24th Anniversary

Although today is the day AFTER our anniversary, we have set out on a 3 day trip to enjoy each other (now that the kids are older). In addition to having fun, we have challenged ourselves to find 24 things that remind us of our history. Let the fun begin!

Ed and I are off to find 24 places that remind us of our 24 years together. 

Stop 1, Grand Prairie Verizon Theather, getting concert tickets to Third Day. Ed was the first person to take me to my first concert. He surprised me with tickets to Randy Travis during his Always and Forever tour. Ed, I'm gonna love you forever and ever Amen!

Stop 2, GP @ Dallas Tortilla & Tamale Factory,  the most Mexican eatery we could find over by the old Mexican flea market we used to frequent every weekend. They sold goats and chickens, Aguas and Snap On tools. Ed got his first real Snap On wrench set there. We were uptown!!! Also nearby was the Yellow Belly race track. Ed and Craig Price brought me there when I was in high school to watch regular people street race.

Stop 3. Kemp City Park, sort of. This is a Calaboose which is what small towns had instead of a jail. Calabozo is a Spanish word first used in 1792 meaning dungeon. One horse towns had this single cell and in THIS cell, Bonnie Parker allegedly spent some time.  While Ed and I have never been incarcerated nor have we ever been to Kemp, we want to be a famous couple, not one recognized by the world for our dastardly deeds, but one recognized by God for walking in His power and authority.

Stop 4. The Dark Years. Remember the for better or worse part of the vows? Well, though we have never visited Palestine, TX, this place represents our worst (no offense to anyone from here intended). What we noticed about this city is that there are lots of great old buildings, yet none are used as they were intended and as a result have fallen to ruins or to incomplete reuse--nothing reflecting their intended glory. Our marriage had times like that too. Where we weren't walking in what God had called us to, where we didn't understand covenant as it is meant, where our marriage was incomplete, because we thought it was to please ourselves alone. Thank God for His goodness and grace though. So we drove around the city speaking LIFE to return ;) I love that we're crazy, crazy for Jesus! 

Stop 5. Jasper, TX, as the sun is setting. Eating at this fancy little Asian bistro. In college, Ed and I both had Vietnamese friends named Son and another named Nicole Pham who introduced us to REAL vietnamese cuisine which remains a favorite!! 

As a bonus, this elderly couple from Oregon that loves to travel to China, sat with us and we had a great time talking and eating! They were at least 20 years older, but had only been married 4 years. We have been married 20 years longer. How cool is that?

Stop 6. About to get lucky! Buying lotto tickets in the home town of 2 of the dearest people we know: Mary C Hayes & Franklin Hayes. They were our first married couple friends when we were newlyweds in Dallas. We have a lot of wonderful memories with them and of Sean & Paul too! Wish we would had met the girls! Love them so much!!!

Stop 7. Bed. Calm down y'all ,we're married.  But seriously,  for the greater part of the last 24 years I've gotten to fall asleep with and wake up with my best friend! Not to mention, the "in sickness and in health" part of the vows applies to a marriage bed too. For almost 2 years, our bed was a sick bed and even death bed for Ed, but God is kind and restored him and I get to keep waking up beside my BFFFFFF!

Stop 8. They say marriage changes you. Well, that's true. I haven't seen these friends very often since we got married, had kids and built careers. Back in high school, I used to iron mine and Ed's clothes for the week. Doing his laundry and his ironing was just something I did for him when we were dating. Wow--that flashback shocked me a little!

Stop 9. So for Ed's 21st birthday I surprised him with a chartered bus tour to this place. We were young and poor. My mom kept Grey and this was our first weekend away together with no kids. We didn't have "gambling money" so we took our car payment and decided to test the odds. Well, Ed lost his wallet, his buffet coupon and ultimately our car payment. Needless to say, today this stop is from a distance. We are wiser and our gambling happened last night with our 2 $1scratchoffs.

