CONGRATULATIONS, CAROLYN!!!

YAY!!! This day is finally here. I'm sure Carolyn's was thinking that as she got up this morning. Carolyn graduated (Cum Laude) from WVU this morning with her Masters in Secondary Education/Foreign Studies (Spanish). She also has her ESL (English as Second Language) Certification.





This was a five year Masters Program. She worked hard and we are proud of her. During this last five years she has had quite a few changes in her life. I think she has moved three times. She got married about half way through to George Cheriyan. I have blogged before about George and the fact that he is Indian and was raised in the country of Bahrain. So not only did she get married but had to deal with all the mountains of paperwork that takes months (turning into years) to get his permanent residency. We can thank God that just a few weeks ago he got that letter that said "Welcome to the United States of America".




Carolyn has also worked for a cleaning service for the past few years. (Hence the dream about the missing yellow mop she posted about on FB) So if you put all that together she worked full time, went to school full time, took care of a home and husband (although he helped her a whole lot) and was still able to graduate Cum Laude.

Another thing Carolyn had to deal with these last few years was an as yet undiagnosed problem she has had since the summer before her second year. She studied in Costa Rica the first semester of her sophomore year and as she was getting ready to leave she had a problem with her ankle and leg swelling. She was diagnosed with cellulitis and it seemed to clear up some with treatment. While in Costa Rica it returned and was treated again there. She has had trouble with this ever since. She has been to all kinds of doctors and had all kinds of tests and nothing conclusive shows up. It seems to be stress related (and switches from leg to leg), but all the Doctors say that could not be an issue. But I, being her Mom, know for a fact that any time there is a stressful time in her life her leg swells. It got so bad last winter when they were dealing with the issues with immigration that George literally drove her to Morgantown and took her from class to class so she didn't have to walk around campus...(kudos, George).


So if you wonder why we are so proud of Carolyn for what she has accomplished the last five years, well, maybe this explains it. Congratulations, Carolyn! We love you and pray for God to provide a place for you to use your talent.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

I just want to take this time to say Happy Mothers Day to my Mom. I have a wonderful mother that has always been there for me. She was one of those stay at home mom's that are almost non existent now. Because of that I wanted the same thing for my kids. I did it, too. I didn't work until Courtney was in first grade and then it was at the school they attended. Now I am choosing to stay at home so Jay'von can have that same attention since Courtney isn't able to do it. All that because my Mom chose to stay home with her family.

I also want to pass along kudos to our daughter in law, Danielle and our daughter Courtney. They have given us 3 of the most intelligent, beautiful, well behaved grandchildren. You can't tell I'm prejudiced can you. Thanks, girls for being such great mothers.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!!

Sorry, I really wanted to post pictures of them all but it is getting late and I am tired. Maybe later because they are beautiful people.

Suprise!!

I got a call yesterday afternoon that rocked my little world. My daughter-in-law called to let me know that Charlie and I were going to IHC next week for our anniversary. My wonderful children had decided we should do this and had already made the arrangements. My first thought was unbelief, then that it wouldn't happen because Charlie wouldn't be able to take off work. But Danielle assured me that she had already called Charlie and he had cleared it with his company. Soooooo.....We are going to IHC for the very first time ever.

I posted this on facebook and was surprised at the response. I guess it is kind of strange to be a conservative holiness person in this area (especially since we lived in OH until 15 years ago) and never have attended IHC. But there is a very valid reason for that. For many years Charlie would be off most of the winter and would just be getting back to work in the spring when convention rolled around. Kind of hard to take 3 days off in the middle of week right then. But now he is rarely off in the winter. As bad as our winter was he didn't miss one day because of the weather. He did have a couple of days off in between jobs but really needed the break. So he wasn't complaining. But my husband doesn't like to take off work for anything. So I didn't even ask. But my daughter-in-law did. And he said yes! (I'm sure he would have for me, too, if I would have asked).

I guess sometimes we just need an extra push to do some things. We could have done this on our own but neither of us thought it was feasible this year. Charlie does have a lot of responsibility with his job and I have Jay'von all week. But they have all of that covered, so we get a much needed break and will get to spend time with some family and friends that we don't get to see enough of.

Thanks kids for giving that push. Hopefully we will come back spiritually and emotionally refreshed. We love you a lot!!

