Trip to GA: Day 4 - Clayton Pictures

On Saturday, the morning of the wedding, neither Ruth or I could sleep in. We had planned on getting up at eight...but we both woke up around six! At seven we both gave up on trying to get back to sleep and decided to get up and go for an early morning walk around the beautiful streets of Clayton, GA. 

Old Clayton Inn where we stayed on Friday night

Ruth

"Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its going down
The LORD's name is to be praised."
-Psalm 113:2-3

Sweet Ruth...soon to be Mrs. James Hyman! :) 

Enjoying the beauty of God's creation...

( SISTERS )
"We've shared so much laughter, shared so many tears,
We've a spiritual bond that grows stronger each year.
We're not sisters by birth, but we knew from the start,
God put us together to be sisters by heart."

Ruth was too distracted to notice the signal... :)

(Okay, so truthfully we did wait for awhile,
but the sign appeared to be malfunctioning
and we eventually crossed anyway.)

Streets of Clayton

Cute yellow car

Can you guess who we ran into on our walk? :) 

Another favorite... :) 

"Alright you two, this is it...no U-turn!" :) 

"I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
for without Me you can do nothing." -John 15:5

James & Ruth on the balcony of the Clayton Inn

"Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;"

"For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;"

"Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God."
-Ruth 1:16

James & Ruth: "Mark, we've decided not to wait 5 more hours...will you marry us?"
Mark: "I now pronounce you husband and wife...to be!"      :)

Ruth, James & Mark

Ruth & Mark

WEDDING PICTURES COMING SOON...STAY TUNED! :)

Lean not on your own understanding...

Truly we never know what a day will bring forth. This morning I woke up fully expecting a normal Saturday of work at the job I love.

For the past almost eight months I have been working in the home of a dear sweet elderly couple in their 90's. They are both like grandparents to me, and I have been so blessed with such an encouraging place to work. Not too many jobs allow you to play your audio bible and listen to hymns while you work. To make a good situation better, my hours were even doubled just before I arrived home from GA. I was so amazed by this and felt I knew what the Lord had planned for me there. 

But this evening I received word from one of their daughters that they feel there needs to be someone working there with at least some nursing training (Mrs. Leavitt has had some health issues arise over the last few months), and I am now suddenly without a job. 

I was so discouraged when I hung up the phone. I just felt like sitting on my bed and crying. I love the Leavitts and have enjoyed my time with them so much that this was a huge disappointment for me. I went to my room and immediately started to question what God was doing. 

Why me, Lord? 

Why now? 

How am I going to meet my expenses?

Where am I going to find another job? 

Then I remembered the amazing way the Lord had worked to provide me this job, and how thankful I was at that time. His timing had been so perfect. Is His timing any less perfect because in this case I can't yet see what He is doing? No, it isn't.

He IS still in control. 

His way IS still perfect. 

He knows what is BEST for me. 

So I prayed. I thanked the Lord for the eight months I've had with the Leavitts, admitted that I don't see what He is doing, and asked Him for wisdom to know what my next steps should be and for faith to trust in His perfect plan. 

I felt as if a very heavy weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. And the LORD brought these verses to my mind. 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

⁶ 

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths." 

-Proverbs 3:5-6

After my time with the Lord, I went to church where we are having special meetings this weekend. The service tonight was a blessing, but the fellowship time afterwards was especially sweet. A few of my close friends and I gathered around the piano and sang to the Lord. It was just what I needed. To take my eyes off of my problems and lift them to Christ. 

Are the days ahead uncertain? Yes. 

Will the Lord be there with me for every step? Absolutely.

ISN'T THAT ENOUGH? 

P.S. Your prayers for me would be appreciated. Please pray for wisdom for what the Lord would have me do, and that this time would be a special time of growth for me. 

