sunday lane is at # 10!!!!!

thanks to all my sweet friends who have persevered through
the horrible, arduous voting process!

emily, you have been such an angel!!!

she's #10!!!!!

"but let all who take refuge in You be glad!!!"
psalm 5:11

love,
lea

ps.  if anyone else wants to jump in, click on the link in the
previous post,  go to 'judge', click on 'head to head', vote
for every band as the 'same', but "sunday lane" as 'by far
the best'.  if your conscience smites you, just listen to the
other bands.

she's 'by far the best.'  :)

at some point you will have to register your name and a
password.

please help sunday lane!

this is a shameless mother's desperate attempt to help my daughter,
sunday lane.  she has entered the hanson 'shout it out' songwriting
contest . . . late.

this puts her at a huge disadvantage, but she has already climbed
to #36.  would you please consider clicking the above link and
voting for her . . . as many times as you like?  once you are at the
site, click 'judge'.

then you have to drag each song over, lock vote, and continue until
you get to her grouping.  be sure to drag her to the top before filling
in the other spots, and then you're done.  occasionally, you may have
to listen to a song for 15 seconds.  just click the band, watch the clock
and then drag the band over. (sorry!)

her name is sunday lane and her song is "won't back down."

i am in your debt.  thank you.

love,
lea

"i thank my God always concerning you . . ."  1 corinthians 1:4a

oh, boo!

my mother in law is one of our fair city's most beloved women.   she
is gracious and kind to every person she meets and always remembers
their name.  even though the rest of the community calls her husband,
'mr. h.', she is known to everyone as 'peg.'

and when i say everyone, i mean the grocery clerks, the waitresses at
olive garden, the gas attendants at texaco, the teachers at the local
elementary school, and every employee in her husband's company.

her beauty is legendary, her charm is remarkable, but her skill in
extracting money from local business men is extraordinary.  in one
year she raised about $2,000,000 for our flailing local libraries by
frying up bacon, baking homemade pecan rolls, and pleading with
those helpless men for their dollars.

she is a woman of great faith and wisdom.  having been in her
sunday school classes, i can attest to her understanding and love
of the scriptures and her Saviour.   having been her daughter in
law for almost 30 years, i can speak of her kindness and grace.

one of my favorite 'peg' traits, though,  is her humility.  recently,
she made one of her delicious soups, but when we tried to praise
her, she said what she always says, "oh boo!"

"humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth, honor, and life."
proverbs 22:4

love,
lea

little boys

dear emily,

don't you just adore little boys?

there is something about their carefree, ornery zest for life that just
slays me.  i love that you let your boys get as dirty as they need to be
in order to play as hard as they want.

nothing is more winsome than a dirt-smudged smile and an excited
high-pitched voice saying, "mommy, look what i found for you!"
it's also a little scary.  a flower from your neighbor's garden or a
snake from the creek?

my boys would watch for their daddy to return home each evening
and tackle him at the door.  no matter how hard the day, he would
throw them over his shoulder and hurl them onto the couch.  this
was the signal for "chinese team", a bizarre and mysterious game
that involved lots of running, wrestling, and hilarious shrieking.

their natures are wired to hunt, gather, and protect, and  i'm not sure
if "chinese team" taught them much about those things, but they had
to be a little bit tough to play it.

we don't know what the Lord has planned for our sons, but we can
prepare them for most anything by teaching them that He loves them
even more  than their own father does and that He will equip them
for any task for which He calls them.  we can pray that they will be
valiant and courageous, with hearts turned toward Him and wills bent
to obey.

"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and
stand before Me in the gap . . ." ezekiel 22:30

love,
lea

ps.  i am reposting an old piece to participate in "sabbath rest."

our live oak tree

there are many wonderful stories about our ten acre wood, but one of
my favorites is the travels of our giant live oak tree.

live oaks are prized in the south for their massive spreading crowns to
bring coveted shade in the long, hot summers and lovely evergreen
leaves throughout the winter.

hans' grandfather desperately wanted one for his property, but he lived
too far north for a live oak to survive.  so, he did the reasonable thing
. . . by planting it 150 miles north of houston on a willing farmer's field.

he then repeated the 150 mile trek northward every three years, until
the lovely tree came to its final resting, i mean growing place.

isn't that a romantic effort to bless the next three generations?

"they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord."
isaiah 61:3

love,
lea

blue skies

                                          blue skies ABOVE

                                                 
                                                 clouds ALL puffy

                      


                                      with THESE THINGS called dreams.

                                                        we PUT ON our hearts

the strength to LOVE.   (colossians 3:14)

love,
lea

ps.  please visit joyce to see other pretty pictures.

drunk on my kids

one of my character flaws is my tendency to get my feelings
hurt too easily.  now that my children are young adults with
strong characters and clever opinions, i have tried to laugh at
myself more than wear my feelings on my sleeve.

in fact, i laugh so often with them, that i now consider them a
tonic or a good stiff drink . . .

they don't let me drive them places, because frequently i get the
giggles so bad that i am not a safe driver.

hans will call, and i will not be able to talk coherently.

"are you with the kids?"

giggles.

"are you inebriated on them again?"

snort.

"ARE YOU DRIVING?"

gasp.

he will then call one of the girls to make sure they are
driving.  

embarrassing.

"she can laugh at the days to come."  proverbs 31:25b

love,
lea