RANDOM!!

Well, Easter in over and in my book that means spring is now really officially here. The weather is beautiful and I am so glad to have the windows open and feel that spring breeze.

This is definitely an unusual Easter. For the first time ever all my kids had other plans and were not here for Easter. Chuck and Danielle spent Easter with her family in PA, Carolyn and George spent Easter in Martinsburg with friends and Courtney was at her house in Morgantown and didn't bring Jay'von until later in the day. We did get to spend time with them but not for church and dinner. I felt kind of "old" and strange. I'm sure some day when they all have families there will be other times this will happen on special occasions but this was the first.

We are a small family. Charlie's parents and aunts and uncles are all gone and he is an only child so aside from some distant cousins that he has never been close to he has no other family. So my family is now his family but my large family (there were 6 children in my family) now has families that are growing up and have plans of their own. We only had 3 children and so far 3 grandchildren so our family is still kind of small.

So this year I have learned that we really need to focus on the holiday and why we observe it and not so much on getting all of the chickens home to roost. We will all be together on Tuesday to celebrate Breanna's Birthday, though, so that will help.

Another thing that came to my mind was to reach out to someone who wouldn't have anyone to spend the day with. My Mom and Dad could have gone a couple of places but decided to spend it with us. We also invited a couple in our church that only has family out of town. They would usually go to Ohio for the holiday but since we were in revival that weekend they stayed home. We really enjoyed having Lonnie and Susan Mayle with us and would love to do it again even when our kids can be there. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

God is still God even in the disappointing times. I'm so glad that God helped me to focus on that and it was an enjoyable day even without the joy of children's laughter and all the Easter basket mess. Maybe next year will be different and we will have all that. Maybe not, but that will be OK because never again will it be the first time.



We dressed Jay'von up in his clothes for pics even though he wasn't there in time for church.



Carolyn helping Jay'v decorate an egg the week before Easter.


C.J. decorating an egg.



Breanna decorating one of her eggs.


We did have the kids over on Thursday (they were on spring break) to color eggs and give them their baskets from Neena. Carolyn even hid some in the yard and they got to hunt them. Jay'v couldn't quite figure it out but with some help he did find some. I had to put these on here so I at least had some Easter pics for 2010. (lol)

Thought for the day!!

Look around you and realize that you have no idea what the other person is going through. I read something like this on a blog recently and it really made me think. All of us have hurts, all of us have problems and concerns. Some of them are heartbreaking. A lot of them no one knows about. But that doesn't make it any less real.

None of us are immune to trouble. No matter how perfect your family may seem outwardly, they still have warts that are hidden. And that doesn't make me think any less of you. Really, it makes me think more because it makes you more real.

God, help me to remember this. As I go through my little troubles, there is someone out there going through the same or worse. Let it make me better, not bitter.

Jay'v quote of the day:
(after seeing a cookie that Carolyn had broken a piece off of)
"C.Shay eat morra" Then he decided to eat it instead!

A SAINT IN HEAVEN

Today marks the second anniversary of the home going of my father-in-law, John Sherron. He made his heavenly landing at 3:30 am on March 30, 2008. I have blogged before about how privileged I felt to be able to take care of him in those last months and I still feel that way. He was a joy to take care of, and we miss him so much, but I wouldn't wish him back to this mess for anything. His eternal reward is so much greater than what we have here.




What has really caught my attention lately is all the ones who post about a loved one who has passed and then put R.I.P. or "rest in peace". That caught my eye the other day and I wondered what do they really mean by that. Do they really know they are resting in peace or is it just wishful thinking. It is such a joy to know that Dad is resting in the peace that we will only know in Heaven. Our earthly bodies will never know that peace until we finally make it there.

Then that brought on a whole new train of thought. What will Heaven be like? What will we see and do there? Who will we see there? WOW! What a thought! It just makes me that much more determined to do all in my power to make it.

I know I will never live up to what my father-in-law did. I know he spent many hours in study and prayer and those are hard shoes to fill. I think some people are called to be prayer warriors and I think he was one of them. Then I think "who is filling those shoes?" Is that why some things have happened since he has been gone? We miss those prayers. God help me to fill even a little bit of the hole left without his prayers.

So, I close with R.I.P. Dad....We really know you are!

SPRING THOUGHTS!