Safely in Louisiana

Well, I just heard from my brother, Tim, and his flight has arrived safely in Louisiana. I'm really going to miss him over the next seven weeks, but I am so happy that he has the opportunity to spend this time with Grampy & Grammy. Have a great trip, Tim! :)

Trip to GA: Day 3

On Friday morning, Ruth and I joined James and Mark back at James's cabin to work on chopping the veggies for the Kabobs. Among the vegetables that needed to be done were about 12 large onions. Mark told us about a really neat trick to keep from crying while working with the onions. Can you guess from the pictures what it was? :)  

Yep. Matches! Place the wooden side of an unlit match in your mouth and the sulfur from the match will help reduce the tears. This worked quite well. But I'll admit that it did look a little funny... :)

After a late breakfast we drove about 3 hours to Tate City where the wedding would be held the next day. Ruth had told me that Tate City was small, but it still wasn't quite what I had expected. It was much smaller and more beautiful than I had pictured. I absolutely loved it.

Welcome to Tate City, GA

Tate City Mall: Anyone feel like shopping?

See Tate City :) 

Tate City Voting Precinct

Valley Community Church where the wedding would be held.
I thought the church and location were just beautiful. 

Inside of the church

View from the front porch

Side view of the church

Reception area at the back of the church

Rehearsing with the pastor

James  & Ruth during the rehearsal 

James & Ruth looking over the grill and reception area.

After rehearsing and taking a look around, the four of us started assembling the Shish Kabobs. This project took a little longer than we had planned, but I really enjoyed the time of fellowship we had while working together. We sang a lot of hymns together, and that was such a blessing and encouragement to me. 

Veggies for the Kabobs

Ruth & James :) 

Approximately 160 beef, pork & chicken kabobs.
Hungry anyone? :) 

About 9:00 we decided to call it a night and finish the rest of the Kabobs in the morning. :)

Trip to GA: Day 2

On Thursday morning, Ruth & I met up with James at his cabin and then went to a nearby lake with James and his dog, Bucha.

Bucha on the way to the lake

It was a beautiful and peaceful place. And it was also very special because it was where James had asked Ruth to marry him. :)

Ruth & James (and Bucha) at the place where they were engaged.
(This is one of my favorite pictures!)

The Lake

Walking back from the lake

After returning from the lake, we all started to work on cutting and marinating the meat (45lbs of it) for the Shish Kabobs.

Ruth peeling garlic cloves...lots of them! :)

10 lbs of pork

15 lbs of beef

Herb marinade for the chicken. :)

20 lbs of chicken! :)

Looks yummy, eh? :D

The marinade for the chicken smelled wonderful, ended up tasting wonderful, but it wasn't the most appealing one to look at! :)

With the meat all marinaded and ready for the Kabobs, we grabbed a quick smoothie for lunch before driving to the airport to pick up James's friend, Mark, who was flying in from Colorado. 

Enjoying a very delicious smoothie that James made for lunch.

Ruth & James :)

Yes, I realize that is a picture of traffic.  Everyday Atlanta traffic.
Please excuse this small town girl  for thinking this is picture worthy.   

That evening we all went out to dinner at the Blue Ridge Grill with James's family and the Warraks (close friends and mentors of James & Ruth).

James & Mark

Mark,  James, Ruth & I
at the Blue Ridge Grill

Tabea Warrak (Ruth's friend and mentor)  & I at dinner.
I'm not exactly sure  what we were laughing at,
but I sure enjoyed all my conversations with Tabea. :)

James & Ruth with his Dad and step-mom.

After we left the restaurant, the four of us headed back to James's cabin and enjoyed two hours of fellowship together through singing hymns and prayer for the weekend and everyone involved. That was my favorite part of the whole day! I always find true fellowship and worship with other believers to be refreshing. A little taste of heaven here in this present age!

I can only begin to imagine what it will be like to be in heaven, with that great multitude which no man can number of saints from all nations, peoples, tribes, tongues, praising the One who is worthy of all praise for all of eternity. What a day that will be!

And after these things I looked, and behold, 

a great multitude which no one could number, 

of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, 

standing before the throne and before the Lamb, 

clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 

and crying with a loud voice, saying, 

"Salvation belongs to our God, 

who sits on the throne, 

and to the Lamb!"

-Revelation 7:9-10