July Happenings

Tim and me and our "cheesey" 10th Anniversary shirts!

I keep thinking that maybe in one more day, I will have time to update my blogs. Every day ends, and I find that I still have not had time to sit down and write something!

We had a very nice 4th of July weekend with family! We were coming off a week of being sick with a summer cold, and I was not sure we were going to make it to be with them, but everyone was feeling relatively well by that Friday. We went into Nashville, and we got our first look at a new condo that my brother and parents went in together and bought. The neatest part about it was that it had a view straight across to the Cumberland River and the Tennessee Titans' football stadium, where they stage Nashville's fireworks show!

Doug and Micah check out the view!

The "Cousins" pose in front of the infamous "Batman Tower!"



The kids tried to scare me to death climbing on these big rocks near the edge of the roof! Here, Micah gets his picture in with the great backdrop!


Sarah and Hannah on the 4th--2008!

And I even managed to get one pic of "Uncle Sam!"

Next year, we likely will not have that wonderful view, as they are building some buildings between the condo and the stadium, so we decided to take advantage of being able to see the show from the air conditioned- condo! It was so pretty! We started out inside, but we quickly moved out on the balcony (and tested its weight limits!) to be able to take in the whole sky! They say that Nashville's fireworks show has grown to be the second largest in the nation, second only to Philadelphia! We felt very privileged to be able to be right there and not have to fight the crowds and traffic we could see below us. This was our daytime and night-time view:


The kids had a great time with their cousins, their Aunt Steph and her sister, their grandma Meme, and Uncle Doug, our host! We grilled hamburgers on the 6th floor balcony and took in the beautiful panoramic view of Nashville! It was a gorgeous day!

We remarked that it was ironic that we could practically spit off the building and hit the area where a direct ancestor of ours, James Robertson, established Nashville down there on the banks of the Cumberland River! Robertson arrived in Tennessee just one year after we became the United States of America, drove his cattle across the frozen Cumberland River, and erected Fort Nashborough right there where these fireworks were going up! Present-day Nashville, and this country, have come a long way since then! 5 generations later, we stood looking at this beautiful show, trying to comprehend the sacrifices so many have made for our freedom. Robertson lost two brothers and two sons defending this piece of land on the Cumberland. So many have given so much to keep this great country free, and some continue to give all. Tim's brother, Kevin, is probably headed back to the Iraq region next year, unless something "gives" before then. These times give us good chances to discuss with the kids how freedom is far from free!

The Grand Finale!

A Decade of Loving

This day, ten years ago, my life began anew. The theme for our wedding was "Let Us Begin in God's Presence." I married my best friend, and he became an instant father to my three boys. We added two girls of our own along the way. As I reflect over the last ten years, I feel like so much has happened, and in many ways, it seems like it has been much longer than just ten years. In other ways, it seems I have just blinked since we were saying our vows on that stormy July the 4th, 1998.

The pictures above show many of the changes that have happened in 10 short years. My little children in the wedding, mine and those belonging to dear friends, have grown up. My junior bridesmaid married this year. My flower girl and ring bearer are nearly grown. My dear grandmother now lies with her hands folded in rest. The New Orleans Manor, where we held our wedding dinner, closed for good just the other day. The wedding ring I gave my husband fell off his thinning fingers in March and was lost for good. My dear husband is about 125 pounds lighter than when we married. There has been a lot of change.

Some things are the same. We are so happy that our parents, both sets, are still alive and relatively well, though they have all had life-threatening illnesses in the last 10 years. We nearly lost every one of them. Ginny had cancer. Bill had his whole belly burst open after a surgery. My dad had his heart valve replaced, and my mom had a mystery illness that nearly got her, along with bladder and uterine cancer. Yes, we are very fortunate that God preserved them.

I've lost all my grandparents that were alive when we married. I miss them every day.


I was thinking what I wanted to say in this post, but my sweet husband beat me to it, saying it better than I could have today. He left this beautiful letter and a song for me on my desktop, for me to find this morning. So I thought I would just post it here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dana,



I am so happy to look back over the past ten years since we were were married and so much that we have been through!



We've been through the better and the worse, in sickness and in health,
We've certainly seen the richer and the poorer, and our share of trials and difficulties.



But through it all I remember the fondest memories, of singing together as a family in long car rides to Columbia and road trips to and from New Jersey. I remember worshiping when it was difficult, and when obstacles and challenges presented themselves.



I remember bedside in hospitals, with and for each other in the Joy of a newborn child, and in the suffering of each other and our loved ones.

I remember elation and wonder at each of your pregnancies, and the sorrow of loss and the tremendous elation of incredible wonder and magnificence of the birth of healthy baby girls.



I remember when we have struggled to make ends meet, and when we have done just a little better and enjoyed some small pleasures in life.



I hope that as you look back too, you will remember beginning in God's Presence.
You will remember Hope, and Faith, and Wonderful Blessings we have shared together.
You will remember times we shared with those so precious to us, family, brethren, and friends. Worshiping as a family and watching our children grow in knowledge of the Lord, and growing and maturing into wonderful young people.



