Happy Birthday 2013!

Whoo Hoo! It's the birth of a new year! Welcome 2013.....I have so many well wishes and dreams for you already.....

So, if January 1, 2013 is the official day of birth.....that technically makes 2012 (and the years prior) a gestational period. A time to grow and ripen and mature. Mature....I am not particularly fond of that word. I believe there is a reason "manure" and "mature" are close in spelling, they both stink. However, on the other hand, they both can be used as a catalyst for growth.

And while we are unable to recall our human gestational period as a fetus, we are able (to some extent) to remember and recall our childhood, young adult and adult years, thus making us partially responsible in the outcome. There are numerous cliches that we hear almost daily to reflect that premise: Live and Learn, Learn from Your Mistakes, Life Lessons, etc...

So what exactly is our responsibility for the success of a new year?  Is it enough to simply show up with our mental index file of what has or has not worked in the past? What about fate? What about the unknown and things we have zero personal ability to control? Fiscal cliffs, physical ailments, alienation of affection, misunderstandings, the actions of others? There is certainly a long list of unknowns.

Maybe we should stick to the things we do know. And honestly, for me, that is kind of a short list. But the OCD in me loves making lists. So here is my list of things that I already know about 2013:

1. God already knows what each day of 2013 holds for me. He walks before me. He prepares a path.
2. I can follow the path He prepares or try to blaze my own selfish trail, and trail blazing on my own has not served me well in the past :)
3. My relationship with God has to be my first priority. Some call it faith. I call it my foundation. Everything else I hold valuable in my life rests upon Him.
4. With God as my foundation, it is fair for me to say that my husband is the rebar of my life. He is the steel beams, nuts and bolts, safety structure of my life here on Earth. I totally trust him. He loves me unconditionally. We are in this boat of life together, and neither of us will allow the other to jump ship or sink!
5. I love my children and the mates that God has given them to a fault. I do not apologize for this. They are great young adults. They are still learning, they are still leaning on me and Mark, as they grow and learn, and that is perfectly alright :) They are here for us, just like we are here for them.
6. Having an extended group of friends/family that believes like you do, follows the same moral compass you use, and are willing to be vulnerable with you is a priceless gift and is essential in healthy spiritual, emotional, and relational growth. Our Journey Group (small group) from our church is this for us.
7. God  blesses hard work, a humble heart, and a giving nature. (If you do not believe or understand this, I welcome you to go to Belize with me as we serve there.)
8. A day without Worship is a wasted day. Even on the hardest, darkest days, I have to stay connected with our Creator God, I must maintain the relationship that I can only have by staying connected to Him in prayer, bible study and praise.
9. Our dogs will always love us, desire to be with us, and attempt to protect us. 100% of the tail waggin' time!
10. I will need grace.....lots of it. I am opinionated, sometimes loud, passionate, dramatic and sensitive. Not a better recipe for saying or doing something stupid. So thankful that God's grace is new every morning, because I typically need it seven days a week!

There you have it. My plan for conquering another year. A year that this time next year, will be considered gestational. May the lessons learned be gentle......

Happy Birthday, to You!
Happy Birthday, to You!
Happy Birthday Two thousand-thirteen!
Happy Birthday to You!

Here's to 365 days of love and learning.......

Frankly~
Miss Scarlett

Our Valentine Story

It will come as NO surprise, to anyone who reads my blog from time to time, that I am MADLY in love with my husband. I am sure my romantic rants are almost sickening at times....quite sappy...verging on the edge of unbelievable for some! But I swear on my collection of Paula Deen cookbooks, every word is true!

We actually met at the community ballpark, when we were 12 years old. My brother played pony league....Mark also played ball there. But it was not until Mark started "liking" a girl in my church youth group, and began visiting our church, (Thank you Gaye!), that I really started to get to know him. Almost instantly, Mark and I were great friends....we both loved music...we both loved the Lord...and we could sit and talk for hours at the time, and it would seem like only ten minutes had passed! Before we knew it, we started singing together at church...and as soon as Mark got his drivers license, we started singing at local churches together.....it was just a matter of time before we began writing songs together...and yes, started making beautiful music together.... both musically and romantically :)

Believe it or not....it took us FOREVER to start "dating"...and it did not last very long. I could not handle it. It was too intense...too raw...too real....so I did what any inexperienced teenager would do...I broke up with him. What an IDIOT I was. I did not realize that I was simply afraid of the amazing, new, unique feelings I was having! Feelings of being loved and being known like Mark almost instantly...instinctually...loved and knew me blew my mind and overloaded my heart. He could read me like a book...still can. He loved me despite my flaws...still does. All my friends continued to tell me I was gonna marry him. I told them they were crazy. I was NOT gonna marry Mark Knight. I am so glad that I was wrong, and they were right.

The time between when we broke up and when we got back together brought confusing, difficult, dark waters to navigate. We both dealt with them like typical teenagers did...by consulting our emotionally immature peers :)....and dating other folks. Thankfully we survived the storm, but sadly, we both also came out of that time battered and scarred....BUT, also VERY confident that while we may not have found what we wanted in a relationship...we definitely found out what we did NOT want in a relationship! (If you can relate, can I hear an AMEN, SISTA!!)

Long story short...we did not "date" again until the summer before our second year in college....August 12, 1981, to be exact. I got my diamond on November 2, 1981. We married May 29, 1982. We did not waste time. We knew we were meant to be together! I did not intend on being an idiot twice :).... And although the statistics were stacked highly against our marriage making it. It did. And I know why.

