The So Dizzy Life

2018-12-03T18:08:00.000-05:00

My sweet Mama and me

2 years without seeing her sweet face and hearing her call me her kitten (Her nickname for me). Oh how I miss my Mama! Two years since she has gone to be with our Lord and Savior. I know she is thrilled to be in the presence of Jesus. But I sure do miss her, so very much. The grief is still so raw. It seems that it was only yesterday that I heard her last words....she said "I love you too". I am so thankful though that I know she is in heaven and that she is with the Lord. There will be no tears in heaven. The Bible speaks of the Lord wiping every tear away. I have great comfort in knowing that my Mama is pain free and happy as she worships the Lord in heaven. But I miss her.

And Another Graduate!

2018-06-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

Our youngest child graduated from High School last weekend. Our last High School graduate! How quickly the time flew by. I shed a few tears several days leading up to this graduation ceremony and even the day of. I am overwhelmingly excited for this wonderful young man and his accomplishments and future endeavors but also I recognize what a marker this is for him as well as me.

Our last high schooler, our #5 graduated!

Not only will our youngest son be entering into a new season of life but my husband and I will be entering a new season of life as we draw closer to becoming empty nesters.

My husband and our youngest and me!

A new season of life for sure. But just like the yearly seasons change into winter, summer, spring and fall, I always look forward to what each season brings with it. So I do feel a sense of hope and excitement to see what the Lord will bring our way as we face a new season of life. One things for sure though, we never stop being a parent.

Siblings pic!

And I LOVE being Mama to these children!

Our 2018 Graduates

We have had 2 to graduate this year. Our middle child just received her masters degree and will be off to a foreign country in a few months to teach English for the next several years. She's so excited!

Celebrating our graduates!

I am trusting the Lord as he leads and guides our family. I am thankful for this new upcoming season in my life. I am not sure exactly how it is going to look in the future but I do know that I will continue to be Mama to these and I will continue to look to the Lord and seek to honor Him with my life.

Signs that Spring has Sprung!

2018-05-20T14:50:00.000-04:00

I was beginning to wonder if we indeed were going to have a Spring season this year. We have had incredibly cooler temperatures this Spring and it really didn't feel like it was ever going to warm up. But finally all the signs of Spring began erupting all around us and the temperature has really begun to warm up. I was so happy that one of our favorite birds returned again this year. I love seeing the vibrantly colored painted buntings come up to get their favorite treat of millet.

Mr. Painted Bunting came by for a treat!

We've really enjoyed seeing the many varieties of birds and wildlife that visit our little retreat in the country. I am even learning to recognize the calls and songs of different birds that come by.

Female Painted Bunting

Another sign of Spring that we often see in our area are baby deer. This sweet little fawn was stuck in our neighbor's fence and needed a little help getting unstuck. My husband and our youngest son managed to free it. The next day we saw several little fawns and their mama's together behind our house, so we are hoping this little fellow and his mama were reunited. I'm sure she wasn't very far away when he was stuck in the fence.

I always look forward to Spring and my English Rose blooming. I was really afraid this year when we had abnormally low freezing temperatures over the winter that my roses weren't going to make it. They have been blooming like crazy the last few weeks. I'm so glad they survived. My Jasmine plant didn't make it though.

We have a lot of wildlife that enjoy hanging around our property. I enjoy being on the lookout for what we might see. We have coyotes, bobcats, deer, raccoons and lots of varieties of birds and birds of prey. We often see wild turkeys and this mama turkey came by this morning to show off her babies.

Wild Turkey

I was so excited to see her little baby turkeys!

I am often amazed at God's handiwork in His creation. From the vibrancy of the painted bunting to the intricate design of the turkey feathers God is very creative in His attention to detail. He could have made everything blah and colorless but He didn't. I'm thankful that I get to enjoy His beautiful creations here at our country retreat. I'm thankful for the different seasons that bring change.

