Can you say......GONE!

Today is the day! By 3PM we'll be locked and loaded in PCB...
Last year, trying to unload the car down there along with 300 other people and 3 elevators....during a driving thunderstorm...was an absolute nightmare. This year we aren't hauling all our groceries which will make it easier, but we are carrying 3 more people (Trey, Jenni, and Makinley) and all their "stuff." We have a plan when we get there....one bag per person first trip and we'll get the rest of it LATER! It's amazing. I could survive for a week with a couple of pair of shorts, a few T-shirts, my bathing suit and flip flops.....and my pillow. A woman can go through those kind of clothing requirements in a matter of hours..then you have to have seperate bags for makeup, shoes, hair dryers....who knows what all. Not to mention...there is a new mall directly across the street from us this year that wasn't open last year.
GUYS....believe me....I'll come home with more than I went with.
Oh well, go shopping. I'll be on the beach sitting on the ocean's edge, digging my feet into the sand, sunglasses on, IPOD playing some ZZ Top.....see you at dinnertime.

Happy Birthday to you.....

We are celebrating some birthdays in the extended Sheneman Family during the coming week and I just want to wish my older sister, Susan, and my nephew, Mark, best birthday wishes. This is Susan holding Makinley at our Memorial Day cookout. I don't have any pictures of my nephew, Mark, on my PC, so this is the next best thing. Say hello to the singing Ham Boys!! Derrick, the dad, and Matt, the brother! I'm sure during the birthday hoedown Saturday night the boys will strum happy birthday to the celebrants. wish we could all be there, but we will hoist something in your honor sitting on the Gulf on Saturday evening. HOORAH! (Mark: even though you won't call a Uncle, check the mailbox first of the week at your mom's house.)

10, 9, 8,. 7 and then it was 2

Two more days! I can't believe we are only two days from paradise. I remember the first time I went to the Gulf Coast of Florida.....September, 1988. Kroger used to have our annual fall sales meeting each year in Destin, Florida...on the gulf coast about 65 miles east of Pensacola. The first time I hit the Sandestin Resort...I knew I would spend many more hours there in the years to come and I have. Clear blue waters, lily white sand, virtually no "surf" to speak of, plenty of good seafood eateries, cool ocean breezes in the evening time. It just doesn't get any better than this. We are all excited to be going and I'm particularly happy that Trey has recouperated well enough that he feels like he can make the trip. I'm excited that Jennifer will be coming as well ....even though we will have to teach her to love it as much as we do. "That's the way we roll girl!" Buy some sunscreen or a good book, cause we are hanging on the beach. You're either with us or you can have the condo all to yourself during the daylight hours.
Speaking of my son....I am so proud of his resolve to lose weight and get healthier. He has done an awesome job watching his sugar and we can really see a difference. Way to go son!!! I always knew that you could do anything you put your mind too! I know it has not been easy, but the love of a good woman and other factors can be tremendous motivators. You can believe your dad loves you more than life itself....I have the greatest family and I am blessed beyond measure.

Hallelujah!!!

Great news this afternoon that my friend, Bubba, is finished with his quadruple bypass surgery and should be in recovery now. I know his wife, Cindy, son, and three daughters are all dancing on clouds about now. I will look forward to seeing him in the next few days once he gets situated back in his room.
Three more days and we head to Florida. I don't know that I've ever anticipated a vacation more than I do this one. It will be fun and more fun. I am looking forward to the hours of doing exactly what I want to do....which is basically nothing other than just playing with the grandkids. I know the folks at the store are ready for some R&R on their own just by having me 400 miles away. I have been more than a bear lately and the least little thing has gnawed at me more than I should ever allow. I am blessed to work with the people that surround me everyday and I can only pray they respect me and care about me more than I deserve. "We are called to conduct ourselves in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ."
Forgive me Lord for those times that I fail you and those around me.

If you're going through hell.....

I heard something today that made me think and say, "hmmmmmmmm." If you were asked this question, what would you say?
"If you're going through hell....how do you smell?"
In Daniel Chapter 3, we read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When they refused to bow to the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected to himself, he commanded that they all three be thrown into a fiery furnace. The furnace was so hot that the soldiers that bound the three and threw them into the furnace were consumed and perished because of the heat. When King Nebuchanezzar looked into the furnace, he didn't see three men!!! The verse says that "he saw four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looked like a son of the gods."
The bottom line is....just because we are Christians, God doesn't promise us that He will remove us from all the trials and tribulations we will go through during our earthly life. What He does promise is.....He will walk beside us and give us the strength to endure and to finish the race. Amen!
The surgery for my friend, Bubba, has been postponed until Wednesday due to complications from his diabetes and kidney function. Please continue to pray for God's perfect timing in his life and that he will continue to be a encouragement to all of us that know him.

This time next week.....

This time next week...10:00A.M., I'll be sitting by the water in PCB. I look forward to several events each year, but our family vacation always rivals Christmas for me in terms of anticipation and excitement. Around January each year, we begin to talk about it and plan it. As the months stretch out and the weeks count down....I am like a child in a candy store. First of all, I love being with my family. Secondly, since I was a small child and my parents first took me to the beach, the saltwater, the sand, the salt air, the sound of the surf....does something magical in my spirit. It comforts me and it rests me! It rejuvenates me!
While I loved the mountains when we lived in Virginia and to see the color changes in the fall each year, the snow in the winter....there is nothing quite like a nice ocean breeze blowing in a thunderstorm across the gulf and watching God, in all His glory, manifest Himself in so many different, visual ways. Just think....He only lets the ocean come just so far. He tells the moon where to hide until the evening time. He draws pictures in the sky by using His clouds. He knows me just like He knows the number of the grains of sand on the beach I'll walk on next week. He is so amazing and to think...He knows me! A sinner saved by grace!
My friend, Bubba, will have quadruple bypass surgery in the morning. He has other medical issues that puts him at a much greater risk than the average person, so please pray for God's divine intervention that He will heal the physical heart in the man that has a spiritual heart devoted to serving His Lord and Saviour for the vast majority of his entire life.