It is not because we are super spouses....it is not because we are lucky....it is not, simply, a fluke. Nope...we have made it almost to our 28th wedding anniversary because we have trusted God with our marriage. We have worked hard to keep our relationship with HIM first. It ain't easy....keeping God first. And Mark and I both suck at it at times. But it works.

So, that is the synopsis of "Our Valentine Story" ...thus far...and Sugar, it ain't nowhere close to being over. No way! Our story gets better every year! And I refuse to imagine one page of the rest of my life without his name written all over it! :)


I love you Mark!...... My Sweet, Incredible, Life-Long, Jesus Loving Valentine <3

~Scarlett

A Flurry in a Hurry

Hey Y'all!

Well, January has closed her door to what was a very busy, crazy, hectic, wonderful month at the Knight household! Life was definitely a "Flurry in a Hurry" for me! Lets see....New years holiday and finishing up "Christmasing"...."Un-Christmasing"....A Women's Ministry Event to coordinate...Returning to College...Tech week for THE FANTASTICKS....a nine day AMAZING run of THE FANTASTICKS...cast parties..homework?!..FLT Endowment Gala committee duties....and the list goes on :)

But I love it.

Oh...and one of the coolest things about this January, was picking out my Christmas present from my wonderful husband! He sent me flowers with a precious, sweet note attached saying I could pick out whatever car I wanted :) He did say "brand negotiable"...but hey...I am a GREAT negotiator! SO, last week I drove off the lot with a brand new Palladium Silver Mercedes Benz E350. (Told ya I was a good negotiator.)

There are so many amazing things about the car. It was a "launch edition"....which means it has all the bells and whistles. Navigation, integrated phone, heated seats, MASSAGING seats, push button ignition....need I go on? Alas, I must tell you about my most favorite part....It has Sirius radio! I am SERIOUS. I am addicted!! I could just sit in that puppy and listen to music all day and all night. I am lovin' me some 70's and 80's tunes. Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Starship, England Dan and John Ford Coley, Paul McCartney and Wings, Journey, Bread, Peaches and Herb, Prince, Eagles, and The Stones..and so many more! It amazes me how many memories came flooding back...just by hearing those familiar tunes that have been pretty much absent from my listening vocabulary over the last two decades!

Music has always acted as a direct portal to my soul. It speaks to me. All kinds of music.

Now many of you know that Mark and I had the amazing opportunity to sign with a small record label in the early 90's...to tour...to write and perform our own music....and it was an incredible opportunity...stressful, yes...but a beautiful blessing all the same. Because we were in the Contemporary Christian genre, our venues were mainly large churches and small arenas, such a conference centers or retreats...but no secular music "allowed" type gigs. Now I could get on my soap box....(maybe on a different post)...but for whatever reason...with the inception of all of that in my life...I was listening less and less to secular radio.

Don't get me wrong...there has yet to be a secular song that speaks to my heart to the depths that many hymns and contemporary worship pieces have and continue to do! Let me say, "The Revelation Song" brings me to the feet of Jesus like no other song I have ever heard or had the opportunity to share.....so, I am a huge fan. These songs minister to the part of me who longs to be a better, more genuine follower of Christ. And that is a good thing!

But what about those parts of me that God created, also for His glory...like romance (I do dig my husband with selfless abandon...and NOT just because he gives me great Christmas gifts.)....What about other relationships...life circumstances...conflicts....even, purple rain :) I have theme songs I have adopted along my earthly journey for those nooks and crannies of my life as well, and I have been gently reminded of them this week as I have taken the time to sit and listen.

With all the reminiscing, I can't help but be reminded that it was not just January 2010 that seemed to fly by.....but the last 30 years as well!! And while, yes...I admit...that I am quite often that "Flurry in a Hurry"....my hope and prayer is that in a few of the seasons I have passed, that I have, in the very least, left a beautiful blanket of snow that has helped others to stop and revel in His glory...even if just for a limited time.

Until next time....If you get passed on the highway by a beautiful silver "flurry in a hurry"...it just might be me.....and hopefully, there will be no blue lights flashing behind it :)

Wishing you all a BLIZZARD of BLESSINGS!

~Scarlett

Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2010! I love new beginnings!

Another New Year, another decade....another chance to get it right! OK, maybe not right....because if there is one truth that life has taught me....it is that I will likely never get it ALL right. But I have also learned that even small improvements can make a world of difference! So I will earnestly shoot for perfection, but also gird myself with the idea that the result of working hard, searching deeply, and making an honest effort will be enough. Enough...Wow...it has taken me quite a few years to understand that one little thing....Enough. Satisfaction. Comfort. A quiet bliss inside, whispered by God into my ear....."How I have made you...Where you are right this moment...Who you are, the good, the bad and the in between...is Enough"....Whew! What a relief!

Now this is probably the most unusual "New Years Resolution" post you will read this year. Many...if not most folks, are making a list of what they want to do, changes they want/need to make...bad habits they plan to break, new habits they plan to implement, etc....and that is an awesome thing to do! I have typically done the same each and every time the first day of January comes around. There is nothing wrong with that! It is a good thing! BUT....for me, I wanna approach this year from a different perspective.