Celebrating another Graduate

2018-05-02T14:14:00.001-04:00

All of a sudden it seems that we are in the midst of celebrating graduates! We have one this spring and next month we will have another! Our middle child graduated with her Masters degree in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). We are so very proud of her.

Our graduate

We are excited about her future! We can't share the details right now of her job situation but it is very exciting. We can share later this summer about it. Let's just say that for her , her new job is a dream come true!

Siblings

Sometimes I wonder where did my babies go?! I think they should still be little. I am often amazed how quickly the time seems to fly by. With each passing year the time time seems to go by more quickly than the year before. Sometimes my kids get aggravated with me because they say I still treat them like they are little and that I worry too much about them. I just laugh at them and say " Once a Mom, always a Mom"!

Sisters

I am thankful for the privilege of being a Mom to these. Not a day goes by that I don't thank the Lord for allowing me to be a mother. I'm grateful that God chose me to be Mama to these children.

Big sister with "Little" brother

The season of them all being at home and under one roof went by way too fast though. Like when did the younger brothers outgrow their sisters? It seems like it just happened too quickly. One thing that I've learned over the years of raising children is to treasure each and every moment.

And another "little brother"

I've also learned that we can never pray too much for our children. We pray that God will guide them and direct their paths, that He would protect them and that He would help them as they make choices and decisions in their lives that they would honor Him in all that they do. I'm so thankful how the Lord is working in their lives. Another thing I'm learning is that there comes a time when we have to let them fly the nest. Although I am often sad about them leaving home I am also excited and happy when I see them soar. This is what we raise them for!

February happenings

2018-02-26T13:49:00.002-05:00

February has been a busy month!

My husband gives our son a congratulatory hug

We spent a few days at Maxwell Air Force Base celebrating our oldest son graduating from commissioned officer training school!!!! He will be a doctor in the air force. We are so proud of him!

My heart was full for sure! We're very excited to see how the Lord will work through our son and his lovely wife as they seek to honor the Lord with their lives.

The "lovebirds" came home for the weekend

We enjoyed some time with them at our home this past weekend and it was great to continue to hear more about his time at Maxwell and his future plans after he finishes medical school. Medical school has been quickly flying by. I can't believe he will soon be finished. And speaking of how quickly time seems to be flying by, my husband and I just celebrated 29 years of marriage this month!

29 years of marriage

We're so thankful to the Lord for His goodness in our lives and blessing us on this journey as we seek to serve Him. God has always been faithful to lead and guide us.

Snow!

2018-01-04T15:25:00.001-05:00

A new morning with the sunrise falling on a fresh snowfall is a lovely sight to behold. We don't get snow very often in this part of the south. Waking up to this much snow is a very rare thing! Yes, we get a little excited here when it snows!

I couldn't resist stepping outside early this morning in my fuzzy robe just to breathe in the cold fresh air and see in person the sunrise falling on the snow. It glistened like diamonds. The hush of quiet in those few moments made me pause with thanksgiving and awe over the beauty that God blesses us with. I didn't last long though outside because it was 16 degrees and I was freezing!!!

These little house finches showed up looking for some birdseed.

I just love how the morning sun filtered through the pines!

In the middle of the winter storm yesterday my husband and our two youngest boys just had to get out in it and throw a few snowballs at each other. I think my husband was enjoying it more than the boys. He had such a look of glee on his face!

I put some more bird seed out this morning and we counted at least 40 birds at one point trying to get some bird seed. I hope that you enjoyed a glimpse of our southern snow day. It won't last long around here.

2017-08-14T12:59:00.001-04:00

Things are a little quiet at our country retreat today.

Most of the kids were home yesterday afternoon for Sunday dinner. I love making a big Sunday dinner for after church. I have fond memories as a child going to our family plantation home for big dinners where our extended families got together and everyone brought food and we enjoyed fellowship together. It really makes this Mama happy when my children are all gathered around the table and enjoying their favorite home cooked meals and hearing them talk about the various things going on in their life. Our Sunday table talks usually involve discussing the pastor's sermon and everyone usually shares something that they learned from the message that morning. One thing I know for sure is that in raising our children we never failed to point them to God and to His Word as the standard for living. As they each move on in this life it is our prayer that in every thing they do that they would honor God and serve Him.

