GCR Women

Our granddaughter, Veronica, is spending the week with us - one of the blessings of summer.  Trying to keep a five year old busy is a challenge but we came up with some ideas. Yesterday, she helped me plant pumpkins.  We figured that if we plant them now, maybe they'll be ready late in the fall just in time for Halloween and Thanksgiving.  We also planted Indian corn and marigolds.  I don't have a lot a skill as a gardener so this may all be wasted effort.  But yesterday was just plain fun. First, we picked out a sight for our garden.  This part was easy.  The north end of a flower bed in our back yard had a large bare spot that would work.  It wasn't in full sun as recommended for pumpkins but it was already basically prepped.  So that was the spot. Next, we visited La Casa Verde.  This time of year, the seed choices are slim but we were in luck.  They had two varieties of pumpkin and some Indian corn.  Veronica also wa...

John & I just returned from a vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains.  We did what you're supposed to do on vacation - relax.  That's not what usually happens on our trips.  We typically try to cram in as much as we can in our time away and come home exhausted.  But not this time. This trip had a different purpose.  It was for a family reunion but not our family.  It was a reunion of our church plant families.  Seventeen families from all over Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and as far away as California gathered in a restful spot to spend time together.  Nine of these families are actively involved in a church plant where they live.  The rest of us are part of the support team behind them. We ate together, played together and worshiped together. What a joy to spend a few days with these incredible families.  I say "families" because that's who our church planters are - husbands and wives and their children who are all involved in the...

When my oldest son was a toddler, his uncle was in college. Tim wanted John to play with him and be comfortable around him, to trust him.  But our son was a little shy and not too sure about this young man he only saw once in a while. So Uncle Tim would fill his pocket with M&M's and offer them to John.  Little by little, the sweet treats broke down the barriers and their bond was formed.  It wasn't long before John was following Tim everywhere and trying to walk and be just like him.  Over the years, they would go places together and spend time together.  Now John and Tim are not just relatives but friends. That's what God wants with us, I think.  When we begin to notice God, we're a little uncertain of how to relate to Him. We know He's "family" but we tend to keep Him at a distance.  God reaches out to us and once we begin to realize the sweet treats He has for us, we let down our guard a little and move closer to Him. The Wednesday night DV...

Last Friday, I attended my great niece's high school graduation.  She is 18.  Today, if I hadn't gotten sick, I would have attended the funeral of a dear friend's granddaughter. She was 19.  One year ago, she was graduating from high school.  I can hardly wrap my mind around it.  Two young women who at 18 have the world before them, full of promise.  But where will the next year take them?  For one, the question has been answered.  For the other, we'll have to wait to see. It's a question we each need to ask ourselves.  Do we - any of us - know where we'll be in a year? The events of last weekend made me think.  So much of my life I've taken for granted that I'll have a next year, that I'll live to a very old age.  But I'm not guaranteed that.  I really only have this moment right now.  Yet the choices I make today will color my tomorrow. What am I doing today to move me toward the tomorrow I'd like to have, toward ...

Recently, the world found out that Internet Explorer had a little chink in its armor.  One of the most trusted means to access the Internet had a major security flaw that left all its users open to hackers who could then exploit this flaw to do all kinds of damage to the unwary user.  The answer?  Till this flaw was fixed, SHUT IT DOWN!  DON'T USE INTERNET EXPLORER!  This warning came from Homeland Security.  A very serious situation - a clear and present danger. Even after the flaw has been repaired and the patch installed and we've all gone back to our online life as usual, I can't help but wonder when the next vulnerability will show up, where the next attack will come from.  So, like everyone else, I step up my vigilance and double-check to see that my computer's defenses are up-to-date and running.  I even set up redundant systems of virus and malware protection just in case the first line of defense fails. It reminded me that in my spiri...

I have a group of close friends that I spend a lot of time with each week.  We pray together and visit with each other and we study the Bible together.  Right now, we're working our way through Priscilla Shirer's SEED study.  It is so unlike any other study I've done and I'm enjoying it immensely. The study topic we're currently on is Enough.  Enough.  As I've been working through the scriptures Priscilla has chosen for us, I've been challenged to think about the concept that I have enough.  Enough time, enough provision, enough money, enough knowledge, enough of everything I need.  That's the real challenge to learn to distinguish between what I want and what I need. But back to enough.  Often what I have doesn't seem like enough to me and I think, for me at least, it comes down to trust.  Do I trust that the "enough" that God has given me is really enough?  Or do I use my perceived lacking as an excuse not to do what God has set in...

A week and a half ago, my nephew got married. (That's why there was no April 1st blog.  I was in Austin helping with wedding prep.)  Isn't it interesting how big an impact a wedding can have on a family?  Even in all the activities that lead up to the ceremony, the two families learn how to interact, how to share this special time in their children's lives.  This young woman will no doubt make her mark on our clan but she'll be changed, too, because now she's a McKinney. On our way home from the wedding, we were able to spend a few extra hours in Hill Country and enjoy the beauty of Texas wildflowers at their best.  Every bend in the road brought new vistas of pastures covered in bluebonnets, dotted with specks of red and yellow.  I don't know the official names of many of these botanical treasures but I enjoyed their breathtaking beauty just the same. It was like getting a fresh injection of hope.  We'd just witnessed the joy of the new beginnings...