...a word from Kathy

S aturday night honored a young man for a year of accomplishment. Friends and family gathered. She came into the room looking disheveled and unkempt. She appeared older than the crowd gathered. She was easily in her 50’s but looked older. Something wasn’t quite right with her. It was obvious her journey had been difficult. She sat alone. As the meeting progressed, an invitation was given for those who would like to share their struggle. Silence lingered for a bit. Out of the entire crowd gathered, the young, the nice-looking, the nicely dressed...only one person spoke. The woman. She spoke of her recent struggle and the hope she now claimed. She spoke of her illness and the years of struggle. Then, she looked at the young man being honored that night and thanked him for accepting her and encouraging her. His welcome and acceptance of her had led her to a new hope. Why would such a young man go out of his way to welcome this woman? How and why would he have shown such...

O ne recent Sunday, we came in a bit late and chose seats quickly. Our daughter came in after us. She immediately, asked me, “Why are we sitting here? We don’t usually sit here. Can we move?” "No, we’re fine", I replied. A few minutes later, “Mom, really, this is not where we sit”. She was distracted and I was distracted. It took me the entire service to work through not being distracted. Clearly, the message that day was lost to me. We merely sat in a different place yet she and I were completely distracted. It’s reminded me of how easily distracted I can become… a phone call, a good book, Facebook , my favorite TV shows; they all call to me and distract my mind. I know general life issues distract me from the needs in our world because I’m so focused on the needs in my little 360° world. And recently, a bigger distraction has been revealed to me. My son and I recently visited Texas Tech University as a possibility for his enrollment this fall. This Unive...

G oodbyes are not my strong suit. If the truth be known, I hate saying a final goodbye to those I love. Oh, I know it’s not final-forever but when people leave my everyday world it feels awfully final to me. My husband tells me that I’m one of those ‘touchy-feely’ types that feels down to our toes. Hmmm, I don’t take offense to his observation as I know it’s true. I laugh big and I cry big. Years ago, we said our first goodbye when we left our native Mississippi to move to Texas. That move away from all our family just about killed me! But we fell in love with Corpus Christ and I knew we would retire in that place. Twelve years later, we were again saying goodbye to people who influenced us in ways we’ll never forget. This goodbye from Texas was actually difficult beyond words. I still miss our days there. But we settled in at Mississippi State and loved our new world. Three years later, we were moving again…to Tuscaloosa. We said goodbye to more beloved friends. So h...

N ew York City and Eutaw, Alabama are both great places to spend a weekend. Two weeks ago, we surprised our daughter, Sarah, with a 17th birthday trip to New York. The weekend was amazing and so much fun for a mom and daughter. We did all the “touristy” things – Central Park, Rockefeller City, Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Broadway, Chinatown, a deli, Greenwich Village and SHOPPING! We flew, walked, boated, rode the subway, took the bus and taxis. I was reminded of Dr. Seuss and his writing, Oh, the Places You'll Go! People were everywhere. People, people, people…Going, going, going. The following weekend I found myself in a beautiful, quiet country farm home in Eutaw, Alabama. I was one of 62 women attending a church retreat. We laughed, we ate well, we sang, some of us tried to karaoke, we listened, we shared, some cried but we were all in community. Sharing that lovely space and seeking our God and trying to learn more about His great love for u...

T rue confession time. How many of us, when hearing that “the missionaries” were speaking at our church service, decided to skip that week? I confess. I’ve done that! So how would one feel when the pastor of your church AND his wife take a 10-day mission trip to Nepal? Good, right? Until he returns and you begin to hear the sermons of his convictions while in Nepal. I think these sermons will make me squiggle in my seat. Nepal? Where is Nepal? I have a dear, young friend who is 21 years old and she’s fluent in Russian. She’s a committed woman of God, she’s a committed college student. She’s brilliant. Her whole life lies in front of her and the possibilities are endless! She moved to Russia last month! She is driven to love the people of Russia with the love of Jesus. The quote on her blog reads, “ To love as the Russian soul loves, is to love not with the mind or anything else, but with all that God has given, all that is within you”. Russia? Seriously? I’m squiggl...

I love words. I love to write them, speak them and hear them. I know my “love language” is words. Many of my memories are wrapped around words. Some of the greatest gifts have been the gift of words from my daddy, my mama, from Ray and from my children. I remember when our kids were babies and we marveled at how the babies recognized our voices so early in their lives. Then, we eagerly awaited their first word…how precious that connection. (Then the twos, the threes and the teen years convinced me that words could be overrated!) We’ve just survived Winter Formal at our house. It is so fun to have a teen-age girl and to play dress-up. We shopped and shopped for the “right” dress. We shopped for the right shoes, the right earrings, bracelets, and hairstyle. We tanned, we plucked, we had alterations, TWICE alterations, and we talked boutonnieres, curfew, money, and picture taking. We survived intact with a beautiful girl (outside too) and lots of pictures and an on-time cur...

W hen our children were small they would often spend a few days of the summer with Nannie. Nannie lives about 5 miles outside a small, rural Mississippi town. For years she lived on a gravel road and that road is so dark at night that you literally canNOT see your hand in front of your face….I doubted this fact once but now I believe (but that’s a whole other story!) One day when Nick and Sarah were staying with Nannie she rounded them up and into her Cadillac and said, “Come on, we’ve got to run to town. I’ve got to go get my hair fixed.” After about a quarter of mile she heard a small voice from the back seat say, “Nannie, what does that mean…get your hair fixed? Is it broken? How do they fix it?” Later, telling us the story, Nannie could hardly tell us without laughing and giggling. We still hold that story special in our family. My momma is 86 years old and even if she is ill for the entire week, I promise you her supreme effort will emerge to go the Beauty Shop on Frid...