I was outside at our country retreat this morning and tried to catch a picture of a hummingbird enjoying this zinnia but the little bird was too quick to catch on camera! But I saw this beautiful zinnia with its flower starting to curl and fade and it reminded me that even though the flower may fade and the things of this world may pass away, the Word of the Lord will stand forever!

2017-08-10T20:26:00.001-04:00

As summer break is coming to an end and a new school year begins, I am thankful for so many things. This summer has looked different than most of our summers have over the past 28 years and I went into this uncharted territory not knowing what to expect. This was our first summer that for the most part we didn't have any children at home. I LOVE having our kids at home and I wasn't really sure that I was going to cope very well with them all being away. But it has been a great time of being together with my husband and we have really enjoyed having the time to ourselves.

Us!

We certainly missed our children....a lot but we have really enjoyed having some time for just the two of us. I'm thankful that we were able to get a small taste of what the empty nest will look like and that there are things to enjoy in the different seasons of life. With that being said, I'm also very thankful that things are getting back to normal. The washing machine is going now with smelly clothes from the boys being at camp....but it makes me so happy because I know they are home!
I am so thankful for each of these that call me Mama.

Our oldest

Thankful that our oldest child turned 27 this summer and she's been working for the last year at a job she really enjoys.

Our second oldest

We're so thankful that our son who is a 3rd year student doctor has passed his boards this summer and is now doing his rotations at a hospital. His first rotation is surgery!

Our middle child

So thankful that our middle child spent the summer in Japan teaching English at a christian school. Even more thankful that she's now safely back home. Although she just left to return to the university to finish her masters degree. But she's back on this side of the world!

our two youngest sons

So thankful that both these boys spent their summer working at a christian camp. They've been learning to lead and to serve all sumer. Really glad they are home! Smelly laundry and all!!!!!!! Thankful that the Lord is good no matter what season we are in.

And Another Graduate!

2017-06-06T20:59:00.000-04:00

And another graduate!!! This one has been a long time coming for sure! My husband received his Doctoral degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary last month. I am so very proud of him. He has worked long and hard and kept at it even during difficult seasons.

My husband receiving his Doctorate

I was so proud when they introduced him as Dr. Phillips.

3 of our 5 children with their Daddy

We enjoyed being on the beautiful seminary campus but my favorite thing (apart from seeing my husband walk across the stage) was the sound of the singing in the chapel! Such exuberance and expressive voices lifted up in worship and it was beautiful.

My husband with his parents

We all are so proud of our graduate. Our family has been very supportive and encouraging for my husband to keep pressing forward to earn his doctorate. I think he grew weary at times but he just kept plugging away and pressing on. Our prayer is that God will continue to use us to be an instrument to teach the Gospel, for my husband to preach, and for our family to be a witness and bring glory to God with our lives.

Graduation

2017-04-30T17:23:00.000-04:00

And just like that.....we have another college graduate!!!!! Summa cum laude and was inducted into the Delta Epsilon Chi Honor Society of the Association for Biblical Higher Education! We are so proud!!!!!

Congratulations to our middle child

We loved celebrating her yesterday! I don't know where the time went but it seemed like we were just taking her to her freshman year of college and dropping her off and now here she is a graduate. She has graduated with high honors, no student loans, and is already working on her master's degree. Hard work and diligence certainly paid off!

Our graduate and her siblings

Her graduation fell in the middle of exams for one of our other sons in college but he rescheduled it to be with her. Our son in medical school has been in extreme study mode for medical boards but thankfully worked it out to be with us. I love how much the kids are supportive of each other. They really do a great job at encouraging each other.

Silliness (or maybe the heat was getting to them)

Our graduate and her grandparents

Speaking of encouragement.....my in-laws always try to be at anything that the kids have going on. They have a lot of grandchildren but try to support them all as much as possible. I'm so grateful and thankful. I hope that when I have grandchildren that I will have at least half of their energy!

