To Rachel

This is for anyone to read so you know. I wanted a way that I could let people know the Rachel that I know and love. You never know what you say to someone that will stick with them and will be something that they remeber for a lifetime.

I'm so excited that on Saturday my cousin Rachel is marrying Aron Carpenter. She has been one of my amazing friends and I'm blessed that she is my cousin. And I want the world to know how special this wedding day really is. I don't know how many times her and I have talked about us getting married but there is one time in particular that I have never forgotten .In1997 or 1998 our family was in Gaitlinburg, TN for vacation and Rachel and I shared a room, one night we got on the subject of marriage and she told me that she wasn't going to get married unless she could have a marriage like our grandparents and her parents had. At the time I thought WOW she will never get married if that is what she is setting her standards at, but I knew that she was as stubborn as I am and she wouldn't budge on that desire. I can't tell you how much that means to me that she has kept that desire to only marry the one that God has for her and won't take anything but the best for her.Because she knew that the only way for her to have that kind of marriage was only takin God's best. I know when I see her and Aron together that their marriage can definitely be headed in the same way that my grandparents marriage was. I so believe in my heart and soul that Rachel has choosen God's best for her. With every boyfriend that Rachel has had this memory has replayed in my mind and it became my prayer that if she wasn't going to have a marriage like my Grandparents then lead Rachel to what's right for her.
When she made that comment she was only 18 or 19 years old and for 10 years she has kept that a solid standard for whomever God had for her. I can only pray that Sara, Melinda, Sarah, JL, Caleb, Marshall, Jon, Ben, & myself can be as focused on what we want in a marriage that will last as she has been waiting for Aron. And to know that Rachel and Aron have kept themselves for their spouses is amazing in this day and age. Rachel has always led the way for me, she has shown me what I should do, what I should never do (never say there is nothing to eat in the house). Eventhough the older we get we don't get the time to hang out as much as we used to, I know that if I need someone she will be there for me no matter what.

Rachel, I love you and I'm so excited for this next chapter that you are going into. You have made an impact in me that you will never know the complete impact on this side of Heaven.

To anyone else that has read this: The decisions you make today will impact your future. Decide who you will be and be that 100% stick to your convictions and don't falter because in the end the risk is never worth the price.

2 AM phone call

It doesn't matter who you are when the phone rings at 2 AM it is never good. This morning the lady that I take care of got a phone call and it woke me up, the first thing I did was look at the clock. 2 AM Seriously!!! So I got up and went downstairs to see what has happened because phone calls at 2 AM are never good. Here what has happened is her son in law couldn't wake up her daughter so he called 911 and they were taking her to the hospital. So for the last hour and a half I've been trying to get the lady I take care of ready so that another daughter could take her to the hospital. My mind has been going round and round praying that Ginny will be ok. Sometimes the worst thing with a call this early is it is very hard to get back to sleep.
I think that God sometimes gives us a " 2 AM phone call" and instead of answering it we continue to "sleep" because we are afraid that it is bad news that He is trying to tell us. But ya know I don't think that all 2 AM calls are bad, when my cousin Zack and his wife Amanda were having Skylar I think it was around 2 AM when she called her mom to say that Skylar was coming. But there is no way for us to know whether it is "good" or "bad" news unless we are willing to pick up the phone. So I am going to take this awake time and call God because He is always willing to answer a 4 AM call from me.

Legacy

Just a few weeks ago my cousin Zack and his wife Amanda welcomed a new life into the world Skylar Audra Young. It is so awesome to know the family legacy that she has in front of her and she doesn't even understand it yet. It will be a year ago that my family found out that my Grandma Mason was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. At that time everyone was telling me how blessed I was with the legacy that I had, but I never realized it until then. My Grandparents came from "good blood" both of their parents were Christian people and raised their children right. Since my Grandma Mason has gone to Heaven I have been really lucky to get to meet my grandparents siblings and see the different things that make me who I am. From personality to simple things like my dimple or fingers.
Today my family found out that my Grandma Young will be shortly going to heaven within the next few days. This is my last living Grandma that I have, even though she wasn't a "blood" relative she was just as much a Grandma to me as my blood ones. I have always had three Godly Grandma's that have always been there to help me when I needed it. But I realized tonight that everyone that had the privilege to know them have been so blessed. Both Grandma Mason and Grandma Young have really been blessed to have the opportunity to have left such a strong legacy in all of their grandchildren. Rachel, Aron, Zack, Amanda, Sara, JL, Caleb, Melinda, Sarah, Marshall, Jon, Ben, & Myself have been given a gift of a strong legacy that we can't get rid of... we can choose not to honor the legacy but we can't get rid of it. If we choose to ignore it all we will do is ruin it for ourselves, we will end up unhappy and regretting so much. I think that we have to decide whether we want to leave a legacy of happiness and Godliness or sadness and sin.