Father's Day

well, happy father's day to all who are in my family. 1st i think of my hubby....not my daddy of course, but the father to my children. he's such a wonderful man. i am sure every woman says the same of her husband and father, but it's so true in my case. i am so blessed to have a preacher of the Gospel as my husband. he takes such good care of the children and i could not ask for any better.

my dad. where do i begin? i will say, (and i'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind) that he was not always a Christian man. and he did not always live a Christian life. but i also know that he loves me and my brother. his love for us has always been evident, no matter what. of all the hard working people in the world, my daddy is #1 in my book. he has worked years on power lines doing dangerous work in crazy weather at ridiculous hours. he has never had a 'past time', no hobbies or leisure time, no vacation time (& if he did take off, it was w/out pay). he is dependable, he is strong, he is a man of his word, he is a natural leader, he is a rock. and i will proudly say that i am an A Class daddy's girl. that's righte, i do not hesitate to say it. he is so precious to me. he's my daddy and i love him dearly.

also, my father in law. now although the odds are stacked against me (i am his in-law, and a step one at that) for 15 years he has treated me like i was his own daughter. there has never been a time that i haven't felt that he was just as close to me as a biological father. he took me in from day one and to this day treats me as his own. i am thankful that he has always gone over and above to be that father figure to me!

....so we knew that going on a vacation was would be a little tricky with bailey. everything is, though. when one is physically and mentally challenged, the easy things are not.......easy. we knew there would be lots of walking (up & down hill), it would be hot and sunny (not good for someone who burns easily), the days would be long, crowds would abound, no naptime would be available, and so on. but we have lived with these challenges everyday for the past 7 1/2 years...vacation only multiplies them.

thanks to grandparents, we were able to go on rides with shelby & brody...had we been alone, one parent would have had to sit out with bailey while the other went on ride patrol. it was such a blessing to have them with us to help out with bailey. we decided to rent a double stroller to wheel her around in. (not meant for a 7 yr old, but we had to improvise) just getting her into it was a sight to see. it took me and michael picking her up on either side while nana held the stroller still. even then, she doesn't understand 'bend your legs' or 'scoot back some', everything has to be done by us.

she is so helpless at times. as i was watching her the last day....(nana & peepaw were already gone...therefore i was that parent on watching bailey while michael was on ride patrol)....i couldn't help but notice how in her own world she was. here we are in an amazing amusement park. there are rides everywhere, junkfood galore, kids running around having the time of their lives.....and here sits bailey in the double stroller with her deck of cards and a piece of juicy fruit. she is content to shuffle the numbers right off those cards, never batting an eye at the laughter of others or the screams from the children on the rides. she sits there all alone, it seems, in her own little world. who knows what she is thinking or how she really feels or if she even comprehends where we are.

how i long for her to talk to me. if i could have one wish, it would be to hear bailey speak. not just mumble in 'baby talk' consonant sounds, but to really speak with words. i would be so excited to hear her tell me what she wants to drink....ya know, i thought about that, too. she never gets to decide what she wants us to order her at a restaurant or to give her at home. i mean, we always order sprite for her, but what if she really wanted sweet tea or just water...the poor thing cannot even tell me that. she just accepts what is given to her.

i really do just sit around sometimes and wonder what's going on in that mind of hers. i cannot wait for her to get to heaven....she will be given a new mind, a perfect mind...and i have no idea (and if you'll be honest, neither do you) what heaven will really be like, but i cannot help but to get excited about the thought of her running up to me and talking up a storm. i want to just sit and talk to her for a while. yes, i am fully aware that once in heaven we will be praising God, but i sure hope that He gives me just 5 minutes alone with my daughter to hear her talk to her mom!

hi there folks....so very sorry it's been so long since i've posted. it seems as tho there has been quite a bit going on around here. anyway, i'll try to catch ya up on everything over the next couple of days!

so last week we went on vacation. it was our first real family vacation. we went to branson, mo. michael's parents met us there and we spent the week spending money we didn't have! ha, that's the way it always goes, right?!

well, where to begin with the stories? i think i'll start here:
we always cringe at the thought of vacation because as most of you know, the hotter it gets, the more clothes that come off!!!! it seems as tho girls just walk around in panties and bras and the men go around shirtless. it's insane. shelby is 10 now and we have certain standards in our home. her wardrobe consists of dresses/skirts and culottes. she has always been very obedient and has a good attitude about it. we have explained to her why we do the things we do....which i think is something a lot of "independent fundamental baptist" parents have lacked doing...explaining. i think lots of times orders are barked and no reasoning is given. well, we have always told shelby why we wear the things we wear.

needless to say, although we have done this, there are times that shelby looks around and sees that she's different. ya know, it's hard sometimes being the only one doing something. and she is at the age that being different isn't always so much fun. you get funny looks and people ask questions and sometimes even treat you different. anyway, to our surprise, we were thrilled when we got to branson.

i think i saw more skirts and culottes than i ever have! we went to silver dollar city (an amusement park) there were females of all ages there looking modest and having the time of their lives. i was so happy because shelby was able to see that she is not the only one who has the same convictions as we. there are those out there who are likeminded in the wardrobe area. it was just a real blessing for her to see that you can look modest and still have a good time. seeing others made her feel not so alone and strange. she does look different all the time, but you know, she should.