Instead of beating myself up about the things I need to change....I am gonna thank God for who I am this very moment. Celebrate the cellulite! Pat myself on the back for being active and exercising most every day! Thankfully recognize that all those close to me are in good, general health...and rejoice in the fact that God has put some pretty awesome and amazing people in my life! Sweet friends old and new....enough money in the bank that we can eat, stay warm, afford a few luxuries, and bless others from time to time. I can worship freely and love uninhibitedly! I have a husband who loves me as close to unconditionally as humanly possible, and children who are amazing! Oh, and a God who is bigger than any problem, issue, hang up , or sin I have. Actually, that is MORE than enough :) And so much more that I deserve.

So here's is to 2010! Another chance to get it as close to right as we can :)

May you find love, peace, and good health! And more than anything...may you walk closer to your Creator God. That is my only plan for 2010...step by step...as He daily reminds me, with a gentle whisper in my ear...."I love you so much, I sent my Son in your place....and for any and all things....THAT is enough!"

Happy 2010 Y'all!
~Scarlett

Vegetable Soup for the Soul

It has been a soggy four days in South Carolina. Wet, chilly, windy, and grey. Not my favorite kind of weather. I am a Sunshine kinda girl. I am, however, the eternal optimist about things, so if there is a silver lining to this low lying, soil soaking kinda weather....it has to be Vegetable Soup.

Good 'ole, throw some meat in the pot, boil it up and dump every yummy veggie you can find in it kinda soup. The kind you make in the biggest pot you have, and you cook it all day long. That's the way my Momma did it...as did her Momma before her....and it is how I make it too. The ingredients are never quite the same, but somehow it always tastes yummy. Throw together some sweet corn bread, and you have a meal that will warm you to the core!

I was raised on made from scratch, yellow corn meal, cornbread. Mark was raised on Jiffy Mix. I had never had Jiffy prior to matrimony....but I tried it, and I liked it! Probably because it is more like cake than bread! Oh, but it's sweetness is the perfect culinary balance to the slightly acidic soup! I like to crumble my cornbread into my soup bowl. Mark, my hubby...he is a dipper. So I bake my cornbread in a deeper dish, so that when it bakes I can cut it into perfect thick squares of golden goodness :) Perfect for dipping! Yes, I love my man...and he loves my Jiffy squares.

One of the hardest days for me after my Mom got ill, was a day when I was really sick with a cold and wanted some Vegetable Soup. She always made it for us kids when we were sick....even after we grew up and got married and did not live under her roof anymore. Looking back, I think that was the first day that I really got honest with myself about the finality of her illness. Somehow I knew deep inside that I would never have HER Vegetable Soup again. I would never have HER, not ill, again. I do not really recall what the weather was like outside that day, but in my heart...it was one of the darkest days ever. Those of you who have lost a parent, or have elderly or ill parents know exactly what I am talking about. It is hard to explain...and it is more difficult to fully digest.

I don't really know what came over me that day, but as horrible as I felt, I got up, pulled out my big pot, threw in some meat...then through tears and 101 degree fever, I made my own pot of soup. It was a rite of passage. It was a line drawn in the sand between being the child and becoming the adult. It was the beginning of knowing that I had to let her go, and knowing there was nothing I could do to change it. The sweetest cornbread in the world could not cut the bitterness of that fact.

Oddly enough, after that one particular episode of melancholy meal making....I felt so much better. Not only physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. I can make Vegetable Soup now, without tears and with fond thoughts of Momma and the way she loved and cared for us. And those sweet memories, definitely warm me to the core.

Um, Um, Good!
~Scarlett

New Cashmere Socks and Grace

The unspoken rule of Christmas gift giving in the Knight household has always been that everyone in the house has to get new socks and/or underwear for Christmas. I know, not very fancy, but incredibly useful! They are things we need everyday, but seldom does anyone opt to go out and purchase socks and underwear for themselves....unless it is an emergency...or sometimes if we are packing for vacation, I will use that summer opportunity to augment the sock/undie supply to tide us over until Christmas!

Maybe I brought the tradition over from my extended family. We always knew there were socks and underwear wrapped up under the tree. My Mom made her annual Christmas run to Tomlinson's Wholesale every December.....the best place, according to her, to get the best socks for the best price. All the guys got black and blue and brown dress socks. The girls got either panties, slips or half-slips from the Tomlinson's lingerie department. It was a given. It was expected. And not a single Christmas, while she was still living, did she fail to come through!

This year, I got the most comfy, colorful cashmere socks....and they were pink! So by simply opening the gift and getting a glimpse of the regal, rosy shade, I knew the contents of that package definitely started out on the right foot. (Pardon the sock pun!) I put them on with my new PJ's, and stayed in them most of the day. Such warmth, and comfort. I felt, beautiful, snug, secure and at ease in my nifty new socks. Made me wonder why I only got new ones once a year!

Later in the afternoon, tucked in my recliner, having my quiet time....Yep, I thanked God, among other things, for the new socks. My thought process being that if He supplies the little things, then I should give thanks for them too! It also made me think about the amazing love He has for us, the incredible forgiveness He offers us, and how....like the Knight family sock/underwear tradition....that some folks only experience relationship with Him at Christmas....or in case of emergency :)

God's wonderful gift of grace is accessible every minute of everyday....yet many folks, for whatever reason, opt not to wrap themselves in it often. Talk about feeling at peace, secure and warm! Even my new, fancy pink socks pale in comparison to the gift of His grace.