God's providence has always been there for us, and has always supplied our needs. His goodness and watchfulness has looked out over us and protected us and has lifted us up when it looked to all like we were going down. How out of the blue, in "God Style" he provided us blessings and vehicles and a home and jobs and churches and brethren to grow and learn and worship with.



I will always be there for you, Lord Willing, in all my imperfection and faults (perhaps some fewer as days go by). I will stand by you, will encourage you, protect you, and provide for you and our children as long as I possibly can, by the Grace and ability God gives us. I hope to learn to be a better husband and father, and servant of the Lord. I hope to be useful in His kingdom and to lead our family to a closer walk with him.



I Love You. I have HOPE for our future. Begun in God's Presence. Continuing on in FAITH. Walking in LOVE. With JOY, and endurance, and patience, and steadfastness.



You know me now and I know you now. There aren't as many surprises anymore, as we can complete sentences and thoughts of the other now. We are so different in so many ways but also the same in so many ways. But also bonded together by God in ways that I am convinced that we cannot even fully understand.



I love you! I Have HOPE for our Future! I have FAITH in God's providence and care. I have JOY in His rich blessings and mercies, which are new every morning.

Here's to the next ten years!!!!!!!


Yours in Love,



Tim

For Lloyd

One of my "buddies" died yesterday afternoon. I got to know one of my cousins (actually my dad's cousin) at a family reunion some years ago. Someone decided that way too many years had gone by without an Edwards family reunion. So, everyone in our huge family that started out in the remote areas of Maury County in Tennessee converged on Columbia from several states, and we spent hours just re-connecting.

I found out that I had this really neat cousin who lived in Florida, and for the last few years, we have traded emails over nearly everything. He was a very tender-hearted, patriotic, conservative man with deep love in his heart for God, family and country. I came to love him so much over these last few years, and I am stunned at his death.

Lloyd was 63 years young, and he was "on the go" all the time. He loved to travel a lot, and many of my emails would be answered by automatic messages that he was gone somewhere yet again! This time, there will be no cheery email sent in a few days telling me that he has returned. There will be no more patriotic emails that bring tears to my eyes. There will be no more calls to action on some injustice in our country. This Patriot with a big ol' heart has marched home.

Apparently, he got a vicious and fast-moving cancer related to the bile duct that took him in about 3 weeks. Very few knew of his sickness. I am sure he wanted it that way. He never wanted to be the center of attention.

Yesterday morning, he was in a lot of pain, so Judy, his wife, and three of their kids took him to hospice. They got him settled in and went to get some lunch. When they returned, he had slipped into eternity.

Lloyd was the son of my aunt Rebecca who just passed last fall, just days after my grandfather died. Her death came out of the blue as well, and now it seems so ironic that he was to pass so quickly after her. I pray they are reunited now, with her and his father, dear Uncle Herbert, who passed many years ago.

I was reflecting on his death late last night. I realize that people are born and die every day. As I went about my work yesterday at home, the news was filled with one report after another of lives lost. What does one lone life mean in the grand scheme of things?

Well, for me, Lloyd's death is especially painful because he was one of those souls who genuinely cared about other people. When I had emailed Lloyd about little Aleena, who was at the hospital near death with e coli, Lloyd emailed me back and said, "Hey, I don't want to be a pest, but can you keep me up to date on this one?" As in the sickness with my dad, Lloyd kept up with us and prayed for us until the sick were "out of the woods." Lloyd never gave you the superficial, eyes-glazed-over "I'm praying for you." He really, deeply, cared.

I don't know everything about Lloyd. After all, I somehow managed to miss out on the first 49 years of his life. However, what I knew of him impressed me. He grew up the son of a preacher. He loved his family deeply. The way he cared for his aging mother spoke volumes. He served in the Navy, and his patriotism was ever-obvious. He, like the rest of us, was scratching his head about this election. But the thing that just keeps coming to my mind over and over is the time he took for people.

If I was having a bad spot in my life, I could ask his advice, and he gave it humbly and freely. He always answered every request for prayer or guidance.

He was hysterical! He always made me laugh. Even in times of distress, he kept a stiff upper lip and an optimistic outlook and inspired those around him.

Sometimes in this life, you connect with someone at a level neither of you can explain. I Samuel 18 talks about Jonathan becoming one in spirit with David and loving him as he loved himself. Proverbs 18:24 says that "...there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." If you have ever had one of these relationships with someone, then you know what I am talking about. It is a feeling so rare that you can probably count those people on one hand over a lifetime.

Lloyd was one of those rare souls who leaves his mark on hearts, never to be forgotten. I suspect that he touched many that way. All death brings sadness, but sometimes a death leaves a hole in your heart that will just never be filled. I could say I'll miss him. Somehow, there is no closing for this that does not sound trite. Lloyd so did not deserve trite.


(Press the play button)