I'm also thankful for the great relationships that were made during my daughter's college years.

She has made some wonderful, lifelong friends and that was an answered prayer.

One of the greatest highlights of life is seeing your children press on and accomplish their goals. I can't wait to see what the future holds. For now, I'm glad to have her home for a few weeks before she heads off to volunteer overseas for 6 weeks. I know that God has some great adventures in store for her!

Early Spring Outing & Sleepy Goats!

2017-03-10T23:01:00.001-05:00

We had the opportunity to take a little family outing today. Since we were already headed up to the upstate to pick up the college boy for spring break we decided to see if the "love birds" were free and surprisingly they were! No med school today! So we picked them up along the way and headed up a little further north to a favorite little spot we like to visit in Flat Rock NC.

The sun was bright and it was a gorgeous day! The wind still had brisk chill to it but it felt great in the sun and in the spots that were protected from the wind. The goats at the Carl Sandburg Home were feeling kind of lazy in the sunshine. I think we caught them taking their afternoon nap!

They did seem to enjoy a little ear scratching and head rubbing though.

This one was sooooo sleepy! It paid us no attention whatsoever!

Cute little barn kitty named Joshua seemed to enjoy the snuggling and extra attention from our daughter and daughter in-law.

Can't believe our middle child above will be graduating from college in just a few months!

Also it is hard to believe that these 2 in the picture below will be celebrating 2 years of marriage in a few months. My how quickly the time seems to fly by. Can we slow it down a bit?

The day ended too quickly and we had to head back home. We had a great time together. Cherished moments for sure.

2017-01-16T15:07:00.000-05:00

It has been awhile since I have posted. I guess I haven't really wanted to see it in words on a page so I have avoided writing about it. We've experienced a great loss in our family with my mother passing away in December. The weeks leading up to her death were excruciating. She became very ill and was hospitalized at the end of October and then eventually passed away on December the 3rd. I am comforted by the fact that she was a christian and that she is now in heaven and is suffering no more. But I miss her.

My sweet Mama

Painting again after 30 years of not painting.

2016-10-26T15:43:00.002-04:00

When you are a busy mom raising 5 children and managing the responsibilities that go along with being a pastor's wife you don't often have time to pursue interests in hobbies that you once enjoyed. I used to like to paint, draw and participate in creative hobbies. I had not even picked up a paintbrush (well not the kind you use for painting pictures anyway) in over 30 years! Now that I only have a few children left at home I recently decided that I wanted to see if I had a spark of creativity left and pick back some hobbies that I once had interest in. My husband suggested that I try to paint again. So once the college kids headed back to school I decided to get out the oil paints and take a class with an artist that would help me get back some of the basics that I had forgotten. This particular class she teaches helps you to paint a painting from a photograph. Since we loved our time living on the coast of South Carolina I knew right away that I would paint a marsh scene. I took this photo below at one of our favorite Lowcountry spots that we enjoyed walking at frequently. This at an old rice plantation in Charleston. Caw Caw Interpretive Center Park is a must see if you ever visit the Charleston area.

Here is my painting that I painted using the above photograph as a guide. I just finished it yesterday! It felt really good to paint again. I'm realizing that I still have some of that creative ability that has been dormant for a long time. I really enjoyed trying to capture the feel of the lowcountry marsh in my painting. No, it's not perfect and I made a lot of mistakes but I'm learning! I'm also learning that we are never too old to pick up a former hobby or start a new one!!!

My painting

One of the things I enjoyed most while painting this picture was thinking about the beauty of the marshes and how God didn't have to create them with such beauty but He did! As our family walked this old rice plantation on many occasions our talks would be about God and thanking Him for His beautiful creation. We have wonderful memories meandering our way through the old rice plantation looking for alligators and birds and just enjoying being together as a family. Picking up the paintbrush again has been good for me. Every time I walk past this painting I will be reminded of special moments with my family and our enjoyable times together at Caw Caw. (Minus the killer mosquitos!!!) Notice, I did not include those in my painting!