So again, this year at Christmas, I got new socks. And again, this morning, I got another chance to wrap up in His amazing grace! I'm covered from head to toe....and I like it that way!

Hope you all got what you wanted for Christmas! But more importantly, I hope that you accept what you are offered daily from the child who was born on that day.

Cashmere and Jesus Y'all!
~Scarlett

Oh, Christmas Tree...OH CHRISTMAS TREE !!!!

Yuletide Greetings Y'all! I know I kinda, sorta said I was taking a blogging vacation until after the hustle and bustle....and mainly our huge Christmas Production was over.....BUT.....I forgot about the following article I was asked to write for SHE! Magazine....so here ya go!



Oh, Christmas Tree.....OH! CHRISTMAS TREE !

When we were building our home in 2001, Mark and I disagreed on only one thing…..the ceiling height of our “great room”. The house plans called for an open foyer and an open great room in the center of the house. A suspended catwalk would be the only thing dividing the two massive areas. Mark thought it was a huge waste of space to have the great room open….that would mean a 24x20 foot room, with ceilings 22 feet high…..hard to cool, hard to heat, especially since the whole back wall is pretty much nothing but glass. (And deep in his heart, he really wanted to floor in the top half to make a game room, so he could have a pool table.) But I really loved the idea of the vastness and openness of it all. Long story short…I won. Well, actually we compromised. I kept the open room, and I agreed that he could put a pool table in the small den off the kitchen.

We moved in the week of Thanksgiving, and I began decorating for Christmas immediately. Now let me just emphasize that I LOVE Christmas….I am talking REALLY LOVE it….decorating for Christmas is a passion I have. We’re talking 4 full size trees, 2 life size Santas, 50 sleighs, and gobs of other decorations! I would rather decorate for Christmas than open gifts…..for real y’all….I just love it! It takes me an entire week to “Deck My Halls”!

Just one problem…..when you have a large room with 22 foot ceilings, a normal size tree looks pitiful. So for the next several years, the trees kept getting larger and taller. As of Christmas 2004 every tree choice still looked rather dwarfed.
In October of 2005 I got a flyer in the mail from a Christmas tree farm in NC, and they were taking orders for trees to be delivered the day after Thanksgiving. They said they could get ANY size tree. REEEALLLLLY?? The paper only had prices listed for up to 12-14 foot trees, but had a number to call for “Special Order” trees. So I called. I explained my situation to the kind gentleman, and he said that he could definitely get me a taller tree, possibly up to 18 feet tall! My jolly, yuletide obsessed heart skipped a beat! Finally, I would have a tree for my great room that would complement its size!

There was no shopping for me the day after Thanksgiving that year. No way. I stood guard at the front door….waiting anxiously like a 4 year old on Christmas Eve….with so much anticipation of grandeur in my heart that I could hardly stand it!! At 4:00pm, my door bell rang. It was finally here! I ran outside in my sock clad feet, no time to put on shoes….I wanted to see it. It was hanging slightly off the end of an extremely long utility trailer.... She was a beauty! It took 4 men to back her into my front door. It took about an hour to get her up in the special stand….but WOW! There she stood, and although her branches were still tied up in netting, I could tell she was a BIG tree. We had to anchor her to the open cat walk for stability….she was SOOOO tall.

Now to put things in perspective, the pool table that was originally in the den off the kitchen, over the four year period, migrated to the “great room”, which at this point was called the “pool room”. (That’s right. Being the upstanding, respectable Baptists that we are, when you open our front door….there it sits….a pool table. I guess Mark really won that battle after all!) So, there was small sitting area on the fireplace side, a pool table in the center, leaving practically half of the room for the tree.

When the netting was released, the branches quickly fell……and they were touching the pool table. So we trimmed it back some. Being the self proclaimed “Christmas tree Officiatto” that I am, I knew the branches needed to be left, at least over night, to relax before any decorating could commence. I hardly slept. Bright and early Saturday, I awoke to the ever sweet aroma that only comes from a live tree. I quickly got dressed and rushed to the great room, and was greeted by quite a site! The tree had definitely “relaxed”. We had branches, across the pool table, past the center of the room! I am talking HUGE! Mark and the kids and I laughed hysterically for hours! I ended up calling my friend Bert Floyd to come help me decorate…..he brought his team….he even had to call for back up with taller ladders! He said he had NEVER seen a tree that large, and I believe him.

It was an exciting holiday with folks visiting most everyday to see “the tree”. The guy we purchased it from, stopped back by to see it decorated, and while he was there, he told us she was the “sister tree” to the tree that was put into the White House that year! We took lots of photos; other folks took photos….no one was able to get the entire tree in one photo shot! We finally figured out how to put two photos together to show the whole tree….but the photo really did not do her justice. She was as beautiful as she was big.

It took five of us and a chain saw to take her down. It was kind of sad really. She had acquired a personality all her own, and for that Christmas season was definitely a member of our family. We have not been able to find another tree quite so magnificent, but her memory will be forever etched in our minds and in our hearts.

Oh, Christmas tree…..Oh, Christmas tree…..your branches are so loverly…..