well, we started out for texas (home) on monday night at 8PM. we were so ready to get home! but in the back of our minds was the fact that this week begins the IBFI fellowship meeting, which we have attended since 1997. we hated to miss, but since we had been gone from our own church for so long, we had decided not to attend this year. what a bummer. we always look forward to seeing our very best friends, mark and tracy, along with all of our other friends. plus michael is alumni president and this is the 25th anniversary for ibfi. anyway, we were torn, but knew we had to get home.

an hour and a half into the trip a decision was radically made, we would change courses and drive to fort worth, attend the alumni luncheon, attend graduation/preaching; then drive back to burnet...we must be insane with some of the things we do at times! but i am so glad we did it! i have been able to fellowship with great friends and enjoy their company! the kids got to see their favorite cousins.

we still have a long night ahead of us because it's still a 3.5 hour drive home tonight and we probably won't leave here until 11PM. boy, the price we pay for good food and fellowship! but it's once a year deal and i'm so glad we didn't have to miss it all. we won't be there for all of the fellowship meeting, but what we are here for is great!

hi there all! have you ever had one of those days???? well, we've had one of those MONTHS! it seems like chaos at every turn! thanks to all who have prayed for michael's family. everyone is doing well and the funeral service was one of the best i've ever attended. there were more amens at the funeral than there usually are in a sunday service! how appropriate, though, when you attend the 'graduation' of a loved one.

looks like we're headed back home tonight. traveling in the night is much easier than in the day...especially with children. we will be tired, though. our days have been all messed up. we don't know which way is up and which way is down.

by the way, while i am thinking of it, i wanted to say thanks to all the ladies at fbbc for taking such good care of the family during both funerals. the food was wonderful and i do not take lightly all of your hard work in the kitchen. a special thanks to elizabeth for watching all the kiddos with her little pregnant self! she's great...thanks girlie! ;)

please pray for our pitiful little motorhome. sometimes in life a bad decision is made, in our case, this was it....although it did help out a missionary family. we paid $14,000 for it 2 years ago and it has never worked since the day we got it. we've put so much time and money into that thing. it just sits there rotting while we make monthly payments and still owe $9000 on it! hey, if anyone out there wants it for parts, please be my guest! we would love to sell it and at this point are willing to make any deal. it would be wonderful to be out from under this particular financial strain.

anyhoo, i miss my church family and can't wait until wednesday night to get to see everyone! i am terribly homesick.

Hey there everyone! it's been forever since i've been on here....sorry to those faithful few who check often!! anyway, we had a wonderful mommy's day banquet and services on sunday. we went a different route and got all the mom's a gift bag from bath and body works.....i think they were "bookmark"ed to death! the banquet went well. we have a couple of ladies in the church who are super at decorating! my mom and i did all the food. she came in for a few days to visit and help out.

well, no other news as of now, take care everyone!

Decently and in Order

well, that is true for the house of God. exactly how things should be done....i just cannot say it is true of the wiggins household. decently, for the majority; but in order...never! we moved to the little town of burnet last may from a big city in columbus, ga. and we are busier now than ever before.

right when i think things are settling down, chaos comes in. it's not always bad chaos, either. actually, i think in thrive in chaos! seriously, i like it when there's always something going on. anyway, this past week has been a chaotic week, to say the least. but again, good chaotic. let's see, last sunday we had a wonderful missionary family. their van needed a brake job, so pastor (my husband) volunteered him and a church member to fix it for them!....between services on sunday. now those of you with a pastor husband know that sundays are crazy! but my husband felt to blessed just by being a blessing to this family. then we had another preacher friend come in on monday....his poor RV messed up....so, of course, our church also volunteered to help him out!

needless to say, my husband is a very kind man and always wants to be a blessing if possible. that's what we're here for, right? to serve God thru serving others?! so we had that preacher, his wife, daughter, and son-in-law over for supper tuesday night. (insert: michael's grandmother has been hospitalized the day before, not doing well at all at the time...more pressure!) after supper he gets a call. his aunt has passed away. (daughter of the grandmother, sister to his mom) (insert...again...they all live in florida.....12 hours away!)

so, among all of this is daily life....i supervise at our church school; we withdrew bailey from school, so now she is with us all day at the church school (another story in itself), so that's a LOT of pressure during the day, michael has all the regular duties of the pastorate, and I have all the duties as church secretary! but again...here i am thriving on all of this! :)

so the preacher friend preaches on wednesday night, a huge blessing! and we leave immediately after services and drive all the way to florida. yes, that means i had less than 24 hours to pack for 4 people (michael packs his own these days)!

so here i am in florida right now at my mother/father-in-law's home. thank God for them. even with all the stress of death in the family and sickness in the family, they are always willing to help out with the kids. (secretly, it was probably a stress reliever for nana to have her grandbabies here....that's the area where nana thrives!!!)

anyway, thought i'd share some of our circus events with all of you! and in all of it, God is Good All the Time!!! AMEN