Well, we have made it through a very hard winter. You would all have to agree that it is one of the worst winters we have had in many, many years. It is amazing how the weather has dominated our lives. Weather has always been a conversation starter but this year it has sometimes been the whole conversation. You talk about everything from how many days you were stuck in the house to how many "feet" of snow is on the ground and how many days we have gone without seeing the "ground". No one should be without food for thought or conversation.

I am one of the fortunate ones that did not have to go out and brave the elements to go to work every day. I am thankful for that. The older I get the more of a home body I become. It has now been 2 years since I was a member of the working class. That is actually what the substance of this blog will be about today.

I was a stay at home Mom. My Mom was a stay at home Mom. I believe in women being stay at home Moms. I did not choose to work until my youngest was in school and then for the first five years worked at the school. So I worked when they were in school and had off when they had off. It was a wonderful job. I loved the situation because my kids were still young enough that they would need a sitter or (the dreaded word) "daycare".

I am now a "stay at home Nona". I have chosen this for my life right now and it fits. I love being able to help Courtney since she does not have the option of being a stay at home Mom. But this winter I have had the opportunity to feel stereotyped as I never did when I was home with my kids. I'll say a little more about this after I tell you my story.

The company that Charlie works for now has an appreciation dinner for all it's bosses in January. It was a very nice evening. A nice restaurant and everyone was very "nice". But this "stay at home Nona" felt like a fish out of water. You know how it is at a gathering like that. You are at a table full of people that you don't know and everyone tends to ask questions and find out a little bit about each other. One of the ladies that works in the office for this company asked me if I had to work that day or had I been off. I very politely said I don't work outside the home and immediately felt a hush and about 3 or 4 sets of eyes on me like I was a freak. Charlie had left the table for a moment so I was alone and really felt "alone". Her response was just "Oh!". And for the first time in my life I felt inferior because I choose to not have a "job". I wanted to stand up and shout "I am a certified medical coder. I worked at a hospital for 10 years. If you give me a medical record, I can read it and understand it. I am not a dummy because I do not go to work everyday."

I really had a strange evening after that. I don't remember ever having that feeling when I stayed at home with my kids. I believe there are a couple of reasons for that. The first would be that at that time I did not have a trade. I had office training when I was in school and the only job I had was in classified at the newspaper. Then I started having children and did not work. No problem, that was my life. The second being that I really didn't get out much to places where I would encounter people like that. I really was a different person. More quiet and my kids were my life.

I have now had the the opportunity to live the "other" life. Yes, I did it when my kids were older and able to take care of themselves but I did it non-the-less. I had a job that fulfilled me (at the time). I actually became more confident about myself and able to go out into the world with confidence that I am a person of value. I am a contributing citizen. Lah Te Dah!!

Since that night in January I have had a lot of time to think about this situation. Do you want to know what I have decided? No, I have not decided to send out my resume and get back into the work force. Actually I really don't care if I never have to enter that rat race again. I have decided that I am contributing MORE to society than someone sitting at a desk punching numbers all day. I am training up a child to be an upright citizen who can go out into the world and face the day to day challenges of life. I am training a little mind to get him ready to learn what he will need to do that. What I am doing is as important as that doctor, or lawyer, or even medical coder because one day they were one of those little minds that needed training.

I know this is not always an option. It wouldn't be in Courtney's case if I were not doing this. So if you are a Mom that has to work please don't think I think less of you. I know that is necessary sometimes. I am just saying if you do choose to stay at home with your children you should remember you are as valuable to society as the person who doesn't. As a matter of fact I would go so far as to say maybe more so then some. The training these little minds and hearts are getting right now will shape what kind of person they will be when they grow up and what more important job can you have.

Looking back I am sorry I didn't react differently to the situation. I should not have let it bother me as I did. It was just so new to me at the time. I might react differently now that I have had time to think about it. I should have told her "No I didn't have today off. My job is 24 hours a day. I don't get days off, I have to be on my toes all the time. You mean you actually get days off, WOW!" Of course I am being sarcastic but I think you get the message.

I know if I ever have the opportunity to join the workforce again I will react differently to women choosing to stay at home. I will applaud them and try to uplift them. I would never do anything that would make them feel less then the investor that they are. The entrepreneur might be investing money but they are investing lives and that is so valuable.