Happy Ho, Ho, Hoing Y'all!
~Scarlett

Thankful and Blessed Y'all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been so blessed by reading the thanksgivings and praises that are constantly flowing throughout the blogosphere this week. So much so, that I became convicted that I should also publicly spew forth my gratitude for the multitude of blessings that God has so richly bestowed. Some large and some small, some common and some very specific to my crazy world......but all things that I pretty much take for granted due to this worldly, me focused, sin soaked flesh I live within.....so I will start with that:

1) I am thankful for this so not perfect, over indulged, under exercised body I live in....And while she "don't work quite as efficiently" as she used to...I am happy to say, I am healthy. No hypertension, no diabetes, no cancer, no auto immune issues (all which are known to be in my familial history). So what if I do not look like a supermodel, and my knees creak a little, and I have a few seasonal allergies...I still clean up pretty good, and my husband thinks I'm sexy. So thankful, so thankful.

2) My Husband is healthy, employed, churched, and is crazy about me. What more could a gal hope for...(See last post). So thankful, so thankful!

3) My kids are healthy, happy, doing great in school, and are growing emotionally and spiritually. So thankful, so thankful!

4) My home is full of love, food, and laughter. Sure, there are things I would like to do to change it or spruce it up, but that's all icing on the cake...and in our current economy....I am happy to wait for anymore icing for a while! So thankful, so thankful!

5) My church family is healthy and loving and all about bringing folks into the kingdom of God. They are innovative and active and excited about serving the Lord! So thankful, so thankful!

6) My relationships with extended family and friends have been highly enriched by using Facebook...it has been so much easier to stay in touch and keep up with everyone...so yay for social stalking! So thankful, so thankful

7) My canine children. That's right, I just said I am thankful for my dogs :) They are the best anti depressant I have ever found! They love me unconditionally, they do amazing, funny things, and they are all house broken. (I said some of these were small and specific to my crazy life!) So thankful, so thankful!

8) The Blogosphere. Amy Grant's song is right..."We are all the same it seems, behind the eyes"...Blogging has been the "eyes" I have used to look in to the hearts and lives of so many dear friends...old and new....and by starting my own blog, I have become wide-eyed for all to see into my life and heart. Alot of camaraderie and healing has been bestowed upon me due to this innovative way of communicating! So thankful, so thankful!

9)Girlfriends....I am so thankful for these gals that God lets me walk daily with. I am talking about gals who I go to lunch with, shop with, cry with, worship with, giggle with, and pray for everyday. I would give them the shirt off my back and they would give me theirs. (Except most are WAYYY skinner than me, so if I needed a shirt, I would possibly need to ask two of them! LOL!) Some are dear friends who I have had for years, some are new in my life....all are quite special and a blessing to me. So thankful, so thankful.

10) Little things: Sugar free Redbull, South Beach Peanut Butter Bars, movie theatre popcorn, massages, Heavenly perfume, warm socks, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, great smelling shower scrub, sharpies, zip lock bags, puppy kisses, husband kisses, daily I love yous from my kids, a big closet, my kitchen aid mixer, Beth Moore bible studies, our backyard, a good microphone, and spanx undergarments.

10) Grace. Yep...that is the biggie, and while the blessings listed above are in no specific order, I did save the most important one for last....the AMAZING, SELFLESS, SIN COVERING, NEW EVERY MORNING, SOUL CLEANSING GRACE of our Lord and Savior Jesus. I need it constantly. Without it, I would be destined to a life of misery here on earth, and doomed to an eternity in hell! God's Grace....I am so unworthy...yet...SO thankful, SO thankful!

I am also thankful for each one of you who stop by this blog....and especially thankful for those of you who leave me comments from time to time!

So thankful Y'all! So thankful indeed!
~Scarlett

Count Your Blessings Y'all!

Happy Pre-Thanksgiving! My, how the holidays are rapidly approaching.... Ready or not, here they come!

One of my favorite things to do in the blogosphere is visiting blogs who have "Thankful Thursdays". There is something quite humbling about experiencing the gratitude of others. It helps keep me in check with what really matters. (Like realizing that my "want' for new hardwood floors....IS TRIVIAL in the whole scheme of things when you consider our present economy.) I am reminded as I browse and blog, that simply having a roof over my head is a blessing not be taken for granted! Foreclosures are at a record high, already surpassing last years final total, and with unemployment also at an unimaginable high, they look for the foreclosure total for this year to topple the 3 million mark!

So as I sit here in my warm house, with food in my pantry, enough money in my bank account, a vehicle in my garage, a happy, loving, healthy husband who is employed....healthy, thriving, loving kids....incredible friends and family, and an amazing, God-loving church family.....I am almost at a loss for words to my GRACIOUS heavenly Father God, to adequately provide explanation of the gratitude I feel!

So until the economy gets better, I am keeping my trap shut about the new hardwood floors!!

What about you? What are you most thankful for during this particular Thanksgiving season? I would love to hear!

Keeping an attitude of gratitude y'all!
~Scarlett

Muffin Pan Therapy

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you felt like life was off kilter and did not know why? I have kinda had one of those weeks. Incredibly busy....lots to do....seemingly not enough hours in the day to do it......but honestly, that is not all that unusual for me. But this week.....well.....I still cannot totally put my finger on it! A bit of sadness....a bit of worry....a bit of insecurity....all mixed together with little if any justification for it.

