Fisher girly girl....

Southern (Illinois) Gospel

Friday night and the singing is good! We were asked to perform at a Relay For Life Gospel Sing tonight. Who knew that we would have so much fun! I mean, Southern Gospel- really? So, we pulled out our trusty old "gospelly" songs- Alison Krauss, In Christ Alone and finally- Power in the Blood. We weren't going to do Power in the Blood, but I am so glad we did. It was so much fun! Roger asked the young mandolin player who went first to come up and play it with us- he was smokin'! (that means he played great!) What fun! $1274 raised for Cancer Research- praise be to God!

Bucket Finale

Clear Creek collected 140 Buckets of Hope! That means that 140 families will have food for two weeks, and a pretty nice bucket to keep! Way to go Clear Creek!

Views From the Road

We just returned for a whirlwind tour of the homeland.
We got to introduce Isaiah to his
Bennettsville grandparents and family.
Lots of fun and love. Chick Fil A, Shanes and Krispy Kreme- YUM!

Be Back Soon!

Buckets of Hope

Bucket of Hope for Haiti

We have spent the better part of the week searching out the "ingredients" for our buckets of hope. The association was given $1000 by a church to buy supplies, and our church was also doing 20 buckets. Every Wal-mart within 20 mile is wiped out of beans and rice! Hallelujah! That means that we are not the only ones hoping to make a difference in Haiti!

Our Little Bucket of Hope

Love

My engagement ring was stolen...last October. We had left for a job interview in Illinois. We were going to the annual meeting where Roger was to be voted on for Director of Missions, and because we were confident of the outcome, we were taking about half our stuff with us. Friends came over the night before and helped us pack a truck, and off we went on a sunny Saturday morning. A few months back, just to be safe, I had hidden all of my valuable jewelry. Thanks to Jan's advice because we were trying to sell the house and people were coming through and looking. But... I had been wearing my diamond occasionally on my pudgy pregnant finger, and I left it in my jewelry box. About two hours after we pulled out, someone broke the door down in the garage and cleaned us out of every valuable left in the house. They even broke the window on Roger's truck to get whatever they could. I didn't panic at first, after all I did put all of my jewelry away, and our friend who was checking for stolen things found it to be there and okay. It wasn't until we returned, and I went to check just to make sure, that I realized that I had left the diamond in the jewelry box. The moment that I realized that it was gone was one of the most gut wrenching moments of my life. I remember wailing and dropping to my knees, and then Roger coming to hold me. It's not that I am that materialistic, but it was mine. Given to me by my precious 19 year old love. It had been a part of me through so many times- early marriage, babies, joy, sorrow- life. For twenty years, it was a part of me and a reminder of his constant love. The other day when I was holding Isaiah, I caught myself being careful not to scratch his head with my ring- amazing! It had been 8 years since a baby, and almost 4 months without my ring. There was no replacement. I really thought that nothing could mean as much to me. Until the day that we moved permanently to Illinois. My Mother In Law came to help us with the move. She brought with her love. She brought with her something meaningful. She brought with her a piece of my heart that I thought was gone forever. She brought her mother's wedding set for me to wear. Beautiful- not just the ring, but the action. The giving. The trusting. The love. I am proud to wear it, it means so much in it's own way. I wear it with an antique band that Roger bought me many years ago. It truly is beautiful and makes my heart warm everytime I glimpse it. I feel so loved and cherished that she would part with it and give it to me.

Today's View and the Snake Road

View from our back porch

This morning's view from our back window (all before we left for church):

• 10 deer grazing
• 50 cows roaming
• 1 fox trotting
• 10 hawks swirling
• 5 geese swimming
• 2 ducks gliding
• 5 cats meowing
• 1 dog barking

And on the kitchen counter:

• 2 butterflies breaking out of their chrysalis

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with some ladies at the Wednesday night dinner at church. The topic started out with the need for Earthquake Insurance (which apparently we need in So. Ill.- New Madrid fault!) and went to the "Snake Road". What, might you ask, is a "snake road". Apparently there is a road near here that the park rangers close for two months in the fall and two months in the spring for the SNAKES to cross to their habitats! SNAKES! NO KIDDING! WHO KNEW?! You can read about it here! My only question to them was, "Is there anything else that I need to know about this place!?!?!?" Welcome to the Wild Kingdom! (and that's just outside the house- just imagine if we threw what the kids are doing in!)


Front view of our house:

Isaiah's new trick

Isaiah

3 days!

3 Months!

Happy Belated Birthday Bennett!

Wow- I can't believe that I am just getting to posting for Bennett!
He turned 16 on February 17!

Quirky, Loving, Compassionate, Super Smart, Neat-o Bennett