Somebody's a year older!

Well Alfred has his 52nd birthday today and he doesn't look a day older than 51! HA! I went to the bakery at Brookshire Brothers after work to get him a cake and well.....the selection was not what I had in mind! I settled on this one particular cake and headed for the checkout. Then, something caught my eye! There was this specialty cake section that had cakes that were so gorgeous, I thought they were fake! You know.....the kind that you just look at and then place a special order for. Anyway, I asked one of the ladies if these cakes were real to which she replied, "Oh yes" and I replied, "Oh my!" Welllll.......Ferd got a chocolate cake with a mountain of whipped chocolate icing and topped with rows of dipped strawberries! Holy Cow! It was so pretty! The girl at the checkout even said, "Wow! What a pretty cake!" Nuttin too special for my man, I always say! :) Speaking of special.......I even made Tacos for supper! Now you're probably thinking.....TACOS? For the birthday guy? Well, Alfred LOVES Tacos! I think he puts them right up there with fried catfish! Leah and Dennis came & had supper with us so it was a really nice evening. They bought him a camping cook set for his cabin.

Today in my daily devotion, I read the following quote and it impressed me so much, I felt inclined to share. "The burden of suffering seems a tombstone hung about our necks, while in reality it is only the weight which is necessary to keep the diver down while he is hunting for pearls." Everyone hates going through troubles and trials but if we do our best to keep things in perspective, maybe we'll see that God has some hidden treasures for us to discover. I know this has been the case in our lives. We have been so blessed but have also been through some very dark days in the past. Days I wanted nothing at all to do with God! I didn't understand why such awful things were happening and the only one I knew to blame was God! He could fix it if He just would! But He didn't right then and oftentimes He won't. He has something He wants us to learn. We have to stay down, with that awful weight around our neck, and force ourself to look for the treasure! Then, after what seems like an eternity, one day you catch a glimpse of something shiny! It's not a physical treasure but a spiritual one. One called HOPE. Something begins to well up inside of you because you know He is bringing you through. There are no words to describe that feeling but one thing is for certain....God is still in the process of working things out for our family. The realization of it all is amazingly beautiful and I am so thankful knowing He's always there. Even though I shook my fist in His face, He still loves me just as much as ever. We can't stand idle in the fire or we'll be completely consumed. Our God is an AWESOME God!