preparing for the great weekend to come?  What have you been up to this week?  Any thing to share this week from your neck of the woods?  I hope that you are doing well and that things have gone well for you and all those you love and call family and/or friends.  Welcome to Friday and Welcome to the Weekend!

This has been a good week, all in all.  I was a little worried about how things would turn out because I had quite the Monday.

On Monday I had a blast, but boy was I busy.  With Trish out of town it was quite the morning.  Cassarra helped get the girls hair done.  She took care of Ava, Paige, and touch ups for Sydney.   We managed to get everyone off to school on time and then the real interesting stuff started.  I learned how difficult it can be to do anything while Emma is up roaming around.  I didn't get to take a shower until nearly 10 o'clock. 

From there we rushed to lunch with Ava (too cute).  After lunch Emma took Ava by the hand and said, "Come on Ava, let's go."  And don't you know that Emma was going to take Ava back home.  Of course that made Ava sad and she started crying because she couldn't go home.  Emma recovered a lot quicker and was over her sadness as soon as her pink boots hit the floor in the hallway. 

After lunch, we made a quick trip to the DMV because my license kept failing the security sign-in at the school(s).  The DMV has remodeled, and so it was faster than expected.  Of course, Emma decided that seeing the new bathrooms was a must on the list.  Thankfully they were cleaner than I expected.  Anyway, as the new picture was being taken Emma jerked my hand and now I'm stuck with one of "those" license photos.  Or at least that will be my story to explain the picture and picture quality.  Of course a haircut, a shave, combing my hair, and cleaning my glasses probably would have helped matters. 

From the DMV we had just enough time to get in a potty break before heading to lunch with Paige.  Emma made no such attempts to take Paige home :-)  She only smiled, laughed and ate Paige's goldfish crackers.  Combining the milk at Ava's lunch with Ava's quesadilla and Paige's crackers, Emma managed to create a full lunch. 

After lunch with Paige I actually had time to return home, make my own lunch, pick up something for dinner, get a few notes on a page, and then jump in the car pickup line for Paige and Ava.  After that line experience, the four of us (Paige, Ava, Emma and myself) motored over to Sydney's school to jump in that car pickup line.  It didn't help that it was raining the whole time.  Thankfully Emma was asleep most of the time and I put it to use by reading and/or talking with Paige and Ava. 

Once we got home we had the school day recap, the snack rush, and then homework.  Ava and I completed her homework in between making dinner.  When Cassarra and Gabbi came home the little kids seemed to kick the activity into high gear, even though the older two weren't even in the same room.  I guess having someone upstairs and the others downstairs means they need to speak louder so everyone can hear :-)

By the time Trish came home I was pretty well spent.  Needless to say, when I went back to work on Tuesday it was a cake walk compared to what it took to be "Trish" for one day!  By the time Trish got home on Monday I was exhausted.  How, I mean seriously, does she do it! 

By Wednesday I think most of the crew had recovered from their day without supermom and the rest of the week took its usual ups and downs and turns.  All in all, it was still a good week. 
So, in addition to being thankful that my wife is extremely beautiful, talented, smart, funny and great with the girls, I am also thankful for:

• Family and friends
• Reading old baby books for the girls to the girls
• Reading Trish's wisdom book to her daughters
  
• Revising an upcoming book of poems
• Realizing that I'm so much better than when those poems were written
• Dinner around the dinner table
• Finishing up several items at work
• Getting to go on the roof of a 12 story building overlooking parts of downtown Columbia
• Playing basketball at least once this week - and winning in a blowout
• Watching at least a few quarters of a football game
• Finishing "Kingdom Man" by Dr. Tony Evans
• This was eye opening, and I have got some work to do
• I have got some praying to do
• Homecoming Sunday at church
• Eating dinner at church
• Spending time with mom and dad (even if ever so briefly)
• Deatrice and the boys visiting
  
• Safe travels for Trish
• Getting the girls to school safely when Trish was out of town
• Cassarra and Gabbi being a big help in the morning
• Breakfast with the girls at CFA
• Funny Bedtime humor
• Ava complaining that Emma was snoring too loud
• Emma calling for her mom, then Gabbi, then me (low man on the totem pole)
• Ava waiting up for me to read to her
• Sweet Potato casserole made by Trish
• Cassarra and Gabbi sharing stories about the Okra Strut parade
• The kids crashing in the playroom to watch videos, movies and hang out
• Favor

Well, stay dry and have a great weekend.  I pray that the rich and intense love of God that passes all understanding and every attempt at our comprehension will cover and guide you to an absolutely fantastic weekend.  Blessings and joy to you, and as always...

Welcome to Friday!