Stop 10. It seems over the years, Ed and I have developed a love for trying new foods as we travel. This stop represents such an adventure. Our friends from Dequincy turned us on to Cajun food and man, good thing we don't live here, we'd weigh 500 lbs each!!!. Our kids love Cajun food too! 2 summers ago we went to a Cajun seafood festival somewhere along the coast here.  And to think, it started a Popeye ' s in Arlington, TX

Stop 11. What a fun little place with lots of reminders. First of all this is the frog capital of the world and all over the city are these cute frog statues painted to match the businesses they sit in front of. As Ed and I have become travelers, we love to stop and see crazy places and oddities. Which brings us to the second thing, the cemetery in the back faces North and South NOT East and West (read sign), and I like it because it's defying rules of the dead--just like Ed did by dying 3 times and being alive to enjoy this trip with me. And finally, this church is called St. JOE'S, the first church we attended together as a family and thanks to Joanne Marziani and Father Nick Marziani found Jesus in a way we didn't know He even existed. He finally became real and not just a name on a page or a porcelain figure glued to a wooden cross.--

Stop 12. 25 years ago Ed started watching this crazy guy on TV who cooked with an attitude and has been hooked on cooking shows ever since. Back then I wanted to take him to the guy's restaurant in New Orleans, but we've gotten busy with life. But here we are 24 years later, the dream realized. The food was amazing and Ed can definitely recreate this dishes at home!

Stop 13. US 5th Circuit Court Of Appeals. Our anointing calls us to intercede for the Lord. Stood outside and prayed for life to be released through these courts! Took authority over the enmy and mopped Magazine street with him.

Stop 14. Bourbon street. Walking around the city of new Orleans taking territory away from hell and releasing the kingdom of Heaven. Ed and I are called to be scouts for the kingdom of God. We go in and pray and walk the city laying a foundation. Watch New Orleans I see a change coming!!! And when we do it, it always rains--thank you Lord for your prophetic cleansing!

Stop 15. Omni Royal Orleans Hotel.  When Ed and I started traveling, we stayed at motel 6 and econolodge, however throughout the years and after some really bad experiences that include bedbugs and such, we have decided no hotels below 2.5 stars allowed. In fact, we love to find great deals on 5 star hotels. Tonight we sleep in an $800 room for about only 15% of that. Now that's favor!!!! And now to wear our complimentary robes, watch some TV and drink some $7 bottled Italian water :) 

Stop 16. The French Quarter in the fog. This stop reminds us of all the fun vacations we have taken. America has a lot of cultural history and we love to bring history alive! We enjoyed looking at the amazing architecture and French and Spanish influence in this city. Yes we are really nerds at heart.

Stop 17. The lower 9th ward in New Orleans. The hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. The poorest neighborhood and therefore, the slowest to rebuild. This reminds us of the years we spent rebuilding our devastated marriage. Like these pictures represent, sometimes when devastation comes, the best thing to do is tear it down and start over with the Lord's help. These people lost everything, but Love came in and helped many of them rebuild and the result is better than before. Our marriage was like that. After all was said and done, except the walking away, we put our trust in Jesus to repair what we couldn't. It was slow because we were poor in spirit. We were new to trusting Him with everything. We had been "saved" but didn't personally know the Savior.  Our only choices were to walk away or trust His goodness. He resurrected something that we never could have done ourselves and it's better than we could ever have imagined.

Stop 18. Restore by habitat for humanity. There's something intriguing about recycling. If only these objects could talk, what stories would they tell? As Ed and I have grown older, our need for new stuff has ebbed and our desire to reuse things and appreciate a second life has grown. I guess it's because we love the thought of second chances, and history, and a new and unusual use for something that others have decided needs discarding. I can't wait to see what he's going to make me with this window!

Stop 19. Jesse Duplantis Ministries Headquarters. Ed used to watch this crazy Cajun Christian all the time with his dad (back when he was alive) and they got me hooked. We love him because He chooses to believe that God is funny and good and a personal God. I think JD is one of the reasons Ed and I know God the way we do.

Stop 20. Walmart. As badly as I hate to admit it, Walmart is a huge part of "US." When we first got married, we had no money so we would walk to walmart and dream of all the things we would buy one day. Now, we own everything in Walmart, but we still like to browse for sales to buy gifts for others. I remember when Ed was in the hospital, I had this thought that we would never walk Walmart again. Silly I know, but I continued to pray and believe God for his healing. Now when we walk around, I am thankful that it's possible and such an example of the value of little things that make intimacy part of a relationship.

Stop 21. Cajun Landing. Another local favorite. Ed and I (and the kids) eat out so often that we are sick of all the chains. This place represents our adventure to find places off the beaten path and break free from the conformity of "Eating at Joe's."

Stop 22. The Cajun Pawn Stars shop. Unfortunately, it was closed, but this represents one of our favorite pastimes when traveling. We love to go to pawnshops and flea markets in different places looking for unique items and of course, cool guns. Also, we like to visit TV related places. A few years ago we went to Detroit to visit Hard Core Pawn's shop. Lots of fun!!!

