September 2, 1983

It gets increasingly easier to understand some of God's Scriptures the older I get. We are but a "vapor in the wind" and our time in our earthly bodies is only an instant, a wink if you will when put in the context of eternity.
One of the happiest days of my life was September 2, 1983....25 years ago today when Trey entered into the world. Hard to believe the man I know today was once small enough to be held in one hand. As I reflect on his first 25 years, I am reminded at how blessed I have been to be a father of two wonderful children. I am humbled by how God has shown the kids His love and that our faith was never "forced" on the children. They each found their own way and made their own decisions when it came to whether or not they would follow the world or follow the Saviour. To Him, "a thousand years is but a day and a day is like a thousand years." Our time as parents will not end until we leave this earth. We are challenged to let our children grow and learn and to cling to their special someone. While it is difficult to step outside the box and let them experience life's obstacles on their own....it is what we must do. Now, I find that much harder to accomplish than does Debbie....especially with Trey. A father has a different responsibility to raising a son versus raising a daughter. A son must learn responsibility as it pertains to leading, protecting, and supporting a family. While I have tried to model and encourage traits consistent with this philosophy...there have been times that I have fallen miserably short. My prayer is that for those times...I be forgiven. I love my son and I am so very proud of him and all the many things he has accomplished. God has a awesome plan for him and what He would have him to do to further His kingdom. Happy Birthday Trey! Stay the course and finish this race that you are on!

Vacation IS OVER!

I had a very nice time in Wilmington visiting with my dad, my sisters, my brother-in-law, my nephews and other friends. As usual, the time goes by much too quickly. Pops and I were able to spend some quality time together and get a few things done around his house. Trey and Jennifer passed me on the way home as they are now there until Tuesday. I stopped in Madison and spent the night at Stacey's. Debbie met me there and we had a nice dinner and watched some TV, played with the kids, etc.. I got up early and came on back into McDonough as I wanted to get another coat of paint on the bedroom wall and finish some trimming opportunities.
College football is here!! Joey was at UGS's win today and I watched ECU upset Va. Tech (Yea Susan/MG) I'm now watching UVA get their butt kicked by USC. I've called my friends in Charlottesville that have a skybox at the stadium and hollered at them for a minute. Maybe UNC will actually have a team that can compete with UVA this year! They never did when I lived there and believe me I heard all about it each week.
Love my family and I so enjoyed my time with them this week.

Please, pull all my teeth instead....

To those that are house painters by profession...God bless you!! I have decided that I would rather have all my teeth pulled versus painting. It has dawned on me that with age comes experience and a certain amount of prosperity and with the experience and with the money...in the future when Debbie wants to change the color of a room...I WILL HIRE SOMEONE TO DO IT. It sounded simple..paint the master bath and our bedroom. That was 20 manhours ago and I'm still not finished. Joey helped for several hours on Saturday or I would probably still be locked in the bathroom. After thousands of times of getting up and down a ladder, I have rediscovered muscles I didn't know I had in my back and in my arms. When it's all said and done, I'm sure it will cost even more money as Debbie will now have a reason to buy new stuff to match the new paint colors. It's a vicious cycle....but, wouldn't have it any other way.
Fay has given us some much needed rain....cloudy again today. My friend Bubba is a new granddad. He called Saturday from Chicago to say he had a new little girl. To think it was only a few short weeks ago that he was in pretty dire straits with a heart attack, facing heart surgery and with his kidneys on the blink. There are many that would say it's a medical miracle and there are others of us that would say it's the power of prayer.

Where did the time go....

It seems like just yesterday Tripp was coming home from the hospital. Yesterday, I stopped by Joey & Stacey's on the way home from Augusta. In his bedroom, they have put up a "yardstick" to measure his height and I was really amazed to see how tall he has gotten. There is no better feeling to a old "grump" to walk in the house and see Makinley all the way across the room, see her Big Poppa, and come walking to him as fast as her little legs will carry her with her arms reaching to be picked up. She and I sat together for a long time before she ever moved!!!

Our sunroom is almost finished. All that is left is to paint the outside to match the rest of the house and to lay the carpet. It is quite surprising it turned out as good as it did and I am looking forward to some fall evenings lounging out there with the windows open.

Things are busy in Georgia!

While we were in Florida last month, we had the carpet ripped up in the bedrooms and hardwood floors installed. Starting tomorrow, a contractor will be on site to convert our screen porch into a sunroom. The first few days of my vacation next week, I'll be painting the master bedroom and the master bath before heading out to Wilmington for a few days to catch up with daddy and the sisters. It is my personal plan to stay in this house until.....
Next month Debbie and I celebrate 30 years of marriage. God has been so good to us...blessing us with wonderful children and their spouses and soon to be spouses, along with Tripp and Makinley and hopefully, more grandchildren to come. I have the most wonderful wife and best friend and I love her more today than yesterday, but not as much as I'll love her tomorrow. The most precious thing to me though is we know we have eternity to look forward to. My Bible says that in heaven "we will know and be known." Amen! Anyway, our celebration is booked. 7 days at sea going to Cancun, Grand Caymans, Belize, and the Honduras. Don't call us.....we will be busy "he-ing and she-ing."

The Gold Key

WOW!!!
In today's world, there really is no such thing as customer service...more like customer "no-service." We have had internet problems for 2 weeks now. To make it worse, we had Direct TV installed this past Tuesday. It worked great when the technician left. Getting up Wednesday morning, I discovered the internet wouldn't access again so I called the provider. They came out and told me the Direct TV installer had cut the internet coaxial and I would have to get them back. After...listen to this...a total of 7 phone calls and 2 emails, the tech finally got here at 8:30PM tonight and had us back up and running in about 15 minutes. I have the computer prompts at Direct TV memorized now whenever I have to call them.
On a positive note, I received a Gold Key award this week at Kroger. One receives a key everytime there is a positive comment from a customer or an employee about something special you may have done. It's a relatively new recognition program the Company started. Once you have received 5 regular keys, you begin receiving gold keys on a lapel pin to wear. I now have my gold lapel pin + 2 keys. It's even more special because it came from our associates...the greatest in the Company and I am blessed daily by each one of them. Thank you.
One more week and vacation again.....you gotta love it!

Up the creek

One doesn't realize how much one is dependent on the internet and email until one does not have it. We have had a sick modem at the house all week, so unable to access the internet. I come in today and the modem is all green lights. Of course, we called our provider and the technician can't come until Saturday. Go figure!!
Played golf today in Augusta for the first time in months. A friend from our Wednesday night men's Bible study asked me to go and with nothing else on the "to do" list today, I decided to go. OUCH!!! IT WAS SO HOT!! There was a day when I couldn't go to sleep the night before if I knew I was going to be playing golf the next day. I think those days are past. In fact...those days are past! I love golf, but not when my underwear are wet after the 3rd hole.
All is well. Work is work, but vacation looms again very soon.