we give thanks

today, all across america families and friends gather around the food and give thanks. well, so did we. i'm thankful for so much today! i'm thankful for my mom & dad. chelsea, mary, belle, and garrett. jap, rach, em, laura, alyssa, mel, rachel, beau, jake, joey. the hughes. katie & sean. the johns, the smiths, j'nelle & katy & brooklynn & giselle. and so many other people. i'm thankful my dad has a job. i'm thankful i can go to odu. i'm thankful for our house and cars. i'm thankful that my family loves each other. i'm SO thankful for sgc. i'm thankful for my new camera, and beautiful weather. but most of all i'm thankful for a bit of knowledge. i'm thankful i know who i should give my thanks to. God Almighty deserves all thanks and praise on this day, for it is from His Hand that i have received all of these blessings. i'm sososososososo thankful that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and made a way for me to spend eternity w/ Him forever. happy thanksgiving!

how in the world do you deal with missing someone that's not ever going to come back? praying for you Mag as you try to continue on with life while missing your mom who is already in Heaven. my heart's heavy for you and the many others i know who have lost someone they loved.

in a better land

Mr.Johns went home to be with Ryan last night around 12, what an awful glorious night. It's sad to be on this side of death, but brings peace to know one day we will all be together worshipping our sweet Savior. Reminds me of Papa and makes me wonder more about Heaven. I can't wait to go there! There will be no pain, no sickness, no cancer, no disease. No tears or sadness, anger or bitterness. No missing those we love. No more sin. What a glorious day it will be when we meet our Savior face to face and can worship Him for all Eternity. Praying for those left behind who loved him dearly



We say goodbye to those we love
With faith and hope in a sovereign Lord
For we know His will is good
And his love will be there for the life to come

Goodbye for a little while
We'll meet again
Goodbye it is a hard farewell
To say my friend but we'll meet again
In a better land

The tears we cry are of grief and joy
For though we hurt they hurt no more
Because they lived for their eternal home
So we too, are living for the life to come

Lord take this pain and use it for your glory
Lord bring your hope and put it in our hearts







I have a friend who just turned eighty-eight
and she just shared with me that she's afraid of dying.
I sit here years from her experience
and try to bring her comfort.
I try to bring her comfort
But what do I know? What do I know?
She grew up singing about the glory land,
and she would testify how Jesus changed her life.
It was easy to have faith when she was thirty-four,
but now her friends are dying, and death is at her door.
And what do I know? What do I know?

Well,I don't know that there are harps in heaven,
Or the process for earning your wings.
I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels,
Or any of these things.

She lost her husband after sixty years,
and as he slipped away she still had things to say.
Death can be so inconvenient.
You try to live and love. It comes and interrupts.
And what do I know? What do I know?

Well,I don't know that there are harps in heaven,
Or the process for earning your wings.
And I don't know of bright lights at the ends of tunnels,
Or any of these things.

But I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord,
and from what I know of him, that must be pretty good.
Oh, I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord,
and from what I know of him, that must be very good