Stop 23. Arlington & Grand Prairie are like one place to us because we lived on the border and spent time in both cities. I went to UTA, he went to LTI in GP. In the 10 years we lived here, I worked in both cities and so did he, we attended church in both cities. Our kids attended day cares in both cities. We started our family here, were educated here, found Jesus here, said goodbye to my mom here, made lots of friends here. And finally said goodbye to here, but still consider it an old friend worth visiting.

24. Final stop for our 24th Anniversary trip. HOME!! We have lived here for 12 years, raised our kids here on a farm and watched our dreams come true! Can't wait til next year!! Happy Anniversary, Ed!

God is a God of Restoration

This last weekend has just blown my mind.  I mean really, mind = blown!

I can tell you right now that I will come back and edit this, but I want to get it down on paper . . . uh digital paper as it were.

There is so much background that I am just going to skip momentarily because I am still picking up pieces of my blown mind--which is actually a good thing!

It started on January 15 of this year.  My cousin texted me and said that she and her sister wanted Ed and I to come out to their ranch and help with a project.  Every couple of weeks, she would send me a teaser, or a clue, to help me try to figure out the project and also to create excitement in me . . . well, it worked.

By the time we made the trip to the ranch on February 27, I knew that they wanted our help in trying to move an old church to the property.  And when ice and snow covered the roads the entire day were had to take the trip, I knew that God had ordained it because the enemy was trying so hard to prevent it.

After all the schools in the county closed, except mine, we planned to head out on the 2 1/2 hour trip knowing it might take a bit longer.  Here are some pics of our journey:

Obviously, the traffic was terrible on the highway because of wrecks and frozen roads, so we took the back roads.  Well, they were definitely less traveled but that meant they were SOLID ICE!  We had to have the heater and defroster on full blast so we opened to moon roof the not suffocate--nothing like snow and sleet falling on you while your body temp fights cold and hot.  Sigh . . . Texas weather.

Well, after 7 hours, we finally made it.  A miracle in itself since my cousin lives atop Straley MOUNTAIN!  But, as God is faithful, he kept us on the road, led us along a safe path and got us to our destination--praise the Lord!

The next day, my cousin was so excited to take us to Byrds, Texas to show us the church she had found.  But before she took us, she told us the story of how she found it.  To keep it brief, I will say that she took a trip to Content, Texas, after hearing there was a church for sale there.  She took her neighbors along for company but came home after realizing that wasn't the church she wanted.  Her neighbors ended up locking themselves out so they had to call a ranch hand to let them in.  When he found out my cousin had taken them to look at a church, he said he knew of one that someone was GIVING away.  My cousin was so excited and set up a trip to Byrds, Texas.

Upon arriving, she spoke to a man who said that he had been trying to give the church away for 2 years, but in the last 2 days, 2 people wanted it, so my cousin went home disappointed.  On the way home she thought maybe God had gone ahead of her and the man had already given it to us.

Her sister, meanwhile, looked up Byrds, Texas on the internet and found out that the church had been located at the cemetery there which was actually located on land donated by OUR FAMILY in the 1870's!!!!

Turns out, the church, dating from 1902, was our family church--WOW!!!  Look carefully and you will see that they church is beside the cemetery.  This was customary back in the day to have a cemetery located right outside the church.  Well, a few years ago, THEY (whoever that is) decided that the church was an eyesore and needed to be torn down.  An amazing lady, my mind is blown on this, refused to let THEM tear it down, so she paid $2,500 to move it about 50 feet across a fence to save it.

Church as it sits now--notice cemetery is in the background about 50 yards away.

House of the amazing lady who saved the church from destruction.

Now, as you can see, the church has deteriorated some, it's paint is well worn, the doors are falling off, windows are broken, the wood is falling away, and when we walked inside, it was filled with junk and in need of major restoration and repair.

So we decided we needed to pray over the place and well, wow, that's when God really blew my mind!

This is the revelation He gave me:

See when He finds us, we are far from home, we are well worn, falling apart, dirty and filled up with junk, just like this building.  Everything is out of order and seems like it's not worth saving.  But, like the amazing woman, He sees value in us, and will not allow us to be destroyed.  He will pay whatever the price necessary (which was His life) to make sure that we are saved.  He loves us and it is His delight to restore us to the Father . . .  to find us in the muck and the mire and pull us out and restore us.  I imagined when this building is finally moved and sitting back on family land, it will be painted and restored and lovely and beautiful.  It's walls and floors will be sured up, the doors and windows will be replaced and solid, it will be cleaned and once again filled with laughter, love and unity of family.

This restoration project is not about a building, it is about restoring a family, it's about personal restoration, it's about the loving heart and the power of the Savior.