Annual Apple Orchard Outing

2016-10-13T12:04:00.001-04:00

I'm a little behind on posting. I was trying to hang on to the last bit of summer but packing up the college kids to head back to school and starting school for our youngest still at home I found myself in a whirlwind and here we are smack dab in the middle of Fall! Weeks ago we took our annual trip to the mountains to our favorite apple orchard.

We've been going to the same place since our children were really small. It is always such a fun outing. Our favorite little orchard that we fell in love with years ago was somewhat off the beaten path. But just like our children, the orchard has grown and changed over the years. This year was very crowded.

Other people must have found our little secret orchard and realized what a great place it was too!

We filled our baskets with fuji, granny smith and a few honeycrisp apples (they had mostly been picked by the time we went apple picking).

Wonderful family memories have been made at this old apple orchard. I like looking back on the pictures from year to year to see how much the kids have grown.

What a beautiful day it was in the mountains!

Our children

I'm so thankful for the chances that we have to all be together at the same time. It seems rare these days with the kids away at college and medical school and everyone has different schedules but these are treasured moments indeed.

Summer Vacation

2016-08-07T13:33:00.000-04:00

When pondering our vacation this year we decided to keep it close and head to one of our favorite spots on the coast. We enjoyed walking miles and miles on several different beaches.

I seem to be most like myself when I am at the beach. Something about the smell of the coastal breezes combined with the sound of the waves and the feel of the sand makes my mind slow down and rest. Maybe that's how God intended it to be. You certainly can't look at the vastness of the ocean or the beauty of a magnificent beach sunrise or sunset without thinking about the greatness of God.

Vacations seem a bit different now that we have one son that is married. Due to his schedule with medical school already in session they weren't able to make it down but for one night. One thing though that never changes is the inability to get a great snapshot of all the kids looking at me with everyone smiling and eyes open at the same time. It's just not going to happen!

We had a birthday girl during our vacation and she wanted to celebrate by going to an old plantation and having tea at the cutest little tea room there.

Our lovely southern belles!

Such a flair for the dramatic!

We really enjoyed our vacation and family time together. It went by too fast though. I'm already looking forward to our next trip to the coast.

2016-07-16T13:31:00.003-04:00

Our daughters were heading out for a some sister time today and they just looked so beautiful that I had to snap a few pictures!

Our daughters

They are a bit like night and day in their personalities. But both of them have just the best personalities!!

I am so proud of both of these young ladies. They love the Lord and desire to serve Him. I'm excited to see how God will guide and direct their paths. Here is what they look like when they are tired of me snapping pictures!!! Ha Ha!!!!

Happy Saturday!!!!

Country Retreat

2016-05-10T21:53:00.000-04:00

We sold our city house a few months ago and have been concentrating on fixing up our country house. We have a "fixer upper" on some country property that we own. There is always a work in progress and we are in some stage of various DIY projects at any given time. Here are a few scenes from today at our country retreat.

It's a quiet retreat in a peaceful setting inspite of needing some "fixing up". We have wild blackberries growing in abundance. They are just beginning to turn.

Lots of pretty wildflowers and things growing that I can't identify. I think it's fun though to look up plants and herbs and try to figure out what we have growing wild on the property.

We finally finished the driveway. It was under water for months last year resulting from the great flood that we had in our part of the state.

We try to walk the property every day with our aussie. He's going on 13 years old now and has to take a little break once in a while on our walk.

Our first tomato has made its appearance in the garden.

The evenings are beautiful this time of year with a pleasant breeze. The night sounds were beginning to start. Crickets chirping and the sound of the mourning dove made me want to linger a while longer this evening hoping to get a glimpse of the deer as they come out and feed.

Celebrating major achievements

2016-05-06T16:42:00.000-04:00

Quite a bit of celebrating going on lately! Watching your children work hard and meet goals and achievements is so rewarding and makes my "Mama's heart" swell! Our daughter in-law graduated yesterday and we are so proud of her. It seems it was just weeks ago when our son graduated from the same college and these two were about to get married. A year went by way too quickly!