Now those of you who know me, know that I rarely have a down day.....and I cannot even say that I am down.....just mysteriously edgy......unexplicatively uncertain. Not about life, or love, or family or faith.....solidly grounded in all those areas for the moment :) Maybe it's hormones :) Isn't that the catch all for all things without concrete proof?? That or it's just a virus :)

It kind of came to a culmination tonight. After dinner I was preparing mini pumpkin cupcakes for our huge First Fruits (Church Anniversary) Celebration....Mark and all the kids at home on a Saturday night....which I just love (and is a rarity at their ages!).....and me...baking in the kitchen (which I also love)....all the makings of a "Perfect Saturday Night" at home. I had just finished icing the mini muffins.....and putting them in a container for tomorrow....(about a dozen fewer than came out of the oven thanks to the "muffin snitches" in my family). And as I dipped my hands into the dishpan to wash the mini muffin tins.....It happened ..... I Started tearing up at the kitchen sink.....thankfully everyone else was involved in TV or Laptop Land....so they were not paying any attention to my sniffing as I scrubbed.

I scrubbed, and sniffed....sniffed and scrubbed. I got SO frustrated with myself...."These blasted mini muffin pans are so hard to clean!" And then the tears really started to build.....Why? Because I realized these were HER pans....my Moms.....then it hit me. She has been dead seven years. The anniversary of her death was last month......but this year it did not weigh so heavily on my mind during the actual month of September....but obviously it caught up with me in October!

As I continued to scrub the seemlessly impossible to clean pans.....I thought about the hundreds of mini fruit cake cookies we made in those pans. Mom started making fruit cake cookies because....well, I liked them. :) We have this whole "Secretive Springs Family Fruitcake Recipe" that has been passed down in our family....but I never really liked it. But Momma found this fruitcake cookie recipe...tried it....my brother and I loved them! So she made them every Christmas. Unfortunately....my job was often to "scrub the pans"....and I hated it! (But I loved the cookies and my Mom, so scrub them, I did.)

As I sat there, scouring the pans...fighting back the tears, I thought about the hours of complaining I probably did when she asked me to scrub the exact same pans. (No such thing as Teflon coated, non-stick pans in her day....but hey, they have lasted longer than my fancier ones!) Oh, how I wish I just had one minute for every hour I griped about having to clean them for her....somehow magically stored up in time....so I could use one of them to talk to her right now. I still miss her SO much....guess I always will....that is until the day we are reunited again! Hallelujah for that!

So tonight, I prepared mini muffins to celebrate a special anniversary (First Fruits).....and I tearfully scrubbed Mommas mini muffin pans to commemorate a different anniversary (Mom's home-going). Both important....both special....both huge parts of who I am.

Still not sure it explains the mysterious, off-kilter kind of funk I've been in......but I sure felt better after a good cry. Maybe it is hormones :)

What ever it is....I have faith it will get better....and if Momma was here...I know what she would say. She would say, "This too, shall pass..".... I heard her say it many, many times.....and she was always right....it always did pass and life was good again.

Thankful today for tearful, muffin pan therapy,
~Scarlett

Growing Vines...and Teenagers

The Fall Season has arrived, but all I have seen falling here in SC is endless raindrops! Seriously, since Hurricane Hannah passed through a few weeks ago, we have not had a chance to dry out. And while I am thankful that we are not in a drought, I must also confess that I am pretty sick of the rain!

I love the sun and the outdoors...and when we built our house a few years back, we made sure we picked a house plan with the perfect veranda on the back, so that I could sit out and enjoy the lake and the animals all year round....it is my little paradise here on Earth! Each year we try to do or add something to the back yard. Last summer we added comfy outdoor furniture, so that we could all sit out there as a family. This year we enhanced the landscaping by adding an additional stone patio (thanks to my talented son in law, Rodney!!) and also added 1003 (yes, we counted them)...landscape stones that outline our flower beds. It was a family project and everyone helped...and it turned out really beautiful!

The largest flower bed we added runs the entire length of the backyard. We decided to plant 14 confederate jasmine plants (one on each section of fence)...we just love the fact that they are evergreen and keep that sweet smelling little blossom most of the year here due to our mild climate....and thought they would be so beautiful climbing in and out of the slats of the fence.

By this phase of "Project Backyard 2008", the kids were pretty much done :)....so, Mark and I took this endeavor on all by ourselves. We picked out the plants, dug the holes, added the fertilizer, planted each one...carefully...keeping their existing root system in tact....hooked up the sprinkler system to each plant....and finally, covered the bed with straw. We left the rest to the Lord, and stepped back and watched them grow and bloom all summer long!

The summer of 2008 seemed to fly by....it was a summer of challenges....it was a whirlwind of things to do, places to see (Alaska was INCREDIBLE)...and problems to solve.....but more than anything, I do believe it was a summer of growth...personal, emotional, and spiritual growth....for every member of our family.

This afternoon, after the rain FINALLY slacked off, Mark and I took our puppies out in the backyard...just to let them run and play....they have been cramped up in the house for what seems like days! While we were out there, Mark commented on the confederate jasmines that we planted on the fence. He said he had hoped they would have grown more, and covered more of the fence. We sat there and discussed the plants...discussing what we could have possibly done differently....but came to the conclusion that we did all we knew how to do, and would just have to be patient...hoping they would cover the fence in their own sweet time!

Mark headed back inside, and I walked back over to the flower bed....and I noticed something....there were numerous long vines of the confederate jasmines that were growing into the hedge on the other side of the fence. This sparked my curiosity...so, I started investigating.....I unraveled, pulled, dug and twisted the vines that had grown into the hedge...it took me a while but I eventually "untangled" numerous vines, from all 14 plants....some of the vines were close to twenty feet long!! I took the vines that I had untangled from the hedge, and gently wrapped and guided them in and out of the fence posts....they were so long that we now have confederate jasmine, uninterrupted....from one end of the fence to the other! I quickly, and proudly called Mark back into the yard to show him...."See, they were growing like mad, all along, we just could not see them because they got caught up the the massive hedge!!" We were so proud of our vines!

