I painted this for my dad, John Dayton. It is special to have it in our gallery collection.

30 + 20 = 50. This is the PHS Class of 1973 group at the thirty-year class reunion. Add 20 years, 2023, and it will be fifty years since this group graduated. Wowza!

Where does the time go?

Many years ago I was blessed to "coach" these girls in Upward cheer at First Baptist Plainview. They were so much fun! I love the word upward. Upward is defined as moving, pointing, positioning something toward a higher place, point, or level. My 2021 word is excellence. To get there we must move upward. We must heed the Holy Spirit's direction for our lives. To be open to move past and up, or around and up, or to bulldoze through to accomplish excellence in our faith takes due diligence.  God uses the young and old servants of his creation to bless and move us upward with excellence. Be careful. Be still. Make sure it is God. We will know.

These young ladies moved me to be a better person...upward!

Today at the Wayland baseball game, TC Wall was honored.

We love Will Bass, so it was great to see him.

We are so honored to be involved in the mission of Wayland Baptist University!

I  love that Clinton got to receive this honor for their dad. They are both TCW kind of guys!

Twenty-six years ago, at the age of 71, God called my father to his eternal home. So much has happened in these twenty-six years. I've always tried to please my father in life and after he passed. I have failed some, but I have overcome each time through the foundation of faith he showed me. We never talked about faith in our home, but I knew it was important. God used their example to lead me to him when I was six. I am forever grateful.

I remember happy times ... love you, John Dayton!

We have this coffee table in our home. I belonged to my mother's parents.

He gave me this bride doll, from Sears. I still have her. She is 64 years old.

Sear's employee for over thirty-five years.

Sometimes we need to sit with older and newer friends. What a blessing!!!

I love my Covenant Health Plainview "family." God has certainly blessed my life with a newer friend, Homer, and a friend I have known for over forty years, Carol. Both of these individuals create, and I love their hearts of passion for our hospital and community.

God blesses me!!! 

Whether it is a lunch date or a marathon spiritual awakening... I love these two!

This is my 2nd Great Grandmother, Ellen Wilson Etter. She was born in Ireland and died in Arizona.

When Ellen M. Wilson was born on June 29, 1841, in Ireland, her father, William, was 47, and her mother, Jane, was 33. She married Cleon Moore Etter on November 22, 1865, in Jasper, Missouri. They had 13 children in 18 years. She died on February 16, 1932, in Phoenix, Arizona, at the age of 90, and was buried there.

It is amazing to have her journals!!!

On January 26, 1930, my sweet momma was born to Lucy May & Hugh Robert Etter. Today is her 91st birthday. I am thankful that she was my mother. We drove each other crazy at times, but God gave me the best parents. She has had the last eight birthdays in heaven. I can only imagine. She's living it lovely I'm for certain about that! Happy Birthday, Mother (Nanny)!!!

And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7

I have watched this little pumpkin return to the earth this wintertime. It has been a good visual for me. Death is a beautiful thing for the one that loves the Lord through His salvation gift. This concept is difficult for the human brain to wrap itself around. Our spirit returns to God at death; breathe in and exhale into the Father's presence. Such assurance in this!

In November ...

In January ...

We have not touched or moved the pumpkin, but it has shifted. I want to think that we will have pumpkins next Fall. There is beauty in aging. We should be gathering wisdom seeds from the elderly among us before it is too late. Listen to them, their stories, what God has taught them about life here and Eternal.

I don't know a lot. I'm an expert at nothing. I recognize God's creation, his Triune plan, and His purpose for my life. This doesn't mean I know what my days will look like; it's more like "Hang in There, Baby" I've got this. You, my child, are eternally secure. Lean on me when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend; I'll help you carry on! I strive to stay close to my Waymaker-Peace Giver.

I recognize that redeeming today requires a pace of life that we are unfamiliar with– it is not a faster one but a slower one. I strive to live a slower one! Time has one direction, and it is forward. When we remove the busy, a whole new set of opportunities are given to us. We must be selective about what we schedule as we move towards each new day. 

No matter what we struggle with, it gets really small when we compare it to eternity. Trusting God through the process of prayer is beneficial to our core. In prayer comes claimed calm. Struggles are real, but they aren't in control of God's children.

Allowing the Holy Spirit to actually be set free within us, as followers of Christ, is the most unutilized gift that God has blessed us with. Recognizing-freeing our Holy guide brings the Triune into perspective...slow down, allow it to move. 

I recognize church for what it is, a gathering place for broken sinners. The church is where we come to take off self and put on praise and worship to the Holy One. Let's be intentional in planning to be in the House of the Lord. We must humble ourselves.

I recognize that I choose to move at the pace the Holy Spirit calls me into. I recognize deep connectivity to God when I am in the Word and in prayer. I recognize that I must allow time for God to nurture me. I recognize He alone is worthy of my praise.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 24:4-5