Our daughter in-law and our oldest son

Such a gorgeous day it was!!!! Perfect for an outdoor graduation ceremony. I really enjoyed the message to the graduating class and felt like it should be an encouragement to all of us. We shouldn't settle for less than what God has planned for us. Keep persevering and press on!!!!

Our oldest daughter with her sister in-law

We are also excited to announce that our oldest son recently accepted the air force scholarship for medical school! We have watched our son persevere as he has pressed forward in the direction that he feels God wants him to go. He has worked so hard and been so faithful. We were not surprised one bit when he received word that he had been selected for this scholarship. I can't wait to see what adventures are ahead for these two!

Our son and daughter in-law

2016-02-03T18:44:00.001-05:00

We celebrate 27 years of marriage this month!

This is our anniversary month and we had the opportunity to get away for a night and stay at a cute little bed and breakfast in the mountains. There was still some snow up in the mountains but we were cozy and toasty.

Speaking of toast, we were served a delicious french toast breakfast at the B & B that we stayed at. It was so delicious! My company was even better though! I've been married to this man for 27 years and I am thankful for every moment we have together.

Soaps at the Blue Ridge Soap Shed

I also was able to spend a whole day at the Blue Ridge Soap shed with Dr. T and his wife Karen, learning more about soap making so that I can make larger batches of soap. I was like a sponge taking in all the information. It was so much fun to hang out with a master soap maker for a day and see how he makes and produces literally tons of soap. They were so helpful in mentoring me on my soap making journey! Just a small little adventure for one night and a day but we had a great time! Now I'm off to make soap!!!

2016-01-09T16:29:00.001-05:00

We started out the new year celebrating our New Year's baby who turned 21 this year! She is such a lovely young lady and we are so proud of her and her accomplishments. We call her our Sunshine because the moment that she was born it was as if a ray of sunshine entered our lives. I just watched her drive down the driveway a few moments ago as she is headed back to college. I waved until I couldn't see her little car any more. I confess that I had to wipe a tear or two as I watched her leave. I love nothing more than having all my kids at home and under the same roof. I am thankful for each minute that they are home and we are all together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2015-11-27T14:42:00.002-05:00

We decided to do a little something different this Thanksgiving. We were unable to all be together for the main Thanksgiving day meal so we decided to invite everyone out to our country home at sunset for a fireside cider sipping and marshmallow toasting get together.

We had a perfect evening. It was relaxed and simple to pull together. Most of all just a fun time hanging out with our family and enjoying being together.

Our son and our lovely daughter in-law

Our college children were home all at the same time and the newlyweds were here in the evening. I am always in my element when the kids are all home at the same time.

Our girls and our Aussie Bogie (Best Dog EVER)

Our dog loves it too when all of the kids are home. He thinks that they belong to him.

Trying to get the perfectly toasted marshmallow without dropping it in the fire is quite an art!

We have much to be thankful for. I'm so thankful for the Lord's hand on my life and how He has blessed my family.

White Coat Ceremony

2015-10-24T22:20:00.001-04:00

Today was a special day for our family. Our oldest son is in his first year of medical school and today he reached a milestone. The white coat ceremony is a celebration of achievement and rite of passage after the first block of medical school is completed. It is a symbol of hard work, hours and hours of study time, competing for high scores on tests to get into medical school, maintaining a high GPA and I could go on and on. Let's just say, this "cloaking" of the white coat is a big deal!!!

Our son getting "cloaked" in his white coat

This moment was long awaited for! Watching all of these students reach this point in their pursuit of a career was pretty amazing. I cried over kids that weren't even my own especially those who were cloaked by a parent or sibling that was already a physician.

I can't even begin to describe how proud we are that our son has made it this far in his journey to becoming a physician. He's going to make a great doctor!

We are proud parents for sure!

Our son told us when he was only 2 years old that he was going to be a doctor. He has never swayed from that and now at 22 he is in his first year of medical school.