Mark went back inside, and I just stood there...looking at the newly rearranged vines...and it occurred to me, that growing these vines seemed an awful lot like parenting our teenagers!! Listen closely....Just like Mark and I planted those vines...we have worked hard from day one to parent together, did everything possible to plant our kids in God's word, we made sure that we fed and watered them, we did everything we knew to do...and they still did not grow in the exact direction we planned for them to grow!! As they were older teens, we often got frustrated, and yes, sometimes, a little scared....not knowing what exactly to do, but trusting GOD to do what only He could do! (Just to set the record straight...my kids are not bad kids...they are great kids...they are just normal kids!)

And there was a season (with both our kids) where we saw little, if any, spiritual growth. However....just because we did not see it....did not mean it was not there...it did not mean that God was not growing them.....their vines were just getting caught up the the "Massive Hedge" that we call the world!

And with God's help, this past summer especially, we have seen those long vines that were tangled up in the vastness of the world, become unraveled....and slowly, but surely, God is wrapping them and guiding them into the light....where they can be seen more clearly and grow more beautifully. We are so proud of our kids!

So how's it "growing" with you? I know I've got a few "wild growing vines" of my own that could probably benefit from some gentle redirecting....if not they could easily get out of control and take root onto a hedge where they have no business growing!!!

I think I will use God's Word as my fence post....His holy spirit to gently shape and entwine me.....and of course...we know Jesus is "The Light of the World".... and all healthy vines need sonlight :)

Happy Gardening, Y'all!

Tips and Confessions of a Funeral Singer

Hey Y'all! A few post back I shared with you about my obsessive need to check obituaries....If this is your first visit to my blog PLEASE don't automatically hit the back key and exit! While I will be the first to express that I am rather quirky....I will also stand behind the premise that I am alot of fun amidst the quirk! So stay with me here......Having said that, today I will be talking, in part, about funerals.

When you are an active soloist in any church body, chances are you will be asked to sing at a funeral...or two...or possibly many more.....If I had to guess, Mark and/or I have sung at more than most folks.....I would guess 50 or more. And let me just say right here....It is a great honor to be asked. To be included by the family to celebrate the life and homegoing of a loved one is truly such an honor and a blessing.....It is also one of the hardest parts of ministry.....especially if you are "a crier" at funerals....and I am.

Most of the time, I hold it together pretty well......and luckily, the majority of funeral service orders have the soloist singing first...at the beginning, before the Pastor has eulogized or the family member has read a poem or letter (that one ALWAYS get me going)...before having to sit there and watch the family struggle and mourn. In case you have never thought about it, the soloist usually is placed in a position where the family can see and hear the songs being sung....which means the soloist also has a front row seat to see every face, every tear, every emotional struggle of every member of the family....so it is kind of heart wrenching to say the least. If you know the family or the deceased personally, that makes it even more difficult.

Despite the difficulty, I still feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity! I have learned so much about the people and the families who entrusted me to be a part of the funerals...and believe it or not, sometimes, I have learned alot about myself....many of the things I have learned are techniques that will keep me from crying, so that I can still do what they have asked me to do for them (sing)!


Things I have learned that help me stay composed at funerals:
(AKA: Tips for Blubbering Funeral Singers)


1. If I am about to "bust a blubber fit", I can start counting the number of flowers in each arrangement, and if that does not work, I start doing math equations in my head....something like...17 mums in arrangement one, 12 roses in arrangement two.....add them, divide them, do a ratio of arrangements based on the left to right side of of the casket....usually gets my mind in analytical mode vs. emotional mode....

2. I can look over the heads of the family members and it still looks like I am singing to them....

3. Every family group has a "kooky cousin or aunt", you can spot them by their attire, so that takes my mind to a different place if needed.

4. All I have to do is think about not being able to get up and go to the ladies room, ....and then I feel like I really need to go.....Yes, it is somewhat self torture....but an overactive bladder has saved me from having overactive tear ducts if all other attempts to "keep it together" have failed. As a precautionary prep, I gird myself with protection by "Poise", as I always hydrate well before singing at a funeral.


Believe it or not....the most valuable thing I have ever learned at a funeral was taught to me at a funeral I was not singing for.....Mark and I were in the congregation. One of our dear friends, who also works in our company, lost his Mom somewhat unexpectedly. Mark and I traveled to Virgina, his family's home state, to show our support and love and to extend our sympathies to him and his family.

It was Christmas time, and the small community church was decorated beautifully in celebration of Christ's birth. I was sitting there thinking how difficult it must be to bury a loved one at Christmas time, when I heard the doors open. We stood as the family came in....His Dad, who was also very ill and in the last stages of his fight against cancer was in a wheel chair and had to be pushed to the first row, by a family member. It was very emotional.

It was the sweetest funeral I have ever attended. I bawled like a baby....and I had never met or laid eyes on Mrs. Burgess! The funeral was a great tribute to a life spent as a servant to the Lord.....it was praise and honor and worship! To see the very ill Dad lifting his hands in praise to his Creator during the worship songs, as he sat there in his wheelchair, was almost more than I could handle.....it was GENUINE WORSHIP....you could see it...you could feel it....it was as close to the throne of God as I had ever been...it was that special.

