he's 23 now. what?!?...

So...after a wonderful time
with new grandson, Grayson Michael Simmons,
as well as Josh and Meggie
(sorry guys...little man takes top billing now)
I'm back home with Sweet Husband...
exactly where I love to be.


I took lots and lots of pictures
which I will share in due time.


But, today...


I wanted to send a special birthday shout out
to our youngest son...


Andrew Josiah Simmons


Drewbie...as we have affectionately called him
since he was knee-high to a grasshopper...
is 23 years old today.


That makes me...hmmmm...
let me see...oops!...ran out of fingers and toes a long time ago...
maybe a calculator will help...hmmmm...


Yep...here we go...


That makes me...OLD!!!  


Drewbie went with me to see baby Gray
and even though I about drove him crazy in the car...
I'm a beyond-terribly-annoying passenger,
and he had to drive us through Manhattan at rush hour,
which he did like a champ!!...
I will remember the past nine days with him
with a smile, a full heart and a little knot in my throat...
the kind that tightens and makes my eyes get moist.


But...it's not been just the past nine days.
It's been the past 23 years.


They've been full...
of Curious George and Clifford the Big Red Dog,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers,
Harry Potter (all of them...books and movies),
soccer, baseball, basketball games, and many rounds of golf,
choir concerts and one play with a particularly cute skunk,
the MCHS "Golden Angels" (I think that's what they were called),
Saran-wrapping cars, road kill passed between friends,
"man nights" with Sweet Husband, Josh, Jake and now Peter, too,
learning to home-brew and shoot guns,
twelve years of public school, four years of university,
and, as of July 5th, gainful employment in the "real world."


There have been smiles, tears, joy, pain, triumph and defeat...
all contributing to who Drewbie is on this his 23rd birthday.


Yet, the greatest moment in all of Drew's 23 years
was when God opened the eyes of his heart to his need for a Savior
and filled him with faith to believe that
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life...
replacing Drewbie's heart of stone with a heart of flesh,
removing his sin as far as the east is from the west,
clothing him with garments of salvation and robes of righteousness,
sealing him with the promised Holy Spirit.


So...today we rejoice with exceedingly great joy
because though it's hard to believe Drewbie is celebrating 23 years,
the real celebration will go on and on
even when we've been there 10,000 years!


Happy Birthday, my precious son...

gray simmons. joy unspeakable...

Ahhhh...and who might this be
rocking my world
and invading my heart
provoking tidal waves of emotion
washing through me with each thought
and crashing over me with each gaze...
although only digitally grasped
instead of cuddled cheek to cheek?

'Tis the firstborn of my firstborn,
Grayson Michael Simmons,
and the second baby born to my babies
effectually marking the passage of time
by throwing open wider still the storehouses of blessing
and faithfulness of our eternal Father
from generation to generation to generation.

...and, once again, I am consumed with joy unspeakable!

       Grayson Michael Simmons

       June 6, 2011

"For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations."

Psalm 100:5

kisses and a wet nose. a call to worship...

How often do you thank God for "small" things?

Saturday morning when I woke up I was greeted
with a long, pink, wet tongue on my face
and a cold, wet nose burrowed in my neck.

No...not Sweet Husband...
it was Jonah, our 70 pound Lab
(he's put on a few since getting the snip-snip).


Jonah was ready to get up and visit the outdoors.
So...I reluctantly pushed off the covers and
acquiesced to his persistence.


When we came back inside
we ventured into the living room 
where I spend time with God each morning
and Jonah gets a little more shut-eye beside me on the couch.


As I began to pray
I became aware of how rarely
I thank God for the "small" things...
like how sweet it is to have a precious pet.


Sweet Husband and I love Jonah 
and he brings lots of pleasure to our lives
even though he's...just a dog.


So...I proceeded to thank God
for creating animals, Jonah in particular...
and for the abilities to enjoy other simple pleasures
like knitting, playing the piano, tasting food,
and for all the senses he created me with...
with which I enjoy his creation.


But, I couldn't stop there...
because although God, in his kindness,
gives me simple pleasures to enjoy,
they are rooted and born from the
true pleasure of treasuring him!


Everything...all gifts and pleasures
are given to direct my heart, mind and soul
to praise God,
to thank God,
to delight in God...
and because of Christ's redeeming work on the cross
I am free to worship him with complete abandon!


Here is a quote I read in God is the Gospel by John Piper...

he says it better than I ever could.

"They (the gifts of God, the rewards of God, the miracles

of God) have come for one great reason:

that you might behold forever the glory of God in Christ,

and by beholding become the kind of person who

delights in God above all things,

and by delighting display his supreme beauty and worth

with ever-increasing brightness and bliss forever."

"For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be glory forever.  Amen."   Romans 11:36

As my time of worship came to a close Saturday morning
the Holy Spirit brought this song to mind.
Give it a listen and as you do
thank God for all his gifts to you...
and be drawn to worship their Creator
for he alone is worthy!

he's practically grown. almost walking...

The little man is quickly becoming not so little!


He and his parents were away last week
so we didn't see him for awhile
and when we saw him a few days ago
he looked like he was ready to start college!


Well...maybe middle school...or pre-school.


Okay...he looked like he'd gone up at least one diaper size!!


His uncle and aunt had just returned from a week in Ireland.
They brought the little man a special gift...


I think it's quite obvious how much he liked it!!

It was love at first touch!

...or hug

...or kiss

...and Lambie is a great playmate at the train table!

Me: What, precious boy...whatever you want...

(Oh, be still my beating heart!)

                     Little Man: Yep...stick a fork in her boys...she's done.

I've got her right where I want her!

(...and he's abso-tootin'-lutely right!!)