I think he's going to be good friends with this fellow!

Our family

What a wonderful day! I am blessed that God has given me a great family and that we celebrate one another well. I'm looking forward to celebrating more achievements and milestones in the days and years ahead.

Apple Picking!

2015-09-20T22:34:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year when we make our annual trek up to Hendersonville to pick apples. We've been going to the same apple orchard since our children were small. Such great memories here. Also it's a great transition from summer to fall to go on our annual apple picking trip. We look forward to it.

This year though when we reached the apple orchard that has been the same for all these years, we noticed some changes. Building were torn down and rebuilt. It wasn't the same. Change happens.

It's part of life. Children grow up, go off to college and get married. The lovebirds went on their first apple picking adventure as a married couple. They are so fun to watch!!! Our family is growing up. It is bittersweet. Walking throughout the apple orchard I was remembering our children as babies and toddlers when we had to hold their hands & carry them through this orchard. My husband would put them up on his shoulders so they could reach the apples. Now they are taller than we are! We're moving into a new season of life.

Seasons come and seasons go. There is always a sense of loss when we transition but there is always the anticipation of a new season. Just like we anticipate our annual apple picking trip. It's a sign that Fall is almost here.

We're sad to say goodbye to summer but look forward with anticipation the delights and joys that fall brings. Each season brings it's own treasures! As we ended our day we stopped at a little outdoor restaurant and enjoyed the gorgeous weather eating outside with our family. I loved and treasured every minute of our time with all of us together. This cute little rooster serenaded us during our meal with a cockle-doodle-doo!!

Wedding day video!

2015-06-22T14:21:00.002-04:00

Wedding Day!

2015-06-13T18:21:00.003-04:00

Our son getting ready to say "I Do"
Photos courtesy of Jana Candler Photography

Be warned! This post is a bit photo heavy but just know that I could have posted about 500 more pictures!!! It's not everyday that your first child to get married happens. I mentioned a few weeks ago that our oldest son got married, well now, the wedding day pictures have come in. They are excellent! All of these pictures posted here were taken by Jana Candler Photography. If you need pictures done and you live in SC I would highly recommend Janacandlerphoto.com

Our son has had a lot of excitement lately. He just graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Biology, was excepted into Medical School and married his beautiful bride all within a few weeks of each other. We are so proud of him!

My lovely daughter in-law and me!

I prayed for my daughter in-law beginning many years ago when our son was first born. I prayed for her safety and that she would be growing in a Godly home and that there were people in her life who were loving her and helping her to grow spiritually. I am amazed at God's goodness in bringing this lovely young lady into our lives.

The beautiful Bride and her lovely bridesmaids just took my breath away!

Our 5 children

Each of our 5 children were in the wedding. I thought it was so special that our girls were both bridesmaids and our younger sons were best men!

My husband and our 3 sons

Even more special was that my husband performed the ceremony! So blessed!!!

My daughters and me!

The wedding colors looked so great together. The peach & navy scheme looked beautiful with just a touch of a nautical theme here and there. Very classy!

It was so sweet that the Bride & Groom exchanged letters behind the door before the wedding. (No seeing the Bride before the wedding!)

My husband was so honored that he was asked to officiate the ceremony. One of the perks of being an ordained minister is to be a part of such glorious occasions in the lives of people. Especially so if that involves one of your own children. I'm not sure how he managed to do it without crying or getting choked up, but he did. The comments we heard from the wedding was that it was one of the most Christ centered weddings that most had ever seen.

Saying "I Do"

What a lovely thing to witness and be a part of. Two Godly people whom the Lord has brought together to be joined in matrimony. God is good!!!

Mr & Mrs

Nothing sweeter than watching them share their first dance as a married couple. My heart was about to burst with joy and gladness. I still feel that same way as I share these pictures. I'm so happy for them!!!

First dance

It was a picture perfect day and a picture perfect wedding celebration!

Our family has grown. I now have a new daughter!!!

It was the perfect day!!!