So what did I learn, you ask? I think Mark Batterson said it best in chapter four of "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day". (Which is a MUST read for everyone.) He says, "Worship is forgetting about what's wrong with you, and remembering what's right with God"! .....Read that again.....isn't that awesome!

Worship should be continual, it should not be based on what we feel, where we are, or what circumstances we find ourselves amid. Paul and Silas worshipped in jail. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, worshipped in a fiery furnace. And Mr. Burgess worshipped in a wheelchair, knowing that the love of his life was no longer here on earth, and that his days, too, were limited due to his disease.

I wish I could say I was able to worship like that all the time......but I am being honest here, and I feel like most of you can relate....that sometimes life just takes our focus off the big picture, and we get fixated on what is wrong with today. Listen closely my friend....we are missing out when we do that!!

Thanks to a funeral, I have experienced Genuine Worship in it's rawest form...and I crave it....I cannot get the taste of it out of my mouth.....

May worship always be at the tip of our tongues! Keeping our eyes and hearts on the big picture. No counting flowers or scoping out kooky family members.....And if I blubber like an idiot, so be it.....but I do hope, however, I can control the overactive bladder.

Wishing Genuine Worship for us all Y'all!

Finally Home....

It was a beautiful week at Litchfield! Sleeping late, staring for hours at the vast blue ocean, rising early on most mornings to sneak a peak at the beautiful sunrises...then back to bed for a couple hours. Eating out and eating things I try to avoid at home,(why does everything taste so good outside?...Especially "junk" food???), and basking in the freedom of doing "nothing"....a feat, that anyone who knows me well, knows is quite a challenge for me!! But that is mostly what I did....nothing. It was wonderful!

As the week neared the end, I must admit, I was missing home a bit...missing my family (Mark and the kids were only there for part of the week), my church family, my "furry children"...and my own bed! So packing up was bitter sweet....sad to leave the splendor of God's handiwork displayed so magnificently out of the triple glass doors that make up the ocean front wall of our condo, (the view is truly amazing and the deck is positioned at just the right angle to get "the perfect" ocean breeze)....but happily anticipating the comfort, and familiarity of "home".

Because of the UNBELIEVABLE traffic that is inevitable this time of year on the Grand Strand, we opted to take "the back way" home...through Georgetown, Hemingway, and Old River Road. It is actually the route my family always took going to the beach when I was a kid. My Mom's side of the family was from Hemingway and my Dad's side of the family was from Kingsburg....Small, "don't blink, or you will miss them" communities....but we would always go that way to the beach and stop and visit relatives....(On the way to the beach we visited the living ones, on the way back we stopped at all the grave yards to visit the non-living ones.) I HATED THE TRIPS BACK. I never understood stopping and looking at headstones in grave yards...I found it rather creepy. I had never really known most of the folks while they were alive...so as my Mom and Grandmomma retold stories about them....it made me feel even "creepier".

Every tale would end with, "But they are home with Jesus now, and you will see them one day.".....As a child, that really did not make it feel any less uncomfortable...except for one grave site,...That being my Father's. For those who do not know, I never got the chance to meet my Dad. He died on Christmas Day 1961, and I was born on June 25, 1962...exactly 6 months after he died in an auto accident. His Mom, my Grandma Cora...(organist for Kingsburg Baptist church...the first place I ever sang...I was 3...it was "Jesus Loves Me"...and yes, I do remember it!)...and Grandma Cora would always make sure I understood that my Daddy knew Jesus and that we would all see him again one day in heaven...(So I got it from both sides.) Again, as a child, that idea was a little creepy.... but when it was about my Daddy, it was somewhat comforting. And I never got tired of stories about him...so curious of what he might have been like, sounded like, looked like....and by the way, I look just like him.

So on the way back from Litchfield, as I was driving alone along that familiar stretch of secondary road....I passed those same small county grave yards (I did not physically stop, still kind of "creepy" in my book)...but of course, my thoughts went to my family members who have gone home to be with the Lord...first was my Maternal Grand Dad...then my Maternal Grand Mom...then my other set of Grand Parents.....so many warm, loving Grand child kind of memories flooded my mind and my heart...I could almost smell the biscuits. I could vividly retrace walking hand in hand to gather eggs from the hen house...I could see the wrinkled, gentle hands reach inside the "Sunday only" pocketbook, pulling out the Juicy Fruit Gum (a bribe, I am sure, to keep me still for the rest of the sermon)...And for the first time in 46 years...I got it...I understood why we always stopped on the way back home....It wasn't about the headstones, plots, or the bodies that lay beneath the dirt...It was about the memories... it was a way to remind ourselves of who they were...who they still are in our hearts...to relive their legacies....(Pastor Bill, you were SO on the money with that series!)

Lastly, I passed the spot where my Dad was laid when he was only 29 years old....sadly, no memories of my own to recall....guess that will have to wait until I'm Finally Home.... we will make some there, for sure! Finally Home, where I will not only experience my Earthly Father firsthand...but I will meet my Heavenly Father face to face for the first time too!! I'm not sure I can even stand it!!! Just the thought of it overwhelms me to tears as I write this post!!

But for now, I am glad to finally be back in Florence, surrounded by my husband, kids, and four very happy dogs....

Until next time, Live a Legacy, Ya'll....

~Scarlett